Filed under: things | Tags: baseball, bobby v, kevin youkilis, New England, philip humber, red sox, sports, terry francona, theo epstein, tom werner, winning, Yankees
“I’m not satisfied with the job [I've done],” said Valentine. “I don’t need to hear from Ben or ownership or fans or anyone else. I need to do better. In every way.”
Understatement. I know as my experience as a softball player and a coach that a coach does not always determine the outcome of a game. But I also know that a coach (manager) has a lot to do with how a team performs. I am not going to sit here and spew statistics about the Red Sox performance under Tito, or Grady or any other manager and how it compares to their performance under Bobby V. What I will say is this: When a “coach” makes a comment about a specific player’s desire or enthusiasm in the media that is unwarranted, it makes that coach look like an idiot.
Listen, Kevin Youkilis may or may not be playing his best, if he isn’t, then it should be discussed within the walls of the clubhouse, the managers office, Ben’s office — but it should not be discussed with ESPN, WEEI, or NESN. I think it was decent of Dustin to come to Youk’s defense, but maybe it would have been smarter for him to keep his mouth shut to the media. Take care of this business behind closed doors. And then come out on to the field and play some baseball.
I saw the game on Saturday. In it’s entirety, except for the inning (or so) that Fox cut to the White Sox game to show Philip Humber’s perfect game (I think the ump blew the call on the check swing). I was tweeting about how great the game was, how the Sox were back! And then, quiet on the western front. What the hell just happened? I was fielding text messages from my friends that aren’t Sox fans “Don’t be so dramatic, the game isn’t over yet!” Really? Have you spent your entire life being let down by the Sox? Do you know what’s it like for them to win TWO World Series in your life time and then have it all come crashing down? No, I didn’t think so.
One thing that disturbs me about all of this: Terry Francona, John Henry, Larry Luccino, Tom Werner, Theo Epstein and several others, worked very hard over the past decade to push the Red Sox organization in the right direction. During 2004 and 2007 all of that hardwork added up to World Series trophies. Now, without the help of Tito or Theo, the organization might be headed down a path of self destruction. Talent is not the problem; Dustin Pedroia, Josh Beckett, John Lester, Kevin Youkilis, Papi, are all talented. They have all been with the team for a long time, they know how the team works. It seems to be there is one outlier here: Bobby V. Success in the Japanese baseball program does not equal success in American Baseball. Dice-K anyone?
What this all boils down to is something Terry Francona said recently “The Red Sox manager is the most 2nd guessed person in all of New England.” This won’t change for Bobby until he does something right.
-for love of the game.
Filed under: things
Well then. It’s been a while…OK OK, like a really long while. I get it, you’re mad. I’m mad too. Let’s try to move on.
In the time since I have been absent several things have happened:
1. I moved to Kentucky
2. I moved back to Maine
3. I moved to Birmingham
So, my life has been a little…hectic. And honestly, I don’t know how many games I will actually get to see this year. But I am going to try REALLLLLLLY hard to see has many as humanly possible. And of course, I will be trying to blog about it when I can. I am currently spending time reading blogs and sporting news stories about the current state of Red Sox Nation. I am hoping to be caught up before Spring Training…so hopefully I will have some stellar insights soon.
Be patient.
for love of the game.
Filed under: things
So I totally disappeared, sorry ’bout that. And I moved out of Red Sox territory…but I am gonna try my damnedest to keep up with this season…wish me luck!
Filed under: things
a brief hiatus if you will. but i intend to be back for good this time. i need to keep on top of all things bo sox. billy wagner? we shall see what prosperity he brings to bean town. maybe we will see him with an alpaca or two on the commons…
in other news, my twin sisters are about to leave for college…one leaves this weekend, headed to Simmons (in Boston) and the other leaves the following weekend — bound for Suffolk. I am super excited for them and can’t wait for my first visit!!
Josh Beckett has been brilliant lately…Yesterday was (hopefully) a fluke. And Beckett was angry with his performance yesterday…Homerun and all…
“It’s a shame,” said Beckett. “Your team scores you six runs and you can’t hold them to less then that. Pretty horrible.”
…If the Red Sox had won the game, Beckett would have been all too happy to break down the mechanics of his swing. But in defeat, he looked like he swallowed some sour milk when asked about the blast.
“Why would I want to talk about that? All it did was help us lose the game,” Beckett said. “I’d like to talk about the other things I did to help us lose the game.”
Although, I do like what Tito had to say…
“Beckett hits one out and we’re right back in it,” said Francona. “Regardless of how that inning before went, we’re OK. It just didn’t work out very well the rest of the day. The last two hours weren’t as good as the first two.”
i have a special place in my heart for beckett\’s wickedly dry sense of humor and on the heels of his suspension, he does not disappoint:
Here he is talking about Mike Scioscia\’s thoughts that he should have shown more remorse after throwing \”at\” Abreu:
“I don’t really feel like I did anything. It’s unfortunate,” Beckett said. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Am I supposed to go give him a hug? I wasn’t really in a hugging mood right then. I don’t really know what they wanted me to do.
They made their own judgment on it. I had two umpires tell me that I handled it great. One of them publicly said that. The other one told me twice, once when I was coming off the mound and once right afterwards.”
seriously, a hug would have been awesome. Next time Josh, next time.
for love of the game.
so, its finally over. we must say good bye to curt schilling. evidently he announced his retirement on his blog, but thanks to MLB.com sending out a text message announcing it, the 38 Pitches website has crashed. so here is what i can say without reading his official post:
thanks for the years Mr. Schilling. you weren’t always a fan favorite, but you sure kept everyone talking and you kept people on their toes. and thanks to you and your wife shonda for all of the great charity work you have done in new england. hopefully you will keep on with that since you plan to stay in medfield, eh?
once i can log onto his blog i will be back with a more thorough response.
**Okay, so I have read his blog, and I thought it was a good way to say goodbye. I think that Curt has made himself extremely open to fans, and whether you agree with the things he says or does, he has allowed himself and the fans to have open communication, something that I feel has helped curt carve out a place in the hearts of red sox fans every where. I have to repost a part of his message that I think best sums up the curt schilling that I know:
“The game always gave me far more than I ever gave it. All of those things, every single one of those memories is enveloped with fan sights and sounds for me. Without the fans they would still be great memories, but none would be enduring and unforgettable because they infused the energy, rage, passion and ‘feel’ of all of those times. The game was here long before I was, and will be here long after I am gone. The only thing I hope I did was never put in question my love for the game, or my passion to be counted on when it mattered most. I did everything I could to win every time I was handed the ball.”
Not only does this sum up schilling in a nut shell, but this is the way that all players should feel/act. I may not always agree with schilling’s ideas/opinions, but I respect the man for the way he plays the game, the way he carries himself and the message he relays to young players.
Take care Mr. Schilling and don’t be a stranger to baseball.
for love of the game.
can anyone explain to me why its a such a big deal that papelbon expressed his feelings about having manny leave the red sox organization? obviously, he isn’t going to have the nicest things to say — manny caused an incredible disturbance in the red sox club house and now that he is gone, it seems the disturbance has followed him. was calling ramirez cancer a little extreme? yes, probably, but does it make his point, most definitely.
I think one of the best points pap’s made was that it just seemed like such bull that manny was trying to pull. Take these comments from redsox.com: “Yeah, because you know how much he could help your team,” Papelbon said. “You know how much this guy could really help your team, and he’s not. He’s sitting out against No. 1 starters, doing this or that. You ask him what knee hurts and he goes, ‘Oh, I don’t know which one today’s going to hurt.’ Give me a break. And he thinks it’s a big joke. Well, we’re out here trying to win ballgames, not figure out which one of your knees hurt.”
I think with these comments just being published now, it makes it look like papelbon and the red sox are dwelling on the situation, but come on this was from an interview he did in december. back in december the wound was still raw from the let down they had experienced with manny. there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that manny was a key part of the red sox organization for his entire career there, but he was also a thorn in the side of the red sox throughout his career with boston. let’s take spring training for instance…i can remember ONE season where manny showed up on time and in good spirits. he looked healthy and he looked like he actually wanted to be in fort meyers. every year prior he claimed a death in the family, a health crisis, or some other natural disaster that would keep him from attending spring training until nearly part way through. and that pattern continues even now that he has “found happiness” in LA. In my opinion it was part of his plan all along to drag out his contract signing so that he could stay away from spring training for the beginning of the spring. and to top it all off, when he finally signed and managed to drag his ass to ST he was scratched from his first start because of a “tight hamstring”! OH PLEASE! maybe if you had gotten off your ass this winter and done what you are supposed to do to get ready for the season you wouldn’t have to worry about tight hamstrings. I don’t mean to pick on mr. ramirez, but you are getting paid $20 mil this year to play a GAME! get to work in february like everyone else and take it seriously man. but as you and i all know, that’s just manny being manny, man.
maybe papelbon was right, he is cancer to a clubhouse. a big malignant tumor that the doctor’s can’t ever fully remove. good luck LA…you’re going to need it.
for love of the game.
so i just figured out last night that kevin millar was signed as a non-roster invitee to a minor league contract with the BLUE JAYS?! i am so sad/disappointed…he’s great. i have really missed having him in boston and sometimes i wish theo was a little nostalgic for times gone by and would hook millar up with a one year deal in boston…and just as i was getting pysched to see him when i went to baltimore…grrr.
