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So our beloved Blue Jays went out on a six-day road trip to California and Florida (!), returned home for a weekend series, headed back out to the West Coast for seven games without the benefit of an off-day, and returned home for seven games before hitting the road, again without an off-day. Oh, and the last 14 games of this difficult schedule were against two of the best clubs in baseball, each locked in airtight two-tiered playoff races. The Fightin' Jays battled, and emerged with a 6-8 record against Oakland and Seattle after last night's comeback attempt fell just short.

Now things begin to get hard.

Fortunately, it's just a two-game set against a Red Sox lineup that is downright scary. Never mind their stats, which are excellent; Boston's top-to-bottom batting order, particularly against righties, frightens me more as an opposing fan than anything I've seen since the '95 Cleveland squad that (not coincidentally) also featured the menacing bat of Manny Ramirez. Lurch and Doc have their work cut out for them tonight and tomorrow night.

I hesitate to post this article above Coach's excellent interview with J.P., but time marches on here at the Box...

On to the Advance Scout!

* Boston comes in smoking hot, having swept Seattle right out of town in four ... The Red Sox are not only tied for the wild card with Oakattle (Sealand?), but have crept to within five games of New York in the East ... Boston has sold out its last 33 home dates ...
* Curmudgeonly Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe doesn't buy the underdog role in which the Sox have cast themselves ... Shaughnessy: "The Red Sox clearly are one of the most talented units in the American League...Time to outfit the fellas with No Excuse jeans" ...
* Speaking of hot, my Andujar preseason pick, David Ortiz, has turned on the power as he's finally settled into his niche with the club ... Look out, Jays: The tall slugger has homered in three straight games, and four of five ...
* Manny Ramirez is on a tear, and is on a six-game hitting streak (.435) ... He checks in tonight at a cool 319/421/579, with 82 walks and 79 strikeouts ... Enjoying his sixth straight 30-homer season, Ramirez became the first Boston player to turn the trick in each of his first three seasons with the club since Jimmie Foxx ... Manny suffered a bizarre brain cramp on Saturday. Ramirez broke for second on a 3-2 pitch to Ortiz, who drew a walk on the pitch. In the course of running, Ramirez' batting helmet flew off; when Manny calmly ambled over to pick up his lid, the Mariners easily picked him off ... Kevin Millar has christened Ramirez "Big Dog" -- and frankly, he's more deserving of the appellation than Glenn Robinson ...
* Tonight's opponent, Tim Wakefield, recently expressed his perspective on pitch counts: As a pitcher (albeit a knuckleballer), Wakefield says that he feels much more exhausted to throw 90 pitches in, say, five innings, than if he were to throw 100 pitches or more over a complete game ... "If I'm in a game, and it's three up and three down, and I get a chance to come in and rest, I feel a lot better at 100 pitches than if I'm in a game where I go to full count a lot of times. In that type of game, I'm wiped out" ...
* With Pedro Martinez's inflamed throat, Grady Little has been able to re-jigger his lineup to best face the Yankees this weekend: Lowe, Pedro and Wakefield ...
* Johnny Damon has regained his spot at the top of the potent Red Sox lineup with his 318/406 performance in August ...
* Trot Nixon, enjoying a superb season, has slumped at the plate a bit in August (.197) ... The one thing keeping him from being a complete star player: He doesn't have "splits," he has an abyss ... 327/418/625 vs. righties, 203/273/354 vs. lefties ... He continues to supply the Red Sox with excellent right field defence, which is particularly important at Fenway Park ...
* Bill Mueller keeps chugging along at 328/404/561 ...With 40 doubles (!) and 16 home runs, he's smashed through his career highs of 29 and 10, respectively ... With four more of Bill's bombs, the Red Sox will tie the record of seven 20-homer men -- shared by the '96 Orioles and, of course, the 2000 Jays ...
* Tomorrow's opponent, Jeff Suppan, finally came through with a respectable outing on Friday night, allowing just six Seattle baserunners in 6 2/3 innings of work ... Otherwise, he's been a disaster since his acquisition at the deadline, getting shelled by the Angels, Orioles and Mariners ... A hopeful sign: Jason Varitek posited that Suppan's solid start was due to improved pitcher-catcher communications ... Suppan credited his success to changing speeds more often ...
* In Mike Timlin's last six outings, he's boasted the following line: 5 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K ...
* Jason Varitek continues to have excellent slugging for a catcher at .536 ... His 21st homer on Friday was a career high ...
* Nomar is slugging .553 and is coming off back-to-back three-hit games ... He's struck out only 49 times, while registering 67 extra-base hits, including 12 triples ... He's scored 100 runs or more in each of his six full seasons ...
* Scott Williamson has yet to be used in the "closer" role, as the Sox continue to go to Byung-Hyun Kim to finish ballgames ...
Williamson did, however, strike out Bret Boone with the tying run in scoring position in Friday's seventh inning ...
* For his part, Kim has been shaky in August with a 6.00 ERA ... Impatient Sox fans loudly booed Kim for blowing saves against both Oakland and Seattle ... Kim might have coughed up Friday night's game, too, had Nixon not robbed Ben Davis of a home run at the short wall in right ... Then again, Kim might have slammed the door on Saturday afternoon had Nixon not lost a Mark McLemore fly ball in the sun in the ninth ...
* Todd Walker's performance over his last seven games (.333) has raised his post-All-Star numbers to a mere 225/268/326 ... His reinsertion into the #2 hole has sparked his recent hot play ... But Peter Gammons reports that J.P. turned down the Bosox' request for Mike Bordick as a potential replacement ... Damian Jackson has not been serviceable as a backup at 250/283/317, and he's been caught in four of his last six steal attempts ... Jackson sprained a ligament in one of his fingers during a headfirst slide last Wednesday ... Walker: "When you get moved around, your first instinct is to do too much...I just have to get back to what I was doing, which was pulling the ball to the right side with a guy on second and no outs, and moving guys over and doing my job" ...
* Casey Fossum was sent back to Pawtucket after his spot-start victory over Oakland last Thursday, to be replaced by long reliever Bronson Arroyo ... Arroyo tossed three shutout innings in yesterday's matinee in his Bosox debut ...
* Try as he might, Derek Lowe has not yet solved the blister problem on his pitching thumb ... He left Sunday's game in the eighth after his blister recurred, despite pitching an economical gem at the time ...
* Be careful what you do in front of a camera: The Fenway Park video board operators have become fond lately of playing a home-video clip of a teenaged Kevin Millar rocking out to "Born In The U.S.A." in lip-synch -- complete with gyrations ... Like the Rally Monkey at Edison Field, the Red Sox have been winning games when the clip is played -- including Saturday, when Millar himself ripped a double just out of Mike Cameron's grasp to score the winning run in the tenth ... The clip has since been dubbed "Rally Karaoke" ... "I'm a pretty big dork," admitted Millar ...
* Legendary Red Sox radio man Ken Coleman passed away last week at age 78 ... Not only was he the voice of the Bosox, but a driving force behind the club's successful "Jimmy Fund" for cancer research ...


Probable Batting Orders

vs. LH

8 Damon
5 Mueller
6 Garciaparra
7 Ramirez
3 Millar
DH Varitek
9 Kapler
2 Mirabelli
4 Jackson

vs. RH

8 Damon
4 Walker
6 Garciaparra
7 Ramirez
DH Ortiz
3 Millar
9 Nixon
5 Mueller
2 Varitek

Pitching Probables

Tuesday: RH Wakefield vs. Hendrickson
Wednesday: RH Suppan vs. Halladay

Bullpen Usage

Long: Arroyo R
Short: Timlin R, Jones R, Sauerbeck L
Setup: Embree L, Williamson R
Closer: Kim R
Advance Scout: Red Sox, August 26-27 | 24 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Coach - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 05:25 PM EDT (#93621) #
Manny suffered a bizarre brain cramp on Saturday.

There is nothing bizarre about Manny suffering a brain cramp. But he looks good lately -- got a haircut, and his uniform fits. What gives?

Kevin Millar has christened Ramirez "Big Dog"

Pedro calls him "El Muchacho" -- the Boy.

Impatient Sox fans loudly booed Kim for blowing saves against both Oakland and Seattle.

Kim probably wants to start. If you're a reluctant closer, you're going to have some bad games. Isn't Williamson having back spasms or some other twinge that's affecting his workload?
_Shane - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 05:31 PM EDT (#93622) #
I'm late on the circuit today, so forgive me if...

TWINS BLOCK POTENTIIAL DEAL FOR ESCOBAR
A's still on the prowl for Mulder's replacement
By Mark Saxon, STAFF WRITER

TORONTO -- The A's remain on the lookout for a veteran starting pitcher to replace injured Mark Mulder, but one of their options just went out the window.

The Blue Jays had placed Kelvim Escobar on waivers to find out if they could trade him. But when the Minnesota Twins tried to claim Escobar on Monday, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi pulled him back, two baseball sources said. That means the A's have to scratch Escobar off their wish list.

Escobar was the A's No.1 target and it appears they're not close to finding another good fit.

"There's not a whole lot out there," A's general manager Billy Beane said.


It's not really news, but, if it weren't out there earlier, now it is. (And if it was "out there" and I missed it, and i'm sorry)
Coach - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 05:45 PM EDT (#93623) #
News to me, Shane. Thanks. More and more, I think Kelvim will take a three year deal as a free agent (maybe for less than he thinks) and the Jays will settle for draft picks.

I wish there was a public source of waiver-wire information, not just anonymous "sources". We rely on leaks and guesses to know who was exposed, who cleared, who blocked and who was withdrawn. It's a fascinating time of year.
Gitz - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 05:52 PM EDT (#93624) #
I'd really like somebody, anybody -- even, say, Mick or Moffatt -- to explain Bill Mueller's 2003 season.
Gitz - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 05:56 PM EDT (#93625) #
Oh and my vote for most-feared-non-Barry Bonds/God-hitter: Manny Ramirez. Dude's awesome. Find me a weakness, because I haven't seen one -- as a hitter, that is. His base-running and fielding gaffes shouldn't detract from his value as a slugger.
_Shrike - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:12 PM EDT (#93626) #
As is quite common, I agree emphatically with John re: Ramirez. He hit an impressive home run in the game I saw at Safeco to dead center.

Oh, and what does everyone think of the Giles trade? Personally, I believe if you're going to part with a top-10 NL hitter, you should obtain an excellent young bat to go along with Perez, who truly is an exceptional young pitcher. To my mind, Bay falls short of this standard given his relatively advanced age (24). Ironically, this makes him somewhat similar to Giles' late start in the bigs.

If JP gets some good picks as compensation for Escobar signing elsewhere, I'll be quite happy; but the Blue Jays' budget should have plenty of room to sign a #2 starter. Someone like Ted Lilly won't cut the mustard in my opinion. If they have any faith in Lidle turning it around, though, they probably could re-sign him at a cut rate. . .

Just some musings from the Left Coast.
_Shane - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#93627) #
Hey, I live in Canada, so to some extent I have to enjoy hockey, even if i'm forced to...So with that, I place a slight hijack.

A new General Manager hits Toronto, he's the new kid in school and nobody likes him, sound familiar?

"Ricciardi isn't man for the job"
"Buck is safe because Ricciardi needs a shield"
"GM Ricciardi: Is he a genius or just lucky?"
"Jays boring? Blame the GM"

Or, if you're John Ferguson Jr. hittin Canada's capital and you haven't even been announced, but the non-biased paper selling media have already strewn out:

"Youngster to become next GM"
"Looks like the same old Leafs"
"New GM is doomed to failure"
and
"Welcome to Loserville"

Ahh, you know your columnist's don't ply their trade in Houston, Kansas City, or St. Louis with these ditties. We like our blood and we like it before we even know what the hell we're talking about.

Thank you
_Mick - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:41 PM EDT (#93628) #
First, on the lad B-Kim, the day he was traded to Boston my first thought was "Uh-oh ... that's Calvin Schiraldi waiting to happen." Schiraldi, for you youngsters, was on the most supremely talented young hurlers of the mid-1980's -- no, I really don't believe that's an overstatement -- who was destroyed by the 1986 postseason, mentally, and subsequently never made it past the psychological wall Boston fans can build that dwarfs the ol' Green Monster.

If Kim had been a Red-Sock (always wondered about that, grammatically speaking) when he gave up the two miracle home runs in the '01 Series, he's be in Toledo by now. (Oh, and Schiraldi also wanted to start -- and the next year he did. Poorly.)

Second, on this:
"There's not a whole lot out there," A's general manager Billy Beane said.
Good Lord, people, has nobody, anywhere heard of John Thomson? This guy has been one of the top five or six pitchers in the A.L. over his last dozen starts. He's cheap, he's in a contract year, the Rangers would deal him for a B-minus pitching prospect ... I just don't understand how they're not being swamped with offers.

Finally, Gitz, I have an extremely simple explanation for Bill Mueller: "1996 Brady Anderson Lite."
_Mick - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:42 PM EDT (#93629) #
The Schiraldi descriptor should have been "... one of the most supremely talented ..."

Glad I don't make mistaked in posting very ofte
Pepper Moffatt - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 06:58 PM EDT (#93630) #
http://economics.about.com
I'd really like somebody, anybody -- even, say, Mick or Moffatt -- to explain Bill Mueller's 2003 season.

Advisor: Unfair trade practices?
Advisor: Mushy-headed one-worlders in Washington?
Advisor: Some sort of gypsy curse?

Mike
Pepper Moffatt - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 07:22 PM EDT (#93631) #
http://economics.about.com
To be honest, Gitz, my guess would be that it's a combination of:

a) A career year
b) Moving to Fenway

Mueller is a great doubles hitter and there's not many parks better for it than Fenway. He's got 27 at home and 13 on the road. Last year his road OPS was 788, this year it is 888 (+100). Last year his home OPS was 706, this year it is 1037 (+331).

He's a prime example of why you have to consider component park factors when looking at a player. Imagine if Fredd Lynn had started in Anaheim then went to Fenway. Same deal here.

Mike
Pepper Moffatt - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 07:23 PM EDT (#93632) #
http://economics.about.com
Disclaimer: I don't think OPS is a good guide to a player's value. Just using it here as a very, very rough metric.

Mike
robertdudek - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 09:47 PM EDT (#93633) #
I'd really like somebody, anybody -- even, say, Mick or Moffatt -- to explain Bill Mueller's 2003 season.

Ballpark well suited to his talents and a career year. He's doing everything he usually does, only more of it.
Gitz - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 09:59 PM EDT (#93634) #
Thanks, Robert. Mystery cleared up. (/sarcasm)

I think it's pretty obvious he's having a career year; I was being tongue-in-cheek, mainly. Otherwise, in no way do I ask Moffatt for his opinion.
_Pat Tabler - Tuesday, August 26 2003 @ 11:59 PM EDT (#93635) #
I'd really like somebody, anybody -- even, say, Mick or Moffatt -- to explain Bill Mueller's 2003 season.

Good pitching beats good hitting every time.

Wait a minute, wrong page in my cliche handbook. Here we go.

Good hitting is contagious.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 12:24 AM EDT (#93636) #
http://economics.about.com
. Otherwise, in no way do I ask Moffatt for his opinion.

Makes sense. I mean, you know I'm going to tell you what it is anyway, so why bother asking?

Besides the fact your use of the term "even" made your intentions pretty obvious to me. They don't just let *anyone* into PhD programs, you know!

Mike
_Not the real Mi - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 03:40 AM EDT (#93637) #
Did I mention that I have an About.com Economics page???
I also think I am pretty...*blush*...did I mention I am tall?

Did you ever notice that the posters that actually have interesting things to say don't include their private and About.com lives??

Seriously....
Gitz - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 03:49 AM EDT (#93638) #
Good grief, I just read the Shauggghghggnnggesay reference up above. Do the Red Sox seriously consider themselves underdogs? Player-for-player, they're as good as the Yankees. Their payroll is over $100 million, they have three of the best players in the major-leagues, they've added payroll and considerable talent throughout the season, and they play in one of the most historic venue in all of baseball. There's the George W. Bush spin cycle fantastique, then there's the nonsense that the Red Sox are underdogs.
Mike D - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 11:16 AM EDT (#93639) #
Well put all around, Gitz. I really think that you and I should square off against Burley and Moffatt on a special baseball-only edition of "Crossfire." With Moffatt on the panel, it'll be plenty telegenic enough.

Gold star for John Gizzi for doing his assigned reading!
Craig B - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 12:07 PM EDT (#93640) #
you and I should square off against Burley and Moffatt on a special baseball-only edition of "Crossfire."

Me? What point of view could I possibly represent? Edmund Burke died like, 200 years ago. If I were on Crossfire, they'd paint me green and sit me in a corner facing the wall with the dunce cap on my head.
Gitz - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 12:12 PM EDT (#93641) #
How'd I get dragged into this?
_Edmund Burke - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#93642) #
Speak for yourself, Gizzi.
Gitz - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#93643) #
Or at least stop speaking TO yourself, Gizzi.

(Need life. Badly.)
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 09:04 PM EDT (#93644) #
http://economics.about.com
Well put all around, Gitz. I really think that you and I should square off against Burley and Moffatt on a special baseball-only edition of "Crossfire."

No dice. I know better than to get into fights I can't possibly win. Even with Burley's help I wouldn't stand a chance.

With Moffatt on the panel, it'll be plenty telegenic enough.

You're confusing relative and absolute measures. Even if I'm more attractive than y'all, I've still got a face for radio. My own girlfriend thinks I look like an elf.

So, how 'bout those Expos?

Mike
Advance Scout: Red Sox, August 26-27 | 24 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.