As I’ve stated a few times, I will be heading to Chi-town to see the Red Sox take on the Cubs this weekend. I’ll be going to Sunday night’s game, which will be broadcasted on ESPN. Theo Epstein, Terry Francona, and the Red Sox will unite for the first time since October. It’s going to be great!
For years, I always went to Red Sox games with my family… my entire family; and when I say entire family, I mean aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, great aunts and uncles, grandparents, the whole shebang. I’ve only been to two baseball games where it didn’t involve multiple members of my family. The first being when I was about twelve years old and went to a Chicago White Sox- Seattle Mariners game with my friends’ family. The second being when I took my mom to the Red Sox- Indians game the last time we were in Boston for her birthday present. Otherwise, there would be no less than 20 of us family members together.
I had an inkling this would happen, but it turns out multiple members of my family are going to at least one game this weekend. My dad’s cousin’s family are going Friday and Sunday, and one of my cousins (who lives in Wisconsin) notified me that he’ll be going to Saturday’s game. Good, the family will be well represented.
But, enough about my family. This is a Red Sox blog, and I am going to proceed with the Red Sox news. First, the pitching match-ups:
Friday: Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 7.20 ERA) v. Ryan Dempster (2-3, 2.31 ERA)
Saturday: Jon Lester (3-4, 4.57 ERA) v. Jeff Samardzija (5-4, 3.96 ERA)
Sunday: Josh Beckett (4-7, 4.14 ERA) v. Paul Maholm (4-5, 4.91 ERA)
My dream match-up would have been Beckett v. Garza, but it appears the former “Red Sox Killer” (or if you ask some, “Future Red Sox Pitcher”) won’t be making a starting appearance this series. Being around a lot of Cubs fans, Samardzija is the up-and-comer of the Red Sox rotation. He had great stuff. Dempster is kind of like Beckett of late; his win-loss record doesn’t reflect his performance.
I made a prediction last night that Beckett will go yard at Wrigley Field. It’s Sunday Night Baseball, inter-league, and in a small park; Beckett has the bat. It would be great if he hit the ball into the stands.
The Boston Globe printed an interview Dan Shaughnessy conducted with Theo Epstein. In it, Epstein humbles himself a lot, explaining he didn’t like the “Savior” titled granted to him when he jumped ship to the Cubs (and even mentions that infamous photo of him walking on top of Lake Michigan). He also says that the Red Sox will always be his favorite (AL) team.
I do think that Epstein made some mistakes in his career with the Red Sox (Drew, Lackey, Lugo, Renteria, etc.). He admits that in the article. I don’t know if it was ownership pressure, but it did seem like his management mentality shifted over the course of the years. In 2004, the Sox won the World Series with non-superstar players, at least prior to coming to Boston (Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn, and even David Ortiz to an extent). In 2007, the Sox won the World Series with a slew of homegrown talent (Lester, Papelbon, Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youkilis). In 2011, the Sox had many large contracts they were dealing with (Crawford, Gonzalez to name two) and were unable to make the playoffs.
Personally, I think it might have been the time for Epstein to go, and some will argue that he had already left the Sox at that point. I’ve always like Epstein, so it was hard for me when he did leave. On the other hand, I think some of the offseason moves that Cherington has done were great, particularly with the minor league contracts (Prior, Podsednik, and even Cook to an extent). Change is good, and I need to keep reminding myself this.
I’m excited about the series and even more about the game on Sunday. Aside from tomorrow’s “Tweets of the Week,” I will not be posting again until Monday or Tuesday. I’ll be sure to take pictures and post them when I return to Iowa. Here’s hoping for a series win (sweep would be preferred as I’m surrounded by Cubs fans!).
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