If you just told the truth, Red Sox fans would’ve brought you back with open arms. Now, how can we co-exist without thinking that you lied about using steroids.

This team is so much better than they are playing. So much better. But you have to question their ability to mold dominant pitchers for this frail staff.

Think about it: Under John Hart or Mark Shapiro, when have major league baseball teams ever been scared of this team’s rotation?

Although very dominant in the late 90′s, could you really feel overwhelmed against a pitching staff with Charles Nagy and Jared Wright? Is there a future core of your rotation when you rotate mid-30′s post-nasty pitchers through the revolving doors of Jacobs Field.

Chuck Finley? Dwight Gooden? Orel Hershisher?

The point I want to make is that the evolution of Mark Shapiro’s Indians replicate the same team setup as with the dominant Indians’ teams of the last decade of the 20th century. A lot of hitting, a solid defensive infield, 3-4-5 power, and the 5-tool face of the franchise ( currently injured ).

Something is Missing!

Two key things are missing from this Indians team from the one ten years back. One thing is two bullpen automatics. When Manny was at the plate in Cleveland, any lead the lineup around him produced was mightily protected by Jose Mesa and Mike Jackson. Even other notable relievers like Eric Plunk and Paul Assenmacher had good stuff to shut teams down after the 6th inning.

Although the Indians have added Kerry Wood to supplement Betancourt and the rest of the bullpen, the history of the post-Hart Indians could be summed up in 5 words:

Joe Borowski & Bob Wickman

This team never really tried to get just one good reliever to glue this bullpen together, and the truly talented pieces ( Like Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez) have been pitched so many innings that one has to wonder if their struggles the last 365 days could be due to fatigue.

The 2nd thing that Shapiro is doing differently is that he has not brought in the right veteran role players around their young players.

Veterans

Julio Franco, Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser, Tony Pena Sr., Alvaro Espinosa. From 1996-2000, these guys played a great role for helping the Indians win, and bringing a veteran influence into the clubhouse. These guys have won, and these guys were very professional.

Matt Lawton, Lou Merloni ( sorry to pick on you buddy ), Paul Byrd, Jose Hernandez, Kenny Lofton. Other than Quickie Kenny, their role players didn’t have the same grit, the same history, the Hall of Fame sweat that some of the other veterans on the Hart teams.

When their young talent gets injured, have development issues, or get overwhelmed, you need those solid veterans to pick up the slack ( and be somewhat still productive ). You can’t just add veterans because they have major league service. Getting Trot Nixon and Aaron Boone at the midnight of their careers doesn’t help, especially considering they didn’t produce over 20 homeruns and 90 RBI’s COMBINED during their tenure ( and that was over 200 games played ).

The current team is talented. But like the sheltered intellectual kid who goes off to college, gets too wild, and ends up in their own puke, the Cleveland Indians find themselves in a putrid mess.

The End of the Beginning of the End

In the end, they can save themselves for next year. Hell, they probably can make a mini-run this year. They have the talent. But they need management to hold on to this core, and add some arm depth and gritty vets to bring this team back to dominance.

During his wedding, his bodyguards are shooting at the cockroach papparazzi, and now, a guy who owes Tom Brady money for stealing flower planters next to the QB’s Beantown condo is panhandling on the streets to recoup the payment.

TB is a fucking don. He’s fucking untouchable. Well, as long as he doesn’t have a collapsed lineman twist his leg in half.

I was hanging out at a bar and had seen the beautiful Kim Kardashian on ESPN with Reggie Bush. There was no audio, but the captions and the graphics gave way that the feature was whether Bush’s future wife, or his teammate Bobby Mccray.

I was upset only because these media outlets are moving so much to combining content ( especially content that is “advertising” for their networks and/or media partnerships ), that it is permeating through true sports content.

Yes, Reggie Bush plays for the team that was playing on Monday Night. Yes, the network probably had this feature in the works before the injury, and was going to use this as a supplement to their analysis.

But, MNF pre-game, although very hard to extend the attention span of sports viewers for an hour of analysis these days, should be no prime ground for these celebrity features.

The sad part is, I contradicted my own argument when I had an argument with a friend over why Maxim’s content scheme works. These media outlets are losing money all over the place. The advertising coin is drying up on paper and on the internet. The business models, new and old, aren’t squeezing out the revenue.

Many content networks are hitting the lowest-common denominator with showcasing celebrities, beautiful women, mainstream music and movies, and reality TV reviews. These are the types of things that creates an audience on the internet.

If you don’t believe me, write an article on the zone blitz and how the Pittsburg Steelers will be less/more successful from it, then write an article on Kim Kardashian. What article did you read when you first came to my site. I know which one you did. I rest my case.

At the same time, you can’t gave that type of content interfering in what I believe is a very important piece of sports entertainment: the MNF pre-game show. Maybe I’m wrong, but I was hoping to see more on Brees chances to win MVP, and not a game on whether Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush bond better than his teammates.

Can’t knock the video. Great feature, I’m a sucker for sports-celebrity realtionships ( Toni Braxton-Curtis-Martin anyone?), and Kim is great to look at.

Speaking of eye candy, where is Bonnie Bernstein?

U n t i l   N e x t   T i m e   O l d   F r i e n d . . .

It was to come to pass. Coco Crisp, having the gold glove talent with two slow-pokes on each side of a big outfield, having the pesky bat to get key base hits and a little bit of pop, having the speed to keep the pitcher’s left eye occupied, needs to be a starter.

He made incredible plays in the outfield, he handled the bat and the bags well when healthy, and he put his best out for the Red Sox Nation. He asked that for his accolades, he should be the primary center fielder. And the Red Sox couldn’t do it, with their young stud Jacoby Ellsbury in the wings.

And so another great piece of the Red Sox dynasty moves on to different pastures, freeing the spot for ( hopefully ) a greater piece to get us back to the promise land. Along with Manny Ramirez, Alan Embree, Julian Tavarez, Bartolo Colon, and Dave Roberts, Crisp is the last of the remnants of the dominant late-90′s early 21st century Cleveland Indian teams. Those were the days…

Covelli Loyce Crisp, have fun in Kansas City, and make Red Sox Nation proud. Get healthy, and get some more pop in your bat. Make us feel sorry that we let you go. Because many of us Red Sox fans are going to bed tonight with a little bit of something in our eyes. Many of us will go to sleep knowing that there will be something missing when spring trainings begins anew. It won’t be Manny Ramirez, although his departure has been highly detailed by the media.

Many of us Red Sox fans will be rooting for you. Our eyes and minds will deceive us as we go into a confused daze seeing you on an opposing team. We will give you a standing ovation when you return to Fenway Park. You will smile, and probably gesture to the crowd. We will forget, just for a few seconds, that you are no longer hitting the homeruns for the Nation, and dream that your timely hit will start-up our sluggish offense.

As we sit back down from the frenzied welcome, we will remember where the lines are drawn, and we will hope that you don’t beat us with a slice in the left-center gap. Okay, maybe just one. But we have the Yankees, The Rays, and The Blue Jays to confront in the coming weeks. Try not to be hard on us on your heroic return to Landsdowne St.

Red Sox fans tonight will dream of the past, and the future will come soon enough. Baseball always seems to come around early. So let us celebrate now in the cold dark Massachusetts winter, and give tribute to one hell of a baseball player. Coco, we wish you the best. The morning of November 20th, 2008, I give this time for you. Paz.

Larry Lucchino & Friends

You would think that Larry Lucchino, Werner, and John Henry would’ve done something better for their fans, but they have instead opted to gouge their fans wallets as the recession looms over the world economy.

“We have been listening to fans, friends, and family about the challenges they are facing in light of the current adverse economic conditions,”

- Larry Lucchino, CEO, Boston Red Sox

Hahaha!! You were listening to the fans, during the worse conditions in the financial system since the Great Depression, and you decided to throw the Red Sox Nation a bone by NOT RAISING PRICES?

…We hope our ownership’s decision to hold prices for the upcoming season will in some way help ease the burden on Red Sox Nation.”

- Larry Lucchino

The Red Sox brass hope to “ease the burden” of families losing their homes, losing their jobs, and losing their savings, by keeping the most expensive ticket and total entertainment cost in the entire league? This is the equivalent to a supermarket not having any sales so can feed your family easier during hard times. What type of bullshit logic is that?

WEEI Minions, Attack!

Adding to the Red Sox report, ownership sent out memos to their radio media hounds ( for this paragraph I will use the example of “Dale and Holley Show on WEEI”) to cheer-lead the ticket price freeze for 2009.

Michael Holley, and I give him great respect for his ability to see multiple sides of stories, was so zealous in defending the actions of the team ( remember, WEEI is owned by the Red Sox, and seldom you will hear anything against Red Sox ownership, if ever ).

One caller had talked about working with a company that uses some extra money to buy season tickets for its executives, and that this year the economic squeeze has forced them to pass on the tickets. The caller, I’ll name him “Joe” since I forgot his name, had said that he could foresee the Red Sox attendance sellout record cease in 2009 if these tickets stand at this price.

Holley had continually stated that the Red Sox don’t have to lower ticket prices, and that fans will continue to buy seats for the games. Joe the caller asked if the Red Sox should try to lower them to help fans, and Holley replied that the Red Sox should only make decisions which are in their best interests, as do all businesses.

Logical, but is this a type of answer you give to a fan on an afternoon radio show who won’t be able to see Red Sox games next year because of a tightening economy? Not saying Holley was wrong, but his words were clearly influenced by whatever the Red Sox are going to tell him. Holley even tried to slam the ticket price cost index, saying that the Yankees “hide” certain luxury prices to keep their index down.

Throughout all of this, the conversation turned NOT to the Red Sox enormous ticket prices, but to the expensive parking arrangements around the stadium. Both Holley and Dale Arnold were up in arms about how $40 parking kills the Red Sox fans wallets, and not the $100 ticket prices. Hmmm…

NFL & New Jersey Nets Play Robin Hood on Themselves

Clearly, the same day Michael Holley and Dale Arnold were unzipping Red Sox ownership’s pants, the NFL had announced that all of their playoff tickets would be reduced by 10% to help struggling fans buy tickets for important games. This even makes more sense, since most regular season tickets for many teams are already sold out.

“Our belief right now is let’s invest in people who might invest in us later. In doing so, we can help people who need it most.”

-Nets chief executive Brett Yormark

Doesn’t this sound like ownership that actually cares about the fan base? In addition, he is sending out resumes to other companies and corporate sponsors! Both the Nets decision and the NFL’s decision showcase good foresight, and a great sense of goodwill, for people who will need it during these hard times.

For the Red Sox to come out with their media megaphone to suggest apathy as the best remedy, without any ethical incentive to help their fans, clearly show they are not keeping up with their fan base.

Looking At The Greener Grass

Some might say its because the fans that can afford the ticket prices are the most affluent ( the ones who buy the luxury boxes, and the media outlets, corporations etc. ), it makes little sense to turn down prices since this base has money regardless of economic conditions. In the book Baseball Between the Numbers
, a quote by sports economist Allan Sanderson sums up the viewpoint of high-priced baseball ticket sales:

“Certainly, people in the upper half of the income distribution the last twenty years have done quite well. Those in the lower ranks have not, but those are not the ones going to sporting events.”

With the recession looming, it seems that the Red Sox are fine with forcing Red Sox nation to keep up with the Joneses. As more have-nots join the ranks on the not-so-green-side in sports enthusiasm, when will the Red Sox understand that although sports has survived other recessions and depressions, that the fortitude of sporting popularity was defined by the common fan and cheap seats throughout history ( see: Baseball Between the Numbers Again).

If the Sox take a chance on the elite portion of sport enthusiast, and continually alienate more of the people that enjoy their team and sport, they risk losing the people that truly love them. When the sellout streak ends, and empty seats start fluttering around Fenway Park, I do hope Larry Lucchino and Friends reflect on the time they turned their back on the Boston faithful.

]]> http://redsoxmaniac.com/2008/11/18/ticket-prices-during-the-recession-why-the-nfl-nets-prevail-over-red-sox/feed/ 3 http://redsoxmaniac.com/2008/10/11/why-jon-lester-is-a-mazing/ http://redsoxmaniac.com/2008/10/11/why-jon-lester-is-a-mazing/#comments Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:19:25 +0000 maniac http://redsoxmaniac.com/?p=123

I’m going to call it right now: AL Cy Young 2009!

Barring that no other pitcher wins 23 games with a 2.30 ERA ( That goes for you Cliff Lee! ).

His growth over the last six weeks has been mystifying. Many people are in awe of how well he has done, but I don’t believe there are many people who notice how much he is coming into his own as a pitcher. His style, his mechanics, his stuff, and his poise, all have risen dramatically during this Red Sox run, and I just had to rant about what I am seeing before my innocent brown eyes.

His Location: I can remember last season where it was very damning on my patience to watch this kid throw. He never got the inside location down, would constantly throw the curve as his out pitch, and kept so many pitches either around the plate or way off of it that he accumulated so many walks. On top of that, because Lester’s stuff was so good, hitters would just protect and constantly foul off his pitches, wearing down his arm. He relied too much on his “out” pitch ( which was an above-average curve ), instead of going after hitters and forcing the ball to be put in play.

Lester’s location NOW is completely off the charts. He spots his fastball well, he throws enough strikes to force hitters to protect and jam-up on his cut, he uses his cutter to backdoor on righties, jam righties, and put the ball in play, and he rarely ( and I mean Rarely ) misses Varitek’s target.

In the at-bat against Mark Texeira in game four late in the game, his location not only made him unhittable against the most sought-after hitter in the American League, but Lester made Texeira’s entire at-bat futile. It culminated to when the umpire didn’t give him the strike three call on a pitch barely off the outside edge. The fans were irate, Lester skipped in dismay off the mound, simultaneously in excitement of the expectation of a call, and exasperation that his strike-zone against the All-Star hitter was shrunken.

Didn’t matter, for he threw a cut-fastball that snipped just an inch closer than the last pitch, and Texeira goes down in shock. In shock because it seemed outside, and maybe moreso because he was helpless against a pitcher who was at his peak for nearly the entire game.

His Cut-Fastball: A lot of pitchers are becoming more dangerous as they utilize the cut-fastball to its full potential: to jam the hitter, keep the ball from going deep, keep the hitter from moving over the plate.

Lester has not only used his cut to deplete the right-handers ability to hit the outside fastball, but he has been making come-backers to the mound almost a predictable action in every game he has pitched. Not only are hitters overmatched by the pitch, but it almost seems impossible to even hit this pitch out of the infield.

He has honed this pitch into a dangerous weapon, and his command of his straighter fastball keeps hitters honest and from guessing a strike on the inside corner. His inside dominance keeps the outside corner innocent, therefore making him almost impossible to stand in the box comfortably.

His Peak Consistency: What had killed Lester early in his career was not only his problems locating his pitches, but having problems getting into grooves and holding them. There would be glimpses of dominance, and then a recession as he loses control, gives up a pitch over the plate, or tosses too many pitches to one batter without getting him out.

Over the last couple of months, whether it be because of confidence or a better game plan between the Lester/Varitek battery, he has been able to consistently keep his stuff, and control it for pretty much the whole game.  In the entire of month of September, he had one, just one, bad inning. And in that game, against the Toronto Blue Jays, he still pitched seven innings.

What is truly amazing about his growth is how harder he is throwing now, then he had in his entire career.

In the two starts against the Angels ( especially in his last start ), he was hitting the corners exquisitely pumping out 93-95, and peaking at 97-98. That, my friend, is something I have never saw come from Lester’s arm, and I am amazed at how commanding he can be throwing that fast. This can be a stretch, but he has that Randy Johnson style where he can locate such a fast pitch. The difference is his pitch-count efficiency is better since he tries to get the ball in play on changing-up his fastball and cutting the fastball down-and-in. But in the fashion by which he dominated the Angels, am I wrong to make a little bit of a comparison?

It may be that he saved his best for the stretch run in the playoffs. Or it could be that he is becoming stronger, more dominant, more poised to be the new ace for the Sox in 2009. If the Lester we have been seeing over the last month, then we will have a superstar on our hands not which has been seen since the dominant Pedro era.

Will the real John Lester please stand up? We have some future Cy Young awards we would like to give you.