Fire Brand news: Affiliating with new network
Fire Brand will be affiliating with a certain sports network. The affiliation won't happen until Monday, but I hope to make the move to the new look, which will use WordPress, tomorrow.
Day: October 1, 2009
BOS 3, CLE 0: Sox Snap Losing Streak Against the Tribe
The Red Sox were ready to snap a six-game losing streak at all costs. Unfortunately, it had to come at the cost of Indians rookie starter Carlos Carrassco, who took a Jacoby Ellsbury line drive off the knee cap on the way to a 3-0 loss.
Jon Lester, who suffered an almost identical injury less than a week ago, looked like his old self, throwing a veritable gem for his fifteenth victory of the season, while the bats played small ball to get themselves out of the slump.
Fireside Chats #61: Where we are the champions….errr…wild card my friends
[podcast]http://360thepitch.com/firebrand/61_10_1_09_firesidechats.mp3[/podcast]
Paul and I catch up after a week off with the end of the regular season looming. The Red Sox have clinched and instead of painfully breaking down the teams' miserable performance in these "exhibition games", we look forward with initial thoughts to another match up with the Anaheim...Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS. All after, of course, a little prayer for Jon Lester and Josh Beckett's health.
All that and more on Episode #60 of Fireside Chats on MVN!
10/1: Hello, October
GAME NOTES: You could make the case Cleveland is worse than Toronto and Kansas City. Let's hope so... so we can finally win a freaking game. Jon Lester takes the mound in a big tune-up game for him.
Projecting the Angels’ Post-Season Roster
Shrowded in as much secrecy as a Cold War nuclear test or New England Patriots injury, the California Angels have yielded very few signals as to the makeup of their postseason roster. While the starting lineup is generally set, the rest of the team is in a state of flux.
There have been some indications, however, from sources close to the team of what their roster will look like in the ALDS. Most pundits agree on the following roster developments:
1) The team is confident in its first three starters: John Lackey, Jered Weaver, and Scott Kazmir.
2) The team will opt to go with either Joe Saunders or Ervin Santana in the fourth spot, though Saunders seems to be the frontrunner at the moment...
Sizing Up the Angels: The Hitters
Make no mistake, this is not the Angels teams of past years, who had been thoroughly cooked by the Sox and served on a platter. They have a lot of advantages over the Boston club: they are healthier, have a deeper rotation (though not as top heavy), and they have momentum from four straight wins and a recent division clincher over the Rangers.
Still, with a new sworn enemy for the next two weeks, let's remove the veil from the Angels and find out who this team really is.
Where to start? Hmm... how about the sluggers?
The Sluggers
1B Kendry Morales: This guy has had one of the biggest turnaround seasons in recent memory. It looked like he was headed straight for the former-prospect label after three lackluster stints with the big club. He's been a completely different hitter in 2009, however, as he's added power and learned how to hit major league off-speed and breaking pitches (particularly the change-up and curve). He has had problems making contact this season though, which is probably the only part of his game that has regressed...