I found this video of a 3-year-old kid taking batting practice. He’s actually got a better swing than some major leaguers I’ve seen. His follow-through is very Pujols-esque:
Now that the Red Sox 2009 season is over, it’s time to start setting things up for a run in 2010. I think Red Sox fans are getting a little tired of watching the Yankees make all the moves in the offseason. There are some quality free agents out there, and also some decent trade bait. Here’s what Theo should do:
- Sign Matt Holliday
- Sign Brandon Webb, but make sure the contract is laden with incentives so we only pay top dollar if he plays well and stays healthy
- Trade for Prince Fielder. This move is going to be costly. We’ll probably have to give up some young pitching, maybe even Clay Buchholtz. We need more left-handed power in the lineup.
- Let Papelbon go. I know, this one is going to get me tarred and feathered. Papelbon has been fading as a dominant closer in recent years, and no, I’m not just mad at him for what happened in game 3. He’s been lucky a lot over the past season, constantly getting bailed out of jams he created with slick defensive plays. Way too many walks for a closer. We’ll save a lot of money by not paying Papelbon the big bucks.
- Transition Daniel Bard into the closer role. I see a great future for this kid. His fastball is high-90’s, and he’s thrown cutters with better break than Mariano Rivera’s (if you don’t believe me, ask Jorge Posada. Bard struck him out on a ball that broke so hard it hit Jorge in the foot). All he has to do is refine his control and be more consistent with his pitches and he can tear opposing hitters up one inning at a time.
- Sign a solid middle reliever like John Grabow.
So far I haven’t even inflated the Red Sox payroll by a significant amount. The 2009 Red Sox were $30 million under the budgeted payroll Theo Epstein was given. He probably gets a fat bonus for that, but he’ll get a pink slip if he can’t get our team back in the World Series soon. With the moves I’ve suggested above, the Red Sox should still have enough money left to sign one or two big free agents. I think one of those should be spent on an ace-quality pitcher. Unfortunately, there aren’t the big names like Sabathia who were out there last year, but there are still some options.
It’s that time again for the annual Least Valuable Umpire Awards. These awards shine some light on the umpires who make the game of baseball worse for everyone. Only 5 umpires a selected for this prestigious award each year. Here’s this year’s winners (drum roll):
1. CB Bucknor – His performance in the ALDS demonstrates why he’s a perennial contender for an LVU
2. Angel Hernandez – Bad calls, bad temper, bad demeanor
3. Jim Wolf – I think this guy closes his eyes and guesses strikes and balls, just to see how much he can piss off the home crowd. His strike zone in the Subway Series this year was especially horrid.
4. Bill Hohn – Terrible strike zone. Hohn is one of the few umpires unprofessional enough to go after players who say something about his calls. He’ll bait guys into getting ejected, because he loves to make himself a part of the game. He once ejected his mother-in-law from Thanksgiving dinner because she said the turkey was a little dry.
5. Kerwin Danley – Multiple head injuries from flying bats and balls appear to have caused irreversible brain damage. Poor eyesight as well.
In some sports, they reward quality officiating during the regular season by inviting those officials to work postseason games (and make some nice extra $$$). That doesn’t appear to be the case with baseball. C.B. Bucknor is working the Red Sox-Angels series, despite regularly being voted by the players as the worst umpire in the majors. Some years he gets over 20% of the vote. Considering the number of major league umpires, that’s a lot.
I’m only bringing this up because Bucknor has already made two terrible calls in tonight’s game 1 matchup. The first was an obvious tag at first a good 3 feet before the runner reached the base. The second was on an errant throw from Lowell to Youk, in which Youk had to jump to catch the ball. He landed with over half a foot on the bag. Not the tip of his toes, not the edge of his cleat. Half of his foot. The runner was a good 4 or 5 feet away from the base at this point. Bucknor ruled that Youk didn’t touch the base and the runner was safe.
No runner scored in either of the innings where Bucknor blew obvious calls, but Lester did have to throw more pitches to get out of each inning, which probably means we’ll have to go to our bullpen sooner. Bucknor does not deserve to be working this game, and he’s shown why in front of a national audience tonight. The players and managers know he misses calls like these routinely, which is why they recognize him as the worst umpire more often than anyone else. So why does he get a playoff series and a bonus check for poor performance?
A new book from a former employee of Alcor, the facility where Ted Williams’ body was sent to be cryogenically frozen, has written in a new book that Williams’ head was abused. He reportedly witnessed someone taking swings at the head with a wrench. I’ve always assumed someone would have to be a little disturbed to work at a place like Alcor, but this is a little much.
The title of this new book is “Frozen”, by Larry Johnson, and it’s a complete expose on the cryogenics company. I hope some of you will think twice before deciding it’s a good idea to pay to have your remains frozen.
Who knows where the Red Sox will end up going in the playoffs. It’s best to buy your tickets ahead of time, because the prices can get pretty steep in the couple days before gameday. Here are sellers for each guaranteed and potential Red Sox home game this postseason.
American League Division Series tickets:
Game 3 at Fenway Park
Game 4 at Fenway (if necessary)
American League Championship Series tickets:
1st game at Fenway
2nd game at Fenway
3rd game at Fenway
World Series tickets:
Game 1 at Fenway
Game 2 at Fenway
Game 6 at Fenway
Game 7 at Fenway
The Red Sox lost their 5th straight game on Tuesday night, but thanks to a Rangers loss to the Angels the Sox also clinched the American League wild card spot. They will square off against the Angels next week in the division series.
Despite the recent losing streak, the Red Sox can thank an otherwise hot September for helping them move well past the Rangers in the wild card race, which turned out a lot less close than most imagined it would be a month ago. Red Sox starting pitching is in shambles right now, but they hope to start the playoffs with a healthy Josh Beckett and John Lester, whose knee is still healing from that hit he took against the Yankees.
Who would have thought in early June that it would be David Ortiz who would guide our way into the playoffs? Ortiz was so wretched at that point in the season it seemed like charity just putting him in the lineup. Since July 6, Ortiz has more home runs than any other player in the American League and is approaching 30 on the season. That’s pretty amazing considering he had approximately 1 home run in the first half. I’d like to know if there are any other players in the history of the game who have had such a contrast between the first and second half of a season while playing full time.
Josh Beckett is a last minute scratch for tonight’s game against the Blue Jays. He experienced back spasms on Sunday. Michael Bowden will get the start instead, his second start in the majors.
Curt Schilling has announced that he’s not planning to run for the U.S. Senate seat that has been empty since the death of Ted Kennedy last month. There were a few obstacles holding him back, including the fact that he’s an Independent and might not have been able to run on the Republican ticket. Also, state polls showed he was only favored by about 30% of potential voters.
I was worried about a Schilling campaign. He was a great pitcher for us and his 2004 postseason was nothing short of heroic, but his political ideals are pure idiocy. His courage on the field in no way resembles the cowardice he showed by backing George W. Bush, even as Bush terrorized the American people by convincing us that “hairy brown men” were going to attack us because they hated “our freedom”. Schilling was paraded around by Republicans during that time of turmoil because he was the easiest pawn to manipulate and he was the only Republican who could rightfully attach the word “fearless” to his name.
Enjoy your retirement, Curt, and stay out of my government.
The Red Sox have cooled down over their last 2 games and lost to Zach Greinke and the Royals last night, but they moved a little closer to a playoff berth with some help from the Texas Rangers, who lost to Oakland, 9-1. The Red Sox remain 7 games up on the Rangers in the wild card race with just 12 games remaining. That means if the Red Sox win just 5 of their remaining 12, the Rangers would have to win all 12 just to tie for the wild card.
The Yankees unfortunately became the first team to clinch a playoff spot last night with their win over the Angels. If the Red Sox heat up again they have a shot of reclaiming the AL East lead, as the two teams play a series against each other before the season is over.
- October 2009 (6)
- September 2009 (6)
- July 2009 (1)
- June 2009 (7)
- May 2009 (5)
- April 2009 (14)
- March 2009 (1)
