Leave it to a $161 Million Payroll to Try and Steal the Postseason Thunder

In case you missed it, the Boston Red Sox epic collapse is still in motion. Leave it to a $161 million payroll to try and steal the thunder of the playoffs. I mean, would you look at that? They didn't even make the playoffs, yet here we are talking about them.

From Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe:

"How a team that was on pace in late August to win 100 games and contend for its third World Series title in seven years self-destructed is a story of disunity, disloyalty, and dysfunction like few others in franchise history."

Good point, I suppose. It all started with them losing a crap-ton of games during the final month of the season. In fact, they failed to put together any sort of winning streak, never winning more than one game in a row in the whole month of September. Total failure.

Terry Francona, living in a hotel all season while in the middle of a separation from his wife, was "let go" as Boston refused to pick up his 2012 contract option. However, he kept his head up and did color commentary, surviving the voice of Joe Buck during the first two games of the ALCS. We're proud of him.

General Manager Theo Epstein was the next to go, taking the vacant position of Chicago Cubs GM for $15 million over the next five seasons. Obviously, he's planning on ending their 102-year Championship drought.

Heads Up, Josh Beckett

Josh Beckett had a bit of a scare Monday after being nailed in the back of the head during batting practice.

According to the Boston Red Sox, their ace is experiencing mild concussion symptoms. Although he walked off the field all on his own, he was sent home to rest after being examined by trainers... because napping is exactly what a person who's just suffered a head injury should do?

He'll be held out of workouts today as well.

Beckett was shagging balls in the outfield when coaching staff assistant Ino Guerrero used a fungo bat to return a ball to the infield. Unfortunately, the ball hit Beckett instead. Good try buddy!

Coming off a disappointing 2010 season riddled with injury in which his ERA inflated to 5.78 with a 6-6 record, the last thing Beckett needs is to be sidelined with a head injury.

Get well soon!

[Boston Globe]

ACE and Josh Beckett

So following some of the finest baseball writers in the country on Twitter is part of my "actual job that pays my rent and puts copious amounts of Purdue Chicken Fingers in my crisper drawer." It's kind of an interesting thing to look at from a journalistic standpoint, as you get to see 140 characters of raw copy from writers you normally only read after going through several editors.

Some writers are good. Some are terrible. Others are great to the point where I actually look forward to reading their tweets. From Ken Davidoff of Newsday this morning:

Josh Beckett: "I don't know what 'ace' is. Is that an acronym for something"? #RedSox

So now we are presented with a question. What does ACE stand for? Here's a few thoughts.

Already consistently extraordinary
Accidental conception of eel
Already cocky enough
Axis containing elephants

Got an acronym? Let us know.

-Lizzy

Another Liveblog at Walkoff Walk

Whatcha doing today? Working? Pssh.

You should head on over to Walkoff Walk to follow the Boston Red Sox in their pursuit of splitting the four-game series against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome around 1:10pm ET. Josh Beckett will take the hill against young righty Anthony Swarzak in his second big league start... and it's going to be awesome.

Maybe Joe Mauer will hit his 12th bomb of the year. And maybe, if we're lucky, we'll see 1/6 of the wild pitches we saw yesterday.

Be there or get kicked square in the nuts.

[Thursday Afternoon Liveglog Yay!]

Tsk, Tsk, Josh Beckett

Boston Red Sox star pitcher Josh Beckett has been suspended for six games and fined by MLB, which came to the conclusion that he intentionally threw a pitch at the head of Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Bobby Abreu last Sunday.

The right-hander was also reprimanded for "aggressive actions" during the bench-clearing dust-up. Beckett, who was "shocked" by the outcome immediately appealed his suspension, so any penalties will be delayed until after his hearing.

Triple Play? Nice Try Span

The Minnesota Twins weren't able to avoid the sweep from the Boston Red Sox Wednesday after seventh-inning umpire-related shenanigans turned an incorrectly called triple play into a seven-run fiasco which led to an 18-5 man-handling of the Twins.

Jacoby Ellsbury nailed a career-high four hits, while Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Sean Casey had three a piece to aid Boston in their season-best 23-hit game.

1,000 K's for Josh Beckett

Way to go, buddy!

[AP] | [Clubhouse Insider] | [SOX & Dawgs] | [Curt's Bloody Sock]

Things Are Heating Up Out East

Alex Rodriguez homered for this fifth straight game Sunday night as Chien-Ming Wang (3.69 ERA) pitched seven good innings for his 18th victory to lead the New York Yankees in 6-3 win and sweep of the Kansas City Royals.

The Yanks chased Zack Greinke off the hill early, as he lasted just 3.2 innings with 3 earned runs, 2 hits and a strikeout.

After A-Rod nailed his 52nd homer if the season in the first, Wilson Betemit lined a double in the second that made it 3-0. KC third baseman Alex Gordon, who accounted for his team's only runs, tied it up with a three-run double in the fourth, but Jorge Posada tacked on two more for New York the next inning with a double to deep right. Robinson Cano added the last run on a single in the ninth.

Meanwhile, Josh Beckett (3.27 ERA) earned his 18th win for the Boston Red Sox after tossing 7 strong innings with 8 strikeouts for a 3-2 victory ver the Baltimore Orioles. The right-hander allowed just two runs -- both on solo shots -- from Melvin Mora in the fourth and Nick Markakis in the sixth.

Mike Lowell kicked off the scoring for Boston in the third, with a single that scored two.

Coco Crisp singled in the eighth to break the 2-2 tie and closer Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 35th save of the season. The Red Sox remain 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East standings, as New York holds onto their four-game edge over the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card race.

Beckett Heads to Disabled List

Josh Beckett's finger injury has him headed to the Boston Red Sox disabled list. He is expected to miss at least two starts before returning just in time for a home series against the Cleveland Indians on May 29th.

Sitting on the best record in baseball at 7-0, the righty is recovering from a torn flap of skin on his middle pitching finger which he injured in the fourth inning of last Sunday's 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Beckett (2.66 ERA) is the first Boston starter to land on the DL this season.

In a related move, right-hander Devern Hansack will be recalled from the AAA Pawtucket Sox for his second stint with Boston. He was called up in the beginning of May when reliever Mike Timlin went on the DL, allowing one run in 2/3 of an inning in his only appearance.

[Hartford Courant] | [SOX & Dawgs]

Josh Beckett Tries to Escape a KC Beatdown

The Kansas City Royals knocked the Sox off Boston on Opening Day, looking like the World Series contenders with the top-notch pitching staff. Okay, I won't go that far.

The Red Sox will try to get things turned around with Josh Beckett on the hill, continuing the three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals, who are coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, played like a new team on Monday, roughing up Curt Schilling and co. with a 7-1 victory. Schilling is supposed to be the ace of one of the better pitching staffs in the majors - with Beckett, Japanese sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield - but he ended up getting knocked around for one of the shortest outings of his career. He was pulled before the fifth inning began after allowing five runs on eight hits. Then, he blogged about it, of course.

So, the Royals opened their season with a W for the third time in the last nine years with a variety of players stepping up, including starter Gil Meche, who left the game to a standing O when he was relieved after 7.1 innings.

Beckett, the former World Series MVP, finished 16-11 with a 5.01 ERA, and had a career-high 74 walks while giving up 36 homers, the second-most in the majors. The city of Boston is expecting a bit better from him in his second season with the team. Luckily, he is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against Kansas City.


Odalis Perez will make his first start for the Royals in an attempt to put a miserable 2006 behind him. The lefty finished 6-8 with a 6.20 ERA in 32 games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Royals. Perez is 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox.

[MLB]