Results tagged ‘ Jacoby Ellsbury ’
Bobby V’s first pre-game session as Red Sox manager
What went into the decision to keep Ellsbury in the leadoff spot? “Jacoby? Obviously we talk about the lineup as a group. It seems like in this grouping he looks really good being there and I also thought it would be apropos for you guys to write about the number one and number two in the MVP voting facing each other on a first pitch here in Detroit this year. And he liked it too. Talking to him, he kind of relished the idea.”
How can Ellsbury have another year like last year? “By taking it one pitch at a time. Obviously today, at the end of today, he’s not going to have the stats that he had at the end of last year. And, you know, the trap everyone always falls into is answering all those questions. How are you going to do better this year than you did last year? You start thinking that you have to hit a home run every time and a triple the next time and two doubles and steal bases, drive in the runs, all at once, and that’s not how it happens.”
Morning butterflies for the new manager? “Got up so long ago I can’t remember. To tell you the truth, I had the same feeling that I think most of the guys have. I talked to a lot of them at the hotel early and saw some of them here now. It’s opening day. There’s only one opening day. It’s a very special day. Start of something new.”
Nerves? “I hope so. You know, I knew it was time to stop playing when I got into the batters box and I couldn’t create a little adrenaline, you know? A little feel. I hope I have that today.”
Why lefties Gonzalez and Ortiz back to back with Youk hitting fifth? “That grouping today I think is just based on the starting pitcher that we’re facing today. And Youk has two home runs against him, so its not like I don’t like what Youk does against him.”
Finally a real game.“I’m very anxious to see guys in the real setting. In the practice setting is one thing, and in the real setting, things change. I’m anxious to see how the whole group works together. And obviously it’s kind of a short group on the bench now. The guys who are lined up on that card are going to be responsible for a lot of the action.”
The 13-man pitching staff? “You know I, when I sat in the chair next to Dan [Shulman] at the beginning of the season, I would always see who was the first and last to get everyone in a game. I think it’s important to try to get full participation early in the season to start building a team. I hope I don’t have to use all 13 today.”
Red Sox remembrances of 9/11
It is a day none of us will ever forget. Here is what the Red Sox remember.
The Red Sox were in New York getting ready to face Roger Clemens the night of 9/10, but that game was rained out, enabling the team to fly to Tampa a little earlier than planned for their series that was scheduled to begin in St. Petersburg — ironically where the Sox are right now — on 9/11/01.
Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield:
“[My girlfriend and now wife Stacy] was actually in New York with me. She got out because we got rained out. She got the last flight out and beat me [to Tampa] so when we got in at 4 in the morning, she was already sleeping. She was up when all this was taking place and woke me up and said, ‘hey, you need to wake up.’ I started watching it and like 10 minutes later, we saw the second plane hit and we were like, ‘oh god, something bad is happening right now.”’
“To watch stuff on television now, the documentaries about how everything unfolded and how whoever was in charge of grounding all the airplanes made the hardest, right decision anyone could have made. Knowing it would costs the airlines millions and millions of dollars if they stopped all flights immediately, they’d have to ground the planes and all the passengers would have to switch flights. That’s when they found out about United 93. The game was meaningless [compared to what was going on] but we needed to get back playing.”
Wakefield on Ground Zero: “In 2002, I drove by. I took a cab and jus drove by. I didn’t want to get out. in ’05, we went and opened the stock market, me, trot and somebody else, we rang the bell at the American Stock Exchange. We went to somebody’s office that overlooked Ground Zero. He was part of that whole thing. He kept telling us how the building was shaking and all that stuff. The chaos.”
Jason Varitek was out for the remainder of 2001 with a fractured right elbow.
“Actually I didn’t arrive in Tampa. I was on the DL, I was in rehab. I actually arrived that morning to rehab when it all happened. It’s like, once you realize what happened, everybody dropped what they were doing and took off and left.”
“There’s a heightened awareness to everything that goes on around you for one. Appreciation for the people that tried to save lives and to do those things and you reach out to those people who have lost family, friends, etc., in the most tragic thing that’s ever happened here.”
Jacoby Ellsbury, now an All-Star and an MVP candidate, turned 18 years old on Sept. 11, 2001. He was a junior at Madras (Oregon) High School.
“I just remember going to school and waking up that morning and hearing something happened. At school, we turned on all the TV’s and saw everything unfold. At the beginning, I don’t think anyone really knew what was going on. But yeah, I just remember watching things unfold from Madras (ore.) High. I was on my way to school when I kind of heard everything. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years.”
The 2001 season was basically the only year of Terry Francona’s youth or adult life that he wasn’t wearing a baseball uniform. Francona was a scout for the Indians in 2001, and was on assignment in Pittsburgh when the terrorist attacks happened. His best friend Brad Mills was also scouting for the Cubs at that time, and was in Pittsburgh, at the same hotel as Francona when everything happened.
“I was in Pittsburgh scouting and coincidentally Millsy was scouting for the Cubs. He was advancing. He was upstairs in the concierge room because he never pays for coffee. So he called me and he was like, ‘hey, you need to come up here, man. I went upstairs and I sat there with him. Kind of watched it and then rented a car and drove back to Philly because obviously there weren’t going to be games. I remember driving by Shanksville (Pennsylvania) on the turnpike. The exit was closed. I remember being glad I was with Millsy. Times like that, it’s nice to have maybe your best friend in the whole world with you.”
Francona is glad that soldiers can take some enjoyment out of being around baseball: “I hope it does. If you like baseball, I don’t know that it matters what you do. obviously I hope what we do, people get enjoyment out of it. I think it’s cool that they bring soldiers and people like that around and they honor them at the ballparks. I think everybody enjoys that. I think it’s a really neat thing. If they get some enjoyment out of what we’re doing, that’s terrific.”
Of course, perhaps nobody affiliated with the Red Sox had a more compelling 9/11 story than Trot Nixon, whose wife Kathryn gave birth to the couple’s first son on 9/11/01. Today, Chase Nixon turned 10 years old. Here is an in-depth story I did with Trot and Kathryn back in 2002.
Papi is back; Sox almost back to full strength
The Red Sox get a big presence back in their lineup tonight with the return of David Ortiz, who missed nine games with right heel bursitis.
Boston scored 37 runs in the nine games without Papi, but 11 of those came in last night’s game. For the most part, the offense struggled. But with Adrian Gonzalez belting two homers last night and Jacoby Ellsbury also coming back, you wonder if the the Red Sox’ offense is about to go on another one of their patented hot streaks.
Kevin Youkilis is the only regular missing from the mix, and he is elgible to come back on Sept. 2, for the start of the next three-game series against the Rangers.
Without Ortiz, the Red Sox went 5-4.
It’s another scorcher here in Arlington, Texas, with the game-time temperature expected to top 100 degrees for the third straight game.
Odds and Ends from Fenway, April 29
- Matt Albers, who relieved an injured Daisuke Matsuzaka in the fifth, said after Boston’s 5-4 loss to the Mariners that he had as much time as he needed to warm up. Albers was just on the DL because of a strained right lat, but said he wasn’t worried about a flare-up. That injury was minor to begin with. Albers threw two scoreless innings and allowed one hit, striking out and walking one.
- Jacoby Ellsbury has a season-high eight-game hit streak after going 1-for-4 on Friday night. The last time he had a hit streak that length was July 31 to Aug. 8, 2009. “Last week or so though, he’s using the whole field, he’s getting on top of the ball when he hits the ball to left field, and he’s hitting a lot of line drives,” manager Terry Francona said before the game.
- Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz both have a hit streak at six games. Gonzalez has multiple hits in four of those games. He went 2-for-4 Friday and is 12-for-27 during the streak (.444). Gonzalez scored the 500th run of his career in the third inning Friday.
- The Red Sox were 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position Friday. Boston entered the day hitting .217 with runners on second and/or third, fourth-worst in the Majors and second-worst in the American League (behind Oakland). “We’ve not been real good at it so far,” Francona said before the game. “That’s something we drastically want to improve on.”
- Bobby Jenks was a stand-up guy when answering questions after he took the loss Friday, waiting by his locker for reporters to return from the media room. In a note possibly related to his performance, and possibly related to nothing, Jenks also appeared to have shaved after the game.
- Comedic line of the night went to Jason Varitek. Asked what Daisuke Matsuzaka said when he went out to the mound to check on the right-hander in the fifth, the captain responded: “Well, he said it in Japanese, so I don’t really know.”
- On a 70-degree day in Boston, Mike Cameron jokingly wore a Red Sox ski hat in the clubhouse before batting practice. He went on to hit two home runs.
Road trip shifts to Cleveland with new lineup
Here we are in Cleveland, where the Red Sox, after a month and a half in Fort Myers and then a weekend in Texas, are now faced with cold weather for the first time.
Josh Beckett is on the mound, taking the ball at this field for the first time since he saved a championship season for the Red Sox in Game 5 of the 2007 ALCS.
At gametime, it is expected to be 42 degrees, but weather.com says that it will “feel like 35″.
At any rate, manager Terry Francona has made another adjustment to the lineup.
Carl Crawford will bat second and Dustin Pedroia moves to the three-hole.
Here is the new entire alignment:
Ellsbury CF
Crawford LF
Pedroia 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Drew RF
Saltalamacchia C
Scutaro SS
Beckett SP
Tito still mulling over Opening Day lineup
Usually an Opening Day lineup is pretty simple for a manager. You put your best nine players out there in the order you expect them to hit in for most of the season. But Terry Francona is faced with a bit of a different situation this year, in that his team is going against Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson.
How good is Wilson against lefties? Well, last year, they hit .144 against him with no homers and 12 RBIs. Yes, that is filthy.
“It’s not just the lefty, it’s who the lefty is,” Francona told reporters today from City of Palms Park. “This is something, that’s why I’ve been so hesitant to talk about the lineup. C.J. Wilson is one of those lefties, where on normal days, if it’s July, that’s the day you give your righties a shot. Now, it’s Opening Day. There’s some thought that needs to go into that.”
Here is a breakdown of Sox lefties lifetime vs. Wilson: Crawford 2-for-12, 1 HR, 4 RBIs; Ortiz 1-for-10, 1 RBI; J.D. Drew 1-for-6, 0 RBIs; Jacoby Ellsbury 0-for-1; Adrian Gonzalez 0-for-1.
So Francona has several dilemmas: Does he hit Ellsbury leadoff or put him at the bottom of the order? Does Drew start, or does Tito insert Mike Cameron?
Even though Jarrod Saltalamacchia, a switch-hitter, is going to be the primary catcher this season, does Francona give Jason Varitek the honor of starting Opening Day? His motive in that situation, aside from Varitek’s strong history with starting pitcher Jon Lester, is that ‘Tek is a stronger right-handed hitter and Salty is better from the left side.
What order do Youkilis and Gonzalez hit in? Does he hit Youk fourth and Gonzo fifth or vice versa?
Crawford-Ellsbury will be on display Monday
The first glimpse of Carl Crawford playing a baseball game in a Red Sox uniform will come Monday afternoon, when the $142 million left fielder makes his exhibition debut. He will be joined in the outfield by Jacoby Ellsbury, as the Red Sox can show off their new speed tandem. J.D. Drew will also play his first game of the spring, starting in right.
While Ellsbury and Crawford will get a lot of notice for their stolen-base totals, it should be just as enjoyable watching them play side-by-side in the outfield.
Manager Terry Francona doesn’t think it’s necessary to go out of his way to pair them up during exhibition games.
“They’re out there every day practicing,” Francona said. “Carl is going to catch what he can get. The whole idea is to cover as much outfield as you can so I don’t think you play somebody out of alignment but we will certainly remember that when we’re setting guys, because they’re so fast, might be able to move over a few more feet.”
Is Thursday the end of Okajima in Boston?
The next deadline on baseball’s offseason calendar comes up on Thursday, when teams must tender contract offers to all their unsigned players, otherwise those players become free agents.
Without question, the most difficult decision for Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein will be what to do with Hideki Okajima. The lefty is coming off a poor season, but this is after he spent his first three years in the Majors as a rock. Oki made $2.75 million last year. By tendering him a contract, the Red Sox will essentially be committed to paying him around that same salary in 2011. If he repeats his 2010 level, he will be very underpaid.
Perhaps the Red Sox will meet with Okajima’s representatives — either in advance of tomorrow’s deadline or after — and work out a creative deal that might guarantee less money but give him a chance to earn a similar amount if he gets the job done.
The other decisions are straightforward. Of course Papelbon gets tendered, even if he did make $9.25 million last year and had an off-year. Unlike Oki, who is 35, Papelbon is just 30. He also figures to be highly motivated because it is walk year. And the Red Sox get two choice draft picks should Papelbon — undoubtedly a Type A free agent — depart after 2011.
And yes, Jacoby Ellsbury, coming off a year full of rib woes, will also be tendered in his first arbitration-eligible winter. Ellsbury made $496,500 last year, but figures to get a nice bump from that based on the success of his first two seasons and the projection that he will have another big year from the leadoff spot in ’11.
Lowell in holding pattern; Ellsbury getting close
Mike Lowell was literally all dressed up on Friday with no place to play. The right-handed hitter, fresh off a torrid rehab assignment for Triple-A Pawtucket, went through all of his regular pre-game activities before the start of a three-game series against the Tigers at Fenway Park.
But with the non-waiver trade deadline coming at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday and Lowell still not much of a fit on Boston’s 25-man roster, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein spoke with Lowell and his representatives and agreed it made the most sense for all parties not to activate him for Friday’s game against Detroit.
“There’s possible movement,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “The deadline is tomorrow. It just seems to make sense to get through another day or two days and then do what we need to do.”
There’s still a chance that Lowell could be traded by the deadline, but two of the teams interested in him – the Tigers and Rangers – went out and got alternative corner bats in Jhonny Peralta and Jorge Cantu.
Lowell couldn’t have done much more to prove his worth to suitors on his rehab assignment, hitting .500 (11-for-22) with four homers and 10 RBIs over five games.
“It’s not a really big deal to me,” Lowell said of the imminent trade deadline. “I think I did everything I could have done in Pawtucket. If there’s something out there, whether it’s our team or another team, that they wanted to see more of, there’s not any more left. What do they want me to do? Hit four home runs? I think that’s a little unfair. So I leave it at that. There’s nothing left for me to do.”
* Ellsbury heads to Pawtucket
Jacoby Ellsbury has just one more step to take before he is activated by the Red Sox. It will start Saturday when the speedy center fielder moves his Minor League rehab assignment to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Ellsbury, who has played just nine games this season because of multiple complications with his left ribs, will play for Pawtucket on Saturday and Sunday. After that, the Sox will make a determination of what the next step is.
Clearly, however, Ellsbury – who last played for the Sox on May 24 – is finally nearing a return to action.
“Hopefully I don’t need too many [Triple-A games] but it’s just nice to get out there and start playing in some games,” said Ellsbury, who worked out at Fenway Park on Friday. “I feel a lot better. I feel comfortable. I played nine innings yesterday. I felt alright today. I took batting practice. I’m ahead of the team’s schedule right now, so that’s good.”
Ellsbury played three games for the Red Sox in the Gulf Coast League, including nine innings on Thursday. He is confident that his return to action won’t be quickly derailed like his last comeback, which lasted just three games.
“Yeah, I don’t have the pain in my back – that’s the biggest thing,” Ellsbury said. “Last time I was playing with a broken rib in addition to what caused everything — I’ve talked about that before. When I go back out there, it’s going to safe for me to play. I won’t aggravate anything.”
Though Ellsbury expects there will be some lingering pain or discomfort at times, he no longer fears risking re-injury.
“From Day One, my whole thing was as long as I’m not going to hurt it worse [it's fine to play],” Ellsbury said. “If I can go out there and not make it worse, I’ll play with any discomfort I have so that was from Day One and that was when I came back [last time], I was under the impression that’s how it was going to be. As long as I know I’m not going to hurt it worse, I’m ready to go.”
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