Buster Olney On The Koward

SoSher underhandtofirst, 1:34 PM:

Olney was on Felger's show on ESPN Radio in Boston last night and said people in the Yankee organization feared what would happen to Roger if he started against the Sox. He said he's basically in "March 20th" shape and that the Yankee people were worried that "Youkilis would have a 12 pitch AB and ground to first and Clemens would pull a hamstring covering first and $28 mil would be wasted".

I know the Yankee people are exaggerating slightly, but I think the fear is real. Olney also mentioned Boston is 1st in OBP ~360 and Chicago is last ~311. Clemens doesnt need a grind in his first start and if you really look at it the other 3 guys are much more qualified at this point to face this lineup. ...

NY is 13.5 back in the division but only 7.5 back in the WC. Chicago is one of the teams it must overtake in the WC chase so that game is pretty important to them as well.

New York has to overtake about half of the American League to get atop the wild card standings. So every game is a big game for them at this point.

But you'd think the $28 million Warrior would jump at any chance to shove it down the throat of his rivals on their turf, wouldn't you?

That "Where is Rah-ger??" chant had better be plenty loud tomorrow night.

Is Your Hatred Of Don Zimmer Waning?

I'm here to help. Read Part II.

NYDN: "One Win & Anything Is Possible"

I wondered if picking up a game in the standings -- to be only 13.5 GB in the East and behind seven teams in the wild card hunt -- would cause any of the New York mediots to start muttering about the beginning of a comeback.

In this case, though, the headline bears little resemblance to the article.

Mike Lupica, Daily News:

We keep setting these arbitrary deadlines for the Yankees, sure they will show up for one of them. We just went through those dozen games against the White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, Angels. The Yankees managed to win four. They better show up at Fenway Park this weekend. Show they are something more than their name, their embarrassing payroll, and a fading reputation as the baddest team on the planet.

Sweep the Red Sox. Then you start to look alive, and not like the biggest underachievers, with the biggest payroll, in their sport. ...

They won back-to-back games against the Mets and Red Sox, won two of three against the Red Sox, and of course people got giddy again. Then they lost three straight to the Angels and two straight to the Blue Jays. ...

They need to show up now. They go into Boston with their three best pitchers: Wang, Mussina, Pettitte. Clemens pitches in Chicago. If they don't at least make some kind of stand now, then when?

P.S. I can't criticize Slappy for whatever he yelled as he ran past the Toronto infielders. I know I (and probably most of you) would be thrilled if a Sock did that against the Yankees, especially if the Yankees started whining about it.

G52: Cleveland 8, Red Sox 4

Paul Byrd (3.81, 113 ERA+) / Daisuke Matsuzaka (4.43, 100 ERA+)

David Ortiz will be back in the lineup tonight!

Q: Does Byrd belong on the All-Animal Team even though he spells his name with a "y"? Laura says Yes. I'm not so sure. (Do nicknames count (e.g., Richard Michael Gossage, Richard Paul Burleson and Frederick Stanley McGriff)?)

The All-Animal Team:

P: Doug Bird, Steve Trout, Randy Wolf, Jim Panther, Dean Crow, Bob Moose, George Haddock, Moses J. Yellow Horse (really)
C:
1B: Jimmie Foxx (?)
2B: Nellie Fox
3B: Mike Lamb
SS: Bobby Sturgeon
OF: Tim Salmon
OF: Kevin Bass
OF:
DH: Rob Deer

Sleeping On The Floor

Daisuke Matsuzaka explains how he may have got sick in Texas last week:

It could be something to do with my sleeping arrangements. I haven't slept on the bed. Instead of doing so, I bring my own mattress and put it down [on the floor and sleep on it]. So maybe dust and other things could have contributed a little bit, too. I didn't want to do so but I thought that would be better for my back than sleeping on the hotel bed. ... It is different from Japan. People [here] keep their shoes on and that is how it is.

Silverman: "Matsuzaka told reporters he may have come up with a solution for the next road trip. He did not wish to share it, Japanese reporters said, because he preferred not to have people wondering or imagining how he looked while he slept."

Kevin Youkilis: "We don't need Papi. Save him for the playoffs. Save him for the ninth innings, when we need a big hit or a walk-off." Ortiz has not hit a home run in his last 15 games (52 AB). "I'm becoming Ichiro." ... Nothing to worry about, though. Flo had 29 doubles last season; he already has 20 this season. He's hitting for power (.586 slugging, 5th in the AL), but the ball is staying in the park. For now.

Mike Lowell has hit safely in 21 straight home games. ... Steven Krasner reports that Beckett threw 18 curveballs in his 91-pitch outing. In the fourth inning, six of 13 pitches were curves. ... Jon Lester pitched five scoreless innings (79 pitches) for Pawtucket on Tuesday night, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six.

Brendan Donnelly:

I've been on some teams where we have always been talking about needing something else. We need a starter, we need a hitter, we need something. We don't need anything, and that's rare. ... [W]hat's even more rare is we get along and have fun. It's a good combination.

We need you -- 11 hits and 6 runs allowed in your last six appearances (5.1 innings) -- to pitch better.

Pic O The Day:

Line O The Day: George King, Post: " ... a band of Yankee hitters who can't hit sand if they fell off a camel."

Koward

Edes:

The Yankees made it official last night: Roger Clemens will not make his return to the majors this weekend against the Red Sox.

Torre: "I'm not disappointed that he's not pitching at Fenway." ... Neither is he, Joe. Neither is he.

To anyone going to the games this weekend: Now is the time to bust out the "WHERE IS RAH-GER?" chant from the 1999 ALCS. ... Make it so.

Torre: "We'd obviously be tempted if we had a kid pitching and we could replace him with Roger Clemens, but we have Wang, Moose and Andy."

Torre: "It's not going to be in Boston because I can't see who I'd dump."

Yup, he's a #4 starter.

Probables:

Friday: Wang / Wakefield
Saturday: Mussina / Schilling
Sunday: Pettitte / Beckett

Kevin Youkilis Has A Blog

It's called Yooooouuuuukkkkk right now, but if you've got a better idea, he'd like to hear it.

Re his nine consecutive multi-hit games, here are the longest streaks since 1957:

Tony Perez        1973  11
Bernie Williams   2002  10 
Chuck Knoblauch   1996  10
Rich Dauer        1978  10
Bob Nieman        1958  10 
Kevin Youkilis    2007   9
Rusty Greer       2000   9
Gary Sheffield    1992   9
Shane Mack        1990   9
Billy Hatcher     1987   9
Tony Fernandez    1986   9
Kirby Puckett     1985   9
Jim Rice          1978   9
Rennie Stennett   1971   9
Tony Oliva        1971   9
Jesus Alou        1969   9
Bert Campaneris   1969   9

I think the major league record is held by Paul Waner (14 games, June 3-19, 1927).

Passing By The Newsstand

Today's tabloids are more interested in the Mets' extra-innings win -- the Stems have the second-best record in MLB -- than the Yankees' fifth straight loss.


But there is this:

G51: Red Sox 4, Cleveland 2

The lay-off didn't bother Josh Beckett at all. He faced the minimum 18 hitters through the first six innings, allowing only one hit (Jhonny Peralta in the 1st) and one walk (Peralta in the 4th).

He gave up two runs in the seventh on a one-out single to Peralta (again!), a triple to Travis Hafner that eluded JD Drew in the right field corner, and an infield grounder. Those runs cut the Boston lead from 4-0 to 4-2. Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez and Hideki Okajima finished it off. (box)

Kevin Youkilis doubled in Julio Lugo in the first inning (21 game hitting streak), then hit a solo home run to begin the home sixth (9th consecutive multi-hit game). Jason Varitek also homered.

In Toronto, the Yankees lost 3-2, as the Blue Jays got one of their runs on a straight steal of home by Aaron Hill (only the second occurrence in Blue Jays history). Toronto scored in the first inning and the game stayed 1-0 until the seventh. The Yankees tied it in the top half, but Toronto went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. New York tied it again at 2-2 in the top of the eighth, but the Jays scored in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th. ... New York is now 14.5 GB.

***

Jeremy Sowers (6.29, 69 ERA+) / Josh Beckett (2.66, 167 ERA+)

             W    L    GB
Red Sox     35   15   ----
Orioles     24   27   11.5
Blue Jays   23   27   12
Devil Rays  21   28   13.5
Yankees     21   28   13.5

The Red Sox's 35-15 start ties the 1986 team for the second best in club history.

On June 3, 1986, the Red Sox were 35-15 and led the Yankees by 4.5 games. ... Fifty games into the 1946 season -- June 11 -- the Red Sox were 41-9 and led the Yankees by 10 games.

Manny Delcarmen, who pitched only one inning since being called up on May 21, was optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Beckett.

Redsox.com:

After beginning the season 0-4 with a 7.13 ERA in his first eight starts, Sowers had his best start of the year on Thursday against the Royals. He went seven strong innings and allowed one run on six hits -- all of them singles -- while walking one and striking out one.

Tabloid Triple Play?

Sadly, no.

G50: Red Sox 5, Cleveland 3

Schilling was dominant, regaining control of his fastball and split to strike out a season-high 10 batters (7-6-1-0-10, 114).

Yook hit an inside-the-park home run and scored standing up (20-game hitting streak)! Manny smashed a line drive shot over the Wall in left, and Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-3, with a single, two doubles and a walk.

Papelbot stumbled in the 9th, but held on to strike out Hafner with the tying runs aboard.

The Red Sox's 10 hits: 2 singles, 6 doubles, and 2 home runs. ... The two singles came in the third inning, before the Sox had scored any runs.

Yankees lost to Toronto 7-2. The Devil Rays scored twice in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Tigers 6-5 and raise their record to 21-28, 13.5 GB -- same as New York's.

***

Cliff Lee (5.93, 73 ERA+) / Curt Schilling (3.94, 113 ERA+)

Trot Nixon returns!

His ninth-inning home run against the TCM at Yankee Stadium that gave Pedro a 2-0 win on May 28, 2000 -- how on Earth can that have been seven years ago?!? -- and his pinch-hit two-run, game-winning blast at Fenway against Oakland to win Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS are two of my fondest memories of Boston career.

The thunderous ovation he'll receive is completely deserved.

Tangible

Derek Jeter:

We can't look at the standings. Who cares about the standings?

Mike Puma, Post:

Good thing the Yankees are leaving town for 11 days - it will take at least that long to fumigate the Stadium from the rancid odor left behind by the home team.

The fans even let Joe Torre have it yesterday, booing the manager for his ill-fated decision to replace Mike Mussina with Scott Proctor in the seventh inning. ...

Even the usually unflappable Jeter had some urgency in his voice after the Yankees lost for the seventh time in 10 games and fell a season-high six games below .500.

"You can't give up, you have to continue to fight," Jeter said. "But you do have to get some wins here."

Mike Mussina (before the Red Sox won):

How many games are we out? ... [He is told] ... Twelve is a lot. ... We need what, 72, 73 wins from here? With four months to play [and 114 games], to get to 30 games over ... [W]e have guys who can pitch and hit and score runs, but we just have to do it at the same time.

Brian Cashman ("his voice barely above a whisper"):

We can't worry about the division, the 12 games back, the wild card or anything. We just have to worry about "that day" and hope we swing a lot of "that days" together.

Anthony Rieber, Newsday:

Is it time to worry about the division race?

"I think it's an appropriate time," said Mike Mussina ...

It is time to stop saying it's early?

"Yeah, but I don't know what you do about it," manager Joe Torre said. "It's not that 'now it's time to panic.' Then what do you do?"

Torre:

We're gonna have to find that magic potion.

Or maybe start praying the "ghosts" return to make the other teams fail ...

G49: Red Sox 6, Rangers 5

The Red Sox complete their first three-game series sweep of the Rangers in Texas since August 20-22, 1973.

Baltimore also won, so our lead remains at 11.5 games. New York was swept by the Angels and is 12.5 games off the pace -- and only one game ahead of the cellar-dwelling Devil Rays.

***

Julian Tavarez (5.27, 84 ERA+) / Kameron Loe (6.38, 71 ERA+)

Lineup (with EQA and EQA rank on team):

Lugo, SS       .236   9th
Crisp, CF      .231  11th
Youkilis, 1B   .323   2nd
Ramirez, LF    .270   5th
Drew, RF       .238  10th
Lowell, 3B     .309   3rd
Varitek, C     .274   4th
Hinske, DH     .227  12th
Pedroia, 2B    .253   7th

Ortiz -- out today with "barking" hamstrings and the lingering effects of a cold -- is 1st at .332.

Sexy Lips's last two starts (against the Tigers and Yankees) have produced these totals: 12.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 8 walks and 5 strikeouts. Very nice, except for the walks. He has lowered his season ERA by almost 2.5 runs since the end of April.

Loe gave up one run on two hits in .1 IP out to Boston (16 pitches) back on April 7.

Meanwhile, way back somewhere in our dust cloud: The fourth-place Yankees (a mere 1.5 GA of the cellar) try to avoid the Angels' broom at 1 PM (Lackey/Mussina).

The second-place Blue Jays visit the Twins (Burnett/Silva) at 2 PM.

Lugo: 29 RBI While Hitting Only .231

In the comments to G48, 9casey wondered how Julio Lugo could:

have a .231 avg and still be able to have 29 rbi's. And out of the leadoff spot

I answered "more runners on base", noted how much better he does with runners on base:

                AVG   OBP   SLG
Bases Empty    .217  .286  .313
Runners On     .265  .307  .412
RISP           .319  .333  .468
Bases Loaded   .500  .566  .875

then went off to get some real answers.

Lugo has 29 RBI, 4th on the team behind Ortiz (38), Lowell (37) and Ramirez (30). Subtracting the times when the batter drives himself in (RBI - HR), the team leaders are: Ortiz (29), Lowell (28), Lugo (26) and Ramirez (23).

Lugo has driven in 21.49% of the runners on base when he bats. That makes him the top Sock in the 48 games played so far.

Mike Lowell (19.86%) and David Ortiz (19.33%) are next. ... Doug Mirabell (6.9%), Wily Mo Pena (7.9%) and JD Drew (9.3%) are at the bottom.

Let's look at the regular lineup and see the number of plate appearances, PA with runners on base, how many runners on each base the batter has seen and the total runners on all bases:

          PA PAROB  R1  R2  R3  ROB
Lugo     209   79   54  42  25  121
Youkilis 206   89   60  46  21  127
Ortiz    212  113   80  45  25  150
Ramirez  206  111   75  51  24  150
Drew     169   85   64  40  25  129
Lowell   191   91   68  45  28  141
Varitek  150   77   55  41  23  119
Crisp    176   87   65  35  17  117
Pedroia  123   53   37  22  12   71

My "more runners on base" comment was not all that accurate. Lugo is 6th out of the 9 regulars in men on base when he bats. Here are the percentage of times the batter knocked in the runners from each base:

         R1BI%  R2BI%  R3BI%   OBI%
Lugo      3.7%  23.8%  56.0%  21.49%
Youkilis  5.0%  17.4%  47.6%  16.54%
Ortiz     7.5%  22.2%  52.0%  19.33%
Ramirez   5.3%  13.7%  50.5%  15.33%
Drew      0.0%  17.5%  20.0%   9.30%
Lowell    5.9%  24.4%  46.4%  19.86%
Varitek   7.3%   7.3%  47.8%  15.13%
Crisp     3.1%  17.1%  47.8%  11.97%
Pedroia   2.7%  13.6%  33.3%  11.27%

When it comes to driving in a runner from third, Lugo is more successful than anyone else on the team. He's driven in 14 runners from third (Lowell and Ortiz have brought in 13, Manny has 12). Lugo is also second best at driving a runner in from second. ... Varitek is quite bad at bringing in a guy from second and Drew is dismal with a man on third (and first, for that matter).

The Top 5 AL hitters in OBI%:

Torii Hunter      23.62%
Ross Gload        23.08%
Magglio Ordonez   22.82%
Brad Wilkerson    22.58%
Placido Polanco   22.52%

Lugo is 8th. (Ordonez has driven in a whopping 66.7% of baserunners on third.)

Curious about the Yankees? (Arranged by OBI%)

          R1BI%  R2BI%  R3BI%   OBI%
Jeter      1.4%  32.4%  59.1%  20.00%
Posada     6.2%  14.3%  42.9%  16.30%
Damon      5.0%  20.7%  35.3%  16.28%
Matsui     4.9%  16.7%  50.0%  16.24%
Rodriguez 12.2%  16.0%  37.5%  16.03%
Cano       4.3%  10.2%  41.4%  13.51%

Re Jeter: His 59.1% is 5th in the AL and 9th in MLB; Orlando Hudson leads everybody with 70%. His 32.4% mark is 2nd best in the AL, behind Estaban Guzman of the Royals (33.3%). His very low % of driving in runners from first is due to his lack of power -- 52 of his 67 hits this year have been singles.

5-Toed Socks

New York Times:

[A] sock is the team symbol again, only this time it is a five-toed version popularized by their two new Japanese pitchers – Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima.

The socks, which fit like a glove with each toe individually encased, were met with curiosity in Boston's clubhouse during spring training. Before long, Matsuzaka began offering pairs to anyone who expressed an interest. And a number of players did, including Mike Lowell, Alex Cora and Doug Mirabelli, who are now playing in them regularly. ...

The socks that Matsuzaka wears are covered with tiny rubbery beads on the sole for better traction. As for Okajima, he said the individual toe slot helps with his balance because he can firmly grip each toe. ... "They give me a better feel and perception of the ground, a sensitivity similar to bare feet," Matsuzaka said.

Matsuzaka has been wearing the five-toed socks since he signed his first professional contract in 1999, with the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League. The socks are popular among professional baseball players in Japan and versions of them are also common among the general public in Japan.

Just Because

G48: Red Sox 7, Rangers 4

Wakefield (7-5-4-1-4, 91) was solid outside of a rough fifth, Manny went 4-for-4 (falling a home run shy of the cycle), Drew walked three times, and Youkilis doubled and singled to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

AL East Lead:

11

The Red Sox Train rolls on.

***

Tim Wakefield (3.14, 141 ERA+) / Vicente Padilla (5.52, 82 ERA+)

Scary dude:


David Ortiz is 4-for-10 against Padilla -- two doubles, two home runs, two walks and no strikeouts.

Daisuke Matsuzaka:

I felt very good coming out of my warmup in the bullpen. ... But all of a sudden, I didn't feel too well. I tried my best to take the team as deep into the game as possible. I regret that I ended up being a burden to my teammates today.

The Globe's Amalie Benjamin wrote that Matsuzaka "was seen dry-heaving in the concourse [and] felt the onset of nausea in the second inning".

Has anyone ever seen a ballplayer get sick on the field? Players have had fevers, been drilled in the groin, swallowed their chaws -- yet I've never seen it. ... How cool would it be to have Dice strike out the side, while vomiting between batters!

OPS+: Manny Ramirez (98) isn't that much better than Dustin Pedroia (93). Yikes. ... Tops on the team: Ortiz (172), Youkilis (152), and Lowell (150). (Cora's at 141.)

This afternoon:

LAA - 300 000 000 - 3 6 1
MFY - 000 100 000 - 1 8 0

11 GA!

Papelbon's Cheerio Mouth

A Papelbot fan would like a shot of his stare/Cheerio mouth to the plate before he goes into his windup. The Google was no help. Can anyone get a screen shot the next time he pitches?

G47: Red Sox 10, Rangers 6

We win 10-6. Yankees lose 10-6.

10.5 GA.

***

Daisuke Matsuzaka (4.06, 108 ERA+) / Brandon McCarthy (5.82, 77 ERA+)

Lugo, SS
Youkilis, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Drew, RF
Lowell, 3B
Varitek, C
Crisp, CF
Pedroia, 2B

Clemens: Not Up To Speed

According to an ESPN graphic during last night's game, Roger Clemens, in his decidedly mediocre start against the Red Sox's AA club (5.1-6-3-4-5, 102), threw 57 fastballs.

Average speed? 89 mph. Average.

Clemens walked three Sea Dogs in a 30-pitch first inning. Four of the six hits he allowed were for extra bases, including two doubles by Jed Lowrie. (box)

Portland's Clay Buchholz pitched much better (6-7-2-0-8), but the Sea Dogs lost the game 4-3 in 10 innings.

It's up to Fat Billy to decide whether he needs another minor league start or if he's ready to join the Yankees next week.