SB Nation User Blog: B Cap

Congratulations to the Rays

B Cap — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:14:52 -0000

Hey guys, Just wanted to drop in from up north and say congratuations - you've won the toughest division in baseball beating out two teams with the highest payrolls in the sport. That's a real accomplishment and I'm glad Rays fans have something to cheer about. Good luck in October!! (I hope the Rays, Sox and Cubs form a pact to kneecap the Angels -ANYONE but them please...) I definitely had you guys pegged to be contenters as soon as the name Kazmir appeared on the roster but I thought it would take till next year to really make it all work.

"Never Thought I'd Walk a Jockey"

B Cap — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:42:39 -0000

This is just for laughs and to give props to Pedroia "tha Destroya" for going 4 for 4 two games in a row. This quote from an article for AP on th game says everything you need to know:

"Pedroia went 4-for-4, scored three times, swiped two bases and walked in Boston’s 8-0 win Friday night. He had a double and three singles again Saturday.

Guillen had seen enough by the time Pedroia came up in the eighth with David Ortiz on third and two outs. He decided to walk him intentionally and the crowd chanted, "MVP, MVP" as the 5-foot-7 Pedroia trotted to first base.

"I never thought I would walk a jockey," Guillen said. "I get opportunities to walk him to face Big Papi, I will do it." "

Gotta love Guillen, the man is just hilarious. I move that we now refer to Pedroia simply as "Jockey"...just TOO funny.

via bp3.blogger.com

Brad Hawpe Wins WS MVP

B Cap — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:59:12 -0000

<Snark> Joe F**k: Hello and welcome back to "Hating Baseball" on Fox.

With his consistent play throughout this World Series Brad Hawpe has captured the notice of not just the Red Sox management and fans but the baseball world at large as well. Here to talk to Brad about his MVP winning stint is our own Timmy McStoopit. Tim? Over to you.

McStoopit: Thanks Joe. Brad, you've had a great Series here with 8 strike outs and no walks in 13 at-bats. Tell us about how you've performed?..how you've felt throughout this series?

Brad Hawpe: Well, I just try to go out there and grind out at-bats, you know? I try to do my small part to get us a win. There are always ways to improve, um, you know, like grounding out into double plays or getting yourself out with an awkward bunt, but so far I'm happy with my performance. I get a real boost from my team-mates.

MS: Tell us about that. Who has inspired you to reach this level of performance?

BH: Well, you know the big guy upstairs has granted me the talent, so for that I'm really grateful. But the success of others is something that really drives me. You know, I looked at how guys like Julio Lugo were swinging the bat before the all-star break and I said to myself --"that's the standard I need to meet."

MS: Well last night you had a couple of hits, including a triple with an RBI and single late in the game. What happened there?

BH: I think that was just lack of concentration, you know? Those were a couple of bad pitches and I just happened to get on the end of it. Fortunately, I had some guys step up and have some good at-bats, some K's and pop-flys, to end the innings and save my bacon. We rely on our team-mates out there - its a team mentality to get things done.

MS: How has the pitching in this Series affected you? I mean, take a guy like Matzusaka, when a catcher has to use his thumb to give signs, that means the pitcher has more than four pitches.

BH: Um, that's, ahh pretty obvious.

MS: Or five...more than five...

BH: Has more than four.

MS: Oh yeah, you're right.

BH: What the hell are you talking about?

MS: How about Helton? What was going through your mind when he hit that three-run home run?

BH: Well, you know, you just have to put that out of your mind and concentrate on your next at-bat, getting that next K. You can see that it’s sometimes difficult to do that, like, um, when my team really needed me I reached first in the ninth. But if you just go pitch by pitch and try not to let things get to you it usually turns out okay, as it did today.

MS: Well, anyway, who is the guy you lean on most, you think?

BH: Well, given the talent out there its hard to pinpoint one guy - it is a team effort, um, but you know, but when I can't get a K there's always Manny out in left field to get that pop-fly lately so he sticks out in my mind in this Series.

MS: Well thanks for talking to us Brad and congratulations! Okay, back over to you Joe.

JF: Thank you Tim. Okay, now we go over to Jeanne Zelasko who’s talking to Terry Francona, Jeanne?

Jeanne Zelasko: THANK YOU JOE!!! I’M HERE WITH THE BIG CHEESE, THE NUMBER ONE MAN, THE BILL BELICHICK OF THE BOSTON RED SOX, WHO’VE COME UP BIG THIS ACTOBER IN THE BIGGEST, GRANDEST STAGE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL! TERRY! YOU MUST ADMIT THAT NO ONE HAS COME UP BIGGER FOR YOU GUYS THAN BRAD HAWPE!!

Terry Francona: Is it really necessary to yell in my ears like that?!?

JZ: SORRY!!!

TF: Owwww. [Moves off camera with blood running from his ears.] Get [inaudible] away from me. Give the mic to somebody else!

JZ: OKAY! BACK TO YOU JOE!!!

JF: Thank you Jeanne. Well there you have it folks, Brad Hawpe, series MVP. See you next time! </snark>

How We Roll [Promoted Diary. Yeah. That's right.]

B Cap — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:27:53 -0000

Look guys, we're down three in an ALCS. So what?! This is how we roll. You know, to make it interesting and stuff. Let the Rockies have their sweep. BOOOOORRRRRRINNNGGG. No, it's like the Mighty Casey...you spit on a few pitches before you send one out of the park. Gives the fans something to chew on. Anyone can come back from a game down, but three? That takes brass balls. Brass Balls are a major export for our region so I'm not really worried. We here in Red Sox Nation have a flair for the dramatic. And not the hot-pink purse with black pumps type of flair no, no, no. We're talking trip, fall, and accidently knock over the Empire State Building-type flair for the dramatic. So now comes the fun part. The winning. THIS is how we roll.

[Post script: If we win, I'm a genius and this post is totally serious. If we lose, I'm snarking.]

[editor's note, by Allen Chace]Speaking of Brass Balls, how bout B Cap here?

The Turning Point

B Cap — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:03:09 -0000

The lore of 2004 states that the turning point in the ALCS came when Dave Roberts stole 2nd base. I think though, that these things have many turing points and that for me that was crystalized by a key moment in game 3. I don't remember who it was that hit it, Matsui?, but a Yankee home run went over the Monster. The crowd groaned. The rout was being finalized and the Sox post-season was done. Someone out on Yawkee way had just caught a post-season home run ball. Yeah, it sucks, but hey - worth some money on E-bay or something to show the kids, right? Wrong.

A moment later the ball flew back over the wall and landed in the outfield between Damon and Manny. I remember the look on Manny's face. I know I'm totally speculating here, but for a moment it seemed all the self-absorbed "I'm-not-taking-this-seriously-I'm-just-Manny-being-Manny" crap just drained from his face. It got serious in a way I've never seen before or since. "Holy shit" it said. "they're throwing the ball back on the field!" It was like, until that moment, he hadn't actually really considered what baseball meant in Boston -- to the people of Boston.

To me, that was the statement that changed everything about how rooting has usually worked in Boston. That we normally HOPE the Sox don't lose. This, however, said most emphatically "We expect you to win." Whenever I hear people on this blog and elsewhere complain about the Sox I always hear, in some sense, the former. I don't believe in the power of prayer to change the physical world, but I do believe in the power of positive thinking.

Whenever I hear Yankees fans I hear the latter. We should, for once, take a page from their book.

What's it gonna be people? Hunch over your beers and hope to avoid disaster? Or confidence in the face of adversity? Go Sox. I mean it.

[editor's note, by Allen Chace]This is the kind of thing that makes me proud to be here, proud to be a Sox fan. Thanks B Cap.

JD Drew - The Optimist's View [Promoted Diary]

B Cap — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:42:00 -0000

Given all the hand wringing about JD Drew I thought I'd take a closer look at the guy and see what we can expect in the future. In the tables below I've tried to outline why I think JD will be a much better addition come '08 than he was this year.

I looked at his offensive stats this year and compared them with his career best years for each stat and what team he was on when he achieved them. Then I estimated how much his stats would change if he performed at his lifetime average as well as a "breakout year" where he equaled his best performance.

[Note for stat junkies: I didn't correct for games played or number of at-bats in each season. Also I just took a normal average not a geometric average. Yeah, I'm lazy, so you'll have to take these numbers with a grain of salt, as they say. I did try to account for these factors in my qualitative assessments at the end however.]

Two things stand out when you look at Drew's numbers this year versus the past. The first is that in no category of offensive production has JD had a career year with the Sox. All of his best years were in the National League with 2004 as his over career high year so far. Worse yet, he's been below his career average for nearly every measurement of quality for his at-bats this year.

The silver lining in all this is that there seems to be nowhere to go but up. I think that he's due for an above average year as he settles in to the AL and the high pressure atmosphere in Boston. He hits less for power now than in the beginning of his career but is a much harder out and will likely improve in both OPS & Slugging, but more in the latter than the former. Still a lot more run production can be expected absent injury. Below I've detailed what I estimate the likelihood of improvement will be for JDs production based on his past stats.

* Runs: Slight Improvement - JD's performance in this category as actually been fairly close to average for his career, but he'll probably walk more and strike out about the same so it all averages out.

* Hits: Slight Improvement - Definitely running below average here so I would expect more hits and more hits for power.

* Extra Base Hits: No Improvement here really if we judge by history, but that doesn't include home runs.

* HR: Highly likely - Maybe it's just AL pitching, but I think that it seems very likely that we'll see 10 or more additional home runs from JD next year relative to this year. That will likely translate into 2 or more games in the win column too.

* RBI: Highly likely - Since we're likely to see JD up his power numbers, especially in the HR category, expect RBIs to improve by 10 to 20 next season.

* BB: Highly likely - All signs point to JD being a much harder out next year, especially in terms of walks.

* K: No Improvement - JD has actually struck out right near his career average so he'll likely keep going at this rate. It seems like he'll walk more and fly out less to make his at bats more meaningful.

* SB: No Improvement - stealing bases was something he stopped doing long ago. However, as an older, wiser player he might pick better key moments to steal a base.

* AVG: Highly likely - again his batting average is well below his more productive years. More walks are likely as his power numbers improve and pitchers get more wary of leaving one over the plate. There may be a Manny/Ortiz factor here as well. Since pitchers have been able to more readily pitch through those two, the pressure has doubled on JD and company to produce. It's hard to get patient at-bats in that situation. As the David and Manny show gets back on track and JD starts hitting more towards an average of home runs we may see a knock-on effect as pitchers face a more exhausting triple threat. Not say JD compares equally to those two, just that if you're a pitcher and you have to get past David Ortiz and THEN Manny Ramirez and THEN face a guy batting .300 with .450 slugging (25 HRs, 90+ RBIs), life gets alot more difficult. I have a feeling THIS was what Theo was seeing when he spent $12 million.

* OBP: Highly likely - there seems no doubt that JD will get on base more in the future. Again, I think as his power numbers improve pitchers will take a more cautious appraoch with more walks being the result.

* SLG: Highly likely - If we're lucky this guy is capable of hitting 30 home runs in a season. If Ortiz and Manny return to even an average level of HR production next year things will go very hard on opposing team pitchers trying to get through these three. More likely though we'll see Jay-dizzle become a good number two or six hitter along with Youk. If Lowell can stay as active next year as this, we will have an actual offense to be reckoned with.

* OPS: Highly likely - Again, not more doubles but walks and home runs will improve his overall ratio of power and getting on base relative to his number at bats.

Final points - Are you ready to cut Drew only to see him go elsewhere and produce like he did in '04?

The devils advocate would respond to all this with the observation that it's possible that JD Drew is a good hitter in the NL but in the AL he's just not worth $12 million.

I'd like to head off one area of discussion right away - Yes JD makes more than Ortiz but how many people think that Big Papi would get only a $12 million contract when he hits free-agency. NO WAY, NO HOW. So estimate THAT number before you compare their salaries. They just are not at equivalent stages of their careers at this point. Okay, enough -- your thoughts?

Poll

Will JD Drew improve or will he be a $12 million waste of space in '08?

Hells No! My granma hits better than "Grey fizzle". 12 million...that's a lot of lottery tickets and Theo blanked on ALL of 'em.

14 votes

Snoop Dog references are annoying.

1 votes

Hells Yeah! - Jay Dizzle will fashizzle in '08, he's got nowhere to go but up.

15 votes

Maybe. - You've convinced me that all hope is not lost, but he'll never be what we was in the NL.

11 votes

41 votes | Poll has closed

Schadenfreude, or Taking Delight in the Suffering of Others (MFY edition)

B Cap — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:45:14 -0000

<snark>
Dear Red Sox Nation,

It is time for us to engage in what will hopefully be a regular seasonal activity, like going to the beach and BBQs. What I'm talking about here is honest to goodness gloating. I'm talking about 14 beautiful days in August. These will be days filled with unvarnished gloating, full of confidence, without a hint of fear or trepidation, nor haunted by the demons from our checkered past. For as many of you here will have already observed, for 14 Days in August the Yankees will play every division leader in the American League. Consecutively.

Schadenfreude - A meal in 4 Courses

We start with an amusing 4 game homestand with Detroit.

Followed by a palette cleansing roadtrip to the Angels for 3 games.

We review our starting theme with a hearty road trip back to Detroit for 4 more games.

and for desert boys and girls? They host us.

Savor this my friends. Take time to chew slowly the charred and delicious carcass that is the Yankees season. (ya, I'll have a wing and some white meat, please.) Lick the grease slowly from your fingers, preferrably in front of someone with a NNY's cap on, extra points if it's pink.

Tuck in my friends. Have your cake. Eat it. Have seconds. We've earned this summer where WE are the swaggering bastards, brimming with confidence the OUR team is the one to beat, OUR team is going to the playoffs. And them? A collapse in August.

</snark>

Moment of Silence for Mike Coolbaugh

B Cap — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:41:22 -0000

Mike Coolbaugh, coach with the Tulsa Drillers, a AA ball club and Rockies affiliate was hit by a line drive and killed today. Our thoughts and prayers go out his family and friends.

The full story is here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-coachkilled&prov=ap&type=lgns