Hit and Run with Dan Roche

Congratulations

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:24:48 GMT

I congratulate the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox on making it back to the postseason for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons.

I laugh at anyone who says they should have had a "low key" celebration. Why?

You begin your season February 15th. You open your year as defending champs in Japan. You travel all over together. You lose key players to injuries. You trade a Hall of Fame superstar. You bring in new players, young and old. You mold a team together on the field and in the clubhouse.

You are one of only 4 teams in your league to make it to the play-offs. And, you have several new players that have never had a taste of postseason.

Celebrate? Are you kidding me?

Celebreate all you wants guys. You deserve it. We'll see you next week in the postseason.

Congratulations.

Play-offs Are Looming

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:52:29 GMT

The Magic number for the Red Sox to make the postseason for the 5th time in the last six seasons is dwindling. It may very well happen this weekend in Toronto.

Congratulations. So, now what?

How do you feel about this year's edition of your Boston Red Sox?

Boston went 8-10 against Tampa Bay this season. 1-8 vs the LA Angels, and 4-3 vs the Chicao White Sox. The Sox were also 4-3 against the Minnesota Twins, just in case Ron Gardenhire's crew catches the White Sox.

On paper(Theo Epstein's least favorite term), the Red Sox would like to play the White Sox. However, that appears to be a lonsghot. If Boston can rally and win the AL East, they would most likely play the White Sox. However, if they win the WIld Card, it would be on to LA.

The Sox swept the Angels last year thanks to brilliant performances from Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling. Can Boston beat the Angels this year? Sure, why not. I think a rotation of Beckett, Lester, and Matsuzaka matches up well with any combination of John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Jon Garland, Joe Saunders, and Jered Weaver.

The one big difference this season, in my mind, concerning the Angels is the addition of Mark Teixeira. Put him with Vladdy and Torii Hunter and this offense is much tougher to face.

As for Tampa, well, you don't have to worry about the Rays until you get by either the Angels or the White Sox.

Meanwhile, relax and take a deep breath. Get some sleep. Just sit back and watch Theo Epstein, Terry Francona, and John Farrell rest and re-shape the roster so that all the big guns are ready to come out firing in a couple of weeks.

And, congratulations on yet another fun baseball season in New England.

Road Trip

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:00:52 GMT

This is it. The Sox need to put together some good performances over this important nine game road swing through Baltimore, Toronto, and New York.

The Sox enter the swing 4-1/2 games behind the Tampa Rays in the AL East and in a virtual tie with Chicgao/Minnesota in the AL Wild Card chase.

Following this swing the Sox play only nine games away from Fenway Park the rest of the way.

What will be the difference? As David Ortiz told me Sunday...and as Jason Varitek always says..."pitching, pitching, pitching".

Friday Night Drama

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:56:18 GMT

This day had it all. There were storylines everywhere. From the return of David Ortiz to the ejection of Mike Lowell. It was a strange day at the ballpark.

The Red Sox and Yankees opened up an important three game series at Fenway. Let's go through the sub-plots....

Manny Ramirez was in the line-up, batting cleanup, ready to return after having to sit out Wednesday's game at Seattle with a sore knee. A move that surprised even his manager. And then, Manny scratches himself again with the bad knee. He has an MRI to make sure he's ok and it comes back clean. Two things run through your mind. 1) Let's hope it's nothing more than a little tendinitis and he's right back in the line-up soon, or 2) Is this "Manny being Manny" again? I, for one, have always given this guy the "benefit of the doubt" and I will again.

Manny goes down, but David comes back. Awesome to see him back after missing nearly two months with the wrist injury. Nice ovation from the Fenway crowd as well. Give David some time to get his MLB timing back and then watch out.

Ok, enough with Joba Chamberlain throwing at Kevin Youkilis's head. Four times now. Mike Lowell said it best after the game when he said the Sox aren't really angry. They are concerned that Youk could end up seriously hurt. If it's me, I suspend Chamberlain again. What he's doing to Youk could one day kill the guy. Enough. There's zero room for that stuff in the game. Zero. And, by the way, I have always been fine with guys throwing inside. No problem. But this is entirely different.

Wow. Mike Lowell lost it, eh? I agree with him though. He battled arguably the greatest closer in the game. Fought off great pitch after great pitch. And then he gets rung up on "that" pitch? Horrible call. Very frustrating in that situation.

Strange, strange night at the park.

Frustration, Frustration, Frustration...

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:32:41 GMT

You could look at just about everyone in a Red Sox uniform Sunday and find some form of frustration. It was simply that kind of night.

Tim Wakefield, once again, pitched brilliantly for 6-and-1/3rd innings and in the end had nothing to show for it. Javy Lopez led the bullpen woes by promptly coughing up Wake's lead.

Jonathan Papelbon watched in dismay as he 1) didn't get a called 3rd strike he thought he had(but HP ump Laz Diaz felt differently) and 2) watched as a ground ball squirted through the middle of the infield to bring in the game-winning run.

How about Alex Cora, who was trying to do the "right baseball thing" by knocking down Brett Gardner's game-winning single and had it just go off his glove. Ditto for Dustin Pedroia, who also couldn't get to the ball.

How frustrating was it to watch Manny Ramirez watch three straight pitches sail by him as he pinch-hit with two out and a runner on third in the 9th? Manny, who's really struggling at the plate, has done that kind of thing before as he gets a read on a pitcher, but never in that type of situation.

How frustrating was it to watch Julie Lugo, Coco Crisp, and Jason Varitek this series? The trio was a combined 6-for-36 in the 4 games and a mere 1-for-15 in the two losses. And, it seemed like they were all up in crucial situations time and time again.

And it had to be frustrating for Terry Francona to watch as pinch-hitters and bullpen guys failed once again.

All you can say is thank goodness for Jon Lester, who should be heading to the All-Star game next week in New York.

And finally, after going just 3-7 on their 10-game road trip and falling behind Tampa by 5 games(7 in the loss column) in the AL East....at least the Sox come home to friend Fenway.

And Boston welcomes the Minnesota Twins, who are only 16-2 in their last 18 games.

Let's hope it's not three more frustrating games for the hometown team.