First Fenway Visit of 2011

Was very, very cold.  I had on a T-shirt, a Sox long-sleeved shirt, a very comfortable school sweatshirt, and a heavy black trenchcoat--and I was still cold.  Though not as cold as the Sox performance!  So a few notes of what I saw in person:

--The Fenway Faithful are quickly losing the faith.  Several booed most of the night, which isn't helpful for the players.  They're pressing enough as it is--and they ARE clearly pressing--and so putting more pressure on them by booing them is counterproductive.

--But when you're paying your mortgage to watch the games, how else can most vent their frustration?  I just shake my head and logically say what shouldn't have happened; but, in that, my friend is right when he says that, as a fan, "I'm kind of bland."

--And you're supposed to say that in your best Joe Castiglione voice--and make it very nasal.

--So Defense Exhibit A of a player pressing: Crawford, in the 7th, had a 3-1 count on him, with the bases empty, Sox down by 4.  In such a situation, you learn in high school to take that 3-1 pitch.  Always.  A solo homer by you does no good; you need to get on base, start a big inning, make things happen on the basepaths, and hope your teammates keep the line moving.  So you take that 3-1, and if it's a strike, you do what you have to on 3-2.  Plus, that's one more pitch for the reliever to throw, and the more relievers throw, the more you can get to them.  The worst thing you can do is swing at that pitch.  What's he do?  He swings and pops it up to third.  Crawford knows not to do this.  So why do it?  Because he's pressing and trying to do too much.  (Even players like Ortiz need to take on 3-1 there, though the player I'm speaking of here was Crawford, a leadoff guy.)

--Defense Exhibit B: Ellsbury gets on base in the 8th and steals second base, going to third on the errant throw.  At first I told my friend I liked the play because the Sox--yesterday and today--need a spark, anything at all to get them going.  While I still believe this, and while this example is not as egregious as the one described above because of that, you still don't steal 2nd down by 4 in the 8th inning, with your team pressing.  It's a percentage play that, had it failed, would have been disasterous for many reasons.

--The most glaring offensive problem is that they are not playing fundamental baseball when at the plate.  They are not swinging smartly, or working the count, or working the pitchers, etc.  They're flailing up there, or guessing and thinking too much up there.  At 2-10, it needs to come down to: Be smart.  Go back to basics.  And in a hitting count, don't think too much or guess: See the ball, hit the ball.

--The Sox are missing John Farrell.  And somebody needs to get on Curt Young, big-time.

--Francona sent a message to Salty by pinch-hitting Lowrie for him in the 8th.  I've said it a ton already this year, but I'll say it again: Salty is not calling a good game, and he's not hitting.  Maybe Varitek needs to be a backup, but not to this guy.  I want to see Varitek in there for at least the next 10 games.  Let's see what he can do.  He can't do any worse.

--The brand new Hi-Def screens look great, but the info. put on there is for the fan who otherwise would not know what was going on.  In other words, not the serious fan.

--The Sox don't make as much money on tickets as they do on concessions.  Our tickets were $30 each, not too bad for Fenway.  But a regular plastic cup of Coors Lite is $8, and a Sam Adams Summer Ale (perfect for last night's game) was $8.50.  A quick look around you shows you that a vast majority of the 38,000 fans had at least one.  And those who had more than one compensated for those who didn't have any, believe me.

--Jencks needs to pitch out of the stretch all the time.

--It's a mystery why J.D. Drew, with that swing, hasn't amassed 3,000 hits.  Except, of course, that he doesn't play when he gets a splinter, and he doesn't swing a vast majority of the time.  Okay, forget I said that.

--To show how unfaithful the Faithful are, when the Sox trailed by 4, the place emptied out, fast.  There was a sparse crowd after the 6th inning, and almost no one saw the 3 runs in the 8th.

--A quick look at today's news shows you that Dykstra has been arrested for stealing from himself (can't do that when you declare bankruptcy) and that he's been defrauding others for years.  Don't say I didn't tell you.  If you've forgotten, read my blog entry on him here.

--And Gooden got 5 years' probation for being high on cocaine while driving, causing an accident in which a child of his wasn't buckled in.  Call it the Curse of '86.  Buckner lives a life of guilt-free bliss compared to these guys.

Carl Crawford, and Beyond

Photo: Me at Picnic in the Park, July 5th, 2009.  With the signings of Gonzalez and Crawford, I'm predicting right now that this picture shows the expected finish of the teams at the end of next year before the playoffs.  (I was going to show a picture of Ellsbury signing a ball for me, but I wasn't sure about the legalities of showing a player's image on my blog.  Please email me at the address above if you know the laws about this.)


Well, I have to say I'm surprised.  I like the signing, even at 7 years / $142 million.  I like Carl Crawford, and you'd have to say the Sox offense is on par now with the Yanks', or even better.  It also probably says goodbye to Jacoby Ellsbury, and I'm surprisingly okay with that.  There's been something up with him that the casual fan--or the more involved fan like me--doesn't know about.  A friend said to me today, "He says he's still sore," and I responded, "Yeah, literally and figuratively," because there's a lot of animosity there that hasn't come out to us.  Ellsbury is very upset with the Sox about how they treated his rib injury, and the Sox are very upset with him about how he's responded to it--and about how upset with them he is.  There's also something else, I believe (with admittedly little or no proof), that someone is hiding from us.  Some disability, or addiction, or problem, or something, that's being explained with, "Rib injury."  His ribs are definitely injured, but there's something else...

At any rate, though it would be wonderful to keep him, you now have a severe glut of outfielders.  This is a great problem to have, because a couple of them, at least, are going to be traded for relief help, and you'd have to be a fool if you didn't ask for Ellsbury in return for a really good reliever.  Drew's not going anywhere, so he'll be in right, with Kalish/McDonald/Nava backing him up--because you know his neck and back will bother him.  A lot.  Crawford will be in left, or in center; ditto for Cameron, who isn't going anywhere for the same reason Drew isn't: they're too expensive, and no one wants them.  I'd love to pawn them off on someone, but who'd take them?  The ideal situation is Drew/Kalish in right, Ellsbury/Kalish in center, and Crawford in left, though Crawford could play center for me any day.  That leads McDonald and Nava available, but I can't believe anyone would part with a high quality reliever for those two guys.  But I do believe that lots of teams would part for one, or both, of those guys, and Kalish.  I also believe lots of teams would part with a quality releiver, straight up, for Ellsbury (with McDonald or Nava thrown in, but you're overpaying for a high quality reliever if you give up Ellsbury and Kalish for one guy), especially considering Ellsbury's health concerns.

That's the point of this deal: Ellsbury, Kalish, McDonald and Nava are all expendable now, and you could get at least two high quality relievers for any combination of those guys.  Or you could just sign Kerry Wood, which I would (assuming the Sox haven't emptied the cookie jar already, which is a very real possibility), and then trade Ellsbury OR Kalish for another good reliever, with any combination of Nava and McDonald if someone insists.  (I think those two are part-time or three-quarters players, like Cameron, but Cameron even now is much better.  None of those three will ever be a full-time permanent major league player.)  I think the Sox think that Kalish is the prime player here, and would rather lose Ellsbury, for the reasons I explained above.

I'm surprised, though, about the Crawford signing  because, really, the Sox didn't need him.  With Kalish/Ellsbury/McDonald/Drew and Nava in the outfield, the Sox still were second in the majors in runs and offense last year.  They missed the playoffs because of their starting and relieving last year, plain and simple.  So they could have traded any combination of those guys for a couple of relievers--one great, one good--and they still would make the playoffs next year, if not go all the way.  They didn't need another outfielder.  This signing means that three or four of those guys definitely will go, and you'll definitely get those two relievers, and who knows what else they'll do by then?  With that relief help, and Beckett and Lackey returning to something that even a little bit resembles what they're supposed to be, and I'm writing about next year's Series winner now.

All of this also means that they're playoff contenders for the next 7 years, and that Ortiz, Papelbon, Cameron, Drew, etc. will definitely not be back after next year.  They just spent all the money they were saving by jettisoning those players by getting Crawford and Gonzalez now.  And who could blame them?  I'm okay with losing Papelbon after this coming year for the same exact reason I am about losing Ellsbury.  I'll be said to see Big Papi go, and maybe they'll resign him to a much cheaper, incentive-laden contract (which I think both sides would be very happy with), but nobody can deny that the big guy has been slipping, even if last year was a bit of a rebound from the year before.  But he's clearly not going to get better, and he's clearly not going to be able to stay at last year's level, either.  Now would be a good time for him to start slimming down, too.  Make that swing a little quicker, maybe.  Make the body last a little more.  But if you lose him after next year, and if you have a couple of those outfielders (minus Ellsbury and/or Kalish, who'll definitely be traded by then), then you can platoon them at DH, and move around the outfielders to DH to give them an occasional day off in the field, and you wouldn't lose much offensively when you tally the numbers at the end of the year.