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Allen Webster continued in Clay Buchholz’s winning ways and the Kansas City defense carried on their ineffective fielding in Friday evening’s contest. Webster faltered in the fourth by allowing a leadoff walk to to Alex Gordon and then a home run to Eric Hosmer, but those were the only runs the home team could muster. Webster may not be the most imposing pitcher on the mound but he has turned his game around in September. In August he had two outings where he gave up six earned runs. In this non-contending year John Farrell had the time to stick with Webster and see if the starter could live up to his promise. With a successful run in September he could cement his spot in the 2015 starting rotation. But someone please set him up with Pedro Martinez to learn about mound presence. Webster could use some meat on his bones, too. Kansas City-style barbecue could help with that. Thank you, Henry Perry, the Barbecue King, and to Charlie and Arthur Bryant, who carried on Perry’s tradition of tomato and molasses-based sauce. Yordano Ventura is a Dominican-born rookie from whom Webster could take a few lessons from in terms of confidence....
Four Red Sox greats entered the Red Sox Hall of Fame. For a few of them it may have been the precursor to Cooperstown. Your browser does not support iframes. I thought Roger Clemens might hear some boos when his name was announced. I think anyone who hasn’t forgiven Clemens for any or all of his multitude of sins sat on their hands instead of being overtly and loudly negative. When he visited the booth he showed his human side by reminiscing about his grandmother. She had been alive to witness many of accomplishments, but not this one. I don’t know if Pedro Martinez was more brilliant on the mound or with the microphone. He talked about his 17-strikeout game against the Yankees on September 10, 1999, which was commemorated in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Martinez was mad because Joe Kerrigan got on his case for missing the pitchers’ meeting. The manager told him he had to figure out how to get Derek Jeter out on his own because he missed the meeting. “What am I going to learn, it’s the Yankees,” laughed Martinez. It reminded me of Allen Iverson’s comments about practice. The mediocre ones need repetitive...
The Red Sox indirectly helped former teammates Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes by defeating the second-place Angels 4-2 in their series opener. Jered Weaver lasted six innings but seemed like he could be chased from the game much earlier. Meanwhile Allen Webster gutted out 6⅔ innings and gave up only two runs against a solid lineup. Yoenis Cespedes was obviously most familiar with the Angels and their stadium but had a bit of a mishap on Chris Iannetta’s liner to left field in the third inning. He over-pursued the ball into the corner allowing Efren Navarro to score. Cespedes had doubled in two runs in the top half of the frame so it could be argued that he was a net positive force in the game. Josh Hamilton also had some issues in left field but still managed to rob Xander Bogaerts of a base hit. The divot he created reminded me a little of Manny Ramirez’s World Series Game 1 clod but Hamilton made the play. Cespedes and Hamilton need only to look over to center field to see grace and power in the outfield. Mike Trout didn’t make a highlight reel-quality grab in this game but Jackie Bradley,...
It has finally sunk in. This team has proven it can succeed and has done so in a spectacular fashion. Last season their record was 69-93 and now they have bettered that ratio to 97-65. They fell a bit short of their Pythagorean winning percentage of 100-62 but still hold the best record in the American League. I don’t want to put down in stark black and white what I hope for from this team in the playoffs. I bought a locker room hat and hope to add more to my collection. Ryan Dempster lost his place in the rotation but found a new job as the lineup announcer. He should stick to repairing telephones. Jacoby Ellsbury contributed immediately with a leadoff homer in the first inning. His time out of the lineup hasn’t thrown off his timing and hopefully the break between this final game and the American League Division Series will enable rest and not engender rust. Allen Webster started in place of John Lackey when the Red Sox found themselves in the catbird seat with Oakland’s loss to the Mariners on Saturday. The rookie battled through a tough first frame where he walked three batters but escaped...
The Red Sox scored in every inning except the third and seventh. The copious run support allowed Allen Webster to tally his first major league victory. Webster had a chance at a win against the Royals in April but Andrew Miller lost the lead in the eighth inning and in June he was the pitcher of record against Toronto but Andrew Bailey surrendered the game-tying home run in the seventh. He now has one more win than Josh Beckett this season. Shane Victorino went 2-for-4 with a run scored. He sported a crimson glove in celebration in Independence Day. The Red Sox dedicated a black seat in honor of the more than 92,000 unaccounted soldiers. Your browser does not support iframes. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command is located on Oahu and is responsible for the global search, recovery, and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans. The Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) was created so that there was a single office managing POW/MIA issues. Their motto is “Keeping the Promise.” Game 87: July 4, 2013 San Diego Padres40-46 2 L: Eric Stults (6-7) 2B: Will Venable (7), Jesus Guzman (9), Logan Forsythe (4) Boston Red Sox53-34 8 W:...
I imagine a game of guess what’s in the picture with rookie Allen Webster. The starting pitcher made his major league debut and while he didn’t win he displayed mid- to upper-90s heat and a menacing change-up. A muppet eating a girl’s head? A cybergoth? Oh, wait! It’s Wally! A Wally hat? Yes! Turkey Sandwich! Oh, wait, only guys on the 2011 Rangers know about that. Mike Napoli! The guy I threw one too many fastballs to. I mean, Kottaras. The left fielder that almost got punched by Lorenzo Cain. I mean, can you believe those two when they converged on Mike Carp’s fly ball? Do we need to get Dr. Phil in here to work on their communication skills? Then he jacked one off me. Fricking Gordon. Should I take it as a compliment that Mayor Menino called me Alex Webber? Game 18: April 21, 2013 ∙ 10 innings Kansas City Royals10-7 5 W: Kelvin Herrera (2-2)S: Greg Holland (5) 2B: Alex Gordon (5)HR: George Kottaras (1), Gordon (1), Billy Butler (3) Boston Red Sox12-6 4 H: Junichi Tazawa (4)BS: Koji Uehara (1)L: Andrew Miller (0-1) 2B: Mike Carp (3), Jacoby Ellsbury (4), Mike Napoli (8)HR: Napoli (3)...
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Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library’s Sports Temples of Boston.