Boston Red Sox (65-40) @ Chicago White Sox (52-53)
Andrew Miller (4-1, 5.45) @ Mark Buehrle (8-5, 3.22)
2:10PM EDT | U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago, IL)
TV: NESN, MLBN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
GAME NOTES
Here we go, one of the most exciting days of the baseball calendar is upon us. By 4PM EDT, the Red Sox may look markedly different for the stretch run, they have may have a small acquisition or two, or Mike Aviles may be the big deal for the Red Sox this year. Who knows? But of course, despite all the trade rumblings, there is still a game to be played today. Interestingly enough, the man who the Red Sox may be trying to replace in the rotation is on the mound today on the South Side of Chicago. It’s too close to the deadline to that he is pitching for his job, but that has got to be in the back of Andrew Miller’s mind as he toes the rubber.
INJURY REPORT
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (placed on 15-day DL June 19, retroactive to June 17); J.D. Drew, left shoulder impingement (placed on 15-day DL July 26); Bobby Jenks, strained back (placed on 15-day DL July 16); Jed Lowrie, right shoulder injury (placed on 15-day DL June 17, scheduled to start rehab assignment August 1)
Chicago: Ramon Castro, fractured right hand (placed on 15-day DL 7/10); Tony Pena, right elbow tendinitis (placed on 15-day DL, May 29, appears lost for the season)
PLAYER GENERAL MANAGER OF THE DAY
In the spirit of the trading deadline, I’ve chosen a GM for today, not a player. Dick O’Connell was the general manager of the Red Sox from 1965-1977. O’Connell began his baseball career in 1947 as business manager of the Red Sox Class B farm team, the Lynn Red Sox. Two years later, he joined Boston’s front office and worked his way up the ranks, serving as the director of stadium operations and business manager before being named GM in 1965. He shared responsibilities originally with Haywood Sullivan, but had full control of the team for the first time in 1967. He hired Dick Williams as manager and brought several prominent players aboard for the Impossible Dream season including, Elston Howard, Jerry Adair and Gary Bell. In the 1970s, O’Connell oversaw the growth of the Red Sox farm system that developed players such as Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Carlton Fisk, Cecil Cooper, Bill Lee and Rick Burleson. O’Connell was long trusted by Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey but when Yawkey died in 1976, his wife Jean, an ally of Sullivan’s, removed O’Connell from power and restored Sullivan in the GM position. O’Connell and the Red Sox made up and he was enshrined in the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997. He died in 2002.
Line-ups should be posted in the comments when they are available, feel free to add them if they aren’t there.