« Late Red Sox notes
Main
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Ortiz raises the Yankees' ire again »
May 27, 2008
AP Photo
TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN LIFE . . . and there's probably no better time to come to Safeco Field than right now, considering the Mariners had lost 19 of their last 24 prior to last night. (And looked pretty pathetic in the process, especially lately: They were outscored 31-13 in losing three straight at Yankee Stadium, directly on the heels of getting outscored 30-14 in losing three straight at Comerica Park.) But you'll forgive the Red Sox -- losers of seven straight road games before they arrived in Seattle -- if the needle on their sympathy meter didn't jump a whole lot, since they had their own ship to steady. And steady it they did, as Bartolo Colon (above) pitched seven strong innings and the Sox bats finally came alive against Felix Hernandez in the eighth in a 5-3 win that, as Sean McAdam reports, gave them their first victory away from home since May 10. The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo talked to some of the players about their away-from-Fenway struggles and lays out some pretty startling home-and-road statistics that perfectly explain how the Sox are 21-5 in Boston and 11-17 outside of it. David Pinto of Baseball Musings goes even deeper into the numbers -- comparing them to Tampa Bay's home-and-road stats -- and warns that a "falloff from [the Sox'] current .808 home winning percentage may mean trouble, as Tampa's home/road record looks sustainable." But these days Seattle is a pretty safe port in a storm (Seattle Times), and the Sox are resting comfortably there this morning after some rough seas prior to their arrival.
TROUBLE BY THE BAY: The waves were particularly harsh in Oakland, where the Red Sox lost 8-3 on Friday night, were almost no-hit in losing 3-0 on Saturday night and concluded their weekend of distress with a 6-3 loss on Sunday afternoon. Masochists are invited to click the links to any of McAdam's game accounts.
CHANGING TIMES: Used to be that managers under fire claimed they didn't read the newspapers. Now, if you're the Mariners' John McLaren, you claim you don't read the blogs. (USA Today)
PERSPECTIVE: The difference between real-life problems and what pass for problems in baseball was never demonstrated more starkly than on Sunday, when cancer survivor Jon Lester told the world that his father is also suffering from a form of lymphoma. (projo.com) He spoke optimistically about John Lester's chances of beating the disease, saying his father "will die with [cancer], not from it." Here's hoping that's true, Jon.
'MY FRIEND': Driving that point home further was the shocking death of former Red Sox and PawSox pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who was struck by lightning in his native Venezuela on Saturday. McAdam has reaction from the Red Sox and Joe McDonald relates the comments of PawSox manager Ron Johnson, who was "absolutely crushed" by the news. Curt Schilling adds some thoughts on 38pitches.com.
THE COMEBACK TRAIL: Lester's no-hit twin, Clay Buchholz, had an impressive first outing with the PawSox on Sunday as he rehabs from his torn fingernail. Paul Kenyon has the details.
WHAT A SHORT, STRANGE JOURNEY IT'S BEEN: Bill Reynolds first met Buchholz in the McCoy Stadium clubhouse last August. He caught up with him again on Sunday and they talked about how different life has become since the no-hitter.
TALKING BASEBALL: Joe Haggerty provides the transcript of his Sunday interview with Buchholz on his Hacks With Haggs blog.
'RATHER WORK WITH HIM THAN POINT A FINGER AT HIM': That's the Red Sox' philosophy regarding the defensively challenged Julio Lugo, whom they're hoping will regain his glove skills by extra work with infield coach Luis Alicea. (Boston Globe)
SPEED KILLS: I admit, I'm puzzled about baseball's new speed-up rules. On Friday night we saw Dave Magadan kicked out of the game when umpire Tim Tschida wouldn't allow J.D. Drew to put pine tar on his replacement bat (projo.com), but I saw at least three -- and maybe more -- instances in other games over the weekend where a batter broke his bat, went and got a new one, and then retired to the on-deck circle to apply pine tar with no ejection, no warning, no nothing. But regardless of how the rule is enforced (or not), David Ortiz thinks it's stupid. (Boston Globe) So does Kevin Youkilis (Boston Herald) The Joy Of Sox' Allan Wood finds clips that point out baseball has been talking about speeding up games for at least 80 years, and then makes some tangible suggestion -- like cutting down commercial time between innings, or calling the strike zone as the rule book lays it out -- that would actually make things go quicker.
AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: As those of us hereabouts fret about the Sox -- and let's face it, the fretting came pretty easy this weekend -- baseball writers around the country continue to marvel about the 'Ol Towne Team. Rany Jazayerli of Baseball Prospectus, writing on his blog Rany On The Royals, says "I'm not sure there has ever been an organization that so towered above every other baseball team in every way -- financial, player development, statistical analysis, creative thinking, what have you -- as the Red Sox do right now." And on the heels of the Sox' arrival at Safeco, the Seattle Times' Larry Stone said they "might be the model franchise in baseball." He adds: "You don't hear much about the Curse of the Bambino these days."
See? There is a God!
THERE SURE IS: Back in November and December when the Johan Santana rumors were flying, Chad Finn pretty well articulated the reservations some had about emptying the minor-league shelves for him. The Sox resisted the temptation and now, Chad gleefully reports, it looks like they made the right decision. (Touching All The Bases)
ONE FOR THE BOOKS: Think you've heard of every obscure record in baseball? Bet this is a new one for ya: The Rays are the first team since 1900 to have the best record in baseball through Memorial Day after having the worst record in baseball the previous year. (Tampa Tribune) They got there with a 7-3 win over the Rangers, coupled with a Diamondbacks' loss to the Braves.
CLOSET STATHEAD: Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon wants to see if there's a way to determine how many runs a player costs his team defensively, which can then be added to the runs he produces as a hitter to create a baseball plus/minus rating. (St. Petersburg Times)
WHERE ARE YOU, MARINERS? The Yankees were hoping they were back on track after their weekend sweep of Seattle, but the Orioles brought them back to Earth with a 6-1 victory that featured five runs off Yankee relievers in the seventh inning. ShysterBall, noting the worrying that Joba Chamberlain's move to the rotation has sparked about who'll pitch the eighth inning for the Yanks, says forget that; what about the seventh?
THE DEBATE CONTINUES: Put down Phil Pepe as a 'no' in the Should Joba Be A Starter? poll. (yesnetwork.com)
HE'S NOT ALONE: Remember the complaints about Chamberlain's on-the-mound histrionics after recording key outs? The White Sox are now grousing about Frankie Rodriguez doing the same thing. (Chicago Tribune)
DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES: Joe Posnanski wants to like Derek Jeter. He really does. But he's so fed up with the empty veneration of Jeter -- for instance, as a great defensive shortstop when in fact he may be the worst in baseball -- that he's come up with a new verb: "Jeterate -- to praise someone for something of which he or she is entirely unworthy of praise." And what set this off wasn't even his defense. It was his getting caught in a rundown and staying in it long enough for the other runners to advance to the next base a few nights ago, which apparently set off a five-minute Sterling/Waldman lovefest on the Yankee radio broadcast. ("He waved them to the next base! What a leader! What a man! Who else in the world could have gotten caught in a rundown long enough to get runners to move up?") And then, writes Joe, "when Hideki Matsui singled to score both runners, they took it up another step and canonized Jeter."
And so did he, with a new word. Jeterate. Write it down.
RETHINK YOUR DECISION: A few hours after Mets management stated emphatically that Willie Randolph wouldn't be fired, fans at Shea started a "Fi-re Wil-lie!" chant in the waning moments of a 7-3 loss to Florida. (New York Post) But the Post's Joel Sherman thinks the fans should focus their anger elsewhere, saying, "Maybe this is not about the leader as much as it is about the led."
KID STUFF: Gary Carter is blaming the media for misinterpreting comments he made about the Mets' managing job that sounded as if he was campaigning to replace Randolph. Former teammate Keith Hernandez is a member of the media now -- color analyst on the Mets' TV broadcast -- and he called Carter "indelicate [and] graceless." (Both stories Newsday)
THINK THE BAR IS HIGH ENOUGH? The blog Driveline Mechanics breaks down Dodger phenom Clayton Kershaw and concludes he "exhibits all the performance of a Sandy Koufax without the mechanical flaws." O-kay.
START SHREDDING THE CONFETTI: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley likes what he sees regarding the Braves.
HERE AND THERE: Brewers third baseman Bill Hall is losing playing time and he's not happy about it (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . It looks like top prospect Jay Bruce is about to be recalled by the Reds (mlb.com) . . . John Smoltz may need another rehab appearance (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Alfonso Soriano has been catching some heat in Chicago, but yesterday he was defending by the Cubs (Chicago Tribune) . . . Chone Figgins may be headed to the disabled list. (Los Angeles Times)
OLD FRIENDS: There's been a Pokey Reese sighting! Even though he hasn't appeared in a big-league game since 2004 and hasn't been with a big-league team since spring training 2006, the Nationals signed him to a minor-league contract. (Washington Post)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:44 AM | Permalink
