Tag: Red Sox

In Terry we trust

Can Josh Beckett win Games 4 and 7? If so, then the Sox only have to win one other game. We’re going to have to trust Terry Francona on this. If he says Beckett can’t go on three days’ rest, then he can’t go.

If Beckett can go Tuesday, then I’d have Diasuke on a short leash tomorrow. If he gets in trouble early, bring in Wakefield. And if he doesn’t have it, hello Julian Tavarez. What the heck. Tavarez has definitely had his moments.*

It’s pretty amazing. The team with the best starting pitching in the league is down to one consistently reliable starter — although I expect Schilling will be heard from before this is over. Last night wasn’t a fluke, but it wasn’t what Schilling is capable of, either.

How depressing was it to have the bullpen set up perfectly through 10 innings only to have to bring in Gagné in the 11th?

*Um, I guess he’s not going to have any of those moments this week. He’s not on the playoff roster. Whoops.

Give it your worst, George

Go ahead, George. Be stupid. Fire Joe Torre — please. The great Yankees manager is now 67 years old, so he probably would like to escape the day-to-day grind. But he’d make a terrific special assistant to Theo Epstein, wouldn’t he?

Torre may have lost a couple of feet off his fastball, but having to rely on Alex Rodriguez in clutch situations can make any manager look bad. The fact is that Torre compiled the best second half of his managing career without a single consistently reliable starting pitcher. Wang for Cy Young? Uh, I don’t think so.

As for Cleveland, I think we all know this isn’t going to be like playing the Angels, who were pretty much a Triple A team by the time the playoffs began, and who continued losing players right through the sweep.

From a Red Sox fan’s point of view, the best thing to like about the Indians is the prospect of Joe Borowski trying to nail down a close game in the ninth. The man’s got 45 saves, but he’s hittable, and he showed it again last night.

Take your Sox off

Let’s see if I’ve got this right. We can watch every minute of all 162 regular-season games, not to mention spring training. But once the playoffs hit, we can’t see Game 2 of the Red Sox-Angels series until the extra-inning contest between the Yankees and Cleveland is over. Did no one at TBS anticipate this might happen? Unbelievable.

Put your Sox back on. Whoops. No sooner did I post this than I realized the Sox are on TNT. So never mind.

More alleged news

Would the New York Times Co. please, please, please sell its 17 percent stake in the Red Sox? Then, when the Boston Globe publishes a press release like this on the front of the business section, we can attribute it to simple bad news judgment rather than more nefarious motives. Good grief.

Oh, yeah, and this one too — although I suppose it actually qualifies as news.

Update: Boston Daily beat me to it.

Shaughnessy’s odd premise

No doubt plenty of jerks get in Terry Francona’s face. But the central premise of Boston Globe reporter/columnist Dan Shaughnessy’s profile of the Red Sox manager today strikes me as odd. Shaughnessy writes:

Despite getting swept in New York last week, the Sox have the best record in the major leagues and a six-game lead in the American League East. They are likely going to the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. They even won a World Series three years ago, and yet Francona — the fourth-year manager who delivered Boston’s first baseball championship in 86 years in 2004 — has an ever-expanding legion of critics. He enjoys none of the public reverence and worship that washes over Bill Belichick in Foxborough.

Really? Maybe my circle is too small, but among people I talk baseball with, Francona is seen as the Sox’ best manager in our lifetime. The only worry I hear is that Tito’s health problems may force him to retire early.

Joe Morgan, also a good manager, was more entertaining, and Dick Williams will be forever revered because of 1967. But Francona’s the man.