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He seems pretty stoic about it but in is a major accomplishment in terms of it being very difficult to do in the age of five man rotations and complete games almost disappearing but he did it.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Portland Sea Dogs are the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. They play their home games at Hadlock Field which has the pictured replica of the Green Monster from Fenway Park.

Very cool.

The only thing Prescott, the town where we live, is missing is minor league baseball.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

The misery continues for David Ortiz as he went 0-7 and left 11 runners on base.

No one seems to know what is wrong. There have been comments on various telecasts by various announcers about not doing the right thing with hands or not driving the ball both of which imply he never got better after his injury last year.

The question I have is how much time does a manager give a player who has delivered more than his fair share in the past to get it all sorted out?

Manager Terry Francona has earned the benefit of the doubt in my estimation on anything baseball related so I will not second guess him. But how much time is right? The team has played just over 1/4 of its games. We are coming up on interleague play and so Papi can sit those games instead of playing first base, or not.

Does he get 54 games to work it out or maybe 81 or the entire season? Do his past deeds mean he should get as long as it takes?

One thing is certain it is much more difficult for an American League team to succeed if its DH is struggling with the Mendoza Line.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

There was a little bit of a hullabaloo a few days ago when White Sox relief pitcher Bobby Jenks threw behind Ian Kinsler at about rear end level after six White Sox hitters had been hit by Rangers pitching.

The fine for Jenks came down from MLB offices at a whopping $750. I did not take the time to do the math but this is far less than he makes per pitch.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dom DiMaggio passed away this morning.

I have always known he was a pretty good player and Joe's brother but in watching the NESN coverage today he had, like many players in his day, an interesting story.

I am intrigued by the players who interrupted their careers to serve in WWII. I've not heard of any players doing so since the Korean War. The way society and the military have evolved it is not surprising--I am not being critical as I never considered joining the military but more making a comment on what these guys were made of and I find it admirable.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Man Ram got popped for a banned substance and is out for 50 games. The suspension will cost him about $7 million in forgone salary.

As is always the case there is some ambiguity about what the real story is; was there something in a prescription that he did not know about, did he willfully do the wrong thing or is the answer somewhere in the middle?

Regardless of what the truth may be, unlikely we ever get the truth, this is inexplicable. If there was something in a prescription (assuming the most benign possible explanation) how is there not someone watching his back to find out what is in the prescription and whether it is banned or not.

If you assume the most malignant reason then how, with they way the testing is supposedly done, could he think he would be able pull a fast one?

While he has always been able to hit you have to wonder where the common sense has gone or if ever had any to begin with.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dennis Eckersley filled in for Jerry Remy last night and tonight do the color analysis for the Red Sox broadcast.

He has been one of the studio guys for the Sox for a while now but I'm not sure how long. I'd never heard him do a game before and I thought he was very good.

As I mentioned the other day a hall of famer with rings (or a ring anyway) has the credibility to say just about anything. He was more comfortable tonight so he had more to say. First, I would mention that I have never heard a color analyst who was less prepared in terms of knowing the players' back stories. There was very little effort there.

That said his baseball insight combined with his to the point manner were fantastic. Jose Molina came up in the 6th inning with a chance to knock in Nick Swisher from third base to tie the game with two outs and Eckersley commented from the mindset that Josh Beckett should have had at this point. "This guy is an out, he just needs to go take it, he is an out. If he (Molina) knocks a run in Beckett deserves to lose."

Wow.

In the top of the fifth when Joba Chamberlain hit Jason Bay with a pitch Eck said he didn't like that at all. He said that since the first he's been pitching well in the game and that he didn't suddenly lose it, he added that enough guys in the Red Sox club house don't like him and repeated that he did not like that.

All in all, pretty good stuff Eck.

Labels: announcers, baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Jacoby Ellsbury stole home last against the Yankees. I can't recall hearing an announcer, ESPN's John Miller, sounding so shocked by a play. He made a great call on a very exciting play.

The Red Sox swept the homestand, how often does that happen?

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Red Sox beat the Yankees in an unusually thrilling game for April. Down by two in the ninth inning Jason Bay hit a two run homer off of Mariano Rivera with two out in the ninth inning.

Then in the 11th inning Kevin Youkilis hit a solo shot so hard and so far that I think the ball is rolling down the turnpike.

The job being done by Ramon Ramirez should not be ignored either. He has been lights out in every appearance so far.

Big win even if it is only April.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

I know the Astros wore green hats but I did not see any other teams dress out for the occasion.

Did you see any other teams in green?

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

How does this even happen? A couple of jerseys for the Washington Nationals were misspelled and read as you see in the pictures.

Natinals.

Tony and Wilbon had a lot of fun with that one on PTI.

Labels: baseball, humor

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Pumpsie Green was the first black player in Red Sox history joining the team in 1959. He threw out the first pitch tonight at Fenway and was in the booth with Don and Jerry for the home half of the fourth inning.

I've known about Pumpsie as far back as I can remember (that's how long I've been a baseball fan) but I've never seen him before or heard him speak. He talks a little slow but his recall from his playing days was great.

That it took the Red Sox 12 years longer to break the color barrier then the rest of the sport is a bad blemish on the Sox history but that is the past.

Labels: baseball

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

Baseball fans will know that April 15th is the day that Major League Baseball pays tribute to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in 1947.

On the Rangers Orioles game telecast just now (I have the extra inning package) I learned that after he retired from baseball Jackie was in the coffee business and his son David is also in the business owning a coffee plantation in Tanzania.

You can click here for a look at David's plantation.

I love coffee, so I found it interesting and chances are his involvement in coffee is something you did not know.

Interesting, not in a good way, comment about the baseball card is that the quick bio has no mention of his breaking the color barrier.

Labels: baseball, coffee

Posted by Roger Nusbaum at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments