Beckett's Back?

Full disclosure, my brother and I were watching the game last night at a bar, and after the first inning we were ready to leave....

"Beckett sucks, why did I start him on my fantasy team this week?"...

"He's not worth the money on his new contract"...

"His numbers since 08' are more comparable to Dice-K than an ace"...

"I bet he's not even from Texas, he's probably Canadian"

If you sat next to us, that went on for a bit...until Beckett pulled it together and went 5.2 more than solid innings to both shut us up and inject some hope into a nearly defeated Red Sox Nation.

While I'm not ready to give Beckett the ace title back...ever, I am ready to say I have more confidence in this rotation than I've hide all season. Sure it's mainly because of health, but with Dice-K and Lackey in a presumed grove, I haven't felt this good about the rotation since opening day.

I can't wait for the Sox to come home from the West Coast trip, I need some sleep.

ITM note, blogged this while standing in line at Comcast waiting to return my equipment. The move required a switch to Direct TV. The jury is still out on them, but thus far the sports packages and scoreboard features are money.

Big Jon Stud...Go.

Lowrie Is In Today's Lineup, Everything Is Right Again

In a move that is sure to get more coverage than Clay Buchholz returning to the bump, Jed Lowrie is in the lineup this afternoon. Batting cleanup and at the Catcher position.

Kidding about cleanup and catcher, he's batting second and giving Scutaro a well-deserved off day.

Lowrie has been on the DL since 1997 with an assortment of injuries, most recently suffering from a case of mono....although there are some in management who believe he may just been really bored during the off season.

Either way, Lowrie is back and everything is right again. Nothing can stop us now.

......

In all seriousness, today's start by Buchholz is huge, I'm excited, regardless of his expected low pitch count.

Here is Boston's fierce lineup...quite comparable to the 27' Yankees:

McDonald LF,

Lowrie SS,

Ortiz DH,

Youkilis 1B,

Beltre 3B,

Drew RF,

Cameron CF,

Hall B,

Brown C,

Go Sox.

The Sox Will Live or Die With Their Pitching

A 2-1 win. Great starting pitching, solid relief, good defense, and timely hitting. If the Red Sox are going to come out of this West Coast trip alive in the playoff race we're going to need these exact kind of games.

Because let's be honest, we're not going to win any other way.

The Sox are averaging a shade over 3 runs a game over their last 12 or so... I don't care how good Theo's package of run prevention is/was/is thought to be, that's not going to win you many games in the big leagues.

So it's come down to this, praying for the starting pitching (all of them) to pick this team up off the ground and carry them with as many quality and superb starts as possible until the bats return in a few weeks. We've always known that Boston's pitching was their strong suit this year, now they're going to have to prove it true.

Dice-K did his part last night to kick things off. He was surprisingly efficient, allowing only one run on two hits and two walks through 6 and 2/3rds. The game was speedy and lasted just 2 hours and 40 minutes. Word on the street is that's the first time a Dice-K game has ended in less than 7 hours, he likely had a sushi reservation with Ichiro that he couldn't miss.

The are those who believe Dice-K has found his 2007 form. Individuals in the Red Sox organization believe he's found the right pregame routine and warm up over the last three starts that should allow for continued success.

So I've provided you with a little bit of optimism, now, in true Red Sox Nation form, I'll take it away.

I don't believe it. I've been lead on by Dice-K too many times over the past three years to believe in him. Every start I expect him to let up 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while throwing 42 pitches in the first inning. I don't care if he runs the table the rest of the year, he's burnt that bridge to the ground. It's like getting a puppy all excited for a treat and then not giving it to him....tail is wagging, so happy, then extreme letdown and disgust (yes I just compared myself and my love for this team to a puppy...so what?).

ITM - Going Around The Horn

(I'm not quite hitting it yet, but I'm damn close)


I was talking to my brother earlier today and we both agreed that the plethora of injuries, non-identifiable names on the current Red Sox team, and recent All Star break has caused many of us in the Nation to lose focus.....we need to snap out of it, and so do the Sox.

While the Sox may be getting Beckett, Buchholz and Hermy back this week, the upcoming West coast trip could very well shape the rest of the season for Boston. That said, seeing how it's a Sunday night and I'm still on European time, let's quickly go around the horn:

-VMart played catch today, which is a good sign, but his timetable is not yet defined....I'm not sure how much longer I can stand watching the combination of Brown (who?), one of the seven Molina brothers, and Rube Baker behind the plate for the Sox.

-Boston has won only 3 of their last 11 games, meanwhile the Yanks continue to chug along, extending their lead over the Sox to 6.5 games ( and 3 over the Rays). If the Sox pull a 3-7 road trip, they'll likely be in big trouble upon returning home right before the trade deadline (ITM note: while the Sox are away, the Yanks and Rays have pretty cake schedules, not a good combination)

-With the return of Beckett and Buchholz this week, it means Just for Men Wakefield will probably be headed back to the pen. Let's hope he has one last solid outing in him on Tuesday.

-Mike Cameron is starting to put up the numbers we had hoped for. We'll need a lot more if it while on the West Coast.

-Good for Michael Bowden. After throwing up all over himself against Toronto last year, he's seemingly worked hard to fix his delivery issues and now looks stronger than ever. His slider was absolutely nasty in his perfect 9th inning today. Good sign for the Sox since that's by far their weakest area (once healthy).

-Mike Lowell is getting an injection and starting a rehab start with Pawtucket soon. To be honest, I had completely forgotten he existed or a while. That said, he's had to deal with so much this season, you gotta be pulling for the man.

-Beltre may be over-achieving at the plate this year, but his 15 errors is about 14 more than I expected at this point given all the ball washing we heard about his glove (ITM included).

-Fenway celebrated its 600th straight sellout today. There have been some questionable sell outs along the way, but regardless, it's a testament to a great (and affluent) fan base.


10 days, 10 games on the West Coast, once it's over we'll know a whole lot more about the Sox, their overall health, and their chances of playing baseball in October when they return.

Concern for the Sox in Brooklyn, and in Italy....

The All Star Break has ended (thank god), David Ortiz is back to commanding 2004-like media attention, and I'm still over in the old country (Italy).

The mish-mash combination of Joe and Tim Murph (not related....or are they??) have made somewhat of an attempt to keep ITM from being sued and relatively up to date.

But now, the games count. For real. We enter the second half with an amazing amount of question marks.....more than I can ever remember (save for when all of us couldn't figure out how Scott Cooper made the all star team back in the day).

I don't care how die-hard of a Sox fan you are, but if you say that you know everyone on the current roster YOU ARE LYING. I think we may have picked up Brian Rose off waivers (ITM note, isn't B Rose coaching womens slow pitch softball somewhere nowadays? That's a shame).

Word on the street is Joe Murph is giving tonight's game his all in his Brooklyn home. Sitting in special chairs, cooking special dinners, using vodoo dolls and stuff... While I'm here in Italy he's scared stiff about the second half.

To confirm, here's a GChat convo from earlier today:

Joseph: oh man are we banged up, who the hell is playing anywhere tonight?
me: no f'n idea
Joseph: beltre's out, pedey's out
me: completely lost
Joseph: i think youk's still out, martinez is out
me: i just assume it's Pawtucket out there at this point
Joseph: that's 4 out of 5 infielders jacoby's out is jd out?
me: Gotta just assume he's out with a bad cough....is mike lowell dead?
Joseph: probably, mike lowell's still prob dl....though uncertain honestly, we'll be lucky to have 3 position players regulars, and two of our 3 best pitchers are out....

This convo goes on for a while....we're both nervous about the upcoming series against Texas and the West Coast, but Joe Murph (Joseph huh??) is convinced we'll be at least 8 games back upon returning.

Here's hoping he's way off like samsonite.

Alex Gonzalez - Slugger Extraordinaire

I saw this headline this morning when I opened up ESPN: Braves add punch with Gonzalez. That's Alex Gonzalez. The Braves traded for him yesterday in a move that Buster Olney said made them the clear favorite to win the NL East. Alex Gonzalez. Punch. Favorite. Where did we go wrong?

George Steinbrenner, RIP

George Steinbrenner died this morning, his family has said. As Sox fans, we should remember how much we really do owe the man. If he hadn't poured his passion and his money into the Yankees all these decades, how could we have rooted against them so hard, thought about them so much, and celebrated so long when we finally beat them? How much less fun would we have had? Many, thanks, George. It's been a great run. RIP.