Red Sox Odds & Ends

Back to the minors for HansenCraig Hansen didn’t do anything to help his cause on Monday against the Reds as he was charged with all 5 runs they scored. He had a rough go around with the Reds hitters. The first batter he faced, he struck out. The second and third batters singled. The fourth got hit by a pitch. He hit the next batter to force in a run. He walked the next batter to force in another run. Struck out the next batter and walked the next batter to force in another run. Not a really good outing for someone trying to make the team. His spring ERA now stands at 15.43.

My question is did the Red Sox rush him too quickly to the big leagues. The Red Sox, especially under Theo Epstein’s reigns, normally have taken their time in making sure younger players get developed in the system before being brought to the big leagues. But since the Red Sox needed arms at the end of the 2005 season, they brought him up just a mere two months after he was drafted out of St. Johns University. For what it’s worth, I think the Red Sox would be better suited using Hansen as trade bait. He could bring the Red Sox something of value. But for now, he will probably try to find himself in Triple-A.

Manny being Manny

Manny Ramirez called out sick on Monday. He was feeling a bit run down with a sore throat so Terry Francona thought it was best if he stayed behind and got his rest. Probably a smart move because usually illnesses like that spread through the clubhouse quickly. No word though if Manny got the sore throat because of all the talking he has done to the media this spring.

Long live Tito!Francona also said he pretty much has decided who is going to make up the 25 man roster to start the season. The one thing we know for sure is that whomever is the 12th pitcher, he will be the first one to be sent down when Mike Timlin returns from his stint on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. Most of the 25 man roster will travel with the team to Philadelphia for the two games this weekend with the exceptions of Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Tim Wakefield. Beckett will get his work in on Friday against some minor leaguers and Wakefield will get his work in on Sunday before joining the Red Sox in Kansas City Sunday night. 38pitches.com will fly into KC on Saturday at some point.

While in Philadelphia, the Red Sox will throw Julian Tavarez on Friday night and Daisuke Matsuzaka on Saturday night. Matsuzaka will throw probably 40-60 pitches while I would have to think that they will let Tavarez go for as long he can as they try to stretch his rubber arm out.

Right now these are the pitching matchups for the first six games:

Kansas City Royals

  • Game 1: Curt Schilling vs Gil Meche
  • Game 2: Josh Beckett vs Odalis Perez
  • Game 3: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs Zack Greinke

Texas Rangers:

  • Game 1: Tim Wakefield vs Robinson Tejada
  • Game 2: Julian Tavarez vs Kevin Millwood
  • Game 3: Curt Schilling vs Vincente Padilla

LSU Joins Rutgers In The Women’s Final Four

Unfortunately for the UCONN Women, they ran into Sylvia Fowles and the LSU Lady Tigers in the regional finals. LSU rode their “big girl” past UCONN by the final score of 73-50. LSU now moves onto Cleveland to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the Women’s Final Four.

Fowles led the way for the Lady Tigers with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Allison Hightower added 12 points, Erica White had 11 points and Ashley Thomas, who hadn’t scored since the last time these times met, chipped in 10 points. For UCONN, they were led by their backcourt duo of Mel Thomas and Renee Montgomery. Montgomery had 17 points and Thomas had 13 points on 3 of 5 shooting from behind the 3 point arc.

This was an LSU team that was having to deal with the loss of their coach, Pokey Chatman, who had to resign due to an inappropriate relationship with a former player. They played their hearts out and got the better of the Huskies. Also during the game, Tina Charles’ shoulder flared up when she was stuffed on a shot. LSU played great defense taking away the Huskies interior game and early on UCONN couldn’t make a shot.

With no seniors on the team and two of the top recruits coming in, I expect the Huskies to contend for the national title again next year.

On The Road Again, Dice-K Just OK

The Road WarriorMonday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds was the 5th start of the spring for Daisuke Matsuzaka, and his fourth on the road. He wasn’t as sharp as he was in his last outing against the Pirates. He throw 104 pitches in 5 innings. Just over half (59) were for strikes. He didn’t allow any hits nor runs but walked 5. He did strikeout six batters.

He seemed to be working on different pitches instead of trying to establish his fastball. He fell behind on the hitters early and you could even see him getting pissed at himself.

Normally after his starts, Matsuzaka usually will meet with the media and then the Japanese media, but for the first time all spring, he didn’t speak with the media but rather issued this statement:

‘‘This time of the year, I think the content of my pitching is more important than the result on paper. I’m not happy with the content of my pitching today. I threw a lot of walks and wasted balls and it was tough for my fielders to defend and to get into a good rhythm on offense. It’s something I want to pay attention to in the regular season.’’

Honestly, if this is him struggling, I’d hate to see him when he is on. We all have high expectations on what to expect from him and I am sure his expectations are higher than ours. He is a tireless worker and I expect whatever kinks he had on Monday to be worked out by the time he faces the Phillies this weekend in Philadelphia. Yet another road start for him.

Peyton Manning, Funny Man or Football QB

If you didn’t have a chance to catch to Peyton Manning on Saturday Night live this past Saturday night, you missed Peyton probably being the funniest athlete to appear on SNL. Honestly if he wasn’t playing football, he could probably pass as an actor on SNL. Instead of me telling you how good the show was, I’d ask you to head over to Ladies… and see what the beautiful and talented Holly had to write about the show. I will leave you with these two clips from the show.

[youtube 8G5VwMITuAk nolink]

[youtube NZpPf-q2_es nolink]

Anna Nicole Smith Autospy Results Are In

On Monday morning, the Broward County medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper released the autospy results of Anna Nicole Smith. The results showed that she died the same way as her son did, of an accidental drug overdose. She actually overdosed on 9 different prescriptions. Oddly enough, one of the drugs that caused her overdose was the same one that attributed to Marilyn Monroe’s death. The drug was chloral hydrate, which is a very powerful sleep aid.

This is just another bizarre result in a bizarre case. If Howard K. Stern knew she was taking all these medications, wouldn’t he have said something to her like Larry Birkhead did. The case will get even more interesting now as they await the results of the DNA test that was to determine who Anna Nicole’s daughters father is.

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

Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss was seen asking O.J. Simpson to pose with him for pictures at a Miami hotspot the other night. It’s nice to see that Moss has finally found a role model he can look up to.

President George W. Bush honored the University of Florida’s football team with a ceremony on the White House’s South lawn. It was a joyous gathering of dozens of guys who wear helmets and one who probably should.

In college basketball, this year’s NCAA tournament is expected to pull in more than $500 million in TV advertising revenue. Wow – the NCAA hasn’t seen that much money being tossed around since Chris Webber. Wow, $500 million. That’s almost as much as it costs to go to USC.

The Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson both support Colorado’s decision to make their new state song “Rocky Mountain High.” Really high.

The Nintendo Wii’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’07 is being called the most realistic golf game yet. It’s so realistic that viewers are guaranteed to fall asleep halfway through. Ahh, video game golf. Where every button is the snooze button.

In baseball, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was arrested Thursday on suspicion of drunken driving after police found him asleep inside his running SUV. Turns out his drowsiness was simply brought on by listening to replays of last year’s World Series.

And a woman previously charged with stalking announcer Bob Uecker was asked to leave a Milwaukee Brewers’ spring training game yesterday. The woman is believed to be suffering from psychological problems and extremely bad vision. She is also a self-described Brewers fan, yet another sign that she’s insane.

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

Red Sox News From The Fort

Is Pinero trade bait??Now that the Red Sox have named Jonathan Papelbon their closer, could a trade of Joel Piñero be possible? Some teams have sent scouts to watch him pitch. One of those teams is the Cincinnati Reds according to Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald. Since the Reds don’t have a closer yet because of Eddie Guardado’s surgery last season, they haven’t had much success finding someone to fill the role. Given the cheapness of Piñero’s contract and the stingier Reds, his contract may fit into the Reds spending plans. I am not sure who the Red Sox would be looking for to get from the Reds but one person I know they won’t get is the Reds top prospect, Homer Bailey. Maybe the Red Sox could ask for Mark Bellhorn. Just kidding, we definitely don’t need to watch his ass strike out all season.

Josh Beckett pitched well in his outing against his former team, the Florida Marlins. He threw 7 innings of 3 hit ball, string out 7, walking 3 in 92 pitches. He did allow an unearned run. Beckett also hit a batter in the ribs, which could have been a retaliation because Kevin Youkilis was clipped by a Marlins baserunner at first base. It was nice to see Beckett bounce back from that god awful 5th inning that he had in his last start. With the Red Sox not having any other off days this week, he was able to get his work in the day before the game. If Beckett can continue these types of pitching performances, the Red Sox will be in good shape as the season rolls around. He does need to trust Varitek more. And hopefully he does. Tek calls one of the best games out their and will only help in Beckett’s development.

The Monday Jog Around Spring Training

Here is a look at the news coming out of spring training camps in Florida and Arizona for this Monday morning.

Blue Jays setup man Brandon League is heading back to the minors to work on finding the lost velocity on his fastball.

After starting out last season on the disabled list with “social anxiety”, Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke will be the 3rd man in their rotation.

Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore is having a rough spring but manager Eric Wedge isn’t concerned.

Edgar Gonzalez’s hot spring training is going to probably land him a spot in the Diamondbacks rotation as the 4th starter.

Kelly Johnson and the Braves are confident about his return to the infield after playing in the outfield the past 3 seasons.

The Brewers are hoping their miscues in spring training games don’t carry over into the start of the season.

Jeff Karstens had to leave the Yankees game versus the Tigers with elbow stiffness.

Mike Pelfrey was named the 5th starter for the Mets.

With Sammy Sosa making the Rangers roster, Jason Botts is once again headed back to the minors.

Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez was hoping his older brother Edgar had made the Cardinals. He didn’t.

Ray Ray is Done For The Year

Former UCONN Huskies star, Ray Allen, is out for the rest of this NBA season with bone spurs in his left ankle. Allen will have to undergo surgery to remove those spurs. He had been playing in a lot of pain lately and was unable to tolerate it. He has had a previous surgery on that ankle back in 2003.

“I hate to sit on the sidelines and watch,” Allen said. “I’ve had a lot of tough times the past two, three weeks just getting in, getting out and trying to play games.”

Allen is now the second former UCONN Husky to be out for the rest of this season, joining Charlie Villanueva on the injured list.