D Bard Has Had a Good Offseason...

D Bard huh?  I always thought he was more Napoleon Dynamite than a popular clubhouse jokester...which still may be the case.....but I gotta give it to the guy, he's clearly put in some hard work in the offseason.

A 100mph heater and the ability to make fun of himself?  That's truly rare. 

That said, D Bard should really consider the future implications of interviews like this.  People like Pedroia don't let these things go easily, as a result, he'll likely have a ridiculous nickname for the rest of his career.  A nickname that Pedroia will drive home by screaming it day in and day out during Spring Training.....to the point where Dan Shaughnesy is even using it.....and that's a situation no one wants to be in.

This video somehow confirms that Pedey is an animal.  Bring on Spring Training.

Hermy Powers Lackey to First Boston Win

We figured in honor of Lackey's first Boston win we'd include a picture of his wife........what? She's from Maine and got his first win in a Red Sox uniform.... why else we would use the picture?

Tim may have called it yesterday, don't be surprised if Jeremy Hermida is your everyday DH by May or June.

The 26 year old former first round pick is starting to make Tito's job a little more difficult.

Dustin Pedroia (who is acting like a cleanup hitter on my fantasy team right now) may be continuing to prove that he can "hit that pitch"....but it's Hermida who is stealing the media's print of late. (ITM note: from here on Hermida will be referred to as, "Hermy"...because it just feels right...and possibly because I spell his last name differently everytime.....and absolutely because we also somehow manage to tie it back to the "Herbie Hancock" joke from Tommy Boy....don't ask qustions.)

Hermy has started the past four games (partially as a result of Jacoby's injury) and through an admittedly small sample of 14 at bats, has five hits (3 doubles), one tater, and six rbi. Hey Ortiz...see how much he poured?

I'm pretty sure I recently read that Ortiz has more strikeouts than plate apparences...certainly believable, but I'll double check my sources.

You've read it on this blog before, we're not believers in Big Papi at this point, at least, not anywhere close to the 2007 levels of belief. We hope he proves us wrong, but did nothing to convince us today. We need realistic expectations (something, as Bostonians, we struggle with in nearly every facet of life).

Sure, Ortiz apparently had a double in the 9th inning today....but I didn't see it with my own eyes....which leads me to believe the story that he actually struck out, but the umpire felt bad for him and let Ortiz take a free swing off a tee. Rumor has it that he was somehow jammed and late on the ball despite it being on the tee....resulting in a blooper over the shifted third basemen's head.

The top of the lineup helped keep the game in the Sox favor early on, but it was Hermy's three run double in the 8th inning that broke the game open.

Turns out it was needed.....Bard continues to make ITM look bad (giving up a tater to Cudyer), and Pap was shaky at best. At least Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen have looked solid....

It's amazing how we can take a nice win and turn it into a negative post so easily right? Welcome to the real Red Sox Nation.

Regardless, Lackey once again stymied his opponent and gutted it out over 6 and 2/3rds. Hopefully Beckett and Lester were taking notes rather than seeing who can drop more F bombs in 30 seconds.

Suffering Through a Loss, At a Bar, Without Sox Fans

The Red Sox are putting me in a tough position. A goal of mine (and ITM-Gal's) for 2010 was to practice greater emotional control when Red Sox season started.

"Just enjoy the game" she says.

I've been trying.

Last night was a true, early test.

After enjoying a great dinner with friends, we decided to join some of ITM-Gal's grad school friends at a local bar. In my head, I knew the bar only had one TV, so I had game planned my seat selection perfectly. A few minutes later, the game was on, I had the perfect seat-to-TV sight line, drinks were ordered and the Sox were winning. Things were looking up.

Until things went bad. I was meeting some of ITM-Gal's grad school friends for the first time, naturally we were all asking each other a lot of questions. The only problem was, being a full time graduate student at a top business school means most of her friends are not from Boston. In fact, last night, none of them were.

They could have cared less about the game. I made multiple attempts at talking about what was that was going on RIGHT BEHIND THEM.

Nothing.

The score gets closer, 3-2, Sox.

So as the game went on, Oki's struggles continued, and a player ITM has hyped up more than Tiger's return to golf (Bard) comes in and surrenders the lead for the second night in the row.

It's the 8th inning, the Sox are now losing to the lowly Royals 4-3. But the table doesn't notice.

I kept thinking, don't they know a loss would drop us to 1-3 and we have to face Cy Young award winner Zack Grienke tomorrow? Clearly they didn't.

I'm squirming in my seat at this point. I excuse myself, run to the bathroom to text message and or call multiple friends in order to scream about the Sox bullpen woes....no one answers.

I'm screwed.

Enter Soria. Cameron singles. Breathe.

A sacrifice and a strike out later, Dusty strolls to the plate with two outs in the 9th and the tying run in scoring position.

Of course, at that exact time, the conversation at the table turns to me. Pedroia is up, fouling away pitch after pitch, and everyone is looking at me to answer random questions about work/travel/marriage life etc. I'm sure my answers made no sense as I struggled to keep an eye on Pedroia and pretend like I was engaged in the conversation.

6 two strike foul tips later, as I neared blacking out, Pedroia flew out to rightfield and the Sox had lost.

I was squeezing my fists so hard under the table I'm sure my face was turning red.

There was no one to bitch to, no one to commiserate with....this is not how you're supposed to live. I swear ITM-Gal knew exactly what was going on the entire time and enjoyed seeing me sweat it out. Probably pay back for leaving the toilet seat down, or never keeping my half of the bedroom clean. It was well deserved in that regard.



The Sox are not making this 2010 goal of mine any more attainable with their early play, but it's somehow easier when you're surrounded by Sox fans going through the same ups and downs.

Tonight's game can't start soon enough....Go Sox.

Well At Least Jerry Remy's Sports Bar is Awesome

Pretty depressing loss for the Sox tonight. Lackey was studly, the Yanks did what they could to increase his pitch count, but he deserved to get the W in his first Boston start.

I've promised myself not to freak out as much this year when it comes to the Sox. With that in mind, I'll turn towards a great night at Jerry Remy's Sports Bar. For those of you who don't know where it is, it's behind Fenway Park at 1265 Bolyston street. It has a great beer selection, more TV's than you can look at, an open air feel with a commanding view of Fenway Park, decent food options, and great service. The opinion was shared by all of my buddies in attendance. It's safe to say we'll be headed back there multiple times this season.

Other quick takeaways before I crash....

-Lackey has never been a strike out pitcher, but, in my opinion, he could stand to attack the strike zone a bit more (this after one start's worth of review...)

-No matter what he says, it's likely that Lackey will never come off as an intelligent person (see George Bush's Southern Syndrome).

-I still don't understand how Andy Pettitte's arm is still attached to his shoulder, especially when you consider the amount of HGH he was using (people like to forget that fact...much like Ortiz).

-Ortiz got a RBI single tonight....in his mind, I'm sure that buys him 3 more weeks of mediocre stats.

-I hate that Curtis Granderson is on my fantasy team right now.

-I'm not worried about Papelbon. I swear.

....I think.

-Anyone else think that timely hitting is going to be more important than ever this year?

-Did Chan Ho Park really just limit the Sox to one hit over three innings? Chan Ho Park? Too bad we didn't have Cal Ripken Jr at the plate tonight.

-D Bard is filthy..how long before the nut bags start calling for him to close games?

-The Sox may be 1-2 after starts by Beckett, Lester and Lackey, but I somehow feel better about them now than I did at the beginning of the season.

Another off day tomorrow? What's this about?? Don't they know I need consistency in my life?

Terrible 5th Inning Sinks the Sox Again

What is with the Red Sox pitching staff and their inability to get outs in the 5th inning of games? Tim Wakefield followed Jon Lester's lead and could not get through the 5th without turning what looked to be a quality start into a disaster.

It was classic Wakefield tonight, who just seemed to lose complete control of his knuckle ball in the 5th. When Wake is on, he's nearly unhittable, but when he's off, you might as well have a slow pitch softball hurler out there. Over his last four starts, Wake has a 2-2 record, a 7.40 era, and 13 walks. In three out of his last four starts, he's given up five or more runs. The good thing about Wake, he can turn it on as quickly as he can turn it off, you just don't know what you're going to get when he returns to the mound.

For the third game in a row, the Red Sox lineup couldn't muster much in the way of offense. David Ortiz put together a few good swings tonight, but only showcased warning track power with the bases chucked in the 1st. Hit the weights Papi, but at least you didn't strike out tonight. Perhaps the timing is coming back.

I look at the Toronto's lineup and say to myself....how the hell are they the best hitting team in baseball? How is Marco Scutaro lacing the ball all over the park? With a name like that, shouldn't he be doing bicycle kicks somewhere in Europe? It must be something in the Canadian water, because the names and numbers just don't line up to me. I still believe their bats will come back to reality, much like their pitching has over the past two weeks.

The lone bright spot of the Sox....my boy, Daniel Bard. Bard threw 2 1/3 innings, walking one, but striking out the final 5 batters he faced. He dominated on a night when the radar gun indicated he may have been holding back at times. He was consistently around 96 mph, but did touch 99 at one point. Scary to figure those high speeds may not be his best stuff.

Bard Continues to Dominate

When ITM was down in Ft. Myers in March, one thing was for sure....Daniel Bard impressed the hell out of us. Not only does he pump 100 mph fastballs into the catcher's mitt, but he's able to locate it well enough to make batters constantly swing and miss.

And that's exactly what he has done thus far down in Pawtucket. He isn't just throwing well, he is absolutely dominating hitters, striking out 18 batters in 10 and 2/3 innings....a ridiculous strikeout per inning ratio. Not only has he been blowing gas by nearly everyone, he sports a 1.69 ERA with opponents hitting an Ortiz-like .061 against him (sorry David, it's not exactly deserved, but being on my fantasy team with no taters has got me a little pissed off).

To further confirm his domination, on April 22 at McCoy Stadium, Bard K'd three Rochester Red Wings on nine pitches, which is known in baseball as an immaculate inning...not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Tim Murphy posted about our stacked bullpen and its positive impact yesterday....you can add this to that thought line....Bard is a stud, and he is chomping at the bit to make Tek's glove hand sting and batters miss at Fenway...it's just a matter of time.

Check out a little more on Bard here

Going Around the Horn....

There has been a flurry of Sox-related news of late...so here's ITM's attempt at addressing a few of the larger items....

- Daniel Bard has been sent down, (most likely to Triple A) but I don't think many of us are expecting him to stay down there too long. ITM was extremely impressed with the 6'4" 23 year old while spending time in Ft. Myers a few weeks ago, and we weren't the only ones. The Red Sox staff openly admits Bard was among the best pitchers in the entire Sox camp, blowing his 100 mph fastball by hitters that ranged from chumps to studs (multiple sources confirm he can touch 101 with regularity, but can't control it as well when he reaches that far back)....who is this guy? Nolan Ryan?...let's hope for that and not Joel Zumaya. Bard struck out 11 while completing 9 1/3rd innings without surrendering a run this spring. Studly stuff from anyone, yet alone a 23 year old with no major league experience. The debate is already raging on whether to keep him in a bullpen role, or stretch him out to be a starter...either way, he's showing some of the best upside in a Sox system full of young pitchers. Man-crushes aside, the kid can bring it and provided he doesn't drop a table on his foot, he'll likely be up with the big league club at some point this year, September at the latest.

- Brad Penny went three scoreless innings in his first spring training start of the year against the Tigers today. Penny looked sharp and only allowed one base runner on a walk in the first inning. The best news here is that he felt no pain during or after the game. Everything looks to be on track for him to start the year as Boston's 5th starter. After the game Penny said: “It was nice, I felt good. It has been a while since I’ve got out there and felt good, you know. Last year, I went out. I was pitching, but I didn’t really feel like I had a lot behind it. Another stepping stone. I felt pretty good.” Red Sox Nation's collective tail is wagging after reading that.....If this guy stays healthy and reverts back to the 07' Brad Penny....lights out.

- Curt Schilling officially retired today. We've all seen it coming over the past week, but today he made it official via his 38 pitches blog. This topic probably deserves its own post, perhaps we'll get to that down the road....but say what you want about Schilling, his political beliefs, and his uncanny ability to stick his foot in his mouth at times, the man brought 2 championships to a city in desperate need of them. He stated his intentions when coming here in 2004 and sacrificed everything (including his 2005 season) to make them whole. The HOF debate is starting, and while his numbers alone may not get him there, I think he'll get in after a few years....the bloody sock will turn into the bloody pant leg, and did you know he had to walk up hill to Fenway both ways in the snow?

- ......anyways, the Sox hit back to back to back to back taters today off of Brandon Lyon (remember him?). Not big news considering it's spring training and all, but one of those 4 jacks came from Mike Lowell, who has now homered in back to back games and has 3 taters for the spring. Also, just hearing about the string of 4 homeruns brings me back to a very happy place.... April 22, 2007, at Fenway Park, against the Yanks, 4 tall jacks in a row off of Chase Wright....effectively ruining that kid's chances at a successful professional career. See how much the Sox poured??