state of the Sox

i'm ready to talk Sox. but only with the understanding that i am commenting, reviewing & MOVING ON to tonight's win. are we clear? bear with me though. i've got a lot saved up & i need to release before i dissolve into a puddle of frustrated girly-tears. and as we all know: there's no crying in baseball.

"I came out of the bullpen very aggressive. I'm thinking, 'I'm going to go with a fastball inside,' but I missed really bad." -- 6.3.06, Julian Tavarez on giving up a critical 3-run homer to Ordonez (Boston Dirt Dogs) gee ya think there Julian?? ya missed? did ya really? i still remember that pitch. i don't think that ball has landed yet. when-oh-when will the Sox get some quailty relief in the pen? Theo...? anybody home? get off your laptop & realize the status of the bullpen is CODE BLUE.

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on the same topic of which Tavarez speaks above: Why is Julian Tavarez pitching in high-leverage situations? Why? Batters hit his first 15 pitches to the tune of .317/.382/.533. Magglio Ordonez jumped on pitch #2, lining a three-run homer in the eighth inning that turned a 2-3 game to a 2-6 loss. ... Tito: If the difference in runs is four or higher, then Tavarez can pitch. Tito...i know you're limited in staff. but really...we've been over this. i'd rather not see him on the mound at all. that isn't relief. relief makes one feel better. not much about Tavarez makes anyone feel better--except the opposing team.

Once again, Tim Wakefield gets screwed with no run support. story of this season. i'm sorry Timmy. apparently whatever the problem is with the bats though, it isn't just you. Pauley got the silent treatment last night too...
quotes from (Joy of Sox//G53: Tigers 6, Red Sox 2)

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About pitching to Manny and Papi, Miner says "I've gotten them out on video games. Hopefully, it'll transfer over." (The Joy of Sox//G54: Red Sox 8, Tigers 3) i don't even know how to respond to this. i had to laugh at his innocent hopeful logic. i'm thinking that someone might need to remind him that video games are not real? whatever. i'll take the win. Lord knows they've been scarce lately...

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Francona was asked if Beckett had any health issues? "No. He had some hit issues. But not health issues." sometimes, Tito, your wit leaves me speechless. hit issues? i hadn't noticed... =P

Tito: "We don't know quite where we stand with Foulke yet. We have some issues we probably have to at least discuss. He's getting better. Will he be available [tonight]? I don't know." ... That doesn't sound very promising. this worries me. considering the rest of the bullpen possibilities...and you have yet to discuss them?? also cause for alarm...
quotes from (The Joy of Sox//Kickin' The Beckett)

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Also, Francona said Keith Foulke (back stiffness) was examined by the Red Sox medical staff; the team "may be forced into making a move". were we waiting for an engarved invitation to do something about our pitiful relief situation???

I am pissed. Seanez? Rudy Seanez?? It's 1-1 in the 7th inning and Francona thinks Noriega is our best arm? Are you shitting me? Basic progressive baseball thought (which the Red Sox claim to subscribe to) tells you to go with your best pitcher with the game on the line. Francona couldn't have forseen Pauley loading the bases (DP was as shocked as anyone that he didn't field Cairo's grounder), but the score was 1-1 -- Tito's got to have quality arms getting warm. except that we have one functioning quality arm out there right now...and we need him to get all Mariano Rivera on everybody. he's our closer. we can't ask him to relieve too...which brings up the concern again: why are we not DOING something about this already??

Manny got robbed of a game-tying home run in the eighth by Milk Dud in left (and screw you, Johnny, for the excessive celebration). yep. i know it was a big play. and it saved your butts from a tied score. but be discreet. The Kid was about to lose a hell of a picthing game. Manny didn't rub it in Johnson's face last series right? why did you rub it in his & Pauley's?

And thanks a ton, Nixon-Varitek-Lowell, for making Rivera work so hard in the ninth -- five pitches. where the HELL are the Boston bats?!
quotes from (The Joy of Sox//G56: Yankees 2, Red Sox 1)

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All right, I surrender. The Arroyo-for-Pena deal is a bust, at least for this year. There? Happy? Can we move on to another topic now? We can? Okay, good. I've got one: Why Moves That Don't Take The Future Into Some Consideration Are As Short-Sighted And Stupid As Glenn Ordway. (Subtitle: Doug Mirabelli Was Washed Up A Year Ago While Josh Bard Is Currently Hitting .360 With As Many Homers As Varitek). Discuss. (Touching All the Bases//Word to Ya Mutha) it took him this long to grasp that Arroyo for Pena was a bust?! really?? and ummmm...as i recall Bard couldn't catch Wakey & THAT is why we have Mirabelli back. i'll take him over Bard any day of the week thanks. carry on.

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an interesting tidbit, something possibly deja-vu in nature about Beckett's back-to-back beatings? this was from 2002, Josh's rookie season. parts of it sounding eerily familiar. do you think it could be history repeating itself...or potentially coming back to haunt him?: "They were hitting it like they knew what was coming," Beckett said. That might explain the performance. Recurring blisters on the middle finger of his pitching hand have forced Beckett to alter his grip, perhaps causing him to inadvertently indicate what kind of pitch he's about to throw. "It seemed like they knew something," Torborg said. "I stood there that night wondering. They hit everything he threw, including a couple of curveballs inside that they should have been fooled on." Former major league catcher Jim Leyritz stopped by the Marlins' clubhouse last week to tell Arnsberg that Beckett positioned his glove one way before throwing a fastball and another way for a curve. Arnsberg studied game video for over an hour, trying to spot such disparities. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? For what it's worth, the Red Sox have dismissed the notion, but there are couple of names in that story that raised my eyebrows. The first is Brad Arnsberg, Beckett's pitching coach during his time in Florida, who is currently . . . the pitching coach for the Blue Jays. You're telling me he hasn't tipped off the Blue Jays' hitters to some giveaway in Beckett's deliver, the way he grips the ball in the glove, something, that gives the hitter the enormous advantage of knowing what pitch is coming? Arnsberg knows the quirks of Beckett's delivery better than anyone with the exception of the pitcher himself. Of course he's spilled the secrets. The other name that caught my eye in that story was Jim Leyritz. I'm sure you've seen him sitting behind home plate during the recent Sox games in the Bronx, wearing the gaudy leather jacket with the logos of every major league team. He works for MLB.com now, but his loyalties are with the Yankees, he loathes the Sox (since Jason Varitek took his job) and I wouldn't be surprised if he's shared some knowledge with the Dark Side. Go ahead, call me a conspiracy theorist if you will... i merely find these observations interesting. could explain...something...or maybe it's just a slump. i hope he shakes it off.


I wish David Pauley had that first big-league victory to show for his fine performance under difficult circumstances tonight. But at least he made it apparent why the Sox brought him up in the first place: While he may be inexperienced (this was the 22-year-old's second start above Double A) and his curveball/changeup repertoire isn't going to wow the guys with the radar guns, Pauley receives high marks from the Sox front office for his composure and competitiveness, and they believed he could handle the bright lights of the Bronx better than certain, more touted prospects. And he did. i'm liking what i see of Pauley. may the gods of baseball be kind to him...and the Sox front office be smart enough to hold onto him...

If we didn't realize that Mike Timlin is the unsung hero of the entire ballclub, we sure do now. Seeing Rudy Seanez come into a tie game with the bases loaded and realizing there really was no better alternative tends to have that effect on you. either that or as a fan, you hide behind your couch, not wanting to see the inevitable walking of the first batter Seanez faces. why, Terry, why? why Rudy with bases loaded? i still can't wrap my brain around that decision...i would have rather seen Delcarmen...or even what's-his-name Hansen that they just called up.

Maybe it's because Yankees fans are insecure and desperate for affirmation...But man, aren't the Bronx Faithful getting a little carried away with their cloying demand for a curtain call after pretty much every semi-meaningful home run?...What's next, a standing O for A-Rod after he homers in the ninth to cut a deficit to 12-3? You'd think Yankee fans would realize that a curtain call is the way to salute those who have delivered in the biggest moments...Then again, it's been a while since they've won a championship, from what I hear. Guess they've lowered their standards. LOL! again: yep. pretty pathetic & just as uncalled for as base-stealing attempts in the 8th & bringing in Mo to close a game you're winning by 8 runs. *shrug* just my 2 cents.
quotes from (Touching All the Bases//Nine innings: 06.06.06)

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Lack of Runs Hurts Wakefield

If anyone has a right to bemoan his lack of luck this season, it's Tim Wakefield. All the knuckleballer seems to do is keep the Red Sox in games, and then have a loss to show for his effort. It happened again on Saturday night at Comerica Park, as Wakefield allowed six hits and three runs over seven innings and suffered a 6-2 loss to the Tigers...He is now 4-7, but that record, at the very least, could be reversed. Wakefield (4.05 ERA) has been as consistent as anyone on the staff. The Red Sox have scored a grand total of 46 runs over Wakefield's 12 starts, an average of 3.8, which is easily the lowest on Boston's staff. Wakefield also leads the American League in the dubious category known as lowest RS (run support), not that he's ever going to complain. "You can't think about it that way," said Wakefield, a picture of professionalism. "I've got to make the pitches when I need to and try to keep us in the game."...For whatever reason, Wakefield is the tough-luck man on the staff. this is what i've been saying all along!! what the hell is up with lack of...ANYthing at the plate when Wakefield pitches?? and Tim...no matter how well you pitch...if they don't score you some runs, you can't win. you've got their back, now they need to get yours.
"I wanted Tavarez to face Ordonez, good move on my part," quipped Francona. For whatever reason, Tavarez, a reliable setup man for the Cardinals the last couple of years, has not been able to get into that same rhythm with Boston. it's the Curse of the EZs i tell you...the second they step on the mound, it's lights out. for the RED SOX. the acknowledgement is nice Francona but...can we take this lesson into future games with us to use at decision time perhaps? ya think? maybe?
quotes from (Red Sox News)

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Timlin Getting Closer to Return

For all the thousands of times 40-year-old Mike Timlin has played catch during his career, it hasn't been often that an interview session was requested of the right-hander afterwards. But the fact that was the case on Monday at Yankee Stadium indicated both how infrequently Timlin has been injured during his career and how crucial it is for the Red Sox to get him back on the active roster. crucial. yep. sums it up perfectly. that or HELP!!!

For Timlin, who hasn't pitched since May 25 because of a strained right shoulder, this round of catch was his first step back to the mound. The invaluable setup man is still hoping to return for Saturday's day-night doubleheader against the Rangers, as that is the first day he's eligible to pitch. normal? that can't come soon enough. invaluable? also sums it up perfectly. especially when you look at the disaster zone otherwise known as Boston's set-up men. hurry back Timlin. but don't push before it's ready--we need you back for good.
quotes from (Red Sox Notes)

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and finally (yes. i know. i have droned on a looong time here but it's free RSN-FL therapy. and it is, after all, MY blog.) some favorite quotes from Surviving Grady over the past month:

May 8: I will say this: The person who made the greatest impression on me throughout this weekend series was El Bencho himself. In an age in which players routinely bad-mouth the teams that trade them or don't resign them for outrageous sacks of cash, citing a "lack of respect" or "another example of The Man keeping me down," it's refreshing to hear Millar confess, "Dudes, if I didn't suck, I'd still be in Boston." (Surviving Grady//No worries. It's all good.)

May 11: Yesterday I ate a sandwich that weighed more than Wille Harris' batting average. (Surviving Grady//Lessons Learned Last Night)

May 21: Take a look at this line and try to guess who it is: 2-for-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and a homerun. Of course it has to be Papi? Or Manny? How about Josh Beckett! After the longball the entire dugout gave him the silent treatment for a minutes before burying him in high-fives. (Surviving Grady//Interleague Play) sidenote: Joshy--we need THAT pitcher back. ASAP.

May 23 re that wonderous time when the Sox were 4-1 against the Yankees: But, as I've noted before, now is the time to get all Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos on these guys. Before they regroup. Before they rebuild. Before Hideki Matsui gets fitted for his iron exo-skeleton and comes back as Great Mazinga [oh, like that sh-t's not going on in some secret, Steinbrenner-owned medical facility on the outskirts of NYC right now]. Further the distance between us so that when August rolls around and we're pitting Rudy Seanez against Jason Giambi in the bottom of the seventh in the Bronx, (holy CRAP. talk about foreshadowing...only it wasn't August...) it won't feel like we're hurtling cold and naked toward a stack of glass shards. (Surviving Grady//Return of the Product)

May 29: It's become increasingly clear that the only time Rudy Seanez should be allowed onto the playing field at Fenway is if there's a fire in the bullpen and he needs to cut across the green to make his escape. Or if, say, there's a brawl against the Crankees and we need his ultimate fighting skills to help thwack Tanyon Sturtze into submission. Also, at the end of a game we've won, in which he didn't appear: perfectly fine for him to walk across the field as he exits into the clubhouse. Same goes for Tavarez, really, whom I liked a hell of a lot more when he was pitching against us in Game One of the 2004 World Series. We need... Seanez and Tavarez to stay home, bound and gagged and thrown in the sub-basement of the Cask n' Flagon. (so let it be written, so let it be done.)...Schilling is looking more like April Schill. The defense has never been sharper. Scenic Lowell and Youkilis continue to defy expectactions. (may all this be the case tonight...please...)

Plus, Tim Wakefield reminded us that when he's on his game, he's virtually unhittable. (Wakey, we're counting on a resounding performance of the Dougie-and-Tim show tomorrow! we need ya man! i don't care if you have to go out there & get your own runs! focus on the one word: unhittable...) But to come out of this upcoming roadtrip with more Ws than Ls, we're gonna need some seriously good pitching. That means Clement, Seanez and Tavarez have gotta sound off like they got a pair. Like they want to be pitching in October. And if they need extra incentive, they should consider this: No way Mike Timlin wants to be in last place when he gets off the DL. Anyone who wants to piss off Timlin does so at his own peril. (pitching in October...there's a pleasant thought. so. Francona. QUIT BRINGING IN THE STIFFS TO LOSE THE GAME. don't make me get all Tony Soprano on you. i'm going to be in the area this weekend you understand...) (Surviving Grady//Everybody Loves a Happy Ending)

June 2: But in the meantime. Roger: WTF? I mean, as many a local scribe has pointed out, you could have owned this town. I'm talking fans carrying you out on their shoulders after each start, and carting your Texas ass down to Ruth's Chris Steak House for a couple T-bones. I'm talking grown men telling their bosses to go pound sand; that they're heading to Fenway Park to welcome you back. I'm talking the pre- and post-game show for every one of your starts being nothing more than Caron and Eck lighting candles and openly weeping before an oversized poster of your mug....You could have had it all, not to mention the fact that each of your starts would have been covered by everyone from the Tokyo Times to the Quincy Junior High Gazette. And you took the pass for another year of playing grab-ass with Andy Pettitte? I'm disappointed in you, man. (i wish i could kick the dirt & say "it's ok...we didn't NEED you anyway..." but the fact is we do...small karmic justice that some 20-year-old kid in A-ball hit The Rocket out of the park. THAT we have plenty of. THAT we don't need.) (Surviving Grady//Suddenly, I've Become Part of Your Past. I'm Becoming the Part That Don't Last.)

June 4: See that photo [down] there? That sums it up nicely. They look pained. Undernourished. Flitting lazily between the real world and somewhere east of Sleepytown. Curt, in fact, may well be unconscious. Or is he secretly wishing a pox on Julian Tavarez? Or that Mike Timlin can be retro-fitted with steel parts and flung back into the bullpen where we need him most? We'll never know.

...I pray that the hitters start hitting, Manny gets back to being Manny, Tito is struck dumb with amnesia every time he hits the bullpen phone to activate Tavarez...Now, more than ever, we need these things. Amen. (i need everyone in RSN--north, south, east, west--all divisions & derivatives thereof--to memorize & recite this prayer before every half inning of every game until the Sox are so far out in front of the AL East that the Yankees & the Jays are mere specks in the rearview mirror. then...and only then...can we scale back to just once before each inning.) (Surviving Grady//A Round and a Bout)

June 5 re Youk getting hit by a pitch & the other unfortunate injuries that have befallen Boston in recent days: ...if we ever came down with a serious case of Yankee-itis, with key cogs dropping out of the equation, I'm not so sure we'd weather it as well as New York has done. Theo, I don't give a crap if you've gotta coat these guys in kevlar at the start of every game: We need 'em healthy. and re the series in Detroit: And like the giant you can only kick in the nuts so many times, the behemoth that our offense can become awoke again yesterday, after finding itself oddly chloroformed over the series' first two games. The result: 11 hits, 8 runs and four long balls. The kind of output that, I'm certain, leaves Wakefield shaking his head in the clubhouse as he pulls from a bottle of Jameson's. and re SOME ex-Red Sox players fondly: And even though he's with the good folks in Baltimore, I can't help but believe that every time Kevin Millar homers against the Yankees... he's thinking of us. (Surviving Grady//I'm Forgetting to Remember to Forget)

June 7 re that gut-wrenching Pauley loss that it will take me many victories to recover from: But in the end, we just couldn't execute. Couldn't go that extra mile to get the job done and seal this one up. And it burns me to see David Pauley saddled with the L, even though his inability to handle Miguel Cairo's squibbler...set the stage for the Yankees to break the 1-1 tie. I can't bring myself to project any anger at Pauley... (neither can i!) Manny Ramirez....when he suddenly became untethered from reality and tried to stretch a single into a double, arriving at second base 45 seconds after the ball...Yeah, he almost tied the game with a homerun in the eighth, but who knows what could have happened had he stayed planted at first. (Manny...this is NOT the time to be THAT Manny. just sayin'...) When the Yanks loaded the bases in the seventh, and with Giambi at the plate, Tito lifted Pauley for Seanez. I'm assuming the rationale was that he didn't want to hang an untested pitcher out there in such a precarious situation. But, come on, Seanez has been tested and the results are -- he sucks! When he came in from the bullpen, everyone in the free world watching that game knew he was going to give up the go ahead run. And he did. And we all got to go back to our sandwiches. Thank you, and good night. (step away from the EZs, Francona. the EZ doesn't stand for EZ-out. it stands for EZ-win for the other team. step away, Terry, and we don't have to bind & gag you & feed you to Steinbrenner...) Seeing my reactions, she turned to check out the TV, then turned back to us and said, matter-of-factly, "The Yankees are the anti-christ." (this is my new motto.) (Surviving Grady//Where's the Solace You Can Find at the Bottom of Your Mind)

now that you've lost about 30 minutes of your life, never to be gotten back...i fully expect to be here tomorrow with some Red Sox love & rejoicing. Schill? it's all you baby...