4/24: Rivalry Renewed
And so it begins....video after the jump.
Author: josh lacey
Does early season success against the Yankees matter?
For Red Sox fans, there is a "second Opening Day" to the season; the first time their familiar foes from New York line up across the diamond. The first series of the season against the New York Yankees takes on a heightened feeling as if New England takes a collective breath and bears down saying, "Baseball season is officially in full swing."
The rest of the nation may be sick of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, but the beauty of it for New Englanders is, that through all the hype, these games still matter and more often than not, live up to the anticipation that proceeds them.
Vintage Lester
"Vintage Lester dominates Orioles" read the headline after Sunday's 2-1 Red Sox victory over Baltimore. While headlines are known for hyperbole, by definition, Jon Lester's third and best start of 2009 was vintage.
vin-tage: adjective (1) representing the high quality of a past time (2) being the best of its kind.
After a breakout 2008 campaign, Jon Lester hadn't seemed to find his groove early in 2009. Through his first two starts of the season, questions about his ability to avoid the "Verducci Effect" known to smite young pitchers coming off a season of above average workload were echoing across baseball blogs everywhere.
Vote Fire Brand Best Red Sox Blog!!!
Support your local team (of bloggers) and vote Fire Brand for your favorite Red Sox blog at TruFan.com's New England Sports Blog Awards. Its as easy as typing in https://firebrandal.com in the best Red Sox blog field and pressing submit!
4/15: Don’t Panic
Seriously....don't panic....OK....maybe just a little.
The good, the bad, and the Tek
Early season series against top flight division rivals are always difficult to measure. It's been said time and time again that the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees are likely to play themselves all around .500 against each other by the time this season shakes out and the team that outperforms against the rest of their schedule has the upper hand in the race for the division. That said, it's never easy to swallow being beaten in your own house by a team you'll be battling with all season long.
Given that it was the first three games of the season, a whopping 1.9% of the full slate of regular season games, it's difficult to draw any firm conclusions without being beaten over the head with comments about sample size. But as it is the regular season and no longer the fruitless analysis of in game Spring Training analysis, it is fair to point out a few things that were both good and bad omens, directionally speaking.
2009 Red Sox Madness Champion: Josh Beckett
If the results of our Red Sox Madness tournament tournament tell us anything, it's that today's start for Josh Beckett could be setting the tone for the season.
After matching up the sixteen most important players on the Red Sox 2009 roster in a head to head, NCAA tournament style bracket, Josh Beckett cruised to a 63-36 win in the finals over Dustin Pedroia.
In resounding support of the notion that top flight pitching wins championships, the Red Sox "Big Three" of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka went 7-2 in this tournament with the two losses being Lester's and Dice-K's to the eventual champion.
Know Thyself 2009: Boston Red Sox
The 2009 Boston Red Sox are in the final stages of preparing for what is certain to be an entertaining and exciting season. The spring is finally behind us, the roster is set and the team is moving northward to christen Citi Field with some Major League talent.
Now all the roster moves are behind us and the questions move from the "who" of the offseason as they shift to the analysis of performance and the "what" of baseball. This past week has been spent looking at the competition in the American League East, and stiff competition it is. In most cases, the Red Sox had the position by position edge over each team from the Yankees to the Orioles and it should come as no surprise, in that light, that the staff here at Fire Brand gives the Red Sox the edge to win the AL East in 2009.
Today we summarize much of what we've talked about in our "For Better or Worse" series this offseason as we go player by player through the Red Sox roster and prepare for live baseball next week.
Red Sox Madness Final Four: Beckett vs. Lester
The first half of our ongoing Red Sox Madness tournament is in the books and #1 seed Dustin Pedroia will represent the offense against the winner of today's Josh Beckett/Jon Lester matchup in the final. Pedroia took fellow tablesetter Jacoby Ellsbury down with relative ease in the first Final Four matchup. Ellsbury's cinderella run came to an end after knocking off #2 seed Jason Bay and #1 seed David Ortiz.
Today we turn our attention to the starting rotation as we pit #1 seeds Jon Lester and Josh Beckett against each other in a battle that should enlighten Red Sox Nation's perspective on the "true ace". Which starting pitcher is more important to the overall team's success?
Remember, the simple question is "who's success is more important to the overall success of the Boston Red Sox in 2009?" Vote away after the jump!
Know Thine Enemy 2009: Toronto Blue Jays
It wasn't long ago that the Toronto Blue Jays were expected to be in the position now occupied by the Tampa Bay Rays as the third wheel atop the American League East. While there is some strong young talent in Toronto, J.P. Riccardi's five year plan is looking more like a two term presidential rebuilding plan in action. It's hard to believe that this team is anything resembling "on the road to competing" in the most vaunted division in baseball.
Last year was a mess for the Blue Jays. Between injuries, slumps, manager changes, and overall bad luck, the Jays still found themselves dreaming of a run at the Wild Card late in the Summer. While an 86-win season was respectable and would have put you in the playoffs in the NL West, it yielded another season leaving Jays fans frustrated with what could have been if there were any semblance of an offense behind one of the best rotations in baseball.