12eight

Today's Game Hat

(Old-school NYPL Lowell Spinners cap)

PREGAME
It's sweeps week here at Sunday Game Blog.

Not only are the Red Sox attempting to polish off a sweep of the Minnesota Twins and win their fifth straight game, not only is it the trade deadline, not only will Manny be sitting for the second straight game while rumors swirl, but we'll have our second ever SGB Major League Debut.  It's a doozy, too, as top Red Sox pitching prospect Jon Papelbon will get the start against Brad Radke.  In his honor, the Game Hat today will be the c.1996 Lowell Spinners cap.

Jon Papelbon was drafted in 2003, in the 4th round, out of Mississippi State University.  He was a reliever at MSU, but the Red Sox decided to convert him to starter, with fantastic results.

YEAR   Aff.     IP    W  L  ERA   K   BB   WHIP   HR
2003   Lowell   32.2  1  2  6.34  36  9    1.59   2
2004   Sarasota 129.2 12 7  2.64  153 43   1.08   6
2005   Portland 87    5  2  2.48  83  23   0.94   9

Papelbon was promoted to AAA Pawtucket on July 4th, where he's gone 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA, 21 K's, and only 2 walks.

It's unknown how long Papelbon will e with the Red Sox, and there are a few factors in play.  The first is the severity of Matt Clement's injury; it's currently believed that Clement will miss only a single start, but these things can change.  The suspension of David Wells is another factor, as he will have to serve it soon enough.  Finally, there is still really no conclusive word on Wade Miller; if the shoulder stiffness that held him out of Friday's game is any more serious than was reported, Jon Papelbon could be in Boston for longer than a single start.

In addition to Papelbon's debut, the trade deadline is today.  Obviously most of the discussion for the Sox has of late centered around Manny Ramirez, nearly to the exclusion of all other news (which if you ask me is more of a team distraction than any of Manny's antics, but... who asks me?)  I'll try to monitor the message boards throughout the game and report on any rumors that pop up which might either involve or impact the Sox.

Also, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg will be inducted into the Hall of Fame today, along with Peter Gammons (who will receive the J.G. Spink Award).  Congratulations, especially to Wade and Peter.  Do you mind if I call you Wade and Peter?  No, because neither of you will ever read this.

Aside from Manny, no one is conspicuously absent from the early lineup announced by the Sox: Alex Cora gets the start at 2B.  While Millar plays left, Olerud remains at first batting cleanup (which I still fail to understand, but hey, it worked last night), and Gabe Kapler gets the start in right.  I don't know whether Jose Cruz, Jr., who the Red Sox acquired last night for two minor leaguers (Kenny Perez and Kyle Bono), is available.  According to MLB Gameday, he isn't.  I'm also uncertain what roster move will be made to accommodate him, though I'd imagine it will involve Adam Stern, as an odd man out.

First pitch, 2:05.  I'm very, very excited for this one.

PREGAME, Cont.
Okay, this has nothing to do with the Sox game, but I must share.  I've got the Jays game on, and it is Dog Day at Skydome, in which there is a special section set aside for people with dogs.  Jamie Campbell and whatever moron he has working with him today just had a miniature collie in the booth with them... wearing a headset.  I don't even know what to say.  I just hope a dog gets loose and pees on Hillenbrand.  Now back to your reguarly scheduled Game Blog.

Trade Deadline Update:
There's a rumor making the rounds that the Twins will spin Bret Boone, Kyle Lohse, and JC Romero to the Rangers for Alfonso Soriano.  If this is any indcation, Boone is not in the lineup today for the Twins.  Also, apparently the Mariners and Astros reacheda deal that would send Jamie Moyer to Houston, but Moyer nixed the deal as a 10/5 player.  No word on who the Astros were offering.  In addition, Gordon Eds is now suggesting that the Sox may go after Scott Eyre from SF, a lefty reliever with a good track record who's having a good year.  The Giants made a dal last night that sent Yorvit Torrealba, their backup C (And top 10 Pozo Award finalist) to Seattle with Jesse Foppert for Randy Winn; maybe Shoppach is headed West?

FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE PITCH BY JON PAPELBON:
Called strike to Shannon Stewart.  Welcome aboard, Jon.

After what might have been the single weirdest day I can remember as a Red Sox fan, a few things are now being made abundantly clear to me:

• Manny's not going anywhere.
• The reports about his unhappiness and - god how I loathe this word and it's now-ubiquitous usage - 'petulance' are VASTLY overrated.
• 75% of this controversy can be placed at the feet of Larry Lucchino and the media, eager to lap up any massive story that came their way (which I suppose I can't blame them for).  The 'Trade Manny' fan contingent merely fanned the already raging flames.
• The deals Theo was linked to were quite possibly 100% externally generated, and Theo strung them out to see if he could make someone make a mistake.  He was not at any point overwhelmed by an offer.
• And, in case anyone missed it, the Sox won a nice little game tonight, 6-2, to give us a 4 game win streak.

I have a long narrative in my head that would explain how all of this went down, and perhaps I'll share it at some point in the next couple weeks, once more information leaks out.

Until then though, and with Mannygate 2005 hopefully drawing to a merciful and uneventful conclusion, please stop in tomorrow for Sunday Game Blogging, which will feature an exciting debut as Jon Papelbon has been promoted to Boston and will square off against Brad Radke tomorrow at 2:05.  Manny Ramirez will play left field.  Probably.

As per WEEI moments before the game, Manny Ramirez was first announced, and then removed from the lineup tonight.  The official word from the Sox is that there is 'no trade to be announced at this time', and Mike Cameron and Aubrey Huff - two of the most rumored names - are in their teams' respective lineups.  I have no clu what is going on, neither does anyone else.  But a day before the trade deadline, when a player who has been actively shpped is removed from the lineup, it generaly means one thing and one thing only, he's been traded.

A few random things gleaned from the EEI broadcast, my father off the NESN broadcast,  and various websites:

• John Henry was sitting in his normal seats when the annuncement wasmade, and hurriedly got up to leave, suggesting he didn't know what as going on.
• Manny did not take BP with the team today.
• Various people have speculated tha Manny refused to play, which I almost completely dismiss, but... after the craziness of all this, who knows.
• Manny doen't appar to be on the bench.
• Every report leading up to the game had been saying tht the rumored 3-ay deal between the Mets, Rays, and So was dead.

Beyond that, I have no idea.  I'll update as soon as I hear anything.  And, to anyone who's reading who wasexpressing displeasure with Manny and hoping he was dealt, congratulations.  You've won.  Gloat over it while watching some other team in the World Series.

Yes, I'm extremely angry.

Update, 7:49pm: Kelly Shoppach is not in the Pawsox lineup tonight; Hanley Ramirez is in the Sea Dogs lineup.

Update, 8:09pm: According to a statement just released, after a meeting between Manny and Francona, Terry decided it was 'in the best interests of the club and the team' for Manny to sit today out.  There is no trade to announce.  That still seems bizarre to me, especially given that they could have just released that statement when they told us Manny was out, and letting us sit around and wonder certainly does nothing to calm down the situation.  But, what the hell do I know.  Bottom line, Manny is still a member of the Boston Red Sox, at least for now.  Good.

Another star Red Sox who had a slew of difficulties with fans and media who occasionally labelled him selfish is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend..

Congratulations, Wade.

Update: The House that Dewey Built has a wonderful short summation of Boggs career, check it out by all means (thanks for the link, Earl)

My column is up at Firebrand.  Go check it out here.

As per tomorrow's Providence Journal, the Red Sox are sending Adam Stern and Kelly Shoppach to Colorado for Larry Bigbie, who was acquired early today from the Orioles in exchange for Eric Byrnes.  So the full deal is as follows:

COL gets:
C Kelly Shoppach (BOS)
OF Adam Stern (BOS)

BOS gets:
OF Larry Bigbie (BAL)

BAL gets:
OF Eric Byrnes (COL)

Seems like a bit much to give up for Bigbie; Shoppach alone likely makes the Rockies winners in that deal, and the addition of Stern is only icing.  Stern will have to remain on the 25 man roster of the Rockies now, as the Rule V stuff transfers over in the trade.

Still, we got a serviceable ML outfielder for two minor league talents - I was not at all high on Stern, and Shoppach... we probably could have gotten more, but I'm guessing Theo had seen all the offers he was going to see, and wanted to turn him into something useful.  With Nixon going down, an OF bat became possibly the top priority.  This deal also opens up an additional spot on the 40 man roster; might that be filled by a player from a Manny deal?  There also remains the possibility that Bigbie wil be spun elsewhere, as his name has appeared in rumors linked to a number of clubs, Florida and Pittsburgh among them.

More and more teams keep popping up in connection with Manny. An article by Ken Rosenthal - whose articles should always be taken with as large a grain of salt as possible - names the Mets, Florida, Texas, and Toronto as potential trade partners, while the Angels, White Sox, and Tigers have also been mentioned.  I'm inclined to think that if there are four teams bidding here, something will get done.  I hope not, but this certainly feels like a major push.  We'll know by 4:30 Sunday.

Also, be sure to check in at Firebrand of the AL tomorrow for my guest column there; it will be - stunningly - about Manny and his potential deals.  I had some other ideas, but this kind of trumps playing with Excel spreadsheets.

Update: It appears that, as of mid-day Saturday, the Shoppach/Stern for Bigbie deal is dead.  Shoppach's name has surfaced in connection with Eddie Guardado, which is a deal I'd much rather see.  McAdam spoke about this deal as though it were as good as done last night; what happened in the interim?  Or did he just run with incomplete information?  Either way, it now looks likely that this will not happen.

According to EEI, Wade Miller's start has been given to Arroyo tonight, with Wells slotting in tomorrow.  It seems Mr. Miller is experiencing some shoulder stiffness.

This makes things interesting, in a bad way.  We're now down to three starters that we know will make their next starts; Arroyo, Wells, and Wake.  For all the noise that Clement is doing wonderfully and may only miss one start - if that - we don't know for certain... which likely means the Sox don't know for certain, as that's the kind of thing they'd rush to press.  If Miller's injury is serious, meaning he has to miss 4 starts or more, we're going to need a better rotation entry than Jeremeye Gonzalez, as much as I... don't dislike him.  Add to that Wells' upcoming suspension... and we may see Jon Papelbon sooner than expected.

Add to that Nixon's absence, which I'm betting will be for the rest of the season, and this team has holes the size of the one in the Geico commercial.  The deadline's 2 days away, but without sacrificing top prospects - and if the team does that, there goes the 'building for the future instead of panicking on the now' idea - how many pieces can we expect to actually receive?  We can trade Mueller/Youkilis, Kelly Shoppach, Alan Embree (until the end of the day), Kevin Millar, Adam Hyzdu/Gabe Kapler, Roberto Petagine, and any prospect not named Hanley, Dustin, Jon (x2), or Anibal.  You have to put Manny in that discussion as well, at this point, though I'd be legitimately stunned. Is that enough to swing a reasonable RF fill-in, an additional reliever, and at least one more solid starter?

I suppose it doesn't matter if it's enough; it'll have to be enough.  We need a starter, we could really use an OF, and a reliever - once the only thing we really needed - is now kind of relegated to the back burner.  This will be an interesting two days for Theo; here's hoping he can come out of it with an intact team.

I need to get some things off my chest about Manny Ramirez, but those things are not what you think.  They're not, in fact, even really about Manny himself.  Instead, they are about fan reactions to him.

See, here's the thing.  Red Sox fans are, by and large, completely insane.  Charmingly, wonderfully so, but insane nonetheless.  We are so emotionally tied to our team, we have such a deep passion for them and such a deep desire to see them as parts of our family, that we sometimes overstep ourselves.  Many of us are doing so right now, in the annual 'I'm Tired of Manny's Shtick' Midsummer Classic.

There are, as I see it, a few distinct but interrelated bits of Common Wisdom about Manny.  'He doesn't play fundamentals'.  'He's a space cadet'.  'He's introverted to a fault'.  'All he cares about is himself'.  'He's overpaid'.  'For the amount of money he makes, he should play harder'.  Now, whether or not any of these things are true, to me, is beside the point.  Can anyone tell me honestly that Manny hurts the team anywhere close to the amount that he helps it?  I dare you to try.  Half of this game is offense, and no one has defined, driven, and been more integral to the Sox' top-notch offense over the last several years than Manny Ramirez.  To me, that's a question with an easy answer.  This team is tremendous amounts better with Manny than without him.  I openly dare anyone to try to tell me that that statement is untrue.

Now, assuming no one actually tries to defend the indefensible side of that argument, let's move on the guts of the 'Manny being Manny' controversy.

There's still one level of American society in which baseball remains the National Pastime, and that is youth sport.  More American kids play little league baseball or youth softball than do soccer, basketball, football, or hockey.  It's played in backyards, too, from simple games of catch to marathon wiffle-ball tournaments to the simple image of a child throwing a ball against a wall until it's to dark to see and dinner's on the table.  Baseball becomes a metaphor for life sometimes; we teach our kids with it.  We teach them to give everything.  We teach them to be  team player.  We teach them to always have fun, and that how you play is more important than whether you win.  We teach them about honor and what it means.  And we like to have our superstars display the same characteristics.  We like to be able to go to the park, or turn on the TV or radio or streaming broadcast and say 'there's a guy who does all the things I'm teaching you to do, and that is where it got him.'

We like to believe that hard work and sacrifice are just as important, if not more so, than natural talent.  Work ethic, pulling one's self up by the bootstraps, is an idea tat is so deeply ingrained into the American psyche that it becomes hard to separate it and examine it.  Success without hard work seems unnatural and cheap; hard work without success is admirable, noble, and sacrificial.  These are often the lessons of little league, as they are of life.  We want these lessons to be reflected in our stars.  We want it badly.  We want the little guy to succeed because he just wanted it more, and we want the guy who never had to work at it to fail.  This is a morality play writ large; it's how we should live, vs. how we do live.  We want our stars to live up to that bargain; it's why American culture is so obsessed by celebrity.  We want validation.  We want to see ourselves in those that are larger than life.  We want our heroes to be projections of our belief systems, and are doubly angered when they fail in that august responsibility. 

The problem is, these people are not heroes.  Manny Ramirez isn't a hero.   He's a guy.  He has an interesting life story, to be sure, and in many ways it's a classic American rags-to-riches story, with one little hitch; he got to where he is, it seems, more because of natural talent than hard work.  For that, I think, a part of us wants to despise him.

It's the American Dream that says we can all succeed if we just try hard enough.  It's generally a fallacy, but it has immersed itself so deeply in this culture that its power remains unshakable.  Our morality play begins and ends with blood, sweat, and tears.  We see, in Manny, a man who gets to do daily something of which we all dream.  He is a major league baseball player.  That's a thing I dreamed of constantly.  It still is, to be honest.  My answer to the question 'what is your dream job' is still 'left-handed starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox'.  Manny Ramirez is intensely lucky in that regard, and we want him to validate our dreams by putting his gratitude on display.  We want him to play like he's thankful he's playing, we want him to run out every ground ball, div for every fly, sacrifice his body for the game, because it's what we think we'd do.  The problem is that not one little bit of that matters.

We are fans.  We follow a team; we follow them passionately.  Some of us spend way too long doing so, potentially at the expense of precious thesis-writing hours.  What do we want from that team?  The answer can vary, but there's one thing that remains at the base: we want them to win.  When they win, all is forgiven.  When Manny Ramirez hits a tie-breaking homer, we stand up and cheer, and we talk about how gifted he is and how amazing it is to watch him hit.

But we also have a double standard, don't we?  Because not only do we want them to win, we want them to win our way.  We want them to be home-grown kids who have a love of the game.  We want them to act thankful for the fact that they're there; to accept their salaries graciously and have those salaries serve as symbolic reminders more than simple remuneration. We want them to act like we would if, tomorrow, Theo Epstein called us and asked us to fill in in right field.

And that's why we hate Manny Ramirez, even while we love him.  We love him because, maybe more than anyone else in a Red Sox uniform, he helps our team win.  But we hate him because he seems to lack the humility and the grace we expect of someone who holds our dream job.  We want him to be a paragon, but he's just a guy.  If no one got paid to play baseball, would anyone over the age of 15 do so? Not many.  I say I would, but then there are bills sitting there that need paying.  We may hate to reduce a game that's almost a religion to the level of a job, but that really is what it is.  So on the one hand, we have a guy who does the thing we all dream of doing, and gets paid more money to do it than we'll ever see, and on the other, we see a guy who, through whatever lens we use to judge the game, doesn't try to live up to either the dream or the money.

Does it piss me off when he doesn't run out a ground ball?  Damn right it does.  Same with when he misses an easy fly ball, or gets nailed trying to turn a bloop single into a double.  And we all have every right to get mad about those things, because they are events that lessen our team's chance of winning.

Where some cross the line, however, is the point where those criticisms become indictments.  Somewhere along the line, disappointment starts to look like betrayal.  That's the point where we need to step back.  The life of a fan is a frustrating one; we don't play the game, or influence the team in any meaningful way on a personal level, yet we care.  They are the team, and we want them to care as we do.  We want to see fire like we see in ourselves.  And when we don't, rooting for them with that level of passion seems hollow.  Why do I care so much what Manny does when Manny doesn't seem to?

But that's not Manny's fault; it's ours.

We don't really know Manny Ramirez.  None of us do.  We think we do, because to us he's an image on a screen, or a line in the box score.  He's a baseball player, the epitome of our dreams.  But we don't know him.  We don't know what he wants, what he thinks, what he feels.  We don't know what's going through his mind when he faces down Mariano Rivera, or rounds first after a homer, or stands in left field, or runs to first after a ground ball.  In the end, does it matter?  For us, baseball is a game, a hobby, a passion, or a way of life.  For some baseball players it is too.  For others, it is a business, a job, a way of supporting their families.  Maybe that matters to us, but should it?  When Keith Foulke tells us that the thing he likes most about closing is the paycheck, we get angry, but how many of us haven't said the exact same thing about our jobs?  We may put spiritual meaning into baseball, but that doesn't mean the players have to.  They get paid to do a job. 

Manny's job is to play baseball, and to help the Red Sox win ballgames.  He does it extremely well.  That should be our only criteria; when we start applying our own motives to theirs, we'll be disappointed every time.

''He was kind of joking with her," Axelrod said. ''She said, 'All your runs scored.' He said, 'That figures.' He was worried about that." "

From the Glob this morning. Sounds like Matt's doing pretty well, and could be home-bound today.

As promised.

• First things first; Matt Clement's CT scan came back negative, so I think that qualifies as 'the best we could hope for'.  I hope Matt is recovering well, and that that recovery goes smoothly and quickly.  Best of luck/health, Matt.
• Trot Nixon has been diagnosed, via NESN, with a strained oblique.  I'm guessing 3 weeks minimum, 4 or 5 more likely.  Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery, Trot (though this one is a little more tinged with 'good for the team' than the mortal fear from the Clement injury).
• Manny Delcarmen's debut, I think, can be called an unqualified success; a swinging K of Johnny Gomes, followed by two groundouts - a 4-3 from Travis Lee and a 1-6-3 from Alex Gonzalez which - frighteningly - glanced off Delcarmen on the mound.  Luckily, it struck him in a rather more padded spot than the side of the head, if you get my meaning.  My meaning, of course, being that it hit him on the ass.  Congrats, Manny.  Here's hoping there are many more 1-2-3 innings in your future, and more symbolic ass-kickings than literal ones.
• Through all of that, the Red Sox appear to have actually won the game, their second extra-inning contest of the year (coming a day after the first).  A Damon homer and a Jason Varitek RBI double provided the (necessary) two-run cushion in the top of the tenth, and Schilling allowed only one run (hey, I'll take what I can get) in the bottom of the inning to seal the victory.  A Varitek homer, by the way, was also responsible for tying the game in the 9th, giving the Sox a chance to pull it out.

So, let's play GM for a second.  There are, it would seem, two possible situations.  The first is that only Nixon goes on the DL, th second is that both Clement and Nixon wind up there.  I'm also assuming no trades, though I imagine there will be at least one.

In situation 1, there are two options.  First is to play Hyzdu in right and call up either another reliever (presumably Abe Alvarez) while Gonzalez gets a shift in the rotation or Gabe Kapler as another 5th OF.  The second is to call up Kapler and have him split RF duties with Hyzdu and Stern for the duration.  Of these, the most likely to me is option A; Clement, regardless of whether he's DL'ed, will almost certainly miss a start, and the obvious fill-in, Gonzalez, would leave a hole in the pen.  Alvarez would fill it.

Situation 2 makes things more interesting.  DL'ing both Clement and Nixon means here are two roster holes; Alvarez is the obvious choice to fill one of them.  The other, though, is more problematic.  There's no one in the minors - Kapler included - who can fill that hole; Hyzdu or Kapler could replicate his defense adequately, but no where close to his offense.  But there is another option; Roberto Petagine.

What's that, you say?  Petagine is a first baseman?  That's true.  Which means we'd have to do something with our current 1B... who also happens to be an occasional OF.  So, here is what I propose; call up Roberto Petagine from Pawtucket, and put him at first.  Move Kevin Millar to right.  If he sucks, and Petagine doesn't, bench Millar and let Hyzdu or Kapler take over.  If he doesn't suck, leave him there.  But Petagine is the only way to maintain the offensive ability of the lineup, and frankly I'll take the defensive downgrade over the offensive one.  Plus, if Millar in right is an absolute disaster, the replacements are right there on the bench.  To me, this is the most reasonable option. Is it the most likely?  Probably not.  But I'd like to see them try.

Update: The more I read about this game, the more it screams 'potential turning point'.  It was apparently an amazing game, and we apparetly clawed bck, and I'm apparently really mad I missed the last 4 innings of it.  But, if it oes in fact become one of those mythic 'turning points' - which I'm not sure I really believe in - I wanted to say it now so I can link back to this post and look prescient.