J.D. Drew - Ballplayer, Not Mathematician

J.D. Drew is just your slightly above average outfielder for the Boston Red Sox.  Perhaps my view of Drew is maligned because of the things said about him in Three Nights in August, but I'm not a huge fan.  He has all the talent in the world, but doesn't really work all that hard to play the game.  He relies on talent, makes his money, and that's about it.  However, because of his great talent, he can do things that other players can't necessarily do... like make a really difficult catch in foul territory look easy, even when he doesn't mean to do it.  Let me explain.

In Saturday's game against the Rays, a runner was on third with one out and the batter hit a towering fly ball into foul territory where the visitor's bullpen is located.  In most instances, a fielder might let a difficult foul ball go because the runner on third can tag up and score.  Drew ran over to size up the situation, and ended up catching the ball while falling into the chairs.  The runner tagged from third and scored on the play, tying the game up at 1-1.

It's baseball, so you don't know what would have happened had Drew not caught the ball, but Boston's pitcher was kind of upset because the run ended up scoring, and here's where we get to the relevant part.  Here is an actual quote from Drew following the game:

"It's a question mark," said Drew. "If you let the ball drop and he walks, there's two guys on and the next pitch he hits a two-run homer, it's a difficult situation. But in that part of the game, Clay [Buchholz] is throwing the ball pretty well, he's got a good chance on [a] 3-2 [pitch], but you never know what's going to happen."

You see that part that's in bold and underlined.  Read it again.  That's right, Drew suggested that Buchholz would somehow walk the batter, putting runners on 1st and 3rd, and then allow a two-run homer.  I know that there is a lot of talk of Buchholz for the AL Cy Young this season, but if he can allow a two-run homer with two runners already on base, then he deserves the next three Cy Young awards.

I know that J.D. Drew is a baseball player, not Danica McKellar, but give me a break.

Damon Has Difficult Decision Ahead

Johnny Damon was placed on waivers by the Detroit Tigers, and reports indicate that the Boston Red Sox are the team that have won the claim on the former Royal-A's-Red Sox-Yankee outfielder.  So, now Damon has quite a decision to make: whether or not to veto a trade to the Red Sox

It's understandable that this would be a difficult decision.  Damon played for the Red Sox from 2002-2005, helping them break the "Curse of the Bambino" - or as the rest of the world called it, 86 years of terrible play in the regular-and/or-post season.  Of course, Damon didn't exactly endear himself to Boston fans when he bolted after the 2005 season to join the Yankees, or as they have been called, "The Evil Empire."

This decision really boils down to which mediocre, underachieving team would Damon prefer to finish the season with.  Good luck deciding Johnny because I'm pretty sure the rest of us don't care.

Red Sox Gets Salty

One of the coolest names in baseball was quietly traded to the Red Sox last week.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia went from the Rangers Triple-A affiliate to the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate.  According to a report, Salty got a case of the "yips," which basically means he forgot how to throw the ball 60 feet back to the pitcher.

Before the Sox acquired Saltalamacchia, they were reportedly deep into the Rube Baker trade talks before the Indians finally clued them in on the fact that Rube was just a character from the 1994 movie Major League 2.

McCarver's Continued Descent Into Madness

Baseball announcer, and former player, Tim McCarver has continued his slow descent into madness.  Here is a direct quote from McCarver during a Yankees-Rays game earlier this season (thanks to Deadspin for the transcription).

You remember some of those despotic leaders in World War II, primarily in Russia and Germany, where they used to take those pictures that they had ... taken of former generals who were no longer alive, they had shot 'em. They would airbrush the pictures, and airbrushed the generals out of the pictures. In a sense, that's what the Yankees have done with Joe Torre. They have airbrushed his legacy. I mean, there's no sign of Joe Torre at the stadium. And, that's ridiculous. I don't understand it.

 That's right, McCarver compared the Yankees to WWII-era Russia and Germany.  I guess we can tell where McCarver stands on the Yankees-Red Sox-evil empire feud.

When an imaginary BLB reporter went to ask the Yankees' front office about McCarver's quote, he was never seen again.

Red Sox Cross the Line

It has been reported that the Red Sox have crossed the salary line and will be charged 22.5% for every dollar over $170 million for the luxury tax.

In other shocking news, the sky is still blue.

Royals, Red Sox Discuss Religion

The Royals and Red Sox have had a few come to DeJesus moments this season.  The two teams have had discussions revolving around Royals outfield David DeJesus, who may be one of the premier outfielders available on the trade market over the next couple of weeks.

Reportedly, the Royals have been scouting the Red Sox's farm system looking for anybody that could possibly be worth trading for the career average line of .290/8/50 (BA/HR/RBI).  No word yet on if the talks have come to a satisfying conclusion.

Ortiz Would Like to Remain a Red Sox

Because, apparently, it's the All Star break and there was nothing else to write about this week, somebody asked David Ortiz, DH extraordinaire for the Boston Red Sox, if he would like to finish his career as a Red Sox.

The Red Sox have a $12.5 million option on Big Papi for the 2011 season, and will have to think long and hard if they want to pay that much for a "slugger" who is on a rapid rate of decline since losing the magical bat of Manny Ramirez.

When asked in a made-up poll, Yankees fans everywhere insisted that the Red Sox honor Papi's request.

Pedroia & Flying

On Baseball Tonight last week, Boston Red Sox second baseman, and 2008 AL MVP, Dustin Pedroia admitted a fear of flying.  Apparently he is trying to get over that fear by remembering the wisdom Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, "If he dies, he dies."

When asked to comment on Pedroia's fear of flying, David Ortiz said, "I'm really glad he finally owned up to it.  Whenever the plane is about to take off, we have to remind Dusty to wear his Depends and stop screaming like a 4 year old girl."

In response to Ortiz, Pedroia quipped, "Who here has won an MVP award?  That's right, me.  Stick it, Papi."