Opening day is,
miraculously, less one week away. (Check back here for real-time blogging of
the game, Red Sox at Rangers, starting at 1 pm next Monday.)
In the mean time, to get you psyched up for the coming season, might I recommend the 2006 Red Sox Annual,
published by Hingham’s Maple
Street Press.
Written
in conjunction with the smartass smart guys at Sons of Sam Horn,
it’s an invaluable handbook for the new-look Olde Towne Team.
Sure,
its Bronson
Arroyo coverage already makes it a little out of date (and its Dustan
Mohr and Tony
Graffanino capsules probably mean it will soon be more so). But if you’ve
ever wanted the straight dope on what the Red Sox really think about the sacrifice bunt, or what the precise
correlation is between the club’s financial wherewithal and the team’s performance
on the field, or whether or not Craig
Hansen might consider developing a split-finger pitch, this is the book for
you.
Among
some other highlights:
*
Chad Finn takes a
detailed look at the strengths and weaknesses of the 2006 roster.
*
Aaron Gleeman surveys the rest of
the American League competition.
*
Brandon Magee heads
down on the farm for an up-close look at the Sox’ minor league system.
*
Shaun Kelly composes
a moving memorial to the great Tony Conigliaro.
*
David
Laurila conducts insightful interviews with draftees like Hansen and Jed
Lowrie.
*
Bruce Allen offers an overview
of the sprawling Boston sports media landscape.
Elsewhere,
retired intelligence analyst Jim Bennett does some numbers crunching, using sabermetric
tool of composite rate analysis (CRA) to get at some hard facts about what to expect
from Red Sox pitchers and hitters this season. SoSH board member Steve Mastroyin takes stock of the reign of
our once and future GM, Theo Epstein. And Stephen Vetere and Jim Walsh offer an
intriguing and informative look back on Red Sox elimination games over the last six years.
It’s
Maple Street’s first publication, but won’t be their last. More volumes are due
this summer. That’s a good thing. It costs $9.95. Order a copy here.