Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Papi and Reddick homer in 7-6 win over Twins

(AP/Dave Martin)

David Ortiz went 2-2 with a 3-run home run and single in the win against the Twins. Carl Crawford went 0-3 in his Red Sox debut.  Daisuke Matsuzaka went 2 innings (1 R, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HR) and said he felt good.

MLB

"As it's the first outing for spring, the fastball itself is running pretty well, that's something I'm confident with," Matsuzaka said through interpreter Kenta Yamada. "Overall, I think I did a very good job as a first outing."

No one else got hit in the head today, so it turned out to be a good day.

Box Score

Josh Beckett hit in the head by ball

Josh Beckett was in the outfield during practice before today's game when a ball hit him in the head. 

ESPN Boston

Beckett, who was standing in left-center field, went to one knee after he was struck and teammates immediately called for the training staff. He was escorted off the field with his hand on his head.

The ball that struck Beckett appeared to be a ball hit by Red Sox staffer Ino Guerrero, who was standing in the outfield hitting shagged balls with a fungo bat back to a bucket behind second base when one got away from him

Are you serious, he was hitting balls back to a bucket? Throwing them back is too damn boring, so why not hit them back, what is the worst that can happen? Smooth move.

UPDATE: Josh Beckett is ok

BREAKING NEWS: Hideki Okajima Still Awful

Some people were happy when the Sox brought Hideki Okajima back again this season.  None of their arguments were, "He's a great pitcher," but things like, "He's familiar," and "We know what we're getting".

Yes, we do know what we're getting.  A season chock full of gems like the one he pitched yesterday.

Via RedSox.com:

While Hideki Okajima is still fully confident he can have a rebound season, there's no mistaking the fact that his Spring Training debut was a little disappointing.

The lefty gave up five hits and four runs, walking none and striking out two on Sunday night against the Twins. A bases-clearing triple off the bat of Joe Benson accounted for most of the damage.

"It was the first exhibition game and the result was clearly poor, but I was able to get out there and enjoy myself a bit. That's that," Okajima said through his interpreter. "Against the first batter, I was doing well but then I threw an offspeed pitch which went high and from there on, most of my pitches went high and that just broke down my pace."

Well, at least someone is able to enjoy themselves when Okajima pitches.  Because that's what it's about:  Making sure the pitcher is having a jolly good time while they get shelled.

Your Morning Dump...where Beckett gives himself a mixed review.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I felt like I was rushing a little,” he said as the Red Sox lost, 8-4, to the Twins in the Grapefruit League opener. “There were some positives, though. I wanted to get some ground balls; that means you’re keeping the ball down and I did that, so that was good. I felt like I threw some good changeups behind in the count. They weren’t strikes, but that was something else I wanted to do.

“Health is the big thing. We’re trying to build up right now. It’s very hard with small sample sizes to really get positive or negative feedback. The second inning obviously wasn’t as good as the first, but the first was not as good as maybe it appeared. I felt there were some things I needed to work on in the first inning that maybe got away with.

Before the game, Terry Francona said he senses Beckett is “determined” to erase the misery of last year, when he missed nine weeks with a back injury and posted a career-worst 5.85 ERA.

“The meeting we have with the position players and the pitchers before they go out on the field, he came in and sat like this (straight up) He wasn’t sprawled out,” Francona said. “He’s a veteran guy. He doesn’t need to hear that from us, the rah-rah speech. Determined, I think, is the right word. Not necessarily loud, but just determined, focusing on a lot of things that he knows he needs to. He’s been doing some of it on his own, and some of it started with (pitching coach) Curt (Young). He’s been diligent about it. That’s good.”

Herald: Beckett gives himself a mixed review

The full line for Beckett:  2 IP, 2H, 1 R. 15 of his 23 pitches were strikes.  The numbers are decent, can't ask for much on your first Spring Training start. Beckett will always be his toughest critic, he expects to be perfect every time he's out there. Good to hear that he's trying to work on keeping the ball down in the zone, as he's been prone to giving up the long ball. He's averaging a little over 23 home runs allowed as a member of the Sox and his best year was in 2007 when he gave up 17 of them. If he can keep that number around the 14-17 area, it would definitely help in keeping that ERA from approaching anywhere near 5.85.

Tito wants Jenks & Guillen to stop acting like goddam babies

 

Actually, that's not how he put it, but its how he should have.

Before the Bobby Jenks-Ozzie Guillen flareup spun completely out of control, the Red Sox and White Sox brokered a verbal cease fire Sunday morning.

Terry Francona, who had been in communication with White Sox bench coach Joey Cora earlier in the week, spoke with Guillen about calling a truce between the White Sox manager and new Red Sox reliever.

Jenks appeared to re-ignite things last week when he told the Chicago Tribune that the relationship between White Sox GM Kenny Williams and Guillen was a "distraction'' to White Sox players. Guillen returned fire Saturday and warned that his son, Oney, had more damaging information to tweet about Jenks if the reliever persisted.

Francona called Jenks into his office and advised the pitcher to drop the war of words.

"That's over,'' said Francona said of the controversy. "I spoke to Bobby and I went back and fortu Ozzie (via text). I'm confident that will be over. I don’t care if they like each other, but Bobby’s a Red Sox and we have to move on. I think he understands that.

"We're just making sure it goes away. It doesn't need to happen. He played for the White Sox and now he plays for the Red Sox.''

Jenks added: "It is what it is. At this point, you know, I’m tired of it. I just want to move on. I’m a Red Sox now, and that’s all I’m going to worry about. From this point on, I’ve got nothing else to say. (Guillen's) going to have his say. Whatever. I'm a Red Sox and that's all that matters.”

If you don't know what's going on, Big Leage Stew has a nice tidy recap... which includes Ozzie Guillen making threats to "rip his guts." 

Both these guys have seriously been acting like babies.  And I've been sick of Ozzie's act for years now.  Someone muzzle that jagoff already.  How the hell did he ever win a World Series?

Your Morning Dump... Where Papi is still bitching about his critics

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“It’s unbelievable,’’ he said. “Out of my last 10 months in baseball, I’ve had one bad month, and that was last April, and nobody talks about the other nine months. Nobody talks about, ‘Hey Davey, think you can do what you did in May of last year?’ Nobody asks me that question.

“Everyone asks me about April. April to me is like March. April does not determine what will happen in September. You know who I learned that from? Manny Ramirez. One year he got off to a slow start and he said, ‘Don’t worry. By the end of the season, I’ll be there with everybody.’ And he was.

“What else can I prove?’’ he said. “People focus on the last two years? Well, the last two years I had 60 homers and over 200 RBIs. As bad as people want to make it sound like, that’s pretty good. How many players have those numbers? Not that many.

Globe - Critics can't get inside Ortiz's head

I love David Ortiz, but he's way too sensitive about criticism. I'm sorry, but when baseball players (not on PEDs) reach their mid 30s, it's normal procedure to speculate about their eventual decline. When any player starts a season batting .150 with no power for the first 25 games, it's ok to wonder whether they still have it. Does Papi realize that one day he's not going to be able to do this anymore? And that day is on the horizon? 

Hey David - the praise (from fans and the media) is there when you deliver. You just don't hear it anymore because you are so used to it. It's like background noise to him. But when he hear's criticism... it's the equivalent of a dump truck crashing through his bedroom window at 1am.

Take the good with the bad, David.

On Page 2, Bobby Jenks has no regard for minor leaguers in spring training.

Lowrie may fit in at first

During this offseason, many of us have been scratching our heads and trying to figure out where Jed Lowrie will fit in on this roster.  We know he can play every infield position and he has a pretty good bat. There is also a lot of hype behind Jose Iglesias, who may be the short stop of the future for the Sox. So where can you give him some PT, the one position that he has the least experience, first base.

Projo

"We've always wanted him to play as much short as possible because Jed feels like, if he can play short, he can play anywhere -- and I agree," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "But he has the least amount (of experience) at first. We have a ton of playing time over there. If Adrian is not playing, there's certainly the spot that, right now, we want to cover ourselves."

Ok, so some progress is being made for Jed. When healthy, Jed will be a solid player and he is very capable of picking up the fundamentals of each position. Who knows, he might be called in to pitch this season.

Your Morning Dump...Where Dustin wants to get in the flow of the game

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Infield coach Tim Bogar is one of those charged with watching Pedroia, and through seven full-squad workouts he is convinced that Pedroia is telling the full truth this time.

“He is, to me, back to normal,’’ Bogar said. “When I watch him move around at second base, he has a lot of energy and he’s not afraid to do anything.

Pedroia will bat second and play second base against Boston College in the first game of today’s doubleheader at City of Palms Park. It’s another milestone on his long road back. Pedroia was injured last June 25 when he fouled a ball off his foot in San Francisco.

“My biggest thing is to get out there, get in the flow of the game, make sure I’m healthy and feel good, and just see pitches. Just like any normal game,’’ he said. “See pitches, get used to everything, and that’s it. It’s going to be fun . . . It has been a long time.’’

Pedroia believes the biggest adjustments will come when he is at the plate, not in the field.

“That’s my biggest focus, seeing pitches and making sure my legs are underneath me,’’ he said. “I know spring training is not too result-oriented, so I’m not concerned about hits or anything like that. It’s just getting out there and getting back in the groove, because it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.’’

Globe | Feeling no pain

As I said in the post about lineups yesterday, I'm most excited to see Dustin. Yes, it's a meaningless spring training game. Yes, we're going to kill both teams by double digits. But I'm anxious to see how Pedroia moves around. If he has to run out a groundball, how hard can he go? Is he really 100%, or will his foot problems linger?

Pedroia strikes me as the most indispensable player on the team. Sure, most statistical measures would sooner say Gonzalez, Youkilis, and Crawford, and probably Buchholz and Lester while we're at it. Looking at the whole package -- what he means to the team, to the fans, to the manager -- in addition to his performance, and Pedroia seems awfully hard to replace. But then again, you have to buy into clubhouse stuff mattering, and I know many have moved on from that belief at this point.

On page 2, hitting coach Dave Magadan talks about following Brad Mills and John Farrell into managing.

Pedroia is confident in a BC ass-kickin'

Dustin Pedroia is pretty confident that they will beat the crap out of BC in their annual Boston College/Northeastern games to kick off their spring training schedule. If you don't remember, the Sox beat BC 24-0 in 2008. 

We’re going to kick BC’s (butt),” said Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, exuding a healthy dose of fake intensity. (Note to Pedroia: It will be tough to top the 24-0 Sox win over Boston College in 2008.)

“My biggest thing is to get out there and just get in the flow of the game and make sure I’m healthy and feel good. And just see pitches,” he said. “Just like any normal game the first game I’m out there. Just see pitches, get used to everything and that’s it. I just can’t wait. It’s going to be fun.”

I'm sure Pedroia feels the same about the night game against Northeastern, which he will not be apart of.  Since 2007, The Red Sox have outscored Northeastern 55-0 and BC 46-3.  I really feel bad for these kids.

The Cameron Dilemma

If Mike Cameron has proven anything in his one season with the Red Sox (if you can consider 180 plate appearances as a 'season'), is that his abdomen is nothing more than an intricately woven strand of silly-string, and that his $7+ million dollar contract is absurd.

So to even entertain the idea that he may complain over the amount of PT he gets is obscene.

Via the Boston Herald:

By now, outfielder Mike Cameron has made it clear that he isn’t about to butt heads with Red Sox manager Terry Francona over a likely reduction in playing time.

Cameron only hopes his new role won’t cause him to headbutt anyone else.

Last week, Francona said Cameron figures to get considerable time in right field, especially when the Red Sox face a left-handed pitcher. Cameron has been a center fielder for most of his career, but his last game in right is one he won’t forget.

It was Aug. 11, 2005, and Cameron, then with the New York Mets, crashed into center fielder Carlos Beltran as they dived for a sinking line drive and was carried off the field on a stretcher. The frightening collision left Cameron with a concussion and multiple facial fractures that required surgery.

“That’s it. That’s the last time I played there,” Cameron said yesterday. “Crazy, isn’t it?”

OK, now that I got my Silly String joke out of the way, I had almost forgotten about that collision.  The last time Cameron played right it ended in pain.  Lots and lots of head pain (not for the faint of heart). 

With JD Drew's entire body a gigantic question mark, we can expect Cameron to get his fair share of looks in right.  He's already throwing up red flags stating that he's going to be looking for Ellsbury out of the corner of his eye as he chargers for balls, and that, "I’ll probably see Ells come flying around. Instead of me diving, I’ll just back up a step more so than anything. I’ll have a couple of adjustments to make probably."

Hopefully Tito reads these comments and gives Cameron plenty of Spring Training reps in right.  We don't need catchable balls dropping in right because Cameron is trying to not get his head wrecked.  Let's make sure he's comfortable out there, or open the door for Kalish.