Gerbil

What Zim meant to Boston
A couple of days ago Don Zimmer passed away at the age of 83. He was a guy who, in his own words, "Never earned a paycheck that wasn't from baseball." It's a great baseball story, going back to when he got married at home plate in 1951, was supposed to take over from Pee Wee Reese as shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers but was beaned twice in the days before they had batting helmets, wound up with screws in his head and was never the player he might have been.

His nickname was Popeye.
Maybe in New York. Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe wrote that the nickname came from his oversized forearms. I disagree. It's because he looks like Popeye. The big jowls, the squinty look. And the Popeye thing is not what he's remembered for in Boston. He's remembered as the manager who's team blew a 14-game over the Yankees and lost the division in that one-game Bucky "Bleeping" Dent playoff, greatly disappointing a championship-starved Red Sox Nation (60 years and counting at that point). Everyone had figured this finally was the year, but noooo.

He supposedly hated pitchers.
Probably because of the beanings - and wound up trading one of the Red Sox best-ever lefties, Bill Lee, because Lee called him a gerbil. And that's his nickname with Boston fans. When Zimmer called Lee to tell him that he'd gotten even for the gerbil thing by trading him to the Montreal Expos, Lee replied, "Did you get anyone in return, or was I a freebie?" Who'd they get when Lee was traded? Papi. Not Big Papi, but Stan Papi who never amounted to anything. In 1979 Stan Papi batted .188 as a Sox infielder. That same year Bill Lee, a pitcher who had only played for the Red Sox and therefore had never batted in the majors, hit .216 for the Expos. (Can you name any current Red Sox hitters who'd love to be hitting as high as .216? Ross? Nava? Drew? Bradley?)

What about the Pedro thing?
In the 2003 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees there was a bench-clearing brawl (really??) at Fenway. Pedro Martinez barely hit Karim Garcia and the benches were warned. Subsequently, Roger Clemens threw over the head of Manny Ramirez and, although the pitch wasn't actually all that close, Manny took great umbrage, resulting in the bench-clearing. Zimmer, then the Yankees bench coach, ran toward Pedro Martinez. Reports described the encounter as Pedro shoving a 72-year-old coach to the ground, much like Manny pushing 65-year-old traveling secretary Jack McCormack to the clubhouse floor over not getting enough tickets for his friends in 2008. Pedro was subsequently fined. What actually happened - I was there in Section 29 and had an excellent vantage point - was in mid-scrum Zimmer bolted out of the Yankee dugout and charged at Pedro like he was a bullfighter. Pedro ducked a little to his right and deflected the oncoming Zimmer, who then lost his balance and went down. That's what actually happened.

All in all...
It is a great baseball story. 66 years playing for five teams, managing four, coaching for seven and as a senior advisor for one. The marriage at home plate in 1951 lasted until his death. And anytime you see a player - even Little Leaguers or youth Girls Softball players - get plunked but are saved from injury by their helmet - you can thank Don Zimmer.

The Big Bomb

The Big Bang doesn't do it for me.
The Red Sox are on the road and they have a night off. In Detroit, no less. What could be more fun than that? There's no game to watch, the game on the Cape that I was supposed to umpire was rained out, so I was sitting here watching "Jeopardy" and surprising myself at how many answers I knew. Including Final Jeopardy, where I would have bet it all and won. No, I didn't remember to say, "What is..." before yelling out the answers. But no one is paying me for correct answers, so I don't have to follow the format.

What's next?
Next on CBS is "The Big Bang." I know a number of people who are very intelligent and who's opinion I respect who have raved about this show. This was my third attempt at understanding their appreciation.

I don't get it.
Actually, I do get it, but just don't think it's funny. Or clever.

Perhaps I'm spoiled. I rarely watch network series on ABC (sometimes "The Middle" or "Modern Family"), NBC or CBS. No, even though I live in Wellesley, Massachusetts, I'm not a PBS snob. "Downton Abbey" is as far as I go on PBS. I enjoy HBO series like "Silicon Valley, "Veep" and "True Detective" and of course, "Game of Thrones." (Have you seen the bar crowd reaction videos to last week's Trial by Combat scene? They're great.) Loved "The Sopranos" and "Entourage" and enjoyed "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Showtime initially hooked me with "Dexter" and then "Homeland" (but I didn't like it when Brody was hanged) and I like "House of Lies," "Nurse Jackie" and even "Shameless." Both "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix are binge-worthy. AMC's "Breaking Bad" was as good as any series I've ever watched. Ever. On F/X I'm a big fan of "Justified." (Every time I see a black Lincoln limo I think to myself, "That's a Raylan Givens car.")

But what about the Big Bang?
It's just too stupid. Nothing's funny. The writers are trying way too hard and failing. I hate the laugh track. Every time anyone says anything they pot up the laugh track and it's just plain annoying. I reminds me of a neighborhood fireworks display on the 4th of July (my favorite day of the year) when you're waiting for a grand finale that never happens.

But at least I tried.
As I said, people who's opinion I respect rave about the show, but I find it painful to sit through an episode.

9 Games Into It

Okay, I've been remiss.
I went to Spring Training in March and never wrote about it. But it was fun. I went to Opening Day at Fenway and didn't write about it. Sorry.

But here we are, 9 games into the season and at the end of the first home stand.

So how are they doing?
Here's my take. In Ft. Myers Grady Sizemore looked very good. He hit well, ran the bases well, showed a lot of defensive range, made great catches. I was not surprised that he made the team and was named the starting center fielder.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. was the phenom of spring training last year and made the Opening Day roster, but couldn't hit big league pitching. This year he was the presumed replacement in center for Jacoby Ellsbury, but in spring training once again he couldn't hit. He batted .167 and lead the team in strikeouts. On the last day of spring training John Farrell announced that Sizemore is the starting center fielder and JBJ is going to Pawtucket.

Have you heard the Southwest spots for $69 airfares?
Hang on a sec. Shane Victorino pulls a hammy in the final Ft. Myers game, and JBJ gets a call from Farrell telling him to hop one of those $69 Southwest flights from T.F. Green in Providence to BWI and be in uniform for Opening Day at Camden Yards.

How'd he do?
He pinch hit in the 9th with the tying run in scoring position and...struck out.

But since then...
He wound up playing right field in several games and is hitting .400 and has less than half the strikeouts that Napoli and Gomes have. He's also made several great catches and is looking like the phenom we expected last year.

What about the other guys?
I saw Burke Badenhop twice in Florida and he looked horrible both times. In Boston he looked not particularly sharp the first time, then horrible the second time. On Tuesday he relieved Felix Dubront, who was having a dreadful night, and was as bad as Dubront, if not worse. I couldn't help wondering why they signed Badenhop. Yes, he wears his socks high (something they all should do, IMHO), but other than that brings little to the table. I'll be surprised if he makes it past the trading deadline.

Tell me about Dubront.
Four outings in Florida. Two were pretty good, two were disasters. In the regular season he had an okay, not great, start and got the win. Start #2 against Texas was the worst of his career. Two shutout innings, then a ridiculous third where he gave up 5 runs and couldn't get out of the inning. Badenhop comes in and gets out of further trouble in the 3rd, but gives up four more runs in the 4rd and 5th innings. Over the course of three innings we wound up being down, 9-0. In comes Brandon Workman, who throws three perfect innings. He does give up a run in the 9th, but you have to wonder why Workman didn't come in to replace Dubront back in the 3rd. Workman was rewarded for his excellent performance by being optioned to Pawtucket right after the game.

That's not as bad as it sounds.
The plan is to make Workman a starter, thus the temporary move to the Paw Sox to stretch him out. Expect him back and in the rotation before long.

Pedroia? Ortiz?
Dustin looks good, as always. He has grounded into a couple of double-plays and only has one RBI, but that's because the leadoff guys, Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes, are batting something like .116 so Pedey has no one to knock in. And they're both slow, thus the GIDP's. Ortiz did nothing at the plate in spring training, and has hit the ball hard but not far enough over the last week or so. He does have two homers, including the game-winner on Wednesday afternoon.

Lester? Lackey? Peavy? Buchholz?
Lester has looked good but hasn't gotten much run support. Lackey is 2-0 with an ERA of .138 and seems to be a completely different guy from the 2011 pre-Tommy John Lackey. Peavy hasn't won, but he hasn't lost either, and his ERA of .238 is pretty good. Bad news...other than Dubront being very iffy...the Buchholz start was scary. 13 hits and 6 runs over 4+ innings and an ERA of 12.46. Is he still hurt? What happened to the guy who threw a no-hitter in his second start in 2007?

Others?
I saw Middlebrooks in spring training and he was hitting well, but made three errors at 3rd. Two in one inning. Not sure about him. But then, I'm not Jenny Dell. Xander Bogarts has been a pleasant surprise at the plate, but is a little shaky at short. I've seen several balls get by him that Steven Drew probably would have gotten to.

What about Drew?
The Red Sox seem to be annoyed about Drew turning down their 14.1 million-dollar offer for one year. Evidence? When Middlebrooks went on the DL they went out and signed Ryan Roberts as a backup 3rd baseman and gave him Drew's #7 jersey. And no one has picked Drew up. Ouch.

It's on to Da Bronx.
They play the Yankees 7 times home and away over the next couple of weeks. It should be a good indication of whether the Red Sox have a Championship hangover and whether the Yankees are aging on the vine.

Not Saying I Told You So, But…..

Red Sox pitchers and catchers have reported to Ft. Myers.
Their first workout is tomorrow. Columnists have been wondering whether there will be a championship hangover. But instead of talking about that…

Let's arrow back a year.
Clearly 2013 was a fun year to be a Red Sox fan. By my count even better than 2004, which is hard to top. But what were people saying about the Red Sox year ago? Mostly you heard that they'd be better than in 2012…how could they not be? But did you hear anyone predict a World Series win? If you read this blog you did. Okay, it was not a prediction, it was wishful thinking. But worth another look:

Feb. 12, 2013.

Hope Springs Eternal.

Pitchers and catchers open camp today in Fort Myers...
...and hope springs eternal for a better season in 2013. I mean, could it get any worse than 2012?

Sure it could.
I lived in Baltimore in the late 80's. In 1988 the Orioles were only five years separated from their last World Series win, in 1983. That's the exact same gap as the Red Sox had last year, 2007-2012. The '88 Orioles opened the season by dropping the first 21 games. After the 3rd loss, Bob Rivers, new morning show host on 98 Rock, announced that he'd stay on the air round-the-clock until the team won. And he did. The manager, Cal Ripken, Sr. (father of star shortstop Cal, Jr.) was fired after loss #6. Everyone slumped simultaneously. It was so bad they didn't put batting averages on the scoreboard because they all started with a zero.

The O's finally won a game in Chicago on April 29th, then dropped two more, and returned home for "Fantastic Fans Night" (this was already on the books before the season started) on May 2nd to a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium. Bob Rivers was given a full Orioles uniform, name on the back and all, and got a standing ovation when he threw out the first pitch, like a girl, as they used to say. (An outdated phrase. I happen to know from experience that girls can throw really well if you show them how.) Baltimore went on to win that game, 9-4. They finished last that year, with a record of 54-107. That's fifteen games worse than the 2012 Red Sox.

So what happened the next year?
In 1989 they improved to 87-75 and finished 2nd, two games behind Toronto and four ahead of the 3rd-place Red Sox. That's a 33-game improvement. If the Red Sox do the same thing in 2013...win 33 more games than last year...they'll win 102 games, win the AL East and go on to win the World Series. Hopefully, the National League will win the All-Star game, so the Red Sox clinching win in the World Series will come at Fenway Park.

Hope springs eternal.

No more collisions at home

MLB is banning collisions at home.
As people head home slowly on a snowy December night…hoping to avoid those whoops-type sliding collisions (remember to steer into the skid) we're looking at another type of collision. Runner crashing into catcher at home plate hoping to knock the ball loose and score. Catcher trying to hang on to ball, get an out and not get concussed.

Taking a cue from the NFL.
The NFL made a settlement with retired players who suffered numerous concussions during their playing days and are feeling the effects, often devastating, years later. It has certainly been an issue in the NHL as well. Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins effectively ending the career of Boston Bruins center Marc Savard when he concussed him with a whack in the head being one of the foremost examples. Sean Thornton's current 15-game suspension being another.

Now it's baseball's turn.
Red Sox backup catcher David Ross was concussed twice during the 2013 Championship Season. He was able to return and and take over the starting catcher job for the last three games of the World Series (following Jarrod Saltalamacchia's .188 batting postseason average and ill-advised throw to 3rd that cost the Sox a loss in Game 3. And the lack of a qualifying offer when he filed for free agency).

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, a Rookie of the Year and NL Batting Champion missed an entire season when his leg was broken in a home plate collision. Did that affect the Giants fortunes? Let's look at the numbers. Buster was also the catcher for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League when they were champions in both 2006 and 2007 (the PA announcer always called him "Busta"). In his rookie year the Giants won the World Series for the first time since 1954 when they were the New York Giants (in case you've wondered why you hear people refer to the New York Football Giants, that's why. The baseball Giants preceded the football Giants by decades before moving to SF in 1958). He missed the entire 2011 season, but was back in 2012 and the Giants won it all again.

It's not a new rule.
Girls Fastpitch Softball has had the rule for several years. The catcher cannot block the plate awaiting a throw. She can stand just to the side of the plate and make a sweep tag for the out.

Three examples of it working well.
Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek splitting the uprights (okay, sliding into home safely, just ahead of a sweep tag). Sorry, Mr. Mayuh. Kara Kelley (my daughter) as a Wellesley High School Raider sliding home safely against the Needham High School Rockets and Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers stealing home against the New York Yankees in he 1955 World Series.

All three were safe.
But the plays were close, and no one got concussed. It's a good rule and I applaud MLB for adopting it. Let's hope the Players' Association doesn't try to block it at the plate.

Jacoby Update

Two new things about Ellsbury:

1) Yesterday the Red Sox held their 11th annual Christmas at Fenway event. I was at the first one in 2003 when they introduced Curt Schilling. This year it also included a yard sale. They did that for the first time in 2011, skipped last year, but brought it back for 2013. At the yard sale you can buy game-used bats. $50 for a bat used by Creighton Gubanich. Who?

You could buy signed baseballs. Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard (if you drop it you have no idea were it will wind up). Even Bobby Valentine signed balls. A good joke gift.

You could also buy game-worn uniform shirts. $100 for a signed #13 Carl Crawford. Or $100 for a signed Mike Lowell #25 (I got one for my daughter Kara who was a huge Lowell fan-I'm not blowing a surprise here, she was with me). Lugo shirts were only $75. But Ellsbury shirts...#2 signed and authenticated...the asking price was $200. I didn't see anyone fighting for them like it was a Filene's Basement wedding dress sale.

2) Ellsbury was officially announced as a Yankee. As previously mentioned in this blog, he wouldn't get his #2 because Jeter has it. So what's his New York number? 22. Guess who was the last Yankee of any note to wear #22? Why, it was Rogg-uhh. When Clemens signed with the Evil Empire he couldn't get his traditional #21 (U of Texas, Paw Sox, Red Sox, Blue Jays) because Paul O'Neill had it. So as a Yankee he was #22. Full disclosure here…since Roger wore 22 three others Yankees did: LaTroy Hawkins, Xavier Nady and Vernon Wells, but none were standouts. And, as my father liked to say, never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.

A double-boo.
So when Ellsbury shows up at Fenway on April 22nd, there will be boos. The question is whether people are booing Jacoby or Yankees #22 or a bit of both. But the boos will flow.

Ellsbury Will Not Come to Fenway Wearing Pinstripes

Jacoby at Fenway wearing pinstripes? Won't happen.
Ever since the news broke on Monday night that Jacoby Ellsbury signed a $153 million contract with the Yankees every sports writer, TV reporter, Sports Talk radio host has said something about April 22nd, when "Ellsbury will show up at Fenway Park wearing pinstripes." Maria Stephanos on Fox 25, both Walt Perkins and Tom Cuddy on WBZ, Mut, Michael Holley and Mike Salk on WEEI, Rob Bradford on weei.com, Tony Massarotti on 98.5 The Sports Hub. The latest is Peter Abraham in today's Boston Globe. Have you seen, heard or read anything about the story that didn't include that line?

Why it won't happen.
You're thinking that's because he'll be on the disabled list? Maybe he will be, but that's not the reason he won't be wearing pinstripes. And I've heard no talk of MLB voiding the contract on some technicality. The reason it won't happen is the same reason that it didn't happen with Babe Ruth, Luis Tiant, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon or Kevin Youkilis.

One shade of grey.
We've all seen too many pictures of the Yankees home uniform. White shirt and pants with pinstripes and the interwoven NY on the chest. However, the road uniform - the one Ellsbury would wear at Fenway on April 22nd - is grey with a dark blue New York on the chest. And no pinstripes. They've never had pinstripes on the road uniform.

One more thing.
Ells won't get his #2 because Jeter has it. When Jeter retires, #2 will retire with him.

No-name trivia tidbit.
Question: What is the only major pro sporting event you can go to…anywhere in the world…where none of the players has a name on the back of the shirt?

Answer: When the Red Sox and Yankees play at Fenway Park. The Red Sox only have names on the uni on the road. The Yankees never have names. (The obnoxious assumption is that if you're a Yankee everyone everywhere knows who you are).

If you do want a chance to boo Ellsbury in pinstripes…
…you'll have to go to the new Yankee Stadium. A spectacular ballpark. But buyer beware - especially if you boo him - the place is loaded with Yankee fans.

World Series Game 6…the beginning and end. What you may not have seen on Fox.

I was at the game with my daughter, Kara, so I'm not sure how much they showed on Fox. Here's my videographer's view of the beginning and end of Game 6…when the Red Sox won the World Series at Fenway Park for the first time since 9/11/1918…95 years, one month,m two weeks and five days.

2013 Word Series Game 6--the beginning and the end. What you might not have seen on Fox. from Don Kelley on Vimeo.

Who Will Be the GWRBI Surprise on Wednesday?

What was the GWRBI stat?
Major League Baseball used to have a stat called GWRBI. Game-winning run batted in. The honor went to the guy who batted in the run that gave the winning team a lead they never lost. In my view they computed it incorrectly. For example, on August 11th the Red Sox lost to Kansas City, 4-3. KC went up, 2-1 in the 2nd and they never trailed after that, so Jarrod Dyson, who knocked in the second run for KC, would have gotten the GWRBI. Alex Gordon homered in the 3rd to make it 4-1, KC...but Boston crawled back with two runs in the 6th. So the Gordon homer made the difference and would have been the true GWRBI. If they still had it.

For some reason MLB dumped it.
Major League Baseball officially dropped the GWRBI stat in 1989. But with stats today including OBP, OPS, XBH, WHIP and several more, why not bring back GWRBI? If we look at the Red Sox GWRBI's in this year's Postseason we'd see several different heroes who otherwise seem to be doing little at the plate other than striking out.

What if we had it now?
Drew actually had the GWRBI in Game 1 against Tampa Bay. His 4th inning single plated Gomes, breaking a 2-2 tie. The Red Sox went on to score 9 more unanswered runs, but Drew put them ahead for good. He also tripled to left in the 4th inning of Game 2 with Gomes scoring on the play. The final score was 7-4, but Drew had the RBI that stood up. The GWRBI in deciding Game 4 was from Shane Victorino.

ALCS Game 1 was a 1-0 loss, Game 2 was sure looking like more of the same until the bottom of the 8th when the Ortiz grand slam sent Torii Hunter tumbling into the Sox bullpen. Who had the GWRBI? Saltalamacchia. Tuesday in Detroit Napoli launched one for the only run of the game. Thursday they won when Napooli scored on a wild pitch with Drew at bat (no RBI on that). Game 6 on Saturday was the Victorino grand slam in the 7th that sent the Red Sox to the World Series. World Series Game 1 saw Napoli get the GWRBI when he hit a bases-clearing triple to the 379 sign. In Game 4 it was the Gomes 3-run homer that got the honors. Game 5 was the ground-rule double by David Ross.

Red Sox GWRBI's this Postseason?
So far they go to Drew (2), Victorino (2), Napoli (2), Salty, Gomes and Ross. Collectively they're batting about .100. And you thought all they were doing was striking out.

Maybe this week we'll have a WSWRBI.

An Umpire's View of Last Night's Obstruction Call

Did they get it right?

In case you missed it, here's the play:



Most players, coaches and fans are saying that last night's game-ending Obstruction call was unusual - even weird - but the umpires got the call right. But did they?

Maybe. As a certified ASA Umpire I attend Rules Interpretation Clinics every year. We analyze and are quizzed on situations that practically never come up...but they might. Like last night.

First, let me explain something that many people - even Joe Buck and Tim McCarver - find confusing. The difference between Interference and Obstruction.  Interference is caused by the offense. For example, when there's a runner on 1st and a ground ball is hit toward the 2nd baseman, the runner cannot interfere with the 2nd baseman trying to field the ball. Obstruction, on the other hand, is caused by the defense. A fielder blocking the baseline and impeding a runner from advancing. Like last night.

Here is the actual rule:

Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered in the act of fielding a ball. It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the act of fielding the ball. For example: If an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner.

What would have been the third out at home on the Nava throw to home was negated.

Rule 7.06 (Effect) If a play is being made on the obstructed runner … the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire's judgment, if there had been no obstruction.

A-ha.

Allen Craig was awarded home - the winning run - because "in the umpire's judgement" he would have reached home if he hadn't tripped over Middlebrooks. But would he have reached home? Craig is a gimpy runner and Nava's throw was in plenty of time, so the notion that he would have definitely scored is subjective. He might have, he might not have. 

My call?

Craig would have been awarded 3rd base, not home, the game would continue with a tie score, two outs in the bottom of the 9th and a runner on 3rd. Game on, and may the best team win.