I blame Theo

Well, last night's game turned out to be an entire roller coaster of emotions. We won. You might be thinking to yourself, 'How is that possible?' I mean, I saw the game and I'm still asking myself that question. But we did win, and here are some of the key points:

• We still allowed 9 stolen bases
• Big Papi was benched -- more on this below
• Lowell and Tek were brought into the game and made positive contributions (Tek did with a double and a walk, Lowell had a walk).
  
• Darnell McDonald ('Who?' You may be asking yourself. And rightly so. He was called up from Pawtucket as a possible replacement for Ellsbury) hit not only a 2-run home run to tie the game, but also an almost-Monster home run in the 9th to bring in the winning run. Red Sox Nation, being what it is, has already christened him 'D-Mac.'

So back to Big Papi. Sure, he's had a bad start this year. There is no question. And he's not really hitting; in fact, his average is .146, which is just not okay for a DH obviously. But what we've been seeing this year is not a happy man. He's been frustrated from the start. I'm calling out Epstein on this one. In a press conference at the end of last season, he made it very clear that unless Ortiz started producing, there would no longer be a place for him on this team. Papi seems to have listened. He lost a bunch of weight coming into spring training and he seemed committed to it (and he was even hitting then). So what went wrong? I think the pressure of knowing that he could be gone is getting to him, hence the breaking of the bat over his knee. I didn't like when Epstein called him out and I don't think that this move has helped anything. So yeah, Theo, on this one, it's your fault.

Or maybe we should go into 'panic mode'

Jon Lester just got hit on the knee by a sharp hit straight back to him.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

Yankees are up 4-0. Also bad. But the Lester situation could potentially be much worse.

PS - Thank you Yankee fans for clapping out of respect. Bet you at Tropicana they would boo and ring cowbells.

PPS - He's walking off the field but then again, no one ever takes the damned cart.

PPPS - Papi went in with him. Best Red Sox ever.

Much better!

Last night Wakefield had a great outing, allowing only one run in 7 innings. So glad that he is back! And even Daniel Bard did fine (Ramon Ramirez not so much, but okay, we still won). Great night for pitching!

Then Papi got a home run -- his second of the game -- to win it in the bottom of the ninth.

Crazy. Let's hope they can keep it going!

In other news, Gagne of the Year has been released. That's right. No more cringing because it is Brad Penny's night in the rotation. We've also acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets as a semi-closer. Let's hope that he doesn't need a Gagne of the Year nomination...

Posting on Red Sox meet-up group in Tampa

Sent on the email list today:

'Just saying hi from Boston. Not only do I get to watch the games on Nesn but I get to see 3 hrs of pre and post game shows delving into the sorry state of the Red Sox at this moment. The Nation in Boston is in PANIC MODE.'

Incidentally, this comes after a series sweep against the Blue Jays with Bay, Ortiz, and Drew apparently deciding to wake up and hit some baseballs.

PR People should maybe liase with Front Office People more often

The Cleveland Indians traded Victor Martinez to the Red Sox yesterday in a last-minute deal. While this fact in and of itself is noteworthy (particularly because now we have another Youk-type player who can play virtually anywhere at any time), there is now a headache in Cleveland since they had planned for not one but two Martinez give-aways this week.

Oops.

As for how this affects the Red Sox: Martinez can play either 1st base or catcher. I see an eventual replacement for Varitek here, although probably not immediately (at least the club says that is not the plan). Supposedly, he will take over sometimes at first when Lowell needs a break so that Youkilis can move over. Also, he can serve as a DH in case our DH is not producing. However, Papi seems to be doing just fine in that department these days.

We traded three pitchers including Justin Masterson, who was one of those up-and-coming talents. I guess that the management figured there were sufficient up-and-comers, although with the pitching I have seen of late from Penny and Smoltz, I am not so sure about that. I do see the logic, though, since Masterson was primarily coming out of the bullpen and for once we seem to actually have a decent bullpen.

Bearing in mind that it is still August, of course. Naturally the bullpen can still fall completely apart. Ah, the mid-summer skepticism of a Red Sox fan, can't be beat.

Ortiz tested for drugs

This story broke yesterday, but apparently Big Papi tested positive for drugs back in 2003, the first year they did the tests. He was apparently surprised by this revelation and has vowed to figure out what happened. The story broke in the New York Times yesterday.

Meanwhile, he got a home run last night and another one tonight. Stay motivated!

Leave Big Papi alone!

I am currently out of the country (at least, out of the US) and have not been following...well...everything as closely as usual. That and seeing as how I am not a basketball fan and my hockey team a choké, the sports world just does not hold so much interest right now.

However, I do have MLB Audio, meaning I can hear all the games, and last night I (finally!) got to hear most of a Red Sox outing. And I could not believe my ears. At Fenway Park, were there actually people booing David Ortiz? Because if so, you deserve to be banned and never, ever, EVER allowed to go back! Sure, he is in a slump, but this is Big Papi! I don't care if he's batting .001, he's done enough for this team to earn life-long love every time he steps up at Fenway.

Says the man: "I am what I am. I like what I am. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm taking good swings. There's nothing much you can do about it. Sometimes you put a good swing on the ball, and it won't go nowhere."

You Papi haters, on the other hand, do not like yourselves so much I think.

And this is why you have to love Big Papi

Recently, David Ortiz addressed the fact that thus far, he has been slumping this year. And he has. He really hasn't done much and certainly isn't really hitting. However, he is not worried, and showed his lack of concern with the t-shirt you see him sporting here (top picture). Also, he told the press, "I'll be back. Write that [expletive] down."

I'm one of the people who thinks that he may be done, although last season he also got off to a slow start (to whit: recall last season with the jersey buried under the new Yankee Stadium, bottom picture). Certainly he wasn't the dominant force that we know and love in Boston for most of the year and I feel that it's unlikely he will return to his heyday. But still. You've just gotta love him.