boston.com sports gets a fresh look

Discovered this evening, the boston.com sports page has a new fresh look.

The page is full of color and graphic logos of all of the main Boston sports teams in the top navigation bar, which gives easier access to your favorite sports team pages.

To find your favorite blog, click on the "More" button and a drop down menu will come up listing all of them along with the Globe columnists, and other sports and categories.

Another cool feature is quick access to all of the pro sports scores for MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL. Also an added tool is the GlobeSportsWire, which gives up-to-date news from the Globe newsroom.

Towards the bottom right hand side there are the multiple categories including Facebook, Twitter, Mobile, and Widgets.

But one bizarre twist; Why in the world is Tony Massarotti rooting for the Yankees in the World Series?

Mazz has officially been dubbed the most uncool Boston sports columnist ever and that's being quite nice.

MLB.com shop already advertising AL championship gear

For some reason, the MLB.com Shop is already advertising American League Championship gear for both the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Editor's Note: Conveniently the original link to the Yankees Championship gear doesn't work anymore....figures.

Of course I found out first that Yankees apparel was already being posted before realizing it was for both clubs.

To MLB.com, yes we all know that either the Yankees or Angels will be the AL Champs, but why do you need to start doing pre-orders during Game 6 of the ALCS? 

The Yankees could end it tonight, but nothing is definite. 

Is it just all about greed? Or how about stupidity.

Why can't they just wait until there is a clear cut winner and throw it right up at the end of the series?

Too bad both teams couldn't be jinxed. 

Kevin Paul Dupont not leaving Globe

Two weeks ago there was a rumor that Boston Globe hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont might be jumping ship to Comcast SportsNet New England (CSNNE.com).

Boston Sports Media Watch had a followup on Friday saying that he is staying at the Globe:

"I'm hearing now that Dupont is staying at the Globe. As I mentioned in an earlier post, leaving the Globe, where he had been since the 1970's would've been a huge leap for Dupont. I'm not surprised he's staying put."

At least there's some good news for Bruins fans.

Introducing Boston Red Sox Tire Tattoos

For all of the diehard Red Sox fans that feel they need to have everything imaginable on their ride sporting their favorite team this is for you.

Introducing the Boston Red Sox Tire Tattoo.

These tattoos come in packs of four so that every tire will get it's own special Red Sox logo decal. They fit on the sidewall of your tire, are easy to apply, and are officially licensed team logos.

For the low price of $19.95 this set can be yours.

How's this for beyond ridiculousness? 

I'll admit, I have a Red Sox window decal, license plate frame, and even floor mats, but there is no way I'll buy a "tire tattoo." 

What's next? Red Sox rims?

Overheard in the Newsroom - Best site ever

I recently stumbled upon this on Facebook and being a journalist I definitely appreciate it.

Overheard in the Newsroom is a website that simply posts up quotes or conversations that are literally overheard in a newsroom, whether it's at a newspaper or a broadcasting station.

Here is a sample of some noteworthy ones:

• #1980 Editor to page designers: "Lets throw some crap on a page and get the hell out of here."

• #1979 "You want sensitivity training? Don't hang out in a newsroom, that's your sensitivity training."

• #1983 "I'm a newspaper editor. My job is to replace your reality with mine."

• #1968 Editor: "(With candy bar in hand) Do you like coconut?" Reporter: "No...wait is it free? I'm a journalist, I'll eat it."
  

The last sentence wasn't really necessary, definitely could have stopped at 'free?' only because that's me written all over. Free food is amazing, probably the most amazing thing ever.

But if you're any kind of journalist I encourage you to check out the site and if you have a Twitter account, you can follow them there too. 

College newspapers: Currier Times gets new look

Over the last three years, The Currier Times, Curry College's bi-weekly student-run newspaper has forgone some format changes.

My senior year as Editor-in-Chief we talked about upgrading from QuarkXPress to Adobe In-Design and to make a long story short it was accomplished and new software (along with new computers) was purchased for the 2008-09 academic year.

A lot of newspapers have been jumping from Quark to In-Design so it was a smart move. There was also talk about printing in color. It appears that this was finally accomplished as well.

Here are the front pages from the last three years:

From top: 2009-10 (In-Design), 2008-09 (In-Design) 2007-08 (QuarkXPress, senior year).

This is a great move and the design can only become better in the future.

With the changing newspaper industry, it's crucial to keep up with the times.

Glad to see that The Currier Times is continuing to move forward since my graduation.

New York Times Co. not selling Globe

After months of speculation and rumors flying around on possible bidders to buy The Boston Globe, the New York Times Company announced that it is not selling it.

The reason behind this is that the "paper's financial performance has 'significantly improved' in recent months."

So maybe those desperate one minute and 30 second commercials that aired during every Boston Red Sox telecast on NESN worked? I hardly doubt that, but either that or the cuts and increase in prices worked.

But here is a very interesting sentence written by Beth Healy of the Globe staff:

"Times Co. executives had said they may not sell the Globe -- and the swift decision to take the paper off the market less than a week after bids were due -- may reflect that the offers were too low."

What? Really?

Honestly, now is not the best time to buy a newspaper and that's just the way it is and it'd be interesting to find out exactly what those bids were.

It's almost kind of hard to believe that a massive turnaround in just six months can occur though. The troubles started in April when the Times threatened that they'd shutdown the newspaper. To make an extremely long story short, after two union votes it was decided all employees would receive benefit cuts and a 5.9 percent pay cut. 

The first vote imposed a 23% cut.

BSMW reports Albert Breer to replace Mike Reiss; Kevin Paul Dupont leaving the Globe?

This morning I was greeted in my inbox with breaking news that The Sporting News National NFL writer Albert (Bert) Breer will fill in the hole of departed Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss who left The Boston Globe for ESPNBoston.com at the beginning of the season.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch said he's heard through "multiple sources" about Breer joining the Globe to become its new NFL writer.

It isn't confirm yet, but Allen thinks that this switch up may occur. Adam Kilgore will move over from covering the Red Sox to being the Patriots beat writer, Breer will be the NFL columnist, and Chris Gasper will become an online columnist similar to Tony Massarotti's postition.

Some quick background on Breer:

• Replaced Reiss when he left the Metrowest Daily News
  
• Wrote in conjunction with The Boston Herald and the "Point After blog" with MWDS
  
• Was the Dallas Cowboys beat writer with Dallas Morning News for 2007 season
  
• Left DMS for The Sporting News before 2008 season 
  

If this isn't enough of breaking news for one day Scott MacKay reported on his blog yesterday afternoon that Providence Journal, sports editor Art Martone is leaving to join Comcast SportsNet's revamped online venture.

It's a big blow for the newspaper, but what's more interesting was the last paragraph.

"For Martone, the new post in a good opportunity. Reportedly joining Martone in the new venture is Globe hockey sportswriter Kevin Paul Dupont, (Sean) McAdam, and former journal sportswriter and football beat guy Tom Curran."

Kevin Paul Dupont? He's been with the Globe since the 1970's, a handful that still exists at the paper.

Update: As soon as I post this an update quickly followed. Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan confirmed all in an email (with the exception of Dupont) and also had more announcements regarding Monique Walker and Julian Benbow. 

Walker (who split between Globe South and sports) is joining the Patriots coverage and Benbow (who split between Globe North and sports) is moving over to the Celtics beat.

Also Gasper is essentially replacing Mazz's role as he is working for WBZ-FM radio, but still writing for boston.com part-time.

An aging Theo Epstein and an aging Red Sox club

In November of 2002 no one knew who Theo Epstein was. He was this 28-year-old kid who made history becoming the youngest to serve as a Major League Baseball General Manager, hired by the Boston Red Sox.

He had the baby face going on and his full head of light brown hair. He was ready to prove all of his critics wrong. He accomplished that in 2004 and then again in 2007 by adding key players to produce winning ball clubs.

Now seven years later this November, the 35-year-old is no longer a kid anymore. His light brown hair is streaked with grays and his hair line is creeping up and thinning out.

Epstein has a lot of work ahead of him this offseason. In today's Boston Globe, Red Sox beat writer Amalie Benjamin compiled a page of what the 2010 ball club may look like.

The starting pitching staff looks to be set with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, with Tim Wakefield pending. 

But it'll be interesting to see what he does with David Ortiz and Mike Lowell. Lowell didn't have a bad season despite only playing 119 games because of a hip injury. The third baseman batted .290 with 17 home runs and 75 runs batted in. Perhaps he could take the designated hitter's role?

Ortiz will never be the same since Manny Ramirez was traded away. That 3-4 combo is gone and now that every team does the "David Ortiz shift" and seems to work every time, maybe it's time to say good-bye to Big Papi. 

He somehow finished the 2009 season putting up 28 HR and 99 RBI, but hit a measly .238.

Papi gave the Sox some great years and no one will ever forget that, but it's clear especially after this post-season he isn't the same clutch hitter. Going 1-for-12 isn't going to cut it.

Good Mr. Epstein. We only hope that you don't lose your whole head of hair over this.

The day after: Press conference for Red Sox 2010 plans

Yesterdays questions and answers were only the beginning. Today Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona met with the media to answer more questions regarding offseason plans, contracts, and club improvements.

Here are some reports courtesy of my Twitter feed:

AmalieBenjamin - Guys are packing up in #RedSox clubhouse. Seen: Beckett, Bay, Buchholz, Lowrie, Gonzalez, Byrd, Saito, Tito, Farrell. 

PeteAbe -  Theo: Pencil Buchholz into 2010 rotation. Wakefield in plans as well.

AmyKNelson - See how surgery for Wakefield will go but #redsox want him back. Jason Bay they hope to sign...negotiations will continue.

PeteAbe - Farrell will be back. Astros have permission to interview Mills and Bogar.

AmyKNelson - Martinez will catch next year, not fair to discuss Varitek situation b/c Epstein has not talked to Vairtek yet. #redsox

AmyKNelson - Papelbon "can be better" and Epstein knows he will work in offseason to be better, even though he had a good year. #redsox

IanMBrowne - Bumped into Dustin Pedroia at Subway. Classic!

It's always good to throw in a humor tweet.

Obviously there are a lot of questions. Here's a quick rundown of what the Red Sox have to do this offseason and some other notes and question marks. Not in any particular order.

• Re-sign Jason Bay
  
• Sign/trade another big bat
• The Jason Varitek situation
• Jonathan Papelbon cannot completely rely only on his fastball
• Tim Wakefield's health if he returns
• Who will be the starting shortstop?
• David Ortiz
• Youth

Some good news coming out of the playoffs? Daniel Bard, Daniel Bard, Daniel Bard. He was a ray of hope especially in Game 3 getting out of the bases loaded jam and he will be someone special.

That's all for now. Should be an interesting offseason folks.

Globe staff MLB predictions not even close

After yesterday maybe we can all get a good laugh today from reading what the Boston Globe writers predicted at the beginning of the season on who would win the 2009 World Series.

How off were these predictions? Out of the six writers everyone already failed to pick the two correct teams that will be in the World Series.

Here's the quick breakdown:

The writers

Dan Shaughnessy

Bob Ryan

Amalie Benjamin

Adam Kilgore

Chad Finn

Tony Massarotti

Predictions in a nutshell

Everyone picked the Chicago Cubs to be the National League representative in the World Series.

Shaughnessy, Mazz, and Benjamin picked the Cubs to win their first WS since 1908.

All but Kilgore and Mazz picked the Boston Red Sox to face the Cubs in the big dance. They thought the Tampa Bay Rays would return, with Kilgore picking them to win.

Ryan and Finn picked Boston to win it all.

Everyone except for Mazz picked the Red Sox to clinch the AL East. He thought the Rays would somehow repeat over the New York Yankees and Sox.

Ryan and Finn were the only two who had the Yankees making the playoffs. 

No one picked the Colorado Rockies to make it to the post-season.

Only Kilgore and Ryan picked the St. Louis Cardinals to be in the post-season.

Half of them picked the New York Mets to win the NL East.

But here's one prediction almost everyone got correct. The Los Angeles Angels would win the AL West.

The most ridiculous prediction was Kilgore who picked the Kansas City Royals to win the AL Central and the second most ridiculous was Mazz picking the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the NL West. His reason was, "best pitching in a bad division."

Everyone else said the Los Angeles Dodgers would win the NL West.

So there you have it. I know these predictions are obviously way harder than it appears to be especially looking at the results at the end of the season, but let hope they do a lot better next year.

Internal investigation opened on stolen Daily Wildcat newspapers

Thursday over 10,000 copies of the Arizona Daily Wildcat were stolen with leads pointing to two members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity on campus.

On Friday it was announced that an internal investigation is being sought within the fraternity to find out if UA students Nick Kovaleski and Alex Cornell are indeed guilty of stealing the newspapers.

The fraternity itself said that it wasn't involved in making the decision to steal the papers.

From The Daily Wildcat:

"We're doing an internal investigation to find out if the individuals in our fraternity were actually involved. I can't say at this point if they were or weren't," said Phi Kappa Psi president Keith Peters.

Yeah I'm sure you guys are doing an internal investigation and how long is this going to take?

Daily Wildcat reporters contacted Kovaleski by phone and this was his response:

"I would have no clue at all. I'm in no way involved, and neither is Phi Psi. I have no idea how my homework got out there."

Is someone out there really trying to frame Phi Psi, Kovaleski and Cornell? I really don't know about that, but then again I don't know these guys. If that's the case though, then someone really has a major beef to do something like this.

Stay tuned because this is only the beginning. As soon as more updates become available they'll posted here.

Red Sox 2009 season wrap-up: Angels return the favor and sweep ALDS

The 2009 season comes to a close

Sooner or later it was going to happen, but no one in Boston thought it'd happen in this fashion.

Up 5-1 at one point in the game, things looked pretty secure for the Boston Red Sox with hopes for a Game 4 alive.

The bats finally woke up highlighted by a Dustin Pedroia double and J.D. Drew two-run shot.

Clay Buchholz did what he needed to do and put in five quality innings despite the solo homer to Kendry Morales.

Daniel Bard dazzled as he pitched for two full innings and didn't allow a hit while striking out two.

But then it all unravelled in the top of the eighth. 

Terry Francona decided to go to his closer in Jonathan Papelbon to get the four-out save. It proved to be a disaster mistake from the first pitch that was thrown.

Billy Wagner was charged with two runs and it was a ball game again as the Angels were within a run, then 5-4.

Papelbon was coming in with an earned run average of 0.00 lifetime in his post-season career.

That ended in the ninth as the final score read 7-6 Angels.

Los Angeles returned the favor and changed its history book and now move on to the American League Championship Series. More than likely it'll be against the New York Yankees who lead 2-0 against the Minnesota Twins in its ALDS.

Another reason to hate the Yankees

There was an interesting Tweet about the Yankees' clubhouse that my eyes caught.

Via Ed Price: Standing outside #Yankees clubhouse, can hear them yelling and laughing at #Angels rally"

The Boston Globe's Chad Finn had a nice response to this on his Twitter page.

Domination over

Anyways the Red Sox domination against the Angels in the post-season is over and I guess it's good that it is over. It's almost similar to the Yankees domination over the Sox. The Sox ended that in 2004.

I'm really pulling for them. They are playing their hearts out for Nick Adenhart and have every right to. It should be one hell of an ALCS.

2010 is looking bright

Back to the Red Sox, it was a good 2009 season and 2010 should be another exciting one. 

First step is to re-sign Jason Bay. Boston already made a smart move trading for Victor Martinez so the catcher's slot is all set. Bard is going to be outstanding and more than likely the closer of the near future of the club. 

There are a lot of things to be happy about, just wish the 2009 season didn't end so soon.

Thank you everyone

I also want to take this time to thank everyone for visiting the blog and also a special thanks to Ian Bethune over at SOX & Dawgs and Ken Fang over at Fangs Bites.

Thanks for all of the linkage and having more Red Sox fans discover my blog. It's much appreciated.

Format changes

With the Red Sox season over, we'll be focusing on the Boston sports media more as well as college newspaper coverage along with offseason buzz so be sure to keep visiting.

That's a wrap. 

Red Sox postseason recap (Do or DIE edition)

It's not what they were hoping for, but the Boston Red Sox find themselves down two games to none against the American League West champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Division Series.

The Angels have outscored their opponent 9-1 in the series as Sox bats have been in MIA mode. Jacoby Ellsbury is the only member to score after he hit a triple and was driven in by Victor Martinez in Game 2.

The series is now back at Fenway Park where Boston is hoping for some home magic.

Clay Buchholz is on the mound while familiar Red Sox foe Scott Kazmir gets the call for the Angels.

Kazmir was claimed off waivers as the Tampa Bay Rays were trying to dump salary as it was dwindling away in the standings. 

It should be an interesting match-up.

American League Division Series Games 1-2

Record: 0-2

Runs scored: 1

Opponents' runs scored: 9

Home runs: 0

Opponents' home runs: 1; Torii Hunter

Games left: Do or DIE

Is Don Orsillo going to be the biggest jinx ever?

God we hope not.

I tweeted that right after the Red Sox lost 4-1 to the Angels, putting them down 0-2 in the American League Division Series. 

Red Sox Nation loves and respects NESN play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, but was this really the worst mistake ever having him announce the Red Sox-Angels series on TBS instead of the Yankees-Twins or one of the National League series? 

It has to kill him being neutral and so far he's been forced to show more excitement towards the Angels.

Now Boston finds itself in an 0-2 hole with the series heading back to Fenway. 

The matter of the fact is, the Sox bats need to wake up. Scoring two runs in the first two games isn't going to win games unless the pitching is absolutely flawless. 

Kevin Youkilis finally broke out of his slump in the top of the ninth inning. Maybe this is the hope lingering? 

And who's shoulders is this all resting on come Sunday? 

Clay Buchholz.

Lets see what happens.

10,000 copies of The Arizona Daily Wildcat stolen

I guess some people don't have lives.

Thursday morning approximately 10,000 copies of The Arizona Daily Wildcat, the University of Arizona's student-run daily newspaper, were stolen from newsstands across campus.

The theft cost the University $8,500, which included advertising revenue, salaries, and production costs.

There were several spottings of unidentified men taking off from bunches of newspapers and driving off in cars.

Thanks to multiple tips and leads, today the papers were recovered from two sites near campus. Found amongst the pile of papers were UA students Nick Kovaleski and Alex Cornell Spanish homework. These two were connected to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity on campus.

What morons. If that's really their homework and not someone trying to frame them, were they trying to get caught?

Who really in their right mind has time to confiscate 10,000 newspapers and they really think they are going to get away with it?

These scumbags better get caught and not only be kicked out of the fraternity, but pay severely to the University and The Daily Wildcat staff.

I'll be keeping an eye on this story and post updates once more developments happen.

Photos by Lisa Beth Earle of the Arizona Daily Wildcat

Slop Sox: Angels score first ever postseason shutout while Red Sox commit 3 errors

Just awful.

Not only did the Boston Red Sox get ridiculously screwed, but they also decided to screw themselves over more with poor defense.

Three times, Mike Lowell had a high throw over to first base and two out of the three times, the runner was called safe, when clearly on instant replay he was out by a mile.

Kevin Youkilis was ready to sumo wrestle the umpire down and I'm surprised Terry Francona didn't get ejected after the third time.

All-in-all there were three errors committed, courtesy of Alex Gonzalez, Lowell, and Jason Bay.

Jon Lester made one mistake and that was Torii Hunter three-run bomb to give the Los Angeles Angels a 3-0 cushion and never looked back.

It's only Game 1, but now the pressure is on the Sox to bring the series back to Fenway tied at one game a piece. 

The pressure is also on to score some runs.

ALDS Game 1: Lackey vs. Lester pre-game notes

Here are some background numbers of tonight's starters for Game 1 of the American League Division Series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Boston Red Sox.

John Lackey

2009 regular season stats

11-8 record, 3.83 ERA, 27 games, 176.1 IP, 177 hits, 84 runs, 75 ER, 17 HR, 47 BB, 139 strikeouts

Post-season career (4 seasons, 7 series)

2-3 (0-2 against Boston), 3.39 ERA, 11 games (9 starts), 58.1 IP, 56 hits, 22 ER, 4 HR, 22 BB, 39 SO

Jon Lester

2009 regular season

15-8 record, 3.41 ERA, 32 games, 203.1 IP, 186 hits, 80 runs, 77 ER, 20 HR, 64 BB, 225 strikeouts

Post-season career (2 seasons, 4 series)

2-2 (1-0 against LAA) 2.25 ERA, 7 games (5 game starts), 36 IP, 30 hits, 11 runs, 9 ER, 4 HR, 9 BB, 34 SO

Game time is scheduled for 9:37 p.m. on TBS. Don Orsillo (NESN) and Buck Martinez get the call in the broadcasters booth.

SOX & Dawgs returns to the blogosphere

Today, Ian Bethune relaunched the very popular SOX & Dawgs.

He wrote a post entitled "The Return" explaining the temporary shutdown of the site and also some changes that will occur:

"I don’t expect to change too much in the Red Sox coverage other than I probably won’t be doing full game recaps. Although I really hadn’t done a full one in a while, I was doing brief almost AP-like recaps. I may or may not do those for the playoffs.

"Also, instead of linking to every Red Sox story out there after offering up my thoughts in Morning Red Sox post, more than likely I will direct you to the media websites."

Bethune shutdown his site back on Sept. 18 and announced on Oct. 2 that the site would return, not giving a set date.

Glad to have you back Ian!!

Red Sox/Angels series to start on Thursday

The American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will begin on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 9:37 p.m. (East Coast time).

Here is the rest of the schedule layout:

Game 2 Friday, Oct. 9 at 9:37 p.m. in Anaheim

Game 3 Sunday, Oct. 11 TBD in Boston

Game 4* Monday, Oct. 12 TBD in Boston

Game 5* Wednesday, Oct. 14 TBD in Anaheim

* If necessary

UPDATE: Via @bostonradio on Twitter

"Sunday's Game 3 start is 12:07 p.m. I am hearing Monday's Game 4 start is also 12:07 p.m. and Wednesday's Game 5 would be 3:07 p.m."

All of the games will be televised on TBS.

For the rest of the postseason schedule click here.

Red Sox vs. Indians game photos 10-4-09

Look what I won...

Rob over at The Bottom Line hosted a contest back on September 23 asking readers to guess the correct number of saves Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon would finish with at the end of the 2009 regular season.

The person with the correct answer, plus the answer to his bonus question, "What is Dennis Eckersley's name for a fastball?" would win a Jonathan Papelbon poster.

As of September 23 Papelbon had 37 saves.

I guessed 38.

I was the only person to guess correctly and another reader, Steve said 39 so we both won posters (I guess Rob had two of them).

Too bad TBS couldn't use a photo from this season with the obvious change of the away jerseys.

Congrats to Paps for becoming the new saves leader in Red Sox history and having another great year.

Now it's time to kick it up a notch.

Once the postseason schedule is set, it'll be posted here. Here are the two possibilities. 

The New York Yankees need to make a decision at the conclusion of the one-game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, which takes place on Tuesday.

Red Sox weekly recap (Week 26)

Boy how time flies. This is it. The final regular season edition of "Red Sox weekly recap." We gave it a good ride and we hope to continue through the playoffs as well.

This week, the Boston Red Sox officially clinched the American League Wild Card and they didn't even have to win a single game against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays to do it. The Texas Rangers eliminated themselves as they fell to the Los Angeles Angels three days straight to give Boston the playoff berth.

The Sox are set to face the AL West champion Angels as the series starts on Wednesday. All of the games will be televised on TBS.

Here's the full schedule around the league so far.

Boston is gearing for a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians to wrap up the regular season. The series featured prominent playoff starters in Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Josh Beckett who were all winners. 

Clay Buchholz gets his chance next.

A couple of career notes: Victor Martinez launched his first ever grand slam during the second inning in a 11-6 win Saturday night. That's almost hard to believe it was his first. 

Also Dusty Brown hit his first career home run later in the eighth inning.

Sunday September 27 - Saturday October 3

Weekly record: 3-4

Overall record: 94-67

AL East standing: 2nd, 8.0 games back of New York

AL Wild Card standing: Clinched

Runs scored: 34

Opponents' runs scored: 41

Home runs: 8; Kevin Youkilis (2), David Ortiz (1), J.D. Drew (1), Dustin Pedroia (1), Victor Martinez (1), Brian Anderson (1), Dusty Brown (1)

Games left: 1

Weeks left: 0

SOX & Dawgs to return with different format

Ian Bethune, founder and blogger of SOX & Dawgs announced today on his Twitter page that he will be bringing back his website, that he abruptly shut down on September 18.

He said that it would only cover the Boston Red Sox and UConn Huskies and he'd be dropping the New England Patriots and Boston Celtics.

It is not known at this time when the site will be officially back up and running.

"I missed it," said Bethune via Twitter. "But I'm going to be scaling it back and doing things a little differently."

Bethune posted up a lot of information on a daily basis. For Red Sox coverage, he'd write pre-game and post-game notes, series pitching match-ups, batter vs. pitcher match-ups, broadcast information, and some video highlights just to name a few.

"I'm planning to change the Red Sox links, which consumes a lot of time. Also I haven't fully decided yet, but I probably won't be doing recaps of the Red Sox games right afterwards," said Bethune of some of the changes.

He said that the UConn coverage will probably stay the same.

On the brief two week shutdown, Bethune doesn't regret it at all and maybe this is what he needed.

"It was a welcome break. I was burnt out and and needed to decide if whether or not I wanted to continue," explained Bethune. "Part of me what swayed me to come back was the support and well wishes I received from a lot of readers.

"You really don't realize what you have until it's gone and the amount of support I got was quite surprising to me."

Once there's a set date, we'll be sure to announce it here on Batter-up with Bruno. 

Welcome back Ian, the Red Sox Nation blogosphere can be right again and RedSox100.com can perhaps almost look right again. Lots of surprise changes during the past two weeks.

It's not October; It's Soxtober

It's October 1 and you know what that means?

It's officially Soxtober time in Boston.

Soxtober was created in 2007 in, but sparked controversy saying it was copied from the Colorado Rockies when they created the catchy slogan of "Rocktober." 

However the more ironic part of this story is that "Rocktober" was already taken by computer game manufacturer Activision, when they filed a computer software application for the phrase "Legends of Rocktober."

In the end, Activision holds the trademark.

The Cleveland Indians are coming to town for the next four days as catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez faces his former club for the first time since the trade.

The series will feature Boston's four potential playoff starters, which includes Jon Jester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, and Clay Buchholz.

This is the last time they'll all get in some work before flying out to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Division Series, which means they needed to have themselves in playoff mode.

There's a chance that Saturday's game could be washed out with hard rain predicted in the forecast, which means Sunday could turn into a day/night doubleheader. If that happens, it'll be interesting to see if Terry Francona makes kind of adjustments with the rotation.