ALDS Roadtrip Photo Journal

Your Red Sox Diarist will be the first to admit that he has gotten lazy with posting lately. That said, as I have been on the road for the past 16 days, hopefully my loyal readers will understand and excuse me. What follows is the first installment of my American League Division Series Photo Journal which takes place in Los Angeles and Anaheim on October 6th and 7th.



As all roadtrips do, this one begins at the Japan Airlines lounge in Narita Airport where the Japanese proudly display one of Japan's most important contributions to civilization: the automatic pouring beer machine. As this photo will attest, it pours the finest beer west of Los Angeles and East of Tokyo.



Arriving after the long flight from the Far East, Your Red Sox Diarist retired to the humble abode of West Hollywood's Mondrian Hotel and its uber trendy Sky Bar. Although you really can't see from this pic, the Sky Bar and its pool are well trafficked on a Saturday afternoon. This is a picture of two Playboy Playmates celebrating the arrival of the October Playboy magazine which featured their photoshoots (I am not making this up).



This is a shot of Oakland Raider rookie cornerback John Bowie, who was spending some time off during the Raiders bi-week chillin' at the Mondrian. New England Patriot fans will recognize Bowie as the 4th round draft pick out of the University of Cincinnati for whom the Raiders traded wide receiver Randy Moss --- and one wonders why the Raiders lost to the Chargers 28-14 this past Sunday.

Gametime: After a one hour, 150 dollar taxi ride to Anaheim Stadium--big mistake---which was an even bigger mistake for my Russian cab driver who was promptly ticketed 75 dollars for dropping me off in a no stopping zone--I arrived at Game 3 of the American League Division Series with the Red Sox leading 2 - 0 and thinking sweep.

Anaheim Stadium is actually a beautiful ballpark and the perfect weather does nothing to change one's opinion of how nice it is. Here is a shot of the home plate entrance.



Although very nice, Anaheim Stadium can be confusing. Here is a pic I got of Manny looking for directions before the game.



Red Sox Nation was everywhere in Anaheim. Many of the Sox fans in attendance were people who had either grown up or gone to school in Boston at one time or another and, because of the weather and quality of life in Southern California, had no intention of ever going back. Can't say I blame them.



Here is a picture of Shonda Schilling snapping some shots for Curt's blog, 38pitches.com



There were little hints everywhere that things were not going to bode well for the Halos in Game 3. This was taken before the game had even started.



Player introductions: If you look closely you can see that Eric Gagne is still on the roster.



As what started as a great close game turned into a rout, the few people left in the stands were Boston fans. Notice they even wear Johnny Damon throwback jerseys in Southern California.



Sweep!!---and a strangely subdued celebration on the pitchers mound, I guess because this being Orange County all....



The craziest the celebrations got--and I am also not making this up--was when I went to the men's room at the end of the game and it of course was filled with Red Sox fans as we were the only ones left in the Stadium at that point. Cheers erupted when two guys came running through the men's room waving a huge Red Sox flag and announcing to everyone waiting in line that the Indians were leading the Yankees following a Trot Nixon home run.



Decided to take the train back to West Hollywood. At 10 dollars, one of the best bargains around.

Moving Manny

With the Red Sox approaching the final furlong in their race to win the American League Eastern Division crown, it may seem somewhat odd to start hypothesizing about what may or may not come to be in the off-season.

Many in Red Sox Nation are wringing their hands in angst as the Red Sox lost two of three to the Yankees over the weekend and then dropped the first game of a three-set at Toronto on Monday night. Undoubtedly, my buddy O'Brien has been ducking annoying emails from his buddy, and Yankee fan, Lippy, which gleefully proclaim the resurgence of the Bronx Bombers in the AL East chase. Meanwhile, on an almost daily basis, O'Brien asks Your Red Sox Diarist to bring back the controversial Red Sox Choke Meter, which in hindsight, looks like genius.

While all this happens, Your Red Sox Diarist, regaling in his Fantasy Baseball triumphs over the past few weeks, is busy plotting the moves the Red Sox brass should make in the hot stove season for the 2008 campaign.

While I empathize with ESPN's Bill Simmons' view that talking about your Fantasy Baseball team is like showing off your vacation photos, I believe my prowess at Fantasy Baseball gives me at least some street cred in stating the following:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury has shown since being called up from Pawtucket that he is ready for prime time next year. He is an impact player and would be comfortable in either center field or left field. Since being called back up to the Show September 1st (he was in the big leagues for 6 games in June/July and one game in mid-August), in the 15 games he has appeared he has batted .400, with 13 runs, 13 RBIs, 3 home runs, 5 stolen bases, an on-base percentage of .424 and a slugging percentage of .655.

2. Coco Crisp is a leading candidate for a gold glove this year. Although his power numbers are down from 2004 and 2005 while he was at Cleveland, he has had a consistent season, batting near his career average at .270 with 83 runs, 59 RBIs and 26 stolen basis. He has only been caught stealing once in 11 tries post-All Star break. While his trade value will be at an all-time high in this off-season, Theo Epstein & Company should allow Crisp to remain in Boston as he is an important component of the “new look Red Sox.”

3. J.D. Drew is not going anywhere unless the Red Sox are prepared to eat a substantial portion of his contract. I surmise that this would take a hefty appetite as a lot of eating would be involved: more than 10 million a year for 5 years. It would make more sense to hope that in 2008 Drew returns to his former self and bats .283, with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs.

4. If ever there was a year to move Manny, and I know this has been tried every year since 2002, this is the year to actually move him. While he is having the worst year of his career, his numbers are such that many teams around baseball would be happy to have him around. Despite missing the past two weeks with an oblique injury, Manny is batting .292, with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs (coincidentally similar to what the Red Sox expect of a normalized J.D. Drew). Getting fair value in return for trading Manny has always been an issue for the Red Sox in the past, but in this coming off-season, it should not prove to be an insurmountable stumbling block. If a team agreed to take Manny and his fully priced ticket—20 million dollars for at least next year—I suggest that the Red Sox should settle for receiving in return a back-up catcher, other utility player, or a solid left-handed set-up guy out of the bullpen.

This approach (the “take salary off our hands approach”) would free an additional 20 million dollars to be used, together with 14 million in savings obtained by not signing Curt Schilling, to resign Mike Lowell and to make a serious run at Johan Santana, both of whom are free agents this year.

While having a chance to retain Lowell and add Santana to an already formidable starting rotation would be an obvious plus, the main benefit to the team would be an outfield containing both Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp. Talk about a new look.

Questions Remain

So the Red Sox go back to Fenway after their 10 game road trip and play host to the Baltimore Orioles this weekend while the back-in-the hunt again Yankees, fresh off of their three game sweep of the Red Sox, entertain the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the Bronx. Presented with a golden opportunity to vanquish the Yankees for good in the American League's Eastern Division and to dent the Yankees' Wild Card quest, the Red Sox instead find themselves instead up 5 games up in the AL East race and the Yankees in first place in the Wild Card standings.

With beanballs forgotten (at least until September 14th) and the fashion police likely off to monitor woman's wear at center court at the U.S. Open, introspection demands pondering the implications of the past three days.

Will the Red Sox be in the playoffs? Although the 2007 edition of the Red Sox is to date, only a good team, not a great team, rest assured there will be baseball in the Hub come October. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball and have managed to maintain at least a four game lead over the Yankees for the past 5 months. They have one of the best, if not the best, pitching staffs in the American League. While their offense this season has been at best inconsistent and at worst lethargic, the Red Sox are in the top 3 in the American League in most of the important offensive categories. They also play Baltimore and Tampa Bay 13 more times.

Will the Yankees be in the playoffs? The Yankees are a team that knows how to get into the post-season and these past three days may point to the unwelcome truth that this year, the Yankees may be a team that is built for the post-season. They will be in the playoffs unless Seattle manages to hang tough during the next ten days--facing a fairly grueling schedule--and then manages to prevail in the wild card race because of a light schedule over their last 13 games.

Will J.D. Drew ever swing his bat? Watching this series, Your Red Sox Diarist gave up counting the amount of times J.D. Drew came up to the plate and then went back to the dugout without ever swinging his bat. Over the past three days J.D. Drew went 1-11 striking out three times, grounding into 2 double plays and stranding three runners in scoring position.

What is life like without Manny? Manny Ramirez is having the worst offensive year of his career. That said, he is batting .292 has an OBP of .385 an OPS of .880, 20 HR and 86 RBIs-offensive stats that every team in baseball would be happy to have. The past three days have once again shown that Manny is the straw that stirs the drink of the Red Sox offense and that his presence is a key to its good fortunes. It will be interesting to watch the impact Manny's continued absence will have on the team as he recovers from a strained oblique.

What would your playoff rotation be? If I am Joe Torre that is an easy question as Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Chien Ming Wang were playoff caliber the past three days and would be a formidable threesome in the post-season. Terry Francona will have a more difficult time however choosing his three starters for the playoffs. The collective wisdom previously held that it would be Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Curt Schilling come October, despite Tim Wakefield being the American League's co-leader in wins.. These past three days has made things more difficult. While Beckett is a lock and Schilling's good performance on Thursday (his second in a row) would seem to enhance his case, Dice-K's propensity to give up the home run complicates Tito's decision.

Are the Yankees Dice-K's Daddy? Facing the Yankees three times this season Dice-K is 2-1 with a 7.06 ERA and a WHIP of 1.41.

For what it's worth. The Yankees have won 7 of the last 9 games against the Red Sox and lead the season series 8 to 7.

Swept Away

Though Jim Croce's Leroy Brown said that the South Side of Chicago was Chicago's baddest part of town, the Red Sox did all of the tail wuppin' on Friday as the Sox pulled out the brooms and swept the Chisox in their day-night doubleheader . The Red Stockings beat the White Stockings 11-3 and 10-1 and, according to the Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin, this was the first time since a double header against Kansas City in 1957 that the Sox scored 10 runs in both games of a two-set.

It was the recently emerging offense that did the damage-along with a strong outing from Curt Schilling in game 2-allowing the Red Sox to move to a year high 27 games over .500 and increase their lead over the Yankees to 6 1/2 games as the Evil Empire lost to Detroit in dramatic fashion (a three run walk-off home run by Detroit's Carlos Guillen in the bottom of the 11th).

There was lots of good news from Chicago.

Kevin Youkilis, who had been batting only .226 since the All-Star break (compared to .328 before the break) and has a post-break OPS of .697 compared to .920 prior to the break, went a combined 4 for 7 with one home run, a double and 4 RBI's in the two games.

David Ortiz went 4-5 in the nightcap, belting his 22nd and 23rd home runs of the year and scored 3 runs to go with his 3 RBI's.

Mike Lowell continued to underline the reasons why he is the Red Sox MVP for 2007 by going 2-4 with a walk and getting two more RBI's. He leads the team with 90.

The Captain, Jason Varitek, who has struggled since the All-Star break (batting only .231), went 2 for 3 in the first game with a two run homer and 4 RBI's.

In addition to Schilling's 3 hit, 1 run performance over 6 innings in the second game, Josh Beckett won his league leading 16th game of the season going 5 2/3 innings in game 1.

Random Thoughts:

Peter Gammons had some interesting things to say in his online chat on Thursday. Gammons noted that although the Sox had the best record in baseball, they were not getting the offensive production that they expected from the 3rd, 4th and 5th spots in their batting order. The Commissioner pointed out that Manny and J.D. Drew were having the worst years of their careers. Manny's OPS of .874 was his career low and he will struggle to hit 30 home runs. J.D. Drew, with a .748 OPS and 6 home runs, is also far off his norm.

Hopefully, the offensive display in Chicago on Friday will be the spark that this team will need down the stretch and Manny, Papi and J.D. Drew will return to form in September.