How 'Bout Them Red Sox?

The baseball season is in full swing (despite some games being postponed due to snowy conditions - yes, the weather has sucked this month!), and there's no denying that the Boston Red Sox are red-hot.  While it's nice to see the Pittsburgh Pirates getting off to such a good start (every Puerto Rican has a little bit of Pirate in them), it's nice to see the American League East be led by someone other than the Yankees (oh my gosh, what's up with those Orioles?  Sigh!).  So what's the deal with the boys from Beantown?  Let's take a closer look.

First of all, as of today (Friday), the Red Sox have won seven games in a row, including a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels (I guess that Ohtani guy isn't all that now, is he?).  They're off to their best start in franchise history (16-2), and we all know that this is one of the oldest franchises in baseball.  And this is despite the fact that they lost on Opening Day!  Since then, the Red Sox have won 16 of 17 games, which is way more than my fourth-place Nationals can say!  And when was the last time the Red Sox went 16-1?  That would be in 2004, when the "Curse of the Bambino" was finally broken and they won their first World Series since 1918 (that was what I like to call the "Bloody Sock Series."  My son was 5 months old at the time).

Why else is this team hot?  Because they score a ton of runs, plain and simple.  They lead MLB with 116 runs, with the next-best team at 106 (the Toronto Blue Jays - eh?).  Not only that, but they have only allowed 50 runs in their first 18 games.  I'm no math expert, but that's pretty low (less than 3 runs per game, I guess?).  That means they're not only hitting well, but their pitching is pretty solid as well.   Their starting pitchers have the lowest ERA in the Majors at 1.98, and their relievers have not allowed a run in their last 14 innings pitched.  And you know what they say - good pitching stops good hitting - so they're doing all the right things.

What else?  Their rookie manager is awesome.  Alex Cora (fellow Puerto Rican) is only one of two managers who has won at least 16 of his first 18 games.  The other one was Joe Morgan (also for the Red Sox),  and since we all know that Joe Morgan is super-cool, then that makes Cora pretty special as well.  And hey - I had a nice conversation with him when he played for the Nationals, and back then people were saying how he would make a good manager someday because he knows the game so well, so I guess everyone was right.  There goes my theory about catchers making the best managers.  Go Alex!

But are the Red Sox hitting?  Hell yes!  As a team, the Sox lead the Majors in batting average (.292), on-base percentage (.362), and slugging percentage (.496).  They also lead in all sorts of other obscure statistics that I don't even understand, so yeah - they're doing very well offensively.  Mookie Betts (who leads the Majors in batting average) hit three home runs in the opener against the Angels (the Sox hit six in that game), and they hit a total of 11 homers in that three-game series.  Pretty impressive, if you ask me.  So will the Red Sox stay hot?  Probably.  It may be a long season, and the Yankees might have their touted Judge/Stanton combination, but I think the Red Sox will take the AL East (the Yankees, by the way, are in THIRD place after the Blue Jays.  In your face, Yankees fans!).

Will the Sox be even better once their veteran second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, returns from post-knee surgery rehab?  Probably not.  While the Washington Nationals are desperately missing their second baseman, Daniel Murphy, while HE is rehabbing after knee surgery, the Sox have not skipped a beat in Pedroia's absence.  Eduardo Nuñez is doing just fine at second base.  Not great, but fine, and he's probably playing better than Pedroia would if he were there now.

I will continue to root for my 9-10 Nationals (because I'm not a bandwagon fan, and Max Scherzer is still badass), but I will definitely be rooting for the Red Sox as well (despite me being a National League fan), especially since the Orioles don't seem to be going anywhere but downhill.  And I spent 12 years in Massachusetts, so I can root for the Sox if I want to (notice I didn't mention Papi, Varitek, or Buckner, for that matter, in this post, because I'm trying to stay upbeat).  So keep it up, Mookie and friends - you're definitely making this season exciting and fun to watch.

Bryce Harper, Money, and Loving Your Mom

It's been about a month since my last blog post, and there have been a lot of things to write about during that time.  I started a post about Manny Machado sliding into Dustin Pedroia (not on purpose, if you ask me!), but I wasn't able to finish it because I had to go to my daughter's track meet (those kids always get in the way of my writing, I tell ya!).  Then I was going to write about Adam Jones having racial slurs yelled at him by Red Sox fans at Fenway Park, but I have such strong feelings about racism and ignorant people saying ignorant things that I wasn't able to put together a good post in true Mudville Mom style (and I would have mentioned the standing ovation that Jones got from Red Sox fans the day after that incident happened).  Then yesterday, the Washington Nationals announced that they avoided arbitration with Bryce Harper by offering him a $21.6-million contract for 2018 (with a bonus if he is chosen as the MVP that year).  When I heard the news, I knew I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

I have been pretty tough on Bryce over the years - he started out as a nineteen-year-old man-child with a bad temper and no regard for the toll his body would take if he ran full-speed into outfield walls or slid into a base hands-first.  He played hard, but was a bit reckless.  He reminded me of the "Bam Bam" character from "The Flintstones" - a muscular kid who knew nothing but how to hit a baseball really hard. 

Fast-forward five years, and little Bryce has grown up.  He can now formulate full and coherent sentences when interviewed, he has gotten married, and he has realized that injuries suck and it's better to take care of your body than play way too hard ALL the time (but he still hustles to first base faster than Pete Rose, and I appreciate that).  Bryce has made a pretty good name for himself, and here are just a few of his accomplishments so far in his short career:

Four-time National League All-Star
2012 Rookie of the Year 2015 NL Most Valuable Player 2015 ESPN MLB Player of the Year

So is Bryce Harper worth $21-million for one year?  Absolutely not - nobody is.  I don't care if Roberto Clemente is reincarnated or Nolan Ryan suddenly drops 20 years (and 20 pounds) and comes back to pitch seven more no-hitters - no one is worth that kind of money.  How much IS $21-million, anyway?  I know it's a 21 with six zeroes after it, but I, being a reasonably intelligent person, have no concept of how much money that actually is.  I can't even tell you how many pairs of shoes I could buy with that much money!  And what's this extra million for being named as the Most Valuable Player?  If I could vote for that award, I purposefully would not vote for Bryce just so he wouldn't make even more money!  But Bryce thinks he's deserving of that much - so much so that right after he signed the deal, he hit a walk-off home run to lead the Nationals to a come-from-behind victory against the Phillies.  The kid makes it hard for me to resent him.  And have you seen his T-Mobile commercial?  He looks so cute (and "perfectly coiffed!")!  And he always flashes the universal "I love you" sign to his mother when he crosses the plate after hitting a home run, so how can you hate this guy?  Yes, he has a terrible beard, but he truly loves baseball, really appreciates his fans, and genuinely plays hard and wants to win every day.

Still need some convincing that Bryce Harper is a decent guy?  Check out this video where he's reading a letter he wrote to his mom (you may have to cut and paste into your browser):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFNT5at8Qk

Isn't that the cutest thing?  He even threw in a few big fancy words to prove that he's all grown up!  So on this Mother's Day, let me wish a happy Mother's Day to Bryce Harper's mom, and to my mother as well, who proudly shares my blog with all her Facebook friends, emails me the list of Puerto Rican players in the Majors every spring, and mailed me my own Puerto Rican flag when I was going to meet Iván Rodriguez so he could sign it for me.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who drove their kids to Little League practice, cheered for them at track meets or dance recitals, and drove their kids to countless medical appointments, sleepovers, and dances.  And thanks to my kids for making me love being a mom - without them, I would just be "Mudville," and since it's the name of a fictitious town, that would just be boring.