“Mandatory work breaks,” the return of Brian Daubach, and the Cape Cod League
Welcome to the second edition of the Red Sox Insider Blog!
By the way, I’m thinking the blog needs a more creative name than that…it sounds a little too formal and stuffy for what it really is. What do you think? Please drop your suggestions in the comments section of the blog.
Anywho…here’s what’s putting dents in the Green Monster this week…
First of all, I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but everybody here in the Front Office has been asked to take a “mandatory break” from work today to submit their maximum 25 All-Star ballots online, so I think it’s the least I could do to make a plea for all of you to join us in trying to get our favorite Sox into the All-Star Game. Who’s with me??
If any of you were around Fenway Park recently, you may have recognized a familiar face. That’s because our good friend Brian Daubach (left) was back in Boston, catching a few Sox games as a fan, and signing autographs for fans at “Autograph Alley” inside Fenway Park. He also apparently managed to make some time to find a new job. Congrats to Brian on his new postion as hitting coach with the Nashua Pride. Brian joins former Red Sox Rick Miller (manager), and none other than, “El Guapo,” Rich Garces (who is also a coach for the Pride).
I hope those of you who caught last week’s episode of the Red Sox Report enjoyed all the behind the scenes footage from the “Blame it on the Rain” video shoot. Like I said, I was there for the shoot, and watching it take place has to rank as one of my top 10 experiences working here. Pure hilarity.
If you did watch it, please comment below and let me know what you thought of it.
This week’s episode of the Red Sox Report should be an instant classic as well. The whole episode is dedicated to taking an inside look at the infamous “Cape Cod League.”
For those of you who don’t know what the Cape Cod League is, I would DEFINITELY recommend checking it out. Before they were stars, Sox players like Jason Varitek and Justin Masterson (right) honed their skills in this league. Even if you already know a bit about the Cape Cod League, it’s still definitely worth watching. Filming for this episode began a year ago at this time, so suffice to say, a lot of effort and thought has gone into this show. I actually got a brief preview earlier this week, and I can’t wait to watch it in its entirety.
And as I mentioned last week, if you live out of market, or just don’t have NESN, and you’d like to watch the Red Sox Report, you can catch all of the episodes, at your convenience when you sign up to become a citizen of Red Sox Nation. Honestly, it only costs like 15 bucks for the year. In my opinion being able to view episodes of the Red Sox Report online every week is worth that alone, nevermind all the other benefits. And no, I don’t get a cut from every new citizen of Red Sox Nation, I just have a soft spot for the work our incredibly talented video production department does. But in case you are interested in signing up and getting to watch all these episodes, you can do so here.
Anyhow, a Red Sox exec (who will go unnamed) just came by to ask if I had finished submitting my All Star ballots yet (which I haven’t), so I should get going. But before I go, I want to put this question out there for you all to debate below: Who is the Red Sox first-half MVP? Here are the stats for your convenience. As one of my favorite SNL characters would say, “Discuss amongst yourselves…”
I look forward to seeing the discussion!
“The Voice”
PS – For any of you who might have been curious, it’s my sad duty to report that the gummi bears in the Front Office break room have been replaced with Animal Crackers…
Red Sox Insider Blog 
Thanks. I already voted at least 25 times (I know ’cause they won’t let me vote anymore!) bu I forwarded the reminder to my wife.
BTW Any scoop on when the appointed RSN governors will be announced? Just wondering!!
My question this week is : what is tag cloud?
O.k., this is off topic for this post, but seriously – if you are in the Red Sox Front office – do you have access to Theo – and if so can you ask him – WTF? HOW can Francona keep playing Julio Lugo?!?! Lugo can’t play! I saw that Jeff Francoeur of the Atlanta Braves has been demoted to the minors. THIS is what needs to happen to Julio Lugo! HOW could Francona let Lugo pinch hit with the bases loaded, two outs in the 9th at Yankee Stadium?? I would have rather seen any other Red Sox player head out to shortstop in the bottom of the 9th to avoid seeing Lugo come to the plate. Nope. Do not care if whoever had to play shortstop in the bottom of the 9th had never played the position in his life. ANYTHING would have been better than letting Lugo up to bat.
Up until recently, I have been a Francona fan. But Francona is proving that he really has nothing to do with the Red Sox winning and showing why when he had a mediocre team (the Phillies), he was a mediocre coach.
Start Alex Cora!!!!! Every. Single. Game.
This is off topic also, but get rid of Okijima! He hurts the team. Why use him?
To The Voice,
Your blog is doing well. How about” Voice of Red Sox ” for the name of the blog. It is plain and simple.
My choice for the first half is Pedroia for his hitting and defense and Elsbury for his speed, defense and heart.
The Teacher
Aha….. being a chick myself, and one who writes – I am going to guess that “The Voice” is a “Ms. Voice”. 😉
Just guessing.
Any how… I did my voting. 🙂
AND…very cool about Brian Daubach! A friend of mine has a friend on the Pride and we were talking about trying to catch a game, so it would be great to see him in the duggout. 🙂
Oh and for the record….gummi bears are way more fun to eat than animal crackers. If I worked with you all though, I have to say I’d swap both of those out for Swedish Fish! 🙂
If the Red sox do not make a move before the trade deadline I think they are done. You have a situtaion that cannot score runs, we have 6 good hitter and 3 that are terrible. The pitching has been only so so, but without runs you can’t expect wins
Let’s take a look at the pitching:
1) Beckett – Great pitching but no run support
2) Dice K – Great record but inconsistent.
3) Waakefield – great innings but no run support
4) Lester – Pitching great and getting some run support
5) Clay B – In my opinion should be back in minors.
Now let’s look ar weak players:
1) jason V. – What do you do for a fellow that can’t hit? He he had his eyes checked?
2) Coco – I don’t believe that he will ever hit above 260.
3) Hugo – He has never lived up to expectations and I don’t think he will.
4) Ellsbury – Great speed but it doesn’t mean anything usless you can get on base.
So what is the answer?
1) I think they need a hitter.
2) I would trade an get Halliday.
3) I would start to use Papelbon more so that he gets work.