Coco Crisp KC Bound.

Posted by Adam Hart November 19, 2008 at 11:42 am

Confirmation has been made. Read more

Oh, the Possibilities…

Posted by Adam Hart November 18, 2008 at 6:49 pm

Last week I mocked the Yankees and their ‘throw money at the wall of free agents and see what sticks’ approach. I also said that the Red Sox should limit the moves they make, since they were a couple injuries away from the World Series. But I don’t want to leave Theo hangin’. Read more

Dressed Up and Playing Her Tune

Posted by Bob Ekstrom July 1, 2008 at 8:57 am

Welcome to July, the summer queen who is supposed to separate baseball’s cream from its crop, right? Well, our beloved Red Sox begin the month a game and a-half behind the Tampa Bay Rays, courtesy of last night’s 5-4 loss at Tropicana Field. It’s not the old Trop anymore says Jeff Horrigan, who has Justin Masterson (4-2) struggling with his command for the first time this season. Jeff Goldberg says the Sox start this series in a very different state than the Rays, which was evident from literally the first pitch, a B.J. Upton homer. Sean McAdam says the Rays were opportunistic in building their AL East lead last night. Bill Ballou reminds us it’s been all downhill since Boston’s high-water mark on Saturday night, when the Sox sat mightily atop the division. Gordon Edes can’t remember the last time the Rays’ crowd outnumbered Sox supporters at the Trop. Tampa has undoubtedly been reignited from the Tribune’s tips for fans , where Marc Lancaster reminds everyone the Sox are the new Evil Empire. Rob Bradford says there’s a different feel to the Trop this year, as the surreal setting last night illustrates.

In the wake of Saturday’s shoving incident, Bradford’s Red Sox Beat has the New Manny image already in the shop for repairs. McAdam has both Manny and skipper Terry Francona in damage control mode, trying to downplay the incident. Dan Shaughnessy calls out the Sox organization as “spineless” and labels them Manny enablers after this latest chapter.

Edes’ Red Sox Notebook has last night’s security beefed up in the wake of threats directed toward Manny and Coco Crisp, although they aren’t related to last month’s brawl with the Rays in Boston. Horrigan also has an account of the stepped-up security measures. Horrigan’s Red Sox Notebook has Big Papi on a slow recovery and officially out of this year’s All-Star Game. In his Red Sox Notes, Ballou has Ortiz reporting he won’t need surgery.

The C’s

With every title in Title Town comes the hangover and, as James Posey’s declaration for free agency yesterday attests, the Celtics are not exempt. Mark Murphy says that tight cap space around the NBA, coupled with Posey’s midlevel salary expectations, will make him hot this summer. Marc J. Spears says Posey will be the top offseason target for the C’s, who also failed to make Tony Allen a qualifying offer yesterday.

Pats

Karen Guregian features Randy Moss’s weekend work with youth, culminating with his golf tournament to raise funds for providing learning centers in West Virginia. With the good, comes some bad. Christopher L. Gasper has the details on Willie Andrews’ busy offseason, capped by his second arrest yesterday.

Odds & Sods

Tom King has former Sox infielder Brian Daubach returning to the area as hitting coach for the Nashua Pride. As the Sox tangle with the Rays in Tampa this week, Dan Duggan recalls Daubach’s involvement in an infamous Tropicana melee eight years ago.

Kevin Provencher has New Hampshire Motor Speedway GM Jerry Gappens dog tired after his first NASCAR Sprint Cup event last weekend, the 27th consecutive sellout in Loudon.

The Telegram updates us about Derek Jeter’s bat woes - not only in swinging them, but in holding them as well. Kind of a slow sports day.

Bruce will be taking some time off this week, so we guest bloggers will try to fill his shoes. Join us each day throughout the week and, as always, send me your comments at bob02878@yahoo.com. Thanks.

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As the Sox turn: Everything’s fine

Posted by Ted McEnroe June 6, 2008 at 4:48 pm

So, after last night’s soap opera and intrigue, here’s the latest:

Manny and Youk say everything’s fine. Manny to media at a Macy’s event today: “Don’t worry about it.”

Jacoby Ellsbury will be OK, and could see pinch running duties tonight, although he might skip BP for the day.

Coco Crisp will be back in the lineup in center - while I’m sure the league office will be reflecting on video from last night as they contemplate punishment for all involved in the melee this weekend.

And Chris Carter, here’s your cup of coffee, now back to Pawtucket. His reward for 2 hits and a couple of nice plays in left field? He gets sent back and the red hot and better defensive outfielder Brandon Moss will get the start in left tonight.

June is busting out all over

Posted by Ted McEnroe June 6, 2008 at 10:34 am

I hate when there’s nothing to talk about.

The last evening in Boston may go down as one of the most exciting in city sports history - in that weird, can-you-believe-what-just-happened kind of way. It’s as though the Celtics and Red Sox are actively vying for attention, each trying to outdo the other.

At the Garden, you had the old rivalry: Celtics-Lakers. At Fenway, a new rivalry: Sox-Rays. What it lacked in big names last night (Shields, Gomes and Crisp sounds more like a low-end law firm), it made up for intensity.

In both places, you had a scary injury moment: Ellsbury with a bad thumb after a diving grab at Fenway, and Pierce - well, we know about Pierce.

And in both, there’s that little bit of intrigue. What the hell were Manny and Youk jawing about? And what if (as some national folks are floating out there) Paul Pierce was putting on some kind of a show for the crowd, and for his teammates? I don’t buy the latter idea for a second. But it does give each team a little something to get the talk show circuits heating up today.

Today maybe we’ll get some more info on Pierce’s knee, Jacoby’s thumb, and Manny, Coco and Youk’s respective heads.

Should be a fun one.

Big Papi and Big Hoops

Posted by Mike Giardi June 3, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Before I get on to the Celtics, let me just say that the David Ortiz injury worries me, but I won’t get panicky unless the wrist won’t get right. Right away you worry about Manny. Unless J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell and Chris Carter (no, not that one. He spells it Cris…and he’’s an idiot) rake, there is absolutely no reason to ever throw Manny a strike again. And the Sox slugger is such a patient hitter, he’ll take walks. I say if Ortiz misses a month, Manny will take between 35 and 40 base on balls during this stretch. Its great for the OBP, but dudes below him better swing big bats or you might be talking about a couple of walks per game.

The only reason I don’t get crazy is because the Sox are better built to manufacture runs then they’ve ever been in my lifetime, even more so if Coco could get on base every once in a blue moon. Jacoby Elllsbury has a chance to be a very special player, and I wasn’t convinced that would be the case 7 or 8 months ago.

As for the Celtics, another busy day at the team’s practice facility in Waltham. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce held court for a second day, basically repeating their takes from a day ago. I get the feeling that Ray may have a good series now that his confidence has been restored. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if Kobe tortures him for 40. Hey, I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.

Other bits and pieces…Kendrick Perkins thinks that Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess got him well prepared for Pau Gasol. In fact, I think Perk thinks this will be an easier task. You know what? I think he’s right.

Sam Cassell thinks there’s very little pressure on Rajon Rondo. He said it was similar to his situation in his rookie season with Houston, when he didn’t have any plays designed for him, and didn’t need to carry the offense. Cassell noted he had Hakeem and Clyde Drexler - 2 Hall of Famers - and Rondo plays with 3 future HOf’ers. The late-season acquisition also noted that nothing prepares you for the NBA Finals. The atmosphere is “crazy.”

James Posey wouldn’t reveal just how much time he’ll get matching up with Kobe (see my one-on-one interview with him on NECN.com), but says that its all about “team defense,” again a theme that has been very prevalent these last couple days (and all season, of course). It will be crucial for the C’s to make sure Kobe has to work defensively as well, something they did a nice job with in the two regular season meetings.

Doc Rivers is a huge fan of Derek Fisher, citing his character and basketball smarts. The C’s tried to get Fish this offseason, but he was no dummy, sticking to his West Coast roots and Kobe. Can’t blame a guy for that.

Paul Pierce thinks Kobe has great trust not just in Gasol, but all his teammates, and Doc feels like Phil Jackson has loaded up on shooters when those two are on the floor, making life easier for both, and Lamar Odom.

More tomorrow….

Today’s medical report

Posted by Projo SoxBlog May 1, 2008 at 5:48 pm

Terry Francona sounds as much like a doctor as the Red Sox manager in his pre-game press conferences these days. Today was a perfect example.

``Doctor’’ Francona had mostly good news to report on his ``patients.’’

Jacoby Ellsbury is not yet ready to start, but he is out on the field doing some work as we speak. He has had a groin problem.

``He feels it getting better. We’ll know more when he runs around,’’ Francona said.

J.D. Drew also was on the field testing his ailing quad.

``He’s doing some shagging,’’ Franconca said. ``We’ll see where that leads.’’

And then there is David Ortiz’ knee.

``He’s on the elliptical right,’’ Francona related. ``He’s OK. I think he’s just sore. He knows he can't just come and play the game any more. He doesn't have that freedom. He knows that.’’

Ortiz is learning, the manager said, that he has to do pre-game work to get himself ready. At his age and size, he is simply going to have to deal with some aches and pains in his knee.

``He can’t come and just play the game,’’ Franconca said of Ortiz putting in work before the game.

Coco Crisp, who also had knee concerns, will play.

``He’s a little sore,’’ Francona said. ``He’s OK to play or we wouldn’t play him. We would do something different.’’

Two lineup moves tonight are not medically related. Since Tim Wakefield is pitching (he was working on a crossword puzzle just now) Kevin Cash will catch. Also, Julio Lugo is 3-for-17 in his career against A.J. Burnett the Toronto starter. Jed Lowrie needs work, so Lowrie will play short.

``It just seemed like a good day to do it,'' Francona said, for once sounding more like a manager than a doctor.''

A night off for Lugo

Posted by Projo SoxBlog May 1, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Jed Lowrie will play shortstop for the Red Sox tonight. Coco Crisp will play center even though he is not 100 percent and Jacoby Ellsbury is still not ready to start.

Those are the first developments of the day. We'll explain the development soon, but here are the lineups to get us started:

TORONTO

Rios PF
Eckstein SS
Stairs DH
Wells CF
Hill 2b
Stewart LF
Barajas C
Scutaro 1b
Burnett P

BOSTON
Pedroia 2b
Youkilis 1b
Ortiz DH
Ramirez RF
Lowell 3b
Moss RF
Crisp CF
Lowrie SS
Cash C
Wakefield P

Tampa 2, Boston 1

Posted by Projo SoxBlog April 27, 2008 at 12:14 am

By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Almost!

All Red Sox rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz could do was stare into the right-field seats as he nearly repeated his no-hit performance from last September with a three-hitter against Tampa Bay Saturday night at Tropicana Field as the Rays narrowly defeated Boston, 2-1, on some late-inning heroics.

The only three hits Tampa was able to register off the talented right-hander was a double by B.J. Upton in the fourth inning, a pinch-hit single by Dioner Navarro and a two-run homer by Akinori Iwamura in the eighth inning.

“He was good,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He was throwing all of his pitches for strikes. He was changing speeds. He just left one breaking ball over the plate. . . I thought Clay was great. He just gave up a home run when we didn’t need him to.”

Other than those three hits, Buchholz was just as good – if not better – than he was during his history-making performance last year.

“You could see as the game progressed he was coming off the mound with jump,” said Francona. “I don’t mean he was jumping out of his delivery, he was aggressive with arm speed on his change-up. It was fun to watch. You’re not going to throw a two- or three-hitter all the time, but that’s the kind of guy we envision. His stuff was electric.”

It was Sept. 1, 2007 when he recorded a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in only his second major-league start. He threw 115 pitches that day and struck out nine for the 17th no-no in club history.

Saturday night didn’t have the drama, the edge-of-your-seat excitement, but he was just as good as he was last fall. He threw 113 pitches (76 strikes) but came up a bit short.

“I felt in control,” he said. “I never thought (Iwamura’s) at-bat would go down like that. I thought I had him struck out with a curve ball. He hit a good pitch, man. When I let it go I thought he would take it or swing over the top of it, but he was sitting all over it. Hats off to him because I threw a pitcher’s pitch and he hit it.”

Along with the no-hitter, last fall was bittersweet for Buchholz. The Red Sox shut him down for the remainder of the 2007 season due to arm-strength issues. That made Buchholz a bystander during the magical postseason run to a World Series championship. In fact, management had serious conversations with him about his preparation both on and off the field.

“In my opinion that’s in the past,” said Francona. “He’s done everything I’ve asked. He competes. He doesn’t back down from anybody. He’s exciting. He has good demeanor on the mound and he just wants to win.”

Buchholz was slow going to start the season, but he exploded onto the scene once again yesterday.

“Overall I felt great tonight,” he said. “It was just a little misfortune, I guess.”

Buchholz got two quick outs in the bottom of the first before issuing back-to-back walks. He got out of the jam by striking out the Rays’ Evan Longoria.

Buchholz then retired the next six batters he faced before Upton’s double in the fourth. He reached third on a ground out, but was left stranded.

With the way Buchholz was pitching, the Red Sox didn’t need much offense.

The Sox’ Coco Crisp led off the top of the fifth inning with a single, and reached third with some heads-up baserunning. Tampa starter Edwin Jackson threw a wild pitch and the speedy Crisp took off from first and reached third relatively easy. Crisp was stranded 90 feet from home plate until Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-out infield hit that gave Boston a 1-0 advantage.

Buchholz was extremely efficient in the bottom of the inning and quickly retired the side in order. He did the same in the sixth and again in the seventh. It was clear he was dialed in.

With one out in the eighth inning, and Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon warming in the bullpen, Navarro hit a soft liner to right field. Ellsbury, playing right field, attempted to make the play, but the ball just fell in at his feet.

The Rays weren’t done.

After Jason Bartlett flied out to center field, Iwamura scorched his two-run homer to deep right field to give Tampa a 2-1 lead. He said he was sitting on the curveball.

"Yes," said Iwamura. "I took a previous swing on his change-up and it carried pretty well to center field (in the third inning). I figured Jason Varitek knew I had timed his change-up."

After the game Buchholz admitted he knew the ball was gone as soon as it was hit. For a few seconds after it landed in the seats, Buchholz just stood there, glaring into right field.

“He pitched great,” said Sox’ Kevin Youkilis. “He just made that one mistake and got hurt on it. But, he threw the ball great and had a great outing. This is how baseball works sometimes.”

Buchholz was close to perfection, unfortunately almost only counts in horseshoes.

Kielty has surgery, out 4 to 6 weeks

Posted by Extra Bases April 25, 2008 at 1:08 am

The Coco Crisp trade watch, such as it is, probably can be called off for the time being.
Bobby Kielty, the veteran center fielder in waiting in Pawtucket, underwent surgery on his left hand and is expected to be out from four to six weeks. Kielty, who was placed on the Pawtucket DL on the 19th with what was described as soreness in the hand, told club officials he is uncertain of how he hurt the hand. He did not respond to a message yesterday afternoon.
"He had a bone spur or something on top of his hand that was causing the ligament to snap back and forth,'' general manager Theo Epstein said, confirming the timetable for Kielty's return.
With Kielty out of the mix, the Sox have even less incentive to try and move Crisp, who yesterday returned to the lineup for the first time since April 15 (tight right hamstring) and had a big day, hitting two doubles, stealing third twice, driving in three runs and scoring another.
Until Crisp was hurt, he had started five of the previous six games in center field. His injury allowed rookie Jacoby Ellsbury to start eight in a row in center until yesterday, when he started in right field in place of J.D. Drew. Ellsbury made the most of his opportunity while Crisp was out. He went hitless in eight at-bats in two games in New York, but still jump-started two rallies by getting hit by a pitch and then stealing second. In his next six games, Ellsbury batted .417 (10 for 24), with a double, triple, two home runs, four RBIs, five walks and four more stolen bases. He had an on-base percentage of .417 and a slugging percentage of .517, before going 1 for 5 yesterday.
Drew was 2 for 20 on the homestand, but Francona said prior to yesterday's game that he had told Drew four days earlier that he'd have yesterday's game off against Angels left-hander Joe Saunders, whom Drew had never faced. Ordinarily, the switch-hitting Crisp likely would have led off against Saunders, but Francona noted the extended layoff factored into his decision to leave Ellsbury in the top spot.
The Sox are scheduled to face three right-handers in Tropicana Field against the Rays--Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and James Shields--so it will be interesting to see how Francona divvies up the playing time among his center-fielders. While Ellsbury has been hot--Tuesday, he became the first Sox rookie to go deep twice in a game since Kevin Youkilis on Aug. 8, 2004--Crisp has been no slouch, batting (11 for 27, .407) in his last seven games with an at-bat.
And while much has been made of the fact that Ellsbury has yet to be caught stealing in the big leagues--he has yet to be caught in 17 attempts, the most successful attempts without being caught by a Sox rookie since 1920--Crisp has been caught only once in his last 18 attempts, going back to last July 6, and overall, his success rate of 84.4 percent (54 for 64) is the highest in club history for any player with 50 or more attempts.
Crisp said he had no idea how the playing time will shake out.
"He (Ellsbury) is playing well, I'm playing well, J.D. and Manny (Ramirez) are playing well--I wish it was softball,'' Crisp said. "We'll see what happens. It was a little different story about five days ago. Hopefully we'll continue to play well and make it a tough decision.''
Asked how Kielty's injury affects his situation, Crisp said: "It doesn't do anything to my situation. We have two different names. There are other minor league guys. JT (Joe Thurston) will be back. He's a good player.''

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