Sox Therapy: Hey Now

All-star voting has begun, and various Red Sox players have various vote totals*. Let’s take a few minutes to consider the case for them by position.

*I was trying to come up with an evergreen statement on the vote status. This might have gone too far. I could be talking about Brayan Bello, or Walt Dropo, for all you can tell.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1900 Ballot

Here are the specific rules for this election:

Candidate Eligibility: Any North American professional baseball player is eligible for the Most Meritorious Player (MMP) award including players on independent teams. Voters should consider the player’s on-field contribution to Major League Baseball (MLB) team(s) in that season only. If part of the season was spent outside MLB, that value may be considered as well. However, the player’s on-field contribution should be judged in relation to the ...

Sox Therapy: Now That’s A Road Trip

On the morning of June 2nd the Boston Red Sox headed for sunny California for a fairly terrifying road trip.  The quality of competition was not particularly frightening but I am old enough to be able to recite chapter and verse on how west coast road trips have turned Red Sox’ seasons sour.  Sitting at 24-27 the Sox had righted the ship but were still climbing out of their early season hole.  Fast forward to this morning and the Sox are 32-29 having laid waste to the left coasters in fairly ...

Sox Therapy: Righting The Ship

After a nightmare of April and a pretty bad start to May the Sox righted the ship and finished the month (plus a day) with a 15-14 record.  This is not exactly gangbusters but works out to an 84-78 pace which is fairly consistent with most expectations for the Sox.  Of course the April issue puts them in a hole but after that dreadful month the overall record of 24-27 is still disappointing.  A few quick notes;

- The Sox have a 28-23 Pythagorean Record which would have them 5th in the AL.  In ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1899 Results

Congratulations to our 1899 Most Meritorious Player, Ed Delahanty!

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1900 Discussion

No World Series yet so no postseason consideration. Roughly 140 game schedule with only 8 teams so replacement level is high and compiled stats will be low.

Player			BBR WAR
Honus Wagner		6.5
Elmer Flick		5.9
John McGraw		5.3
Jesse Burkett		5.3
Kip Selbach		5.2
Jake Beckley		4.3
Napoleon Lajoie		4.2
Billy Hamilton		4.2
George Davis		4.1
Willie Keeler		3.7
Joe Kelley		3.5
George Van Haltren	3.4
Bill Dahlen		3.2
Jimmy Barrett		3.1
Jimmy Collins		3.1
Roy Thomas		3.0
Ed Delahanty		2.9
Dan ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1899 Ballot

Here are the specific rules for this election:

Candidate Eligibility: Any North American professional baseball player is eligible for the Most Meritorious Player (MMP) award including players on independent teams. Voters should consider the player’s on-field contribution to Major League Baseball (MLB) team(s) in that season only. If part of the season was spent outside MLB, that value may be considered as well. However, the player’s on-field contribution should be judged in relation to the ...

Sox Therapy: One Step Forward

For the first time in 2022 the Boston Red Sox are starting to look like the team we have expected to see.  They have gone 5-3 over the last week and change and they have done so while playing five of those games against last season’s World Series combatants.  After what can best be called a nightmare start the Sox are pulling it together.  The offense has gotten hot scoring 46 runs in the 8 games and save for one memorable inning Tuesday night the pitching has been very good as well.  The call ...

Sox Therapy: Unacceptable

We can bicker about this that and the other thing but the simple reality is that the Boston Red Sox are not performing anywhere near where they should be and are in a position that on May 8th they are already in a world of hurt.  Trying to figure out why this is happening is beyond my skillset.  The talent on this roster is sufficient to be considerably better than they are.  Even if we accept that they overachieved last year, and no one would really argue that, they are not a 70 win team ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1899 Discussion

No World Series yet so no postseason consideration.

Player			BBR WAR
John McGraw		8.0
Ed Delahanty		8.0
Jimmy Williams		6.9
Chick Stahl		5.6
Jesse Burkett		5.8
Honus Wagner		5.8
Bobby Wallace		5.5
George Davis		4.9
Joe Kelley		4.5
Willie Keeler		4.8
Napoleon Lajoie		3.8
Tom Daly		4.6
Roy Thomas		4.9
Bill Dahlen		4.6
Fred Tenney		5.3
Jake Beckley		4.6
Lave Cross		3.6
Ed McFarland		4.0
Jimmy Collins		3.9
Kip Selbach		3.7
Jimmy Sheckard		3.6
Elmer Flick		4.2
Mike Grady		3.2
Ginger ...