remarking on his comments about Billy Wagner:
“I think Pap feels he was misunderstood,’’ Epstein said. “He’s not a Rhodes Scholar to begin with. When I talked to him directly about it, he couldn’t have been more excited."
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Bats Alive!
After Gonzo & Youk's home runs off Burnett today, "[t]he Sox have at least two home runs in eight consecutive games, the longest streak in team history." —Boston.com Extra Bases Blog
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Francona still nervous/excited during the race
from today's globe:
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,’’ Francona said. “I mean, I wish we were 40 games over .500, whatever, 50, I wish we hadn’t lost any games this year. But coming to the ballpark this time of year, being nervous, is an unbelievable feeling.
“When I was in Philadelphia, it was my biggest - I was almost jealous. I mean, you get to September and you look at teams that were just beat up. Like on a Sunday day game, and we’re out there trying to tell ourselves we’re going to try to win today and be the spoiler.
“You know what? [Expletive] that. That’s not that much fun. Being in it, where you’ve got guys, you move a guy from second and it’s a big deal, it’s a lot of fun. It’s not always a lot of fun, ’cause when you lose, it crushes you, but that part is, I love that part of that.’’
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,’’ Francona said. “I mean, I wish we were 40 games over .500, whatever, 50, I wish we hadn’t lost any games this year. But coming to the ballpark this time of year, being nervous, is an unbelievable feeling.
“When I was in Philadelphia, it was my biggest - I was almost jealous. I mean, you get to September and you look at teams that were just beat up. Like on a Sunday day game, and we’re out there trying to tell ourselves we’re going to try to win today and be the spoiler.
“You know what? [Expletive] that. That’s not that much fun. Being in it, where you’ve got guys, you move a guy from second and it’s a big deal, it’s a lot of fun. It’s not always a lot of fun, ’cause when you lose, it crushes you, but that part is, I love that part of that.’’
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tazawa gets solid marks
from espn.com's keith law:
Tazawa ready to be solid part of Red Sox rotation
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lost in the shuffle amid Kevin Youkilis' meltdown was a very promising debut start from Junichi Tazawa, who went five innings for the win against the Detroit Tigers. (He now has the tough-to-maintain decisions/games ratio of 1.)
Tazawa was nervous in the first inning and couldn't command his fastball or get consistent break on his curveball, and his nerves were compounded by the Keystone Kops routine by Dustin Pedroia and Nick Green behind him. After the first inning, his command improved, and in his final three innings he pitched confidently and showed a sharper, more consistent curve, mostly 72-78 mph, with good depth and a tighter break. His fastball is average at 89-91 with a little tail, but it's flat and he's going to have to locate it well. He also throws an above-average splitter at 79-81 mph with good bottom, and he could stand to throw it more often, as it really looks like the fastball out of his hand and should be a weapon against hitters on both sides of the plate.
Tazawa's delivery looks odd and his arm action is long -- follow how far his hand travels from when he takes it out of the glove until he brings it forward toward his release point -- but it actually works well. He repeats it, generates good momentum toward the plate and, aside from the length, doesn't have any obvious problems in the delivery. The average fastball/plus secondary stuff combination can work in a big league rotation, but where it fits depends largely on command.
The Junichi Tazawa who threw in third, fourth and fifth innings on Tuesday night would be a solid No. 3 starter in a good rotation, and if his confidence builds off this outing he should be an asset to the Red Sox for the rest of this season.
Tazawa ready to be solid part of Red Sox rotation
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lost in the shuffle amid Kevin Youkilis' meltdown was a very promising debut start from Junichi Tazawa, who went five innings for the win against the Detroit Tigers. (He now has the tough-to-maintain decisions/games ratio of 1.)
Tazawa was nervous in the first inning and couldn't command his fastball or get consistent break on his curveball, and his nerves were compounded by the Keystone Kops routine by Dustin Pedroia and Nick Green behind him. After the first inning, his command improved, and in his final three innings he pitched confidently and showed a sharper, more consistent curve, mostly 72-78 mph, with good depth and a tighter break. His fastball is average at 89-91 with a little tail, but it's flat and he's going to have to locate it well. He also throws an above-average splitter at 79-81 mph with good bottom, and he could stand to throw it more often, as it really looks like the fastball out of his hand and should be a weapon against hitters on both sides of the plate.
Tazawa's delivery looks odd and his arm action is long -- follow how far his hand travels from when he takes it out of the glove until he brings it forward toward his release point -- but it actually works well. He repeats it, generates good momentum toward the plate and, aside from the length, doesn't have any obvious problems in the delivery. The average fastball/plus secondary stuff combination can work in a big league rotation, but where it fits depends largely on command.
The Junichi Tazawa who threw in third, fourth and fifth innings on Tuesday night would be a solid No. 3 starter in a good rotation, and if his confidence builds off this outing he should be an asset to the Red Sox for the rest of this season.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Twilight Zone
Five minutes ago, the Sox were trailing Detroit 3-0, and the Yankees were leading the Jays 3-0. Now, both games are tied. Coincidence?
p.s. Youk ejected for charging the mound after getting hit -- is it fair to accuse him of being selfish? Losing a hitter as valuable as Youk is very serious at this point, especially when it forces the infirm Lowell to play on a day off.
p.s. Youk ejected for charging the mound after getting hit -- is it fair to accuse him of being selfish? Losing a hitter as valuable as Youk is very serious at this point, especially when it forces the infirm Lowell to play on a day off.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
So that happened
Well, it wasn't the best match-up going in, but sad to see the old horse ready to be put to pasture. It's been a great career for Smoltz and he'll be in the Hall of Fame, but it may be sooner than he thinks.
Silver lining was scoring 6 runs off the Yankees and 4 off Chamberlain.
Better match-up tomorrow.
Also, on Aug 29 the Yankees are giving free calculators to the first 18,000 kids in the stands. Are they that desperate to sell tickets?
if they split this weekend, i'll be happy.
Silver lining was scoring 6 runs off the Yankees and 4 off Chamberlain.
Better match-up tomorrow.
Also, on Aug 29 the Yankees are giving free calculators to the first 18,000 kids in the stands. Are they that desperate to sell tickets?
if they split this weekend, i'll be happy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sox sign Paul Byrd
We know how it worked out in '08 with the soft tosser. Are they getting desperate for starting pitching?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
New Stat Model for Comparing Baseball Players
As described in this article on Wired.com, a group of statisticians have developed a new model for comparing baseball players across teams, seasons and even eras. The math is both apparently very complex and also not described in the article, but apparently the system uses a variant on the six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon idea to compare players:
The model is incomplete, especially given that it doesn't account for park effects (Todd Helton is the second-greatest hitter of all time) and PEDs (Barry Bonds is the greatest), but it is of note to Sox fans; of the ten greatest starters of the modern era, four are now or have been members of the Red Sox (and we just missed out on another):
"Hank Aaron can be set beside Barry Bonds — not just according to how they each did against Nolan Ryan, though that would be part of the score, but according to how each did against every pitcher they ever faced, and how each of those pitchers did against every hitter, so long as some series of links connected the two sluggers."
The model is incomplete, especially given that it doesn't account for park effects (Todd Helton is the second-greatest hitter of all time) and PEDs (Barry Bonds is the greatest), but it is of note to Sox fans; of the ten greatest starters of the modern era, four are now or have been members of the Red Sox (and we just missed out on another):
- Pedro Martinez
- Roger Clemens
- Roy Halladay
- Curt Schilling
- Sandy Koufax
- Randy Johnson
- John Smoltz
- Mike Mussina
- J.R. Richard
- Greg Maddux
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Olney on '08 Sox
from ESPN.com:
Victor Martinez gives the Red Sox so much flexibility in so many different ways for 2010, when the Boston front office will begin to decide what to do with Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and others. But the Red Sox's lineup is kind of morphing into something like the Yankees' lineup from 2004 to 2007. The team is stacked with big and slow hitters. It's hard to imagine that the Red Sox's adept front office won't try to pick up younger and more athletic position players this offseason.
Victor Martinez gives the Red Sox so much flexibility in so many different ways for 2010, when the Boston front office will begin to decide what to do with Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and others. But the Red Sox's lineup is kind of morphing into something like the Yankees' lineup from 2004 to 2007. The team is stacked with big and slow hitters. It's hard to imagine that the Red Sox's adept front office won't try to pick up younger and more athletic position players this offseason.
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