SawxBlog

David Ortiz break Red Sox All-Time Homerun Record!

(SawxBlog Montage)

How do you spell MVP? Oh yeah, that's right, D-A-V-I-D -- O-R-T-I-Z. All you have to do is scroll down and look at the number of the past 10 AL MVP's. David's numbers are in the upper half of almost every category, and already well above the averages.

Jimmie Foxx's record lasted 68 long years and Big Papi is the guys who should break a record like that. It also must have felt good for David to reach a milestone such as this against a team, that for all intents and purposes, gave up on him.

Congrats Papi, you deserve it!

Big Papi Ties Red Sox Record with Homerun Number 50

(SawxBlog Illustration)

Well it's pretty easy to see which of the two teams is actually playing for something last night. But the real story is having Big Papi tie Jimmy Foxx's Homerun record of 50, which is something to be savored and appreciated. I'll write more on this when he breaks the record, but David Ortiz is at that special Larry Bird level, and hopefully his health scare was just that, a scare. Congrats Papi, you're having another monster season, and I and the rest of RSN are proud of who you are and what you do.

Red Sox Sweep Yanks in Sunday Double Header

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

The Boston Red Sox swept the double header in the Bronx yesterday and prevented the Yankees from clinching the AL East at home. Winning 3/4 games was way more then I expected going into the series, and it was nice to see the Sox show some pride and fight the Yankees tough.

David Ortiz continued his bid for the AL MVP as he hit his league leading 49th home-run, leaving him just one shy of the Red Sox all-time record of 50. I really hope that Papi breaks Jimmy Foxx's record. I can remember when I was a kid I always hoped for a Red Sox player to reach the 50 home-run plateau but the likes of Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell, and Mo Vaughn never could quite get there.

The Sox have an off-night tonight and take on the Twins on Tuesday.

Sox Yanks Split -- SawxBlog Talks MVP

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

The Red Sox split two games in the Bronx yesterday and they looked OK, with the teams we're throwing out there, you honestly can't expect too much more. Hearing that Manny and Papelbon are most likely out for the rest of the season doesn't help the optimist view that the Red Sox still have a chance at the playoffs, and they don't. But still, that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch the Sox and Yankees play each other. Even though we know the majority of New England really cares about the Patriots / Jets game today.

I find the whole David Ortiz MVP "controversy" to be pretty funny. Papi's comments last week were more of a compliment to the Yankees line-up, and a diss to the Red Sox. But whatever, the New York media can make a story out of it if they want, the real story should be about the MVP race itself. I honesty think that neither Papi or Jeter will get the award (Dye or Morneau should win) and if any of them get it, it will be Jeter, because of where he plays and what his team is doing. But does he deserve it? You be the judge and check out the spreadsheet I put together comparing the last 10 AL MVP's.

Except for Ichiro in 2001, it's undeniable that this is an award that is given to the top slugger in the league. If you just look at the averages you can clearly see that power get you hardware. As you can see Papi is already well ahead of the averages in all but BA and it looks like Jeter is only going to be ahead in two.

This is a debate that was talked about last year a lot, and I still think the people who don't believe a DH can win are in a fantasy world. The DH is integral, and one of the most valuable positions in the AL, to turn a blind eye towards it is dangerous, and unfair.

The spreadsheet's interesting to look at though. Notice that when A-Rod won the award in 2003 (on the last place Texas Rangers) all of his numbers but BA are below Papi's...

Right On Mark, Loretta Carries Sox to Win

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

The Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles last night 6-5 to give them their first series victory since August 22-24 against the LA Angels. Things were looking bleak for the boys in red until Mark Loretta had two clutch hits in the 8th & 9th innings to give the Sox the tie and eventually lead in the game.

      "It feels good regardless of the situation. The last three or four weeks have been a very trying time for this team and this organization, I thought it was a real good win for us, one of the better ones of the year we've had.", Said Loretta.

The Red Sox head into the Bronx this weekend with what is more likely then not going to be a pride series. The uber optimist may be hoping for a sweep and some help in the Wild Card, however I'd just view this as Red Sox / Yankees series and not look too much more into that. I'm going to enjoy it for what it is, hopefully the games are competitive, and we'll see from there. Either way, it was a nice win last night, and we'll see going into this weekend.

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SawxBlog Player of the Game
Mark Loretta - 1B
2/6, 2 RBI

O's Shut Down Red Sox

(AP Photo/Don Wright)

Well that was quite the ugly game last night. The Red Sox bats were non-exhistent and Erik Bedard just cruised. The good news for us is that Tim Wakefield's now back, however, the bad news is that he didn't exactly pitch his greatest game.

I don't think you can ask too much out of him here in his first game back off of the DL, however it would have been nice to see him pitch a decent game. This weekend series could be ugly (could it get uglier?!?) against the Yankees with Schilling and most likely Manny out. Which brings me to something I don't get about some Red Sox fans, and the Boston (and national) Media.

Curt Schilling's missing a bunch of starts now and all is good because he's hurt. Manny's missing a bunch of games because he's, yes you guessed it, hurt, and it's not all good. Will Carroll, from Baseball Prospectus and now ESPN, reported way back around the all-star break about how Manny's knee was injured. Carroll's one of the most respected in the game in breaking these injuries and Manny was playing through it. However you have to be realistic now. Manny's a huge part of our club and future, why would you want to push a guy who you've invested so much money in to go out and play games that don't mean as much as they used to, and possiblly injure him more, and longer term?

Even if the Sox do try to trade him (which I doubt will happen) a healthy Manny has a whole lot more value then an injured Manny. I feel like there's such a double standard when people are dealing and talking about Manny. Yes, his actions in the past and his quirky attitude may make people look at him through a different looking glass, however the guy is a hard worker that I truly believe would rather be playing then not. When Schilling doens't play no one blinks an eye, however when Manny doesn't play he's faking it. Seems a little shi**y to me.

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SawxBlog Player of the Game
Bryan Corey - RP
1.2 IP, 2 K, 1 H

Thank God for the Orioles

(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

The Boston Red Sox improved their record to 12-1 against the Baltimore Orioles this year as they squeaked out a 6-5 victory. The Red Sox controlled momentum for the majority of the game however Mike Timlin made the game real interesting at the end as he went 0.2 innings giving up 4 ER on 6 hits.

I'm not going to be too harsh on Timlin here. Mike has pitched his butt off for us over the last few years and he's thrown A LOT of innings. Heck, last year he set a Red Sox record for the most IP by a pitcher. Pitching in the World Baseball Classic may or may have not effected him this year, but most likely we're looking at this being his last in a Red Sox uniform. Much like Embree, it's sad to see these guys struggle because you grow to like them as players and people.

Tim Wakefield makes his first start in about 563 games tonight (weather permitting) and hopefully the Sox can keep the positive momentum against the O's going.

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SawxBlog Player of the Game
Coco Crisp - CF
2/4, 1 R, 3 RBI

Top 10 Reasons to Watch the rest of the Red Sox Games

It certainly strange to see the Red Sox playing in games that "don't matter" in September and October, therefore I have created a Top 10 list for reasons to watch the remaining Red Sox games:

10. When it's the middle of the winter you'll be cursing yourself for not watching these remaining games when you're stuck watching the Celtics and Bruins.

9. Who knows, we may be so blessed as to see Tavarez tip his cap to the Fenway Faithful again.

8. Three words: Manny Being Manny

7. It's a fun opportunity to see kids like Dustin Pedroia play. I was at the game Saturday and it was pretty special to see him hit his first career MLB HR.

6. Because it's just too cliche and tiring to be a disgruntled angry Red Sox fan.

5. No matter what the product on the field looks like, Fenway Park's the best place in the world to watch a baseball game.

4. Watching Remy and Orsillo can be more entertaining then a Cheech and Chong Movie. (And I seriously think Rem Dawg gets a lot of "motivation" from the same source.)

3. The Patriots only play on Sundays.

2. Because Big Papi is most likely going to break Jimmy Foxx's Red Sox all-time HR record.

1. Simple enough, it's baseball and it's the Red Sox.

Wrong Sox top Right Sox 8-1

(SawxBlog Photo - Derek Hixon)

Last nights game was the 9th game I've attended this year and I'd have to say there's been better games to be at. What was awesome about last night though was my seats. My friend Gregg had some free tickets from the company he works for (good to know the coorporations have the good tickets...) and they were without a doubt the best seats I've had this year. To view pictures from the game click here.

Field Box Seats in Section 14, Box 23, Row J, Seat 2. Or seven rows back from the Red Sox dugout, unreal seats. With the way things are going with the Sox right now it's good to know that you can take solace in attending Fenway Park. I hate the movie, but I turned to Gregg at one point of the game and was like, "Dude, these are like the 'Fever Pitch' seats...".

To normally sit in these seats you'd have to pay $90.00 a head, and that's just a little too much for the average joe. I've been confined to the right field grandstands, and bleachers all year long. And although there really isn't a bad seat in the house, there sure are some better ones, and these were better.

My lifelong quest to get a foul ball at Fenway looked good when we sat down, but again I came up short. I even scouted around at my competition and it didn't look that tough. There weren't even any little kids around me so I'd actually be able to keep the ball, money. When and if this day occurs it's all you'll read here for at least a week strait. Gotta keep the faith.

 

In short, great seats, not so great game. Now's the time to go to Fenway though. The scalpers don't have the super high demand, and you can get decent seats for a decent price.

Red Sox Catch Another Win, Beat Champs 1-0

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

First Julian Tavarez, and now Kason Gabbard. You'd think the two are unlikely starters for the Red Sox in September, an odd pairing, and they are. As strange as their names may look when slated as the starting pitcher for Boston, they've gotten the job done against the defending World Series Champion Chicago White Sox the last two nights.

I think I decided last week to try and be as optimistic as I could be when watching the rest of the Red Sox games this year. It may be in vogue to count them out, and complain about non-moves Theo and company made, but if you look at things realistically what move or moves could have Theo done? With all of the injuries sustained by the Red Sox, I think the Sox fall out of the playoff race would have been inevitable, and a move may have been more desperate then anything.

Staying on the realistic tip, the odds are so heavily stacked against the Sox from making a playoff run, that you'd probably have better luck with a Red Sox scratch-off ticket. However, until we're mathematically out of it why not hold onto a little hope? Call it the Dumb and Dumber Mantra if you will, but it works for me.

Lloyd: What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?
Mary: Well, that's pretty difficult to say.
Lloyd: Hit me with it! I've come a long way to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I'd say more like one out of a million.

[pause]

Lloyd: So you're telling me there's a chance!

And as long as there's a chance I'll be watching and hoping, and if worse comes to worse, the Patriots look pretty good this year right?

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SawxBlog Player of the Game
Kason Gabbard - SP
7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 K, 3 H