Red Sox bolster lineup with Jake Peavy acquisition: Why having no defined ace is a good thing

Well, if Clay Buchholz will refuse to return to the lineup, the Red Sox have been put in a position to, in essence, replace him.

With Will Middlebrooks waiting in the wings, Sox have been put in a position to get rid of current third basemen Jose Iglecias.

They did both of those things last night as the Red Sox, Tigers and White Sox organized a mega 7 player, 3 team deal that would put Iglecias in a Tigers uniform, White Sox star: Jake Peavy in Boston and 5 other players distributed through Detroit and Chicago.

But nevertheless, when one looks at this trade some questions arise. In 63 games with the Sox, Jose Iglecias had come to bat 215 times, putting up 71 hits and handing himself a batting average of .330. Iglacias was dominant, wielding his stellar glove like a weapon and batting over .400 for each of the first 43 games he played. Looking ahead, Iglecias showed promise and represented a breath of youth into a ageing Red Sox lineup. But nevertheless, here we are, talking about the day that Jose Iglacias has been traded away.

So... if we all like Iglecias this much who is Boston getting in return? They are getting a 32 year old righty with the imminent possibility of ousting Lester, Lackey or Buchholz and becoming Boston's number one pitcher.

After making in MLB debut in 2002, the then Padres rookie compiled an acceptable start in the league going 6-7 in that 02 season. At that point in time, Peavy seemed to be the pitcher of the future and a guy who could easily shoot up a 20 win season in coming years. But by 2009, the Padres had made the playoffs just twice and despite the regular season contributions of their praised pitcher, they had never made it out of the 1st round. A change was badly needed.

By 2010, Peavy was a White Sox and in the coming years, despite being riddled with inguries, he put up formidable numbers. In 3 years, Peavy won 36 games with Chicago. 

Yet after so many years of pitching success, here he is, Jake Peavy has changed his Sox and in the words of GM Ben Cherrington, "We're really excited to bring Jake in here," said Cherington, who noted that Red Sox special assignment scout Mark Wasinger was the scout who originally signed Peavy to a big league contract after he was drafted in the 15th round by San Diego in 1999. "He's obviously a proven major league starter with a ton of success in his career. The one thing we wanted to do, if we could pull it off, when we looked at the next two months, we're in a position to compete for a playoff spot, and adding a starting pitcher was the most important thing we could do to add to that." 

Now embedded within those quoted lines lies another huge question: once Buchholz comes back  (and he will) what do you do with what now seems to be a three way battle for the title of starting ace. As it stands, you have Boston's win leader: Jon Lester with his resurgent 10 and 6 win loss record. Then you have Mr ERA in John Lackey with his average of just 3.19 runs per game... and last but not least there is Buchholz. Now he does not lead in any of Boston’s major pitching categories, he has been out of the lineup for over 2 months now. But he has chucked 12 games of action and while his record states that he had only been credited with 9 wins, Buchholz has started 11 Boston victories and only seen his team loose once when he began the night on the hill. Trough those first few months of the year, Clay Buchholz was a prime candidate for not only an all-star game appearance (an achievement he did reach despite his injury) but also a Cy Young victory. 

So, Buchholz, Lackey, Lester and now Jake Peavy?! 4 star starters and no definitive name that reigns supreme...but is that necessarily a bad thing?  

2 years ago when the Sox suffered their terrifying September collapse, the Sox top 4 pitchers were clearly defined. Beckett was one, Jon Lester was number 2, Diceke Matsuzaka was number 3, and Tim Wakefeild was 4. Yet look what happened then. 2 seasons later, what is wrong with a little competition, it drives guys to compete with one another and it means that instead of partying, and drinking in the clubhouse they are striving to incense their fitness and simply win games. 

Buchholz can play, Lester can play, Lackey can play, and heck, if Jake Peavy can too, that that might be all it takes to climb onto a level playing field with Tampa and turn this pending pennant race into one for the ages. 

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Red Sox drop nail-biter 2-1 to Rays: Fall from 1st in AL east

For the Boston Red Sox, last night's game with the Rays was one representative of the sky above Boston: dark and gloomy all the while spiked with a hint of excitement and unknown futures.

You see for Red Sox fans, the facet of last night, embodied by the gloominess of the sky was the final score: 2-1 but even more so, what that sickening loss represents: their first loss in 3 games and a return to second place in the AL East. But like that brilliant display of natures nearly artistic clouds, there was a hint of excitement and hope in the 9 inning nail biter that was last night's game. And that came mere minutes into the night.

On nearly the first pitch Sox starter Felix Dubront threw, you could tell that the night would be a bad one for him. But nevertheless, after allowing 2 singles in the first frame of the game, a crucial strikeout of DH Luke Scott got Dubront out to trouble early on. Sadly no matter how lucky they were in the top half of the first, the Red Sox touch died at the hands of Ray's pitcher David Price and it would stay that way for most of the night as the Rays ace pitched nearly 5 innings of perfect baseball walking none and striking out 5, all on one hit baseball. But going back to the sky, with an atmosphere (literally) filled with indecision, so was this game as while Price dominated, Dubront continued to stall out as he needed an immaculate game by the fielders behind him to keep his opposing hitters at bay.

Nevertheless, after the two teams traded its for nearly the entire game following the 4th inning, we came to the ninth nearly knotted at 2-1. The Red Sox seemed beat until the final factor of that sky metaphor kicked in: excitement. With just one out in the bottom of the ninth, Jacoby Ellsbury began his methodical march around the bases by singling to right field and then stealing second. Yet even with the tying run in scoreing position, the Sox soon had their backs against the wall as with two outs Ellsbury was still stranded on second.

Yet with the pitch count to 1st basemen Mike Napoli knotted at 2 balls and 2 strikes, a wild pitch allowed Ellsbury to advance to 3rd. For the Red Sox the tying run was mere feet away from the plate but in the end moving their star center fielder the final 90 feet from 3rd to Home would prove too difficult for Napoli as for the 3rd time on the day, he struck out.

The only difference is that this time, that simple strike out cost the Red Sox the game and in turn, the supremacy as the AL's top team.

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As Red Sox have been faltering, the Yankees have been falling out of the sky dead

The New York Yankees website has a bolded title hanging in the foreground of its home page reading Yankees: a timeless legacy.

Now it is true that the boys in pinstripes have seen more World Sires titles than any other team in MLB history (27) and sure they have seen the greatest home run hitter in the history of baseball come through their town, and sure they have Mariano Rivera: a name that speaks for all the greatness its owner possesses but over the past few years and in this season in particular, the Yankees have been faltering. For the first time in so many years, fans of this team might not have much of a future to look forward to meaning that the best thing they have is what has already passed: the legacy.

After their inception in 1900, the New York Yankees formally known as the Highlanders began play in 1901 but struggled in their first few years in the MLB as they failed to make the playoffs every single year before 1921.

They made it to the World Series that year and did the same in the ensuing 3 seasons, winning it all in 1923. From then on, the Yankees left their 21 year playoff drought behind them winning 4 titles in the next 10 seasons and 6 more in the 10 years after that. 

For more than 40 years, New York was the city of winners snagging 20 of their 27 titles in that span from 1923 to 1962. Nevertheless, with the rest of the league getting stronger, New York’s championship decades soon became a thing of the past as even while forgetting the World Series, the team missed the playoffs 26 times over the next 30 years.

But nevertheless as the century turned into the year 2000, new names like Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter rapidly turned things around in the Big apple as from 1996 to 2000 they would win the title 4 different times. Both Rivera and Jeter would win a world series MVP award through that stretch. From then on it looked like the Yanks were poised to dominate in a similar fashion to that of the early 1920’s but even with the additions of Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez, that was simply not the case. They would win just once more before 2010 a title that even though it came nearly 4 years ago remains their most recent in team history. 

Now in the 3 completed seasons since that 4-2 series win over the Phillies New York has been well less than stellar. They won the division twice but only on the slimmest of margins and in 2010 their year of title defense they barely managed to get into the postseason by winning the wild card berth.

But nevertheless, they HAVE made it in and HAVE succeeded as they have been to the ALCS twice in that 3 year span. But after looking less than Yankee like in 2012 the Big apple has been watching their team have one of their worst seasons of the new millennium in this 2013 and as it stands there is a slight chance that come October, there will be no baseball played in the Bronx: a shocking occurrence that has only happened once in almost 10 years but could soon become a regular theme.

Kicking off the season with two huge series’ against the Red Sox and Tigers respectively, New York went 4 and 2 in those 8 games and never really found their footing. By May 1st they were 17 and 10 and 2 games behind the Red Sox for the division lead. One month later their number of games above 500 began to shrink as in the month of May the Yanks fell to a record of 31 and 24 yet they were still just 2 games behind the Red Sox.

But nevertheless, it was in mid June that things really began to worsen for the Yankees as by June 15th they were just 6 games above 500 and by then they were a full 4 games out of first place. But that is only where their free-fall begins.

By July 1st, they were then 3rd in the division while boasting a record of 43 and 39 and managing a winning percentage of just .524. And worse, Derek Jeter seemed to be injured once again and Alex Rodriguez was once again right in the thick of a PED scandal that at this point in time might end his career. But still their decent had not bottomed out.

No, that low point came on July 27th when the Yankees were thrown a 2 hit shutout by David Archer and sank to a horrendously imperfect 7 and a half game deficit separating them and the division leading Red Sox.

Now for a normal team you would say something like “oh there is always next season.” But for the Yankees, that might not be the case… at least for a lot longer than 1 year.

Now no matter how wonderful Mariano Rivera’s march through baseball in this farewell season is, it has a flipside. No matter how heartwarming it was to watch Mariano Rivera jog out during the all-star game, there is a heart wrenching side of this all.

Mariano Rivera is a great closer and deserves to be respected on his way out but… Mariano Rivera is a great closer and on his way out one cannot help but see how deep down Yankees fans want to say something along the lines of “come on, one more year!” 

Why? Because the Yankees have no other prime closers within their ranks, a fact that produces a stunning number.

If you assumed that 25 percent of the games that Rivera has saved this season were not saved, a truth that with any other run of the mill closer, the team would have approximately 8 fewer wins to date. That tally that would have them sitting a whopping 15 games out of 1st.

But for NY, Rivera is not the only big piece of the puzzle possibly leaving next season.

After he was linked to the Biogenisis PED scandal back in January, the MLB has been constantly working to punish Alex Rodriguez. Fact is, Ryan Braun has already been suspended. For 65 games in fact and in the words of commissioner Bud Selig, an impending Rodriguez suspension could dwarf that handed down to Braun.

Now while it is true that the Yankees would much rather shoot A-Rod between the eyes rather than keep him in their uniform, his absence from the lineup will take away an average of 108 RBI’s a year.

Finally, the 3rd piece of this eroding puzzle is that man who played a pivotal role in leading the Yankees to those the World Series titles almost 15 years ago: Derek Jeter.

With persisting quad troubles keeping him out of the lineup, the 39 year old isn’t getting any younger and after nearly 2 decades in the MLB, one cannot help but wonder. Are Derek’s days numbered? 

Rivera is retiring, Jeter may be soon to follow and A-Rod will likely be getting the boot for a LONG time if not forever. The Yankees are no longer the dream team of the 1920’s or even the early 2000s, they are a ball club, smashed into pieces and watching idle as the waves of time sweep their best players away. Their window is closing FAST but the Yankees are not moving to beat time. Their window is closing fast but after looking at the standings, that window is threatening to slam shut far faster than any expected.

Yet where are the Yankees? 7 and half games removed from a pennant race that is threatening to leave them in the dust.

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Ortiz rebounds after ejection with 4-4 day at the plate: Red Sox win 5-0

Well, David Ortiz was not suspended.

Fresh off a  rampage through his dugout last night that opened eyes and sent shrapnel of broken bat and shatter plastic flying at the direction of Dustin Pedroia, Ortiz was back at it today, using the bat the way it is intended to be utilized: for hitting a BASEBALL.Fact is less than 24 hours after an outburst for the history books, the Boston DH and his team were back together earlier this afternoon and while pitcher Jon Lester continued to improve it, was Ortiz that was the big turnaround story of the night. 

Literally right out of the get go, Papi was ready to go as he jumped on the first pitch he saw in the game and drove it hard down the left field line for a single. 2 innings later he was at it again smashing a towering 2 run shot to straight away center field to seal the game by giving the Sox a 3-0 lead.

You notice my wording there. You see on a normal night a 3-0 lead against one of the top offence in baseball would be nothing. But not today, not with a dominant Jon Lester on the mound. 

After starting off the season a dominant 6 and 0, Lester had slumped coming into the all-star break as from May 20th on, he had gone an abysmal 2 and 6 and was a surprising sore spot in Boston's pitching lineup. But fresh out of the 4 day mid-season celebration for which he was not a part of, Lester is once again undefeated, allowing just 2 runs and 11 hits in over 13 innings of work. 

In one of his best games of the year, Lester pitched a 4 hit 7 inning performance today giving the Orioles nothing and holding onto an early lead to give Boston the win and guide them back into a position that have willfully become reacquainted with: first in the East.

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David Ortiz ejected amidst high tempers and bad calls: Red Sox win 7-3 off 5 RBI's by Stephan Drew

Over the course of the 4 hour affair that is a professional Baseball game, amidst the hundreds of different plays, the umpires that control the game are bound to make mistakes. The only problem was that last night, those mistakes came in the dozens..and it showed.

Fact is throughout the night you could tell that the number of times John Farrall muttered something along the lines of "what the heck." was somewhere up in the high 50s and even when looking at the number of times, he left his dugout to go get his 2 cents with the home plate umpire you could tell that the games referees were not doing very good. But nevertheless, no exhibition of violent temper exceeded a 7th inning outburst by star DH David Ortiz.

After seeing an obvious ball that would have given Ortiz a walk called a strike, the slugger never managed to collect himself and struck out on the ensuing pitch. Obviously enraged by the call, Ortiz proceeded to the dugout but seemed to stay in the game. That is until he raced into the Boston dugout, bat in hand, and proceeded to massacre the covering on the managers phone to the bull pen. THEN he got the boot.

But at that point in the 7th inning, David was not done and as he ran back out onto the field he was forced to be restrained in a situation reminiscent of that bench clearing brawl that Papi had with Orials pitcher Kevin Greeg a few years back.

"It was horrible," Ortiz said. "People always focus on when we snap. We're not snapping every day out there, there's a reason why we snap. You always look like the bad guy -- I'm not a bad guy, I'm trying to do my job. You don't take my at-bat away from me like that." Ortiz later said on the situation.

But nonetheless, no matter how many times the umpires mess up (and yes almost all of their problems were on Boston's side of things) the Sox still managed to pull out a win and unlike recent games where they have struggled to put up runs: last night was not a game won by pitching, it was a game won singlehandedly by short stop Stephan Drew.

Fact is coming into last night, Drew was not the hot bat you looked to, too produce home runs. In fact before his 2 homer performance last night he had belted just 5 all season long and produced just 37 RBI's. That is almost half the RBI's that David Ortiz has notched and 14 less home runs.  But stats do not play the game and last night was a perfect example of when that fact is ever so true.

With his team already up 1-0, Drew came to bat in the top of the 4th inning after watching his team put 2 guys on base with just one out to go. Turning on one of the first pitches he saw, Drew belted the shot to left field to give the Sox a 4-0 lead and the first 3 RBI's of Drew's night.

But he was not done. 2 innings later with another man on situation, Drew came up to bat string right into the eyes of fellow teammate Jarrod Saltilamaccia who was on 2nd base. After stepping into the batter box, Drew once again belted a long ball to center field where after the Orials outfield bobbled the throw into the infield, Drew realized that according to the referees, this ball was not gone, at least not yet.

“Then we started taking off running,” Drew said to the Boston Globes, Julian Benbow.

Saltilamaccia would come around to score without a problem but in more pressing developments, Drew soon found himself caught in a run down between 3rd base and Home plate. But Drew never gave up and, after several throws between the Baltimore catcher: Matt Weiters and the Baltimore 3rd basemen: Manny Muchado, Weiters bobbled a throw and allowed Drew to escape their grasp and dart for home. Turning on a dime, Weitera than fired a throw to his pitcher who was then covering home plate that ended up going wide and allowed Drew to score without even going into a slide.

“When I saw it hit, I was like, ‘That’s another home run,’ ” Drew said. “I just knew there was no call. So you just had to keep playing it out.”

Now the Sox would add one more run to their total when Shane Victorino cranked a homer of his own in the 7th inning but in the end, Boston wouldn't need it as they played to a dominant 7-3 win at Camden Yards.

Fact is since the all-star break the Boston Red Sox have been a little less than good and have fallen out of first place in the division for the first time in 2 months. But nevertheless with their win last night they have managed to keep pace with the division leading Rays and have secured what might be their first dominant win of the second half.

All we can hope for is that they keep this up and can win a pivotal 1 game set tomorrow with the Rays that could very well give Boston the lead in the East.

To see the entire Ortiz incident click here

To see both of Stephan Drew's home runs last night click here

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The popularity problem: why America's youth's lack of interest in baseball will come back to hurt the MLB

October 9th, 2012: Seattle based rapper Macklemore releases  a song deviating from his theme of intense controversial topics and turning to sing one tribute to a love of his, under-appreciated by the world: baseball.

About 3 months ago, I stumbled upon that very song; a track entitled My Oh My and was instantly smiling at the passion he showed when singing about a famed playoff victory by the 1995 Seattle Mariners. Here was a man, a 30 year old who "couldn't have been older than 10" when the subject of his song occurred. Here was a 30 year old rapper who, 2 decades after that spine tingling walk off was still in love with the game he grew up watching.

“I used to sit with my dad in the garage.” He sings Mariners jersey across his torso and smile ever present on his face.

“That sawdust that pine sol and the moss. Around every spring when the winter thaw, we'd huddle around the radio, twist the broken knob. 710 AM no KJR Dave Niehaus voice would echo throughout the yard. Couldn't have been older than 10, but to me and my friends the voice on the other end might as well have been God's” 

5 sentences: each one firmly exemplifies Macklemore’s unbelievable love for the Mariners. Yet nevertheless, embedded within those first few lines of that 2012 song is an underlying truth that in 15 years’ time might very well threaten the very integrity of not only the Mariners but the entire MLB. At this point in time, the groups of 10 year olds within this nation that repeatedly “sit with my dad in the garage,” and “huddle around the radio twist the broken knob” are slim in numbers.

“After practice we listen to the M's in the kitchen, and if mom wasn't trippin' come on dad please I swear just one more inning.” You see, the MLB loves  it when kids beg for their parents to let them watch just one more inning but in 2013, those standoffs do not occur in the huge number that they did back in the 80’s and 90’s.

In this day and age 10 year old's do not love baseball the way they did in 1995. They fight to watch football, they fight to PLAY football, and frankly for many, sports like basketball and hockey are more closely watched that baseball. 

Nevertheless, while ratings do pose a major problem for the league, their talent pool is now beginning to shrink as the number of kids involved in competitive baseball leagues has been steadily dropping. 

In just 9 years, (2000 to 2009) participation in the baseball’s largest youth organization: Little League has fallen off a cliff. It has dropped 24 percent as, like I said before, children turn to football, basketball and even start up floor hockey leagues instead of baseball.

"You get more action… it's not as slow.” Keegan Antelman: a fielder/pitcher who plays in a 6-10 year old spring/fall baseball league said when I asked him why he likes street hockey more than baseball. “It takes more skill.”

Too slow. Baseball is too slow for children and it shows. Perhaps the fastest team sport on planet earth: hockey has seen participation skyrocket by almost 38 percent while Football, a sport now regarded as America’s NEW pastime has seen its participation numbers jump by almost 21 percent.

But back to baseball where, speed is not only a problem for kids.

"Parents want to see their kids moving," says John Mitchell, a former college baseball coach from Alabama. "They drop their kids off at soccer and they know they're going to run around like maniacs for an hour. When they watch baseball practice, they often see them standing around in the outfield while the coach throws batting practice."

In a nation now riddled with an obesity rate of over 10%, for kids as young as 8 or 9, sports are not just about having fun, they are about exercise…. and for baseball: the exercise you get from running 90 feet and stopping is not enough.

But wait, there is more. With major league baseball once again reeling from a recent resurgence of PED use, parents of budding ball players do not want to put their kids into a sport that someday might prompt them to  take steroids that could easily take 10 years off their life.

“I think it disappoints them. They’re taught to do their best — and then they see all their favorite players getting suspended,” Baseball mom Debi Manby said in an interview with the Vancover Sun. “I would be horrified if he [her son] ever used.”

So at this point, you begin to wonder: how does a group of games played by 4th graders affect one played by 25 year olds? 2 words: talent pool.

If you look back at 2000, if you had a promising 8 year old hitter, a 8 year old in 2000 would be 21 now and contending for the attention of an MLB scout. The only problem is, if that 8 year old left the sport with the half million other kids who have fled between 2000 and 2009 well, he wouldn’t be there for the scout to look at. 

"There are still players, but there aren't the numbers out there anymore," said David Bloom, a scout with the Baltimore Orioles. "The great players just don't stand out like they used to."

So: with all this riding against them, what does baseball need to do to ratchet them back to the top? SPEED THE GAME UP! Limit a batters right to call time to just 1 or 2 stoppages per at bat. Prohibit the catcher from visiting the mound unless the coach came out. Maybe even introduce a play clock if you will, forcing a pitcher to only take 8,9,10 seconds in between pitches.

But nevertheless, no matter what they do in the coming years, the MLB’s window of fame might be closing regardless of who is standing in between the walls trying to hold back the inevitable.

The roots of the game profiled in Macklemore’s less than hit song do not exist anymore. The magic is fading and at the pace that things are getting worse, there is nothing that the MLB can do about it.

For the music video of My Oh My  by Macklemore click here

For the complete lyrics to My Oh My by Macklemore click here

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Bill Belicheck breaks silence on Aaron Hernandez case: Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork and others also speak.

After weeks of assuming that whenever Bill Belichick DID talk, all we would get was "he is not a member of this football team, I only talk about members of this football team.", the poker faced manager of the New England Patriots surprised us yesterday. He spoke  deeply on the subject of Aaron Hernandez all while never actually saying his name.

"It's a sad day, it's a really a sad day on so many levels," Belichick said, reading from a prepared statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim, and I extend my sympathy, really, to everyone that's been impacted. A young man lost his life. And his family's suffered a tragic loss, and there's no way to understate that.

When I was out of the country, I learned about the ongoing criminal investigation that involved one of our players. I and other members were shocked and disappointed in what we had learned. Having someone in your organization that's involved in a murder investigation is a terrible thing. After consultation with ownership, we acted swiftly and decisively (in cutting Hernandez)."

Fact is for many, Bill Belichick had never shown the type of emotion he did last night. But nevertheless, in a way, displaying this slew of apologetic answers may have been a necessary move.

"As the coach of the team, I'm primarily responsible for the people that we bring into the football operation," Belichick said. ... Overall, I'm proud of the hundreds of players that have come through this program, but I'm personally disappointed and hurt in a situation like this."

"I've been advised to address the subject once," Belichick said. "It's time for the New England Patriots to move forward."

Move forward... move forward.

Now while Bill Belichick spoke largely on the emotional side of this terrible investigation. Two different men each involved in a different facet of the team than Bill Belichick touched mainly on the football side of this all.

For star QB Tom Brady: "You know I think everyone had a range of emotions .but at some point we need to move forward and i think we are all doing that."

And for defensive captain Vince Wilfork: "Its real life and I think sometimes, we get caught up in doing what we do, but like I said, this is a real life situation, someone lost a loved one, a friend a son, its tough, its hard to see someone loose like that

We just stick together, when we walk through this door, you have to reed a sign, "you put the team first", were all gonna read it, that's what you have to do....were gonna have to ignore the noise and win ball games.

"how do you ignore the noise?" a reporter said

"do your job.:"

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Lester finally hits his mark: Red Sox beat Rays 6-2 in dominant fashion

After 10 days off, Jon Lester finally came back to his senses last night, hurling 96 pitches and allowing just 2 earned runs, his lowest since May 15th (12 starts). 

"You never want to diminish any start, but again, where we are in the standings, where they are, knowing we're still only in July, but still, this was a big game for us tonight, for him to come out and respond and take control of the game as he did was very encouraging." Manager, John Farrell said reflecting on the fact that should Boston have lost last night they would have sunken out of 1st place in the division for the first time since mid may. 

Nevertheless, these last few days have been some of broken slumps and dramatic wins... and last night was no different. 

After the Ray kicked off the night scoring first for the second straight game via a 2nd inning bomb by Will Myers, allowing nothing extra after the homer and getting 3 of the remaining 4 batters he would face in the inning. Nevertheless, these 2 teams went to the bottom of the second with Boston down by one, another similarity that can be drawn between this game and the 3-0 loss to the Rays back on the 22nd. But there was one difference here: on Tuesday July 23rd, the Red Sox DID NOT wait to bounce back stringing together three straight hits to tie the game at 1 going to the 3rd. 

Yet here is where things get fun for Jon Lester. Over the next 3 innings, Jon Lester would put together 5 strikeouts and allow just 1 hit and inning, all to allow Boston to willfully construct a decent 3-1 lead, the 2nd run of those 3 being one of great shock and surprise. 

With Dustin Pedroia on 1st and Shane Victorino, a bade throw by the Rays catcher: Jose Molina, gave Victorino all he needed to steal home. 

"With Papi up, they gave me enough space. Once I saw the release -- that's why I hesitated -- I wanted to make sure the ball was released before I took off. That's why it looked that way. That's one of those things [where] you have to instinctively analyze the situation. Once I saw the release, I took off for home."

But back to Lester. 

"I think you can always benefit from extra days [of rest]," he said largely attributing his success to the extra days off. "I think there's times where they're needed and times where they can get you out of a little bit of a rhythm. But I think those three or four days of not throwing and staying here, just kind of getting a mental and physical break, I think that's always nice." 

But no matter how much modesty Lester decided to impose on himself, Farrall was much less discrete when speaking of his pitcher's success. 

"Tonight was probably as powerful as he's been all year," he said "Another step in the right way for him."

Yet sadly, all good things must end and for Jon Lester, that end came after allowing his second home run of the day on the first batter of the 6th inning. Now while Lester did retire the next 4 batters he faced, after a 1 out double for the Rays was hit off Lester, in came Matt Thornton for what quickly developed into a pretty strange few innings for Boston pitching.  

In just his 4th appearance with the team, Thornton came into the game threw just 2 pitches to get the out before he was pulled from the match-up and replaced by righty Junichi Tazawa. 

"The last inning he went in there, in the eighth, that's the biggest inning of the game right there, because you're going through the meat of their lineup," said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia after Tazawa dominated throwing a perfect inning in the 8 frame . "A couple [of their] guys have hit homers. I put my glove down and away, and he hit it right on the spot." 

From then on you could just sense it: the Rays were done... but the Sox were not.

After watching with glee as Tazawa pitched better than he has well ever, they came to bat in the 8th inning and pretty much sealed the deal as with 4 swings of the bat, and a barrage of infield errors on the part of the Rays, they put up a 3 spot in the 8th taking a 6-2 lead into the ninth and never looking back. 

But no matter how good Tazawa was or how fun it was to see the Rays screw it up in their final defensive frame of the day, the story of last night was Jon Lester. 

"I said it three or four months ago," Saltalamaccia said "We're going to go to the World Series and win it with him. Can't do it without him."

Ps. this is post NUMBER 200!!!!!! 

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Dustin Pedroia signed to long term deal: Why such a signing is risky business in pro sports

Dustin Pedroia MIGHT be in the hall of fame someday. He MIGHT lead the Red Sox to another World Series win. Dustin Pedroia is a young devoted guy who will be in baseball for a long time. Dustin Pedroia is a young guy who, when David Ortiz leaves in a few years, MIGHT be the face of the franchise for the Boston Red Sox.

Patrice Bergeron MIGHT be in the hall of fame someday. He MIGHT lead the Bruins to another Stanley Cup win. Patrice Bergeron is one of the most devoted players in the NHL and will be in hockey for a long time. Patrice Bergeron is a pretty young guy who, when Zedeno Chara leaves in a few years, MIGHT be the face of the franchise for the Boston Bruins.

Dustin Pedroia and Patrice Bergeron the Red Sox and Bruins 2 players, 2 teams, and 2 different sports, 2 fan base and 2 different Hall of Fames where each athlete will be making a case to join someday.

Those 2 men: Patrice Bergeron and Dustin Pedroia are 2 of the best in their businesses, and 2 men who are crucial to their team’s success. But nevertheless, as profiled in the first 2 paragraphs of this post, those 2 men are 2 different players who, even with all that sits upon their resumes, still pose a lot of IFs and MIGHTs for their respective teams, thus drawing up one final commonality between those 2 guys.

Perhaps the biggest fact of these two players careers that does not include the words IF or MIGHT are deals signed each mere days apart from one another.

Patrice Bergeron will be a Bruin for the rest of his career and Dustin Pedroia will be a Red Sox for the rest of his career.

“This is my home and it’s the only thing I've ever known”~Dustin Pedrioa

On July 12th, Patrice Bergeron was signed to an 8 year, 52 million dollar contract that will hold him in Boston through the 2021 NHL season.

On July 22nd, Dustin Pedroia was signed to a 7 year 100 million dollar contract that will keep him in Boston through the 2021 MLB season.

Nevertheless on this 23^rd day in July, its Pedroia making headlines.

After being drafted 65th overall back in 2004, Pedroia was originally playing ball as a shortstop: a style that still remains evident even 7 years after making the switch to 2nd base. Nevertheless, 7 years after he made his debut back in 2006 Pedroia's commitment has never come under question. He has played 956 career games, and is still yet to miss a single match-up this season. He has committed just 38 career errors (that is 15 less than Mr Perfect Kevin Youkilis himself.) and is one of the greatest in recent history at turning the double play. But even with all that, does Dustin Pedroia deserve over 14 million dollars a year from 2014-2021?

Pedroia averages almost 150 hits a season, over 30 doubles a year and just under 15 homers each season. But still does he deserve all this money? 

Dustin Pedroia is now just 34 RBI’s short 500 and has a career batting average of .303. He turns 30 in just a few weeks yet his OBP and slugging percentage remain seated at .385 and .422 respectively. But still dose he deserve 100 million dollars?

NO!

Fact is, in the world of pro sports, well, nobody deserves any of the big name contracts that get handed out time and time again.

In Baseball: Albert Pujols, fresh off his second career World Series win, Pujols became a free agent during the 2011 offseason all before he was handed a historic 254 million dollar, 10 year contract with the LA Angles.  

In the immediate wake of that huge contract, the Angles immediately fell under question as sure enough his batting average immediately dropped off as he went from hitting .299 with St Louis to hammering .249 just 2 season later in this 2013 campaign.

Then in football: we all remember the fun we had with Chad Ochocinco. After averaging over 1,000 yards a season in Cinicnatti, Ochocinco came to the Pats a team with one of the best Quarterbacks in history throwing to him (Tom Brady) , and one of the best coaches in history (Bill Belicheck) barking at him from the sidelines and still he dropped off going from catching 67 balls the year before to snagging just 15 with New England.

So alright, with those to examples the case can be made that while these athletes DID drop off at older ages, yes they also changed teams which can shake a guy up.

But nevertheless, even looking at contract extensions alone, the drop-offs and underperformances are still there.

Rick Dipetro for the Islanders, Tyler Seguin for the Bruins, Aaron Hernandez, even Rob Gronkowski. All guys who either got injured, just stopped preforming, or, in the case of Hernandez got arrested, and all guys who, when they began to struggle, got hurt or ended up behind bars, left their team’s fighting pathetically to dump their contracts.  

So, with all this against them, why do pro sports teams continue to hand out these high risk contracts and extensions? One word --- sentiment and leadership.

Even with the word loyalty basically torn out of a player’s dictionary, it is still widely prevalent in the vocabularies of a team’s ownership and fans. With fans literally serving as the heart and soul of a team’s revenue, while players don’t really care, guys like Peter Charelli and Ben Cherrington do not want to tick off their fans.  

So, in attempt to satisfy us moody fans, these guys send millions and millions of dollars in the direction of guys like Pedroia and Bergeron for what?

So that us fans don’t have to feel torn when we were our Kevin Youkilis Red Sox jersey while in NY his name is emblazoned on the back of one running with pinstripes?

No matter how good he is, no matter how many punctured lungs he plays through, no matter how many times he dives into the dirt to block a ground ball, what if? What if one day Pedroia goes down and wrecks his knee? What if, the next time Matt Cooke takes a run at a Bruin it is Bergeron on the other end and he succumbed to the same fate that has now befallen Marc Savard?

Then what?

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Shane Victorino: The Ryan Braun ban "very unfortunate for the game" according to ESPN

Over the All-Star Break, the MLB hinted that a major punishment in reaction to the Biogenesis scandal was coming.

Fact is after news was broken back in January, the names of nearly 2 dozen Major League Baseball players were linked to a list of PED clients of a closed down Miami anti ageing clinic.

As baseball struggled to recover from that major blow in the field of Public Relations, they threatened to hand out mega suspensions for the two biggest stars involved in the scandal: Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun. At just after 12 noon yesterday they carried out at lest part of that threat by kicking Ryan Braun to the curb for the reminder of this 2013 season.

Former World Baseball Classic teammate of Braun: Shane Victorino was disgraced.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation. Speaking from a guy I know personally, been on two WBC teams with and played against him all those years, it’s very unfortunate. He stood up for it today, took the brunt of it. 

It’s a sad situation, I look at the game of baseball. Is there more, who knows? People talk about there’s more, more to come, but I worry about what I’ve got to worry about and not worry about what’s being said. Rumors are rumors until they’re solidified like today’s situation, we’ll worry about it then.

Braun was suspended for the remainder of the season, a total of 65 games, for 'violations of the Basic Agreement and its Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program,' 

If somebody’s cheating in your job, you’d probably feel the same way if they were succeeding and being considered the best at their job, not just baseball, any job,” he said. “And I think that’s where it gets unfortunate. As people say, you want everybody to be on a level playing field, but hey, individuals make choices to do things like that. 

It’s unfortunate for the game. Very unfortunate for the game of baseball.”

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Red Sox looking like they could really use Clay Buchholz: Why the 28 year old needs to adopt that Patrice Bergeron mindset

All Star pitcher: Clay Buchholz has not pitched since June 8th and the Red Sox need him back...NOW!

After making his season debut just 3 days after the season began, Buchholz allowed just 10 runs in his first 5 starts before getting even better in ensuing games. By May 1st, Buchholz was 6 and 0 without a single no decision. By June 8th, he remained undefeated through nine stars and was widely regarded as one of the hottest pitchers in baseball as his near no hitter in May and season ERA of 1.71 had stymied hitters day in and day out. Yet in the blink of an eye, things went from great to well, not so great.

After going down back in June due of a neck strain I can guarantee you no one would ever have believed that a neck STRAIN would keep Boston's all-star out of the lineup for what will be going on 2 months now. 

Regardless of what you THOUGHT, he is. The 28 year old, 9-0 Boston ace has not pitched in almost 50 days and according to WEEI reports, even though he has now been told by not one but 2 doctors that he is OK. to play he likely won’t for some time now.

“Clay comes back, I think, with a little bit more peace of mind and he’ll continue on the throwing program that’s been already put in place,” Manager John Farrall said after the doctors decision was May announced last night.

Nevertheless, when you look at what Buchholz has done on the road to rehab well, you don't need look very deep before you realize that the Sox organization and Buchholz could probably use a little dose of Patrice Bergeron play through the pain action. After just 2 or 3 bullpen sessions, Buchholz has continued to complain about his neck. He is still yet play that simulated game scheduled for him and is treating his rehab schedule like it don't exist. 

“I don’t have a date, we feel like he’s going to have to continue to progress in some further distance in long toss before getting on the mound. He’s going to need probably three bullpens before we get into a simulated game situation before going out on a rehab start. That’s the best I can outline right now.” Farrell also said.

Yet for the Sox, sadly, Farrell's words have actually been the most decisive ever spoken on the subject of Buchholz. Why? Because of the right hander's insistence to only play when he is 100 percent.

“From my understanding of the exam and what Dr. Andrews relayed to [Buchholz] is that he’s going to feel some, at times, some little stiffness or discomfort just by virtue of getting back in pitching shape,” Farrell continued to say slightly hinting to the fact that Buchholz would NEED to face a little discomfort in his rehab.

Regardless of all that, the end may be in sight. Well not really.

As more and more speculation have come out surrounding when Buchholz will make his return a small collection of dates has been chosen as the most likely section of games for which his arm will once again be utilized-- mid-august-- the only problem is that is  LONG way away.

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Red Sox walk off against Yankees in 11 innings: Mike Napoli getting hot at just the right time

Make it 9.

On exactly this day last year, I published a post entitled "100 deep, looking back at the sub-par 2012 of Bobby Valentine". In that post I reminisced on the unprofessional attitude of the Red Sox staff all sparked by a 46 and 44 win loss record that held Boston 9 and a half games out of first place in the east. 1 calendar year later, the Red Sox have played 100 games, lost just 40 games and won more match-ups than any other team in baseball.

Nevertheless, it’s a number far smaller than 100, 60, or 40 that stands out--nine. 9 out of 60 games have been won via the walk off, yet after last night: Mike Napoli's 11 inning, 3 run shot may have been the sweetest.

After seeing the Yanks break through early on, the Sox quickly fell behind 3 nothing in this game and saw starting pitcher Ryan Dempster already struggling. Nevertheless, he found his footing in the ensuing innings giving Mike Napoli all the chance he needed when he came to bat late in the 3rd frame.

With the Yankees still leading 3-1 and their pitcher CC Sabathia self admittedly struggling, Napoli came to the plate in the 3rd with 2 other runners on base and the tying run sitting 180 feet away from the plate. Long story short, the slugging 1st basemen did not simply tie the game with that lengthy at bat... he took the lead.

You see, coming into this game, Mike Napoli had notched just 10 hits in his last 50 at bats and was batting under .210 for the first time all season. His OBP was down to .333 and he had not even notched a single RBI since July 9th's game with Seattle. Going into last night, Mike Napoli was writhing under a 2 month long slump yet for him and his Red Sox, that would all change with one swing of the bat.

"The ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark to all fields is present every time he steps into the batter's box." Manager John Farrall said after Napoli exercised that ability via a 3 run shot to give Boston a 4-3 lead. 

Over the next 3 innings, Napoli and company would pile on a combined total of 7 runs chasing a strangely shaken CC Sabathia from the game and forcing the Yankees to use their bullpen far earlier than they expected to. Still with 4 innings to go in regular play, an apprehensive Sabathia begrudgingly told reporters of his displeasure regarding his 5 inning collapse.

"It's embarrassing, but I have to try to work through it, figure something out, try to stop hurting this team and start helping."

Nevertheless, for the Yankees, things finally changed for the better once Sabathia was removed from the game as crucial hits by Brent Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki and Robinson Cano allowed the Yanks to put up 2 in the top of the 6th and saw them to crawl right back into this game.

With Dempster out and with the Sox bullpen, like the Yankees, already working hard, a large difference in the two team’s performance emerged. The Sox relief was faltering while New York's was not.

"Even though we [fight] back after digging ourselves a hole early" Farrell said  speaking about how the Red Sox relinquished their lead and saw the game tied 7-7 late in the 7th "we give it back"

From then on though things changed for well, everybody as the Sox bullpen finally got its act together and found a way to stem the Yankee attack and bring the game into extra innings.

 It took a while but in the end... after 4 hours and 46 minutes of nail biting, cheer enduing action, Napoli broke through again driving a solo shot into the center field stands and winning it all mere minutes before 1AM local time.

"Once I got to 2-0, I was looking to drive something; I swung through it but got to 2-2. Every time I'm up, I'm looking to drive the ball somewhere. I got a ball up and made good contact." He said post-game. "It's a great feeling," Napoli said. "You see us all out there, going crazy, ripping each other’s  jerseys off. It's fun. It's fun to do it. It's about winning -- win a ballgame, especially a tough game like that. It was just a great feeling."

Fact is, as a fan of the Red Sox, winning in a walk-off is always jubilation enough but nevertheless, that feeling of joy is only amplified when they do it against New York.

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Tour De France entering last weekend: the American view on the Tour AND previewing the final push to Paris

20 days after the race began, the Tour De France pedaled into its final weekend this morning. Yet as an American I felt one sting of negativity nagging me as I read and listened into these historic final stages-- since Lance Armstrong, us Americans have been hard pressed to even fathom one of our own to even win a stage. So.. why watch? Frankly I do not know but it is races like this that have a way of drawing you in and for me, I am no different.  The is something about the history, the years of stories and jubilation and decades of sadness and defeat, something about the sacrifice of these athletes, and something about putting their bodies on the line and pushing the limits of human exertion all in persuite of an ultimate goal that draws you in and does not allow you to leave and for me, I am not different. So with my mind open, void of the hope that an American will win it all, I awake these weekend mornings, bound out of my room and groggily turn on the TV to watch each new stage of the greatest bike race on the planet.

As the countdown to this years final stage now slides into its final hours, a long awaited recap of one of the race's most dramatic stages seems to be in order.

Heading into this morning's bout of contention, a mere 47 seconds separated 2nd and 5th place in the overall race, the poca-dot jersey for top climber was on the line, and the young rider classification currently held by Colombian Naro Quintana was in danger of being stolen away by American rookie Andrew Talasky.

So, with the stage set, the riders took to the roads yesterday all with one singular goal. To win the final competitive stage of the Tour De France. Kicking off early, the standing held true through the first half hour of the race yet as the competition neared its final kilometers, things began to get a little hairy. Like i said before, going into this race while just 47 seconds separated those 2-5th seeded riders each was riding well and seemed firmly situated to finish this stage in relatively the same order. Oh how looks can be deceiving. With just over 10K left in the race, a fierce move to the front of the pack by TeJay Vangarden sparked a frightful charge by the rest of the Tour's contenders allowing 3rd place Naro Quintanda the right to fight forward on the podium and causing then 2nd place rider Alberto Contador to run out of steam and loose almost 3 minutes of time before ceasing his fall at 4th place.

Fact is, yesterday's race was one of epic proportions yet also one of crucial moves and possible race winning proformances.

You see as the Tour De France now grinds into its hallmark 82 mile stroll of a ride into Frances capital city this final stage, much like it has in recent years will be largely a ceremonial victory lap for the big contenders as, with nearly every category nearly locked up, for second place Quintana and third place Rodriguez  they will basically need Frome to get off his bike and take a nap for them to make this a race and contend for the overall title.

Regardless of that, today's 12PM race will be a culmination of weeks of pain and sacrifice, a final meeting for over a 100 riders, and the bookend event in the most difficult race in sports: the 100th edition of the Tour De France.

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A lesson in the long ball: Sox belt 2 homers and Felix Dubrtont dominates on route to a 4-2 win

3 days removed from the real Home Run Derby, the Boston Red Sox put on a show of their own last night, smashing 2 monster blasts in the first 2 innings of their game with New York. Between, Jacoby Ellsbury's lead off shot in the 1st and Johnny Gomes' equally amazing blast mere batters later, Boston put up 3 runs via the home run and also became the first team in baseball to belt 100 shots this season all to add quite a bang to a 7 inning, 3 hit performance by Felix Dubront.

Fact is, pitching is great and while it sure is a huge necessity, you were not jumping for joy after the top of the first. No, you waited until the BOTTOM of the inning to lose your mind. Literally on just the second pitch of the day for Yankees hurler Adny Pettitte, Sox leadoff man, Jacoby Ellsbury drilled it, catching the shot in the sweet spot of the bat and belting his 4th home run of the season long past the Yankees bullpen and deep into the Fenway outfield seating for a 1 nothing Boston lead. 

"Ells kick-started us," said Ellsbury’s teammate Johnny Gomes. "One to nothing [after the] first batter.”

"It's definitely not a guessing game [with Pettitte]," Gomes continued, then speaking about HIS homer "but you kind of got to put your chips on two of his three pitches. [The home run] wasn't a bad pitch, but I hadn't seen his changeup yet, thought he was going to throw it, and [it] worked out."

Nevertheless after Johnny Gomes followed up Ellsbury's blast with a shot of his own, the attention then turned away from offence and instead to the man on the mound who looked to hold onto the 3-0 lead his team had worked to build. That man's name was Felix Dubront. 

Now granted he is no "King Felix" like the Mariners ace up in Seattle but as he marched through last night’s initial innings, Dubront was dominant holding a no hitter through 4 frames all despite allowing a 4 pack of walks and stolen bases to hand the Yanks their 1st of 2 runs in last night game. Yet as the game went on, Dubront's dominance continued.

"I keep going deep in the game," said Doubront. "And my confidence, my focus is improving. I'm just trying to go deep and help the team win the game, keep the score down and let my team score runs."

 1,2,3,4: in the end, Dubront would rack up 5 strikeouts and even after seeing his no-no broken in the 4th he was not phased-- waiting it out and holding the Yanks down for the majority of the night. 

"As we've seen over the last 11 times he's gone to the mound for us, he's working six or seven innings each time out," Red Sox manager John Farrell said regarding Dubront's consistency at the mound. "Low runs. And then probably the last five or six of those starts, he's come out and gotten into the rhythm of the game much earlier than maybe the first month and a half of the season. He kept the game in check. Another very solid outing on his part."

In fact even Yankees manager Joe Girardi was begrudgingly singing the praises of the man who shut his team down last night "He's throwing well. You look at the last two months; he's pitched extremely well since the end of May. He's been tough on us. He has a very good changeup. We know that."

Whether it was the 2 home runs early on, Jonny Gomes' ground role double to seal the deal in the 7th, Felix Dubront's stellar start or Koji Uehara's pitching a perfect 9th inning Boston kicked off the second half with a bang last night. They beat the Yankees, delighting fans and posting a 4-2 final to a game that was far more lopsided than those 2 numbers do justice. 

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Tyson Gay confesses to testing positive on a drug test: Why such a scandal will shoot the USATF and USADA in the feet

I will ask you this: a simple question that over the past few weeks we have learned to be anything but. At what point does anti-doping work stop bettering the sport for which it is a part of and instead begin to hurt it? Well for the sport of Track and Field that line is drawn whenever you find a nation's top sprinter guilty of doping. 

Once a native of Lexington Kentucky, current American sprinter: Tyson Gay began his athletic career in high school running hills and joining nearly every single race he could possibly run. Nevertheless, for a then 22 year old Gay, sprinting was the passion for which his ambitions were born meaning that when presented with the opportunity to become an NCAA athlete back in 2005, the sociology major seized his shot at greatness falling mere seconds short of a podium finish in the 60 Meter dash and just 2 hundredths of a second out of a silver medal placement in the 200 meter competition. Yet mere months later, it was in that year's indoor championships that Gay would bask in the fruits of his glory when he smashed his school's 100 meter dash record with a 10.06 second race a title that come season end would actually earn his team the NCAA indoor track final.  

With his name finally floating across the minds of scouts across the world of sprinting, Gay quickly blew through his final years in the NCAA before eventually managing to qualify for the USA Track Team prior to the 2008 Olympics. 

Yet it was in 2008 that things began to take on a hint of negativity for the then 25 year old. As he and now superstar sprinter Ussain Bolt raced onto the global stage, smashing records and pushing the limits on how fast a human being could possibly run, speculation arose, all centered around one word: doping. 

In the months leading up to that impending Beijing Olympics, a widely known scandal, now referred to in history as BLACO saw star sprinters like then American star Justin Gatlin and up and coming female middle distance rookie Marion Jones meaning that as the USADA struggled to maintain its reputation as a "clean sport", the likes of Tyson Gay came as a welcomed blessing. Nevertheless, there were still races to be ran and it was in those races that poor Gay well, hit a wall. Losing in all of his races to Ussain Bolt himself, the promise of a strong career by Gay was shattered by the terrible realization that Ussain Bolt was the fastest man on earth and Tyson Gay was well, not.  

Nevertheless, as reports surfaced last weekend, one might have reason to believe that Gay has been trying to change that and I don't mean training harder. According to Gay himself, he failed a drug test Saturday and among 4 other superstars including the name of former great Asafa Powell he has now plunged his sport into a flood of controversy. 

With the sport of biking now struggling to distance themselves from fallen all-time great Lance Armstrong, and the MLB now amidst this Biogeneses scandal that might very well end with the suspensions of Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, one must wonder: can a far less watched athletic endeavor in Track and Field survive the scrutiny of becoming yet another sport of cheaters?

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The Mount Rushmore of Boston sports: overall

Over the past few weeks, the NFL network has been compiling the "Mount Rushmores" of different teams, in reaction to that, I thought it would be fun to do a similar collection for different members of Boston's sports lore.

Overall:

1) Bobby Orr: Number 4 Bobby Orr, has long been in the running for the title of greatest NHL'er in the history of the game. He scored the greatest goal in league history and actually led the league in scoring back in both 1969 and 1974.

2) Tom Brady: In the minds of many across the NFL world he is THE greatest quarterback in the history of football and when he retires in 4 or 5 seasons, as much as Pats fans deny it, they will be hard pressed to see the kind of results he had given them with any other guy.

3) Ted Williams: Teddy Ballgame, Baseball’s greatest hitter, regardless of what you call him, Ted Samual Williams was without a doubt the best man to ever put on a Red Sox uniform.

4) Carl Yastemski: 23 years in the league, 1 team, 3,308 games and 3,419 hits in the majors all before he was forced to retire in 1983. Yas now has his name in the hall of fame and you know what very few Red Sox deserve that recognition as much as he does. 

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Tour De France heating up: TJ Vangarden ousted in final kilometers why Greg LeMond might go down as the last great american cyclist in history

France: they have no acclaimed football leagues, they have no internationally contending swimmers in the Olympics and frankly, even in Europe the French have no championship winning soccer teams. But nevertheless, come July ever summer, this western European country of 65,350,000 people captures the attention of the world with what has widely been dubbed "the most difficult major sporting event in the world". 

For 3 weeks every July, 178 of the greatest cyclists in the sport descend on France to compete in that coveted event. For 3 weeks they endure the pain of overworked muscles and brutal pavement as they unfortunately crash all in pursuit of the title of Tour De France Champion.  

Yet throughout history, a select few nations have exercised a willful dominance over all others as France Belgim and Spain have combined to win a total of 66 of the 99 races completed to date. France has won 36% of Tours yet the US on the other hand can only claim responsibility of 3 wins amounting to a mere 3.03% of races. 

But that isn't even the start of it. In those 36 French wins, 26 different riders have won the race while for the US, those 3 victories have all been won by the same outlying man: Greg LeMond.  

Born one June 26th, 1961, Greg LeMond began his cycling career at age 14 when he contacted then skiing star Wane Wong who recommended cycling as a primer cross-training method. Taking Wong's advice, LeMond quickly dominated and soon became the man to beat in his 13-15 year old intermediate category before he managed to move up to bigger and better competition 2 years before he was set to by switching out of the category and moving into the 16 to 19 year old category. 

2 years after that advancement into the "big leagues," and while still only 15 years old, LeMond finally clenched his first major cycling performance,  in 1977 when he finished second overall in that year’s Tour of Fresno. Yet while technically, he would "loose" that 70 mile race, when the night ended the 15 year old would actually go down as the day's big winner due to the fact that it was during that race that USA Cycling coach Eddie Borysewicz became intrigued by the pending star and requested that he join the nation's 1978 junior biking team and again in 1979, a competition that would give him a silver, bronze and gold medal in each of the 3 events he partook in. 

Yet much like his experience with the '77 Tour of Frenso, it was at the 1979 world championship that LeMond made a drastic step in his career. It was in that 1979 competition and more specifically in the coveted road race that gave him a gold that Greg LeMond went from being a "good biker" to being a "great biker". 

Fact is, just 1 year later, LeMond was named to the 1980 Olympic team but could not compete due to the State's boycott of that years games. Regardless of that as his patience began to run out, LeMond began to realize the probability of competing in the Tour De France. Going against the advice of his coach, LeMond decided to forgo the Olympic cycle and turned pro in the spring of 1981 but soon struggled against some of the sport's best breaking his collarbone in the first race of his sophomore season at least delaying his leap to superstardom. 

"At 400 meters to go you just don't put on your brakes, especially in the World Championships." LeMond said later as he looked to lessen the pain of his brutal crash. "But it really does suck."

Nevertheless with his time as a young rider coming to a close, LeMond took to the mountains of France in 1984 with the sole goal of finishing the Tour De France. When all ended, he had done what nobody had expected: he finished 3rd winning the young rider classification and earning himself a 1 million dollar deal to remain in the tour and compete for at least the next two years. 

"For me that really was the turning point [in my career]" LeMond said looking back on his performance that season.

Marching on, LeMond got even better in the ensuing '85 tour winning his first career Tour stage that season and finishing second overall in the 2000 mile competition. Yet for LeMond, 2nd was still not 1st but one year later, it would be as LeMond won just one stage but would in the end push his way towards becoming the first American in the history of the Tour, to win cycling's biggest race. 

Over the next 3 years, LeMond dominated winning back to back tours in 1989 and 90, snatching up 4 straight stages in 1989 before like he did in 1985 he just scraped by winning it all on zero stage victories and all by just 8 merger seconds. In 1990, he won a 2,000 mile race by just 8 seconds. 

Nevertheless, as he planned to defend his title, the effects of the shooting accident in 1987 finally caught up to LeMond as in 1994 he retired from the sport but immediately spoke out as he reminisced on his anger about the hunting accident that nearly killed him. 

 "I figure I had three months that went right for me after the hunting accident," three months in which he won the two Tours and a world road race championship. "The rest were just pure suffering, struggling, and fatigue, always tired." He said before going on to tell novelist Bryan Malessa that "I cannot rewrite history but I am convinced I could have won 5 tours." 

Now, 1 year ago, I would not have been able to say this but after Lance Armstrong was beaten down by the USADA earlier this year; Greg LeMond remains the ONLY American to ever win the Tour De France.

Yet while when you look through history, LeMond stands alone, after something that happened today, one has begun to realize that, 15 years from now, that still may be true. 

At just after 6 am eastern time, the 176 remaining bikers in this tour kicked out of the gate to commence what has widely been dubbed as the most difficult stage in the tour: the 107 mile double climb of the monstrous 6,000 foot tall Alpe D'Huez. 

First and foremost, it is important to understand really what even completing this stage involves.  For those 176 riders, they ride UP  a mountain equal in size to Mount Washington in New Hampshire  turn around and come back down, all before turning around once again and AGAIN climbing the mountain all while racing one another for the title of stage winner and moving at upwards of 25 miles an hour. 

So -- after immediately jumping out of the gates, several of the Tour's top riders hit walls early on leaving the door open for the only skillful American rider in the race: Tejay Van Guarderen. Nevertheless even Van Guareren ran in to trouble as during his decent of Alpe D'Huez a bout of tire troubles cost him some of the lead yet when leader Christophe Riblon marginally crashed a few miles later, Van Guardren exploded back into the race taking back the lead on the second climb of the race. 

Yet it was in the final 10k of the race that Van Guarderen's luck unfortunately ran out. As the race wound down many looked to Van Guarderen as the man who may finally become the first American to win a stage in the tour since Tyler Hamilton in 2003. He had a seven minute lead yet even as that dropped to 4 before continuing to fall as the American prodigy approached the 3 mile mark many believed he would in the end manage to hold a pressing Riblon out if the lead, long story short: he did not. 

Mere yards before the 1 kilometer to go mark in the race Riblon charged ahead ousting the American and causing a flood of heartbreak throughout any who saw that heartbreaking finish. 

Fact is, as football and basketball in the United States continues to grow, the talent pool that USA cycling can exploit to the fullest continues to shrink. 

Fact is as one watched Van Guarderen hang his head and laboriously climb the steps to his trailer, you had to wonder, if it is not will to win that is holding the United States team back, this fatal flaw that holds our nation back is simply that we do not have the ability to win a Tour De France. 

Now alright I will admit to playing devil’s advocate but when you think about it, the Tour De France is the premier event of a sport that statistically requires the physical ability of a person capable of running 21 marathons in 23 days. The Boston Marathon on the other hand is well one marathon in one day and while it, like the Tour is the most coveted competition of its kind, the Tour De France is by leaps and bounds more difficult than the marathon meaning that if an American has not managed to win Boston in 28 years, how might they manage to win an endurance event far superior than the coveted Boston Marathon? 

Fact is, the United States is one of the premier athletic countries on the face of the earth yet one thing it lacks is the extreme endurance capabilities of countless other nations. Fact is 1 year ago, the United States had won TEN tours but after we learned that in order to win 7 of those titles, America's finest needed to cheat, the terrible truth has finally come to a climax-- tens of years from now, Gregory James LeMond might likely remain the one and only great American cyclist in world history. 

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