AL EAST BEATS NATIONAL LEAGUE

Of the American League's 32 ABs, 17 were taken by AL East players. Of the AL's 11 hits, 7 were by AL East players. Of the 3 walks AL hitters had, 2 were by AL East players. Of the 7 runs the AL scored, 5 were scored by AL East players. Of the 7 RBI the AL had, 3 were by AL East players. Two of the biggest plays in the game were the double plays turned by Tejada and Roberts with Teixeira at first. AL East pitchers only went 2 innings in total, but one was Mariano Rivera who got the Save.

The American League is the better League this year and has been for nearly a decade. The AL won their 8th of 9 All-Star Games. The other one was the infamous tie. The AL went 136-116 (.540) in interleague play and deserve home field advantage in the World Series.

Speaking of home field advantage. Could Joe Buck and Tim McCarver please shut the F--- up about how home field advantage helped the Red Sox last year? I just don't see how it did. The Sox went 2-0 at Fenway and then 2-0 at Busch. If anything, they were more dominant at Busch than Fenway. The first game, there was actually doubt that the Sox would win. The next three games, there was no doubt at all. The Red Sox won the World Series because they dominated the Cardinals. They would have dominated them in Boston, St. Louis, New York, Tokyo, Mars, anywhere. It is just impossible for the Yankee loving Tim McCarver and the Cardinal loving Joe Buck to admit that the Red Sox were the best team last year and absolutely DOMINATED the Cardinals.

Should the All-Star game determine home field advantage? I'm going to say yes. Why? Because home field advantage doesn't matter. If you can't win on the road, you don't deserve to win. It's as simple as that. Plus, the All-Star game is now managed and played like a real game. The managers are typically managing contending teams so they want to win the game. The ratings are higher for thse games that count. That means more money and prestige for Major League Baseball. The other solutions don't make much sense. The random back and forth between AL and NL is fine but why not have something non-arbitrary to determine it? The team with the best record getting it doesn't make sense because teams play 144 of 162 games within their own league. That's about 90%. The Cardinals might get 110 wins this year in the NL because there aren't too many good teams. The White Sox, on the other hand, might get about 100 or 105 because there are alot of good teams in the AL. There is no good way to compare NL teams and AL teams.

R-LO SHUTS DOWN SOX...AGAIN

What is it about this guy that we can't figure out? He's gone 8 innings in all but 1 of his 4 starts this year against us. He's an average pitcher for Pedro's Sake! 43-36 for his career with an ERA of 4.48.

I agree with resting Millar and Bellhorn for this game given their lackluster performances against Lopez in the past, but I think Youkilis should have been in the lineup to replace one of them.

The Man of the Game is Rodrigo Lopez who went 8, allowing 1 run off 3 hits. He struck out 6.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wakefield: 0.2 - 7 IP, 4 ER
Damon: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Renteria: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 K
Ortiz: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Ramirez: 0.1 - 1 for 4
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Olerud: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 2
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 3

Basically everyone in the starting lineup except Nixon, who hit a homerun.

This series was a huge dissapointment. The Orioles were struggling coming into this. They had lost a rain-shortened 2 game series. Before that, they had lost 3 of 4 to the Indians. They were on a 2-11 slide coming into this series. They were fading from the divisional picture. Then we hand them a game by "resting" everyone for that tough flight to the All-Star Game in Detroit and lose on Thursday. Friday we win but on Saturday we're embarrassed and on Sunday, we're shut down by an average pitcher. Simply unacceptable.

The Red Sox are 2 games ahead of the Orioles now. Only 2.5 ahead of New York Had we taken 3 of 4, we would be six games ahead of Baltimore. We'd be 4.5 ahead of the Yankees. Had we swept Baltimore, which we could have given how poorly they had been playing, we would be ahead of the Yankees by 5.5 and ahead of the O's by 8 games.

The Red Sox need to come out of the gate strong in the 2nd half. They start out with an absolutely HUGE 4 game series with New York at Fenway Park. They can't lose that series. Then there's a 3 game set with the D-Rays that we should sweep. Then the Sox fly to Chicago to play 4 against the team with the best record in baseball: the Chicago White Sox. A 3 game series in Tampa is followed by a series with the Wild Card leading Twins.

The rest of July is not going to be easy. We need to beat the Yankees in order to maintain our position in the division. We need to beat up on the D-Rays. We can't just split 3-3 with them or win 4 of 6. We need to win at least 5 and it'd be nice to win all 6. We need to prove ourselves against the White Sox. We need to beat the Twins, a potential Wild Card competitor if we can't hold onto the division.

I really wish Clement wasn't going to the All-Star game. I wish he had to cry and pout. Nothing against him, but of all the things in the world to be upset over, going to some exhibition game in Detroit just doesn't seem like a huge deal. Hopefully he won't pitch much because I think we should start him out of the gate to begin the 2nd half.

I think we should go:
1. Clement
2. Wakefield
3. Arroyo
4. Wells
5. Miller

If the Sox take advantage of off-days, they can put a starting pitcher in the bullpen for about a week.

SIMPLY PATHETIC PERFORMANCES

Lack of defense, lack of hitting, lack of pitching. The oppositte for the Orioles. Not much analysis needed for Boston's 9-1 loss Saturday against the previously struggling Orioles.

The Man of the Game for Thursday's joke is Melvin Mora who went 2 for 3 with a solo HR.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wells: 0.2 - 5 IP, 3 ER
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 Ks
Mueller: 0.1 - 0 for 2, 2 Ks
Millar: 0.1 - 0 for 2, 2 Ks, 3 LOB
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 Ks, 3 LOB
Francona: 0.4 - Terrible lineup, resting Damon, Tek, Manny, and Renteria on the same day

The Man of the Game for Friday's win is Bronson Arroyo who went 7.2 innings allowing 2 runs. I know Damon went 4 for 5 with a walk, but 2 of those hits were bloops. Arroyo had a very solid outing against a fierce offense.

The Man of the Game for Saturday's loss is Miguel Tejada who went 5 for 5 with a pair of doubles. He had an RBI and scored twice.

The B-G shall be divided thusly:
Miller: 0.2 - 6 IP, 4 ER
Halama: 0.3 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Cassidy: 0.2 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Millar: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 2 LOB
Bellhorn: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB, 4 K

When are we going to release Millar? If it isn't today, I will be pissed.

JV RED SOX LET ONE GO

Kevin Millar may lead the team in one stat: fewest days off. How come he plays yet Manny, Tek, Damon, and Renteria all sit? Inexcusable lineup from Francona.

What the hell was Trot Nixon thinking when he got picked off from 1st base? Bob Lobell is right, if Manny had done that, he'd get toasted. But people in this town have a Trot Nixon fetish and totally excuse anything stupid that he does.

CLUBHOUSE FALLING APART?
There's a few stories and rumors that have been circulating recently. They all seem to point towards a fair amount of dissension in the Red Sox clubhouse. We all knew Payton was unhappy, and that situation has been dealt with. We all know Foulke was pissed at anyone not praising his tremendous 4 blown saves but now he's had surgery and will hopefully be back to form in 6 weeks. But now, we have Damon being the Assistant Manager. We have Millar complaining about, of all things, playing time. And then we have Clement pissed about not making the All-Star team.

This might be understandable if the team was in last place. But they're in first and having these problems?

Damon:
You are not a Major League manager. It is not your place to come out and say shit about your teammate, esepcially a guy like Schilling that has defended everyone from Pedro to Manny to Foulke to Edgar. You're a self-proclaimed idiot, so don't think you have the managerial sense that a manager has.

Millar:
How the hell could you of all people be bitching about playing time? You have 4 homeruns in a power position. You're batting .271. You're slugging .378. You're getting paid $3.5 million. That's about $100,000 for every extra base hit you're on pace to get. Or $50,000 for every RBI you're on pace to get. You play your position terribly, especially compared to your competition, John Olerud. You didn't hit well in the 2003 playoffs or last year's playoffs. You spout off on WEEI about what you bring to the clubhouse. All you bring is a bottle of Jack Daniels and a tissue to whipe your tears with when a superior player is put in the lineup instead of you.

If you want playing time, Kev, you could go to Japan. You should be grateful the Red Sox broke tradition and claimed you. They brought you to a town that loves you, brought you to a great team that won a World Series, and now you're complaining about a guy who is a better hitter and a better fielder taking some time away from you? Grow the F--- up, Kevin! This team can win without you and if you were as great of a clubhouse guy as you claim you are, you'd be happy.

You're lucky to be playing pro ball, to be playing in this town and on this team. If you want playing time, go play for some 3rd place team in front of 17,000 people every night.

Clement:
There are greater tragedies in life than missing an All-Star game. If you expect your manager to choose you over someone else just cuz you've been on his team for half a year, think again. Tito deserves some credit for the way he selected the team, based on the better players, not the cap on the head. You also started off pretty slow to begin the season.

Payton:
This guy was the only player who had a right to beef. He made it clear he wanted to be traded. He never chose to come here. He still performed when he had a chance. And we got something for him. Good luck to Jay Payton.

I FEAR A COLLAPSE
I just have a bad, bad feeling about the next few weeks of baseball. All this clubhouse crap, Schilling having another poor rehab outing and looking as heavy as David Wells. Renteria still not hitting, Millar still getting playing time. Playing Baltimore and New York. Ugh.

RED SOX MAKE MOVES, FRANCONA REVERTS TO SPRING TRAINING MINDSET

With all the news coming out of London today, I didn't do any sports news reading today. I turn on the Red Sox game so I can take a little break from serious stuff and Alex Cora is in the midst of striking out. Then Bill Mueller comes up.

Tito has decided to rest Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, and Edgar Renteria all on the same night. Now, I know Baltimore is struggling. I know the Rangers were assholes and didn't give us a few extra hours to fly to Baltimore by scheduling an afternoon game, and I know they're all beaten and bruised. However, to rest $44 million worth of player including the team Captain, the leadoff hitter, and the team leader in RBI all on the same day is aboslutely ludicrous.

The situation is worsened by the lack of Jay Payton (couldn't we have hung onto him for an extra day?) who was designated for assignment and will either be traded or released in the enxt 10 days. The situation is worsened by the fact that Wells is pitching with his 4.92 ERA. The situation is worsened because we only have 1 or 2 consistent bullpen pitchers to throw the 3 or 4 innings that will be required after Wells goes 5 or 6. The situation is worsened because this is the 2nd place team in our division and we have an opportunity to knock them out of the divisional race, knock them out of getting anyone at the trade deadline.

The Red Sox got Alex Cora, which I think is a good move considering that Ramon Vazquez has contributed nothing. However, to bat him in the leadoff spot against a divisional contender in his first game with a new team might be a bit too much for a backup infielder to handle.

The Red Sox activated Adam Stern and decided that today was the perfect game to try him out.

Francona seems to be giving up on this game before it starts. Yet, he still hasn't put Youkilis in there!!! I hate this BS about playing guys that have "earned" their playing time simply by being around baseball for a longer time.

If the Red Sox win this game, I'll be surprised. I think this series, if it doesn't go well for us, will give the Orioles alot of momentum and positivity going into the All-Star break.

SOX TAKE TWO IN TEXAS

Monday's game was dissapointing to say the least. Hopefully Foulke's struggles are simply the product of a knee injury. Perhaps Boston Dirt Dogs was correct. Probably just a lucky guess on their part.

The Man of the Game Monday is Mark Teixeira. He went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 walks, 2 Runs and an RBI.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wade Miller: 0.1 - 6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER
Mike Timlin: 0.2 - 0.2 IP, ER
Keith Foulke: 0.7 - 0.1 IP, 2 ER

Tuesday was slightly nicer. Timlin got his 2nd save of the season as Foulke was a few hundred miles away from the mound, where he belongs until he rights himself.

The Man of the Game is a somewhat non-traditional choice for this game. I'm going to go with Ron Mehe. I know Wake had 8 innings, but he struggled in those last few and had some pretty loud outs. I know Manny moved into 2nd place all-time with his 20th Grand Slam, but it was his only hit of the game. Mehe came in after Chirs Young struggled mightily. The Red Sox were rallying in the 3rd when Mehe came in. He struck out Olerud and Mirabelli. He went 3.2 innings allowing 1 hit, no walks, and striking out 5. Had the Rangers been able to rally, he would have been the prime reason for their success.

The Man of the Game for Wednesday's 7-4 victory is Matt Clement who got 26 outs going 8.2 innings, scattering 9 hits and striking out 9.

BULLPEN BY COMMITTEE: PART DEUX
It looks like until Schilling gets back, the Red Sox will be sharing the closing role. Timlin has closed in the past and Francona was perfectly willing to use Embree last night. Myers could go against some lefthanders. Hell, Clement won't be starting until after the All-Star game so maybe he could close late in the Baltimore series.

SCHILLING TO PEN, FOULKE TO SURGERY

Wow, this news was unexpected to say the least. I don't even know all the details so here is the story:

RedSox.com Story

Basically Foulke, who had MRIs the other day, is getting arthroscopic knee surgery. This will put him out for about 4-6 weeks. Meanwhile, Schilling will probably not join the team until after the All-Star game but will be rehabbing out of the pen in Pawtucket.

I think this is a good move for the moment. Schilling was doing very well early in the season in the 1st and 2nd innings. I calculated it at one point and opponents were batting .100 in Schilling's first inning and .250 in the 2nd. The first time through the lineup, opponents were batting .269 which wasn't bad at all compared to the .400+ they were batting their 3rd time up.

Long term though, we need Foulke as a closer and Schilling as a starter.