CLEAN SWEEP

The Red Sox outscored the Angels 25-3 in three games. Angels starters went a total of 13 innings. Maybe it as the cold weather. They went 5-2 in Anaheim, then lost 2 of 3 to Cleveland in Milwaukee, and 3 of 3 to us in Boston. Nevertheless, we'll take the wins.

The Sox got started early in this game, and Beckett had his 3rd quality tart of the season, a 6 inning, 1 earned run performance. If the game had been closer he probably could have gone 7, but we were up 7-1. No sense pushing things too far. Then again, if Beckett were Curt Schilling, he might have gotten the extra inning.

Speaking of Curt, interesting remark from him:

"I absolutely thought I was going to finish that game right up through the (28-pitch) seventh inning. Going back out for the ninth would have been me trying to get a shutout as opposed to me trying to make 33 or 34 starts and be as healthy as I can for every one."

It almost seems like Curt's saying that it was HIS decision to not go 9 innings, and only go 8. I'm sure it was also his call to go the 8 instead of just 7. Gee, Curt, thanks for making the right decisions.

The Man of the Game is David Ortiz. He went 2 for 3 with a homer, a double, an RBI, 2 runs, and a walk. He appears to have broken out of his slump, and he's lifted his average to .293.

Honorable Mentions:
Josh Beckett: 6 IP, ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Julio Lugo: 2/4, 2B, Run

The Sox go up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. Maybe this year we can beat them.

JACKIE ROBINSON DAY RAINOUT

Second rainout of the year for the Sox, both at Fenway. Where is the retractable roof talk? Kidding, only kidding, but somewhere, Ted Sarandas is outraged.

I'm pretty bummed about this game getting rained out, for two reasons. Firs of all, our bullpen was fresh off Schilling's 8 inning performance, and the Angels bullpen was worn after Carrasco's debacle yesterday afternoon. It also would have been cool to see players wearing 42. Great idea by Griffey, by the way.

Jackie Robinson and the Red Sox have an interesting little history. One of the most celebrated men in Red Sox history is Tom Yawkey. Yawkey, from South Carolina, bought the team in 1933, and did a lot for the franchise in his 44 year tenure as owner. He put money back into the team. He did things like rebuild the left field grandstand, which had been burnt down in a 1926 fire and hadn't been rebuilt. He took a team that finished 8th in the AL in 1932 with a record of 43-111, and turned it into a .500 team by 1934. He acquired great players like Lefty Grove, and Jimmie Foxx. By 1938, the team was finishing in the 1st division (that means the top 4 of the AL). By 1946, the team won the pennant for the first time in 28 years, won 100 games for the first time in 31 years, and went to the World Series, losing to St. Louis.

Yawkey's been honored by baseball as a member of the Hall of Fame, honored by the Red Sox and the city of Boston with a street named after him, and a Commuter Rail station named after him. The little dots and dashes on the Green Monster scoreboard spell out the initials of Yawkey in his wife in Morse Code.

But the man, and the team under him, were racists. The Sox had an opportunity to sign Jackie Robinson before the Dodgers did. Passed up on it. OK, maybe they didn't want to risk being the first team with black players. Then the Indians got Larry Doby, who also tried out for the Sox and was denied. Then Cleveland got Satchel Paige. In 1948, the Indians and Red Sox tied for 1st in the AL and played a single game playoff to determine the pennant winner. Cleveland won. Now, imagine if we had gotten Paige. In 1948, he went 6-1 in 7 starts for Cleveland. Doby hit .301 for the Indians that year. We could have had those players, ANYONE could have, and we had an owner willing to shell out money for good players, BUT ONLY IF THEY WERE GOOD WHITE PLAYERS. And he has a street named after him.

The Sox were one of the best teams in the 1940s, finishing 1st in the AL in '46, 3rd in '47, 2nd by a game in '48, 2nd by a game in '49. Then in the 50s, we started to drop a bit. 3rd, 3rd. 6th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 5th. The rest of baseball had black players. We didn't. We were back where we started when Yawkey bought the team, finishing 7th in 1960, with Bumpsie Green being our token black player.

Did you know that Willie Mays was on a Negro League affiliate of a Sox minor league team? Did you know the Sox could have bought his contract for a song? Did you know that Willie Mays hit 660 homeruns? Did you know he was one of, if not the, best player of the 1950s, the decade that saw us struggle to finish in the top 4 of the AL?

People talk about the Curse of the Bambino, or maybe just bad luck being responsible for the Red Sox's many failures from 1919 to 2003. They're wrong, at least for part of the time. In the late 1940s, and the 1950s, it was the Curse of Tom Yawkey that was to blame for the Sox failures.

FLAWLESS VICTORY

Nice win by the Sox today, but the pessimist in me is thinking, we had Curt Schilling on the mound against Hector Carrasco, we're supposed to win. But there's a lot of pessimist in me. I'd say I'm 90% full of pessimism. But the pessimist in me would say I'm 10% empty.

I think I just set a record for the most times anyone has used "pessimist" or a form of the word in a single paragraph.

Great pitching from Schilling today. And great hitting from most of the lineup. We had a few breaks with the Matthews error, and the Wild Pitch resulting in our first 3 runs, but Carrasco wasn't throwing strikes, and Schilling was plowing through the Angels' lineup, so we were going to win anyway. We squandered a few early opportunities, but kept plugging away and put up 8 runs.

It seems like Ortiz might be breaking out of his slump, which is good because it was close to becoming a funk, not just a slump. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI single and a 3 run homer. He also walked.

Eric Hinske had a fine day, too. He was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, a triple, and 3 runs scored. You know, Hinske can play the outfield, and he can hit. Coco Crisp can play the outfield, but can't hit. Maybe it's time to try Hinske in right-field a bit, move Drew to center, and give Coco a rest. Trotting back to the dugout after all those pop outs and strikeouts must be wearing down Coco's legs.

Speaking of Crisp, he went 0 for 3, dropping his average to .111. Pedro Martinez hit .111 for the Expos in 1995, let's hope Coco can top that.

I know I seem to be getting on Crisp a lot, even after we've scored 18 runs in 2 games, but I'm not getting on him. I'm getting on Francona for keeping him in the lineup. The guy's just not hitting right now.

Back to positivity. Varitek had a good day, even though the numbers don't show it. He only went 1 for 4, but had two very hard hit line drives that weren't hits. One was the Matthews error, and one was an outright robbery by Izturis on a sharp liner down the left field line.

Why did Curt go 8 innings? I know he was cruising, and his pitch count was low, and we were only up by 5, and our bullpen sucks, but it seemed like this was a great opportunity to give him the rest of the afternoon off. He's 40 years old, and there aren't very many innings left in that right arm. Why not save him, just a little bit?

How sad is it that one of our set-up pitchers is also our mop up guy to come in and pitch the 9th with an 8 run lead?

I love when Sox games are on TV in New York, but it's always bittersweet, because I either have to listen to the Yankee propagandists on YES!, Joe Morgan's ineptitude on ESPN, or Tim McCarver's idiocy on Fox.

Fox is by far the worst of them all. Not only do you get McCarver saying things like "This is a quiet croud, and even if they're playing the Angels, they want to see the Sox ahead in the game." Wow, remarkable. Or how about "A lot of pitchers worry about first pitch hits, but I'd be more worried about hits on 1-0, 2-0, and 3-1 counts, because that's when the pitches are predictable." I think what he meant to say was "I'd be more concerned with throwing first pitch strikes and getting ahead in the count." Another classic moment was when he said David Ortiz hit two homers off "Juan Padilla" last Sunday. Juan Padilla is a reliever for the Mets who is on the DL and is about to undergo elbow surgery. Ortiz is 0 for 1 against Juan Padilla, lifetime. I'm pretty sure Timmy meant to say Vicente Padilla. Another great moment in broadcasting was when he called Julio Lugo "Cabrera." Must be Julio's new nickname.

But anyway, the worst part of watching games on Fox is the quick cuts to different shots around the ballpark. I'm a film student, and I've taken a few film theory classes, so I've been trained to notice this stuff. In between pitches, Fox goes crazy with the camera angles. We'll have a close-up on the pitcher, close-up on the batter, shot of the guy on base, shot of the entire field from behind home plate, shot of the manager, shot of the on deck hitter, close-up of the hitter, close-up of the pitcher, split screen shot of the pitcher and baserunner, shot of some fan in the stands, close-up of the pitcher in his wind up, then shot from center field of the pitch. This is no exaggeration. Just watch a game on Fox and you'll see sequences like this repeated over and over and over.

Fox is trying to create tension and conflict. But the tension and conflict is already there. If you have an interest in the game, you'll feel the tension as you wait for the pitch. In fact, keeping the camera angle in one place, like the camera in center-field, can create even more tension. Just watch a spaghetti western like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Once Upon a Time in the West. In the big showdown scenes, there are few cuts and the camera rarely moves. It creates a lot of tension.

Tim Timmons had one of the worst umpiring performances behind the plate I've seen in quite a while. How is it that Hector Carrasco, who threw 41 balls and 38 strikes, was getting borderline calls at the knees, at the belt, and on the corners; but Curt Schilling, who was throwing strikes, couldn't get a call on the corner all afternoon?

OK, did anybody else see this? JD Drew catches a fly ball to end the 8th inning, then gives the ball to a fan. Fox shows a shot of Schilling trotting to the dugout, then goes back to the fan who got the ball from Drew. The fan is in the middle of flipping off some kid sitting two seats to his right. Classic moment right there. I can just imagine the conversation going on out there. "[expletive] off, kid, this is my [expletive] ball."

Man of the Game is Curt Schilling. He went 8 very strong innings, scattering 4 hits and a walk. He allowed 0 runs, threw 106 pitches, 68 of which were strikes. He's looking good, folks. Only one of those hits was for extra bases.

Curt allowed 5 total base-runners. Kendrick in the 3rd reached on a single and was left at 1st. Cabrera singled in the 4th and moved to 2nd on a ground out, but was stranded there. Kendrick singled in the 5th and was stranded on 1st. Cabrera doubled in the 6th and was stranded there. Kendrick walked in the 7th and was left on 1st.

No Angel ever reached 3rd base in this game. I guess that's why they're Angels.

Honorable Mentions:
David Ortiz: 2/4, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB
Eric Hinske: 2/3, 3B, 3 R, 2 BB
Howie Kendrick: 2/2, BB, SB

Ervin Santana against Josh Beckett tomorrow afternoon IF the weather allows.

SOX POUND THE ANGELS, EVENTUALLY

Crazy game. At one point, the Sox were down 1-0. Then up 2-1. Then up 4-1, but with two runners on and 1 out, then up 10-1.

Good pitching from Wakefield, and a good (and rare) Hold from Papelbon. Of course, had the Sox not scored 6 runs in the 8th, one can assume Papelbon would have stayed in the game to pitch the 9th and gotten another 5 out Save. Once again, this was due to some trouble with the set-up pitching.

I really am not sure why Wakefield started the 8th inning. I know his pitch count was still very low, but pitch counts aren't everything. In the 7th, he allowed a single, and a double. I guess it wasn't too bad since the 9th hitter was due to lead off. But I think when you have a 7 inning start by Wakefield, you take it. Then again, with our crappy middle relief and set-up situation, I guess Francona was forced into trying to extend Wakefield as much as he could.

Having good middle-relief makes a manager's job so much easier. And it makes a closer's job easier, as well. But we don't have that.

Thankfully the offense exploded in the 8th so Papelbon could sit in the 9th, and Timlin could get another stress free inning of work.

The 8th was just a good old-fashioned crooked number rally, compliments of Darren Oliver.

Mirabelli leads off with a fly out. 1 out
Pedroia works a walk. Man on 1st, 1 out
Lugo lines a single to center, 1st and 2nd, 1 out
Youkilis singles to left, bases loaded, 1 out (classic Red Sox station-to-station baseball)
Ortiz with a nice 8 pitch at-bat and a ground rule double, 2 runs score, men on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out
Manny walks on 4 pitches, bases loaded, 1 out (Pena pinch runs for him)
Drew singles to left, 2 runs score, 1st and 2nd, 1 out (Hinske pinch runs for Drew, I wonder how many times in his life Hinske has been used as a pinch runner)
Lowell doubles to left, 2 runs score, man on 2nd, 1 out
Crisp and Mirabelli strike out, inning over

5 HITS, 6 RUNS, NO ERRORS, 1 LEFT ON BASE

Nice inning.

And Mirabelli actually contributed offensively. He was 2 for 5 with a solo homer, and an RBI single. I think he'll have 7 or 8 hits this year, and 5 of them will be homeruns.

Coco Crisp did not contribute offensively. Hitter usually find their jobs in jeopardy if they're having trouble staying above the Mendoza Line (.200 batting average), but Crisp is below the Wakefield Line (Wake has a career average of .125, Crisp is batting .121)

Here are Crisp's at-bats:
Bottom 2nd, runner on 1st, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches
Bottom 4th, runner on 1st, 2 outs, Crisp pops out to short on 1 pitch
Bottom 6th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp grounds out 4-3, advances runner to 3rd, 2 pitch at-bat, this was his most productive at-bat.
Bottom 7th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, Crisp grounds out 6-3, 6 pitches
Bottom 8th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches

Total: 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 6 left-on-base, and for some reason, he was hitting 7th instead of Pedroia, who is actually hitting with some decency.

When the hell is Francona going to wake up and put Pena in for a few games? I know Pena is a horrible defensive center-fielder, and he strikes out a lot, but he can actually hit the ball, and hit it hard. And he can hit for a good average if given sufficient playing time.

Man of the Game is Tim Wakefield who went 7+ innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and only 1 earned run.

Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Papelbon: perfect 0.2 IP, including striking out Guerrero with 2 on and 1 out, Vladimir is not very easy to strike out.
David Ortiz: 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and a big ground rule double in the 8th which sealed the game
Julio Lugo: 3 for 5, with a double and two runs scored

Schilling vs. Carrasco this afternoon, the game will be on Fox nationally.

This is odd, every game in this 4 game series has a different start time. 7:05 PM last night, 3:55 PM today, 1:05 PM tomorrow, 10:05 AM on Monday.

Just imagine being an Angels fan in LA, and the Monday game starts at 7:05 AM Pacific. Weird.

ONE HIT?? THAT'S ALL WE GOT WAS ONE LOUSY HIT?

Can you see why they call Felix Hernandez "King"?

This loss was just the Sox running into the wrong pitcher on the wrong night. Just tip the cap to Hernandez, thank JD Drew for breaking up an embarrassing no-hitter, and move on to tomorrow's game, which will probably be snowed out.

Daisuke looked solid against a good hitting team. He wasn't great, but unless he also pitched a one-hitter, he would have been outpitched by Hernandez anyway.

The Sox pen didn't allow a run. HOORAY!

Has anybody else seen a middle infielder as bad at relaying the ball as Julio Lugo? He takes forever to get rid of it, and the throws are always off. Someone in the ESPN booth made a great point, bad throws from an infielder aren't an arm problem, they're a foot problem. Lugo has horrible foot placement on quick throws. But we should get used to it, I guess.

Varitek looks simply outmatched at the plate. I know everyone did against Hernandez, but Tek should really be hitting 9th, not 7th. Crisp is also a candidate for the 9 hole. I think a case can be made for Pedroia to move up in the lineup. I can tell you this much, though, regarding Crisp and Varitek: The Red Sox brass will be watching Kotteras and Ellsbury very carefully this season.

The only Sox starter over .300 right now is Drew. Next highest is Julio Lugo at .276. That's got to change. Youk is 3rd at .258. Everyone of the other starting 9 are below .250.

I know I'll be bitching a lot about the bottom of the order this season, but Manny and Ortiz need to start hitting SOON. I don't doubt they will, but we are not going to have any offense unless they're hitting. Manny's been hitting line drives and hasn't had much hitter's luck, but Ortiz seems to be trying to hit the ball to the 2nd baseman in the overshift, like it was an infield hitting drill or something.

Man of the Game is, um, maybe Felix Hernandez. 9 inning complete game shutout, 1 hit, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 17 groundouts, totally PWN3D us.

Bitch-Goat:
Matsuzaka: 0.2 - 3 ER
Lugo: 0.3 - 0 for 3, 1 LOB, Error, two horrible relays
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 3, K
Lowell: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Varitek: 0.1 - 0 for 3, K, 1 LOB
Crisp: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 K

Honorable Mentions:
Kenjo Johjima: 2/3, 2 2B, BB

Snow in the forecast tomorrow. If a game gets in, Wakefield vs. Washburn. Which W will get the W? Good Lord, I'm corny.

MORE ON DONNELLY VS. GUILLEN

More on. Haha.

So this whole business started in 2004 when Jose Guillen criticized Mike Scioscia after he was pinch ran for. Guillen threw the Angels' pitchers into the criticisms as well, accusing them of not hitting opposing batters to protect the Angels' hitters. Of course, Guillen and Donnelly were teammates at the time.

Guillen was suspended by Scioscia for the rest of the season. At the end of the year, he was traded to Washington. Since then, he's had a vendetta against the Angels.

When Washington played the Angels, Guillen tipped off his manager that Donnelly had pine tar on his glove. The umpires inspected Brendan's glove, found a foreign substance, and ejected him. Donnelly was suspended by the league for 8 games.

So yesterday afternoon, Donnelly struck out Guillen in the 8th inning of a blowout game. Guillen said something, Donnelly said something. The benches cleared.

Just a sidenote, I wish baseball fights were more like hockey fights, one player against one player, settle it between yourselves. But no, baseball fights involve the entire teams. Once one person steps out of the dugout during a potential fight, everyone on the other bench will come out, and everyone from the first bench, and everyone from the bullpens. You'd think if it were a real fight, the bullpens would just stay in the outfield and fight there, instead of running into battle.

Anyway, after things settled down, Donnelly hit Johjihima with a pitch, and was promptly ejected. Guillen had been ejected during the fracas.

Guillen's comments after the game were funny.

"It started when I was with the Angels and I got traded, you know. Caught him cheating once, and unfortunately he keeps running his mouth like he's gonna hit me. He's got to be man enough to hit me and not hit our catcher. So if you're gonna hit somebody, go ahead and do it.

When I was walking to the dugout, I saw him staring at me and I just don't like that. I know he was saying something. He was staring at me. I don't like whatever he's saying."

Guillen is mad that Donnelly hit Johjihima, and not himself. But Guillen flipped out BEFORE Donnelly hit Johjihima. And then this crap about "staring at me" reminds me of Gerald "Ice" Williams attacking Pedro Martinez for spitting on the ground in his general direction. Then again, Williams was actually hit by a pitch, he didn't strike out before he threw his nutty.

Here's the thing, Jose Guillen is a loud mouth talker. He talks too much. He got pissed because some guy he hates struck him out. His team was down 14-1, he was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts, and he took his anger out on Donnelly. He concocted a story about staring and used it as an excuse to get pissed at Donnelly, which incited an entire team vs. team bench clearing grab ass session.

Guillen is just an immature little baby, and a bad teammate. Just ask anyone who was on the Angels in 2004.

DIDN'T YOU MISS JEFF WEAVER?

The Sox may have missed Jeff Weaver, but they didn't miss many of his pitches this afternoon.

I have a feeling that the expression "offensive onslaught" will rarely be used to describe Sox wins, so let's just enjoy it now.

Offensive

Onslaught

Sounds good, right?

Four runs in the 1st, 3 more in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th, 2 in the 5th, and 1 more in the 7th. As a team, the Sox went 14 for 36 (.389), with 7 walks. Seven of the hits were doubles, and one was a 2 run homer by JD Drew. The only Sox starter not to get a hit was Pedroia.

Beckett, once again, pitched brilliantly. He went 7, but probably could have gone the full 9 if needed. He definitely could have gone 8. He only threw 84 pitches, 61 of which were strikes. If it weren't for the 14-1 lead, he probably would have started the 8th inning. He allowed 2 hits, both in the 3rd inning, which eventually produced a run for Seattle. He struck out 8 batters. Most impressively, he allowed 0 walks.

Timlin made his 2007 debut. He replaced Javier Lopez on the roster when he was activated off the DL. He didn't look good, but this was mop up work, a good chance to give him an inning to pitch.

The reasoning behind sending down Lopez is probably that he is the only reliever with minor league options, all other pitchers would have to clear waivers.

Flawless Victory for the Sox.

Man of the Game: Josh Beckett - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 0 HR

Honorable Mentions:
Jason Varitek - 3/4, 2B, 3 RBI, R, BB
Kevin Youkilis - 3/5, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R
JD Drew - 1/2 HR, Sac-Fly, 3 RBI, 2 R

Daisuke tomorrow night. First batter for Seattle: Ichiro. Japan will be watching this game.

Maybe this video from a few years ago is a preview of tomorrow.

A BIT MORE ON JD DURBIN

JD Durbin has a MySpace page. His user name is somewhat odd, but whatever. The dude likes George Strait, nothing wrong with that.

El Guapo's Ghost makes a pretty good case for how to use Papelbon. You should read his full post on it (it's not nearly as long winded as my posts). But basically, he says that Papelbon should be used in tough save situations only, not those 3 run, just pitch the 9th inning saves. This would allow him more rest to come in and make 4 out, 5 out, and 6 out saves. We could use Timlin or Donnely to get those easy 3 out saves. I think it's a good idea.

Still no word yet on whether Timlin will be activated, or if JD Durbin will be on the 25 man roster today.

Here are the probable pitchers for the series with Seattle. The Mariners had their rotation "adjusted" by snow in Cleveland. I wonder if there was any retractable roof talk on northern Ohio sports radio this weekend.

Today, Josh Beckett goes against former Yankee Jeff Weaver. This is Weaver's first start of the season.

Felix Hernandez goes against Daisuke Matsuzaka on Wednesday. Hernandez is coming off an 8 inning, 3 hit, shutout gem against Oakland.

Jarrod Washburn goes against Tim Wakefield on Friday.