Pedroia Snatched the MVP
The hot hitting Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia wins the American League most valuable player award. He is one of the only second baseman in this century to get the award. After only being in the league for two years, this is a pretty big accomplishment for Pedroia. The last Red Sox player to get this award was Mo Vaughn in 1995. The 2007 rookie of the year led the the league in doubles and tied for the league in hits.
Rays Head to Boston for Crucial Divison Series
The Boston Red Sox have been on a tear as of late winning seven of their last ten games. They are led by first baseman Kevin Youklis and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, both candidates for winning the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Pedroia is hitting an outstanding .330 and Youk is batting .314 for the dangerous Red Sox.
Tampa has been on a losing streak only winning five of their last ten games. They have lost three straight games and have to go to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox. The Rays only lead the Red Sox by one and half games in the A.L. East division. The young Rays will be lucky if they win a game in Boston, especially with the pitching they have to face all three nights. Game one of the series is Lester (13-5), game two is Matsuzaka (16-2) and in final game of the series Tampa has to face Josh Beckett (12-9). It is going to be difficult especially when Tampa still has 14 away games and only seven at the Trop. (Tropicana field is their home field in Tampa, Florida).
Do you think the Rays have a chance to win the American League East Pennant?
The Red Sox will win the American League East Pennant!
The current standings in the American League East are as follows: Tampa Bay Rays in first followed by the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and finally the last place New York Yankees. The Rays are in first by one and a half games over the Red Sox, nine and a half over the Blue Jays, and 10 games over the Yankees.
The Rays will not stay in first place for long because of the very tough schedule ahead of them. They play the Red Sox six more times, the Yankees three and the Minnesota Twins four. Also, they are very inexperienced and have never been in a pennant race before. Tampa has 14 away games and seven home left in September, so that could cause a little trouble for the young Rays. They still have two major injuries. Left fielder Carl Crawford and third baseman Evan Longoria are both all-stars. These are huge losses to their team.
The Red Sox should win every series the rest of the season. Dustin Pedroia is having an MVP season batting .330 leading the American League in batting average. Also Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Sean Casey came back from injuries on Friday, which is going to be a huge lift. One major reason that the Sox are going to win the division is that the pitching is doing really well. Matsuzaka and Lester are the Red Sox leading pitchers with combined records of 29-7. The bullpen is anchored with Okie Dokie and Papelbon, the Irish dancer. Papelbon is one of the top three closers in all of baseball. The Red Sox also have the best home record in all of baseball 48-19.
The Yankees are not going to make the playoffs. Their pitching is way too inconsistent and they also have a key injury that has effected them. Staring catcher Jorge Posada is out for the season. The Yanks have lost his great bat from the lineup and they miss him very much. Also, they are leaving a lot of men in on base and failing to drive in the runners. They are lacking clutch hitting this season since their big play makers Jeter and A-Rod are struggling at the plate with runners on base.
Red Sox Struggling On The Road
The Boston Red Sox are one of the worst teams in baseball away from Fenway Park. In there last 10 games on the road, they are only 3-7. They are 21-29 on the road this season. Their bullpen has blown the last few series for them. Not having David Ortiz in the lineup has a huge effect on losses decided by 2 runs or less because he is one of the best clutch hitters in Red Sox history. Once Ortiz is back in the lineup after the All-Star break, I predict the Red Sox will storm back into first place flying past the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox cannot wait to come back to Fenway tonight to face the Minnesota Twins. Daisuke Matsuzaka is looking to earn his 10th victory of the season. Go Sox!!!!!!
Colon Looking Great in 2008
Bartolo Colon pitched a great game late Monday night in Seattle after being injury prone over the past few years. In his second start of the 2008 MLB season, Colon looked like he did two years ago when he won the Cy Young award. Colon was 1-0 coming into this start. He pitched seven strong innings giving up only one earned run and five hits to get his second consecutive victory as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Colon is the 2005 Cy Young winner playing with the Los Angles Angels. He has been injured for the past three seasons and was picked up by the Boston Red Sox right before the start of the 2008-2009 season. Colon has the experience to be a great pitcher and potentially dominate the American League East divison. His injuries could effect his performance, but if he makes a full comeback, the Red Sox will have made the best pickup in recent MLB history.
Do you think Bartolo Colon will win more than 10 games this season?
Red Sox Rapper and Papelbon River Dancer
Check out the following videos from the 2008 Hermon High School’ “Mr. Hermon” competition. In the talent portion of the event, Ryan performed as a Red Sox Rapper. There was also a required dance. Ryan danced with Vicki McLaughlin, a Hermon High teacher. They danced the River Dance made popular by Jonathan Papelbon during the Red Sox run to the 2007 World Series. You probably don’t want to know what happened during the “Pick Your Fate” part of the competion (Fear Factor Smoothies).
Ryan went on to win and become “Mr. Hermon 2008″. We all know that there is no bigger Red Sox fan than Ryan. It was only fitting for him to choose to perform these tunes. And you thought that Ryan was just a sports fan and blogger. Check him out on video. More video may be coming soon!
Ryan Kimball Red Sox Rapper
Ryan Kimball & Vicki McLaughlin River Dancers Extraordinaire
Red Sox Don’t Stoop to Retaliate
I presume that most everyone watching the Thursday April 17 night game between the Red Sox and Yankees felt a bit of an adrenaline surge when the Yankee pitcher threw a pitch directly behind Manny Ramirez’s head after Manny hit two homeruns and singled in his first 4 at-bats. The television announcers familiar with the foolishness of the tit for tat antics of baseball’s boys of summer kept all of us wondering for innings if Beckett or his relief team would bean A-Rod or Jeter. If I was A-Rod, Jeter, or any other Yankee player, I would be angry at my team’s pitcher who threw dangerously behind a player knowing that I might be getting beaned in my next at-bat. When are the players going to realize that a baseball can kill. If death or permanent damage ever results knowing it’s not an accident, I predict the Congress and world opinion to come pouncing. The Commissioner of baseball
I am impressed that the reigning world champions showed the class they did (thanks Beckett and Papelbon!). They could have ignited an old rivalry making Yankee-Red Sox encounters even more nasty while further embarrassing a game that can’t seem to shake off the “steroid era”. I place the blame firmly on MLB leadership and the player’s union for the awkward way that steroid news has come forth can be placed. They had plenty of time to be at least a little bit proactive. Instead, they let Jose Conseco take the lead. At least someone want to make sure the truth comes out evnetually even though he is riding the wave all the way to the bank.
The Red Hot Sox Ready to Take On the Yanks
The Boston Red Sox swept the Chicago White Sox outscoring them 46-7 in the series having great pitching as well in all four games of the series. The Red Sox are the first team since 1950 to put up thirty-nine plus runs in a series. The Red Sox also got ten plus runs in the four game series. If the Red Sox win this series they have a great chance to beat the Yankees out for the divison for first time in at least a dozen years. The Yankees have been struggling as of late losing two of the first three games in the series against the Detriot Tigers and ready to take on the red hot Red Sox.
Red Sox to Play Important DH Today
The Red Sox are coming off a rainout last night tough loss in Tampa on Wednesday night leaving fourteen runners on base only able to score one run in a 2-1 loss. Today the Red Sox are playing a day/night double header against the Chicago White Sox with games scheduled for 2pm and 8pm.
In the first game Josh Beckett takes the hill looking for his 16th win of the season. Beckett is getting closer and closer to becoming the 2007 AL Cy Young winner. In the the nightcap, Curt Schilling looks to shine after coming back to get a victory after having been off the D.L. missing several starts.
The Red Sox Explode for Seventeen Hits in the Victory
The Boston Red Sox win the final game of the series 14-9 and take three out of four from the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night. Willy Mo Pena was on fire with four hits, four RBI, and a homerun in the victory. Also, Manny Ramirez also did a part in the victory smashing two homeruns, double, and four RBI. The Red Sox catcher was two for four on the night with two RBI and Coco Crisp chipped in with a couple of hits and a RBI for the winners.
The Red Sox have won six out of their last seven games and looking to keep it going playing Tampa Bay tonight in Tampa with Tim Wakefield to take the mound. Tim Wakefield is 7-0 with a 2.39 ERA in his career at Tropicana Field.
Lester Shines in his 2007 Major League Debut
Cleveland, Ohio (7/23/07)–Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox earned a huge personal victory against the Cleveland Indians pitching in his first MLB game of 2007. Last August during his rookie season as a starter after posting a brilliant 7-2 record, Lester was dignosed with cancer and wasn’t able to pitch the remainder of the season. He immediately began treatment to fight his cancer. In December he was cleared by doctors to begin his comeback from a disease that threatened his life and his baseball career.
Lester pitched in the minor leagues the first half of the this Red Sox season. He pitched three games for single A Lowell and fourteen games AAA Pawtuckett which helped him get ready for his first start against the Cleveland Indians. This was his first major league start since last August. He shined in this 6-2 Red Sox victory over the tribe. The 23 year-old left hander went six innings throwing 96 pitches allowing five hits, three walks, two runs, and six strikeouts.
Do you think Lester will continue to succeed in the future as a Red Sox pitcher? Might he be that important left handed starter who can help carry the Red Sox to more pennants and championships?
Crisp and Lugo Help Sox Win Series
The Red Sox played a four game series against the Chicago White Sox.
The last three games of the series the Red Sox outscored their opponents 29-8. Coco Crisp had seven hits with eight RBI while Julio Lugo had a grand slam along with six hits and five RBI in final three games of the series. Crisp has raised his batting average to .277 and Lugo has hit nearly .500 last week raising his batting average to .225.
Crisp has an eleven game hitting streak and Lugo has a seven game hitting streak. In the series finale Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each blasted a three run homer leading the Red Sox to an 8-5 victory.
Kason Gabbard Throws a Complete Game Against the Kansas City Royals
Kason Gabbard of the Red Sox threw a three hit shutout in his victory over the Royals. He is one of the three pitchers this year that has thrown a complete game for the Red Sox. This year at Fenway Gabbard has a 3-0 record with an ERA of 1.71. Also, he had nine strikeouts in the recent Red Sox 4-0 victory.
Do you think Kason Gabbard will continue to pitch with the Red Sox ?
Josh Beckett Suffers His Third Loss of the Year
Josh Beckett faced the Toronto Blue Jays and went eight innings allowing only seven hits and two earned runs in his contest. He had a good start and couldn’t get any run support from his team getting the loss 2-1 against the Jays. If Beckett gets good run support the rest of the regular season, he could be a twenty game winner. He pitched in the All-Star Game this year and went two innings giving up only two hits and no runs in his outing.
