Tag Archives: Babe Ruth

Mookie Betts Is The Best Value In Baseball

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Yesterday the New York Post’s Joel Sherman detailed how much money Mookie Betts has turned down in recent years. Mookie then gave an interview to Red Sox reporters this morning detailing how he loves it here, but will be going to free agency instead of signing a long-term deal. Cue the hang wringing across Red Sox Nation.

But the fact Mookie is going year to year for the next two years makes him the greatest value in the majors right now.

Current Contract

Betts and the Red Sox recently agreed on a $20 million contract for 2019. That set a record for a player who was subject to salary arbitration. There was speculation that Nolan Arenado would break that, before he signed an 8 year $260 Million contract instead.

Mookie has one more year of arbitration before hitting his goal of free agency. If he follows up 2018 with something similar in 2019 he’s going to set an all time record in arbitration that will be hard to beat. The Red Sox have Mookie under arbitration control for only this year and next. He will become a free agent after the 2020 season.

Historic Footing

In 2018 Mookie Betts had a 10.9 WAR according to Baseball Reference. That is 21st on the All Time list. Number one is Babe Ruth’s 1923 at 14.1, second is Ruth’s 1921 at 12.9. You get the picture. The only post 2000 seasons in front of Mookie’s are Barry Bonds in 2001 and 2002.

Value

A lot of uneasiness is coming from Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Nolan Arenado signing long term deals, while Mookie is refusing to. None of those players have a higher WAR season than Mookie has right now.

Currently teams are agreeing on 8 to 10 year contracts at $30 plus million dollars for the privilege of having those players on their teams. None of those guys, including Trout, has ever had a better season than Mookie. Trout is the only one with an argument. Harper’s best season was his 10 WAR season in 2015.

Again, the Red Sox are paying Mookie Betts $20 Million this year. If he is true to his word, he will not sign a long-term extension before hitting free agency.

Risk

How many long term contracts have ever worked out in the Major Leagues? Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano – these are cautionary tales. Yes, Harper and Machado, and Trout and Arenado to a lesser extent, are all younger that those other guys when they got those big contracts. But injuries, declining performance, bad team relationships, and PED use are among the many risks that come with long term deals.

The Red Sox have the luxury of the possibility of two more outstanding seasons from Mookie Betts at the shortest possible term. Yes, it would be painful to see him in another uniform. But the Red Sox cannot make him sign a contract.

It’s All Good

This is a reason for celebration Sox Nation, not doom. If the Red Sox win the World Series again in the next two years, then lose Mookie Betts to another team in free agency, that is a win.

And give it time. The Red Sox can never be counted out when it comes to paying out big contracts. The big payroll situations come at the end of 2019. They can meet any rivals head on when Mookie’s free agency hits after 2020.

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Boston Red Sox World Series Championship Game 5 Recap

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The 2018 World Champion Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 and cemented their status as the most dominant team in baseball.

Steve Pearce

This was a win that felt inevitable from the first pitch.  Thanks to World Series MVP Steve Pearce it pretty much was.

Over 3 at bats at the end of game 4 and the beginning of game 5 Pearce was unstoppable.  2 Home Runs, a Double, and 6 RBI.  He threw in another homer in the 8th to put the cherry on top of this Championship.

Turns out that kind of performance puts you shoulder to shoulder with MLB Legends.  Here’s a couple of facts that stand out.

  • Steve Pearce joins Babe Ruth in 1927 and Lou Gehrig in 1928 with at least one home run and three RBI in back to back World Series Games.
  • Pearce, Ruth, and Ted Kluszewski are the only players in history to have a multiple home run game at age 35 or older in the World Series

Pearce told Andrew Benintendi before the series started that he wanted to win World Series MVP so he could go to the owners’ box at a Patriots game and sit with Bob Kraft and Bon Jovi.  Mission accomplished my man.

I thought this World Series would invoke Legends, little did I know Steve Pearce would join them.

David Price

David Price dopped the mic on his postseason failures for all time.  In this game he went 7 plus innings, 1 run, 5 strikeouts.  Doing that on full rest would’ve been beyond outstanding.

But he didn’t just out-duel Clayton Kershaw, he did it on shortest of short rest.  He pitched in 4 out of the 5 World Series games.  In the game he didn’t pitch he warmed up.  On the biggest stage he had the best stretch of his career.

Alex Cora on David Price:  “David loves to be ready to compete on a daily basis.  He enjoys being available, and he was available the whole time.  (He texted) Count on me, use me, he just wanted to compete.”

Chris Sale: “I’m gonna tell my grand kids about (playing with) David Price.”

Here’s some pretty sweet play by play that shows David Price’s joy.

Chris Sale punches out Manny Machado.  More on this in a moment.

Christian Vazquez runs to Chris Sale and look who gets there next.

What a moment for David Price, just look at his face!

Live it up David, you earned it.

Chris Sale

This says it all when it comes to what Chris Sale means to this team.  Look at his teammates as he comes out of the bullpen to start the 9th inning last night.

I didn’t see Craig Kimbrel getting a standing ovation by his teammates coming into any games this post season.

And the way he had Manny Machado flailing on that immaculate slider.  Satisfaction of the highest order.

Alex Cora

All night in the post game it was a Song of Alex Cora from all the players and ownership.  Because he put the players in a position to succeed.  He communicated at an all time level.  He was outstanding at every little thing.

Alex Cora has been the Night’s King since Hardhome: All out aggressive and piling up wins.

He’s pulled all the right levers this postseason and he was on his game last night.

Steve Pearce batting third?  Check.  David Price batting in the top of the eighth?  Check.  Bring in Chris Sale who will probably need surgery next week to close?  Check mate.

He has won the World Series as a player, a bench coach, and now a manager.

Ownership

Take a bow guys.  4 Championships in 14 years.  They cleaned house after last year and chose the right guy in Alex Cora.  These guys are good.

Nathan Eovaldi

A quick word about iron man Nathan Eovaldi.  Take it away John Henry: “I mean he set us up, so that for the next two nights our bullpen was in good shape, and their wasn’t, that was the difference.”

It could be said no Eovaldi, no World Series Championship.

Now it truly is time to party.

The Red Sox Dodgers Preview Extravaganza

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The Dodgers just dispatched the upstart Brewers and move on to face the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series.  Cue the grainy black and white photos of The Babe in a Red Sox uniform. Let us see the Dropkick Murphy’s grinding rendition of Tessie. 

Cue fans using the Brooklyn Robins in barroom and water cooler talk, and a million google searches for ‘Red Sox-Dodgers world series history’ hitting the 1916 World Series page on Wikipedia.  Cue every old Brooklyn Dodger fan coming out of the woodwork, and the slightly less grainy photos and videos of Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese. A mountain of content on the 1988 LA Dodgers World Series winners will come out.

Cue Fever Pitch where the old guy counts off the string of Red Sox world series wins in 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918. Prompt Dave Roberts making his fateful steal in the bottom of the 9th in game 4 against Mariano Rivera.  Cue pictures of Alex Cora in an LA Dodgers uniform. The rating of this series is through the roof! 

It’s an old-school, original 6 type of World Series that will be chock full of intrigue and potential controversy.

Detroit Public Library

THE RED SOX

With a resounding thud, all the doubting and putting down of the 2018 Red Sox has been pushed off the desks of commentators nationwide.  This team is an absolute wagon with a horseshoe, four-leafed clover, and all the baseball gods in their back pocket. 

All the beautiful poignant vignettes of warm feelings are still cascading around the Red Sox: The Alex Cora birthday serenade in the clubhouse after beating the Houston Astros in 5 games.  David Price’s moment with friends and family that choked everyone up.  Alex Cora talking about the Red Sox sending supplies to his storm-ravaged homeland.  Alex Cora is the first manager from Puerto Rico to take his team to the World Series.  

Yes, changing managers can make a world of difference in the day to day operations clubhouse and team.  It doesn’t hurt that Cora is batting, oh, around .800 with his in-game and lineup decisions so far in the playoffs.

There’s every reason in our provincial New England bubble to expect a romp over the Dodgers in the World Series.  The bats are batting: JBJ! JD! PEARCY! MITCHY!  The gloves are catching: BENNY! MOOKIE! The pitchers pitching: PRICE! BRASIER! KELLY! BARNES! PORCELLO! Even maybe SALE!  Possibly KIMBREL!

THE DODGERS

PITCHING

And yet, there is a reason to pause.  

When it comes to the match-ups there’s not much, but what there is tends to favor the Dodgers.  Of the four starting pitchers on LA (Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, local boy made good Rich Hill, Walker Buehler), there’s only one player on the Red Sox who have any history. That’s JD Martinez against Kershaw.  It’s a minuscule 8 at-bats, but JD has managed a home run, double and .375 average against the talented lefty.

HITTING

On the other side are two individuals that show up again and again.  

We’ll start with Brian Dozier. He may not be what he once was, but he has a boatload of experience against the suddenly vaunted Red Sox staff. Dozier’s batting average doesn’t jump off the page, but the power does: Against Chris Sale, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, and Rick Porcello, Dozier has 9 doubles and 9 home runs in 146 at-bats.  If we push those to a full season that’s a 36 double and 36 homer pace.

And he’s the appetizer.

The main man, the designated villain of Red Sox fans and now most of Baseball, is none other than Manny Machado. The side stepper, the slide stabber, the very very bad man.

https://twitter.com/tosa_tina_/status/1052522276766273536

And he’s a force against the Red Sox pitchers: 4 doubles, 9 homers, 108 at-bats.  That’s a projected 18 doubles and, gulp, 41 home runs, and also hits a combined .298 against the Boston starters. 

Throw in the fact that the Sox batters haven’t seen the Dodgers pitchers and it could be an edge for the boys in blue.

We finish with one more subtle note on Alex Cora’s staff.  The hitting coach of the Red Sox is Tim Hyers.  If that name doesn’t leap off the page, it’s not your fault.  Hyers does what the best coaches do, he lets the players shine and stays in the shadows. 

It turns out Mr. Hyers was the Dodgers assistant hitting coach last year.  That means he has the inside track on the Dodgers best hitters, including Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Yasiel Puig among others. 

It’s going to be a fun series, why do we have to wait until Tuesday?

The 100 Year Anniversary of the 1918 World Series Red Sox

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Anniversary of the 1918 Red Sox

1918 was a year that was host to many pivotal moments in history. In November, World War I ended. It was also the year of the Spanish Flu breakout, that would ended up infecting approximately 500 million people around the world.

On a lighter note, however, 1918 saw the Boston Red Sox win the World Series against the Chicago Cubs in six games. The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 76-50 record, a .603 winning percentage.  The 1918 regular season was cut short because of the WWI “Work or Fight” order. This was the only World Series to be played entirely in September, as well as one of three Fall Classics to not feature a home run from either team. This also marked the first time the Star Spangled Banner was performed at a major league baseball game.

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Lineup

Jumping into the actual team itself, the most popular player from this team was obviously Babe Ruth. There was only one other Hall of Famer on this ball club, Harry Hooper. Hooper was a 30 year old right fielder in 1918, in which he batted .298 and had a .796 OPS. Ruth, on the other hand led the league in Slugging (.555) and OPS (.966).

Also, the 23 year old compiled a 2.22 ERA with a 13-7 record and a 1.046 WHIP. He was about as valuable to a team as a player could possibly be. Other noteworthy pitchers include Carl Mays, who pitched in 35 games compiling a 2.21 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, Sam Jones with a 2.25 ERA in 24 games pitched, and “Bullet” Joe Bush who in 36 games compiled a 2.11 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In fact, as a team, the Sox achieved a 2.31 ERA. This could be attributed to the low scoring qualities teams had in the dead-ball era.

star-spangledbanner-1918

The Series

The first three games were played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ironically, Comiskey Park was the home of the White Sox for 80 years (1910-1990). It was the better choice of venue over Weeghman Park because it had a second deck for viewers and held twice as many people. The Sox took two out of three in as many consecutive days in Chicago, and then took the series to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox won two out of three in Fenway as well, resulting in a series win. Babe Ruth went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA between Games 1 and 4. This would be the last time the Sox won a World Series until 2004, when the curse was finally broken. Also, this marked the last time the Sox won a World Series on their own field until 2013. Meanwhile, it took the Cubs another 98 years before they would go on to win their next World Series as well. If history truly repeats itself, this could be the last year the Red Sox could win a World Series before another 86 year drought.

Hopefully one comes sooner than that, of course.

@ELJGON

Best Starting Pitchers In Red Sox History: Left-Handed Edition

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This is the second article in my Red Sox all-time franchise players series. Following up the Right Handers, comes the greatest left-handed pitchers in Red Sox history. Again, this isn’t the five best lefties to ever put on a Red Sox uniform, these are the five who did the most while in a Sox jersey.

 

Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth threw 29 consecutive shutout innings in the World Series.

Everyone knows about Babe Ruth. People also generally know he was a good pitcher before he switched to a full time hitter. But just how good was he?

Babe Ruth was 20 during his first full season, and won 18 games. The next season, at age 21, he led the league with a 1.75 ERA. The following season, he won 24 games. Ruth won 67 games with a 2.07 ERA, by the time he was 22 years old. Don’t forget the World Series either. By age of 23, Babe Ruth had set a record that would stand for 43 years, when he pitched 29 consecutive scoreless innings during World Series play. In 3 games total, Ruth pitched 31 innings, going 3-0, with a 0.87 ERA. He is both one of the best pitchers and hitters in World Series history. He would have undoubtedly made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher as well.

Lefty Grove

Lefty Grove on the mound in Comiskey Park circa 1934.(Photo Reproduction by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

Lefty Grove is one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. Personally, I have him as the third greatest left-hander to ever take the mound. Much of that came with the Philadelphia Athletics, but Grove was still an excellent pitcher for five seasons in Boston. He picked up his 300th career victory in a Red Sox uniform.

After struggling in his first season while pitching with a sore arm, Lefty Grove returned to stardom for the next five seasons. From 1935-39, he averaged 17 wins per season for the Sox, with a 2.83 ERA. In 4 of those 5 seasons, he led the American League in ERA! Grove also led the league in WHIP twice, and made the All-Star Game in each of those five seasons.

Jon Lester

Lester had a heck of a run in Boston, one most of us wish was still going. There was his return from Lymphoma in 2007, to pitch 5.2 shutout innings in the final game of that year’s World Series. The following season, he threw his no-hitter in May against the Royals at Fenway Park. His first 200 strikeout season in 2009, followed by his first of three All-Star appearances as a member of the Red Sox in 2010. Then his stellar postseason pitching again in 2013, as he won his second World Series.

In total, Lester won 110 games, while posting a 3.64 ERA in a Red Sox jersey. He finished in the top five in two separate Cy Young votes. He’s also 4th in Red Sox history in strikeouts, 1st among lefties. Most importantly however, Lester was 3-0 in World Series contests, allowing just a single run in 21 innings pitched. We could always count on Lester to pitch well in the clutch.

Year Tm Series Opp W L W-L% ERA GS IP ER SO WHIP
2007 BOS ALCS CLE 0 0 4.91 0 3.2 2 5 1.091
2007 BOS WS COL 1 0 1.000 0.00 1 5.2 0 3 1.059
2008 BOS ALDS LAA 1 0 1.000 0.00 2 14.0 0 11 0.929
2008 BOS ALCS TBR 0 2 .000 4.97 2 12.2 7 15 1.263
2009 BOS ALDS LAA 0 1 .000 4.50 1 6.0 3 5 1.333
2013 BOS ALDS TBR 1 0 1.000 2.35 1 7.2 2 7 0.783
2013 BOS ALCS DET 1 1 .500 2.31 2 11.2 3 7 1.457
2013 BOS WS STL 2 0 1.000 0.59 2 15.1 1 15 0.652

Mel Parnell

Mel Parnell testing his arm which was broken in 1954, during Spring training. (Photo by George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Mel Parnell is the all-time winningest left-hander in Red Sox history, with his 123 career wins. His heyday was from 1948-53, when he averaged 18 wins per season with a 3.22 ERA. In 1949, he led the league with 25 wins, and a 2.77 ERA while placing 4th in the MVP vote. If there were a Cy Young Award back then, he’d have been a shoo-in.

Unfortunately, Parnell had a short career. Following his 21 win season in 1953, he broke his arm and never fully recovered. He only won 12 games over the next 3 seasons, before calling it quits following an operation on his elbow. However, in his final season, Parnell had a little magic left in his left arm. That season, he threw a no-hitter at Fenway Park against the Chicago White Sox.

Dutch Leonard

Baseball player Dutch Leonard winds up a pitch in the uniform of the Boston Red Sox, 1914. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images)

Dutch Leonard had a short peak with the Red Sox, but he made it count. In 1914, Dutch Leonard posted the lowest ERA, still to this day, in modern baseball history. That season he was 19-5 with a league leading 0.96 ERA and 0.88 WHIP! Regardless of the era, that is an all-time great season.

In six seasons with the Red Sox, Leonard won 90 games while pitching to a 2.13 ERA. He pitched once in both the 1915 and 1916 World Series. In each contest, Leonard allowed 1 earned run in a complete game victory.