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Red Sox Honor Club’s Top Minor Leaguers

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On Saturday, the Red Sox will honor the organization’s top minor league players of the year in a Saturday afternoon pre-game ceremony.

Third baseman Michael Chavis (pictured right), 22, is the Offensive Player of the Year after finishing the season tied for fifth among all minor leaguers with 31 home runs between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland (126 total games). Overall, Chavis was sixth among qualifying Sox farmhands with a .282 batting average (133-for-471). Chavis has now played in four minor league seasons since being selected in the first round of the 2014 June Draft.

With a career-low 3.29 ERA in 26 starts between Double- and Triple-A this season, lefty Jalen Beeks, 24, is the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Twice this season (April & July) Beeks was Starting Pitcher of the Month. His season included a 25.0-inning scoreless streak from April 22 through May 18, the second-longest in Portland franchise history.

Catcher Austin Rei, 23, is Defensive Player of the Year; Outfielder Tate Matheny, 23, is Baserunner of the Year; Infield/outfielder Keibert Petit, 19, is Latin Program Player of the Year; Pitcher Luis Rivero, 19, is Latin Program Pitcher of the Year.

Johnson Earns Lou Gorman Award

The Sox are recognizing pitcher Brian Johnson, 25, with the Lou Gorman Award. The achievement goes annually to the minor leaguer who has demonstrated dedication and perseverance in overcoming obstacles while working his way to the major league team.

Fans will, no doubt, recall the tenacity Johnson has repeatedly demonstrated to make it to the big leagues, including coming back after twice being struck in the head by a line drive. This May facing the Mariners, Johnson became the first Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez with a nine-inning shutout in his Fenway Park debut. He owns a 32-26, 3.18 ERA record in 103 career minor league games.

Now some other news and notes of interest to Red Sox fans:

  • Ticket prices for the 2018 Red Sox games will go up 2.5% on average over this year’s prices, the club Sox said this week. It will cost you between $1 and $5 more next season for seats in the Field Boxes (sections 17-70), Loge Boxes (103-155), the Bud Deck Barstools, Grandstand (13-27), Outfield Grandstand, Right Field Box, Right Field Roof Box, Terrace, Bleachers, and Upper Bleachers. All other section prices will be unchanged. Including this year’s increase, the Sox say they have held ticket prices in four of the past 10 seasons. The average annual increase since 2009 is 1.7% per year.
  • Terry Francona is “the best manager in baseball, no doubt about it,” says David Ortiz. Hard to argue.
  • Carl Crawford, who incidentally calls his former manager, Joe Maddon, “the most positive person I’ve ever been around,” says he’s more the happy to sit around and collect his paycheck for doing nothing. Crawford is still being paid the $22 million left on the contract he originally signed with the Sox, but now the responsibility of the Dodgers, who released him in June 2016. What remained of Crawford’s $142 million deal with Boston went to Los Angeles, along with Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez in mid-2012. Crawford minces no words about his tough time in Boston. “I carried hate for that city for a long time,” he told Bleacher Report. “But now, I’m over that.”

Fenway Dugouts Expanded

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Red Sox ownership unveiled 2017 improvements to Fenway Park this week, which included more space in the dugouts, refurbishment to the Pesky Pole, and naturally, more seating.

First, a little history

Fenway, the oldest and smallest park in all of Major League Baseball, has been home to the Red Sox since April 20, 1912. The Sox are 4,663-3,535 at home in that time for a .569 win percentage, outscoring opponents 41,460 to 37,750. Among current franchises, only the Yankees (.618) and Cardinals (.573) have better home winning records since Fenway opened.

Over the past 100 seasons since 1917, no player enjoyed a better batting average at Fenway than Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (minimum 500 plate appearances), who went 1,173-for-3,176 (.369) there between 1982-99. Boggs is followed by Hall of Famer Ted Williams (.361, 1939-60), Ken Williams (.357, 1919-29), and Hall of Famers Harry Heilmann (.354, 1917-29) and Lou Gehrig (.350, 1923-38). Ted Williams career 1.148 OPS at Fenway remains tops. David Ortiz finished his career with the park’s 11th best OPS (.994).

Bigger Dugouts for Sox & Visitors

During the offseason, the front walls for both the home and visitor dugouts at Fenway were moved forward by three feet allowing, the club says, for better circulation, improved sight lines from bench seating areas, and additional storage space. In so doing, the Sox also moved the field wall three feet closer to the action, thereby allowing them to add yet another row of seats. In all, 124 new seats were added as part of that renovation. 

The well-known Cumberland Farms sign over right field is now gone, replaced by a 46-foot video display that will be best viewed from the Green Monster and bleacher seats.

As mentioned here previously, the park’s concessionaire is introducing new ballpark foods this season. More exciting to your correspondent, however, is the news that Regina Pizzeria is now “the official pizzeria of the Boston Red Sox” and so their outstanding product will now be sold at Fenway, too.

In all, the Red Sox say they have now spent more than $300 million in park improvements since 2002.


Red Sox to extend protective netting

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After a number of high-profile incidents affecting fan safety in the 2015 season (including the horrific accident at Fenway involving Tonya Carpenter), Major League Baseball went about reviewing the issue with each of its clubs. Today, MLB said their recommendations for each club had been completed and delivered.

Overall, the only substantive initiative was encouraging (though not requiring) clubs to expand the use of protective netting to shield fans from foul balls and loose bats. MLB recommends that netting run from the home plate side of one dugout to the other. Beyond that, teams were asked to do more to educate fans about the dangers of sitting close to the action. MLB said it will work with clubs and ticket sellers to provide fans with additional information about which seats are (and are not) behind netting.

In a press release today, the Red Sox said they intend to follow the recommendations by expanding the backstop netting behind home plate for the 2016 season. The Sox said it was evaluating a variety of options and would also consult with the ticket holders most affected by the planned changes.


5 Seasons of Fenway

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Fenway wasn’t all that friendly last season.

Fenway Park

Fenway Park by werkunz1 on Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Red Sox went 34-47 at home in 2014 for a .420 win percentage, tying with the 2012 and 1965 clubs for the 9th worst home mark in franchise history and the 8th-worst home record at Fenway (which opened in 1912). At home last year Boston scored 324 runs and allowed 374, a -50 run differential. It was just the 29th time in 114 seasons that the Red Sox had a negative run differential at home and the first time they had one that large since 1980 (also -50).

2014’s home record was especially jolting given the .654 win percentage of just a year before. The World Champion 2013 club, for whom any night might bring a magical finish, tied the 2003 and 1988 clubs for the 19th best home record in franchise history.

The Red Sox are looking to turn things around at Fenway in the season ahead with a rebuilt lineup that’s targeted at putting the Red Sox atop the American League at home.

2010-14 at Fenway

Despite last year, in the past five seasons the Red Sox have been strong at Fenway, slashing .278/.346/.446 in home games. Boston’s home batting average from 2010 to 2015 was 4th best in MLB (behind the Rockies, Tigers, and Rangers); their on-base percentage and slugging percentage was 3rd-best (behind the Rockies and Tigers).

Since 2010 no team has collected as many home doubles as the Red Sox. Their 975 doubles are 174 more than the 2nd-place Rockies. What’s more, the Red Sox 1,948 RBIs and 6,192 total bases over the past five seasons at Fenway are the most by any AL club at home and 2nd only to the Rockies totals of 2,227 and 6,854, respectively.

The Red Sox amassed 1,379 Fenway walks over the past five seasons, 5th most in the MLB (behind the Rays, Athletics, Yankees and Braves).

409 Fenway Red Sox home runs from 2010-14 was the 10th most by any club at home in baseball. Of those 409 round trippers it won’t surprise you to know that David Ortiz hit the most, but would you have realized he’s responsible for nearly 16% of them? 64 of the 409 came off Ortiz’ bat followed by Dustin Pedroia (35), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (27), Jacoby Ellsbury (22) and Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis (18 each).

Fenway at its best (and worst)

The best Red Sox  home record came in 1946 and 1949, Both seasons the team was 61-16 (.792). The club’s record for the most runs scored at Fenway in a single season is 625 set in 1950.

The 1906 Red Sox had the worst home record, going 22-54 (.289), a franchise all-time low, though that was before the first official game at Fenway on April 20, 1912 vs the New York Highlanders (later, the Yankees). After Fenway opened the club with the worst home record was the 1926 crew, which went 25-51 (.329). That season’s team has another dubious distinction: a run differential at home of -150, the club’s all-time record after scoring 288 and allowing 438 runs at home that season.

Red Sox leaders at Fenway

Since the 1914 season Ted Williams is the Red Sox player with the most home runs at Fenway. Williams had 248 followed by Carl Yastrzemski (237) and Jim Rice (208). David Ortiz seems destined this season to overcome Dwight Evans (199) at No. 4 on that list with just 14 more Fenway home runs needed.

Yastrzemski holds the record since 1914 for Fenway hits (1,822), doubles (382), RBI (1,063), runs scored (994), and total bases (2,991). Yaz was intentionally walked a record 109 times at Fenway, a record that Ortiz, with 93, could easily catch. Williams is the Red Sox walk leader at Fenway (1,031) and was tops in on-base percentage (.496) and OPS (1.148). Wade Boggs owns the best AVG as a Red Sox at home (.369).

Tim Wakefield holds the club record for most innings pitched at home (1,553.0) and appeared in the 2nd most games (303). Bob Stanley‘s 321 are the most appearances since 1914 for a Red Sox pitcher at Fenway. Stanley induced the most double plays (137). Wakefield’s longevity and knuckler likely account for his club record 90 times hitting a batter at Fenway. Roger Clemens had the most strikeouts (1,332). Luis Tiant had the most complete games, 61, of which 16 were shutouts, too. At Fenway Koji Uehara has walked a batter once for ever 8.36 strikeouts, a club best. Jonathan Papelbon has, by far, the most saves (104).


Going over the ground rules

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As we get closer to the start of the regular season it’s  a good time to refamiliarize ourselves with the ground rules.

There are so-called “universal ground rules,” such as a ball on the top step (or lip) of the dugout is in play, and then specific ones for each of Major League Baseball’s individual parks.

Here are the ground rules at Fenway Park:

  • Batted ball over line on top of the left field wall: Home Run.
  • Fair ball going through scoreboard, either on the bound or in flight: Two Bases.
  • Batted ball in flight striking to the right of yellow line on left center field wall behind flagpole: Home Run.
  • Batted ball in flight striking left center field wall to left of line behind flagpole and bounding into seats on topof center field wall: Home Run.
  • Batted ball in flight striking left of line in right center field and bounding into bullpen: Home Run.
  • Fair ball striking the ladder below top of left field wall and bounding out of park: Two Bases.
  • The extension from the right field foul pole to the front of the wall is part of foul pole:
    • Ball in flight striking extension: Home Run.
    • Ball hitting the top of outfield wall then extension: Home Run.
    • Bounding ball (off of playing surface) striking the extension: Two Bases.