I still have fears that Will Middlebrooks will never be the same. I just hate wrist injuries for baseball players. Hopefully, early in 2013, Middlebrooks will show that I am overreacting.
Tag: baseball
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MLB End-of-Year Awards Preview
If Mike Trout does **not** win the MVP award, baseball writers might as well just say the award is a farce and stop giving it.
Most ejections for a Red Sox manager in a single season. Good job, I guess?
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Carpenter Gets the Win
Hopefully he can become more than just “the guy they got for Theo Epstein.”
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It is like a Wrestling Storyline
Jerry Meals, the umpire who goes out of his way to make sure the evil Yankees do not win.
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The 2013 Baseball Schedule
I am still not sure how I feel about year-long interleague play. I would prefer it if they simply allowed the DH in all of baseball.
Ben Buchanan at *Over the Monster* [has some of the Red Sox specific notes](http://www.overthemonster.com/2012/9/12/3321876/boston-red-sox-2013-schedule):
> So long as the Sox can keep it close in the first five months, they’ll have their chance to win–or lose–the division in September as the year winds down to a crazy finish starting on September 5: four in New York, three in Tampa, three more against the Yankees, and then six against Baltimore and Toronto. Oddly enough, the year will end with a pair of two-game road series against Colorado (this is the first year of even leagues and year-long interleague play) and Baltimore.
I think the proverbial jury is still out on whether the Red Sox are going to add enough to contend for the division next year. If they are in contention though, the schedule lays out nicely for an exciting September.
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Harper with 4 Hit Night against Dickey
So much for that “he can’t hit the knuckleball” thing.
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Do Not Slide Into First Base
Kids in Little League all over the world hear this all the time “Do not slide into first base. Run *through the base.” Maybe Mark Teixeira will actually listen to that advice next time.
These still do not make me feel better.
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He Looks Out to Me
What? Jerry Meals made the right call in my book[^note].
[^note]: Yes, I am a bitter, bitter Red Sox fan.
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Trying to Make the Red Sox Season Brighter
At least we can all look at Aaron Cook’s mohwawk.
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The Inevitable End of Bobby V in Boston
The [cover of Sports Illustrated](http://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2012/09/summing-up-2012-with-one-picture.html) was only the beginning[^article] to what has not been the best of weeks for Bobby Valentine. For example, there is [the strange Radio outburst](http://www.overthemonster.com/2012/9/5/3294704/bobby-valentine-has-snapped) and the [horrific road trip](http://articles.boston.com/2012-09-06/sports/33631292_1_bobby-valentine-sox-playoff-spot). Combine that with [John Farrell, the heir apparent,](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/john-farrell-name-already-being-thrown-around-bobby-152821338–mlb.html) being in town, and if Valentine is not thinking about making an exit himself, there has to be people in the Red Sox organization who are thinking it is time he moves on.
Unfortunately, the removal of Valentine does not mean that next manager will necessarily have things any easier. As [Fenway West cautions,](http://www.fenwaywest.com/2012-articles/september/bobby-v-strike-three.html) the Red Sox have to be careful with the next manager:
> If the team does replace Bobby V, they must be very careful who they bring in. John Farrell is an obvious choice. He knows the Sox situation and is used to working with younger players. But Toronto will want compensation, and that might be tricky. The worst thing they could do is bring in a retread like Eric Wedge. The time has come to look in a new direction, perhaps even someone in their own organization.
This offseason might end up being more exciting than this previous season.
[^article]: The [actual article](http://www.sportsillustratedeverywhere.com/issues/protected/com.timeinc.si.web.inapp.09102012/the-epic-red-sox-fail-17929.html) in Sports Illustrated is pretty damning too. Unfortunately, I think you need to be a SI subscriber to read it.
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The Five Worst Modern Red Sox Seasons
> This season has not been one of Beantown’s finest, and if this list went five teams deeper, 2012 would likely be on it. But even when the team stinks, it has managed to do enough things well on the field to avoid being truly deplorable. This season has been no different, and while doom and gloom sells newspapers in New England by the truckload, things can be — and have — been worse
I cannot say that makes me feel *better* about this year’s Red Sox team.
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Bryce Harper gets under the Cubs’ Skin
> In the very first inning, Harper visited the left center field gap at Nationals Park and hustled out his seventh triple of the year, making him the first teenager since Buddy Lewis of the Washington Senators back in 1936 to reach that number in a single season. That’s a very cool achievement, but it would be quickly overshadowed just one batter later as Ryan Zimmerman hit a soft two-hopper back to the pitcher.
> Now, unless the bases are loaded or a special play has been called from the bench, a comebacker will usually freeze the runner on third. That was also the case here with Harper. But unlike most runners you’ll see in that situation, Harper didn’t immediately retreat to the base. He simply bided his time, measured the situation and then broke for the plate as the throw to first was made. That paid off for Washington as Harper beat the return throw home to score their first run.
I was in DC this past weekend and saw Harper in person. His speed and hustle are impressive. Of course, the Cubs did not enjoy the fact that he made them looks like fools and they retaliated by throwing at him later in the game. To his credit, Harper remained mostly calm during the various “brawls”[^b] that occurred.
[^b]: They were traditional “baseball brawls” where dugouts clear and bullpen guys run out, but nothing really happens.
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The Improvement of Dustin Ackley
After seeing Dustin Ackley play at Carolina, I was pretty confident he would be a solid-to-good major league hitter. I am, however, surprised it is taking this long,
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The Kid likes to take his Swings
*Fangraphs* on Pedro Ciriaco:
> What this turned into was a post critical of a versatile Red Sox infielder, and there probably aren’t too many people who thought Ciriaco would keep hitting anyway. But we’ve also managed to identify the hitter who’s had perhaps the very worst approach in the entire league. You might hate your favorite team’s hacker, but he’s had a better approach this year than Pedro Ciriaco has. Ciriaco, to date, has been one of the Red Sox’s few positives. Consider that and you see how badly things have gone wrong.
Ouch. That hurts.
> But over the past two months, the Nationals have noticed slight signs of normal wear on Strasburg. There has been more inconsistency, for instance, especially with being wild in the strike zone and in getting swings and misses off his fastball. They have noticed in a few starts how Strasburg’s followthrough sent him farther off line toward first base, an indication that he was supplying more effort to generate velocity. Nothing major, but just normal start-to-start inconsistency you find with a guy whose elbow was rebuilt.
> …
> Rizzo deserves credit for protecting the pitcher and for taking full responsibility for the decision. It’s truly a modern decision, one made with the kind of awareness, statistical study and medical information that wasn’t in play in 2003 when the 22-year-old Prior ran up 234 2/3 innings, a 67-inning increase from the previous season. Maybe it’s true, as Padres GM Josh Byrnes likes to point out, that the more we learn about pitching development the more complicated it becomes. What becomes known enlightens the vastness of what is unknown.
I understand where the Nationals are coming from, however, I am going to be bummed if it’s a Nats v. Cardinals NL Championship Series and Strasburg is not eligible to take the mound.
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The Highlight of the Red Sox Season
Of course, it came in Pawtucket.
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Increasing the Influence of Bill James
Quoting Red Sox Owner John Henry’s [Boston Herald interview](http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1061157658&srvc=rss):
> “One of (the) biggest issues we’ve had is that Bill James was a great resource for us but fell out of favor over the last few years for reasons I really don’t understand. We’ve gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly.”
> “He’s the father, so to speak, of baseball analysis and a brilliant iconoclast who looks at things differently from everyone else. But Ben is the right person to make the final decisions for the club.”
I approve of getting Mr. James back involved in the decision making. Those Red Sox teams from the early Theo Epstein years, when Bill James was thought to have his most influence, were some of my favorite teams to watch.
The benefit of having these extra weeks of extended Spring Training[^fn1], is that some of the young guys like Ryan Lavarnway can get time at the major league level to figure things out. Hopefully, last night was the first step in him turning things around.
[^fn1]: It helps me to think about things that way, okay?