LOOKING BACK ON 2005: HITTING/DEFENSE

The strength of the Red Sox was without question, their bats. They led the league in hitting with an average of .281. When we didn't hit, we lost. We hit .240 as a team in the LDS. Only San Diego had a worse batting average. We scored a league high 910 runs or 5.617 a game.

Our defense wasn't exactly great. Our fielding percentage of .982 was good for 22nd best in baseball. We had the 7th most errors with 109. That is the highest of any playoff team, tied with San Diego

CF - Johnny Damon
Damon was the catalyst to our offensive machine. He got on base for Ortiz and Ramirez and he was also able to knock in alot of the bottom of the lineup guys. However, Damon started off much better than he finished. He hit .343 before the break and .282 after it. He hit .316 and had an OBP of .365. He hit 10 HRs, which isn't bad for a leadoff man. He knocked in 75 which is terrific for a leadoff hitter and he scored 117 runs. He led the team in steals with 18.

Damon's biggest flaw defensively is his arm. He has good range, can track balls down, and catches anything he gets to. However, opponents frequently were able to take an extra base off Damon's weak throwing arm. The problem wasn't a big deal, but with the pitching staff being so lackluster to begin with, giving away extra bases didn't help much.

SS - Edgar Renteria
Renteria's season, both offensively and defensively, was a big dissapointment. He hit a mere .276 and his OBP was .335. He did manage to score 100 runs. His HR total of 8 was about what I expected from him even if he played well. He has never been much of a power hitter. He was able to knock in 70 runs though which isn't too bad.

Defensively, Edgar was a liability. He led the world in errors with 30. Other than that he was pretty good, but having an error every 5th game from a player who has won Gold Gloves in 2003 and 2002 is extremely dissapointing. Edgar's high salary didn't help things too much, either.

DH - David Ortiz
The biggest part of the offensive machine were the two men in the middle of the lineup. Big Papi had yet another stellar season. He played in all but 3 games, hit .300, knocked in a league leading 148 RBI, and hit 47 HRs, falling only 3 shy of the Red Sox record. He also walked 102 times and had the 4th best OBP in the league at .397. He was 2nd in the league in slugging, 3rd in runs, 3rd in bases, 8th in doubles, 2nd in runs created, 1st in extra base hits, 3rd in times on base, 4th in SAC flies. The fact that he was 7th in intentional walks with 9 hitting in front of Manny Ramirez shows how amazing a hitter he was this season. AL MVP? That's for another post.

LF - Manny Ramirez
Another monster season for Manny. His average wasn't as high as it's been in years past, but it steadily climbed throughout the season. He hit .292 with 45 HRs and 144 RBI. He was second only to Ortiz in the RBI category. He was 7th in OBP, 4th in slugging, 4th in OPS, 7th in runs, 6th in total bases, 6th in walks, 5th in runs created, and 6th in extra base hits. He was an All-Star for the 9th time in his career, and the 8th time in a row.

The one flaw with Manny is his defense. His range is poor, he gets bad jumps, and makes interesting decisions. The two parts of his defensive work that shone this year were his ability to play the Green Monster and his ability to throw runners out. He had a league leading 17 asissts. But he also made 7 errors which is pretty high for an outfielder.

C - Jason Varitek
Varitek started the season off with good offensive production. He hit .301 before the break and .256 after it. He hit most of his HRs before the break. However, his RBIs are nearly the same before and after, his OBP is nearly the same, but his slugging is down about .080 points. He didn't come through in a few big spots, but I really don't think he belonged as a #5 hitter. In fact, the Red Sox were searching for someone in that role all season.

Varitek isn't going to throw many guys out because the Red Sox don't really care much about allowing stolen bases. Tek will, however, call a good game. It was difficult to see if this ability was still intact as the pitchers on the team weren't very good. I also think that the workload placed on Tek's shoulders to get used to so many new pitchers was a lot to ask of him. It definately took him some tome to adjust to Wells, for example.

1B/OF - Kevin Millar
In a word: bum. Millar hit 9 HRs this season which is appalling for a first baseman. He was 7th on the team in HRs, not very far ahead of Renteria, Graffanino, Olerud, Mirabelli and Bellhorn. Millar somehow got into 134 games and somehow got 449 ABs. He only had 38 extra base hits and 50 RBI. He walked 54 times and struck out 74 times. He only batted .272. Thirty-seven MLB first basemen had more HRs than Millar.

Defensively, Millar is also a bum. There were many instances when he looked like a total fool. Renteria had similar troubled at the plate and in the field, but he didn't really have a replacement behind him. Millar did. Olerud shouldv'e played more along with Youkilis and even Ortiz a few more times.

RF - Trot Nixon
Once again, Trot was befelled by injury and once again, his numbers for the season weren't that great. He did knock in 67 and hit 13 HRs which isn't bad considering he only played in 124 games. He was, in my opinion, unfairly thrust into the role of full-time right-fielder. We had Jay Payton for awhile who was hitting well, but we let him go. Then Kapler came back, but then got hurt.

Defensively, Trot was very solid. His storng arm kept alot of runners from taking extra bases, and he made quite a few stellar plays in the field.

3B - Bill Mueller
Another solid season from Mr. Solid. Bill hit .295, hit 10 HRs and knocked in 62 runs. He scored 69 times, had 47 extra base hits, and had an OBP of .369. He did, however, ground into 22 double plays to lead the team. Guys like Mueller are pivitol to the Red Sox offensive machine because they keep the pitcher working hard throughout the entire lineup. They knock in guys like Manny and Ortiz, and get on base for guys like Damon.

Mueller had another good season at the hot corner. He made 10 errors and had a fielding percentage of .972. He made alot of tough plays and almost always made the easy ones.

2B/SS - Mark Bellhorn
Bellhorn did not repeat what he did in 2004. He only hit .216 and struck out 109 times in 85 games with us. He had a bad start, and in my opinion, fell victim to the pressure cooker that is Boston. We probably should have gotten rid of him sooner and should have used guys like Youkilis more often to reduce his ABs.

Defensively, Bellhorn was very solid. He made the plays on the balls he got to and he turned the double play very well. He played wherever Francona asked him to with little complaint, at elast publicly. I still think Bellhorn is 10 times the player Kevin Millar is.

2B - Tony Graffanino
Perhaps the ebst mid-season acquisition behind Olerud, Graffanino did a good job at 2nd base, replacing Bellhorn. He hit .319 in 188 ABs, hit 4 homers and knocked in 20 runs. If he had 500 ABs, those numbers would translate to .319 - 11 - 53 which isn't that bad. Defensively, Tony played well and demosntrated a great deal of effort in the field. He will, unfortunately, be remembered more for his error in Game 2 of the LDS than the over 200 error free plays he made.

1B - John Olerud
A great mid-season acquisition. Olerud was an upgrade over Millar. In 173 ABs, he hit .289 with 7 HRs and 37 RBI. Translate those numbers to 500 ABs and he would have had .289 - 20 - 107. Compare those numbers with Millar's .272 - 9 - 50. Olerud was/is/always will be a superior player.

Olerud's best contribution was with his glove. We saw last year with Mientkiewicz how vital a good glove man at first base can be. We saw it again in 2005, but sadly, we didn't see it enough.

C - Doug Mirabelli
Dougie is quite possibly the best backup catcher in baseball. In 136 ABs, he hit .228 with 6 HRs, and 18 RBI. Calculate for 500 ABs and that is .228 - 22 - 66 which isn't all that bad. He contributes to the offense once in awhile which allows Varitek to take alot of time off and remain fresh. Defensively, there's no-one I'd trust more behind the dish when Wakefield is pitching. He also has a gun of an arm.

OF - Jay Payton
Payton was very productive while he was here, but he didn't want to be here anymore so he left us. We probably could have hung onto him for some time because he was hitting very well. He had 5 HRs and 21 RBI in 133 ABs with us. Defensively, he was pretty solid. He would have been a good platoon partner with Trot but it was not to be.

IF - Alex Cora
Another mid-season attempt to plug some holes. Cora filled the gap as a replacement infielder which was left when Pokey Reese left the team. He hit relatively well in limited time with us and he played the field adequately.

OF - Gabe Kapler
I was so excited when Kapler came back and then so dissapointed when he got hurt. He was a very pivitol part of our team last year and I thought he would be one this year, too. He didn't hit that well in his time here, but it seemed like every time he was in the lineup, he'd do something big or small with the bat or his glove to contribute to the team.

IF - Kevin Youkilis
I don't think Kevin was given much of a chance by Francona which is a shame because we couldv'e used him at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and SS. He only had 79 at-bats. He did hit .278 and had an OBP of .400, but OBP is a stat used for long term success, not one game every week and a half. Not only was his playing time and his position inconsistent, his location was a variable. He went up or down I-95 in between Boston and Pawtucket a total of 7 times this season. And unlike his predecessor Lou Merloni, he didn't complain and neither did any of his teammates.

I really think we should have used Youkilis alot more. With Millar, Bellhorn, and Renteria all struggling, and Mueller with bad knees, there was an opportunity to play him nearly every day. I really feel like if he got to have 20 or so plate appearances a week, he would have been a big contributor.

IF - Ramon Vazquez
Vazquez was a dissapointment even as far as backup infielders go. He was essentially useless to us and when we released him, it helped us.

1B - Roberto Petagine
Petagine was a longshot and it didn't work out too well. He started off nicely, getting a few big hits here and there in spot opportunities. However, I'll always remember him as a last resort pinch hit strikeout victim with 2 out in the 9th.

OF - Adam Hyzdu
Hyzdu was used as a backup outfielder. He was good enough, I suppose, but didn't have the same ability as some of our bench players in 2004.

C - Kelley Shoppach
Shoppach was used as a 3rd catcher and did his job well enough in the 9 games we needed him to play in.

OF - Adam Stern
Stern was used primarily for his speed. This was a good role for him because he is fast. He really couldn't do much of anything else.

OF - Jose Cruz
Cruz was an attempt to fill the gap left by the leaving of Roberts, Kapler, and then Payton. It didn't take.

IF/OF - Alejandro Machado
Machado was used late in the season as a utility player and did his job well enough. He has some potential down the line to be a decent player.

1B - David McCarty
McCarty was used briefly in the role he occupied for a great deal of 2004 as a defensive first baseman. He didn't do too badly.

SS - Hanley Ramirez
Only 2 ABs, and 2 Ks.

C - Shawn Wooten
0 for 1 in 1 game.

The frontline hitting for the Red Sox was good with Damon, Ortiz, and Ramirez, but a few temporary gaps in the lineup hurt us, particularly in the playoffs. Varitek, Millar, and Nixon were not good enough #5 hitters in our lineup. The lack of offense from 2nd base and shortstop also hurt us. The lack of power from 1st base hurt us alot.

Our bench was not nearly as good as last year. Last year we had Mirabelli, Reese, Mientkiewicz, Kapler, and Roberts. All of these players are good enough to start for some teams. This year it was Mirabelli, Cora, Olerud, and a bunch of replacements at outfield. This hurt us and if we had lost some players to key injuries, would have killed us.

PATRIOTS CLIP THE FALCONS

We needed this win as desperately as you can need a Week 5 win. With Harrison, Bruschi, and Seymour out, along with Poole and Gay, the Patriots were forced to make some serious adjustments. We were fortunate not to have to go against Mike Vick, but Matt Schaub is no slouch. Even when the Falcons were down 14-0, he was still confident and capable and kept his team in the game all day long.

We won this game mostly because of Corey Dillon. He was dependable enough to give the ball to and Brady really played off the run really well. He got the ball to start evert first half posession except the last one and every time, he got 5 or more yards. It is pivitol to get those first yards to open up the playbook on 2nd and 3rd downs. Dillon ran for 106 yards on 23 carries. He also caught 2 passes for 13 yards. He never got into the end zone, but he got the ball close enough.

Daniel Graham had a huge breakout game as well. He had 5 catches for 119 yards and a TD. His comrade at tight end, Ben Watson, had a TD pass but his day was marred by offensive pass interference penalties.

Deion Branch returned to the spotlight with 8 grabs for 107 yards. Overrall, Brady hit 9 different receivers which speaks to our depth and his ability to find the open guy.

Patrick Pass had a solid day seeing some time at halfback due to the injury to Faulk. He ran 6 times for 34 yards, including a touchdown.

Brady had a nice day throwing for 350 yards, 3 TDs, and a tipped INT. He was able to exploit holes made in the Falcons defense and rose above alot of penalties on the offensive line and on Ben Watson.

Adam Vinatieri. Those two words have replaced the words "clutch" f the US World Cup team needs a penalty kick, they should call on Adam Vinatieri cuz he just doesn't miss when it matters most.

The defense looked really well most of the time. Even without Seymour, they were able to pressure Schaub, and stop Vick at the line. It was nice to see some gang tackling again which is how we stopped Pittsburgh's big runners in the playoffs last year. If Shaub hadn't been so mobile and surprisingly cool under pressure, the defense would have racked up some sacks and possibly some picks. Credit to Shaub for rising above it.

It was a good win, but the problems that have plagued us all season were all too apparent. Too many stupid penalties, an inability to tackle on defense, an occasional inability to protect Brady's blind side, and failure to capitalize on mistakes. We played well enough to win, but we can play better. Now, its on to Denver.

VICK AND SEYMOUR OUT

Michael Vick is the only name on the Falcons injury list, but his name is next to "Out." The Pats injury list is a selection of offensive and defensive players. Seymour, Kevin Faulk, and Matt Light are all out. LBs Tully Banta-Cain and Matt Chatham are questionable. CBs Randall Gay, Tyrone Poole, Duane Starks, and Chad Scott are questionable. SS James Sanders, DE Marquise Hill, and OT Brad Gorin are questionable. WR/KR Bethel Johnson is questionable. Tom Brady is probable and he'd probably better have an amazing day if we have any prayer of winning.

Even without Vick, the Falcons will still try to run the ball all over us. And with no Bruschi, Johnson, Harrison, or Seymour, this shouldn't be too difficult. With an injured secondary and a defensive line that has failed to put much pressure on opposing QBs, the Falcons will also be able to pass deep on us, too.

If we can win this game on the road, I think we will make a statement to the League that we aren't done and we can still win tough games. If we can win this one and win at Denver, we'll go into the much needed bye week with a 4-2 record. Certainly not terrible considering our schedule has been immensely difficult and our injuries have piled up like a snowball.

I've just heard that Tyrone Poole is out of the game, too. This could be a terrible weekend for Boston sports.

LOOKING BACK ON 2005: PITCHING

Is it too early to look back on the 2005 season? No. Much like a murder investigation, it's always good to look at the evidence as soon as possible.

Player by Player Review:

SP - Tim Wakefield
Wake had exactly the kind of season that was expected of him. He went 16-12 in 33 starts, with an ERA of 4.12. He led the team in innings with 225.1, and complete games with 3. He pretty much was what was expected of him. As a #4 starter, his numbers would be adequate, but he was often the best starter on the team. Which says alot about how bad our pitching was.

SP - Bronson Arroyo
This was supposed to be the year that Arroyo broke out as a top pitcher. At first, this was what happened. Early on he was stellar. In March and April, he was 3-0 with a 3.69 ERA. He even threw a near no-hitter against the Tigers. This good start would fizzle though. His ERA for every month after April was over 4. For the last two months of the season, his ERAs were 5.40 and 4.85. Overrall, he was another #4 starter with a 14-10 record and an ERA of 4.51. He was able to eat alot of innings, throwing 205.1.

SP - Matt Clement
Clement started off the season as our Ace. He went 10-2 before the All-Star break. After that, however, he was 3-4. He was yet another #4 pitcher going 13-6 with an ERA of 4.57. He was a gamble pickup and he paid off at first, but not over the long run.

SP - David Wells
Wells was our fourth #4 starter. This pickup was more of a gamble and I'd have to say we got about the best you could have hoped for. He got injured early on but he didn't break down as was feared by many. He also pitched well enough to win Game 2 of the ALDS and won that Friday game against the Yankees that gave us a chance to win the division. A chance that was squandered. He went 15-7 with an ERA of 4.45. Not bad numbers for a #4 starter, but again, he was our fourth such type of pitcher.

SP/RP/Closer - Curt Schilling
Nobody knew how the ankle would affect Curt's pitching ability. But we all knew how his extra weight would. I'm shocked there wasn't a ton of criticism for Curt after he showed up to training camp out of shape. Actually, I'm not shocked. Curt's an All-American, corn fed, white guy and people like Pedro Martinez are gerri-curl sporting, hispanics. Weird how that works out, eh?

Anyway, with the absence of Pedro and Derek Lowe and no signing of a legitimate Ace, Curt was supposed to be our best starting pitcher this year. In my opinion, he was our worse. This was compounded by the fact that Francona stuck with Curt in games long after Curt had lost it.

Schilling had a weird season going from starter to injured to closer to starter. As a starter, he made 11 starts. He went 4-5 with an ERA of 5.87. He gave up 96 hits, and 16 walks in 69 innings (1.62 WHIP). As a releiver he was slightly better. He went 4-3 with an ERA of 5.18 in 21 releif appearances. He made 9 Saves in 11 Opportunities. His WHIP was 1.27. Even though he wasn't a great releif pitcher, he was definately better out in the pen. As a starter, he was a #5 at best.

SP - Wade Miller
You get the feeling that Theo is a gambling man? All of these additions to our rotations were essentially are crap shoots. Wade Miller was no exception. Miller did not work out as well as Wells or Clement though. He only made 16 starts going 4-4 with an ERA of 4.95. His season was plagued by injury and then the Red Sox were plagued by his healthiness.

RP/Closer - Mike Timlin
Mike Timlin was thrust into a role in which he did not belong. He was forced to pick up the slack for Foulke AND Embree. He was sent to the mound 81 times, a new Red Sox record for appearances. He was a true workhorse for us. He had 24 Holds, 13 Saves and 7 Blown Saves. He won 7 games and lost 3. He had an ERA of 2.24 but he allowed far too many inherited runners to score. He's given us 229 regular season appearances the past 3 years with us. Without him, our bullpen would have completely collapsed.

RP/SP - Jeremi Gonzalez
The fact that Gonzalez is 8th in innings pitched for us tells you how bad our bullpen was. Gonzalez made 25 releif appearances and 3 spot starts. His ERA was an abysmal 6.11. At first he was used in situations that mattered. Too many situations. And then he was relegated to mop up duty and dire emergencies.

Closer - Keith Foulke
Perhaps the biggest dissapointment of the year. Foulke struggled with injuries all season and as a result, left us without a dependable closer. He was only able to make 15 of 19 Save Opportunities and his absence really screwed up the bullpen, dumping alot of extra work on Timlin and forcing us to use more kids in tough situations.

RP - John Halama
Another gamble that we lost on. Halama made 29 releif appearances and 1 spot start. He had an ERA of 6.18 and was essentially ineffective.

RP - Mike Myers
Myers was a part of our championship team, then we didn't sign him, then we traded for him. He was actually one of the few pitchers that did his job. He was used as a situational lefty and was pretty succesful in this role. He made 65 appearances for 37.1 IP.

RP/SP - Jon(athan) Papelbon
Papelbon was one of the pleasant surprises to emerge from the Red Sox minor league system this year. At season's end, he was probably the most reliable pitcher on the staff. He only made 17 appearances (3 of which were starts) but his ERA was 2.65. In 34 innings, he gave up 33 hits and 17 walks (1.47 WHIP). He struck out 34. Without him, I don't know if we make the playoffs.

RP - Matt Mantei
Another roll of the dice that came up snake eyes. Mantei was horrible for us. He allowed about twice as many baserunners as he threw innings and his ERA of 6.49 was one of the highest on the team, which says alot considering how crappy our pitching staff was.

RP - Chad Bradford
Bradford was Mantei's replacement. He was used as a situational righty and did his job nicely. He was a Dan Duquette type pickup off the scrap heap and he did well. He made 31 appearances for us and had an ERA of 3.86

RP - Mike Stanton
I'm surprised we didn't try to get him earlier in the year. For us, Mike threw one inning allowing 1 hit, and striking out 1. I'm really surprised we didn't attempt to get him sooner. It couldn't have hurt the bullpen too much.

RP - Lenny DiNardo
Shockingly, the Red Sox didn't utilize DiNardo very much this season. He only made 7 releif outings and 1 spot start but he performed very well. He finished with an ERA of 1.84.

RP - Manny Delcarmen
Manny Delcarmen was another nice surprise. Although his lack of control prevented him from being used in big situations, he did give us 9 innings of 3.00 ERA pitching which is quite a contribution compared to what guys like Matt Mantei and Jeremi Gonzalez gave us.

RP - Blaine Neal
Just another demonstration of desparation. 8 innings pitched, 8 earned runs.

RP - Chad Harville
Scrapings from the bottom of the well. 7 innings, 5 ERs

RP - Mike Remlinger
We picked him up 2 years too late. 6.2 IP, 11 ER

RP - Craig Hansen
We brought him up 2 years too early. He demonstrated some good pitches, but not good pitching. He had difficulty keeping calm and throwing strikes in tough counts. When his pitch count rose and he fell behind in the count, opponents would sit on and devastate his fastball.

RP - Abe Alvarez
2.1 IP, 4 ER

RP - Clay Meredith
2.1 IP, 7 ER. Yet another crappy short term attempt at a solution.

RP - Scott Cassidey
0.2 IP, 3 ER

RP - Matt Perisho
0.0 IP, 1 ER, an ERA of infiniti. Matt Perisho really sums up the bullpen and the entire pitching staff. Inability to get an out, inability to avoid giving up runs.

RP - Alan Embree
Another huge dissapointment. Embree gave the Red Sox 37.2 innings of 7.65 ERA of work. He was essentially worthless but was still used too frequently in tough spots. The lack of Embree as a dependable set-up man really hurt this team.

Pitching Summary:
The lack of quality pitching really hurt the team. Last year we won the Series because of our pitching. We had Pedro, Schilling, Lowe, Wakefield, and Arroyo as a starting rotation. That's two #1s, a solid #2 in Lowe and a great #4 and 5 at the end of the rotation. Our bullpen was amazing too. We had Foulke at the end, set-up by Embree and Timlin with Myers used as a situational lefty.

Overrall, our pitching had an ERA was 4.76 as a team. That is absolutely terrible. The Red Sox as a team blew 17 Saves. That is abysmal. Think about it, had we converted just one of those Saves, we would have won the division and played LA instead of Chicago, and we would have played the first two games in Fenway.

WHY WE LOST

In no particular order...

Wakefield didn't come up big enough for us. We needed to completely shut down the White Sox in order to assure victory. He pitched decently, but not amazingly, which is what we ended up needing.

An inability to hit young pitching and guess how old Bobby Jenks is: 24

El Duque still owns us. When I saw him warming in the pen, I cringed. Even with the bases loaded with 0 outs, I wasn't confident.

Johnny Damon and Edgar Renteria did NOTHING. A combined 1 for 8 to set up the big bats in the lineup isn't going to cut it.

Pulling Papelbon despite his crusing through the game. 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 2 K.

Jason Varitek unable to get a big hit.

Bill Mueller not able to get a hit the entire series.

These reasons and more are why the Red Sox lost Game 3, which is why we're out of the post-season after one round for the first time since 1998. For the first time since 1995, we've been swept out of the post-season.

I really hope that whoever plays Chicago, either LA or New York, will sweep the White Sox. I'm getting sick of Ozzie Guillen and even though the White Sox outplayed us and deserved to win, I still think they're an overrated team.

RED SOX PLAYOFF COMEBACKS

1986 vs. California Angels: Red Sox go down 3-1, win 3 straight to win AL pennant
1999 vs. Cleveland Indians: Red Sox go down 2-0 on the road, win 3 straight to go to ALCS
2003 vs. Oakland Athletics: Red Sox go down 2-0 on the road, win 3 straight to go to ALCS
2004 vs. New York Yankees: Red Sox go down 3-0, win 4 straight to go to World Series

Tonight the Red Sox put out their old war horse, Tim Wakefield. The man who was there the last time we won the division. The man who played in the 95, 98, 99, and 03 LDSs. We didn't need him in last year's LDS because we swept. This time, we need him.

He goes up against Freddy Garcia. I don't think Garcia or the White Sox have the mettle or the experience or the confidence to beat us in our own backyard. Then again, I also predicted we'd win games 1 and 2.

GAME 2, CLOSE BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH

This game was lost on four different plays.
1. Graffanino's Error
2. Wells throwing 2 straight curveballs to Iguchi
3. Nixon pulling the ball too hard down the right field line
4. Renteria trying to pull a Jenks fastball

That's it. That was the game. 4 fucking plays. We screwed up and we lost. We deserved to lose because of these screw ups. But the game was even closer than the 5-4 score would suggest.

David Ortiz needs to learn how to not hit into the shift that other teams put on him. He needs to learn how to bunt better. It isn't that difficult of a thing to learn.

I have confidence going back into Fenway even though we're down 2-0. If we can win on Friday and Saturday, I'll have confidence facing El Mercenario in Chicago. Obviously, we need to win tonight though.

BLAAAAAAAAAAH

What a crappy game. What a crappy outing by Clement. What a crappy offensive output. Crappy, crappy, crappy!

Now that my anger is out, I still think we're going to win this series. Wells is going tomorrow and he has been very good lately. Chicago is throwing Buehrle against us, but he has struggled against good teams this year and we are a good team. If we win tomorrow, we split in Chicago and the series essentially becomes a best of 3 with most of the games in Boston. We should be able to win that. We will be able to win that. We will win that.