Category Archives: Go Sox

Nats: Magic Number: 4. Games Remaining: 7

27 Thursday Sep 2012

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If you live in Washington, you know that there is a drama playing out over the Nats’ playoff picture. Even though they will be in the playoffs, it is not sufficient to get there as a Wild Card team as that would mean they’d be in a one game playoff.

So for the young Turks, along with a few older hands, the Magic Number is Four. That, of course, means that any combination of Nats’ wins and/or Braves losses that add up to four in 14 games the two teams have remaining means they will be a full playoff team. And also important, they want to be the top seed in the NL playoff picture to gain home field advantages.

So why are lots of folks in Washington nervous? How hard should it be to get four of 14? The Braves are four games out of first place.

Well, the Nats’ aren’t doing quite so well in this last, meaningful stretch. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Braves are 8-2 over that same stretch and have won (their last) four games in a row.

Looking a little closer at the remaining games, the Nats play four games against the Phillies (including the final three games of the season). Those Phillies are no longer the whimpy team they were for much of the season. And the other three games the Nats have remaining are against the Cards, who are on an 8-2 streak and are also playing for a playoff spot.

The Braves last seven games are all against teams with records under .500. They have one game with the Marlins (2-8 in their last 10 games), three with the Mets (5-5) and three with the Pirates (3-7).

So the Nats have a harder schedule. Their present four game lead, however, is a big advantage.

Still, it is the final week of a very long season, they are without Strasburg, and even though their winning record is .606 (the only team with a record over .600), they have not yet been able to win their Division. Times are tense in this Capital City.

My sports’ writing guru Thomas Boswell has another good column this morning in the Washington Post in which he says the Final Week Isn’t for the Weak of Heart. See what he has to say.

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The Nats: How Good Are They?

21 Friday Sep 2012

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If you listen to my friend who is a Yankee fan and recently moved from DC to NY (what’s that all about?), the Washington Nationals are playing above themselves, in a weak league, and once they meet some really good opposition, they’ll be found wanting.

If you read and listen to my columnist guru Thomas Boswell, “they are already an exceptional team.”

Could both of these views be correct?*

Continue reading »

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Thomas Boswell: “The Season Is a Shark”

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

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In baseball time, the next day quickly swallows the previous night, leaving a few memories, but little residue. The season is a shark, constantly moving forward, devouring the next game.

What a pleasure to open the morning newspaper and be able to read Thomas Boswell.

In his latest, his column this morning, In Nats’ World, No Lucky Charms Needed, he writes about the world the baseball players live in, which, he writes, “is a different realm -the real one. They aren’t a collection of fantasy players or a stack of baseball cards…”

I always learn something from his columns, which I did again today.

 

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Strasburg cont. – My ‘Solution’

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

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MillersTime reader JC emailed me today, asking what I thought the Nats’ should do concerning Steven Strasburg.

Here is my answer:

If I were Rizzo, I would proceed as follows:

1. I would meet with just Steve and his family and lay out, in as detailed a fashion as possible, what the various medical folks say about what is known concerning the year following Tommy John surgery and what they recommend, including conflicting recommendations.
2. Then I would tell Steve and his family to take a week to consider what they want to do and come back and let me know their decision.
3. And I would honor that decision.

Proceeding in this fashion is not to absolve Rizzo or the Nats’ of responsibility, but it is to give the Strasburgs the right to decide for themselves how to proceed.

Nor is it because it is likely they would choose to continue the season into the playoffs.

In fact, I would offer to keep this process confidential, and if the Strasburgs chose to shut it down now, or at any time before the end of 2012, I would offer to let their decision be presented as my choice, if they wished.

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Feinstein: “Not Pitching Strasburg IS a Betrayal”

27 Monday Aug 2012

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John Feinstein in today’s Washington Post*:

Pitching Strasburg in October is not a betrayal. It’s simply recognizing that circumstances have changed…Not pitching him is a betrayal: to the pitcher, to the team, to the fans and to the city.

If you haven’t read Tom Boswell’s piece on this issue, also in the Post, read it, and then let folks know what you think.

(*Hat Tip to JC for pointing out this article.)

Sox ‘Trade’ ?

PS – For those of you who are no doubt awaiting my great insights on the recent Sox trade (firesale?), I’ll spare you. I suspect we haven’t seen the end of the Sox moves to repair their (our) broken team. Plus, there’s enough already written about what they did last weekend. Basically, no one really knows or will know for some time whether it was brilliant, stupid, etc. Father time will so determine.

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This Sports Writer “Gets It”

20 Monday Aug 2012

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Thanx to long time friend Harry S., I’ve got a new sports writer to add to my favorites (Boswell & Posnanski lead that list at the moment).

Doug Glanville, a former baseball player (Cubs, Phillies, Rangers), is now writing occasional articles in the NY Times, (mostly) about baseball, the players, and how the game so often relates to real life. His articles are thought provoking and insightful, and he writes well.

Here are two that I think are worthy of your time:

1) Alone in the Zone:

This one starts off about the Chinese diver who was not told of her grandparents’ death nor her mother’s cancer until after she performed in London. He moves on to baseball, but the article’s really about what he believes is most important in life: relationships.

2) Baseball, Faith and Doubt:

In Glanville’s most recent column, he wonders if baseball is immune from the slings and arrows thrown at it, largely from within.

 

For more Glanville articles, go to Articles by Doug Glanville.

Also, Glanville wrote The Game from Where I Stand: From Batting Practice to the Clubhouse to the Best Breakfast on the Road, an Inside View of a Ballplayer’s Life, published in 2010. I haven’t read it, but it’s now on my ‘to read’ list.

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Boswell: On the Nats’ Decision to Shut Down Strasburg

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Readers of this MillersTime/GoSox blog know that I hold Thomas Boswell in the highest esteem. For me, he’s one of the best sports writers working today. I always learn something from his columns and feel lucky that he writes in my morning newspaper.

Today Boswell looks at the Nats’ decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg before the season ends, no matter what Strasburg, his father, the fans, the know-it-alls, etc. say.  If you live in the DC area, then you know this is a controversial issue, largely because the Nats are currently headed for post season play. But without Strasburg, some argue, the Nats put their good season and playoff potential at risk.*

But Boswell’s column goes further, identifying what he believes is “one key ingredient of franchises that build wisely, behave consistently and foster loyalty.”

Read the column, Stephen Strasburg Shutdown Debate Masks the Washington Nationals’ True Story, if you’re a Nats’ fan or if you just want to learn a bit more about baseball and what Boswell thinks makes for good management.

(*I don’t know where I read it, but somewhere I saw that even if Strasburg’s ERA is subtracted from those of the other Nats’ pitchers, they still would have the lowest ERA in the NL, or maybe in the Majors.)

 

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John Michael Paveskovich (#6) Is Resting in Peace

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

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I have no doubt that Johnny Pesky is resting in peace.

After all, virtually all of his adult life (he died at 92 yesterday) was spent doing what he loved – something connected to baseball, most of the time connected to the Red Sox.

If you’re interested in baseball, you already know much about Pesky and no doubt have already read tributes to him, tho most of you know him because of the “Pesky Pole” and as a wonderfully kind, elderly mentor and cheerleader for several generations of Red Sox players.

My own brush with this little guy (he was 5’9″) goes back to my earliest connections to baseball.

For me, Pesky was one of the first Red Sox players I knew and cared about, along with Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Mel Parnell, and Jimmy Piersall.

I’ve written elsewhere on this site (I Blame You) about my wonderful grandfather’s ‘gift’ to me of the Red Sox. As I was learning about the game, getting to know the players, and going to Fenway one week a year, Pesky was a favorite of mine.

He could field brilliantly and was the part of terrific double plays along with Bobby Doerr. Even better, he could hit, at least get on base (his lifetime average was .307), and, most important, set the table from his number two spot in the line up for my biggest hero, Ted Williams.

Then suddenly he was gone. For a reason I never could understand, the Sox traded him in 1952. I couldn’t believe it. But tho I didn’t know it at the time, that was a foreshadowing of the current era where very few players stay with a team their whole career.

Pity.

Eventually, I ‘forgave’ the Sox for this perfidy (something I was to do many more times in my life) but was delighted in my adult years when he came back to the Sox, became a fixture in the Red Sox Nation, and the Sox retired his number (6) even though he never made it to the Hall of Fame.

Williams, Pesky, Doerr, DiMaggio

PS-If you haven’t read David Halberstam’s The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship, you’ve got a treat in store.

 

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Sox Lead the Majors!

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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Well, I got your attention, albeit a bit disingenuously, tho I know you were not really fooled by the blog title.

According to this morning Boston Globe article, the Red Sox lead all the other 29 Major League teams in charitable giving in their community, having contributed $52 million dollars to the Boston area via their foundation over the last 10 years.

The article’s worth reading as the way they have ‘spent’ this money strikes me as smart. They don’t just throw money around but grant it wisely. And the $52 million is only what they give through the non profit foundation and doesn’t include autographed items given to nonprofits, entrance to Fenway events, appearances by present and former players, and tickets to Sox games. Nor does it include what the owners give personally, what many of the players give through their own foundations, nor what the Sox help raise for other charities.

How do the Sox compare to the other wealthiest teams in their charitable giving?

According to the Globe in 2011 they gave more than twice as much as did the Yankees ($7.6 million vs $3.6 million).

So while the Sox continue struggling to maintain a .500 record and to stay out of last place, at least they are good citizens and continue to give back to their community.

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A Few Baseball Notes

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Free Seats for Nats’ Game vs the Braves:

First person to contact me gets two free Nats’ tickets for this Friday, July 20, 7:05 game. Seats are four rows behind the Visitor’s dugout.

Email me: Samesty84@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

 

Contest Winner:

Despite a bit of grumbling, mostly in good fun I think, I have declared Elizabeth R. Miller, related, the winner of two seats in any stadium she chooses for coming in first place in the MillersTime Baseball Contest #3.

 

Sox in the 2nd Half of the Season:

I was thinking that because of the closeness of the teams in the AL East and because Ellsbury, Crawford, & Pedroia were returning that the Sox were looking a bit stronger for the second half of the season. Plus, they won three of their first four games since the ASG.

But with Ortiz hurt and heading to the DL and the pitching still shaky, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m just dreaming. I don’t think all is lost just yet, but unless the Sox pitching stops giving up multiple runs in the early innings, it doesn’t look so good for the Beantown Boys.

What say you?

 

A Quick Read About an Current Baseball Dilemma:

I’ve Always Loved the Yankees. What If My Son Loves the Nationals?, Mitch Rubin, Washington Post, June 14, 2012.

If you missed this Father’s Day post by Rubin, check it out. I suspect he is not the only one facing this kind of difficulty (I’ve noticed that one of my daughters has, at various times, been cheering for the Mets, and now the Marlins).

Let me know if you have any advice.

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We Have a MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Now this is embarrassing.

First, there was only one of the six contests that was to be decided by the All-Star break – #3 – Name the teams who will be leading in each division.

Maybe this is the hardest of the six contests because it’s only half of a season, and therefore not totally indicative of how good or bad teams really are.

Several surprises so far:

*The White Sox are leading their division. Only one person predicted that (Rob W.)

*The Nationals are leading their division. Only one of you predicted that (Todd E.).

*The Phillies and the Red Sox are in the bottom of their divisions. That apparently was not expected by many of you.

* No one got all six of the divisions correctly.

* No one got five of the divisions correctly.

* No one got four of the divisions correctly.

If you look at the spread sheet of the Final Predictions, it looks as if 10 of you (Jeff F., Rob W., Kevin C., Elizabeth M., Tiffany L., Jimmy R., Brent S., David P., Jeff K., and Meg G) had three of the six division leaders. But when I investigated further, most of these 10 only, in fact, had two, as the “D” I had put on the spread sheet stood for Diamondbacks and not the Dodgers for many of you.

So what’s the embarrassing part?

Continue reading »

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Fenway This Weekend? Read This

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

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If you plan to be at Fenway this weekend for the Sox-Yunkees four game series, or if you know someone who will be there, then I urge you to read Jere Smith’s recent blog and his call for an “Anti-Boston Sports Media Sign Weekend.”

That’s a mouthful, but basically Bosox blogger Smith says the Sox fans need to let the Boston media know what a terrible job we think they are doing.

He calls for fans to bring protest signs to Fenway this weekend as the games are likely to draw large TV and baseball audiences. Basically, he argues, the Boston media need to take a good look at themselves and what they portray about the Sox.

I largely agree. While I don’t think the media’s role is to cheerlead for their home team (and I don’t think Jere wants them to), neither is it’s role to continually bash the team.

Recently I posted some thoughts on the poor job I think Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are doing in their commentary and analysis on Sox games for NESN (see second half of this post). I hope a few of the signs this weekend will call them out too.

Fenway has remained a treasure because it has been updated and refurbished. The reporters need some refreshing themselves.

The Boston media reporting on the Sox is tired, lazy, and too often centered on the writers themselves. I have the pleasure of having a writer such as Tom Boswell in my morning (WaPo) sports section. And then there are writers such as Joe Posnanski (Joe’s Blog) who also inform, teach, and add to my understanding of baseball. The Boston media could learn a lot from these two.

Were I going to Fenway this weekend, I’d carry a sign with one of the following messages:

*Remy to the DL

*Refresh NESN

*It’s the Boston Media That’s TOXIC

Let’s force the Boston media to take a look at themselves.

 

 

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Youk: “Do Not Make Outs”

25 Monday Jun 2012

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The trade is done.

The end, as it always seems, came swiftly, and, if not a surprise, the reality that Youk’s nine years as a Sox (Red) was over brought some sadness to everyone connected to the the Red Sox Nation.

For those of you who follow the Sox as well as for those of you who might have been surprised by the trade, the ending was bittersweet, to repeat a tired phrase.

Whether it was inevitable, whether it was obvious, necessary, what baseball is all about, what baseball has become, what it will mean for Youk, for the Sox (Red and White), we’ll simply have to wait and see.

But already lots of articles, lots of pictures, lots of videos, lots of tweets and lots of blogs have already claimed to explain what happened and to catalogue Youk’s rise, accomplishments, injuries, and current difficulties.

The one column that told me something I didn’t know or feel, or perhaps explained something better, more clearly than anything I’ve read in the last few days was from long time sports writer Joe Posnanski.

“What percentage of the time do you make an out? It’s simple and it’s naked…And this bluntness is why I love Kevin Youklis as a player, ” writes Posnanski in his blog this morning.

Read the entire column/blog for yourself: Youk.

 

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