Projo Sox Blog

Joe McDonald reports last night's 11-3 Red Sox victory was a showcase of new faces . . . one of whom, notes Sean McAdam, could have been pitching for the Yankees rather than the Sox (above) last night. Beyond all that, however, was the unmistakable sign that these new faces represent the Sox' commitment to the product on the field, a message McAdam says the rest of the players interpret as "if you need something, we will try to get it for you." Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald agrees, quoting Bay (left) as saying, "There are a lot of teams out there that might need certain things, and it's like, 'Well, suck it up and deal with it.' I don't mean any of that as a slight, but the attitude of winning here is so great that if there's something those guys (in the front office) can do to help us, they go out and do it. That speaks volumes throughout the organization."

The latest example of that was yesterday's acquisition of Kotsay (who, reports the Herald's John Tomase, has a history with Sox owner John Henry.) The Braves, for their part, say they'll miss him. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) The Red Sox, for their part, say they'll play him, even though it will mean less lineup time for Coco Crisp. (projo.com) In any case, it's another example of the Sox trying to get things ready for the September sprint.

And, as we said, most likely missing from that September sprint will be . . .

FALL OF THE EMPIRE: Jonathan Papelbon called Dustin Pedroia's eighth-inning grand slam "the nail in the [Yankees'] coffin," and that's probably true for the season as well as the game. (Boston Globe) There can be no greater sign than the Yanks are dead than Chad Finn -- feeling pity for them -- listing nine Yankees he actually likes. The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, on the other hand, says, "This isn't even that much fun anymore. Burying the 2008 Yankees has become too darn easy."

More clinical and analytical is Baseball Musings' David Pinto, who lays out the reasons why the season is over in the Bronx. The fans, as personified by the blog Was Watching, agree (though River Ave. Blues is still holding out a sliver of hope). Pinto doesn't think they'll be down long, though FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says isn't so sure.

And what do the principles think?

STINK BOMBERS: That was the Daily News' back-page headline, and appropos it is, because, as the New York Post's George King put it, it was nothing less than "[the] end of the baseball world as a generation of Yankees know it." Colleague Joel Sherman agrees, saying this will be the first September in a decade-and-a-half in which the Yankees aren't the big sporting story in town. Joe Girardi and the players (mostly Johnny Damon) still talked a little bravely about the season not being over, but not Hank Steinbrenner. In his first Stadium appearance since Opening Day he was focused on how the Yanks 'stunk'. (New York Daily News) And an ominous note to those drawing pinstripe paychecks: He referred to the team as "they" and not "we."

At least Alex Rodriguez got the boo-birds off his back with a pair of doubles. (New York Post)

IT'S THE PITCHING, STUPID: The Daily News' John Harper says Brian Cashman was wrong in his evaluation of the Yankees' young pitchers and wrong in his decision not to pursue Johan Santana, and there isn't much they can do about it now. And what the Yanks are left with as a result of those mistakes is Sidney Ponson (right) in the starting rotation and that bullpen. (Both stories New York Daily News)

ROSHOMON: Brad Campeau-Lampion says he was thrown out of Yankee Stadium because he wouldn't stand at attention for God Bless America. The Yankees say he was thrown out because he was "standing on his seat cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disrespectful manner while reeking of alcohol." (New York Daily News)

BACK TO THE SOX: McAdam has more scheduling news -- they play the N.L. East in interleague play next year, and will make visits to Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington -- and also has the latest on the proposed spring-training move to Sarasota. McDonald reports Sean Casey, he of the sore neck, probably won't have to go on the disabled list.

ACE IN HAND: Neither will Josh Beckett, whom McDonald reports felt no pain after Tuesday's bullpen session and is on track for his Friday night start. Good thing, says Shaughnessy, because the Sox' postseason hopes hinge on his health.

SEASON IN THE SUN: The PawSox tied their franchise record for victories with last night's win at Lehigh Valley. (projo.com)

A CLASSIC: You invariably hear that phrase whenever a 1-0 game is played, and you heard it last night from Joe Maddon after the Rays' 1-0 win over Toronto (Tampa Tribune), which enabled them to maintain their A.L. East lead over the Red Sox at 3 1/2 games. But other numbers are in the forefront in central Florida these days . . .

'EMBARRASSING': That's Scott Kazmir's assessment of the crowds at Tropicana Field. "Startling" and "disheartening" is how the Tampa Tribune's Martin Fennelly puts it. And they're both right. Fennelly points out that the Rays -- the first-place Rays, the best-record-in-the-American League Rays, the national-darling Rays -- were outdrawn by San Diego, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Washington on Tuesday night. And it didn't get any better last night, as the crowd of 12,678 was even smaller. The St. Petersburg Times' John Romano says the Tampa/St. Petersburg market is setting "a new standard for disinterest, considering this is Tampa Bay's very first pennant race."

A.L. RACES: The White Sox' lead in the Central is back down to one game, as Chicago was clobbered by the Orioles in Baltimore, 11-3 (Chicago Tribune), while the Twins managed to hold off the Mariners in Seattle, 6-5. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) Minnesota still trails the Red Sox by 2 1/2 (three in the loss column) for the wild card.

YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE: The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers says the White Sox are it for the Cubs, because "Wouldn't it be just like the Cubs to put together arguably their best team ever and have it lose the World Series to a White Sox team that had been picked for third place or worse? More to the point, wouldn't it be just like the White Sox once again to outplay their crosstown neighbors with the bigger fan base, superior resources and historic ballpark?"

N.L. RACES: For now, though, everything's still dreamy for the Cubs. They
completed a three-game sweep of the Pirates (Chicago Tribune) and increased their Central lead to six games over the Brewers, who blew a 3-0 lead and lost to the Cardinals, 5-3. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) The defeat also lowered Milwaukee's wild-card lead to 3 1/2 over St. Louis . . . The Mets rebounded nicely from Tuesday night's crushing defeat -- the one in which they lost after taking a 7-0 lead -- by staging a comeback of their own, erasing a 3-1, eighth-inning deficit and defeating the Phillies, 6-3 (New York Daily News), to move back into first place in the East by one-half game. Former whipping boy Carlos Delgado continued his amazing resurgence with a pair of home runs, his 29th and 30th of the year. (New York Post) The Marlins are 5 1/2 behind New York after beating the Braves. (Miami Herald) . . . Can't anybody here play this game? It's a legitimate question in the West. The Dodgers lost their sixth straight, 5-3 to the Nationals (Los Angeles Times), but remain three games out as the Diamondbacks were swept by the Padres. (Arizona Republic)

LOVE STINKS: Writing in his new digs at SI.com, Joe Posnanski says not everyone finds the Cubs so lovable.

DIFFERING OPINIONS: Johan Santana was the Mets' starter last night -- he didn't get the win, even though New York won the game -- and Pedro Martinez says he's "halfway" on the journey to becoming the "ace," which Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan describes as "the guy who puts up great numbers . . . the one who does so in games big and small - the one in his own category, the rarest of sorts." But Posnanski, writing on his regular blog, thinks Santana already qualifies.

WHO'DA THUNK? A Scott Boras client -- in this case, Pirates draftee Pedro Alvarez -- is involved in a legal hassle involving the team, the union and the commissoner's office. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

HERE AND THERE: Carlos Zambrano has assured the Cubs that his shoulder is just fine (Chicago Tribune) . . . Because they had to place him on the bereavement list, the Rockies won't be able to trade Brian Fuentes by Sunday's deadline for finalizing postseason rosters (foxsports.com) . . . Jamie Moyer says he wants to pitch in '09, but the Phillies are putting off talking contract with him until after the season. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

OLD FRIENDS: Kelly Shoppach hit his 17th home run as the Indians won their 10th straight (espn.com) . . . Todd Jones is headed home, his season -- and maybe his long career -- ended by shoulder problems (Detroit News) . . . The Padres outrighted Bryan Corey to Triple-A Portland (padres.scout.com) . . . David Murphy is recovering from his injured knee and thinks he can be activated on Monday (Dallas Morning News) . . . The Pirates have demoted the struggling Craig Hansen (mlb.com) and transferred Phil Dumatrait to the 60-day DL. (rotoworld.com)

-- ART MARTONE