Another new book.  I knew almost nothing at all about this team -- even though they were the team the Red Sox were eventually named after.   Until I worked on this book.  It was a really great learning experience. Thanks to Bob LeMoine for suggesting it.

What a game!  Not to mention Pedroia's play, which words fail to describe.

The win was the 11^th in a row for Boston, and at one point as the game progressed, Sox pitchers struck out 11 consecutive Rays, establishing a new major-league record. Eduardo Rodriguez had already struck out the side in the third, the fourth, and the fifth – but not all of those were included in the run of 11. He walked the second batter he faced in the fourth. Then he struck out the next two. Add in the three batters from the fifth, and the first of the sixth, and we're up to six in a row retired with a K. He was whiffing the Rays at a pace he could have blown past the 20-K record, but his pitch count was already up to 113 and not only were the Red Sox not about to endanger their young pitcher. They also wanted to win the AL East. Heath Hembree came on in relief – and he faced five batters (two in the sixth and three in the seventh), and struck out every one of them. Matt Barnes later struck out one and Joe Kelly two, giving the Red Sox staff 21 Ks in nine innings, a new major-league record. The game did go to extra innings, and Kelly struck out two more in the 10^th, for a team total of 23 Ks in 10 innings. 

...and just in case you wanted to see the Spanish language edition...

here it is....

Cuban Baseball Legends - new SABR publication

Of interest beyond just Boston baseball, this was published by SABR today.  Available via SABR or on Amazon.

See also the Spanish edition -- SABR's first Spanish publication. Thanks to Reynaldo Cruz for the translations. Reynaldo is a SABE member from Holguin, Cuba.  

 

Ted Williams Cheers A Young Amputee

Ted Williams cheers up a young amputee. That's the name of the story I have posted:

http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/ted-williams-cheers-young-amputee

It's a pretty fascinating story (to me, anyhow) -- one that took me years to "crack."

I will be chatting online about it Wednesday, July 13 at 1:00 PM Eastern time.

former Negro Leagues ballplayer "brought back to life"

Here is the remarkable story of former Negro Leagues ballplayer Jim Zapp, who was effectively comatose and thought to be lost to his family. Fortunately, his son James Jr. questioned the medical diagnosis, took him medication, and saw his father “come back to life.”  There is a potential lesson here which may help other families going forward.

See the article at the National Pastime Museum.

http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/jim-zapp

The original, full article will still appear sometime in the future in the SABR book on the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons and Homestead Grays, which Rick Bush and I are editing.

There is also a "Baseball Banter" on the National Pastime Museum site at 1:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, July 12 where I will have an online conversation with people who wish to join in. If you’re free at that time, please check in.

Bill Nowlin

Now available! After a 9-year wait, the new edition....

Now available!   After a 9-year wait, the new edition....RED SOX BY THE NUMBERS.

With Wade Boggs' number retirement yesterday, it's a good time to mention the forthcoming (June 21) publication of the new edition of RED SOX BY THE NUMBERS by Matthew Silverman and myself. We put out the original volume back in 2010. The publisher asked us to create a new edition, and we've packed a LOT of new material in there. The Red Sox, among other things, won another World Series in the interim -- 2013.

The book is available for pre-orders now (just thought I'd mention that!)  :)

Brand new book on the 1986 Boston Red Sox

SABR has simultaneously published two new books, one on the 1986 Mets and one on the 1986 Red Sox. Leslie Heaphy and I edited both books. The fact of the joint publication gives fans of both teams the chance to compete once more -- which fans will order the most books?

SABR members get both books free, but they're both available to the general public, too. Search on "There Was More Than Game Six" at Amazon or other online sites.

Here's the Red Sox book!
...

We're going to run a friendly competition between now and April 15 to see which fans order the most books -- Mets, or Red Sox!

my biography of Homer Simpson

OK, it's not exactly Red Sox baseball -- though the book does have a biography of Wade Boggs in it.

See my latest book:

http://sabr.org/latest/sabr-digital-library-nuclear-powered-baseball-articles-inspired-simpsons-episode-homer-bat

Who is Ira Flagstead?

OK, we know who Jason Varitek is, and Tim Wakefield, and Larry Lucchino. Joining them all in this year's Red Sox Hall of Fame induction is Ira Flagstead?

Be well-prepared, when all your friends inevitably ask you: Who is Ira Flagstead?

Here's a link to Flagstead's bio:

 http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2e0e09a0

(You can also just look it up at BostonBall.com)

Hurling at Fenway: Galway 50, Dublin 47

First time since 1954 there's been hurling at Fenway Park.

An iconic sign at Fenway Park removed, temporarily

OK, so playing against Boston College, the football team from South Bend, Indiana is the home team.

And there's a Fan Fest being held across the street from Fenway.

First time I've even seen this sign changed.  One assumes it's temporary; the bat is still there (though it's been covered.)

Ending the home season with three shutouts of the Orioles

Ending the home season with three shutouts of the Orioles - that's really pretty special.

There are a number of hopeful signs looking ahead to 2016.

Grateful Dead night at Fenway

Fans who attend the Grateful Dead Night at Fenway will receive a special Grateful Dead Night Theme Ticket and a specially designed Red Sox Grateful Dead t-shirt. Boston locals Fennario will be on hand to perform a pre-game set on Yawkey Way from 5:40 p.m. ET - 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Braves Field

Brand new book from SABR.

Available through SABR or from Amazon.

37 runs in 22 hours - pretty impressive

what's on tap for today?

a sleepover at Fenway Park?

It's being promoted as the "first-ever" sleepover at Fenway Park, but they might want to adjust that wording in the headline.

The text of the press release is accurate: the winner would indeed be the "first-ever guest to spend a night in a private suite" at the ballpark.

And it's a great idea.

But there have been other sleepovers.  The late Al Forester told me back in 1999 that he'd slept over at the park on more than one occasion.  So I did it myself, and even wrote a story about it - "Night Games" - which was published in Boston magazine in October 2002.

Not that I actually slept.

David Ortiz, at this point in 2015

There has been a little chatter on the BoSox listserve about David Ortiz standing in the way of the Red Sox developing players for the future.

So, David Ortiz leads the club in RBIs, driving in a dozen more (65) than the next-closest batters (Bogaerts and H. Ramirez, tied with 53 each).

He leads the clubs in home runs (related to RBIs, of course), with 23, four ahead of the next-closest (aforementioned Ramirez).

He's fourth on the team in on-base percentage, in large part because he's feared enough that he's leading the team in bases on balls.

He leads the team in slugging.  He leads the team in OPS.

He's tied for the league lead in fielding (I write that with a bit of a smile, but he has handled 33 chances without an error).

Neither he nor Jean Machi nor Alexi Ogando have any losses as a pitcher this season. (OK, you can discount that one.)

He's clearly one of the top three fan favorites, and he's got a deep and solid historical connection to the team -- the only player on the team with three Red Sox World Championship rings.

Ortiz is not among the problems with offense on the 2015 Red Sox. 

Is keeping your most powerful offensive force a bad thing?  If he weren't producing sufficiently, he wouldn't be given the plate appearances and no option would kick in; that's the point of the option being structured the way it is.  He's not sent up to bat as an historical relic. He's sent up there because he's producing.

He's got a fair shot, if he doesn't cool off, at another 30-homer, 100-RBI season.

Yes, Hanley Ramirez would be better at DH than playing left field, but that's not David Ortiz's fault.

Cycle! TWO things to celebrate today!

First of all, the Red Sox broke a seven-game losing streak.  Or was it 20?  It seemed like it was at least into double digits.  Anyhow, they won a game.  9-4.

And Brock Holt was a big part of it (playing left field instead of Hanley Ramirez) - he hit for the cycle - a double, then a single, then a home run, and finally a triple.  Triples are rare enough at Fenway Park. Cycles are much more so - rarer than no-hitters even.

Last cycle hit by a Red Sox player, anywhere, was John Valentin, a little over 19 years ago, on June 6, 1996. (That one was at Fenway.)