Casey Kotchman strode to the plate in Friday's eighth inning, a lefty announced to pinch-hit against Los Angeles righty Jered Weaver. Angels manager Mike Scioscia, of course, promptly yanked Weaver for lefty Darren Oliver, a pitching change as by the book as it gets.
(Granted, Oliver actually has seen lefties slug .412 against him this season as opposed to .294 for righties -- and Kotchman has no real lefty-righty split in his career. It was a curious decision given how well Weaver was pitching. But we'll let that slide.)
To counter the lefty on the mound, Terry Francona went right back to his bench. It's a common postseason tactic: A new pitcher must face at least one batter, so the team at bat always can regain the upper hand if it's willing to burn a pinch-hitter.
Francona did so. He called upon Jed Lowrie.
Lowrie struck out on three pitches.
There's no question that had Rocco Baldelli been healthy, that would have been a spot for him. No question. The righthanded-hitting Baldelli signed with the Red Sox as a reserve but as a reserve who understood that he'd get plenty of playing time and plenty of pinch-hit opportunities against lefties. The Red Sox have a relatively lefty-heavy lineup -- J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz all swing from the left side -- and traditionally have been vulnerable to lefthanded pitching.
Baldelli was their weapon. Baldelli was their guy who could come off the bench in a big spot against a lefthanded reliever and deliver a big hit. Baldelli, in his career, has a .295 batting average and a .485 slugging percentage against lefthanded pitchers. He has an OPS almost 100 points higher against lefties than against righties.
But Baldelli is out for the American League Division Series, sidelined with a strained hip flexor he suffered two days before the regular season ended. He was taking dry swings in short right field during batting practice on Sunday but walked off the field without what you'd call a smile on his face.
The Red Sox missed him on Friday, and they'll miss him today and Monday, too. (That's assuming they get to Monday, an entirely separate issue.) The Angels are scheduled to throw lefties Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders in Games 3 and 4, and the same issue they faced on Friday could arise in either of their next two games.
It's not hard to imagine a scenario in which the Red Sox have a couple of runners on base -- OK, maybe that is a reach -- with two outs in the sixth inning and the score tied and Alex Gonzalez due to hit. Gonzalez isn't exactly in the starting lineup for his bat, and Francona already has demonstrated a willingness to pinch-hit for his shortstop in the middle innings in a big spot in the game.
But who's he going to pinch-hit? Francona's not going to send the lefty Kotchman to the plate against Kazmir or Saunders, and Brian Anderson doesn't provide enough of an upgrade that it's worth sacrificing the defense Gonzalez can play at shortstop.
Baldelli would have been the perfect weapon. Baldelli would have presented Scioscia with two options, neither of them all that favorable to the Angels:
1. Letting a lefty pitch to Baldelli with runners on base.
2. Lifting his starting pitcher in the sixth inning.
The Red Sox assembled their team in part for the regular season but in part for the postseason, too. Baldelli spent most of the season as J.D. Drew's caddy but has looked like a perfect postseason bench player ever since he signed his contract.
His absence has a chance to cost the Red Sox dearly.
Showing posts with label baldelli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baldelli. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Red Sox might have a postseason utility guy
You don't have to wonder how badly Jed Lowrie wants to be part of the Red Sox roster in the postseason.
"That's why I'm here," he said. "That's why I've done everything I have up to this point. I want to be part of this. From everything I've been told, the only way my wrist is going to get better is with rest. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't."
The way Lowrie played on Wednesday -- assuming he still feels OK in the morning -- might be the most significant result from an otherwise totally meaningless blowout, a blowout so meaningless Rocco Baldelli played third base and Dusty Brown pitched.
(Sidebar: Brown felt right at home in the ninth inning: He was a closer at Yavapai Community College, his repertoire featuring a fastball in the low 90s and a slider, and he even blew a fastball past Randy Ruiz for his first career major-league strikeout.)
(Sidebar: Baldelli, on the other hand, was so out of place at third base he had to borrow a glove from Kevin Youkilis and a cup from Mike Lowell. But his technique wasn't awful: "On a foul ball into the stands, he had a quick jab step," Lowell said by way of critique. "His reactions looked good. I was actually hoping for him to get an easy, two-hop ground ball, but I think it's better that he didn't get anything.")
Lowrie, though, hit lefthanded in a major-league game for the first time since early August -- and he seemed to come through OK. Nothing else seemed to be an issue. He could hit righthanded. He could field. He could throw. He even could get dirty going to his left and to his right and come up making strong throws.
All he hadn't done, though, was hit lefthanded. It was a lefthanded checked swing that caused his first setback on Aug. 6, and it was another lefthanded checked swing that sidelined him for a week during his rehab stint at Triple-A Pawtucket.
He didn't check his swing against Halladay on Tuesday.
"The checked swing is something that aggravates it instantly," he said, "and the repetitive motion is something that builds up over time."
He couldn't deny a dull pain still lingers.
"It's more than just pain, too," he said. "It's that inflammation that comes into my wrist, and it's the same thing. But I am stronger. I'm able to take better swings. It's just a matter of fighting that inflammation. ...
"I can't say if there's more inflammation or less, but I know that it's there and I can feel it after I (have) three or four at-bats from the left side. Whether it's more than what was happening before, I can't tell you that, but it's there."
But it's something it seems he can play through -- and that gives him a leg up on Nick Green for a roster spot when the playoffs begin next week. He didn't get any hits but made a couple of athletic defensive plays at third base -- including a diving stop to rob catcher Rob Barajas of an extra-base hit in the fourth inning.
That actually was his third diving stop of the game. He didn't get enough strength or accuracy on his first two throws, though, to get outs.
"I felt pretty comfortable at third," he said. "The first throw got away from me just a touch, and I didn't quite get through it. The one that Vernon (Wells) hit down the line, I don't think I had a chance, anyway. That was fun. It was an opportunity to go out there and make some good plays."
His ability to play third base only increases his possible value to the Red Sox in the postseason. Should his wrist feel good in the morning, though, and should Nick Green not regain the lost strength in his leg, Lowrie might just sneak onto the 25-man playoff roster.
And by next season, knock on wood, he might just be 100 percent.
"Going into the offseason, if I do what I did last offseason, I think I'm going to feel like I did during spring training -- but have a structurally sound wrist as opposed to having a broken wrist," he said.
***
If you're interested in seeing your local Red Sox/Patriots reporter in action -- or, at least, sort of in action -- click here. Just to avoid any confusion, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback and squirer of supermodels is the one on the left.
"That's why I'm here," he said. "That's why I've done everything I have up to this point. I want to be part of this. From everything I've been told, the only way my wrist is going to get better is with rest. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't."
The way Lowrie played on Wednesday -- assuming he still feels OK in the morning -- might be the most significant result from an otherwise totally meaningless blowout, a blowout so meaningless Rocco Baldelli played third base and Dusty Brown pitched.
(Sidebar: Brown felt right at home in the ninth inning: He was a closer at Yavapai Community College, his repertoire featuring a fastball in the low 90s and a slider, and he even blew a fastball past Randy Ruiz for his first career major-league strikeout.)
(Sidebar: Baldelli, on the other hand, was so out of place at third base he had to borrow a glove from Kevin Youkilis and a cup from Mike Lowell. But his technique wasn't awful: "On a foul ball into the stands, he had a quick jab step," Lowell said by way of critique. "His reactions looked good. I was actually hoping for him to get an easy, two-hop ground ball, but I think it's better that he didn't get anything.")
Lowrie, though, hit lefthanded in a major-league game for the first time since early August -- and he seemed to come through OK. Nothing else seemed to be an issue. He could hit righthanded. He could field. He could throw. He even could get dirty going to his left and to his right and come up making strong throws.
All he hadn't done, though, was hit lefthanded. It was a lefthanded checked swing that caused his first setback on Aug. 6, and it was another lefthanded checked swing that sidelined him for a week during his rehab stint at Triple-A Pawtucket.
He didn't check his swing against Halladay on Tuesday.
"The checked swing is something that aggravates it instantly," he said, "and the repetitive motion is something that builds up over time."
He couldn't deny a dull pain still lingers.
"It's more than just pain, too," he said. "It's that inflammation that comes into my wrist, and it's the same thing. But I am stronger. I'm able to take better swings. It's just a matter of fighting that inflammation. ...
"I can't say if there's more inflammation or less, but I know that it's there and I can feel it after I (have) three or four at-bats from the left side. Whether it's more than what was happening before, I can't tell you that, but it's there."
But it's something it seems he can play through -- and that gives him a leg up on Nick Green for a roster spot when the playoffs begin next week. He didn't get any hits but made a couple of athletic defensive plays at third base -- including a diving stop to rob catcher Rob Barajas of an extra-base hit in the fourth inning.
That actually was his third diving stop of the game. He didn't get enough strength or accuracy on his first two throws, though, to get outs.
"I felt pretty comfortable at third," he said. "The first throw got away from me just a touch, and I didn't quite get through it. The one that Vernon (Wells) hit down the line, I don't think I had a chance, anyway. That was fun. It was an opportunity to go out there and make some good plays."
His ability to play third base only increases his possible value to the Red Sox in the postseason. Should his wrist feel good in the morning, though, and should Nick Green not regain the lost strength in his leg, Lowrie might just sneak onto the 25-man playoff roster.
And by next season, knock on wood, he might just be 100 percent.
"Going into the offseason, if I do what I did last offseason, I think I'm going to feel like I did during spring training -- but have a structurally sound wrist as opposed to having a broken wrist," he said.
***
If you're interested in seeing your local Red Sox/Patriots reporter in action -- or, at least, sort of in action -- click here. Just to avoid any confusion, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback and squirer of supermodels is the one on the left.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The nomadic life of fringe roster players
(This story appeared only in the print edition of Sunday's Union Leader.)
Josh Reddick isn’t much for fancy trappings.
When the Red Sox rookie outfielder heads home after games, he arrives back in a hotel room with a bed and a television and his hand-held video-game system – and that’s it. It’s the same at home and on the road. Not much changes but the view from the window.
“I’m used to it by now,” the 22-year-old outfielder said earlier this week. “I’ve been doing it for the last month and a half with all the moving around, so I’m used to it by now.”
Reddick is one of several Red Sox players living in temporary quarters during a September call-up to the major leagues. Baseball life can be nomadic regardless, but it’s particularly nomadic for those players who jump between levels – and thus between cities – the way Reddick has since his first call-up in early August.
No player buying or renting a home ever can have 100 percent certainty he’ll still be in that home within a month or within a year. That can cause plenty of problems in itself.
“Guys are quick to buy a piece of real estate and plan on living there and being there forever,” said outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who this year unloaded the one-bedroom condo he’d bought in Tampa during his second big-league season. (He sold it for exactly his purchase price, he said.) “You see it all the time – and then people have condominiums or apartments or homes they don’t really want anymore because they have no reason to be in that city anymore.”
But fringe roster players like Reddick and his fellow September call-ups deal with more uncertainty than most. It’s not easy to move from Portland or Pawtucket to Boston and immediately find an apartment with a short-term lease. It’s especially not easy when a player is summoned immediately to the ballpark and doesn’t have any time to make arrangements.
“I don’t want to say you get used to it, but you understand the situation,” said Joey Gathright, who has worn three different uniforms in the last three weeks. “You get there and, if you think you’re going to be there longer, you get a place to stay. If not, you just get a hotel room. It’s not fun, I can guarantee you that, but it helps if you have a girlfriend or someone like that to help you out.”
Gathright was playing for Triple-A Norfolk (Va.) when the Red Sox acquired him from the Orioles in the final week of August. The speedy outfielder played all of three games at Triple-A Pawtucket before the Red Sox recalled him to Boston to add extra depth to the roster.
His permanent home is out in Santa Monica, Calif., and he mostly lived out of a suitcase during his four months with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate. He’s living out of the same suitcase now whether the Red Sox are in Boston or on the road – and when he runs out of clothes, he just goes out and buys what he needs.
Gathright bought a home in Tampa after he made his major-league debut with the Rays in 2004. Two years later, though, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals – and he’s bounced from there to the Cubs to the Orioles and, most recently, to the Red Sox.
“There’s no sense in trying to get a place,” he said of his short stint in Boston. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Case in point: When veteran first baseman Adam LaRoche was acquired from Pittsburgh in mid-July, he didn’t bother to find an apartment. He instead crashed with J.D. Drew, sleeping in his old buddy’s finished basement.
The first baseman was traded to the Atlanta Braves less than two weeks later.
Most new arrivals, though, don’t have the luxury of moving in temporarily with another player. Reddick hadn’t even met most of the Red Sox regulars before spring training this season, and in a culture in which rookies have to wear “The Wizard of Oz” costumes on the final road trip, rookies certainly aren’t going to impose on veterans with families.
Besides, the Red Sox do help out a little bit. Reddick doesn’t have to pay for his hotel room on the road, of course, but the team is footing the bill for seven of the 10 nights the Georgia native spent in Boston during this homestand. Reddick was responsible for paying for the other three nights – but he was also receiving a major-league salary.
When he was optioned briefly to Triple-A Pawtucket, he stayed at a local Radisson for a player-friendly rate of $35 a night. As long as his computer and his iPod are close at hand, he’s got all he needs.
“I spend most of my time (at the park), anyway, so it’s more of just a bed to sleep in,” he said. “I just look at it as a place to lay down and watch TV. I just sit on my laptop after the game until 1 in the morning and sleep in until 10 or 11, and I’m at the ballpark before 1 every day, so it’s not like I’m spending all day in there doing nothing.”
Josh Reddick isn’t much for fancy trappings.
When the Red Sox rookie outfielder heads home after games, he arrives back in a hotel room with a bed and a television and his hand-held video-game system – and that’s it. It’s the same at home and on the road. Not much changes but the view from the window.
“I’m used to it by now,” the 22-year-old outfielder said earlier this week. “I’ve been doing it for the last month and a half with all the moving around, so I’m used to it by now.”
Reddick is one of several Red Sox players living in temporary quarters during a September call-up to the major leagues. Baseball life can be nomadic regardless, but it’s particularly nomadic for those players who jump between levels – and thus between cities – the way Reddick has since his first call-up in early August.
No player buying or renting a home ever can have 100 percent certainty he’ll still be in that home within a month or within a year. That can cause plenty of problems in itself.
“Guys are quick to buy a piece of real estate and plan on living there and being there forever,” said outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who this year unloaded the one-bedroom condo he’d bought in Tampa during his second big-league season. (He sold it for exactly his purchase price, he said.) “You see it all the time – and then people have condominiums or apartments or homes they don’t really want anymore because they have no reason to be in that city anymore.”
But fringe roster players like Reddick and his fellow September call-ups deal with more uncertainty than most. It’s not easy to move from Portland or Pawtucket to Boston and immediately find an apartment with a short-term lease. It’s especially not easy when a player is summoned immediately to the ballpark and doesn’t have any time to make arrangements.
“I don’t want to say you get used to it, but you understand the situation,” said Joey Gathright, who has worn three different uniforms in the last three weeks. “You get there and, if you think you’re going to be there longer, you get a place to stay. If not, you just get a hotel room. It’s not fun, I can guarantee you that, but it helps if you have a girlfriend or someone like that to help you out.”
Gathright was playing for Triple-A Norfolk (Va.) when the Red Sox acquired him from the Orioles in the final week of August. The speedy outfielder played all of three games at Triple-A Pawtucket before the Red Sox recalled him to Boston to add extra depth to the roster.
His permanent home is out in Santa Monica, Calif., and he mostly lived out of a suitcase during his four months with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate. He’s living out of the same suitcase now whether the Red Sox are in Boston or on the road – and when he runs out of clothes, he just goes out and buys what he needs.
Gathright bought a home in Tampa after he made his major-league debut with the Rays in 2004. Two years later, though, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals – and he’s bounced from there to the Cubs to the Orioles and, most recently, to the Red Sox.
“There’s no sense in trying to get a place,” he said of his short stint in Boston. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Case in point: When veteran first baseman Adam LaRoche was acquired from Pittsburgh in mid-July, he didn’t bother to find an apartment. He instead crashed with J.D. Drew, sleeping in his old buddy’s finished basement.
The first baseman was traded to the Atlanta Braves less than two weeks later.
Most new arrivals, though, don’t have the luxury of moving in temporarily with another player. Reddick hadn’t even met most of the Red Sox regulars before spring training this season, and in a culture in which rookies have to wear “The Wizard of Oz” costumes on the final road trip, rookies certainly aren’t going to impose on veterans with families.
Besides, the Red Sox do help out a little bit. Reddick doesn’t have to pay for his hotel room on the road, of course, but the team is footing the bill for seven of the 10 nights the Georgia native spent in Boston during this homestand. Reddick was responsible for paying for the other three nights – but he was also receiving a major-league salary.
When he was optioned briefly to Triple-A Pawtucket, he stayed at a local Radisson for a player-friendly rate of $35 a night. As long as his computer and his iPod are close at hand, he’s got all he needs.
“I spend most of my time (at the park), anyway, so it’s more of just a bed to sleep in,” he said. “I just look at it as a place to lay down and watch TV. I just sit on my laptop after the game until 1 in the morning and sleep in until 10 or 11, and I’m at the ballpark before 1 every day, so it’s not like I’m spending all day in there doing nothing.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tough at-bats spark Red Sox rally
"If you're going to walk people," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley told reporters after Wednesday's game, "it's not the time to do it in the ninth inning."
That's true. But if you're going to draw walks, the ninth inning is precisely the time to do it. Red Sox hitters drew three walks in Wednesday's ninth inning, and all three proved critical as the Orioles got a taste of their own come-from-behind medicine.
"Good hitters get on base, grind out at-bats, and you have a lot better chance going forward and scoring runs and having innings like we did late in the game here," said outfielder Rocco Baldelli, whose pinch-hit single tied the game with two outs in the ninth inning. "At no point have I ever seen us in a game where we've just folded up and gone home. We've won some good games. I don't know if any of them were more spectacular in the late innings than this one.
"It's something you don't necessarily expect to happen, but we expect ourselves to try to make it happen."
It started with Dustin Pedroia, the scrappy second baseman whose 10-pitch at-bat against CC Sabathia turned the tide in a come-from-behind win against the Yankees three weeks ago. Pedroia drew a five-pitch walk from reliever Jim Johnson to get himself on base in front of Kevin Youkilis -- and Youkilis hit a fastball into the right-field bleachers to cut the deficit to two runs.
Orioles closer George Sherrill, summoned in a hurry, then fanned Jason Bay and David Ortiz before surrendering a soft single to center field to Jacoby Ellsbury.
First baseman Jeff Bailey reached base in four of his five plate appearances on Tuesday, and he came to the plate for the first time on Wednesday representing both the tying run and the potential third out. It was his chance to be a hero or a goat. He didn't take the bat off his shoulder. Sherrill threw a curveball for a strike on the first pitch but missed the strike zone with each of his next four pitches. He didn't miss by all that much -- Bailey looked back twice at the home-plate umpire on his way to first base -- but he missed just the same.
"I thought Bailey's at-bat was as tough an at-bat, considering the circumstances," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "You have a righty that's running it in on his hands. He knows he's got to move the runner, and he found a way to do it."
Catcher Jason Varitek then saw a 3-0 count turn into a 3-2 count and almost took a hack at a hellacious curveball that looked good for a while only to dive down toward his ankles. He checked his swing. Ball four. Bases loaded.
"(Sherrill) made a bastard pitch on 'Tek," Francona said.
Baldelli then came to the plate, pinch-hitting for Nick Green. He took two curveballs -- one a strike, one a ball -- and then went after a fastball up and in that he somehow punched into center field for a two-run single that tied the game.
"It wasn't like he hit a pea," Francona said, "but he fought it off and stayed in the middle of the field. It looked beautiful."
The Red Sox mustered nothing against the Baltimore bullpen on Tuesday and nothing against rookie starter Brad Bergesen through eight innings on Wednesday. In the ninth inning, though, the plate approach that has so permeated the Red Sox clubhouse paid off in a huge way.
"This is not a team that's going to roll over," said shortstop Julio Lugo, who chopped the go-ahead single through a drawn-in infield in the 11th inning. "We'll never roll over. They've got to get 27 outs, and we proved that. We've got a group, guys that work hard, and you've got to get 27 outs on this team."
That's true. But if you're going to draw walks, the ninth inning is precisely the time to do it. Red Sox hitters drew three walks in Wednesday's ninth inning, and all three proved critical as the Orioles got a taste of their own come-from-behind medicine.
"Good hitters get on base, grind out at-bats, and you have a lot better chance going forward and scoring runs and having innings like we did late in the game here," said outfielder Rocco Baldelli, whose pinch-hit single tied the game with two outs in the ninth inning. "At no point have I ever seen us in a game where we've just folded up and gone home. We've won some good games. I don't know if any of them were more spectacular in the late innings than this one.
"It's something you don't necessarily expect to happen, but we expect ourselves to try to make it happen."
It started with Dustin Pedroia, the scrappy second baseman whose 10-pitch at-bat against CC Sabathia turned the tide in a come-from-behind win against the Yankees three weeks ago. Pedroia drew a five-pitch walk from reliever Jim Johnson to get himself on base in front of Kevin Youkilis -- and Youkilis hit a fastball into the right-field bleachers to cut the deficit to two runs.
Orioles closer George Sherrill, summoned in a hurry, then fanned Jason Bay and David Ortiz before surrendering a soft single to center field to Jacoby Ellsbury.
First baseman Jeff Bailey reached base in four of his five plate appearances on Tuesday, and he came to the plate for the first time on Wednesday representing both the tying run and the potential third out. It was his chance to be a hero or a goat. He didn't take the bat off his shoulder. Sherrill threw a curveball for a strike on the first pitch but missed the strike zone with each of his next four pitches. He didn't miss by all that much -- Bailey looked back twice at the home-plate umpire on his way to first base -- but he missed just the same.
"I thought Bailey's at-bat was as tough an at-bat, considering the circumstances," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "You have a righty that's running it in on his hands. He knows he's got to move the runner, and he found a way to do it."
Catcher Jason Varitek then saw a 3-0 count turn into a 3-2 count and almost took a hack at a hellacious curveball that looked good for a while only to dive down toward his ankles. He checked his swing. Ball four. Bases loaded.
"(Sherrill) made a bastard pitch on 'Tek," Francona said.
Baldelli then came to the plate, pinch-hitting for Nick Green. He took two curveballs -- one a strike, one a ball -- and then went after a fastball up and in that he somehow punched into center field for a two-run single that tied the game.
"It wasn't like he hit a pea," Francona said, "but he fought it off and stayed in the middle of the field. It looked beautiful."
The Red Sox mustered nothing against the Baltimore bullpen on Tuesday and nothing against rookie starter Brad Bergesen through eight innings on Wednesday. In the ninth inning, though, the plate approach that has so permeated the Red Sox clubhouse paid off in a huge way.
"This is not a team that's going to roll over," said shortstop Julio Lugo, who chopped the go-ahead single through a drawn-in infield in the 11th inning. "We'll never roll over. They've got to get 27 outs, and we proved that. We've got a group, guys that work hard, and you've got to get 27 outs on this team."
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Red Sox draft-day stories
Projected No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg has announced that he will hold a press conference to discuss his selection not at home and not at San Diego State but at the headquarters of the Boras Corporation in Newport Beach, Calif.
My, how times have changed.
With the draft now just a day away, here's a look at some of the draft-day memories of some of the first- and second-round draft picks who wear the "B" on their cap these days:
1980: Terry Francona
Francona was in Omaha, Neb., where he and his University of Arizona team were about to win the College World Series. They'd lost their first game to St. John's but wouldn't lose again; they beat Michigan by an 8-0 score the day before the draft and would beat Hawaii, California and Hawaii again to win the NCAA title. Francona, in fact, hit .458 in six games in Omaha and was named the College World Series MVP.
Francona was drafted No. 22 overall by the Expos -- right in front of future Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane.
"John McHale Sr. called the room at the hotel," Francona said. "You didn't know -- and then the phone rang. That's how I knew. There wasn't a whole lot of communication. There wasn't cell phones. My dad was basically my representative."
Francona had been one of the best college players throughout his junior season and even won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player. But he was only asked to fill out a couple of personality questionnaires, and he wasn't subjected to anywhere near the same scrutiny to which top amateurs now are subjected.
"I knew there were scouts around, but it wasn't quite the same then," he said. "There's a lot more money that you're paying these guys, so there's a lot more homework -- which is probably really good."
With his bonus money, Francona said, "I bought a -- what do you call it? -- a duplex as a rental property. Bad move. And I promised my sister I'd put her through school, but there were two things: One, I didn't think she'd go, and two, I didn't think I'd get drafted that high. I got shafted there.
"I actually bought a little bit of stock that did great -- great in terms of, I bought a couple of vans, but not great, like, I'm going to buy Pepsi."
1996: Mark Kotsay
Kotsay and the rest of the USA Baseball team that would win a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics two months later was in a dorm -- "a military barracks," he said -- in Millington, Tenn., the day of the draft that year. Skip Bertman, the LSU coach who would manage in the Olympics that year, was the one fielding phone calls from big-league teams and relaying the messages to his players.
"We didn't have cell phones -- we had pagers," Kotsay said. "Nobody was following the draft online. Nobody was brought in to do TV."
Bertman was a busy guy, too. Kris Benson (Pirates), Travis Lee (Twins), Braden Looper (Cardinals) and Billy Koch (Blue Jays) were the first four selections in the draft. Seth Greisinger (Tigers) and Chad Green (Brewers) came off the board at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively, and Kotsay went to the Marlins at No. 9.
That high in the draft, there were few surprises.
"Everybody pretty much knew where they were going to get slotted in, for the most part, and what teams had advanced them," Kotsay said. "There wasn't really heckling or any joking around about it."
Kotsay would hit two home runs in a mercy-rule win over Italy in the opening round of the Olympics that year, but Team USA eventually fell to a Japanese team featuring, among others, Kosuke Fukudome and Tadahito Iguchi.
2000: Rocco Baldelli
The suspense ended quickly for Baldelli, whose Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) high school baseball team was scheduled to play in a playoff game the day of the draft. He spent the early part of the day over at a buddy's house, shooting pool and watching TV, thinking more about the playoff game than the draft. School was over and graduation was next on the horizon, so Baldelli didn't have to think about much other than baseball and hanging out with his friends.
The outfielder had gone into his senior season as a draft prospect, but he didn't expect to be drafted high enough to forgo a scholarship offer from Wake Forest and turn pro right away. As his senior season progressed, though, he became aware he'd started to climb up draft boards. By the time draft day arrived, he was well aware he'd go pretty early in the first round.
Still, though, he wasn't following along when the draft began. There wasn't any way to follow along.
"I didn't follow it at all, to be honest with you," he said. "There was definitely no TV -- the most it probably was at the time was that the top five picks probably scrolled across on the "Bottom Line" on TV. That was probably the most we were going to get."
While he was still hanging out at his buddy's house, he got a call with a hint that the Devil Rays, picking No. 6 overall, were planning to draft him if he still was available. It wasn't until he got to Bishop Hendricken for his team's game, though, that he was notified by local reporters that he'd officially been picked.
He and Bishop Hendricken then went on to win their fourth straight Rhode Island state baseball title.
2004: Dustin Pedroia
Pedroia's junior season at Arizona State had come to an abrupt end at the hands of Cal State-Fullerton two days earlier; the then-shortstop had gone 0-for-3 with a walk as the Sun Devils bowed out before even reaching the Super Regional stage. (Arizona State was the top seed in the regional and No. 7 seed overall but had to travel to Fullerton, Calif., for the regional. Don't think that didn't grate on Pedroia.)
Pedroia had hardly given any thought to the draft. He was still too upset about the defeat. Just like the year before, his Sun Devils had been beaten by Cal State-Fullerton short of the College World Series.
Unlike the players at the very top of the board, players who had a pretty good idea who might draft them, Pedroia had no idea. He'd had almost no contact with the Red Sox, and he'd done little homework on the other players with whom he was competing.
"There's so many players, you know what I mean?" he said. "There's so many players and so many picks. You can't wrap up in, 'Oh, this guy's picking here,' and 'That guy's still out there.' There's so many players -- and you don't even know the high school players. There's a ton of them. Anything can happen in the draft, and that's why it's fun."
Still, though, he and a couple of teammates gathered in the office of Arizona State coach Pat Murphy to follow the draft. Pedroia had reasonable expectations of being drafted in the first round, but it wasn't until after the 64th pick that the phone rang. It was the Red Sox. "Like two seconds later," Pedroia said, they called his name to make it official.
2006: Daniel Bard
Bard's first draft party did not go well.
The 6-foot-4 righty was a highly touted prospect as a senior pitcher at Charlotte (N.C.) Christian High School, and he had 10 high school friends over at his house to follow the draft. Based on talent, he had a shot to be drafted in the first couple of rounds -- but his commitment to pitch at North Carolina ended up dissuading far more teams than he expected.
"I didn't go until the 20th round," he said with a chuckle, "so the party didn't last long."
Three years later, there were no worries about him sliding to the 20th round. He'd had a few conversations with teams that were drafting at the top of the first round, in fact, and he fully expected to hear his name called early. He and his family went to a restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C., and set up a laptop on a table in a quiet corner to wait for his name to be called.
But then he started to slide again.
The online ticker and audio broadcast weren't quite synced -- "The audio was way behind the ticker," he said -- and that made the draft difficult to follow. Either way, though, the first 10 teams all passed on Bard. So, too, did the next 10 teams. All of a sudden, there was a long line of teams set to pick who'd had very little contact with Bard just because they never expected him to last beyond No. 15 or 20 overall.
The Red Sox had met in the fall with Bard and North Carolina teammate Andrew Miller -- Miller was drafted at No. 6 overall by Detroit and now pitches for the Florida Marlins -- almost as a formality. Both pitchers filled out a questionnaire, but that was it.
The first time Bard's phone rang, it was an old coach who was working as a scout for St. Louis. The Cardinals had the No. 30 pick, and the scout wanted to know if Bard would sign for "slot" -- the bonus recommended by the commissioner's office recommended for each draft pick -- if he lasted until No. 30 and the Cardinals drafted him.
"Um, man, I can't really give you a definite answer on that," Bard said.
Before Bard could even finish his sentence, though, the scout cut him off.
"Whoops, sorry -- congratulations, man," he said -- and hung up.
"Congratulations for what?" Bard said, but he already was speaking to emptiness.
"I didn't know what he was saying, 'Congratulations,' for," the rookie relief pitcher said this weekend. "I looked and they were on, like, pick 18. I didn't end up going until 28, so that's how behind our (computer) was."
My, how times have changed.
With the draft now just a day away, here's a look at some of the draft-day memories of some of the first- and second-round draft picks who wear the "B" on their cap these days:
1980: Terry Francona
Francona was in Omaha, Neb., where he and his University of Arizona team were about to win the College World Series. They'd lost their first game to St. John's but wouldn't lose again; they beat Michigan by an 8-0 score the day before the draft and would beat Hawaii, California and Hawaii again to win the NCAA title. Francona, in fact, hit .458 in six games in Omaha and was named the College World Series MVP.
Francona was drafted No. 22 overall by the Expos -- right in front of future Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane.
"John McHale Sr. called the room at the hotel," Francona said. "You didn't know -- and then the phone rang. That's how I knew. There wasn't a whole lot of communication. There wasn't cell phones. My dad was basically my representative."
Francona had been one of the best college players throughout his junior season and even won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player. But he was only asked to fill out a couple of personality questionnaires, and he wasn't subjected to anywhere near the same scrutiny to which top amateurs now are subjected.
"I knew there were scouts around, but it wasn't quite the same then," he said. "There's a lot more money that you're paying these guys, so there's a lot more homework -- which is probably really good."
With his bonus money, Francona said, "I bought a -- what do you call it? -- a duplex as a rental property. Bad move. And I promised my sister I'd put her through school, but there were two things: One, I didn't think she'd go, and two, I didn't think I'd get drafted that high. I got shafted there.
"I actually bought a little bit of stock that did great -- great in terms of, I bought a couple of vans, but not great, like, I'm going to buy Pepsi."
1996: Mark Kotsay
Kotsay and the rest of the USA Baseball team that would win a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics two months later was in a dorm -- "a military barracks," he said -- in Millington, Tenn., the day of the draft that year. Skip Bertman, the LSU coach who would manage in the Olympics that year, was the one fielding phone calls from big-league teams and relaying the messages to his players.
"We didn't have cell phones -- we had pagers," Kotsay said. "Nobody was following the draft online. Nobody was brought in to do TV."
Bertman was a busy guy, too. Kris Benson (Pirates), Travis Lee (Twins), Braden Looper (Cardinals) and Billy Koch (Blue Jays) were the first four selections in the draft. Seth Greisinger (Tigers) and Chad Green (Brewers) came off the board at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively, and Kotsay went to the Marlins at No. 9.
That high in the draft, there were few surprises.
"Everybody pretty much knew where they were going to get slotted in, for the most part, and what teams had advanced them," Kotsay said. "There wasn't really heckling or any joking around about it."
Kotsay would hit two home runs in a mercy-rule win over Italy in the opening round of the Olympics that year, but Team USA eventually fell to a Japanese team featuring, among others, Kosuke Fukudome and Tadahito Iguchi.
2000: Rocco Baldelli
The suspense ended quickly for Baldelli, whose Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) high school baseball team was scheduled to play in a playoff game the day of the draft. He spent the early part of the day over at a buddy's house, shooting pool and watching TV, thinking more about the playoff game than the draft. School was over and graduation was next on the horizon, so Baldelli didn't have to think about much other than baseball and hanging out with his friends.
The outfielder had gone into his senior season as a draft prospect, but he didn't expect to be drafted high enough to forgo a scholarship offer from Wake Forest and turn pro right away. As his senior season progressed, though, he became aware he'd started to climb up draft boards. By the time draft day arrived, he was well aware he'd go pretty early in the first round.
Still, though, he wasn't following along when the draft began. There wasn't any way to follow along.
"I didn't follow it at all, to be honest with you," he said. "There was definitely no TV -- the most it probably was at the time was that the top five picks probably scrolled across on the "Bottom Line" on TV. That was probably the most we were going to get."
While he was still hanging out at his buddy's house, he got a call with a hint that the Devil Rays, picking No. 6 overall, were planning to draft him if he still was available. It wasn't until he got to Bishop Hendricken for his team's game, though, that he was notified by local reporters that he'd officially been picked.
He and Bishop Hendricken then went on to win their fourth straight Rhode Island state baseball title.
2004: Dustin Pedroia
Pedroia's junior season at Arizona State had come to an abrupt end at the hands of Cal State-Fullerton two days earlier; the then-shortstop had gone 0-for-3 with a walk as the Sun Devils bowed out before even reaching the Super Regional stage. (Arizona State was the top seed in the regional and No. 7 seed overall but had to travel to Fullerton, Calif., for the regional. Don't think that didn't grate on Pedroia.)
Pedroia had hardly given any thought to the draft. He was still too upset about the defeat. Just like the year before, his Sun Devils had been beaten by Cal State-Fullerton short of the College World Series.
Unlike the players at the very top of the board, players who had a pretty good idea who might draft them, Pedroia had no idea. He'd had almost no contact with the Red Sox, and he'd done little homework on the other players with whom he was competing.
"There's so many players, you know what I mean?" he said. "There's so many players and so many picks. You can't wrap up in, 'Oh, this guy's picking here,' and 'That guy's still out there.' There's so many players -- and you don't even know the high school players. There's a ton of them. Anything can happen in the draft, and that's why it's fun."
Still, though, he and a couple of teammates gathered in the office of Arizona State coach Pat Murphy to follow the draft. Pedroia had reasonable expectations of being drafted in the first round, but it wasn't until after the 64th pick that the phone rang. It was the Red Sox. "Like two seconds later," Pedroia said, they called his name to make it official.
2006: Daniel Bard
Bard's first draft party did not go well.
The 6-foot-4 righty was a highly touted prospect as a senior pitcher at Charlotte (N.C.) Christian High School, and he had 10 high school friends over at his house to follow the draft. Based on talent, he had a shot to be drafted in the first couple of rounds -- but his commitment to pitch at North Carolina ended up dissuading far more teams than he expected.
"I didn't go until the 20th round," he said with a chuckle, "so the party didn't last long."
Three years later, there were no worries about him sliding to the 20th round. He'd had a few conversations with teams that were drafting at the top of the first round, in fact, and he fully expected to hear his name called early. He and his family went to a restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C., and set up a laptop on a table in a quiet corner to wait for his name to be called.
But then he started to slide again.
The online ticker and audio broadcast weren't quite synced -- "The audio was way behind the ticker," he said -- and that made the draft difficult to follow. Either way, though, the first 10 teams all passed on Bard. So, too, did the next 10 teams. All of a sudden, there was a long line of teams set to pick who'd had very little contact with Bard just because they never expected him to last beyond No. 15 or 20 overall.
The Red Sox had met in the fall with Bard and North Carolina teammate Andrew Miller -- Miller was drafted at No. 6 overall by Detroit and now pitches for the Florida Marlins -- almost as a formality. Both pitchers filled out a questionnaire, but that was it.
The first time Bard's phone rang, it was an old coach who was working as a scout for St. Louis. The Cardinals had the No. 30 pick, and the scout wanted to know if Bard would sign for "slot" -- the bonus recommended by the commissioner's office recommended for each draft pick -- if he lasted until No. 30 and the Cardinals drafted him.
"Um, man, I can't really give you a definite answer on that," Bard said.
Before Bard could even finish his sentence, though, the scout cut him off.
"Whoops, sorry -- congratulations, man," he said -- and hung up.
"Congratulations for what?" Bard said, but he already was speaking to emptiness.
"I didn't know what he was saying, 'Congratulations,' for," the rookie relief pitcher said this weekend. "I looked and they were on, like, pick 18. I didn't end up going until 28, so that's how behind our (computer) was."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Awards not to strive for
The three-pronged trophy for Red Sox Most Valuable Player was resting in the chair of second baseman Dustin Pedroia this afternoon, one chair over from where Tony Conigliaro Award winner Rocco Baldelli was getting ready for his first big-league start.
On the table in the middle of the room, though, was a trophy that so far appeared to have gone unclaimed: The Bringing Sexy Back Award, a silver-plated muscleman wearing nothing but a bronze Speedo. The inscription read, "Red Sox player most likely to find innuendo even if it's not there: Welcome Home Dinner 2009."
Baldelli claimed not to know who had won that particular award.
"That means it's up for grabs," one reporter said. "Could be you!"
"I'm not going for that one," Baldelli said wryly.
On the table in the middle of the room, though, was a trophy that so far appeared to have gone unclaimed: The Bringing Sexy Back Award, a silver-plated muscleman wearing nothing but a bronze Speedo. The inscription read, "Red Sox player most likely to find innuendo even if it's not there: Welcome Home Dinner 2009."
Baldelli claimed not to know who had won that particular award.
"That means it's up for grabs," one reporter said. "Could be you!"
"I'm not going for that one," Baldelli said wryly.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Woonsocket's own headed to Fenway, ESPN reports
Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli appears close to a deal to become the fourth outfielder for the Red Sox, ESPN's Peter Gammons is reporting. Baldelli has just 217 at-bats in the last two seasons thanks to a well-publicized mitochondrial disorder. Before that, his career track mirrored that of players like Ellis Burks, Carlos Beltran and Vernon Wells through their first 400 games or so.
If he can stay healthy -- and that's a huge if -- Baldelli certainly could put up Shane Victorino-type numbers over a full season: A .290 batting average and .350 on-base percentage, a dozen or so home runs, 25 stolen bases.
With the Red Sox, at least this season, he's not going to get enough at-bats to do that. The Red Sox aren't going to overextend him; he'll be a right-handed bat off the bench to spell J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury, most likely. If one of the team's starting outfielders gets hurt, you probably won't see Baldelli become a full-time outfielder unless he's demonstrated that he's fully healthy and that his mitochondrial disorder is completely under control.
If someone gets hurt, you're likely to see someone like Jonathan Van Every called up -- or maybe another veteran signed, given that some older players without contracts might be willing to wait until April or May to see if spots open up. Right now, the Red Sox can't project Baldelli to be a possible everyday player. If he's a two- or three-day-a-week player, though, he could provide an awful lot of right-handed pop off the bench in a lefty-heavy lineup.
If he can stay healthy -- and that's a huge if -- Baldelli certainly could put up Shane Victorino-type numbers over a full season: A .290 batting average and .350 on-base percentage, a dozen or so home runs, 25 stolen bases.
With the Red Sox, at least this season, he's not going to get enough at-bats to do that. The Red Sox aren't going to overextend him; he'll be a right-handed bat off the bench to spell J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury, most likely. If one of the team's starting outfielders gets hurt, you probably won't see Baldelli become a full-time outfielder unless he's demonstrated that he's fully healthy and that his mitochondrial disorder is completely under control.
If someone gets hurt, you're likely to see someone like Jonathan Van Every called up -- or maybe another veteran signed, given that some older players without contracts might be willing to wait until April or May to see if spots open up. Right now, the Red Sox can't project Baldelli to be a possible everyday player. If he's a two- or three-day-a-week player, though, he could provide an awful lot of right-handed pop off the bench in a lefty-heavy lineup.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
