Sox Blog took the day off from work yesterday and headed over to Fenway Park. (It's, uh, in the job description.) It was a soupy, sweaty day with nary a breeze to be felt, but duty called. And whadya know, we got a win.

Tim Wakefield -- who faced Aaron Boone (0 for 3) for the first time since this happened -- went seven decent innings, allowing two runs (both homers).

Luckily, his personal catcher had a homer of his own in the sixth. (Dougie truly is a Stud Who Hits Bombs.) Mark Bellhorn got into the action as well, lining a shot into the right field stands in the next at-bat.

John Olerud got the start at first, and proved his worth, notching an RBI single in the fourth inning. (He drove home Trot Nixon, who had two ringing doubles on the afternoon.)

In case you hadn't noticed, by the way, our bench is awesome: Mirabelli, Olerud, Kevin Youkilis, Jay Payton ... all can be counted on to come up big in game-changing situations.

Keith Foulke, on the other hand.... Well, the less said about him the better. After all, what do I know? I'm just "Johnny from Burger King."

(At least Pedro has some advice about that change-up of his.)

So, after Matt Mantei threw six straight balls then settled down for a scoreless eighth, Mike Timlin came in as "closer" yesterday and recorded his first save in more than a year. Don't read anything into it, however; Keith is staying put. God help us.

6/30/2005 12:45:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I'll miss interleague play. For a team that's historically had rough going with this ill-conceived gimmick, finishing 12-6 against teams from the NL is about as good as we can ask for.

In fact, even if we shouldn't get carried away (like Dan Shaughnessy is), there's a lot happening these days that seems about as good as we can ask for. We've got a seven game win streak going -- 12 of the last 13 -- and have just swept a road series for the first time since the Carter Administration. Manny Ramirez is pounding the proverbial stuffing out of the ball, and now trails only the great Lou Gehrig on the all-time grand slam list (tied with Eddie Murray). And we started the weekend trailing the Orioles, but now lead them by two and a half games. (Let's put some more distance between us; if it means rooting for the Yankees through gritted teeth for the next three games, so be it.)

Terry Francona sure knew how to shut up those troglodyte Phillies fans. When he wasn't talking smack about Geno's Steaks -- "it's horrible" -- his team was outscoring their team 26 to 8. Good thing he's moving to Boston soon.

Friday's was a helluva win. Wake was strong, going eight deep without allowing a run. His batterymate, Dougie "Stud Who Hits Bombs" Mirabelli wasn't too shabby neither. Nor was Manny, with the bat, or the glove. Not to be left out of the fun, David Ortiz went way, way, way deep, too.

Saturday, Matt Clement kept it going. (Would you expect any less?) He may not technically be an All-Star yet, but until this guy returns, he is the undisputed ace of this staff. But you knew that already. Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon, and Billy Mueller each doubled (Nixon and Mueller twice each). And Big Papi showed up Buck and McCarver's idiotic "twinkle toes" comments by being more than serviceable at first.

And Sunday was a fine way to wrap it all up. David Wells's outing was barely mediocre, but he did help his own cause with a hit and an RBI. (Watching his blubber run the bases is high comedy indeed, even if the supposedly mild reaggravation of his foot injury is not.) Also, he knows just the right things to say about his former team. "I don't know and I don't care," the Sox pitcher said [of the Yankees' travails]. ''I'm glad I'm where I'm at. That's their problem, and you can go ask them."

Manny's granny may have been cheap -- playing at lilliputian Citizen's Bank Park sure is fun! -- but it did the trick.

And when our bullpen coughed up the lead in the seventh (uhh, Theo?), we came right back out and reclaimed the lead -- and then some -- in the eighth. Johnny Damon laid down a beautiful bunt. Mark Bellhorn, who's gone a decent way toward redeeming himself of late, promptly doubled him home. Big Papi (single) and Manny (sac fly) drove in Bellhorn, and Tek's authoritative two-run homer put the nail in the coffin.

This is how great teams play baseball. And this is how this great team will continue to play baseball. We're home now. Schilling's coming back soon. Win more.

6/27/2005 2:04:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [1] |  

Things Sox Blog learned while watching the Red Sox play the Indians Monday and Tuesday:

* David Ortiz enjoys hitting home runs. He also leads the majors in All-Star voting, and is considerably underpaid.

* For all his boneheaded plays and genial weirdness, Manny Ramirez knows how to hit. So get off his case.

* Bronson Arroyo can pitch a little too. (Here's a Q&A.)

* Mike Timlin might not end up our closer, but with a 0.84 ERA in the last ten games, he should most definitely be an All-Star. Make it so, Tito.

* So should Johnny Damon. (Vote!) And, if he's willing to bend, we'd be idiots not to keep him.

* Our bullpen is still frightening. Pass the nitroglycerin, please -- some for my pending heart attack, and some so we can blow it up. (Despite his bad outing last night, might Jon Papelbon be one answer?)

* No matter how exciting we make it, we just don't do extra innings.

* Jay Payton may complain, but Ramon Vazquez plays even less. If that means our key guys are healthy, let's keep it that way.

* Schilling feels good. Summer is here. Keep winning.

6/22/2005 10:29:00 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

* Tony Massarotti compares this year's team to last year's at this time, and his findings are unsurprising. It's the bullpen, stupid. "The Red Sox have allowed 47 more earned runs than they had a year ago at this time -- that is nearly one run per game.... Sox relievers currently have a 5.17 ERA, nearly two full runs higher than their 2004 brethren (3.19)."

* Jay Payton, who was promised 350-400 at-bats when he signed with the team but is only on pace for 200+, tells the Herald he a wants trade:

"There's probably a half a dozen other teams, a dozen other teams, I could be playing for,'' Payton said. "Actually, as far as playing time, this is one of the worst situations I can be in because if I'm hitting .800 I still wouldn't be playing any more than I am right now because they've got their boys."

As Rotoworld points out, " 'their boys' are three All-Star level players. Payton is hitting .252/.310/.408, and when he got a chance to play every day for the Padres last season, he laid an egg, hitting .260/.326/.367." Still, it looks like we're trying to honor his request. If we can get a decent arm or two for him, let's do it.

* As predicted, once John Olerud started breathing down his neck, Kevin Millar turned it on. Now that he's batting .500 in June, he's talking the talk. Great. He still only has five RBIs this month.

* Speaking of first basemen challenging other first basemen for their jobs, Dauber back where he belongs -- in the majors. Good for him. And look out, Minky.

* The Globe previews the series we start tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We haven't played them in Boston since we beat 'em in Game Eight (yes, Game Eight) of the first World Series at the old Huntington Avenue Grounds on October 13, 1903. Not only that, but, "the Pirates haven't played in Boston since 1952, the year before the Braves moved to Milwaukee [and] haven't played at Fenway since the Braves called the park home in 1915."

Were the seats this bad then, too?

6/17/2005 12:07:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

It was announced yesterday that the phenomenally successful Hot Stove, Cool Music event, which has raised beaucoup bucks for the Red Sox Foundation the past few off-seasons with star-studded performances at the Paradise and sales of its benefit compilation, will be holding a summer shindig in this Year of our Championship, 2005.

Hot Stove, Cool Music: The Fenway Sessions will take over lyric little bandbox the evening of Saturday, July 16, after the Sox have walloped the Yankees that afternoon. On top of performances by Boston rock royalty like Buffalo Tom, Juliana Hatfield, Kay Hanley, and the Gentlemen, the show will also showcase the musical stylings of GM Theo Epstein and ESPN sage Peter Gammons. Bronson Arroyo (whose debut CD, Covering All the Bases, will have come out a couple days before) is slated to sing a bit too, of course, as will PawSox lefty Lenny DiNardo. And get this: we're letting a pinstriper onstage! Sometime Yankee center fielder and smooth-jazz guitarist Bernie Williams will play a few notes of his own.

It's all to benefit A Foundation to be Named Later, the new offshoot of the Red Sox Foundation -- it aims to help Boston's at-risk youth -- unveiled not long ago by Epstein and his twin brother, Paul. Tickets are $50 and $100 and are available through RedSox.com or by calling (877) RED-SOX9.

6/16/2005 1:42:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

6/16/2005 1:16:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Yawn. All these suspenseless wins are getting boring.

Actually, no. That's not true at all. More please.

Bronson Arroyo got his proverbial shit together last night and threw a corker, giving up just a run in seven innings to complete the sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Sox starters are 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA over the last four games. Saturn Nuts had some big help from Big Papi, and more spotless relief from Mike Timlin -- who, as pretty much the preeminent set-up man in the game at the moment, may soon be able to look forward to an All-Star Game roster spot at his manager's discretion. And high-rollin' Keith Foulke looked good sharp again, too. Hopefully those early season woes are behind him for good.

Interleague play is great when it's against the bad teams. What say we make it five, Wade? Bring on the Bucs.

Oh, but let's not get carried away. Dan Shaughnessy has pronounced from his lofty perch that Red Sox fans have become "fat and happy."

The desperation is not there. The urgency is gone. Anger has yielded to satisfaction.... The Red Sox are defending world champions for the first time since 1919 and the Nation is just not quite as hungry anymore.

Sox Blog doesn't buy it. (And neither do the Soxaholix.)

Just take a gander at this thread, or this one, or this one, started just days ago on Sons of Sam Horn, and tell me you think real Sox fans are as complacent as those grinning morons the Shank portrays. Real fans enjoy the good times, sure. But they also and fret and bitch and moan and look for problems to fix and argue about ways to fix them.

Reasons to be cheerful? Of course. Some heretofore underperforming guys look to be coming around, and we've won four in a row. But three of those wins were to a team with the fourth worst record in the majors. And, uh, despite it all, we're still three games behind those damned orange birds. We'll never want for things to worry and complain about. And that's healthy.

We're Red Sox fans. And it's only June.

6/16/2005 12:04:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

This is getting good. The temperature last night plunged almost as dramatically as Boomer's sweeping curve, but the Sox' stock soared with a third straight commanding win where everything seemed to click. Onward!

David Wells is a fascinating figure. (And a tubby one.) When he is good, he is very, very good, and when he is bad ... well, you know. Last night, he was very, very good. In fact, he was hitless through five and two thirds, and the one loping line drive he surrendered was the hapless Reds' only hit of the game. After his seven dominating innings, Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke -- err, watch your back there, Foulkie -- tag-teamed to preserve the shutout. And all was right with the world. (More or less.)

As Nick Cafardo points out, three Red Sox starters have combined for a razor-sharp 1.64 ERA in the three games since Theo Epstein's Saturday-night pronouncement that this team would play better, by hook or by crook. "In 22 innings, they've allowed only 11 hits, 4 earned runs, and 3 walks, with 17 strikeouts. That includes starts by Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement, and Wells, who last night extended his scoreless-innings streak to 17...."

That's what we like to see. Now if only Bronson Arroyo -- whose ERA is a towering 11.37 in his last three starts -- can get his head together, figure out what's going wrong, and make it four quality starts in a row. "Arroyo thinks it comes down to a few things," Cafardo writes. "He hasn't felt well physically, he thinks hitters have begun to figure him out, and a six-game suspension (May 17-24) broke his rhythm." If anyone can find a way to fix himself, it's the guy Schilling says has "nuts the size of Saturn."

Speaking of Schilling: Don't look now, but he pitched yesterday and is due in Fenway for a reevaluation today. Fingers-crossed, one step at a time, etc., etc.

Of course, as Roseanne Rosannadanna was wont to say, "It's always something." Just as it looks like Schilling might finally be on the mend, it's revealed that Johnny Damon tried on a boot of his own yesterday to help heal his bruised heel. He seems unfazed by the injury so far, at least, going one for four last night, hitting .377 in his past 15 games, and leading the AL with 88 hits. Not only that, but, according to Jeff Horrigan's calculations, he's hitting .455 with the bases loaded. (Edgar Renteria is hitting .462 and Kevin Millar .500, with the team as a whole batting .354 with three men on.)

Bill Mueller, meanwhile, is a whopping .600 with the bases jacked, hitting safely in two such situations last night. He and Millar also notched a couple milestones of their own, recording their 1,100th and 800th hits, respectively as they continued their six- and eight-game streaks. In Sox Blog's humble opionion, anyone who's seriously advocating trading the Pro in favor of Kevin Youkilis should really think twice about it. (In other news, Mark Bellhorn went hitless again Tuesday, but struck out for his 72nd time and still leads the majors.)

But the most gratifying thing about last night was the continuing power surge of Manny Ramirez. He homered for the third straight game, muscling a near-miraculous long ball through the wind and over the wall in center. If he really is getting his mechanics in order and starting to heat up, Schilling can take his time getting back. We'll be fine. Sure, big questions about injury and efficacy remain for a lot of guys. And, yes, these last two wins were against the woeful Reds. But good teams are supposed to beat bad teams -- and other good teams, too. Let's take this one game at a time and enjoy the good ones when we get 'em.

6/15/2005 12:53:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Another big win. Another dominating outing by Matt Clement, a much-needed rebound from his last debacle. Another bullpen nail-down with minimal nail biting (Mantei's continuing control problems notwithstanding). Another murderous hit parade.

Let's build on this.

The Red Sox have played just 27 of their 63 games so far at home. But they're 18 and 9 in those match-ups. This is a team that's built for Fenway, and last night they felt right at home. (Thankfully, they'll be spending a lot more time here in the coming months.)

Abetted by some shoddy Reds defense, the good guys romped. Every starter except Mark Bellhorn got a hit. Six Sox got more than one, including Johnny Damon's 3 for 4 evening. (Don't forget to vote!) There were six doubles, and Manny homered again, watching it fall into the right field stands -- thanks, Willy Mo! -- in sort of an ersatz mirror of Pudge's flailing arms.

It was a great win. And tonight, Boomer goes against a dude with a 7.50 ERA. Do it again.

(Oh, and O's? If you could, like, lose a few games that would be swell. Sox Blog is rather sick of being three games out.)

More good news, via Dirt Dogs, via WEEI: Curt plans to pitch batting practice to Arizona State players, and has eyes on a pre-All Star Break return. (And if you thought Curt Schilling wouldn't have something to say about the Jacko verdict, you clearly do not know Curt Schilling. "I think there was a collective puking in this nation yesterday.")

Finally, congrats to our brave captain on his new arrival.

6/14/2005 11:44:00 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Sox Blog, alas, was unable to watch a single minute of this weekend's long-awaited Sox/Cubs series at Wrigley Field. Friday's game was during working hours, of course (and, anyway, WEEI was switched off in disgust not long after Bronson Arroyo had allowed seven runs in the first three innings). Saturday I was in New York City, and Fox blackouts meant it was entirely impossible to watch that day's heartbreaker in any bar in the city. And Sunday night's game was missed thanks to traffic on the way back to the Hub.

Sox Blog did pay a visit to Shea Stadium on Sunday afternoon, however, and watched Pedro Martinez pitch seven decent innings (six hits, three runs) and also line a base hit up the middle to extend a three-game hitting streak and drive home our old pal Doug Mientkiewicz. It was Petey's first RBI since the Clinton Administration! (Ex-Sox Orlando Cabrera also hit a triple en route to the Angels' eventual 4-3 win.) Was it sad to see a sea of blue and orange #45 jerseys, and to hear 45,000 New Yorkers chanting Pedro's name? You bet. I wish we still had him -- but I also wish him nothing but the best.

Back to our own team, maybe last night's rout was just the spark that we need as we head back to friendly Fenway.

* Doug Mirabelli was back behind the plate, and Tim Wakefield responded well, pitching seven strong (four hits, one run) and helping his own cause by knocking in an RBI, notching a single, and scoring a run -- all the way from first.

* Johnny Damon missed the easiest part of the cycle.

* Kevin Youkilis missed the hardest part.

* Manny Ramirez homered. Finally. (Jay Payton did too.)

But, still, Theo is unhappy. And can you blame him? Our bullpen is a mess. And, with a few exceptions, our starting pitching hasn't exactly been mowing them down lately either.

"This is difficult to fix, to be honest with you,'' a calm and controlled Theo Epstein said yesterday at Wrigley Field, where the spiraling Red Sox lost, 7-6, to the Chicago Cubs. "So many people are performing below our expectations and below our projections that this isn't easy to fix. If this is the best that this pitching staff can pitch, then I really miscalculated and it's time for changes."

(Gordon Edes, Tony Massarotti, and Peter Gammons examine moves that might or might not be made. Their verdicts? Options are limited, and time is tight.)

Was it Epstein's stern admonition that spurred the team to play so well last night? Who knows. What matters is we won. Wakefield and the bullpen did their jobs -- at least Mikes Timlin and Myers can be counted on -- and the bats did too. When those things happen, victory usually ensues. So let's win tonight. And the night after that. And so on. Hopefully this home stand against the Reds and the Pirates is just what we need to build up our win column against two sub-.500 teams.

If need be, Carlton Fisk will be on hand tonight to offer a pep talk. As we take on the Cincinatti Reds for the first time at Fenway in three decades, the Red Sox will rename the left field foul pole after him. (Steve Buckley ($ req.) thinks it's a pointless stunt.)

On the exceedingly slim chance you were not aware, that is where, at 12:33 a.m. on October 22, 1975, in the 12th inning of Game Six of the World Series, this happened:



If you haven't yet read Tom Adelman's The Long Ball: The Summer of '75 -- Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever Played (Little, Brown; 2003) , get a copy and bring it to the beach next weekend. If it's sometimes a little fast and loose with the facts, it's also a terrific, novelistic evocation of that long, hot summer of 30 years past -- and that classic Fall Classic between the Olde Towne Team and the Big Red Machine.

In the seconds before that ball was willed fair by Pudge's flailing arms, it flew into a shadow, Adelman writes, "an old shadow . . . black as the eye of Tony C. and the wrist of Jim Rice, and yes, naturally, as black as the ink on Babe Ruth's Yankee contract. It's a shadow comprising all the things that kept the Red Sox from being world champions since the days of Duffy Lewis, a dark haunt in which all their failures and tragic figures fly."

That shadow would not be lifted for years to come. But despite the manifest problems this team seems to be having at the moment, things are looking much brighter these days.

6/13/2005 12:47:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

6/10/2005 1:25:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Every once in a while, you just get beat. We returned to the scene of our triumph last night, but this time, the post-game mood was just a little different. No big deal. It's the first time we've lost to those guys since 1967.

Wakefield's knuckler fluttered a little too much, and with Tek behind the plate those three passed balls did their damage. You can usually tell how Wake is faring out there by gauging the glisten of his neck sweat, and last night it was positively coruscating, coming down in rivulets. The Cardinals' small-ball -- those "dinks and dunks" -- started to add up (abetted by some atrocious defense) and by the time he left the game after five and a third, they'd hit him up for five runs (four earned) off seven hits.

Matt Morris, on the other hand, was superb, going the distance and only allowing four hits and a single run.

Meanwhile, Edgar Renteria's homecoming was probably not all he would have hoped. He got an ovation from that milk-fed Midwestern crowd -- commingled with a smattering of boos -- and gave trash-talking Tony La Russa a hug (even if the "jilted lover" stood by his words). He also went hitless, grounded into two double plays, and committed a fielding error. Just like the guy who wore #16 a few weeks ago!

Hopefully tonight we can turn it around. It's reasonable to expect Matt Clement to pitch well, again. Just don't expect him to get a hit. (Johnny Damon, however, very well might get a couple.)

Pssst... Don't look now, but the Yankees have lost eight of their last nine and are under .500. Now if only those damn Orioles would lose a game (or five).

In other news, the Red Sox' first transgressor in the steroid scandal was unmasked yesterday, Wilmington Blue Rocks reliever Felix Romero. The precise nature of the violation is unclear, but Romero was suspended for 15 games. Let's just hope he's the first and last.

It's getting drafty in here. We've got six of the first 60 (#s 23, 26, 42, 45, 47 and 59), so make 'em count.

6/7/2005 10:41:00 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

The Boston Red Sox of the Back Bay Fens took two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this weekend, making the best of a series that was at alternately ridiculous and sublime.

Wells pitched well enough (nine hits and four runs in seven innings) Friday night, recording his 2,000th career strikeout in the process. But it was Jesus who saved. Johnny Damon launched a bases clearing double in the eighth inning, giving us a 7-4 lead we'd hold onto until the end -- even if Keith Foulke made it veeeeery interesting before getting that last strikeout.

Damon is batting .500 (13 RBIs) with the bases loaded so far this season. As Peter Gammons points out:

Damon gets gaudy run and RBI (95 in 2004) totals for a leadoff hitter, which obviously is due in part to the depth of Boston's order and the power of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. But if one watches Boston every day, one realizes that Damon is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game, the team's most under-appreciated player and the man who determines the tempo of the offense. Terry Francona calls him "unbelievably tough," his teammates know that for all the rock star persona, he is intrepid. His at-bats are battles. He gets on base 40 percent of the time and he gets extra-base hits

Not quite sure I buy the "under-appreciated" line. (As one poster on Sons of Sam Horn puts it, "where are the Trot Nixon commercials and the books by Tim Wakefield? Will Mark Bellhorn's romantic adventures be front page news in the Herald? Do legions of little girls worship Doug Mirabelli?" But there's no denying that he's a special commodity. Will we have him next year? Probably not, but one can always hope. In the mean time, hope he gets well soon.

It was good to see O-Cab too, and he really seemed glad to be back. The standing ovation he got in his first plate appearance was undeniably classy and completely deserved -- but did he really need vociferous applause for every subsequent at-bat of the series? He does play for the other team now. Anyway, Sox Blog loves the guy but was more than happy to see him go just 3 for 13 for the series.

Saturday, Bronson Arroyo, coming off two hideous starts and sporting cornrows once again, pitched a helluva game, departing after six innings with his team up 5-2. And we woulda gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling bullpen!

Alan Embree apparently doesn't like leads, because he came on in the seventh and promptly gave up four hits and four earned runs -- mostly thanks to Garret Anderson's homer -- in just a third of an inning. By the merciful end of that awful, awful day, our valiant corps of relievers had surrendered 11 runs in three innings. You can't do that. It's been discussed here before, but our bullpen just isn't very good, and has some serious problems right now. Matt Mantei throws a bazillion miles an hour, but has very shaky control. Keith Foulke is pitching better, but still has hearts racing when the game's on the line. And right now, sad to say, Embree is worse than useless. Might it be time to consider the DL (or DFA?) and giving Lenny DiNardo or Mark Malaska a shot?

And, while perhaps it's a small point amid what turned out to be a much larger mess, why on earth was Tito playing Kelly Shoppach (0 for 9 in his major league career) and Ramon Vazquez (.222 average, 0 home runs, 4 RBI) on the same day?

At least Kevin Millar seems, finally, to be finding his stroke. See ball, hit ball. And keep doing it until October.

Sunday, thankfully, was just fabulous. The Queer Guys were on there to throw out the first pitches, and the fact that it's even a mild controversy is a little disappointing (not "family friendly"?). Even more so is this:

On WEEI, sports-talk agitators John Dennis and Gerry Callahan have been working to drum up outrage about the cross-promotions -- the Fab Five are scheduled to throw out the first pitch tomorrow -- and goaded reliever Mike Timlin into joining in. (He said, on the air, that gays are ''not living correctly.")

Timlin may be wrongheaded, but at least he's got a 1.61 ERA, and is the only really consistent arm in our problem-plagued 'pen. He helped anchor it yesterday, as the bullpen bounced back in the rubber game, holding the line after Wade Miller left with the score tied at three after six and a third. Also helping the cause were Mike Myers, who, with Embree's woes, has been a lot more than a LOOGY lately, and Foulke, who closed it out with a tidy one-two-three inning.

Meanwhile Millar remained hot. (Let's hope sitting out most those six games in National League parks won't cool him down). And, as he did on Thursday, Ortiz came through again, rapping a double into deep center to drive in two insurance runs. The guy is a monster, and Sox Blog pities any left-handed pitcher who has to face him in the later innings (even if I don't quite yet agree -- yet -- with Eric Wilbur's contention that Big Papi "has become, or at the very least is well on his way to becoming, the best player in franchise history.") There are, of course, those statheads who say that clutch hitters to not exist. David Ortiz says otherwise. (And some folks are coming around; see discussions here and here.)

Tonight it's on to St. Louis, where we'll be reminded ad nauseum that Busch Stadium is where we, uh, won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Let's hope the Cards don't show up to play this time either.

6/6/2005 11:00:00 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Good news for one Miller and one Millar. (Mueller's okay, too. And Myers recorded the last two outs last night.)

Wade Miller bounced back quite nicely from that nightmarish two-inning start, turning in his best performance yet (seven innings, five hits, one earned run). In Sox Blog's humble opinion, something about his mechanics still seems strained and awkward, but he said post-game that it was the best he's felt since he made his debut earlier this month. We'll take it. Best of all, he did it against the hot-hitting Orioles, the team we need to beat if we're to take our rightful place at the top of the East.

Daniel Cabrera was perfect through four and a third, but we figured him out in the fifth. The big hits came from Mark Bellhorn, John Olerud, Edgar Renteria, and David Ortiz -- but not from Kevin Millar, who again went 0 for 4, his start overshadowed once again by Olerud's entry into the game after Johnny Damon gashed his eye open.

But not to worry! Dan Shaughnessy says Tito's gonna stand by his man.

It doesn't matter if John Olerud goes 10 for 10 in a doubleheader. It doesn't matter if Olerud reminds us of George Scott and Vic Power around the bag. It doesn't matter if Millar goes 0 for 4 while Olerud comes into the game and cracks a double to break a Red Sox scoring drought. It doesn't matter if Olerud somehow gets Doug Mientkiewicz to give The Ball back.

Millar is Francona's first baseman.

Of course, this being a Shaughnessy column, that's all said with forked tongue planted firmly in cheek. But, really, why should Millar play? Facts is facts, and Olerud has made a big impression so far in his short time here. And Millar, quite understandably, is sweating it. And he doesn't seem to quite know how to act. One the one hand, he takes not-so-subtle digs at his former teammate ("I wasn't going to sit behind Doug Mientkiewicz, but I would sit behind John Olerud"). On the other, he seems desperate to point out his positives, pleading for patience with his paltry numbers.

I've been here day one, I've given everything I got to my teammates, my clubhouse, this city, the media, this team. That's one thing you guys can't say. I'm here everyday. Sometimes the results aren't what I want, or what the fans want but it's not lack of effort. From day one, I've given you everything I have, and I'm still going to do that.

It's sad watching a guy trying desperately to to protect a plum job from another guy he knows is better than him (at least at the moment). The job is his to lose, obviously, but he's coming perilously close to doing just that. The simple solution, of course, is to play better. Closed-stance? Open-stance? Whatever. But Kevin Millar has to start hitting consistently. It's what first basemen do. (At least Eric Wilbur comes to his defense. Sort of.)

Johnny Damon sure showed that wall who's boss last night. Thank the maker he's okay. But those stitches -- on his eyelid!!! -- are painful to look at. Basegirl thinks he should take a cue from his new teammate and wear a helmet on the field. (Don't hold your breath.) Johnny says he's ready to play, but it's probably wise to give his knee a night or two off, especially since Jay Payton is hitting well these days (five for 14 in the last six games).

Meanwhile, the Yankees have lost three straight: two to us, of course, and one last night to a team with a .275 winning percentage. Heh heh.

Finally, Sox Blog goes multi-media! Click here to hear Phoenix cleaning guy Pat D pontificate on al things Red Sox on WFNX's the Swasey Show. He's on the air every Monday morning at 7:10.

6/1/2005 1:19:00 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [1] |