Last night might not have been the smoothest game ever played, but man, it’s fun to watch those wild and wooly slugfests. Anyway, my favorite part about last night was JD’s line: three-for-four, an impressive solo homer, and a ten-pitch walk. I’m not entirely sure why I’m rooting so hard for him — after all, it’s not like a guy with a $70 million contract needs my sympathy — but I am. His recent clutch-failings notwithstanding, Drew’s September has looked much more like what the Sox brass (presumably) expected when they signed him to a five-year deal: a .296 average, a .432 OBP, a .519 slugging percentage, and a .951 OPS. You wouldn’t be crazy to look at his year-long stats (.259, .362, .393, .755) and view the last nine games as an anomaly; in fact, they’re more representative of a schizophrenic season: mediocre April, horrible May, fantastic June (.305, .404, .558, .962), shitty July. Thus far, September is the first month in which Drew is threatening to put up back-to-back appealing stats (August line: .289, .366, .422, .888). He’s done so pretty much under the radar, due to any number of factors, including but not limited to Manny’s absence, Ellsbury’s explosion, DP’s ROY push, Dice-K’s meltdown, the Yankees’ surge…well, you get the idea. Another thing about JD that’s gone (mostly) unnoticed is his defense — along with Crisp, he makes up the best right-center Red Sox defensive combo since, well, since Lynn-Dewey in the late ’70s.
If JD keeps up any facsimile of his recent performance, and if Manny isn’t checked out when he returns, the Sox are going to have an enviable outfield rotation, with three offensive forces (Man-Ram, JDD, and Jacoby), three good-to-great defensive players (Jacoby, Coco, JDD), two speed threats on the basepaths (Coco, Jacoby), and one complete enigma (Man-Ram)…
Since making the playoffs is the goal, first and foremost, for every team, shouldn’t we acknowledge that the Red Sox’ magic number is merely 8 right now, and that they can clinch a playoff spot as early as Sunday? Even if they get swept by the Yankees, they can clinch a spot Tuesday. Like every Sox fan, I want them to win the division and even secure home field advantage, if possible, but I would hate to see the major accomplishment of capturing a playoff spot go uncelebrated because the media’s obsession with the Yankees takes precedence.
We have to root for JD because he’s our #5 hitter for the next 5 years. I think last night was a turning point and we’ll be seeing more of that into October. The 10 pitch at-bat was quite nice (although I was afraid he missed a couple of grooved fastballs) and it paid off when he hit the dinger the next inning (and tired out the pitcher for Youkilis shot). He’s clearly a high quality hitter and next year will be a lot more comfortable with AL pitching.
And let’s not forget that his young son has had some pretty serious health problems this year, which has likely sapped some of his energy.
If Coco does not win the Gold Glove (as A Gonz should have won it last year), the process is a sham.
Seth, I like many am also trying to find a reason to like JD yet it’s not happening. I don’t know what the number is, but what’s his average with RISP? I feel like it’s .100-.200. How many times has he hit into an inning ending double play or been the final out with RISP? Far too many is the correct answer. We’ve been teased by him all season with one nice game here or two there, but until he puts a week of this up I can’t even consider thinking he’s finally coming around.
Cursed, I’m not feeling an obsession with the Yankees. It’s an obsession with the second place team who happens to be the Yankees. It would be an obsession with Toronto if they were 5 back. I hate this “let’s just make the playoffs” attitude. Winning your division, when you are a dominant team at home is a big deal and these guys should be fighting to ensure that happens. If it all ended today we’d have home field throughout and the Yankees would be traveling to Anaheim which is their worst case scenario, because I don’t think they can beat the Angels. So let them beat each other up while we get the offensively challenged Indians who also are still not playing to sell outs even though they have all but locked the Central.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the magic number as of 9/11 is 13, not 8. Is there another source that differs?
Magic number for making the playoofs versus winning the division? Just guessing…
I’m sorry CursedNoMore,
But anything less than an AL East 1st place finish will be a disappointment for me.
After being the BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL with the BEST RECORD in the major leagues all season. This team needs to finish strong, take the AL East title and rev up for the playoffs!
Playoffs vs Division: the only reason to care is the media obsession with “Yankees erase 14.5 game deficit” story. Actually, all that story tells us is that they had all their bad breaks at once, and all their good breaks together on the way back… and otherwise, the two teams have been vaguely similar over the course of the year. But nobody will ever, ever say that on TV.
The thing to care about are the matchups. We either get Cleveland or LAA; am thinking Cleveland is a better matchup but I’m not sure there’s much difference. Especially if we finish first and make LA hoof it to Boston for the openers.
.388+.422=.788, not .888.
His August sucked. His year sucked no matter how you want to split it.
Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek have higher SLG%.
i think .388+.422= .788 not .788 or .888 but .366+.422 does = .788 which is not a very good OPS. I would still take that over the .625 OPS he put up in July. Also for the knocks Drew gets about grounding into double plays he is fifth on the team. Ahead of him? Manny, Lowell, Ortiz and Coco. 3 of those 4 are the best hitters on the team. I agree Drew needs some support.
.388+.422=.810, not .888 and not .788. .366+.422 does =.788 which is Drew’s not so hot OPS for August. It is better than the .625 OPS he put up in July. For all the knocks on Drew’s GDP he is fifth on the team. Before him? Manny, Lowell, Ortiz and Coco. Three of four are the best hitters on the team. I agree Drew needs our support down the stretch…This is a team that is going to win the AL East for the first time in a long time. All the players need to be cheered for because they are all part in how we got here.
sorry for the double post. it didnt show up right away so i reposted