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August 18, 2007
Bobby Kielty is in the house.
He said he wanted to play for a team that had an opportunity to play in meaningful games in September and October.
Welcome to Boston!
As expected the Red Sox purchased his contract from Pawtucket today and the veteran outfielder is in the dugout tonight. Kielty, 31, has 579 games of major-league experience with Minnesota, Toronto and Oakland. He was designated for assignment by the A’s on July 21 and released on July 31. The Red Sox signed him to a minor-league deal on Aug. 6.
There were numerous reasons why he wanted to play here, especially since he said the Red Sox showed interest even before he was designated. But one thing stood out.
“Definitely No. 1 was playing for a playoff contender,” he said. “I grew up a big fan of the Red Sox, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I’m definitely excited to be here.”
Red Sox manager Terry Francona and Kielty talked about what the newcomer’s role off the bench is going to be, and when the meeting concluded everyone understand the situation. He’ll be used basically as a utility outfielder, mainly playing the corner spots and will an added left-handed bat off the bench against left-handed pitchers.
“I know my role,” he said. “I’m a pretty laid-back kind of guy and when I go out and perform I like to play hard. I’m totally happy with it.”
Because he has family from Massachusetts, he grew up watching the Red Sox and admitted he was a huge Roger Clemens fan. Kielty knows how rabid Red Sox Nation can be, and he said he’s ready for the challenge.
“There’s pressure with coming to any team,” he said. “Being a new player you want to perform well, and make a good impression right away. Boston is a big market with a lot of fans and they have a lot of passion. I just want to play my game and if I can do that everything will be fine.”
Kielty will not be in the lineup against the Angels tonight, but Francona said he’ll play tomorrow.
“He’s a professional hitter,” said the manager. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about him as a person and as a teammate. We’ll just get him comfortable quickly and hopefully he can help us.”
*Catcher Kevin Cash arrived at Fenway in the sixth inning on Friday night and Francona said Cash will catch Julian Tavarez tomorrow and Tim Wakefield on Monday. Cash caught some of Wakefield’s side session during spring training, and has worked with both minor-league knucklers John Barnes and Charlie Zink.
“But they’re not Tim Wakefield,” said Francona. “Wakey has been through [catching changes] and he will not alter the way he pitches. We hope it goes great.”
Francona said Doug Mirabelli, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday night with a strained right calf muscle, was still sore yesterday. Just in case Cash couldn’t get here in time on Friday – he was with the PawSox in Ottawa – and if a catcher was needed Francona said he had about six volunteers for the job, including Alex Cora, Eric Hinske and Mike Lowell.
“Everybody but Ortiz was volunteering,” joked Francona.
*It was less than 24 hours after Red Sox reliever Eric Gagne blew a save opportunity on Friday night and it was still being discussed yesterday afternoon. The newly acquired right-hander surrendered a one-run lead and allowed the Angels to score three runs in the top of the ninth inning en route to a 7-6 victory. By the time the local media was allowed in the clubhouse Gagne was already gone.
It was the second time in a week that Gagne imploded on the mound, causing the Red Sox to lose. But, Francona said he’s sticking with him.
“I don’t think using him differently helps,” he said. “You put a guy who pitches on adrenaline in a blowout game, it’s not going to help him. When a hitter goes through a slump, your good hitters you stay with them. You might give then an occasional day off and that’s what we did with Gagne [last night] because he threw a lot of pitches [Friday]."
It was Gagne’s third blown save of the season, and since arriving in Boston at the trade deadline, he has allowed 10 runs on 14 hits in seven appearances.
“You try to put the players in the best position where they can succeed,” added Francona. “If you run away from that, it’s not going to work. . . We need to work hard to get this guy locked in opposed to running away from him.”
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 7:24 PM | Permalink
