SawxBlog

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.