This entire episode – the July meeting in New York, the text messages from Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia, the entire soap opera that is a below-.500 team finding the gall to blame its issues on its manager – has taken an even more bizarre and blatantly uncommunicative turn.  Yesterday, instead of addressing the issues head on, talking straight with the media and the fans, and giving Red Sox Nation any smidgen of hope that ownership had its hands on the wheel of this Titanic, we get this, from Larry Lucchino:

“We are very concerned about a breach of confidence in this matter because in the 10 years we’ve held these meetings, we’ve never had information leak like this.”

Really, Larry?  Your most pressing concern in this matter is that, basically, someone told on you?  That’s the big takeaway here?  Don’t you think that’s a little… out of touch?

Look, Larry, I’m no public relations maven, and I don’t work for the Red Sox.  I’m a lawyer, like you, and I have the same training you have.  I see what you’re trying to do here: group people with opposing viewpoints together behind a common cause, get them all angry at the Other Guy, find the Other Guy, destroy the Other Guy, invite everyone out for a celebratory drink together, revel in newfound satisfaction.

But, this time, it’s utterly transparent.  Nobody cares, really, about who leaked the story of the meeting – it will probably remain a mystery forever, along with what was in those shakes in the Dominican Republic (David Ortiz is on it, and will let you know), the identity of the chicken and beer snitch (Josh Beckett’s on the case, folks!), and why Heidi Watney really left town (I’m going to just leave that one alone).  A lot of internet whodunit commenters think backup catcher Kelly Shoppach spilled the meeting on his way out of town.  Who cares?

Let’s say we learn that the snitch is Kelly Shoppach.  Big deal, it’s Kelly Shoppach.  That doesn’t change the substance of the meeting, and it doesn’t change the obvious rampant discord up and down the Sox organization right now.  It seems to me that it’s far more important to address WHAT was said, than it is to bluster about WHO said it.

And, it’s amazing how quickly the players have toed the company line on this.  Ortiz, one of the last vestiges of 2004, the guy everyone looks to when the team needs a boost, said the following:

I hope it’s not someone on the team. Maybe it’s coming from outside. A lot of this stuff comes from outside, from people who we never see here. It doesn’t come from the reporters who cover the team because they know what’s going on.

Note that Ortiz didn’t address the actual point, either: whether there’s a disconnect between players, management, and the front office, and where in the system the fault lies.  He’s blaming the media – just not the beat writers who play a huge role in forming and maintaining his public image.

And, from Bobby Valentine, the victim in this entire exhausting vortex of doom:

Well Red Sox Nation, yesterday was quite a busy day! Round two of the weekend battle with the NY Yankees took place yesterday afternoon — making up a rainout in April. I’m probably not the only one who wished this game got rained out again.

It was hot and muggy and it appeared to throw Red Sox starter, Franklin Morales, off his game. Similar to Friday night’s first inning, the Yankees jumped out to a quick lead putting up four runs on back-to-back homeruns by Nick Swisher (a 3-run shot) and Andruw Jones.

I looked at my husband (who is a Yankees fan) and said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if the Sox scored four in the bottom of the first?”

He chuckled and said, “Ah…no.” Party pooper.
» Continue reading “Red Sox: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

So, here’s a thought experiment for you: when your starting pitcher, your number two pitcher – let’s call him, say, Josh Beckett – gives up five runs to the Yankees in the top of the first inning what are the chances of then witnessing any kind of close, fun, enjoyable baseball game?

Josh Beckett (Amanda Laws)

Turns out, if you’re talking about a Red Sox-Yankees game, the chances are pretty good.  The Red Sox stormed back against an equally ineffective Hiroki Kuroda in the bottom of the first, and tied the game at five.  A wild first inning kicked off the last series before the All-Star break: Beckett gave up two singles and then hit Alex Rodriguez to load the bases, before walking Derek Jeter home on a Robinson Cano walk, allowing a two-run single to Mark Teixeira, and giving up sacrifice fly balls to Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez.

Phew.  Exhausting!  Good thing Kuroda had a similarly tough time getting outs in the first inning.  He gave up a leadoff double to Daniel Nava, moved him on a wild pitch, and let him score on a Ryan Kalish sacrifice fly.  A David Ortiz single, a Yankee throwing error, and an Adrian Gonzalez double brought the score to 5-2, before Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 17th home run of the year to right field, tying the game and marking a new career high.

The first inning took almost 45 minutes, which, well, let’s just say visions of a seven-hour game were running through my head.  This was a Red Sox-Yankees game, after all.

» Continue reading “Red Sox Drop A Wild One, And, The Teixeira-Padilla Chronicles”

So, here’s the thing: I like Clay Buchholz, I really do.  I love when any pitcher comes up through any system and contributes to a major league club.  To me, Buchholz looked like that kind of pitcher up until yesterday, when the Red Sox announced that he was forgoing a throwing session to visit with a back specialist – again.  Buchholz has been on the DL with a (pretty vague) back injury since mid-June, and his way back to the rotation hasn’t exactly been paved with gold and flowers.  I’m not a doctor, but if Buchholz’s back issue is actually structural instead of muscular, we could be looking at a drawn-out rehab in the short term, and a career plagued with uncertainty and a constant question of injury in the long term.

If this was Buchholz’s first extended stay on the DL, I probably wouldn’t worry too much.  Or, if a healthy Buchholz dominated lineups, I’d keep the faith.  But, here’s the thing: Buchholz’s career has been, well, fractured and mediocre to this point.

Ouch.  Was that too harsh?  I hear the nation firing up its collective keyboard right now to argue me on this, but let me explain.  We all know that Buchholz had one of the most prominent pitching debuts in Red Sox history in 2007. He went 3-1, posted a 1.59 ERA, and threw a no-hitter in his second major league start.  But those four games don’t really mean much to me.  It’s a small sample size, and it was five years ago.

In 2008, it’s safe to say that Buchholz fell back to earth.  A torn fingernail landed him on the DL from mid-May until mid-July, and Buchholz didn’t record a win after his return, finishing 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA.  We didn’t see Buchholz again until the second half of 2009, when he went 7-4 with a 4.21 ERA – decent, and enough to keep a floundering rotation afloat at the time, but definitely a step down from his 2007 shine.

2010, well, that was a great year for Buchholz.  The only great year for Buchholz, if we’re keeping track.  He won 17 games on a 2.33 ERA, was an All-Star, and finally started to show the potential that we’d all missed since 2007.

Then, 2011.  So far, in late July, the 26-year old Buchholz has a 6-3 record, a 3.48 ERA, and a back with an unspecified, apparently mysterious, maybe-structural-hopefully-muscular injury.

Is this really the guy that my boss, bursting into my office the morning after the 2007 no-hitter, proclaimed “the future”?  And, even a better question – do we want him to be?  Trading deadline Sunday, a decent pitching market, and as always, the Sox have the means to make moves.  The Sox have Lester, Beckett, and a Lackey on a hot streak to prop up their offense, but pitching always wins the postseason.

Maybe Buchholz just hasn’t reached his potential yet.  Maybe he just needs to mature, to grow into his role, to catch a lucky break here and there.  Maybe.  On the other hand, Red Sox fans point fingers at Phil Hughes, the beleaguered Yankee analogy.  They call him overrated, count up his insane amount of time on the DL, and ask whether Hughes is really the Yankees’ answer.  I doubt Phil Hughes really is the Yankees’ answer (New Yorkhas the same trade deadline, pitching needs and resources).  So, is Buchholz really Boston’s answer?