We have another winner in the Gift Card Contest. Congratulations to John from Maine! He is the winner of the $200 Sullivan Tire Gift Card for this week.
Here is a picture from boston.com of the near hole in one from the Pitching in for Kids fundraiser on Monday.
So, they changed the rotation so that Matsuzaka will pitch tonight instead of Lester. I have to say that Daisuke Matsuzaka’s chances of winning 20 games this season are very good. Rick Sutcliffe predicted 20 wins last week on ESPN.com and you have to favor Matsuzaka’s chances at this point.
For the majority of the season, this team will not be the same team offensively that you saw last night and in Tampa this weekend. They are going to hit and the staff will get the run support to win games. Big Papi is not a sub .200 hitter. Mike Lowell’s return should give the offense an additional boost.
What the offense needs to do is score early and deliver in the important situations. Last week there was a situation where they had a man on third with one out and couldn’t score the run. Whoever was up hit ball to the right side but didn’t elevate. With the infield in, you need to hit it hard and elevate to advance the runner. With the fielders playing in so close in that situation you can’t hit it to the pitchers mound, you need to get past the infield dirt.
What happened with the Red Sox offense? This weekend, the Red Sox just got outplayed. If you look at history between these two teams over the past 3 years - and even dating further back to when Pedro was here. The Rays always play us tough. They get good pitching and, though they are a small market time and lack the big name stars featured in the lineup of their divisional rivals, the Rays get up to play high priced teams.
Like Jerry Remy said: at the first game of the series, there were only 3000 fans but Sunday night had a full house.
The Toronto team coming in tonight looks to be different than the team we played at the beginning of April. Daisuke comes back to take on their ace, and if we can get a couple of runs early, I like our chances.
Other Sports:
I watched Adam Scott win on Sunday, but my wife has been following the NBA (she’s a big fan) and we are just waiting for the Celtics to take care of this. Just like in any sport the further you advance, the tougher it gets.
The young players on the Hawks were very physical last night and I have noticed the call for teams to be more physical, not just in basketball, but in all sports. You don’t want to give in to the other team, but at the same time antagonizing the other team isn’t a part of sports. All of the face making and chest pounding is not within the spirit of competition; it sets a bad example for the high school and college students who participate in organized athletics. If the fans want to see yelling, scowling, and physical play, they should be watching the WWE.
Watching the NFL draft this weekend illustrates how much draft has changed over the years and the difference between the MLB and NFL drafts. I was drafted in the first round of the 1971 draft and, though they had told me I was going to be drafted, I had little idea of what to expect. There were no draft parties in those days and it was hardly the media event that is covered in all phases by ESPN and other media outlets.
A scout had given me a sheet that listed some of the other prospects that were to be drafted. None of the names jumped out at me at the time, but George Brett, Mike Schmidt, and Frank Tanana did end up having successful careers.
On that day back in 1971 I went to the local billiard hall in South Carolina. I shot pool with one of my friends and eventually, someone told me that I had been picked up. I went home and my dad told me that I had been drafted by the Red Sox in the first round.
Who was the best pitcher you faced-the hardest to get a hit off, and who was the easiest (Of the pitchers that were in MLB for a significant period)?
j. nichols
When I think of guys I had trouble with, I think of relievers. Guys who hide the ball well in their deliveries like Dan Quisenberry or Dennis Eckersley. These were guys who could come in for a couple innings and be dominant.
Like Papi, he might hit four bullets into the shift and come up empty because the 2nd baseman playing in short right field. He hit the ball well but it still shows up as 0 for 4 in the box score. Well, that type of stuff happened to me also. I might be 0 for 7 against a guy but I still hit him hard. It wasn’t necessarily the pitcher that I stuggled with, it was the defense.
The pitchers who I didn’t like were guys like Eck and Q who I might have faced 20 times but might have struck out 9 times. Quisenberry was toughest on me. He threw hard, hid the ball well, and came almost underhand in his delivery.
I was just curious if you feel you could have played against the Cincinnati Reds
in the 1975 series and that it was only management that did not allow it?
There are many people who think Boston might have won it had you been able
to play. Did you think management was being too conservative in not allowing
you to play?
Curt B.
I appreciate that people think I could have made a difference in the 1975 World Series. I wanted to play in that series and help my teammates. But anyone who thinks that management was being too conservative by not allowing me to play doesn’t know the severity of my injury.
I had a broken hand. With about 10 days to go in the season, Vern Ruhle hit me in the left hand and crushed two of my knuckles. I took the cast off because I didn’t want to be a spectator, but I couldn’t play. I couldn’t grip a bat.
Aside from your 1978 MVP, what was your most memorable experience with the Red Sox?
Nancy S., Peabody, MA
Aside from the memories of 1978, the next memory that jumps out at me is being there and watching the Red Sox win the World Series in 04. I was on teams that came so close twice. Both times, 1975 and 1986, we were one win away from bringing Boston a championship and we didn’t win it.
The 2004 team was a great experience. They were the underdog against the Yankees and completed the greatest comeback in sports history.
People keep asking me about my thoughts on the Red Sox having Bill Buckner return to throw out the first pitch during the home opener. I thought it was great! Bill Buckner didn’t leave Boston on good terms so this allows him to have a positive memories of the Boston Red Sox and their fans. This was good for Bill, the fans, and for the Red Sox Organization.
There are a few guys who have been tacked to the wall by the fans. Guys like Bob Stanley, Bill Buckner, or Mike Torrez who had successful careers save for one unfortunate event in a key situation.
I was in the clubhouse for the first pitch and I thought it was funny to see the confusion on the faces of some of the younger players. They had no idea what the ovation was for. The game has changed and the younger players know more about iPods, cell phones, and video games than Williams, Yaz, and Fisk.
Congratulations to Steven D. of Tewksbury, MA who is this weeks winner of a $200 Sullivan Tire gift card. Look for a new winner next Monday.
The Patriot’s Day baseball game is always a special event. I know that as a player, the team always looked forward to this game because we knew it was special: the early start time, the Boston Marathon, as well as the fact that it was always a home game and a tradition in Boston.
The atmosphere of this day has been enhanced in recent years by some of the wives and girlfriends getting involved and running in the marathon for charity. I don’t remember anything like this back when I played; I think it might have started when Curt and Shonda Schilling came to town. This has made the Marathon Monday game even more of a family event.
The team will be motivated today, and they played great through the weekend, capitalizing on every mistake the Rangers made. Let’s hope Buchholz can bounce back after his last outing and that this ball club keeps winning.
