Monday Links: It’s getting Chili in Boston

Baseball hit a pause over the weekend, as the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals prepared for game one…

Thursday Links: Royals, Orioles clash in unorthodox ALCS

The first game of the American League Championship Series is set to kick off on Friday evening. The unorthodox match…

Will Middlebrooks thriving while hitting 9th

Andre K. takes a look at Will Middlebrooks hitting behind everyone, because just like we learned at Middle School dances, everyone looks better from behind. Well, most of us, at least.

Third Base, lineup holes and bad defense

The Red Sox have been pretty awful at the hot corner this year, so Andre ponders the heck out of it.

Bold Predictions for 2013, Part 2 — The Batters

With less than 2 weeks to go before Pitchers and Catchers officially report, we are continuing to pass some of the cold long winter by making some bold (and a few not so bold) predictions for the upcoming season.

Coming to the Defense of Shane Victorino: Part Two

The Defense of Shane Victorino: Part Two analyzes Victorino's impact defensively, on the basepaths, and his intangibles.

The Advanced Scout – Toronto Blue Jays

After preparing nibbles for the Boston invasion of Buddy Cole, The Advanced Scout analyzes the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Replacements

In honor of the recent spate of injury-related call-ups, I wanted to take a look at some of the most surprising and productive replacement players the Sox have had over the years. This is obviously weighted pretty heavily toward the years I've been an active fan -- essentially 1987-present.

These selections are completely arbitrary; my definition of 'replacement' is essentially 'players who were not supposed to play a major role on the team, but did'. If you think I forgot someone (which I almost certainly did), mention them in the comments. Hopefully one of the current Sox replacements will be up here on this list a few years from now -- the team certainly needs someone to step up given the current injury bug.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade 3B: Bill Mueller

The hot corner was the the only significant debate I had at naming the All-Aughts Team of the Decade. Was it Bill Mueller or Mike Lowell? On the face of it, how can you not have the 2007 World Series MVP on the Team of the Decade? But I've made my choice in Mueller. If you want Lowell on the team, check back after everyone is named and we do a Fire Brand vote on an honorable and dishonorable mention. Mueller joined the Red Sox in 2003 as a free agent. You may recall how Mueller had to fight for playing time alongside Shea Hillenbrand, Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. Clearly, we know which two names won the battle. When Hillenbrand was dealt in May for Byung-Hyun Kim to come in as closer, Mueller was installed as the full-time third-baseman.

My favorite Red Sox players

Pedro - drgandy

On Friday, the Boston Globe ran down the worst breakups in Red Sox history going around the diamond by position. It's a nice (and sobering) read.

It made me ask myself "who would be on my personal 'favorite Red Sox' team?" My list is here and includes famous names such as Pedro Martinez and obscure names such as Jeff Frye