LATEST STORIES FROM RED SOX REALITY CHECK
White Hot, the Hot Stove League Leaves Sox Fans Blue
16 days ago by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The New York Yankees got their 27th championship, a magical combination of glory and greenbacks, and the Red Sox have Jeremy Hermida. So, we're all feeling a lot better.The Sox seem destined for the poorhouse it seems, with Josh Beckett only a year away from free agency, Jason...
2009 Post-Mortem
October 18, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
What post-mortem examination do the 2009 Red Sox deserve? The simplest and most deserving explanation follows that the Red Sox simply went as far as they deserved.A team created to be balanced failed to show balance...underachieving on the road, including a dismal road show in Anaheim...
Psych
September 27, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
How much psychic energy should we expend worrying about the Sox these days? Not so much.Just as in the NFL, you have to make the playoffs, then we'll start to worry. The Sox have four starters pitching well into the playoffs, and the deepest bullpen. What SHOULD we care about?Jason...
Tuesday Well
September 15, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
I'm rooting for Dice-K...he's a proud guy and a fierce competitor. A healthy productive Dice gives the Sox a better chance to win the big one.Yankee fans I'm talking to are not showing the bluster and confidence befitting their tradition. In fact, seeds of doubt creep into...
John!
September 13, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
John Henry, not Jon Lester! Frankly, I wish the owner would share his thought on the US dollar, lumber, natural gas, and other commodities instead of the Red Sox.Brad Penny and John Smoltz sure look better in AAA...oh, the National League.Buchholz, as of now, still has the best '...
Late Season Ramblings: Devil in the Details.
September 04, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The Red Sox brought the kryptonite to Tampa taking two of three. Since the Devil Rays became the Rays, hasn't the doormat factor disappeared. Jonathan Papelbon started having some 'clean' innings. Good for him, with MLB hurting him in the pocketbook for 'slow play&...
Dog Days Wind Down
August 25, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The Red Sox always seem to inspire some extra emotion and controversy, and nothing changed today. The Sox acquired former closer Billy Wagner from the Mets, likely guaranteeing themselves a pair of first round compensation picks if nothing else.After dropping two of three to the Yankees...
Better Days
August 22, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
I can look at Josh and think of 'better days".
On the Sox and Baseball: Random Thoughts
August 19, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Congratulations to the Pedroias, joy into their lives.Peter Gammons correctly noted last year (I think), that a lot of 30-something ballplayers would start to look old (absent PEDs). That prediction has come spot on.What's a pitcher's out pitch? Does he have a swing and miss...
Off Topic: No Whine Before Its Time, Gallo's Humor
August 15, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
D.J. Gallo with a brilliant satire on Bill Belichick.
State of the Nation: Mid-August
August 14, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The Red Sox recovered from a disastrous road trip through Tampa and the Bronx, returning to win three of four from Detroit. The Sox face the Rangers tonight, locked in a wild card battle, not to concede the divisional race.Unfortunately, the road has been Kryptonite for the Sox this...
Bitter Up
August 09, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Six games against the Red Sox divisional rivals beckoned, and the Sox have simply spit the bit, with five consecutive losses, including two bitter extra innings defeats.The Sox offense has disappeared, with eight hits and no runs in the past twenty-four innings of futility. Fans old...
Sox and Steroids
August 04, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Did anyone doubt that Red Sox players would eventually appear on "The List"? We can diminish the 'cheating' aspect because we root for laundry, but our bitterness over a pair of Jason Giambi homers in the ALCS softens when we realize that Red Sox hitters had juiced...
Chronicles of Reddick
August 01, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The Sox-Orioles contest produced not only a victory but signs of improved energy. Some story lines both overt and under the radar:Kevin Youkilis with 4 hits and consecutive homer gamesVictor (V-Mart) Martinez with his first Sox appearance, RBI, and standing ovationDustin Pedroia with...
Doses of Reality: A Very Big IF
July 31, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Teams win baseball games at the intersection of run generation and run prevention. Management decided that run generation offered a more "buyable" commodity than run prevention.The Sox obtained Victor Martinez at a lower base price (Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone) than...
Hard Choices
July 26, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
As currently constituted, do the Red Sox have the horses to get to the World Series? Of course, an equally legitimate question remains, can the Sox hold off the Rays and get to the playoffs? Seriously.Anyone watching the team recently understands the questions. In the outfield, Jacoby...
That's Baseball
July 24, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Statistics don't lie. Or do they? The Sox haven't looked like the same team since the All-Star break, going on offensive holiday.Even for the best baseball teams, losing comes as no stranger. A sixty percent winning percentage translates to 97 wins in the baseball marathon...
All-Stars Inside the Numbers
July 10, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Nobody said that statistics constitute the sole criteria for determining either value or selection to the All-Star team. Consider the following table:WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) reflects the pitcher's ability to prevent baserunners from reaching. K/BB (strikeout to...
All-Star Sox
July 05, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Major League Baseball announced the All-Star selections today, an amalgam of selections among fans, players, and managers.Dustin Pedroia and Jason Bay got voted onto the team. Pedroia, the reigning MVP, checks in statistically behind Ian Kinsler and Aaron Hill, but the feisty second...
All-Star Break Ahead
July 03, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Baseball has the best of the All-Star games, although for me the game changed after interleague play. I'm not too concerned about how many Sox players get selected or not, although I'm sure that contractually some probably have All-Star bonus clauses. If you make ten million...
Three Month Observations
June 30, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
As we approach the All-Star break, maybe we can analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly about the 2009 Red Sox.The Good.Locking up Lester, Pedroia, and Lester was a key move by the SoxThe Sox seem to have the key ingredient (pitching) to deal with the tectonic shift away from performance...
Opportunity Knocks; Are We Ready?
June 21, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Baseball and life. Sometimes the season doesn't turn out the way you thought it would. As we approach the halfway point in the season, the Red Sox have the second best record in baseball. How the hell is that possible?David Ortiz has only recently begun to hit, while the offensive...
Keeping Faith
June 20, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
The manager's job never gets any easier, arbitrating among egos, streaks, the vicissitudes of baseball, and personal problems that we will never know. What affects a player, illness or injury, frustration, depression, or personal problems?How a player gets treated also depends...
Long but Exciting
June 12, 2009 by
Red Sox Reality Check
| Comments
Not many thirteen inning baseball games can hold your attention, but the Sox-Phils marathon did tonight. The game had a number of highlights, twists, and turns, and hair-raising moments for the Hose.John Lester became the first Sox left-hander to have three consecutive ten strikeout...
Related Yards
Today's Best Stuff
For Bloggers
Company Info
Help
What is Yardbarker?
Join the Yardbarker Network (YBN) for more promotion, traffic, and money.
