Sox Therapy: (Just About) 48 Hours to Go

It’s almost go time for the local nine, the carmine hose, the old towne team, that’s right, the Boston Red Sox get back at it at 1PM in the Bronx on Thursday.  A few scattered thoughts between now and then;

THE ROSTER (assuming no injuries or trades);

Infield: Bobby Dalbec, Travis Shaw, Trevor Story, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jonathan Arauz, Christian Arroyo
Outfield: Kiké Hernandez, Alex Verdugo, Jackie Bradley Jr.
Catcher: Christian Vazquez, Kevin Plawecki
DH: JD Martinez
Rotation: ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1898 Discussion

No World Series yet so no postseason consideration.

Player			BBR WAR
Hughie Jennings		7.5
John McGraw		7.1
Jimmy Collins		6.9
Bill Dahlen		5.7
Billy Hamilton		4.6
Gene DeMontreville	5.0
Ed Delahanty		6.2
Willie Keeler		4.5
Bobby Wallace		4.7
Napoleon Lajoie		3.7
Dan McGann		5.2
Elmer Flick		4.9
Lave Cross		4.5
Bill Lange		3.9
Joe Kelley		3.8
Elmer Smith		4.2
Jimmy Ryan		4.3
Mike Grady		2.3
Hugh Duffy		3.3
Lou Criger		3.0
Monte Cross		2.1
Chick Stahl		3.1
Bill Joyce		4.3
Jesse ...

Sox Therapy: Over and Under

With just Ted Williams days until Opening Day for the 2022 season I thought I’d throw out a few non-sensical over/unders for the Boston Red Sox for this season.

Team Wins - 86.5 - I’m a bit hesitant to be super-optimistic about this team.  Part of it is I still have concerns about the pitching staff and part of it is the American League East is going to devour itself.  I think there are four teams in the division that are true 90 win talent teams but because those four teams will play 57 games ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1897 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: Things Have Happened

So while I was driving 1,543 miles in two days Chaim Bloom decided to get busy.  After a somewhat frustrating stretch as big names fell off the free agent board he dropped big money on infielder Trevor Story.  I’m a bit conflicted here because I suspect it means that Xander Bogaerts’ time with the club is dwindling.  I think something in me has changed over the last couple of years and having had the good fortune to see four World Series titles I’m a bit more interested in players I want to ...

Sox Therapy: Report From The Fort

I would love to be able to give you guys some interesting stuff from my two visits this week to Fort Myers but I have little to report. On Tuesday it was just the big club working out, the minor leaguers were “in with the sheriff” according to one of the security guards which I assume is kind of like a start of semester meeting with the RD when you go live in a college dorm.  Then today I don’t know where the minor leaguers were but again, it was the big boys on the back fields.


The ...

Sox Therapy: The Lockout Files - Rostering

With the players and owners finally in some sort of agreement on a new CBA (162 game season, 12 team playoff) the Hot Stove League is about to become a spectacular sprint.  With that in mind I thought it would be useful to step back and take a quick look at where the hell the Red Sox stand roster wise as of today.

1B - Bobby Dalbec
2B - Christian Arroyo
3B - Rafael Devers
SS - Xander Bogaerts
LF - Jarren Duran
CF - Kiké Hernandez
RF - Alex Verdugo
C - Christian Vazquez
DH - JD Martinez

IF - ...

Sox Therapy: The Lockout Files - ALDS MVPs

Have I done this before? I don’t think I have.  Anyway, if I have my apologies but there ain’t much to talk about so let’s revisit the theory.

So of course we all know about the ALCS and World Series MVPs, but for some reason the various League Division Series don’t select an MVP.  The Boston Red Sox have won eight LDSes since the 1995 advent of that series and I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane to pick an MVP from each of those series;

1999 - Pedro Martinez - This would have ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1896 Results

Congratulations to our 1896 Most Meritorious Player - Hughie Jennings!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Hughie Jennings	97	7	3
Cy Young	85	6	4
George Cuppy	79	7	0
Ed Delahanty	79	7	0
Bill Dahlen	66	6	0
Joe Kelley	61	6	0
Cupid Childs	41	4	0
Kid Nichols	37	3	0
Frank Killen	36	4	0
Bill Hoffer	29	4	0
Billy Hamilton	27	4	0
Jesse Burkett	25	3	0
Bill Joyce	23	3	0
Elmer Smith	15	2	0
Willie Keeler	14	2	0
Frank Dwyer	13	1	0
Clark Griffith	8	1	0

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1897 Discussion

No World Series yet so no postseason consideration.

Player			BBR WAR
Hughie Jennings		7.3
Willie Keeler		7.1
George Davis		6.9
Jimmy Collins		5.3
Fred Clarke		6.6
Napoleon Lajoie		5.2
Joe Kelley		5.1
Ed Delahanty		5.7
Jesse Burkett		4.2		
Bobby Wallace		4.2
Cupid Childs		3.7
Billy Hamilton		4.9
John McGraw		4.4
Hugh Duffy		4.1
Kip Selbach		4.5
Bill Dahlen		2.7
Mike Griffin		4.4
Heinie Reitz		3.4
George Van Haltren	3.1
Chick Stahl		3.0
Jake Stenzel		3.8
Jack Doyle		3.7
Deacon McGuire		2.6
Mike ...