November

11/20/07 

Little Big Man-

It has just been announced that Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedrioa played throgh the world series with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. The injuty occured at the beginning of August. Pedrioa didn’t know until September 10 when he went to a checkup with the docter. A MRI revealed the hamate. He played 30 games without saying a word to the press. 14 of those were in the playoffs. No one but the trainers knew about his injury.  

“Some days, I would wake up, and it would be hard to grip a bat,” Pedroia revealed to The Herald. “I changed my grip a little bit on the bat and went from there. It was just one of those things, you know, you have to take care of after the season, but you have to play through [it]. A lot of guys have done that.”

The Red Sox are no strangers to this injury. Willy Mo Pena missed two months in 2006 with the same injury. It shows that Pedrioa really is the lottle tough guy if a guy with the strenght of Mo Pena could not play through it. But, Pedroia said, “You definitely don’t want to shut it down and have surgery during the whole thing. We just had to find a way to fight through it.”

When an injury like that happens the only way to cure it is to remove the bone. Eric Hinske and David Ortiz both had it removed early in thier carrers. The bone was so stressed that when removed from pedrioa two days ago, it crumbled inot a thousand peices.

 11/9/07 

 The offer is set-

The Red Sox have just laid down an offer for the reigning World Series MVP  Mike Lowell.  While the details are not clear, the Boston Herald and WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche are reporting that the World Series MVP has been offered a three-year contract worth $35-$45 million.  ”We’ve been talking to Theo every day and we remain hopeful,” Lowell’s agent Sam Levinson told the Boston Herald, which quoted a source as saying the offer was “really strong.” The Red Sox are the only team that can negotiate with Lowell through midnight on Monday, and then other teams may join in the bidding if the third baseman decides not to accept the offer.

11/9/07

Papi wins the slugger again.

The Red Sox starting designated hitter David Ortiz has just won his 4th straight Silver Slugger award. He was nagged through injuries all season but still pulled out his best season with 52 doubles for the big guy. Second most in all the major leagues. There were stretches when Ortiz couldn’t swing without hearing an audible “pop” in his left shoulder, or sensing a mechanical hitch. And yet he finished with a .332 batting average, easily the best of his career. There were moments when Boston’s Big Papi, lacking propulsion in his tired legs and power stroke, felt more like “Ichiro [Suzuki],” as he joked to reporters in May. Four months later, he owned a very un-Ichiro-like 1.066 on-base plus slugging percentage, one-thousandth of a point behind American League leader Alex Rodriguez.

Ortix comments that “I would say, personally, this is one of my best offensive years here in Boston, all the way around,” said Ortiz, who finished with a career-high and AL-best on-base percentage of .445, along with 35 homers and 117 RBIs. “I think [if] you look at my numbers this year … I put it together more than some of the other seasons when people think I had a good season.”

Before Ortiz did it last year, no DH in the 27-year history of the Silver Slugger had won the award even three times in a row. Ortiz’s four awards now tie him with Paul Molitor (1987-88, 1993, 1996) and Edgar Martinez (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003) for the most at DH all-time (Martinez also won the award at third base in 1992).

 Ichiro Suzuki joins Ortiz on the 2007 Silver Slugger roster as a repeat performer. Fellow AL Silver Slugger winners Jorge Posada, Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Magglio Ordonez and Vladimir Guerrero are repeat honorees, with only Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena and Detroit’s Placido Polanco winning for the first time in the AL.

11/7/07 

Epstein kept busy-

The annual General Manger meetings are under way in florida and Theo Epstein is not exactly on vacation in the sunny state. Instead Theo is busy panning out the Hot Stove. On the top of Theo’s list is 2007 World Series MVP Mike Lowell. It can be said however that Boston has a much better future in the 2008 team then they did with the 2005 team. There are some less glamorous moves the Red Sox will huddle over in the coming days. Will backup catcher Doug Mirabelli be back to handle Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball again, or will the Sox go in another direction? Will venerable reliever Mike Timlin re-sign with the Red Sox, as he seems to do every winter? Now that Jacoby Ellsbury seems primed to be the center fielder of the immediate and long-range future, where does that leave Coco Crisp? Theo Epstein commented on the whole picture.

“The goal is to build something that can be sustained — to not just have success, but have sustained success over a long period of time,” Epstein said. “It’s hard to do because you have to win at the Major League level while also cultivating a future through the Minor League system. That’s our toughest challenge year in and year out. Hopefully, this year is a step in the right direction. I think we’re situated to maybe take advantage of this young core and continue with that endeavor.”

11/6/07 

Schilling is put away-

Today the Red Sox and Curt Schilling agreed on a 1 year 8 million dollar deal. Schilling had the seond lowest ERA in the Red Sox pitching staff. A 5 year vet. on the Red Sox who was aquired in November 2003 by the Red Sox and has been a part of two World Championships with the Red Sox. There are also bonuses based on how much he weighs in 6 different Weigh Ins that could add on 2 million, and 3 million based on how many innings he pitched, and another 1 million based on if he gets a Cy Young vote. Overall Curt could get 14 million dollars this season. 

11/6/07

Perfection is Golden-

1B Kevin Youkilis has won his first ever Rawlings Gold Glove. Kevin Youkilis strung together 135 errorless games and 1,094 errorless innings while playing, perhaps, the American League’s most aggressive first base in 2007. But he could only watch and wait like everyone else when the annual voters — the AL managers and coaches — fielded his candidacy for a Rawlings Gold Glove.

The funny thing is that Kevin Youkilis grew up not even playing 1B. He played 212 minor league games at 3B, not 1B. In only his second year after the switch, Youkilis seems so proud of it. ”It’s definitely quite an accomplishment, just winning a Gold Glove,” said Youkilis. “Coming up as a third baseman and trying to work so hard to make it as a third baseman and trying to improve on my defense there, and to step in and play first base last year … And now, this year, to have a great year there and win a Gold Glove, means so much to me.”

He becomes the 15th Red Sock to win the Award and only the 2nd at 1B besides George Scott. He becomes the first player since Jason Varitek in 2005. Coco Crisp and Dustin Pedrioa were also good candidates for the award but were denied. Before Youk’ only Steve Garvey had even qaulifeid for the award with a 1.000 fld % at 1B. Youkilis is also the only one to win. Still only Garvey seems to compare to Youkilis’ perfomance. Steve holds the record for most errorless games in a row with 193. Youkilis has 190. He destroyed the American League record of 173 games and completly shattered the Red Sox team record 0f 120.

Youkilis has now set up a streak of 1,586 errorless chances destroyed the Red Sox record set by Stuffy McInnis. Stuffy carried that streak to Cinncinatti. Stuffy holds the world record for errorless chances with 1,700 chances. Terry Francona states the difference between Youk’ and Stuffy is that Youk will still throw to any base when he thinks he has a chance of getting an out and he dosen’t worry about errors and records, he just tries to win.   

Fellow first-time winners in the AL include Minnesota pitcher Johan Santana, Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco, Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre and Cleveland center fielder Grady Sizemore. Rounding out the list are annual favorites Ivan Rodriguez of Detroit, Orlando Cabrera of Los Angeles, Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle and Torii Hunter of Minnesota.

 5/07-

Schilling appears as good as here.

Talks broke out between Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox on Curt returning for 1 more year in the major leagues. The Red Sox stated that they would go no higher than 13 million dollars but Schilling seems content with that number. The bad news is that the Astros, Phillies, and Diamondbacks were also interested. Curts wife Shonda Schilling expressed that she wanted to stay in Boston for the Family’s sake. 

“I have had a combination of [emotions], knowing that the end is coming, knowing that my kids are old enough to understand and we’ve certainly talked about this,” she said. “The kids are old enough, and we’ve moved them all their lives, and the possibility of moving them is hard because they’re at an age where they’ve settled into an age group where they’ve made friends, but on the other hand, we know it’s one year.”

 3/07- If he leaves, he ain’t gone

Curt and Shonda Schilling promise that even if Curt has thrown his last pitch in Boston, the two supporters of the ALS foundation, which is headed in Boston, promise that they will continue their fundraising efforts in Boston if they do leave. “Because I think it would send the absolute opposite message of the one we’re trying to send,” the pitcher said to a crowd that included many of the ALS patients his work has helped. (ALS is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.) “If we were only involved in this because we’re here, I don’t think it would send the personal message we’ve always tried to send, which is that we care about these people. These people are growing up with our friends and around our kids and in our communities, and Shonda and I have had the incredible gift to make a difference.” The Schillings have helped raise $2.5 million for research and patient and family services for the local and regional chapters of the ALS association since the right-hander signed with the Red Sox prior to the 2004 season. On Saturday the couple hosted a private reception to thank the members of the 2007 Curt’s Pitch for ALS who donated to The ALS Association’s New England Chapters, many of them patients. Shonda was a skin cancer survivor and just as enthiusiastic as Curt was, ”I have had a combination of [emotions at leaving the Red Sox], knowing that the end is coming, knowing that my kids are old enough to understand, and we’ve certainly talked about this,” she said. “The kids are old enough, and we’ve moved them all their lives, and the possibility of moving them is hard, because they’re at an age where they’ve settled into an age group where they’ve made friends but on the other hand, we know it’s one year.” Often tagged as the emotianal leader of the Boston Red Sox, it is obvious that he loves the city and if he has to leave, he really won’t.  

3/07- Manny+Leno= Good TV

The best 1-2 punch in baseball hit late night television last night. Manny Ramirez made an apearance on Tonight show with Jay Leno and Big Papi was on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Ramirez was a co-apearer with Steve Carrell. Manny and Leno talked about the World Series,  For me, when you win a World Series, that means a lot of pride and a lot of happiness,” Ramirez said. “And I think Boston now is one of the best cities ever. We won, [Boston College's football team] is doing great, the Patriots are winning and the Celtics have a great team.” “The new management did an awesome job,” Manny explained. “We got Papi, we got [Josh] Beckett, who did a great job out there. And you know me, Manny being Manny, that’s what it is,” and later said “Now Boston is like a dynasty, like the Yankees were before.” Then he broke the Manny Being Manny down to dynamics “Manny Being Manny means that I’m myself,” he said. “I don’t try to be a person that I’m not. That’s not myself. That’s what my dad and my mom taught me. Just be yourself.” That’s certainly what Ortiz did on “Late Night.” He had a tough assignment, coming on right after a rare appearance by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, but he held his own with the glowing personality that has endeared him to baseball fans. “O’Brien asked Ortiz where he got the nickname “Big Papi,” and Ortiz answered by saying, “I’m bad with names. I can’t remember nobody’s name. I used to call everybody ‘Papi,’ and that’s where ‘Big Papi’ came from.” The whole night ended with Papi pleading to management to keep mike Lowell.  ”I don’t think we could have done it without him,” Ortiz said, before turning to the camera, and, with perfect timing, saying, “Theo, do it.”

2/07- Farrell not going anywhere

When rumors emerged about Red Sox Pitching Coach John Farrell in various managing jobs, Terry Francona seemed happy for his old friend, but also expressed it was a two-sided blade. “I don’t know how…. We’d replace him,” he said at a press confrence when they emerged. He then turned down the offer to meet with the Pittsburgh Pirates and officially announced yesterday he was here to stay for the 2008 season. “While I do have aspirations to manage in the Major Leagues in the future, my commitment to [owner] John [Henry], [chairman] Tom [Werner], [president/CEO] Larry [Lucchino], [general manager] Theo [Epstein], Tito [Francona] and the Red Sox needs to be greater than one year for their faith in hiring me as their pitching coach,” said Farrell. “Therefore, I have declined the opportunity to interview for the position of Pittsburgh Pirates manager. I look forward to contributing to and competing for another World Series title here,” he said at his most recent press meeting. The Red Sox staff posted a 3.87 ERA, the second best in the majors. Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Tim Wakefield all expressed thier love of thier pitching coach over the course of the season. And Terry Francona said during the All Star Break “He’s a star.”

Francona the best the Sox have ever had?

Not only has he one two world series in four years (a feat no Red Sox manager After  1920 has accomplished) he is the only living Red Sox Manager with one. But you didn’t hear it from Tito. He couldn’t care less. I don’t think I woke up this morning and ran to see how I was being perceived,” Francona said earlier this week. “That’s not important to me. What’s important to me is to do our job correctly. When you do things like that, the other things take care of themselves. I don’t think there’s any room in this job for my ego to show through. It doesn’t work that way.” He also is the only manager EVER to win his first 8 World Series games. But the way of the broomstick wasn’t the way for him in ALCS play. Coming back from 3-0 and 3-1 deficits in both years the epic comeback seems pereniall. Only Bill Carrigan has had two under his belt in a Red Sox comeback. Curt Schilling seems to know him best. He grew up as a player in Philadelphia under Francona while Francona was growing as a manager. Even then he loved his skill. When the young genius Theo Epstien signed him Red Sox Nation felt like this would be another man to diminish their hopes and kill thier dreams. They were wrong.

Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez coming back

Veteran Righthanders Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez contracts have been repurchased. Each had an option to leave at the end of this season. Neither wanted to. At a press conference after the World Series Wakefield hinted at the fact he was coming back by commenting on his injury. “I don’t think it’s fair to the 24 guys that are in the clubhouse,” Wakefield said. “And I don’t think it’s fair to the organization, and I don’t think it’s fair to me, lastly, that I go out there and injure myself, and I’m not available for next year or the year after that.” Soon after the now 13 year veteran in Boston signed, Tavarez took his option for the 2008 season as well. Both are one year contracts and Wakefields is for 4 million $. Also Kevin Cash declined his option and decided to become a free agent. In addition Theo Epstien announced to the press that the player that the Red Sox traded Joel Pinerio for is Minor Leaguer Sean Danielson. He’s 25 and hit .296 with 4 HR, 36 RBI’s, and 19 stolen bases in split time between AA and A. Lastly, seemingly the only person besides Kevin Cash that can catch Tim’s knuckleball, Doug Mirabelli took to the free agent market.