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Friday's press notes

Friday's press notes, courtesy of the Red Sox' P.R. department . . .

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
DATE OPP. BOS TIME RED SOX STARTER OPPOSING STARTER TELEVISION
Fri., July 7 at CWS 8:35 p.m. LHP Jon Lester (3-0, 3.08) LHP Mark Buehrle (9-5, 3.86) NESN
Sat., July 8 at CWS 1:25 p.m. RHP Josh Beckett (10-4, 4.59) RHP Freddy Garcia (10-5, 4.72) FOX
Sun., July 9 at CWS 2:05 p.m. RHP Curt Schilling (10-3, 3.63) RHP Jose Contreras (9-0, 3.31) NESN
*** ALL-STAR BREAK ***
--- All games broadcast on 103.7 WEEI-FM and the Red Sox radio network and the Red Sox Spanish-language radio network ---

TO THE RESCUE! Not yet the All-Star Break, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon boasts 25 saves this season, already tied for the 10th-most by a rookie in major league history…Papelbon has already set the Red Sox single-season rookie mark previously held by Dick Radatz (24 saves in 1962)…here’s a look at the top 10 in major league history:

ALL-TIME ROOKIE
SAVE LEADERS
PLAYER CLUB, YR No.
1. Kaz Sasaki SEA, 2000 37
2. Todd Worrell STL, 1986 36
3. Billy Koch TOR, 1999 31
4. Kerry Ligtenberg ATL, 1998 30
5. Rich Loiselle PIT, 1997 29
6. Mike MacDougall KC, 2003 27
Gregg Olson BAL, 1989 27
Wayne Granger CIN, 1969 27
9. Lance Carter TB, 2003 26
10. J. Papelbon BOS, 2006 25
Jorge Julio BAL, 2002 25

GIMME A BREAK! David Ortiz’s 29 homers and 82 RBI and Mike Lowell’s 30 doubles match or approach the best pre-All-Star Break totals by a Red Sox player all-time or in the last 47 seasons beginning in 1960…a look at where they currently rank in club annals in those categories all-time or since 1960:

Red Sox All-Time Leaders,
Homers Before The Break
1. David Ortiz, 2006 29
1. Carl Yastrzemski, 1969 29
3. Manny Ramirez, 2004 26
3. Manny Ramirez, 2001 26
3. Jose Canseco, 1996 26
3. Mo Vaughn, 1996 26

Sox Leaders (Since 1960),
RBI Before The Break
1. Manny Ramirez, 2001 84
2. David Ortiz, 2006 82
3. Manny Ramirez, 2005 80
4. David Ortiz, 2004 78
4. Mo Vaughn, 1996 78

Sox Leaders (Since 1960),
Doubles Before The Break
1. David Ortiz, 2004 33
2. Mike Lowell, 2006 30
3. Bill Mueller, 2003 30
3. Nomar Garciaparra, 2002 30
5. Jim Rice, 1986 29

Thanks to David Vincent for his home run research assistance.

FINAL DESTINATION: The 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox and 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox tonight meet for the first time in 2006, the final leg of Boston’s 10-game, 3-city trip with the Marlins (2-1), Devil Rays (1-3) and White Sox . . . The Red Sox and White Sox meet as back-to-back defending World Champions for the first time since 1919, when the 1918 World Champion Red Sox won 9 of 20 games against the 1917 World Champion White Sox . . . Boston is 15-4 in its last 19 contests beginning June 16…the Red Sox began this stretch 1.0-game out in the American League East and are now 3.0-games up on the Yankees in the division.

ROAD WARRIORS: By the All-Star Break, the Red Sox will have played 49 games on the road and just 37 at home, leaving 44 games at Fenway and only 32 games on the road for the Red Sox after the break…the Red Sox are 81-37 (.686) at Fenway Park since the start of last season, by far the best home record in the majors . . . This is Boston’s 3rd trip of at least 10 days already this season…after the All-Star Break, the Red Sox have only 5 road trips, 4 of which are less than one week in length.

DIVISIONAL MATTERS: After 4 games at Tampa Bay this week, Boston tonight moves outside of the A.L. East to begin a 24-game stretch against clubs outside of the division…prior to the 4 games at Tampa Bay, Boston had played 22 games in a row outside of the A.L. East….therefore, the Red Sox are in the middle of a stretch in which 46 of 50 games are against non-A.L. East teams after starting the year by playing 40 of their first 57 games against A.L. East foes . . . Overall, the Red Sox are 26-13 against non-A.L. East teams this season and are 25- 19 against their division.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Red Sox have held sole possession of first place in the A.L. East for the last 19 days…the Red Sox have also been in sole possession of or in a statistical tie for first place in the division for 83 of 94 days in 2006.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Jon Lester tonight looks to become the first Red Sox rookie starter to win his first 4 decisions since Aaron Sele won his first 6 decisions in 1993 he also aims to become the first Red Sox rookie left-handed starter to win his first 4 decisions since Rick Jones in 1976 . . . Since 1960, only 8 Red Sox left-handed starters have won as many as 4 games in their rookie campaigns, most recently done by Vaughn Eshelman, who won 5 starts as a Red Sox rookie in 1995 . . . Already this season, 5 Red Sox pitchers have earned their first major league win: Lester, Lenny DiNardo, Jermaine Van Buren, Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Manny Ramirez last night clubbed his 223rd home run as a Red Sox, tying Bobby Doerr for 6th all-time in club history…Mo Vaughn is next with 230 Red Sox homers . . . Ramirez and David Ortiz homered in the same game for the 9th time this season and the 39th time since becoming teammates in 2003…in club history, only Dwight Evans and Jim Rice have turned the trick more by homering in the same 56 games . . . David Ortiz is on pace for 57 home runs and 160 RBI this season…Jimmie Foxx owns both club records with 50 homers and 175 RBI in 1938.

THE RED SOX AND WHITE SOX

2006 SEASON: The Red Sox and White Sox meet only 6 times in 2006 – these 3 meetings at U.S. Cellular Field this weekend and 3 games September 4-6 at Fenway…the 4th is Labor Day.

2005 SEASON: The Red Sox won the 7-game series in 2005, 4-3…Boston won 2 of 3 games at Fenway and split a 4-game set here last July . . . The Red Sox and White Sox met in the 2005 American League Division Series, with the White Sox recording a 3-game sweep en route to their first World Championship since 1919.

ALL-TIME: The Red Sox lead the alltime series by a 934-903 count…Boston is 541-378 at home (468-325 at Fenway Park) and 393-525 in Chicago (35-37 at U.S. Cellular Field since the new Comiskey opened in 1991) . . . Since the start of the 2003 season, 19 of the 12 games contested by the Red Sox and White Sox have been decided by 3 runs or less, 13 by 2 runs or less and 9 by one run…2 have gone extra innings.

ALL-STAR FODDER

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Boston on Sunday had 4 players named to the A.L. All-Star team…here are some tidbits about this year’s Red Sox contingent:
-- 2B Mark Loretta was elected by fans to start Tuesday in Pittsburgh…it is his 2nd All-Star appearance, his first as a starter…was a N.L. reserve in 2004 with San Diego…he is the first Boston second baseman to be elected to start since fan voting resumed in 1970, and the first Sox second baseman to start the All-Star game since Felix Mantilla in 1965.
-- 1B David Ortiz was elected by fans to start at first base for the A.L….he was voted to start at D.H. in 2005 and was a reserve in 2004…Ortiz is just the 6th Red Sox to start at first base in the All-Star Game, the first to be voted to do so by fans since the current voting process resumed in 1970.
-- RHP Jonathan Papelbon was voted to the A.L. All-Star team by his peers, leading all relief pitcher vote-getters with 283 tallies…he is just the 2nd Red Sox rookie pitcher to be named to the team, joining Don Schwall in 1961 (2nd game)…overall, he is Boston’s 8th rookie All-Star, the first since Nomar Garicaparra in 1997.
-- OF Manny Ramirez was voted by fans to start in the outfield at the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh next week…is the 10th All-Star nod of his career…he has been elected to start each of the last 7 All-Star Games.

Posted by Art  at 1:03 PM | Permalink