We’re trying a new segment today on WGS—unless it’s horrendous, in which case the author will be beaten mercilessly, in public, and then exiled out of the city via catapult. It’s called Ask the Doc.
You see, whenever I have a question concerning an injury to a local athlete, there’s only one guy I turn to: Dr. Eric Fornari, Orthopedic Surgery Resident at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Fornari was lucky enough to have been matched with me as a roommate freshman year of college, and in the 10 years since has risen through the medical ranks to emerge as the Jacoby Ellsbury of local orthopedics—only a lot slower and uglier.
My conversations with Dr. Fornari always leave me feeling more knowledgeable about the injury at hand, and hopefully they’ll do the same for you. It’s not the vague reports of "day-to-day" that come from the Sox front office, but it’s also in a language that I can understand (which is saying a lot). So as injuries arise, Dr. Fornari will try to give us some better insight on what it all means. Today’s injury is Josh Beckett, but first, a weak disclaimer from the Doc.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are solely those of a young, though rather competent, Orthopedic Surgery resident, and should not be interpreted as anything more. However, if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact my editor.
Doc, What the hell’s wrong with Josh Beckett?
The reporters at SoxCorner ask Sox fans if they think Curt Schilling should retire. Most seem to think he should come back. Even the Phillies fan.
With less than 40 games left in the season, talking heads will soon be clamoring about Most Valuable Player candidates. And since I own a head and I like to talk, I’m going to start clamoring about Kevin Youkilis. Without denigrating the accomplishments of other players (since that’s bush league and boring), I’m simply going to state the case for why the Red Sox first baseman should be able to garner loads of top 5 votes from Major League Baseball writers.
Given his production and versatility (both in the lineup and in the field), as well as the team’s position in the standings, Youkilis has to be considered one of the top 10 candidates for American League MVP right now. In no particular order, here are the other candidates, based on a combination of their stats and their team’s success:
Josh Hamilton — .300/.365/.543, with 28 home runs and 114 RBIs. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Sox in the Wild Card.
Ian Kinsler — .319/.375/.517, with 102 runs, 71 RBIs and 28 steals. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card
Milton Bradley — .316/.442/.583, with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs. Texas is 15.5 games back of LAA and 10.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card
Carlos Quentin – .293/.395/.586, with 35 home runs and 96 RBIs. CWS lead Central Division by 1 game over MIN.
I refuse to write an "Are You Worried Yet" column about the Red Sox right now. First of all, it’s too early. Secondly, I think boston.com already has the market cornered on asking people if they’re worried about stupid things…"The Pats are 0-2 in the preseason! Are you worried they might miss the Playoffs!?! Vote now!!"
So yeah, not going to do that. Although what I AM going to do is probably just as lame. I’ll just be less direct in my lameness… and here’s my question:
So if we’re not worried about the Sox yet… How long before we have to START worrying? At what point do we have to stop making excuses and work up the courage to stand up and admit: "There is a very good chance my Boston Red Sox are going lose the AL East to the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes. That’s right. The Tampa. Bay. Effing. Rays."?
Now this isn’t going to be a reactionary, off-the-cuff brain fart, conceived while the Sox were getting swept this weekend. The Blue Jays series didn’t bother me that much. After all, Roy Halladay could shutout the American Dreams at this point—he’s the filthiest pitcher in baseball—and even though yesterday was gross, I’m more likely to chalk it up as just a really bad day for a really good pitcher than as a sign that the ship’s about to spring a leak the size of Tony Gwynn.
When Joe Torre was with the Yankees, he always used to say that reaching 20 games over .500 was an important and often overlooked benchmark for a team. Overlooked because a team could reach 20 games over and not, percentage-wise, be playing the best baseball of the season.
With last night’s victory the Red Sox are now 20 games over .500 for the first time in 2008 (71-51, a .582 winning percentage) and yet they’ve had higher winning percentages this season. On June 27, for instance, the team was 18 games over .500 (50-32) and sporting a .610 winning percentage.
To understand the importance of going 20 games over .500 at this juncture of the season, consider this: If Boston simply plays .500 baseball (20 wins, 20 losses) the rest of the season, they’ll win 91 games. If the team holds to its home/road winning percentages (.750 and .444, respectively), the Red Sox can expect to win 16 (actually, 16.5) of their final 22 home games and 8 (actually, 7.92) of their final 18 road games. If so, the team will finish with 95 wins — the number Theo Epstein always targets as the minimum needed to reach the post-season.
If you were casting the current Red Sox roster as Summer Olympic athletes, where would they compete?
Here’s one breakdown:
(Note: For an expert’s take, check this out.)
The Event: Rhythmic Gymnastics
The Competitor: Jonathan Papelbon
Think Will Ferrell in Old School, combined with some of that Riverdance flavor. Plus, Paps has that rare ability to keep a straight face even when he knows he’s making a complete ass of himself. And judging by this video, that’s clearly one of the most essential skills a competitor can have in this sport event.
(Note: I don’t necessarily recommend watching the whole thing)
The Event: Boxing
The Competitor: Coco Crisp
Coco’s move on Jamie Shields is still the best non-movie deke I’ve ever seen, and it’s certainly my favorite Red Sox brawl moment of the last 20 years (second place is when Pedro fired his glove at Gerald Williams iin 2000).
Note: Since I don’t feel like getting thrown into the sex dungeon in Bud Selig’s basement, you’ll have to check out the Crisp fight on someone else’s site.
Is there anyway that Coco’s juke wasn’t a product of him playing a shit load of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out as a kid? That was almost the exact move that Litlle Mac used to make. I think someone who knows how to make YouTube videos needs to make a slo-motion movie of Coco and Jamie Shields, set it to this music.
The Event: Badminton
Cinco Ocho talks about some Olympic sports he would like to see, and who on the Sox would be Gold Medal contenders.
In his weekly interview with Comcast SportsNet, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon tells Gary Tanguay and Greg Dickerson about the difference in the clubhouse, and also comments on Ramirez’s most recent "Manny Being Manny" episode where the former left fielder for the Sox was delayed in taking the field for Joe Torre’s Dodgers. Cinco Ocho also talks about the crazy high scoring game against the Rangers.
Check back on WickedGoodSports.com later this week as Papelbon tells us some of the Olympics events he would like to see and who on the Sox would contend for a gold medal.
Young (ish) Sox knuckleballer Charlie Zink made his long-awaited major league debut last night, and despite receiving a gift-wrapped 10-run cushion, it’s probably a performance that will be giving him phantom pains for a while. Let’s see how his outing stacks up against other recent and/or notable Sox debuts.
Seven pitchers on the Sox roster (including Charlie) have made their major league debuts (as a starter) this millenium. Here’s how they did:
August 12, 2008—Charlie Zink: 4.1 innings, 11 H, 8 ER, BB, K
April 24, 2008—Justin Masterson: 6 innings, 2 H, ER, 4 BB, 4 K
August 17, 2007—Clay Buchholz: 6 innings, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
April 5, 2007—Daisuke Matsuzaka: 7 innings, 6 H, ER, BB, 10 K
June 10, 2006—Jon Lester: 4.1 innings, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
July 31, 2005—Jonathan Papelbon: 5.1 innings, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K
September 4, 2001—Josh Beckett: 6 innings, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
A Couple Notes:
• Papelbon’s debut was the game where Manny had spent the entire Trade Deadline Week pouting, was close to getting traded and then had a pinch hit single to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
• Todd Van Poppel pitched in Beckett’s debut. if anyone’s interested in purchasing 500 of his Upper Deck rookie cards, I think I still have them somewhere in my dad’s storage unit.
Key Matchup
Starting pitcher Charlie Zink’s Red Sox debut pits him against Texas Rangers starting pitcher Scott Feldman. On the year for the Pawtucket Red Sox, Zink was 13-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 25 starts. Zink is a 28-year-old knuckleballer that has worked his tail off over his career to get to this point. He provides a bit more velocity on all of his pitches than resident knuckleballer Tim Wakefield exhibits and sports a slightly different knuckleball trajectory.
Feldman is a 25-year-old right-hander who has four years of major league experience, but just began starting this season. In 20 appearances (18 starts) this year, he is 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA. Over his last four starts, he’s 1-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. In four career appearances against the Sox, he sports a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings.
It will be interesting to see how the mashing offense of the Rangers does against Zink’s dancing knuckleball. On the flip side, I’ll be quite surprised if the Sox don’t crank at least two dingers off Feldman, he has allowed 16 on the year.
Hottest Hitter
I can’t help but glimmer with elation over outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s recent success. Over his last five games, the 24-year-old speedster has gone 10-for-19 (.526) with two home runs, six RBIs, five runs scored and three stolen bases. In 24 career at-bats against the Rangers, he’s 9-for-24 (.375) with nine runs scored and five stolen bases. Expect to see Ellsbury continue his success, he has hit .359 in 128 career August and September at-bats combined.
