The 2006 season fizzled, but after a short winter up here in the Northeast the first month and a half of the spectacular 2007 season is underway. Jon Lester is back in Pawtucket, I'm happy to have Jon back with the team in some fashion, I hope he gets things worked out so he can come up and help the club out. We need a better fifth starter, Tavarez just isn't getting the job done on a consistent enough basis. Its hard when we loose every fifth start, or the bullpen has to come out early and save the game because Manny's Mouthpeice (TM) can't get out of the second inning. He's had what two decent games so far? What happened to the guy who pitched 6 and 0 at the end of last season?

Ah well that's my biggest gripe with the team right now and if that's my biggest gripe than that means things must be going at least decently.

I read this article written by Bob Ryan over at Boston.com this morning, let me first preface that I think 90% of the Boston sports writers are complete idiots. The biggest issue I have with them is when the team is doing great one day and a single player is doing great then the writers basically trip over themselves to be the first to write the best praises for them, but as soon as someone strikes out or looks into the crowd wrong then the writers are the first to shout bloody murder. ("What makes you think it was muuuurder?" Sorry I saw Hot Fuzz recently, couldn't resist using the quote.)
Bob Ryan annoys me nearly as much as Dan Shaughnessy, you'll know when Bob is on NESN because he's always talking so loud he sounds like he's yelling at poor T.C. or Jim Rice or Dave McCarty or whomever is sitting next to the man. Basically the article wasn't horrible, and had some valid points about "Let's see what the Sox are made of" but since the Sox lost the other night, everyone's now saying "Oh well, yeah we knew they'd loose, they won't go anywhere this season." Or at least that's the sentiment I'm feeling. Why can't we as fan's and writers be like some other teams, no one complains about The Devil Rays, but is that because everyone expects the Devil Ray's to loose? They almost have a better record then the Orioles so far, they were beating the Yankees at one point.
Let's remember, we're still 8 games over the Yankees right now, we win both games today we'll be 9 games. Of course lets not count our chickens before they hatch, yes there are injuries and so forth, but I think we have a strong enough team and a good group of guys this year that they will get the job done.

On to happier things, how weird is it to say that our bullpen is awesome? After such a shaky two years, we actually have some great guys out there. Okajima was a guy I was excited to see pitch when I heard we got him, he was easily overshadowed by Dice-K (who is starting to show signs of why we spent essentially over 100 million for him, counting the money just to talk to him) and yet Okaji has really proven himself, he's only let up what one or two runs so far this season. Its good to actually have a long term lefty in the pen, I thought it was dumb when we got rid of Mike Myers before last year (not to mention Mike is a cool guy, even if he is a Yankee). Donnelly is pitching well, Joel is doing alright, Kyle Snyder is awesome, really coming into his own. Timlin? Who's he? I love Mike but I think he may need to retire at this point. Then of course there's Paps, who everyone in Boston Sports Writer land basically said ****** when he blew a save, the only save he's blown. You can't expect him to be perfect every time out. Heck not even Roger was that perfect when he was in his prime. I think even Eck blew a save in his day.

Call me dumb but I really like J.D. Drew, I think in the long run he'll be great for us, he needs to get comfortable with the team and I don't think he could ask for better teammates then David Ortiz, Julio Lugo and Youk who are always the first ones to run out and high five people and congradulate them on a run in or a home run or a killer come from behind victory. Actually I think Youk is usually the first one out running to home plate and all excited, he's like a little kid. Its great to see so much enthusiasm on this team for once in a few years. I still miss Millar, I think everyone does, but we have a great group of guys. Lugo has been amazing for us both in the field and at the plate, getting a ton of clutch hits and base steals, not to mention playing shortstop pretty darn well. Even Coco is showing signs of improvement this season, even more so out in the field and he was **** good last year.

Beckett, what can I say about him that hasn't already been said, he's great, I liked him last year and I'll continue to stick by him, this injury is just a small bump in the road, Josh won't go 20-0 on the season I doubt that, but he'll have a great season nonetheless.

Well that's about it for now, this is long enough already.
Ah Baseball blogging, how fun, how weird is it that Alyssa Milano blogs about baseball? Weird and really cool, makes her all the more hotter. (I doubt that's proper English but eh oh well.)
 

So everyone's back, then Pap, Lester and Schill go out.
Has anyone even heard from Matt Clement?

While I still think Lester had a way to go before he was killer, he was certainly on his way, I wish him the best and a quick recovery and hope he's back by Spring Training ready to pitch for us again. He's got quite the fanbase behind him, Red Sox Nation.

There's a lot of talk from members of the Sox, new-found starter Julian Tavarez and everyone's favorite Youk, about the "fair weather fans" while I certainly agree with them that there are a lot of fans that can kick you when you're down, Tavarez didn't really do much to help himself out. Yes he's proven his worth, to some degree now, but where was this kind of skill when the team needed it the most? He's not a star pitcher, but I don't think he realizes that, not in a town where Beckett, Schilling, Papelbon and Wakefield pitch. Heck I think Van Buren had more fans before he was let go yesterday. Granted myself and a friend had been saying that Tavarez could be a starter for the past month or two now, but if he would just shut up and go back to pitching. As for Youk, I love the guy, amazing player, both offense and defense, he seems like a really cool guy, but do you really want to **** off fans that have been cheering for you the last few years, even when you were up and down from AAA to the Sox a number of times a year? I would hope not. Not that I'm going to start boycotting Youk or anything, far from it, but I hope he just stays a bit more quiet in the future or else his popularity in Boston will fade away.

We're now 6 games back in the Wild Card race, things sort of look up but as a friend of mine put it, us Red Sox fans are blind optimists. We always think they'll be able to pull out of it, even if they're in last place. They could win every game between now and the end of the month, you'll see!

The Mets are still doing well, they're my backup team this year. While every year I joke about the Devil Rays, I really think they have potential they just need to start caring.

That's about it for now.

So we're on the loosing side of things. while i'm a die hard Red Sox fan and a proud member of Red Sox nation (or at least I was, I think the card expired, nonetheless I got the card like two weeks before my membership was up I think...) I've been a fan of the Sox since I was old enough to know what the **** was going on. We should be used this, why is it such a shock to everyone? Oh because we won the World Series in 2004. Helloooooo that was 2 years ago now. we're still riding that high apparently and we need to get off the train and onto the 2006 one. The Sox have always shown how to loose with grace, through out all of this though we still have to have hope. Still cheer on our guys, cheer on the teams that beat the Tigers, Yanks, White Sox and any other team that might be a threat. Come on Red Sox nation wake up and start giving the players something cool to look forward to, I know there are those that are out there that are with the team always, no matter what, but there are a lot of band-wagon fans, they jump on whoever is *************". Yes Seanez and Tavarez ****, those guys are only good really when we're not winning so go ahead and boo them, but guys like Youk (I know some people are saying Youk! and it sounds like Boo's, but I wonder how many are boo's and not Yoooooooouk?) and so forth.

Anyway, it seems like when Dave Wallace came back in the spot of Pitching coach, our pitching staff has gone downhill, now it might be a coincidence but that's what it seems like, I personally liked Al Nipper more. I don't know the man, but he seemed better equiped to handle guys like Beckett and Papelbon, who are similar in fashion to Roger Clemens, I said similar not clones, basically the "throw heat" guys. I miss 'Tek, but I think Mirabelli is doing a great job covering for him, and Lopez, well the poor guy needs to really get to know the team, he was thrown into a hard role. But I am unappologetically a Doug Mirabelli fan, he is one of my favorite players.

How about Lowell and Gonzo, I know there's a lot of talk about these two right now and why not add to it. I love Mike Lowell, a great player, he seems like a really good guy and a good leader on the field. Gonzo has really just made me forget all about Renteria, I think that's the case for a lot of people. His bat isn't that great, but we have other guys that can (and should, but aren't) stepping up and covering for him, but with a defensive glove like that, you can't go wrong. Mike Lowell should win the Gold Glove this year.

Breslow seemed to pitch well the other night, I'm looking forward to seeing more from him.

We'll see how Boomer pitches tonight, no matter I'm not a fan of his, but if he pitches as well as he did last time then that will be good, but Verlander I think is going to win. Verlander is just crazy, so many good young pitchers this year, I hope they can keep it up.

I just saw this quote in the survivinggrady.com message board:
The pundits who have said we will lose interest in the Red Sox now that they have won it all are wrong. We never loved baseball in this town for the championships. No one ever became a Red Sox fan so they could boast or brag or thump their chest. We are Red Sox fans because it is fun, because it unites us in a common purpose and gives our whole community, the whole of Red Sox nation, a shared experience.

~

Jose Melendez


well I don't know if I can agree with the whole, we don't like to brag thing, we're still rubbing in people's face "2004!", good for us, at this point it's proving to be a fluke though. 2004 has become our rally cry of sorts, heck Nesn is still using "Tessie". Sigh.

That's all the ranting I can muster up for now. Go Sox!
Day off tomorrow for them, sweet deal, then a five game series with the Yanks, I can't wait to see how badly Damon gets boo'd this time around.

Monday can not come soon enough, not only is it the night of Jack Bauer but it's finally the regular season. Enough of this Spring Training that seems to have taken forever, let's see how our teams do now. Granted the Sox are what 9-18-1 as of yesterday. I think once the complete team has some real regular season time together and they get comfortable enough playing baseball with one another then I think we'll see them have a good season.
I just saw an article about Tim Wakefield on the redsox.com homepage. What can I say, I love Tim Wakefield. The man is one of the finest pitchers, I love watching his knuckleball fly and confuse the heck out of batters and he seems like a real genuine, nice guy off the field. I'm excited for him, pitching behind Schill this season. That is quite the responsibility and I think only Wake at this time can handle it. I'm reminded of the game last year against the Yankees with Randy Johnson pitching and the game was 1-0, sadly the Sox lost that game but Wake came up with 11 strikeouts. Third to only Clemens and Cy Young, not to shabby for a knuckleball pitcher.

Oh, who's besides me is more than excited about Coco this upcoming season? I was pretty pysched about him when I heard that he was coming our way then his performance this spring training has been insane, he's batting .449 the only one that's close to that is Mark Loretta who's batting at .375, and I'm pretty psyched about Loretta too. Coco Crisp, what a great name, I wish him all the luck in the world playing for us. I think he'll be better than Johnny (at least throwing wise).

Looks like Papi is close to signing a $50 Million dollar deal to extend his contract. That guy is so loved in Red Sox Nation that until he really majorly ***** anything he touches will turn to gold. I love that guy, he's become the unofficial captain of the team I think, he's the one that everyone, I think, looks up to. Plus he's got a good attitude about everything, he loves playing. Can't fault anyone for that.

Well that about does it.

3 more days...

The Red Sox of 2006. About a month and a half ago most of Red Sox Nation was sitting here waiting for Christmas to come and wondering why the heck Johnny Damon left us.
Now we just want Johnny to stop bothering us like an ex boy/girlfriend and Spring Training to get underway so that we can get to the regular season and see how our new guys perform.
Let's talk a little about what's happened.
Theo came back. Was he ever really gone? Phyiscally maybe, the way he worked things and his ideas and spirit, they were all still there. I think some of the trades were ones he may have been working on before he left. I hope not Dougy Mirabelli's trade, someone's got some 'splainin to do on that one. I miss Dougy he was such a good guy and a good player. Anyway, Theo's return while it may have surprised some, it didn't surprise a lot, I think to some degree we all knew he was coming back, face it Boston is like crack, it's an addiction, the fans can get you on such a high. (Of course there's always the downside to that high, it can hurt like **** to come off that high.)
In any case he's back and working some of his magic I hope.
Roger Clemens. I'll make this one quick... hopefully. Clemens just needs to come back, great pitcher, quite the ego, but that's what has kept him so good over the years. Seriously Mr. Clemens Red Sox Nation loves you, you are up there with the likes of Yaz, Fisk, and some of the other great Red Sox players over the years. Besides there's some more records I'm sure here in Boston that you haven't broken along with the amount of strikes thrown and such.
Coco Crisp. Along with a really, really cool name (much like Roethlisburger, cool name, didn't want the Steelers to win but cool name nonetheless) Coco has a lot of potential, he can throw, unlike someone else we all knew and loved (*cough* johnny *cough*). I think he'll prove to be a great bat for us and a great Center Fielder and a good lead-off hitter, which is what he's been doing for the last couple years anyway. I think once he meets with the team the chemistry will be there, the fans I'm sure will love the guy. Heck even if he screws up once in a while who cares, we gave Edgar a lot of chances last year, no one could get worse than that wreck.
Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta, third and second base, respectively. I think these two are going to the be underdogs that everyone underestimates. I think they're going to come in and tear it up out there and have a good time doing it. They're both supposedly insane defensively and both I think will be good bats. While I'll miss Bill Mueller, I think Lowell is going to be a good replacement.
Youk on first with J.T. Snow backing up. How can you go wrong? Youk has been loyal to the Sox for years and has been up and down in the majors and minors like a roller coaster. Its about time he get's to play more regularly. And with Snow, we'll have not only a good glove but a good bat much in the way that Olerud did for us.
The only person that no one has really talked about that I'm disappointed hasn't been given and official position is Tony Graffinino, he was amazing for us last year, he went in and did his job and he really likes playing in Boston. He likes the fans, he likes the team, at least it all appears that way. I guess he'll be a backup second baseman?

Josh Beckett, along with Papelbon I think these two will stable out bullpen both starting lineup and relief. Pappy is quite possibly the next great pitcher of all time. In the ranks of Clemens or Nolan Ryan or whomever. Beckett I think will just be rock solid, I know he's had his issues in the past, but we'll see. He could prove to be another Wade Miller. Speaking of Wade Miller, when the heck did we trade him? Not that I'm sad, but seriously? I guess I missed that trade.
Why did we also get rid of Mike Myers and Chad Bradford? They were two good pitchers. Sure after a while of pitching most teams knew how to hit off from them, but that's why they were relief guys and only in for a batter or inning. I'll miss Mike Myers the most, especially the NESN The World According to Mike Myers or whatever the name of the occasional specials were.

As long as Kelly will be out on the field snagging the foul balls and such, I'll be happy. ;)

About a week to go and then we can start seeing how these guys are going to work for us.

Now if only there was some way of convincing Clemens to come back...

I normally use my domain, www.redsoxforum.net for my Red Sox news, but a chance to do it at the MLB site, sure why not. So this is a fresh new start, which is good because it seems to go with the Sox Management thus far.

So, the White Sox won the World Series... Old news. I know. Slight significance is that they also won for the first time in 86 years. So who's next? The Cubs? Although The Dodgers look like they're making a play to try to challenge everyone else this upcoming season. They've got at least 3 of the more influential Red Sox personel in the past 4 years. Nomar, Bill Mueller, and Grady Little. Two of the three I could care less about. Nomar hasn't been good in a few years. I don't see why everyone wants the man back in Boston? He hasn't been a solid in two to three years, he hasn't been a solid fielder in a while, not too mention he's been "injured" more in the last two or three years than a lot of people. Maybe he should just let Mia be the bread winner in the house. Grady Little, well I don't know much about the guy, maybe that's what makes me care less about him.
Bill Mueller though, the guy is one of my favorite Third Basemen of all time. Have you seen the agility that this guy plays with? I don't know how many times he probably saved Renteria's butt last year. The only other players I know of that play with that kind of ruff and tumble attitude are Trot Nixon and Gabe Kapler. (In fact I'm still waiting for the day that Trot either cartwheel's to first to get someone out or does somersaults to catch a ball in the air.)
Not only was Billy a good player but he just seemd like a good guy. He was quiet, didn't play to get attention like Johnny or Manny, just went out there and did his job, I dont think the man missed many days last year. If he did I'm sure he had a good reason. I will miss you Bill Mueller and I may become a Dodger fan if you continue your playing like you have.

Next up, the Renteria deal.

I think when that deal went through, Red Sox nation as a collective played the hallelujah chorus. He seemed like a likeable guy, but he just ******. I've heard some people state that he had taken a while to get used to playing even in St. Louis and etc. but once he got used to it he was good. My response was, we don't have that kind of time in Boston. Not with the kind of fans that we got up here. If you don't do well even in the first year, you probably won't be liked and will probably be run out of town. New England is a hometown of some of the most rabid, cruel, loving and caring fans on the face of the planet. We like anyone who can defeat the Yankees, but we hate anyone who beats us. You can be the nicest of people but if you can't play in Boston, you're not liked.
Edgar just wasn't up to the standards that we have set for our players, and why shouldn't we as baseball fans set standards for our teams, especially when the Sox have had players like Babe Ruth, Carlton Fisk, Yaz, and the list goes on, right up to Ortiz and Manny and Tek and Wake. We've been able to spend the money to get a high caliber of players, though sometimes our expectations and original thoughts of a player don't hold up. Nomar was the best thing to happen to the Sox since Clemens, but after all was said and done, he was nothing more than a public face. Maybe Edgar was the Sox scapegoat this year. Overall we had a pretty ***** season, pitching was down, enthusiasm just wasn't there, plus heads got inflated. But Edgar's 30 errors won't go unnoticed.

Doug Mirabelli, who is sad to see him go? No seriously, I love Dougy. He was one of the coolest guys, I mean he could've been a Jay Payton and whined because he didn't play everyday, but no he was happy just to play and to catch for the just as cool and loveable Tim Wakefield. I thought both would retire together, they just made such a good team. I can't begin to wonder who the Sox are going to get to catch for Wake now. Kelly Shoppach has a lot to live up to if he gets the job and 'Tek just can't catch Wake's knuckleball and will freely admit it. Even Wake seemed miffed that Doug was traded, I personally think it was a bad move, keep Doug, keep Graffinino, ship out Edgar, move Cora over to shortstop for now, thought Cora isn't my favorite he'd play SS better than Edgar.

Overall thoughts: Trade Manny, I like the guy and he's a great hitter, but we already have a great DH, we don't need another one and Manny is just slacking off way too much out in the field. Hiding in the Green Monster, running to first and keeps going even when he's safe, so by the time he stops he's in right field. Not running out a play at first, even if you know you're going to be thrown out, run it out. Is it really that hard?
Jonathan Papelbon is quite possibly the next Roger Clemens, more so than my tied for first with Tim Wakefield favorite pitcher of a all time Chris Carpenter. Put Papelbon in the starting rotation, if the Clemens thing went through our starting pitching staff could look like this: Clemens, Papelbon, Schilling, Beckett and Wakefield. That would be an insane pitching staff, too bad we couldn't like Jason Isringhausen or someone like that for our lack of a relieving pitching staff. All we have is Timlin, Bradford and Foulke at this point. Getting rid of Mike Myers was dumb, I like Mike, he was a funny guy his documentaries he did with NESN were fun, and he was a pretty good pitcher. Foulke needs to just go, trade him to the Royals or something.

Ok I think I've ranted enough for the day. I'm sure I'll be back as soon as we find out what's going on with Johnny.