Beantown Sports Guys

Killer Road Trip

The Sox are on the longest road trip of the season right now, playing 10 games in 11 days. If they lose tonight, they'll have kicked it off with getting swept in Toronto (in two easily winnable games as well), off to Detroit (who are playing out of their minds), and a 4 game series to end the trip against the Yankees. We then have a short 3 game home series against Texas, and then another 6 on the road against the Twins and the Braves.

It's do or die time right now, and the injury bug is starting to creep into our pitching staff with David Wells getting blasted in the knee with a line drive, after previously pitching brilliantly. Matt Clement's ankle woes aren't helping anything as heis last two outings have been absolutely horrendous. Mike Timlin is on the DL, and Rudy Seanez and David Riske aren't cutting it. You know things are bad when you have two guys on base and Tito starts to get Foulke onto the mound. I love Foulke, but his confidence hasn't been there, and neither have his pitches. He's been coming along lately so I'll give him that.

The bottomline is the Yankees are probably the most injury plagued team in the majors and last night they tied the Sox for tops in the AL East. Not only that, but we're breathing life into the Blue Jays who are now only 1 1/2 games out of first place as well. We need to suck it up and get it done, because now is the time to bury teams and win when other teams are really dinged up, not in September.

Doing all the small things

As interleague play kicked off last night, the Red Sox had a tough decision to make: they had to decide to bench David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, or Mike Lowell. Youkilis is leading the majors in on base percentage and many are saying is the best leadoff hitter in the game this season. Ortiz has been slumping a bit lately, and Lowell has been fairly hot. The decision wasn't one I would have wanted to make, but Francona made the right one, playing Ortiz at 1st and Lowell at 3rd, both who came up with big homeruns to put the game away from the Phillies as they went on to win 5-3.

Mike Clement pitched a great close game, only giving up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings. The only hit for Philly that came after Clement headed to the showers was a harmless one at that by Keith Foulke. Mike Timlin came in for a perfect 8th, and Jonathan Papelbon slammed the door for his 15th save of the season.

The Sox seem to be hitting their stride but can definitely kick it up a notch. The Yankees at the same time seem to be barely treading water, as they just found out they might be without starting pitcher Carl Pavano for the entire season, as he has to have surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.

Every time the Sox seem to go hard after a pitcher that the Yankees end up with, we're much better off not having gotten them. Aside from Pavano, Jose Contreras had major issues when he first came into the league, before settling down in Chicago with the White Sox.

In order to replace Hideki Matsui's bat in the lineup, it's been rumored that the Yankees will go hard in a trade for Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu. This would be great for them, as Sheffield is hurt until at least June and some think he is showing his age, and an outfield consisting of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Bobby Abreu next season is very appealing.

Sometimes you can't steal a win

Playing small ball for the Sox almost never pans out for them. Last night was evident of that.

Even though Willie Harris was given the hold sign in the 9th inning last night, with 2 outs and Trot at the plate, Harris was caught stealing second base. He said afterward he thought the hold sign was just for the first pitch. Terry Francona said the game wasn't lost in the 9th, but the middle innings. That is probably true, but the fact is Trot would have been up 2-0 and has been hitting both lefties and righties solidly the last few weeks.

Last night's loss is tough to swallow. You hate ending game caught stealing, making an error, or even striking out looking.  Even though the Sox almost rallied, hopefully it teaches them a lesson, and a pretty simple one at that: make sure you communicate what you want and that it is understood.

Moose is just one of those pitchers

The key to beating Mike Mussina is kicking him when he's down. The Sox (and many other teams) have had issues with that. Just when it seems like he's totally lost it and is out of control, the opposing bats don't go for the jugular. Three runs is not enough to shake Moose, especially when he knows he has the Yankees bats and massive payroll behind him. When Moose pitches, 3 runs is nothing. 5 runs is where you start to get comfy and a 7 run lead is usually what chases him out of the game.

The Sox had the 3-0 advantage last night and just didn't keep the pressure on. It doesn't help that Curt Schilling gave up homers to Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, and Alex Rodriguez. Anytime you do that, you're in trouble, no matter how big your lead was.

I'm looking forward to watching the Tim Wakefield/Shawn Chacon matchup, as Wake usually just kills the Yankees with this knuckleball. We'll see though, because if it hangs at all, we could be on the losing end of hurtin' similar to the one we put on against the Yanks the other night.

Beckett shuts down Yanks, bats come alive

Last night, Randy Johnson looked every bit of his 65 years, walking 5 and getting chased out of the game due to another A-Rod error, as the Sox beat down the Yankees 14-3 in Yankee Stadium. Errors are a big part of what cost the Yankees the win last night, as the Sox never let up as they were given chance after chance after chance to score more runs. A-Rod's first error cost the Yankees 3 runs, and Melky Cabrera's error cost them another 2.

Beckett looked very strong, reaching 97mph on the radar gun, and everyone in the Sox lineup produced at the plate. Manny Ramirez and Alex Gonzalez both hit home runs, and Mike Lowell continued to pile up the doubles, with his last 8 hits being two bases apiece. Thought by many to be a throw-in in the Beckett/Hanley trade, Lowell is doing exactly what we need: knocking guys in and displaying outstanding fielding. Being a fantastic defender, he's making Kevin Youkilis's development at first base that much easier.

Bernie Williams was ejected after arguing a called third strike, and as he left the field he tossed his helmet at the ump. Based on similar actions by a certain minor leaguer (throwing a bat, but actually hitting the ump in the chest with it: 50 game suspension), I wouldn't be happy with anything less than a 10 game suspension for Bernie. He's a great guy, but rules are rules, and they should be held accountable for flying off the handle like that.

It certainly was good seeing the Yankee fans booing Randy Johnson as he stunk up Yankee Stadium, and I'm hoping they'll do the same for Mike Mussina, as Curt Schilling faces off against him tonight.

Post Draft Breakdown

Now that all the writers in the sports world that covered the NFL Draft and have had their Mock Drafts blown up on them (myself included) I figured it would be a good time to recap and put my two cents into how insanely unpredictable this draft was.

First off, Sean Salisbury from ESPN said two weeks ago if Houston doesn't grab Reggie Bush with the first pick overall the entire front office should be drug tested. I couldn't agree more.

Secondly, a lot of people are handing out grades for all the teams, but I'm just going to highlight the winners and losers, and my own category: the winsers (people or teams that are both winners and losers).

Winners:

Jets - they drafted the best OT and the best C in all of college. For the most part, that should keep whatever QB they have upright. It will be interesting to see the more athletic and less hefty OT Ferguson does against the likes of Jason Taylor and Richard Seymour.

Patriots - anytime a team gets the 2nd best RB, arguably the best WR, the best FB in the country, the 5th best TE, and the 5th best OT you are doing great.

Philadelphia - at first it seemed like they were off kilter, grabbing a DT, and a OT, but Andy Reid's method of madness will pay off down the line, as they went on to grab a great DE and a great OG. Oh yeah, and they got Jeremy Bloom too, who should definitely help out in the realm of returns. Reid worked some trades and is working on both the present and the future right now. Great draft.

San Francisco - amazing draft by any standards. They grabbed the best TE in Vernon Davis, which provides Alex Smith with an awesome go to guy, they snatched up Manny Lawson who could be the best and smartest defender to come out in the draft (time will tell), and they grabbed Penn State QB/WR Michael Robinson, someone who is so incredibly gifted that will give Smith another target, and also some comfort in case they want to pull some WR trick plays.

Steve McNair - most would look at his upcoming release or trade as a bad thing, but this guy just wants to play, and the Titans don't want him near them. If he goes to the Ravens he'll be in a good situation and can help mentor Kyle Boller who needs some bigtime help at the helm.

Packers - If Brett Favre didn't already say he would come back and wanted to wait for the draft, he would be coming back right now for sure. The Pack front office drafted the best OLB, the best ILB (some say Hodge is even better than Greenway from Iowa, as he was in on over 1/2 of all of Greenway's tackles), Will Blackmon (huge target for Favre) and some QB insurance with Ingle Martin who can also push Aaron Rodgers. They also traded off team-cancer Javon Walker to the Broncos.

Falcons - two picks stand out in my head: Virginia Tech CB Jimmy Williams (who was mentored by DAngelo Hall at VT and they know how to play with each other) and Georgia QB D.J. Shockley. They didn't have a lot to work with but they got the job down and have a nasty secondary, especially since signing Lawyer Milloy in the secondary as well.

Detroit - Wow. I never thought I'd throw them in here. They filled many needs on both sides of the ball, at LB with Ernie Sims, SS, OT, and OG. Mike Martz should be pleased with the line pickups, as Detroit hasn't had a good history of QBs that have time to throw.

Oakland - the Huff pick doesn't surprise me, it surprises me more that I didn't think of it. The fact that they also grabbed arguably the second or third best safety in Darnell Bing later is amazing. Added UTEP's Howard fills their draft up with some solid, young, smart defenders. Al Davis must have thought it was time to bring back the attitude that comes with wearing the Silver and Black.

Kansas City - Tamba Hali: Amazing athlete, amazing person. He'll never take anything for granted or a play off. That is what you want in a player. Adding QB Brodie Croyle and safety Bernard Pollard, they are starting to shape up a bit more on defense. If Herm Edwards can convince Ty Law to sign with them, they'll be a lot better in a short period of time.

Tampa Bay - it was tough last year in the postseason watching Chris Simms struggle so much, but his line didn't give him too much to work with. Gruden goes offense all the way drafted a great OG and OT, along with one of the better underrated WRs in Maurice Stovall.

Losers:

Marcus Vick - in general, he is a loser. He's only started 24 college games, missed a whole season for a marijuana charge, was arrested for brandishing a firearm, and kicked a player during a Bowl game in the calf with his cleat, then denied it. On the one hand, I wanted him to be Mr. Irrelevant, but I think that message would have been lost on his tiny brain. Miami brought him in, and there is no doubt he is talented, but he's a head case and belongs with Lawrence Phillips and company.

Giants - how many DEs are they going to draft and sign from the rookie pool of free agency??? They had a lot more pressing needs, like another WR to help out Eli and take pressure off Plaxico and Shockey. Totally confused about this.

Texans - Mario Williams is a good player, even above average. But one defender cannot change a game like one offensive player like Reggie Bush. It was sad to see them showing high school highlights of Williams. Is his senior campaign that incomplete they need to drudge that up? And did they even watch it? Out of 6 plays I saw he was in on one tackle. ONE. He had about 5 or 6 really good games to finish out his senior year, but Reggie Bush has had an amazing career at USC. Totally stupid. I'm sure he'll be good, but this is the biggest mistake the Texans have ever made and the fans were upset about it for good reason.

Bears - just an awful draft. They reached on a few picks and didn't get really anyone with noting. After already signing Ricky Manning, they draft another CB named Manning, and he's from some small school most people can't pronounce. They definitely could have done better to give Grossman some weapons to work with.

Winsers:

Buffalo - in the first two rounds they reached and bombed, and in the 3rd and 4th round they got great value, grabbing Youboty and Ko Simpson to solidify a really awesome secondary. They could have done a lot better though, but could also have done a lot worse in my opinion.

Matt Leinart - everyone is talking about him losing out on $10 million for not coming out last season, but how do people know this? He was having issues with his shoulder and could very well have been the # 1 pick last year, but there is no telling what he would have gotten for a contract. He's in a great situation with the Cardinals: he has two of the best young receivers who both pulled in 100 passes for over 1000 yards each, he has one of the best running backs in Edgerrin James who will look to prove a point to the Colts they should have signed him, he has a great mentor in Kurt Warner, and his college Guard was signed to protect him. How much better can that be for him?

LenDale White - I felt for this kid. He just kept dropping and dropping and dropping. Yes, he lost out on millions of dollars but he could work hard and use that as motivation and most likely will, for his 2nd contract. He also has a no pressure situation to play an usurp Chris Brown's spot, and Travis Henry's. Oh yeah, and the Titans also drafted who could be the best QB to come out of college in I don't know how many years in Vince Young. Two offensive studs in the same draft, both played in the National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl. What else could he want?

Overall, this draft was great. The league is better because of it, and a lot of grades for teams I have seen range from high B's to low C's. No A's, no D's, no F's. I think that is right. The parity in the league is a lot better because of this draft.

As for the rookie free agents that weren't drafted, I found it hilarious that half of the Patriots' signees are from schools where Belichick has tight connections: Notre Dame and Florida (his buddy Urban Meyer is the head coach, and B-squared spent over a week down in the Sunshine State getting the school from Meyer while playing golf).

Also, the Bears may have stunk in the draft, but they made a great pickup in Texas Tech Safety Dwayne Slay. He was a projected 3rd rounder but went undrafted. He hits like a ton of bricks and has ideal size, but is missing some of the other intangibles. Either way, great pickup and I expect him to make the squad.

Dougie's back

The best news of this short season is we're getting a huge piece of our identity back this evening as we square of against the much hated New York Yankees: Mr. Doug Mirabelli will be behind the plate catching Tim Wakefield.

The Sox gave up catcher Josh Bard, who was horrendous anytime he was behind or next to the plate, minor league pitch Cla Meredith, and cash, to get the best backup catcher in baseball. Mirabelli will give Wake a lot of confidence, and this is an amazing move for the organization. Always looking to shake things up, the Yankees reportedly wanted in on the bidding but lost out to the Nation.

Mirabelli has always been one that many said made up a lot of the glue that held the clubhouse together, and hopefully this turns things around and sparks everyone's bats.