Victor-y in Baltimore
Seano reppin 4SB at Fenway South
This weekend was like most in the Baltimore Orioles vs. Red Sox games down at Fenway South. With a crowd that was approximately 87% Red Sox fans, the Oriole faithful (oximoron?) had to have been very disappointed in the showing and the results.
While watching these games I could only ask myself how this team has been as bad as they are. They have the right parts on offense, it is truely having a lack of leadership and experience on the mound that hurts this club and they only bettered it (sarcasm) by trading away one of the best closer in the game this year. Although, I guess you have to win games to save games, minor detail.
The Baltimore Orioles have been a launching pad for the other AL EAST teams this year. Just last weekend, with the Yankees in town and the Red Sox skidding out losses, the Yankees began their jump into first place. This weekend with the Sox in town, they were able to make up some ground as the Yanks dumped 2 of 3 in Chicago to the White Sox, bringing the Sox back within a half-game of the Yanks in the AL East.
With games in Tampa Bay and New York on tap for this week, the Red Sox should be prepared for a few things.
1. The Papi shouts. With the recent news about his positive P.E.D. test from 2003, the jeers are promising to be louder in New York but the TB 14,000 fans will surely let him here it. Good part about this is that it’s still faily fresh so we may get to see some hilarious new nicknames (starting with one I heard on WEEI this morning “Big Poopy” – no lie). It’s the best/worst I can hope for Papi, he is still on our team, but he did sting my heart a little.
2. Tomorrow night will be a freakin pitchers duel. Don’t mark my word because I don’t want people calling me out when the final is 32-28 but Lester vs. Garza is one of the best match-ups we may see all season. Garza is coming off a game in which he admittedly threw at Mark Teixera and somehow didn’t get a suspension but that’s neither here nor there. He is a loose cannon but his arm does most of the talking.
3. How will this pitching staff right itself against these tough lineups? With Smoltz, Buchholz, and Penny pitching like they have swine flu, how can we right the ship so our offense doesn’t have to bust out 10+ runs a game in order to win? We’re going to have to go with fantasy team rosters and have only 1 player per position and a bullpen that is 20 players deep just so we can stay fresh.
4. The NEW Yankee Stadium. In a park where even Matsui can still hit home runs, the Sox should be bursting at the thought of getting into this park and doing some damage. Victor Martinez should surely enjoy his switch hitting abilities in this park.
By the way, what a better week to have to be welcomed to the organization than on a road trip through Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and New York. And not only on a road trip through three division rivals but a road trip in which the TB and Yankee fans finally have something to harp on our team about. Should be interesting but at least Victor finally plays for a team that gets a reaction in other ballparks.
Trade recap
Looking back on the Sox moves at the trading deadline, I like the moves that we made. The Sox surely made it clear that they think that Clay Buchholz has a long and successful career ahead of him but I am sure that is diminishing with every outing.
The move to bring in Victor Martinez, or V-Mart for short, was a solid move that brought a switch hitting, 1B/C, hitting in the .280s and already having 15 home runs into a roster that needed a solid option on the hot corners and a solid backup to ‘Tek. Excellent move at this point in the season and it gives the Sox a lot of breathing room on the contract extention with ‘Tek.
I thought the LaRoche for Kotchman deal was a classy move on the Sox part overall. The Red Sox easily could have used him as a third option at first base but knowing that he is a starter quality player, I think the Red Sox did him a huge favor by trading him back to Atlanta (played there from ‘04-’06) for Casey Kotchman, a much better suited backup 1B.
“The biggest trade at the deadline was the one that wasn’t made” was the statement heard round the world on Friday, mostly because everyone and their brother was saying it. The deadline came and went without Doc Halladay moving an inch. He is probably more frustrated by it than the Blue Jays are but minor details.
But there are still 2 months left in the season and a lot to contend with so we will have to see what else the Sox have up their sleeves and if it will include getting these iffy-pitchers off their “poor me” strategy and get their heads back into the game.
With the rosters expanding from 25 to 40 players come September 1st, is there honestly going to be a better off team than the Boston Red Sox? With all of the talent that we have seen yo-yo between the big league club and Pawtuckett, September is sure to have it all.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply
