The Boston Pro Sports Blog

The good news is we are finished with Cleveland for the time being. The bad news is…well, to be honest, there isn’t enough time in a lunch hour to tell you the bad news. I really could go on for a long while about what was bad about last night, because frankly it was all bad. Pitching, defense, hitting. Beckett not only looked human, he just plain sucked. Poor Manny Delcarmen just can’t seem to record outs. Despite some seemingly solid pitching, his ERA is like 786.00, much to the fault of the defense behind him.

However, rather than rant in frustration or sulk in disappointment, I will try to put a positive spin on it. We are still in First. Not that that matters that much but it still makes me feel a little better. Beckett is allowed to suck because he is human and is not going to go undefeated. Only Yankee farm-hands who no one has ever heard of and get brought up midseason have that kind of luck.

I hate getting swept and I hate getting swept in blow-outs even worse. We were outscored 23-4 in two games. I think its best to just leave these ones alone. Let’s move on to Tampa Bay shall we? Perhaps our track record there will prevail and help us erase the last two games. Here’s hoping anyways.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

I am sure by now you have all heard the sad news that ABC Sports Broadcasting legend Keith Jackson has retired. Mr. Jackson was one of the most well known and well liked sports broadcasters in the business and had one of the most distinctive voices as well. He primarily covered college football and was especially known for his catch phrases and unique pronunciation like “…a 6’3” soph-O-more out of Dayton Ohio…aaallllll leather and hampstriiings.”

I once declared that if my life were ever recreated into a sporting event, I would like Keith Jackson to do the play-by-play. Al Michaels might be in consideration as well but probably wouldn’t beat out Johnny Most. Tommy Heinsohn and the Rem-dawg would be the color guys. Mostly because it would be funny to hear Tommy call out everyone who tried to screw me over.

I am sure I am not along in saying that Saturdays just will not be the same without Keith Jackson. It’s like when you were a kid, Saturdays just weren’t the same without Bugs, Garfield, or the Smurfs. I honestly could watch a college football game with two teams whom I care nothing about just to hear Keith announce the game. Hopefully those Gatoraaaaade commercials will keep going so I won’t have complete withdrawal. Also I think ESPN Classic should do a Keith Jackson marathon sometime and show his best games.

Allow me to say, Mr. Keith Jackson, thank you for all your wonderful commentating and nonsensical phraseology that only you could pull off. It truly was a pleasure. And unlike some of your peers like Dick Vitale, you made your name synonymous with a college sports broadcasting without ever annoying the shit out of me or convincing everyone that you were on powerful anti-depressants. Keith Jackson, broadcasting legend and personal favorite.

WOOAAAHH NELLYYYY!!!

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Lord Almighty Josh Bard is struggling to catch Wake’s knuckleball. Four more passed balls last night leading to runs for the Cleveland Indians. It has come to the point where I now feel bad for Timmy. The knuckler is dancing but unfortunately it looks like its partner has two left feet. Its like if Dancing With the Stars paired Shakira with Al Gore. You could see the frustration on Tim’s face last night. It was the most emotion I have seen out of him since 2003. But we won’t talk about that. But seriously I even watched him mouth [expletive] after the runners, who advanced to scoring position from the passed ball, crossed the plate(I am just kidding with me censoring myself. It’s my column, I can say whatever I want. Fuck, shit, bitch). Timmy yelled ‘Goddamnit’ by the way. It wasn’t the knuckleball that gave up most of the runs last night either. Tim tried to sneak a 77mph fastball down the middle of the plate that Jhonny “Someone Fucked Up my Birth Certificate” Peralta took deep in the first inning. That brought the deficit to 3-0 off the bat which would be tough enough to climb out of with the lineup Terry Francona is putting behind Wake. I have seen people on Workman’s Comp and queloods produce more. And the fact that Josh Bard’s catching is uglier than Jocelyne Wildenstein is only making the matter worse.

I don’t mean to pick on Josh Bard so much(no seriously I don’t). It’s just that watching games with him behind the plate increases my blood pressure. Seriously, if I know Wake is pitching that day I use margarine. If Bard wasn’t batting .294 I would say a catching change is needed immediately. But I am going to hold off a little more before I warm up the tar and pluck the chickens.

Beckett goes tonight on ESPN2. Just one start after we realized that he actually is human and will not actually win 30 games like some of us began to think after he went 4-0 with an ERA under 2.00. I am still nervous about DiNardo going on Saturday. I don’t think it’s a good sign when I start getting nervous about a game three days before the game will actually take place. We did option relief pitcher Craig Hansen to AAA Pawtucket. I would imagine we will see him in the Show before the year is out. The Sox brass want to be careful with him and allow him a few innings each game to further develop his pitches. With Papelbon anchoring the ‘pen at closer, it doesn’t seem like there is much rush to bring up Hansen as a closer either. Although you could make the argument that Pap is desperately needed in the rotation. Well, lets not get desperate just yet. Cock. Balls.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

The Bruins and Celtics seasons are over. Unfortunately I can’t say that either was a success. For some reason people continued to root for the Celtics down the stretch despite their atrocious record. Some days it was downright painful to watch. I think because the collective record of the Atlantic Conference is perennially morbid, it allows us to somehow maintain hope that a 33-49 record will make the playoffs and thus be a successful season. Or maybe our Celtic standards have dropped so low that everything has become relative to itself. Meaning that if we sucked real bad last year then this years sucking pretty bad wasn’t all that bad even though it was bad. Get it?

Hopefully this year’s draft will help us out a lot(don’t we say that every year?). Its hard to pinpoint what this team needs. The problem with the Celts is that it doesn’t seem that one player will solve all this team’s problems. We kind of need help in every department. We don’t have a true point guard, we don’t have any solid or experienced post players, and our veteran leadership exists in only two players on the roster. You could also lay some pretty heavy lashings on the coach and Front Office. Yes we can make arguments that our youth has potential, but it seems our distorted green lenses have compelled us to make that argument for the past few years. Its obvious that the Celtics need something(or someone) yet you and I and apparently Danny Ainge have yet to put our finger on what that something actually is. We’d like to think it will come in the form of our 2006 First Round Draft Pick. Although Ainge’s track record of drafting young potential with promise isn’t very comforting. Can we please not draft a high schooler this year. I think it would be pretty embarrassing if Danny Ainge was arrested after we made the playoffs for purchasing alcohol for minors in the form of celebratory champagne. Well here’s hoping another Draft Pick works out. Go Green(sigh).

In other news, the polar opposite franchise(y’know the one that sucked for a long time and recently has been dominant) also has a draft coming up. This one is a lot longer and much more anticlimactic(sounds like a bad porn star). I am saying our top priorities are running back and linebacker. We have a solid O-line, a great young D-line, and our wide receivers are ok as well, despite the loss of David Givens. Of course it is always smart to stack up on Offensive Linemen since it seems they do down faster than a sedated Bill Parcells. It would be great to pick up a young and talented running back that could mentor under Corey Dillon for a year. Same goes with a linebacker. Obviously kicker is a need. Despite us picking up Tebucky Jones in the offseason we will probably need some depth in our secondary as well. Don’t expect Bill and Co. to break the habit of drafting the best football player/athlete available though. With his track record though, I am ok with that. He knows a hell of a lot more than I do. In Bill We Trust.

Schilling goes for his 5th win tonight. He will try to join the likes of Pedro Martinez and Babe Ruth for Sox pitchers to record five wins in April. I hope he does it.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Yesterday’s 6-3 win in Toronto against the Blue Jays saved the Red Sox from being swept in the 3 games series that began Friday. Clement did not dominate in any sense of the word but he did seem to get the job done. The notch in his win column wasn’t quite the same as the ones that have landed in Schilling or Beckett’s record, but a W is a W after all.

Clement pitched good enough yesterday, giving up 7 hits and striking out 4 in 5 1/3 innings. His only real mistake of the game was putting two on and then hanging one to Gregg Zaun in the bottom of the fourth. Regardless of how it looked on paper, though, it was clear that Clement did not have his best stuff, causing Francona to pull him with one down in the fifth. That ended up being completely fine since Keith Foulke came in and pitched the rest of the fifth and sixth innings striking out 3 and not allowing a hit. Mark Loretta and Mike Lowell both added to the 4-3 lead with an RBI each in the eighth and ninth while Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon did their jobs in the bottom of those innings respectively. Clement came away with the win and Papelbon received his 8th save in as many chances, still keeping him atop the Majors in that category.

Sunday’s Final: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 3

Friday and Saturday however, the Red Sox weren’t as lucky. Friday night, the Sox took the game to the twelve inning where a two out Lyle Overbay double scored Troy Glaus to end the game. Beckett pitched well until the eight inning where he gave up two home runs only to have Timlin give one up as soon as he came in. The good news was that Big Papi and Manny went back to back in the third inning, followed by a Jason Varitek home run in the 6th, and then a second Manny homer in the eighth. You would think that 6 runs would be enough with Beckett pitching but that just wasn’t the case. Although Foulke was credited with the loss, it was Seanez who gave up the winning hit, but in fact Beckett who actually blamed himself for the loss. Honestly thought I think this loss was Francona’s just as much as it was anyone else’s. Beckett probably shouldn’t have come out for the eighth and then if he did and put someone on base, it should not have been Timlin who came out to relieve him, since we all know Timlin is not good with runners on base. The bottom line is that the team needs to find a way to win up 6-2 entering the eighth. And with everyone ready to go from the bullpen, there is no excuse why we should have lost that game. Just as the bats let down the pitching, I think the management(and maybe even the pitching) let down the bats tonight.

Friday’s Final Score: Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6

Saturday was possibly the worst game of the year for the BoSox. The line-up itself spelt loss for the Sox. With Lenny DiNardo starting in replace of injured(and almost retired) David Wells, Terry Francona for some inexplicable reason decides not to help him out by starting J.T. Snow, Dustan Mohr, Alex Cora, and Josh Bard in replace of Mike Lowell, Willie Harris(subbing for Crisp), Alex Gonzalez, and Jason Varitek. This certainly was not the most potent line-up the Sox could have fielded, something that probably would have helped considering DiNardo was starting for us and Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was started for them. Forget that Sox batters went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, this game was almost over before it started.

As it turned out, that would pretty much be irrelevant though since the Sox pitching gave up 8 runs before the game was even half over. DiNardo himself gave up 7 runs on 10 hits in the first three innings of the game boosting his ERA to a hefty 7.43. Although newcomer Jermaine Van Buren pitched three innings and only gave up one run, while Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez pitched one shut out inning each, this game was settled before they entered the game.

Saturday’s Final: Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 1

Didn’t it just seem that the Red Sox had the problem of having too much starting pitching? Now it looks like we’re going to play ring-around-the-rosey with a couple of minors before we figure out a more stable solution to our #5 pitcher dilemma. With Wily Mo Pena’s defense seemingly giving up more runs than he’s manufactured, it looks as if our beloved Theo made a big mistake dealing Bronson Arroyo this spring. Now with the Cincinnati Reds, Arroyo is 3-0 with a 3.04 ERA. Oops.

The problem is that this might turn out to be a big oops. Since DL’ed David Wells is on career life support and Papelbon is the indefinite closer, the Sox have slight predicament regarding their fifth starter. DiNardo’s a great guy and always seems to give his best, but he might not have the stuff of a starting pitcher for a team competing for the pennant. Long relief guy every few games? Sure. Temporary starter for a couple of games? Maybe. But fifth starter for 200 innings? Um, I don’t think so. Theo better come up with something besides calling the Reds and saying he had his fingers crossed behind his back, or else this has the potential to be a disaster. Granted it might not make SportsCenter’s worst trades of all time, but as it relates to the 2006 Boston Red Sox, this was a big mistake. Now it looks as if the fate of the Red Sox 2006 pitching rests on the surgically repaired knees of Keith Foulke and David Wells. If Foulke rebounds quick enough, Papelbon might be able to hit the rotation. If we deem it more important that Pap stays at closer, then it essentially comes down to Wells(gulp).

I know there is no use dwelling on the past(albeit impossible in this town), but Theo needs to take a little criticism for this one. Perhaps more than a little. There is not doubt we would be a much better team with Arroyo instead of Pena. Isn’t the saying ‘always trade potential for proven young talent’? Wasn’t that how we justified giving up Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett. Well we didn’t follow that logic. And now we don’t have a fifth starter. And if the Red Sox Front Office is pinning its hopes on David Wells’ 42 year old knees or Roger Clemens’ agents, then we could be in trouble.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Ok so yesterday I talked about pitching and defense, yet I failed to mention one other key component to a winning season: HITTING!!!

Sadly, Tim Wakefield recorded his third loss despite doing his job by pitching 8 great innings allowing 3 runs on only 4 hits last night against the Devil Rays. Timmy has posted a 1.56 ERA in his first four starts yet is 1-3 in those games. I should have asked for some serious run support yesterday. This is oddly reminiscent of the Pedro Martinez peak years when Petey would lose games by scores of 2-1 or 1-0. Last year Wake had the best run support on his way to tacking up 16 wins. Pathetically, the only run support he has gotten this year in his first 4 games pitching is a measly solo homer by Dustan Mohr. Ugh.

Ok so let’s give Scott Kazmir a little credit. He only added to his reputation as being a Red Sox killer last night by pitching 5 and 2/3 innings allowing just 4 hits, 1 run, while fanning 7. I guess this guy just has our number. He improved his record against the Sox to 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA. Although it wasn’t just Kazmir, because the starter left in the 5th due to thumb cramping. Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon joked that “It must have been from too many video games growing up.” I don’t know about video games but it definitely could have been from too much playing with the joy stick.

Entering in relief, though, Travis Harper and Dan Miceli both blanked the Sox, despite the former loading the bases in the ninth. I thought we were going to have a chance with Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek pinch hitting with one out in the bottom of the ninth with the bases juiced. Unfortunately Miceli came in and struck out Trot and induced a fly ball from Tek to give the Sox their 5th loss this season.

Tonight Beckett goes against former Marlins teammate A.J. Burnett. It should be a good pitching matchup but don’t expect many runs. The bullpen’s rested so hopefully we’ll see Papelbon for another save

Man I feel like I was playing Go-Fish and got what I wanted from the pile after denied by my opponents. Guess I get to go again. Hmm. Well tonight I would like a dancing knuckler and no passed balls. How does that sound?

Last night was exactly what the Red Sox were looking for. Schilling pitched 6 full innings allowing only one run while the Sox’ bats exploded for 9 runs including a 7 run third inning. The blowout allowed Manager Terry Francona to rest set-up man Mike Timlin as well as new found closer Jonathan Papelbon, both of whom have been playing well in their extensive playing time. Rudy Seanez pitched a shut-out 7th inning allowing only one hit and fanning two. Julian Tavarez then struck out two as well in the eighth, allowing Keith Foulke to see some 9th inning work for the first time since the very beginning of the season.

The Red Sox’ bats have been solid, but it truly has been our pitching that has propelled us to out best start since 2003, supporting the old come new adage that pitching and defense win championships. So far we have had a superb, almost dominant, showing in both categories. For the most part, our starters have given us 6 or 7 strong innings each outing, including Schilling and Beckett who have both been lights out and ace material. This has led to Timlin doing his job in the eighth(provided no one is on base) and Papelbon living up to his hype by becoming a not only reliable, but overpowering closer.

The defense behind each pitcher has done its share as well. Before Coco was injured he showed flashes of a brilliant centerfielder of the future. Filling in, Adam Stern has also made some exceptional plays, robbing opposing batters of hits and saving some to boot. With the exception of Wily Mo Pena, the outfield has shown it can play some solid, if not flamboyant, D.

The infield has lived up to the off-season hype as well. Gonzalez has been exceptional, Lowell and Loretta have been stellar, and Youklis has surprised a lot of people by proving that not only can he play first base, but he can play it well. In only fifteen games, we have been able to see what a difference good defense makes. With the defense we have this year, in our 162 games season, it has the potential to make the difference.

With 147 games left in the season, all fans do needed to be reminded not to get ahead of ourselves though. As difficult as that may be to do when you have the best record in the majors so far. Like AA has taught us, lets just take it one day at a time. I hope this day will bring Wake to .500 and another notch in the W category.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Kevin Youklis drove in the winning run in the eighth, Papelbon recorded his seventh save, and Adam Stern made a tremendous catch to end the game and prevent any runs scoring in the ninth.

Jonathan Papelbon closed his seventh game in seven opportunities and preserved his 0.00 ERA officially bringing him to sick-nasty status. He gave up only his third hit of the year although he did walk two to load the bases with two outs in the ninth. Stern then made a great diving play on a dying quail that would have scored at least two if he hadn’t caught it.

With last night’s 7-4 win the Sox keep plugging along on top of the AL East. Clement pitched 7 strong innings allowing only three runs. In the postgame interview he stated that it was the best he’s thrown in a long time. Timlin entered in the eighth inning and allowed an inherited run to score, something that has seemed to been Timlin’s Achilles heal dating back to last season. I love Timlin to death but coming in with runners on base is a big no-no with him. Also I can’t stand his haircut. With his hat on he looks like one of the most clean-cut players on the team. I have often wondered what razors he uses because it doesn’t even look like he has a five o’clock shadow and by the time he enters the game its usually almost ten. In the offseason I caught clips of Timlin in his regular clothes, often times hunting with fellow Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. Timlin would be sporting a camouflage shirt with his grunge-like parted blonde hair. I was really hoping for some kind of short military cut or something. Instead he has the haircut of some misguided adolescent who spends his time in his parents basement playing Magic cards and picking pepperoni pizza out of his head-gear.

Timlin picked up the win though as Kevin Youklis doubled in Trot Nixon and Adam Stern for two runs to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Pap came in for the ninth and the Sox recorded their tenth win this season. Let’s hope tonight is a blow-out because Terry Francona said Papelbon was gonna get the night off. I usually hope every game is a blow-out but there is something fun about watching your nasty closer come in to preserve a short lead. You definitely get your nine innings worth. For tonight though, a nice fat laugher would be pre-tty nice. I’d love to see Schill start 4-0 as well. GO SOX!

Announced today were the contract extensions of two highly important and fan-favorite players in Boston professional sports. The Red Sox Front Office announced the contract extension of center fielder and leadoff hitter Coco Crisp. Crisp, acquired in a trade with Cleveland in the offseason, would have been eligible for arbitration at the end to each season, has been signed for a three year extension worth about $17.5 million. This locks him up with the Red Sox until 2009, joining David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, and up and coming closer Craig Hansen as a core group of Red Sox players signed through 2008 or beyond. Crisp has quickly become a favorite with the fans and has even inspired a new Finagle-A-Bagle flavor.

The New England Patriots also announced today the signing of Pro-Bowl Defensive Lineman Richard Seymour for a four year deal worth about $30 million. Although somewhat pricey, most people would admit Seymour has been an integral factor in our SuperBowl runs, a superb team leader, and the anchor of our defense. This makes him well worth the price, particularly if he continues to do exactly what he has done the past five years.

Ok so it really comes down to whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you are a grizzled old Red Sox fan who sits at home watching the game constantly mumbling incoherent groans interuppted by intermittent curses and sips of your Budweiser, regardless of the score. Or perhaps you have red curly hair and are considered a “talented writer” and have written many books about the Red Sox. In either event, despite the Sox 6-2 start for this season, you probably have found a few things to groan about.

Let’s begin with Wells, who, after publicly stating he did not want to pitch in Boston, demanded a trade throughout the entire offseason, then rescinded his request when re realized he might not get paid, let up 7 earned runs in only 78 pitches and 5 innings of work in his 2006 debut. Boomer left the field to a plethora of boos and made many Sox fans wonder why we traded Arroyo instead of him. Just a few weeks ago it looked as if we had more starting pitching than we could use. Now with Papelbon taking over for the arthritic Foulke and Arroyo hitting homers for the Reds, we might need to bring up one of the kid prospects too early, which will of course destroy their fragile little baseball psyches when they’re clobbered for the first time in the bigs.

In the injury category, Trot Nixon is out for at least a few days which will of course turn into a few months at some point, while one of our better offseason acquisitions in Coco Crisp has hit the Disabled List alongside relief pitcher David Riske. This leaves Manny Ramirez, our $20 million clown show who is currently hitting .214, as our only starting outfielder left. Dustan Mohr, who was almost cut at Spring Training, and Wily Mo Pena, who turned a routine out into home-run two games ago, take over as starters. Oh but there is some good news, Julian Tavarez has just finished serving his suspension for bitch-slapping Joey Gathright. Unfortunately Tavarez is not showing any signs that he is any less crazy or that this situation will not happen again.

Kevin Youklis, the supposed “Greek God of Walks”, is looking more like Strike-Outicus, the Greek God of swinging and missing. Alex Gonzalez, meanwhile, has been an easier out than most National League pitchers. He makes me want to TiVo the game and watch it 20 minutes after the first pitch just so I can fast forward through his at-bats. C’mon, I bet even Jim Abbot could hit it past the pitcher if he batted. This team has no hope whatsoever and will be doomed to a third place finish in the American League East and will be parking their “2nd highest payroll in the majors” keisters on the couch come October.

If any of this sounded familiar you might be looking at the glass half-empty. Or more likely you know someone who is and have heard some of these complaints from them. Its pretty much guarenteed that every Red Sox fan has a relative, friend, or neighbor who might share these downbeat sentiments regarding our favorite baseball team. Its like having an uncle that shows up smelling of scotch at family gatherings or a neighbor that somehow ‘lost’ your favorite gardening tool. We all have one and they’re not going away. It’s ok though, because hopefully most of us are looking at the glass half-full. In which case we are probably excited that…

The Red Sox are off to a very solid start, at 6-2 and atop the American League East. Big Papi has already begun to make a case for MVP batting .379, while Mike Lowell has been an unexpected, but very welcomed surprise. Youklis is showing that he can play first base at the major league level and while his bat has been quiet, he will surely live up to his acclaimed On Base Percentage once he returns to his more appropriate spot at the bottom of the order. Manny has started out slow but everyone knows that Manny will be Manny so there are few concerns at just 8 games into the season. Varitek is at a steady .286 and is doing a great job helping everyone, particularly the new pitchers, get acclimated to the many intricacies of a typical Red Sox season.

Although Trot and Coco are both out, neither injury seems serious and both should be back relatively soon. In the meantime, this actually gives us a chance to see what slugging prospect Wily Mo Pena has, as well as the hero of the Canadian National team, Adam Stern. Aside from two bad games by Wakefield and Wells our pitching looks solid. Both Schilling and Beckett have made their cases to be the staff ace while Clement looks like he can take the mound again without seeing dead people. Papelbon has shown why he has been so highly touted, and putting him at closer will allow Foulke to ease back into the spot after knee surgeries. All things considered, things be good in the Red Sox Nation.

Although its very early, the start of the Sox’ 2006 season looks promising. And if your anything like me, you are raising your half-full glass to the thought of a very enjoyable summer as a Sox fan.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com