stay back: geniuses at work

For what it's worth nbadraft.net (an excellent mock draft site that's updated year-round) has the Celtics taking Al Horford-power forward from Florida at Number 5. Horford is a good player and there's many other nice players that'll be available if the Celts use the pick but they're not sure things like Durant and Oden. It just makes you wonder, what could have been (again)?

Luck of the Irish? Not so much

I had meant to write a little draft preview going into tonight's NBA lottery but I forgot/didn't want to jinx the Celtics chances. Well, as we can all see by now, the Celtics are completely screwed. For the second half of this past terrible season, Celtics fans were banking on finishing with one of the worst records (second-worst, check) so that they would have the best shot of landing either Kevin Durant-forward from Texas or Greg Oden-center from Ohio State. As both were eliminated from March Madness and cryptically declared for the draft, things seemed to be turning up the C's way. The Boston Globe the last few days bombarded readers with the odds of the Celtics getting picks 1-5(the worst possible spot they could get). So what happened? As I waited anxiously for the cards to be drawn in beautiful Secaucus, NJ (the NBA bunker's headquarters), the NBA hit Boston with a low blow: the fifth pick.
I was in seventh grade when the Tim Duncan fiasco occurred (the Celtics had two lottery picks, a 44% chance to get no. 1 and only ended up with #3 and #6) so while I have memorized all of its key elements after the fact, I didn't really pay too much attention to it at the time. Durant-Oden is my initiation into Celtics fan hell. I can't say I'm a die-hard Celtics fan-who can these days?-since the only real above average squad in my formative years was the 2001-2002 version led by Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers. They were up 2-1 in the East Finals on the Nets after having the greatest fourth quarter comeback in playoff history and then they proceeded to lose their next three. Thereby eliminating the possibility of a Lakers-Celtics Finals reunion (a 80's rivalry for the ages). Since then, the Celtics have gotten progressively younger and worse. Not to mention the fact that the NBA is pretty terrible as a whole. Too many games, dead crowds, all one-on-one play, music during play and uninspired players would be the initial gripes off the top of my head. This was supposed to be the night that turned the franchise around.
I love college basketball-my favorite sport (ie. I can watch any game, any time)-and watching Durant and Oden to a lesser degree was a privilege and an honor this year. They both have incredible games, upside, demeanor, etc. They will both be All-Stars for years to come, they transcend the sport. People that know little about baskeball already know these two. For practical purposes, Oden would have been a better fit since the Celtics biggest weakness is interior defense. His offensive game is still developing but he can already play low-post d with the best of them. And Durant is just a player. He can fill it up like few I've seen yet he's unselfish and can do pretty much everything else on the court.
I go to multiple Celtics games a year but lately it's just gotten pathetic. They have talent (Pierce) and budding stars (Jefferson) but they're so young (Gerald Green) and have made so many bad moves (signing Scalabrine to a $30 million dollar deal; trading the pick that ended up being Brandon Roy for Sebastian Telfair) not to mention the fact that Danny Ainge is utterly incompetent. And Doc Rivers? The jury is still out on him. Good guy for the media and no one could have done much with the borderline NBDL team they had in the late part of the season but still, he has never consistently won in the NBA. As terrible as the Celtics are, a healthy and motivated Pierce, Jefferson + Durant or Oden would have made them a playoff team in the East. Don't believe me? Did you see the Nets in the playoffs? They won a series. And the Cavs are in the East Finals, anything is possible in this joke Conference.
I won't play the woe is me card, I'll leave that to Bill Simmons. While the Celtics past 20 years have been horrific, Boston as a sports city has nothing to complain about with the Patriots and Red Sox outstanding play in the last six years. All we wanted was for the Celtics to be relevant again. I've heard the stories, seen some of the games and vaguely remember the final days of the Garden. It's clearer now than ever that those times are gone forever and it's best just to move on with our sporting lives. With the Suns controversial exit last week in the playoffs and this latest setback for the Celtics, the NBA continues to slide in my eyes.

10.5 games and counting

When I wake up tomorrow morning and check out the standings in the Boston Globe, my beloved Boston Red Sox will be 10.5 games up on Baltimore, 10.5 up on the Yankees, 11 games ahead of Toronto and 12 games in front of Tampa Bay. It will be May 21 and tomorrow night's game at Yankee Stadium (the start of a three game set) will be the 44th of the Sox' season. It's way too early to start popping the champagne and thinking about playoff matchups but I for one can't help but feel a little strange about how things are going.
The Sox took 2 of 3 from the Braves this weekend-the first interleague action of the year-while the Mets (thanks Bee Rock) won 2 of 3 against the Yanks. Baltimore and Tampa Bay as usual look like also-rans rather than contenders while the Blue Jays and Yankees are enduring an almost comical string of injuries to assorted players. A three game set with the Yankees in the end of May usually doesn't mean all too much but in this case I think it's time to kick 'em while they're down. We all know the Yankees aren't as good right now as they most likely will be in the coming weeks and months. Sweeping this series would put the Yankees 13.5 games back. That's fun to write, let alone dream about. 2 out of 3 would make them 12.5 back before Memorial Day. A little history lesson: the '78 Sox were up 14 games on the Yankees and somehow managed to choke (Bucky Dent) and lose the division to the Yanks (pre-Wild Card). Fast forward to 2007 and you'll find two different teams: the Sox are the front-runners this time as well but they're not the overachievers. This Sox team is stacked. Great starting pitching, very solid lineup and good bullpen. The 2007 Yankees are looking older by the day, unless you're focusing on their revolving door set of local little league pitchers that get to dress up as big leaguers and get knocked around for a few starts.
I know what you're going to say. Yes, Clemens is coming back. But as discussed before (scroll down), he probably won't make that much of a difference to this old and flawed team. And yes, the Sox will undoubtedly endure some injuries because this is baseball. Josh Beckett just went on the DL earlier this week with another tear on his right middle finger (the 7th time in his career that he's been on the DL for hand ailments). The Sox started two AAA pitchers on Saturday and Sunday and split the games. Hopefully Beckett will be back soon and everything will be hunky dorey but for once we have some pitching depth. This isn't the Sox of my middle school and high school days where it was Pedro, Wakefield and a cast of assorted clowns. Schilling is still pretty reliable, Wakefield has been great (which you can't expect all season), Tavarez has been very good for him and Dice-K is quickly becoming a stud MLB-style.
The Yankees have never been down 10+ games in the Torre era (1996-present). Get used to hearing that stat consistently as these two teams seem to be headed in opposite directions. It's time to step on the Yankees throats (like they did to us in last August's brutal five game sweep at Fenway).

the Rocket lands in the Bronx

Big news yesterday coming out of Yankee Stadium. Never one to shy away from obnoxious amounts of media attention, Roger Clemens announced during the seventh inning stretch that he's coming back to the Yankees. Immediately, there was a jolt of excitement added to what is already regarded as the best rivalry in sports-Sox vs. Yankees. This season, the Sox have won five of the first six against the Bombers and for once, it looks like they have the upper-hand on a Yankees team short of capable pitchers. Word is Roger will come back in the beginning of June and would you believe the Yanks come to Boston, June 1-3? You can bank on that. Roger at Fenway. I wonder what clever design the guys that sell anti-Yankees t-shirts outside of Fenway will come up with this time around? I'm giddy with anticipation for those alone.
When you sit down and think about it, was there ever any doubt Clemens would go to New York again? Pettitte came back to the Yankees in the off-season and the Astros have continued to go downhill. Why not cash in on one last big pay-day ($28 million pro-rated over the season)? The Rocket is many things, a poor man is not one of them. I guess that dream of pitching to his son Kody (the Astros minor league catcher) will have to wait.
The big question is how effective can Clemens be in the 2007 American League? The AL lineups are far tougher without the NL's wasteland of 7-8-9 hitters. Also, he'll be 45 in August and steroids or no steroids, the man has to break down at some point. He's a power pitcher. He's defying all common sense by having such a long career. He last pitched for the Sox in 1996 which seems like about 50 years ago. I guess there is no measuring stick, we'll have to wait and see what'll happen. He's pitched very well in Houston the last three seasons (ERA's of 2.98, 1.87 and 2.30 respectively) and famously gotten terrible run-support. The Yanks will certainly back him up from an offensive standpoint but I think the biggest problem will be that he'll only last 5-7 innings in most starts which'll leave the game in the hands of the Yankees crew of hapless relievers. Even-dare I say it-Mariano Rivera is no longer invincible. Clemens can only pitch every fifth day. Then again, I'm a Sox fan and their former G.M. Dan Duquette said in 1996 that Clemens was heading into the "twilight of his career." If you stop and look at that bum under the bridge next time you're in Boston, you might recognize him-it's Dan Duquette. What a fucking idiot.

Randy fucking Moss

I love the NFL Draft. I mean, who doesn't these days? The cottage industry (hello, Mel Kiper) has turned into the NFL's second biggest event. It's endless fun, waiting to see who your favorite team will select while also hoping your rivals draft stiffs. Throw in a little human drama like Brady Quinn yesterday and you've got riveting stuff. The Pats had picks #24 and #28 in the first round yesterday. They used #24 to draft Brandon Merriweather, safety from the U. (Miami) as Michael Irvin would gleefully proclaim. Good pick, the Pats need help in the defensive backfield since Eugene Wilson is a ghost these days and Rodney Harrison is pushing Ken Griffey Jr. and Grant Hill for most injuries in professional sports in the past few seasons. Merriweather you might remember for his stomping of hapless FIU players last October and also from shooting at an intruder in his off-campus house who had shot his teammate in the butt. Why didn't I go to Miami? The Pats traded #28 to the Niners for their first round pick next year and a third-rounder this year (which they later traded to the Raiders). Merriweather was the only guy that the Patriots selected in the first three rounds of the draft, tying a club record for fewest on day one. The local media obviously had a field day with Merriweather's past history but other than that, yesterday was pretty quiet.
I went out to breakfast this morning and I came back to find a message from my buddy: THE PATS SIGNED RANDY MOSS. I rushed to the nearest tv and watched a few minutes of the fourth round (no mention of the trade). Then I hopped on espn.com, which didn't disappoint. It was true, the Pats had pulled off one of the great steals of the 21st century: a fourth round pick for Randy Moss. I had only one reaction, complete excitement. I can already tell you that this will be the topic ad nauseam for the next few months for talk radio/internet and bar sports talk. Moss comes with baggage: after seven unreal years in Minnesota, he was shipped off to the Raiders-the purgatory of the NFL-and spent the last two years there rotting away (though not as fast as Al Davis). It's a no lose for the Pats. They're making Moss take a pay cut and restructure his contract while also telling him that if he has a a bad attitude here, then see ya later. Sounds like a familiar story. Hmm? Talented veteran who has been on a losing team, getting his last chance to win a Super Bowl and cement his legacy in New England. Rodney Harrison and Corey Dillon would be the most recent and worthy examples of this trend. Both came from bad teams (the Chargers and Bengals) respectively and had reputations as jerks/me first guys. How'd that turn out? They both helped the Patriots win two Super Bowls in their four years here. Well, Moss is better than both of them and has more upside. He's only 30 so he theoretically could have 5-7 good years left in him. It's enough to make a guy crazy with football fever in late April.
After blowing a lead and losing in the AFC Championship to the Colts, the Patriots have been on a spending spree: they've brought in Adalius Thomas, Kyle Brady, Sammy Morris, Kelley Washington, Dante Stallworth, Wes Welker, Tory James and finally Randy Moss. All the while, only losing Tully Banta Cain (a 7th round pick who finally got some playing time this past year), a worn down Dillon (who supposedly has retired) and Todd Sauerbrun, who played here for a few games. Tom Brady who had few weapons in the passing game last year, now has nearly too many. Can you say 5-wide receiver sets? Damn, it's good to be a Patriots fan right about now.

The last time this happened, I was in 1st Grade

As the title refers to, the Sox did something they haven't done since 1990 (sweep three from the Yankees at Fenway). Let's not get ahead of ourselves, it is April 23. Last time I checked the playoffs start in October. With that out of the way, I've got to admit that it felt pretty sweet to beat this injury-depleted version of the Yankees.Each game featured a Sox comeback. Friday was most impressive, coming back down 6-2 in the eighth and knocking around Mariano Rivera en-route to the 7-6 win. A-Rod hit two homers and a double for four RBIs but the Sox still pulled it out. Reliever Hideki Okajima (the much less heralded new Japanese import) got the save since Papelbon had worked two games in a row. Saturday (a game that I was lucky enough to attend) looked like a big mismatch: Josh Beckett vs. Jeff Karstens (a rookie scrub the Yankees sacrificed since Pavano, Mussina and Wang are all on the DL). Beckett gave up four runs in the first two innings and ultimately battled until the seventh, only giving up one more run. Ortiz put the Sox up three with a big two-run blast and Papelbon closed it out (7-5). Finally, last night's game featured another mismatch: Dice-K against Chase Wright (another stiff the Yankees rushed up from Columbus). The Yankees got to Dice-K early with two in the first. The Sox woke up and hit an MLB record-tying four home runs in a row: Manny, Drew, Lowell and Varitek. Lowell later added a three run bomb and Papelbon once again closed it out in the ninth (7-6).

I could go on and on about these three games but the previous paragraph is enough. The bigger question is what does this series mean for the season? The Yanks and Sox meet 15 more times over the course of the season so it's a little early to start printing AL East champion t-shirts and talking about playoff rotations. The Sox capitalized on a very vulnerable Yankees team, much like the Yankees absolutely stomped the Sox in a demoralizing five game sweep at Fenway last August. Those Red Sox were complete frauds as their team was falling apart with injuries. The same could be said for the Yankees at this time. Despite what George, Cashman and the assorted stooges think, it's pitching and timely hitting that carries teams through seasons and deep into the playoffs. My dog could have dissected what the problem was for the Yankees in last season's playoffs: no pitching. When at full power, their lineup is one of the best in history but that doesn't matter when you start facing the Detroits (or Boston now) that have more than 1 or 2 quality starting pitchers. Yankee fans will say, they have Phillip Hughes waiting in the wings. Mussina and Wang will get healthy. And Pavano....... I don't think even the biggest Yanks fan could say much good about that clown. For once, they have a lot of question marks.

The Sox are in a unique position. They look like the team to beat in the AL East and possibly baseball. For most of my rooting days, we're always chasing much more talented and free-spending Yankees teams. Not the case this season. A-Rod is unstoppable. Jeter, Damon, Abreu and Giambi to a lesser extent can still do a ton of damage but they can't always be counted on to put together double digits runs (which is what this pathetic staff needs).The Orioles are currently hot (11-7, four wins in a row), Yankees are 8-9, Toronto is 8-10 and Tampa Bay is 7-11. You just know the Yankees will be hanging around at the end of the season. They have too many great hitters and money to let this season slip away. The Orioles are not going anywhere, a .500 season would be good for them. Toronto could be a threat but without B.J. Ryan, they're much less fearsome. The Devil Rays are only useful for fantasy baseball.

It's April 23 and 80 degrees outside. The Sox just swept the Yankees, it's a good day to be alive.

your 2007 Red Sox

It's only eight games into the season (4-4) but it's never too early as a fan to start forecasting how your favorite team will do. So far, the Red Sox have been pretty inconsistent as their middling record indicates. They won 2 of 3 at the Royals (who you might not know are still a major league team), lost 2 of 3 to the Rangers (who still don't have pitching) and have most recently split-1 and 1-with an average Mariners team.
It's been famously said that a baseball season is like a marathon, a grind, horse race, etc. With that said, I think at different times in this long season, you can point to possible weaknesses and troublespots that almost certainly will arise at some point. For the Red Sox, the two biggest problems are quite obvious: 1) the bottom of the lineup and 2) the back end of the rotation.
The 2003-2005 Sox teams were all stacked lineups, a big reason why they reached the playoffs all three years. Last year though, the wheels started to fall off as a ton of injuries happened and the Sox could never recover not to mention guys were getting past their prime (Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek I'm looking at you). This past offseason the Sox went out and got Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew. Both moves were met with criticism as Lugo has never played for a winner (other than sitting on the Dodgers bench for the 2nd half of last season) and Drew is only slightly less injury prone than Ken Griffey Jr. So far so good from these two though, Lugo seems to be a capable leadoff man and shortstop and Drew is very talented. Right now the batting order goes: Lugo, Youkilis, Ortiz, Manny, Drew, Lowell, Varitek, Crisp, Pedroia. 1-6 is top-notch, Lowell proved last year that he can still hit. The question lies in the last three. Varitek got hurt last year and was out for a long stretch of the season (coinciding with the Sox completely folding) and it looks like he has completely lost his way at the plate. He swings at everything (and misses) and can't drive anything. But he's still an outstanding defensive catcher that does so much for our pitching staff and Doug Mirabelli is the backup so he's not going anywhere. Coco Crisp is a complete bum. He broke a finger in the beginning of last season and has never really recovered since then. He was supposed to be our leadoff guy last year but he's not suited for it so now he's buried at the 8th spot. He has no paitence at the plate and to compound that, he's just not a good hitter. He's fast but given that he can't get on and the Sox never run, that doesn't matter. Which leaves us with Dustin Pedroia. The young second baseman must have incriminating pictures of someone in the Sox front office because he got called up last season (and did absolutely nothing to impress) and yet the Sox let Mark Loretta (a cheap, reliable, veteran 2B) walk to the Astros. Pedroia is the equivilent of Turtle on Entourage. He has basically been given a golden ticket and he's just happy to be along for the ride on a MLB team. A little harsh? Probably but if you had to watch this guy regularly, you'd wonder how he's gotten here. There doesn't seem to be much to hope for other than the Sox somehow dumping Crisp and Pedroia on some unsuspecting team, pretty unlikely.
As for the back end of the rotation. Schilling has looked terrible and great in his two starts. Beckett good and great and Dice K great and ok. All three of those guys should be fine, all could win anywhere from 12-20 games. Tim Wakefield to a lesser extent and whoever is number 5 (currently Julian Tavarez aka Freddie Kruger) are the guys I would worry about. Wake had a good first start against the Rangers, only giving up two runs but the Sox once again forgot to provide support. Something that they haven't done for Wakefield in years. Tavarez is just the answer while Jon Lester recovers from cancer in the minors or maybe Roger Clemens decides to come pitch for the Sox again. There are very few rotations that can touch this one still you want something more reliable than Tavarez and Wakefield, who can give up 8 home runs on any given start. Bottom line: this is a good team and could be great. The Orioles and Devil Rays are still awful, the Yankees have zero pitching and the Blue Jays are unproven. The AL East is right there for the taking. Other than that, we'll worry about it later.