Francona to Schilling “Zip it”

And none to soon.  This has turned into a debacle not only for Schilling but for the Sox.  Francona told him to “zip it a little”, not only privately in a meeting he had with Schilling but also publicly on WEEI radio, the same station that Schilling spouted off on.  Francona went on to say when asked about reading Schillings blog “You know what? I don’t have that much energy.  I get tired of answering things that are not baseball, but I guess that’s my responsibility, too. I don’t care if he does it, but just stay away from certain things. If he wants to run for office someday and tackle the world’s problems, fine, but not while I’m the manager. I just think there are issues you stay away from. Listen, I’ve known Schill a long time and I think the world of this guy. I just told him to ease off on the gas pedal, and he will.”  Maybe Schilling should avoid he pedal all the time.

Schilling issued an apology, not on the air though, but rather his blog, 38 pitches.  “I am far from perfect and make more than my share of mistakes, which is something I have no problem with because that’s part of being a human being.  However, when mistakes adversely affect other people’s lives, that’s a big deal. It was a callous, reckless, and irresponsible thing to say and for that I apologize to Barry, Barry’s family, Barry’s friends, and the Giants organization, my teammates and the Red Sox organization, as well as anyone else that may have been offended by the comments I made.”

Beckett first seven game winner in MLB

 

With a 9-2 win over the Blue Jays last night Josh Beckett improved to 7-0 becoming the first seven game winner in the majors. Beckett went seven innings giving up only five hits and one run, a first pitch lead off HR to Alex Rios. The middle of the order struggled again accounting for none of the Sox nine runs. Youkilis, Pedroia, Lowell and V-Tek all had home runs off of Toronto starter Victor Zambrano.

Josh Beckett is locked in right now. This is the pitcher the Sox thought they were getting last year when they traded with the Marlins to get him. He is the ace of the staff, no matter what Curt Schilling says at this point. With Dice still have some control problems Beckett’s improvement is that much more welcome.  Jon Lester will be back in the not to distant future as well.  I still believe we have the best starting five in the AL East and maybe all the majors.  Not only are the starters solid but our bullpen is solid and maybe the best in the league to this point.

Curt Schilling just shut up!

So Curt opened his mouth again and this time it was a doozy, Barry Bonds has admitted to using steroids. On radio station WEEI-AM Schilling said “He admitted that he used steroids, there’s no gray area” and continued on with “He admitted to cheating on his wife, he admitted to cheating on his taxes and he cheated on the game. I think the reaction around the league, around the game, seeing what it is, is an indication of what people think – Hank Aaron not being there, the commissioner trying to figure out where to be. It’s sad.” All the important quotes are here.

I defended Curt last week with the legitimacy of the sock he wore in the 2004 ALCS. And if you read this blog at all you know I really don’t like Barry Bonds and I in no way want him to have the record. However, Curt is way off base here. Where in any public record is it verified that any of these three situations occurred? Please show us Curt. Please. I am begging you. If you can prove he admitted to taking steroid show us, tell us, make it public knowledge and this debate goes away instantly. Not to mention the personal issues Curt eludes to. You don’t have the evidence to back up any of your words. Your opinions are your opinions but when you have no proof to back up your public words they come back to bite you in the ass. He deserves all the ridicule and public outcry he gets over this. Curt’s desire to be in the limelight has tarnished him just a bit here. How would he feel if any other MLB player came out and said these things about him or his family? I am sure he would be livid over this.

The Giants come to Fenway in June and I hope that Curt gives up the tying and record breaking home runs. Sad that a Sox fan feels that way but so be it.

Sox split series with the A’s – Mariners return for make up game

 

Boston won last night 6-4 to earn a split against the Oakland A’s in the two game series after losing 5-4 in ten innings the night before. Josh Beckett improved to 6-0 on the year and is the first pitcher to get 6 wins this year. Also worth noting is each starter got at least one hit last night, the first time that has occured this season. Papi, Manny, V-Tek, and CoCo all went 2-4 last night. Beckett went seven innings giving up six hits, three runs and fanning seven, another strong outing for him. Hideki Okijima pitched the eigth inning and Mike Timlin came on in the ninth to get the save. Papelbon did not pitch last night after blowing the save in the ninth inning the night before wasting a solid outing by Curt Schilling.

Dice – K pitches tonight against another AL West team, the Mariners.  This is a make up game from the first series that was rained out.  Dice gets a chance at some redemption after being matched up with Felix Hernandez in his home bebut for the Sox a few weeks back.  Dice pitched well, but Hernandez was lights out.   The Mariners are starting Horacio Ramirez.

Gary Thorne makes a retraction

After causing a huge stir across baseball with his comments Wednesday night during the red Sox Orioles game (see the conversation below) Gary Thorne retracted his statement yesterday. Thorne backed off his comments Thursday saying Mirabelli was joking. “He said one thing, and I heard something else. I reported what I heard and what I honestly felt was said,” Thorne said. “Having talked with him today, there’s no doubt in my mind that’s not what he said, that’s not what he meant. He explained that it was in the context of the sarcasm and the jabbing that goes on in the clubhouse.” “I took it as something serious, and it wasn’t,” Thorne said.

Mirabelli confirmed the story, saying, “He knows that I believe 100 percent that I thought the sock had blood on it. It never crossed my mind that there wasn’t blood on that sock. If he misinterpreted something said inside the clubhouse, it’s unfortunate.”

Mirabelli said he spoke with Thorne in the Boston clubhouse about six months after the 2004 playoffs.

Here is my question, if Mirabelli said this three years ago why did Thorne choose Wednesday night to make it public? He waited two and half years. Why wait until a night when Schilling is pitching to bring this out? Thorne knew then that Mirabelli was joking and that his comments were not intended to be taken seriously. Why not include that in his comments Wednesday night? Thorne is a very well respected commentator and in some ways has tarnished his image and legacy just a bit with this fiasco.

If you want to see Curt Schillings take on all this click over to his blog 38 Pitches.

Sox cruise past O’s and Gary Thorne causes a stir

The Sox scored three runs in the seventh and two runs in the ninth to win the first of a two game series at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Curt Schiling went 7 innings giving up 5 hits, one run (earned) and striking out three. Hideki Okijima looked great in middle relief striking out two. As of yesterday the Sox pen has the lowest era in the majors. That is quiet a statement as the pen was the biggest cause for concern going into the season. Okajima has certainly been a star so far this year for the Sox. Both Manny and Mike Lowell had two RBI’s and Kevin Youkilis went three for four and an RBI. Here is the boxscore.

The real story of the game though was not on the field but in the announcers booth. In the fifth inning while the Orioles were batting Gary Thorne a nationally known broadcaster said:

“The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking,” Thorne said to his on air partner Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher, in a conversation that had begun with a discussion of Schilling’s blog of all things.

“Nah,” Thorne said. “It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count.”

Palmer: “Yeah, that was the 2004 World Series [sic].” Thorne: “Yeah.”

During a break two innings later, Thorne confirmed that’s what he said, and that Mirabelli had told him so in a conversation “a couple of years ago.”

“Go ask him [Mirabelli],” Thorne said.

Mirabelli was shocked, then angry, when relayed Thorne’s comments.

“What? Are you kidding me? He’s [expletive] lying. A straight lie,” Mirabelli said. “I never said that. I know it was blood. Everybody knows it was blood.”

The sock has been scrutinezed previously before making its way to Cooperstown and into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The performance Schilling had that night was one of the greatest in MLB history. Thorne has thrown into question the validity of the injury and in some respects the performance itself. Where and when did Thorne get this statement from Mirabelli? And why did it just come out now? The Sox have indicated they will seek a retraction from Thorne. Unless Thorne can come up with concrete evidence that the substance on the sock is not blood an apology is in order as well.

A clean sweep and an incredible final game

THE BEST RIVALRY IN SPORTS PERIOD!!!

And this series proved it without a doubt. If you dont think so you didnt watch the three games I watched this weekend.

The Sox came back in each of the games to win and swept the Yankees at Fenway for the first time in 17 years. After the five game sweep at the hands of the Yankees last year in Fenway this is a bit of redemption. This series had it all, come backs, key hits, good pitching, bad pitching and most of all home runs and more home runs.

I dont want to review each game, however, here are the box scores from each game: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3

The series came down to pitching and the Red Sox pitching was just plain better. Schilling, Beckett and Dice – K all took their lumps but came out with a win against a great Yankees line up. The Yankees pitching was mediocre to say the least. Pettitte had the best outing of the three starters for the Yankees. Where our pitching really shined was in the bullpen. Our pen was lights out and the Yankees just seemed to fall apart, especially Mariano Rivera who came apart in Game 1 for Yankees. We have owned him lately and that continued in this series. Torre even used Pettitte again in a relief role last night. Paplebon and Okijima are a dangerous duo to deal with along with Timlin and Donnelly out of our pen.

The Sox offense really came alive in the series, especially the bottom third of the order. Varitek and CoCo Crisp all had key hits and scored runs for us. But the one big piece that was missing seemed that came alive was Manny and finished the night with three hits and got his average above .200 for the season. Manny, Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek all homered in consecutive at bats for the Sox off of Yanks starter Chase Wright in the bottom of the fourth inning.  This is he fifth time in MLB history this has occurred.  Of note here is that J.D. Drew was one of the hitters on the Dodgers team that accomplished this last year, just not off the same pitcher.  The rest of the heart of the order also came up big, Big , Youkilis, and Alex Cora all had key hits for us and J.D. Drew continues to hit well.

Our pitching and hitting won the games but the Sox showed lot of heart and some grit in this series. Usually when faced with a deficit to the Yankees we seem to fold and die. Not this time, we came back in each of the games and showed some mettle that had not been seen in quiet some time – the 2004 ALCS to be exact. This is a good building block to the rest of the season for the Sox. There is definitely a buzz around this team this year.

We are now four games up on the Yankees with a big series coming against the Toronto Blue Jays starting tonight and an even bigger series at Yankee stadium this weekend. But take a look who is in second place in the division, the Baltimore Orioles who are only a game back of us. As fantastic as this series was there is still a lot of season left and the AL East could shape up to be one of the most contested division in baseball. We all know the Yankees pitching will come back at some point. I still believe that it will come down to the Sox and Yankees dueling it out for the division with the loser getting the wild card.

Sox vs. Yankees

What else can you say, this is the BEST rivalry in sports today no questions asked. And here we are late April and the first series of this rivalry for 2007 is upon us . The Red Sox and Yankees. The SOX, the Bronx Bombers. This is what baseball is all about. This is what Red Sox and Yankee fans live for. Fenway will be alive this weekend, filled to the brim no doubt.

Lets break the match up down and see what we can expect this weekend.

Pitching:
The edge has to go to the Sox here. Schilling, Beckett, Dice – K (taking away his two tough loses) and Wakefield have been lights out this year. Papelbon and Hideki Okajima have been dominate out of the bullpen this year. The Red Sox are second on the majors with a team ERA of 2.58. The Yankees pitching has been marginal at best. Both Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina are on the DL. Andy Pettitte and Kei Igawa have been shaky in two starts and they are throwing two rookies during the series this weekend. The Yankees are tenth in the league with a 3.67 ERA.

These are the matchup for the series:

Curt Schilling (2-1 2.84 ERA) vs. Andy Pettitte (1-0 1.50 ERA)
Josh Beckett (3-0 1.50 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens (0-0 0.00 ERA)
Dice – K (1-2 2.70 ERA) Chase Wright (1-0 5.40 ERA)

Offense:
The edge has to go to the Yankees here. The Sox have struggled at times to hit and score runs. We have three starters, Varitek, Coco, and Pedroia all hitting under .200 and one, Manny of all people, is hitting .200 and has one – one – home run. The rest of our lineup is looking good, just not great. Papi has come around of late and, J.D. Drew is hitting very well and is well rested after the weather time off and sitting a game in Toronto. Lugo has done well in the lead off spot and Youk is coming around in the two hole. The Yankees line up is stacked, I have to admit. Up and down that lineup everyone can hit. The heart of the order is scary with Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-hole, and Giambi are all capable of big things on any given day. I do have to concede that A-hole is having a fantastic April and I am interested to see if that continues in this series.

Pitching wins games and the Sox pitching is just better than the Yankees right now. We are coming off of a strong series against Toronto where we hit pretty well and hopefully Manny will build on the day he had yesterday and start hitting more. Papi, Manny and Drew will have to carry us offensively with spot help from Lugo, Youk and Lowell. I say we take two out of three in this series.

This not just about baseball, this is about two teams whose fans generally do not like each other and whose players don’t like each other as well. The Damon defection to NY, A-Rod pulling out of coming to Boston, the biggest collapse in sports history and yes Sox vs. Yankees are all subplots that will continue to play out over this series. This is what baseball is all about folks. Enjoy it.

Patriots Day 2007 Sox vs. Angels in Series finale

 

UPDATE:

The start of today’s game has been moved back to 12:05 due to weather concerns in the Boston area.

Josh Beckett (2-0) will get the Patriots Day start for the Red Sox against Angels right-hander Ervin Santana (1-1) in Monday’s contest. Beckett has been particularly good in the early going of 2007 starting 2-0 with a 1.50 era. He was masterful in his last start, against Seattle, allowing one run in seven innings and striking out eight. In that start he threw 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes and mixed an assortment of breaking pitches, a curveball and a mid-90s fastball with ease. To say Beckett looks sharp is an understatement. He allowed exactly two hits in each of his first two starts.

If you get a chance to watch the game check out Julio Lugo who is quickly fitting into the lead off role nicely for the Sox. He is hitting .316 with the three steals, 3 RBI and has scored 8 runs.

Sox Notes:

Julian Tavarez, who was slated to start Sunday, was bumped back in the rotation again and will now start Thursday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. Dice – K will start Tuesday’s game in Toronto, while Tim Wakefield is still slated to pitch Wednesday. Gates at Fenway are going to open at 8:05 am for a scheduled 10:05 am start.

Not to get to far ahead of our selves here but take a look at the schdule and guess who is coming to town this weekend, The New York Yankees. Curt Schilling is slated to start the opener Friday night at Fenway.

A great game followed by a rain out

 

Curt Schilling pitched a fantastic game yesterday scattering four hits over eight scoreless inning and stretching his scoreless innings streak to 14. Big Papi added a three run home run, two hits and 4 RBI to cap off another convincing win against the Angels yesterday at Fenway. Erick Hinske got the start for Youkilis at first and had two hits and scored three runs. Hee is the complete boxscore.

The third game of the series was to be played today but was rained out by the Nor’easter moving up the eastern seaboard. The Sox have announced that the game will be made up later in the season. I was hoping for a Patriots Day double header tomorrow. The Sox are still undecided if they will go forward with the planned events celebrating Jackie Robinson as all of MLB had events at each stadium today.

Sox Notes:
Wily Mo Pena, hitless in three pinch-hit appearances, was scheduled to start Sunday in center instead of the struggling Coco Crisp. Pena was the only position player yet to start a game this season. With Sunday’s rainout, Pena start Monday.

The Angels are planning to pitch Ervin Santana, Sunday’s scheduled starter, in Monday’s game.

The Blue Jays are scheduled to start southpaw Gustavo Chacin in Tuesday’s opener to the three-game series at Rogers Centre.