SawxBlog

SawxBlog.com Wrigley Field Pics

I've posted some pictures up from a trip I had out to Chicago earlier this year. I had a great time there, and the ballpark is second only to Fenway Park as far as aesthetics and atmosphere go. To view the pics you can click here or click on the link posted on the left of the page. Hopefully their drought will end shortly, they're the last ones left now. Enjoy.

For those of you who have NESN and have been keeping up with their World Series Winter, Game 1 from the 2004 WS is on tonight. This game will always have special memories for me because my brother flew in from Chicago to watch it with me. We went strait from Logan to the Park and it was just surreal. It was like 10:00am and the streets were PACKED. Their was about a 20 min. wait just to get into the Souvenier Shop and there was just a great buzz in the air. Those two weeks were filled with a lot of anxiety, cheap beer, and jubilation. A highlight of the day was running into ESPN's Tim Kurkjian on the street and scaring him to death with our excitement. **Note to Readers** In person Tim looks like he would have made a great extra for LOTR, and has a very impish handshake. I'm falling off the topic in which I wanted to touch on though, which is, >>-INSERT SCARY MUSIC HERE-<< "THE CURSE".

I watched most of the W.S games this winter to brush up on my history as well as see some games I never had the opportunity to see. While taping Game 6 of the 1975 World Series I realized something about 1/2 way through the game (and I do agree, this has to be one of the best ever played) not ONE mention of Babe Ruth or "The Curse". There were no 1918 signs in the prior games in Cincy and the announcers kept to what mattered, the game at hand. It was nice and made me realize that Trot Nixon should have been calling the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy a clown instead of Slap-Rod. The "Curse" of the Bambino wasn't 86 years old, it's as old as Dan's book. I just thought that should be mentioned. Watching the Yankee games and even the W.S. games with the mention of it is a little over the top. Thank God that's over. I bet that one guy dressed up as "the curse" had a great train ride home. I wonder if there will be 2000 signs at the Park this year...

Miller Time?

Even though Spring Training is in its early stages I'm very happy about reports coming back on Wade Miller. I'm paying closest atention to him these coming weeks and know that if he rebounds well the Sox will be that more dangerous during the year. Basically as we stand right now our starting rotation is.

1. Curt Schilling
2. David Wells
3. Tim Wakefield
4. Matt Clement
5. Brandon...I mean Bronson Arroyo

This puts no pressure on Miller to hurry back and raises an interesting question, who do you bump if he gets healthy? I'm pretty sure Wake would be out since he's proven to be a team player in the past, and has pitched from all three positions already. Feelings may get a little touched but this team is too strong for that. Our bullpen is looking strong as well and you can read a great article on Timlin in Today's Herald.

Gonzo Gone

On a sad note Hunter S. Thompson died last night. I'm going to greatly miss reading his books and most recently columns on ESPN's Page 2. He was an intelligent, mad, and humorous guy, and it's just too bad this all had to go down like this. You can read his whole archive HERE.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Your 2005 Boston Red Sox.

Starting Lineup & Positions

1. Johhny Damon - CF
2. Mark Bellhorn - 2B
3. Manny Ramierez - LF
4. David Ortiz - DH
5. Kevin Millar - 1B
6. Trot Nixon - RF
7. Edgar Renteria - SS
8. Jason Varitek - C
9. Bill Mueller - 3B

Wow. This is very impressive. May not have the "sexiest" names in there, however...wow. Peep these stats for their collective 2004 averages.

Hits 2B 3B HR RBI BB AVG. OBP.
155.8 36.6 1.8 22.4 90.1 66.3 .296 .381

It doesn't lineup the best but damn. That is amazing. We lost a lot of players but we still have a ton of great players. Pitching staff numers will be up in the soon.

Sox Sign Key Two to Steals...I Mean Deals

Well even though this (or anything else really in this post) is breaking news the Sox have resigned Mark Bellhorn and Bronson Arroyo to two great one year deals. Neither deal isn't going to break the Sox bankroll, and both players will contribute significantly to the Sox 2005 campaign. I'm most excited about Bronson and think that he can really develop into a solid starter. He's already got all the big game experience you can ask for and has been able to really mentor some of the great and unique pitchers Boston has had over the last few years. I'm hoping he can give a solid 14 win season next year and hopefully never put his hair in cornrows again. I mean he even has Britney's Boy Toy wearing em' now. Marky Mark came through in some utter clutch situations last year with some big time hits and homeruns. I predicted him having a "breakout" postseason and I was looking pretty silly with his playing in the begining. Mark is exactly what the Sox want. He's patient at the plate, and when he puts the ball in play, hits for a good average. He has to cut down on his strikeouts, but the amount of pitches he made pitchers throw last year was well worth some of the frustration his whiffs bring.

Minky & Ballgate

I haven't written anything about the "Ballgate" scandal yet and I'm not planning on it either. It'd be nice if the Sox had the ball, yes, but where it really should be is in Cooperstown, and if he was as big as a baseball history buff then he'd recognize this. Either way I think the Minky's out the door, and with the recent signing of Del-Got-It he'll most likely be joining Pedro in Queens. If the Sox can get another arm out of him then I'd be colored happy. Millar will hopefully have a more consistent season, and we'll pick some more defense up when we need it. You can read more about Ballgate HERE.

Head to the Mountains of Busch, League Play

What an A-Rod

Now we all know that Schilling likes to talk. And sometimes too much, I totally agree there. But when Schilling called Alex's Slap in the ALCS a "bush-league play" it was nothing but the God honest truth. You don't hear Curt talking smack about anyone who doesn't really deserve it, and he usually gives credit when it's due. Recently he was 100% supportive of Giambi and has always respected the Yankee organization. When Slap-Rod says the following, "I just hope he continues to talk about me and my teammates, It's going to give us great motivation to beat him up in the future." No Slappy, he was only talking about you, motivate all you want but ponder this Alex. 1) You gave the Red Sox the wake up call they needed last year when you caught Tek's Mitt with your pretty boy grill after WAY over reacting to an Arroyo inside pitch. Thanks. 2) In game 6 of the 2004 ALCS with your Yankees in the midst of a typical comeback against the Red Sox you killed all momentum with one of the most un-Yankee like plays I've ever seen. Oh, and this is also when Schilling pitched one of the most historic and improbable starts in postseason history. You're a true talent yes, just not really so much last year and hopefully never again.

What a time to live in Boston

Best QB Ever?

A quick good luck to the best team in football on Superbowl Sunday. Another amazing run by the Pats is being had while leveling the best teams in the league. It'll be a little tough for me since the Eagles are my second favorite team (because of roommates and friends) but it should be another fun game to watch. Go Pats!!!

Thanks D-Lowe

D-Lowe Off to L.A.

Derek "chops" down the A's in the 2003 ALDS

Well in what's been a familiar action for me this World Series Winter, I'm saying goodbye and thanks to two great contributors to the Boston Red Sox. Lowe played every role a pitcher could for the Sox, and in general, he did it well for us. I would have loved seeing him back for us, ecsp. with his unreal postseason pitching. However, he was sub par all year round and had gotten a lot of run support over the last few years. He should fit in well over in LA and at least him and Petey are in the NL now! So thanks for closing those games out, thanks for being a mental gidget, thanks for dressing up like Pedro, thanks for throwing fits on the mound, thanks for throwing that no-hitter, and for Game 5 of the 2003 ALDS, Game 3 of the 2004 ALDS, Game 7 of the ALCS, and of course Game 4 of the World Series. Thanks D-Lowe your time in Boston was up, but I hope you chew up the N.L. Cheers.

Oh, and how 'bout getting up for a round of applause for Pokey filling in for "Mr. Sitting on the Bench in N.Y." last year Pokey, there just wasn't any room for ya', but the leather you flashed was breath taking, and you were perfect for us. Kick some ass.

Thank God

Finally

The two who ended a dynasty

All I can say right now is thank GOD the Randy Johnson fiasco is over. I was getting real sick of hearing the drip, drip, drip, drip, drip of this since, oh, last summer. This def. helps out the Yankees rotation for next year no doubt, however, I'm curious to how $16 million for a 44 year old pitcher (with a bad back) will pan out in the future. No knocking this though, who wouldn't want him. I still have a few questions on this that really desire no answer.
1) Why Mr. Lurch, were the MFY the only team you wanted to play for? I get it, you wanted to go to a contender, and the Yankees are always there and have been spending to stay there, but why only them? I don't get it, and don't want to. But why?
2) George, Have you totally given up on any possibility of having a farm system? Yes I know the Sox had like two homegrown players on their championship team last year (not including Nomie), but we still have quite a bit of prospects to bring up or at least use in trades. From what I know the Yankees have nothing, I could be wrong here, but those are the facts. Two really good friends of mine sent me an article about how the Sox are just like the Yankees now spending more then the rest of the league etc. Yes they are spending a lot, however like the Yanks they have prob. the 2nd highest amount of revenue coming in and they don't seem to be throwing money around. I compare the Sox and Yankees as the USA and USSR. It's an arms race (no pun intended) and in order to compete with your neighbor, you got to keep a close eye on them. It's almost impossible to find an article about the Sox or MFY without either team being mentioned, it really is amazing. And damn, over the last two postseasons the ALCS has BY FAR been the most watched and interesting thing going on in baseball, therefore making everyone more money. Either way the Sox and Yanks will continue to use the rest of the MLB as their farm system until a salary cap is granted.
3) And George, you're really rich huh? $207 million is a lot. I guess that's all I have to say on this. A good point raised by Jayson Stark was, "If the Yankees have proved anything these last few Octobers, it's that there can be such a thing as having too many big-name, big-dollar players on one team. The Yankees of 1996-2000 were a baseball team, not a Rotisserie team. They were about fitting all the pieces together, not fitting all the glittering 12-page bios into one 600-page media guide. The Yankees of 2002-2004, on the other hand, have clearly been a team majoring in something other than chemistry. They kept accumulating All-Stars -- not rings. We'll see though, the article is interesting, and be read HERE.
4) What happens to the Mullett?!?! Hah ha!!! I think this is the funniest part on all of this. I'm sure he gets robot-ed up just like the rest of the Yanks.

5) Teammater become enemies. Needless to say this adds to the rivalry a bit with the Schilling/Johson past, should be fun.

It's 1)Miller 2)Mueller 3)Millar Time

In my case I'm going to touch on each of our resident milluears. 1) First up on the plate is the Sox signing last week of Wade Miller. Wow, I truly do think that this has the potential to be the biggest signing of the off-season for the Sox. If he can bounce back from his rotator cuff injury then I can see this being huge. Wade was, and had the potential to be, one of the top tier pitchers in the league. From 2001-2003 he won a total of 45 games, and even with a bum shoulder last year he had a .500 record and a 3.35 ERA. I see him slated as our three or four starter to start the year, however, look out for him to be our #2 man after the All*Star break. You heard it here first people, remember that. The most beautiful thing about this is this is a low cost, high reward risk, that if it pans out, makes our pitching very dangerous. With a base salary of $1.5 million (incentives push can push it to $4.5 million) this may end up being more of a steal then Mantei. The following is taken from ESPN.com's 2002 Year in Review, "Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller proved to be as good as any 1-2 combination in the game this side of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Oswalt (19-9, 3.01 ERA) and Miller (15-4, 3.28) combined to go 34-13, while putting together nine and 12-game winning streaks, respectively." 2) Onto my main man Bill "The Professional Hitter" Mueller. When not playing a hot third base, winning batting titles, or getting clutch hit after clutch hit against the Yankees, Bill apparently like to sign autographs. My beautiful and talented girlfriend, we'll call her Miss Digital, won me an autographed Bill Mueller ball at an auction for X-Mas. Now that's what I call a present. He's one of my favorite Sox and has won (and lost, but not often) some pretty good bets for me against my roommates. Best present of the year. 3) Next on the plate is Kevin "I never don't have an opinion and am the streakiest hitter since Mike Greenwell" Millar. Just so you know, I have this strange love hat relationship with Millar. At times he swings the bat like a golden god, and at other times he swings the bat like it's a piano leg. His talking can be very amusing, but at times I'd love to stuff a bag of pine tar in it. Again I fo like the guy a lot, but at times he can be too much. I equate him with the frind you really like and have fond memories of, you just need to take him in small doses. Like I said, it's a Love/Hate thing. I personally think that Kevin's seen his last days in a Sox uniform. Again, I was guaranteeing people Pedro would be with us next year so take it as you will. I really do think that Theo & Co. are going to try and keep a good balance of defense and power. So you may very well see Minky starting on opening day. Either way it's been stated that Sox Nation should know by mid-January so this very well be the last big "drama we see this off-season. I could argue why should keep or let go of either, however, I'm saying I'd take Kentucky Fried Kevin, but I think we're keeping the Minkster. Man, I should go into politics.

'C' is for Captain

Merry Christmas Sox fans, you got your captain. In a necessary and needed move the Sox signed Tek Boom to a 4-year $40 million deal. And in a classy move that was not known until his press conference the Sox named Tek the captain of the World Champs. Jason's only the third Sox captain in 80 years and is truly a deserved honor. I'll save more Tek banter for tomorrow, but damn, I'm happy with this and the way our club's starting to look to defend our title.

"I'm extremely honored right now. I don't really know what to say. You add all these things together with it being Christmas Eve, a special day, but to have that honor, to hold this honor in this city and this region, for this team, is something I'll wear proudly" - Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek

In other good news since I went away for the holiday, the Sox picked up another Miller for the team, this time in the form of a Wade. This is yet another solid move to help bolster up our pitching, and if his shoulder holds up, could be another huge steal as far as $$$ goes.

Check out this link (http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=60691) to read the first of a five part series being written on the championship seasons of both the Pats and Sox in 2004 by the Herald. Below's a great quote by John Henry.

"What makes good sports franchise ownership? Off the top of my head: Accountability to fans and media; determination to excel; fans first, fans second, and fans third; creating an environment in which everyone in the organization feels as if they are a part of a family; being an ardent fan; feeling more pain than any fan feels; leaving no stone unturned in the annual pursuit of a championship; never taking your position for granted."

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Me and the Pops watched Faith Rewarded about 3 times and it was awesome to see it with him, been a long time coming.

Happy Holidays from Digital.Derek!

Hello and Happy Holidays! This may well be the last entry I'll be making until after Christmas since I'm leaving Boston and going home to see my wonderful family, in New York! Hah hah. Tonight I'll be in Binghamton and will be wearing my Sox hat with pride, then it's off to Rochester. This Christmas will be a lot more cheerful for many a Sox fan, and I can't wait to finally see and talk to my family face-to-face about everything. (We will not be talking about the Pats though, talk about choking!) Anyways, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, & Merry Kwanza!

Filling in some Gaps

Well the Sox made two great moves in the past week with the signing of Edgar Renteria and Matt Clement. The Edgar move speaks for itself, and although it is very sad to see The OC leave us, I def. think this is an upgrade for us. He'll fit great into our line-up and should be a great clubhouse guy. Hopefully he leaves his hair alone... Matt Clement was a must move for us. Our starting staff is starting to take on some shape, and although it's not nearly comparable to the Yanks, it can be, depending on how people perform.

See you later Wheels

This week saw another member of our championship team leave. Mr. Dave Roberts. I feel very similar about this as I did when Kaplar left us. He was a great player, with a great attitude who gave 110% when called upon. According to Peter Gammons "Theo Epstein had promised Roberts, out of respect, that he would try to trade him to a team where he would play regularly". That's what I call respect. He's now playing for the team he rooted for while growing up, and I take my hat off to him. This is a better situation for him since his playing time would have been limited (barring injuries). What the Sox got in return is two solid role players to come off of our bench. Jay Payton is a career .285 hitter who had a little bit of an off year last year. However, the year before he batted .302 with 28 homers and 89 RBI. We also acquired Ramon Vazquez who's a very versitile infielder. I think this is a great move by the Sox, and I wish Dave all the best. The below SOSH post pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about Roberts leaving.

Wednesday Round-Up

Well the winter meetings are officially at a close and the biggesst thing we've walked away with is an aging, ex-ex-yankee, grizzly adams looking, half-drunk, Babe Ruth obsessed, strike throwing left-hander. Sigh. During this time we've also lost the best Red Sox pitcher of my generation, lost our number one starter for at least a month, and been dragging and coming "close" to numerous other deals. I can't even make any predictions on Boomer, we'll see I guess. Oh, and it's not in the Cards for Edgar...

Report Card
If I was a teacher, and the Red Sox organization was my student, they'd have a C- Winter Score right now. However, much like Bill Simmons pointed out yesterday, they did win the World Series. So I'll push the grade up to a C+. I'm learning to try and trust Theo & Co. much like I trust Scott Pioli of the New England Patriots, however; it's hard. After years of moves that made me cringe (Jose Canseco, Ricky Henderson, & even BK to name a few) it's hard to totally trust. However, I really do now. My favorite move so far of the winter is the signing of Matt Mantei. This is a low cost risk which could pay out HUGE dividends if this cat stays healthy. All we heard about before, during, and after the post-season was how pitching wins, pitching wins, & pitching wins. Our starters are depleted to say the least now, but this move made for a strong backend of the bullpen, however, our starters need to get us there first though...

More Petey
Well accoriding to one Red Sox official, "Pedro is very good, but losing Pedro and Derek Lowe means we have to replace 400 innings and a 4.60 ERA." No S***!?! Well I'll be darned. Might want to get on that huh? Click the following for more on Pedrogate and the Newest Gammons Article. Also congrats to Peter on winning the Spink Award.

Who we be signing? Who we be not signing?
Remember Jason Varitek? All signs are pointing towards him signing with the Sox, however Mr. Lucchino said this recently, "We are eager to sign him and we will continue to work with his agent in an effort to get him signed, but there are no timetables, that one may take a little while." Yeah that makes sense, since you've had since the 2003 season to try and work something out. I understand his agent is the devil, but come on, is Dougie-Fresh really going to step up as our next catcher? I understand how well he's performed for us, but I don't see him leading or catching everyday like V-Tek. I've bought a lot of W.S. swag and want my money spent right! Remember Derek Lowe? I think he may actually be good for us if signed to a one year contract. The Tigers will prob. sweep in and grab him for multiple years, and I'll miss the 'Mental Gidget'. Larry had this to say about D-Lowe, "We've offered arbitration to Derek Lowe and the ball is in his court now", translation, he's gone. It's reported that today John Halama will undergo his physical examination. If all's well he'll have his one-year, $1 million contract in hand. This could be another under the radar great move. We'll see how he does with a great line-up behind him.

The Bloody Sawk
"I'm going to be late, I think, starting the season," Schilling told WEEI yesterday. "I'm looking at least another month before I start throwing, which puts me a month behind." This is just great, but something I expected. *Gasp* Could DAVID WELLS be our opening day starter? The horror.

Best SOSH Post of the Week
Posted by Buffalo Head
Thank you for seven great seasons.
Thank you for Game 5, 1999 and Game 3, 1999.
Thank you for drilling the Bambino in the ass.
Thank you for the Red Bat and for being taped to the dugout pole.
Thank you for 17 punchados in the Bronx.
Thank you for helping that woman in Seattle with the garbage cans.
Thank you for brushing back Matsui.
And most of all, thank you for Game 3.
Vaya con dios, Petey.

Where we're at, 2 Turntables, & a 42 year old Microphone

Got Em'
Mantei, Matt RP ARI BOS 1 year, $750,000
Mirabelli, Doug C BOS BOS 2 years, $3 mil
Wells, David SP SDP BOS 2 years, $8 mil
Lost Em'
Kapler, Gabe OF BOS JAPAN 1 year, $2 mil
Martinez, Pedro SP BOS Mr. Met pending MRI
Arbitrate Em'
Astacio, Pedro SP BOS - offered arbitration
Cabrera, Orlando SS BOS - offered arbitration
Lowe, Derek SP BOS - offered arbitration
McCarty, Dave 1B BOS - offered arbitration
Myers, Mike RP BOS - offered arbitration
Reese, Pokey SS BOS - offered arbitration
Varitek, Jason C BOS - offered arbitration

Website of the Week

http://www.hardballtimes.com

Th-Th-Th-That's all folks...