I thought Tudor was amazing. Jon Lester reminds me of him. I was wondering if you ever faced Tudor & if you saw any comparison.

I don’t see the comparison. I don’t remember John Tudor throwing 92-94mph the way that Jon Lester does. Tudor was more of a finesse pitcher. I don’t think I ever faced Tudor, but just like any lefty, If I faced him I probably would have taken him deep.I would compare Jon Lester to Bruce Hurst.  Like Hurst, Lester throws harder than Tudor did, has the height, and throws pretty good curveball.

Tomorrow is the trade deadline and I don’t think there is any way that Manny Ramirez is traded.  His is a tough bat to replace in the lineup.  So while I think the Red Sox may see what’s available, they will let Manny play out the year.

I don’t necessarily think the book is closed on Manny’s career in Boston at the end of this season.  We are talking about a guy who has a chance to hit 600 homeruns; those are some big shoes to try and fill in left field.  I think the team will look at the market and look at Manny’s value and, at least, talk with his agent.  His mind changes often and the Red Sox will see if, by the end of the season, he wants to stay and what they can do to change his attitude.

There will be conversations with Manny in the off-season.

Justin Masterson is coming back to the Red Sox in a move that should help to shore up the bull pen. I hope this move is what it takes to solidify the relief pitching because I do NOT like the idea of trading for a reliever.

Relievers are such an unknown commodity in today’s game that just because you make a trade doesn’t mean it will work out. You never know how a player will perform after moving from a small market to big market or in the second half of the season. No one thought that Eric Gagne or Scott Saurbeck would perform the way they did following their respective trades to Boston.

While the team waits for help, the lineup needs to do some of the small things to steal runs. Over the last five games, the Red Sox have left too many runs on the table. The team needs to do the small things to help score runs. I know that Pedroia is a good hitting 2^nd basemen but does he ever bunt? I bunted and I was a pretty good hitter.

You need to do the small things to score runs because games are so much more important in the 2^nd half of the season than in April, May, and June.

The media has grasped hold of the idea that Jacoby Ellsbury is slumping and should be moved lower in the batting order.  He may actually need a rest because it looks like his bat speed has slowed.  He took a big cut at a mid 80’s 2-0 fastball from Washburn last night and was late on it.  He’s playing every day and has taken a lot of wear and tear over the course of the season.  Jacoby is running a lot, both in the field and when he gets on base, which may have worn him out prematurely.

As I always say, the major leagues is about making adjustments.  Sometimes when your body is worn, a player is too tired and frustrated to think clear enough to make the necessary adjustments from pitch to pitch.  Jacoby needs a rest to recuperate both physically and mentally.

I had a great time at the Pregame Ceremony at Pawtucket this weekend in honor of my 1974 International League Triple Crown. Joe Morgan was there as we were honored by the International League Hall of Fame along with Paw Sox owner Ben Mondor.

It is not a good idea to wear a suit if you are going to be standing in the middle of a field in 92 degree weather.

The offense on the minor league team looked good, but the pitching could have been better.

Much like having to rotate your tires on your car as regular maintenance, to ensure their ultimate longevity, what would you say is the most important thing you can do regarding your physical maintenance as an athlete, to put your self in a position to be productive and healthy over the coarse of a long career in baseball such as yours.
Jason D. - Maine

The best way to stay healthy and avoid injury is to know yourself and take care of yourself and listen to your body for warnings of wear and tear.

Back when I played, we didn’t see as many injuries as there are nowadays.  But back in the 1970’s and 80’s we didn’t have the same emphasis on weight and strength training that exists in Baseball today. My theory has been that players today don’t have baseball muscles; they have muscles that let them look good in a uniform.  The training that a lot of players endure is more for vanity rather than excelling at their sport.

The game of baseball is played with 38 oz bat (when I played it was, most are down to 34oz now) and the ball is 4-5 oz.  There is no need for a player to bench press 400 lbs in preparation for swinging a bat or throwing a baseball.  That type of intense strength training makes the players bodies too big and their muscles too tight as well as putting extra stress on joints, ligaments, and tendons.

If players are going to work out with weights, they need to have an element to their routine that will keep the muscles long.  Herschel Walker had ballet and now Manny Ramirez has yoga.  This all works to stretch out the muscles.  The players in Japan will stretch for an hour to an hour and a half.

Is it my imagination or have the number of outfielders who are threats to throw out runners at home or third decreased over the past decade or so? It really effects the game and I for one miss the cannon arms. Is this not a fundamental that is taught at all levels?
Alex from Groton

You are right and there are a couple of factors that have caused this. First, Nobody is running anymore. The offensive philosophy of baseball has changed because of the recent power surge. It doesn’t make sense to get caught trying to stretch a double into a triple when the next batter in the order has the possibility of hitting a 2 run home run and score the run regardless of whether the runner is at second or third.

The other thing that has cut down on outfield assists is that outfielders do not take infield practice anymore. When I played, all players took ground balls in the infield and made throws over to first base. This developed strong and accurate arms in the outfielders as well as the infielders. This is no longer a practice in the majors or even in the minors.

To me there are a couple of big surprises that had the largest contributions to the Red Sox success in the first half. I don’t think anyone expected Dustin Pedroia would have a first half of the season like this. At this point in the season, Pedroia already has more homeruns than he did in all of 2007 in which he won the Rookie of the year award, and needs just 4 more RBI to beat last year’s total.

JD Drew’s offensive explosion is a welcome surprise as most people expected the 2007 version of Drew to be the type of production we would expect for the duration of his contract. This year’s version of JD Drew has been closer to the 2004 version that hit 30+ HR for the Atlanta Braves.

These offensive outbursts are the reasons that the that the Red Sox have been able to enter the all star break with a half game lead in the AL East even though they have played more than a month without David Ortiz.

The All Star Experience is something that really doesn’t have a comparison because it is one day and the atmosphere is more relaxed than playing post-season baseball. But when you get on that stage, you know that it’s showtime.

You get all types of players at the game: perennial stars who are at the game each year, the young stars in the making who are in awe of the experience, and some guys who just happen to get hot the first half of the season and might not be back again. Some players are there for the first time, others may never get to go to another all-star game again, but each player is a lucky member of a group of guys who had the best first half to the season.

When you finally get an at bat in the game, you treat it as if it is you last at bat of the season and that each swing could determine how your season will be remembered. One good at bat, a well placed base hit, or a home run could be the difference between winning or losing for your team. You are facing pitchers from the opposing league who you have probably never seen except on TV.

In 1983, Freddy Lynn hit a grand slam in the third inning that broke the game wide open. I started that inning with a solo home run, but what people remember is Freddy’s two out slam. I had two hits that game, but Freddy made the most of his opportunities and took home the MVP in Chicago. The approach I took to the All-Star Game was to have the best at bat I could to make an impact on the game.

The NL lineup looks loaded this year. This might be the year that they finally steal a win from the AL.

Joba Chamberlain is no longer on a pitch count, and stays strong deep into games.  Last week, Joba threw 114 pitches and was thowing 99mph late in the game.  Most relievers with starting experience lose something off of their pitches when you stretch them out which makes them more effective out of the bullpen where they can go all out for one or two innings at a time.  This doesn’t seem to be the case with Chamberlain.

He struggled with his mechanics in his last start and only went 4 innings while throwing more than 90 pitches.    His control will be a pivotal part of tonight’s game.