SawxBlog

Only 1 More Week 'Till the Real Thing

(AP Photo)

I think this week may be the hardest week to be a Red Sox fan. By now the lure and excitement of red uniforms and palm trees has worn off, and the tease of real games starting up north reaches a Christmas Eve type of anticipation level. You can quench your thirst by looking at how many pitches player X threw and how many of those were for strikes. You know that young kid played better then the veteran, but he'll still begin his year in Pawtucket.

I know soon enough I'll have a ritual back that seems like forever since its last been with me. Don & Remy will soon enough begin spinning the soundtrack of yet another summer of mine. I'll begin that ever hard question of, "Should I buy a scalped ticket tonight?", as I help out-of-town New Englanders navigate the T system leaving work. I know that soon enough I'll be walking over that gradual incline, right behind homeplate, happily double fisting my overpriced Bud Light, as I slowly have that beautiful Fenway Green engulf me. I'll smell grass, step on peanut shells, hear batting practice, and smile from ear to ear.

Like a modern day Paul Revere I race through the net with less then a week away, screaming; "The Red Sox are coming! The Red Sox are coming!" and I couldn't be any happier. See you soon boys.

Closing Time - Papelbon To Close Again For Red Sox

Papelbon looks to have another strong season in 2007. (AP Photo)

Well I guess I chose the perfect time to write about the closer situation yesterday huh? I'd have to say I was a little shocked when I first read the news of this, however, it all makes absolutely perfect sense. The Red Sox never had to pull the trigger on a deal for a closer because we had one of the top three closer in all of MLB in our own clubhouse all along.

I think there' s a lot of positives and negatives that can be associated with Jonathan Papelbon now closing again for the Red Sox in 2007. The positives are obvious. Before Papelbon had to shut down his season early due to shoulder troubles last year he was absolutely lights out. Look at his numbers in the closer role last year.

ERA: 0.92
BB: 13
K: 75
Record: 4-2
Saves: 35

Those are some nasty numbers and I think everyone expects some of the more this year. Papelbon has one more year underneath his belt now, and from all accounts he's as strong as can be and is doing the role he'd most prefer. Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Wakefield must be thrilled with this news, along with the bullpen as a whole. Knowing that Paps will be coming in to finish games off is going to give our starters that much more confidence and get rid of any type of black cloud that may have been lingering. It also will give Julian Tavarez a chance to really show what he's made of as a starter, and not a spot, or garbage starter.

That being said I think that Papelbon moving to the closer makes our starting rotation instantly weaker. i'm fine with it if Tavarez or Snyder and step-up and win 12 or so games, but it does make me a little nervous all of a sudden giving those guys all those innings. You remember a guy named Matt Clement? How's he progressing, if he could somehow fill the void I'd be a lot happier...or would I...hmmmm, I'll get back to that I guess.

So there we are. All positions are filled with opening day a little over a week away. Feels pretty good doesn't it, and it sure doesn't feel like 2003 again, another year really close to that seems to come to mind...

Are the Red Sox any closer to finding their Closer?

(SawxBlog Montage)

With Opening Day less then 12 days away it's about time that SawxBlog re-addresses the issue of the Red Sox closer. Actually it may be more appropriate to talk about the closer the Sox don't have on their roster yet. As everyday goes by you get the sneaking suspicion that 2007 is starting to feel an awful lot like 2003, in some respects at least.

As we remember, if it wasn't for the steroid juicing Jason Giambi the Red Sox most likely would have won the 2003 ALCS and also beaten the Florida Marlins in the World Series. Grady Little wouldn't be the goat he's become in Boston, and Pedro Martinez would be nobody's Daddy.

The 2003 ALCS isn't the only memorable thing about that season for the Sox, there's also their controversial attempt at the closer by committee set-up. And honestly, I wouldn't be totally shocked if the Sox gave it another whirl.

I'll admit that it felt very, very good to have Papelbon come into games last year, because you felt like once he got in the game it was over. I also believe that Mariano Rivera is the main reason the Yankees have been so good for so long. They've had so much turnover in everything but S.S. and Closer, and I'd say Mo's been just as valuable as Jeter.

That all being said I see no reason why a committee wouldn't work. You have 27 outs in a nine inning baseball game. After the starter is done for the day/night, why not have the pitcher(s) who are most adept at getting the outs in that certain situation? A lot of time the most important outs don't come in the ninth inning but they come in the 6th, 7th, or 8th.

OK, now that that's out of my system I'll be realistic, that's not going to happen. At the beginning of Spring Training I chose Julian Tavarez as my dark horse candidate to win the job, and I'm still sticking with that. But as everyday passes it looks  like Joel Pinero is the favorite to win the job. Timlin may take it over once he's healthy again, but I wouldn't count on him pulling a Todd Jones for us.

I guess what I wished most is that the Sox would make a decision sooner then later, so the everyone can know their role and be ready for the season. If no official closer or decision is made, then what I said above is very realistic, and the Red Sox management just isn't making the same mistake by giving it a name like in 2003.

Red Sox Beat Yankees 7-5 in Only Meeting of Spring

(NESN Screen Shot)

The Red Sox and Yankees faced off for the only time this spring and the Sox were able to come back from a 3-0 deficit and beat the Yanks 7-5. There were a ton of story lines at the game last night including Pavano pitching for the Yanks, the meeting of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, and Hideki Matsui, or just the general craziness that happens when these two teams play each other, even in the spring.

But what I walked away with last night that made the deepest impression on me was Manny Ramirez and his hair. I know a lot of people have called Manny a clown because of some of the antics he pulls on and off the field, but yesterday he literally looked like one. Manny was wearing a red do-rag with all of his hair tucked inside and it looked like he got a hair-cut from Bobo the Clown. Side Show Bob would have been proud of the look, and I was stuck on my couch with friends just laughing, Manny looked ridiculous.

You see, I love when Manny does stuff like this, it just cracks me up. I'm sure Yankee fans across the nation were aghast at Manny's choice of hair management and that makes it all the more sweet. I think he looked like a...well, a clown, but all the power to him. I kept turning to my friends and saying; "This guy, this guy right here is going to be a first ballet Hall of Famer!"

Such is the life of Manny, taking life one bold hair decision at a time.

The Onion Tackles Daisuke

(Onion Sports Photo Illustration)

The Onion has been one of my favorite faux newspapers/internet sites for quite some time now and they've delivered a hilarious take on Daisuke Matsuzaka a few days ago.

The title of the story speaks volumes on its humor. Excited Red Sox Fans Eagerly Await Debut Of Matsuzaka's 'Ultimate Galactic Dragon Gyroball Pitch Power Explosion'. Hilarious stuff.

Click Here to read the rest of the Onion Daisuke article.

SawxBlog Sunday Red Sox Links - 3/11/07

(AP Photo)

Following up with SawxBlog's new tradition we give you some of the best Red Sox links on the web, enjoy!

ESPN

The AP Talks About Dice-K's struggles today, and SHOCKER, they mention his salary -    "Boston's $103 million pitcher with the winning smile allowed homers to two non-roster players, struggled with his control and even threw away a potential double-play grounder against Baltimore on Sunday."

Magglio Feelins Fine After Hit in Head - "Ordonez wore a bandage under his left ear. He said he might be ready to play as early as Monday."

Boston.com

Gordon Ede's writes a Great Article On Jacoby Ellsbury and his Native American Roots - "Jacoby Ellsbury is the prized position prospect in the Red Sox organization, a center fielder whose speed, defense, quick bat, and overall athleticism mark him as perhaps the most exciting player the Sox have had in their system since Nomar Garciaparra broke in as a rookie 10 years ago."

For Those Who Felt It In Vouge to Call Timlin Our Closer, Think Again - "Assuming the best-case scenario, there will be just over two weeks before the start of the season if Timlin is allowed to resume throwing next week."

Boston Herald

Big Papi Still the Man - "On Friday, Ortiz, who set a club record last season with 54 homers, hit his first round-tripper of the spring, a mammoth launch against Phillies pitcher Matt Smith."

Gary Sheffield Wanted to be A Red Sox - "Boston was my first choice,” Sheffield said yesterday before his new team, the Detroit Tigers, lost, 7-6, to the Red Sox in Grapefruit League play. “But things happen for a reason. Sometimes you don’t get to go where you wanted to go.”

Red Sox Blogs & More

Keep Your Sox On - "Something about the Scarlet ‘B’ rubs other teams the wrong way and it happens every year."

Detroit's Reaction to Yesterday's Bench Clearing Incident - "A brief, but angry scrum of Tigers and Red Sox resulted at the mound after Jones' ejection, but no punches were thrown. Manager Jim Leyland also was tossed, but neither Jones nor Leyland talked about the incident after the game."

Basebrawl - Red Sox & Tigers Square Away

(ESPN Screen Shots / SawxBlog Montage)

"I talked to Vanover [and said], 'I'm not trying to hit this guy, it was one of those deals where it buckled him and he went the wrong way. I was fortunate enough that it didn't hit him in the neck." - Josh Beckett on hitting Magglio Ordonez.

SawxBog Sunday Links to come later today.

Look Who's Talking - Curt Schilling Begins Own Blog

(SawxBlog Illustration)

After yesterday's spring training game against the Twins Terry Francona said, "I'll go on his blog and get the real deal", when asked about Curt Schilling's four inning performance. And so begins just another day in Red Sox Nation.

Before Curt Schilling pitched to the Twins he launched his brand new blog, 38Pitches.com. As has been heavily documented Curt is never too shy to let an opinion of his be known. And while for a lot of people, including me at times, feel like Schilling can wear thin on you rather quickly, Curt is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the modern athlete.

Hearing what an athlete thinks about the game is always fascinating, and I'm pretty sure Curt's going to keep this blog going all season long (at the least). When you have players like Manny Ramirez who don't even speak to the media, it's nice to see Curt do things like this, and it helps make him seem that much more real and closer to the fans.

I can see myself becoming a regular reading his blog and at the worst it's going to be interesting to see how and what he writes as well as to see if other players pick up on his cue to start up their own blog. Seems like a great way to control the media, or at least get your side of the story out there.

Curt's post today is interesting because he talks about how much differently he's preparing for games this season. Click here to read today's post.

Best of luck on the blog Curt, and welcome!

PS - This still doesn't mean I'm not going to be critical of you Curt...or Photoshop your head on a babies body :-)

Baseball America Releases Top 100 Prospects List

Baseball America has released their Top 100 Prospects List and the Boston Red Sox have 5 players to claim as their own on that list. Daisuke Matsuzaka leads all prospects (not surprisingly) on the list at number one and is next followed by one of my favorite players to watch this spring, Jacoby Ellsbury at #33.

Ellsbury has been hearing a lot of Johnny Damon comparisons because of his speed and ability to get on base. Hopefully that has nothing to do with what's between his ears... I believe Ellsbury already has 3 triples this spring and his speed is just lightning fast, which makes him, I believe, the fastest player in our organization.

There's nowhere really for him to go at this point with an outfield that's already crowded with Manny, Coco, Drew, and Wily Mo, but I hope we can retain this kid because it sure would be fun to see him blazing across the Fenway grass. Keep an eye on him this spring, he's a fun one to watch.

Rounding out the list for Baseball America's Top 100 for the Sox were Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, and Michel Bowden, making Jacoby Ellsbury the only Sox position player on the list, and that much more valuable in my eyes.

Did the "Gyroball" Make A Special Appearance Yesterday?

(SawxBlog Illustration)

Well, well, just when you thought Bigfoot didn't exist he goes ahead and peeks his head around the corner. The now infamous debate over whether the gyroball even exists or not first made it's way into SawxBlog back in early November of '06. It's been widely speculated that if it did exist, then Matsuzaka most likely didn't throw it.

Dice-K does have an abnormal array of plus pitches, and the gyroball was developed in Japan, but I really thought it was more fiction then fact as to him being able to throw it. Like any good rumor, it's never been confirmed or denied by the Japanese ace, and now we have some MLB players from the Marlins saying that he threw the pitch to them yesterday.

You can read all about it in Michael Silverman's piece in the Herald today and there's some interesting quotes in there. Jason Stokes had this to say after facing Daisuke, “He threw four different pitches to me - a fastball, slider, gyro and curve, he threw it up and in. I could see it was obviously a ball right away. I’m thinking ‘Get out of the way.’ It kind of backs up on you.”

Now that is interesting. Red Sox pitching coach insists that it was a change-up, but either way this is great. The mystique being built up around Dice-K is absolutely intriguing. According to Boston.com, when he pitched his three innings yesterday it was broadcast live in Japan at 3:05am. Also it was reported that nearly 14 million people in Japan watched his first exhibition game against Boston College. Anyone who still thinks we overpaid for this kid obviously isn't an economics major. Red Sox Nation has now gone global, and it's only bound to continue to grow.

So did Dice-K throw the Gyro yesterday? Who cares. It seems as if he's already in the batters heads a little, and I'm pretty sure that's all he cares about right now.

On a gyroball side note, this flash game (as pictured above) is a great way to waste some time, have fun!

http://www.miniclip.com/games/gyroball/en/