Johnny Damon headed for the Tribe

 Just some of the photos that come up when you Google "Johnny Damon."

Old friend Johnny Damon has apparently signed with the Cleveland Indians for a one-year deal with "$1.25 million in base salary with $1.4 million," according to ESPN.com.

The Indians are off to a 1-4 start, and though that gives them a better winning percentage than the Red Sox, they have more reason to worry - namely the .176 team batting average and going 1-for-11with runners in scoring position.

The Tribe will be Damon's seventh team, and somehow he's never played in the National League, having played for Kansas City, Oakland, Boston, New York (Yankees), Detroit, and Tampa Bay.  Of course, we know him best as the once fun-loving Idiot who broke our collective hearts when he jumped ship for the Evil Empire after promising that he wouldn't.

He resurfaced in New York without his iconic hair and beard, and had some solid years for the Yankees, winning the World Series with them in 2009.  When he went off to the mid-west in 2010 to play for the Tigers, I for one thought that the healing could begin, but then he vetoed a waiver-trade back to us late in the year, and I decided to never look back.

Johnny Damon is a quality baseball player: he's approaching 3,000 hits, and by all accounts he's a great guy to have in the clubhouse. But I'll never forgive him for shunning us TWICE - and the second time it wasn't even about the money.  So Johnny Damon is becoming an Indian... maybe that's karma?

What's wrong with this picture?

Bill Hall was the only Red Sox hitter to record a 1-2-3 inning last night, in the ninth. Hall managed to hit 89 MPH on the radar gun, and was a rare bright spot for the Sox.

I know what's wrong, here: HALL IS A POSITION PLAYER!

Come on, boys... these are the Kansas City Royals, the punching bag of the American League: the Royals are 21-28 (only the Orioles, Mariners, and Indians are worse). For the last two nights, two Sox starters in a row (both coming off spectacular outings) imploded before our eyes. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield turned in less than satisfactory starts, and while they are the least dependable of the Sox arms, they both need to get their game faces on.

After all of Wakefield's intimations that he deserves to start (for the record, I think he does), he's not doing much to convince anyone that he should keep his roster spot once Josh Beckett gets off the DL. As for Daisuke? Well, I gave you my opinion the other day, and he's another one who has butted heads with Sox management. To the floundering righties: time to put your money where your mouth is. Do better next time.

Tonight, we'll be treated to two young stars: Clay Buchholz and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, Zack Grienke.

SO glad Greinke isn't in the AL East.

At first glance, this matchup favors the Royals, but Greinke is coming off a terrible start: 3 1/3 innings pitched, 7 earned runs (8 runs overall), and just one strikeout, all in interleague play against the Rockies (25-23). Here's hoping Buchholz continues to impress!

Tampa Bay, Swept Away

I have to be honest: when I saw last night's lineup, I wasn't particularly optimistic. VMart, Drew and Ellsbury were out, the enigma John Lackey was on the mound, and Matt Garza (6-3, 3.36 ERA against the Red Sox in 14 career games) was set to go for the Rays.

Personally, I think that the nasty beard and llama impersonations are the secret to his success.

To be frank, I was almost ready to write it off and wait for the Celtics (don't even get me started on THAT mess), which would have been a mistake. Earlier in the season, this team would have thought as I did - a few substitutions in the lineup and a good pitcher going for the opposing team is as good as a loss. Not so anymore: these Red Sox aren't taking anything lying down. The pitching has come alive, just as we were promised, and the bats are catching fire.

Last night's game was all about offense, even though Lackey turned in a quality start. Every Sox starter reached base at least once, led by the 4-for-5 performace of Adrian Beltre, who is absolutely raking. Beltre drove in six runs with two homers and a triple last night, and is batting a team-best .341. The only starters to miss out on the hit parade were Marco Scutaro, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek, and all three reached base via a walk (two for Youk).

The "fill-ins," Darnell McDonald, Jeremy Hermida, and Jason Varitek, went a combined 4-for-14 with a walk, three RBI, and two runs scored while Drew, Ells, and VMart rested up. Meanwhile, the bullpen continued to pull its weight, allowing one run (by Nelson) in 2 2/3 innings of work. And just like that, the team with MLB's best record was swept away.

Hermida's beard is taking awesome lessons from Youk's goatee.

As I'm sure you know, the Sox return home tonight to face the Kansas City Royals in a four game set. 2010 AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke is far and away the team's best starter, is just 1-5, despite a 3.57 ERA (he has four no-decisions). The Sox will face Brian Bannister tonight (3-3, 4.73 ERA), Kyle Davies Friday (3-3, 4.53 ERA), Greinke Saturday, and Gil Meche Sunday (0-4, 6.66 ERA). I don't want to jinx anything, but I like our chances; this teams seems to be turning things around, and it's a joy to watch.

The Individual or the Team?

I recently had the following question posed to me: Which is more important, the individual or the group?

Now, being who I am, I immediately thought of baseball. On teams with a high payroll and an expectation of success, it is considered uncouth to emphasize personal achievements, yet on teams with a recent tradition of failure, personal goals are all that players have to hope for, considering it might be their ticket out of the mediocre scene, via free agency.

For example, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett is entering a contract year, yet every time someone asks about his status or his goals, he reiterates that it's not about him, but about the team. When asked who the number one pitcher was for the Sox this year, Jon Lester answered, "Well, we all are. You guys can label us whatever you want, but in my mind it takes five starters to win a championship."

"You're more important." "No, YOU'RE more important."

The company line for most big market teams is the same way. When Dustin Pedroia won the 2008 AL MVP award, he was disappointed, because his team finished short of where it had in 2007: they were runners up to the AL Pennant, rather than World Series Champions, and it just wasn't good enough for the Sox second baseman.

On the other hand, in Kansas City, Zack Greinke just won the AL Cy Young award, and the Royals celebrated the his individual achievement. On a team where winning just isn't in the cards, individuals make a huge difference: the Royals sell more tickets on days when Greinke pitches, while the Red Sox will sell out no matter who is playing, be it Beckett, Lester, or even someone like Michael Bowden.

Yet somehow, they can't even sell out Greinke's starts...

The same principle exists in society as a whole: those who are more privileged have the luxury of worrying about the big picture, while those from lower tax brackets must think of mundane personal things, like where they'll get the money to pay the bills. Is this fair? Not really. And anyway, who ever said life (or baseball) had to be fair?

Congratulations, Zack!

Earlier today I posted the following statement on Twitter:

"If Zack Greinke doesn't win the AL Cy Young, I'm going to punch Joba Chamberlain in the face."

I wouldn't really punch Joba in the face (mostly due to logistical difficulties), but I would have been pretty upset. The fact that Greinke was recognized with this award means that the BBWAA is finally recognizing that W-L% is not the be-all end-all of pitching greatness.

Greinke's 2009 stat line looked like this:

16-8 record, 26 quality starts, 229.1 IP, 2.16 ERA

For what it's worth, I think Greinke's story is MUCH more inspiring than Josh Hamilton's. Sure, Hamilton overcame his drug addiction to become a feared hitter in the big leagues and put on a show at the 2008 HR Derby, but who decided to take drugs in the first place? I don't mean to belittle Hamilton's struggles, I only want to shed some light on what Greinke went through to get where he is today.

Two years ago, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner was planning to quit baseball and never look back. He was suffering from crippling depression and anxiety, and had put together a pretty bad season. He had electric stuff, but his makeup was literally crushing him. Luckily, he decided to stay in the game, allowing thousands of fans to watch him dominate this year, and most likely for the foreseeable future.

Luckily for the Red Sox, they only faced Greinke once this year, and it was a brutal night in Kansas City for the visitors. The game lasted just over two and a half hours, because Greinke was brilliant: he allowed just two hits in six innings (to Pedey and VMart), while keeping the game scoreless. For once, he got both the run support and bullben support he needed, as the Royals scored five runs off of Paul Byrd, and the bullpen game up just one.

I was torn before that game. I wanted the Red Sox to win, as I always do, but I was hoping it could come due to some unearned runs, or perhaps at the expense of the bullpen. After all, it was September 22, Sabathia had a chance to get to twenty wins, and I wanted to make sure that Greinke would get that Cy Young plaque.

These guys lost more than a few games for Zack... of course, the bats didn't help out much, either.

We lost the game, but it gave Zack another win (and we went to the playoffs anyway, albeit briefly) in his quest for the award. Royals fans haven't had much to celebrate lately (though the new stadium looks great), so I hope they're enjoying this victory as much as I am: the best pitcher won, and that's how it should be.

Top Tweets

By popular demand, I bring you the Top Tweets of last night, in no particular order, with accompanying photographic support. Without further ado:

RedSoxRedShoes: YoukFact: In the off-season, Kevin Youkilis serves as UN Goodwill Ambassador to Saturn. #redsoxThis is a sign of respect in many foreign countries... I hope.

redsoxftw Drew was like "eeeww, cooties!". #redsox

"Circle, circle, dot, dot, Drew now has a cootie shot."

redsoxftwI have no clever things to say about Heidi's outfit tonight, except that I kinda miss the Snuggie. #redsoxUnfortunately I was unable to find photographic evidence of the "snuggie," but you'd think someone hired to be the token "pretty face" would wear better clothes.

AmalieBenjaminFrancona on football vs. baseball: "They're 300-pound men trying to kill each other in practice. We're taking grounders." #redsox

Come on, Tito... They don't do this at your practices? Weaksauce.

redsoxliz1980Come on Plastic Boy! #redsoxElls was demoted to Plastic Boy for lackluster performance in the early innings... He might be back up to Bronze by now...?

soxaddictHaha, the stabbin knife has come out RT @LoveSox15 DO NOT HIT PEDEY. I WILL CUT YOU!The tweet says it all. How can you not love this man?

farfromfinishedA "win" and "loss" is a terrible stat. You can throw a no hitter and lose. You can give up 18 runs and win. How can W/L tell you anything?
mikethebadoI thought debates over the relative usefulness of stats was a Sons of Sam Horn exclusive... @kdawg1313 @LoveSox15 @shelley1005 @BrianAdExec

Mostly I try to stay out of Twitter arguments... But in this case, I had to argue for QS over wins as a means for evaluating pitchers.

redsoxftwI would not wear a jersey with my last name on it if my last name was Kuntz.

shelley1005@redsoxftw I would. I would wear it...often.Sweet name, dude.

shelley1005Josh Beckett. The bats love you. Or...the bats fear you. Either way. Awesome. #RedSoxIf I were a bat, I would fear this man.

Surviving_GradyRoyals suddenly remember they're the Royals. Excellent. ::maniacal laughter:: #redsoxPoor Kansas City... Hey, nice ballpark, though.

redsoxftwYoukilis making a fashion statement with his glove on his head. Watch out, Heidi.

This is as fashionable as Youk generally gets.

werbiefitz@LoveSox15 I know what you mean! There are few as classy as Wake! #redsoxClassy enough not to tell Varitek that he sucks worse at golf than he does at hitting.

soxnfinsfan A #redsox fan just gave a ball to a young #royals fan! Damn! REDSOX fans are classy!!!I said the fans were classy, not necessarily the closer...