I am blaming Lugo for last night’s frustrating loss. It seems to me that there really is no hope for this guy. How many errors does he have to have before we run him out of town like we did with Edgar Renteria? It didn’t help that Rentaria himself was the one to score the walk off run.

Boston Globe Photo

Fielding like this is simply unacceptable. This is his tenth error already (TENTH!) and its not like he is hitting the cover off the ball to make up for it. Yes, he did get on base twice last night (hit and a walk) and is hitting .293. This is better than last year, but still, he was brought in to be a lead-off hitter and have a high on base percentage and is now hitting 9th on most days with an OBP just 50 points higher than his average (Youkilis, Drew and Pedroia all have OBPs that are much closer to 100 points over their average). This means he isn’t walking enough.

The numbers are actually putting it better than it really is. A lot of Lugo’s “production” is coming from infield hits and generally lucky hits. He is fast, and has beat out several grounders for hits that have inflated his performance somewhat. The real problem is that pitchers know he is struggling overall this year and are pitching aggressively. He’s trying to see lots of pitches as is the Red Sox philosophy, but always seems to be falling behind in the count anyway.

His speed is what should be saving him this year. After all, even after a poor season hitting last year, he still stole 33 bases. But this year, he is 4 for 6 in SB attempts. 66% isn’t good enough for a base stealer, so that better change.

In conclusion, when I look at Julio Lugo, I see a struggling player who can barely hold down the #9 spot in the lineup. He hits way too many ground balls, doesn’t walk enough, and is on pace to make about 50 errors this year. I really don’t know how long the Sox are going to let Jed Lowrie sit behind him in the depth chart if he keeps playing like this. We all knew the Sox overpaid for Lugo when we got him, but even I expected more than this. Let’s go YouBlow - time to get that line drive power that the Sox thought you had back.

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A petition is going around the Internet and of course, through Red Sox blogs regarding the horrible story about a Yankees fan who ran down a Red Sox fan in New Hampshire.

We’re asking that everyone sign a petition to the Red Sox to honor Matthew.

You can see the original article on Red Sox Monster or just Sign Immediately.

To: The Boston Red Sox

While some of the details of the death of Matthew Beaudoin remain foggy in the public sphere, we believe he deserves special recognition as both a baseball fan and person.

Beaudoin, 29, of Nashua, N.H., was struck by a vehicle early Friday, May 2, operated by 43-year-old Ivonne Hernandez, also of Nashua, according to articles in the Manchester Union Leader, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, among other publications.

Family and friends have indicated the incident occurred after an argument in a bar and a subsequent altercation in a parking lot in which “words were exchanged between Hernandez and the group about the Yankees and the Red Sox,” according to the Union Leader. Hernandez was arraigned Monday, May 5, on a second-degree murder charge, and also faces felony charges of reckless conduct and aggravated driving while intoxicated, according to the newspaper reports.

While how much the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry played a role in Beaudoin’s death remains in question, witnesses have said that another woman struck by the vehicle, Maria Hughes, 21, suffered only minor injuries in part because Beaudoin shielded her from Hernandez’s vehicle, according to the Boston Globe.

Given Beaudoin’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox and his apparent heroic actions before death, we ask that the Red Sox consider honoring Beaudoin’s memory with — at the very least — a day in his honor. It seems like a fitting, honorable tribute, and one that would give Beoudoin’s fellow Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general a chance to mourn one of their own.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Sign the Petition

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I found the Manny Ramirez home run tracker on the Globe site today. Pretty awesome tool they put together!

It lets you sort by pretty much everything - pitcher, park, count, score, win/loss, etc.

Total home runs: 496
Hit in Fenway: 135
Against the Yankees in Fenway: 18
Off Scott Proctor: 3
Caught by me, in Center field and now cased in my living room: 1

I will be the first one to start celebrating Manny’s 500th. I’m thinking he can probably hit 600 as well, assuming he plays 4 more years.

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Thank You Jon Lester.

This could easily end my blog post, because that is all that really needs to be said. Normally, we’d be talking about Roy Halladay’s masterful win in Boston, giving up just 1 run while pitching a complete game. But not tonight, because Jon Lester was just that much better. Tonight he showed us that we don’t need Johan Santana after all. Tonight, he only walked one batter which in my opinion, was the key to the Sox win tonight.

There was one strikeout early on to end the third inning that I feel really set the tone and gave Lester the confidence he needed to match Halladay on the mound tonight. He had two strikes on Greg Zaun and threw one of those oh-too-close corner painting fastballs a bit high and outside and got the called third strike. At this point, with Lester getting that call and gaining confidence, I knew it was ON! If he doesn’t get that call and gives up the 2 out walk to the ninth batter, I think this game could have easily taken a turn for the worst. After all, this is still Jon Lester, the guy who walks way too many people by trying to strike everybody out. Instead, we got the good Jon Lester tonight. Pitching up to his potential but staying in control of the game, taking a cue from the master of controlling games, Halladay himself.

And Halladay looked incredible as well throughout the entire game. He had every pitch working for him with incredible drop on the curveball and late movement on the fastball. He looked like a Cy Young contender tonight while pitching his 4th complete game in a row (This, I find, unbelievable. Even for Halladay.)

But I’m sorry Roy, as good as you performed, your team still lost and tonight was all about Jon Lester. OK, so this is a team game as well and we have to give credit where its due for a great game from Kevin Youkilis as well. After all, he had 2 hits and that all important RBI, and a VERY rare stolen base on a bothced hit and run play. He hasn’t shown speed like that since his little league-style inside the park home run last year. Games like tonight show just how valuable a guy like Youkilis can be. In a game where every pitch counts, his ability to go up there and see several and still get hits off of a dominating hurler on the other team is what baseball is all about. This shows how a solid, patient offense can still win, even in the face of great pitching.

Halladay has his Cy Young awards and complete game streak intact. But Youk gave the Sox the only thing that really matters today, and that my friend, is a much needed win.

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Last night (Monday April 28) I was a featured guest on the WCVB’s Chonicle in a segment called “It’s all About Timing” revealing some of the ways I always manage to get Red Sox tickets to sold out games at face value.

Luckily, I have a friend who is a video and photography specialist and he was able to record it digitally for me (its hard to put an actual tape on youtube I’m pretty sure).
Of course, you should check out his site as well at Nick Mantia Photography.

So here it is, live on Youtube.

See you at Fenway!

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Trust me.

Yes, the Sox just got swept by the Devil Rays. (Wait, the Rays. Apparently the now that George Steinbrenner isnt’ conducting Yankees business in Tampa, they had to drop the Devil part of the name.)
Yes, Big Papi has a hurting knee, isn’t playing every day, and is hitting under .200.
Yes, we’ve had 2 call ups make emergency starts and pitch to Kevin Cash.
Yes, Mike Lowell hasn’t played in 2 week.
Yes, we’re in third place.
And yes, not even a Josh Beckett gem yesterday could get the Sox a win.

But it’s April!

Big Papi will be healthy and hitting once the temperature averages more than 50 degrees.
Mike Lowell will be back this week.
The Yankees are having even worse luck than the Red Sox (I’m betting Posada never throws another batter out in his career)
Papi will be back and I’m still banking on 40 HR and 120 RBI.

And did you notice that Jed Lowrie is hitting .353 and Manny Ramirez is tearing the cover off the ball like its 1999?

Most importantly this year is that this guy:

Is looking like a rookie of the year candidate already at .280 with 8 steals and 3 homers.

If nothing else, this gives the Sox plenty of upside potential.

Remember, if we were talking about this very same topic 6 days ago, the Sox would be winners of 5 in a row, not losers, and you’d be singing a different tune.

Total Sox wins so far this year: 15
As of April 28 last year: 15.

And you remember how that ended?

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Tonight at 7:30, on channel 5 here in Boston, I will be a guest appearing on Chronicle, giving some of my tips that have brought so many of you to this site.

Back in March, I recorded a couple different interviews around Fenway Park revealing some of the tricks and methods I often use to get tickets to Red Sox games last minute. I interviewed in front of Gate C where the people line up before games for day-of tickets, near the Ted Williams statue to highlight the scalp free zone, and revealed some of the times I’ve been most successful getting tickets directly from the Sox online.

Make sure you check it out, tonight at 7:30 on channel 5.

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How to have a great Patriots Day.

Step 1: Call the Red Sox ticket office on a whim on Sunday morning and ask them if they have Monster tickets for Patriots Day.
Step 2: Jump up and down when the guys says they have 4 seats together in section 1. Proceed to charge $650 on your credit card
Step 3: Think to yourself, “So what if I just paid $160 for a ticket to a baseball game I was going to anyway - its the Green Monster”
Step 4: Bring Camera, watch awesome game, and proceed to write a blog article showing off your pictures.

(click through for the full slide show)



Don’t forget to watch the runners!

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The Rangers once again have no pitching to speak of, whatsoever. Last year, Texas had the 11th best pitching in the American League, with only the White Sox, Devil Rays and Orioles being worse. This year, they aren’t any better. You probably can’t name all 5 starters, and I’d actually be pretty surprised if you could name more than 2.

Over this weekend, the Red Sox will see 4 of the nameless 5 from Arlington.

Tonight, the Sox will get a look at Luis Mendoza. He gave up 4 runs in 5 innings to the Blue Jays last weekend, though only 1 was earned. Mendoza is a rookie who started 3 games last year, and has been injured already this year. He also walked 4 and hit 2 batters in his last start, showing a bit of a wild side. This guy is a decent prospect at only 25 years old, but is probably rushed to the majors to be starting games for the Rangers in April. Still, however, they mystery aspect is still there since nobody on the Sox has hit against him before and historically, rookie pitchers have had success against the Sox. But then again, if he’s erratic, he probably won’t make it out of the 5th inning again. The Sox will be well served to stay patient, put runners on base and get to the bullpen early setting up the rest of the series.

Tomorrow, we’ll get a crack as Jason Jennings. He’s been a mediocre pitcher since 2001, playing most of his time in Colorado and last year in Houston. He pitched only 98 innings last year and had some injury problems. He has a career ERA right around 5 and has been completely ineffective thus far this year, going 0-3 and only getting through the 5th inning once. He’s walked 10 to only 7 strikeouts and has been hit around pretty regularly. Jennings just might be the least scary pitcher in the American League today.

Sunday, the Sox get Kevin Millwood. If this were 3 years ago, this would be a tough match up. Millwood won the ERA title while pitching his only season in Cleveland in 2005, posting a 2.45 ERA over 192 innings. He then moved on to Texas, where he has been incredibly average. He’s already walked 10 guys this year, which is way above his average and though his ERA only comes in at 2.42, hitters are still hitting .277 against him. He did start opening day, and is probably the closest thing the Rangers have to an Ace pitcher, but he is certainly not the same guy he was when his career began 10 years ago. If Millwood can throw strikes and stay ahead of pitchers, he could easily turn in a good performance. He did go 8 innings against the Angels once this year, though got hit around by the same team in his last start. If I were a gambler, this would probably be the only time I wouldn’t be betting on the Red Sox.

And last but not least is Kason Gabbard who will get the start in the morning on Patriots Day. The man we traded for a 6.75 ERA in 20 games in Eric Gagne will return to Fenway. Gabbard is not exactly a top of the rotation guy, but you can be rest assured he is planning some payback for being shipped out in a trade. David Murphy will probably decide to help him out as well, as he’s been hitting quite well. Let’s hope we’re not blogging about how ex-Sox killed us Tuesday morning. Gabbard is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA thus far this year and is looking like the best pitcher on the team (though that isn’t saying much). Why can’t we get guys like this?

Overall however, the Rangers don’t have much to offer. Their bullpen is pretty poor with the exception of their closer, CJ Wilson, who took over at the end of last year. With a last place team coming in for the weekend, I’m looking for 3 out of 4. Let’s see if it happens.

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Yes, including Patriots Day. At the time of this writing (8:50 Friday morning) you can get tickets for every game on the upcoming homestand from today to next week. Including bleachers, grandstand, pavilion, etc.

Go to the Red Sox Schedule and get your tickets!

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