Hey Dodgers... what is wrong with this picture?

On July 21, 2009... less than a year ago, Cliff Lee was a pitcher for the Indians.
He threw a complete game 2-1 victory for the lowly Indians and as the defending Cy Young winner was on the trade block.

And the Dodgers, who made it to the 2008 NLCS, desperately needed an ace pitcher. They had some decent pitching but were also leaning on the Clayton Kershaws and Chad Billingsleys too much. They needed a stud to put them over the top.

He was traded to the Phillies 10 days later... and threw 8 shutout innings in the NLCS against the Dodgers.

He's been traded three times in the past year.

The Dodgers still desperately need a #1 starter.
Cliff Lee would have been PERFECT ace for the Dodgers. They may have won the 2009 NL Pennant and probably would be in first place as I type this instead of being in 4th place, 6 games back of the Padres in the loss column.

And yet with the need for Lee, the minor leaguers to trade, the pitchers park for him to thrive and the big market to resign him.

And how many proposed trades did we hear involving the Dodgers?
That would be ZERO!!!

Hey Frank McCourt... remind us how your divorce isn't affecting how the team is put together again?

Not a fan of the white hats... but it worked on some teams

Once again baseball busted out the white hats for patriotic reasons and as I said before, the players looked like the Good Humor Man.

Teams like the Yankees should NOT have white hats. They have an amazing uniform that shouldn't be messed with.

But I confess, as bad as most teams looked with the white hats, a few teams actually pulled it off and maybe it would be a good look in the future.


I thought it worked well with the Diamondbacks.

The white hat with the Red Jersey looked kind of cool. Plus the team is trying to build a new identity, especially with Kirk Gibson in charge. Why not have a new look?

I think it would work better with their A instead of the snake D on the cap.

But it works for the snakes.



It looked surprisingly good with the Tigers as well.

I didn't think I'd like it with a traditional uniform like Detroit's (along with the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox and Giants are the best of the traditional unis).

But the white hat did invoke some nostalgia.

It looked like the hat they would have worn in the Charlie Gehringer years.

Go with it as an alternative cap, Detroit.


Speaking of traditional teams, I think it went surprisingly well with the Indians.

It harkened back to the 1920 World Champion Indians and Stan Covelski would look good wearing it.

Granted I am being a hypocrite.

I have told the Indians to pick a cap and then suggested two more versions for them... but hey it is my blog.


So keep wearing those Good Humor Man hats, D'Backs, Tigers and Tribe.

I know I trashed them before, but to quote Rodney in Caddyshack, "It looks good on YOU though."

Strasburg is doing is again...

So far so awesome for Strasburg.
5 strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings with no walks!

A packed house in Cleveland getting their only chance to see Strasburg before the 2016 Presidential campaign.

(But foes of Interleague Play think this is bad for baseball... I guess reality is difficult for some people to process.)

People against Interleague Play are WRONG! Reason #2,893

Oh people spend each year writing about Interleague Play being dumb and past its worth.

And each year the people who write that look stupider and stupider.

Their reasons make less and less sense. And they are always contradicted by things like "facts" and "reality."

I know I covered a lot of this earlier when I wrote my people against interleague play are morons post, but it is now beyond opinion.

One of the insane reasons that people say Interleague Play is obsolete is the match ups.

"Who cares about the Orioles versus the Marlins?" et al. As if an Orioles versus anyone is a riveting match up.

But I bet one of the pairings that would have been ridiculed would be the Indians and the Nationals.

Starting the season, it would be a 97 loss Indians club taking on the worst team in the game. Who cares?

And even with the Nationals playing better than expected, they are two sub .500 teams with no history between each other facing off.

Two also rans between the AL team with the worst attendance in the league facing a team with one of the worst attendance numbers in the NL.

Who cares? Just another terrible Interleague Matchup.

And it will be sold out and on National TV!

Why?

Stephen Strasburg is making his second start... and he's doing it in Cleveland.

The team with the worst attendance in the game will probably be jumping and buzzing with excitement. There will be excitement in a regular season game in June.

This will be Strasburg's only trip through Cleveland until probably around 2016.

Fans want to see the phenom up close and for real. It will probably be the biggest game in Progressive Field all season long.

And it would NOT happen if not for Interleague Play.

So keep that in mind, all of you morons who say "They should get rid of Interleague Play."
You are depriving cities not only of the natural cross town rivalry games, but also those unexpected match ups that no schedule make can predict.

If you are against interleague play, I want you to watch the game in Cleveland tomorrow and say "this would be better if it were Nationals vs Diamondbacks."

Once again, the argument has no leg to stand on.

Well there was good news and bad news...

The good news?

A Red Sox farm product through a masterful 2 hit shutout in the Sox/Indians game.

Bad news?

It was Justin Masterson pitching AGAINST the Red Sox!

Ah well... Sox lost 11-0. It's hard to get worked up when the teams pitching AND hitting stunk.

And frankly Buchholz didn't pitch badly. 7 innings, 3 earned runs is pretty good.

Boof Bonser let up 4 runs and got no batters out in his Red Sox debut.

He put the oof in Boof.

Currently his ERA is infinity.
Let's hope he can lower it.

You have to admit, the Sox aren't boring!

The Red Sox probably aren't going to make the playoffs this year... and it is probably best as we enter August with the Rays and Yankees both tied for the best record baseball to start to think about 2011.

But man alive, this team makes it interesting, don't they?

I was at work yesterday and I saw the Sox were losing 6-1. "Well that's that... tonight is a loss" I thought and I focused on my job.

By the time I got in my car to head home, it was 6-5 and the tying run was on base in the bottom of the 9th.

They didn't win, but the fans at the ballpark couldn't claim it was a boring night!

It seems like every day I am updating the Dodged Bullet, Teeth Grinder tally. It seems like every win is by the skin of our well ground teeth. It seems like every loss ends with the tying run on base.

When you consider that after tonight, I have counted 34 dodged bullet games and 33 teeth grinders. That's 67 games that could have gone either way.

That means only 39 games were decisive either way.

Breaking THAT down the Red Sox have had 26 no doubt about it losses and 13 games where they lost and didn't have a shot.

So if you go to a game wanting to see your team win or at least have a SHOT to see them win, the Sox have given their fans 93 interesting games out of 106.

They aren't dull.

On to the tally

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 34

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 - 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)
May 29 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Zack Greinke holds the Sox to one run, but they make it stick)

June 1 - 9-4 win against Oakland. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 4-0 hole but Victor Martinez goes 5-5 and the Sox score 9 runs late.)
June 2 - 6-4 win against Oakland. (Dice-K puts the Sox in a 3-0 hole before they come to bat, but come back thanks to Papi's homer.)

June 8 - 3-2 win at Cleveland. (With Papelbon unavailable, Okajima, Ramirez and Bard hang on to make a winner out of Wakefield.)

June 19 - 5-4 win against the Dodgers. (Sox make 4 errors, blow a late lead and let Manny homer, but they win it in the bottom of the 9th on a Pedroia single.)
June 20 - 2-0 win against the Dodgers. (Dodgers blow an early bases loaded scoring opportunity and allow Buchholz to settle down for the win.)

June 24 - 13-11 win in Colorado. (The bullpen lets up 9 runs in 5 innings, but Pedroia homers 3 times including with 2 outs in the 10th to win a wild and stupid game.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in San Francisco. (An injury running the bases takes Buchholz out in the second, but the bullpen and Mike Cameron's bat and glove win the game.)
July 2 - 3-2 win against the Orioles. (Wakefield gets the win and J.D. Drew homers twice, but it is Nava's 2 out 8th inning bloop that landed between three fielders that breaks the tie.)

July 11 - 3-2 win in Toronto. (Jesse Litch took a no hitter into the 6th but back to back homers by McDonald and Big Papi win the game.)
July 17 - 3-2 win against Texas. (Youk ties the game in the 9th off of Cliff Lee and wins it in the 11th with a sacrifuce fly)
July 19 - 2-1 win at Oakland. (Beltre homers and Dice-K holds on to the win.)
July 22 - 8-6 win at Seattle. (Lackey lost a no hit bid in the 8th and the Mariners scored 5 in the 9th to tie before the Sox won in 13)
July 23 - 2-1 win at Seattle. (Bill Hall's barely fair homer gives the Sox the win on Beckett's return.)

July 26 - 6-3 win in Anaheim. (Papi homers twice and Buccholz and Papelbon each wiggle out of jams to get the win.)
July 27 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (Jed Lowrie's 2 run 7th inning double gives the Sox the lead and makes a winner out of John Lackey. )

July 28 - 7-3 win in Anaheim. (Youk ties the game in the 7th with a homer and Scutaro wins it with an 8th inning grand slam to sweep the Angels.)
July 31 - 5-4 win against Detrout. (Big Papi hits a 3 run walk off double to crush the Tigers in the 9th.)
August 1 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Sox blow a 3 run 9th inning lead but the Tigers throw away a 9th inning sacrifice bunt to give the Sox the win.

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 33

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 - 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi's bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)
May 27 - 4-3 loss to Kansas City. (Dice-K walks the go ahead run in and lets another score on a wild pitch as the Royals no name bullpen shut down the Hot Sox.)
May 28 - 12-5 loss to Kansas City. (Sox blow a 3-0 first inning lead to be blown out in Fenway.)
June 3 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox lose a slugfest where two Boston runners are thrown out at home.)

June 6 - 4-3 loss in Baltimore. (Sox rally to tie the game in the 9th only to lose it on a small ball rally in the 11th.)
June 10 - 8-7 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow an early 5-0 lead and then after rallying in the 9th to take the lead coughed it up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th)
June 13 - 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. (Sox 9th inning rally comes up short)
June 22 - 2-1 loss in Colorado. (The Sox waste a solid Lester start and twice leave the bases loaded.)
June 23 - 8-6 loss in Colorado. (The Sox batter Ubaldo Jimenez around but Papelbon lets up 2 homers in the 9th to lose it.)
June 25 - 5-4 loss in San Francisco. (The Sox strand 11 runners in the last 4 innings wasting a solid Wakefield performance.)
July 5 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox spoil a 5-1 lead and 2 homers by Eric Patterson when Dice-K and the bullpen couldn't hold down the Rays.)
July 6 - 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox bats go dead and Kevin Youkilis goes down to injury.)
July 7 - 6-4 loss in Tampa Bay. (Matt Garza comes out of the pen, shuts down a late rally as the Rays sweep the Sox.)
July 10 - 9-5 loss in Toronto. (The Sox give Lackey an early 5-3 lead that he couldn't hold.)
July 18 - 4-2 loss to the Rangers. (Lester loses a rare game at home that included a Rangers steal of home.)

July 20 - 5-4 loss in Oakland. (The Sox go up 4-0 after 2 but don't score again and lose it in the 10th)
July 21 - 6-4 loss in Oakland. (Buchholz can't hold on to an early lead as the Sox lose the series.)
July 24 - 5-1 loss in Seattle. (Lester's perfect game is foiled and the Red Sox bats die.)
July 25 - 4-2 loss in Seattle. (Okajima misplays a sacrifice bunt and the Mariners rally in the 8th to win.)
July 30 - 6-5 loss to Detroit. (Papi's grand slam makes it a 1 run game in the 9th but Cameron strikes out looking with the winning runs on base.)

August 2 - 6-5 loss to Cleveland. (Beltre drives in 5 runs by himself but the Red Sox leave the tying run on base with Big Papi on deck.)


Down to -1.

Beckett throws tonight. You know it is going to be interesting.

Doesn't it seem like Dice-K has more than 3 losses?

I have never seen a stranger year for a starting pitcher than Daisuke Matsuzaka this year. There are times he looks terrific and other times he looks like he could be the worst signing in baseball history.

And there have been so many games that I have just felt my shoulders sink on the mound this year that I was startled to see that he only has 3 losses this year.

He MUST have more losses than that!

But alas he doesn't.

Remember when I did that insane exercise of removing 10% of his innings and see how he is doing 90% of the time?

Well he threw great again tonight... and I was going to try and figure out what his stats were with 10% of his bad innings eliminated, but I'm not going to lie to you. I'm too tired to do it.

This odd Red Sox year continues... and I am not including this on the tally. I don't care that it turned into a save situation tonight. I was never nervous after the Beltre slam.

Dice-K has a respectable 8-3 record and a sub 4.00 ERA. When all is said and done it will look like he had a solid season.

Maybe he IS having one.

But it sure is a strange one.