Just like last year, we close the books on the 2015 Red Sox season with The Green Fields of the Mind, by the late baseball commissioner, Yale professor, and diehard Red Sox fan, Bart Giamatti.
Sox make shutout history
It has been a long time since the Red Sox shutout a single club in three straight games.
The surprising Red Sox, still in the cellar of the division, blanked the Orioles in three consecutive games this past weekend for the first time in the history of the clubs’ match-ups.
It was just the 10th time in more than 100 seasons that the Red Sox have managed a club-record three consecutive games where the opponent failed to score. The last time was April 25-29, 2004 against the Yankees and the Rays.
Before the Orioles this weekend, the Sox have shutout a single club in three straight games just twice before and only once before at Fenway Park. On August 24-26, 1990, Boston won the back three of a four game set against the Blue Jays in Toronto with final scores of 2-0, 1-0, and 1-0.
You have to go all the way back to 1958 (and a team that doesn’t exist anymore) to find the Sox’ only other set of three game shutout wins at Fenway: September 19-21, a sweep over the Washington Senators with the final scores of 2-0, 2-0, 2-0.
MLB shutout history
Since 1914 the Cardinals and Orioles have had the longest streak of shutout wins, both clubs with streaks of five games each.
The Red Sox actually figured into the Orioles’ historic streak, which happened late in the 1974 season. Baltimore swept Boston at Fenway in a doubleheader September 2nd (1-0, 1-0) and then a shutout Boston again on September 4 (6-0). From there, the Orioles went on to shut out the Indians in the first of four games at Cleveland (2-0, 1-0).
As shown in the table above, the Indians, Rangers, Orioles, and Yankees are the only American League clubs in the past 100 years with shutout wins in 4 or more consecutive games.
Orsillo bursts Red Sox bubble
The last home game of 2015, the last such game for longtime announcer Don Orsillo, also brings about some realizations about the Red Sox themselves.
As recounted in August, when the news first broke, none of the changes the Sox have put us through have had the same impact on the Nation as Orsillo’s disgraceful, classless dismissal. Even the departure of Terry Francona was seen, at least in some circles, as a change that had to be.
What exactly NESN was trying to fix by keeping Orsillo from the broadcast booth beyond 2015 is all but inscrutable. They’re hardly saying, short of a couple comments by Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, who said something about “revitalizing” the broadcast. The Red Sox own 80% of the network and reports have indicated no decision of this magnitude would be made without ownership’s approval.
For his part, as every fan surely knows by now, Orsillo has been the very definition of class. There has been not a word out of place in his broadcasts, not even the slightest on-air hint of what his friends say has been his repeated career funeral when he shows up for work everyday.
On Sunday, Orsillo broke his silence with a tribute to his fans.
Last Fenway Day! Thank u for letting me be a part of your family. I heard you all and will never forget #Donatangelo https://t.co/soC52jYQ10
— Don Orsillo (@DonOrsillo) September 27, 2015
Enter Dave O’Brien
I’ve long felt Red Sox Nation was blessed with excellent options for fans, near and far, to follow their team on both television and radio.
In 2016 radio play-by-play man and Massachusetts native Dave O’Brien will settle in alongside, at least for some games, Jerry Remy on television. 2015 was O’Brien’s ninth season calling Red Sox games on the radio, his 25th calling MLB games overall. I’ve heard some who are critical of O’Brien’s ESPN and radio work, but I’ve always enjoyed it. I still get chills listening to his call of David Ortiz‘ 2013 grand slam against the Tigers.
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It hasn’t been announced who will join longtime Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione to replace O’Brien. The station has been trying out former Sox player Lou Merloni. On Sunday the Boston Herald reported that Orsillo had been offered the radio gig along with a salary that’s about a third what he’s has been earning with NESN.
Bubble burst
With the shock of the decision behind us and the new reality setting in, there are some things that seem very clear to me.
- NESN made a bad decision, then made a bad decision worse by being tone deaf and hunkering down rather than facing up to their customers.
- Don Orsillo was treated badly, but his talent is undeniable and he will be successful elsewhere.
- Dave O’Brien is a good broadcaster, who will likely do well in his new role.
- The Red Sox have lost their sheen as a well run organization. Increasingly, they seem bumbling, tactless, conniving, and maybe even a little mean.
Fenway Sports Group, the parent company of the Red Sox and other sports ventures, is a big, high value company. Big companies often are compelled to make difficult, even unpopular decisions. But the fallacy for fans is believing that big companies, by their very nature, can’t be run well, that they can’t make decisions with integrity. That’s simply not true.
Somewhere along the line, the smooth, analytical, intelligent, professionally run Red Sox organization, turned into something else. Something other than friendly, something other than honorable, something other than admirable. And in the long run, that transition undermines the Red Sox’ brand.
It’s not just by the Orsillo debacle. Witness the transition of Sam Kennedy to replace Larry Lucchino, rumors of which started circulating some six months beforehand.
Look, too, at the badly needed but completely flubbed transition from Ben Cherington to Dave Dombrowski, where, in separate press conferences (by itself, an oddity), Cherington’s timeline of how events unfolded differed substantially from the one Werner and principal owner John Henry had tried to sell to the media just hours earlier.
Whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, the Red Sox family looks dysfunctional. The Red Sox business looks as though it can’t execute change, a fundamental element of success, without courting disaster.
Turn the page
Is it possible a winning 2016 season simply washes away the bad feelings? Perhaps so.
The outrage over Orsillo today isn’t what it was in late August. It will be all but gone a month after the season is over. Fans should and will come to embrace Dave O’Brien, who by no one’s account, had anything to do with Orsillo’s ouster.
Miserable 2014 and 2015 seasons on the field haven’t appreciably dampened customer demand for the Red Sox product, at least so far.
What no one knows is how much more customers will be willing to turn the page, let bygones be bygones, keep subscribing to NESN, and keep coming to Fenway.
Shutout history
The Red Sox shutout the Orioles Friday and Saturday, 7-0 and 8-0, respectively, in the first two games of Boston’s final 2015 home series.
It was the first back-to-back shutouts of the Orioles by the Red Sox at Fenway since September 17-18, 1968. Since then, Boston has achieved similar shutouts wins four other times, but always as a visitor in Baltimore.
Not surprisingly, shutouts have been relatively rare for Red Sox pitching this season. These two most recent were their 8th and 9th of the season. 18 of the 30 major league teams have more shutouts than the Red Sox, with the Dodgers collecting the most, 20, thus far.
This weekend’s back-to-back shutouts by Sox pitching marked their first such pair of games against any team since April 23-24, 2011. Those games came facing the Angels in Anaheim. For two such games at Fenway, you have to go back to the magical season of 2004, when the Red Sox held the Rays scoreless for two on April 28-29.
The Red Sox club record for consecutive shutouts over the past 100 season is three, most recently on April 25-29, 2004 against the Yankees and Rays. The last time Boston achieved that feat against a single club was when they blanked the Blue Jays in three straight, August 24-26, 1990.
Breslow’s special moment
Saturday’s continued strong finish to the season for the Red Sox included a unique achievement: Craig Breslow‘s first-ever major league start after 522 games as a reliever.
Breslow, who got the call as Boston looks to conserve Eduardo Rodriguez for 2016, went a strong, career-high 4.0 innings pitched, allowing two hits and two walks, but no runs. Breslow’s previous career record for innings pitched was 3.2, more than 10 years ago.
In what Interim Manager Torey Lovullo later called “one of those special moments,” Breslow became the first pitcher to make his first major league start as late as his 523rd career game since the Cardinals Troy Percival did so in his 639th game in 2007. No lefty has done it since the Orioles Chuck McElroy started in his 604th game in 2000.
At age 35 years, 49 days, Breslow passed Scott Atchison as the oldest ever Red Sox pitcher at the time of his first career major league start.
With Breslow unlikely to go deep in the game, Lovullo called on Heath Hembree, Matt Barnes, Alexi Ogando, Tommy Layne, Noe Ramirez, and Jonathan Aro, in succession to nail down the win. It was the first time in the last 100 years that the Sox used at least seven pitchers in a shutout victory at Fenway Park, though they managed a similar feat at Tampa Bay in 13 innings earlier this month (September 13th).
After the game Boston’s newest starter admitted he enjoyed himself, if only in retrospect. “Now that it’s done, and it went pretty well,” Breslow said, “it was a lot of fun. At the time [though], I was consumed by other thoughts.” When asked if he’d be up for another start, he said he would, though he knows that opportunity may not come again.
Tribute: Yogi Berra
You won’t find a salute to very many Yankees on these pages, but then, this was someone very special.
One of baseball’s great ambassadors, Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, has died.
Known to generations of fans for both his on-field work and off-field personality, Berra leaves behind a warm, much-beloved legacy.
In 19 big league years, all but one for the Yankees, Berra slashed .285/.348/.483. He was a 15-time All-Star and three-time American League MVP (1951, 1954-55). From 1950-52, no AL catcher caught more attempted base stealers than him. Berra holds the career home-run record for AL catchers and collected 100+ RBIs four years in a row.
In all, Berra played on 14 pennant-winning and 10 World Championship teams, more than any other player in history. His World Series records, 63 games and 71 hits, are still the most by any MLB catcher. Among MLB catchers for all-time, Berra is fourth in home runs (358) and runs scored (1,175), first in RBI (1,430), and eighth in slugging percentage.
After his playing days, Berra remained in the game as both a coach and manager of the Yankees, Mets, and Astros. He managed the 1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets to the World Series, losing both bids.
I didn’t really say everything I said
At home behind the plate, Berra talked to everyone—pitchers, umpires, and batters (except the rookies, who Berra acknowledged needed their concentration unbroken). He once said only Red Sox great Ted Williams ever told him to shut up.
Off the field, Berra was known for his “Yogisms,” sayings that found their way into American’s every day speech. President George W. Bush, himself known for more than the occasional malaprop, once quipped that some might wonder if Berra was his speechwriter.
Berra grew up in St. Louis, playing baseball with neighbor and future big league catcher Joe Garagiola. He was nicknamed “Yogi” for his crosslegged posture between innings. A World War II Navy veteran, a 19-year old Berra landed on D-Day at the Battle of Normandy.
The cartoon character Yogi Bear may have been named for Yogi Berra, though executives with the cartoon company, Hanna-Barbera, denied that. Berra reportedly sued for defamation, though he suit was later dropped.
In 1972, Berra was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 85.6% of the vote.
Dale Berra, Yogi’s son, played in 11 MLB seasons with the Pirates, Yankees, and Astros.
Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra was 90.