Category Archives: RedSox

Red Sox 8-1 Athletics

The Red Sox picked up an important victory over the Athletics most recently, which meant they avoided the sweep. This saw the offense really come to the fore, with the side winning 8-1. Boston had appeared to be on the verge of being swept over by the Oakland Athletics and had posted a number of poor performances in succession. However, the tables completely changed in this match, with the Red Sox putting seven runs on the board in the opening three innings, which put them on course for an easy victory on the night. They had also been supported prior to the match, with fans using the latest BetMGM WV bonus code that is available, and this proved to be money well placed, as the Red Sox returned to some solid form. It also saw a number of homers from Xander Bogaerts and Bobby Dalbec, which further added to the performance. It really was an impressive offensive performance, and this was the difference, with J.D. Martinez also posting a three-hit game and also a two-double effort from Michael Chavis.

This was a clear change in form, as the Red Sox had gone three straight days clearly without it, which has led to the defeats. This started with a 3-2 loss, in what was a fairly even affair. The side were then beaten 4-1 by Athletics, with the latter then heading into the final game as the favourites for the sweep. However, the Red Sox returned to their brilliant best, which led to this huge 8-1 victory. That also meant that they stay at the top of the AL East. This putting them ahead of the Blue Jays and the Yankees but it is still close at the top.

This was a very important victory in the picture of the season for the Red Sox, who will now be looking ahead to maintain this form and picking up more positive results in their upcoming fixtures. The next set of fixtures will see them taking on the Angels, who are currently bottom on the AL West, so this is a series they will be expected to win. Then following this, the Red Sox will face off against the Blue Jays, which will be a top of the table clash in the AL East. This series could yet be the decider for top of the table, so it is a very important upcoming clash. 

A Look into Chris Sale’s Strikeouts

It’s pretty safe to assume the Boston Red Sox are happy they did what was necessary to acquire left-handed pitcher Chris Sale prior to 2017. All the dude does is strike people out. Daily fantasy fans may debate whether Draftkings vs Fanduel is the ultimate site to play on, but everyone is in agreement that having Chris Sale on your team nearly guarantees you a win.

After posting career highs in strikeout rate (36.2%), strikeouts per nine innings (12.93), and overall strikeouts in a year (308) last season, the southpaw is up to more of the same in 2018.  What makes Sale so special?  It could be his equipment.  Check out this list of the best baseball gloves.

His most recent start took place at home against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, and he was his usual dominant self. In a winning effort, Sale allowed just 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 12 over 7 shutout innings. This is the fifth consecutive start (and sixth out of his last seven) where he’s struck out at least 10 hitters.

And as it turns out, he’s the master of going on these kinds of streaks.

The 29-year-old lefty has also made it a habit of not allowing much else when he sits that many opposing hitters down via strikeout.

This latest effort has Sale’s strikeouts per nine innings rate currently sitting at 13.12. As one can imagine, this number has him in some elite company if it can be sustained throughout the summer and fall.

If you’re the kind of person that prefers strikeout rate, Sale’s 37.2% mark is behind only Pedro Martinez’s ridiculous 1999 season (37.5%) as being the highest among qualified starters since 1990. (For what it’s worth, Max Scherzer isn’t too far behind him, either.) The southpaw’s 16.0% swinging-strike rate is also on pace to be a new career high, but is just second in the league thanks to Scherzer’s 17.0% rate, heading into Thursday’s action.

Although his pitch mix has stayed virtually the same compared to last year, the effectiveness of Sale’s slider has gone up a notch. After that pitch generated a 38.0% ground-ball rate, 47.7% strikeout rate, 16.8% swinging-strike rate, and a 64 wRC+ in 2017, those numbers have improved to 51.4%, 51.2%, 17.4%, and 7 (!!), respectively, so far in 2018.

Boston gave up a lot in prospect capital to bring Sale to Fenway, but he’s proven his worth (and then some) nearly every time he toes the slab.

The Greatest Shortstops in Red Sox History

The Red Sox have had a rich history at the shortstop position. On this list are five Red Sox Hall of Famers and some worthy candidates in the honorable mention category. Placement of the players after the top couple was difficult, but one thing is for sure; I had no trouble finding five qualified candidates at this position.

Nomar Garciaparra

Nomah was the greatest shortstop to ever play at Fenway Pahk! Going to a Sox game in the late nineties and early 2000s one could hear “Nomaaahhhh” yelled all over the ballpark. The 12th overall pick in 1994, Nomar had no trouble climbing through the minors before debuting in 1996. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1997, then placed 2nd in the MVP vote in 1998. He proceeded to win the batting title in each of the next two seasons, batting .357 and .372. Nomar was getting better and better, spraying line drives all over the yard.  Nomar helped the Red Sox make the playoffs in 4 of his years with the club.  Currently, the Red Sox are +600 to win the World Series according to bonuskod maria casino and other reputable online casinos.  Right now would be a great time to make a wager and participate in online sports betting with the season about to begin.

Then Al Reyes happened. A Reyes pitch hit Nomar on the wrist and would later require surgery. When Nomar returned he was still a good player, but wasn’t the same. He popped the ball up more, hitting a few less line drives. Hard to complain with a .310 average, 24 home runs and 56 doubles in 2002 followed by 28 home runs in 2003 though. For his Red Sox career Nomar batted .323 with 178 home runs and a .923 OPS. He was something else in his prime and one of the top shortstops of all time ranked on freebets.org.

Year Tm AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS Awards
1996 BOS 87 11 21 2 3 4 16 5 .241 .272 .471 .743
1997 BOS 684 122 209 44 11 30 98 22 .306 .342 .534 .875 AS,MVP-8,RoY-1,SS
1998 BOS 604 111 195 37 8 35 122 12 .323 .362 .584 .946 MVP-2
1999 BOS 532 103 190 42 4 27 104 14 .357 .418 .603 1.022 AS,MVP-7
2000 BOS 529 104 197 51 3 21 96 5 .372 .434 .599 1.033 AS,MVP-9
2001 BOS 83 13 24 3 0 4 8 0 .289 .352 .470 .822
2002 BOS 635 101 197 56 5 24 120 5 .310 .352 .528 .880 AS,MVP-11
2003 BOS 658 120 198 37 13 28 105 19 .301 .345 .524 .870 AS,MVP-7
2004 BOS 156 24 50 7 3 5 21 2 .321 .367 .500 .867
BOS BOS 3968 709 1281 279 50 178 690 84 .323 .370 .553 .923

Joe Cronin

Joe Cronin was an extremely influential person in both Red Sox history and Major League Baseball history. He not only played for the Red Sox, he managed them and later became the General Manager. After his term as General Manager ended, Cronin became the President of the American League in 1959, a position he held for 15 years.

Cronin was a Hall of Fame ballplayer, and could have put up even bigger numbers had he not been managing. By 1942 he was a little used utility player while managing, despite the fact he was coming off a season during which he batted .311 with 16 homers and 95 RBI. He’d bat over .300 each of the next two seasons as well in limited playing time. For his Red Sox career Cronin was a .300 hitter, hitting 119 home runs and 1168 base hits. He had a beautiful slash line of .394/.484/.878. All three of those numbers rank second among Red Sox shortstops. Cronin made five All-Star Games while with the Red Sox.

Johnny Pesky

I think a lot of people remember Pesky as the lovable old man always hanging around the Red Sox dugout and don’t realize just how good of a player he was. Pesky led the league in hits during each of his first three seasons in the majors. He batted .331 during his rookie season, placing 3rd in the MVP vote. Following that, Pesky went to fight in the war and missed the next three seasons. When he came back he batted .335 and placed 4th in the MVP vote. The following year he again led the league in hits and batted .324. He was a great hitter and would have over 600 hits likely added to his career total had the war not occurred.

He was one of many guys who lost stats due to this time period that the Hall of Fame doesn’t seem to have taken into consideration. Had the war not happened, Pesky would be a shortstop who hit well over .300 with somewhere over 2000 career hits. Laughably, as an illustration to New York bias, Phil Rizzuto is in the Hall of Fame. Rizzuto batted .273 with a .351/.355/.706 triple slash playing the same position and during the exact same era as Pesky. Pesky batted .307 with a .394/.386/.780 slash line. Focusing on just his Red Sox career, Pesky batted .313 with 1277 hits and a .401 on base percentage. He twice finished in the top five for MVP voting.

Rico Petrocelli

Rico gets the nod fourth thanks to his counting numbers. He leads all Red Sox shortstop with 210 home runs and 1352 base hits. Of course, he moved to third base in the seventies so as just a shortstop he doesn’t rank first. While playing short, Petrocelli batted .259 while hitting 127 of his home runs. Rico made his first All-Star Game during the “Impossible Dream” season of 1967. He really broke out in 1969 though when he made his 2nd all-star team. That season Rico batted .297 with 40 home runs and a .992 OPS! Those 40 home runs stood as an American League shortstop record until 1998, when it took some foreign substances to likely surpass it.

Rico’s newfound power extended into the early seventies, hitting 29 home runs in 1970 and 28 in 1971. That gave him a three-year total of 97 home runs. His 39.1 career WAR places him second out of guys on this list behind only Nomar. He was also a part of two Red Sox pennant winning teams.

John Valentin

John Valentin was an excellent and underrated player prior to knee injuries that hobbled him and shortened his career after he turned 30. Valentin hit 121 home runs and collected 1042 base hits as a member of the Red Sox. He was their shortstop from 1992-96 before Nomar arrived. After a brief move to second base, he became their third baseman after Tim Naehring’s injury and remained there for a few years. As just a shortstop, Valentin batted .292 with a .375/.470/.845 triple slash line. He had an 11.8 dWAR with the Sox, 2nd among the guys on this list.

In 1995 Valentin really busted out, batting .298 with 27 home runs, 102 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He led all American Leaguers in WAR that season. From 1994-97 he averaged a season of .303 with 17 home runs, 35 doubles and an .876 OPS. He still hit 23 home runs in 1998 but his average dropped as his knees started causing him discomfort. Despite a mediocre season in 1999, Valentin had a huge postseason. A clutch player, Valentin batted .347 with 5 home runs and a 1.046 OPS during his postseason career. He drove in 12 runners in the 5 game ALDS versus Cleveland in 1999 and was one of the few Red Sox players to hit in the ALCS that year. His clutch play is one reason he slots into the top five.

John Valentin of the Boston Red Sox watches his two-run home run in the first inning against the Yankees during game three of the ALCS at Fenway Park. The Yankees have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.  AFP PHOTO/Jeff HAYNES

Honorable Mentions

Vern Stephens, Rick Burleson, Heinie Wagner, Everett Scott

Manager John Farrell Hopes Zander Bogaerts Will Return from Weekend Fully Rested

Xander Bogaerts took a pitch to the hand in the last game in July before the All-Star break. That was when things changed him. He was hitting .308 at the time. He hasn’t had an at-bat since then and he took a 0-for-4 the last time the Red Sox threw him into the starting lineup.

What does that say about the sportsbook odds for the Red Sox games? Well, for now, nothing. Sure, he’s still fighting to recover and his injuries won’t stop nagging at him. But Manager John Farrell refused to lay the blame for some of the Red Sox’s problems at the feet of Xander Bogaerts.  A move like this shows strong leadership by Farrell and his managerial style plays a big role in the Red Sox’s potential success this year.  In fact, online sportsbooks like wetten-wm-2018.com currently have the Red Sox favored to win the AL East.  If you’re into sports betting, now may be a great time to place a bet on Boston.

According to Farrell, every single player surrounding Xander is struggling with a nagging ache or pain. And Farrell doesn’t expect his team to be free of those ailments anytime soon. But like the rest of the team, Farrell expects Xander to persevere through the injury.

He admitted that Xander was a pretty important component of the team. And the last couple of weeks have been a disappointment on his part. But Farrell isn’t ready to give up on him, which is why Xander has been given an entire weekend to focus on getting into the proper physical and mental shape.

Farrell’s hope is that Xander will come back to the starting lineup in peak physical condition. In the meantime, the likes of Deven Marrero, Hector Velasquez, and Dustin Pedroia – who just came off the disabled list – will be expected to pick up the slack.

The Red Sox are expected to finish 20-for-140 in RISP situations against the Yankees. They had a RISP hit on the weekend courtesy of Sandy Leon’s 9th inning single. The Red Sox have nothing to complain about, especially with regards to runners in scoring position.

They have definitely been one of the better teams. But they haven’t completely eclipsed the Yankees who made many key pitches over the course of their 19 games.

David Price saw his first bullpen session mere days ago and he is set to throw a full bullpen in the coming hours. Farrell knows what Price can do and his hope is for the athlete to throw pitches a total of 30 to 35 when his chance at a bullpen session at Fenway comes.

Farrell will use that as an opportunity to see how soon Price can be thrown against some hitters. Price is still nursing an elbow injury. The Red Sox are not certain when he will be ready to get back into the game.

But he has shown promise. At the very least, his showing in the past week suggests that he is making quick gains.

The month of July was ugly for the Red Sox who saw Andrew Benintendi get held out of the lineup for a couple of days, though he made a splash of a comeback in August and became Rookie of the Month, the first Red Sox player to achieve the feat since 2013.

Everyone thinks Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are leading the charge when it comes to rookies but Andrew Benintendi is quickly pulling away from them.

Red Sox Eying Playoffs, Betts Eying MVP

Entering the final month of the season the Red Sox are poised to end their modest two-season playoff drought. Their odds of making the playoffs are looking pretty good at many online sportsbooks. The Sox find themselves in a nip-and-tuck race for the AL Eastern Division crown–which they won in 2013–and they are currently atop the wildcard standings–a postseason route that they have taken on seven previous occasions, which is of course how they got into the playoffs in 2004 and laid to rest the 86-year Curse of the Bambino.

One of the chief reasons the Red Sox are in such a good position and showing no signs of slowing down is the MVP caliber season of right fielder Mookie Betts. He now has more than 100 runs scored, he’s a cinch to go over 100 RBIs in the next few games, and he just slugged his 30th home run to go along with a top-five league batting average. The Angels Mike Trout is often thought of as the best player in the American League. But as the Angels continue to fade down the stretch, and the Red Sox surge, Betts has inserted himself as one of the MVP favorites. Plus, he’s still just 23 years old and only in his second full Big League season.

Per this website, the schedule also favors the Red Sox continued place in the standings as the calendar ticks over to September. They start the month off on the road against last place Oakland and nearly last place San Diego, before heading to Toronto for a series that could see them pass the Blue Jays for first place in the division. Regardless of what happens with the Sox in that series in Toronto, with two wildcard places up for grabs, Betway see them as favorites to make the postseason and battle it out for another trip to the World Series.

Almost as important as the Sox doing well and thinking about October baseball is the fading of the Yankees and their current fourth place standing. Plus the Sox still have seven games remaining with the Yankees including four at Fenway Park, so the Sox will hopefully get the honor of officially ending the Yankees’ fading playoff hopes and showing them the offseason door. So keep your eyes on the series slated for September 15th though the 18th.

If nothing else, this very good 2016 campaign for the Red Sox has cleansed the palate from the very disappointing 5th place finishes the previous two seasons.

What the Red Sox Need to Do to Reach The Playoffs This Season

The Boston Red Sox have enjoyed a very successful July this far and have won six of their nine games this month, including three straight wins over the Tampa Bay Rays. What makes this even more impressive is when you consider the mixed to disappointing June for the Olde Towne team in which they suffered 16 losses from the 21 games. The latest baseball betting tips suggest that Boston could have a very successful season. Let’s take a look at what the Red Sox need to do to reach the playoffs this season.

Boston will need all the momentum they’ve built up this month as they head to Yankee Stadium for three games against the New York team. The Sox are currently in better form than the Yankees but they shouldn’t take that for granted as they head into the crucial second half of the season. Boston are currently joint top of the Wild Card Teams with the Toronto Blue Jays, meanwhile they’re second in the American League East and are currently only two games behind current leaders the Baltimore Orioles. This makes the games against the games against the Yankees even more crucial as they’ll be looking to keep the pressure on the Orioles before they take a bigger lead and make the rest of the season very difficult.   

The Sox will then enjoy nine games at home in a row as they host the San Francisco Giants for two games, the Minnesota Twins for four and the Detroit Tigers for three. This will mark a series of very crucial games as the Red Sox fans will be looking on and expecting their team to make good on their home field advantage or else put the rest of the season into serious jeopardy. Following that, Boston finishes July with four away games against the Anaheim Angels. The Angels are currently struggling in 10th place of the Wild Card Teams, 13 games behind Boston. Meanwhile, Anaheim sit 5th in the American League West, 16 ½ games behind the Texas Rangers. This may well be the best time to play the Angels as they look bereft of confidence. Dare to dream Sox fans, as a series of impressive wins would mark a July that is as close to perfect as you can get in the world of baseball, furthermore, it could well prove to be a catalyst for the rest of the season.

It is also crucial to keep an eye on the teams around Boston. Arguably, the rest of the division has regressed or marginally improved between the end of last season and now, whereas the Red Sox have become a lot stronger with just a few key man management decisions. The major talking point is of course the appointment of Dave Dombowski as the new President of Baseball Operations who then signed David Price and Chris Young to replace receivers Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith.  Price and Young with other Sox players Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Pablo Sandoval, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr and Blake Swihart could very well make up the most dangerous team in all of baseball. Hold onto your hats, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

Should we hate the Devil Rays more than the Yankees?

Any writer worth their [insert metaphor here: salt, poop, ascot, whatever] writes their introduction after they’re finished with the body of their piece. This column ended up being long. The topic is whether we should hate the Devil Rays more than the Yankees, and that’s enough of a description to let you feel the tenor of my piece before diving in. So this introductory paragraph has served its purpose.

The Yankees have a history of stealing the best talent from the Red Sox, beginning with Harry Frazee selling Babe Ruth to New York in 1919 – subsequently selling the soul of the Red Sox away for nearly a century. Perhaps it’s not coincidental that the Red Sox started winning championships again when another larger than life – and large around the waist – slugger anchored their lineup.

More recently, the Yankees had the services of former Boston favorites like Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, and Kevin Youkilis. Jacoby Ellsbury threw away his soul, and a chance at Cooperstown, when New York gave him $153 million to play there right now. Even King of the Bearded Homeless Dude look Andrew Miller shaved off his face mane to look like the tallest 12 year old in the Yankees’ bullpen.

Couple this with the Alex Rodriguez trade clusterbleep in 2003 – where for months the then shortstop and now disgraced player was rumored to be coming to the Red Sox only to have the Yankees take him from us – and we remember how strong this rivalry has been. Back then, who could have predicted that Boston would benefit from not acquiring A-Roid? All we understood then is that the Yankees stole the best player in baseball from us, and it ruined Nomar Garciaparra’s faith in Boston’s front office management.

The cut throat, business-like, professional mentality of the Yankees make the Bronx Bombers the proper representatives of that borough which lies to the south of Yankee Stadium; the borough that contains the blood-sucking leeches on Wall Street who would slit our throats if it meant getting an extra percentage point return on their commodities portfolio.

If you think about it, the Yankees truly represent the city they play for. This fact is an oddity in an era when the NFL has overtaken MLB as America’s primary professional sport. This fact might even make you smile when you consider that NFL franchises stand for nothing. New York’s two football teams play in the same stadium in New Jersey, for bleep’s sake. As far as teams representing the character of a city goes, the NFL is a joke.

Ironically, that cut-throat professionalism of New York City also makes the Yankees an admirable foe. To the Yankees, baseball is just business. It’s not life or death, it’s just a job. Cut your hair, shave your beard, put your head down, don’t express much emotion, and just get the job done. No excuses. “Keep Calm and Chive On” if all you speak is bro. We may consider the way the Yankees play to be boring, but it isn’t offensive.

Afterward, George Steinbrenner would put the politics on the field aside to make an annual $10,000 contribution to the Jimmy Fund.

While we hate to see the Yankees win, all of that makes it tough to hate the Yankees themselves.

Contrast this with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who truly are the antithesis of Boston.

I will always call them the “Devil Rays,” but the reason why they changed their name to the “Rays” makes this team, like the Yankees, representative of the area they play for. There’s nothing refreshing about the Devil Rays representing crazy, paranoid, born again Bible thumping fundies who made the team remove “Devil” from their name because it was too evvvviiiiiillllll!

Boston has a strong Catholic tradition, but we don’t have the Bible thumpers on this level. And thank God. Or beer. Or bourbon. Or D-cups. Or whatever else you choose to worship. (I’ll stick with the latter three, thanks.)

It gets worse, because the Devil Rays represent not just a bi-city area, but a whole state full of crazy people that feels fake. People who move to Florida are wusses who are allergic to touching a shovel during the winter; and those who are born in Florida seem to be the stupidest people on the planet.

Florida is where anything obscenely fake is harvested. Their cash crop is plastic, which grows into gimmicks that no intelligent person can stand for longer than a vacation. So it’s little wonder that, in the land of Disney, Joe Maddon spread like a weed which the populace regarded as a flower.

The irony of Joe Maddon being weaned in an Angels organization that was formerly owned by Disney isn’t lost on astute observers like myself. Maddon is the gimmick that Devil Rays’ “fans” needed, and he titillated their simple minds just like a trip to Disney World might give an eight year old boy his first erection.

What’s the first stupid Maddon gimmick you can think of? The first one I think of is the defensive shift he employed against David Ortiz, which every stupid baseball “journalist” claims is one reason why Maddon is a super-bleepin-genius. Maddon’s defensive shifts worked so well that it led to Ortiz having a horrible career line against the Devil Rays: .281 BA, .397 OBP, 44 HR, 152 RBI, and… Well, actually, those are some pretty damn awesome stats. Guess the defensive shift Maddon employed didn’t do bleep. The shift didn’t help the Devil Rays in the 2013 ALDS either, when Ortiz had a .556 OBP with two homers. But hey, who needs success when you have the gimmick?

Another stupid Maddon gimmick is having pitchers take as much time as possible between pitches. Every stupid baseball journalist claims that the Devil Rays develop the best pitchers in baseball, but MLB Rule 8.04 says that, when there’s no one on base, pitchers must deliver the ball to the plate no more than 12 seconds after receiving the ball from the catcher. So how long did David Price take between pitches in 2014? Only [ahem] 26.6 seconds – the most in the majors. How about Chris Archer, another venerable stalwart of the Devil Rays supposed juggernaut? Archer took 25.2 second between pitches.

Starting to see a pattern here? Additionally, do you know how tough it is to throw a pitch? When a pitcher gets to take an extra couple of breaths before throwing to the plate again, they aren’t feeling as much pressure as other pitchers who play by the rules. This may explain why David Price has a career ERA of 3.16, yet when he’s in the high pressure situations of the postseason, his ERA spikes to 4.50. So much for that gimmick.

What’s worse than the Devil Rays’ on-field gimmicks, though, is their off-field gimmicks. The hockey-style fog horn blared through the speakers of their worst stadium in baseball whenever a Devil Rays player hit a home run, and their fans blowing vuvuzelas during game, is enough to make Ignatius J. Reilly shout “Who’s responsible for this abortion?”

Speaking of abortions:

What the bleep is this?

And what the bleep is this? Does baseball need a team whose main gimmick is [fill in the blank with the flavor of the month] roadtrip themed weekends?

To Tampa Bay, baseball isn’t a businees like it is in New York City; and it’s not a religion like is in Boston. No. To Tampa Bay, baseball is just another bleepin’ gimmick that needs glitter, a tight skirt and a vajazzle just to keep their interest because their minds aren’t advanced enough to enjoy the beautiful simplicity of the game.

What else do you need to hate the Devil Rays? Well, let’s do a comparison of real and fake stuff.

We have Dustin Pedroia, they have* Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is purported to be a spectacular baseball player, but he has two gimmicks: being overrated for playing multiple positions, and being a crazy Christian Fundie. Zobrist co-authored a book with his wife about their “We must home school our children with Jay-sus against the EVIL AMERICAN (ie: Northeast Urban) LIFESTYLE!” Don’t believe me? Here’s the description of their book on Amazon:

Ben and Julianna Zobrist are standout talents, both using their gifts to glorify God. Ben is an All Star Major League baseball player and helped lead the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series. Ben represented the United States in the World Baseball Classic and also leads Bible studies with his teammates. Julianna is a recognized Christian music artist whose music has affected the culture for Christ nationally. Julianna has performed on both the mainstream and Christian platforms and is actively involved in film and radio. Both Ben and Julianna speak about their faith at events nationwide.

‘Nuf ced.

We have Big Papi, they had Luke Scott. I trust that, after years of #LukeScottFacts, I feel that I don’t need to expound on this.

We play real baseball, they have Joe Maddon.

They’re cheap, which is why they don’t steal our players.

Due to our sense of irony, there are even instances when our fake things are more real than their reality. For example, regarding fake Twitter accounts, Red Sox fans have, well… Me! And Devil Rays fans have “RaysFanGio,” who is nominally a real person but, since everything about Florida is fake, I don’t think his lame existence actually exists.

Boston is erudite city whose populace is enlightened to science. Florida has a governor who forbids state officials from mentioning “global warming” while Miami makes plans to deal with flooding…

But I digress. All of this strays away from the question of whether we, as Red Sox fans, should hate the Devil Rays more than the Yankees. Essentially, the fact that I even ask this means it is a rhetorical question. Given the attitude of both teams and the traditions of the geographic areas that they represent, the answer is obvious.

In fact, the only fake thing missing from Tampa Bay is Dan Shaughnessy. And they can bleepin’ take him.

* – I struggled with using present or past tense here. Zobrist now plays for the A’s, so should I use “had” or have”? Ultimately, I opted for the present tense because, even though Zobrist is no longer in Tampa Bay, he represented the patheticness of this organization for so long that he might as well still be a member of this band of ingrates.

A Rotating Experiment

The Lester-less 2015 Red Sox Starting Rotation is comprised of the following: Question mark, Question mark, ¿Qué carajo?, ???, and Buchholz.

This is better than having a starting rotation of minor league prospects and Buchholz; essentially, what we witnessed at the end of 2014. The Red Sox can again use prospects as rotation depth instead of certainties. But an ace-less rotation isn’t screaming October to any knowledgeable Red Sox fan. 

Oddly enough, though, Cherington’s Plan B after Lester could work. 

With the advent of the second wild card, a third of the teams are guaranteed a playoff berth each year. So a team has to be pretty horrible not even be in the playoff hunt a week before the trade deadline on July 31. Given that a team’s regular season performance need not be spectacular to get to the playoffs, teams can experiment with different ways to get through the regular season. 

The two best examples of teams achieving success through experimenting with non-typical rosters are the 2014 Giants and 2012 Orioles. 

The Giants victory in the World Series is a recent memory of course, and we can quickly remember who was in their starting rotation: Bumgarner followed by a bunch of actual bums. Let’s remember that the Giants thought acquiring Jake Peavy before the trade deadline would improve their starting rotation – the same Jake Peavy who hadn’t won a game since April and had an ERA larger than Paula Deen’s collection of lard. And those Giants won the World Series. 

The 2012 Orioles didn’t have as much success as the Giants, but they did make it to the playoffs with a rotation that, quite frankly, looked worse than what we can expect from the 2015 Red Sox. The Orioles’ rotation had only one starter with double-digit wins (12 wins), and none of their starters pitched 200 innings. In fact, only one starter pitched more than 140 innings. That team made it to the ALCS. 

Personally, the baseline I use to predict playoff hopes is the probability a team has of winning 88 games. Let’s look at the 2015 Red Sox in this respect: Can they win 88 games?

They have a rotation starters who have MLB experience, but they are 3-5 starters at best. Porcello is the one starter who has the best chance of having a breakout season, and he becomes the proverbial “ace.” The rotation will have an average ERA of, let’s guess, 4.30. 

That’s not great, but a starting lineup with 3. Papi, 4. Han-RAM, 5. Panda, and 6. Napoli is going to score a lot of runs – especially with Mookie Betts hitting leadoff, followed by a finally healthy Dustin Pedroia. With the rate that Betts and Pedroia can get on base, they’re poised to each have 100+ runs scored in 2015.

Hitting behind Napoli will be Xander Bogaerts, who has something to prove in 2015. Throw in Rusney Castillo, and we can forget about the fact that hitting production from the catcher’s spot in 2015 is a total unknown. 

Can this lineup score enough runs to overcome a starting rotation with an ERA of 4.30 or a little more? Simply put: yes. 

The 2015 Red Sox will be an interesting experiment. Before the experiment starts, it would appear that they can win 88 games next year and remain in the playoff hunt. But, by July, if it looks like the experiment may fail, then there’s always a blockbuster trade for Cliff Lee. That’s a hell of a back up plan which must have crossed Ben Cherington’s mind at some point last week.

The most honest Red Sox post you will ever read

There are 74 games left in the baseball season and the Red Sox look pretty [expletive deleted].

If you only pay attention to the number of games back the Red Sox are in the division and wild card races, which is what the optimists among us focus on, then the situation doesn’t look so [expletive deleted] horrible. In both races, the Red Sox are 9 games back. But let’s introduce our depressing pal reality to the discussion.

A team isn’t going to make the playoffs unless they have 88 [expletive deleted] wins. The Red Sox won’t sneak in with 82 wins, nor 83, nor [expletive deleted] 84. And if any baseball team ever makes it to the playoffs with such a pathetic win total, dump [expletive deleted] gasoline on the the wild card system and set that [expletive deleted] ablaze.

So, with 74 games left, the reality is that the Red Sox can lose 25 more games until it’s mathematically [expletive deleted] impossible for them to reach 88 wins. They will need to go 49 – 25, amassing a [expletive deleted] .662 winning percentage, from now until the end of the season just to have a chance of sniffing the second [expletive deleted] wild card spot.

Forty-nine wins. The Red Sox have only gotten [expletive deleted] 39 wins in the past 88 [expletive deleted] games.

Hell, to even reach [expletive deleted] .500 the Red Sox would need to go 42 – 32 over the last [expletive deleted] 74 games, and that’s means playing for a .568 winning percentage.

Is this feasible for a .443 team with the [expletive deleted] lowest amount of runs scored in the American League? A team that’s lumped in with [expletive deleted] the Cubs and [expletive deleted] Astros on the same level of [expletive deleted] suck right now? A team whose wins have seemed so [expletive deleted] unconvincing that finding out 15 of their [expletive deleted] measly 39 victories have come in one run [expletive deleted] nailbiters isn’t even remotely [expletive deleted] surprising?

[Expletive deleted] no. So 9 [expletive deleted] games back my [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted].

[Expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted].

Ben [expletive deleted] needs to start [expletive deleted] selling off [expletive deleted] parts of this stupid [expletive deleted] team right the [expletive deleted] now to salvage some [expletive deleted] out of this [expletive deleted] season.

The 2014 Red Sox season is [expletive deleted] over, so for [expletive deleted]‘s sake, start [expletive deleted] selling.

I’m turning in my Masshole membership card and [expletive deleted] moving out of Boston anyway, so [expletive deleted] this [expletive deleted]. Now is a great [expletive deleted] time to go fair-weather and stop paying the [expletive deleted] attention to this [expletive deleted] dismal [expletive deleted] season. To me, the Red Sox are pretty much a [expletive deleted] dead topic at this point, so [expletive deleted] it.

Brock Holt, baBIP, and Reality

Brock Holt #26 of the Boston Red Sox attempts a bunt in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians on June 3, 2014 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Brock Holt #26 of the Boston Red Sox attempts a bunt in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians on June 3, 2014 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Brock Holt is not as good as you think he is – at the plate, at least. Holt has done a tremendous job in the field, making plays at first base and in left field that make our eyes jump out of their sockets. The fact that Holt has never played those two positions before and played them flawlessly while maintaining his torrid pace at the plate means he’s a hidden gem, and I’ve loved watching his emergence over the past month.

But Holt can’t keep this up. Nobody can.

Holt’s batting average on balls in play (baBIP) is currently .413. Every time Holt lays wood on the ball, it’s getting that lucky hop to go by a fielder. But the implication of luck here is important to note because when hitters sport a baBIP over .400 it some point during the season, it will not last. A hitter can gear their training to hit for more power or better contact to all fields, but it’s difficult to train for baBIP – it’s a luck-based statistic.

Pete Rose’s highest ever baBIP for one season was .368. Ted Williams’ highest ever baBIP was .378. Arguably, these are the greatest hitters of all time.

Since 1945, the only players who have sustained a .400+ baBIP are Rod Carew, Manny Ramirez, Roberto Clemente, and Jose Hernandez. Hernandez is the only oddity on that list. Other than Hernandez, we’re talking about players with Cooperstown numbers who managed to eek out a .400+ baBIP for an entire season once (or twice, in Carew’s case) in their careers.

So to expect Brock Holt to continue his current pace of ripping pitchers to shreds, we would have to expect him to be better than: Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente, and Manny Ramirez. Holt would have to be that Jose Hernandez oddity.

Could that happen? Sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Many Hall of Fame hitters have tried and failed to have a baBIP over .400 for an entire season once in their careers. You would have to have an enormous amount of faith in Brock Holt to believe he can continue hitting like this.

Like I stated previously: I love watching Holt play. But at some point, reality will interlude and Holt’s hitting will drop off. When that happens and the Red Sox are forced to rely more on Stephen Drew, I hope every Boston sports journalist who said the Drew signing sucks will realize how important it is to have depth on the roster. Afterwards, I hope they all volunteer to retire and never be heard from again.