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Friday, May 6, 2011

Lester and Buchholz unveil Charity Wines

Thursday may not have been one of the better days in the Red Sox season -- featuring two losses in just over 12 hours. After falling in the 13th inning to the Angels at close to three in the morning, they were trounced later that afternoon, 11-0. However, while the Sox weren’t giving their fans many reasons to cheer on the field, two of their star players gathered at the House of Blues foundation room Thursday afternoon to celebrate a partnership with a lot to root for.

Red Sox pitchers Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz
spoke about their passion for their chosen charities

This year, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have teamed with Charity Wines to raise money to benefit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Jimmy Fund respectively. Lester’s “CabernAce” and Buchholz’s “ChardonClay” were unveiled to the large crowd on Lansdowne Street. With NESN’s Heidi Watney as emcee, the big game pitchers each spoke passionately about why they chose the charities they did and the satisfaction they get from helping others.

The choice of charity was easy for Jon Lester, whose battle with lymphoma is well known to baseball fans. After treatment at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, he was able to overcome cancer and return to the Red Sox in July of 2007 – pitching the series-clinching game against the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

Dustin Pedroia, the lovable idiot

There's something awesome about watching Dustin Pedroia this year. Yet I have to admit I haven't always been the biggest fan. I don't mean I've rooted against him or even had anything against him. It's hard to ignore his credentials (2008 AL MVP, 2007 AL Rookie of the Year, 2008 Gold Glove and Silver Slugger). There just wasn't the attachment I've had to long time players like Ortiz, Varitek or Wakefield.

Pedroia brings more to the table than just hits

The 2004 Red Sox team was one of my favorite teams of all time, in any sport. It's not because they broke the curse in the World Series. It's not even just because they came back from that 0-3 deficit against the Yankees. There was a certain personality to that team that was hard not to love. They were a self-branded band of idiots. It was easy to sympathize with them and really fun to root for them.

It's something that carried over the 2007 team with Papelbon's river dancing and the Bullpen drum core. It's also something that's been dearly missed in the past couple of seasons.

Pedroia is that personality. He not only brings an immense talent to the Red Sox but also that goofy idiot-like persona that made those championship teams so fun to root for.

Odds stacked against Red Sox

The Red Sox have yet to win a game in the young 2011 season. Say what you want about it only being a small four game sample but there's some daunting statistics now stacked against the preseason favorites to take the AL East.

Only six teams in MLB history have ever made the playoffs after an 0-4 start. Of those six, only the 1985 Cardinals made it to the World Series, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals.

Even though it's only been four games,
the fact that the Sox are without a win is concerning.

If you want to, you can look at those facts and throw them out the window. The point is, the Sox are treading dangerous waters.

I don't mean to say that an 0-4 start automatically means that all of the preseason predictions of AL East dominance and 100 games can now be put to bed. Baseball is a game of slumps and streaks. The Red Sox just seem to have had some pretty bad timing with their slump.

“It’s the start of the season. Everything’s going to be magnified. We understand it," said Sox rightfielder JD Drew. "There’s enough of a sense of urgency as far as player to player goes as well as the team. You want to get off to a good start. I’ve been through really good starts and really bad starts as a player, and you deal with those things as a team."

Off to a history making start, Ortiz silences doubters

David Ortiz probably isn't happy that the Red Sox have yet to get a win in the young 2011 season. Even so, there's a couple of reasons for him not to get too bummed out about.

So far, Ortiz has started fast and he's made history in the process

As detailed in his player preview Oriz belongs to a dying breed -- the Designated Hitter. Yet even if the DH is going the way of the dinosaurs, Big Papi solidified his spot as one of the best to ever play that position by passing Edgar Martinez with the most RBIs by a DH in MLB history Saturday night against the Texas Rangers.

“That’s something when they mention your name with the caliber of Edgar Martinez and those guys. It makes you feel good,” Ortiz told the Boston Herald. “I’ve put a lot of hard work together. Those things, I don’t think about it right now while I’m playing. One day I’ll sit down and look at it. Right now, I’ll focus on trying to win the game and keep on rolling that way.”

The big question with Ortiz entering this year was whether or not he could fend off another slow start. The past two years he's struggled to do what he's paid to do -- hit. In 2009, it wasn't until June that he hit his first homer and last year it took him until May.

Red Sox Player Preview: The Bullpen

Sox fans can feel pretty confident about their team due to the big name hitters the Red Sox brought in during the off-season. They can also feel good about their starting rotation, which looks to be set up as one of the best in the Majors. However, as valuable as hitting and starting pitching are, there's another key piece to completing every World Series run. The bullpen.

Last year, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants had the second lowest relief ERA in the majors at 3.60. Meanwhile, the Sox relievers ranked among the worst in the American League -- with a 4.24 ERA and 23 blown saves.

Opposing hitters decimated the
Sox bullpen last year. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

“I think the bullpen is important,” said Sox manager Terry Francona in early December. “We probably lost some games there last year that hurt us. That’s a hard way to lose games, especially when you want to be a good team.”

The Sox got a great year from Daniel Bard, whose 1.93 ERA was easily the best of his Sox peers. Jonathan Papelbon had the second lowest ERA of the relievers with 3.90 and had 37 saves but blew eight. The rest of the 2010 bullpen? They're all gone.

Here's a look at the Red Sox bullpen that will start the 2011 season:

• Right-handed relievers (6): Jonathan Papelbon, Bobby Jenks, Daniel Bard, Dan Wheeler, Matt Albers, Tim Wakefield.

• Left-handed relievers (1): Dennys Reyes

• Disabled list: Felix Doubront, Junichi Tazawa

Red Sox Player Preview: David Ortiz

The Boston Red Sox are branded into the identity of the city like no other team and, arguably, no player has meant more to the franchise in the last 10 years than David Ortiz.

Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield may still be on the team but Ortiz is the only player from that 2004 curse reversing Red Sox team that exemplified "the bunch of idiots", as Johnny Damon called it.

Lefties, slow starts and birthdays are
the greatest challenges facing the Sox slugger

Affectionately called 'Big Papi' by the Fenway faithful, Ortiz has given Sox fans plenty to cheer for in his eight seasons donning a Boston uniform. Whether it's been his late inning heroics on the field or his charismatic and charitable self off of it, he's earned the respect and adoration of the city and it's fans.

However, things haven't looked so bright for the hero in the past couple of years. Amongst two slow starts as well as steroid accusations in 2009, Papi's unfortunately lost a bit of that support. Last year, he even heard some boos.

Cities' relationships with their star athletes tend to end in more tragedies than fairy tales. It's sad to say but this could very well be the case for Ortiz. 2011 could be Big Papi's last year with the Red Sox. And he doesn't plan on retiring.

Red Sox Player Preview: Josh Beckett

After a 2010 season riddled with injuries and disappointment, Josh Beckett is determined to forget it and move on.

Josh Beckett attempts to rebound
from a season of injury and disappointment.

“I can’t change last year. I just have to do the best I can this year," Beckett told ESPNBoston.com. "My dad said, ‘Throw the rear-view mirror away, because you can’t change anything that’s already happened.’ As frustrating as 2010 was, I’ve got to focus on 2011.’’

It's certainly a year the ace would want to forget as he posted the highest ERA of his career (5.78) while fighting a back injury. After the four-year, $68 million contract extension Beckett signed with the Sox, this was not the type of performance that fans wanted to see.

We will look at his 2010 statistics, his career highs in parenthesis, and his 2011 outlook.

Tampa Bay still primed for success

As much attention and hype the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees garners, it hasn't been the "Evil Empire" that's given Boston most of its fits in recent years.

The Rays are missing a lot from last year,
yet they'll still have many reasons to celebrate in 2011.

Since scrapping the word Devil from their name in 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays have boasted a 30-24 record against the Red Sox -- crushing Boston's dreams of becoming the first major league dynasty since the Yankees back in the '08 ALCS.

In the past three years, the Rays have passed both Boston and New York for the American League East crown twice. The Rays haven't only been good, they've been one of the best teams in baseball. Much to the chagrin of Boston fans.

The bitterness only increased when the Rays signed two former Red Sox heroes back on February 1st. Months after the Sox signed two Rays players, Tampa star Carl Crawford and reliever Dan Wheeler, the Rays announced the signings of both Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon on the same day.

Mo Vaughn: Legend littered with controversy

Mo Vaughn was probably the reason that I got into not only baseball, but sports in general.

When he left the Red Sox in 1998, I was only eleven years old. However, I remember staying up late at night watching the Sox play and I was always drawn to the screen when Mo Vaughn was at the plate. Though probably not true, it seemed like every Vaughn at bat would have him down two strikes to none before he belted one out of the park.

In eight years with the Sox, Vaughn
batted .304 with 230 HRs and 752 RBIs

Mo Vaughn, a Connecticut native, was beloved by not only my young self, but all of Boston. For a long time, he was the star of the Boston Red Sox slugging his way into the hearts of every sports fanatic across New England. However, as happens more often than not in sports, Vaughn and Beantown didn't leave on the best of terms.

Mo Vaughn, nicknamed "The Hit Dog", ended his 12-year career batting .293 with 328 home runs and 1,064 RBIs. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round (23rd overall) of the 1989 amateur draft. His major league debut came on June 27, 1991 against the New York Yankees. Though Vaughn would go 0-for-2 in the 8-0 Red Sox loss, he would soon lead Boston to many successes.

Vaughn started showing signs of things to come in his third year at the major league level, hitting 29 home runs and 101 RBIs. Then, in 1995, he became a force to reckon with. Vaughn's .300 batting average combined with 39 home runs, 126 RBIs and career-high 11 stolen bases earned him the American League MVP award. Though his great year led the Red Sox to the playoffs, they would lose to the Cleveland Indians in the American League Division Series.

ChardonClay, CabernAce hit shelves in May

That's right. The new Red Sox wines have been announced with Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester getting the nod this year.

I've always been a fan of these wines. Initially, I was drawn in by the sometimes goofy names (ZinfandEllsbury and SauvignYoouuk Blanc being two of my favorites). However, there's other reasons to purchase this wine. Not only is it a good product for a modest price (the wines will retail for around $14/bottle) but all of the proceeds go to a good cause too.

Clay Buchholz's chardonnay, ChardonClay, will benefit the Jimmy Fund. Buchholz is a Co-Captain of the Jimmy Fund, the official charity of the Boston Red Sox. A portion of the proceeds from ChardonClay support the Jimmy Fund in the fight against cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Insititue, located just down the street from Fenway Park, helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer locally and around the world.

Red Sox Player Preview: Marco Scutaro

Marco Scutaro heads into the 2011 season in a complicated situation. He's the only player on the roster in the midst of a position battle.

Sox manager Terry Francona already told the media at the Boston Baseball Writers' dinner months ago that Scutaro would be their man between second and third, but also acknowledged Jed Lowrie was breathing down Scutaro's neck.

“But this guy (Lowrie) gives us something that I don’t know a lot of teams can say they have," Francona said back in January. "A switch-hitter that can play first base, second, third or short, and play it a lot...We have a guy, and he’s a switch-hitter to boot, so there’s a lot to really like. I think Jed is certainly an everyday player. In our opinion, it may not happen in April, and that’s not really a bad thing.”

So if you're Marco Scutaro, you're not exactly feeling confident about your spot as the Sox shortstop, a position that Boston seems to be cursed at since trading away Hanley Ramirez in 2005. Scutaro will be entering the final year of his contract, with a team option for next year. Will Scutaro be able to perform well enough this year to keep his job and stay with Boston in the future?

We will look at his 2010 statistics, his career highs in parenthesis, and his 2011 outlook.

Five most anticipated series of the 2011 Red Sox season

Red Sox fans are already excited for the upcoming season and they won't have to wait long to watch their team face off in some of the most compelling series of the season.

Most of the most highly anticipated match-ups start right off the bat in the first two months. Below are five of the most anticipated series for the coming year:

Honorable Mention:
San Diego Padres, Fenway Park, June 20-22.
After trading Adrian Gonzalez away to the Red Sox, San Diego's general manager Jed Hoyer told the media that Adrian would be a "monster" in Boston's historic ball-park. It won't take long for Padres fans to see for themselves as Gonzalez will face off against his former team in just the third month of the season.

The Red Sox have never lost a series to the Padres -- facing them in 2002, 2004 and 2007 and winning 2-1 each time. The Sox faced Adrian Gonzalez in a Padres uniform for their first and only time in 2007, holding him to only one hit and five strikeouts over three games.

San Diego isn't likely to be much of a contender anymore without him, however, it's a big deal whenever someone faces off against their former team. Especially this soon. Expect plenty of hype for this series.

Is this Ortiz's last year on the Red Sox?

Sitting in the third-base dugout during last season's home run derby, Ortiz made it clear to the world that he wanted to avoid the situation he'll be facing this season.

So many times the hero for Boston,
this could be Papi's last season with them

2010 was the final year of the Red Sox hero's contract and the question lingered as to whether it would be his last in a Red Sox uniform. With that question came plenty of scrutiny and attention for the aging slugger, something that would only continue in 2011 if the Red Sox picked up his one-year $12.5 million contact option instead of giving him an extension.

"I don't want one year. Why should I return for one year and go through the same [stuff] I'm going through now, just because it's my last year?" said Big Papi before hitting 11 home runs in the final round to win the first Home-Run Derby of his career. "I like to be left alone when I'm playing baseball. I know how to clean my [stuff] up."

However, Ortiz didn't get his wish. The Sox picked up his option in November. Though Red Sox GM Theo Epstein said that Papi was, in the end, satisfied with that; he will once again be under the microscope in the 2011 season.