So awesome.
Tag: baseball
The best baseball writer of our generation recaps the 2013 Red Sox. Quoting only a part of it does not do the piece justice. Take a few minutes and go read the whole thing.
> You can be cynical about Boston’s $159 million Opening Day payroll, and about the historic dump trade with the Dodgers, the one that gave the Red Sox enough room to make a bunch of moves over the winter. Just don’t get too swept away with revisionist history. The Sox might’ve spent a bunch of money, and might’ve caught a break when an overaggressive Dodgers team relieved them of some enormous financial commitments. But it’s not like the baseball world lined up in unison to declare the Red Sox preseason favorites this year. No one other than maybe their moms picked Boston to go all the way in 2013. Not with the memory of that nightmarish 2012 season still rattling around in everyone’s heads.
I thought the Red Sox were going to be good. I had no idea they would be *World Series Champion* good.
> If you’re looking for teams that might outperform expectations next year, scan the high minors of their farm systems for major league–ready talent. Actually, with Xander Bogaerts likely to claim an everyday job from Opening Day, and other dynamic prospects like Jackie Bradley Jr., Matt Barnes, Allen Webster, and others knocking on the door, the Red Sox could be one of those teams.
Jonah gives the Red Sox nation even more hope going into 2014.[^f5901]
[^f5901]: This column is bittersweet. I love ready Keri’s take on the season, but it is sad that the 2013 season is coming to an end. At least we have some *hot stove* action to keep us busy for the next 100 days.
> **Brian McCann.** While the Rangers, who have tried to trade for him several times and offer no state income tax, are expected to make a significant run, Braves officials think McCann could be a Boston possibility as a catcher, first baseman and eventual DH. “Never underestimate how close Brian is to David Ross,” says one Braves front office member. “Ross loves Boston, and the culture the Red Sox have built fits Brian McCann.”
The rumors are really heating up that the Red Sox are going to make a strong play for McCann. I always get nervous about investing a bunch of money in a catcher, but McCann would really fit in nicely in the Red Sox lineup.
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Series champ Red Sox honored at Gillette
> [A]s well as outfielder Jonny Gomes, who sprinted out of the tunnel and was met with raucous cheers.
Gomes is loving this. I am so glad the Red Sox signed him.
Napoli loves Boston. Bring him back for another year.
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Ortiz, Victorino shave beards for charity
I used this as an excuse to finally trim my bread as well.
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Bullpen cop is still enjoying the ride
Before the rolling rally kicked off at Fenway Park, [Steve] Horgan, a Boston police officer, was taking pictures and signing autographs. The image of him standing in the Red Sox’s bullpen with his arms raised in celebration after David Ortiz’s grand slam in Game 2 of the ALCS will be remembered as the iconic image of Boston’s run to the championship.
I hope Horgan gets to be the bullpen cop forever.
Video of that same touching moment.
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Th Red Sox pausing to remember
Speaking of touching celebration pictures.
“It was a great day,“ Sox manager John Farrell said. "The city turned over to just a day of celebration. And to share it, and see just the amount of people that came out, and the intensity and their noise, it was awesome today.”
Looking at these photos makes me smile.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to [Sox GM Ben Cherington]. But to obviously be back for another year is awesome,” said Lester. “Hopefully that’s not the only one and we can be here for a long time. We’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
I would be fine with the sox signing Lester to a 4-5 year extension.1
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Not for a huge salary, but something reasonable. ↩
This is amazing. It makes the Peavy trade completely worth it.
This seems like a no-brainer after his playoff run. Of course, this does not prevent the Sox from extending him during the off season either.
> He’s been the life of the World Series party three times now — 2004, 2007 and 2013 — and over everything else, that’s when the David Ortiz era becomes historically fascinating. By the time I graduated college, Bird, Russell, Orr and Williams were the big four. All discussions started and ended with them. In the 2000s, Tom Brady made his run … and if the 2007 Pats had finished 19-0, he would have joined them. Right now, he’s still standing outside the front door waiting for the bouncer to let him in. To be continued. But Ortiz? We thought the bouncer shooed him away a while ago. Now he’s back. He just cemented his reputation as one of the greatest clutch Boston athletes ever, and one of the greatest clutch baseball players, too. He came through time and time and time and time and time again. So many times that I can’t even keep track, actually.
> Throw in his personality, throw in the iconic “our city” moment, and throw in the stakes — nothing from 1919 through 2003, with people living entire lives and dying without seeing a Red Sox title — and I think the bouncer just let him in. And you know what else? It’s a great place. It’s the best place. You get to live forever in there. People tell stories about you to their kids, and their grandkids, and they can always say they saw you play. You might even get your own statue downtown someday. Tomorrow, it happens for the great Bill Russell. Someday, it will happen for David Ortiz. It will.
I agree. With this World Series win, Big Papi has overtaken Brady as *the* Boston athlete of this generation.
Matt Collins at *Over the Monster* recounts Jacoby’s career with the Red Sox:
> When we look back at Ellsbury’s time in Boston, which will more likely than not be coming to an end very soon, the recollection will most likely be highlighted by injury issues. The speedster missed significant time in 2010 and 2012, playing in just 18 and 74 games in those seasons, respectively.
> …
> Now, his Red Sox career is likely coming to a close, and it’s happening in the same way it all got started. Unlike 2007, Ellsbury of course has spent the entire season in the majors, but the similarities are still there. Coming into 2007, everyone was excited by the potential of Jacoby Ellsbury, but nobody was totally sure on what they could expect from him. Coming into this 2013 season, the feelings surrounding Boston’s center fielder were very similar. In both seasons, he provided a big spark for a team that was statistically the best in the league for most of the season. And, of course, in both seasons he was a major part of a postseason run that ended in champagne showers in the clubhouse, and a parade through the streets of Boston.
Excellent piece by Collins. I am really going to miss Jacoby, but I also do not think he is worth what he is likely to get on the open market.
Jeff Sullivan of *Fangraphs* does an excellent job of figuring out what Koji’s worst pitch was during the playoffs. Of course, my favorite paragraph might be:
> The next step is to eliminate any remaining pitches thrown to Jose Iglesias, because Iglesias is far from a threatening sort. The worst he’s likely to do is slap a single somewhere, and that’s just not that bad. You always have to account for batter identity. By removing pitches thrown to Iglesias, we reduce the sample to six.
Poor Jose.
Via *Joy of Sox*:
> In six World Series games, David Ortiz made five outs.
Just unreal.
Rob Neyer quotes the ratings numbers:
> For the entire month of Postseason baseball beginning with the Wild Card games, viewership increased +20% across FOX, TBS and MLB Network (6.3 million average viewers), the largest year-over-year increase since 2009. In addition, 2013 marks the first year since 2001 that viewership increased for every round of the Postseason as well as the All-Star Game.
I am sure people who do not like baseball will simply ignore this number and point to how great some random NFL game did in the ratings.[^f5159]
[^f5159]: Of course, those people better enjoy football while they can. The more we learn about concussions in football, the higher the likelihood that the game is going to change significantly from what we watch today.