Here is a little bit more to keep you thinking of warmer days ahead. It is our latest edition of the Red Sox Lineup:
1. Tickets for those games at Fenway go on sale Jan. 29 at 10 a.m. Fans can either line up at the park that morning (or the night before if you want to make the news), visit redsox.com, or call the automated ticket line at 888-REDSOX6. In advance of the on-sale date, the organization will conduct a Red Sox Road Trip, featuring visits to all six New England states between Jan. 18-24. At each stop, fans can audition to perform the national anthem at Fenway Park as part of the “Sing Your Way to Fenway” contest. More information can be found at www.redsox.com/roadtrip.
2. The restructuring of the bullpen, general manager Theo Epstein’s declared “first priority” of the offseason, is complete with the official signing of Hideki Okajima this week. In all likelihood, he will join Tim Wakefield, Scott Atchison and Dan Wheeler ahead of the hard-throwing trio at the back end of the bullpen — Daniel Bard, Bobby Jenks and Jonathan Papelbon. That doesn’t mean that whatever happens in spring training is insignificant. Epstein has plenty more minor league depth for the pen in the form of lefties Rich Hill, Lenny DiNardo, Andrew Miller and Felix Doubront, and a viable option in Matt Albers, who knows the division well. Although he hasn’t been lights out in his trips to the majors, Michael Bowden is still in the mix, as is one-time catcher Robert Coello, whose experience in 2010 can only help if he ever has to make an emergency trip up. Last year, when leaving Fort Myers, there was plenty of uncertainty in terms of bullpen depth. The options at Pawtucket were not very appetizing (Joe Nelson, Boof Bonser, etc.) and that’s one of the reasons the Doubront and Bowden were transformed into relievers midway through the season.
3. The Red Sox announced a series of organizational hirings this week, including a pair which has an interesting link in baseball’s All-Star Game history. Chili Davis, a three-time All-Star with 350 career home runs, was named the new hitting coach for Triple-A Pawtucket, and former Boston catcher Rich Gedman will serve in that role at Single-A Lowell.
In the 1986 Midsummer Classic in the Astrodome, Gedman had the unenviable task of catching for Charlie Hough — the last knuckleballer to appear in the All-Star Game — in the bottom of the eighth. The American League held a 3-0 lead, but Hough gave up a leadoff double to San Francisco third baseman Chris Brown. He then struck out Davis, but Gedman could not hold onto the dancing ball and Brown took third. Gedman was able to get the force on Davis at first, but a strike three on Hubie Brooks also got past Gedman, allowing Brown to score the NL’s first run and Brooks to reach first with still only one out. The Senior Circuit, dominated early by Roger Clemens and Teddy Higuera, had scored its first run with the aid of a strikeout-wild pitch and a strikeout-passed ball. A balk, a strikeout (naturally) and a single brought in another run, and Hough was replaced by Dave Righetti, who got the last out to preserve the lead.
When Wakefield made the AL All-Star team in 2009, the Hough-Gedman incident resurfaced when we wondered who would catch the Sox knuckleballer if he got in the game. He never did, of course.
4. Speaking of catchers, you may have seen that Max Ramirez, once the return for Mike Lowell in a short-lived trade with Texas, was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox and then claimed by the Chicago Cubs after Boston needed to open a spot for Hideki Okajima. Ramirez is out of minor league options, so there is a chance he could be exposed on waivers at some point in the future. It seems as if Boston has an interest in the 26-year-old, so if things don’t go well with the Salty-Tek combo, he may remain on the radar.
5. Things are heating up in Brookline over parking and Red Sox fans. We made a brief mention of it in last week’s edition. Since then, the discourse has increased. A hearing was held Tuesday, during which Brookline transportation board chairman Michael Sandman had some choice words for The Boston Globe, which opined on the subject in October. Here is a thorough update on the issue, as well as some diagrams that may bring clarity to the issue for some wondering when and where parking will be impacted.
6. On the topic of tickets, but not of the parking variety, you can still get some for the annual Hot Stove Cool Music Concert, set for Saturday at Paradise Rock Club on Commonwealth Avenue. Tickets are also available for the Hot Stove Cool Music Baseball Roundtable, which will be held Friday night at Fenway Park and will feature Epstein, NESN’s Peter Gammons, Curt Schilling, Bronson Arroyo, John Farrell, Curt Young, Bob Tewksbury and others. The concert, which annually sees Epstein and Gammons on stage, is headlined by The Lemonheads and Buffalo Tom. Go here for all the info.
7. The right field wall at Fenway Park will remain where it is. With all due respect to the relievers who feel cramped, that is a good thing. Frankly, the quirkiness of Fenway is one of its best assets, and the way in which right field goes from a Little League shot directly down the line in right to cavernous dimensions out by the bullpens is fantastic. Preserving those dimensions is a win for the game, even if some of the relievers don’t like it. Plus, if Ryan Kalish ever finds a home in right field, as one NESN writer (guess who?) feels very strongly he should, giving him as much room as possible might save his life. That boy doesn’t slow down for much.
8. Many start times for the upcoming schedule have yet to be finalized, but we learned of a few on Wednesday. The Red Sox will appear on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball four times before the end of July, beginning with April 10 vs. the New York Yankees. Boston will also play in the 8 p.m. time slot on May 15 at New York and the following week at home against the Chicago Cubs, the highlight of the interleague slate. The early-season ESPN schedule ends with the Red Sox at Tampa Bay on July 17. Games in June and in the early portion of July have yet to be announced, as well as the second half of the season. Expect a few more Sunday night affairs on the Sox’ schedule going forward.
9. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if baseball-related passings have taken place as of late, and another recent one involved a member of the Red Sox family. Dave Sisler, the top rookie on the 1956 edition, was 79 when he died Sunday of complications due to prostate cancer. The son of Hall of Famer George Sisler and the brother of Dick Sisler, an All-Star with the 1950 NL champion Philadelphia Phillies, Dave Sisler went 9-8 with a 4.62 ERA and three saves for the Sox in his rookie year. He was traded to Detroit in 1959 and also spent time with Washington and Cincinnati before finishing 38-44 with a 4.33 ERA in 247 career games.
