Sox Therapy: Home for the Holiday

As Dave O’Brien mentioned…REPEATEDLY during the road trip the Sox kick off* their longest homestand of the season tonight against the Chicago White Sox. To say the road trip was a success would be a huge understatement and the critical thing about this homestand is that on Monday morning I will make my triumphant return to Fenway.  I can’t freakin’ wait let me tell you.

* given the weather perhaps “drop the puck on their longest homestand of the season” is more appropriate.

Of course like the ...

Sox Therapy: Just How We Drew It Up

Get swept by the Orioles, then sweep the reigning AL Champions. Didn’t see that coming.

I suspect a lot of us see the first series as the kind of disappointing, 2020 all over again, mess of a team we’d expected, and the second series as a fluke. Some of us might see the second series - solid hitting, promising bullpen, capable starters when healthy - as the true expectation, and the first series as a fluke. Regardless of what your expectation of the team this year, you probably saw enough to ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1936 Results

Congratulations to Lou Gehrig, our 1936 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Lou Gehrig	128	9	4
Carl Hubbell	119	9	2
Lefty Grove	98	9	3
Arky Vaughan	93	8	0
Josh Gibson	93	9	0
Mel__ Ott	84	8	0
Ch Gehringer	72	7	0
Paul Waner	39	5	0
Dizzy Dean	34	4	0
Luke Appling	32	4	0
Earl Averill	31	3	0
Bill Dickey	19	2	0
Satchel Paige	16	2	0
Joe Medwick	16	2	0
Dick Bartell	16	2	0
Leroy Matlock	13	2	0
Van Mungo	12	1	0
Martin Dihigo	9	1	0
Wes Ferrell	8	1	0
Jimmie Foxx	7	1	0
Mule Suttles	6	1	0

Sox Therapy: I Declare That Not A Good Start

So I don’t think I’m out on a limb there with that title.  Still, rather than try to dig into assorted cliches, justifications or excuses let’s just try to break it down a bit.

Stuff That We Were Worried About That Went OK;

JD Martinez - The Sox need the big DH to be an offensive star if they are going to do anything this year.  The early returns after a fairly mellow spring are very good.  6 for 12, 3 RBI and the club’s only homer is definitely doing his part.  Very good news indeed. ...Read More...

Sox Therapy: Random Thoughts On Opening Day Eve

It is what it says in the headline;

- I am pessimistic about the rotations ability to stay healthy but I predict that one of Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Richards or Martin Perez is healthy and effective all year.

- Franchy Cordero is going to be a fan favorite or about as popular as Carl Crawford.  There is going to be no in between for him.

- He will make less than 20 starts but Tanner Houck will be the Red Sox best starting pitcher in 2021.  I am buying big on him.  Part of me thinks he would ...

Sox Therapy: The Roster of Who The Hell Knows

I remember in 2013 just before the season opened Will Middlebrooks suffered a minor injury.  It was one of those where it could have been a lot worse and MCoA said it kind of felt like a litmus test for the season.  A healthy WMB meant the baseball gods were with us, if it was serious we were in for another difficult year.  I was thinking of that this weekend as we watched COVID descend on the Sox clubhouse, Eduardo Rodriguez came down with dead arm and Christian Vazquez took a throw to the ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1937 Discussion

The New York Yankees defeated the New York Giants in the World Series 4 games to 1 in a rematch of the 1936 series.

The Kansas City Monarchs bested the Chicago American Giants in the Negro American League.
The Homestead Grays were the best team in the Negro National League.

Vote for 10.

Player				bWAR
Joe Medwick			8.5
Bill Dickey			6.7
Joe DiMaggio			8.3
Hank Greenberg			7.5
Charlie Gehringer		7.7
Harlond Clift			6.9
Dolph Camilli			6.0
Lou Gehrig			8.3
Billy Herman			6.2
Johnny ...

Sox Therapy: Over and Under

The season is just a week away.  The Sox will soon be playing games that count for the first time since 2019.  I mean, yeah last year technically counted but the Sox were eliminated before a pitch was thrown.  I figured a few random over/unders to give us something to chatter about and for me to look stupid in six months (if not much sooner) might be enjoyable;

Team Games Played: 140 - COVID is not the only risk factor here.  I haven’t heard any discussion of a strike but with the CBA ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1936 Ballot

For 1936 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 7 April 2021. Please let me know if you want your preliminary ballot counted as your final ballot.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 6 April 2021.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Sox Therapy: The Ides of Rostering

It’s been nearly two months since we considered the Red Sox roster.  In that time the roster has changed a bit and things are in some ways a bit clearer and in others, less clear (ooh, this is the good stuff).So let’s see where we stand still using the 13/13 position player/pitcher split.

INFIELD
Then: Bobby Dalbec, Kike Hernandez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo, Michael Chavis
Now: Bobby Dalbec, Kike Herandnez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo, Michael ...