Smoltz Gets It DoneSmoltz picks up first win in Boston, Sox homer four times
For the first time since April 17, 2008, John Smoltz was the winning pitcher at the Major League level and for the first time in his 20-year career, that win did not come with the Atlanta Braves.
Smoltz made his fourth start of the 2009 season on Saturday night in search of his first win in a Red Sox uniform. Red Sox Nation has been pulling for Smoltz to succeed ever since he agreed to come to Boston, but his first three starts haven't given Sox fans much to cheer about. Given his past, the fans, his teammates and Red Sox management have backed the Hall of Famer-to-be, as the right-hander has pitched well enough to win one of his past three starts, but a bullpen implosion wiped his decision clean.
The main culprit in Smoltz's Boston failures haven't been so much his lack of effectiveness, rather the owner of 3,000+ strikeouts has had a case of the "one bad inning" syndrome. The Red Sox offense is capable of putting up big numbers, as they displayed tonight, but when Smoltz has ...
Can't Touch ThisLester dominates KC (again), Pedroia wins it in the 8th
Jon Lester flat out owns the Kansas City Royals--scratch that--Jon Lester flat out owns the American League.
The last time Lester toed the rubber to do battle against the Kansas City Royals, the left-hander made history by tossing a no-hitter on May 19, 2008. He wasn't able to keep a zero in the hit column tonight, but he did, however, keep the zeros rolling along in the runs column.
While Lester's eight-inning, four-hit, eight-strikeout performance was masterful, the Washington native was nearly deprived of a hard-earned victory in this one. Kansas City's Brian Bannister matched Lester pitch-for-pitch through the first eight frames.
The closest this contest came to bending in the favor of one starter over the other came in the fifth inning when Jacoby Ellsbury charged home from third. The throw got to the plate around the same time as Ellsbury, but replays indicated that the Boston outfielder's foot touched home plate before Miguel Olivo's tag. Ellsbury spiked his helmet in...
Debunking The Roy Halladay RumorsWhy Roy Halladay won't see the home dugout at Fenway
In case you've been living under a rock in the sports world for the past 24 hours or so, yes, Roy Halladay
may be on the move come July 31.
Toronto Blue Jays' GM, JP Ricciardi has received countless calls from several clubs inquiring about the ace pitcher, but none, so far, have come from the Boston Red Sox.
For all of you wondering if the Red Sox are going to make a move for Halladay, I can't give you a definite answer, but I will give you my educated opinion. The answer is no. Right now, the Red Sox are stacked with pitching, and the last thing they need to do is sacrifice their future for a 32-year-old pitcher.
Don't get me wrong, the guy has been one of the best, if not the best, pitcher in the past five-plus seasons, but when it's going to cost you Clay Buchholz, who's only 24 at this point, and Toronto will absolutely be looking for at least two top of the line prospects, it's just not worth it to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox will be heading into the All Star b...
Like Wine, Wakefield Gets Better With AgeT-Wake picks up 11th win, Drew homers, Ortiz drives in 4
Roy who? Tim Wakefield now stands alone with the most wins the American League and is tied for the most wins in Major League Baseball this season with eleven. Did I mention he was 42?
When Wakefield took the mound at Fenway Park on Wednesday night, it was his 38th time he stood on the mound to face the Oakland A's in his career. His opponent, Trevor Cahill, was facing the Red Sox for the very first time. In the bottom of the sixth, it appeared as if though youth was going to prevail over experience, but oh, how quickly things can change.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Cahill served up a leadoff bomb to JD Drew, who swatted his twelfth home run of the season over the fence in right to tie the game up at one. Dustin Pedroia followed up Drew's longball with one of his three hits on the night. A Kevin Youkilis walk put two men on for David Ortiz.
Ahead in the count, 2-1, Big Papi got a 91 MPH fastball that was right in his wheelhouse. The ball did not miss an inch of the sweet spot on ...
Big Bad BeckettJosh Beckett picks up AL-best, 10th win
Tonight, 42-year-old Tim Wakefield welcomed Boston ace, Josh Beckett, into the 10-wins club.
"Huge," said Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay. "They couldn't be two more different guys. Wake has been our most consistent guy the whole time, and Beckett, other than the first few starts he struggled, he's been one of those ace shutdown guys. There aren't too many in the league and he's one of them when he's on -- and he's on."
Just 24 hours after Nomar Garciaparra re-entered the hearts of Boston fans far and wide, it almost went under the radar that the Sox had a complete game shutout thrown against them and needed to get back to their winning ways. Enter: Josh Beckett. In Beckett's last 12 starts, the right-hander has a record of 8-1 and his team is 10-2 in the last twelve games that Beckett stood on the mound.
"Josh, he's been our bulldog," said Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek. "When he's healthy, he can really do a lot with the baseball."
Entering Tuesday night's middle game b...
Welcome Home, NomarThe legend of Nomar Garciaparra through the eyes of a fan
In the 1994 draft, the Red Sox used their first round draft pick (12th overall) on a model student-athlete out of Georgia Tech by the name of Anthony; Anthony Nomar Garciaparra.
After spending the first three years of his professional career in Sarasota, Trenton and Pawtucket respectively, Garciaparra made his Major League debut with the Boston Red Sox on August 31, 1996. The very next day, Garciaparra croaked a home run off of John "Waaaay Back" Wasdin. Garciaparra's first longball in the bigs was the very first hit in his soon-to-be legendary Red Sox tenure.
At the time of Nomar's burst to the big leagues, John Valentin was not only Boston's starting shortstop, but he was one of the premiere names on the Sox roster. Valentin had finished in the top ten (ninth) in the AL MVP voting the season just prior to Nomar making his big league debut. Just a year after Valentin had collected some MVP votes, he watched as Nomar Garciaparra took over the job of full-time shortstop in late ...
Jerry Remy Update!Update on One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk
On Jerry Remy's official website,
The Remy Report, the NESN broadcaster provided his fans and concerned listeners with an update on his status. The update from Remy was first released on his daily newsletter, which you can subscribe to by clicking
here.
"Many "Today in Sports" subscribers have been asking about my health and when I expect to return to the booth. I appreciate your concern very much.
I am happy to say that I am doing very well. In fact, I have even gone back to my gym routine. Most of the weight that I lost due to the pneumonia has been re-gained (looking pretty buff I might add!). To sum it all up, I am very fortunate to have no health issues at all. I have not set a return date yet, but I assure you that I am anxious to get back.
Thanks again,
Jerry"
Surely, Red Sox Nation is thrilled with this news that the Rem Dawg is feeling more l...
One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could TalkCarrabis' first book set to hit stores in April!
For those that are interested, the book that I have been working on for the past year and some change is
done. I started the book back in December '07 and as of last night, I'm 100% done.
My goal is to release "One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk" in April 2009. Being the motivated individual that I am, I don't see how this goal isn't within reach. Writing a book was definitely an experience that I underestimated. It takes a
lot of time, patience, research, energy and lack of sleep. However, now that I am on the verge of putting the finishing touches on something I've worked so hard on, I can just tell it's going to be a very relieving feeling once it's complete.
The cover was done by the incredibly talented Chris Speakman of SportsPropaganda. com.
Basically the book is about my entire life experience as a Red Sox fan. I try to stress in the beginning of the book that literally every Red Sox fan has their story. Thanks to the greatest fans in all of sports, m...
