Magic Sox

I officially have a boner for this team. I am excited, eager, a little sweaty, and generally pumped about this team.

They weren't supposed to win this game. Ryan Dempster vs. Felix Hernandez. Down 5 runs in the 9th. And I was fine with that. The Sox won the 15 inning game the night/morning before, and losing to Hernandez is completely excusable. We had all printed a pass for the Sox when and if they lost this game.

The Sox were not fine with accepting that pass. They took advantage of a bizarre 9th inning which saw an opposing manager use the wrong arm to signal a pitcher, and a very hitter-friendly strike zone from home plate umpire David Rackley. Perhaps that was karma from the blown call at home plate against Tampa Bay on Monday.

And not only did the Sox win, they won in 9. They didn't get involved in another draining extra inning game. They finished it in 9 and preserved their energy for Arizona this weekend.

Once Hernandez left the game, with a comfortable 6 run lead, Shane Victorino hit a homerun. It didn't seem to mean much at the time. It would wind up meaning quite a bit.

Daniel Nava started off the 9th with a walk. Lavarnway singled, Holt doubled, Nava scored. Then Ellsbury walked. Mariners interim manager Robby Thompson wanted a righty to face Victorino and Pedroia. But on his way to the mound he tapped his left hand. The umpires caught this and forced the Mariners to put a lefty in. Victorino singled to knock in 2, Pedroia singled to make it a 7-6 game. Ortiz struck out against the lefty, then Thompson finally got to put in the righty he initially wanted. Gomes singled to tie the game, Drew walked, and Nava finished the inning he started with a fly-ball to deep center. Once it left his bat there was no doubt the game was over.

From 7-2 down to 8-7 up in 1 inning. Simply magical.

The Sox continue to do well at home. They're 22 games above .500 overall, 17 of those games are at Fenway (37-20 record).

The Sox start a 3-game series with Arizona tonight. Lester faces 23-year old righty Randall Delgado. This is a chance for Lester to be Ace-like, or semi-Ace-like, and continue the momentum the Sox have built this week. Or it's his chancy to be Lester the mope, and ruin everything.

Photo Credit:
Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Red Sox Won This Morning

I have a feeling that the playoff races in the AL will come down to a very small number of games. So it's vital that the Red Sox are able to win games like last night's/this morning's. Especially with Felix Hernandez starting for Seattle tonight.

You can't say enough about the Red Sox bullpen in this one. After Tazawa blew the lead in the 8th, the pen combined for 7 shutout innings and worked its way out of jams. After the pen worked so hard, I think tonight I'd leave Ryan Dempster in as long as possible, even if he's struggling, just to give those relievers a break.

The Sox offense was shut down for 7 innings last night. Between Dustin Pedroia's 2-run homer in the 7th and Brandon Snyder's double in the 14th, the Sox made 20 outs between hits.

But as this team has done all season long, when one group struggles, another group picks up the slack. The offense wasn't scoring, but the bullpen wasn't letting Seattle score. And finally the Sox worked some walks in the 15th and with 2 outs Stephen Drew knocked in the game-winning run.

And let's not forget John Lackey's night. It was a solid 7 inning, 3 run performance, scattering 8 hits, striking out 6. Last year had he allowed 8 hits, he probably would have let up 5 runs in 3 innings. This year he's able to work through outings and come out with a result. He's a completely different person on the mound.

With Tampa Bay losing 7-0 to Arizona, the Sox are back in first place by half a game.

As I mentioned earlier, King Felix goes for the Mariners tonight. Maybe the Sox can get him out of the game and get to Seattle's depleted bullpen.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Red Sox Trade for Jake Peavy

The Red Sox have acquired Jake Peavy in a three team trade. The Sox sent Jose Iglesias to Detroit, and a trio of spellcheck challenging minor leaguers (infielder Cleulius Rondon and pitchers Francelis Montas and Jeffery Wendelken) to the White Sox. The Red Sox also acquired reliever Brayan Villareal.

Peavy is one of those guys who look like great players around the trade deadline. In actuality he's just good. He's 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA. He's never really succeeded in the American League. Apart from last year's 3.37 ERA. I'd completely forgotten that he won the NL Cy Young in 2007. He was once a great pitcher.

He, however, is still a good pitcher, and the Red Sox needed a good pitcher. Clay Buchholz's status remains a mystery. Brandon Workman has pitched well but it's risky to rely on a 24-year old to keep your rotation stable. Peavy fits snugly in the middle of that rotation, behind Lester and Lackey, ahead of Dempster and Doubront.

Losing Jose Iglesias hurts. He was hitting .330, and was getting on base (.376 OBP). He provided depth and options on the left side of the infield. Then again, he was hitting .205 in July, with only 1 extra-base hit all month. Even when he had been hitting well, he hadn't been hitting for power.

You have to make this move. Pitching is so much more valuable than an infielder.

One reason the Red Sox could fail during this playoff push is lack of pitching. They're not going to fail because they lack a light-hitting left-infielder. Peavy solidified their rotation. Getting 11 starts from a pitcher like Jake Peavy is worth Jose Iglesias. Peavy is also under contract for next season.

Peavy doesn't push them over the top, but he fills holes that might have sunk the ship.

What Belichick Should Say Today

I have no idea what Bill Belichick will say to the media this afternoon. But here is an outline of what I think he should say (note: he shouldn't answer questions about Hernandez):

-Acknowledge the Aaron Hernandez situation
Use the word "we" a lot and talk about how shocking this was. Because it was shocking. It was just as shocking to the Patriots as it was to the rest of the world. NOBODY saw this coming. Kraft used the word "duped" but I think shocked/stunned is more accurate.

-Ongoing investigation
Point out that it's difficult to talk about Hernandez in detail due to his involvement in an ongoing murder investigation. That's one of the reasons you won't be answering questions about Hernandez.

-Talk about self-evaluation of evaluation of talent
Briefly mention that with every decision that the team makes, the team constantly evaluates itself and the criteria used to judge players. The learning process is never complete. Both positive and negative lessons are learned every season. And certainly in this case, "We are going to try to learn from this as much as possible."

-Moving on
Hernandez is no longer with the team. It's time for the team to move on from this and focus on football. There's nothing the team can do to undo what has been done. There's nothing the team can now do to make things right. The team will try to learn from this, but it's time for the team to get back to football, the only thing it can logically do at this point. Use the word "team" a lot.

Nothing will undo what happened. Some might want an apology from Belichick or the Pats, but any apology, even from the murderer, is empty. There are a few dozen men that will be getting together to play/coach football. None of them had anything to do with the murder. All they can do is play football. And all the coaches can do is try to learn from this.

Dustin Pedroia and Red Sox Agree to Extension

Seven years, $100 million. An average of $14.3 million per year. That's not a bad rate for an All-Star second baseman that wins Gold Gloves and is a team leader. The deal is somewhat long. And it doesn't start until the 2015 season. Pedroia will make $10 million next year. So he'll be under contract until 2021. He turns 30 this August, so he'll turn 38 in the last year of this contract.

I'm happy Pedroia will remain with the Red Sox. He's a likable player. He has a career OBP of .371. He plays his position well. He has some power. He's a good example to younger players. He's a smart baserunner.

I've heard some compare Pedroia to Patrice Bergeron, and I don't disagree with the comparison. However, defensive play is much more important in hockey than it is in baseball.

I don't mind the salary. It's not ridiculous. The years kind of bug me. If he starts to deteriorate around 36-years old, he could be a defensive AND offensive liability, accounting for $14 million in salary. Perhaps risking this was necessary in order to sign him before he becomes a free agent. Although, what was the rush?

Pedroia was signed for 2014, and had an $11 million team option for 2015. Why the urgency to get this deal done now?

I can't help but suspect the PR aspects of locking down Pedroia played a part in this. I know we all have lovey-dovey feelings about the Red Sox right now, but it's still the same Front Office that gave us Carl Crawford and sold us bricks. I'm still suspicious. This preemptive strike signing might be a means to soften the blow when Ellsbury sets off for greener pastures. "Ellsbury's gone, but Pedoria's here 'til 2021," Red Sox fans will repeat to comfort themselves.

And with the end of David Ortiz's career on the horizon, Pedroia will assume the role of Face of the Franchise. Maybe the Sox will also sew a "C" on Pedroia's jersey, then sell another set of Pedroia t-shirts at the Souvenir Store.

There are so many non-baseball reasons to sign this baseball player.

Perhaps I'm allowing my cynical imagination to run wild. But those diabolical bastards on Yawkey Way spent years trying to win the hearts and minds of fans by making moves like this. From now on, whatever they do, I'll be wary of them. ESPECIALLY if they do something we all like. And we all like the idea of Dustin Pedroia at second base for the remainder of his career.

So because I generally like the move, that's why I'm suspicious of it.

This is the madness that can develop when living under the regime of Il Lucchino.

Team USA Hockey Invites 48 Players to Camp

Tim Thomas was not one of the 6 goalies invited to Team USA's camp. Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller, Cory Schneider, Craig Anderson, and 20-year old Josh Gibson were the netminders invited. Gibson was the MVP of the 2013 World Juniors, leading the US to a gold medal.

No Bruins were invited. Which isn't much of a surprise since Torey Krug was the only American on their roster last year. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Milan Lucic were invited to Canada's camp. Claude Julien will be an assistant coach for Team Canada.

Two players from Massachusetts will participate in the US's camp: the aforementioned Cory Schneider from Marblehead, and Keith Yandle from Boston.

Other New England natives involved will be Jonathan Quick from Milford, CT (he also went to UMass), defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk from Greenwich, CT (also went to BU, also has the best last name ever), and forward Max Pacioretty from New Canaan, CT. That's right, the Montreal Canadiens are more American than the Boston Bruins. The Habs have two invitees to the camp.

As you'd expect, there are some great players on the team. The question is will they be great enough to match the likes of Canada and Russia. With Quick and/or Miller in net, anything is possible. Then there's some talented forwards like Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Dustin Brown, and Bobby Ryan that will be relied on for the scoring.

Unfortunately, the US's talent isn't as deep as Canada's (Bergeron, Crosby, Toews, Sharp, Green, Subban, Weber, Letang, Nash, St. Louis, Stamkos, Staal, Staal, and Staal) nor is it as strong at the top as Russia's (Malkin, Datsyuk, and Ovechkin).

So goaltending will have to be the difference for the US to win. Relatively speaking, Canada's goaltending isn't that good. They invited Corey Crawford, Roberto Luongo, Braden Holtby, Carey Price, and Mike Smith. Russia, on the other hand, has Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

Then there's Sweden, who will have Henrik Lundqvist. And Finland will probably start Tuukka Rask or Antti Niemi.

So Canada has the most talented skaters, but some questionable goaltenders. Russia has a goalie, and some studs, then a lot of guys you've never heard of. USA has goaltending, and some solid players, but not the firepower that Canada has. And Finland gets to choose between a Vezina finalist (Niemi) and a Conn Smythe contender (Rask).

Plus there's Sweden, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

This should be a good tournament.

Full Team USA invitees

Can Jon Lester Respond to Matt Moore?

What Matt Moore did last night was demonstrate to Red Sox fans what an Ace can do for a team. It's something we haven't seen the likes of here since Josh Beckett's 2007 season.

The Rays didn't get an extra-base hit, yet they won. They didn't need to use their bullpen at all. Because of one pitcher having a great night and continuing his great season.

No Red Sox batter saw more than 15 total pitches from Moore. Only Mike Napoli saw that many. Seven Red Sox batters saw 12 or fewer pitches in their at-bats. Moore only needed 10 pitches to retire Jacoby Ellsbury 4 times.

Hopefully this was just the Red Sox running into a hot pitcher. Moore had won 5 straight starts coming into last night's game, and had an ERA of 1.91 in that stretch. So beating him was going to be tough.

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the Red Sox winning because of their character. Even character can't beat great pitching. The character part comes into play tonight as the Sox need to rebound from their night of silent bats. They're facing Roberto Hernandez who is 5-10 with a 4.90 ERA on the season. He's lost 4 of his last 6 starts.

Jon Lester, who has yet to prove he has the same levels of character as his teammates, is on the mound for the Sox.

This is the day after the Sox were shut down. They're facing a mediocre pitcher. They're tied with Tampa Bay in the loss column. They need something from Lester. Lester can help even up this important 4-game series, or he can give the Rays 1st place.

The team needs a good outing, Lester. Do you have the character to deliver?

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Red Sox Walk Off With 60th Win

It wasn't pretty (3 errors committed by the Sox), and it wasn't quick (4 hours and 46 minutes), but it was entertaining. And that's a good description of the Red Sox season so far. A season in which they're the first team in baseball to 60 wins. A season in which they're an even .600. A season after they only managed 69 wins in total and had a .426 winning percentage.

The team has character. That's important in games like Sunday night's. Ryan Dempster labored through 5.1 innings. Craig Breslow was awful. Thankfully the rest of the bullpen picked up the slack. That's what teams with character do. Matt Thornton and Koji Uehara each struck out 2 in their single innings of work. Uehara only needed 13 pitches in his inning, 10 of which were strikes. Good God I love relievers who throw strikes.

The non-pitching aspects of the game were equally non-immaculate. Three errors. The bats cooled off for 5 innings against the Yankee bullpen. But the Sox stole 4 bases. Shane Victorino had 2 of those steals, he also had 2 RBI. Mike Napoli was the big hero with his 2 homeruns and 4 RBI.

Napoli's timing was perfect. Both his homeruns put the Red Sox ahead of the Yankees.

Getting contributions from different guys every night is how this team has won 60 games. Not getting such contributions is why they lost 93 games last year. There's a completely different aura around this team. They care. They want to win. So far so good.

Here's a list of goals for the Red Sox this season, each increasing in difficulty:

#1: Do better than last year
At the absolute bare minimum, this team had to win 70 games and be better than last year. They're 10 wins away with 62 to play.

#2: Be a .500 team
21 wins away with 62 games left, so they could play .339 baseball and still reach this goal.

#3: Be in the playoff picture down the stretch
This looks promising. The Sox have the best record in the AL. Although they're only 3.5 games ahead of Baltimore, the 2nd Wild Card team.

#4: Make the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2009.

#5: Advance in the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2008.

#6: Get to the World Series
You'd have been committed to an insane asylum if you predicted this before the season.

#7: Win it all
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but this is a possibility.

As the Sox approach and achieve these goals, I do have one concern. Although "concern" is probably too strong of a word. There's one thing to keep an eye on: pressure.

To this point, this team hasn't had any pressure on them. They're loose. They make mistakes but don't compound them by pushing too hard to make up for them. They're relaxed. They blew a big lead last night, but it didn't faze them. Their best two starting pitchers have massive question marks around them. Their closer is done. They haven't collapsed, in part because there has been no pressure on them.

That pressure will build. Pressure from the outside as fans and media build up their hopes for this team. And internal pressure as the team has opportunities to reach goals few predicted in Spring Training. It's easy to relax against Sabathia and the Yankees in July. In September in a multi-team playoff race, scoreboard watching the Rays and the O's, that's pressure.

This team's biggest strength is its character. We'll see the true mettle of their character as the pressure increases.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer