Should we go ahead and worry about Youk?

Yes, he was hitting like the maximum Ted Williams when he went on the DL.

Yes, his overall numbers are still good.

But in 3 1/2 weeks since returning from the DL, Youkilis has lost .042 in batting average, .062 in on-base percentage, and .109 in slugging. He's batting .220 for June.

Thoughts?

How good was Jim Rice?

My earlier posts on all-time Sox lineups and rosters got me thinking: how good was Jim Rice really?

I don't ask out of any disrespect to #14. He was a great player. He was better than the other two guys in the picture here, which is saying something.

But he's no better than third on the all-time list of Sox left fielders, because Williams and Yastrzemski were simply better. It's no shame to come in behind those guys.

And if we include all Sox outfielders who played at least, say, five years with the team and had a big impact on its fortunes, Rice wasn't as good as Tris Speaker -- who was, in the judgment of Bill James, better than Joe DiMaggio.

And then there's the question from the current day: was Rice better than Manny?

My thumbnail guess: considering all phases of the game, Rice was the sixth-best fifth-best [note: I can't count] outfielder the Sox have had. (Oh, and he wouldn't crack my lineup at DH, either -- Foxx was better.)

Or am I missing something?

Most Pleasant Surprise of 2009...so far

Tell me your most pleasant surprise thus far in 2009 for the following:

• Red Sox Player
• Non-Red Sox Player
• Team other than the Red Sox

I'll start us off.

For the Sox I'm pleasantly surprised with the play of Hideki Okajima. After such an amazing 2007 we saw Oki go down a notch in 2008, but now he's made 23 appearances with 22 innings pitched and has only given up 6 ER for a 2.45 ERA. Very similar to his 2007 numbers. If the Sox are going to go deep this year he's got to be the man in the 7th/8th.

Non-Red Sox player is easy for me, Zack Greinke in Kansas City. SICK. I mean 8-1 with a 1.10 ERA...we haven't seen something like this since Pedro days.

As for the team I'm pleasantly surprised to see, maybe it's the heat but I have to go with Texas at this point. I know the Angels have been struck by bad luck and horrible tragedy, and the AL West is weak in general, but the Rangers have still won 30 games, best in the AL. Give them their due, even if all the Rangers fans I talked with this past weekend told me that there was a better chance of three days of rain than that team keeping up the pace ;)

Bonus if you can name the ex-Patriot in the picture above...the eyes certainly give it away.

A-a-and the Sox take first place.

Everybody in the East except the Sox lost today. The Jays have come back to earth with a six-game losing streak. The Yankees lost deliciously, at home, to the defending World Champions.

Yet only four games separates the Sox from the fourth-place Rays, who are probably a little better than their record indicates.

Thoughts? Where do things go from here?

(Oh, and unless you're Doug, the other Tim, Warren, or Kyle, make your picks for the all-time Sox team in the comments thread for the previous post.)

Best All-Time Sox TEAM

Okay, fellas, that seemed to go well, but now let's get down to it for real. This time around, you need an entire team:

* 8 starting position players
* 1 DH
* 5 starting pitchers
* 6 relievers (bonus credit: designate long relief, setup man, & closer)
* 5 bench players (preferred mix: backup C, utility IF, PH/corner IF, 4th OF/defensive sub, PR/5th OF)
* manager, bench coach, hitting coach, pitching coach, 1b coach, 3b coach

Offense counts, defense counts, baserunning counts -- everything counts.

Best All-Time Sox Batting Lineup?

List them off, please -- a proper nine-man batting lineup drawn from across the entire history of the Red Sox franchise. Please put them in your preferred batting order, with position or DH noted.

Friday Trivia

What Red Sox pitcher holds the record for lowest ERA for a single season?

Hint: He wasn't born in the Netherlands.

Papelbon on Manny

I love Gary Tanguay's interviews. He's got a sense of wit that makes guys relax and lighten up.  Here is a transcription of his pregame chat with Paps from Sports Tonight on FSN.  My favorite line is highlighted.

JP:  Manny's doing good, man, you know, he's got like a low 1 ERA, you know, he's throwing the ball well [smirking] and, um, he's been great in our bullpen this year.

GT: You know, you really don't need any media training, do you... You are the king of dodgeball.  You can dodge questions better than anybody...

JP:  I thought you talking about Manny DelCarmen [laughing]

...

GT: Let's talk about your old friend, Manny Ramirez.

JP: I don't know Manny Ramirez. No, I don't know who that guy is. You know, he quit on me, he quit on our team, and... I don't know who he is.  Who is he?

GT: So is this karma?  Is this karma, finally, justice being served on Manny Ramirez?

JP: Well I don't know if it's justice or karma or whatever, but I think that it's a situation where I'm glad he's not in our clubhouse or we have to deal with it.  I'm glad he's over there on the west coast, and those guys, Joe Torre and his teammates and coach and staff can deal with all that...Things like this take a toll on you and I'm just glad we don't have to deal with it... Every year in spring training, they give us a long list - in Spanish and in English - what you can do and what you can't do, so to fail a test and it be presented to you what you are being tested for, there's no excuses.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I love Paps' confidence to come out and say what he thinks, that Manny still deserves to be in the HOF, no one should question the '04 or '07 series, and that everyone was doing steroids.  If more folks get caught, they pay the price though - legally, publicly, whatever.  I am also relieved this isn't happening in the Sox clubhouse right now though.

 

Manny being Steroid User

I have to say that I was very surprised to hear that Manny was caught using a banned substance. Having followed Manny through the years, he just didn't seem to care enough to take PEDs. That is not a knock on Manny, but he struck me as a player that enjoyed playing the game, enjoyed making money, but if he didn't play, then that was enough. Anyway, to me, this means one of two things:

1. Manny being Manny, it wouldn't surprise me if he really didn't know he was taking a banned substance. Remember, this is the man that left thousands of dollars in checks in his car and locker.

2. If Manny is taking drugs, then everyone in baseball is taking drugs.

I am very hopeful this will be cleared up, but have a feeling this is just another dark chapter in baseball's "Steroid Era" - which despite baseball saying otherwise, is clearly not over.

Question of the Day (Redsox/Yankees Style)

My friend, Tim Walker, asks, which active players, if they were to retire today, would be sure-fire, no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Famers?

Keep in mind that, by Hall rules, a player must be active in the Majors for 10 seasons to be eligible for the Hall. Therefore Albert Pujols, for example, is ineligible.

Discuss...

Big P Friday Quiz

Look what happens when I go away for a few weeks - no posts, no comments... Big Papelbon is on virtual life support. Thankfully, the Red Sox have picked up the pace and won a good percentage of games (85% to be exact) since you all have been on sabbatical. Well, it's time to get back to it.

Three Questions for Friday

1. Who is the last Red Sox player to hit for the cycle and when did he do it? Follow up - who would you put money on to hit the cycle in 2009?

2. When was the Red Sox last 100-win season? Follow up question for the comments is what is the liklihood that the Red Sox will reach 100 wins in 2009?

3. Who won more Cy Young awards as a Red Sox player, Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens? Follow up - should they retire either of these guy's #'s in Fenway Park?

Looking forward to your comments.

What, me worry?

As a former manager once said, "there's a problem in Boston".

Or more specifically, there are several. My sense of optimism at the start of the season (which, let's just get some perspective here, is only eight (8) games ago) has been severely dampened over the course of the last several days. To review some of the lowlights:

• Youkilis is the only one who is consistently hitting the ball.
• Only the Texas Rangers have scored fewer runs in all of baseball.
• Ortiz has yet to collect an extra base hit.
• The shortstop position has been baseball's answer to the Spinal Tap drummer.
• The $100 Million Man from Japan (sporting an ERA of over 12) pulled himself out of last night's game and may go on the DL, apparent collateral damage from Bud Selig's pet project, the World Baseball Classic.
• Beckett has been suspended.
• Lester looks fallible.
• We are 4 games back of The Baltimore Orioles, and have taken up residence in the basement of the American League East.

On and on.

But there is good news as well. The Yankees (the filter through which we tend to view everything as Red Sox fans) have also looked awful (Wang has been a disaster so far, no A-Rod, Baseball Prospectus has suggested that Jeter change his first name to "Past The Diving"). New York has only won two more games than Boston.

I am confident there will be a righting of the ship. It looked like it was going to happen last night after a 3-run first for the Red Sox (a lead that was promptly relinquished by the MVP of the WBC). The team is going to get back on track, and will be in the hunt, but it's not hitting the panic button (a graphic I deliberately chose NOT to use for this post) to say that there are some areas of concern which, if not addressed, could turn into more significant impediments to making it deep into the playoffs.

If I had to pick one, I'm picking the lack of a game-changing bat in the lineup. Ortiz is really concerning me. How worried are you in general, and what's the biggest problem facing the team in your view?

Today's Trivia Question: April10

From Mr. Baseball, Tim Walker of Hoovers:

BigP trivia Q: Name the top five batters in career hits . . . who never got 200 hits in a season.

Opening Day: Beckett Back

Finally we reached Opening Day, something we've all been looking forward to for a long time, particularly with the extended spring training and the debacle that is the WBC. Parties, or as the kids call them "TweetUps" were held throughout Red Sox nation to celebrate the fact that we could once again hear Don and Jerry call a game. Here in Austin we had a decent turn out for our first meeting of the ATX Red Sox Nation, along with our new friend Nick on the bagpipes, but the real story was Josh Beckett, king of the hill.

In HD you can now practically see the ice water running through the man's veins. On a day where the crowd and the players are so pumped up to get started Beckett went out onto the green fields of Fenway and mowed them down. The final line was 7 innings pitched, 93 pitches, 2 hits, 1 earned run and TEN STRIKEOUTS! Ten strikeouts on opening day, on a chilly afternoon. I failed to find any stat on average strikeouts for an Opening Day pitcher, but I'm going to guess this day was on the upper end. You could see the movement on his pitches throughout the game and when he wanted to Beckett seemed to be reeling back for that extra bit of speed. One of the most annoying statements by sports writers is "mid-season form", but you have to admit as you watched Beckett hurl yesterday it seemed like June not April.

The lineup did it's part with Pedroia the Destroia (NOT pictured to your right) showing why he is the MVP and folks manufacturing runs when needed. This is not a lineup that is going to bash 10 runs a game, but it they remain healthy and smart on the basebaths (I'm looking at you Sir Youkillis) they will always be throwing down 4-6 runs a game. Ultimately, like it always does in baseball, it will come down to the pitching. And if we see the likes of Mr. Beckett each fifth day we will be looking good.

Now, let's get to Game 2 and see what Jon Lester has in store for us.

Question of the Opening Day: Take Two

Today's question comes from Natanya Anderson, new baseball fan and inquiring mind.

What do you think of Ortiz? Was last year a slump or the beginning of the end?

Please expand your responses to include your projection for his next three years (the final years in the club's current deal with him). Thanks!

Question (s) of the Day: Opening Day

I thought it would be fun to get you thinking about the game a little early this morning with three quick questions about the game. Let us know how you plan to celebrate Opening Day in your comment.

1. Will the Red Sox hit a home run today and if yes, who will hit the first one?
2. How long will Josh Beckett last and who will come in to relieve him?
3. Will they pull the tarp over the infield at any time during the game and if yes, during what inning?

Play ball!!

Baseball Summer Reading

Looking to get more up to date on baseball? Here are some "must reads" by two big baseball brains...

Tim Walker says, "Possibly the three best books ever written about baseball":

• The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter
• Ball Four, by Jim Bouton
• Moneyball, by Michael Lewis (this is one of my -- Aaron Strout's -- personal faves)

Other excellent reads Tim recommends:

• The Bill James Historical Abstract of Baseball (This is a book to put on the nightstand and graze from.)
• The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams
• Nine Innings, by Daniel Okrent
• Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, by Jules Tygiel (*Outstanding* social history treatment of baseball’s integration.)

And from Kyle Flaherty:

• The Teammates by David Halberstam
• The Long Ball by Tom Adelman
• Past Time: Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel.
  

Will the real Terry Francona please stand up!

About a month ago someone started following me and my fellow Red Sox fans on Twitter. His handle was @TerryFrancona and we wondered if he was the real deal. He sounded real, but it wasn't clear. Then he went on a hiatus for a while (during spring training) and now he's back. He's amassed a pretty good number of followers

Now another Terry Francona has joined as @real_tito and I'm wondering WTF? I understand it's fun to goof around and impersonate someone for a little while, but with public celebrities (and I think Terry qualifies) it seems out of line.

I'm wondering what you think of all this and also who is the real Terry Francona? I don't want to talk with a fraud.

Daily Question for April 2, 2009

When a team loses a player to free agency they get a draft pick, typically in one of the latter rounds, as compensation. Let's look at some recent free agents who left the Sox, you tell me the compensation they drafted:

Departing Free Agent     Compensation


Orlando Cabrera          2 players
Derek Lowe                 2 players
Pedro Martinez            1 player
Johnny Damon             1 player

Daily Question - 4/1 (not an April Fools Joke)

I asked Aaron and Tim Walker this question on Twitter as part of the #twalkwisdom meme and it seemed to be generating a lot of side conversations. Let's pull them all in here and get it out there.

Save Fenway Park or build a new stadium down by the waterfront? Two assumptions... the space is available and can be acquired by the team and in building the stadium they stay true to Fenway Park (field dimensions, The Wall, etc.).

Quick note: Please include how many games you see in Fenway each year and where you sit when you go in your comment... I think it'll offer an interesting perspective on the responses.