Red Sox Report: Not So Friendly Fenway
Sunday, June 10, 2012
On the first day after the Celtics’ season ended, the Boston Red Sox showed us that we may be in for a long summer.
Like it or not New England sports fans, all we have now is baseball and the Boston Red Sox until football season begins in September. And it doesn’t appear that this team is going to provide us lots of excitement, unless you enjoy watching baseball players and their manager constantly complain to umpires about calling balls and strikes.
Sunday Boston was swept at home by the Washington Nationals in interleague play. The Nats beat Boston 4-3 in a game where Bobby Valentine was ejected in the 9th inning for arguing balls and strikes. After the game, Valentine ripped into the umps for what he thought were a few poorly called games over the weekend. "The game is simple: Throw it over the plate, call it a strike; don't throw it over the plate, call it a ball,” he said. “Simple. That's all anyone asks. I know it's been going on for 100 years, and I'm not the first one to say it, but this was a pretty lousy series."
And Valentine wasn’t the only one complaining about the umps, many of the Red Sox players including Dustin Pedroia were quick to criticize the umps when Sunday’s game was over. "Yeah, it's pretty disappointing," he said of the umpire’s performance. "We're trying to compete, everyone is, both teams, and you don't want them to come into play and stuff like that. It's hard enough playing the game against good pitching and good players. So it's pretty disappointing."
What’s really disappointing is the amount of complaining this team does when it comes to the umps. Sour looks and glaring at home plate umpires has become almost the norm for members of the team’s starting rotation and, truth be told, it doesn’t make you like this team any more. In fact, it has had the opposite effect for this Red Sox fan.
How about instead of complaining about the umps, the Red Sox win some games? How about doing better than (14-19) at Fenway Park? A lot better! You’re second in the American League in runs scored. How about improving on the fact that you’re second to last in the AL in runs allowed?
These are the things that matter to Red Sox fans.
NOTES:
-Why is it that the Red Sox play poorly at Fenway (14-19) and have played well away from home (15-12)? Great question. For years, Boston has enjoyed one of the best home records in baseball but not this year.
Maybe it’s simply bad luck. Then again, maybe it isn’t. For one thing, the organization continues to perpetuate the myth of their home sellout streak which they now claim stands at 745 consecutive games. Ironically, today’s alleged sellout now sets a record for consecutive home sellouts for any North American pro sports franchise. Anyone with half a brain can tell that this streak is being kept alive by the organization in name only. Maybe now that they own the record, they won’t be so concerned with keeping it alive.
But the real point is that fans are not showing up on time to pack Fenway Park on a daily basis like they once did. That has taken away some of the home field advantage for the club.
It also could be a situation where this team’s roster is not full of players who perform well under pressure and maybe they feel too much pressure playing in front of their own fans as opposed to being on the road.
Whatever the case may be, this team WILL NOT contend for a playoff spot this season unless they play significantly better at Fenway Park than they have to date.
-Daniel Nava was a pregame scratch due to his sore left hand. Nava received a cortisone shot in the hand and hopes to be in the line-up Monday night in Miami.
-Reliever Rich Hill has been placed on the disabled list and will now go see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his sore left elbow. The team maintains that it is more of a precautionary visit as Hill apparently doesn’t feel good throwing his curveball. Mark Melancon was recalled from Pawtucket to take his spot in the bullpen. Melancon was demoted after giving up 10 hits and 11 runs in his first 2 innings of work this season. In Pawtucket, however, he was lights out. In 21 innings for the Pawsox, he gave up just 15 hits and 2 earned runs while walking 3 and striking out 27. That’s good enough for a 0.83 ERA and a 9:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
-The Red Sox have lost 6 of their last 7 games. At (29-31), they are in last place in the American League East a full 6 games behind the first place Tampa Bay Rays. Boston now hits the road for 6 straight interleague games starting Monday night in Miami with the first of three against the Marlins. After an off day Thursday, they visit Chicago for a 3-game weekend series against Theo Epstein’s Chicago Cubs. The series finale against the Cubs will be featured on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Comments:
Bobby Townsend
12:18am on Monday, June 11, 2012
Scott, I have made posts on facebook complaining about Red Sox playing whining too much (batters and pitchers) about balls and strikes. Frankly, I am a little tired of it myself
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!! Today I think many of legitimate gripes about Porter. I watched from the 5th inning on and I had no idea what his idea of a ball and strike were. I think Bobby just reached a boiling point in the 9th inning on the Pedroia strike 2 in the 9th inning. I give Bobby credit for staying in the game that long.
Scott, I know Porter is a young umpire so I will call it a bad day for him and move on. There were several other pitches (for both teams) that had me SMH.
Talk about teams that struggle at home, so I can mention the Marlins here. They so far are 0-6 on their current home stand after being swept by both Atlanta and Tampa Bay
Bobby Townsend
12:24am on Monday, June 11, 2012
I must say, not a good time to travel down there to face them. But I have a question about the Marlins in general. Why did they put a retractable roof on that stadium if they are never going to open it? I know it gets hot down there and they get many of pop up showers every day during the summer. As for the heat, it gets hot in alot of places in the summer, notably Texas and Kansas City (I can witness to that) As for the rain, that's OK, maybe its not such a bad thing. If you hear the thunder, just close it. Scenic Miami is not such a bad thing either.
As for the Cubs, they no longer have the worst record in baseball with their win today and San Diego loss. Continued good riddance to Theo. He is not going to get it done there
Ray LeMatte
7:37pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
These Red Sox players think they are all big shot celebrities where everything should be handed to them. These players are the type that would go to a sports bar like Tort's and get all their food and drinks for free from the owner and then become even bigger D-Bags when they don't tip the waitresses. I mean you have to be a real piece of trash to get free food and drinks and not tip the waitresses.
Scott Cordischi
10:04pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
All good takes gentlemen! I do agree with you Bobby that Sunday's umpiring was poor so you can almost justify their complaints. However, there has been far too much complainging about the umps by this team this year as opposed to simply looking at the man in the mirror for answers.
Ray, as for your take, I assume that this happened when some of them played for the Pawsox at Tort's. Otherwise, I'm confused by your analogy.
Bobby Townsend
11:05pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Not tipping anywhere they serve food is terrible regardless if they pay or not..
First of all, pardon my typing here, my hands are not in good shape here.
But I don't think the Sox have had Joe West do any of their games this year. I am not a big fan of his but he does have a short fuse and any of that nonsense about pitches he will start running players and managers out very quickly.
Maybe the Marlins are trying to change their luck and opened the roof tonight.
Scott, I heard from a pretty good source that Gerard Coleman has decided to transfer to Gonzaga. I wouldn't mention it here if I didn't trust the source. Def. gonna need a scorecard next year to tell who went where. I have never seen anything like this during a college hoop off-season. Pretty soon I will put my Nashville NCAA pics up on facebook.