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Pesky saddened by news of Halberstam

Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky received some troubling news during tonight's game at Fenway Park. He was told that writer David Halberstam died in a car accident earlier today in San Francisco. He was 73.

Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote the book “The Teammates” which chronicled the life of four friends – Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr and Pesky – on and off the baseball field.

“It was flattering,” Pesky said about the best-seller. “I am so sorry to hear about what has happened. He was a fine man, a great author and writer. He did everything possibly a good human being could do. He was just an outstanding man and I feel very badly about this.”

During last night’s game, Pesky said he had not spoken with Doerr or DiMaggio about the accident, but planned on calling his friends when he got home.

During the 2004 Triple-A All-Star game in Pawtucket, Pesky, Doerr and DiMaggio participated in a Q & A session about the real-life story of “The Teammates” mostly discussing Williams as a man, friend and teammate.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 8:22 PM | Permalink

PawSox rained out

The PawSox battled the weather again Monday night, and had their game against the Buffalo Bisons suspended after heavy rain halted the game after just 16 minutes.

The game, in which Pawtucket has a 3-0 lead in the first inning, will be resumed on May 5 when the Red Sox return to Dunn Tire Park. That game will be a full nine-inning affair and will be followed by a seven-inning nightcap.

Pawtucket, which had won its last two games, had three games postponed in a four-day span between April 15-18. As a result, the starting pitchers haven’t been able to establish a normal routine. The bullpen, though, has worked at least three innings in each of the last four games, so the rest may be beneficial.

“It’ll be helpful,” said PawSox manager Ron Johnson. “We were big-time spent. This situation won’t hurt us at all.”

The game began under cloudy conditions with stiff winds - gusting over 30 miles per hour - blowing out to left field. Brandon Moss hit a wind-assisted three-run homer in the top of the first, giving the Triple-A rookie a home run in three of his last five games.

In the bottom of the first, PawSox starter Kason Gabbard retired the first two batters and had a 1-1 count on Ben Francisco when the rains intensified, forcing the delay.

The grounds crew was able to get the tarp down with little difficulty, but high winds threatened to carry the sheet away once it was in place. Lawn care machinery was used to anchor the tarp.

After the delay hit the 45-minute mark, the cover was lifted as the rains stopped. The howling winds, however, turned the managers’ attention to safety.

“The concern (Buffalo skipper Torey Lovullo and I) had was hitters going to the plate and catching their breath and having trouble seeing against the wind,” Johnson said. “It’s a situation where someone could get hurt.”

The PawSox then traveled to Rochester where they begin a two-game series tonight. Righthander Devern Hansack (1-1, 1.69) is scheduled to start the 6:35 pm contest, slated to face Red Wings’ righty Kevin Slowey (2-0, 0.00).

--MIKE HAIM (Special to the Journal)

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 8:17 PM to PawSox | Permalink

Sox Streakers for April 23

Who's Hot
-The Red Sox (five-game winning streak is tied with San Francisco for longest in the league; four straight victories have been come-from-behind)
-Tim Wakefield (American League leader in E.R.A. with 1.35 -- 3 runs allowed in 20 innings pitched)
-Jonathan Papelbon (6 for 6 in saves; has struck out 13 of 27 batters faced)
-J.D. Drew (7 for his last 18; has reached base safely in 16 of 17 games)
-Mike Lowell (8 game hitting streak; 12 for his last 32 with 3 homers)
-David Ortiz (13 for his last 36)
-Jason Varitek (6 for 12 in Yankee series)

Who's Not
-Julio Lugo (2 for his last 18)
-Dustin Pedroia (3 for his last 32)

Red Sox vs. Tomo Ohka
-David Ortiz, 2 for 6 (.333), 1 HR
-Mike Lowell, 11 for 37 (.297), 3 HR
-Manny Ramirez, 2 for 7 (.286), 0 HR
-Wily Mo Pena, 3 for 12 (.250), 2 HR
-J.D. Drew, 2 for 11 (.182), 0 HR
-Julio Lugo, 2 for 11 (.182), 0 HR
-Kevin Youkilis, 0 for 3
-Dustin Pedroia, 0 for 2

Blue Jays vs. Tim Wakefield
-Royce Clayton, 11 for 36 (.306), 1 HR
-Alex Rios, 5 for 17 (.294), 1 HR
-Matt Stairs, 10 for 36 (.278), 1 HR
-Greg Zaun, 3 for 13 (.231), 0 HR
-Vernon Wells, 10 for 35 (.229), 0 HR
-Frank Thomas, 8 for 36 (.211), 3 HR
-John McDonald, 3 for 14 (.214), 0 HR
-Jason Phillips, 1 for 5 (.200), 0 HR
-Aaron Hill, 0 for 8

More Stuff
-The Red Sox are 7-1 at home, where they've won 6 straight games.
-Boston's 12-5 record is their best at this point since 2003.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 5:54 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink

Bullpen to get a rest

Because Red Sox relievers Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima have been taxed of late – albeit successfully – it’s likely both will have tonight off.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:50 PM | Permalink

Lester still on schedule

Jon Lester will continue his rehab with the PawSox on Wednesday as the left-hander will start against the Rochester Red Wings. His slated to throw 80-85 pitches. Since Pawtucket has Thursday off, there was some discussion that Lester would start again for the PawSox on Monday, which would be his fifth day. But, Red Sox manager admitted today the organization thought it best to give him an extra day, so he will work again on Tuesday at McCoy against Indy. Lester began the season in Single-A Greenville as he continues to recover from anaplastic large-cell lympohoma, which he was diagnosed with last August.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:49 PM | Permalink

Pedroia's back

Red Sox rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia was sitting in the dugout this afternoon with a little more confidence. He just finished taking an early session of batting practice and it was clear his recent slump is behind him due to his two-hit night on Sunday.

More importantly, it was his glove that proved crucial as he made a tremendous two-out diving grab late in the game with runners in scoring position.

“That play he made defensively was more important than any hit he got last night,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “Fortunately, he understands that. It was also nice to see him get hits because you want to see guys have success, for sure. Hopefully now he takes that and runs with it.”

His double in the second inning Sunday night snapped an 0-for-13 skid.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:30 PM | Permalink

World Series ring up for sale

A 2004 Boston Red Sox World Championship ring is on auction on eBay, and as of this morning the bidding was near $16,000.

The Red Sox handed out an unprecedented 500 World Series rings the following spring, and not all were the same. There are four different levels of classification – A, B, C, D – and according to the posting on eBay, the ring is the same as the players received, which can’t be the case.

The ring up for auction was given to Cucho Rodriguez, a former team scout based in Puerto Rico. A scout would not have received an ‘A’ ring as the executives, players, the manager and coaches were given.

There are plenty of fans in Red Sox Nation who probably can’t fathom the idea of someone selling a World Series ring.

“You don’t know their situation in life,” said Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was a rookie in 2004 and received a ring. “There could be a bad situation and if it’s for a good reason then that’s fine. If it was a player who had money and put it on eBay just to get a little more money, there would probably be a lot more of an issue with it.”

Youkilis said there would be only one reason why he would ever sell the prestigious piece of jewelry.

“If someone was ill and I didn’t have any money, would I?” he said. “I think I would try to find other ways to pay money. It would be a hard thing to get rid of. I would never do it unless it was a life or death situation.”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona did not want to talk about the sale of the ring because he did not know the particulars of the situation. He did say he would check to see if his ring was where it was supposed to be.

“I don’t know what to think about it,” he said. “It’s none of my business.”

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:28 PM | Permalink

Crisp is off, again

Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp is not in the lineup again tonight for the second consecutive game.

He had some tightness in his oblique muscle that forced manager Terry Francona to scratch the centerfielder from Sunday’s lineup against the New York Yankees. Crisp was inserted into the game late on Sunday, but Francona, and the team’s training staff, felt it was best to give Crisp another day off for precautionary reasons.

Francona said Crisp is feeling better and the manager thought about playing him tonight, but decided against it.

The injury has nothing to do with his back flip over the bullpen wall, attempting to rob Alex Rodriguez of a home run on Friday night.

Francona also said Crisp will be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:09 PM | Permalink

Tonight's lineup

Toronto

Alex Rios, 9
Matt Stairs, 7
Vernon Wells, 8
Frank Thomas, DH
Greg Zaun, 2
Aaron Hill, 4
Royce Clayton, 6
Jason Phillips, 3
John McDonald, 5
Tomo Ohka, SP

Boston
Julio Lugo, 6
Kevin Youkilis, 3
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
J.D. Drew, 9
Mike Lowell, 5
Wily Mo Pena, 8
Doug Mirabelli, 2
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Tim Wakefield, SP

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:42 PM | Permalink

The Manny comeback

Judging by the results of our most active sports survey, fans are not convinced that this weekend's series has proven anything like the Red Sox' superiority against the Yankees. Boston, after all, has a history of beating up on New York in April, and the Yankees' pitching staff is a shambles. No one, including myself, would be surprised to see the patched up Yankees take two of three this coming weekend in the Bronx.

But here's another way of seeing it: The Red Sox showed this weekend that their lineup can be pretty good -- and let's forget for a moment about the Yankees' rookie starters. After all, the Red Sox scored 10 runs in 16.2 innings this weekend against pitchers not named Jeff Karstens or Chase Wright. All told, they put up 21 runs on the weekend with Manny Ramirez in a horrendous hitting slump. Meanwhile, the Yankees will be getting Hideki Matsui back, but Alex Rodriguez will be hard-pressed to stay this hot.

As far as Manny goes: for a guy who has hit exactly two home runs this season, his reaction to hitting the one in Toronto and the one at Fenway might trick you into believing that this is all routine. During the same four-game stretch in which Ramirez has hit home runs, he's also contributed to killing three early rallies by grounding into double plays twice (against Roy Halladay and Andy Pettitte) and popping up on another occasion (against Wright).

What they're saying: The New York Daily News' Subway Squakers blog had this prediction heading into last night: "Manny Ramirez will do something wacky. Did you see the way he kind of skipped over the ball A-Rod hit Saturday? Wacky. Then there's the hair, with the red strands in it, covered by the Boston do-rag. Wacky. He looks like a pirate - all he needs is a jaunty eyepatch!"

The Manchester Union-Leader wonders whether the slump is ending.

MLB.com's Ian Browne says not to expect any changes to the middle of the batting order.

New York Newsday's Jim Baumbach reports that the immortal Paul Foytack was actually watching last night's game when Wright tied his 44-year-old record by giving up home runs to four consecutive batters. But Foytack, who lives in Tennessee, tells Baumbach that he turned the channel after Manny hit the first of the four, so he never got to see his "feat" get matched. At least Wright will be able to say that he gave up his four home runs against four very good hitters. Foytack, while pitching for the Angels in 1963, gave up his against this rogues gallery of Cleveland Indians: Woodie Held, pitcher Pedro Ramos, Tito Francona (father of Terry, of course) and Larry Brown (not the basketball coach). These guys combined for 366 home runs in their careers, against 935 and counting for the Red Sox four.

By the way, if you hear Manny's name called this weekend during the NFL Draft, chances are you've been watching too long. Also, keep in mind that this is not Manny the slugger, but Manny the offensive tackle out of Texas Tech. The writer at the Badger Herald over at the University of Wisconsin has Manny of the gridiron being taken by the Patriots in the first round -- I think he's joking. Is this region big enough for two Mannies?

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:44 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk: Looking back on the sweep

Joe McDonald is today's guest on projo SoxTalk with Art Martone.

Here are a few things McDonald has to say:

On the Red Sox reactions last night: "Prior to the series, [it was] 'OK, this is just one game, they're just another team, and then Toronto comes into town.' But last night, every player that we talked to, you could tell they were fired up, because hey, 'We just swept the Yankees; we put a little distance between us and them.' You could tell, it was just different than if they had swept the Kansas City Royals."

On next weekend's rematch in the Bronx: "I think it's going to be a lot different next weekend, just because it's in New York, and they're getting back Hideki Matsui, which is going to be huge. Damon has been banged up, so that maybe will give him some time to rest, having Matsui back in the mix. Certainly Jorge Posada being out, especially last night against Matsuzaka, that would have been a little different I think if Posada was in the lineup, but he's out with that bruised thumb. So I think next weekend is going to be a little bit different."

On tonight's game against Tomo Ohka Toronto: "The biggest thing is in order to keep this thing rolling, they have to keep the bats rolling. So i think you could possibly see another offensive barrage."

Click here to listen to the full audio.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:30 AM to Martone , McDonald | Permalink

Red Sox World Series ring offered on eBay

A 2004 Boston Red Sox World Championship ring is on auction on eBay, and as of this morning the bidding was near $16,000.

According to the posting, the ring was given to Cucho Rodriguez, a former team scout based in Puerto Rico. The ring contains 45 diamonds with a total weight of 1.89 carats, according to the eBay posting, and is cast in 18-carat white gold.

"The ring is the exact same ring that players such as Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, and Johnny Damon received," reads the posting. "This particular ring was given to a Red Sox Scout. It comes with the elegant display box that is beautifully designed to house the ring. It also comes with the official certificate of appraisal detailing the qualities of the jewels that make up this wonderfully designed ring."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Baseball Today: Monday, April 23

It's the morning after . . .

WHEW! Now that was a weekend series. (I know it's my department and all, but I have to admit, that headline -- Game, Set, Matchless -- is pretty good.) Friday night was one we'll all remember, but last night, what with history being made, it being Dice-K's first start against the Yankees, and the fact that the Yankees pulled out all the stops to win the game, well, it sure felt like more like October than it did April.

The New York tabloids focused on the Red Sox' four-home-run outburst -- 4-Get It was the Daily News' offering, and the Post screamed 'Blasted!' -- and the Post's George King notes that ''[as] bad as your Monday is, [Yankee general manager Brian] Cashman's will be worse; apparently George Steinbrenner is already complaining about the holes in his team (and that was before they went to Boston and started Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright in two of the three games). King, though, also included some an ominous warning sign regarding manager Joe Torre: "And knowing how much Steinbrenner wanted to ax Joe Torre last October, that thought either has already entered The Boss' mind or is about to penetrate the skull because Torre's detractors in the organization are never far from The Boss when his club is going bad."

That seed has already been planted in some corners of Yankee Universe, such as the blog River Ave. Blues. (Actually, they were calling for Torre's head on Friday night; that's when the post was written.) The main thrust of their argument, as articulated by Larry Mahnken, is that Torre, according to his detractors ''has no freaking idea how to use a bullpen''. (replacementlevel.com) Mahnken, I must note, is not singing the "Joe Must Go!" chorus here, but he articulates the anti-Torre argument succinctly. (For the less articulate side of the debate, head on over to the Joe Torre Discussion Thread on NYYFans.com, which is currently on its 46th page.) Even a dispassionate observer like David Pinto had questions about how Torre used his relievers

The glass-is-half-full view of the weekend, at least from the Yankee side, is that the Yankees went to Boston decimated by injuries, faced the Sox' three best starting pitchers, and still could have won every game (and probably should have won Friday night) (riveraveblues.com) Seth Mnookin sort of agrees, at least a little. (sethmnookin.com)

Here's my view:

-- Everything they say is technically true. Had Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina started Saturday and Sunday instead of Karstens and Chase, the Yanks would have had an entirely different look. And the Yankee offense, even without Jorge Posada for most of the weekend and with Johnny Damon hobbling, did score runs off the Sox' three best pitchers.

-- For all the talk of how the Yankees got to Boston's starters, though, each of them -- Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka -- pitched at least 6 2/3 innings, and Beckett and Matsuzaka were able to turn their games over to the bullpen with leads. And the Yanks didn't do much against the Sox relievers (though Dustin Pedroia's full-body snare of Josh Phelps' liner had a lot to do with that).

-- The Yankee bullpen is healthy and set up exactly the way they wanted, and that bullpen blew a four-run lead in the eighth inning on Friday and a lead (granted, a one-run lead) in the seventh inning on Sunday. (New York Post)

In any case, that was a lot of weekend. Joe McDonald and I will be discussing it today around noon on ProJo Sports Talk.

COMING? The weekend may have heightened Waiting for Roger, at least in New York. (Newsday)

GOING? Alex Rodriguez' white-hot start could lead him down some interesting roads -- like, to Boston -- this offseason. (projo.com) But the Chicago teams are interested, as well. (Chicago Sun-Times). BTW, when they say Sox, they mean White Sox.

PROOF POSITIVE: Here's how big the weekend was: Joe Posnanski blogged last night's game from Kansas City (thesoulofbaseball.blogspot.com), and had a running conversation with the New York Post's Mike Vaccaro as he did so. I'm beginning to think Posnanski could blog a traffic intersection and make it interesting,

NIGHTMARE ON YAWKEY WAY: How different would life had been had the Sox actually signed Eric Gagne to be their closer? (Dallas Morning News)

KEEP ON TRUCKIN': No matter how emotionally exhausting the weekend was, the season actually continues tonight. The free-falling Blue Jays are in town, and they're hoping a change of venue will change their luck. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

WINNING WILL DO THAT FOR YOU: Check out the standings recently? See who's in second place? The Orioles, to their credit, are saying all the right things about it being early and all, but Chris Gomez admits ''[it's] a lot more fun in here''. (Baltimore Sun)

IN OTHER NEWS . . . A professor of economics refutes Bill James' study that ballplayers peak physically at age 27 (dberri.wordpress.com) . . . The Worcester Telegram catches up with Bernie Carbo, who was in town to again tell his story of overcoming addiction. One thing I didn't know: Carbo's three daughters all went to jail for selling drugs (one is still there) and he's adopting his three grandchildren, ages 9, 6 and 4 . . . Old friend Bruce Chen is available again (yahoo.com) . . . It may also be the end of the line, at least in Chicago, for another old friend, Wade Miller (Chicago Sun Times).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:57 AM | Permalink