Many of these Sox have been there before.
Some have not and they’ll obviously see what kind of leadership still resides in the Fenway home clubhouse over the next 48 hours as Boston’s embroiled in yet another 3-1 deficit in an American League Championship Series.
The last 16 times that an ALCS went to 3 games to 1 in the series, 12 times the team with the 3-1 advantage has gone on to win the series. Three times the other team has reeled off three straight wins to take the series and shock the baseball world. The 16th time is this season’s playoff scenario.
The three teams to pull off the unlikely three-game heist of the ALCS you ask?
The Red Sox…all three times. In 1986, 2004 and then last season after falling down by a 3-1 deficit to the Cleveland Indians.
So the unlikely can certainly became another stroll down memory lane, and a time-honored baseball cliché comes into effect for Game Five: momentum in baseball only goes as far as that day’s starting pitcher.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was the best pitcher to toe the rubber thus far in the ALCS, and the Sox will again need that to happen on Thursday night.
Here are some ALCS deep thoughts/observations from Tuesday night’s game and postseason locker room:
--Jason Varitek may still be feeling the sting of hearing a few stray boos after popping out in the fourth inning during Monday night’s Game Three loss.
Varitek said that anything that needed to be said to the team would be done behind closed doors, but the Sox Captain was also quick to say that the crowd – which has been silent and often dormant while the Rays have trounced the Sox over the first two home games – needs to get more involved in the game. Translation: less booing of the Heart and Soul of your beloved Olde Towne Team and more cheering to pump up the spirits of the Sox: “We’ll do what we need to do. It doesn’t hurt our team to have some faith. We need to find a way to get our crowd involved and get our fans involved. Whether it’s good, bad or indifferent we’ve done a good job of handling things in-house and we’ll continue to do that. But we do need some outside support [from Sox fans].”
--David Ortiz jokingly said that “it’s not the end of the world” which was obviously a joking reference to Manny Ramirez, who famously said that in Cleveland last season and received so much attention that it drew the spotlight away from guys like Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, who struggled early last postseason. Ortiz busted out of a series-long slump when he slammed a ball to deep right field, but he saved his biggest slamming for the guys hitting in front of him in the lineup. Not good when one of your team leaders starts calling out everybody else, and it’s even worse when he starts referring to himself in the third person. Here’s Papi:
“It’ll be a tough situation. Right now we’re playing against a team that is playing like that makes it real hard. They’re performing really good especially hitting-wise. We’ve just got to come back Thursday and try to win.
The problem is that everybody is focusing on Papi not hitting, and to tell you the truth in both series – in Anaheim and with the Rays – Papi doesn’t come to the plate with men on base the whole time. If you look at it Papi probably comes to the plate with guys on base maybe four or five times. You’re not going to change the game when they’re leading by nine, 10 runs in a game.
We need to focus and stop their offense and make sure things don’t happen like they have been. They’ve been killing us. Everybody is locked in in their lineup, and you don’t see that very often. You see three or four guys, but you’d never see their entire lineup.
“You’ve still got to believe. We’ve been there before and you’ve got to just keep playing the way you did before. It’s simple.”
--Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into 9 double plays during the season and another one during the postseason. That’s way, way, way too many GIDPs for a guy with that kind of blazing footspeed.
--Tim Wakefield should never start another playoff game in his career for the Red Sox. Wakefield obviously still has value when he carries only a $4 million price tag for each year he wants to play in Red Stockings until he decides to hang 'em up...but his value is centered in the regular season when he chews up innings [not as many as he used to but enough to still be of value] and usually wins as many as he loses. But he's also toting a 10 plus ERA over his last handful of playoff starts and has taken his team out of too many postseason starts to get his numbered called again. Odds are he'll be back with the Sox again next year, but he should be strictly bullpen duty bound once the October tournament begins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The ALCS and NLCS bring with them the time-honored tradition of Vegas-set odds for everything under the baseball sun. Below are the LCS odds from the good people at BoDog:
It's interesting to note the team-oriented, superstar-free Red Sox have no less than four players that are all sitting at favored 5-to-1 odds to win the ALCS MVP: David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay and Jonathan Papelbon. Meanwhile Manny Ramirez is sitting at 3/1 odds to win the NLCS odds, and I'm quite rooting for that and anything else that ratchets up burgeoning buzz about a Red Sox/Dodgers World Series. This is something that Major League Baseball must really be rooting for as well.
The most likely MVP-worthy Rays -- by the way -- are B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria at 7/1 odds.
World Series and LCS Odds
Odds to Win the 2009 World Series
Boston Red Sox 7/4
Tampa Bay Rays 5/2
Los Angeles Dodgers 3/1
Philadelphia Phillies 13/4
Exact World Series Matchup
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Boston Red Sox 2/1
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox 9/4
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays 11/4
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Tampa Bay Rays 3/1
Which League will the 2008 World Series Winner come from?
National League +125
American League -155
Series Prices
Los Angeles Dodgers Even
Philadelphia Phillies -120
Boston Red Sox -140
Tampa Bay Rays +120
Richard Gardner, Bodog Sportsbook Manager Quote:
"Although the Phillies are favored over the Dodgers to win the NLCS, the Dodgers are favored over the Phillies to win the World Series. This seems to stem from a public perception that the new look Manny Ramirez led Dodgers are a legitimate threat to whichever team emerges from the ALCS. The same cannot be said for the Phillies, who the public seem to believe are too strong a favorite in the series. This belief most likely rises from the popular opinion that the Dodgers regular season record is somewhat deceiving, in that had they had Manny for the entire season, the Dodgers would have entered the NLCS as the team with the best record and thus would have been afforded home field advantage along with being the series favorite."
ALCS Odds
Total Number of hit batsmen in the series
Over 5 Hit Batsmen Even
Under 5 Hit Batsmen -130
Will either team sweep the series?
Yes +475
No -800
Exact Series Finish
Boston Red Sox 4-0 9/1
Boston Red Sox 4-1 7/2
Boston Red Sox 4-2 3/1
Boston Red Sox 4-3 5/1
Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 12/1
Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 6/1
Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 7/2
Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 11/2
Exact Number of Games in the Series
4 Game Series 9/2
5 Game Series 7/4
6 Game Series 6/5
7 Game Series 9/4
Game and Series Double
Boston Red Sox win Game 1 – Series Ends in 4 Games 19/2
Boston Red Sox win Game 1 – Series Ends in 5 Games 4/1
Boston Red Sox win Game 1 – Series Ends in 6 Games 3/1
Boston Red Sox win Game 1 – Series Ends in 7 Games 5/1
Tampa Bay Rays win Game 1 – Series Ends in 4 Games 9/1
Tampa Bay Rays win Game 1 – Series Ends in 5 Games 7/2
Tampa Bay Rays win Game 1 – Series Ends in 6 Games 5/2
Tampa Bay Rays win Game 1 – Series Ends in 7 Games 9/2
Odds to Win the 2008 ALCS MVP
David Ortiz 5/1
Dustin Pedroia 5/1
Jason Bay 5/1
Jonathan Papelbon 5/1
Jon Lester 6/1
B.J. Upton 7/1
Evan Longoria 7/1
Kevin Youkilis 7/1
Akinori Iwamura 8/1
Carlos Pena 8/1
Dan Wheeler 8/1
Jacoby Ellsbury 8/1
Scott Kazmir 8/1
Carl Crawford 10/1
J.D. Drew 10/1
Field Even
Most Hits, Runs and RBI's in the Series
Dustin Pedroia -140
B.J. Upton +110
David Ortiz -150
Evan Longoria +120
Jacoby Ellsbury Even
Akinori Iwamura -130
Cross Series Matchups
Most Hits, Runs and RBI's in the Series
Manny Ramirez
Jason Bay
Most Strikeouts in the 2nd Round of the 2008 MLB Playoffs
Jonathan Papelbon
Brad Lidge
NLCS Odds
Will either team sweep the series?
Yes +450
No -750
Exact Series Finish
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 13/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 5/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 4/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 6/1
Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 8/1
Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 4/1
Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 5/1
Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 11/2
Exact Number of Games in the Series
4 Game Series 9/2
5 Game Series 7/4
6 Game Series 6/5
7 Game Series 5/2
Game and Series Double
Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 1 – Series Ends in 4 Games 11/1
Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 1 – Series Ends in 5 Games 5/1
Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 1 – Series Ends in 6 Games 7/2
Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 1 – Series Ends in 7 Games 6/1
Philadelphia Phillies win Game 1 – Series Ends in 4 Games 8/1
Philadelphia Phillies win Game 1 – Series Ends in 5 Games 7/2
Philadelphia Phillies win Game 1 – Series Ends in 6 Games 5/2
Philadelphia Phillies win Game 1 – Series Ends in 7 Games 9/2
Odds to Win the 2008 NLCS MVP
Manny Ramirez 3/1
Brad Lidge 5/1
Chase Utley 5/1
Ryan Howard 5/1
Cole Hamels 6/1
Derek Lowe 7/1
James Loney 7/1
Jimmy Rollins 7/1
Jonathan Broxton 8/1
Matt Kemp 8/1
Pat Burrell 8/1
Russell Martin 9/1
Andre Ethier 10/1
Takashi Saito 12/1
Casey Blake 15/1
Jayson Werth 15/1
Shane Victorino 15/1
Field Even
Most Hits, Runs and RBI's in the Series
Manny Ramirez -145
Ryan Howard +115
Manny Ramirez -140
Chase Utley +110
James Loney EVEN
Chase Utley -130
Russell Martin -130
Pat Burrell Even
Ryan Howard -110
Chase Utley -120 |
|
|
|
|
|
Justin Masterson is doing his best to look the part of a grizzled vet during his first foray into the postseason.
The baby-faced 23-year-old right-hander has shown age beyond his years while toeing the pitcher’s mound and putting up a 2.25 ERA in four playoff games thus far. He’s even trying his hand at a playoff goatee that admittedly isn’t quite ready for prime time.
“All the bullpen guys have a chin thing going on,” said Masterson, a stunning contrast with Mr. Clean shaved head and a hirsute face. “My hair comes in blond, but – hey – I’ll take it. I’m thinking about getting a little ‘Just For Men’ to darken it up.”
Masterson’s peach-fuzz blond attempt at a playoff beard does reinforce that the rookie is merely at the beginning stages of a shimmering career, and he keeps improving with each passing day. The sidewinding sinkerballer was the beneficiary of a great deal of trust from Sox Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell during the ultimately successful ALDS match-up against a right-handed heavy Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim squad as he worked four times in four games.
Masterson has walked three batters and been knocked around for six hits during his four innings of postseason work, but his manager still raves about the level-headed poise that the young hurler brings to the white-hot spotlight of the season.
The eighth-inning cross-up between Masterson and Varitek during the decisive Game 4 of the ALDS was a rare faltering moment during a momentous rookie season, and it’s expected that Masterson’s composed “playoff face” will be back on the next time he’s asked put out a Boston fire.
“I’m just treating [the playoffs] just like any other game,” said the picture-of-composure rookie. “Because if you sometimes make too much of it then you’re only going to hurt yourself. I’m definitely excited, but I’m also staying within myself.”
The Sox viewed Masterson as a key part of their bullpen equation entering the series against the right-handed heavy Angels lineup. After switch-hitters Chone Figgins and Mark Teixeira and lefty swinging Garret Anderson in the hitting order’s top three spots, the Angels hit five righty batters in a row and curiously refused to break up the right-handed bat convention.
Masterson utilized his heavy sinker and slider combo to neutralize righty bats to the tune of a .196 batting average during the regular season, and was largely effective against the right-handed-heavy bottom portion of LA of A’s lineup. The baby face and beginner’s beard belie the fact that the young man – just a year removed from putting up a 4.34 ERA in Double-A – has earned a key spot in the back end of Boston’s talented ‘pen.
Perhaps Manny Delcarmen will be a bigger factor against a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that could be overpowered by Delcarmen’s nuclear stuff, but Masterson is still lying in wait when he’s needed (both relievers had an ERA over 5 against the Rays this season). Most important of all, Francona and Farrell have already grown comfortable with the idea of giving the ball to a rookie as the all-important Bridge To Papelbon.
“The one thing that we see is three guys that we feel very comfortable pitching the eighth in [Hideki] Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and [Justin] Masterson,” said pitching coach John Farrell. “Particularly against a fastball-hitting team, the life that he creates with his sinker and slider have made him become a weapon. Not just because of the physical abilities, but also his ability to keep him emotions in check. His mound composure is outstanding.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baseball is a big deal to the Bay family.
The patriarch, David, was immediately smitten with the Red Sox teams of the late 1960’s 1970’s and loved watching the underdog Olde Towne Team led by Dewey, Yaz, Pudge and El Tiante play ball at the baseball cathedral in Boston.
“Back in my day I used to watch Saturday baseball and it was always the Yankees and Red Sox on TV, and the Sox were usually the underdogs,” said David. “I really became attached to them as underdogs in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I remember making a toast at Jason’s wedding in 2004 and I said that I hope our daughter is in the Olympics [as a softball player], and that the Pirates do well. I said to Jason, you’re going to get two home runs in Game 7 of the World Series…but the Sox still win the series four games to three. Everybody knew I was a Sox fan and that was the year they won the World Series.”
Young Jason wasn’t quite as enamored with the Sox as his old man, but harbored the same love for the game of baseball and instead became a huge fan of former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Eric Davis. The younger Bay had a “Magnum 44” Eric Davis poster plastered on his wall growing up and seemingly patterned his quick-wristed powerful swing after the athletically gifted Davis.
Bay still holds Davis in enough hardball reverence that he continues to wear Davis’ uniform No. 44 on his back to this very day.
It would almost seem – given those familiar-sounding details -- like the Bay clan was something right out of Braintree or Burlington, but amazingly this Sox success story originates in Trail, British Columbia -- a small Canadian town of 8,000 known more for producing NHL players than middle-of-the-order bats capable of manufacturing 30 homer, 100 RBI seasons.
The Canadian outfielder somehow fought his way through three organizations to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003 and became a Rookie of the Year and All-Star outfielder. Things got better and even a little emotional, however, in the Bay household when dad’s dreams came true and Jason was traded to the Sox on July 31.
Bay was in essence traded for Manny Ramirez, and his dad couldn’t get over the position of baseball royalty that his 30-year-old son was walking into.
“I almost can’t wrap my head around it after so many years of watching Carl and then watching Jimmy Rice playing left field,” said Bay. “All Jason kept saying to us was that it looked it was going to be Tampa Bay, and we were kind of saying ‘please, anywhere but Tampa Bay.’
“He absolutely loves playing for Boston and he loves winning,” said David. “He said to me that it was weird to go from Pittsburgh, where everyone is hoping to play well, to a place like Boston where everything is about winning. Everyone there has told him that they don’t care how it gets done or who does it, so long as the team wins at the end of the day. Jason loves that.”
Bay the senior is looking forward to visiting Boston over the next week and meeting his new granddaughter Evelyn Jane, but he’s also giddy at the thought of watching his son patrol the same piece of outfield real estate that Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Rice called home during their Hall of Fame-level careers.
His son is one of the biggest keys for the Sox heading into the postseason after hitting .293 with nine home runs, 37 RBIs and 39 runs scored in 49 games following his trade to Boston.
There is some question, though, of how the talented outfielder will respond to the pressures of the postseason after years toiling with the lowly Pirates. Bay says the biggest key for him is treating his first playoff experience just like every other of the 771 big league games he’s played in his career.
“I’d like to think I’ve stayed the same. Doing what I’m doing in these type of games does have a little more meaning than being 20 games under in September, but I take a lot of pride in being consistent,” said Bay. “I want to be one of those guys that can be counted on and you know what you’re getting out of them – there’s a lot to be said for that.
“But I do think the atmosphere in these games does bring the best out, and more importantly it’s FUN. Baseball is a blast right now.”
The Bay family’s baseball blast officially started on July 31, but it launched into postseason orbit after Bay smoked a memorable game-winning home run in Game One at Angel Stadium in Anaheim last night.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the news that filtered through the Fenway Park press box just before the end of last night’s doubleheader finale certainly changes things up. Josh Beckett, the one, shining difference-maker after a quick perusal of the other American League playoff rosters, is having an issue with his right oblique muscle, and will miss his Game One start as a result.
Big Game Beckett has been slotted into the Sunday Game Three start at Fenway Park, but it remains to be seen whether the right oblique issue will have healed up enough to not be a throbbing factor in the division series.
A postseason starting quartet of Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd doesn’t quite strike fear into the hearts of the opposition without the heat-tossing ace, and one has to continue to wonder if Beckett is paying for the heavy workload of last season. The Sox training staff and coaching staff have seemingly done everything they could to sidestep problems with Beckett, but they still seem to be cropping up.
Beckett basically had his spring training and the first week of the season wiped out by a lower back problem, missed several weeks with right elbow inflammation and now has an oblique problem that’s cropped up at the worst possible time. That’s three different injuries this season after the 28-year-old remained relatively healthy last season aside from the celebrated avulsion issue on the finger of his right pitching hand. Add to that the fact that – when he did pitch – he was inconsistent and put up a 12-10, 4.03 ERA in his follow-up campaign to a Cy Young Award quality 2007, and you have some interesting questions.
Then add the 230 innings (regular season and postseason) that Beckett pitched in the only season that he’s endured a full body of work from spring training through the entire regular season and then through 30 stressful, dominant postseason innings.
I’ve been banging the drum all season that Beckett is paying the price this season for his brilliance last season, and these little nagging injuries and less-than-Beckett performance could be the resulting collateral damage from last season’s full workload.
Could this just be a coincidence? Maybe, and perhaps Boston's ace comes back and is lights out in Game Three. That's certainly the anticipated happy ending. But I feel like I’m not the only one that senses something has just been a little “off” with Beckett’s mound performances all season long. I actually had an interesting conversation with Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams about the subject of starting pitcher fatigue not too long ago, and thought it at least tengentially applied to the Beckett situation.
Williams pointed to former White Sox starter Freddy Garcia – who ironically is attempting to end Chicago’s season while toeing the rubber for the Detroit Tigers today – as a striking example of a pitcher that paid a price after a large regular season/postseason workload. Garcia threw 228 innings while going 14-8 for the White Sox during the 2005 regular season and then tossed another 21 innings while helping lead a dominant Chicago pitching staff to a World Series title.
But the efforts came at a hefty price that eventually resulted in shoulder surgery that the 33-year-old Garcia is just now recovering from. Take a look at Williams' words and see if you think any of this could potentially apply to Beckett:
“There’s no question. I have looked at the history of what happens to not only teams that have gone to the World Series…but also teams that have gone deep into the playoffs. You look at the history of it and there’s a fatigue aspect to it. In our case, we not only had to deal with general fatigue but the World Baseball Classic also played into it. Freddy had to pitch for Venezuela so he had a month where he had to pitch later than everybody else and then he had a month where he pitched earlier than everybody else. And he hasn’t been the same since.
That’s not a surprise to me and whoever wins this season is going to have the same problem. You have to be very protective of those pitchers. I remember that I wanted to start the 2006 season with six starters and all of the pitchers and everybody thought I was crazy. They told me ‘We feel fine, we feel fine.’ Well, I should have made an executive decision and if we ever win it again we’re starting the season with six starters.
Our guys didn’t get hurt, but you could just tell there was sharpness that wasn’t quite there. They didn’t get hurt, but that was one of the fears that I had. We won 90 games as it was, but I think we could have won 100 games if we were fresh.
You’ve got to take into account the stressful innings too. I count any innings from about Aug. 15 on as a stressful inning and I had conversations with Todd Stottlemyre, Dave Stewart and John Smoltz when I was trying to figure out the whole pitching fatigue thing.
The question I was asking was ‘when you get in a pennant race, how stressful are those innings and do they feel the same physically as innings in April and May do?’ They told me that in a pennant race and the playoffs it’s as though each inning pitched is like you’ve pitched two innings physically. Mentally and physically you have to be there for every pitch and it’s all you’ve got. That’s why max-effort type guys, I worry more about them than guys that have easy, fluid deliveries because those pitchers are going to run out of gas.”
Interesting food for thought, and I also went back and checked the velocity on Beckett's fastball in his last start against the Cleveland Indians on Sept. 22 after noticing his velo seemed to be down quite a bit from normal vintage Beckett. Here's the results from his last start and a random start he made in the middle of the season against the Yankees. Quite a difference there. It doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it's worth noting when several media members attempted to say that Beckett was sitting at 95-mph in his final start. That's just not true as he threw more fastballs 92-93 than 94-95. With all things being equal, it looks as if Beckett has lost 2-3 mph on his fastball dating before his elbow issue and then afterwards.
Sept 22 -- Beckett threw, according to the MLB GameDay Readings, 81 fastballs although a handful on the lower end of the scale may have actually been cutters or change-ups.
88 mph -- 1 pitch 89 mph -- 9 pitches 90 mph -- 5 pitches 91 mph -- 2 pitches 92 mph -- 9 pitches 93 mph -- 23 pitches 94 mph -- 25 pitches 95 mph -- 4 pitches
Here is the July 25 radar gun stats, Beckett vs. the New York Yankees, with the reading again courtesy of MLB GameDay.
89 mph -- 1 pitch 90 mph -- 3 pitches 91 mph -- 4 pitches 92 mph -- 3 pitches 93 mph -- 6 pitches 94 mph -- 14 pitches 95 mph -- 22 pitches 96 mph -- 24 pitches 97 mph -- 3 pitches
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's been a season of breakthroughs and discovery for Jon Lester, who has backed up the early claims by many -- not me because I was way behind the curve when it came to just how good he can be and just how hard he can throw his fastball -- that he was among the best left-handed starters in the Major Leagues.
WEEI.com's Alex Speier wrote a great story about Lester leaning on Cleveland Indians coach Scott Radinsky for information after the veteran lefty reliever similarly defeated cancer before returning to pitch, and everyone has seen the Sox lefty return to full strength en route to a 16-6 and 3.21 ERA in 33 starts this season.
One minor note of concern is the 210 innings that Lester has totalled heading into the postseason after never pitching more than 153 2/3 in a professional season, but Sox pitching coach John Farrell addressed those concerns after Lester's 16th win last night. There's no doubt that Lester is big and strong with a kinetically clean delivery, but a jump up to 230-240 total innings (a distinct possibility if the Sox make it back to the World Series) this season is quite a workload leap. Here are some thoughts from the Sox pitching guru about Lester going forward.
What was it about Lester that gave the organization the freedom to pitch as many innings as he’s thrown this year when he had never pitched more than 153 2/3 in his professional career before?
JF: The thing that he’s really improved upon this year is his pitches per inning. A year ago and during that month of April this season there were a lot of times when he would get into that fifth or sixth inning and he would be at 95 or 105 pitches.
Because he’s able to get some quick out and because he’s able to use that sinker and get the ball on the ground, we still keep an eye on the number of pitches that he’s thrown, but what he’s been able to do is spread those pitches out and be more efficient. That’s why you see the innings increase as much as they have.
Is the fact that there has been a greater frequency of lower stress level innings among those 210 innings been a big factor as well?
JF: What we’re seeing now is the rare inning we’re he’s had to throw 25 or 30 pitches and really dig deep down because he’s in a jam. He’s had those sprinkled in throughout the season, but nowhere near the number that he had experienced last season where it seemed like at least once a game – or maybe a couple of times in a game – he would have to pitch in a bases loaded jam and get one or two outs and that’s where the pitches would get really taxing.
He has not only gained in efficiency, but his delivery is much better and more consistent, which lends into the efficiency that we’ve mentioned.
Do the size and the frame of the pitcher and the differences between him and maybe a smaller-framed “max effort” pitcher play into the innings jump as well?
JF: It does and we don’t just take a subjective view on this because he gets checked from a strength-wise standpoint like all of our pitchers do, but you take into account physical size and strength as well as the fact that he’s gained weight as the season has gone on.
He actually weighs 230 pounds now and coming into spring training he weighed 220 or 222, and you factor that in combination with his arm action. It’s a very clean arm action.
He distributes the stress loads over the course of his entire body rather than in violent action as you mentioned. We’ve been keeping a close eye because we know we’re in uncharted waters here in terms of total innings pitched, and when you jump by more than 30 percent you have to take that into account and very careful.
Because it’s not just this year we’re concerned about, but also looking forward to ’09 and beyond, but he’s a much safer risk to let him do this because of everything we’ve talked about.
How proud are you as a pitching coach of what he’s been able to do knowing all that he's been through as you’ve been with him the last two seasons?
JF: I think everyone in this organization takes a lot of pride and is really personally happy for him and what he’s been able to accomplish. He’s obviously come through a bumpy road, but you see the diligence and the work ethic and he really just has a genuine interest in learning.
He’s really just a very humble guy. There isn’t a lot of braggadocio and he doesn’t draw a lot of attention to himself, and he’s a guy you can very easily root for. I think many people that have come across him along the way share that very same pride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
After weeks of tempering playoff talk and shrugging off postseason decisions that loomed closer by the day, the Sox can finally start peeking ahead to their fifth postseason berth in the last six seasons.
Tuesday night’s victory marked Boston’s 92nd of the season and signified the magical ‘W’ that punched their playoff ticket – a win that likely locks up the AL Wild Card and sets up a first round divisional series matchup against the mighty Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The Halos aren’t the free-swinging and power-challenged Angels teams that have been easily dispatched by the Sox over the last few years, and have instead averaged a .345 on base percentage and 5.3 runs per game since acquiring Mark Teixeira during the month of July. The switch-hitting first baseman has simply changed everything for the Angels, who toted around a .318 on base percentage and averaged 4.3 runs per game prior to Teixeira’s arrival on the Angels Ballpark scene.
But enough about future playoff foes.
Tuesday night’s win bestowed the Sox with a fleeting, champagne-and-beer soaked moment to toast success after a seasonal grind that included casting off the petulant Manny Ramirez and enduring the myriad of injuries that struck Boston's roster all season long.
“You know there was a lot of stuff going on with a lot of crazy injuries and all of that crazy stuff at the deadline, but this team – in the end – really overcame,” said Sox 1B Sean Casey. “It’s one of those things where you can really come together as a team, and I think that we definitely did. That’s a special part of it for me.”
Many celebrants in the postgame locker room pointed to the trade deadline acquisition of OF Jason Bay as the turning point in Boston’s season – the first of a set of falling dominoes that hardened the Olde Towne Team into a playoff caliber squad.
The Ramirez fiasco – a situation where a superstar player seemingly held the barrel of a loaded gun at Boston’s temple over a contractual dispute -- could have torn their baseball season asunder, but instead the Sox adopted a team-first brand of ball after the dread-locked individualist’s departure to Los Angeles.
They proved to be a baseball team made of scrap metal that simply wouldn’t give in: whether they were in the throes of offensive suffering at the hands of a Chicago White Sox lefty named Jon Danks’ no-hit stuff on a humid August night at US Cellular Field; or the Sox simply refusing to give up in a memorable 11 inning game in Toronto that was finally decided by a decidedly clutch home run off the bat of a rookie shortstop named Jed Lowrie.
The Sox, who were three games out in the AL East when the three-team Ramirez deal set off a seismic blast in Boston on July 31, instead went 10-3 in the first 13 games of the post-Manny era and kept themselves squarely in the postseason hunt. It didn’t guarantee the Sox of any playoff glory, but it allowed them to integrate Bay into the Sox mix without missing even a beat.
It’s not much of a chore to integrate when you score 37 runs, knock in 37 runs and put together a .910 OPS in 45 games since pulling on Red Stockings for the very first time, and Bay has effectively silenced those wondering whether the quiet outfielder from Western Canada could handle pressurized ballgames after languishing in Baseball Siberia prior to July 31.
“It’s great that we were together as a team down the stretch and I think we’ve been together the whole year as an organization,” said Sox GM Theo Epstein. “After all the deals at the end of July, getting off to a good start in August was pretty big. I thought we gained a lot of momentum in the month of August. The playoffs obviously weren’t assured at that time, but our guys played really good baseball.”
The Ramirez/Bay swap will ultimately be judged by how the Sox fare in the upcoming playoffs, but simple postseason chatter is proof that optimism is flowing from the first of the Red Sox Nation precinct’s that are reporting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Lowell has been talking quite a bit about his right hip over the last couple of days, and – rightly so – as there is some question as to how healthy the Sox third baseman is going to remain coming down the stretch run.
Despite his early exit from Tuesday night’s game after aggravating his right hip while fielding a short chopper and throwing on the run, Lowell continued to play for four innings afterward and sounded hopeful and optimistic on Wednesday despite dragging around the clubhouse with a pronounced limp.
He mentioned that doctors explained to him that the right hip labrum popped into the joint and then popped back out again, but he thought that was good news and was hoping that the hip would begin to feel like something he could play on again in a few days.
There’s a chance that will happen and Lowell will continue to display the ridiculously high threshold for pain that’s become such a regular part of his game that ‘Iron Man’ by Black Sabbath is played at Fenway when he comes to the plate. There’s also a chance that Lowell’s hip degenerated to a point where the pain and discomfort are going to chip away at his availability and effectiveness over the remaining 10 regular season games and playoffs.
It goes without saying that Lowell’s right-handed bat and Gold Glove defense –not to mention his leadership – are things the Sox can ill afford to replace with their postseason lives hanging in the balance.
With these questions swirling through my mind, I called Dr. Marc Phillippon, a renowned orthopedic hip surgeon who has done some revolutionary work in the world of hip surgery and undertaken extensive research to learn more about injuries associated with the hip. Phillippon is a partner at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colorado and has repaired torn labrum hip injuries for such familiar names in the athletic world as Mario Lemeiux, GregNorman, Rick DiPietro and Luis Castillo.
Basically, Phillippon is considered to be to hip injuries what Dr. James Andrews is to elbow injuries.
With that in mind, I asked this great resource several questions and specifics regarding torn hip labrums. Phillippon’s biggest message was that it’s possible to play through a labrum tear if the area around the hip is stable, so perhaps Lowell’s labrum popping in and out of the joint isn’t such a good sign after all. That would seem to be a pretty big sign of instability, but perhaps his sheer force of will can allow him to grit his teeth through it. I just can’t help but think of Bill Buckner and Kirk Gibson hobbling through the postseason when I think of Lowell battling through October with thiskind of injury.
But then again, if anyone can play through something like this...it's the ultra-tough Lowell.
Here’s some of the good doctor’s interesting insight:
Can you just explain what a torn hip labrum is in layman’sterms?
MP: The labrum basically is the fiber of cartilage that lines the hip socket and when it’s torn it can cause pain.
Is the torn labrum typically something an athlete can play through, or is it pretty limited what a player can gut his way through?
MP: If it’s a stable tear they can play through it. A lot of athletes have a high pain threshold and they can play through it. Usually if the pain persists and it affects their performance, it’s better to fix it in the off-season if possible. I think the best thing I could compare it to wouldbe a torn meniscus in the knee.
You mentioned that if it’s stable an athlete can play through it…what happens when it becomes unstable?
MP: Yeah…when it becomes more unstable it can cause more pain and it can cause muscle spasms. So once it becomes unstable there’s more pain, more muscle spasticity and tendonitis, so usually that can really start affecting an athlete’s performance.
Is a cortisone shot a big part of the treatment when you have a professional athlete attempting to play through a torn labrum?
MP: The first line is to give them some anti-inflammatories like Motrin, Advil or Naproxen and some of the athletes respond very well to that. If the pain persists after that I’m not in favor of giving steroid injections. I’m against that. The injection will sometimes relieve the symptoms, but I personally prefer not to do it.
Is there any danger of further damage to the hip if an athlete is playing through a partially torn labrum?
MP: It depends on where it is, what kind it is, how big the tear is. I would compare it to guys with a meniscus tear in their knees. I would compare it to that. It is a similar kind of problem. The whole key to the thing is how stable the area is and how much his muscles can accommodate to it.
That’s the whole key. Some guys are very strong and their muscles are going to be able to accommodate [the injury] and the muscles will be able to adjust. Short term some players will be able to adjust to this.Short term. Not long term, but short term some guys can adjust to it and perform well. It all depends on how fit the guy is and what his pain threshold is. It also really matters how big the tear is. In general with a labral tear, short term they can play through it but long term it’s going to need to be addressed.
When do you have to perform surgery on a labrum tear in the hip, what’s the prognosis and recovery time?
MP: Prognosis is excellent and usually on average it varies from 8 weeks all the way 16 weeks.
Have you repaired labrum tears for a lot of baseball players?
MP: I’ve done a lot of hockey players and a lot of baseball players. Some guys that I’ve treated have gone on to win the Gold Glove and win the World Series. I’ve treated a lot of baseball players. I’ve actually treated a couple of Mike Lowell’s former teammates with the Florida Marlins back in2001 and 2002. Luis Castillo had a tear in his labrum that I fixed and then he ended up winning the Gold Glove and won a World Series after I treated him.
The injury is basically going to affect athletes in any sport where there’s [hip] rotation. Baseball players whether they’re at bat or the catcher and pitcher, or a second baseman who’s constantly in the flex position. A baseball pitcher they actually rotate their hips very forcefully when they pitch. It’s all about hip rotation.
The first guy I worked with that was pretty well known was Greg Norman, and I took care of him back in 2000. He’s a golfer, so he wasn’ tinvolved in contact sport. But he rotates his hip so forcefully on his swing that he tore the labrum in his hip, and it was really affecting his game so we went in and fixed him.
After we fixed him he went out and almost won the British Open this season.
Does age matter at all as far as recovery goes from an injury like a labrum hip tear?
MP: Age is not necessarily a factor. You might assume that older guys might have more wear and tear, but not necessarily. I’ve seen young guys with more problems and I’ve older guys with very good hips. Age isn’t always a factor.
Are there any genetic predispositions to labrum tears in the hip?
MP: That’s actually a very good question. I’ve done a lot of research on this and we’ve actually come up with a sub-group of athletes that we call “hip at risk” that have a certain geometry to their hips and the way they’ve grown…and they’re predisposed to the labrum tears.
That’s one of my big areas of research. I wouldn’t say its genetic, but there’s certainly – and I can say this for sure – a group of athletes that are at risk for a labrum tear and it’s all because of the way their hips are built. We’re learning a lot and I would say over the past five years we’ve gotten a much better understanding of these injuries and are able to put athletes on prevention programs for these labrum hip injuries. |
|
|
|
|
|
Great news for a deserving Sox alumnus...El Tiante is recognized more now for the excellent cigars that he sells online than for the three All-Star appearances and 229 career wins he posted up during his 19 year big league pitching career, but the Cuban-born Tiant had one of the best pitching runs in Sox history during his four prime years from 1973-76.
Are his numbers Hall of Fame-worthy? That's for the re-organized veterans committee to decide, but Tiant would certainly be in the discussion if we were judging him by the changing criteria for Hall of Fame starting pitchers from about 1987 or so on. The steroid Era and the ongoing specialization in the bullpen are obviously knocking down career victory totals for starting pitchers across the board, so a guy like Tiant might get the second look he deserves in this brave new world of baseball.
One thing there's no doubt about: His 1974 season that saw him go 22-13 with 311 1/3 innings pitched and a 2.92 ERA will go down as one of the best single seasons for a Sox starting pitcher in team history. Hard to believe he finished in a fourth-place tie with Gaylord Perry in the AL Cy Young voting that season, and each of the pitchers that finished ahead of him in the voting are already firmly ensonced in the Hall of Fame. The release from the HOF is listed below:
Ten Finalists Named for Hall of Fame Consideration
Of Players Whose Careers Began in 1943 or Later
-- Veterans Committee Election Results to be Announced December 8 at Winter Meetings--
(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Ten former major league players, whose careers began in 1943 or later, will be considered for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 by the Veterans Committee, with results to be announced December 8 at baseball’s Winter Meetings, it was announced today.
Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills will be considered for election by the Veterans Committee for enshrinement in 2009, with votes to be cast by Hall of Fame members this fall. Any candidate to receive 75% of the vote on all ballots cast will earn election to the Hall of Fame and will be enshrined on July 26, 2009. There are 64 living Hall of Famers.
The ballot for the 2009 Veterans Committee election of players whose careers began in 1943 or later was devised by Hall of Fame members, who served as the Screening Committee in narrowing the list from 21 to 10 names during the month of August.
Earlier this year, the Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, comprised of 11 veteran baseball writers and historians, selected 20 finalists from a list of all eligible players, those whose careers spanned at least 10 major league seasons and started in 1943 or later. Concurrently, a screening committee comprised of six Hall of Famers selected five names for the ballot, and the two lists were merged for a total of 21 candidates.
The 21 candidates considered by the Screening Committee: Allen, Ken Boyer, Bert Campaneris, Rocky Colavito, Mike Cuellar, Steve Garvey, Hodges, Kaat, Ted Kluszewski, Mickey Lolich, Roger Maris, Lee May, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Oliva, Oliver, Pinson, Santo, Tiant, Torre and Wills.
Also in December, a 12-member voting committee will consider the candidacies of 10 former major league players whose careers began in 1942 or earlier: Bill Dahlen, Wes Ferrell, Joe Gordon, Sherry Magee, Carl Mays, Allie Reynolds, Vern Stephens, Mickey Vernon, Bucky Walters and Deacon White. Any candidate to earn votes of 75% of ballots cast will earn election to the Hall of Fame, with enshrinement on July 26, 2009.
The 12 members of the voting committee who are scheduled to meet on December 7 at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas to consider the pre-1943 candidates include: seven Hall of Fame members (Bobby Doerr, Ralph Kiner, Phil Niekro, Robin Roberts, Duke Snider, Don Sutton and Dick Williams), along with five historians (Furman Bisher, Roland Hemond, Steve Hirdt, Bill Madden and Claire Smith).
The 10 former major leaguers whose careers began in 1942 or earlier were screened by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) appointed Historical Overview Committee, comprised of 11 veteran members: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Moss Klein (formerly Newark Star-Ledger); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro, (formerly Baltimore Sun); Jack O’Connell (MLB.com); Nick Peters (Sacramento Bee); Tracy Ringolsby (Rocky Mountain News); and Mark Whicker (Orange County Register). This committee also served as the Overview Committee for the post-1943 ballot, screening names to 20 from the universe of eligible candidates.
The process to consider players whose careers began in 1942 or earlier occurs every five years, next in 2013 for election in 2014. The committee to consider players whose careers began in 1943 or later will consider candidates every other year, next in 2010 for 2011 election.
The Veterans Committee process also features ballots for Managers/Umpires and for Executives, with both of those committees meeting every other year for even-year election, next meeting in 2009 for election in 2010.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Museum is open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. seven days a week. Ticket prices are $16.50 for adults (13 and over), $11 for seniors (65 and over) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $6 for juniors (ages 7-12).
Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. For more information, visit our Web site at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200. |
|
|
|
|
|
September is the time when Sox starting pitchers have started taking over ballgames in recent years.
It was true in 2004 when the trio of Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe combined to eradicate 86 years of hardball futility; it rang true again in 2007 when gunslinger Josh Beckett and Schilling again – this time three years older and getting by more on a gut and guile than on 97-mph velocity -- and it’s expected to hold true again this autumn when the regular season transforms to playoff baseball.
Magic numbers and playoff position are beginning to dominate any relevant baseball discussions, and this season’s edition of Boston starting pitchers may be their best incarnation during the recent run of postseason success in Beantown.
RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka leads the Boston staff with 16 wins and a 2.97 ERA over his adventurous 151 2/3 innings, and will be Boston’s No. 3 starter during the playoffs. RHP Josh Beckett has had brilliant moments along with some stunning thuds during an inconsistent third season with the Sox. Beckett’s campaign included a recent bout with right elbow inflammation, but the 28-year-old has been dominant since coming off the 15-day disabled list on Sept. 5. Big Game Beckett obviously remains the key and will be paramount to any of Boston’s postseason hopes, but LHP Jon Lester could also be a real difference-maker.
The young southpaw, who won his 15th game of the season behind eight innings of one-run ball on Sunday afternoon, has emerged as the clear No. 2 starter on a standout staff. As it is, the entire Sox starting staff is 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA (38 ER/113 2/3 innings) over their last 19 games with five scoreless starts of at least five innings during that span.
That's about as good as it gets during the regular season.
Putting the aforementioned trio together in a short game playoff series or having two-out-of-three toeing the rubber down the stretch in the regular season – as Matsuzaka and Beckett will be in a key series against the Rays in Tampa starting Monday night – and the confidence rises to sky-high levels in the Sox clubhouse.
“You combine [Lester] going into the postseason with Josh and Dice-K, and that’s a pretty good group that we could have going for us,” said Lowell. “Especially when a [playoff] series is a lot shorter than the course of a whole season.”
While playoff roles still haven’t been settled or even clinched at this point, the Sox should again find themselves in a pretty sweet spot when October baseball begins. It’s the very same place they’ve been countless times over the last five years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
