When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Imagine the conversation.

Bill: Richard, can you please step into my office?
Richard: Sure, coach. What's up?
Bill: Have a seat. We've traded you to Oakland.
Richard: Whaa....
Bill: You've done a bang up job here with the Patriots, don't get me wrong. But the opportunity came up to fleece them again and I couldn't resist.
Richard: Wait. Please. Hold on a minute. Let's not do anything rash.
Bill: They gave us an unconditional first round pick in 2011. Thanks for the hard work but you need to go pack your things. Tom Cable should be giving you a call.
Richard: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Talk about a worst possible landing spot for a good guy - at least a year in the 9th circle of Hell, given it's the last year of his contract (due $3.7 million, by the way). Of course, lots of upside opportunity (read: no place to go but up) there but Oakland is sure to win at most 7 games? 6? ...giving the Patriots a high pick. I think Belichick has stones the size of... a football field. A quote from Belichick on day two of Seymour not yet reporting to Raiders' camp:

"There's a lot of things that Richard did well," Belichick said in his first remarks since Sunday's written statement announcing the trade for Oakland's first-round draft pick in 2011, "but that's the way it is and we're moving forward and our team's moving forward."

Wow. A smart move, in my opinion, on a big name before the last year of a big contract. Short term it hurts the Patriots, but I really like this move long term. I think very few coaches would make a move like this, yet Belichick has made these moves an art form. What say you?

photo credit: pkeleher via flickr

We Can't Let Today Go By...

...without talking about the namesake of this blog and what he did last night!

Last night, Papelbon earned his first six-out save of the season in Boston’s 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, extricating the Sox from a bases-loaded quandary in the eighth inning and then slamming the door in a dominating ninth. He struck out three, pumping fastballs for strikes and never straying from his standard operation.

WOW!

Paps is having an unreal season, even when seemingly taking the "bend, don't break" approach to closing games. But watching last night you saw why the guy has never given up an ER in the playoffs (and let me tell you, Francona is treating this like a playoff series). Baseball is a beautiful game, especially when the majority of the cogs seemingly come together at the same time.

6.5 games back with 31 to play, 3 of them at home against the Yanks. Take a look at the schedule:

• 13 of the Sox games are against Cleveland, Kansas City and Baltimore;
• 15 of the Sox games are at home;
  
• The Yanks still have a West Coast trip to play LAA and SEA, with a day off on September 24th in Boston;
• Boston has days off on the 10th and 14th, so they will play NYY in their 11th straight game without an off day, but having been at home;
  

By September 25 is it conceivable that the lead is down to about 4 games? Yes. Sweep it up at the Fens and suddenly you are watching a mad dash to the AL East crown.

Which Do You Choose?

Assume, if you will, that the Red Sox sweep the Sox of White during this series.

Do you root for the Rangers to sweep the Yankees and lessen our deficit in the East or for the Yankees to sweep the Rangers and increase our Wild Card lead?

Your answer will tell us all about what type of person you truly are...just kidding, I already know all about you.

So what is your answer?

David Ortiz...What to say?

I'm not surprised, none of us should be, we all knew in our hearts that this was most likely true.

But I do have some questions:

• Why come so strongly out against steroids when you knew you had tested positive?
• Is Ortiz' entire career, and in effect his story, a lie?
• Does 2004 and 2007 just come down the fact that the Red Sox simply had the better chemists, not the better team?
• Does this change the way you feel about Ortiz?

I'm shuffling through all of my thoughts, but ultimately I'm more disappointed because he lied so vehemently. Ortiz took such a strong stance against the steroid users in order to prove to us that he was not only a better player, but a better person, than those caught. Ultimately though, he is just one of many who tried to get a leg up through a needle, he's no longer special.

Today, he's just David Ortiz and no longer Big Papi.

Winning = More Facial Hair

Let's face it folks (pun intended), the Red Sox don't have enough facial hair to win right now. It is scientific fact:

Sports + Facial Hair = Win

Furthermore...

Sports + Retro Facial Hair = More Winning

Year after year in the NHL who wins Lord Stanley's Cup? That's right, the best playoff beard, how else can one come to grips with the Ducks winning the trophy? (Image Courtesy of SunTimes.com)

Don't believe me? OK, let's look at the NBA. The only year Lebron has made the finals what did he grow...that's right, the infamous neck beard (Image Courtesy of FanIQ.com):


Let's get to baseball and all I need to tell you is that watching the Cardinals/Dodgers game last night I saw something remarkable, well two things. First is that Julio Lugo is something like 12-18 since being traded to the Cards...I mean, that is just staggering.

Asked why the sudden turn around Lugo pointed across the locker room and said simply, "Rick Ankiel's Mustache" and thusly I saw remarkable item number two. (Image Courtesy of MLB.com...oh, and Lugo didn't actually say the above quote, but he should.)


The Cardinals just swept the best team in baseball, including a walk-off 15 inning win last night. Do you need anymore evidence that the Red Sox need to go Johnny Damon/Kevin Millar and throw out all the razors in the clubhouse?

And please note that the facial hair corollary also works in reverse when said facial hair has been on said face for too long and a slump ensues:

Red Sox are Simply Not Contenders

On a night when Jim Rice was honored for his greatness and hard work, the Sox simply fell apart in spectacular fashion. Our short term memories may not let us remember, but there is much blame to be thrown around for this loss and it all comes out of the bullpen. Ramirez, Okajima and Pabelbon could not get through innings unscathed. Surely Pabelbon's 9th seems to ring as the worse, but Ramirez and Okajima have blame on their hands by even making it a close game. And Nick Green, don't think I've forgotten about your 0-4 and 2 error performance.

Ultimately it is never one player's fault, baseball has a knack of equaling itself out over 9 innings and certainly over six months. The fact is that this team has a lot of great parts, but is simply not a good machine working together. This, I think, has been apparent from the beginning when we referred to them as "boring" or "workman like". At the time, because they were feasting on bad, beat up and not settled teams it all seemed find and dandy.

It's nearly August and we have a very good team in Boston, but it's not a team that can contend for a World Series. Period.

Injuries are hitting the pitching staff hard. Some of the elder players are worn down (no surprise). Jason Bay left his bat in the first half. And it seems as if nobody wants to step up and become the team clown to help loosen this clubhouse up a bit, which is a critical ingredient they lost with Kotsay leaving. A few more losses like last night and we may see another Boston Massacre like in '06.

Is a Halladay trade the answer? I'm on the record as wanting to be rid of Bucholz from the beginning of the season, I think he has a bright future ahead of him, but that is all upside. You know what you get with Halladay. Either way, if the Sox want to win a World Series in '09, they have to do something dramatic before close of MLB business on Friday.

Agree? Disagree?

AL Stars P0wn NL's Best... Again!

Growing up, I remember watching nearly every MLB All Star game and if my recollection serves me properly, the games weren't scheduled to fit Fox or ABC's "Prime Time" schedule so I was able to stay up for the entire thing. Back then, I had my heart broken nearly every year because as a fan of the Red Sox, I was an "AL" guy. Yup, you know what I'm talking about. Between 1950-1987 (I was born in 1968), the NL won 33 of 42 times with one tie. That's A LOT of dominating.

Now it seems like the AL is equally dominating having not lost since 1996. And the good news is that the game now means something since it determines home field advantage for the Fall Classic. That didn't help the Rays last year but certainly helped the Red Sox in 2007 and 2004. If the Sox can hold on and have a shot at the World Series this year, it's a HUGE advantage to them to be able to play games one and two in Fenway.

So what's the deal withe recent AL domination? Is the AL really that much better than the NL? Does good hitting actually trump good pitching and defense? Inquiring minds want to know!

So Assuming We Don't Empty the Farm for Halladay...

A big THANK YOU to friend, Derek Peplau, for stepping up and asking the question, "How Badly Do You Want [Doc Halladay]." We were definitely on the verge of tumbleweeds blowing through Big Papelbon so we needed the injection of fresh content.

In the comments, Kyle Flaherty teed up the idea of the Red Sox needing a bat. Several of us agreed -- especially with Youkilis in a nasty slump (2 for 26), Lowell on the DL and Papi just starting to emerge from this spring/early summer's hibernation -- but who to go after?

While we'd all love to make a play for Pujols, he's most likely even more out of reach than Doc Halladay. Speaking of Halladays... how about Matt Holliday who has dropped off the planet for the A's. I'm guessing that a change of atmosphere could do him good and he could be had for a solid AA pitching prospect and maybe Kotsay.

What do my fellow GM-wannabe's think?

How Badly Do You Want Him?

Reports indicate that J.P. Riccardi and the Blue Jays are shopping one of the premiere pitchers in the game, Roy Halladay.

A Beckett, Lester, Hallady rotation would surely make the denizens of Yawkey Way the prohibitive favorites to win the World Series. It almost seems unfair to the rest of the league.

It's still early days as the news broke only yesterday, but here's the question for the BigP cognoscenti:

What would you be willing to give up (and, by extension, what do you think it will take) to get such a premiere hurler in the prime of his career and bolster a pitching staff which is already one of the best in the major leagues?

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.