Big Papi's Problem

Add me to the list of fans, players, sports writers, and everyone else pulling for David Ortiz to pull out of what has been the worst slump of his career. After having a steady run from 2003-07 where he was one of the most feared hitters in the game and the most clutch hitter in Red Sox history, he's begun 2009 with 1 home run and 18 RBI and given very little hope to anyone that he can pull out of this.

His average is below the Mendoza line at .189. Terry Francona, the manager, moved him down in the order to the sixth spot earlier this week, but he's still having trouble hitting the ball. He has trouble catching up to the fastball. He's hit balls hard but they're always caught. He's snapped his bat once out of frustration, and though that's the only time he's acted visibly upset, you can only imagine what must be going through the mind of a player who has seemingly lost all the skills that made him what he was.

People have pointed to all sorts of reasons why Big Papi is so bad. Steroids? No more Manny Ramirez behind him in the lineup? Off-the-field issues? The wrist surgery?

Big Papi did have surgery over the winter to repair a tendon in his left wrist, and this surgery does take six to eight months to recover from. Rickie Weeks of the Brewers suffered the same injury a few weeks ago, and he's out for the year. Maybe Ortiz is having a setback from the surgery that we don't know about. He also talked a lot during the offseason about wanting another 30-home run hitter behind him in the lineup to replace Manny, so maybe he went into the season knowing he wasn't going to get as many good pitches as he had before and it's affected his approach at the plate.

People keep talking about performance-enhancing drugs and while it's naive to not think it's a possibility given how many big names have come out in the last few years, I'd like to hope he was clean. He never actually failed a drug test unless he was taking HGH, a drug that can't be tested. He's said on numerous occasions now that he hasn't done anything. I'd like to believe he's been clean and this slump isn't the result of him stopping the drugs.

I've been watching the Sox a lot the last few weeks, and everytime I see Big Papi step up to the plate, I'm pulling for him, and I think most fans are. He's gotten way more time to pull out of this than fans would have given other players. If this were J.D. Drew, the fans would not be having it. But Big Papi has done so many great things for the team, that the fans want him to be better.

My prediction is that Big Papi may eventually get better, but this slump has to have made a big dent in his career coupled with his poor season last year. Maybe he can turn it around and hit 10-15 home runs with 50-60 RBI? I think his days as the leading power hitter on the team are over now, and if he can hit that much, the fans will be happy.

I just hope he can hit that much.

Flying to Manchester

So I was going to write throughout the week about my experiences in California for the week, but that never happened. I couldn't get any Internet access on the computer, and I was pretty busy anyway. But the trip is over now, and I'm on my way home. I'm now sitting in the Denver Airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Washington, which will then take me back to Manchester.

I'm thinking I'll save any big vacation stories for another post when I get home tomorrow, but for now, I'll talk about a few things. There's snow outside the Denver Airport which may be a harbinger for what I'll see when I get back to New Hampshire. My parents tell me it's been snowing pretty much all week, and there's at least a foot of snow on the ground. Awesome.

Today was a nice day to finish up the trip. My sister, my nephew, his wife and kids, and I all went out to lunch at Chili's. It was really fun going out to see them, and I'll have to go again sometime. I hope they'll come to New Hampshire next summer for a little while. It'd be nice to have them over.

I'm a little worried at the moment actually. I'm looking at the gate which is supposed to be the gate for my flight to Washington/Dulles, but it says Los Angeles. I figured there was a just a flight going out of this gate before mine, but I'm supposed to board for Wash in about a half hour, and all the L.A. people are still there. The board says the flight's not delayed, and it's definitely this gate. Stay tuned...

And yeah, a full post on the vacation festivities is on the way...

Flying to Sacramento

So, a few months ago, I decided to take a week off from work to fly to California and visit a few relatives, namely, my sister, Janice and my nephew, Chris. I flew out of Manchester this morning, and I'm currently sitting in a rocking chair at the Philadelphia Airport, waiting for a connecting flight to Sacramento. Things have been interesting so far. A few observations:

1. Chick-Fil-A is just as greasy as every other fast food restaurant I've been to. You see, in New Hampshire, we don't have Chick-Fil-A's, and the other day, I was telling the kid I work with, Justin, that I would have to try out a Chick-Fil-A sometime during my trip to let him know if he was missing out. So far, I say no. The chicken sandwich I got was in this aluminum foil wrapping and soaked in grease. It was a good sandwich, but I still got that crappy, fast-food feeling after I was done.

2. Phillies gear is out and readily available. Hats, sweaters, and anything else commemorating the Phillies and their World Series win are all over the airport. I'm not really surprised since it's basically the same in Boston's Logan Airport, but I still think it's cool. There's a fair amount of Boston sports merchandise here as well, but it's lower down, out of the way, and not easily noticeable.

3. A man just passed me dressed as Santa Claus. I'm guessing he's a professional. I hope he's a professional. He's walking down toards gate C, and he's decked out in the full garb. I can't blame him for being on the move, I'm sure the North Pole International Airport must be very busy this time of year.

Anyway, I think I'll continue blogging on my trip throughout the trip, so stay tuned!

Legends at the top

I went out and bought AC/DC's new album, Black Ice, last week. When listening to it, I knew I'd probably like it because I've always been an AC/DC fan, but I wasn't sure how successful it would be to others. Now, as the album is about to become the top-selling rock album of the year, it's pretty obvious that the band hasn't lost touch with anybody.

AC/DC, which is made up of Angus Young, his brother Malcolm, Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, were all about the sanctity of rock and roll. Songs like "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution," were odes to the power and legitimacy they thought rock and roll should have, sung in a time when nobody actually doubted that rock and roll was powerful or legitimate. They believed that what they were doing, the lyrics they were writing, the riffs Angus was creating, were just as important to music as anything from any other genre.

With that said, they always liked being dirty too. There were so many sexual innuendos and connotations in their songs like "I Put the Finger on You" and "Girl's Got Rhythm." During one world tour, they actually had a huge model of a fat woman in lingerie behind them on the stage. Maybe a lot of it was sexist, but you never got the impression that AC/DC meant anything bad by any of it. They weren't sexists and they didn't treat women poorly. They just thought it was funny to sing about it.

And then there was the middle-class part to them. When the band released Black Ice last month, they only released it at Wal-Mart. Angus said in a Rolling Stone interview that everyone in the band had come from poor and lower middle-class backgrounds, so when the released the album, those were the people they wanted to appeal to. In rural Wyoming, you're way more likely to go to a Wal-Mart than you are a Best Buy or Target. You can't get any of their songs off of iTunes either because the band always believed in value of the whole album. In their entire career, AC/DC never sold any singles albums.

There's already a few songs on the album that I really like. The one that everyone probably knows already is "Rock 'N Roll Train," but there's also "Big Jack," "Spoilin' for a Fight," and "Rock and Roll Dream." Just the words rock and roll permeate the album so much because that's what the band is all about. They were never much about experimenting.

It all started back in the seventies. After ups and downs, AC/DC seem to be back in the minds of everyone, doing the same thing they've always done and being just as successful.

Tonight's the big night

I didn't go to bed Thursday night when the Sox were trailing 7-0. I stayed up and watched the whole game, not because I thought they were going to win, but honestly, because I knew I might have to suffer the next two or three months with a possibly mediocre Patriots team. I wanted to see as much Red Sox as I could before spring training next year. I'm glad I made the call.

The Red Sox went on to make the second-greatest comeback in one game in baseball postseason history by storming back over the last three innings to beat the Rays, 8-7. If the Tampa Bay had won, they would have knocked out the Sox, three games to one, and met the Phillies in the World Series. Last night, in Game 6, Josh Beckett outlasted Big Game James Shields to win 4-2 and force Game 7 tonight.

And who was I to think they were actually going to lose?

The Red Sox have done this before, as we all know, against Cleveland last year and against the Yankees in 2004. They have become the most feared team in the league to have a lead against because teams can never keep their leads against the Red Sox. Save a dismal exit in 2005 against the White Sox, the Red Sox since 2004 have proven that nothing will faze them. No deficit, no matter how huge, will slow them down, and you can never count them out.

I was a disbeliever Thursday night. I thought Tampa Bay had broken our spirit. It wasn't like Cleveland last year when the games we lost were still close. Tampa had destoyed us in Games 3 and 4. It was physically impossible for any Red Sox hitter to get B.J. Upton out. I was ready and willing to say the magic wouldn't come for us a third time, and congrats to the Rays for finally snuffing out our flame.

But the Rays couldn't get the job done, and everything I've seen since Dustin Pedroia knocked in the first Red Sox run Thursday night tells me they're about to do the exact same thing Cleveland and New York did. They're about to let it all get away from them. They can't stop the momentum, and the Red Sox are going to win the series.

There, I said it. I'll be bold.

I think the Red Sox are going to win this series tonight. Since that fateful 2004, this team changed, and they do not overreact to the pressure, they shine in it. All the pressure is on Tampa Bay right now, and I think they'll fold. Matt Garza won't have the same game he had pitching in Game 3, and Jon Lester will show why he's been the de facto ace.

Now, if the Rays do win, I look like a dope. So if it happens, I'll be the first to congratulate Tampa Bay on their entrance to the World Series and wish them the best of luck. But I've watched too many Red Sox comebacks to think this won't happen again.

The Red Sox are winning tonight.


UPDATE: And here's the part where I look like a dope. Okay, they lost. It was a pretty close game the whole way though, and I think Tampa Bay just outplayed us. Congrats to them on getting to the World Series. Either way, the season wasn't really a loss for Boston. We pushed them to seven games in a series where injuries hurt us (Lowell, Drew). We'll be back next year!

Looking lost...again

They're doing it again you know. Just like last year, the Red Sox are about to fall behind three games to one in the ALCS and test everyone's faith in Red Sox Nation.

I've pretty much stopped watching the game tonight only because it's the sixth inning, and the Sox now trail the Rays 10-1. Wakey's knuckler had nothing going on. The offense is being supplied by none other than Kevin Cash, backup catcher. Evan Longoria and company are hooting and hollering in the visitor's dugout while the Fenway faithful eat their Fenway franks in silence.

So what happens tonight, when the Red Sox lose and are down 3-1? Now, I say that knowing there's always the chance they could score ten runs in the next three innings, but I'm probably gonna go with 'no' on that one. What happens when Dice-K hits the mound tomorrow? Do we see the birth of a comeback, a la 2007, or does Tampa continue to bring the pain, and I get to listen to Chip Caray of TBS rave over more Longoria home runs?

The biggest issue in the series so far for Boston is the offense. Ellsbury, in particular, has been pretty bad, going on an 0-20 postseason hitless streak since the Angels series. Big Papi hasn't hit a home run since early in September. Youkilis has been hot, and Bay's been getting his hits in, but Lowell's out and Drew's only played here and there. In the game they won, Game 1, they needed a near no-hitter by Dice-K to win 2-0. In Games 3 and 4, so far they've scored two runs.

The pitching hasn't provided much relief either. Beckett is the most disturbing problem as he has shown no postseason dominance whatsoever. He seems to be falling back into that bad habit he has of only throwing fastballs. Lester was our ace for a while until he got roughed up by B.J. Upton in Game 3. Dice-K gets that start tomorrow, but what do you really get from him? You know we'll see a few walks. Can he replicate what he did in Game 1?

It's a tough situation to be in if you're a Red Sox fan.

But that said, it's not an unfamiliar one, and anyone who was a fan in 2004 and 2007 knows this has happened before. This is starting to become a new requirement for being a Red Sox fan: watch the team all of a sudden blow for three games in the ALCS and then make a rousing comeback.

A rousing comeback? Let's hope the olde towne team can deliver again.

Some unanswered questions…

I wrote this last week after the Sox beat the Angels in the ALDS:

The moment Jed Lowrie slapped his base hit into hearts of Angels fans Monday night and sent to Red Sox to the ALCS, I started thinking about that burning question. The question you hear with every playoff series: who really won?

The Boston sports media picked the Angels. The national media picked the Red Sox to be the underdogs. When you’re taking on a 100-win team that supposedly blew through the season and was on a mission to take their second World Series title this decade, you have to be the underdog.

But we’re talking about the defending world champions here.

The Red Sox took it to the Indians after falling behind three games to one last year before blowing out the Rockies to win the World Series. Going into the Angels series, there were questions about the health of J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell, but neither injury deterred the team. The Red Sox basically had the same team they did last year. And they had that experience going in.

The Angels, who don’t have half the players they did when they won the championship in 2002, have made little headway since that year. They got swept by Boston in 2004 and 2007. They squeaked out one win against the White Sox in 2005, but were basically swept there too.

The Angels were the ones who had something to prove. And they didn’t. They had a fearsome lineup with Mark Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero, and Torii Hunter all hitting well, and they had a rotation lead by John Lackey, who nearly threw a no-hitter at Fenway in August.

In Game 1, the Halos had Lackey at home against Lester who has become the de facto ace of the Sox. Lackey coughed up a two-run shot to Jason Bay in the sixth, and the Sox went on to win, 4-1.

In Game 2, the Halos had Ervin Santana on the mound against Dice-K, who drives Sox fans crazy with his walks and his barely five-inning efforts. To their credit, they stayed in the game, but couldn’t finish the job when J.D. Drew (who hit a clutch grand slam in the ALCS last year) hit the two-run dagger. Sox win, 7-5.

Game 3 was close all the way, and the Angles avoided the sweep. Eric Aybar came through in the clutch in extra innings to stay alive. But they couldn’t hang on in Game 4 with that walk-off hit. The Red Sox are pretty experience with those.

Lucky? Some sports writers are saying the Sox are lucky to be in the ALCS. Maybe I missed something while I was sleeping Monday night, but I’m pretty sure the Red Sox took it to the Angels in this series, and they deserve to be taking on Tampa. The Angels were a good team, but you can’t beat the pedigree of the defending champions.

The Sox won the series.