NEW ENGLAND SPORTS HUB...Red Sox Nation, Patriots Nation, The State Of The Celtics And B's

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Red Sox HUB Digest 9/15/05

SEPTEMBER MOURN SWEET CAROLINE??

STATS TO PONDER:
2002-2004 September

18 games to go...

Tek has hit .252 down the stretch over the last 3 seasons and has struggled in Yankee stadium...forget sentimentality, the Sox are better off facing the A's or Cleveland...

A Call To Arms

Red Sox

Wells 10-3 3.46 E.R.A.
Clement 3-4 4.68 E.R.A.
Schilling 7-3 4.13
Wake 6-4 3.54
Arroyo 3-0 3.64 limited appearances

Yankees:

Johnson 10-3 1.88
Leiter 5-8 3.99
??
??
??

The bullpen is the bigger concern for the Sox, as they clearly have the edge in starting pitching this September...Clement is a legitimate worry, as he has shown signs of his usual second half swoon...

SEPTEMBER LUMBER

Manny .345 22 66
Millar .314 10 44
Ortiz .276 19 55
Nixon .292 9 32
Damon .272 9 41
Rent .284 2 46
Billy Mueller .292 6 28

Tek is Tired

Once again, the bats are not the concern, although Tek has hit a worn down .252 down the stretch over the last 3 seasons and has always struggled in Yankee stadium...forget sentimentality, the Sox are better off facing the A's or Cleveland...

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BIG PAPA

"Big Papi solidified his case as the best Red Sox clutch hitter of all-time…"-Mike Lynch...Big Papi now has 40 homers 2 years in a row...Believe Rice or not, he is the first player since Yaz to accomplish this feat...Jim Rice had a 46 homer season in 1978, but prefaced and followed it with 39 homer seasons...

If I Wanted You To Think I Would Tell You What To Think

David Ortiz nonchalantly carried the wooden plaque under his arm as he left the Red Sox' clubhouse last night...Large enough to hold the prized antlers of an 18-point buck and engraved with his name, it declared him the ``Greatest Clutch Hitter In The History Of The Boston Red Sox.'' Ortiz didn't quite know what to make of the unexpected accolade when it was presented to him by owner John Henry and president Larry Lucchino just minutes after he had belted a game-winning, walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning that sent the Los Angeles Angels to a stunning, 3-2, defeat. ``Just a little present, I guess,'' Ortiz said. ``They made it in 20 minutes''...Actually, the plaque had been made by ownership vice-chairman Phil Morse in honor of the slugger's never-ending heroics...
(Herald 9-7-05)

I'm sure Big Papi prefers the $20 Plaque from Chelsea Softball Trophies over a fair value extension of his undermarket deal...From Tom Werner giving Wally a sneaker deal to the Sox selling Keith Richards-Stones-dead turf on their website as 2004 Championship souvenirs, these owners have grown tiresome...Overexposure for both themselves and the Sox is officially here, and they are beginning to cheapen the brand. Hey, we know that you own the Globe, or vice versa; Can't we get even half as many Patriots stories as promotional Red Sox fluff?? Dignity, humility, and even better, being seen but not heard would be nice on occasion...
-NF
GET THE FOULKE OUT’TA HERE

"I think Don you have to question…bringing him in in that situation…bases loaded and nobody out. The Keith Foulke thing…when they are trying to get him into a situation…bringing him in with the bases loaded I don’t think is that situation,I don’t think that’s the place to try to get your feet on the ground... You let him start an inning with nobody on until he gets his confidence back. I think maybe there you would follow the path we’ve seen lately with Papelbon coming in more of a power pitcher/strikeout guy then followed by Timlin."
–RemDawg boldly calls out his employer and their Tito (9/12/05)