Can Red Sox fans co opt all of the Jeremy Lin puns?

All of that “Lin-sanity” stuff didn’t get the Knicks very far.
But Che-Hsuan Lin may have just saved the game for the Red Sox with his great catch in the 8th inning today.

And frankly with each day a young Red Sox player shows some heart and guts, the more I am liking this team. Each catch by Lin, hit by Will Middlebrooks or solid start from Felix Doubront make me excited.

No not for 2012. I still don’t think this team is a contender. We’re past the 1/4 mark and the Red Sox still haven’t spent one day above .500 yet. Wake me when they get 5 games above .500 before you start having images of playoffs dancing in your head.

But the more holes they can fill from within with young, inexpensive and eager to succeed players, the less likely they will be an expensive bloated team in 2013.

What if Lin can be a speedy outfielder to combine with a healthy Ellsbury to give the team solid defense and speed?

What if Middlebrooks and Jose Iglesias give the Red Sox a left side of the infield for years to come to go along with Pedroia and Gonzalez on the right side?

What if Bard and Doubront can be back end of the rotation pitchers while Mark Melancon and Junichi Tazawa can provide some bullpen depth?

Then the off season turns into fill in a couple of gaps in the rotation, pen and maybe one bat and all of a sudden the team can be an exciting one.

Just be careful with the Asian puns.

   

At least everything on the field is good for Aroldis Chapman

This has been a strange week for Aroldis Chapman.
He was arrested for speeding with a suspended license. Now I have never had a suspended license, but if I ever did, TRUST ME the fastest I would ever drive is 54 MPH. It’s a good rule to keep.

“I shouldn’t be driving. What’s the one thing I can do to avoid a policeman from finding out that I am on the road illegally? Oh yeah. Speeding!”

Then he is involved in some lawsuit regarding human trafficking, ratting out someone who was smuggling people, being a stooge for the government and escaping the country. It is so bizarre and convoluted that the man suing him is either 100% correct or 100% out of his mind.

Once again, it is a situation I have no frame of reference to understanding.
I’ve never been involved in a situation where my friends are trafficking people.

And if any of you, my dear readers, are doing anything like that, don’t share it with me. Let’s just talk baseball.

So that’s a pretty messed up week. Kind of puts my day to day issues in perspective.

That being said, it looks like the Reds finally came to their senses of what to do with him before he gets into more legal trouble. HE’S CLOSING!

As I’ve been screaming for them to do, they have a remarkable weapon who can shut down the other team in the 9th  in a way that doesn’t seem fair.

His ERA is still 0.00.
Sean Marshall’s is 4.80.
Chapman has let up 7 hits all year.
I think I saw Marshall let up 7 hits in his last outing against the Yankees.
Chapman has 41 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings and strikes out nearly 6 batters for every walk.

In his first 2 games as the Reds closer, he has 2 innings pitched, 3 strike outs, no walks, no hits, no nothing. (Both games had a runner reach on an error.)

Of course they didn’t use him as a closer on Monday and the Reds had a nail biting 9th with Arredondo and Marshall.

Is Dusty Baker being overly cautious based on his experience with the Cubs? Did Kerry Wood’s retirement remind him of an arm he wore down to the ground?

Relax Dusty. It’s the Cuban Missile.

I’m not saying that Chapman is making the best decisions in the world. But maybe a slightly reckless person chucking the ball in triple digits is just what the Reds need.

   

This is NOT how the Rockies drew it up

Remember the Colorado Rockies?
They were that team that won the National League pennant out of nowhere a few years ago.
They were also the team in 2009 that looked like the smartest kids in the room.
They didn’t make the playoffs in 2010 but made a big charge for it and looked like contenders for years to come.

They traded Matt Holliday and managed to steal Carlos Gonzalez in the deal. And they kept him and Troy Tulowitzki in town for long term deals and had a great pipeline of solid talent coming into Denver.

Remember how they were going to have a homegrown team winning a vulnerable division year in and year out with a core of players that the fans could relate to?

And on May 5 of 2011, the Rockies had a 4 game lead in the NL West.
Everything was working perfectly.

They are 70-104 since then.

And the Denver fans not trading in their Tebow jerseys for Manning shirts are calling for manager Jim Tracy’s head. They are falling like a rock and only the Twins and Cubs are keeping them from being the worst team in baseball.

Michael Cuddyer isn’t hitting as advertised, Todd Helton looks done and the pitching looks like someone has shut off the humidor.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think the Rockies should do anything drastic. And that includes keeping Jim Tracy in his job.

First of all, there is hope for this team. They could do a patented Colorado run for the Wild Card. Plus the Dodgers (while I did indeed pick them) are a super hot team that could go super cold. And who knows what the Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres are going to be at the end of the season.

The West is a wildly unpredictable division. In 2006, it looked like the Padres were going to win it for the foreseeable future. Then in 2007 it looked like the Diamondbacks had it figured out. Then in 2008 it was the Dodgers for years and years. Then in 2010 the Giants staked a claim. A turn around isn’t too crazy of an idea.

Gonzalez is still hitting and Tulowitzki should turn around soon. Plus there are many young players like Wilin Rosario, Alex White, Jhoulys Chacin and Drew Pomeranz who could make their mark. Third baseman Nolan Arenado could be up in Denver before the season is over.

There is no reason to scrap the team or change course because of a bad 365 days. The best thing the Rockies can do is provide some consistency and that includes management. Very few people picked the Rockies to win the 2012 NL West, so they should use that to their advantage.

What they were creating was a stable franchise with an identity and a certain kind of player wearing a Rockies uniform. And of course a few stars that the fans can call their own.

Trust me, the NL West changes power from year to year. Be prepared when it is the Rockies turn.

Don’t fire the guy.
Something good is going to happen.