He's Here

Dice K has arrived, let the media frenzy begin. I'm starting to get all warm and fuzzy now that Paps, Lester, Beckett and now Dice K are in Fort Myers. I hope the three US pitchers show the new guy the ropes in this country, maybe Papelbon can take him hunting for duck, Beckett can show him how to party and drink like an American, and Lester can score him some Red Sox groupies.

All FBC Team Pitching Staff

Just finished watching an excellent BC game, with Florida State holding the lead for most of the game (as high as 13 at one point) but Tyrell Blair hit the game winning shot with 3 seconds left (makes losing Sean Williams all that more palatable). This was probably one of the most exciting games in recent history.

It's time for me to unveil the pitching staff, again a couple of these pitchers were well before my time, but thanks to the miracles of expanded stats and the internet (and recollections from my dad a lifelong Sox fan), I feel pretty comfortable with these choices....

My Starting Five


1. Pedro Martinez- Possibly the best pitcher of the late 1990's, Petey put up numbers that are awesome, but even better when you consider that he was doing it in the steroid era. Winning two Cy Youngs during his seven seasons with the Sox. Two games he pitched really stick out in my memory: 1999 ALDS Game 5 where an injured Pedro pitched 6 innings of no hit ball, striking out 8 and walking only 3. The other game, a regular season game in 1999 against the Yankees. In Yankee stadium Pedro only allowed one hit against the powerful NY lineup, and struck out 17.

2. Roger Clemens- I would like to thank Dan Duquette for just letting the Rocket leave, but than again if he didn't leave we would have never gotten Pedro. My earliest memories of baseball in most ways involve Clemens. I remember when he got ejected from the 1990 ALDS against the A's, his twenty game strikeout performance against the Tigers ( I was a little too young to remember the '86 game. His success with the Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros casts a huge shadow over Danny's regime.

MEMO TO ROCKET: Please come back to Boston, you will complete our team, if you come back not only will you retire with the team you started with, but you will have a packed out crowd every game going crazy with every pitch. Not only that, but if you play for the Sox, you will solve our bullpen problem. Jonathan Papelbonbon will be able to close and everything will be happy in Red Sox Land. Please do this for me?

Sincerely,
FBC

3. Bruce Hurst- One of the most underrated pitchers for the Sox during the mid 80's, and probably one of the best left handed starters we ever had. A career ERA of 3.92, and always consistent, Bruce shined on some truly shitty Sox teams. His best season easily being 1988 when he went 18-6 with a 3.66 ERA and 188 K's.

4. Curt Schilling- 2004. I know I said I wouldn't do it, and this is the second time that I have based my entire discussion on one season, I will slap myself in the face to save you the time. Hell Curt purely made my list on his work in two games. Like Willis Reed returning after busting his leg with the Knicks, Curt's performance in the ALCS and WS was mythical. Completely tearing his ankle ligament and pitching with it stapled in place, Curt completely shut down two powerful lineups. I still get jitters watching those games on TIVO.

5. Luis Tiant- El Tiante was before my time, and I wasn't alive to ever see him pitch but looking at his body of work for the Sox, man was he nasty. He was a 20 game winner three times, a career ERA of 3.06 and one of the craziest windups in the game.


Relievers (three)

1. Bob Stanley- a two time all star, and one of the goats for the 1986 WS collapse yet Stanley was probably one of the most consistent relievers in Sox history. Finishing with a career ERA of 3.64, Stanley finished his career with the Sox.

2. Tim Wakefield- Ok so for most of his 12+ seasons with the Sox have been as a starter, I had to find a way to get Tim on this list. He has been a model of consistency and health in Boston. I felt horribly for him watching Aaron Boone hit the walk off in 2003, knowing it wasn't his fault. (Thanks Grady). He has won 135 games with the Red Sox, 3rd only to Clemens and Cy Young, yet for two seasons we couldn't find a rotation spot for him instead starting Mark Portugal and Pat Rapp.

3. NONE- Number three goes to the bullpen pitchers of the past who have completely sucked. There have been many, and as I searched for another pitcher I realized that the Sox's bullpen has been atrocious for many years in the past. I could have put Keith Foulke but he only really had one or two good years for the Sox, same thing with Lee Smith, Jeff Reardon, Jonathan Papelbon, & Tom Gordon. But for every one of these solid closers or relievers there were the BK Kim's, Heathcliff Slocumb's, & Greg Harris's. Theo hasn't shown in the past few years that he can put together a bullpen either, so I don't expect this trend to change.


Also, does anyone else find it weird that the Red Sox truck has left for spring training two days before we are going to have our first major snow storm of the winter?

All FBC Team (Positional Players)

Love is in the air over at BDD.com where short sighted Red Sox fans can vote on which players they love the most over the past 40 years. Kevin Millar as best 1B anyone? This "process" has been going on for about a week now, and will culminate in the "All Love Team" on Valentines Day, sounds pretty lame doesn't it? Well it gets worse. Red Sox fans have been blowing their respective loads all over the 2004 WS Team, voting for guys like Bill Mueller over Wade Boggs. Ughh. So I decided why not venture out and create my own, now mind you many of these players were before my time, so I will be going on some stats and how their legacy impacted Red Sox history.

C- Jason Varitek- This was definately one of the tougher choices, he has many of the attributes that I would have admired in Fisk. Toughness, love of the Sox, his knowledge of the game, all make me feel warm and gushy inside. True during the playoffs and against good pitching Tek has a tendency to completely disappear. But how can I detract from the guy who turned around the 2004 season (I KNOW I KNOW I just ragged on the pink hats for the same thing one paragraph earlier)

1B- Mo Vaughn- I loved The Hit Dog as a kid, I had posters of him up in my room, I loved watching him play and before Papi there was no guy during my lifetime that was more clutch. Even after crashing his SVU through the wall at the Foxy Lady, my loyalty to big Mo never wavered. He won the MVP in 1995 with 36 HRs, and in 1996 he came up with an even bigger season with 44 HR's and 136 RBIS. Even after he turned into a crippled Human blimp I still wanted to see Mo come back and end his career with the Sox.

2B- Marty Barrett- My mom was in love with him, and my Dad gave her shit about it all the time. My memories of Marty are hazy at best, but looking at his stats, he had a monster post season in 1986 (.367 in the ALCS and .403 in the WS) and was always dependable. Marty never was a power hitter, only hitting 4 hrs or less all but one year, but his OBP was always solid.

3b- Wade Boggs- Why anyone would vote for Bill Mueller is beyond me. His 2004 postseason was tremendous, but please remember that he was hurt for a good chunk of 2004 and was only on the team for 3 years! Boggs on the other hand was a machine, leading the league in average 5 times, on base % 5 times, and was top 2 in hits 6 times. He never hit for power but never needed to, he was the prototypical Jamesian player and would have been perfect for a Theo team.

SS- Nomar Garciaparra- "Thanks beautiful", without a doubt my favorite shortstop, and I don't care what OC did during the 2004 playoffs. Nomar was the face of the Red Sox after Mo left, and until his string of injuries he was possibly the best shortstop in baseball. His first postseason he hit 3 home runs and had 11 RBIS, and in 1995 he hit an insane .417 with an OBP of .563 against the Indians.

RF- Dwight Evans- No not Trot Nixon, Dwight was the man for the Sox during the 1980's, not necessarily a hall of famer but still the best RF the Sox have had, he won 8 Gold Gloves during his 18 years with the Red Sox. I will always have an affinity for Dewie being that he was the 1st professional athlete that I ever met, which in my book racks up a shitload of points. Unlike Trot, Dwight was always dependable playing through most of the seasons, and back when walks weren't valued like they are today Dewey was an OBP machine (.415 in 1981)

CF- Johnny Damon- It stung when he left, but I don't blame him for what he did. He meant alot to the Sox and his god damn agent Scott Boras screwed him out of retiring a Red Sox (another reason to feel good that we stuck it to SB during the Dice-K negotiations). He was probably my favorite player during the 2004 postseason , and the way he could wear down a pitcher was an art. In my opinion there is no other player that personified the grit and hustle of the Sox, and his stats backed it up. Consistently having 160 hit seasons, with 20 HR's should have given him a pass with Sox fans, and being at the game he came back I will proudly say my friends and I were the only ones cheering him.

LF- Manny Ramirez- True Yaz was the player of his time, I have to give it to Manny because when all is said and done Manny is easily the best hitter of his generation. With an OBP over .400 every year with the Sox, Manny has delivered consistently when he feels like playing. Even so Manny would always give you at least 35 HRs and 120 RBIs. I don't care about his attitude and "Manny being Manny", watch him him hit, watch him work a pitcher and tell me that you would rather have anyone else out there.

Super Zzzzzzzzzz

It has been a few days since I've posted, I am recovering from a combination of the coma that Super Bowl 40 induced, & catatonic shock of actually seeing Peyton Manning hosting the Lombardi Trophy (which I thought would never happen). He deserved it, it hurts me to say that the 2006-07 Colts were a better team than the Patriots. Just some other thoughts that came up.

* Rex Grossman is aweful, terrible, pathetic, and whatever other adjectives you can think of. He was AS responsible for the Colts winning as any player wearing Blue and White. Grossman back to pass, throws it a mile in the air, jump ball, Colts intercept! Seemed to be a common occurrence during the game. When the Bears management sits down and discusses off season planning anyone who mutters any words of support for Rex should be launched out a window.

* Props to the Colts O-Line they completely neutralized Brian Urlacher and the Bears D, I have never seen such methodical offensive dominance. On the other hand, why the hell were the Bears secondary lineup like 20 yards back on every single play?

* Prince was easily the best half time show since I have been alive. This easily beats out Nipplegate, and the shows that combine Aerosmith, Britney Spears and Nelly. Ughh those still make my head hurt.

* Watching the pre-game show I was really confused what the hell was going on, refs riding ostriches, wrestling fans, painted gay super hero's being launched off a see saw. I'm assuming whoever created this show has never interacted with the typical football fan.

* Robert Goulet destroying the office, best commercial.

Hopefully the Peyton Manning ass patting will die down soon and we can finally talk about baseball. Spring training is only 10 days away!

Dice Man drinketh

So drinking a beer before you pitch for the Red Sox will make you a winner. I knew it....


I believe the subtitles should say "For American pitcher good time, drink beer brewed in stump of Ancient trees of Kyoto forest. "