Red Sox's Key To Success- Being Healthy?

This sounds simple enough.  A healthy team equals a better overall team.  Middlebrooks and Victorino have spent the majority of this young season on the disabled list.  Once they returned to the line-up, the Red Sox seemed to play with more grit, with better defense, and with more heart.  This would seem to equate that the Red Sox needed Middlebrooks and Victorino in the line-up to play better baseball.

When the Red Sox called up Victorino on Thursday, it would seem that the Red Sox would get the much needed spark that they seemed to be lacking this season.  Victorino provides the team with energy, on the base paths and in the outfield.  Despite going 1-for-5 in his return, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in a 14-5 massacre that saw Mike Carp, the pitcher.

Photo from NESN

However, Middlebrooks returned to the line-up for Friday's 8-1 win against the Blue Jays.  Middlebrooks went 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.  Victorino went 1-for-6 with a double.  To make room for Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava was demoted to Triple-A.  The Red Sox would go on take 2 of the 3 games against the Blue Jays, which would indicate that having Middlebrooks and Victorino in the line-up is more beneficial to the Red Sox.

As mentioned before, the Red Sox demoted Daniel Nava to Triple-A.  Nava has struggled this season, hitting .149 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, and 1 stolen base.  Yes, it doesn't look good for Nava, and maybe he does need to go back to Triple-A for a bit.  But, if there's one thing we know about Daniel Nava is that he's a fighter.  By now, all of Red Sox Nation knows Daniel Nava's story of being his college team's manager, hitting a grand slam in his first at bat in the majors, and becoming a key member of the 2014 Red Sox World Series Championship team.

Photo from ESPN.Go.Boston

In 2013, in 134 games, Nava hit .303 with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs.  He was a big reason the Red Sox played as well as they did last season.  I understand that the fact that Nava had options that played a major role into sending him down to Triple-A, but let's say he didn't.  Would the Red Sox have released him to make room for Victorino?

The Red Sox seemed to think pretty highly of Grady Sizemore, a player who hasn't played in the major's since 2011; that season, he hit .224 in 71 games.  In 2010, he hit .211 in 33 games.  In 2009, he played 106 games and hit .248.  He hit .268 and played 157 games in 2008.  Sizemore is currently hitting .221 in 19 games with 2 homes runs, 1 triple, 7 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases.  Yes, small sample size, I know.

Photo from SportsIllustrated.cnn.com

I guess what I'm trying to point out is the Red Sox were considered to have gotten "healthier" with the addition of Victorino and Middlebrooks and sending Nava down to Triple-A.  These moves may be important and necessary at this time, but they also have a player on their team who hasn't been considered "healthy" since 2008.  The Red Sox took a chance on Sizemore; and hopefully, that chance pans out for them.  With about a month into the season, I'm still uncertain about this move the Red Sox made.

Only time will tell...

It's Been Awhile...

A wonderful birthday gift

It's been awhile since I have last posted.  I admit, this off season I haven't felt as "into the blog" as I would have liked.  Not that I didn't still love writing the blog because I do.  Things changed drastically over the winter, and I'm learning that things are constantly in motion.  I won't get into every detail, but here are a few of the things that went on that helped contribute to me not writing for months:

• Most important, my brother's diagnosis with leukemia.  When I first moved to Connecticut, my youngest brother was diagnosed with leukemia (I mentioned it here and how I bought the #GetBeard shirt in honor of him).  I'm happy to report that my brother is officially in remission and will be getting married in about five and a half weeks.
• I started a new job.  I started working at a law firm in Hartford in December.  With working, I no longer had my days to write the blog.  This is no excuse, I know, since I wrote the blog while I was living in Iowa.  But, this was a huge adjustment to me.  I had been at my job in Iowa for years before I started the blog, and I was comfortable with the pace and then writing.  Working in Hartford is a much faster pace, and the type of working I'm doing is different.  It was a huge adjustment for me, and I'm still adjusting to it months later.  
• My original plan was to start blogging again once a week when the season started.  Unfortunately, the Friday before Opening Day, I received devastating news that my cousin had passed away.  It hit me very hard, especially since I was not with my family and would not be able to attend the funeral.  I won't get into all the details, but my cousin suffered from addiction.  His brother set up A Go Fund Me Account in my cousin's honor, and I highly recommend everyone to check it out, especially if you've ever known anyone who has suffered from addiction.

I wanted to start writing this past Sunday, but I've been fighting a sinus infection.  I'm actually home from work today with it, so I thought I'd do a little blogging.  But, we're not here about what's going on in my life; we're here about the Red Sox.

For my birthday, my wonderful boyfriend got me a Fenway Four-Pack; tickets to four Red Sox games.  There were tickets for a game in April, May, June, and September.  My parents are coming to visit in July, and we got tickets for a game when they're back.  We also got tickets for a Yankees game in August.  That works out to a game a month for six months.  Not bad.

A beer in honor of my cousin

We went to our first game April 5th against the Brewers.  It was a bitterly cold night (seriously, the temperature was around 35*, and it was windy).  I hate to admit it, but we didn't last past the 6th inning.  I blame Buchholz.  Everyone around us left, which made the wind hitting us that much worse.  There was no coffee and little hot chocolate available.  The Red Sox ended up losing 7-6 in 11 innings.

Since we're a few weeks into the season, I thought I'd just do some random thoughts on the season so far:

• I am not in panic mode...  yet.  There's been a lot of talk on the radio and television about whether people should be panicking about the Red Sox, since they are currently in last place and have a 9-11 record.  Season is still early.  The past two games have showed the Red Sox still have fight in them.  Victorino and Middlebrooks coming back from the DL will make a huge difference.  
• Buchholz needs to get his act together.  Every year, it's the same thing.  He shows these flashes of brilliance then falls down the wormhole again.  My guess is if he has another bad outing in his next few starts, he'll be making a trip to the DL and Workman will be brought up.
• Not impressed with AJ Pierzynski.  I don't think I'm being biased here.  He's batting .235 with a HR and 6 RBIs.  I don't think his defense has been stellar either; I'd rather Ross be back there.  I know it's still early, but I don't know how this move will benefit the Sox.
• Anyone else get really annoyed with the ESPN commentators Sunday night during the game talking about how much the Red Sox missed Ellsbury?  Wow!  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'm not a big fan of ESPN; and I try not to watch things on ESPN, if I can help.  Sunday night, ESPN could not let up on their admiration for Ellsbury.  Honestly, I think once Victorino returns from the DL, the Red Sox will be more of a threat on the base paths.  Sure, Victorino doesn't steal bases like Ellsbury, but he has confidence running the bases.  The Red Sox just need some confidence.

I'm hoping to post again this coming Sunday.  Make sure to follow me on Twitter at BornIntoItInIA.  You can also check the side of the blog for Tweets.  

GO RED SOX!

Red Sox @ Orioles September 28, 2013

If you ever get the chance to go to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, DO IT!  Baltimore was not only beautiful (the gorgeous 72 degree weather also helped), but there seemed to be a lot to do around the ballpark.  Even though the Red Sox lost Saturday night when we were at the game, the experience was spectacular.  I'm really hoping to go back for a series next season.

When we arrived in Baltimore, we had about 5 hours before the game, and we thought we'd check out the Inner Harbor.  If you do go to a game in Baltimore, here's a tip: PARK AT THE STADIUM!  We were able to park our car for $10 five hours before the game started and walk about 1/2 a mile to the Inner Harbor.  Otherwise, the parking garages around the Inner Harbor were about $13 an hour.

After parking the car, we walked around the ballpark for a little bit.  There's a sort of atmosphere surrounding that park that reminds me of Fenway.  There were tons of people there hours before the game, and there were bars, shops, food, etc. open and buzzing.  People are able to view batting practice from outside the stands (there's a gate, but you can see everything as the ballpark is set down from street level).  While the street is open before the game, they do shut it down when admission is let in (much like Yawkey Way during Red Sox games).

There are plaques on this street area of balls that have "left the park" and landed on this street.  I took pictures of a few of these plaques.  I really enjoyed the fact that the Orioles honored all baseball players who hit the ball out of the ballpark, not just Orioles players.

We had a couple drinks and an appetizer when we got to the Inner Harbor, which was beautiful.  There were tons of shopping, attractions, restaurants, and people at the Inner Harbor.  We went to J Paul's Dining Saloon, which overlooked the water.  I had an "Oriole Magic" cocktail (when in Rome), which was delicious!

Word of advice, they shoot a canon off a replica ship at noon, between 3-4, and 6-7 every day.  We were not expecting that!

Before we went into the park, we had a couple drinks at a tavern across the street.  There, we had a conversation with an older gentleman who was from Virginia and was a Red Sox fan.  I think Cole and I talked to him for about an hour, and he was great company.  We also ran into a Iowa Hawkeyes fan (he was wearing a Hawks shirt) who informed us the Hawkeyes game was on the television inside the tavern.

The game was great too.  The seating reminded me of Target Field, as I didn't see any seats that would have a bad view.  A friend of mine worked grounds crew for Oriole Park a few years ago, and he told me how wonderful the stadium is, I agree.  The Red Sox put up a good showing for a 6-5 loss, but the experience was wonderful.  Check out the pictures I took below:

David Ortiz Plaque

Mo Vaughn plaque

View of Inner Harbor from J Paul's Dining Saloon

These shirts shocked me!  Really?  Crawford and Okajima?!

View of the field from our seats

Pedroia before the game started

Me and Cole before the game

Wearing my #GetBeard shirt in honor of my brother, Jacob, and his fight against Leukemia

First batter, Shane Victorino

Lester pitching

Pedroia at Second Base and Lester pitching

Middlebrooks at Third Base, Drew at Shortstop, and Pedroia at Second Base

Random Thoughts

I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with the blog with a Random Thoughts post.  Make sure to come back on Monday, where I will have a recap of my first Red Sox-Yankees game, which will also be my first trip to Yankee Stadium.  Now, here are the Random Thoughts for today

- Last night's game was frustrating to watch.  When the Red Sox were up 7-2, I thought they had it in the bag.  However, the Yankees came back and scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to take a 8-7 lead.  It kind of felt like karma in a way, since the Red Sox had done the same thing to the Tigers the night before.

- The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the 9th last night off Mariano Rivera.  With two outs, Napoli singled, Berry pinch-ran for him and stole second, and Drew single to score Berry and tie the game.  It was Rivera's 6th blown save of the season, and it was a little reminiscent of 2004.

- The Red Sox took the lead in the 10th inning (and eventually completed the come-from-behind win) when Ellsbury singled  with one out, stole 2nd base, and Victorino singled to score Ellsbury.  The did this off Joba Chamberlain too.

- Uehara came in for save in the bottom of the 10th inning and made A-Rod pop out before striking out Overbay and Suzuki.  It was his 18th save of the season, and his ERA now stands at 1.14.

- Speaking of Overbay, if you remember, the Red Sox released Overbay before the start of the season when he didn't make the Major League roster, and he immediately signed with the Yankees.  Do you think he regrets not continuing with the Red Sox?  I ask this seriously, as the Yankees have gone through a lot of turmoil this season.

- Just for reference: the Yankees had one player (Cano) in the line-up last night who is hitting at least .300 (.307 to be exact).  The Red Sox had three (Ortiz at .315, Nava at .300, and Lavarnway at .318).  The Sox also have three players at the top of the lineup very close to .300 (Ellsbury at .299, Victorino at .294, and Pedroia at .296).

- I am very happy to see Nava doing so well.  I think everyone by now knows Nava's story, and he really is an inspiration to never give up on your dreams.

- I'm thinking Victorino was the best offseason move the Red Sox did this past offseason.

- Former Red Sox players Derek Lowe and Mike Timlin are set to fill in for Jerry Remy for Red Sox games on NESN.  I vote they try and get Pedro Martinez too; he'd be very entertaining.

- One thing I'm going to have to get used to living on the East Coast is the time difference.  Really, an hour doesn't seem like too much of a change until it comes to when games start.  6:00PM is much more convenient compared to 7:00PM.  Just saying.

Well, that's about it for me today.  I'm so excited about the game tomorrow.  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll be impressed to know I already know what I'm going to wear too!  Have a great weekend!

Twitter Friday

It's another Twitter Friday!  Red Sox take on the Dodgers this weekend, a year after making the blockbuster deal that sent Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers.  Let's hope for a series win- a sweep would be best!

Here are this week's tweets:

8/16

 

8/17

8/18

8/19

8/20

8/21

8/22

And the Tweet of the Week: