Evan: Please welcome Mike Silver to the Fire Brand writing crew! Tim Daloisio is going to be stepping down from writing articles for Fire Brand. He will still be contributing one podcast a week plus the weekly poll -- and will add in another podcast every week.
Junichi Tazawa heads to the rotation Tuesday against Detroit:
Boston's management has decided it's time for Junichi Tazawa to throw his hat into the ring as savior of the Red Sox starting rotation. Is he up to the challenge?
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.
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.
The rain may have postponed Opening Day, but I look at it as a blessing in disguise. I mean, how could you really expect to start the season without having properly named the 2009 Red Sox Madness Champion.
Votes will be tabulated tomorrow morning and a winner crowned before first pitch.
Whose success is more important to the overall success of the 2009 Boston Red Sox, Josh Beckett or Dustin Pedroia?
Red Sox Madness 2009 Championship Game: #1 Dustin Pedroia vs. #1 Josh Beckett
It has all come down to this. Sixteen men enter, one man leaves, and that man will be either Josh Beckett or Dustin Pedroia. Who's success will go further in determining the Red Sox fate this season? Who will have their own Red Sox Madness tournament "One Shining Moment"?
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!
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!