WIN AT ALL COSTS! The 2004 Boston Red Sox

[AZTarHeel]

Boston adds Aaron Sele to staff
Anaheim castoff will fill fifth spot in rotation until Pedro Martinez returns

Monday, June 28

The Boston Globe

Believe it or not, the Boston Red Sox shed close to $1.8 million in payroll with its recent trade with the Marlins.

Some of that cash came in handy as the Sox signed a free agent pitcher to fill the fifth spot in the rotation.

Boston inked a deal with Anaheim Angels castoff Aaron Sele for the Major League minimum salary of $300,000.

Sele, 34, was cut on April 5 and has not pitched this season. He was 7-10 last season with a 5.77 ERA. His career ERA is 4.48, dating back to 1993.

"We really think he's got some good stuff left in him," said manager Terry Francona, who said the team was choosing between Sele and Omar Daal as a temporary fifth starter. "Even though he hasn't been with a team, he has been working out faithfully."

Abe Alvarez has been optioned back to AAA Pawtucket after one start on the big club (0-1, 14.54 ERA).

Boston will throw Sele right to the wolves. His first start will come tonight as the Red Sox begin a three-game series in Yankee Stadium with New York.

"I am so pumped to be pitching again and glad Boston showed their belief in me," Sele said. "They will get my best every pitch. It will feel like the World Series to me."

[YankeeFanatic04]

Are you starting the Yankee Series today or tomorrow?

[AZTarHeel]

Coming this week: Yanks vs. Red Sox

Boston (54-21) at New York (37-37)

Projected Starters

Tuesday, June 29:
BOS: Aaron Sele (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
NYA: Mike Mussina (7-4, 6.49 ERA)

Wednesday, June 30:
BOS: Curt Schilling (10-2, 3.25)
NYA: Javier Vazquez (6-4, 5.15 ERA)

Thursday, July 1:
BOS: Josh Beckett (10-4, 2.24 ERA)
NYA: Jon Leiber (2-6, 6.12 ERA)

[YankeeFanatic04]

jeez these ERA's are terrible. No wonder why the Yankees arent near the Sox.

[AZTarHeel]

Yankees' Stat Sheet heading into Boston series

For those who asked. Notice how poorly the pitching is compared with the offense.

TEAM STATS
Team batting average: .275 (8th)
Team home runs: 103 (4th)
Team walks: 361 (1st)
Team stolen bases: 45 (20th)
Team runs scored: 436 (9th)
**Team pitching ERA: 5.52 (29th)
**Team opponents average: .287 (29th)
Team home runs allowed: 92 (13th)
Team walks allowed: 247 (1st)
**Team runs allowed: 475 (29th)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Batting Average:
CF Bernie Williams: .305
CF Kenny Lofton: .293
SS Derek Jeter: .292
2B Mark Grudzielanek: .291
RF Gary Sheffield: .286
3B Alex Rodriguez: .286
1B Jason Giambi: .271
C Jorge Posada: .259

Home Runs
Giambi: 18
A-Rod: 17
Sheffield: 16
Posada: 12

Runs Batted In
Sheffield: 65
Giambi: 57
A-Rod: 55
Posada: 44

Pitching Rotation
1) J. Vazquez: 6-4, 5.15 ERA
2) M. Mussina: 7-4, 6.49 ERA
3) J. Contreras: 0-5, 5.91 ERA
4) J. Lieber 2-6, 6.12 ERA
5) K. Brown: 6-6, 4.67 ERA
Spot) J. Depaula: 3-2, 5.02 ERA

Relievers
1) S. Karsay: 1-0, 4.70 ERA (mop-up)
2) F. Heredia: 5-1, 5.84 ERA (wow, lots of wins for this ERA)
3) P. Quantrill: 2-5, 6.00 ERA (ouch!)
4) G. White: 3-1, 7.71 ERA (ykes)
5) M. Rivera: 19 saves, 1.56 ERA, 40 K’s (he’s still money)

[AZTarHeel]

Sele gets job done for Red Sox
Relievers help put out fires late as Boston clips Yanks 4-3

The Boston Globe • Wednesday, June 30

Aaron Sele thought his baseball career may have been over when Anaheim cut him loose in early April.

He worked out dutifully at his home for the past few months hoping another team would come calling. On Monday morning, the Boston Red Sox became that team. And by Tuesday night, Sele was pitching the Sox to victory in front of a hostile crowd at Yankee Stadium.

"This is really a dream come true for me," said the right hander, who just celebrated his 34th birthday a few days ago.

Sele gave up just one earned run through five innings as Boston topped their most heated rivals 4-3. Trot Nixon was the official game MVP, but Red Sox players and coaches were treating one of their new pitchers like the big star afterward.

"We just wanted someone to hold down the fort and keep us in ballgames until Pedro comes back," said Boston manager Terry Francona of his free agent pick-up. "Aaron looks like he’s going to be able to do just that. He gave up some hits and a few walks but he mostly just made them put the ball in play and didn’t give up anything big."

Another new Boston pickup, reliever Armando Benitez, also had a big night. The former Florida hurler relieved Sele after Alex Rodriguez doubled to lead off the sixth inning. He fanned Gary Sheffield, got Matsui to hit into a ground out and then struck out Jorge Posada to end the threat.

Alan Embree also put out a New York fire in the seventh, getting Jason Giambi to hit into a harmless groundout with two outs and two on. Brendan Donnelly and Keith Foulke both gave up runs late, but Foulke got Sheffield to hit into the final out with runners on first and third and the score 4-3.

Nixon, Bill Mueller and Mike Bordick had RBIs for Boston as they improved to 5-3 against the Yanks this season.

Mike Mussina took the loss for New York, though he pitched a mostly masterful game, getting out of several jams with strikeouts. The Yanks outhit the Sox 11-8.

Boston pitcher Curt Schilling, who once compared the Yankees' "mystique and aura" to a couple of night club dancers will take the hill tonight against Javier Vazqez. Schilling is looking for his eighth straight win...

New BoSox hurler Aaron Sele earned a win at Yankee Stadium last night.

[Klew1986]

Dude, this is the best dynasty report I've ever read. I've been reading alot and this is fantastic. You go into great detail on each game. Your team is looking very good and I just have one wish. Beat the living crap out of the Yankees. I'll continue to read. By the way, congrats to Aaron Sele on his first win as a Red Sox. What a way to get a first win with a new team, beat the Yanks in New York.

[AZTarHeel]

Thanks Klew --

I was surprised at how well Sele held up... actually his ratings aren't that bad but he's not someone I would go trade for... he just happened to be the best among the FA's still out there...

I'm still itching to see what Beckett and Penny can do...

[Klew1986]

Ok, I stopped my Reds dynasy because I found a new site to do dynasties on, so I'm doing a Twins one. Here is the link: http://www.dynastymanager.com/dynast..._number=109941 . I would like feed back on it. By the way, do you h ave AOL?

[bostonbaseball86]

I'll have a Pirates dynast up soon, I'm looking for Cardinals ootp5 roster first, since its been around longer then halo's v6 and shouldnt have any issues.

[DAL 9000]

Your version of the Boston Globe doesn't fawn enough, even if you are just writing game reports. =P It is, in all seriousness, a very nice thread. If I hadn't seen you say elsewhere that you were a sportswriter by trade, I'd ask if you were. But I have, so I know you are, so I won't. ... did I have a point here?

Oh! That's right! This dynasty, it's a fiiine dynasty. It makes me wanna get down and party!

[athkatla]

Originally Posted by AZTarHeel

EDITOR’S NOTE:

OK, I guess everyone can tell where this dynasty thread is going. I’m an NL guy when it comes to baseball and follow the Florida Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks as my teams (yes, I was a Marlins fan back in the mid-1990s before they won their first championship and “inherited” Arizona when I moved to the Grand Canyon State in 2000). Anyway, I played two games with the D-backs with the new CBLCardinals 1.3 rosters and was kind of bored.

Then it hit me – I followed the Hot Stove “Arms Race” between the Red Sox and Yanks all winter with great interest and amazement, why not jump into the middle of it! So I reloaded my roster set – a great one by the way and one that was pretty generous to the Sox – and decided to start over, playing the role of Theo Epstein and new manager Terry Francona. I was pleased when I signed up to take the manager’s job in Boston to see the owner listed as “Horror (Uncontrollable)” and to see his expectations of “Win it all in 2004!” Perfect.

So, here we go. I plan to play out all the games, so the dynasty will hopefully keep pace with the real season ahead (it will be interesting to see what things mirror each other and what things are completely different).

I do plan a “win at all costs” mentality but the game has me strapped somewhat in the cash department. I had hoped to go after Urbina as another relief pitcher/closer (or as trade bait) but I had like $9,000 left over after hiring all my scouts and coaches. Oh well. Even better. Trading is set on “Hard” and “Favor prospects.” Game challenge is average.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the thread and I hope I can keep pace with the real season, playing out 160+ games. Feedback is definitely welcome, good or bad. I’m more of a storyteller rather than a stats-only poster, so I hope everyone enjoys that part. The article above did appear on MLB.com and I take no credit for that – but it fit great into my story, eh?…

Here goes… Will Beantown be pouring champagne when it’s all over? Or just crying in its suds…

I love a good story. I'm a Brit who has just bought OOTP6 and in my first attempt at the game I'm also running with the Red Sox. So I'm going to read the whole of this story to see if it can give me some ideas. :-)

[AZTarHeel]

Bullpen, offense saves Schilling
Boston beats Yanks again, 7-4

The Boston Globe • Thursday, July 1, 2004

Curt Schilling overcame a rough start last night to improve to 6-0 in June as the Boston Red Sox topped New York 7-4 at Yankee Stadium.

Schilling gave up three runs in the second inning and surrendered a solo homer to Jason Giambi in the third as the Yanks jumped ahead 4-2. But an error by A-Rod in the fifth allowed the Sox to tie the game 4-4.

Pokey Reese’s RBI double in the sixth gave the Sox the lead, and Kevin Millar drove home two runs for a 7-4 cushion in the next frame. The bullpen (Alan Embree, Armando Benitez and Brendan Donnelly) backed up their starter, giving up no hits and just one walk over the final 2 2/3 innings.

"I really have to thank everyone for getting me out of some trouble," Schilling said. "I didn’t have my best stuff, but others did. It feels good to know that we are going to win this series no matter how tomorrow’s game turns out."

Schilling walked three batters in the fifth inning, but a double play got him out of that jam. Millar was game MVP, going 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Javier Vazquez suffered the pitching loss for the Yanks, falling to 6-5. Donnelly picked up the save, his first of the season.

The final game of the series comes tonight as pitchers Josh Beckett (BOS) and Jon Leiber (NYY) hook up. This will be Beckett’s first start since joining the Red Sox earlier in the week. He’s eager to tackle Yankee Stadium again after pitching the Marlins to a Game Six win in last year’s World Series.

"It's no big deal to me, really," Beckett said. "It's just another game. I'm just happy to be out there pitching for a team in contention."



Curt Schilling improved to 6-0 in June with his win over the Yankees

[YankeeFanatic04]

Schilling is on FIRE!! and the Yankees cant win....

[AZTarHeel]

Originally Posted by YankeeFanatic04

Schilling is on FIRE!! and the Yankees cant win....

It's pretty crazy with Schilling... His player development drops almost weekly... The last time I checked he was a 2-star pitcher!! I think he started the season as a 4.5 star guy... Yet, he keeps winning... I hope he keeps it up for a few more months!!

(love these new smilies by the way)...

[AZTarHeel]

Yanks prevent the sweep
Beckett denied win in return to New York

The Boston Globe • July 1, 2004

Josh Beckett pitched well enough to win at Yankee Stadium again.

But his bullpen let him down in a big way.

"Maybe they should have just let me stay in there," Beckett said after his new team, the Boston Red Sox, squandered a 6-2 lead and lost a 7-6 decision to the Yankees last night.

Beckett — one of the newest Red Sox pitchers, acquired in a blockbuster trade earlier this week with Florida — was staked to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. New York scored two runs in the second inning, though an error triggered the start of that frame.

Boston manager Terry Francona lifted Beckett in the bottom of the eighth after he allowed the first batter to reach. The score at the time was 6-2.

His reliever, Brendan Donnelly, went on to load the bases, then Armando Benitez walked Gary Sheffield to allow a run to score. A wild pitch allowed another run in, and the Yanks scored a third time before Benitez could get out of the inning (6-5 score).

Sox reliever Alan Embree struck out Kenny Lofton to start the ninth inning. Closer Keith Foulke came in and K'd Derek Jeter. But Foulke then walked Bernie Williams, and Jason Giambi parked a game-winning home run into the seats in right field for the walk-off win. It's Foulke's first loss of the season.

"It was just a catastrophic failure by our bullpen," Francona said. "It's just hard to get a read on these guys. One night they are unhittable. The next, it's like they are setting the ball on a tee or can't find the strike zone to save their lives. Frankly, I'm pretty angry right now. We had a sweep of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in hand, and we just outright blew it. No excuses.

"We may have to keep shaking things up in our pen until we find the right combo."

Boston will return to Interleague Play this weekend, traveling to Atlanta to face the Braves. After series at home against AL West foes Oakland and Texas, MLB teams will break for All-Star week festivities...

[AZTarHeel]

News and Notes from around the Majors

MLB.com • July 1, 2004

... Former Boston Red Sox pitcher BK Kim got his first win with the Florida Marlins this week. He pitched a three-hitter over seven innings as the Marlins clubbed Atlanta...

... The American League Pitcher of the Month for June is Baltimore's Sidney Ponson. He went 5-1 in six starts with an ERA of 1.84 and two shutouts. Arizona's Brandon Webb is the NL Pitcher of the Month. Webb went 4-0 with an ERA of 0.82 as Arizona secured its lead in the NL West.

... Boston's Manny Ramirez earned AL Batter of the Month honors for June. Ramirez went .412 in June with nine home runs and 28 RBIs... Barry Bonds is the NL Batter of the Month. Mr. Bonds posted a .434 average in 76 AB with 10 homers and 28 RBI...

... Recent draft pick Freddie Lindstrom Jr. has already reached the Big Show. He started his career in early June in AA after Boston picked him in the first round. He was traded to Florida as part of the Josh Beckett deal and is already on the Big Club for the Marlins. In seven at-bats, Lindstrom (second baseman) has two hits and an RBI... Editor's note: wow... I was worried about rushing him...

[AZTarHeel]

Memo to All Staff

From: Theo Epstein, GM

Friday, July 2, 2004

Re: More Trade Rumors (Carlos Beltran)

CLASSIFIED!!

Staff -- just wanted to let you know the rumors are true that KC has approached us about CF Carlos Beltran. Wow, what a pick up that would be. Unfortunately, they are asking quite a bit more than we are willing to pay out. They want DH/1B David Ortiz plus a minor league pitcher.

Ortiz is hitting about .370 right now for us and is one of the team home run and RBI leaders. As much as we would love having Carlos here, we just can't part with such a vital member of our team. Plus I am very excited about the job Johnny Damon is doing in center. He has about the same batting average (.300) and is one of the AL's stolen base leaders.

Just wanted to keep you up to date on the latest. We're doing great. Almost halfway there!! Please keep this rumor from the press. We don't need David thinking he is on the trading block. Thanks...

Theo

[AZTarHeel]

Boston begins July on rough note
Atlanta takes two of three from BoSox at Turner Field

Interleague Series • July 2-4

Game 1: Atlanta 9, Boston 7. Brad Penny’s debut with the Red Sox is a disaster. Boston takes a 4-0 lead in the top of the first and adds one more score in the top of the second for a 5-0 advantage. Then the bottom falls out as Penny surrenders NINE RUNS in the second inning!! Acck!!

The Sox do rally with a couple more runs late but can’t come all the way back. John Smoltz strikes out two in the eighth and two in the ninth as Atlanta holds on. WP: Russ Ortiz (8-7).

On a good note, Boston reliever Bronson Arroyo only gives up two hits in five innings of relief.

Game 2: Boston 13, Atlanta 2. Trot Nixon hits a three-run homer and Nomar Garciiparra drills a two-run shot as the BoSox bomb the Braves. Derek Lowe improves to 11-2 from the hill.

Atlanta’s bullpen is absolutely fried, and the Braves leave Smoltz in from the sixth inning on. In a kind of funny move, Smoltz gets a hit in the seventh, then tries to steal (!!) a base, maybe out of frustration at having no bullpen help. He gets gunned down as do the Braves. LP: Paul Byrd (5-6). MVP: Nomar, who is 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

Game 3: Atlanta 7, Boston 6. This game is a lot like the third game of the Yankees series. Atlanta wins on a walkoff RBI single that gets passed Ellis Burks in the outfield.

Aaron Sele does OK in his second start for Boston. He gives up four earned runs over five innings. He doesn’t get the decision however as the score is tied when he exits. Brendan Donnelly is the loser.

Right now Boston is 1-3 in July… The Beckett-Penny trade isn’t looking so good right now… BK Kim throws a one-hitter for Florida on July 4 as the Marlins beat the Indians in Interleague action…

In other news, Cincy’s Ken Griffey sets off Fourth of July fireworks with his 500th career home run… Good job, Junior…

Next up: The BoSox welcome the Oakland A’s to Fenway. If the season were to end right now, this would be one of the divisional playoff match-ups in the AL. Boston is 57-23 and Oakland is 50-30… Should be fun

Probable pitching match-ups: Game 1: Schilling (11-2) vs. Tim Hudson (11-6)… Game 2: Beckett (10-4) vs. Zito (7-6)… Game 3: Penny (4-11) vs. Mulder (6-8)…

John Smoltz pitched lights out in the opener for Atlanta — but he's not much of a base-stealer as evidenced by game two

[YankeeFanatic04]

Great Series Ahead. Cant wait..