Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Don Orsillo on WEEI

Don Orsillo was on WEEI today and talked about a possible deal for Halladay, Julio Lugo and what it has been like working with other announcers this season. Listen below:

Watch this at WEEI

Red Sox Fans Turn to On Demand to Fill Baseball Void

With no baseball yesterday Sox fans in New England went to On-Demand to get their fix:

more than 100,000 programs already watched one month after the new service launched exclusively on Comcast. The incredible popularity of Red Sox On Demand makes it the number one category of locally produced On Demand programming in New England....This week, Red Sox On Demand programming includes profiles of pitcher Justin Masterson and Red Sox legend Dom DiMaggio, a special on the history of the iconic Citgo sign overlooking Fenway Park and features of Mike Lowell playing monopoly with Red Sox Foundation supporters and David Ortiz golfing during his signature fundraiser in the Dominican Republic. Red Sox On Demand also gives fans a closer look at the Cape Cod League, the Salem Red Sox and the Greenville Drive.

To bad the program is not available outside of New England for the rest of Red Sox Nation.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Time for another contest here on Fenway West. Jacoby is getting close to breaking the Red Sox single season stolen base record. Correctly pick the game and inning in which Ellsbury breaks the single season Red Sox stolen base record of 54 held by Tommy Harper since 1973 and win a Red Sox key chain courtesy of www.wholesalekeychain.com. This is a real leather key chain like the one pictured with the Red Sox Logo. Put your guess in the comments section of this post to enter. You can see the remaining Red Sox schedule here to help with your pick. Good luck!

If you are interested in buying Boston Red Sox Keychains enter promo code FenwayWest for a 10% discount.

Jason Bay Blogs About His All-Star Experience

Jason Bay has a blog post up over at WEEI.com where he talks about some of the highlight of the All-Star experience in St. Louis this week. Here are a few of the highlights:

So I become an American citizen and a week later I meet the President. That’s how it works for everybody, isn’t it?....from the time we went on the field one thing I couldn’t take my eyes off were the snipers on top of the stadium. Even in the fourth inning, I couldn’t stop looking at them because from where I was it looked like a video game, with the dark silhouette and with the sun setting. I’m thinking, “These are snipers! That’s so cool!”....Put it this way, you know you’re probably going to get fastballs from the best pitchers around, so you aren’t preaching patience. There’s no ‘Moneyballing’ it in this game.

We can only hope that he keeps on blogging for the rest of the season and for years to come when the Red Sox lock him up.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A.L. Continues Winning Streak in ASG

The American League won the All-Star Game again and secured home field advantage for the World Series. There were 6 members of the Red Sox on the A.L. All-Star Team but only 3 of them saw action. Jason Bay went 1-2 with a walk in the game, Youk was 1-1 as a pinch hitter and Papelbon earned the win even though he almost gave up a home run that would have tied the game. Carl Crawford made a great catch to preserve the victory for the A.L. and save Paps' bacon. Wake and Beckett did not get into the game.

A.L. Wins 4-3 BOX SCORE

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

Jason Bay says Sox fans have seen nothing yet. Interesting tidbits from redsox.com: "Bay is the first Red Sox player to reach base five times without recording a hit since Ted Williams on May 23, 1951, vs. the St. Louis Browns -- five walks for Teddy Ballgame. ... Rehabbing shortstop Jed Lowrie (left wrist) went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored on Sunday for Triple-A Pawtucket. ... With a stolen base in Sunday's 6-0 victory over the Royals, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury became the second player in Red Sox history to record 40 steals in multiple seasons, joining Hall of Famer Tris Speaker (1912-14). ... Boston enters the second half of the season in first place in the AL East for the fifth consecutive year, dating back to 2005."

Pedroia Talks About His Decision to Skip All-Star Game

Dustin Pedroia will not be in St. Louis tonight and fans should all support him in his decision. His wife went into premature labor and was admitted to the hospital to postpone the delivery.

“It was pretty tough, obviously,’’ Pedroia said. “I’ve got to be with my wife right now. It’s more important. Obviously I’m extremely honored to be selected by the fans. I wish I could be there, but I hope everybody understands....She’s kind of the same right now,’’ Pedroia said. “That’s one of the reasons I was hoping she’d get better. That’s why I put it off to the last minute. But hopefully the next few days she gets better.’’

Jason Bay, Youk, Beckett, and Papelbon will all be there to represent the Red Sox and ensure home field advantage this October.

Monday, July 13, 2009

One More Post on Wake

My last one, I promise (yeah, right, Dave.) There's another great story on Wake's 1st ASG selection on MLB.COM, with a great video of an interview with him. Check it out.

Weekend Wrap Up: Fenway Edition

I posted this over on my personal blog, but wanted to double post it over here as well since it is very much Red Sox related. Enjoy!

Hey all out there in the internets....I'm a lucky duck and off work today. I was smart enough to request a day off to recover from my weekend.

I had to work until noon on Saturday because I am an idiot and scheduled to teach a class on the same day I was heading to Fenway Park. Brilliant planning on my part there. Luckily, it worked out. I worked from 8am-12pm...changed into my Red Sox attire and jetted down the Northway to get on the bus and go to Fenway Park.

That is the pic I took walking up to Fenway for the first time. I've been a Red Sox fan for a long time now...but never been to a game at Fenway. Now that I've been, I can't believe I waited that long. I went with a dear friend of mine. She's a fan as well....you know, not crazy obsessed like me, but a fan none the less. She got to witness my crazy obsession first hand.

Here is my top 5 list of my first trip to Fenway Park:

1. Great game. The Sox went out to a 9-0 lead and it looked like the game was well in hand. Then almost the whole bullpen drank a case of the suck and before we knew it the Sox were clinging to a 9-7 lead. Luckily the Sox offense was still on a tear and the Royals didn't believe in something called defense...and the boys won the game 15-9. John Smoltz got his first win in a Boston uni....and I believe I brought him luck.

2. The Kansas City fan on our bus. Almost everyone on the bus was a Sox fan...everyone but one guy. He and his lonely self boarded the bus wearing a Royals jersey. He had the most angry body language while he was watching the game. He was in the last row in the bleachers and stood the whole time, arms crossed with a huge scowl on his face. I kept looking back and checking on him because he amused me. My friend and I...and the couple sitting next to us joked that KC guy looked so pissed that he planned on killing us all on the way home as we fell asleep. And umm...I was only half kidding. The guy not only rode a bus for 3 hours to watch his team lose...but he also had a major creeper vibe to him. I almost took a pic of him while he was stewing during the game, but that just seemed mean. Still funny though...and on Monday morning, I wish I did.

3. Jason Varitek looked at me. I feel like such a dork that this brings me such happiness. I walked around with my friend for a good while and then walked around a little by myself to take some pictures and what not. I went down to the bullpen since Smoltzie was warming up with Tek. This nice couple...well, I don't think they were technically a couple since the woman was a nun and all...but they let me stand in front of them to take pictures. They were darling sweet. Anyways...back to Tek. So, I was taking pics of Smoltz and Tek...and Tek was actually really close to me. He was turned away, so I wanted to get a pic of him and his adorable face, so I yelled his name...and he turned and looked at me. I know...hand me my dork card. I almost forgot to take the pic since I was startled, but I would not be denied. Here is my close up Tek pic:

Jason Varitek

4. Yelling at JD Drew haters. I know he's not the most popular Red Sox player, but he's on the top of my list. Some of the crowd around me was heckling or booing JD as he came up to bat. Ugh. Expected, but still annoyed me none the less. Later in the game, JD made a spectacular throw to home that stopped the Royals from scoring another run. It was a genius play and I didn't think anyone could make that throw...but JD did. After the play...the crowd cheered and I yelled..."Yeah, who hates JD Drew NOW?" No one really responded to my yelling...which is probably better, but still happy I let people know about JD, his awesomeness and how wrong they all were. Just sayin...

5. The rain. The words Boston and rain have been permanently linked this summer. The weather report indicated no rain for the day. They were almost right. The skies stayed clear...until the top of the 9th inning. It started with a few drops here or there. By the time Saito took the mound, the rain turned from a few drops to a pretty steady rain. Saito had a 1-2-3 inning and as we were leaving the park the skies opened up and it started pouring. By the time my friend and I made it to the bus.....we were soaked from head to toe. There was not a dry spot on my body. And...I had light khaki pants on, so let's just say the world or at least my bus was aware of what color undies I was wearing. Good times, good times....really, it was. At least the rain gods waited until the game was almost over. I didn't get home until 4am as it was so a rain delay would have made me super cranky.

And one more for good measure...

This girl knows something something about baseball. I am used to most people thinking women who like baseball are there to watch cute boys and don't really know much about the actual game. I spent a good deal of time during the game explaining some things to my friend and just talking about the game and the players. Yes, I mentioned some of the players hotness....but more time was spent watching the game and commenting on said game. At one point during the game...while my friend was gone getting a drink and a hotdog...the guy sitting next to us had a question about Justin Masterson. So, he immediately turned and asked me. Of course I knew the answer. Later he wanted to know about Bates...what his story was, etc. So, we chatted about Bates and then both CHEERED when Bates got his first major league hit. It was just nice to see someone actually seeing a female is a fan...not just there to watch pretty boys run around.

I have some pics up over at the Facebook. If you and I are friends at the Facebook...feel free to check them out. There is no one on facebook who is not completely aware of my trip to Fenway, how excited I was about it....and what a great time I had.

I gotta figure out how to get back to Fenway and SOON.

Beckett Talks About His 100th Win

Josh Beckett spoke with reporters after last night's shut out victory over the Kansas City Royals. Watch below:

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Heavy

It's no secret that Tim Wakefield has been my favorite Sox player for a long time (followed by Pesky, DiMaggio, Pedroia, Yaz, Tony C, and yes Manny, too.) I thought Wake should have been on the All Star Team last year, as he had a formidable stretch in his last 7 games before the ASG (7+ innings each game, 1.98 ERA), but since Tito was the manager, and there were several Sox already on the team, he had to pass on Wake. (He had to pass on Lester, too, who was also having a monster year.)

In today's Boston Globe, Adam Kilgore tells the great story of Wake's success and difficulties in Pittsburgh back in '92 and '93. Pittsburgh released him after going 6-11, with a 5.61 ERA in '93. Dan Duquette, as GM of the old Montreal Expos, had seen him pitch in his rookie year of '92, when he went 8-1, 2.15 ERA, and snatched him up on opening day '94. He firmly believed that Wake was the difference in Pittsburgh making it to the post-season that year and not the Expos. Wake has been with the Sox ever since, quietly going about his business. Kilgore tells of Wake learning from Charlie Hough, his friendship with another well respected Sox, Mike Timlin, his team leading community appearances, and his charitable work for The Franciscan Hospital for Children.

Wake has had some up years and some down years along the way, and while his numbers may not get him into the MLB HoF, he most certainly be will be in the Red Sox HoF. He is bearing down on a couple of notable milestones: he has 189 career wins right now, 2910+ IP, and 1968 K's. Knuckleballers historically have pitched well into their mid and late 40's, so here's hoping that we still see Wake in a Sox uni for a few more years to come.

As an aside, my brother in RI, yard sale and flea market wiz that he is, gave me a Wakefield Pittsburgh shirt years ago, but my ex-wife.....

Ah, what are exes for anyhow? Who knew? Who could have known?

Beckett pitches a complete game shutout against Royals

The final game of the Red Sox homestand before heading into the All Star Break, Josh Beckett reminded all of Red Sox Nation and Major League Baseball why he is well deserving of a spot on the AL's All Star Team.

A game after the Red Sox used more of their bullpen than they would have liked (I'll looking at you Masterson and Delcarmen), the Red Sox really could have used their starter going late into the game. Josh Beckett gave them that and then some.

Beckett pitched a 94 pitch complete game shutout of the Royals to get a 6-0 win. It was a thing of sheer beauty to watch. He was a strike out machine in the first few innings and later flew through innings barely throwing any pitches at all. Josh was dealing, no doubt. This was also a career 100th victory for Josh Beckett bringing his 2009 record to 11-3.

"It's pretty memorable" to post his 100th win, Beckett said, "and the way I did it is cool."

Beckett (11-3) retired the first nine batters, five on strikeouts. It was his second shutout and complete game of the season following his 3-0 win over Atlanta on June 20. He finished with seven strikeouts and no walks.

After Aaron Bates got his first major league hit in last night's game, he picked up right where he left off. He went 3-4 in the game with an RBI. I wasn't too familiar with Bates before he was called up, but he sure is on my radar now.

Jason Bay was on base 5 times tonight, but none of them as a result of getting a hit. He was walked during his first 3 plate appearances and then reached with hit by pitch in his last two at bats. It took until his 4th at bat for the Royals pitchers to throw him one strike. It was an interesting and good day for Bay's OBP at least.

Sox WIN 6-0 BOX SCORE

In related AL East news today:

The Angels beat the New York Yankees 5-4 to complete a series sweep. That leaves the Yankees trailing the Red Sox by 3 games heading into the All Star Break.

The Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 to take that series 2-1. That leaves the Rays 6.5 back in the hunt for the AL East.

Ahh....SO GOOD...SO GOOD....SO GOOD!

Buchholz to pitch for the Red Sox on Friday!

I am a happy happy camper. Wanna know why?

Is it because I went to my first game at Fenway Park on Saturday? Possibly. (I'll post a more in depth post on this soon).

Is it because Josh Beckett just pitched a 94 pitch complete game shutout and recorded his 100th career win? Possibly.

Or...

Could it be because at the post game interview Terry Francona made an announcement that has me doing cartwheels and jumping for joy?

What did Tito say? Well, he said that on Friday, the first game after the All Star Game, the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox will be.....

CLAY BUCHHOLZ.

Cannot contain excitement. I have waited to see him on the mound for the Sox all season long. I don't have more info on the details...how they are dealing with the roster to make this happen...if this is a one time start or if Clay is going to hang with the rotation for a while. It's hot off the presses...and something that makes Shelley aka HUGE CLAY FAN very happy.

Of course, it also makes me suspicious. I know that there were Toronto scouts at the PawSox game today when Buch was pitching. I do fear that they are bringing Clay up to showcase him pitching on the major league level to whoever out there might be watching.

I'll say it once. I'll say it again. NO TRADE CLAY.

But, for right now...I am just going to bask in the excitement that I am going to see Clay pitching with the Red Sox in less than a week. WOOT! WOOT!

EDITED TO ADD:

The Globe has an article with a little more info on Clay and the decision to have him pitch on Friday. Tito said they were concerned about rest of their starters who are participating in the All Star Game. They did not want to change the rotation for their starters, so they are bringing Clay up on Friday and then will send him back down to the minors and return to their regularly scheduled rotation of Penny, Lester, Smoltz, Beckett and Wakefield.

Francona said Buchholz was selected for a variety of reasons, but part of that is rewarding him for his fantastic performance in the minor leagues so far.

“That’s part of it,” Francona said. “He’s very important to what we’re doing, obviously, in the future. I don’t that we would just do that. It lines up real well. It should benefit him and us.”

Today's Red Sox Lineup 7/12 vs K.C.

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Varitek C
Baldelli RF
Green SS
Bates 1B

Beckett SP

Smoltz Earns His First Win

John Smoltz had his best outing of the season going 5 innings and giving up just 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 7. He had plenty of run support from the Red Sox offense and left the game with a 9-1 lead.

The bullpen that had been the best part of the team for the first 1/3 of the season, again showed signs of fatigue. Masterson came in to relieve Smoltz and was awful; he gave up 5 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. Okijima also had an off night giving up a home run and 2 other hits in 1/3 of an inning.

The bats were on fire with 2 homers by Youk and additional homers by Big Papi and Tek. Every batter but Kotsay (who had 2 walks) had a hit in the game.

Red Sox Win 15-9 BOX SCORE

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 7/11 vs K.C.

J.D. Drew, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Jason Varitek, C
Mark Kotsay, 1B
Nick Green, SS

John Smoltz, SP

Web Sox Nation Video

Here's the video of my appearance on CSNNE's The Baseball Show from this morning. I am the third site in the clip:

Joba is in Denial

Joba got shelled last night but he thinks things are going swimmingly:

Joba says three times that his stuff and mechanics in the last two starts were the best he has had this season. Here is his line in those two starts:
8 innings, 18 hits, 13 runs, 7 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 3 home runs....I’m also getting a sense that his teammates are tired of the “well, I threw the ball pretty well” stuff...
“You have to work your tail off,” Chamberlain said. “But the sun will come out tomorrow. I’ll be the same person I was before.”

Well, the sun will come out in Scranton, too. At some point the Yankees can’t let a starter go five innings every time.

Seems like the Yankees have their own version of Dice-K, only the Yankees don't have the depth to deal with the problem like the Red Sox do.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Ever wonder what goes on in your old hometown?

Well, I don't really call Pawtucket my hometown, but my family moved there just before I entered 8th grade. I went to high school in the shadow of McCoy Stadium, went to a few games there (hopefully another later this month), and saw some 4th of July fireworks there, too.

I don't think of Pawtucket unless it has something to do with the Sox, and I found a story about the shady side of Pawtucket and one of the PawSox. It turns out that Clay Buchholz had 2 of his rims stolen off of his BMW when two Pawtucket men were caught in that act after being seen by a witness.

Ah, yes. Pawtucket. I told my father we should have tried to strike up a deal with the Sox! (Our family used to own a furniture store and rental properties, some furnished, just minutes from McCoy; and he's a Yankees fan. Sigh.)

Pedey's Wall-Ball Saves Lester's Gem

Jon Lester was dealing tonight but the offense was struggling against the Royals starter, Brian Bannister. Lester went 8 shutout innings giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.

Ellsbury had the only hit (he was thrown out at the plate and ejected for arguing the call) for the Red Sox until the 8th inning when Kotsay led up with a single. Green bunted him over to second with 2 strikes putting the go-ahead run a second. The table was set for J.D. Drew but he wiffed putting the pressure on Pedroia. Dustin came through with a wall-ball double scoring Kotsay and giving the Sox all the runs they would need.

Papelbon had good stuff and finally put Red Sox Nation at ease with three quick outs preserving the win for Boston.

Red Sox Win 1-0 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	1

The Baseball Show

I'll be on the Baseball Show tomorrow morning on CSNNE as part of Web Sox Nation so tune in if you are in the viewing area.

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 7/10 vs KC

Drew RF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Ellsbury CF
Varitek C
Kotsay 1B
Green SS

Lester SP

Dustin Pedroia, Please Stick to Baseball

If your kids are depending on Dustin Pedroia to teach them about taxes they might as well have Lenny Dykstra as their financial adviser. Watch the train wreck below:

HT to Bugs & Cranks

Ortiz's 300th Not Enough

Big Papi hit his 300th career home run last night but it was not enough for the suddenly struggling bullpen. In 2 2.3 innings, MDC, Masterson, and RR gave up 7 hits and 5 earned runs to one of the worst offenses in baseball. 4 of the last 5 losses can be attributed to the pen; the All-Star break can not come soon enough for some of the tired arms. The loss puts the Red Sox in a tie for first place in the A.L. East.

Red Sox Lose 8-6 BOX SCORE

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Saturday, July 11, 2009

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