Quick Sox Recap

After giving up a first inning home run, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett rebounded to finish strong with help from his hitters in the bottom half of the inning, and the Red Sox swept the series from the Angels by winning today 7-2.

The Red Sox put together four consecutive hits to start the bottom of the 1st that led to the first three runs. Julio Lugo led off with a double and scored on a Kevin Youkilis’ single. David Ortiz then hit a double to move Youk over to 3rd base and Manny Ramirez knocked them both in with a single. J.D Drew then grounded into a fielder’s choice but Angels 2nd baseman, Howie Kendrick, threw the ball into the outfield which allowed Manny to score all the way from first base. The doubles machine, Mike Lowell, hit yet another one to drive in Drew.

Beckett actually gave up a home run to former Sox SS Orlando Cabrera, then hit in Vladimir Guerrero in the wrist. Vlad had to leave the game, and the x-rays were negative. Both teams were warned after this happened but it was clear that Beckett wasn’t trying to hit Vlad at all.

Beckett scattered 6 hits over 6 innings of work, allowing the 1 run, walking 1 and striking out 5 Angels batters. Lugo was 2 for 4 today and was outstanding in the field making some great over the shoulder catches. Hopefully, his defensive play continues like this. Big Papi was 2 for 3, with a home run to go along with his double. The Red Sox bullpen (Hideki “Darkman” Okajima, J.C. Romero, and Kyle Synder) pitched very well with the only blemish being a Kendrick home run in the 9th inning.

The Red Sox now move to Toronto where Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the hill. The good thing for us Sox fans and the players is that we know they will play for the next three days since the Rogers Centre has a roof.

NOTES: The Red Sox announced that their celebration of Jackie Robinson Day will take place on Sunday when the Yankees are in town. That game is an 8:05 PM start and will be shown nationally on ESPN.

The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)

The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So)
Written by Steve Hofstetter, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Rich Ragains, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait

Denzel Washington’s son will make his NFL Europa debut for the Hamburg Sea Devils. Well done, Jackie Robinson! Denzel said he is very proud of his son for making it as a European football player, and he’s such a good actor that he said it convincingly, too.

In American football, Drew Bledsoe finally retired – from being benched. Unfortunately he’s already being benched from retirement in favor of Jake Plummer.

Suspended Titan Pac-Man Jones was ringside for his best friend Zab Judah’s fight with Ruben Galvan, mainly because he’s got nothing else to do. Thankfully, the fight was not in Vegas. Now that the suspended Tennessee Titan has the year free, may we suggest he try his hand at acting. First audition? The Longest Yard-Part II.

More trouble from the Imus scandal as new tapes reveal that he also said the Rutgers women’s basketball team was “from New Jersey.”

And the Chicago Blackhawks will have the first pick in the NHL Draft. The Blackhawks plan on using the pick to draft a new franchise. Either that or to draft fans that care.

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

The Monday Jog Around The AL & NL East

The Boston Red Sox rescheduled their Jackie Robinson day for a later date. Some had wanted it today on the 62nd anniversary of his tryout with the Red Sox.

The smashing Sooze over at Babes Love Baseball tells us the Yankees put Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano on the DL.

Anthony over at the Oriole Post tells us the O’s made some roster moves on Sunday.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is messing with fantasy baseball owners everywhere.

Devil Rays reserve infielder Brendan Harris is always ready to play no matter what the circumstances.

The Mets will now honor Jackie Robinson this Friday night against the Braves.

Freddy Garcia is set to pitch tonight for the Phillies after starting the season on the DL.

Even though the Nationals starting pitchers have only 1 win, they aren’t that bad.

The Braves suspended Willy Aybar 3 games for not reporting for treatment on his injury.

Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis gives us his thoughts about wearing Jackie Robinson’s #42.

And in baseball fashion news, Metschick over at Ladies… tells us about Alyssa Milano’s new clothing line.

Red Sox News

With the postponement on Sunday due to this lovely weather we are having, both the Red Sox and Angels have pushed Sunday’s starters to today. With that, Julian Tavarez is being bumped from his start and will now pitch on Thursday. When he was asked about what will possibly be 12 days between starts, Tavarez had this to say:

“Two weeks, 13 days or 15 days, that’s the most I’ve gone, but I don’t pitch at all in the winter and I go to Spring Training and pitch, so it doesn’t make any difference,” Tavarez said. “It’s all about what’s in your mind. If you put in your mind, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven’t pitched in 13 [days],’ then you’re going to have a tough time. You’ve just got to be strong, mind over matter.”

When he was asked about if the game being rained out affected him, this was his response:

“Not at all, not at all, because it’s all in your mind. It’s how you take it. To me, I just take it easy, do my running, go the weight room, do my long toss. I’ve got to throw in the cage a little bit, and Tuesday I’m going to throw on the side in Toronto and I’ll be fine for Thursday. For sure, I’m going to pitch Thursday, if I’m alive.”

In my opinion, if Tavarez doesn’t pitch well, the Red Sox might be enamored to bring up Devern Hanseck from Triple-A Pawtucket. He has struck out 20 batters in his 2 starts (20 1/3 innings). Of course, all this is probably just a stop gap until Jon Lester returns from his rehab assignment. It is probably a good thing that Lester isn’t up right now too, because a pitcher like him needs to pitch regularly. With this very odd spring weather so far, he might be in the same boat as Tavarez.

As for the game today, the gates will be open bright and early at 8:05 am. The Red Sox will try to do everything they can to get the game in even if that means not starting on time. As for what the weather forecast calls for, that could be a different story. This is what the National Weather Service has forecast for the Boston area on Monday:

Monday: Periods of rain, mainly before 3pm. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 45. Breezy, with a east wind 27 to 30 mph decreasing to between 11 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

So it could be a long wait for the game to start, if it starts at all. And if you see kayaks going down the streets, it’s probably someone from the Boston Marathon, which will take place no matter what the weather is.

Repost: Big Papi’s New Book Part 2

With Big Papi’s new book coming out on Tuesday, I thought I would repost the articles that have the excerpts from his book. So if you missed it the first time, please enjoy. And if you have already read it, read it again and then head out on Tuesday to pick up the book.

I have a special treat for all you Boston Red Sox fans out there in the greatest nation in the world, Red Sox Nation. I was asked by the fine people at Holtzbrinck Publishers to take a look at and review David “Big Papi” Ortiz’s new book entitled, ‘Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits’ which he wrote with Tony Massarotti. The book will be hitting bookstores in approximately 2 weeks on April 17th and can be bought at bookstores nationwide or preordered at Amazon.com. There is even a Spanish version as well.

Once I get my copy of the book, I will be reading and reviewing it here on the site. I also hope to be able to get a few extra copies to give away. I won’t know that until they ship my book out. If I do receive the books, I will be giving them away on our radio show, The Hits Keep Coming…, on a future episode. We would probably do some type of Big Papi trivia contest and the winner would receive a copy of the book. I will have more on this once I know if this will be possible.

So for the next three days, we will be taking a look at excerpts from the book. If you would like to read part 2, click the more button below. To see part 1, you can click here.

Continue reading →

April is Autism Awareness Month

A big hat tip to my friend Christa, who works with autistic children everyday. I asked her for permission to repost her blog post.

April is Autism Awareness month. This blog is dedicated to everyone who is a part of the cause.

John Ondrasik from the band Five for Fighting set up a video contest to raise money for charities. One of the charities that will benefit from this site is AutismSpeaks.com (along with many other charities that are really worth taking a look at). Just by watching these videos, 49 cents will be donated to the charity. Go to What Kind of World Do You Want to watch the videos. The more videos you watch the more money that is raised. So please take some time out of your day and help make a difference.

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Sunday Stroll Around The Majors

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon now occupies a famous locker in the Sox clubhouse.

The eye-catching Sooze over at Babes Love Baseball tells us the Houston Astros pitcher Jason Jennings will miss at least one start with a strained muscle in his elbow.

Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera was able to play on Saturday after being hit by a pitch on Friday night.

A’s pitcher Chad Gaudin likes to wear camouflage around the clubhouse.

Adam Lind didn’t answer his phone when the Blue Jays called to tell him he was going to Toronto.

The Braves are undefeated when Rafael Soriano pitches so far this season.

The Brewers’ Jeff Suppan received his World Series ring this weekend.

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has used 5 different OF combinations so far this season.

The Cubs are battling the injury bug but still got their first Wrigley Field win on Saturday.

Mets manager Willie Randolph shares his thoughts about Jackie Robinson.

The Philadelphia Phillies are currently working on a year-round baseball academy to help keep the legacy of Jackie Robinson alive.

Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman isn’t worried about his sophomore slump.

The Marlins are currently near the top of every offensive category after struggling during spring training.

Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo is ‘needing some right now‘.

The Pirates will finally answer the question of ‘We will……What?’

Rockies pitcher LaTroy Hawkins doesn’t like the idea of some teams all wearing the #42 today.

Former Padre Tony Gwynn is making sure his players at SDSU understand Jackie Robinson’s legacy.

Diamondbacks outfielder Scott Hairston is having a good start on D.

Way back when, the Dodgers traded Jackie Robinson to the New York Giants and instead of reporting, he retired 50 years ago this year.

Russ Ortiz pitches for the Giants but almost all of his salary is paid for by the Diamondbacks.

Chien-Ming Wang is on target for an April 24th return to the Yankees rotation.

Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon is not happy about his team’s bunting abilities so far this season.

Former Orioles Hall of Famer Frank Robinson felt the impact of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

White Sox DH Jim Thome feels as though you can’t honor Jackie Robinson enough.

After being a starter his whole career, Twins pitcher Glen Perkins is happy to be a reliever.

Royals OF Reggie Sanders is inspired by Jackie Robinson’s legacy.

The Indians and Travis Hafner have halted their contract negotiations.

Tigers OF Curtis Granderson once wrote a research paper about Jackie Robinson in middle school.

Mariners OF Ichiro is not using the missed games as an excuse for his slump.

Rangers manager Ron Washington says Jackie Robinson’s autobiography, ‘I Never Had It Made‘ changed his life.

Repost: Big Papi’s New Book

With Big Papi’s new book coming out on Tuesday, I thought I would repost the articles that have the excerpts from his book. So if you missed it the first time, please enjoy. And if you have already read it, read it again and then head out on Tuesday to pick up the book.

I have a special treat for all you Boston Red Sox fans out there in the greatest nation in the world, Red Sox Nation. I was asked by the fine people at Holtzbrinck Publishers to take a look at and review David “Big Papi” Ortiz’s new book entitled, ‘Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits’ which he wrote with Tony Massarotti. The book will be hitting bookstores in approximately 2 weeks on April 17th and can be bought at bookstores nationwide or preordered at Amazon.com. There is even a Spanish version as well.

Once I get my copy of the book, I will be reading and reviewing it here on the site. I also hope to be able to get a few extra copies to give away. I won’t know that until they ship my book out. If I do receive the books, I will be giving them away on our radio show, The Hits Keep Coming…, on a future episode. We would probably do some type of Big Papi trivia contest and the winner would receive a copy of the book. I will have more on this once I know if this will be possible.

So for the next three days, we will be taking a look at excerpts from the book. If you would like to read part 1, click on the more button below.

Continue reading →