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!