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August 30, 2007
WELL-PLACED ROCKET: He wasn't the Roger Clemens of old, not with five walks, a hit batter and only two strikeouts through six innings. But he wasn't old Roger Clemens, either, and he was good enough, writes Sean McAdam, to win the battle of Texas gunslingers with Josh Beckett as the Yankees made it two in a row over the Red Sox last night, 4-3. The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy was impressed, and the New York Daily News' John Harper said it showed Clemens (above, AP Photo) could still be an important cog going forward for the Yanks. The New York Post's Mike Vaccaro adds it's exactly what they need.
A MUCH BIGGER LOSS: McAdam reports the Sox will be without Manny Ramirez indefinitely -- it could be ''weeks,'' according to a club source, though the same source also said it's more likely to be ''days'' -- because of a strained oblique muscle. That, coupled with Bobby Kielty's bad back, leaves the Sox shorthanded on the bench until Saturday, when rosters can be expanded to 40. (Putting either one on the disabled list immediately, in order to bring up reinforcements, would mean a minumum of 15 days on the shelf, and the Sox are hoping both will be back before then.) The notebook also contains items involving Saturday's starter (it'll be Julian Tavarez and not Clay Buchholz)
THE FATAL FLAW: While it certainly wasn't helped by the absence of Ramirez, the Boston Herald's Tony Massarotti says last night's feeble offensive performance could be a sign of the weakness that will sink the Sox moving forward.
DON'T ASK ME, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW: One of the weakest links in the offensive chain has -- to the front office's dismay -- proven to be J.D. Drew, who's been about a quarter of the hitter the Sox thought they were signing. And Drew himself doesn't know why that is, or what to do to fix it. (Boston Globe)
COWBOY UP: Kevin Youkilis has also been struggling at the plate, which, FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports, has led the Red Sox to look into reacquiring Kevin Millar. Rosenthal, however, adds ''talks have cooled'' and also reports it's uncertain Millar, who is playing every day in Baltimore and will be a free agent at the end of the year, would be willing to come to Boston as a part-time player.
A BREAK: The Sox won't be facing Oriole ace Erik Bedard this weekend (Washington Post), because Bedard is suffering from a strained muscle in his right side.
THE IMPORTANT STUFF: Terry Francona has had plenty of issues with Bob Watson, a vice-president of MLB's on-field operations, in the past; one of them, earlier this season, came when Watson overruled the umpires' recommendation that an opposing pitcher be suspended for deliberately throwing at a Red Sox player. So when Watson went into the Red Sox dugout last night to talk to Francona about wearing a jersey top, instead of the pullover he's worn since taking over as manager in 2004, Tito threw him out. (New York Post) And, you may have noticed, he wore the pullover last night.
OUT IN FRONT: Writing on ESPN.com, Howard Bryant says Francona has become the public face of the franchise as Theo Epstein and other front-office executives stay behind the scenes.
THE GREATEST INSULT: ESPN.com's Jim Caple, who grew up rooting for the Red Sox, says the 2004 championship has Sox fans acting like Yankee fans and he has no use for his former compadres. (''As soon as the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, Boston fans took on a swaggering, entitled persona, acting as if they alone invented sports fandom and behaving as if nothing else in baseball mattered but them.'')
DOWN ON THE FARM . . . The PawSox' season will end Monday -- no playoffs this year -- but it's ending on a good note for George Kotteras and Craig Hansen, who helped Pawtucket rally past Buffalo last night. (projo.com) Joe McDonald reports Hansen is still hoping for a September call to Boston even though he's struggled through a difficult, injury-filled season at Triple-A. (minorleaguebaseball.com) More likley to be summoned, writes Joe, are Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss and Davern Hansack.
CARTER COUNTRY? It's unknown whether or not the Sox will call for newly acquired Chris Carter, but if they do, they'll be adding a life-long Red Sox fan to their roster. McDonald sat down last night for an interview with Carter prior to his first game at McCoy Stadium.
WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant thinks the Rangers did well in the Eric Gagne trade as he sings the praises of the players Texas acquired from the Red Sox.
WHO IS THIS GUY, AND WHAT HAS HE DONE WITH DICE-K? Kazuhiro Takeda, Japan's pitching coach in the World Baseball Classic, watched Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch against the Yankees on Tuesday and said ''it wasn’t even half of what'' Dick-K is capable of. (Boston Herald) Takeda spoke to Matsuzaka, who said he's ''quite tired'' -- the MLB season is longer than Japan's -- and is trying to conserve energy for the September stretch and the postseason.
LOOKING AHEAD TO OCTOBER The Herald's Steve Buckley writes that Curt Schilling needs to make a good start today to build on the momentum from last week's performance in Chicago and begin laying the groundwork for the postseason.
FORGETTING WHAT HAPPENED IN APRIL: The Daily News' Mike Lupica says the Yanks are a different team than the one that struggled through the beginning of the year.
YANKS ARE WILD: The victory lifted the Yankees into a virtual tie with the Mariners for the wild-card lead after the Angels completed a three-game sweep in Seattle. (Los Angeles Daily News) Orlando Cabrera says the M's should forget about catching LA of A in the A.L. West race and focus on the wild card (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), and the PI's Art Thiel says that what they'll have to do after a three-game series that can only be described as ''a teamwide choke''.
CHANGING THE RULES: After watching the latest Kyle Farnsworth tightrope-walk -- a two-run eighth inning that nearly cost them the game -- the Yankees will amend the Joba Rules to allow Joba Chamberlain to pitch more often. (Both stories New York Post)
KEEPING THE FAITH: Mike Mussina has refused to talk to the media since being taken out of the starting rotation, but he had a long sitdown with Joe Torre yesterday, who explained the move and says he still thinks Mussina will pitch, and pitch effectively, for the Yankees. (New York Daily News)
DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR . . . SI.com's John Donovan thinks the Yankees' decision to replace Mussina in the rotation with rookie Ian Kennedy is a sign of desperation that many teams, and managers, feel this time of year.
BACK OFF A BIT: In a reader mailbag, SI.com's Tom Verducci says he's beginning to think the Yankees' Phil Hughes ''may not be a knockout No. 1 starter the way some have anointed him''. Still, he believes Hughes has more potential than the Sox' Jon Lester.
FORGET IT: While he may not return to the Yankees next year -- he wants to play center field, but the Yanks have given the position to Melby Cabrera -- Johnny Damon says flatly he won't come back to Boston. (Boston Herald)
THE RACES -- N.L. EAST: The Phillies have pulled to within three games after winning their third straight from the Mets last night (Philadelphia Inquirer) in a game that ended when C.B. Bucknor -- there's that man again -- called interference on Marlon Anderson for his takeout slide into second with two outs in the ninth, negating the tying run from scoring and ending the game. The Mets, as you can imagine, were just thrilled with the call. (New York Post)
THE RACES -- N.L. CENTRAL: Ben Sheets' return from the disabled list was everything the Brewers hoped as they beat the Cubs and moved back into second place. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Tony La Russa doesn't look so old or crazy anymore after getting the Cardinals back in the hunt, even though they lost last night and may be without Scott Rolen for a while. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
A MUCH-NEEDED BOOST: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark thinks Sheets' performance is exactly what the Brewers needed.
DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING: But ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski still believes the Cubs are in the driver's seat in the N.L. Central.
THE RACES -- N.L. WEST: The Diamondbacks and Padres are in a virtual tie after San Diego's 3-1 win over Arizona last night. (Arizona Republic)
IF YOU CAN HANDLE HIM . . . Rosenthal thinks Milton Bradley would be a solid addition to anybody's lineup.
QUICKLY: Esteban Loaiza was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers (Foxsports.com) . . . The Cubs are looking for help prior to tomorrow's waiver trade deadline but don't think what they're being offered is any better than what they have now (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Giants reliever Vinnie Chulk has a circulatory problem that doctors may be related to chewing tobacco. (San Francisco Chronicle) Chulk has vowed to give up his chaw . . . Ervin Santana's poor performance against the Mariners Tuesday may mean the end of his stay in the Angels' starting rotation, at least for this season (Riverside Press-Enterprise) . . . Cole Hamels threw without pain, which is good news for the Phillies (Philadelphia Inquirer).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:58 AM | Permalink
Tom Clancy | August 30, 2007 9:48 AM link
The Post story neglects to mention that Francona wears the non-standard pullover because he gets cold due to the blood thinners he's on for heart problems. Obviously a licensing agreement is more important than his well-being, but you can understand why he might be confused about it.