Tag: MLB

Yankees Aaron Judge Just Previewed a Decade of Pain for Red Sox Fans Last Night

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Yankees rookie Aaron Judge put on a goddamn show last night to win the Home Run Derby and it’s time for Red Sox fans to start being afraid. It’s hard to have missed what Judge has been doing this season unless you’re literally refusing to watch baseball until the leaves turn. The Yankees rookie hit 30 home runs in the first half, which already broke Joe DiMaggio’s rookie team record. And he’s well on his way to besting Mark McGwire’s MLB record of 49 home runs as a rookie.

Mac was obviously on the juice for a long time, but Judge is a genetic freak. The guy is bigger than Gronk for christ’s sake. He’s 6/7″ 282 lbs so its not like he’s just peeling the skin off his chicken. He’s built to smash things.

But its hard to really get the fear of god in you just by reading boxscores. Its only when you see that goddamn horse hitting 519 ft home runs do you realize that as a Red Sox fan we are fucked. This guy is going to be hitting moonshots onto the Pike for the next decade. So settle in guys, this guy is going to be the next great Red Sox killer. And the worst part is, Judge hasn’t really done anything yet to earn my ire. As much as I want to, I don’t hate him. Yet. He’s gonna need to legitimately kill a Red Sox fan sitting on the Monster for me to get some hate flowing.

Chris Sale Named Starter for the AL in MLB All-Star Game. The March to a Cy Young Continues

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Not exactly unexpected, Chris Sale has been lights out this year. It’s rare that someone comes exactly as advertised and performs even better than expected (i.e. not David Price). Some guys can’t hack it in a market like Boston. Other guys *thrive* and Chris Sale definitely falls into the latter.

Among pitchers in the American League, Sale is top-3 in WAR, ERA, Wins, WHIP, IP & leads all AL pitchers in K’s by more than 30. Sale has 178 K’s, which is THIRTY strikeouts more than the guy in second. It would have been a slight against god to not give Sale the start.

Lets take a step back though and really examine Chris Sale’s dominance on the mound this year. He’s the most electric Red Sox starter since Pedro. He’s the first guy I will run home to sit down and watch since Curt Schilling in 04. Beckett was dominant for a stretch, Lester was great, Buchholz was infuriatingly amazing and terrible at the same time. But none touch Sale.

Can we also point out that Chris Sale is on pace for 356 K’s this year, which would be the most K’s in a single season since Randy Johnson had 372 in 2001. The Big Unit also won the Cy Young that year (the 2nd of his 3 in a row).

To put that into perspective, here’s the list of pitchers that have had 300 K’s in a season over the past 20 years:

  • Clayton Kershaw (2015)
  • Randy Johnson (99, 00, 01, 02)
  • Pedro Martinez (99)
  • Curt Schilling (97, 98)

Four guys in 20 years. Thats it. Pretty good company to have. Now it’ll be hard to ever top Pedro striking out 5 guys in 2 innings in the 1999 All-Star game at Fenway, but goddamnit Chris Sale will try.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Are Now Just the Los Angeles Angels

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SportsLogos – The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim still the butt of jokes on social media and elsewhere due to their clumsy name have officially changed their name to just “Los Angeles Angels” finally dropping the “of Anaheim” part.

Apparently the Angels quietly made this change awhile ago, but didn’t make any grand announcements about it because, well, its always been a ridiculous name. Los Angeles is a cool 40 mins from Anaheim, which if you’ve ever driven around LA you know is more like 2+ hours.

That would be like Charlie Baker deciding to put a team deep on the South Shore. Might as well be the goddamn Cape League at that point.

This is the FIFTH time the Angels have changed their name and the teams only been around since 1961. Thats fucking bananas. Not to mention they’re going back to a name they already used with LA Angels. They’ve also been the Anaheim Angels and the California Angels, but its hard to top Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

I still hold out hope that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will get drunk and green light an NL expansion team in Boston. Then we could really get wild with some team names. Lets just say the Minutemen for now. The Boston Minutemen of New England. The Seaport District Minutemen of Boston. My personal favorite? The Allston Minutemen of Brighton.

Hanley Ramirez is Store Brand Manny Ramirez

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ESPN – [Hanley Ramirez] was told he’s 5-for-35 with eight strikeouts in 45 plate appearances against lefties, a far cry from his .346 mark last season or his .300 career average against southpaws. “You’re kidding me,” Ramirez said. “It took you long enough to tell me that. I didn’t know that, for real. So OK, after this conversation, let’s see what’s going to happen now. I’ll say it: Bring it, OK? I didn’t know. I swear. Interesting. Thank you.”

What a shitshow this guy is. I gotta tell you, I’m souring on Hanley Ramirez pretty quickly this season. Ever since David Ortiz retired, without the benefit of someone telling him to get his shit together, Hanley has increasingly become more and more like Manny Ramirez. Just doing Manny Being Manny shit.

Like laughing off how abysmal he’s hitting lefties this year. Or legitimately refusing to play First Base. Or sitting out with sore shoulders, while his much less heralded teammate Mitch Moreland is mashing home runs and playing First Base with a broken fucking foot.

Hanley Ramirez has become store brand Manny Ramirez. He acts like Manny, he gets babied like Manny, he is a general pain in the ass like Manny. Except he doesn’t hit the goddamn ball like Manny. If you wanna be treated like a superstar then you better be hitting moonshots onto Landsdowne. If you wanna sit out games and laugh about how shitty you’re playing, then the Manny treatment is over.

Even for one of the greatest righthanded hitters of my generation, eventually that act wore thin in Boston. And LA. And Tampa Bay. Imagine how much quicker that shit happens if you’re hitting .241/.341/.406 with 10 home runs, 29 RBIs and a WAR of 0.1. Let me repeat that, Hanley Ramirez has a WAR of 0.1, which means he is BARELY better than an average guy out there at first. Thats essentially what Mitch Moreland is and the Red Sox have fared far  better with him playing than Hanley.

Red Sox Win, Moreland Homers Again and Farrell Takes a Dig at Hanley

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After topping the Angels with Chris Sale picking up win No. 10, Craig Kimbrel going 1-2-3 in the 9th for the save and Mitch Moreland homering in his 3rd straight game, John Farrell praised his guys for persevering. But mostly he took a pretty subtle (read: blatant) dig at guys like Hanley Ramirez for being soft.

Last night Hanley sat out because he had a sore knee. Before that he had a sore shoulder. Then of course there’s the whole debacle of Hanley not being able (read: willing) to play first base because all the throwing hurts his shoulder. Meanwhile Mitch Moreland is balling out, hitting bombs and playing the field with a broken fucking toe. So it would seem like Farrell’s over it. Especially with bums like Pablo Sandoval in and out of the lineup, its time to start cutting the dead weight.

I like this new Farrell. Blowing up on umpires and calling out guys for being assholes. Lets get more of this Farrell and less of the robot Farrell.

If the Red Sox want to go anywhere come October they’re gonna need guys like Hanley and David Price to get their sit together. Otherwise this is gonna be a reaaally expensive team to get knocked out in the first round. Not to mention, the more the team struggles the more Dave Dombrowski’s collar gets a little tighter. This guy has traded just about all of the Red Sox top prospects in a concerted effort to win now. Except most of the guys he’s traded for have either gotten hurt (Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith) or just straight up sucked (David Price). Obviously guys like Kimbrel and Sale have been lights out this year, but that was another half dozen prospects to acquire those two. So if this team doesn’t pick it up soon then thats another wasted year for a veteran team with a more narrow win-now mindset.

Tonight the Red Sox Will Retire #34 for David Ortiz

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David Ortiz will be the last Red Sox player to ever wear #34 as it will go up on the right field deck tonight. It’s a weird feeling seeing the players you grew up with, the players who won titles for your favorite team, the guys who became legends in front of your eyes, its a weird feeling seeing their number get retired.

The first one was obviously Pedro Martinez as he got his #45 retired by the Sox in 2015. Now Pedro had one of the greatest runs a pitcher has ever had in the history of the game, but he was only on the team from 98-04 and won one title with the Sox. Even then he was the c0-ace on the team behind Schilling. But, Ortiz was on the Sox for 14 fucking years and was THE guy on 3 World Series winning teams. Walkoff hits became so routine with him that people legit expected it when he stepped to the plate.

Of all the huge home runs David Ortiz hit, the one I’ll never forget was his grand slam against the Tigers in the 2013 ALCS.

The Sox were down 1-0 in the series, were getting smoked in Game 2 and staring down the barrel at Detroit’s daunting starting rotation. It seemed like a Game 2 loss probably would have killed any chance at winning the series. In steps Ortiz, who hits a motherfucking grand slam to tie the game. I was sitting in the bleachers that game and I’ve never heard Fenway louder than it was right then. And it of course made a goddamn celebrity out of bullpen cop Steve Horgan for his famous celebration.

Obviously the Sox went on to win the World Series where David Ortiz batted .688. The guy hit just under fucking .700 in the World Series. That is unbelievable. That is legendary.

2013 was an emotional season after the Boston Marathon bombing in April so that whole season and especially that playoff run was something the city needed. David Ortiz wasn’t just an iconic player, he was the face of the franchise, a folk hero and someone people genuinely liked. So it was particularly fitting when he took the mic on April 20th, 2013 and gave the entire city a rallying cry that will forever be synonymous with Ortiz.

David Ortiz will likely be the first DH to go into the Hall of Fame and rightfully so. He’s already got a bridge and a street named after him. One day the guy will have a statue outside of Fenway and we can tell our kids how we saw him become the most feared hitter in the game, how he became the biggest star in the toughest market in all of sports, how he became Big Papi.

Minor League Baseball Team to Honor Bat Dog With Awesome Jerseys

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Yahoo – At Trenton Thunder games, you don’t just enjoy a hot dog and a beer. You also enjoy a bat dog and a beer. The New York Yankees Double-A affiliate has used canines in lieu of bat boys for years now. Since 2008, that role has been filled mainly by Derby, the son of the team’s former bat dog Chase. On Monday, the Thunder will honor Derby by wearing jerseys with his face on them. It’s pretty adorable, if you ask us.

Using bat dogs is without a doubt the best thing any minor league team does. Now what is the second best thing? Absolutely ridiculous promo jerseys. Whether its Star Wars night or I remember a team once did Seinfeld night, they’re always awesome and I need to buy one. But combing dope nonsensical jerseys with bat dogs? And you can bring your dog to the game too? Thats a fucking winner right there. I mean just look at these beauties.

I would wear the shit out of that thing. I still have yet to witness a bat dog in person. I was late to a Fisher Cats game in NH last summer and missed the first inning. Apparently Ollie, who is actually the brother of the Trenton bat dog Derby, only works the first inning and now he’s retired. So to say I was devastated is an understatement. Need a bat dog at Fenway. Wally, Tessie and all the little bat boys can kick rocks. Get me a golden retriever on the field and I’ll listen to Jerry Remy’s rants on Asian translators on day long.

Some of the best minor league jerseys I could scope out are below.

Guerin Austin Could Learn a Thing or Two from this Red Sox Sideline Reporter

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So as is tradition here at The 300s, I enjoy giving Red Sox sideline reporter Guerin Austin shit because every single time there’s a victorious Gatorade bath she gets SOAKED. Every. Single. Time. Smiles right through the pain too.

Last night though this suave new guy stepped in (prob because Guerin has pneumonia from one of those Gatorade waterboardings) and showed everyone how its done.

 

Cue the highlights!

 

Red Sox Have Up and Down Memorial Day: Price Looks Good, Pedroia Gets Hurt

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Yesterday was a shitty loss for the Red Sox that can be pinned pretty much on anyone in the bullpen not named Craig Kimbrel. But the point of this post is to talk about the return of one David Price. In his first major league start of the season Price’s line looked like this: 5 IP, 2 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 Walks, and 4 K’s

After getting smacked around in Pawtucket and getting chirped by fans *in Pawtucket* I think we all weren’t expecting such a solid start. Now did Price look dominant? No. But for a guy who hasn’t pitched in a major league game in about 8 months, not too shabby.

Remember, Price missed all of spring training so this is basically still his version of that. And of course I have no idea what to expect out of his health, I still am pretty pessimistic about a guy in his 30s who opted to skip surgery and let it heal naturally because that rarely works in the long run.

But, for a guy with a shaky elbow, Price was juicing his fastball consistently at 94 mph and even hit 97 on the gun. Not bad at all. So while the Sox shit the bed in the last few frames…

And Price did serve up an absolute batting practice ball to x for a 3 run dinger. But with it being his first start of the year, all in all I’ll take it. Hey, at least he seems like he cares, which is more than some other guys.

Now onto the bad shit.

Dustin Pedroia got tabletopped by Jose Abreu who was sliding into first to try and beat Pedey to the bag. With the 6’3″ 255 pounder basically diving into Pedroia’s path, he banged into Abreu and flipped over landing awkwardly on his wrist.

Initially it looked like Abreu took the brunt of the hit, but Pedroia was slow to get up and left the game. Dustin’s headed back to Boston to get an MRI on his wrist, which concerns the shit out of me. As a 5’8″ second baseman, Pedroia is diving all over the place every single day, but now he lands on his wrist and can’t finish the game. I. am. concerned. These little bumps and bruises like the Machado knee injury are starting to stack up for him, so hopefully its nothing, but flying back to Boston mid-series to get an MRI is obviously a red flag.

But hey guys, don’t worry, with all the injuries piling up it might force the Red Sox hand and leave them no choice but to call up the $95 million disaster, the kung fu fucking panda.

Sandoval, who by the way is healthy now, is currently playing down in Pawtucket and went 1/4 with another error last night. So thats good. Him and Rusney Castillo are probably laughing their balls off at the money they’re making to play baseball in fucking Rhode Island.

Even Price was down in Pawtucket for like a week and a half before saying get me the fuck out of here.

At least Chris Sale takes the mound tonight.