STILL CAN'T BEAT THE JAYS

The Red Sox are 4-7 against Toronto this year. Last season we had struggles with the Jays and they're even better this season. Their offense has beaten up our pitching, and their pitching has stymied our hitting. This road trip has started abysmally.

The Sox hit 3 homers on Monday, but fell 7-6. Clement's struggles continued as he only went 3.1 innings. The bullpen went well, allowing only 1 run, but that one run won the game for the Jays.

The Man of the Game is Alex Rios who got on ase 3 times, knocked in 2 runs, stole a base, and scored a run. He's hit us pretty well this season.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Clement: 8.0 - 3.1 IP, 6 ER
Nixon: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 4 LOB
Riske: 0.1 - 0.2 IP, ER

Tuesday's game wsn't as close. Beckett struggled, going 4.2 allowing 7 earned runs. We had 16 baserunners (8 hits, 8 walks, 1 HBP). The only extra basehit the Sox had was a solo homer from Nixon. The Sox fell behind early and couldn't muster enough offense to overcome the deficit.

The Man of the Game is Vernon Wells. He went 3 for 4 with 3 homers, 4 RBI, and a walk. He's killed us a lot this season. This is his 3rd MOTG this season, very impressive for a player on an opposing team.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.8 - 4.2 IP, 7 ER
Cora: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 4 LOB
Varitek: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 6 LOB (3 in scoring position)

The Man of the Game for Sunday's win over Tampa is Wakefield who went 8 scoreless innings to earn his 4th win. He also had a pickoff. He's pitched well with his old catcher back in town.

SCHILLING GOES UP TO 200, WELLS GOES DOWN TO THE GROUND

The extended series between the Red Sox and (Devil) Rays has been a good one, overall. Schilling got his 200th career win on Saturday night. More on that later. Papelbon also tied a Red Sox record with 18 consecutive Saves to start a season. The Sox have also won all three games by a combined score of 18-9.

It hasn't been all good news out of Fenway Park. Friday night saw David Wells get nailed by a line drive up the middle. Unluckily, the ball struck Wells on his right knee, the same knee he has had such trouble with all year. Wells had been doing very well in only his second start of the season. He had thrown 4.1 innings, allowing a sole earned run. He was only 53 pitches deep and looked as though he could have gone at least 6 innings. Then he got hit. It was a freak thing.

The news on Wells is that he suffered a deep contusion in the knee. In other words, a bone bruise. This was the initial diagnosis and was confirmed by MRI. Wells hasn't been scratched from his next start on Wednesday in Toronto, but Francona described the possibilities of him making that start to be an "outside chance." Wells might be skipped over in the rotation and make a start in the Yankees series in the beginning of June.

CRISP RETURNS EARLY
Crisp will be in the lineup for Sunday's game against the (Devil) Rays. Crisp was 1 for 3 in his lone rehab start for AAA Pawtucket on Saturday. He also walked and had 2 RBI. The move is a surprise, Crisp was expected to be activated tomorrow at the outset of the road trip. However, Crisp's crispness in his rehab start, and some injury trouble in the outfield may have induced the early activation. Crisp will bat leadoff tonight.

WMP PLACED ON THE DL
Willy Mo Pena has been scratched from the lineup a few times as of late due to trouble with his wrist. The move coincides with Crisp's activation. Pena had been hitting well, although his fielding has never impressed the Fenway Faithful. He hit .354 in the month of May, including a very impressive .403 against righthanded pitching.

MOHR SENT DOWN TO AAA
When David Wells was activated off the 15 Day DL, Dustan Mohr was sent down to Pawtucket. Mohr never really did much for us. In 40 at-bats he was able to record 7 hits for a .175 average. He did knock out 2 homeruns, but only 3 total RBI.

SO WHAT THE HELL DOES OUR OUTFIELD LOOK LIKE?
The outfield right now will be Manny in left, Coco in center, and Trot in right. However, Manny reportedly has a sore back. We all know the history Manny has with injuries and suspicious missed playing time, so that is subject to change. At the moment, the 4th outfielder is Willie Harris. Harris has an average of .129 this season. Essentially, he is a pinch runner and a defensive replacement.

As a 5th outfielder, the Red Sox demonstrated a willingness to use Kevin Youkilis in left field. This might only be in Fenway Park, and this would also only occur in emergency situations such as last night when Pena and Manny were sitting. Cora could also be another possibility in the outfield.

I think we need to be carrying 5 outfielders, especially when one of them can't hit lefthanded pitching, one is coming off the DL, one is complaining of a sore back, and one can't even hit his own weight even though he is listed at 170.

The Sox might want to consider calling up Ron Calloway from AAA Pawtucket. The 30 year old lefty is batting .326 with the Paw Sox. He hasn't hit any homers, but he's stolen 6 bases. I think he might be a decent enough standby outfielder until Pena can come off the DL.

Another possibility a bit later in the season is Gabe Kapler. Gabe is rehabbing down in Fort Myers with the Sox. He might be a player the Sox add as a 4th or 5th outfielder later in the season. Kapler always seemed to contribute somehow when he was put in the lineup or out on the field.

WHAT DOES THE LINEUP LOOK LIKE?
Right now, the Red Sox lineup does not include Manny Ramirez. Here is today's lineup:

1. CF Coco Crisp
2. 2B Mark Loretta
3. DH David Ortiz
4. 1B Kevin Youkilis
5. 3B Mike Lowell
6. C Doug Mirabelli
7. RF Trot Nixon
8. SS Alex Gonzalez
9. LF Willie Harris

Not very intimidating. If we lose Manny or Ortiz for an extended period of time, our lineup takes a huge hit. Anyway, I think this is how the lineup SHOULD look when Manny is healthy:

1. CF Coco Crisp
2. 2B Mark Loretta
3. 1B Kevin Youkilis
4. DH David Ortiz
5. LF Manny Ramirez
6. RF Trot Nixon
7. 3B Mike Lowell
8. C Jason Varitek
9. SS Alex Gonzalez

I know it pushes back Ortiz and Ramirez, but Loretta, Youkilis, and Crisp combined would be phenomenal table setters. If one of them isn't hitting that well, they can be shuffled to the bottom of the order and Ortiz and Manny can move up a spot. The thing is, both Youkilis and Loretta are hitting well, and I think it'd be a shame to move one to the bottom of the lineup where their ability to get on base would be relatively wasted.

GAME SUMMARIES
Thursday's 4-1 win was a solid victory. In fact, it was a Flawless Victory with Jonathan "Fatality" Papelbon closing the door. We did leave 15 men on, but we also had 18 baserunners, so leaving men is inevitable.

The Man of the Game is Josh Beckett who went 6 scoreless, striking out 7 for his 4th straight win.

Friday's 8-4 win was not a Flawless Victory, but a win nonetheless. The Sox finally beat Scott Kazmir. The bullpen did their best to blow it, but the offense kept hitting.

The Man of the Game is Mike Lowell who was 3 for 4 with a double, a homer, 2 RBI and 2 Runs scored. He had his 29th extra basehit, and his 29th RBI. He's been quite a pickup.

Saturday's 6-4 win was closer than it should have been. The Sox missed a few big opportunities to have big innings. Schilling pitched well, but not stellarly, allowing 4 earned in 7 innings.

The Man of the Game is Kevin Youkilis who got on base 4 times going 2 for 3 with 2 singles and a pair of walks. He scored 3 times in what might have been his last start in the leadoff spot.

IS CURT SCHILLING A HALL OF FAMER?
Curt got his 200th career win on Saturday. He is now tied for 105th all time in wins. He's got a career record of 200-133 (.601 win %). He's got a 3.41 career ERA which is good considering the hitter's era he now pitches in. He's got a career WHIP of 1.126, which is pretty good. If he pitches next season, he might finish his career with about 220 to 230 wins and 3,000+ strikeouts. 230 wins would put him in the top 60 all-time, and 3,000 Ks would put him in a club with 9 Hall of Famers, and 4 future Hall of Famers. The only retired player with 3,000 or more strikeouts that isn't in the Hall of Fame is Bert Blylevin, who very well could be in the Hall with 287 career wins.

A big thing Curt has going for him is his post-season record. He is 7-2 in the playoffs, with one of those losses being Game 1 of the 2004 ALCS when he suffered the ankle injury. He has a 2.06 post-season ERA. In 15 starts, he's completed 4 games, and pitched 109.1 innings, or 7.1 per start. In World Series play, he is 2-1 with a 2.11 ERA. His starts include a complete game shutout. His post-season WHIP is 0.924. He won the NLCS MVP in 1993 with Philadelphia, and won the 2001 World Series MVP with Arizona. As we all know, he has two World Series rings.

Schilling's been an All-Star 6 times. He won the Lou Gehrig Award in 1995 (other winners include Musial, Spahn, Brooks Robinson, Banks, Rose, Aaron, Killebrew, Stargell, Bench, Sutton, Niekro, Schmidt, Brett, Ozzie Smith, Ripken Jr, Molitor, and Tony Gwynn). In 2001, Schilling won the Babe Ruth Award, the Branch Rickey Award, the Hutch Award, and the Roberto Clemente Award. He was named NL Pitcher of the Year by the Sporting News in 2001 and again in 2002.

Although Curt has never won a Cy Young, he has finished 2nd in the voting on 3 occasions, twice to teammate Randy Johnson. He has the 2nd best career WHIP amongst active players, behind only Pedro Martinez. He is also 34th all-time in WHIP. Fifteen of the players ahead of him are in the Hall. Schilling is also 7th all-time in strikeouts per 9 innings. He is 15th all-time in strikeouts. He has the 3rd best strikeout to walk ratio in history.

So is he a Hall of Famer? I think he is, but not a first ballot Hall of Famer. He has very good career numbers, and his post-season pitching should push him over the top, but the lack of Cy Youngs, of ERA titles, and the fact that for the best years in his career he has been a #2 pitcher behind Johnson or Martinez, might make voters think twice.

I think if he has one more good season and gets to 230 wins, and 3,100 strikeouts, he'll make it in. He does have an advantage (kind of) in that he pitches in the era of steroids and hitter's ballparks. This might cause voters to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially if they're staring at a ballot that has his name next to Rafael Palmeiro's name on it.

SOX DROP A PAIR OF CLOSE ONES TO YANKS

The good news is, Manny Ramirez is hitting the crap out of the ball. The bad news is, our pitchers are allowing our opponents to do the same thing. The Sox hitters were given sizeable deficits with which to overcome on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both times, they fell a little bit short.

On Tuesday, Wakefield got knocked around for 7 runs, 6 of which were earned. Meanwhile, the Red Sox were held scoreless by Jaret Wright, and didn't plate a run until the 6th inning. They scored 5 off the Yankee bullpen, but were eventually shut down by Rivera in the 9th.

The Sox had plenty of opportunity to score often in the game. They had 18 baserunners, but left 13 of them on base. They left 6 men in scoring position. A huge problem was Ortiz in the middle of the lineup going 0 for 4 with 5 men left on base.

The Man of the Game for Tuesday's 7-5 loss is Manny Ramirez. He went 3 for 5 with a homer, and a pair of singles. He knocked in 4 runs, but only scored once, which is a testament to the lack of clutch hitting behind him in the lineup on Tuesday night.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.6 - 6.2 IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 2 HR
Ortiz: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 5 LOB
Harris: 0.1 - 0 for 2, K, 4 LOB
Mohr: 0.1 - 0 for 2, 2 K

Wednesday's game was a similar story. Manny hit, Ortiz didn't. The Sox pitchers gave up a lot of runs early and the hitters tried to come back, but fell two runs shy. It was like watching Sox in 2 on NESN.

The Sox had 12 hits and 15 total baserunners, but they couldn't muster much of a big inning.

We had an opportunity to get that big inning in the bottom of the 8th. Pena led off the inning with a single. Nixon popped out. Gonzalez lined a single to center and Pena reached 3rd. Harris came on to run for Gonzalez, and he stole 2nd base. Then Youkilis struck out swinging for the 2nd out. Loretta walked. The 4th ball got away from Stinnett, but Pena didn't even attempt to advance to score. Harris was already halfway to 3rd before noticing Pena hadn't moved from his lead off the bag. Nevertheless, the bases were loaded with Ortiz up at the plate. Papi went down looking on 6 pitches. Rivera sent the Red Sox down in order in the 9th.

The loss brings the Yankees a mere half game out of 1st place. This divisional race looks like it will shape up to be a very interesting one.

The Man of the Game is once again Manny Ramirez. He went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, 3 runs, 2 homers, a double, and a walk.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Clement: 0.8 - 4.1 IP, 8 ER
Ortiz: 0.2 - 0 for 5, 4 K, 5 LOB

DINARDO DL'ED, VAN BUREN BACK UP
Lenny DiNardo has been placed on the 15 Day DL. He has been replaced on the roster by righthander Jermaine Van Buren, who is making his 2nd stint with the Red Sox. It probably will not be a long one. Because...

WELLS TO RETURN FRIDAY
Wells will be activated for Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I, and perhaps the Sox, would have preferred to give him another rehab start, but at this time there is no choice. DiNardo is on the DL, and we need a starting pitcher. Hopefully we can get something out of Wells because our rotation, as of late, has been susceptible, and suspect.

CRISP GOES DOWN TO FLORIDA
Here is the rehab plan for Coco Crisp. He will play two games in extended Spring Training down in Florida. He will then play a game in AAA for Pawtucket on Saturday. He will work out on Sunday at Fenway Park and could be back with us on Monday in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Crisp has already missed nearly a quarter of the season, but it seems as though he is on the verge of returning.

Beckett against Waechter tonight.

QUARTERLY REPORT

The Sox have played 42 games, over a quarter of the season completed. They've won 26 and lost 16. The Sox are on pace to win 100 games, and lose 62. This win total would most likely be enough for a playoff spot and probably a divisional title.

As a team, the Red Sox are 7th in the Majors in hitting with a team average of .278. The Sox are also 3rd in team OBP with .364. The Sox are also 7th in team Slugging at .449. But, they're only 9th in Runs scored with 231. Part of it might be the relative lack of homeruns, the Sox are 17th in baseball. Last year they were 1st in Runs, same with 2004. In 2004, the Sox were 5th in homers, and last year they were 6th.

We're on pace to score 891 runs, which is good, but not the type of offensive onslaught we're accustomed to producing.

A small problem has been a lack of production out of center-field. However, Pena has somewhat rectified that problem. Another problem is our lack of offense from short-stop. But we had that last season. Varitek hasn't been producing the same as he was last year. But he's on pace to score more runs than last year and knock in more runs than last year.

A major lack of production compared to last season has been Manny Ramirez. He's on pace to knock in 85 runs, compared to the 144 he knocked in last year. He's on pace to hit only about 30 homers compared to the 44 he's averaged the past two seasons. Manny has been hitting better lately, and we've seen him have slow starts before. He'll produce.

The Sox are 17th in baseball in team ERA at 4.57. We're 7th in team WHIP, but we've allowed 52 homers already. We're also 21st in Slugging allowed. That's why we're letting up so many runs, too many extra basehits given up.

The Sox only have 3 regular pitchers with ERAs below 4.00. Schilling is at 3.80, Papelbon is at 0.40 and Timlin is at 0.96. Beckett's at 4.17, and Wake is at a nice 4.19 for him. Having DiNardo in the rotation instead of a true starting pitcher also doesn't help. It also means we have to use more middle relievers. DiNardo's ERA is 7.11 and he's averaging less than 5 innings a start.

One thing that is impressive about the team is the defense. The Red Sox have the highest fielding percentage in baseball! WHAT?!? That's not supposed to happen. The Sox are supposed to be a team of lumbering DH types focusing more on hitting than anything else. We've only made 14 errors in 42 games. That's an error every 3 games, or a pace for 54 errors in the entire season. Last year we were 22nd in fielding with 109 errors. The year before, 22nd in fielding again with 129 errors. We're on pace to have a higher fielding percentage and a lower error total than the 1999 Mets, one of the best defensive teams in the history of baseball.

The Sox have a few contenders for Gold Glove awards. Mike Lowell won it in the NL last year and is contending with some sensational defense in the AL this year. Varitek won it last year and is having a solid year behind the plate. Gonzalez is also a contender for the short-stop Gold Glove. He has the highest field percentage of any regular AL short-stop.

If the Sox can get the #5 starter problem solved, maybe pick up a middle reliever or bring up some of the younger players from AAA and AA (Hansen is already in AAA, by the way), and the guys like Timlin and Papelbon still produce as well as they're producing thus far, and Manny starts to hit, we'll win a great deal of ball games.

STARS POWER SOX TO VICTORY

Curt Schilling went 8, allowing 1 run off 5 hits, and 0 walks, striking out 6. David Ortiz went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Manny Ramirez went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and a homerun. The big stars all had big nights.

It wasn't just the big names that contributed. Alex Cora went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a Run. Willie Harris went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a Run. Youkilis also knocked in a run and scored twice. The Yankees only struck out one Red Sox batter.

The Man of the Game is Curt Schilling. As previously mentioned, he went 8 allowing only 1 earned run. It was really nice to see him have a great start after some of the struggles he's had lately. He probably could have gone the full 9, he only threw 99 pitches, 72 of which were strikes.

Wakefield against Jaret Wright tomorrow.

SOX DROP PHILLY FINALE

Lenny DiNardo is a hole in our rotation. It needs to be filled. He went 2 innings allowing 4 earned runs yesterday as part of a 10-5 loss to Philadelphia. Against bad teams like Tampa, Seattle and Baltimore, he can go 5 and keep the other team's offense at beatable levels. However, against good teams like Philly and Toronto, he has no chance to even give you 5 innings.

So what is the solution? David Wells is a possibility. He allowed 2 runs off 4 hits and a walk with AAA Pawtucket on Saturday. He threw 5 innings. But I don't think the Sox should activate him until he has another outing in AAA. Granted, his next scheduled start would be against the D-Rays, but as we have witnessed in games against Tampa this season, they aren't pushovers anymore.

Abe Alvarez is another possibility. He's been lights out in AAA, but yesterday in a relief appearance he didn't look too sharp. However, if he knows he's going to start and can thoroughly prepare himself for a start, he might be able to go. Another possibility would be Jon Lester, who is 2-4 with a 3.34 ERA in Pawtucket. Matt Ginter is another possibility, he is 2-4 with a 2.95 ERA.

It looks like we're stuck with no real solution until Wells comes back, or another old, former Yankee, former Blue Jay, pitcher possibly comes out of retirement and miraculously decides to pitch for us.

The Man of the Game for Sunday's loss is Bobby Abreu who went 3 for 3 with a single, a triple, and a homer. He knocked in 5 runs, and scored 2. He also walked twice.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
DiNardo: 0.7 - 2 IP, 4 ER
Alvarez: 0.3 - 3 IP, 4 ER

Schilling vs. Wang tonight in Yankee Stadium.

Speaking of Boston and New York, I've just been made aware of a new t-shirt site that allows Sox fans to represent Red Sox Nation from Boston AND New York. Soon, they will have shirts that allow Sox fans to do it from Florida and California. Speaking as a Red Sox fan living within the confines of The Evil Empire, I can say that being able to rub my Red Sox Nationality in the faces of New Yorkers is one of the most pleasurable things one can do with one's clothes on. Here is a link to the site:

Fenway Faithful Tees

SOX OPEN INTERLEAGUE PLAY WITH BLASTS

David Ortiz, Alex Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek have all homered for the Red Sox against the Phillies. The Sox also took the first two of their three game series against bitter rival: the Philadelphia Phillies (sarcasm).

Beckett showed no signs of blister troubles, he went 7 innings against the Phillies and knocked out a homer. The Sox policy of signing pitchers with NL experience seems to be paying off with Clement's double and Beckett's homer. We got Schilling from Arizona, Wells from San Diego, Beckett from Florida, Clement after he was on the Cubs, and Wakefield from Pittsburgh. Having pitchers with NL experience, and having a former NL manager seems to help a great deal. Francona is 25-15 in interleague play with the Sox. 29-15 if you count the '04 World Series.

The Man of the Game for Saturday's 8-4 victory is Josh Beckett, he pitched 7 innings, and although he allowed 4 earned runs, he also went 2 for 4 at the plate with an RBI single in the 6th that touched off a 4 run 6th inning rally. He also had a solo homer in the 7th. Two runs, and 2 RBI are pretty dam good for a pitcher.

Friday night, the Sox won a typical National League game 5-3 thanks to the longball. Lowell had his 5th shot of the year, Tek his 4th, and Ortiz his 14th. Clement pitched solidly with a 6.2 inning outing allowing 3 earned runs. Foulke pitched a poor third of an inning allowing 2 inherited runners to score. Timlin pitched a perfect 8th for his 11th Hold, Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th for his 15th Save. Timlin only needed 10 pitches, and Papelbon only 11. We're not in first place without those two guys, that's for sure. Timlin's ERA is now 0.96, and Papelbon's is 0.40.

The Man of the Game is Mike Lowell who went 3 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBI. He also walked.

The Man of the Game for Thursday's 4-3 loss to Baltimore is Eric Bedard who went 7 innings allowing just 1 earned run.

The Sox bats didn't support Wakefield yet again. Wake went 7, allowing 4 runs. This should be good enough to win on most nights. The Sox only had 8 base runners. They left three of them, and one was eliminated on a double play.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Ramirez: 0.1 - 1 for 4, 3 Ks
Lowell: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Nixon: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Gonzalez: 0.1 - 0 for 2
Wakefield: 0.5 - 7 IP, 4 ER

Lenny DiNardo against former Athletic Cory Lidle tomorrow as the Sox look for the sweep.

Also, Abe Alvarez was promoted from AAA Pawtucket as Mike Holtz was placed on the 15 Day DL. Alvarez was 5-0 in 7 starts with a sub 3.00 ERA. He hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in any of his starts. The Sox will probably use him as a longman and might even utilize him as a starter the next time DiNardo's spot in the rotation comes up.

SOX BATS BAIL OUT SCHILLING

Schilling allowed 5 runs, 3 homers, and 9 hits in 5 and 2/3 innings. Yet for some reason he was irritated when Francona removed him from the game. The Sox offense bailed him out, allowing him to get win #6 of the season.

The Sox hitters combined for 6 runs, each RBI coming from a different player. Ramirez had his 7th homer, Nixon had his 3rd, both were in the 2nd inning off former Sox pitcher Bruce Chen. Mike Lowell added his 20th double, Youkilis got on base 3 times in 6 appearances, Loretta upped his average to .288 with a 3 for 5 night, and Ortiz showed some signs of breaking out of his slump with a 2 for 5 effort. Varitek and Gonzalez were the only starters held hitless.

The bullpen was magnificent once again. Mike Holtz got out of Schilling's 6th inning jam. Timlin pitched 2 perfect innings to get his 10th Hold of the season. Timlin is 2nd in the league in Holds. Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th for his 14th Save of the season. Papelbon leads all of baseball in Saves.

The Man of the Game is Mike Timlin. He pitched 2 huge perfect innings in a 1 run game. Middle relievers don't get a whole lot of respect, but Timlin has been one of the best in baseball this season. He deserves a MOTG.

Wakefield against Bedard tomorrow as the Sox look for the sweep.

SOX PUT UP 11 AGAINST ORIOLES

The Sox put up 13 hits, two doubles, a triple, and three homers in an offensive onslaught against the Orioles. On the other hand, Beckett and the Sox held Baltimore to 1 run, a solo homer by Miguel Tejada in the 1st.

Pena hit his 4th homerun as part of a 2 for 5, 4 RBI night. His average is .321, which is pretty good for a guy that batted 8th last night.

Mike Lowell had a 2 for 4 night with a 2 run triple in the 5th that chased Rodrigo Lopez out of the game, and his 4th homer of the year hit in the 9th. Lowell is 2nd in MLB and 1st in the AL with 24 extra basehits.

Varitek went 2 for 2 with an RBI single, a 2 run homer, 3 walks, 3 RBI, and 4 runs. Hopefully Varitek is breaking out of his slump. He's batting .226 in May, but his 2 for 2 yesterday and his 1 for 2 on Friday might signify an end to his slumping. We need his bat to be working in the lineup.

The story of the game was Josh Beckett, in more ways than one. After allowing the 1st inning homer, he allowed only one other hit, and no walks. Through 7 innings, he had only thrown 80 pitches and was cruising. Then he was pulled.

The question is, why?

According to the Red Sox, his back was uncomfortable and the Sox felt comfortable putting the bullpen in for two innings with a 7 run lead. However, NESN cameras recorded Beckett and the Red Sox coaches looking at his finger. The same finger that has had blister troubles in the past that has landed Beckett on the DL.

Francona's explanation is that there was mud and dirt caked on the finger from Beckett removing it from his spikes. That story doesn't fly. I think it is clear the Sox were worried about Beckett's finger. Why else would they pull him after only 80 pitches?

We'll have to wait until Beckett's next start to see what the real story is.

Beckett was the Man of the Game with 7 innings, 2 hits allowed, no walks, 6 strikeouts, and a sole earned run.

STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT MONEY, RED SOX NATION

So, I look at Boston Dirt Dogs this morning and see a link to an article about Coco Crisp signing autographs for $54 a pop. BDD also complains about Red Sox Nation cards costing $59.95. I thought they were only about $15. I bought one last season for $15 because it came with MLB Radio all season (which costs about $15). Having it allowed me to buy tickets for the Green Monster It was worth it.

Fans complain about the cost of tickets, and athletes charging for autographs at appearances. I've even heard fans complain that Red Sox games are broadcast on a cable channel instead of broadcast for free on a network. Sox fans complain about the $5 hot dogs and $6 beers the Sox sell during rain delays.

What makes all this complaining quite ridiculous is the things Sox fans expect from the team. For instance, fans are clamoring for Roger Clemens. The term on WEEI that amuses me is that Clemens will cost the Red Sox "nothing." People are referring to Clemens not costing us any prospects in a trade. However, the $10+ million Clemens will get from somebody is far from nothing. That money has to come from somewhere. And that somewhere is the money from Red Sox Nation cards, and tickets, and hot dogs, and beer, and advertising.

So stop complaining about spending money on the team or the players. A Coco Crisp autograph is not a necessity in anyone's life. It is a luxury. Luxuries cost money. You also have a choice whether or not to buy a luxury. I won't spend $54 for anyone's autograph unless I could sell it for more than $54 later. That's one of the reasons players charge these appearance fees. They know when they sign stuff, it becomes valuable. The player is the one that makes it valuable by signing it. In other words, his work makes the item valuable. It makes perfect sense that since his actions increase the value of the item, he would want to collect some money. Why should some collectibles broker profit from the autograph, but not the player?

RAINY MESS, ROTATION CHANGE, RETRACTABLE ROOF?

The Red Sox got 6 innings of baseball in as part of their ultra-short homestand. They weren't very good innings. Texas got 1 in the 2nd inning with a leadoff homer, then got 3 more in a 3rd inning rally. The Rangers got 2 more in the 6th off Mike Holtz. Then the game was stopped.

Youkilis was the only Sox hitter with multiple hits. Five Sox hitters went hitless. The Sox had 7 total baserunners in 21 plate appearances.

The most impressive part of the game was that over 36,000 people showed up despite the cold and rainy weather.

The Man of the Game is Kameron Loe who pitched a complete game shutout, albeit of the 5 inning variety. He allowed 5 hits and walked only one batter.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Clement: 0.5 - 5 IP, 4 ER
Loretta: 0.2 - 0 for 3, K, 3 LOB
Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 2, K
Lowell: 0.1 - 0 for 2
Pena: 0.1 - 0 for 2

The Red Sox will head down to Baltimore for a 3 game series. The forecast there, according to weather.com is for thunder showers. It appears that it will be raining at the outset of the game.

Makeup games for the two missed games against Texas will probably be made up when the Rangers return to Fenway in June, or mutual off-days in July.

ROTATION READJUSTMENT
With the rainouts, and an off-day on Thursday, the Sox have realigned their rotation. If baseball is played tomorrow, here is how it will look:

Monday, @ BAL: Beckett
Tuesday, @ BAL: Schilling
Wednesday, @ BAL: Wakefield
Thursday, off
Friday, @ PHI: Clement
Saturday, @ PHI: Beckett/DiNardo
Sunday, @ PHI: Beckett/DiNardo

DiNardo will go to the bullpen for the time being and will start on either Saturday or Sunday, probably dependant on when and if Francona uses him in the pen.

WHY A RETRACTABLE ROOF WOULD BE A DUMB IDEA
A few seasons ago, the Red Sox suffered 4 rainouts in a row. A WEEI talk show host, Ted Sarandas, suggested that the Red Sox, if they were to build a new stadium, should construct a retractable roof to prevent rainouts. It has become clear that a new ballpark shall not be built (which disappoints me) but supposing it were to be built, a retractable roof should not be a part of it.

There is not a single retractable roof in the majors that looks good. Arizona, Seattle, and Houston have the best retractable roofs, but they're still eye sores. Even if they weren't ugly and space consuming, they aren't cheap. A proposed retractable roof for the Twins new ballpark is said to cost an estimated $125 million. That's far too much money to be spending on a roof in order to avoid a few rainouts in April and May?

The Red Sox have not and will not lose a significant amount of money from rainouts. 36,000 fans will still show up. Fans will still buy hot dogs and beer, if not more, when there are rain delays. The Red Sox are not seriously affected financially by rainouts.

WEATHER, SCHILLING, CRISP, WELLS, RISKE, CLASSY FANS

Tonight at Fenway, Matt Clement is slated to go against 1-3 Kameron Loe of the Texas Rangers in the opening game of a 3 game homestand. According to weather.com, it will be raining. There is a 100% chance of precipitation at 7, and from 8 to 11 there is a 90% chance of precipitation. How hard this precipitation will be is yet to be seen.

SCHILLING GOES TO "MEDICAL FACILITY" FOR "ISSUE"
I understand all the secrecy surrounding Curt Schilling's "non-baseball medical issue" yesterday afternoon. But I don't like it. In case you haven't heard, before yesterday's game, Schilling went to a nearby medical facility in New York in his uniform and in a Yankees owned van. He returned very quickly and was on the field to shag fly balls in BP. He did not comment on what the issue was.

I don't think it is something serious, otherwise it would have taken longer than a few minutes to check out. I don't think it was something very sudden, otherwise he would have taken an ambulance. It might not even be an injury to him. It might have been an injury to someone else. It might not even be an injury. The flu has been going around the Sox clubhouse, and perhaps he has a bad case of it.

What is strange, however, is the silence. Schilling is such an open and outspoken guy that it is odd that he'd stay silent on an issue. Then again, it might be something embarrassing, or personal, or something that is affecting someone else. We'll see...maybe.

CRISP SETBACK
Coco Crisp's return was hoped to be early this upcoming weak. However, he has been very sick and unable to do anything but finger exercises. The Sox believe this will extend Coco's stint on the DL until May 22 or so, which just so happens to be when the Yankees come back to town.

WHAT TO DO WHEN COCO COMES BACK
This might all prove to be moot speculation if other players get injured, but there are several issues the Sox will have to deal with when Coco comes back.

First of all, what to do with Youkilis. Francona has stated that Coco will return at leadoff when he comes off the DL. I agree with this decision. However, Youkilis has an OBP of .418 season and has scored 19 runs. I think Youkilis should move into the #2 spot in the lineup. Loretta has been hitting lately with a .455 OBP in May, but overall his season's numbers have been weaker than Youkilis's. Youk's OBP is higher, his average is higher, and his power numbers are better. Youk also works the count better. However, Loretta might be a better man to have in front of Ortiz considering Youkilis's patience probably won't mean much when hitters have to face Ortiz after him. I still think having Youkilis in front of Manny and Ortiz is better than having Loretta there. Loretta can move down to 7th or 8th in the lineup and use his ability to help manufacture runs with guys like Varitek and Lowell on in front of him, and Gonzalez and Crisp behind him.

The other question the Sox have to deal with is what to do with Willy Mo Pena. The obvious answer seems to be to platoon him with Nixon in right, giving him playing time against left-handed pitchers. However, Trot hasn't struggled all that mightily against lefties, and Willy Mo has actually done his best hitting against righties. Trot's hitting .294 against lefties, Pena is batting .212 against them. Pena is .395 against righties with a .628 slugging percentage. If Pena is hitting the way he is right now when Coco comes back, I don't see how you can take him out of the lineup.

WELLS TO THROW SIMULATED GAME
After two bullpen sessions and reporting no discomfort in his knees, David Wells will make a simulated start on Saturday. If all goes well, he will make a rehab start for AAA Pawtucket against the Buffalo Bisons in Buffalo on May 18. He then wants to pitch against the Yankees on May 23. If I were the Sox, and even if Wells was great in his rehab outing, I'd make him do at least another one. Considering his age, and the fact that he's already re-injured his knees once this season, I'd give him another start in AAA before bringing him up to face Major Leaguers.

RISKE TO MAKE SECOND REHAB ON SATURDAY
David Riske threw two thirds of an inning to start a game for Pawtucket against Syracuse on Wednesday. He struck out the first two men he faced, then walked the next two before being relieved. He threw 26 pitches, 13 of which were strikes. He is scheduled to make another rehab appearance on Saturday in Pawtucket against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

WHERE ARE ALL THE ARTICLES CRITICISING YANKEE FANS?
After Johnny Damon was booed by Fenway fans, there was an outpouring of criticism, mostly from Boston writers, accusing the fans of treating Johnny like "a common criminal" and being "vicious." However, there was little to no reaction to Yankee fans booing Randy Johnson on Tuesday night. Furthermore, there has been no criticism from other writers about the New York Post's proposal to "Drop Papi" by hitting him with pitches. Fans at Yankee Stadium have even begun the habit of cheering every time a ball comes inside to Manny Ramirez. They want to see him hit and injured. Yet, somehow, it is Red Sox fans that have no class because we booed the star center-fielder of our arch-rival. Weird, eh?

SOX FINALLY BREAK THROUGH AGAINST YANKS

This game was much closer than the 5-3 score suggests. It also didn't have to be so close. The Red Sox going 3 for 15 with runners in scoring position, had two homeruns robbed by Yankee outfielders, and what would have been an RBI single down the third base line had the umpire gotten the call right all contributed to the Sox only putting up 5. Thanks to Wakefield, Timlin, Foulke, and Papelbon, those 5 runs stood up.

If you think watching the Sox leave 15 men on base is painful, try listening to them do it on WCBS. My God John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman SUCK! Everything that every Yankee did was qualified by the word "great." When we took a 4-3 lead, it wasn't a solid piece of hitting and good hustle by Loretta, it was a great play by Jeter and Cairo. I kid you not, they spent the next 2 innings praising Jeter and Cairo for the Loretta single. They also used the term "consummate professional" to describe Hideki Matsui about 15 times. I'm not even joking, 15 might be a low estimate for that.

Anyways, the Sox won 5-3, but things were pretty bleak for most of the game. The Sox started the game with 2 on and 2 out. Matsui had to leave the game with a broken wrist he injured on an attempted play on a Loretta fly ball. The Sox squandered that opportunity.

The Yankees retaliated to our lack of offense with a 2 run single by Jorge Posada. The Sox got one back thanks mostly to Loretta who doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout. Lowell was robbed with 2 outs by Bubba Crosby, who moved over to left when Matsui left the game. Lowell would have had a go ahead homerun, instead it was out #3 of the inning.

In the 4th, the Sox were robbed again. Pena doubled, then Damon robbed Mirabelli of at least a double and possibly a homer with a leaping grab. Pena moved to third on the play. The Sox hit a groundball down the third base line that was called foul. A-Rod had knocked it down but couldn't come up with it cleanly. It was a fair ball, but the umpire's ruling stood. The play would have scored Mirabelli easily.

Jeter had an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-1. In the 5th, the Sox threatened but failed. However, they knocked Chacon out of the game and got into that juicy Yankees bullpen with 2 outs in the 5th.

The Sox got their first hit with runners in scoring position in the 6th when Loretta knocked in Gonzalez with a single to make the game 3-2. The Sox failed to get any more in the inning.

Throughout the game, I felt that eventually we'd string enough hits together to knock in some runs. So long as our pitching kept New York at 3 runs, we'd win the game somehow. I was right. I enjoy being right.

Pena struck out to begin the 7th, then Mirabelli singled. Gonzalez hit a freak ground rule double. Youkilis hit a soft liner. With 2 down, Loretta hit a ground ball to Jeter's right. Jeter did a good job to stop it and throw it, but the throw was a little off. Cairo still caught it off the bag and while trying to apply the tag the ball was knocked out. Rodriguez should note that Loretta did not use a purse slap to knock the ball out. Two runs scored and the Sox were up 4-3.

Timlin pitched around a Jeter single in the 7th. Foulke got 2 in the 8th, then Papelbon struck out Cairo in a lengthy at-bat to end the inning. The Sox added an insurance run off Rivera in the 9th. Papelbon pitched around a Jeter walk to record his 13th save in as many opportunities.

Ball game over. Red Sox win. THAAAAAAAAAAA RED SOX WIN!!!

The Man of the Game is Bubba Crosby. He went 2 for 4 at the plate with a triple that was a few inches from being a homerun. He also stole a base which allowed him to score a run. He also robbed Mike Lowell of a go ahead homerun.

The Sox come back to Fenway to possibly play the Rangers if it isn't raining too much.

MIDDLE-RELIEF SITUATION

Julian Tavarez has an ERA of 4.61. Rudy Seanez has an ERA of 8.03. Manny Delcarmen had an ERA of 9.82. David Riske has an ERA of 18.00. Mike Holtz has an ERA of 27.00. The Red Sox bullpen is comprised of Papelbon, Timlin, Foulke, then three walking question marks.

Tavarez's ERA is misleading. There have been several outings in which he's entered the game, given up some baserunners, then left to be saved by Timlin or Foulke. In 13.2 innings (1.54 WHIP), he's allowed 16 hits, and 5 walks. Three of those 16 hits were homeruns. Opponents are slugging .588 against him.

The mid-relief isn't good. It is actually somewhat bad. However, the situation is not one that requires panic or a roster move.

Right now, Seanez, Tavarez, and Holtz are the middle relievers. But, we have two pitchers on the DL. Riske is rehabbing his way back to health and will probably replace Holtz on the roster. When/if Wells returns, DiNardo will return to the bullpen and push out Seanez. If (and that is a massive IF) we get Clemens, that will push Wells out of the rotation (possibly into the bullpen) and would totally alter the construction of our pitching staff.

Then there are the minor leaguers that will be coming up near the end of the season. Jon Lester will probably find his way into the Red Sox bullpen. Craig Hansen made it last year and is lighting it up in Portland with 11 innings, 12 strikeouts, 1 earned run in 5 appearances. Delcarmen pitched poorly with us in his short stint, but he might turn it around by the end of the season. Abe Alvarez is on the verge in AAA Pawtucket. And Edgar Martinez has 3 saves, and 2 holds in 11 appearances with an ERA of 1.69 in 16 innings with 18 strikeouts.

In short, the middle relief situation is not a major problem and it will probably solve itself as players come off the DL and minor leaguers come up to the majors. Middle-relief is also one of the easiest spots on the roster to fill via trades. We could give up some low level prospects for an old reliever and do small moves like that to plug the gaps.

ROLE REVERSAL

Bad start from Schilling, some confusing pitching decisions, and some poor hitting combined for a 7-3 Sox loss. Schilling looked pretty bad at times. He looked good in the first then things started to unravel. If Manny didn't make that catch on Damon's fly out, that's two runs and the inning continues.

One singular pitch stands out. The 3-2 to Matsui with 2 outs in the 5th. It wasn't deceptive, it was just a ball. It had no chance of tempting Matsui to swing at it, whatsoever. Matsui took it for ball 4, then Posada homered and made the game unreachable for the Red Sox bats.

A few questions for Mr. Francona. Normally, I try to avoid nitpicking managerial decisions, but there were a few tonight that baffled me.

1. What the hell was Varitek doing batting 6th, ahead of Mike Lowell. Coming into the game, Tek was 5 for 47 (.106) against Mussina with 23 strikeouts. 23! Not surprisingly, Tek went 0 for 4. He looked foolish with a looking strikeout to lead off the 2nd. In the 3rd he has a bases loaded, 2 out situation and grounded out softly to third. In the 6th with a man on 1st and 0 out, he hit a very soft groundball that was too soft to turn a double play. Tek should have been moved down in the lineup, and Lowell moved up.

2. Why was Willie Harris in the lineup? The explanation was Harris's history against Mussina (5 for 13 with 3 doubles). Also, he is a better defensive center-fielder than Pena and Schilling is a fly ball pitcher. I don't agree with the decision to start him, though. With Gonzalez, Crisp out, and Varitek effectively owned by Mussina, you've got three holes in the lineup already. Throwing in Harris risks having a 4th. He's batting below his weight, which is impressive because he is listed at 170 pounds. Harris is batting .111, WM Pena is batting .320. Pena is 11 for his last 28 (.393) and he was taken out of the lineup for a player who is 2 for 18 on the season.

3. Why didn't Francona pinch hit for Harris in the 6th? At that point, the Sox were down by 3 with a runner on base and 2 outs. Outfield defense is much less consequential when down by 3 runs, and Pena is much more likely to get an extra base hit to knock in a run and get in scoring position for a possible 2 run inning. Harris was already 0 for 2, and didn't look that good in his previous at-bats against Mussina. Why not pinch hit for him, giving Willy Mo 2 at-bats in the game and giving yourself a better chance to score multiple runs?

4. I don't understand the pitching decisions AT ALL. Granted, it didn't end up mattering, but what the F**k was Mike Holtz doing in a 3 run game?????????????? Holtz went from pitching against the Ottawa Lynx and Syracuse Sky Chiefs, to matching up against guys like Bernie Williams and Johnny Damon. What was Francona thinking? Use a AAAA (not a typo) pitcher that's been up and down with several clubs in a 3 run game? Then, he decided to use one of our good pitchers when it became a 4 run game. I guess Timlin wasn't good enough to pitch in a 3 run game in the 6th, but a 4 run game in the 6th and he can go in. Of course, we could have used Foulke for 2 possible innings if we didn't use him in the 14-3 game.

The Man of the Game is Jason Giambi who went 2 for 4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and a run. Since he did steroids, his Man of the Game will have an asterisk next to it.

The B*tch-Goat:
Schilling: 0.6 - 5 IP, 6 ER
Holtz: 0.1 - 0.1 IP, ER
Varitek: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 4 LOB, K
Francona: 0.1 - Holtz, Harris, Tek batting 6th

A FEW THOUGHTS ON BARRY BONDS

This will be my only post on Barry Bonds. His accomplishments do not deserve much attention from this site. Frankly, Alex Gonzalez's 82 career homeruns are much more impressive accomplishments than each of Barry Bonds's 713. The man is a cheater. His head grew, for crying out loud.



Head growth is a tell tale sign of HGH usage. The evidence is too overwhelming to not believe that Bonds has taken some illegal supplement. This taints his numbers. Hank Aaron's 755, Babe Ruth's 714, Willie Mays's 660, Frank Robinson's 586, Harmon Killebrew's 573, Reggie Jackson's 563, and so on and so forth are untainted numbers. However, guys like Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and Palmeiro stink up the top of the homerun leaderboard with the odor of used needles and empty supplement containers.

Then there's Bonds's big mouth. His anti-Boston remarks a few summers ago were ill-founded and out of date. Then the stuff he said about beating Babe Ruth was simply ludicrous. This is an excerpt from this article last year

"Willie's number is always the one that I've strived for," Bonds said before the All-Star Game on Tuesday. "And if it does happen, the only number I care about is Babe Ruth's. Because as a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That's it. And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? I got his slugging percentage and I'll take his home runs and that's it. Don't talk about him no more."

He might have just been kidding, but even if Bonds goes on to hit 800 homeruns, he will never surpass Ruth as a ballplayer unless he hits 1,000 homers, and starts pitching.

Let's just compare Ruth and Bonds for a few minutes. At the moment, Bonds has about 800 more career at-bats than Ruth. Ruth has scored about 100 more runs. Ruth was on a great offense, but Bonds played in the most offensively dominated era in the history of the game. Ruth has 123 more hits than Bonds in 800 fewer ABs. Ruth's career average is an impressive .342 (10th all-time), while Bonds's is at .300.

Bonds might pass Ruth for homeruns, but he will never pass Ruth in a surprising category: triples. Ruth has 136, Bonds has 77. Ruth is actually 71st all-time in triples, only 4 behind Willie Mays. Undoubtedly, those triples were products of large and awkwardly shaped ballparks of the 1920's. A good number of those triples might have been homeruns in more traditionally shaped ballparks.

We all know the total homerun numbers are similar. 714 for Ruth, 713 for Bonds. Ruth had a homerun average (HR/AB) of .085, Bonds average is .077. Bonds hits one every 12.91 ABs, Ruth hit one every 11.76 ABs. Ruth had 11 40+ HR seasons, Bonds had 8. Ruth had 4 seasons with 50+ homers, Bonds had 1.

In 1919, Babe Ruth set the single season homerun record with 29. The previous record was 27. In 1920, Ruth broke his own record with 54 longballs. The NL leader had 15. In 1921, Ruth passed his record again with 59. Ruth passed himself again in 1927 with 60. The Babe led the league in homers 12 times. Bonds led the league twice. Ruth utterly dominated his era, Bonds is dominant, but he is not overwhelmingly dominant.

In 1920, Babe Ruth had 54 homers. George Sisler finished 2nd in the homerun race with 19. The entire American League hit 369 homers. That means Ruth hit 14.6% of the homers in the league. No TEAM in the AL hit more homers than Ruth. Only the Phillies (and Yankees, of course) had more homers than Bonds. Ruth was above 14 entire teams in homeruns!

In 2001, Barry Bonds hit a record 73 homeruns. Sammy Sosa finished 2nd with 64. Luis Gonzales had 57. 17 players came within 38 homers of Bonds (no-one came closer than 38 to Ruth). In 1920, Sisler hit about 35% the number of homers that Ruth did. In 2001, 54 players hit 35% (or more) the number of HRs Bonds hit. In 2001, a homerun was hit every 29.8 ABs in the NL. In the AL of 1920, a homer was hit once every 113.7 at-bats.

As far as power hitting goes, Ruth was a much more dominant hitter compared to his peers.

There's more to baseball than power hitting, though. Bonds is a much better baserunner with over 500 stolen bases. Ruth wasn't a slouch on the bases, though. He stole over 100.

Bonds has passed Ruth for walks, but Ruth's OBP is still .030 higher than Bonds's. Bigger than that, Ruth's slugging percentage is still on top at .690. Bonds is a very impressive .611, but he isn't much of a threat to break Ruth's record.

Ruth is 2nd all-time in RBI with 2,217. Bonds has 1,865. Bonds will probably not pass Ruth in the RBI category

Bonds is a better fielder, no doubt. Eight Gold Gloves speak for themselves.

Bonds has never won a World Series. This is a reflection of the teams he has been on, but is also a reflection of him as a player. Bonds has a .245 post-season average. Bonds has 24 RBI in 48 playoff games. Ruth, on the other hand, has 7 World Series rings. He has a .326 post-season average with 33 RBI in 41 games.

So you can see that Ruth is a better position player than Bonds.

Now let's move on to pitching. Bonds has never pitched an inning in his career. Ruth pitched over 1,200 of them.

Ruth was 94-46 (.671 Win %, 12th best all-time) as a pitcher. In 148 starts, he threw 107 complete games, had a career ERA of 2.28 (15th of all-time). From 1915 to 1919 (Ruth's years when he was a regular pitcher) his ERA was always below league average. In the post-season, Ruth is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.87. 31 innings in 3 starts (do that math and you see he averaged 10.1 IP per start).

Bonds is 0-0 with 0 IP, 0 Ks, and no ERA.

Case closed, Ruth is better and always will be.

Anyway, sorry for that rant but when people suggest Bonds is better than a player who will soon be 3rd in homeruns AND is 15th all-time in ERA with 7 World Series rings, and the best slugging percentage ever, I go a little bit crazy.

Bonds has been enabled by the fans of San Francisco, and elements of the media as a hero when all he truly is is a cheater. He would have been a really good player without the roids, probably hitting about 400 homers. Instead, his 7-- will always have an imaginary asterisk next to it as a falsely inflated number.

BIG UNIT, AND A ROD SHRINK IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGE

Randy Johnson is supposedly New York's ace. Randy Johnson didn't look like an ace last night. He couldn't come near the strike zone at all. He threw 92 pitched, 49 for strikes. He also mixed in a pair of wild pitches.

The Red Sox dominated this game in all aspects. Pitching wise, Beckett outclassed Johnson and the Yankees staff. 7 innings and 3 earned runs is impressive against the New York Yankees lineup. Just imagine if steroids didn't exist, Giambi wouldn't have hit that homer and we would have won 14-1.

Defensively, the Sox made some solid plays and the Yankees made 3 errors, 2 by the "MVP" E-Rod.

Offensively the Sox were very good, getting big hits and taking advantage of Johnson's lack of control and the Yankees lack of defense. As a team we went 16 for 45 with 3 doubles and 2 homers.

Every Sox player that had an appearance reached base at least once. That's 12 different guys on base. Ten Sox hitters had hits, nine scored runs, and six knocked in runs.

Mark Loretta has been hitting really well as of late. He went 3 for 6 with 2 RBI. Ortiz went 1 for 4 with a double. Manny went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a solo HR. Lowell went 2 for 6 with 2 doubles. His last 8 hits have all been doubles. Gonzalez had another big night going 2 for 4 with a homer, 3 runs, 3 RBI, and 2 walks.

The one thing that confused me was the use of Keith Foulke to pitch the 8th. We were up by 8, Foulke pitched 2 days ago, and we might need him in tomorrow night's game. Other than that this game was pretty much a flawless victory for the Red Sox.

In fact, I'm going to start a new designation on the sidebar. Flawless Victories. These will be games in which everything went right for the Sox. This game will be the first.

It was nice seeing the supposedly calm, cool, collected, and "business-like" New York Yankees get riled up. Bernie Williams should get a short suspension for tossing his helmet in the direction of the home plate umpire. And why was Jeter whining and moaning about a strike call when his team was down by 8 runs? Just sit down and take the beating like a man, Yankees.



It's also nice seeing the Yankees F**k up. E-Rod had two errors, the replacement right-fielder had an embarrassing Yankee Stadium debut with a dropped ball, and Randy hit the backstop twice.



The Man of the Game is Josh Beckett who settled down after a steroid driven homerun to go 7 innings and allow only 3 runs. If we really needed him to, he probably could have gone 8. After the Giambi homer, he retired the next 12 men he faced. He struck out 7 and walked nobody on his way to his 4th win of the season.

How come no one will call Yankee fans classless or accuse them of treating Randy Johnson like a common criminal after they booed their own "Ace?"

Isn't it awesome when the Sox make clever Yankee fans like these ones shut-up?



Damon went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. He is 0 for 7 against us as a Yankee. That probably won't last, but it is still nice to keep his bat silent, even if it is for a mere two games.

Curt Schilling will take the mound tomorrow night against Mike Mussina in a matchup between each team's best pitchers. Schilling is going for his 6th win of the season and 199th of his career. Mussina has been one of the best starters in the AL, holding opponents to less than 3 runs in every one of his starts. He's won his last 4 games and is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA.

The Sox have seen Mike Mussina a great deal. Our lineup has 329 career regular season at-bats against Mussina. Historically, we've had some trouble hitting him. The Yankees have 248 at-bats against Schilling with similar levels of success.

I think this will be a close pitching duel with both guys going at least 7. It might come down to bullpens, which is why using Foulke in the 8th upset me just a little bit.

DELCARMEN DOWN, HOLTZ UP

The Red Sox optioned righty Manny Delcarmen back to AAA Pawtucket. Delcarmen pitched 3.2 innings, allowing 6 earned runs. He only pitched in blowout situations or when the Sox were desperate.

Holtz is a 33 year old lefty journeyman with a 4.69 career ERA in 250 MLB appearances. In Pawtucket he threw 16 innings with a 1.69 ERA. Lefties were batting .091 against him.

I don't know if Francona will use Holtz as a proto-typical situational lefty, getting tough lefthanders out late in close games. I think he might use Holtz as a middle-reliever in situations when he will be facing several lefthanders in an inning.

THE RADIO SITUATION
The Red Sox agreed to broadcast their games on WEEI and WRKO next season. The deal is worth somewhere between $130 million to $140 million over the next 10 years. Strangely, this was the same approximate worth as the WBOS deal on the table. Reportedly, WEEI will have weekday day games, and Friday night games. WRKO will have all other games. WRKO won't change its format to sports, and the Sox will continue to have a relationship with WEEI.

I think having two radio broadcasters is stupid. The situation with NESN and channel 38 splitting games didn't work too well, and even though WEEI and WRKO will promote each other, it is still stupid to have games on 2 stations.

PATRIOTS DRAFT RECAP (LATE, SORRY)

Sorry this is a few weeks late, been busy with finals etc. to write all of this out.

The Patriots drafted a running back, a wide out, a tight end, a fullback, a kicker, an offensive tackle, a DE/OLB, a guard, a defensive tackle, and finally a defensive back/return specialist.

The Pats first pick was Laurence Maroney, a 217 pound, 5' 11" running back our of Minnesota. Maroney appears to be the running back of the future for us, and will probably see some time with Dillon getting most of the carries. Dillon will be 32 in October, and last year he showed some wear and tear from his 2,419 career carries.



Maroney is just a little bit smaller than Dillon, but being younger he has time to build up size. His frame can definitely allow him to add another 10 pounds or maybe even more. He had a good career as a Minnesota Gopher, even though he only played until his junior season. He racked up 32 touchdowns in his career and a few thousand yards rushing. He isn't much of a receiver, but he can be a dump off option. I think the Patriots coaching staff and system will turn this guy into a really good running back.

The Pats traded up in the 2nd round to nab WR Chad Jackson out of Florida. Jackson was one of the most highly touted receivers in the draft. The Pats are in need of replenishment to their receiver corps with the loss of David Givens. Jackson will come in as one of our biggest receivers as well as one of the fastest. It looks like he has the ability to be a really good receiver. He is also willing to work hard, leading the Gators in receptions even though few were for big yards. He also played special teams and I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up returning kicks for us.



The next pick confused me, at first. The Patriots have a lot of needs on their roster, but tight end didn't seem like one of them. Watson was coming into his own as the season progressed last year and Daniel Graham has always been very good. Plus, we have Vrabel on goal line situations. Maybe Belichick likes Wendy's and decided to pick David Thomas, a TE out of Texas.



The guy is a good tight end and was a captain on the National Championship team. Talent wise, he looks very good, with a large number of receptions for a tight end, and more than half of his catches going for 1st downs. However, he fits in 3rd on our depth chart at TE at the moment. I just don't see what the need and desire for Thomas was. Ironically, right after Thomas was picked, the Ravens picked CB David Pittman, then Carolina got OLB James Anderson, then two picks later, Tampa got WR Maurice Stovall. These were all guys at positions the Pats needed and they slipped by us.

However, Daniel Graham's rookie contract expires at the end of this season. If Thomas shows potential and works for us, we might not re-sign Graham. If Thomas doesn't work out, we can re-sign Graham. Bellichick and the boys are crafty, aren't they? Draft for a future need the season before you might have it. It gives you more and better options.

The Patriots had 2 4th round picks and used them to get some role players. They got fullback Garrett Mills out of Tulsa and kicker Stephen Gotskowski out of Memphis.



Mills is actually a tight end drafted as a fullback. His receiving numbers are awesome. He is the NCAA record holder for TE receiving yards in a season. He had 87 catches last year and 201 in his college career, in which he played all 4 years. His size is the reason he is moving to the backfield. He is only 6' 1" and 232 pounds. The Pats could use a guy like this to catch passes out of the backfield, but we also need him to work on his blocking for pass protection and for Dillon and Maroney.



Gotskowski is 127 for his last 128 extra points, which is pretty good for a college player. He went 10 for 10 in kicks beyond 40 yards last season, and 3 for 3 beyond 50. His long was a 53 yarder. He's 42/49 in the past two seasons. He is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Memphis scoring in a season. He's also a pitcher for the Tigers.

In the fifth round, the Patriots got run blocking offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan out of California. Last season the Bears had two 1,000 yard rushers, and one 2,000 yard rusher in 2004. He's a good run blocker, but he is slow to change direction which could pose a problem in pass blocking situations in the NFL against speedy D-linemen and linebackers.



In the 6th round, the Pats addressed another need, drafting DE/LB Jeremy Mincey of the Florida Gators. He's a tweener that could fill in at the role McGinist had with us, lining up on the line as essentially both a D-End and an OLB. He's a good pass rusher, but he struggles to stay at home. If he can work on that, he could come to be a McGinist type player, always prepared to make the big play, and always allowing his teammates to make big plays.



Also in the 6th, the Pats drafted Dan Stevenson, a 300 pound Guard out of Notre Dame. He is small and not very athletic, but the word is he has great technique and is a very hard worker. I'm sure Bellichick and the Pats know that this is true considering the relationship with the head coach of Notre Dame.



Right after that, the Pats drafted Kevin Smith, a defensive tackle out of Nebraska. The problem with Smith seems to be effort. He put up some nice numbers at Nebraska, demonstrating an ability to pass rush, run defend. and eat up blocks. But his effort changed from series to series. He seems like he is a project for Bellichick, Seymour, Warren, and Wilfork to potentially mold.



The Patriots waited until pick #229 to get a defensive back. Willie Andrews played as a Safety but isn't big enough to play in that spot in the NFL. His specialty is returning. He set the punt return yardage and kick return yardage records for Baylor. Baylor sucks, but he is fast, quick, and elusive. We could use a guy to specialize at returning, and he might be a possible candidate.



So the Pats addressed a need at running back, a possible future need at tight end, a need at wide receiver, they got a potential fullback, a kicker, two offensive linemen, an OLB/DE tweener, a defensive tackle, and a DB/return specialist. Not an amazing draft, but it looks like it has good potential to help the Pats fill some needs. Jackson, Maroney, and Thomas look very good and the rest of the players drafted all look solid with potential to be very good.

WELLS, CRISP, WRKO, ROTATION, RISKE,

David Wells threw 60 pitches off the mound in a bullpen session. Here is the rest of his rehab schedule:

Wednesday 5/10: 50-60 pitches off mound
Saturday 5/13: simulated game
Thursday 5/18: minor league rehab start

So, we probably won't have Wells back until at least the 23rd of May, and they probably will keep him in the minors for more rehab starts this time around so we might not see him until June.

CRISP BACK IN A FEW DAYS...MAYBE
Coco Crisp might be picking up a bat and taking some swings any day now. He has been doing more with his hand lately, including throwing barehanded. He will probably have a rehab stint very soon. The rumor is he will be back in around a week. We need his bat in this lineup. We can hit off Baltimore without him, but Toronto and Tampa proved too much for us.

SOX TO MAKE MOVE TO WRKO...MAYBE
This isn't a definite, but it appears as though WBOS has fallen out of the running for the Red Sox broadcasting rights. WEEI's contract expires at the outset of next season. WBOS had been the front runner. Reportedly, their offer was for $140 million over 10 years, plus an $8 million signing bonus, plus 25% ownership of the station itself. Entercom (owner of WEEI and WRKO) must have made an amazing offer to top that. The $140 million proposal would make the Red Sox deal the largest in baseball. WBOS also may have been willing to air games on FM radio, which has much better sound quality than AM.

WBOS ownership, however, left the table citing financial reasons. Apparently, the Sox wanted too much from them. Entercom was left by themselves at the negotiating table. A move to WRKO would probably help Entercom more than it would help the Sox. WEEI's ratings are much better than WRKO.

Another reason for the potential move may be to separate the Red Sox from WEEI, even though the separation would only be superficial. WEEI's primary function is as a sports radio station. Thus, it's primary function is to criticise and question. The Sox might not like this. A move to WRKO would make it seem as though the two entities were separate. However, WRKO and WEEI both have the same owner and even the same program director. They both broadcast out of the same building.

ROTATION CHANGES
With the rainout last week, and an off day today, the Red Sox were able to rearrange their rotation. Beckett will start it off tomorrow against New York. Schilling will follow. Wakefield will be third. Clement will be fourth. DiNardo will round it out at fifth. Why the change? I don't know. I guess it is nice to finally have Schilling and Beckett 1 and 2.

RISKE ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL
David Riske threw a bullpen session on Sunday. He will pitch a rehab inning in AAA Pawtucket on Wednesday. The need for him to come back healthy in be productive is not a small need. Our middle relief is very weak right now. We need all the help we can get.

That's about it for now. Might do a preview of the Sox/Yankees series for tomorrow.

SOX COMPLETE SWEEP OF ORIOLES

A few firsts this weekend. Wakefield, for the first time this season, got some support. DiNardo also got his first MLB win.

Saturday's 9-3 win was an all around effort. Every starter got on base. Manny's starting to hit, he got his average up to .301 after Saturday's 1 for 2 performance. About the only soft spot offensively has been Ortiz who is mired in a 20+ at-bat slump.

The pitching was also a team effort. Wakefield had another solid start, going 6 and allowing 3. Tavarez had an outing that got a little bit too interesting when he hit Luis Matos. The two jawed at each other, benches cleared, nothing serious happened. Apparently, the two are friends and were fooling around or something. Whatever. The fact of the matter is, Tavarez nearly gave up a 2 run homer after the incident. Timlin had to come in to get an out. Technically it was a save situation so Timlin got a hold. The Sox put up 2 in the 8th then Seanez pitched a 1-2-3 9th to end it.

The Man of the Game is Alex Gonzalez who went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, a run, and a walk. You know the Sox had a good effort when it is really difficult to pick a Man of the Game. This one was very, very hard to select.

The Sox followed up their 9-3 win with a 10-3 win on Sunday. They did a good job of getting to Kris Benson, which surprised me because he has 4 wins and we haven't faced him that much in the past. Usually, those types of guys we haven't seen really screw up the bats. That was not the case yesterday.

The Orioles and Kevin Millar blew a bases loaded, no out opportunity, scoring only 1 run in the top of the 1st. The Sox had a similar opportunity and Varitek capitalized with a Grand Slam into the bullpen. That was the end of the game.

DiNardo didn't pitch amazingly, but he was good enough to get around some mistakes. He only allowed 2 hits in 5 innings, but he walked 5 men. Tavarez looked shaky as usual, but we had a huge cushion by the time he entered the game. Foulke threw a scoreless 1.1 and Delcarmen pitched the 9th without incident for another cruise to victory.

The Man of the Game is Jason Varitek. He only had 1 hit all day, but it was the game winning hit and came in the 1st. Psychologically that hit was devastating. Baltimore had such a squander in the 1st, to come back and put up 4 with a Granny was like twisting the dagger after stabbing them.

The Sox have an off day after going 5-1 on their homestand. Then we go down to The Bronx.

Beckett vs. Johnson on Tuesday, Schilling vs. Mussina on Wednesday, and Wakefield vs. Chacon on Thursday. All those pitching matchups are pretty equivalent. An average difference of 0.29 in ERA between starters.

This picture is awesome, by the way:

Seriously, where can I get a t-shirt that says that?

SOX DOUBLE UP ON ORIOLES

The Red Sox put up five doubles last night against the Orioles, including three from Mike Lowell. Remember when we saw Mike Lowell as just a salary dump?

Solid start from Schilling for win #5, scattering 8 hits and 0 walks over 7 innings. Timlin got his 7th Hold with a scoreless 8th inning, and Papelbon got save #12 with a perfect 9th.

The Man of the Game is without question Mike Lowell who did it all. He went 3 for 4 with 3 doubles. He scored twice, stole a base, and made an AMAZING play that baffled Jerry Remy and everyone at Fenway. To quote Remy "Boy is he playing some baseball."

Bedard vs. Wakefield in game 2 tonight

WHAT A RELIEF

Jonathan Papelbon was named AL Rookie of the Month for April and also won the DHL Delivery Man of the Month award. Although he gave up his first earned run in Wednesday's 7-6 loss against Toronto, he is showing no signs of being affected by it.

One of the keys to being a good closer is the ability to shake off bad outings. We've seen guys like BH Kim unable to do this and it has seriously affected their careers. It is inevitable that a closer will have blown saves and losses. They need to be able to leave all that frustration and baggage on the mound on the day they screw up, come back the next day, and be capable of once again pitching brilliantly. Papelbon has done that.

The Red Sox bats finally came together for some offense. This was a team effort at the plate with every man in the lineup getting on base once, 6 players getting hits, 6 scoring runs, and 5 getting RBI.

The offense started in the 1st inning scoring 5 runs. Giving an early lead like that to your starter helps them to relax and find a groove more easily.

Loretta doubled, Ortiz got walked intentionally (I don't think walking anyone to get to Manny Ramirez is a wise move), Manny walked, Nixon hit an RBI fielder's choice, Varitek had an RBI double, Lowell had a 2 RBI double, and Pena had an RBI single. The key to this inning was 2 out hitting. Four of the five RBI in the inning came with 2 outs.

Clement only allowed 2 hits, and yielded a sole run in the 6th inning. The Red Sox answered when Youkilis hit a 2 run shot, his 2nd of the season.

Foulke pitched a scoreless 7th, then our mediocre middle-relief was given the ball. Seanez allowed a 2 run homer to Glaus that made the score 7-3. In the 9th, Tavarez was given the ball and allowed Eric Hinske to homer. This forced Francona to go to Papelbon with a runner already on 1st base. Papelbon struck out his first man, then allowed a single, then induced a weak groundball that ended the game.

Hopefully Mark Loretta's 2 for 4 day signifies a breaking out from his extended slump. And how about Mike Lowell? I think you could make an argument for him being our 2nd best offensive player of the season thus far behind Ortiz. Willy Mo Pena is also showing that he isn't just a strikeout/homerun machine with his 2 for 4 evening with a double and a single.

The Man of the Game is Mike Lowell who went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles, one with 2 outs, one to lead off an inning. Lowell eventually scored both times. His double in the 1st knocked in 2 runs and continued a 2 out rally. His double in the 6th led off an inning and when Youk came up with 2 outs, he sent Lowell home with the long ball.

FRUSTRATION

Why can't we beat the Blue Jays? We finally get to Roy Haladay, but at the same time the Jays get 4 off Beckett and get him out after 5 innings, then they get to our previously perfect closer.

The Sox lost last night because it wasn't an all around team effort. Some players had fabulous performances (Manny, Varitek, Lowell, Pena, and Timlin) but we also had some bad performances (Beckett, Foulke, Papelbon, Youkilis, Loretta, and Ortiz).

Youkilis, Loretta, and Ortiz combined for an 0 for 14 night. The only time one of them got on base was when Youkilis walked. Manny went 3 for 4 without a single RBI because these three guys weren't getting on base in front of him. The back end of the lineup was great with the 4 thru 8 hitters combining for a 12 for 22 with a pair of doubles. Had the 1 thru 3 guys gotten on base, or if we had a better #9 hitter, we would have scored 4 or 5 runs more.

And can we move Mike Lowell up in the lineup already? The guy's batting .326 with 11 doubles. Varitek is batting .260 with 6 extra basehits total. Moving Lowell up would allow us to capitalize on his power. As it is right now, if the #8 hitter doesn't knock him in after he gets on, he won't score because Gonzalez is a hole at the end of the lineup. Move him up and allow him to knock in Manny and Nixon, then get knocked in by Varitek and Pena.

Are we going to explore other options other than Loretta in the #2 spot in the lineup. I think when Coco comes back, Youkilis should be the #2 hitter. Loretta and his .207 average and .267 OBP is killing us at the top of the lineup. Just look at the numbers, every 25 plate appearances, he's recording 18 outs. He's not striking out a lot, but nor is he walking that much (8 BBs, 8 Ks). He also isn't working the count that much. He sees an average of 3.78 pitches per plate appearance. Youkilis, for instance, sees 4.35. That doesn't sound like much, but that adds up over the course of a game.

The pitching is to blame for this one, as well. You score 6 runs, you should win the game. Beckett has fallen considerably from his first 3 starts. He could only give us 5 innings of work, and allowed 4 runs in those 5 innings.

Tavarez was shaky but was saved by Foulke in the 6th. Then Foulke fell apart in the 7th. It seems like when Foulke has to start another inning, he looks a little bit off. Hillenbrand hit a 2 run shot off of him to give the Blue Jays a 6-5 lead.

Timlin was good enough to pitch a scoreless 8th which allowed Mike Lowell to tie it with an RBI single, knocking in Tek. The Sox could have had more after Pena singled, but Gonzalez popped up a bunt, Youkilis grounded into a fielder's choice, then Loretta struck out.

The Sox went to Papelbon in the 9th. Being a tied home game in the 9th with no chance of there being a Save situation in the game, this made sense. However, it says a lot about our middle relief that Francona didn't trust them to pitch.

Overbay led off with a single, Hillenbrand lined out, then Zaun singled. Russ Adams hit a double to knock in the go ahead run. It was the first run Papelbon has allowed all season. His ERA is still an impressive 0.55.

The good news from the inning was that Papelbon stayed settled. He induced a pop up then an inning ending ground out. He gave up the go ahead run, but he kept the Sox as much in the game as possible after doing so.

The Red Sox were given an opportunity by the Blue Jays in the bottom of the 9th. Ortiz and Manny were retired. Mohr struck out but reached 1st on a passed ball. Harris came in and stole 2nd, and got to 3rd on a Zaun throwing error on the play. Varitek just had to hit a single anywhere to tie it up, but he struck out on three pitches.

The Man of the Game is Lyle Overbay who went 4 for 4, with a double, an RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk. It was his single that sparked the Toronto rally in the 9th.

The B*tch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.3 - 5 IP, 4 ER
Foulke: 0.2 - IP, 2 ER
Papelbon: 0.2 - IP, ER
Youkilis: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Loretta: 0.1 - 0 for 5
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 5

Towers vs. Clement tonight to end the two game series.

SINCE WHEN IS IT DISGRACEFUL TO BOO?

Of all the things fans have done to players, from charging the field, from those two idiots who attacked a first-base coach, to fans throwing batteries, booing and jeering seems relatively mundane.

However, a great many people are appalled that Red Sox fans booed a former player that went to the arch-rival Yankees for more money.

This is what Sean McAdams of the Providence Journal and WEEI said:
"As a reward for his on-field excellence and unselfish behavior, Damon was treated like some common criminal Monday."

A common criminal? Opening your mouth and booing is treating someone like a common criminal? I think we need to look at the big picture here. The center-fielder for the New York Yankees got booed in Fenway Park and we're shocked? Yes, he helped us win it all in 2004, but after last year he decided to play for the Yankees. If fans don't like this decision, isn't it within their rights to boo?

Maybe fans are upset because Damon said "There is no way I can play for the Yankees." Are we surprised that a former Red Sox star plays for a rival after saying they would never do it?

Even if there were no reason to boo Damon, there are greater tragedies in life than a millionaire athlete having to listen to people boo him for a few seconds.

We cheered Damon because of the B on his hat, with an NY up there, he is going to get booed.

SOX/YANKS RAINED OUT

Tonight's Red Sox/Yankees game was postponed due to rain. The makeup is scheduled for August 18th as part of a day/night doubleheader. This, of course, means that the Red Sox swept the Yankees.

RedSox.com says Clement will go against Roy Haladay and the Blue Jays tomorrow, but I have to believe the Sox will simply push Clement back a day and pitch Beckett tomorrow night.

STILL YOUR PAPI

Solid pitching, good defense, and timely hitting. That's how you win ball games. Having David Ortiz doesn't hurt, either.

The Sox looked kind of out of this one early after squandering a golden opportunity in the 1st and falling behind 3-1. In the 5th, Manny had a bases loaded single and Trot grounded out to knock in a run to tie the score at 3. The game went scoreless until the bottom of the 8th inning. Loretta had an RBI single to give the Sox a lead. The Yankees then brought in former Sox lefty specialist Mike Myers to face David Ortiz. Papi launched a shot to right center into the bullpens to give the Sox a 7-4 lead. Papelbon pitched yet another scoreless inning to end the game.

The game saw the return of three former Sox to Fenway. The aforementioned Myers did not fare well, neither did Johnny Damon, who went 0 for 4 in his Yankee debut in The Rivalry. Doug Mirabelli also returned literally just in time. He was traded in exchange for Josh Bard, Cla Meredith, and cash considerations. He didn't allow a passed ball and he threw a runner out.

The Man of the Game is David Ortiz, who went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI, a homerun, and a walk. The reason Ortiz is such a big guy is that he eats the Yankees pitchers alive.

Beckett vs. Chacon tomorrow.