DK's Dugout

With the Sox Now in First…

Having won 13 of their last 14 games at the time this article is being written, and having taken over first place in the A.L. East from Baltimore, it is difficult for fans not to feel fantastic about the Red Sox situation at the moment. The injuries, slumps and inconsistent play that kept them behind the Orioles for the first two and half months of the season now appear to be a thing of the past. Boston’s biggest concern, being in first place, is taken care of for now (and hopefully straight on into October), so what else can we hope to see between now and Boston’s playoff run that could end in back-to-back World Championships?

Here are 10 things I hope to see between now and the beginning of post-season play. Some are to help the Sox in their quest for another title, some are for pure entertainment and some are simply to help keep me sane.

1. Get Schilling Back – As great as the starting rotation has looked recently there is no doubt that a healthy Curt Schilling would be a boost to any staff. With inconsistency and injury always a concern for the starting staff, having an anchor like Schill at the top of the rotation would be huge. Even though Matt Clement has pitched like an ace so far this season, the Sox proved last year that it’s much easier to win it all with two aces in your hand instead of only one. His return would also enable the Sox to put one of their other starters (likely Bronson Arroyo) in the bullpen to help out the still shaky situation out there.

2. Stay Healthy – Sure this one is obvious, but true nonetheless. While the hope is that Schilling can get healthy, it’s imperative that the rest of the roster remains injury free as well. This is especially true for the pitching staff of course, but it is also true throughout the entire roster. Doug Mirabelli’s injury proved how valuable he is as a backup (even when batting .245) when Tim Wakefield couldn’t win without him behind the plate. And it showed that staying healthy is not a priority for just the Sox superstars, but for the entire 25-man roster. Even though fans have often complained about the play of middle infielders Edgar Renteria and Mark Bellhorn this season, I wouldn’t want to see what things look like without them in there. And Jay Payton may be the best backup outfielder in baseball, but having him in the lineup instead of Manny, Johnny D or Trot for any prolonged period is not something the Sox would like to have to deal with.

3. Better Bullpen Work – Aside from Mike Timlin (and Mike Myers in a lesser role) the bullpen has been either inconsistent or consistently pitching poor so far this season. Keith Foulke, Alan Embree, Matt Mantei and John Halama have all performed far below expectations to date. The best-case scenario would be for the pitchers they have to simply start pitching up to their capabilities, but that solution is a little too simple. In all likelihood they are going to need some outside help here. If Arroyo (or another starter) moves out to the pen that would certainly be helpful, but that may not be the only addition needed. Foulke will likely be the closer the rest of the way (barring a total collapse), and Embree has looked a bit better as of late, but with the relief corps such a vital part of a team’s success, especially in the post-season, this is not an area to take lightly. Payton could be packaged (especially if the Sox bring back Gabe Kapler from Japan as rumored) to try and land another arm such as Atlanta’s Danny Kolb, Seattle’s Eddie Guardado, Cincinnati’s David Weathers or the Milwaukee’s Ricky Bottalico.

4. No Noticing Dale – Not once have I said about Dale Sveum, or any third base coach for that matter, “Great move to send him home there”. Sveum is in the unenviable position of only being noticed only when he does something “wrong” (i.e. somebody gets thrown out at the plate) and in the past two years Sveum has been noticed a bit too frequently for my liking. As a gesture of goodwill I tried to do Dale a favor and point out that he hadn’t done anything to infuriate me so far in an article earlier in the year. Then he gets back-to-back runners thrown out at home against the Yankees on consecutive singles that basically cost the Sox any chance of winning a much needed game at the time. Let’s hope the man in the coach’s box over at third does an imitation of The Invisible Man the rest of the way. (On the bright side, as my friend that is a Brewers fan said, “You know things are going pretty good when your third base coach is one of your biggest worries.”)

5. Keep Kevin Hot! – As anyone that is familiar with my articles or me knows, I am far from being the biggest Kevin Millar fan in the world. In the June 1 edition of Barstool Sports my article was actually dedicated to encouraging ANY alternative to continuing to let Millar play. The Red Sox, shockingly, ignored my advice and kept Kevin in the lineup. And, after hitting .237 for the first two months of the season, Millar has hit .389 for the month of June. Millar has still hit a home run in only one game since May 10 (he hit two in that game), but if he can continue to get on base nearly 42% of the time, as he has over the past month, his lack of power can be easily overlooked. The best way for Millar to silence his critics, and more importantly to help the Red Sox win, is to keep producing as he has over the past few weeks. July is going to be a huge month for Millar. If he stays hot he will be the Sox first baseman the rest of the way, but if he reverts back to the April/May Millar Theo will likely have to make a move at the trade deadline.

6. Stand by Bellhorn – Although I promoted finding an alternative to Millar, I do not feel the same way about the Sox second baseman. Bellhorn has come under a lot of criticism this season, largely due to his propensity to whiff, but he is the best man for Boston to have in there. What is the alternative? Without adding somebody to the roster the only real option would be to let Kevin Youkilis play third and move Bill Mueller (a Gold Glove caliber third baseman) out of position to second. With Bellhorn’s strong defensive (he turns a double play as good as any second baseman in the majors) this would be a mistake. The Sox already score plenty of runs, the most in the majors in fact, so making a move that would hurt their defense at two positions makes no sense just to add, potentially, a little extra offense. The Red Sox are not expecting Mark Bellhorn to carry their offense, which is why he is the number nine hitter in the order. He gets on base a lot (yes, normally via a walk) and he has proven to be capable of clutch hits and big games. If there was an upgrade available on the trade market that would be one thing, but there is not. Want to give Ramon Vazquez the everyday job? Or call up Dustin Pedroia, who was in AA ball just two weeks ago, up from Pawtucket and stick him in a pennant race? The Sox best option at second base is Mark Bellhorn, hands down, so people should start showing him a little support since he’s not going anywhere. Maybe then he wont hit almost 100 points lower in home games than he does on the road.

7. Get Some Speed – If anyone ever doubted what an important asset it is to have some speed coming off the bench, Dave Roberts in Game 4 of last year’s ALCS is all the proof one would need. In 2003 the Sox had Damian Jackson as the official “pinch runner” and last year it was Roberts. This year that is an aspect of the squad that is missing. Jay Payton isn’t slow, but he’s also not a base stealing threat. He’s never had more than six steals in a season and has zero in 2005. Things are so bad for Boston in this department that they actually used Youkilis as a pinch runner recently. Kevin Youkilis as a pinch runner!?! Look for Theo to make some sort of move to boost this area before the playoffs.

8. Have a Bench-Clearing Brawl – Many have credited the fight that started with a V-Tek glove to Alexis Rodriguez’ face with being a turning point in the 2004 Sox season. Sitting in first in 2005, hopefully to stay, it doesn’t appear that the Red Sox need a similar spark this season…. but for sheer entertainment value I’d love to see another bench-clearing brawl with the Yanks. Fighting the likes of Tampa Bay is a waste of time and unnecessarily risks injury and suspensions for all involved, but it’s a little different against New York. The risk/reward tradeoff becomes drastically different when you have the chance to watch the Sox beat down Alexis, Posada, Giambi, Sheffield, Matsui, Randy Johnson, Mussina, Kevin Brown, etc etc etc………

9. Win the All-Star Game – Since there was a sweep in last year’s World Series (just in case anyone forgot) home field advantage was a non-factor. But I did enjoy knowing that if the Series had gone the distance, the deciding game would have been played in Fenway due to the American League’s 9-4 victory in last summer’s All-Star Game (thanks in large part to home runs by the Dominican Dynamic Duo). Winning the All-Star Game and securing that the A.L. has home field advantage in the World Series once again would be a nice bonus for Boston, who obviously hopes to be the A.L.’s representative. The Sox should be able to help their own cause on that front as at least five players will likely be playing in the game: Clement, Varitek, Manny, Ortiz and Damon. With Terry Francona getting to choose some of the backups there may be another Red Sox or two (Timlin?) that finds their way onto the All-Star squad as well.

10. Run Away with the A.L. East – I know there is nothing like a good pennant race, but I’m fine being spared the drama of one this year. The Sox have taken over first and I’d like to see a double-digit lead in the standings before too long. Tampa and Toronto are not going to be factors throughout, and Baltimore cannot play any better than they have to date, which still wasn’t good enough for first. That leaves the Yankees, who at the moment are on the verge of being a $220 million laughingstock. Some people have said that it would be “no fun” if the Yankees weren’t around to battle, but personally I think beating them by ten games or more and having them sit home during the playoffs would be an absolute blast. It would also make it possible to set pitching rotations and rest players for the post-season. Winning the World Series is dramatic enough; I don’t need any pennant race mysteries to add to that in order to make this a great season.