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Split Squad Today
2008-03-07 18:13:00
The Red Sox are splitting up for two today; one against the Twins and one against the O's. Here are the lineups from Extra Bases:vs. TwinsArgenis Diaz, SSDustin Pedroia, 2BDavid Ortiz, DHManny Ramirez, LFJ.D. Drew, RFJason Varitek, CSean Casey, 1BKeith Ginter, 3BJonathan Van Every, CFP -- Clay Buchholzvs O'sJacoby Ellsbury, CFJed Lowrie, 2BKevin Youkilis, 1BMike Lowell, 3BBrandon Moss, LFAlex Cora, SSBobby Kielty, RFChris Carter, DHDusty Brown, CP -- Julian TavarezThings of note: Coco and Lugo are both still out, Buccholz and Tavarez are both looking to earn the #5 spot, pressure starting to build on Jacoby who has only one hit this spring.Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Today , Squad , Split

Dice-K is Scheduled To Make the Japan Trip
2008-03-07 17:13:00
Dice-K is expecting his second kid on March 19th but is now scheduled to be with the team for the Japan trip barring any unforeseen problems.Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Trip , Make , Dice-K , Dice

Manny's "Secret" Weapon
2008-03-07 09:51:00
Jeff Horrigan of the Herald reports seeing Manny Ramirez in the clubhouse reading the New Age self help book The Secret with a highlighter. It must be required reading for the Scott Boras Agency book club. Manny may also be loading up the Ipod with Yanni to get him through the long innings in left. Here is a quote that Manny may have highlighted: "You are the most powerful magnet in the universe . . . so as you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you." Could this make us all finally understand Manny? File this one under Manny being......well, Manny I guess. Manny as a New Ager is not the image most people arrive at when they think of the self described "Bad Man."Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
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Will Coco Be On The Other Side of the Diamond When The Sox are on the Other
2008-03-06 23:54:00
According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com the Red Sox are still discussing a trade with the Oakland A's involving Coco Crisp. Billy Beane likes to get players cheap and Coco's $4 million salary for a has to be enticing. It would make for an interesting storyline if Coco were on the opposing team when the Sox open up in Japan on the 25th. The Red Sox still need the a catcher for the future, and you can never have too much pitching. Coco was out again today to go to the dentist (along with resting his groin) but it seems he could have an appointment after the game or could have been given at least 1 AB. Is this a sign of an imminent deal? Tito has to make some roster moves soon so do the Sox carry Kielty, Ellsbury, and Coco? Look for a move soon, unless Jacoby continues to struggle at the plate.Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Side , Diamond , The Other Side , The Diamond

Papelbon Gets His $
2008-03-06 23:04:00
Thanks to The Bottom Line for the heads up on this one. Papelbon gets $775,000 for the year...now he needs to go back to throwing strikes and attempting to dance.Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation

Spring training for all
2008-03-06 21:56:00
It takes skill, this following baseball. I mean following a single game, in progress. It takes practice. It takes training. Especially following a game on the radio, which I do a lot living out here in the Rocky Mountain West, where most of my Red Sox fixes are injected either through MLB.com or via XM Radio.So while the BoSox are in spring training, so am I. I'm getting this football softened brain back into shape -- working hard on my ability to maintaining a running consciousness of the status of a ball game whilst keeping up the pace of my multitasking of daily work and life. It takes me a few weeks before my mental dexterity returns to its major-league game-ready regular-season agility. So I'm thankful for those few weeks of spring training games to work on my own game.But the reward of this spring training is more than merely sharpening my mental game-tracking skills, of course -- just the same way that the joy of following those Grapefruit League games is more than just not...
More About: Spring Training , Training , Spring

Moneyball Part II
2008-03-06 21:46:00
Bill James of Moneyball fame has been working as a consultant with the Red Sox for a few years. He has a new book coming out that includes a series of essays about how his data shows the game differently. He was interviewed by Time Magazine about the shift teams use when Papi comes to the plate:Time: You use some colorful language in the book, making the reams of statistical information much more reader-friendly. At one point, you basically compare teams that use the shift against Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz to "Polocks hunting landmines." You say they're "dumb." Though you are quick to point out that there are only "three Polish guys" who are "offended by Polock jokes." Why push the envelope? Bill James: Everybody who is my age, or everybody who is over 30, knows that joke. I mean, I'm not sure I get the point of the over-shift against David Ortiz. It helps you if he hits a ground ball, but if the bomb goes off, you can put those infielders anywhere you want to, it doesn't...
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Sox-Dodgers Update
2008-03-06 20:04:00
The Red Sox are facing D-Lowe today in Fort Myers. Ellsbury is on the board with his first hit of spring (double)...Pedroia is 2-2 with 2 RBI's...Wake is pitching well with 1 hit in 3 innings...Casey has another hit. Sox lead 3-0.Items of note: Coco is getting a root canal today....Joe Torre faces the Sox without the rivalry.Update : Timlin gives up 2 hits including a gopher ball in 1 inning...Casey and Moss get RBI's...Sox lead 5-1Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Dodgers

Papelbon Remains Unsigned
2008-03-06 15:27:00
The ProJo has the latest on the situation with Jonathan Papelbon's contract discussions. Reportedly, Papelbon wants $900,000 while the Sox are offering $750,000. Today is the Red Sox self-imposed deadline for inking a deal.Let's hope it gets resolved and doesn't become a distraction for Papelbon or the Sox.Over at the NESN, Keven Paul Dupont and Bob Ryan discuss the situation. Watch it below. Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Unsigned

Trouble In Yankeeland As Joba Struggles
2008-03-06 04:09:00
The Yankees began to wonder why they passed on Johan today when their young pitcher struggled on the mound. Joba gave up a long home run to the Twins #8 hitter. Kennedy was not much better today as the starter. Girardi had the following to say about his pitchers: "Neither one of them was extremely sharp today. It's a learning experience. They're not going to be perfect every time out. I'm sure they .understand that. This is a humbling game and I don't care who you are, you're going to struggle at times." NY Newsday was already saying this about Yankee pitching: "the Yankees, their fans and even Hank Steinbrenner are going to have to be patient at times."Fenway West- The Western Home to Red Sox Nation

Sox-Reds Update
2008-03-05 21:11:00
Lester has better control to start the game and is getting the curve ball over the plate for strikes today but some hitters are getting to him. He has given up 4 hits and 1 run 2 innings. At the plate Kevin Cash gets a 2 run single giving the Sox a 2-1 lead.Update : Lester goes 3 strong innings giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 2 K's, and 1 walk.....Oki comes in and retires them in order (the "Doki-Doki" seems to be working). Delcarmen take the hill for the 5th and gets 3 quick outs including 2 K's.Update 2: Lopez gets shelled... gives up 4 hits, a walk, 5 runs, and beans a batter in 1 inning...Sox now losing 6-2Update 3: Sox battle back with 4 runs in the 7th but end up losing 7-6.The good: Lester, Oki, and Delcarmen all pitch well.The bad: Pedroia and Tek go a combined 0-6 with 3 K's and 5 L.O.B.The ugly: Lopez gets a blown save giving up 5 runs in 1 inningFenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Reds

Schilling Likes What He Sees From Colon
2008-03-05 20:32:00
Curt Schilling gave an update from Fort Myers on his blog today and had the following to say about Bartolo Colon :"Had a chance to see Bartolo throw again today and I was blown away. He looks incredible. Throwing the snot out of the ball and very free and easy. Could be a huge steal, not sure how other teams passed on him. He looked awesome the 10 minutes I watched him throw."Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Sees

Youk, Tek, and Pedroia Talk About Manny
2008-03-05 19:09:00
Red Sox players spoke with Glenn Miller of News-Press.com and had the following to say about Manny :Youk: "Nothing amazes me with him. He's going to be a Hall-of-Famer. People don't realize how special he is. I think people don't also realize the fact that he's pretty much a lock to get into the Hall of Fame. There's no doubt about it. I don't think Manny hears anything, he's calm, cool, collected. If he hears some stuff, he'll laugh about it. Some people say some stuff that is hilarious. He blocks out a lot. People don't realize, when people are screaming, you don't hear anything. Manny is probably the best at concentration."Tek: "When he came up, the best right-handed pure hitter at the time was Edgar Martinez, and if anybody resembles that and adds even more power to it, it's Manny."Pedroia: "He's a Hall-of-Famer, that's pretty much the only thing I can say. He's one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time. Just being around him every day, we learn a lot fro...
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Lineup for Today's Game
2008-03-05 18:36:00
Dustin Pedroia 2bKevin Youkilis 1bJason Varitek DHManny Ramirez RFMike Lowell 3bJD Drew LFJulio Lugo SSJonathan Van Every CFKevin Cash CJon Lester PItems of note: Coco is still sidelined...Pedroia at the top of the ohdah....Van Every gets the start in center....game is on WEEI today.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Game , Lineup

Lester Will Be Back On The Mound Today
2008-03-05 17:00:00
Jon Lester had trouble finding the plate in his last start over the weekend but will have a chance to redeem himself today at 1 pm Eastern against the Reds in Fort Myers. He blamed his last performance on nervousness and getting too picky. This being spring training he can have an outing like that but if he does it back to back there may be some pressure from Snyder, Pauley, Masterson and possibly Colon. Lester pitched very well in Game 4 of the World Series and has a 11-2 career record but he also has a career ERA of 4.68. This should be a breakout year for him as he joins the rotation full time and is injury free. Today 's start needs to be much better if he is on the track the Red Sox have projected him to be.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Back

Red Sox Cookie-Off 3
2008-03-05 16:50:00
The third annual Red Sox cookie-off is took place yesterday with Gabe Kapler stopping by to defend his title. You can watch all of the action here. You would think Schilling would win with all of the free time he now has.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
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Papelbon Wants More Cash
2008-03-04 22:23:00
After another good outing today Papelbon spoke with reporters and talked about the negotiations with the team. He is not up for arbitration until next year so the Red Sox do not have to increase his salary but he has started to make some noise: "it’s a tough situation for me right now because I’m at a point where I feel like the position I’m in, there’s a certain standard that needs to be put put in place here,’’ said Papelbon after his scoreless inning of work here in a game against the Pirates. “I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that standard needs to be set and I’m the one to set that standard...I don’t think the Red Sox really necessarily are seeing eye to eye with me on that subject right now. Hopefully we can get somewhere. We’re chugging away at this thing and we want to get it done, believe me and we can move on....At the same time, I feel a certain obligation to not only to myself and my family to make the money I deserve...
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Sox- Pirates Update
2008-03-04 19:51:00
Dice-K is on the mound again today. His performance is not on par with his first start as he has given up 1 run and 2 hits including a double and triple as well as 2 walks in 3 innings. At the plate Jacoby and Sean Casey are still in search of their first hits of the spring. Manny has a double and scored a run when J.D. drove him in. Papelbon is expected to pitch later in the game.Update : Papelbon retires them in order in the 4th....Jacoby 0-2...Casey gets his first hit of spring (its a double) SS Diaz drives in Drew...Sox lead 2-1... Tavarez takes the mound.Update 2: Tavarez pitches well...Jacoby ends his day 0-3(still no hits this spring)....Casey goes 2-3.....Hansen has a better showing with 1 scoreless inning....off-season pickup Van Every gets an RBI...Sox lead 4-1Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Pirates

Crisp Is Sidelined...Time For Jacoby to Step Up
2008-03-04 18:09:00
Coco Crisp will be out a few days with a groin strain giving Jacoby Ellsbury a few consecutive starts to prove he deserves the starting spot. So far he has demonstrated his speed and has a few RBI's but no hits. The door is wide open for him to take the spot with a few quality games. Is he the player Red Sox Nation thinks he is? The next few games will give us that answer.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Time , Step , Step Up

Over/Under on Sox Wins Set at 94
2008-03-04 15:43:00
The Las Vegas Hilton sports book has posted betting lines on over/under win totals for the 2008 Major League Baseball regular schedule.Red Sox 94; Yankees 93.5Seems like it would be wise to drop a C-Note on this one. For the Sox over, of course. The Yankees under also looks like a nice bet.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Wins

Sox Lose To Marlins...Still No Hits For Jacoby
2008-03-03 21:54:00
The Red Sox dropped their second consecutive spring training game to the Marlins by a score of 3-2. Boston only managed to get 3 hits in the outing. Jacoby Ellsbury is still searching for his first hit of the spring but he did get a sac fly and a stolen base. Snyder pitched well going 3 scoreless innings and giving up 2 hits. Masterson did not pitch as well as he did in his first outing and gave up 4 hits and a run in 2 innings. The worst performance of the day belongs to Dan Kolb who walked 3 and gave up a hit in 1/3 of an inning.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Hits

Colon Does Well In His First Bullpen Session
2008-03-03 20:30:00
Bartolo Colon threw 42 pitches today and according to pitching coach John Farell he "hit both sides of the plate and may have thrown a few pitches that approached 90 miles per hour." Colon is scheduled to make his first start on March 15th but may be moved up. If he continues to do well he will put some pressure on Buchholz and Tavarez for the #5 spot.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
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Mike Lowell Holds Fundraising Event...Pedroia Embarasses Himself
2008-03-03 18:44:00
Mike Lowell held a cancer fund raiser in Florida yesterday where there was a "Dancing with the Stars" component. Papelbon and Pedroia participated...here is what Pedroia and Tito said about the event: "[Papelbon's shirt] was terrible," Pedroia said. "I thought my body pulled it off, and his didn’t. That’s my personal opinion. A lot of women, they loved it." Pedroia threw his shirt to owner John Henry, nearly killing manager Terry Francona in the process. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack," Francona said. "My chest hurt, I was laughing so h.ard. Pedroia is a moron. You can write that. He is a moron. He was dancing, he looked like a puppet on a string. He’s such a little gamer, but he’s looking over knowing we were crushing him. He’s drinking the Red Bull. He’s exhausted. He’s trying to do these things with this girl he’s not strong enough to do. It was hilarious. "They showed me something getting up on that stage, because I guarantee they were scared ...
More About: Event , Fundraising , Mike , Mike Lowell

Mirabellli Describes Catching Wakefield's Knuckler
2008-03-03 15:05:00
Doug Mirabelli talked to WBZ radio in Boston about his Spring Training routine, and what it's like to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Listen to Mirabelli's interview here.Asked if a Wakefield was coming out of high school this year if he would even be drafted, Mirabelli said he doubted he would. The knuckleballer is truly a dying bread. WBZ's Jon Miller described Wakefield as one of the most underrated pitchers in the game.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation

Hansen Awful in Loss to Twins
2008-03-02 21:57:00
Pitcher Craig Hansen , working to earn a spot in the Sox pen, looked awful today. He faced 9 batters giving up three walks, two hits, and hit a Twins batter. Hansen had 4 earned runs in the lone inning that he pitched, debuting his ERA for the Spring at 36.00.Hansen usually has good stuff. He had an ERA of 3.86 in Pawtucket last season. He features a fastball in the mid-high 90's and a good slider. It's too early for this to mean much of anything. Let's hope Hansen gets back on track in his next outing.The Sox lost to the Twins 8-2. Lowell and Pedroia had the only RBI's for the Sox, both going 1-3. Lowell hit an HR in the 2nd inning.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Loss , Awful

Wake Looks Good, Buchholz Shaky
2008-03-02 20:29:00
Tim Wake field pitched two scoreless innings today, giving up one hit and no walks. He looked good.Buchholz, on the other hand, did not. The Twins were able to bat around in the 3rd before Buchholz was able to get out of the inning. Buchholz gave up two doubles, two singles and a long ball in the inning.Let's hope he's just trying out some new stuff.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Good

John Henry Makes Steinbrenner an Official Member of Red Sox Nation
2008-03-02 16:17:00
Red Sox Owner John Henry told the Boston Herald the following in an email:""Just to ensure he knows how cool Red Sox Nation is, [Saturday] we officially inducted him as a member of Red Sox Nation and we are sending him his membership card giving him access to an array of options including our newsletter, bumper stickers, pins, Green Monster seats and a hat personally autographed by David Ortiz."If you want to send anything to Hank yourself you can mail it to:Hank SteinbrennerLegends Field1 Steinbrenner Dr.,Tampa, FL 33614Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
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Is Wake 100%? We Find Out Sunday
2008-03-02 04:38:00
Tim Wake field will pitch his first game since going on the DL for the World Series. Game time is 1:05 Eastern. How will we know if Wake has fully recovered from the shoulder injury...will his fastball hit 78? He sometimes starts slow and settles in but he will only go 2 innings so it will be difficult to see where he's at.On another note, how much does MLB.com suck? They constantly have the wrong info (yesterday they sad Tek was not making the road-trip and then he played and homered, today they have a picture with a caption that says Ellsbury is running to first after a single...he went 0-3. When you try to sign on to listen to the game you have to go through 8 pages of ads telling you why you should sign up. Enough bitching for one day...the Sox are 4-0 in the spring.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Sunday , Find

Sox Pitchers Can't Find the Plate Against the Twins
2008-03-01 20:57:00
Jon Lester struggled in his first outing since game 4 of the World Series giving up 2 hits and 4 walks in 1 inning against Minnesota. Tejera walked 3 more batters in 2 innings. Ellsbury is 0-3 giving Coco the early lead in the battle for center. You can look at the live box score here.Casey goes 1 for 1 with and error (Youk would have had it)...Moss and 4th string catcher Brown hit long balls (can Brown catch a knuckle ball?) Pauley goes 2 scoreless and is still in the hunt for spot #5. Sox win 7-6,Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation
More About: Twins , Find , Pitchers

Yankee Hat
2008-03-01 17:42:00
Got this in an email today...you may have seen it before but if not enjoy.Fenway West- The West Coast Home to Red Sox Nation