No rest in the AL East

Every year, there's talk about how good the American League East is going to be. Every year, there's a discussion of how the five AL East teams will wear each other down, that the unbalanced schedule will be the undoing of at least one of them. And every year, something else is the downfall of the basement dwellers and middling performers in the division - usually a bizarre spate of injuries combined with uncharacteristically poor performance from some franchise players.

This year the American League East is insane: every single team is playing above .500, and each one has something to prove. The Yankees have to prove that they can be something without all of the big-name stars they've relied on for so many years. The Red Sox need to prove that September 2011 and 2012 were flukes. The Orioles need to prove that 2012 wasn't a fluke, and that they are the real deal. The Rays must prove that a winning culture is sustainable in a small market (and a crappy stadium). The Blue Jays, of course, are looking to live up to the hype they generated this offseason.

So far, everybody's doing a heck of a job, as the Jays have the worst record of the lot, and they're doing better than fifteen other teams across baseball. In fact, if the currently last place Toronto Blue Jays were playing in the NL East or the NL West, their record would be good enough for second place. Doubtless the Blue Jays would be doing even better if they hadn't lost some key players to injury in the early part of the season, but they seem to be making up for lost time in the last two weeks, winning 12 of 14 contests headed into this weekend's series.

The Red Sox, of course, are coming off a two-game sweep of the Rockies (themselves playing above .500 until traveling to Boston), and have the recently struggling Jon Lester opening the series on the mound. The Jays will trot out Chien-Ming Wang, recently of the Nationals, but I'll always think of him as a Yankee. Wang pitched in the Bronx from 2005-2009, and there are a number of Red Sox players who have performed well against him.

Dustin Pedroia has hit .278 against Wang in 19 plate apprearences, including a home run and three doubles. Shane Victorino is 2-for-6. Most impressively, David Ortiz has done better than any other single (active) batter, hitting .432 (16-for-37) with four doubles, two home runs, and eleven RBIs against Wang, which coud be key if Jon Lester turns in another start like the last few.

It should go without saying that with Clay Buchholz's status so uncertain, the Red Sox really need Lester to return to the form he displayed earlier this season. Ideally, he would get back on track tonight, starting the weekend series with a dominant performance and a win - I'm sure David Ortiz is chomping at the bit to give him some run support.

Red Sox bats silenced in Baltimore

After the second extra-innings game of the week, the Red Sox bullpen could use some serious rest and relaxation. Alex Wilson was a lifesaver, as he was called up from AAA and was able to come in and pitch multiple innings, saving some of those worn-out bullpen arms. But what the Sox really need tonight was a nice long outing from starting pitcher Ryan Dempster, and he delivered.

Unfortunately for Dempster, the Red Sox run support was nonexistent  though I suppose you might call that karma, given the fact that recently he's had ridiculous offensive clout behind him. Dempster made it through seven and two-thirds innnings, and allowed just two runs. But with runners at the corners for Matt Wieters in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, it was pretty clear that whatever the outcome, Wieters would be the last batter faced by Dempster tonight, and Dempster walked him to load the bases.

It wasn't the ending Dempster (or the Red Sox) hoped for after delivering a quality start (better, in fact, than the 6 IP and 3 ER required to qualify). Though Koji Uehara was able to come in and record the final out of the inning, striking out J.J. Hardy on three pitches, the Red Sox couldn't stage a comeback. Orioles closer Jim Johnson struck out Mike Carp for the first out the ninth inning, then hit Daniel Nava with a pitch before inducing Jose Iglesias to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to earn the save and clinch the win for the O's.

This is the first time in more than two weeks that the Red Sox have lost two in a row (the last time was when they dropped two to the Phillies), and while they're still atop the American League East, their lead is now at a scant 1.5 games. The Sox have John Lackey going for them tomorrow, and Jon Lester will be on the mound to close out the series on Sunday, but it doesn't matter if you have Cy Young on the mound if you can't score any runs.

"Sellout" streak officially over

As awful as it was to watch last night's meltdown from Joel Hanrahan, there was a kind of poetic justice about the whole situation. It was the first officially un-soldout game in nearly a decade, and it somehow seemed to mirror the tendencies of the Red Sox over the last couple of years.

Things started off pretty evenly, as the Orioles scored, the Red Sox evened the score, and then the Red Sox pulled ahead by two runs - but the Orioles closed the gap heading into the rain delay. I know I came into the game with high hopes, after seeing the Sox dispose of the Orioles on Opening Day.

The first part of the game was like a microcosm of the 2011 season: the Sox got off to a 0-6 start, but managed to pull themselves out and back into contention by midseason, just as last night's squad fell behind but stayed within reach of a win by the rain delay. Post rain delay, Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit two home runs, resulting in jubilation among the Fenway faithful, much like the incredible summer we enjoyed in 2011.

And then Hanrahan came on to close things out. After Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, and Andrew Bailey each pitched a scoreless inning, Hanrahan came in and couldn't close the deal - like the September 2011 meltdown of the entire Red Sox pitching staff (and, even more specifically, then-closer Jonathan Papelbon's personal meltdown against the Orioles on the last day of the season).

Andrew Miller managed to come in and get the last out, but then the Red Sox could not score in the bottom of the ninth - an exercise in futility that resembled 2012 in its entirety.

And so whether you buy my metaphor, last night was the beginning of a new era for the Red Sox. Hopefully the end of the "sellout streak" (which was fraudulent by the end, let's be honest) can be a clean slate for the Sox. Even after last night's loss, the Red Sox are still in first place in the AL East. Alfredo Aceves takes the mound tonight for the series finale, and while I wouldn't have chosen him as the tone-setter, he definitely has something to prove.

Off to Fenway!

I'm headed to Fenway this morning for the home opener - and since I was at the last home game of the 2012 season, I'm pretty much picking up where I left off. Hopefully the Red Sox can keep up the momentum from yesterday's blowout (and from winning the first two series of the season) and defeat the Orioles.

Today's game is sure to be a sellout, but the team is understandably braced for the sellout "streak" to end within the next few home games. Though the team is doing better early on than expected, it's difficult to sell nearly 40,000 tickets to midweek night games in April - it's somewhat less than balmy in this part of the country when 10pm rolls around.

If any of you will be at today's game and want to say hello, I'll be wandering around the park with my obnoxiously large camera from the time that gates open until the festivities start (reportedly at about 1:30), and thereafter in my seat in the bleachers. And as always, you can tweet me!

I live for this.

I actually do live for this.  When was the last time that all four LDS series went to Game 5? NEVER. This has never happend in the Wild Card era. We are literally witnessing history, and the only thing that would make it better would be if the Red Sox were in it.

Remember that annoying Dane Cook Postseason ad that MLB put out a few years ago?

Well, you do now. As irritating and out of vogue as Cook is, this commercial perfectly sums up the postseason thus far - though sans Red Sox, of course.  I haven't even been able to watch all of the games because of my work schedule (though I will admit to listening to the audio on the clock - no shame).

So far, I'm pretty happy with the outcomes: as I've already announced, I jumped on the Giants and Orioles bandwagons before the start of the postseason, and with San Francisco taking the series yesterday, I'm off to a pretty good start. I won't lie, I'm a little worried about Game 5 of the Yankees/O's ALDS, with Sabathia taking on Hammel, and a little pissed that the game is on at 5pm and I'm not scheduled to be done with work until 7.

But it doesn't even matter. I love this, I live and breathe this, and even if the Red Sox are at home instead of playing, this is the most fun I've had watching baseball in months.

Wild Card Day!

Photo from the mlb.com homepage

Today will be an exciting day for baseball.  Even if both Wild Card games are blowouts, it's a history-making endeavor: the first day of the newly extended playoffs.  The Braves take on the defending World Champion Cardinals at 5:00, and then the upstart Orioles look to knock out the defending AL Champion Texas Rangers at 8:30.

I know most people hate the new format, what with adding two more teams to the pennant race and making the Wild Card teams play a winner take all one game playoff - which understandably seems like a ridiculous gamble after slogging through 162 games to reach this point.

But I actually really like the new format.  First of all, Major League Baseball still has fewer teams make the playoffs than any other major sports league, so if you complain about the new Wild Card setup and have no qualms with the systems of the NBA, NFL, or NHL, you need to take a good long look at yourself.

More importantly, the disagreement over the "unfairness" of the one game playoff is absurd; if anything, this sets to right the issue with adding the Wild Card back in the nineties.  Since the inception of the Wild Card, the only penalty given for not winning your division was a lack of home field advantage.  Essentially the Wild Card winner was treated exactly the same as some of the division winners, and that is downright ridiculous.

Now, winning the division means something. It means not having to get through a one game playoff, which, as most baseball fans know, is essentially a tossup.  It means more meaningful baseball in the last games of the season. I don't know why you wouldn't be on board with that.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon

Perhaps it was fitting to end the season with a final slap in the face.  The Red Sox not only were embarrassed by the Yankees, they had to watch them celebrate clinching the AL East title - something that means a LOT more than it used to with the new playoff format.

And peaking of the playoffs, are you all planning to watch?  I am, even though this will be the third year in a row that the Red Sox are playing golf instead of baseball.  I don't know about anybody else, but if I'm watching any sporting event, even if I don't come into it with any particular interest in the outcome, I need to pick a team to root for.  Earlier this week, I had this exchange with a friend on Twitter:

Normally, the Phillies are my National League team (they're the closest NL team to me that isn't from New York), and for the past two years I've been rooting for the Rangers.  This year, I'm looking for a change.  The Rangers and the Orioles will face off for the privilege of getting to the ALDS against the Yankees, and I want to see the Orioles go all the way. I've posted about this before, but their fans deal with a lot, and I think they deserve this.

But why the Giants? They won it just two seasons ago, while a team like the Nationals has never come close.  Call it a whim, but I'm really feeling the Giants this year.  And the Orioles/Giants choice has the added benefit of being in one color scheme.  My apologies to the diehard fans of these two franchises - I promise I'm not trying to steal your thunder, it's just that my team is out, and I've temporarily adopted yours. Let me know if I'm stepping on any toes.

Of course, it's been killing me for months that the Red Sox won't be in this, but there won't be Red Sox baseball until Spring Training. I'm a Red Sox fan, sure, but I'm also a BASEBALL fan, and I'm going to watch every game I can before the long winter takes it all away.

And then? Hope springs eternal - even for the Red Sox.

Mercifully, this is it.

Remember the drama of last year's Game 162? The Red Sox were in Baltimore, and the Yankees were at the Trop.  It took either a Red Sox win OR a Rays loss to send Boston to the playoffs.  Not only did the Red Sox suffer a dramatic, devastating, walk-off loss to the Orioles, just minutes later, the Rays came back from a sizable deficit to beat the Yankees with a homer from Evan Longoria.

I can remember exactly how I felt when I watched Longoria's home run leave the stadium.  It was as if all the hope had been pushed out of me with one swing of the bat.  I kicked the other people watching the game with me out of my room, curled up on my bed, and thought about the awful September collapse that had brought the Red Sox to this point.  I remember thinking that they had hit rock bottom, that things could only look better from that point forward.

It goes without saying that I was horribly, tragically, comically WRONG.  The Red Sox have been out of things for months now, and I have to say that watching my team play essentially irrelevant games while everyone around me counts down to the beginning of football season is a whole new kind of excruciating.

I like the Patriots, don't get me wrong. But I LOVE the Red Sox. At least last year the Sox were in a pennant race up until the very last moments of the regular season.  The Red Sox haven't finished in sole possession of last place since I was two years old, and I don't like it.

It would be nice to end this awful season with a win in New York, but Daisuke Matsuzaka is pitching, so I'm not really holding out much hope.  Maybe it's more fitting that way.

Fenway Park 2012 - the final game

Last year, I attended the last Red Sox home game at Fenway Park.  It was September 21, and in the midst of the greatest September meltdown in history, they lost to the Orioles.  As I was leaving the park, I didn't think anything of it (although it stands as one of just three losses that I've witnessed live at Fenway Park).  I figured the Sox would take a few of the remaining six games, and that the Rays would lose enough of theirs for us to make the playoffs.

Boy was I wrong.  I won't rehash my feelings about Game 162 again (i'm sure most of you have similar memories), but I would like to compare how I felt going in to last year's last home game and how I feel going into this year's last home game.

I was offered the tickets just last week, and since I knew I wasn't working on Yom Kippur, I accepted them knowing that the Red Sox had already been mathematically eliminated from postseason play.  I hope the Red Sox win tonight - because I always hope the Red Sox win.  Even if it makes no difference in the fact that this has been a failed season.  Even though the win-loss record will be abominable with or without one more in the win column.

I also would really like to see the Rays miss out on the Postseason, since it was their late-season drama that helped to oust the Red Sox last season.  I know you can make the argument that the Orioles beat us  in Game 162 and gloated too much, so I should want THEM out instead, but I don't see it that way.

Orioles fans have put up with a lot since their last postseason berth in 1997, and I would like to see them go all the way.  The Rays, on the other hand, have had a lot of luck recently, and if I have to sit out the postseason (again) I'd like them to, as well.

A Red Sox win tonight would pull the Rays further out of contention and be a final bright spot in the 100th year of Fenway Park operations.  Tonight, more than most nights, I want the Red Sox to win.

Hello again!

I've been settling into my new apartment (in Boston!) and my new job, and now that I finally have internet and cable, I thought I should get back to the blog.

Sadly, the best thing that's happened to the Red Sox since I moved down here was the offday yesterday - you can't lose if you don't play.  Honestly, the only possibility of a somewhat happy ending to the season would be if the Sox could play spoiler.

I have a friend from Baltimore, and he posted the following picture to my Facebook last week, along with the caption "How 'bout them apples?"

A discussion ensued with mentions of the possibility of a Baltimore Orioles/Washington Nationals World Series - and I admitted that I would LOVE to watch that.

If the Red Sox have to suck (and apparently they do), I'd like to see a couple of teams who haven't seen the postseason lately (or ever) make a real run for it.  The O's are one game behind the Yankees, and the Red Sox are opening a three game set against the Yankees tonight, and I for one am loving the recent swoon of the Bronx Bombers. Here's hoping we can help them to their own catastrophic collapse.

Understanding the standings

This season is weird.  The Red Sox are tied for last place in the AL East, and the Orioles are in second (after an extended stay on top).  All five teams in the division are over .500, and the AL East isn't the only division doing so well - though it is apparently an East Coast thing, since the other division in a similar situation is the NL East (though the Phillies are sitting AT .500, not above).

I know it's daunting that the Red Sox are in the cellar so late in the season, but on the bright side they are just three games out of first, and starting a three-game set with the second-place Orioles this evening.  It's also interesting to note that the Red Sox would be in third place in the AL Central (just half a game behind the second place Indians - yes, the second place INDIANS), second place in the AL West, second in the NL Central, and third in the NL West.

I know I've beaten the whole "our division is just too good!" excuse to death in this space, but it's true. With the new playoff format, this might be the year where a third place team makes the playoffs - and it could even be the Red Sox.

There's no reason to panic yet - it's still very possible to come back and win the division. There are 108 more games to play, and sweeping the O's in upcoming this series would be an excellent start. We have Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz on the bump for the series, and it's time they started to prove that they are the top-three starters we thought they were.

Basebrawl at the Fens

So if you somehow missed what happened last night, the bottom of the eighth inning featured some fireworks, though the Fourth was over on Monday.  It started when Orioles pitcher Kevin Gregg hurled a few pitches in tight to David Ortiz - one coming so close that Papi took a few steps toward the mound, brandishing his bat at the O's righthander.

With the count at 3-0, Ortiz took a hack at the next pitch, which he popped up toward shallow right field.  Big Papi, obviously disgusted, began to jog slowly toward first base, when Gregg decided to take this opportunity to teach the Sox slugger about "baseball ethics," shouting and geturing at him to run out the play.

Needless to sat, Big Papi took exception to this, and charged the mound, just missing Gregg's face with a vicious uppercut before the benches (and bullpens) cleared and Demarlo Hale restrained him.  Papi, Gregg, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (from the bullpen), and Baltimore relief pitcher Jim Johnson (also from the pen) were all ejected for their roles in the scrum.

I know it's not exactly professional to reveal my glee at baseball fights, but I just LOVE the way it causes teams to come together.  Remember in 2004? There are a lot of people who credit Tek stuffing his glove in A*Rod's face as the catalyst that turned that season around for good.  And don't even pretend you weren't impressed with Coco Crisp's Matrix-impression against James Shields in 2008.

After the game, Papi's teammates certainly had his back, though Gregg and the O's uttered their share of tough talking.  Josh Beckett took the opportunity to express his confidence in the Red Sox's productive lineup: "Maybe they saw something they didn't like or whatever. But if it's just because we scored eight runs in the first inning and they start throwing at our ... guys, it's going to be a long year."

Hell. Yes. There's a lot more baseball to be played, and I am beyond excited to see this season to the end.

Something's gotta give. Right?

Okay.  Enough is enough. The Red Sox may be a better team than they've been showing, but until they start putting their proverbial money where their mouths are, I'm done predicting their success.  The raw talent is obviously there, but something is clearly not clicking.  Can they do better than this? Certainly.  WILL they do better than this? I'm no longer so sure.

After tonight's travesty of a game the Sox fall to 1-7 against he Orioles, Mariners, and Indians.  This is unacceptable, especially in a division like the AL East.  to get to the playoffs the Red Sox must win about 95 games, and the easiest way to do that is to win series against mediocre teams like, I don't know, the Orioles, Mariners, and Indians.  If you can't even beat the Indians, how do you expect to beat the Rangers? The Rays? The YANKEES?

Again, this is clearly not a question of talent. The talent is there.  It's at every position, and in most cases that talent is backed up by awards like Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, All Star selections, and MVP votes.  But something isn't clicking. The Red Sox hitters left runners in scoring position tonight like it was going out of style (let's hope that's the case), and it's old news at this point.

During the first skid of the season, Dustin Pedroia called out the Sox pitchers for not living up to their potential.  He had a point, and now the tables are turned, so which Sox hurler has the gall to make a statement? My vote is on Josh Beckett - he's never been one to keep quiet about his feelings, and if the lineup wastes a good start of his like they did Lackey's tonight, heads might roll.

Either the Red Sox step up, starting immediately, or this season starts to slip out of reach. It's hard to dig yourself out of a hole like this one when you can't even beat the perennial cellar-dwellers of the American League.  Something's gotta give. Let's hope it gives soon.

Woe is the Baltimore Orioles

This weekend must have been hell for the Baltimore Orioles. Sure, they managed to salvage one game out of three from the Sox, but that's the only thing that could possibly go in the "positives" column on their weekend tally.

Poor Jeremy Guthrie tossed a great game Saturday... and then the bullpen gave it up.

They got absolutely destroyed on Friday, getting shut out by a dominating Clay Buchholz, and were shut down pretty well by a slightly less masterful Jon Lester the following night. They DID manage to scrape out a win last night, but it took 11 innings! To top it all off, their manager just got fired, as if it's his fault they're 21 games back in a division where the top three teams have won the AL Pennant in the last three years, and four of five teams are over .500.

In fact, the NL West is the only other division in baseball to have four of five teams playing better than .500, and their fourth place team is 29-27, a far cry from the 33-25 (Boston and Toronto) second to worst record in the AL East.

It's no wonder Baltimore can't compete. And not only that, but the only times they play in front of a sold-out crowd at beautiful Camden Yards, the visiting team has more fans than they do. That must be a pretty horrible feeling, wearing your home whites with little to no fan support.

The Orioles were once a proud franchise, winning the World Series in 1966, 1970, and 1983, and the AL Pennant in 1944, 1969, 1971, and 1979. Unfortunately, the O's have made the playofs just twice in the Wild Card Era, in 1996 (WC), and 1997 (AL East Champs), and so their loyal fans have suffered with them.

Yes, Orioles fans exist! I worked on a project with one such fan last semester, and at the end of a group email after the O's swept the Sox I added a postscript: "PS The Orioles are ruining my life!" He took it in stride and emailed back the information I needed for the assignment, adding a note of his own: "GO O'S!"

I'm pretty sure I never saw him without an O's hat.

At the time, I was a little annoyed, but looking back, I should have offered him my condolences - for me, the Orioles were a passing annoyance, and they're back to being a doormat - for him? The O's have been a frustration and disappointment since he was eight years old, and the immediate future isn't looking too bright, either.

I feel bad for the players, sure... But they have the chance to leave town via free agency or a trade. As for the fans? Their only other regional choice is the Nationals, and I don't know about you, but I'd stick with the once great Orioles and bide my time rather than jump ship to a oft-moving, ever failing club like the Nats.

So godspeed Orioles fans, I wish you all the best - just not when you're playing Boston.