Re-Awakening the Red Sox "Dynasty" (and this blog)

Other than a somewhat promotional post about the Ultimate Fan Experience, BigP has been a pretty quiet corner of the internet for the last 45 days. We were busy. Life got in the way. It's summertime, what do you expect? No need for excuses, but it's time to get back down to business.

On the eve of the Red Sox elimination from playoff contention, I'd like to ask you all one question...

What do they need to do in the off-season to compete against the Yankees and the Rays in 2011?

The current goat is our namesake, Jonathan Papelbon. He's had eight blown saves this year and last night certainly showcased his recent struggles. But that's not enough to fix this team. What moves would YOU make if your were Theo? Take your time. I want your best work.

Can you believe it? The Rays!

The Rays??? Swept by the Rays!.No, folks these are not the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of old. As we just saw, they are very good, very very good. Some great young players, Evan Longoria, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford with a good blend of seasoned vets like Carlos Pena and Eric Hinske (remember him). And the pitching staff, Kazmir, Shields, Garza, and even Sonnanstine. They are loaded and given the youth could be trouble for years to come. The minor league prospects are among the best in baseball according to Baseball America with arms to rival our kids. Don’t forget, they’ve traded away Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young (got Garza back), too. I don’t know about you, but Evan Longoria looks better than Eva! I think even Tony Parker is jealous!

I feel bad for Rocco Baldelli and all of his injuries, but if he was healthy, it just wouldn’t be fair. I think their inexperience will hold them back this year, but this team looks like it could be a force for years to come. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we’re playing the old has-beens in the Bronx now.

Friday Musings, May 30

A lot going on in the sports world right now yet I feel like other than the Celtics, I've been mostly unplugged. That seems to happen to me especially when the Sox are on the left coast and I can't stay up to watch the late night games in their entirety. Let's hope that being on the right coast cures some of the Sox batting woes (they've faced some decent pitching but they've also been asleep at the wheel when it comes to timely base hits). Oh yeah, and Timlin didn't help their cause the other night.

On to the musings...

1. Anyone else a little bit excited about the fact that the D-Rays are in 1st place in the East? We know this won't last (think Baltimore a few years back) but it's fun while it's happening. Yes, I'd obviously like seeing the Sox in first place more but this is kind of like seeing your kid brother whom you've competed with your whole life (him losing most of the time) scoring two goals in a big soccer game or him making the varsity baseball team as a freshman. It feels good in a "I won't let on that I'm proud of you but I am" kind of way. Too bad their fans still don't care.
2. Celts could REALLY use a win tonight. Not that I don't think they could win in game 7 in the Gah-den but given the Lakers win last night and the fact that they've already played two 7-game series, them tired legs could use a week-long rest. Here's my prediction - if Rip sits tonight for D-troit, the C's win a squeaker. If Rip plays meaningful minutes, C's lose by 8. Let's hope Rip sits.
3. Anyone ready for football season to start? I didn't think so.
   
4. The Sox have a good problem right now in the fact that they have too much starting pitching. Back in 2005, they found themselves in the same situation and proceeded to screw themselves by trading away Bronson Arroyo. This hurt when Schilling/Wells went down early with injuries. What's nice is that we have two studs in Colon and Masterson waiting in the wings so that when DiceK suffers a sore shoulder, we don't miss a beat. This will only get better/more interesting when Schilling comes back in mid to late August.
5. Is hockey season over yet?
6. Can we find a better option for late inning set up/back up closer than Timlin? I love Mike and he has done wonderful things for the Sox but he really is done at this point.

Okay, this last item is not really that sports related but it does involve a friend and a marathon and it's for a good cause. One of my social media pals, Jennifer Leggio (aka Mediaphyter) is raising money to fight Leukemia. One of the ways that she's doing this (in addition to running a marathon this fall) is to auction of the services of folks like myself on eBay. If you know of anyone that's looking to get some education on social media/online community building, please send them our way.

As always, comments are welcome! Happy weekend.