Maple Street Press Red Sox Annual 2007 goes far beyond the basics and gives diehard Sox fans the detailed coverage of the team they crave. In collaboration with renowned Red Sox website Sons of Sam Horn, it provides over 100 pages of the most complete and in-depth coverage of the Red Sox available.

After another offseason of upheaval there are many questions facing the Red Sox as they enter the new season. Why did the Red Sox sign JD Drew? Is he worth the money? Is Julio Lugo going to be at shortstop for more than one year? Will Coco Crisp bounce back? Chad Finn gives a position-by-position break down of the new-look roster and what to watch for in the coming season. With the expanded room, the Annual is also able to go beyond the standard topics and examine things such as:

• The story behind Dirty Water and how the now beloved song came to be the Red Sox victory anthem;
• How winning impacts the Red Sox’s financial returns and off-season investments;
• A thorough look at the courtship of Daisuke Matsuzaka from Rob Bradford;
• How the offense cost the team a postseason appearance last season and what Theo Epstein has done to make sure that doesn’t happen again;
• A detailed deconstruction of Theo Epstein’s bullpens over his tenure, and what to look for from his latest group of relievers;
• Where Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz rank amongst the greatest 1-2 punches in baseball history; and
• How the Red Sox’s new approach to the amateur draft might allow them to have an influx of premium talent

This and more is all packed into over 100 full-color pages of Red Sox coverage (not ads) unlike anything else available in print. This is a publication by Red Sox fans for Red Sox fans, and provides a level of coverage national publications cannot match.

‘The Hits Keep Coming’ internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio just had it’s third episode on the air tonight. Thanks to Anthony and Jason for helping make everything go smoothly, as well as the conversation and taking out part of their evening to talk about the sport we love.

A special thanks to Chad Gramling of Chad Gramling’s Baseball Blog for joining us in the first hour.

The first was live and streaming; whereas, the second hour was just recorded after we got off the air.

Website: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost

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The Hits Keep Coming… Episode 3
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Downloads:

• Windows Media Format
• MP3 Format
• ITunes

Hour One: (Live)

• Show Intro & News
• Ugueth Urbina
• DirecTV, John Kerry and Congress
• National League Preview

Hour Two

• National League Preview (continued)
• Position Battles with Ian
• Milestones for the upcoming season

Join us every Wednesday at 7PM Eastern Time for a live broadcast of the show.

So does Daisuke Matsuzaka throw a gyroball? New evidence brought out by Tom Verducci over at Sports Illustrated says that no, the gyroball doesn’t exist.

Here’s the truth: Matsuzaka’s changeup is so wicked, so unlike most every changeup anyone has seen, that people don’t know what to make of it. Matsuzaka has told me he does not throw the gyroball. Every Red Sox staff member and official I’ve talked with said he does not throw it.

“What the Marlins thought was the gyro was the changeup,” one of the Boston sources said. “That’s what people think is the gyro. It’s his best pitch.”

Said another Red Sox insider, “Japan is famous for copious scouting reports. If you throw a pitch once in your life the scout will include it in the report. Dice-K enjoys letting people think he throws it. There’s no harm in it. Why not just give them one more thing to think about?”

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Gyroball
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Dice-K
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So was Dice-K pulling everyone’s chain when he said this back on February 15th.

(We’ve heard so much about the gyroball. Do you throw it and will we see it this season.)

[Matsuzaka pauses and grins] Hmm… how to answer this? I knew this was coming. I prepared some optional answers. Do I say I can, that I have it? Or do I ask what pitch you are referring to? Overall, if I have the chance, I will pitch that ball.

And here is what I had said just last week after watching the game and hearing the analysis on ESPN.

He even threw the mythical “gyroball.” Folks, this pitch simply doesn’t exist. When he throws this pitch, it is a change up with screwball action. All I know is he threw that ball and it looked like it was going to go over the middle of the plate and as soon as it got near the plate, the bottom fell out. Of course, it was called strike 3.

The big question here is who are we supposed to believe? Are we supposed to believe the guy, Verducci, who said baseball was clean after the “Game of Shadows” came out or Dice-K or ESPN? Well, two of the three aren’t credible. So I will go with Dice-K and say, No, the pitch doesn’t exist.

Ria Cortesio has a dream, and that dream is to be a professional umpire in MLB. She will get the chance on Thursday to call a big league exhibition game between the Diamondbacks and the Cubbies. She will be the first woman since Pam Postema to call a big league exhibition game. No woman has ever called a game or been an umpire in MLB ever. She hopes to change that.

”I’m looking forward to it. There will be a lot more people in the stands than I’m used to. I was kind of expecting it. Umpires with my seniority usually get picked. I don’t do this job to get on TV. But I hope it will raise the awareness a little.”

Cortesio started out in the Pioneer League back in 1999. For those of you who don’t know, minor league umpires don’t make shit for money. She started out making $1800 a month plus $34 a day meal money and 33 cents a mile. That’s right they don’t fly. If I remember correctly, the only leagues that minor league umpires fly in are the International League (AAA), Pacific Coast League (AAA) and Texas League (AA).

She is now going into her 5th season in Double-A ball. She will be back in the Southern League again and is the first person up for promotion to Triple-A. Let’s hope Lou Pinella is on his best behavior on Thursday.