Thoughts on Koji Uehara contract extention: Sox should be wary of thin line they are walking

November 2nd, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

Earlier this week the Red Sox managed to ink a two year 18 million dollar deal with their closer, Koji Uehara. Uehara who, especially in 2013, exhibited near hall of fame talent from his position, will likely end his career making $9 million a season. Needless to say, nine million dollars is a hefty price to pay for a player in his final professional seasons.  Whether or not it is a worthy price will be proven by Koji’s play throughout this contract.

Uehara has been in baseball for over two decades now. He came to the MLB having already amassed a particularly impressive career with Japan’s Yurimori Giants baseball team and soon did the same in America. He played three years with Baltimore and two seasons with Texas. During that span, Uehara was only given the role of closer once and rarely even made it into games.

With Boston, that all changed. Since he came to the team in the onslaught of transactions that preceded the 2013 season, he has made 47 saves and blown just 8. His ERA has averaged out at just about 1.8 while his ability to utterly humiliate batters has never been overlooked.

"You're really looking at a guy who has been one of the elite relievers in baseball for several years," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said.

But after all, Uehara also was at times shaky this season giving rise to the question; was 2013 just a fluke?

Furthermore when you compare Uehara’s deal to those of some of the MLB’s other top closers its values could worry some Sox fans.

For example, Tiger’s closer Joe Nathan was given a $20 million dollar contract before this past season. By the numbers his contract is similar to that of Uehara. However Nathan was handed the pay raise after a 43 save season in which he amassed an ERA of 1.39. Those numbers are not similar to those of Uehara.

The Sox appeared to have evaluated the play of Uehara intensively but it also appears that they may have not reached the best final decision. Very frankly, giving a 39 year old such a big money contract after he was admittedly “shaky” could very well hurt this team in the near future.

Koji Uehara is a very talented player but the Sox are showing some blatant inconsistencies in their personnel decisions. If they saw enough problems in their closer’s game to bench him than they should not then turn around and claim to see enough good things in his game to pay him such a big contract.

The Boston Red Sox are walking a dangerously thin line here.

Read More

2013 in 8 Days: A year of Leaders

Christmas has come and gone and New Years Day is just around the corner. As inspired by my 9 year old brother, during the 8 days spanning from Christmas morning to New Years morning "Go, Titletown" will add daily updates to an 8 part series remembering the highs, lows and all around heartwarming moments of 2013 in Boston Sports as well as a look ahead to what we might see in 2014. This is not a statistical analysis of these 298 professional sporting events that took place in Boston in 2013, this is a written rehashing and a reminder that we are the greatest sports town on the planet. 

Complete Schedule 

December 25th- A Year of Leaders

December 26th - Best Patriots Moments 

December 27th - Best Red Sox Moments

December 28th - Best Bruins Moments

December 29th - Top Plays 

December 30th - Top Games

December 31st - [To be determined] Is the Boston Athlete of 2013

January 1st - The Promise of 2014

- The Attacks

I stand 3 rows back from the curb of Boylston Avenue reveling in the contrast of mood that this piece of real-estate holds between the present moment and one lasting 12 seconds that occurred nearly 7 months earlier. 7 months ago, 3 lives ended while thousands were changed forever as the sounds, the shrapnel, and the gut wrenching sight of the human blood that stained those Boston sidewalks that afternoon broadcast to the world managed to bring tears to the eyes of the large majority of many an American. Within hours, the possibility of the twin explosions being accidental has been ruled out and as we stood in shock that evening we knew that terrorism had returned to this nation.

The Bruins game scheduled for that evening was cancelled as a result of the panic and "police activity" enveloping nearly the entire city and yet as the days went on and the thirst for justice harbored by many Bostonians, for the first time in years, sport was meaningless. Why, because just 4 days after the initial attacks, tragedy struck again. Late on the night of April 18th it was reported that men claiming to be the Marathon Bombers had carjacked Mercedes and then robbed its owner of 800$ via a withdrawal from a bank in nearby Watertown. Upon allowing the man to escape without suffering any physical harm he preceded to alert police officers of his recent ordeal all while the still on the loose bombers raced towards the borders of Boston. By then they had already gunned down a police officer at MIT and were soon confronted in a Watertown neighborhood by what was immediately identified as a full scale swat team.

Within minutes residents of the Laurel Avenue portion of Watertown were awakened to the sound of gunfire as within a span of just under 10 minutes the Tsarnaev brothers unloaded additional explosive devices and hundreds of rounds on the police officers who were making their attempts to bring them down.

To restate the words of any and all who heard or even saw the firefight that night, these men had one intent in mind: to kill anyone they came in contact with, and by extension terrorize as many human beings as possible. Once again, Boston was put into lock-down as governor Deval Patrick enacted a "shelter in place" order that encompassed 10 communities and effectively shut down all of Boston for the entire day. For all of 18 hours the entire nation stood still waiting for the hourly updates made by the Boston Police department and the eventual capture of the one brother who had escaped the shootout (Tamerlan Tsarnaev was suspected to have been run over by his brother and killed during the escape). Police enveloped Watertown in an unprecedented manhunt and yet we went on without any more information than the footage of the shootout, the names of the brothers and the desperate pleas of Tsarnaev family members.

"Give up. Give up." Djokhar's uncle said and yet, within hours of that plea being made public police finally found their man surrounding a blood stained boat in which the bomber was supposedly hiding. For the third time in less than a week, America stood tense as television broadcasts picked up the sounds of gunfire and sights of flash grenades being detonated in an attempt to stun Djokhar. They knew that taking their suspect alive was optimal but at the same time understood the imminent possibility that this man was armed and ready to go down with one final massacre. Luckily things would not have to come to that and at 8:42PM, the drama and fear turned to celebration. 

One bomber was dead and as for the other, he will likely be behind bars for the rest of his time on this planet. 

- This is our city

The imminent danger of death had passed as there was no longer a violent duo of psychopaths rampaging through our 90 square mile metropolis and yet while the sight of Djokhar being carted away from that blood stained boat caused us a brief time of relief as the stories, pictures and memories flooded back we began to grasp what had truly happened. 

Perhaps the strongest maytr like figure that came out of this all was deceased 8 year old boy, Martin Richards. He was just 8 years old and yet in the blink of an eye, he and his family who were standing just a few feet away from the second bomb blast were mutilated as his sister Jane lost a leg, his mother lost sight in her eye via the damage of a ball bearing while his father has lost most of his hearing. However to this day, the family is grieving not for their lost limbs or human senses but for their family member. Martin loved the Bruins to an obsession and frequently attended games with his father mainly for the reason that he loved sports altogether. 

In the wake of his death, those sports teams that he loved, loved him back grieving as much as anyone else while also speaking in their mind and reminding Bostonians of the true unifying power that sport can have on a people no matter how devastated they may be. That fandom was combined with yet another strong form of modern culture in the first major sporting event after the bombing. On April 17th the Watertown shootout had not even occurred but nevertheless, when legendary anthem singer, Rene Rancourt came onto the ice to sing the Star Spangled banner prior to the Bruins game against the Buffalo Sabers the 17,565 fans present that night cut him off. For 3 minutes they sang the long, drawling words of the United States' signature song and for all present and all watching the game on TV, it was beautiful. The aucapella anthem was a tradition that was carried on for 3 more home games before on the last day of the year, Rancourt took over again. But regardless of that, the magic had already sunk in and those few days in April were the beginning of the healing process for Bostonians.   

However, the Bruins were not the only team to save their city in the wake of the attacks. 

What the Boston Red Sox did this season was in a way far more magical than anything the Bruins did. When you watched games at Fenway there was this inherent feeling of will to succeed that radiated from every corner of the age old stadium. There was the 617 jersey that hung in the Boston dugout for the entire duration of the season after the bombing and yet that was not the most lasting aspect of the Red Sox leadership in tragedy.  

"This jersey that we're wearing today it doesn't say 'Red Sox.' It says, 'Boston.' We want to thank you for you, Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department, for the great job that they did this past week," Ortiz said during his now fabled pregame speech prior to the Sox first game after the Watertown Shootout "This is our f******city. And nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong" 

Less than 2 hours after that cry that I point out was responded to by the FCC as "a speech that was said from the heard" and "what all Bostoinans are thinking today", NESN play by play man, Don Orsillo made one of the signature calls of this 2013 season. As Stephan Drew belted a long home run into the Sox bullpen, the lovable voice echoed across the airwaves screaming "Boston! This one's for YOU!" 

-Triumph 

The World Series was fitting. 

A long, 6 game series that had both it's ups and downs resembled greatly 2013 as a whole as game 3's terrible ending on terms of an obstruction call seemed to be a low while the very next game involved the greatest hit of Johnny Gomes' career and ended with a bizarre, walk off pick off play at first base. Koji Uehara condensed a season of success into one final pitch that won it all while David Ortiz put up one of the greatest performances ever by a DH batting .760 in 16 World Series at bats.  

As Koji hurled that final pitch of that final out in that final game of this year's World Series, the celebration was for more than the trophy they had won. They were relieved, and genuinely proud of what they had brought their city. As captured by a home video in the Red Sox commemorative video "Band of Bearded Brothers," there was excitement in the air as people appreciated what the Red Sox had done. 

As David Ortiz grabbed his teammate, Koji Uehara and held him above his head he was raising not just 1 person but an entire city. David Ortiz eased the pain of what happened on April 15th and while we will never forget what happened that day the same can be said for the leadership that Boston sports have exhibited in this year of sports. 



Visual Accompaniment click here

Read More

NO I WANT TO WIN: A look back at when Bostonian competition gets a little heated

Professional freak-outs can be solicited by two underlying factors: failure or unthinkable sucsess. Boston sports often deal with the latter of those two reasons and it is the competition combined with those high expectations that make every play matter and when every play matters, there can sometimes be some disagreements.  

Below are 5 of the best "disagreements" in recent Boston history.

Note: A collection of phones, sticks and other various equipment were harmed in the makings of these videos.

2013 - The Phone

After a questionable strike call that eventually led to David Ortiz's striking out, the Red Sox DH completely lost it massacring a dugout phone before returning to the field to have a little chat with the home plate umpire. 

"Don't take my at bat away!" he said.



2011 - Tom Brady and Bill O'Brian go at it

After Tom Brady threw a weak interception in the end zone he was not exactly ready to shoulder all the blame. Upon returning to the bench, he and then Patriots offensive coordinator began to go at it with viscios anger. As the scuffle intensified O'Brian was soon forcibly removed from the situation by Bill Belicheck himself all while remaining heated for the better part of the next few minutes of the game.




2009 - Tuukka being Tuukka, Part 1

Throughout his career, it has been no secret that Tuukka Rask hates loosing in the shootout. Furthermore, it is a rare occasion when the stick Tuukka uses during such a loss escapes the ice unscathed. Following a March 2009 AHL game, the story was the same as a 21 year old Rask flipped out following 2 bad goal calls and the proceeded to smash his stick, assault the boards and then hurl a milk crate full of pucks back onto the ice. And yet, even through all this, Tuukka was just being Tuukka.



2013 - Koji slaps Shane Victorino

Koji Uehara is a character. He seeks very little English and weighs all but 195 points and yet the camaraderie he cultivates within his dugout is most nearly tangible. Sort of. Midway through the 2013 Red Sox season, Koji who had just closed out a close win for Boston came storming back into the dugout bent on delivering his patented high fives. Shane Victorino however was not ready but regardless of that, Koji was not waiting and so in an action that threw a rather surprised look onto the left fielders face he slapped him on the arm. Shane was back to normal mere seconds later smiling as Koji proceeded to high five some more prepared teammates.



 2013 - Tuukka Rask in angry Part 2

Frankly the on ice show, Tuukka put on mere days ago was not the reason this meltdown cracks the list of the top freak-outs in recent history. No, it was what was said when reporters tracked him down later on in the clubhouse that made you laugh.

"I don't f****g want it" Tuukka said when asked about the existence of the NHL shootout. "I'd gas it right away"

Furthermore, Claude Jullian finally acknowledged that Rask did evetually snap the stick he could no break during his on ice show.

“That’s his personality. He had a new stick in his hands today and I think he finally destroyed the other one after a few tries. I’m just doing the same thing as you guys; I’m laughing it off. It’s just a frustrated goaltender that really takes a lot of pride in winning games. No matter what he does, if he feels he didn’t pull his load, he’s going to be like that.”

Read More

Red Sox ALDS recap: Positives and Negatives from Boston's 3-1 series win over Tampa Bay

It is a scene that had taken place twice in the 19 days. A collection of men wearing Red Sox jerseys storming the field and hugging the man who had played an intricate role in this season of redemption and glorious wins that has been 2013. They flooded onto the field hugging Koji Uehara and celebrating Boston's first ALCS berth in 5 seasons. Now while we still do not know who the Sox will face, you can get a good idea for at least some of how this coming series will play out by looking back at what DID happen against the Rays.

Below is a brief look at the positives negatives and the main story-lines of Boston's 3-1 ALDS victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.


David Ortiz Powering Onward - Papi causes distraction for Rays


 Through 4 games in this postseason, David Ortiz is batting .385 with 5 hits and 5 walks in 18 at bats. He has ripped up 3 RBI's and scored 4 times. 2 homers later, David Ortiz turned out to be a driving force in this series and even caused a huge distraction for the entire Rays team.                                                              

 After David Ortiz crushed his second of two homers in Boston's 7-4 Game Two victory at Fenway, reigning AL Cy Yong winner: David Price took to twitter and expressed his displeasure at what he called 'Ortiz' lack of sportsmanship'. Over the brief span that was the next 3 or 4 hours, Price bombarded Twitter with 7 appalling tweets in which he took to stating his resemue in the harshest of ways, "Better question is why do you follow me?? RT @theReal_JonJon: @DAVIDprice14why do you cry and complain about PAPI when he takes you yard?" He said in reaction to a tweet made by a Boston fan.

Price then continued his rant by verbally assaulting TBS commentators: Dirk Hayurst and Tom Verducci. "Dirk Hayhurst…COULDNT hack it…Tom Verducci wasn't even a water boy in high school…but yet they can still bash a player…SAVE IT NERDS" 

Ortiz of course saw this and would eventually solicit a public apology by Price. 

"Last night got out of hand and I apologize for the things that I said on here. … if I offended you I am very sorry for doing so."

Price would not pitch again in the ALDS but Ortiz did continue to play and would accumulate 2 more hits, an RBI and 3 walks before the series concluded. 

But as good as Papi has been, the Sox DH downplayed all praise as much a possible. 

"We have pretty much everybody getting things done," Ortiz said. "It's not just one or two guys. This team has been winning games as a group. We have a lot of teams coming in [saying], 'Oh, don't let Big Papi beat you.' But this ain't all about Big Papi. It's about everybody."

Koji Uehara Shakes off Walk-off Homer and Pitches Well When he is Needed

For Koji Uehara, so much about game 4 of the ALDS was almost identical to the game that clenched Boston's spot as winner of the AL East. On that late September night, Koji was forced to close out a game that still had 6 outs to go. Yet Koji did just what was asked of him recording 6 quick outs and striking out Jed Lawrie to win the East. 

But not all of this series was good for Uehara

With the Red Sox 1 out and 1 strike away from winning game 3 and completing a sweep of the Rays, Uehara left a pitch over the plate and watched in dismay as he allowed just his 6th home run of the season and his 1st since June 30th. The Rays would walk off with the win and questions soon arose surrounding the Boston closer who had been better than any other this season. 

“I mean, he’s human,” reminded catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. “You guys got to remember he is a human being and things are going to happen. The good thing is he’s able to bounce back. He’s done it all year long. I don’t expect anything different.”

Bounce back he would as just 1 day later he once again came into crucial game all with more than 3 outs to go. With Boston 1 win away from beating the Rays and winning the ALDS, the pressure was on but much like his performance in September, Koji struck out 2 batters, the second K being the one that put Boston into the ALCS.  

There is no doubt about it, Koji Uehara's Game 3 was not of the sort we had come to expect after he retired 37 straight batters back in July, August and September but he would gain redemption in game 4 getting back to basics and doing what so many contemporary pitchers forget to do in this modern MLB. Throw strike 3. 

Red Sox successful in blasting top pitchers 

Through the first two games of this ALDS, the Boston Red Sox bashed 19 runs against Matt More and David Price respectively. 

Those 2 pitchers combined for 27 wins in the 2013 season while allowing a combined ERA of 3.31 in 54 starts. But among the 26 runs they would latter accrue, not all of them came in the most traditional of ways. There were sac flys, sinking line drives but above all, a rather strange score that came off of a wild pitch back in game 4. 

"That's what our team is built on," said Dustin Pedroia when he was asked about that specific score. "We're going to find a way to beat you a thousand different ways. Tonight it was a wild pitch and an infield hit and [Shane Victorino] is flying down the line."

Looking ahead, the looming possibility of the Sox being forced to play the Tigers with Max Schurzer and Justin Verlander in the ALCS their proficiency in scoring against good pitching is truly comferting.

Read More

Sox take ownership: Boston beats Toronto 6-3 - clench AL East pennant

From worst to first.  It's a phrase that has been thrown around time and time again but what’s better is the fact that among all the 3 page articles, all the hours of talk show time devoted to the subject it is that 4 word saying that might capture the story of this 2013 better than any other. In one season the Boston Red Sox went from that pathetic team that was making the cover of SI for all the wrong reasons to one that had made history. 

At 10:30 PM last night, Koji Uehara fanned Bret Lawrie recording the 3rd out of the 9th inning, and completing run that had never been made in the history of Red Sox baseball. They had officially gone from last in the east in one year to first in the next. 

They won 6-3 over the Blue Jays last night snagging their 94th victory one night after their 2013 season win totals equaled those in the 2012 loss column. John Farrell became only the 7th Red Sox manager to lead his team to the playoffs in his first year and Jon Lester earned the win in this one. That win was the 100th in his career. 

"They have a great team over there, they really do," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "They ran away with a good division. It's not even close right now."

Lester hurled 7 innings of 5 hit ball allowing just 1 run and 2 walks. Of course, it was win number 100 in his career but also his 15th on the year. This was his 5th 15 win year in the past 6 seasons. 

"The biggest thing is," Lester began to say before Andrew Bailey emptied a bottle of champagne on his face, "God, that's cold. We don't give up." 

"I wanted to finish the game, but obviously that didn't work out," Lester said. "I've never been able to be on the mound in a game like this. To be there in the end and have everybody dogpile you; I'm a little disappointed I only went seven." 

Unlike Lackey who hurled a minuscule 113 pitches in the near no hit complete game 2 nights ago, Lester had already thrown 123 pitched by the end of the 7th inning so his day was without a doubt done. The reason for that high pitch count was the sheer drama that the Jays invoked almost all night long. From the 1st to the 9th inning it seemed that the bases were always loaded for Toronto but riding an equally omnipresent storm of double plays Lester always seemed to find a way out of the jam. The only problem there was the fact that among the 7 innings he pitched, 5 of them involved more than 20 pitches for Lester. 

"These guys are unbelievable," Nieves said of Lester and the pitching staff. "They have seen death in their own eyes. It's no big deal now. It's no big deal. I think when you've seen the worst, you expect the best after that."

The Sox would add 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning as David Ortiz tacked on a 1 run 0 out single that scored Jackie Bradley Jr. and moved Daniel Nava to 2nd. 1 batter later after Mike Napoli grounded into a 4-1-3 double play, Mike Carp smacked up a screaming 2 run single that scored both Nava and David Ortiz. 

Before long, Koji Uehara was into the game starring down the barrel of what would go down as his largest save of the year. Before long, those 5 outs had been notched, the Sox were AL East champions and as they mobbed each-other just to the right of 3rd base, Fenway roared as they watched a scene 4 years in the making. 

Just proud of this group," Sox GM: Ben Cherrington said as he wore a tee shirt bearing the words "WE OWN THE EAST" across the chest. "But we're not done; we're going to keep playing." 

They sprinted back to their locker room, proudly wherein the shirts that they subliminally wanted to advertise. They donned their ski goggles to keep the nearly explosive wine out of their eyes jumped around and celebrated for a while all before they returned to the field. There, Koji jumped atop the dugout roof and high five-d fans. Clay Buchholz ran along the foul lines dousing fans in campaign and Johnny Gomes stood by 1st base and punted 5 to 10 beers into the crowd. 

Amidst a celebration 4 years in the making, we hooted with laughter jumping for joy and realizing the pennant win nearly 6 years in the making. With just under 10 games left in the season, the Boston Red Sox have 94 wins. They have flipped the tide from just one year ago and the greatest part of this all is that there is still time for the Sox to snag number 100. 

Read More

You mean to tell me that there is a wall in the outfield?! A quick look at Bostons historic offensive streak

The Red Sox have won 5 straight games. That is their longest streak in almost 2 months. But when you quickly scan the headlines, the stories that have recently been written about this team have not simply been speaking of the sheer fact that the Sox have achieved this feat. No, for the past week or so Red Sox fans have spent more time out of their seats than they have in it. 

Why? Because in the last 4 of these mega wins, Boston hitting has combined for 54 runs. 

In 5 games they have ripped apart the Tigers, and Yankees respectively breaking down records, setting milestones and making our throats burn from celebrating. They have upped their chance of making the playoffs to 99.9% and seem to have the division on lock-down. With a 9 and a half game lead on the Rays in the pennant race, one would think that the Sox have been playing like this all year long but in truth all this success started only a mere 4 days ago in Fenway. 

In what could easily be dubbed the game of the year, the Red Sox took it to the Detroit Tigers in the rubber match of their 3 game set that could possibly turn out to be an ALCS preview. They notched 19 hits, ripping 20 runs, 8 long balls all with the 2000th hit of David Ortiz mixed in there. The 20 run output was their largest of the season. 

"It was one of those days," said Daniel Nava, who was one of the Red Sox players to hit a home run. "I think we know we're a good team and they're a good team, too. But everything fell. Balls that may have stayed in the park didn't stay in the park." 

Of those 8 homers, David Ortiz was responsible for 2 of them. Both of them went straight out to center and right field. 

"The Green Monster's one thing," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "But right field, you normally don't see them going out like that. But they were going out like ping-pong balls."

As for Ortiz's 2000th hit, it didn't miss a homer by much as it violently carried off the center field wall without hitting the ground. 

"Great to see the reception and the ovation that he received, and rightly so," John Farrell said. 

It was spectacular to see what the Sox did on Wednesday night but what is even more impressive is the fact that one night later they put up a similarly impressive 9 runs against a surging Yankees pitching staff. Will Middlebrooks rammed his second homer in as many days as Shane Victorino crushed a powerful dingier of his own to raise Boston's 2 game long ball total to 10. Boston scored 3 runs in the 3rd 4th and 5th innings before erasing a 6 run 7th inning by the Yankees on their way to winning 9-8 in 10 innings. 

"It is," said Drew. "We had to come back. It's one of those things. They battled back, put some good ABs together. Timely hitting just like we did at the start of the game. It was a battle. It was a big game for us to win. It definitely would have hurt us. We're up 7-2 I think, 7-3, somewhere in there. It's a good feeling to get this win." 

But even there, the onslaught was not complete as in game two of this Yankees sires, the Sox returned to double digit scoring with a 12-8 win. Middlebrooks homered in his 3rd straight game while Victorino and Mike Napoli crushed homers of their own to vanquish the Yanks and hand starter Andy Pettite the loss. In addition, that victory put Koji Uehara's perfect streak at 24 straight batters retired. But when you look at this win, the best part about it was Mike Napoli's game tying grand slam in the 7th inning. 

With his team down 4 as the game began to dwindle, Mike Napoli came to the plate looking for his 3rd slam of the year. Fighting deep into the count, Napoli found a pitch he liked and drove a spike in the Yankees homes tying the game and setting the stage for Victorino to tie the contest 1 inning later. 

"We were down five runs in the seventh inning," Napoli said. "To come back on this stage, and they're fighting [for a postseason berth], it's a big series. Every game for us is big for us. To come back to tie the game, it was a big moment in the game." 

By this point the Sox had compiled 50 hits in 3 games as well as hitting 13 homers in that span. The Sox were on fire and while the Yankees knew that a metaphorical bucket of water would be helpful, they didn't get it before the Sox took it to them again on Saturday afternoon. As they looked for the win in the series, Boston clubbed 3 more homers 13 additional runs and 14 more hits as the Sox mopped up their rivals for the 3rd straight day. 

---- Read about Boston's 13-9 victory here ----

Just think about it for a second. 54 runs, 64 hits, 16 home runs and 5 consecutive victories. In this span Boston has averaged 13.5 runs, 16 hits and 4 home runs per game. That is good enough to be officially dubbed the most explosive 4 game offensive stretch in Red Sox history. 

Boston leads the majors in run scored with 754 and has recently distanced themselves from 2nd place team Detroit who now has just 726. Also, as if to further credit this spectacular stretch, the lowly Houston Astros have scored just 31 runs (23 fewer than the Sox) in their last TEN games. 

It is spectacular what Boston has done, hitting more RBI's in this span than any-other MLB team this season or any-other Red Sox team in their 105 year history. It is crazy but in truth when you look at the names on this team as well as the collection of numbers that they have put forth now is the time that it finally begins to dawn on you. Wins like these are the kind that turns teams from being run of the mill "contenders" to being a full-fledged World Series favorite...and the Boston Red Sox are no different. 

Read More

Koji Uehara making Ben Cherrington look like Albert Einstein: Why Koji Uehara's off-season signing may have been smarter than anyother

One man completely revolutionized the field of theoretical physics, the other discovered Koji Uehara.

After he was instated as Red Sox manager back in October of 2011, Ben Cherinton has been right on the mark in the 2 years since and has dominantly made a case to become GM of the year in 2013. He signed Shane Victorino, signed Johnny Gomes, and signed David Ross. Those are all good moves. He traded for Jake Peavy and took his time before calling up Xander Bogaerts from AAA Pawtuket. So still nothing bad.

"It starts with Ben," John Farrell admitted. "There was a clear vision on his part to go out and bring in talented players that had strong teammate reputations. They love to work. They love to compete. Day by day, it's been a turnaround, but there's a long way to go."

But then you look to the bull pen. Standing as one of the few blemishes in a season of great moves, Joel Hanrahan came to Boston holding great promise among Red Sox nation. Here was a 6 year vet and a man who just 2 years ago had recorded 40 saves. Was he the answer to a Red Sox bull pen that had struggled to consistently preform in 2012? No, and when Hanrahan went down following a May 6th injury neither was the man who came to replace him.  Following Hanrahan, Andrew Bailey became Boston's closer where he would go on to blow an astronomical 4 saves while only completing 8. He was eventually removed from the position following 3 straight blown saves from June 18th to June 20th.  

So with the top 2 guys on the Boston closer depth chart now down the drain, Farrell in collaboration with Ben Cherrington turned to a man not previously known as a superstar. That man's name was Koji Uehara. 

Once a 10 year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, Uehara came to the MLB following the 2008 NPB season and made his debut on April 8th 2009 for the Baltimore Orioles. He actually started games that year but after only 2 wins and a bucket of no decisions he was moved to the position of closer before the 2010 season. He would play better in 2010 but by 2011 he was out of Baltimore heading to Texas in exchange for Chris Davis who went to the Orioles. 

No when you look at the 2013 numbers that seemed to be a fair trade. Davis has been piling up the hits and homers in Baltimore and Koji Uehara has been doing the opposite as a pitcher. The only problem was that all mighty Ben Cherrington somehow managed to snatch Koji out of the grips of Texas and bring him to Boston. 

So there you have it, whether he knew it or not, Ben Cherrington pulled off one of his greatest moves when nobody was looking and since Koji was named closer he has been on fire proving that his manager was right after all and that the Rangers were well foolish for letting Koji go. 

"Above and beyond what we've talked about with the consistency of strikes, I've come away from a lot of games in which he's closed out thinking almost that he has a sixth sense on the mound," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Which pitch to throw and which location, almost a feel for what the hitter at the time is looking for. He's very calm. Regardless of the role we've had him in this year, we've seen the consistency start to finish and he has saved our tail end all year long." 

Koji Uehara has not blown a save since July 6th which also happens to be the last time he allowed a run. Since that situation Koji has allowed just 6 hits retiring each of the last 17 batters he has faced. 

"He's a great pitcher," Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He throws a lot of strikes and keeps guys off balance. That split does three different things at times, so you can't really be ready for it. I've seen guys that look like they're pretty much sitting on it and it just does something different. He knows how to manipulate it and it's fun to catch."

As a fan of the Red Sox while it would be near criminal to discredit what Koji Uehara has accomplished in this season one cannot help but wonder. Is Ben Cherington the man who deserves the most praise? 

You can answer that question as you wish but in a slice of indisputable fact, the spectacular run of this 2013 Red Sox teams has largely been made possibly by the sheer genius of Ben Cherrington. 

Read More