Pedroia Out for Six Weeks

Just as the Sox start playing well and put themselves in a position to increase their lead on the Rays with the mini series that starts tonight, Dustin Pedroia breaks his foot. Make no mistake about it, this is not good. I can see the Sox rallying around this injury and doing well in the next couple of weeks, but six weeks without their catalyst is going to be tough to weather.

At least Clay Buchholz and Victor Martinez won't be out long. Martinez is on the 15-day DL, while Buchholz was scheduled to miss his next start anyway.

Lester Outlasts Lincecum

Much to the chagrin of our friend Dennis, Jon Lester pitched a gem yesterday and the normally nasty Tim Lincecum managed just three innings against the Red Sox. Still I was surprised the Giants yanked him when they did. Even though Lincecum needed 78 pitches to get through his three innings of work he only gave up four runs. That's not great, especially if you're a two time Cy Young winner, but the Giants weren't out of the game by any means.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lester was dominant again. He pitched his second complete game of the season while striking out nine. He even helped his own cause giving a Lincecum fast ball a long ride to the 420 sign and driving in a run with a sac fly.

Lester is emerging as a legit Cy Young candidate. Since his first couple of starts when he was pretty poor he is 9-1. His ERA on the season is 2.86 and he has turned into an overpowering strikeout machine. It's enough to make you forget about the oft injured and lately ineffectual Josh Beckett.

This road trip hasn't been all sunshine and blueberry lollipops for the Sox, however. It has produced some key injuries that they must weather if they are going to keep pace in the division. Dustin Pedroia has a broken foot after fouling a ball off himself Friday. He is now on the 15 day DL. Most maddening of all is Clay Buchholz hyperextending his knee while running the bases on Saturday. Every year in stupid interleague play some AL pitcher sustains a significant injury while running the bases. A professional athlete should be able to run 90 feet without hurting himself, but there's always this thought, this never would have happened if... Now the big fat cherry on top of this this crap sundae happened yesterday when Victor Martinez broke his thumb. Fortunately the All-Star Break is around the corner.

A Little Baseball News for Sox Fans

According to Peter Gammons the Sox are considering moving Dustin Pedroia to the other side of second. There are more quality second basemen available than short stops so the logic of filling the position with a shift of Pedroia is sound. I look at Michael Young from Texas as a prime example of a player bouncing around positions due to need or primadonnas and maintaining an All-Star performance level.

My only qualm with the move is that, if it is made, we wont hear the end of the gritty, gutty, team-centric, short but giant spirited, one of a kind, man with the hand eye coordination (seriously Gammons they all have awesome hand eye coordination, that's the only way you can play baseball at the MLB level) of a god Dustin Pedroia.

The Case Against The One Game Playoff

Yes it's full of drama, one game for all the marbles and a chance at the World Series. But then what did we go through all these freakin' games for? When division opponents play each other 19 times, the season series should determine the division winner, whose in whose out. In a sport like baseball when the cumulative effect of 162 games is supposed to remove all doubt who the best team is after being tested for 5 months, it's totally unfair for one game to decide something as important and fundamental as a playoff berth. If we're going to allow one game to decide, then we may as well shorten the season to 100 or 50 or even 20 games. A team that wins a season series over 19 games has proven itself the better team and should be allowed to reap the benefits.

As the regular season ends, the leader boards are peppered with Red Sox. Jason Bay finished tied for 3rd in home runs behind Carlos Pena and Mark Teixeira and 2nd in RBI behind Teixeira. Had he been more consistent, Bay could have contended for the MVP. Dustin Pedroia finished 1st in the AL in runs scored for the second year in a row. In a most impressive feat Jacoby Ellsbury lead MLB in stolen bases with 70. This is also the second straight season he's led the AL. On the pitching side, Jon Lester finished 3rd in the AL in strikeouts. I personally didn't think he would develop in to the strikeout artist he became this season.

Well, let the playoffs begin. We'll see if the Sox can put their crummy finish behind them. Bring on the Halos.

Pedroia Wins MVP

Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia on winning the AL MVP. It was a wide open year for MVP this season. Watching Pedroia day in and day out, one definitely gains an appreciation for his value to the Red Sox. As Joey has said, he is the Sox version of Derek Jeter. I anticipate him being Boston's offensive catalyst for years to come. Pedroia's MVP is a nice consolation prize for Sox fans after a disappointing playoff run.