True Grit

Most days, I really love to roll up my sleeves, do some research, and provide some deep, thoughtful analysis on the Red Sox.  Today, is not one of those days.  Instead, I’m feeling a bit snarky…a little saucy or sassy even.  That’s what made the latest article from one of my favorite (I mean this seriously) Boston Globe reporters both incredibly frustrating and a perfect target for my desire to mock.  Will this piece be a bit childish and stupid?  Perhaps, but after reading my articles for the last 11 months; you should be used to my occasional bouts of immaturity by now.

In Wednesday’s Globe, Nick Cafardo penned a piece where he opined that grit (yes, grit) was the key ingredient missing from last year’s Red Sox team.  Well, that’s all fine and good, but I’m here to tell you he’s wrong.  I’m not going to go into the details as to why he’s wrong because everyone at Fire Brand has explained it ad nauseum since the collapse started in September.  Instead, I’m going to FJM this piece up big time.  Buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

No, it isn’t football or hockey, or boxing for that matter, but toughness matters in baseball.

The toughness to get through injuries. The toughness to play in this market. The toughness to go the extra mile when you’re dog-tired. The toughness to perservere and make sure that slumps don’t prolong themselves.

But this is Boston… If you’re a wussy that misses games because he has a hang nail (read: J.D. “Nancy” Drew), you need not apply.  Keep walking.  Don’t even think about coming to Boston because you won’t survive.  We’ll eat you up!

Some of that toughness left the Red Sox when Jonathan Papelbon signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Phillies. The good news is that they got some of it back when Ben Cherington signed Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey.

While the Red Sox certainly lost some mental toughness when Paps bolted for the City of Brotherly Love, an interesting thing happened.  One, the team’s average IQ jumped about 20 points.  Two, the level of team douchiness plummetted.  I’d say that’s an even trade off for the loss in mental toughness, wouldn’t you?

But since we’re talking about toughness, how did the Red Sox get some of it back when Andrew “My Elbow Hurts” Bailey was acquired?

The tradeoff of utility guys – Nick Punto for Jed Lowrie – was a 180 for the Red Sox. Punto is as tough as nails and should fit well on this team. One of his best friends is Kevin Youkilis, who shut it down last season after a sports hernia, sore hip, and back issues got the best of him. Youkilis is as tough as they come, and his presence in the lineup should ramp up the team’s toughness meter quite a bit.

YEAH!  Punto has grit!  True grit even!  You know what else he has?  Scrap, determination, and enough dirt doggy goodness to last an entire lifetime!  Look out AL East!  With Punto on the team, you might as well not even show up.  We’ve got someone that’s tough as nails.

Speaking of nails, you know who spits nails?  Kevin Youkilis, that’s who!  He grinds them up in that giant goatee cloaked mouth of his, and he spits them out on all of the whiny girly men like Dice-K who won’t pitch this year because he had Tommy John surgery last summer.  Boo freaking hoo!  Go back to Japan if you can’t handle a little pain!  Youk NEVER hits the disabled list (read: once a year), and he played like a million more games than J.D. Drew over the last five years (read: 42 games).  In fact, I heard he performed live surgery on his sports hernia last September in hopes of coming back to the field healthy.  You can’t get much grittier than that!

Marco Scutaro might be the toughest guy on the team. This guy will play through anything. Know why? Because he has never taken his career for granted. He spent many years as a utility player, and he never wants to give up the chance to be a starter in the majors. As long as he has that, Scutaro will tough it out.

“I’m going to go through a process of getting to know each and every player in spring training and during the season,’’ said new manager Bobby Valentine. “Do I like tough players? Of course. I think any manager would like tough players.

“I think it’s important only because of the group mentality that develops when the level of play is somewhat below true grit. I don’t know if it’s important to the individual game, but over a 162-game season, it’s important as a team.’’

Part of that toughness, that dirt-dog mentality, is giving 100 percent effort. That means running out ground balls. We know some big guys feel they’re so slow that they wouldn’t beat out a grounder even if an infielder bobbled the ball, so they tend to not bust it down the line.

Valentine understands this, and he wants players to be able to give 100 percent in the ninth inning of a game. But consequences for not running balls out? You bet. Valentine has a history of fining players for dogging it. He’ll make those rules very clear to his players in spring training.

And that’s why Bobby V is the new manager folks.  He gets it.  He’s been around.  He knows that it’s all about true grit.  Talent, schmalent!  It’s the dirt dog mentality that makes you a winner.  End of story.  If you don’t run out ground balls or have a dirty uniform, you’re a loser.  I don’t just mean in the game, but in life as well.  If only Bobby V could fine the losers off the field too…

Is there anything worse than a player jogging to first on a routine grounder, and the infielder bobbles the ball but still throws out the lazy runner? Or a batter hitting a popup but still getting thrown out when the infielder drops it because he didn’t run it out? Maybe you don’t see these things very often, but you see them often enough.

Those acts are completely offensive!  Hockey has it right.  Put the offenders in a tempoary jail, and make them watch the fun they’re missing as a result of their transgressions.  Go grit or go home.  That’s my motto.

You really come to appreciate players like Pedroia, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter who run out every ball as hard as they can. They play the game right. Pedroia doesn’t have blazing speed, but he can make the infielder rush the throw and at times beat out balls that other guys wouldn’t because they don’t run hard.

Damn straight.  I hate those players that play the game the wrong way.  Do you remember when Carlos Zambrano used to pitch a beach ball to Manny Ramirez who swung a lacrosse stick?  Then, when Manny hit the ball, he’d skip around the bases in a clockwise fashion!  The horror!  I’d much have a player like A-Rod, who has the highest levels of integrity, on my team.

Obviously, if a guy has a tender hamstring, and he’s out there playing, you don’t want him to reinjure himself. But playing the game at maximum effort represents a certain kind of toughness the Red Sox need again.

Um…tough, gritty players play through minor injuries like tender hamstrings.  Come back to me when the player tears his hamstring in half.  Then, we can talk about letting him sit for a game or two.