Today represents the sixth anniversary of Fire Brand, begun when I opined ‘There is no such thing as ‘The Curse of the Babe.’
As is the norm on the anniversary, I want to take a moment out of our day to thank you, the readers, for making this site possible. I have strived to make Fire Brand a blog that traffics in reasoned analysis and opinion, something that was in short supply via Red Sox blogs way back when. Although the quality of Red Sox blogs have grown leaps and bounds, I feel Fire Brand still serves an important role in Red Sox coverage.
I am fortunate to be joined by Tim Daloisio and his excellent Fireside Chats podcast, joined by Paul Testa. Alongside me are new partners Troy Patterson and Lee Perrault, who I think will greatly influence Fire Brand going forward and allowing the blog to take a jump forward in qualitative analysis. Mike Silver, of course, is also relatively new to these parts and has shown himself to be a person worth reading.
The upcoming season of Red Sox baseball should be very interesting. Circumstances have dictated the Red Sox move to a more pitching- and defense-oriented ballclub, something not seen since the days when the club was known as the Speed Boys.
I am particularly excited to cover Mike Cameron, as he’s always struck me as an interesting character — and a wildly underrated one at that.
For all the talk of Clay Buchholz’s emergence, I’m not sold that it was anything beyond a pairing of good starts. Was it a step forward mentally? Absolutely. Is his package put together yet? No. This year will be a make-or-break year for Buchholz…
Much like for Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury is considered to be a future offensive force by some, especially if the pressure is lessened on defense by moving him to left field. It’s possible that happens, but it is difficult to think of Ellsbury as someone past a complementary piece right now who is stretched into a leadoff position thanks to average plate discipline.
Thank you for reading and commenting on Fire Brand. If there was no you, there would be no Fire Brand. It’s that simple.
Have a great (and safe!) New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you tomorrow to unveil the 2010 Fire Brand of the Year Award!
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Congrats Evan, keep plugging away.
I don't look at Bucc's numbers from last year and see an emergence. If anything jumps out at me, it's his walks totals. But also, looking at his past performance, I can say that I don't expect Clay to continue to walk batters at the rate he did last year.
And the important thing is, as far as I'm concerned, that while next year might be the actual make-or-break year for Buccholz, he might not even be aware of it. Because he gave us half a year's worth of innings in 2009, and his numbers ended up pretty rosy, all things considered: I mean to say, in other words, that his confidence has to be pretty good right now.
The less pressure, the better. And let's add to that, again with the idea of minimizing the pressure, that Buccholz will be our 5th starter, assuming Dice-K to be our #4. Get the kid on the mound, throwing strikes with confidence and racking up the K's, and we have ourselves a reliable, above-average pitcher.
With a little luck, and maybe with the help of a solid defense, our entire starting pitching staff could have disgusting ERA's next year.
What about Joe Veno? That guy was one hell of a writer. :)
Thank You, Evan! …and all the other great writers and folk who contribute ! ! !
Thank you to Evan and the other writes, as well as the commenters. Intelligent conversation about Red Sox baseball can be hard to find (especially when you live in Yankee territory like myself) and you all help to provide it!
writers*
I personally love this place. So keep up the good work.
The analysis here is top notch, spirited debates with all sorts of interesting characters. You've done well here Evan. Thank you, here's to 6 more!
Thanks Evan, and your team. You've created an intelligent place of balanced discussion, where stats and scouting reports are each considered carefully and with respect; one of the few sites where even the importance of the emotional content and psychology of the game is understood. Such balance is rare indeed. It's a pleasure to visit here. Happy and successful New Year.
By far the best Sox blog on the web at the moment. it's hard to find knowledgeable, unbiased debate on many sites and it's good to know that the kind of trash talk on the forums of places like Boston.com is not reflective of all Sox fans. Thanks evan and happy new year from London
London, huh? Football fan at all?
/Come On You Spurs