YFSF

Giving Away Games For Dummies

The Sox game is still ongoing (desultory thread below), but unless something happens in the final three innings, it will merely continue a monthlong trend of offensive futility in clutch situations.

Entering today's game, the Sox lineup has been pathetic since June 1 in any kind of scoring opportunity:

• Bases loaded: .148/.133/.185, one extra-base hit, no walks, five double plays, six strikeouts, 11 RBI in 27 at-bats
• Scoring position: .216/.306/.343, 19 unintentional walks, 51 strikeouts, 13 double plays, 75 RBI in 236 at bats
• 2 outs/RISP: .217/.328/.383, 12 unintentional walks, 30 strikeouts, 32 RBI in 115 at bats
• 7th inning and later: .229/.313/.444, 30 unintentional walks, 70 strikeouts, 32 RBI in 279 at bats
• Tied/up 1/down 1: .243/.325/.409, 54 unintentional walks, 101 strikeouts, 44 RBI in 530 at bats
• (Tied: .266/.350/.411; Up 1: .217/.314/.323; Down 1: .234/.317/.312)
• vs. Relievers: .226/.318/.345, 31 unintentional walks, 82 strikeouts, 36 RBI in 310 at bats

For comparison, overall numbers for the Sox:

• June: .264/.345/.410, 88 unintentional walks, 183 strikeouts, 103 RBI in 893 at bats
• Season: .273/.355/.435
• April and May: .277/.359/.447

A snapshot in numbers on why these four weeks have been so frustrating.

Thrill In the Air: Sox-Rangers Gamer VIII

In a year when the Red Sox have three players in contention for Rookie of the Year honors (would you believe that Daisuke Matsuzaka is probably third right now?), it's hard not to be excited about the future -- especially when the present includes the best record in baseball and a large division lead.

Yet here we are tonight, with the Red Sox' most heavily anticipated position player prospect since a young shortstop named Nomar set to make his Major League debut tonight.

Jacoby Ellsbury -- 23 years old, top Sox pick in the 2005 draft, .312/.384/.503 in two-plus years of minor-league play -- will bat ninth and play center field tonight in place of Coco Crisp, whose thumb remains sore.

Forgive us if we're somewhat breathless with the anticipation. We do love the kids, and Ellsbury by all reports is as good as they come when you're talking about speed, defense and reaching base consistently and frequently. He won't ever lead the league in home runs, but batting titles and stolen-base crowns are certainly within his potential grasp.

Baseball Prospectus forecast Ellsbury to hit .300/.351/.410 should he receive a full season in Boston this year:

Thus far, he's fully justified both the team's investment and the inevitable Damon comparisons. Ellsbury has climbed through the system rapidly, showing significant improvement at each stop, excellent on-base skills, developing power and outstanding range in the field.

This is expected to only be a cup of coffee. But the 9-1-2 combo of Ellsbury-Pedroia-Youkilis -- with Josh Beckett on the mound -- we'll see tonight is exciting indeed.

Juli-0

Julio Lugo is mired in quite a slump. How bad have his last two weeks been?

• His current 0-for-31 is the worst hitless streak of any non-pitcher in baseball this season.
• His current nine-game hitless streak is the worst by any Sox starter since Tim Naehring started 11 straight games without a hit in 1991 (and had 13 straight hitless games in which he had at least one at-bat). The only difference is those were the last 11 games he started before finishing the season on the disabled list. He ended his season 0 for 38.
• The last time a Sox starter went as many seven straight hitless games was in 1999 -- Darren Lewis and Mike Stanley.
• Only five other Red Sox players in the last 50 years have ever had nine straight starts without a hit.
• The worst was Luis Aparicio, who in May of 1971 had an amazing 11-game stretch in which he went 0-for-44, far and away the worst 0-fer for the Sox in the Retrosheet era. The streak dropped Aparicio's batting average from .206 to .154. He batted .275 the rest of the way to finish with a .232/.284/.303 line.
• In fact, Lugo's 0-for-31 appears to be the fifth-worst of the past 50 years for a member of the Red Sox. Aparicio and Naehring are the top two, followed by George Scott's 0-for-36 in September 1978 and Tom Brunansky's 0-for-34 in July 1990.
• Among those in baseball with at least 300 plate appearances, Lugo has the worst batting average (.190, nine points below Andruw Jones), the worst on-base percentage (.256), and the third-worst slugging percentage (.283). That adds up to a .540 OPS, worst in baseball by six points (Jason kendall is second-worst, and those are the only two below .580).
• Only 50 players in the live-ball era have finished a season with an OPS of .540 or lower -- just 19 of them since World War II.

Clearly we were wrong last season. Julio Lugo is the true Bathroom Break.

In Progress: A's-Yanks Gamer II

It's a beautiful day in the city and I'm on my way out to enjoy it. But if you're stuck inside and wish to comment on the game, this is your Saturday afternoon gamer.

Kei Igawa just sent the light-hitting A's line-up down 1-2-3 in the first. All signs point to something big (I'm not going to say it) happening today. Go Iggy!

Wakefield pitches a special pitch: Rangers-Sox Gamer I

Did you know that Tim Wakefield pitches what is called a knuckle ball?

He is pitching for the Red Sox as I write this.

If I may say so, this is the most informative and best gamer ever.

Comment on all the action here.

Dad was a bootlegger: A's-Yanks Gamer I

No one is around but that doesn't mean there aren't games.

Joe Kennedy (Ha! His name is Joe Kennedy!) pitches for the A's. Mike Mussina (his name sounds like "Mooooooooose--ina". Double ha!) goes for the the Yanks, which means it's one of those special nights: Will Nieves is in the house!

Comment away.

Suspended

The Yanks/Orioles game was suspended in the top of the eighth, with the Yankees having taken a lead with a four-spot, and Jeter on second base. It will be resumed where it left off before their next meeting July 27.

I'd never seen this before; I thought either a game was official, or it wasn't. So I read the rules (4.11-4.12) regarding these things, and it seems that:

It's Over and Yet It Goes On: Yanks-O's Gamer VI

Umm. A win maybe?

It's Wang versus Cabrera.

This is your thread for comment. Go Yanks!

Beyond Joe

Whether or not he deserves all the blame for the debacle that is the Yankees 2007 season, I think it's clear that there's a good chance Joe Torre isn't coming back next year. Barring a miraculous turn-around, this Yankees team is going to go down in history as the most expensive .500 (if that!) team in the history of the sport. But who will and who should replace him? Here's a run-down of possible successors:

Pitchers and Catchers: Feb. 15, 2008

Dear fellow Yanks fans,

It is over.

All the best,
Nick