Tag Archives: Opening Day

[Interview] DeJuan Jones Officially Signs with the Revs

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After a long preseason, the Revs have finally signed DeJuan Jones. Jones spent the last four years at Michigan State playing forward. The Revs took him 11th overall in the SuperDraft. Jones is coming off a great year at Michigan State. In 2018 he had 5 goals and 5 assists in 23 starts. Although Jones did get drafted as a forward, he has recently begun a transition to play more as a right back. This came up due to the recent injury Andrew Farrell sustained in preseason. As Jones said, “I am not exclusively a right back. With the injury to Farrel in preseason the team needed depth at the right back position.”

Jones grew up in Lansing, Michigan, just minutes away from where he would eventually play in college. He’s been playing soccer since the young age of 5 years old. Jones to this day still considers his parents his biggest mentors. As a winger/forward, Jones likes to try and adopt a lot of different players styles, but mostly models his type of play after Raheem Sterling. Jones had never played Right back before the draft. Despite this, he says he’s always had a defensive mindset. “I have always taken pride in my defending even as an attacking player. Just getting a better understanding of positioning and decision making has been a good learning experience.”

While Jones noted that most of his minutes in the preseason were in attacking wide positions and not at right back, with the injury to Farrell, right back seems like the most probable position to see him on the field as there is a lot of depth at the forward position. But don’t let this take away your opinion of his attacking abilities. Jones came out of the MLS combine with the fastest 30 meter dash and shuttle run times. When on the attack, Jones will always be a threat with his speed.

On This Day in Red Sox History: Baseball Is Back!

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On April 26, 1995, baseball returned to Boston. The strike was finally over and there was to be baseball again at Fenway Park. The prior season had been cut short due to the strike in August. In addition, the new season was getting a late start, causing a very long winter for baseball fans. On this day however, baseball was back and the Red Sox were playing host to the Twins to begin a new season.

A New Team

The Red Sox brought a new look team with them following the strike. The Butch Hobson era was mercifully over, as the team finished under .500 all three seasons with him at the helm. In came former Rangers manager Kevin Kennedy to take his place. In the starting lineup on Opening Day, the Sox featured four brand new players. Luis Alicea was the leadoff hitter in his first game with the club. Mark Whiten was in the lineup as was new catcher Mike Macfarlane. The most notable addition to the lineup however was the designated hitter, Jose Canseco. Canseco was coming off a 31 home run season despite the shortened year. He had been acquired from Texas for center fielder Otis Nixon and prospect Luis Ortiz and was expected to add some thump to the lineup alongside Mo Vaughn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Season Gets Underway

With Roger Clemens beginning the season on the disabled list, the Red Sox sent Aaron Sele to the mound for the opener. Sele was looked to as the de facto ace after having gone 15-9 with a 3.35 ERA over his first two seasons. He was opposed on the mound by Scott Erickson, despite the fact Erickson had lost 30 games over the past two seasons with an ERA above 5.00.

A Jose Canseco single in his first Red Sox at-bat highlighted a scoreless first inning. Sele cruised through the second with three ground ball outs. In the bottom half, another newcomer (Mark Whiten) started the inning with a base hit. A passed ball advanced him to second and Mike Greenwell promptly drove him across the plate with a single to score the Red Sox first run of the new season.

The Red Sox threatened in the third when John Valentin tripled. However, Jose Canseco popped out to end the inning with a chance to give his new fans something to cheer about. The Sox got two more on base in the fourth yet failed to score. Meanwhile, Aaron Sele was dealing, allowing just the walk to the opening batter of the game through four innings.

Aaron Sele autographing baseballs for kids. (Boston.com)

Red Sox Take Charge

Sele allowed his first hit leading off the fifth, but retired the next three batters to conclude his day with two baserunners allowed over five shutout innings. In the bottom half of the inning, Luis Alicea got aboard with his first Red Sox base hit. After a Jose Canseco walk, Mo Vaughn hit a line drive to right-center that got down for a hit and scored Alicea. The Red Sox led 2-0 after five.

After prospect Frankie Rodriguez set the Twins down in order on eight pitches, the Red Sox bats went to work. Carl Willis (the future pitching coach of the Red Sox) replaced Mark Guthrie with one out and walked Mike Macfarlane. Tim Naehring bunted him over to second to get a man in scoring position with two outs; then the rally began. The nine-hole hitter, Lee Tinsley, came through with a run scoring single to center. After he stole second, Willis issued back-to-back walks to Luis Alicea and John Valentin. The bases were loaded with the big bats coming up. Jose Canseco lined one into center field to score two and the Sox were ahead 5-0.

With Mo Vaughn due up the Twins went to the left-handed Vince Horsman. That decision did not fare any better than the one to go to Willis. Big Mo doubled off the lefty to score both Valentin and Canseco. A walk to Mark Whiten was followed by another RBI hit for Mike Greenwell and Horsman’s day was over without recording an out. Mo Sanford hit Mike Macfarlane with a pitch to load the bases back up. Tim Naehring then hit a ball that was stopped by Scott Leius, but he had no play to make. The infield hit scored another run and the Sox had a 7 run sixth inning.

Red Sox Win First Game Big Following Strike

The rest of the game was rather uneventful with the Sox having a big lead. The Twins only got one more hit against three different pitchers. Mike Greenwell ended up collecting his fourth hit of the game, finished Opening Day 4-5 with 2 runs batted in. The pairing of Jose Canseco and Mo Vaughn in the middle of the order got off to a good start, with Mo Vaughn driving in three and Canseco bringing home two. They would end up flip-flopping spots in the lineup after just a few games, with Vaughn batting third and Canseco batting cleanup for most of the next two seasons. Baseball was back, and the Red Sox had a 9-0 win to start the season.

1995 Red Sox team photo (Bostonredsox.com)

 

Feature picture from WCVB TV

On This Day in Red Sox History: April 6, 1973

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April 6, 1973, brought Opening Day to Boston. The Red Sox started their season at Fenway Park against the hated New York Yankees. The Red Sox were coming off a frustrating end to the previous season, finishing a half game behind the Detroit Tigers for the American League East. The Tigers were allowed to play one more game than the Sox, giving them the opportunity to win an extra game. Both teams lost 70 games, but the Tigers got to play in the postseason. The Yankees had finished in fourth for the second consecutive season, and their powerhouse days were currently a thing of the past.

Opening Day Lineups

This game is famous for being the start of the designated hitter. The American League had just adopted the designated hitter for the season, and Ron Blomberg of the Yankees was the first player to step into a batter’s box while playing the “position.” Newly signed Orlando Cepeda was the first designated hitter for the Red Sox and batted 5th. The Red Sox were headlined by mainstays Carl Yastrzemski and Reggie Smith, along with reigning Rookie of the Year Carlton Fisk. They pitted their ace on the mound, Luis Tiant, against the Yankees Mel Stottlemyre.

Baseball-reference.com

Rough First Inning

Luis Tiant got off to a shaky start to begin the season. After giving up a lead-off hit, the Sox got a strike em’ out, throw em’ out double play when Carlton Fisk cut Horace Clarke down attempting to steal second base. A double and two walks later though loaded the bases for the first designated hitter at-bat in baseball history. Ron Blomberg worked a bases loaded walk to score the game’s first run. Felipe Alou followed with a 2-run double, making two doubles for Alou brothers in the inning as Matty Alou had started the 2-out rally with a double. Tiant got out of the inning trailing 3-0.

The Sox half of the first saw only one hit; but that hit was a home run by Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz took a Mel Stottlemyre offering out to straightaway center field for the season’s first home run.

April 6, 1973: Ed Folger of Lancaster threw out the first ball on Opening Day. Folger, who had been a minor leaguer in the Red Sox system, had his leg amputated in a farm accident the previous September. (The Boston Globe)

Sox Take the Lead

Tiant enjoyed a 1-2-3 second inning, rebounding from a rough first. The Red Sox gave him some support in the bottom of the inning, taking a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Rico Petrocelli singled with 1 out, one of three hits on the afternoon for him. This brought up Carlton Fisk, who had batted .293 with 22 home runs and a league leading 9 triples the previous season when he won the Rookie of the Year Award. Fisk promptly tied the game by putting one up over the Green Monster in left field. This would be just the beginning of the damage he would do to the Yankees that afternoon. The Red Sox would add two unearned runs following a throwing error by Graig Nettles before the inning was over.

Nettles would gain a little bit of redemption the next half inning when he hit a 2-out home run to center field off Luis Tiant, pulling the Yankees back within a run. Mel Stottlemyre had nothing on the mound though and the Red Sox fortified their lead in the bottom of the third. A hit by Reggie Smith and a double by Carlton Fisk put two in scoring position for Doug Griffin. Griffin singled them both home, chasing Stottlemyre from the game. Griffin then scored on a hit by Dwight Evans and the Sox led 8-4 after three innings.

Red Sox Pull Away

With Lindy McDaniel on the mound for New York, the Red Sox did not let up in the fourth. A single by Yaz followed by a double for Reggie Smith put two in scoring position for the Sox with no one out. After striking out designated hitter Orlando Cepeda, McDaniel put Rico Petrocelli on intentionally; bad decision. Carlton Fisk had already homered and doubled on the day, and he wasn’t done yet. Fisk took a McDaniel offering deep to right-center field and over the wall for a grand slam. Fisk now had 10 total bases and six runs batted in and it was only the fourth inning. The Sox threatened with two more in scoring position before the inning finally ended; 12-4 Red Sox lead.

From there the Red Sox cruised to victory. The Yankees got one in the 5th, but Tiant shut them down over the final four innings for the complete game victory. This was Tiant’s first of 20 wins that season for the Red Sox. Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense tacked on three more runs in the 6th inning before calling it quits.

Red Sox 15  Yankees 5

 

Red Sox 1973 team photo (Bostonredsox.com)

 

Why the Red Sox Will Need Bullpen Help

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State of the Bullpen After Day One

What happened yesterday, March 29th, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg Florida was a blatant disgrace. All of Red Sox Nation had been waiting for Opening Day since the final out was recorded in last year’s playoffs. The day had finally come, with new manager Alex Cora at the helm. And the bullpen let us down.

The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead, and had a 4-0 advantage going into the bottom of the 8th inning. The combination of Joe Kelly and Carson Smith got hammered, allowing six runs in the frame. The Rays went on to win the game, 6-4. It was a gut-wrenching defeat, especially on Opening Day.

There were a lot of people on social media already throwing in the towel, which is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. There are still 161 games in the season, and one loss isn’t indicative of how the entire season will unfold.

One glaring issue that I do not see going away is the bullpen. I am not writing these guys off already, but it was the team’s biggest weakness going into the season, and showed itself yesterday. Here are two reasons why I think the bullpen will need some help by the trade deadline:

Injury History

This sounds so cliché, but it is a reality in this Red Sox bullpen. Dave Dombrowski said on WEEI today that Carson Smith could be back in a month (shoulder injury). Joe Kelly has had injury history in previous seasons, and Carson Smith also just got back last season from arm surgery.

Those names listed above are arguably the three best relievers the Red Sox have besides Kimbrel. When the backbone of your bullpen has a chance to collapse at any moment during the season, it is a problem. I am not trying to say that this will for sure happen, but if it does, we could be relying on Matt Barnes to set up for Kimbrel. Ouch.

Embed from Getty Images

Lack of Versatility

This issue is even bigger than the injury history, which is the lack of versatility in the bullpen. What that means is that the Red Sox currently only have one lefty, who is a rookie named Bobby Poyner. Alex Cora said in the post-game interview that he did not want to use Poyner in such a big spot. Now THAT is a problem. We only have one lefty in the pen and our manager doesn’t even trust him to record one out against a lefty.

The Red Sox will not be able to make a playoff run with only one lefty in the bullpen, it will just not work. Especially if that lefty is a rookie. Not knocking on Bobby Poyner, I think he has a ton of potential here, but he is no Andrew Miller.

So What Do the Red Sox Do?

The Red Sox are in a sticky situation considering they do not want to go over the $237 million threshold. I think at the trade deadline Dave Dombrowski will try to use a young and controllable player to get a lefty for the pen. Look out for a potential Sam Travis or Blake Swihart trade.

Opening Day Is Just One Game of 162

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Started the Season with an Upset

Clearly Opening Day didn’t end the way Red Sox Nation had hoped it to. Playing Tampa Bay was supposed to be an easy win. The Sox were doing great up until the 8th inning. Tampa Bay had the bases loaded and only one out. Sox Nation’s worst nightmare was coming into fruition. The Tampa Bay Rays had a chance to win the game after trailing 4-0 all day.

The Bullpen

Sale Day is always taken very seriously with the Red Sox, and he certainly proved why he was the Opening Day pitcher. He wasn’t perfect, as he showed some rustiness on the mound. He pitched six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Matt Barnes replaced Sale first. He had a quick appearance but held off any runs. Then possibly the biggest disappointment happened. Joe Kelly was on the mound, allowing Matt Duffy to hit and RBI double to cut the Sox lead 4-1. Carson Smith was the final pitcher for the Sox, he struck out one batter, providing a little bit of hope. Denard Span, Tampa Bays left fielder, drove in three players, causing Tampa to tie the game. Allowing Hechavarria to bring in Span, and unfortunately win the game.

Eduardo Nuñez

He re-signed with the Red Sox organization at the beginning of Spring Training. Nuñez had to prove to the organization that he is still a good addition to the team. In the top of the second inning, Eduardo Nuñez hit a two run homer in a picture perfect way. The play went straight out to center field where Kiermaier and Span both dove for the ball, but the ball went right past them. Nuñez ran the bases in a speedy 15.87 seconds. Pregame polls showed that fans thought either Mookie or J.D. Martinez would hit the first home run of the season. No one expected it to be Nuñez. But with Pedroia still on the DL, Nuñez holds the potential and ability that the Sox need.

Opening Day Is Only Game One

Luckily we have today to look forward to. It was Alex Cora’s first game as a manager. The loss is not his fault. It’s baseball. Some lose and some win. The next eight games are split between Tampa and Miami. Two teams that should be easy to beat. Fenway Opening Day is under a week away, and the Sox can finally play at home. Then there are the games we’ve been waiting for. NYY vs. BOSTON. Giancarlo Stanton vs. J.D. Martinez. Arguably, the biggest rivalry in MLB. It’s only game one of the season, and there’s plenty of wins and records to look forward to.

Sources

Boston Red Sox

Billie Weiss

Tampa Bay Rays