Boston Red Sox Win the World Series!

The Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series 4 games to 1 culminating a historic season in which they set a team record with 108 wins.  No matter how good they were BoSox fans, including myself, knew anything could happen in the playoffs and going through two 100 win teams and an excellent Los Angeles Dodgers team gave us plenty to worry about.  Still they only lost three games en route to the championship.  That really spoke to the talent they put on the field and to first year manager Alex Cora.  Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale, playoff heroes Jackie Bradley Jr., Stephen Pearce, Joe Kelly and David Price and the rest of the roster from top to bottom helped put up "W" after "W" .  This was a fun team to watch and deserves all the accolades coming their way.  I really enjoyed this season.  It was great to watch a team dominate like they did and be able to bring home the trophy.  

       I do want to give props to the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Considering how tough some of those games were to include the historic game three it is hard to believe Boston won 4-1.  That is a testament to how good the Dodgers are.  They just ran into a better team but good on them for making their second straight World Series appearance and how hard they played.

I know I'm late on this but travel for work threw me off the last two weeks and I actually thought I'd already posted something.  My bad.  Most will look upon the Red Sox and us Boston fans as having more than enough championships.  I really don't take them for granted.  The 2004 Championship ended years of frustration.  Growing up watching Yaz, Rice, Tiant, Clemons, and others never get there was so hard as a fan.  2004 was more than a championship - it was how it all went down.  That was a fun team who overcame the unbelievable to beat the Yankees and breeze through the World Series.  While the last three championships will never be that team they are just as special and as a fan I was very excited for this team's championship.  GO BOSOX!

Red Sox to the World Series Against the Dodgers

 The Boston Red Sox are back to the World Series.  While a favorite to make it after a 108 win regular season the post season offers no promises.  It wasn't easy even if they did only lose two games in their series with New York and Houston.  Now the Red Sox will play a Los Angeles Dodgers team with plenty of firepower on offense and pitching I think can match Boston's.  I think the Chris Sale - Clayton Kershaw matchup could be epic - or at least i hope it will be.  After that I'm comfortable with Nathan Evaldi but you have to wonder what David Price will give the Sox.  His last outing was excellent but before that he was receiving an ovation for not losing a game over four innings.  The Red Sox bullpen is good but I'm not quite sure it is stacked enough to win a bunch of bullpen games.  Bottom line is I'm excited the Sox are in the World Series and I think they have a great chance to take it all.  Even better this is set up to be a very good series.  Go Sox!    

Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers (NLDS)

I would rather the Braves have home field advantage against the Los Angeles Dodgers but I still think they have a good shot in the NLDS series.  The Braves were actually better on the road and luckily they won't see Clayton Kershaw until game two.  It'll be interesting if the Atlanta pitchers can solve them and how does manager Brian Snitker handle this team in his first take at managing the Braves in the playoffs.   

My big concern is Atlanta isn't good against good teams. Luckily the NL East was bad this year but in the playoffs there won't be any Miami Marlins or Philadelphia Phillies teams to beat up on.  Still Atlanta is a good team with a bunch of offensive weapons.  You don't luck in to 90 wins.  This team has such exciting young talent and I'm hoping they'll keep it going in the playoffs.  This season has been such fun watching these young guys produce.  If the offense keeps hitting and the pitching can step up I think they can compete with anyone they match up against.  Go Bravos!

A Night Out at the Ballpark: Braves @ Cards in St. Louis (29 Jun 18)

Was able to get out to my first baseball game of the year and see my Braves beat the Cardinals 5-1 Friday night.  The game was at Busch Stadium. It was a thousand degrees but I made sure I hydrated and survived.  Busch Stadium is a great place to see a game.  Our seats were in right field and other than staring into the sun for the first 2 1/2 innings I was really pleased.  As is normally the case with my buddy whom I attended he wanted to head over to Ballpark Village in the fifth inning.  I did not complain.  Ballpark Village is a great venue with plenty of restaurants and bars, not to mention a hundred giant screen TVs.  It makes for a relaxing way to enjoy the game amongst a sea of baseball fans either doing the same as us or who bypassed the stadium altogether.  It really is a wonderful compliment to an already nice stadium.    

  The game saw Atlanta win 5-1 with rookie Johan Camargo hitting a key two-run double in the 8th inning.  The Braves also got six shutout innings from inconsistent Julio Teheran which nice to see.  This was a great game to watch as St. Louis was held in check and it just seemed like Atlanta's offense would break through against the Cardinals who are struggling somewhat this year.  I really enjoyed being at the ballpark.  From watching the game, to the stadium and friends I couldn't ask for much more.  Truly a good time.  It's exciting to see Atlanta be relevant in July and who woulda thunk they'd have the best record in the National League?  They have such great young talent and I'm really hoping they can strike while the iron is hot.  They need bullpen help and I'd love to see them pick up a quality starter but I'm not sure what the front office is ready to do.  Can't wait to see how this plays out.  

2018 Boston Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox are stacked, there is no denying that.  They won 93 games last year and there is no reason to think they can’t do it again.  All they did this offseason was add J.D Martinez to a lineup which already had Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and Andrew Benintendi.  I like Martinez who can hit and also brings a ton of power to a lineup that really lacked any.  I look forward to seeing what 3B Rafael Devers can do in a full season at the plate.  This lineup has plenty of hitters from top to bottom and I’m thinking they can do better than what we saw last year.

Pitching, in theory, should be just fine.  Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, and other starters including Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz, Hector Felazques, and Steven Wright make up a formidable starting staff.  Stud Craig Kimbrel once again anchors the closer position while Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Brandown Workman help take up the rest of the workload.  Boston should have plenty of arms to lean on and should once again be one of the top staffs in the American League.

The Red Sox should be able to compete every night and should be able to win their division.  Still losing the division isn’t the worst thing in the world.  Losing in the first round of the playoffs can be though – just ask their manager.  New skipper Alex Cora is being asked to get this team over the hump and past the division series.  This team has plenty of young talent so there is no reason they shouldn’t be able to get to the LCS or World Series.  That is always tough no matter how talented you are I know.  It should be another fun season in Boston and I’m hoping for a little more from them.  Go BoSox!    

2018 Atlanta Braves Preview

Ronald Acuna

The Atlanta Braves enter the season with hope, maybe not for this season, but for future years.  The Braves won 72 games last year and will probably be around that number come the 2018 season’s end.  Freddie Freeman once again leads this team in star power while 2017 All-Star Ender Inciarte anchors centerfield.  Nick Markakis is steady if not flashy and the catcher position is manned well with veterans Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki.  Shortstop Dansby Swanson hasn’t corrected his issues at the plate and 3B isn’t a known quantity yet.  Outfield mega prospect Ronald Acuna is expected to be called up after a short stint in the minors and much is expected out of second year player Ozzie Albies who batted .286 in 217 at bats last year.  The Braves are at least a year away until the offense is expected to really click.  Hopefully the young players will gain experience this year and be ready next year to take it to the next level.  My thinking is the Braves are still a few players, whether they are players in their minor league system, or external from having a good offense.  I think 2020 is a better expectation for seeing that jump in production.

Pitching last year was bad with starter R.A Dickey leading the way with a 4.26 ERA among starters and the closer, Jim Johnson, had 22 saves ending up with a horrible 5.56 ERA.  Still the bullpen had some good pieces with Sam Freeman and Arodys Vizcaino having sub three ERA’s while the latter is slated to take over the closer position this year.  It is believed he could be a shutdown closer in future and did notch 14 saves to go along with 10 K’s per nine innings last season.  Jose Ramirez is also back after posting a solid 68 innings of work.  The starters will really need to step up for the pitching staff to make any type of positive jump.  If it doesn’t the team will again look like a contender for the National League East basement. 

The team is rebuilding and enough said.  We as fans don’t like it but I don’t think spending a ton of money would have fixed this team.  Right now we have to hope that the young talent can make some strides and look towards a season in the near future in which we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Go Bravos!