Bay Returns To Nightmare Status

Posted by Adam Hart August 13, 2009 at 7:14 am

Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay reached base all five times he stepped to the plate on Thursday night, a sign that he has started to come out of a month-long funk. He is, again, a pitcher’s worst nightmare. Read more

Bruins Much?

Posted by Adam Hart July 30, 2009 at 6:37 am

I’ve got that deja vu thing going on. Because listening to Jason Bay scramble for a reason behind the Sox post-break slump sounds like Boston Bruins circa 2009. Read more

Step Into The Batter’s Box

Posted by Adam Hart July 8, 2009 at 7:02 am

Ever wonder what perpetuates a slump? Jason Bay gives a batter’s eye view of a hitter who isn’t hitting. Read more

Bay : Free Agency :: Expensive Stock : Stock Market

Posted by Adam Hart June 29, 2009 at 1:03 am

Great analogy, right? Read more

Tough One to Take

Posted by Mike Giardi September 10, 2008 at 8:33 am

I assume you’re like me; you hate being kicked when you’re down. Last night, that was quite a beating. Sox up 4-3, riding the emotional wave of Jason Bay’s big bop, and with “The Closer” coming onto the field. It was O-V-A, over, and someone once said, and the Sox were back in first-place, back where they belong.

Then Dan Johnson, who’s really a 4-A player, takes Jonathan Papelbon deep and gone to rightfield?!? Wait, let me adjust my television set. There’s gotta be something wrong with the flat screen. Nope. Ballgame tied at 4. Okay, no biggie. Pap will get out of the rest of the inning unscathed, and then the Sox will walkoff with a win. Oh yeah, except for the fact that Mister Reliable proved to be anything but last night, giving a one-out double to Fernando Perez then another two-bagger to the next hitter, All-Star Dioner Navarro. Rays up 5-4, and that’s how it would end, although not before a little more drama; Jacoby Ellsbury pinch-running for Mark Kotsay, stealing second then taking third on Navarro’s bad throw. But with two outs, and a chance to force extra frames, the red-hot Covelli Crisp flied to right and the Sox had lost their shot at first-place and given the Rays some new life, back atop the Division by 1.5 games.

A back-breaker? Nah, not even close with over three weeks left in the season. But I’m quite convinced  that had the Sox won last night, they wouldn’t have relinquished that A.L. East lead. Call it momentum, or better yet, call it what it is: they are better than the Rays. Instead, Tampa’s finally won a game at Fenway this season, and who knows what that does for their confidence going forward. Yes, it was a lost opportunity for Boston, but there be other chances , including three in the Sunshine state later this week.

Bay Goes Boom

Posted by Mike Giardi September 9, 2008 at 10:28 pm

Okay, it wasn’t quite Carlton Fisk in the ‘75 Series, or even J.D. Drew going granny on us in the A.L.C.S., but the new guy, Jason Bay, continues to open eyes with how easily he’s transitioned into Boston and into a force in that lineup. His one-on, two-out home run tonight puts the Sox up 4-3 in the 8th. If they can hang on, they’re back in first place for the first time in a mighty long time (did I offend the grammar police with that sentence?).

Bay’s driven in 35 with the Sox, scored 30 and launched seven bombs. Yes, Manny’s numbers are better in L.A., but based on how badly he was tanking it here at various points this season, there’s no doubt in my mind the Sox would not be in the position. They are all but assured of a postseason spot as the Wild Card, and now perhaps as the A.L. East winner. Jason Bay has a lot to do with that. I repeat, a lot.

Out with the boy, in with an adult

Posted by Ted McEnroe August 1, 2008 at 5:02 pm

The jury may be out on just how lopsided the Manny Ramirez for Jason Bay deal was from a pure talent standpoint (Mike Giardi and I can differ on that – we’ll miss Moss a little, Hansen not much at all in my opinion), but there’s no denying the sense of relief inside the Red Sox clubhouse.

Terry Francona looked positively giddy compared to the Tito we have seen in recent weeks – as he tried to defend a player his team had lost respect for.

And as for Bay – love the guy. First two words to the media? “Fire away.” And it turns out Bay has quietly been a member of the Red Sox Nation of the Allegheny (if there is such an organization). Back home in British Columbia growing up, his dad put him in a Red Sox onesie, and he hung posters of Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice in his bedroom growing up. He says he loved the atmosphere at Fenway when he was visiting as a Pirate, and praised Red Sox Nation up and down.

In short, he did more to build a relationship with the community in 9 minutes and 15 seconds than Manny Ramirez had done in the last three years.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not really a Manny-basher. He was and is a big kid out there. Sometimes, you couldn’t help but be charmed by his antics and his genuine love for the game. Other times, though, he was a spoiled child, who needed a timeout or to be grounded — not an option when you’re the $20 million man in a playoff race.

This much is for certain – stats aside, the Red Sox sent a child off to Hollywood yesterday.

They got back a man.

Here’s the man meeting the media:

Still Feels the Same

Posted by Mike Giardi August 1, 2008 at 8:07 am

So I’ve had a night to sleep on what the Sox did late yesterday afternoon. And my gut feeling now is the same as then: Theo had to do it, but boy, this deal sure reeks of desperation and looks not lopsided, but at least heavily listing in the Dodgers and Pirates favor.

At what point during all of this did you think the Sox would have to include two Major Leaguers (Hansen and Moss), and two draft picks that would have been in the top 40 (when the Sox offered Manny arbitration at the end of the season) and the 7 million dollars all to make sure Manny wasn’t in that clubhouse this afternoon?

You keep hearing addition by subtraction, and having been in that locker room this last week, there’s no question there’s validity to that comment. But now there are no more excuses, except for that inconsistent bullpen. The onus shifts directly onto the players, their manager, and – if this goes poorly – GM Theo Epstein and the ownership that green-lighted such a move. Not a comfortable spot to be in, especially in this ravenous region, but that’s why they get paid the big bucks. As I wrote sometime in the last 36 hours, this is another career-making trade for Theo, and despite the discontent with Manny over these last two months, fans and some in the media will write revisionist history should the season continue to go south.

Me, I continue to believe that the Sox may not be as talented an offensive team as they were the last time Francona wrote out the lineup card, but at least the clubhouse won’t have that festering stench caused by the sullen slugger. That could be huge, mentally, going forward. No more wondering if Manny will ask out of the lineup, or, like he did last Friday, ask to go on the DL with knees that checked out a-okay. No more having to look the other way when he jakes it down the first base line on a ground ball, like he did during Lackey’s near no-no. That almost caused both Dustin Pedroia and Terry Francona’s heads to simultaneously implode.

But the flip side is losing one of the best hitters in franchise – in baseball – history. Jason Bay can’t replace that, can he? Bay and Manny’s numbers are comparable, but until we see how the former Buc responds in this atmosphere, we still can’t answer the question: just how desperate was this deal?

Factoid: Bay vs Manny

Posted by Ted McEnroe July 31, 2008 at 6:24 pm

Since Opening Day 2006:

Jason Bay – 78 HR, 257 RBI, 22 SB, 251 runs, .271 BA
Manny – 75 HR, 258 RBI, 1 SB, 229 runs, .305 BA

Doesn’t look so bad…

Collins: Many reasons for Bay-for-Manny

Posted by Chris Collins July 31, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Addition by subtraction. Grabbing a guy so your rivals can’t get him. There’s a lot more to the Jason Bay trade than just stats. Chris Collins breaks it down.

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