Adrian Gonzalez AND Carl Crawford? Wow! Both players were on my Red Sox Christmas Wish List and Theo has delivered. Now if he can just bolster the bullpen…

I would imagine the Yankees are going to pull all the purse strings they can to get Cliff Lee. I don’t blame them. I would, too.

This is getting very interesting.

Cheers!

“While they [Theo Epstein and the current Red Sox front office] definitely deserve credit for bringing two World Series championships to Boston, they also deserve the blame for turning that World Series team into what the Red Sox are today.

Which is a middle-of-the-road team with an astronomical payroll.”

– Sean Crowe, The Boston Examiner

I could not have said it any better myself. To read the whole article – go here.

I think I will always refer to 2010 as “The Lost Season.” I have so many thoughts about this year and many hopes for next year. That’s what being a Red Sox fan is all about. Always looking forward to next year. I am sure I will be back to jot them down.

But for now, I am officially rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays. At least the Red Sox won today and denied the Yankees the AL East Championship. It’s little consolation but it will have to do until next year.

Just FYI –

http://www.countdownclockcodes.com/cd/ccc-sports/show.swf?clickURL=http://www.countdownclockcodes.com/&clickLABEL=Countdowns&flashLABEL=CountdownClockCodes&skin=http://www.countdownclockcodes.com/cd/ccc-sports/skins/17.jpg&text=Opening%20Day%21Red%20Sox%20vs%2E%20Rangers&untilColor=6724095&textColor=13369344&datesColor=0&year=2011&month=3&day=1&hour=0&minute=0&second=0&x=6&y=77
Countdowns

When I read the news this afternoon that Kevin Youkilis was out for the remainder of the season, my first thought was: Kiss this season good-bye.

But then I thought: What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t at least live up to the name of my blog?

I know I am a lousy blogger when it comes to posting consistently. But I do watch almost every game. And I am continuing to keep the faith. Here’s why:

• Mike Lowell is back and is covering 1st base quite well. No, he is not Kevin Youkilis but Lowell is no slouch.
• We have a very strong starting rotation. Not to mention that Josh Beckett is back and pitching well.
• Jacoby Ellsbury is back in the line up. Let’s hope he can start contributing SOON.
• J.D. Drew is due to get hot. **wishful thinking here, I know**
• Marco Scutaro is clutch at shortstop. He is WAYYYY better than Julio Lugo.
• Jed Lowrie and Bill Hall both seem to do a good job of covering second base. No, they are not Dustin Pedroia but guess what?
• Dustin Pedroia will be back and probably in the nick of time. **let’s hope!**
• David Ortiz is hitting and hitting well.

I’m no Pollyanna but I am keeping the faith that we will secure the AL Wild Card spot. From here on out, it’s all about the Wild Card, baby.

This was basically my reaction when I heard Dustin Pedroia broke his foot and would be out several weeks.

And then there was news of Clay Buchholz tweaking his hamstring while running the bases…

And the coup de grace? Victor Martinez breaking his thumb.

I should have known better than to write a post about the Red Sox being in the catbird seat. I still like our position but our next two series against the Rays are going to be BIG. We need to take 4 out of 6. JMHO.

Keeping the faith…

Last night’s game was pure magic thanks to Dustin Pedroia and everyone* else on the team. Three homers for Pedey! Amazing! It seemed like he was pulling a rabbit out of a hat every time he stepped up to the plate.

I don’t care how we do it – a win is a win. But what a game. Back and forth all night. I felt like I was watching these guys:

Any guesses on who won this tennis match?

I don’t have anything insightful to discuss this morning so I will just leave you with a hodgepodge of what is rolling around in my head:

Jonathan Papelbon

What is wrong with Jonathan Papelbon? Maybe he has lost his focus due to his recent emergency/bereavement leave. I can definitely understand that situation. I am not sure what the answer is for him. He makes $9 million a year to perform and remain focused. It’s not like he has a desk job where he can drone out for a couple of weeks. I would prefer to see him take more time off if that is what he needs rather than give up saves.

Daniel Nava vs. Dustin Pedroia

Who is taller? Which one would you bet on in a wrestling match?

Big Papi

I love seeing this guy smile again. And hit again. And he played first base pretty well. He definitely got the ball to Okajima in time last night. RemDawg called out Oki on his poor timing to cover first base.

Ramon Ramirez

Someone get rid of this guy. Please!

Scott Atchison

Is it just me or does Scott Atchison always look like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown? This guy is tightly wound! My stomach gets knotted up just watching him. But when he got his third out last night, he did a little hop off the mound and actually smiled. WHEW! What a relief.

Manny Delcarmen

What can I say? This guy seems to have so much potential but watching him pitch is like being on a rollercoaster at King’s Dominion.

Jason Varitek

I have to admit I was not happy to see Tek at the plate last night in the 7th. But his big double to right field changed my attitude.

Mike Lowell

I was so sorry to read his comments about his hip soreness and being placed on the DL. This man is total class. He is not covering up his injuries** and doesn’t want to take up space. I predict a retirement announcement from him at the end of his time on the DL. Mikey is just too proud to continue to hang around. He knows the team needs able-bodied players. My hat is off to him, whatever he decides.

And it’s on to Oakland. Thank goodness for DVR!

NOTES:

*except our bullpen

**like Josh Beckett (in my opinion)

I know you can’t win them all but I would have preferred a “Win” last night. What a disappointment! After coming back from a 4-0 deficit and knocking the best pitcher in baseball out of the game in the 6th inning, it sure looked like the Red Sox had this game well in hand.

Lackey was not lackluster last night. He was pretty solid and even had a couple of hits including a timely double in the 6th inning. Bard came in and pitched great in the 7th and 8th innings.

So it was up to Papelbon to save the game. Not only did he not save it, he gave it away with two huge homeruns. Talk about ugly!

And speaking of ugly — Jason Giambi looked like a steroid-popping freak last night. That man is scary. I hated to see him win it for the Rockies. Anyone but an old Yankee musclehead…

All in all, I love the way the Red Sox are playing right now. When you look at last night’s game and see what we did against the best pitcher in baseball without YOUKILIS, ELLSBURY, or DREW in the line up – I would say it was a pretty amazing night.

So it’s on to tonight with the return of Dice-K. I sure hope we can win tonight and avoid a sweep. There is still a lot of baseball left to play and I like how we are playing. We are finally a team with some chemistry. 

I love the Red Sox position in the standings right now. With just 17 games to play before the All-Star Game, we are a half game out of first place in the AL East. I would say we are in the catbird seat.

I used that expression this morning. It made me wonder what a “catbird seat” really is and the origin of the saying. A quick trip to Wikipedia told me everything I needed to know. I was surprised to find a parallel to baseball.

Turns out the expression was first used in 1942 as the title of a James Thurber short story. In the story, one of Thurber’s characters equates the catbird seat with “‘sitting pretty,’ like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him.”

Ahhhh… I love it when the Universe magically connects things like this — the catbird seat, baseball and our beloved Red Sox. So in honor of this triangulation of sorts, here is a picture of a catbird. Notice his team allegiance? haha!

Okay – so my Photoshop skills are a little rusty. On to the topic at hand — the RED SOX!

I may not have updated my blog since forever but I have been watching games and paying attention.

I have a feeling the Yankees and Rays are running like crazy, looking behind them and wondering:

Who are those guys?

Not Butch and Sundance. The Red Sox.

It is amazing how our lineup has changed since Opening Day. And somehow, these guys are getting the job done. I love Peter Gammon’s article published yesterday about the Red Sox “finding their personality.” This is good stuff. This is 2004 good stuff. It’s all about a bunch of guys picking up the slack, pitching well, playing with a LOT of heart and getting timely hits.

Speaking of hits — holy cow! — Team Run Prevention is turning into Team Run Accumulation! Gotta love it when the Red Sox keep scoring runs with small ball and big homeruns.

It is going to be interesting to see how things shake out over the next couple of weeks. I would like to see us within four games of first place. I am not sure I want us in first place. I kind of like our position of hanging back just a bit and being in the rearview mirror of the Yankees and Rays.

Okay — that’s all I have for today. Nothing amazingly insightful. Just one happy Red Sox blogger back at it today!

Could it be? Could the Red Sox really be turning a corner? I am hearing terms like “surging” and “red hot” to describe the team and certain players (namely Ortiz and Youkilis). This feels good.

I don’t want to spoil the good mojo by getting cocky. No way. I am just very humbly thankful right now. Here is my gratitude list for today:

• David Ortiz is hitting (understatement!).
• Youkilis is hitting and vacuuming up balls over at first base.
• Wakefield is back in the rotation and pitching great.
• Dice-K is finding his old form from 2008.
• Buchholz is maturing and pitching great.
• Lester is pitching terrific, too. He is 4-0 in the month of May.
• Hermida is hitting .400 with runners in scoring position. He is the BEST in the A.L.! Talk about clutch.
• Pedroia broke out of his “slump” last night. He was 0-19. I put “slump” in quotations because really – is Pedey ever in a true slump? No. He breaks out of it quickly.

I find it a bit ironic that our two ace pitchers (Beckett and Lackey) are struggling. Thank God the other guys are picking up the slack.

I don’t think it is realistic to expect Jacoby Ellsbury to get back into the line up and start producing from Day One after cracking four ribs and spending more than a month on DL. I think we should also have low expectations for Cameron’s return. I’m thinking we should have kept MacDonald around for back up, just in case. We could have released someone else (Not sure who. Don’t even say “Lowell” — I won’t hear of it.)

I see that the Red Sox released Scott Schoenweis. I really hoped he would work out for us, but no. He is gone. And Scott Atchison is back. He makes me nervous. He looks so jittery on the mound, but the word is that he pitched great in Pawtucket. *fingers are crossed*

WHERE IS PAPELBON? Did I miss something? I really expected to see him come out and save the game last night. I haven’t seen him since he gave up those two HRs against the Yankees over a week ago.

And please — someone — get rid of Ramon Ramirez. I have never like the guy. He needs to go far, far away like Julian Tavares.

Please do whatever voodoo you need to do for tonight’s game. As for me, I will be driving over to Rutland, Vermont for some great Italian food at Sabby’s Restaurant. My dad is from Rutland and we enjoy this meal every year. We’ll listen to the game on the radio on the drive home.

I think you could call last night’s performance “Lackey-luster.” I hate to say it, but that is my new nickname for John Lackey. He is not performing up to (my) expectations. I still have hope that he will improve but so far… meh.

And tonight it is another “Roll of the Dice-K.” We never know what we are going to get when Dice-K is on the mound. I think that I will skip the first three innings of the game. I will tune in later to see if there is anything worth watching.

Geez. I am not too pumped up right now. Sorry.

I am leaving for New Hampshire in the morning though. Maybe I will get a little more excited to be back in northern New England watching the Red Sox on NESN every night. If nothing else, I will be eating my fair share of homemade Moose Tracks ice cream… YUM!