by shawn medeiros | Apr 13, 2008 | Alex Rodriguez, Chien-Ming Wang, Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Josh Beckett, Mike Mussina, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes
Manny Ramirez kills the New York Yankees. Hopefully for Red Sox fans Joe Girardi does not catch onto this. Ramirez belted a homerun off the Volvo ad above the Green Monster and drove in two more to put the Yankees away winning 4-3. Jonathan Papelbon earned the save by...
by shawn medeiros | Apr 6, 2008 | Bryan Corey, Clay Buchholz, David Eckstein, Frank Thomas, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Josh Beckett, Kyle Snyder, Manny Ramirez, Roy Halladay, Sean Casey
Clay Buchholz had a decent start compared to his last few surrendering three runs on six hits over five innings with seven strikeouts, but leave it to the Red Sox Pen to blow it open again.
by shawn medeiros | Apr 2, 2008 | Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Joe Blanton, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Oakland Athletics, Rich Harden
Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out nine and gave up just two hits in 6.2 innings pitched to earn his first victory of the season. The Boston offense contributed with two runs batted in from Jacoby Ellsbury and Jason Varitek in the win. Jonathan Papelbon notched his second...
by shawn medeiros | Mar 25, 2008 | Brandon Moss, Bryan Corey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Huston Street, Javier Lopez, Jonathan Papelbon, Kyle Snyder, Manny Ramirez, Oakland Athletics, Rich Harden
The stage was set for Daisuke Matsuzaka to have a big showing, but Brandon Moss and Manny Ramirez stole the spotlight. Down by one in the top of the ninth inning, Moss, who had an RBI single earlier in the ball game, drove a Houston Street low and inside fastball over...
by mike edelman | Mar 25, 2008 | Clay Buchholz, Coco Crisp, Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Hideki Okajima, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez, Julio Lugo, Kevin Cash, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Delcarmen, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, Mike Timlin, Sean Casey, Tim Wakefield
I usually write my posts the day before they publish here on Fire Brand of the American League and then press publish them when I get to my computer in the morning. In theory, today – as you read this – is no different. In reality however, as I publish...
by evan brunell | Mar 24, 2008 | Alex Cora, Bobby Kielty, Bryan Corey, Clay Buchholz, Coco Crisp, Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Aardsma, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Hideki Okajima, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Javier Lopez, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez, Julio Lugo, Kevin Cash, Kevin Youkilis, Know Thy Enemy, Kyle Snyder, Manny Delcarmen, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, Mike Timlin, Sean Casey, Tim Wakefield
You guessed it — we’re picking the Red Sox to repeat as American League East Division Champions. Coming off a World Series, the Red Sox will look to repeat and make it three titles in five years (shades of the Patriots). The Red Sox have a strong team...
by evan brunell | Mar 10, 2008 | Bartolo Colon, Chih-Hsiang Huang, Clay Buchholz, Coco Crisp, Craig Hansen, Devern Hansack, Doug Mirabelli, Dusty Brown, George Kottaras, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie, Jonathan Papelbon, Justin Masterson, Kevin Youkilis, Lars Anderson, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, Michael Almanzar, Michael Bowden, Mike Lowell, Oscar Tejeda, Terry Francona
Last night, I participated in a chat over at New England Sports Country. Here are some questions I answered… “Why isn’t Devern Hansack in the equation for #5”? His #’s are worthy . . . in AA and Boston 2006, and AAA 2007 (his 3.61ERA....
by mike edelman | Mar 7, 2008 | Craig Hansen, David Aardsma, Edgar Martinez, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Julian Tavarez, Manny Delcarmen, Mike Timlin
When “Guest Columnist”, er… I mean, Bottom Line Rob wrote a great piece this week on the five reasons that the Red Sox were favorites to repeat as World Series Champions in 2008, I found myself nodding with nearly every point, then kicking myself...
by mike edelman | Mar 6, 2008 | Jonathan Papelbon
According to Amalie Benjamin of Boston.com, the Red Sox have reached a one year contract agreement with Jonathan Papelbon for $775,000. The closer had made it well known that he was looking for $900,000 this season, consistent with the contract that Philadelphia...
by evan brunell | Feb 15, 2008 | Al Reyes, Alan Embree, B.J. Ryan, Billy Wagner, Bob Wickman, Bobby Jenks, Brad Hennessey, Brett Myers, Brian Fuentes, Chad Cordero, Chris Ray, David Weathers, Eric Gagne, Francisco Cordero, Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Jason Isringhausen, Jeremy Accardo, Joakim Soria, Joe Borowski, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg, Mariano Rivera, Matt Capps, Ryan Dempster, Takashi Saito, Todd Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival
Every year, I run a feature here at Fire Brand called Saves per Inning Pitched (SIP). It’s a little statistic I made up that in the general scheme of things, probably means nothing. But I like doing it because it tells me what teams utilize their closer as a...
