Tagged: Red Sox Doll

October 11, 2010

Memorable Season

April 4, 2010—the Red Sox had their home opener against their biggest
rival and the defending World Series Champions, the New York Yankees.
They came out on top that day, winning 9-7. Dustin Pedroia (2-for-4,
2-run HR, 3 RBIs) and Kevin Youkilis (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) helped carry the
team to victory. Josh Beckett started that game, going 4.2 innings,
giving up five runs off of eight hits, striking out only one while
walking three. This outing for Beckett was just a preview of things to
come this season, while he was anything but dominant all year long.

On
October 3, 2010, we ended our regular season on a high note against
those awful pinstripes, salvaging a W (8-4) over our arch rivals, while
managing to play spoiler and preventing them from clinching the AL East
title. Jed Lowrie went 2-for-3, belting two homeruns with 3 RBIs. John
Lackey, surprising us all, ended his season the way we were hoping he
would have pitched all year. He went 7.2 innings, giving up three runs
on six hits, walking only two, while tying his career high for strike
outs with ten.

I wish I could say that those two wins summed up
our season of positivity and success. However, there were 160 games in
between which messed with our emotions, sent us on a roller coaster
ride, broke our heart, devastated us as Red Sox fans and left us with
little hope that we could make it into October this year. We managed to
stay in contention into the final week of the season, but,
unfortunately, we were right. We didn’t make it to the postseason, the
first time since 2006, and we were forced to start this lonely,
miserable off-season much earlier than we would have wanted.

There’s
so many excuses that we could use, or so many people we could blame
this season on. But, what’s the point? There are multitude of reasons
for our struggles this year, and we’ve discussed them numerous times
throughout the season. I’ve decided to skip all that nonsense…because
as we all know, I’m all about optimism!

Daniel Bard has definitely proved
himself this year. In 74.2 IP, he finished strong with a 1.93 ERA.
He struck out 76, while producing a WHIP of 1.004. He’s been a great
set-up man, but could potentially take over our closer position.

Clay
Buchholz had an absolutely outstanding season, and has even been in the
discussion for the Cy Young Award. He went 17-7 this year with a 2.33
ERA in 173.2 IP.

David Ortiz, despite having a rough start to
the season, ended with a .270 AVG, .370 OBP, .529 SLG and a .899 OPS. He
had 32 homeruns, and 102 RBIs. While winning the Home Run Derby this
year, he is showing everyone that Big Papi still has what it takes to
produce for our team.

Adrian Beltre had his best season since
2004, finishing with a .321 AVG, 28 homeruns, and 102 RBIs. He had a
.365 OBP, .553 SLG and a .919 OPS. Even though he inflicted some major
pain on a few of his teammates, he deserves a nice head-rub (joking)
after an exceptional season.

Jon Lester proved very dominant this season. With a 19-9 record, he ended the year with a 3.25 ERA in 208.0 IP, striking out 225 and walking 83.

Rookies Daniel Nava, Ryan Kalish
and Darnell McDonald managed to step up when asked and really helped our
team get through one of our toughest seasons in history.

We were plagued with many injuries this season, so here’s a list of the players who spent time on the disabled list during the year:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Mike Lowell
Adrian Beltre
J.D. Drew
Marco Scutaro
Dustin Pedroia
Eric Patterson
Jacoby Ellsbury
Kevin Cash
Hideki Okajima
Jon Lester
Kevin Youkilis
Mike Cameron
Manny Delcarmen
Jason Varitek
Victor Martinez
Clay Buchholz
Jeremy Hermida
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Felipe Lopez
Josh Beckett
Junichi Tazawa
Boof Bonser
Jed Lowrie

Now, let’s look at our Opening Day starting lineup-
Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Beltre 3B
Drew RF
Cameron CF
Scutaro SS

This is absolutely heart-breaking to look at. David Ortiz is the only player from our Opening Day lineup to not have spent any time on the DL. We were given some tough hands to work with, and we still managed to end our season just shy of 90 wins (89-73).

On October 2, 2010, the Red Sox recognized Mike Lowell for an outstanding career, and honored him with an on-field ceremony as this was his final season in a Major League Baseball uniform. The 2007 World Series MVP was not only an exceptional player throughout his 12 year career, but an incredible human being who was well respected by everyone in the baseball world. He is a Tony Conigliaro Award Winner (1999), Silver Slugger Award Winner (2003), Gold Glove Award Winner (2005), 4x All-Star Selection (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007) and a 2x World Series Champion (2003, 2007). He will forever be #25 in the hearts of Red Sox Nation and will truly be missed as a player and person. We love you, Mikey!

Honestly, this has been one of my favorite seasons so far as a Red Sox fan. I know that might sound odd, and as surprising as it might be, I’ve grown to love this team, and Red Sox Nation even more than I used to. The Red Sox have been an important part of my life since I first stepped inside Fenway Park at the age of twelve and I’ve met so many amazing people because of my love for this team, and this game. I’m excited to see what happens this off-season, and I absolutely cannot wait until Spring Training next year. I plan on making a trip to Ft. Myers, FL in 2011, along with a few trips to my favorite place in this world—Boston and Fenway Park!

This sure has been a memorable season, and I’m so ready to see what’s in store for next season…because like they say, there’s always next year!

“It
breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game
begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in
the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the
chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.” –A. Bartlett Giamatti

Jenn

August 23, 2010

Still Recovering

Well, after these past nine days that I’ve taken to somewhat rest, recover and commence a few rehab starts, I’m ALMOST ready to be reactivated. I’ve started my Fall semester of college and I’m aiming for a 4.0… after two days of class—so far, so good! I’ll keep you guys updated on that, but it will be taking up the majority of my time. Anyway, I’m still in some pain, but I see the doctor tomorrow morning and he’ll be able to give me more precise details as to when I’ll be fully recovered. I’m thinking, by Friday morning, I better be back to normal! I’ve got a long weekend ahead of me full of Red Sox baseball and I need to be in tip-top shape!

Now, enough about me and more about what really matters—baseball!

The Red Sox started their three-game series against the Seattle Mariners tonight and walked off the field with a 6-3 victory. John Lackey went eight innings giving up 3 runs (only 2 earned) off 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out a season high 10 batters. Lackey is now 12-7 with a 4.51 ERA. It was one of his best outings and came at a very good time for the team. Marco Scutaro lead the team offensively going 2-for-4, with a 2 RBI ground ball single to right in the fifth and then again in the seventh inning. J.D. Drew and David Ortiz each helped out, bringing in 2 runs on their RBI singles respectively to give us a 3-run lead. Jonathan Papelbon came in to close out the game, giving off a lead-off single, then retiring the next 3 batters to claim his 31st save of the season.

On to some other news, now, I’ve got to bring up what everyone seems to be discussing, which is the Red Sox claiming Johnny Damon on waivers today. The future is still unknown, and there’s still time for everything to get worked out, however, if it does happen, I think that Damon could be a huge contributor, offensively and defensively, for us and could be that extra drive we need to give us a run for the playoffs. Damon isn’t sure he wants to come back to Boston, but as we all know, if the trade doesn’t get worked out, we have at least kept the Rays and Yankees from being able to get him. Personally, I miss the old shaggy Damon from his Boston years. Most people considered him a “traitor” (including me, at times, I’m not going to lie) after he went to the Yankees, but you can’t deny his talent at the plate. During his career in a Red Sox uniform, he hit .295, with 461 runs, 56 homers, 299 RBIs, 98 stolen bases and a .362 OBP. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind seeing that in our line-up again.

Currently, the Red Sox sit 5.5 games behind the first place Yankees and 5 games behind the Rays who hold the Wild Card spot. I feel very redundant, as all my posts seem to talk about keeping faith and hope that we can make it to the playoffs. But, I want to inform you all of something—until it is mathematically impossible for us to still be in contention, I won’t give up. You will never hear the words, “maybe next year,” come out of my mouth because I will believe, always.

I now have three days to finish up my rehab starts, see my doctor one more time and fully recover before my exciting daddy/daughter weekend starts. I’m really looking forward to seeing my favorite boys up close during batting practice and experience first-hand the games I love to watch every night, no matter where they are in the country. I’ve seen the Red Sox play numerous times throughout my life, in different stadiums, but something tells me this weekend, this series against the Rays, will be one of the greatest weekends of my life. There’s nothing more important to me than family, baseball and the Red Sox—and I get to have all of those in one weekend. How did I get to be so lucky?

Red Sox Doll

August 14, 2010

Disabled List

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

I climbed onto the cold, hard surface with surgery lights
beaming down on me. I had doctors and nurses all around poking me, hooking me
up to machines and asking me questions. There was so much going on and I was in
la-la land, not sure what to make of it all. The anesthesiologist asked me one
simple question, “did you decide on a dream?” I remember nodding yes,
and that was the last thing I can recall before they put the oxygen mask on me,
and my eyes closed, as I drifted off into my fairy tale.

I woke up coughing and in so much pain. The nurse handed me a popsicle and
asked how I was feeling. I couldn’t talk and the thought that I had just had my
tonsils removed didn’t help the pain at all. Shortly there after, the nurses
redressed me in my Red Sox shirt I had worn that morning and I was finally able to see my dad. He told me that the surgeon
had come to talk to him after my surgery was over and he explained to him how
the procedure went, but more importantly, he told him about the last words I
said before I went under.

Apparently, after they asked if I had decided on a dream, I went on to tell
them that I wanted to go to my happy place. They asked where my happy place was
and I explained that it was Fenway Park, in Boston, MA so I could see my
Red Sox. They all laughed and that was the last thing they heard from me.

This isn’t shocking to anyone who knows me, and I guess it completely makes
sense. The Red Sox are my life, so, in baseball terms, right along with the
rest of my team (it seems like), my doctor placed me on the 15-day disabled
list with a possibility to be out longer. I have not missed a single game
throughout my entire recovery, though. I have forced my parents to help me
downstairs so I can sit on the couch and watch my boys. Today is the first day
I’ve had the energy to write, though, so I’m taking full advantage and hoping I
make sense (I am still on pain medicine, as I am in A LOT of pain, all the
time).

During my stint on the DL, I’ve now watched the Toronto series and
the first two games of the Texas series. We took two out of three against the
Jays and lost the first game in Arlington (which was the second in two painful
walk-off losses after the first in Toronto the night before). But, to stop
focusing on the negatives, I’m going to talk about tonight’s game against the
Rangers.

Jonny Lester started the game today and was absolutely dominant. He went 8
innings, giving up no runs off 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking none. It’s
really starting to show which pitchers are going to carry us into October, and
that is Jonny, Clay Buchholz and Daniel Bard. I love watching close games like
the one tonight, which was 1-0 until the 9th inning. We added on some insurance
runs in the top of the 9th to give us a 3-0 lead headed into the bottom of the
inning. I’m not sure why Francona decided to take Lester out of the game, and
not let him close it out. Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were unavailable and
anyone else we bring out of the pen would easily be a suicide mission. Maybe it
was the 100 degree temp in Arlington, and Lester having already thrown 109
pitches. But, Tito decided Scott Atchison was the man for the job and could get
the save. However, with 1 out, he gave up a homer to Josh Hamilton (that kid is
absolutely ridiculous… definitely MVP worthy) and that ended his outing.
Felix Doubront was then brought in and had a lot to prove as a rookie, and this
was his chance. Vladimir Guerrero got on base with one out, but then was gunned
down by Victor Martinez when he tried to steal second. So, now with 2 outs,
Doubront struck out Mitch Moreland looking on a 77 MPH curveball to get the
save. J.D. Drew has been incredible at the plate lately, along with Ryan Kalish
who is really proving himself. Drew scored Kalish in the 5th inning with a
2-out single to put the Red Sox on top. We all say this in Red Sox Nation about
almost every game, but that was a HUGE win and very much needed.

The Red Sox sit 6 games out of first in the AL East to the New York Yankees, and 4 games
behind the Tampa Bay Rays who hold the Wild Card spot. We are 67-51 with 44
games left to play. We end the series in Texas tomorrow, and we really need to
muster up a win. Daisuke Matsuzaka is starting for us and we really need him to
pitch a gem. We also need our offense to keep it going by getting on the board
early, not leaving men on base, especially in scoring position and capitalizing
when we have the opportunities.

Now, back to talking about the Red Sox disabled list, besides your favorite
RedSoxDoll– Jacoby Ellsbury was placed back on the 15-day DL after being taken out of
yesterday’s game in the 4th inning due to pain in his left side (where he had
the broken ribs). Dustin Pedroia started his rehab assignment with Pawtucket
tonight, and if everything goes well, should be back in the starting line-up on
Tuesday. I am SO excited for Pedey to be back, and hopefully he’ll bring the
“Laser Show” with him!

We have to keep winning series from here on out. And, I hope by the end of
August, when I meet my boys in Tampa, we’ll be well on our way to this race for
the pennant. I hope our boys can stay off the DL, and really show everyone our
heart and drive that we have to win. I also hope that I can make a few rehab
starts and get reactivated before my exciting trip to the Trop!

Go Red Sox!
Jenn

Also, thank you all for being so patient and supportive! Y’all are really the best!

August 4, 2010

Keeping the Faith

As a Red Sox fan, I’ve had to learn the true meaning of keeping the faith throughout the years.

This is what I’ve come up with.

Faith (n.) – Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

OK, now what does that have to do with the Red Sox? I truly believe that the passion, belief and love I have in my team is far more helpful to my well-being than it hurts.

I know I’m speaking about the Red Sox, for me… but, no matter what team we root for, can’t we all agree that having faith in a baseball team is good for the soul?

Baseball is America’s pastime. It’s the epitome of a beautiful spring day, and the fright of a late-inning rally from your enemy on home territory. If you love America, how can you not love baseball and everything it stands for?

Without baseball, what would I have to live for? What would I put all my faith and hope in? What would keep me up all hours of the night, hoping that we can come back and win with a walk-off home run from Big Papi? Or what would get me out of bed, when I can’t even talk because I’m so sick, and give me the energy and strength to walk downstairs just to be able to watch my favorite players? What would give me hope that there is still good in this world, that there is still people out there who absolutely love what they do for a living, and enjoy every day on this earth? There’s only one thing: baseball, the players and everything that they represent.

This has been a difficult season for Red Sox Nation. We have gone through some of the hardest times in our history. We have lost so many players to injuries and it seems as if we won’t ever get a break. But as a die-hard, true Boston Red Sox fan, I can’t lose faith. How can we lose faith after witnessing, with our own eyes, the comeback in 2004? I know I bring it up a lot, but how can I not? 2004 represents what this Nation is all about. To come from behind in the ALCS like we did, and to completely dominate the WS and walk away with the trophy after 86 years of pain and hardship? You can’t tell me that those fans, through all those years, gave up faith. They didn’t. Because, if they did, there wouldn’t have been a single Red Sox fan witnessing those games. The players go out there every single day for the fans. They do what they do for none other than the people who support their every single move. They need us just as much as we need them.

As Red Sox fans we must keep the faith. We must have hope that we can do this, no matter how bad it looks now. We have to understand how truly amazing this game is. Because, as we all know, the game is NEVER over until the last out is made. So, who’s with me? Who’s willing to stick with me through all these troubled times and have hope that we can still do this? Because, no matter who comes along for this journey, I will be there–every step of the way, through every injury and loss. Because we will win, and we can do this.

I have faith.
RSD

July 30, 2010

Almost Doesn’t Count

Unless we’re talking about hand grenades and horseshoes, of course… But, this is baseball.

David “Big Papi” Ortiz hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to get us within one run of tying the game. We were trailing 6-1 with almost no hope of winning when we came up to bat in the ninth at Fenway Park. With one out, Detroit Tigers closer, Jose Valverde, walked the bases loaded and Big Papi took full advantage and went yard with his 22nd homer of the season. Adrian Beltre hit a 2-out double to keep the momentum up and J.D. Drew was then intentionally walked to enable a force-out. But, that wasn’t needed when Mike Cameron came up to the plate and with a full count, struck out looking to end the game. We walked off the field with the scoreboard showing 6-5 in the Tigers favor.

This was a tough loss for the Red Sox. There was one positive I can think of, though, and that is the determination and drive our players have. They didn’t give up. That is what baseball is all about. The game is never over until it’s over– not until the last out is made.

With that being said, we have to look back on this game and wonder what happened, wonder why we lost and what went wrong. I mean, if you look at who was on the mound for us tonight, and the fact that Papi hit a grand slam, and we still walk away with the loss, it just doesn’t make much sense.

Jon Lester had one of his worst outings. He gave up 4 runs on a career high 11 hits, throwing 115 pitches in 6 innings. I hoped after sweeping the Angels, and having an off-day, our offense would have stayed alive and we would dominate this series. However, we didn’t even get on the board until the 5th inning when Marco Scutaro hit a solo homer on a 1-1 pitch. We leave too many runners on base, especially RISP, in crucial situations. We must get on the board early and keep the momentum up throughout the game.

We need to make sure everyone stays healthy and hope that we can gain some major ground in the 59 games that are left to be played (currently we are 58-45). After the Rays beat the Yankees tonight at Tropicana field, we are now 6.5 games out of the wild card and 7.5 games from first. With the trade deadline quickly approaching (4 PM on Saturday), I really hope we can get some bullpen help. Luckily, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury will be back in the line-up within the next few weeks so our fielding and offense should be set.

I feel like these wild, late-inning wins rarely happen for us anymore. I feel like all of Red Sox Nation is hurting, right along with our team, and nobody has any hope anymore. We have to keep the faith. Our boys, our players that we live for and watch every single day still have hope that we can do this, and we should too.

So, no, almost didn’t count tonight. But, can I please remind all of you about 2004? I’m sure none of you can forget, but take a look back at the standings on July 31st and tell me again that we can’t do this, and that there is no hope for us.

RedSoxDoll

July 25, 2010

Not-so-perfect

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Ok, so it wasn’t as jaw dropping
as Armando Galarraga’s un-perfect-perfect game. But, Jon Lester had a perfecto
into the 6th inning of Saturday night’s game against the Mariners.

Eric Patterson ruined his heroic act from Thursday nights game, when he dropped a fly ball with 1 out in the 6th hit by Jack Wilson for
a two-base error. When will major league players understand the little league
concept of using two hands when catching a fly ball? Lester still had the no-no
possibility but that was shortly shattered by the next batter, Michael Saunders,
who jacked a 2-2 curveball over the right field wall. We then trailed 2-1 and
nothing good came after that. Lester had 13 strike-outs (career high) in his 8 and 2/3
innings pitched. He was obviously solid through 7 innings, other than the
homerun he gave up. However, in the 8th inning, something happened, and he lost
his momentum and gave up 2 more runs. When he was taken out of the game, we
were down 4-1 and we were not able to score again. We ended up losing the game
5-1.

It’s not rocket science, but we can’t expect to win games by only scoring 1
run. And we definitely can’t count on our starter’s to do all the work, as much
as we’d like to be able to. Run-prevention can only do so much when you have a shaky bullpen like we do. David Ortiz was
the only reason we were even on the board that night, belting his 19th homer of
the season in the 4th inning. It’s so frustrating that we keep losing these games in late innings, which only proves one thing— we need to work on our pen.

Fast forward to Sunday’s afternoon game in which Daisuke Matsuzaka started. He prevailed through 6 innings, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts. He was taken out and replaced by Daniel Bard who came in for the 7th. Bard pitched the 7th with 1 hit, 2 ground outs and a strike out. He was taken out in the 8th with no outs after giving up a single and Hideki Okajima came in (which was, without a doubt, Tito’s mistake). From there, all hell broke loose. Oki loads the bases with no outs. He gave up 5 straight singles, Michael Saunders being one who hit a 2-run single which put the Mariners up front 3-2. Milton Bradley came in as a pinch hitter, and singles on a bunt which scores Casey Kotchman. We end up losing this one 4-2, giving up 11 hits, and no errors, although we had a few mental errors.

Oki misplays two bunts which truly cost us the game. Bard should have been kept in to finish the 8th, then bring in Jonathan Papelbon for the 9th to close it out. Why did Terry decide to bring Oki in when Bard is completely and utterly dominating? We have a one run lead in the 8th inning, and we replace Bard, who now has a 1.86 ERA (lowest on the team) with Oki, who now has a 5.81 ERA. I understand the pitch count, and the idea that we need to save him so we can use him more. But, I’m sure you all have heard the quote by Leo Durocher, “You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” We need to win games one at a time and not worry about the next day’s game. If we keep doing this, we’ll go 0 for the next 30 games.

We need to start making better defensive decisions. Our starters, for the most part, are doing their job and leaving the game with the lead. But, our pen is really struggling and we need to do something about that ASAP. It’s also tough for our offense to truly dominate when we aren’t playing with Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez or Jacoby Ellsbury.

It’s hard to stay hopeful when we are now 8 games out of first and 5 from the Wild Card spot. This is the worst deficit we’ve sustained since May 23. We are now 55-44. Positives— V-Mart could be back tonight for the series opener in Anaheim and most of our guys should be back by mid-August. But, is it too late? We can’t let this split series against the Mariners keep us down. We have to keep going out there every single day and fight—fight for our lives, practically. We must stay in contention with the line-up we have, so when we get all of our boys healthy, we can come back and, at the very least, take over the Wild Card. Let’s just hope the Yankees and Rays go on some major losing streak so we can gain some ground. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.

RSD 🙂