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February 26, 2009

A Change For Beckett

Josh Beckett wants to throw more changeups this spring. Yesterday afternoon, against Boston College, seven or eight of his 22 pitches were changeups.
It's a big feel pitch for me and the more I throw it, the more I can command it, the more I can take speed off it, and add speed to it. It's more of a feel pitch than my curveball is and I want to try to get as many of them in now as I can. That way, I don't have to still be catching up with it in the regular season.
Tim Wakefield (42 pitches) said his shoulder "felt fine", though he was "a little rusty" pitching out of the stretch.

The Red Sox have 14 players (spread out over 11 of the 16 teams) participating in the World Baseball Classic:
Canada: Jason Bay
USA: Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis
Dominican Republic: David Ortiz
Japan: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Puerto Rico: Javier Lopez, Fernando Cabrera
Venezuela: Enrique Gonzalez
Australia: Mitch Dening
Chinese Taipei: Chih-Hsien Chiang, Che-Hsuan Lin
Netherlands: Dennis Neuman
Panama: Angel Chavez
South Africa: Justin Erasmus
Jon Lester gets the start when the Red Sox host the Pirates today at 1 PM.

47 comments:

  1. one hit given up by Lester in top of first. We will dominate this Pirates squad!!!!

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  2. How bad is this? If you go to the "stats" section of redsox.com, and click "2009 Spring Training," you see all the individual stats...of the Minnesota Twins.

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  3. If you go to the "stats" section of redsox.com, and click "2009 Spring Training," you see all the individual stats...of the Minnesota Twins.

    They train the same town -- close enough.

    ***

    Lineups as per MLB box:

    Lugo, SS
    Pedroia, 2B
    Ortiz, DH
    Drew, RF
    Varitek, C
    Bailey, 1B
    McAnulty, LF
    Green, 3B
    Ambres, CF

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  4. Up two on a Gumball 2-rbi single, apparently.

    GDGD.

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  5. Lineout DP, Lester to Bailey, to end top 2nd. 2-0.

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  6. TER*- 00
    BOS - 2

    *Pittsburgh Terrorists.

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  7. Hilarious:

    While David Ortiz was walking into the dugout today, an older woman, surrounded by kids with baseballs and pens, leaned over the top of the dugout and rolled an oddly shaped object with a Red Sox logo on it.

    "David!" she shouted. "Will you sign my coconut?"

    "What?" Ortiz.

    "It's a coconut! It's for the nursing home!"

    "Alright."

    Ortiz shrugged, shook his head, and signed the coconut, which, again, somehow had a small Red Sox logo affixed to it. Ortiz muttered something that could not be understood and smiled broadly as he walked back to the clubhouse. That, apparently, was the first coconut he had ever autographed.

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  8. Saito gets his first work in, only allowing a bloop single. Okajima about to pitch now. 2-0 us after 3.

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  9. Why are they the terrorists?

    ... because everyone is considered a terrorist until they prove that they are not a terrorist? (shrug)

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  10. Oh that's right, Pittsburgh's in the US....

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  11. Because pirates terrorize. It's one of the dyslogistic senses of the word.

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  12. GDGD still has Ambres in a San Diego cap.

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  13. I never really thought about how a Mariners-Pirates matchup is a sea battle.

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  14. Barthmaier will be the barth of us.

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  15. Mariners-Pirates

    NATURAL RIVALS!!!!

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  16. I never really thought about how a Mariners-Pirates matchup is a sea battle.

    Specifically it's a battle between hermit crabs ("pirates") and Tasmanian gastropods ("mariners"), presumably over who gets to occupy the latter's shells.

    The more you know.

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  17. I'm not freaking out about it, but I wish Papi would get a hit, one of these games.

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  18. Benjamin, thy site wouldst not verify mine browser.

    Fie.

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  19. Righto.

    He also might have taken those glasses off.

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  20. And Nick Green is still in a MFY hat.

    I don't expect them to put more effort into GDGD in the preseason, especially for invites who might never make the team. It sure looks incongruous, though.

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  21. Another of Hunter with the glasses. He must never take them off for photos. At least he isn't wearing the goofy teeth in that one.

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  22. "I'm not freaking out about it, but I wish Papi would get a hit, one of these games."

    One of these two games? Come on now...they did say he hit a rocket yesterday that was grabbed by the 1st baseman, and another ball he just missed that went deep to center.

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  23. Our first batter interference of the spring...

    Papi up with 2 outs in the 8th, we'll see if he can get that hit.

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  24. Papi up with 2 outs in the 8th, we'll see if he can get that hit.

    GDGD looks like it revised events and Papi never came up.

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  25. But now it's tied up, so Papi'll get his chance.

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  26. I just saw that. Man, they are dumb.... THey had Papi's picture up there for 10 minutes.

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  27. CRB*- 000 000 003
    BOS - 200 000 00

    *Hermit crabs.

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  28. it's a zero sandwich. On one slice of 2 and one slice of 3.

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  29. Xtra Bases is back to updating, after a lull in mid-game. Said Diaz missed a catchable line drive.

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  30. Sox lose. Good thing these games don't count.

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  31. Well, that's it. It's a "FINALL," according to Adam Kilgore.

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  32. Lentz's law states that when you induce suckage in the 9th inning relief pitching, the direction of the game is into the toilet.

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  33. "Richard, Lentz is dead."

    Name the movie...

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  34. I can name it, but only because I looked it up.

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  35. Obviously, we have no pitching depth.

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  36. We should lobby to get the AL to revoke the DH rule. Pitchers are clearly better prepared than batters this year, so we want as many pitchers in our lineup as possible.

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  37. Upon further reflection, perhaps a shaved Youk looks more like a chimp with alopecia.

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