Red Sox- Rockies Wrap-Up......and A-Rod!!

Flashing the Trivia: Where was the beer "Blue Moon" first brewed? (answer at bottom)

"God blessed Jon Lester with cancer just to show a lot of people that you can overcome something that's so hard in your life you think, 'I'm not gonna make it.' He's going to be able to take his faith in God and the strength God gave him and tell a lot of other people a great story."

-- Boston Red Sox reliever, Mike Timlin

A-ROD OPTED OUT OF
HIS CONTRACT
WITH THE YANKEES!

Oh and the Red Sox won the World Series, but whatever...



I've decided to start each of my blogs with a trivia question and a quote. I liked that quote pretty much because Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox should have been the story of last night's game, but it wasn't, it was Alex Rodriguez. I'll get to that later, first, let's do a quick wrap-up.

The Boston Red Sox-Colorado Rockies World Series was about as shocking as it was uneventful. As you all know already Boston wrapped up the series in a four-game sweep with a 4-3 victory. A game that didn't really provide a tense moment until Hideki Okajima let up a Garrett Atkins 2-run home run drawing the Rockies within one run.

Then again when you have Jonathan Papelbon and his 0.00 ERA in 10.2 innings this postseason on the mound with a 3-0 series lead, how tense could a situation possibly be.

The team was led by rookies Jacoby "Free Taco" Ellsbury, probable Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia, and World Series MVP Mike Lowell who combined went 18-49 (.367 BA) and had 11 RBIs in the series. While the Rockies, as a team, only hit .218 with 10 RBIs.

But it was clear the World Series was won, like it always is, by quality pitching as the Red Sox had a team ERA of 2.50, with only 10 walks in all four games combined. Perhaps this was also a sign of the Colorado Rockies overaggressiveness at the plate as the Red Sox also tallied up 36 strikeouts in 36 total innings pitched.

This clip here, pretty much sums up the Rockies postseason.



I mean, I knew the National League was bad, but when a team sweeps their way through the postseason only to get totally dominated in the World Series? I think the National League needs a DH, as much as I love the National League game and hate to admit it. But that's a argument for another day.

I was expecting more out of this series as I thought it would be much closer than it was. Come on, I figured they would at least win next year's ace Ubaldo Jimenez's start.

But I did get to see something I didn't expect...the birth of a dynasty. That's right Yankee fans after 86 years of being cursed/inept/having Mo Vaughn, a dynasty is on the horizon for those hated Soooxxxx and their Soooooxxxxx Nation. I'm rather shocked this hasn't been mentioned much, the Red Sox have what it takes to be a truly dominant team. Of course this doesn't come close to guaranteeing a championship.


Who can deny that the Red Sox will unquestionably have the best rotation in baseball (well pending what happens this offseason) with a top-4 of Josh Beckett, a seasoned Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, and an up-and-comer who has already thrown a no-hitter Clay Buchholz.

I don't really need to talk about their dynamite offense and the back-end of their bullpen. Only their middle relief needs some patchwork. But they are definitely a solid middle reliever or two away from being an 100-win team.


Oh and my predictions. I wasn't all that far off, they're for fun anyway. I hit Game 3 head-on. I didn't know about Jon Lester until it was too late. Though for the Red Sox it was a great move for both baseball and the franchise considering what Lester has been through. Also they were up 3 games to none, they could afford to lose a game.

I seriously have no idea why Clint Hurdle thought it was a good idea to start Aaron Cook who hadn't pitched in months. Get with it!. Francis was your top gun this year, if your gonna go down, Francis should have had his chance to keep the ship afloat. He would have been especially fired up because of a chance at redemption from his Game 1 performance (which I did not expect).


Now for Mister "Uno Tres" himself and his love-to-hate-him agent, Scott Boras. I did not want to know during the eighth inning of Game 4 that A-Rod was opting out of his contract with the Yankees. I wanted to enjoy the spectacle of the World Series. Like Peter Gammons (the only baseball analyst who knows what hes talking about besides Ron Darling) said:

"What’s unfortunate here is the total disrespect for the game of baseball. This is the World Series. [Boston’s] Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester are doing what Alex has never done: playing in a World Series game. And to want the attention on this day is kind of a sad commentary and it might be a bit of a ‘buyer beware,’ because, again, he’s never played in a World Series game…maybe there’s a reason.”

When it comes to baseball I'm very much a traditionalist, but as a businessman, I can appreciate the move as soulless as it was. There was no bigger of a stage to set-up the prime free agent this off-season. It was a brilliant move from a business perspective, it's what Scott Boras does best. I don't dislike A-Rod, I love what he does for the game on the field. I'm rather confident that he's doing what he's always been doing without steroids (though seriously I'll be devastated if I ever find out he was juicing or on HGH or whatever). And I will be first in line to celebrate when he breaks Bonds's record. But how he's hurting the game off the field is impossible to ignore.

I was listening to Tony Paige on WFAN on the radio tonight and what he said made perfect sense. A-Rod (well really Scott Boras, who has A-Rod by a string because it's his financial job to do so) only gave hints at not opting out during the season so the Yankees would offer him a ballpark figure of a contract offer that would set the bar for a bidding war to begin with other teams. Integrity has long gone out the window for these two (this move really undermines the Yankees franchise), but like most of what Boras does, it was a great business move. Let the bidding begin at $27 million! (I'd say it ends at $30 million a year for five years, A-Rod doesn't want to be tied down for too long, "greener" pastures are always looming.)





I'll close my post with talking about the true MVP of the World Series.






Well it's of course gotta be Jacoby Ellsbury. Because of whom today, (October 30th), I enjoyed a free taco. Since he was called up in September, Ellsbury was always fun to watch and instantly became one of my favorite players in baseball because of his small-ball offense (bunting and stealing bases), big time defense, and the fact that he's actually part of an Indian tribe (he's of Navajo decent) in Colorado.

I was considering buying his shirt off of Ebay, but at this point I feel obligated. Any sports star who contributes to me getting a free taco is high up on my list.

Here's to my new favorite Major League Baseball player, Mr. Ellsbury.

Yeah, so I lied about the longest post thing....


Flashing the Trivia answer: Coors Field, that's right, there's a Microbrewery inside of Coors Field and Blue Moon was actually developed there.

Red Sox/Rockies World Series Preview

So I finally found the time to create a blog. I love to write and I love baseball so I figured I should keep a year-round baseball blog to keep me occupied, especially in the off-season. The more and more I watch baseball the less I care about other sports, I'm sure if your actually reading this random baseball blog you feel the same way I do.

But anyway, let's get to what really matters:

The Rox and Sox

Let's start with the Colorado Rockies. A team that was once a Tony Gwynn Jr. strike away from not even being in the postseason at all to sweeping their way to the World Series. Led by the Triple H's (Todd Helton, Matt Holiday, and Brad Hawpe) and veteran-rookie Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies have rattled off victories in 21 of their past 22 games. Postseason experience has apparently not been a factor as only Wily Taveras (Houston Astros in 2005) and LaTroy Hawkins (Minnesota Twins) have been to the postseason before.

The ultimate team with everyone on the team contributing something this postseason (anyone else notice the Rockies best hitter this postseason has been Yorvit Torrealba?)

Despite the Rockies hitting at a .242 clip in the postseason they have won many close games with clutch hitting as the Rox have doubled their opponents RBI totals in both series.

But like the saying goes, pitching and fielding are what wins games in the postseason. This is exactly why the Rockies are here. As a team in the postseason their team ERA is a ridiculous 2.08 with 7 wins and 6 saves. They have also commited 3 errors, only one of these errors (Kazuo Matsui) was commited by an infielder or outfielder. During the season they only commited 68 errors and had a .989 fielding percentage by far leading the Major Leagues.

Now pitching and fielding are usually where games are won in the postseason.

But when you have above average pitching, above average fielding, clutch hitting, and an above average offense you have...

The Boston Red Sox.

Now the Sooooxxxx are here, well, pretty much because they are the new Yankees. High payroll, lots of firepower on the mound and at the plate, egos abound, Manny being Manny (A-Rod being A-Rod), all that good stuff.

But Theo Epstein is very smart (a Yale graduate and Billy Beane protégé) and has figured out ways to make it work without being a puppet of owners John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner (who was apparently out by the Green Monster with the fans signing autographs after last night's game).

So far this postseason the Red Sox have been riding the backs of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz to a team .304 batting average, 15 homers and 67 RBIs. This almost exactly doubles the Rockies postseason stats (.242 avg, 7 homers, and 32 RBIs). The team's pitching has struggled at times with Josh Beckett, Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon being the only consistently effective contributors.

The Sox haven't exactly breezed through the postseason, in fact, without three clutch pitching outings by Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, they would be on their way back to Boston. Well, I guess they still are, but with a World Series Championship well in reach.

Now for a quick breakdown and some predictions....

Game 1: Beckett (3-0, 1.17 ERA) vs. Jeff Francis (2-0, 2.13 ERA)

As stellar as Francis has been this postseason Beckett has been even better posting a 1.17 era to Francis's 2.13. This game will be a pitcher's duel no doubt with someone unexpected being a major contributor. I'd say Jacoby Ellsbury will make a late-inning appearance and get a deciding hit. Final score: 3-1 Red Sox

Game 2: Schilling (2-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (0-0, 1.59 ERA)

The Rockies will recover here as Schilling will go only 6 innings and let up 4 runs. Jimenez will come up big going 7 innings while Brian Fuentes and rookie closer Manny Corpas will do the rest. Brad Hawpe is due, he should be big in this one. Final score: 6-2 Rockies

Game 3: Matsuzaka (1-1, 5.65 ERA) vs. Josh Fogg (2-0, 1.13 ERA)

This is the game where Josh Fogg remembers why he has a career 4.90 ERA. He won't last long as the Red Sox will get to him early and often. Dice-K will have a mediocre, but serviceable 6 inning, 3 run outing. If this game is close it will be high scoring. Look for Ramirez and Ortiz to flex their muscles in this one. Final score: 9-5 Red Sox

Game 4: Beckett (or Tim Wakefield) vs. Francis

The Rockies won't be screwing around and go with their ace on three days rest while the Red Sox would be wise to keep Wakefield as far away from the mound at Coors Field as possible. I'll say Beckett takes the mound vs. Francis. He's not as effective as game 1 but still serviceable. He gets pulled after 6 innings (2 runs) so he can pitch a possible game 7. Francis will outduel Beckett here. Look for Holiday and Helton to come through against the Red Sox bullpen in front of the home crowd. Final score: 6-3 Rockies

Game 5: Schilling vs. Jimenez

The final game at Coors field will be a good one as Schilling and Jimenez will keep it close. Though Schilling will get pulled after 6 because of his age. Look for the Red Sox to try to get 2 innings out of Papelbon here. Jimenez will be solid, but this time the Rockies bullpen will be spotty in middle relief. Look for a shaky Red Sox defense to keep it close but the Sox will pull this one out. Youkilis and Pedroia will be big here. Final score: 6-4 Red Sox

Game 6: Matsuzaka vs. Fogg

This will be all she wrote for the Colorado Rockies, it was a fun season but the back-end of the Rockies rotation and middle relief just doesn't cut it. It really shows here. Look for Mike Lowell to have a solid game, in his last as a Red Sock. David Ortiz will also homer here. Look for Jacoby Ellsbury to show why he'll be the starting center fielder for the Red Sox next year. The Red Sox will finally be able to celebrate a World Championship at Fenway. It was nice while it lasted Colorado. Final score: 8-3 Red Sox, 2007 World Series Champions

And the aftermath.....



Al Leiter will make his triumphant return to Boston frat houses!


















And Manny will of course be Manny....












But sadly, David Wright will not return to Posh because it is no more :(






But most importantly......



Lots of free tacos for all!!!


This will most likely be the longest post I'll write, well unless I get bored at the beginning of next baseball season and do a full-out season preview. Though most likely I'll just preview the NL and AL eastern divisions. I might post again before the World Series is over, depending on the time I have. I'll be commenting on transactions and baseball rumors throughout the offseason.

I'm also going to Cooperstown this weekend, I'll be posting pictures here.

Tell your friends about my blog, I'm always up for discussing baseball.

Take care.