Projo Sox Blog

Yesterday's off-day gave everyone a chance to reflect on the phenomenon that is Dustin Pedroia. Our own Joe McDonald did, and he was joined by Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald and Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant. Pedroia's being touted as the American League MVP favorite as far away as Denver. Even the bloggers, like Dan Lamothe from Red Sox Monster, the Phoenix' Sox Blog and our old friend Steve Silva at Boston Dirt Dogs are joining the chorus.

It's easy to see why. Using David Pinto's indespensible day-by-day database on Baseball Musings, I put together a graphic for the newspaper that's worth repeating here.

This was Pedroia's batting line through games of June 13:

AB: 277
R: 39
H: 72
2B: 17
3B: 0
HR: 4
RBI: 29
BB: 18
K: 29
BA: .260
OBP: .311
SA: .365

And these are his numbers from June 14 to today:

AB: 297
R: 71
H: 119
2B: 27
3B: 2
HR: 13
RBI: 47
BB: 23
K: 19
BA: .401
OBP: .440
SA: .636

The first span is over 66 games, the second 68.

Think of it. For nearly three months now -- almost half a season -- the Sox have had a second baseman with a 1.076 OPS. Any wonder he's being touted as an MVP candidate? Or, even more tellingly, as a worthy successor to Carl Yastrzemski 1967? Or David Ortiz 2004?

Nice that we had an off-day to step back and appreciate it.

DON'T FORGET ME: Also getting hot at the right time -- though obviously not at Pedroia-esque levels -- is Coco Crisp. Silverman has the details.

WELCOME BACK: For all the Pedroia (and Crisp) talk, Tony Massarotti -- now comfortably settled into his new digs at the Globe (or, more accurately, at boston.com) -- says the real key to the rest of the season may be Josh Beckett, and he returns tonight.

DOING IT RIGHT: Our own Bill Reynolds says their combination of youth and experience makes the Red Sox baseball's model franchise.

NINE INNINGS: Chad Finn touches on nine things Red Sox in his latest Touching All The Bases entry.

DON'T LET SCOTT BORAS HEAR YOU SAY THAT: Saying he's degenerated into a "one-dimensional" -- i.e., all defense and no offense -- type of player, Jim Rice doesn't think "it's vital to re-sign [Jason] Varitek during the offseason."

ALL EVEN: Paul Kenyon reports the PawSox tied their best-of-five International League playoff series against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3-1 win last night behind the pitching of Devern Hansack (right, Journal photo by Ruben W. Perez). Now the series moves to Moosup Valley for the final three games, and Adam Mills will make his Triple-A debut tonight for the PawSox in Game Three.

SALVAGE OPERATION: Two straight losses to the Yankees in July had sparked a seven-game losing streak, so there was natural concern in central Florida after the Rays dropped the first pair of a three-game series to the Yanks. But last night it was Scott Kazmir to the rescue (St. Petersburg Times) as he pitched Tampa Bay to a more-one-sided-than-it-seemed 7-5 win, which enabled the Rays to boost their A.L. East lead back to 3 1/2. (Tampa Tribune) And now, writes Marc Topkin of the Times, they're looking good and feeling good as they embark on a 9-games-in-10-days road trip to Toronto, Boston and New York.

AND WHY ARE THEY LOOKING GOOD? Because all of them -- even 77-year-old Don Zimmer -- will be wearing jeans and T-shirts from Ed Hardy, the high-end designer. (Yahoo! Sports)

LOOKING AT HIM IN A NEW LIGHT: B.J. Upton has been a target in Tampa for his seemingly indifferent approach to the game, but the Times' John Romano reports he's been playing all season with a torn labrum in his shoulder that will require offseason surgery.

DON'T KNOW WHEN: He continues to have "nagging pain" in his fractured wrist, and the Rays thus have no timetable for Evan Longoria's return. (Tampa Tribune)

THE CLOCK IS TICKING: The Yankees weren't satisfied with winning only two of three in Tampa, not in the situation they're in. "We've been feeling that way for a while," Alex Rodriguez said when asked if the Yanks are beginning to feel that time is running out. (New York Post)

END OF THE LINE: Darrell Rasner was knocked out in the second inning last night and it looks as if he'll be lifted from the starting rotation. (New York Daily News)

YOUR JOY IS THEIR PAIN: So you won't miss seeing the Yankees in October, eh? Well, YES will. (New York Daily News) So will Bud Selig. (New York Post)

REASONS TO WATCH: Take those bags off your heads, Yankee fans. Howard Megdal of the New York Observer tells us what to look for in a seemingly meaningless Yankee September.

REASONS TO GROW: Writing in the New York Sun, Steven Goldman tells us that whether or not Brian Cashman stays, the Yanks have to embrace the concept of rebuilding . . . or else risk turning themselves into the Baltimore Orioles. Because, he says, the Yankees of 2008 bear an uncanny resemblance to the Orioles of 1997.

PONDERING THE UNPONDERABLE: In the midst of a long (and, as always, fascinating) post regarding a number of topics, Joe Posnanski wonders just what the Yankees are going to do with the clearly-in-decline Derek Jeter.

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR: Early this year, the smart money said the Yankees would attempt to re-sign Andy Pettitte while letting Mike Mussina go. Now, says Newsday's Kat O'Brien, the opposite appears to be true.

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN . . . Bob Sheppard hopes to make it back to Yankee Stadium in time for the final series of the year. (Newsday)

DODGING A BULLET: It looks as if Carlos Zambrano may miss only one start for the Cubs. (Chicago Tribune)

ASKING FOR HELP: Tony La Russa says he likes his current Cardinals team, but hopes the organization will "make some significant additions [in the offseason] so we can [get to the top of the N.L. Central]." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

ONE MORE CHANCE: Jim Leyland wants to manage the Tigers next year, but says he has "no idea" if the team will bring him back. (Detroit Free Press)

PASSAGES: Todd Cruz, an infielder on Orioles' World Series championship team of 1983, has died at age 52. (Baltimore Sun)

A.L. RACES: The Twins fell 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the Central, and six behind the Red Sox in the loss column in the wild-card race, after a 9-0 loss to the Blue Jays in the finale of their 14-game road trip. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) But even though they went 5-9 on the trip -- with four walkoff losses -- they only lost a half-game in the standings to Chicago.

BLAME IT ON POLITICS: The Twins were forced to the road because the Republicans were gathering in Minneapolis, and Yahoo! Sports' Gordon Edes calls them the real losers of the convention.

THE OTHER A.L. RACE: The Angels remain a half-game behind the Rays, and three ahead of the Red Sox, in the battle for best record (and top playoff seed) in the American League as they beat the Tigers, 7-1. (Riverside Press-Enterprise)

THOSE 4-AND-2 PITCHES ARE TOUGH: Everyone in the ballpark -- plate umpire Tim Welke, the Angels, maybe even the Tigers -- lost track of the count during Sean Rodriguez' at-bat yesterday, and he wound up striking out on a 4-and-2 pitch. (Los Angeles Times) Welke apologized to Rodriguez during Rodriguez' next at-bat, but Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't sound amused by any of it.

N.L. RACES: The Brewers are now five games behind the Cubs in the Central, and only four ahead of the Phillies for the wild card, after they lost their fourth in a row, 5-2 to the Padres. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

PERSONAL RACE: The once-proud Braves are in a battle to stay out of the N.L. East cellar. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

EDGE, METS: David Pinto of Baseball Musings examines the major stats of the two teams and concludes New York should beat out Philadelphia in the N.L. East. But Ted Berg of sny.tv isn't exactly sure how the Mets are winning.

HERE AND THERE: Bobby Abreu missed last night's game in Tampa Bay because of a wrist injury and the Yankees have recalled Melky Cabrera to replace him (New York Daily News) . . . It looks as if a pulled groin has ended Ronnie Belliard's season (Washington Post) . . . Ian Kinsler will have season-ending surgery for his sports hernia (Dallas Morning News) . . . The Dodgers and Phillies are interested in the recently released Tadahito Iguchi (Los Angeles Times) . . . Chris Carpenter is pitching out of the bullpen for the Cardinals, who say they won't use him in back-to-back games (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Phillies have lifted Kyle Kendrick from the starting rotation (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Blue Jays may make Scott Downs a starter next year (mlb.com) . . . It's looking more and more like Kenny Rogers might hang them up at the end of the year. (Detroit Free Press)

OLD FRIENDS: Joe Torre says the reason he hasn't played Nomar Garciaparra for five straight games is because he wants Nomar to regain his strength for the stretch run (Los Angeles Times) . . . Alex Gonzalez, who missed the entire season because of a compression fracture in his left knee, is pain-free and says he'll return to the Reds next season (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . Craig Hansen, who blew a save and got the loss against the Reds last night, has a 10.45 ERA and a mind-boggling 14-3 walk-to-strikeout ratio since joining the Pirates. (rotoworld.com)

AND FINALLY . . . Ryan Howard is like China and Chase Utley is like Vladimir Putin to James Carville, who likens John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate as being "like . . . bringing somebody up from Single-A to face the Phillies." (Philadelphia Daily News)

I don't know. Putin doesn't look like Chase Utley, does he?

-- ART MARTONE