MySports Today

The Boston Red Sox right hand-er Daisuke Matsuzaka was put on the 15-day DL today with a mild right shoulder strain. Dice K did not make it to the second inning Tuesday night against the Athletics, giving up five runs and five hits on 43 pitches. “Our biggest concern is to keep him healthy and productive,” Terry Francona said. “At the moment, it doesn’t seem like we’re there with him. We want him to be able to be Dice-k.”

The Angels played their first game on Friday night in Anaheim after trying to deal with the tragic death of one of their starting pitchers – Nick Adenhart – in a deadly car crash on Wednesday night.  Adenhart and 2 friends were killed when another car, driven by a suspected drunk driver, broadsided them late Wednesday night.  The driver has been charged with 3 counts of felony murder.  The Angels canceled their game Thursday night against the A’s, and honored Adenhart with a moment of silence before Friday night’s game.  The Angels placed a black-and-white photo of Adenhart on the centerfield wall next to where his name and number appeared in a black circle.  The Angels also painted his number 34 in red-lettering on the back slope of the pitching mound.  Torii Hunter and John Lackey held Adenhart’s #34 jersey on the mound during the moment of silence.  Fans also contributed to the tribute by piling candles, flowers, baseballs and hand-written messages on the replica pitcher’s mound outside the gates to Angel Stadium.  Adenhart had made his 1st start of the 2009 season on the night of his death – pitching 6 strong innings – 0 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.

As for the Angels – Red Sox game, Jered Weaver made the start for the Angels and traced Nick Adenhart’s initials into the pitching mound dirt right before his start – he usually traces his grandparent’s initials into the dirt.  “It was one of the toughest I’ve had to get through.  It still really hasn’t hit home yet.  I shed a couple of tears before I went over there.”  Weaver responded with a great tribute to his rookie teammate – 6 2/3 innings, 1 unearned run, 4 hits, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts.  He picked up his 1st win of the 2009 MLB season as the Angels defeated the Red Sox 6-3.

Manager Mike Scosia summed up the night perfectly:  “We’re happy to get a win.  It doesn’t do much for what happened the last couple of days, but we’re playing baseball.  When the game’s over and you start to think about it, it doesn’t ease the pain.”

Curt Schilling announced today that he will be retiring. The 42-year-old super star last pitched in 2007 with some amazing stats. He has a career record of 216-146, with 3,116 strikeouts. In the postseason, he went 10-2 with a  2.23 ERA in 19 starts in 23 years with major league baseball. He has played for three World Series teams, two with the Red Sox and one with the Diamondbacks in 2001. Boston will always remember him for coming to Boston to help break the 86 year World Series drought and his famous bloody sock.

Schilling said on his blog “To say I’ve been blessed would be like calling Refrigerator Perry “a bit overweight.” The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime.

Four World Series, three World Championships. That there are men with plaques in Cooperstown who never experienced one — and I was able to be on three teams over seven years that won it all — is another “beyond my wildest dreams” set of memories I’ll take with me.”

New York Yankees starting pitching has been off as of late.  On Friday night against the Boston Red Sox, Chien-Ming Wang lasted only 1 2/3 innings in the Yankees 8-4 loss.  Wang started the game by retiring the first 3 Red Sox hitters on groundouts.  After that, everything went wrong for Wang as his pitches went flat and the Red Sox teed off after an error by 1st baseman Juan Miranda kept the inning alive on a double play that never happened.  The Red Sox ended up scoring 7 runs in the inning – 3 on home runs by Mike Lowell and David Ortiz.

Wang has never fared well in Spring Training and he doesn’t seem too concerned this season either:  “I think I still need to work in the bullpen now.  This is Spring Training.  I’m not really worried about it.”  In the 2008 spring, Wang was tattooed for 10 runs in 10+ innings of work, yet started the MLB regular season with an 8-2 record before a foot injury ended his season early.  Wang hopes for similar results again during the 2009 MLB season.

Jon Lester had a very good Monday, the Red Sox are giving him a five-year $30 million extension. There is also talk that the Sox hold a $13 million option for the 2014 season. Lester who in the 2006 season was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma during his 2006 season has been since declared cancer-free.

In 2007 Lester was back in the World Series and got the win against the Rockies. Last season he had a break out year with a 3.21 ERA in 33 starts. He has played more the 200 innings and is back to his mid-90s pitching.

Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny had to be pulled from his first scheduled spring training start because of a hurt shoulder. Also, J.D. Drew the Sox right fielder had to be sent back to Boston for an injection in his lower back.

Penny was going to start on Thursday against Puerto Rico, he only made it to 25 pitches on Sunday in the bullpen.

Drew missed a large part of the last six weeks of the 2008 regular season with back stiffness which was caused by a herniated disk. The Red Sox said Drew flew to Boston on Sunday and received the injection on Monday and is now back in Fort Myers. The injection has be described as precautionary and is expected back in Training on Friday.

Now that Spring Training is just around the corner, get ready for your regular baseball reports here at MySportsToday. One of the most exciting divisions is sure to be the American League East. The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East and topped the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS to get to the franchise’s first ever World Series. Although the Yankees did not make the playoffs in 2008, the Yankees were the most active team in the off-season, signing free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. They also have steroids-using Alex Rodriguez and the ever-reliable Derek Jeter.

Our prediction – The Yankees win the division, but fall to the Red Six (your AL Wild Card team for the 2nd year in a row) in the 2009 ALCS. The Rays still have a great 88-win season, but fail to return to the playoffs.

Check out Jeff Passan’s AL East preview here. It is a good little cheat sheet for your 2009 AL East baseball season.

The Boston Red Sox have given Jason Varitek until Friday to make up his mind if he is going to stay for one more year for $5 million. The deal also has an option for 2010. The Sox who open up spring training Feb 12 for pitchers and catchers want to know by Friday since he would have to report in by the 12th. Varitek is a two time All-Star who will be 37 in April and did not have the best season last year. In his last 131 games he hit .220 with 13 HR and 43 RBIs. There has not been any interest from other teams and is coming off a four-year $40 million deal. Varitek has spent his entire MLB career with the Red Sox.

Couple of deals to report today:

The Red Sox avoided arbitration with first baseman Kevin Youkilis and signed him to a 4-year deal with approximately $40 million. The deal with keep Youkilis in Boston through the 2012 MLB season and there is a club option that could keep Youkilis playing for the Red Sox through the 2013 MLB season. Youkilis finished 3rd in AL MVP voting in 2008 and he set career highs in the following categories during the 2008 MLB season – batting average (.312); home runs (29); and RBI’s (115).

The White Sox are going to give oft-injured Bartolo Colon another shot for the 2009 MLB season. The White Sox and Bartolo Colon agreed upon a 1-year, $1 million deal, that could increase to a maximum of $3 million if Colon reaches certain innings pitched thresholds. Colon pitched on the South Side of Chicago during the 2003 MLB season – he went 15-13 with a 3.87 ERA. Many critics felt like Colon didn’t live up to his potential during the course of the year, but he did set career highs in innings pitched (242) and complete games (9) that season. From 1998 through 2005, Colon was one of the most dominant pitchers in the major leagues. He made at least 30 starts each season and logged at least 200 innings in 7 of 8 of the years. Colon has been bothered by injuries each of the last 3 MLB seasons.

Rumors out today that the Red Sox are in talks with John Smoltz for a $5.5 million deal with $5 million in incentives. Smoltz, 41, has pitched 708 games for the Braves and was out last season after shoulder surgery. There have been people close to Smoltz saying he is making an amazing recovery.  This year the Braves have lost out trying to sign Jake Peavy and AJ Burnett, losing Smoltz could be a big hit to the team. For the Red Sox this could be a big move singing Smoltz would give them six great starters and Smoltz could help out if they run into injuries or pitchers need rest. This also gives the Red Sox the option to trade one of there super star pitchers if needed. Braves better get moving to land some players or this year is going to a rough season for Atlanta.