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.