Red Sox Memoirs - Spiderman and The Rocket (1996 - )

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

RED SOX MEMOIRS - SPIDERMAN AND THE ROCKET (1996 - )

As you may or may not have guessed from the title this is a player-centered dynasty in the vein of OD's Ryan Zimmerman one and PoC's Ken Griffey Jr. one ; one that centers around a player, or players in this case, but also gives plenty of attention to the team as well.

This one centers around former beloved Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (Spiderman) and former Red Sox pitcher and all-time great Roger (The Rocket) Clemens. I decided on Nomar because he was a phenomenal player when he was with the Red Sox. He looked destined for Cooperstown in his early to mid 20's, hitting a robust .372 in 2000 at the age of 26 and winning rookie of the year in '97 with 30 homers, a league leading 209 hits, and a near .900 OPS. I, and I think many Red Sox fans, have wondered how his career may have turned out differently if not for the trade in '04 and the injury problems he began facing. In short, I wonder what would have happened if he had played his entire career with the Red Sox, and this dynasty is an attempt to give an idea of what might have happened if things had turned out slightly differently. The Rocket wasn't in my original plans for this dynasty, but he has always been a favorite player of mine, and once I saw that he was still on the Red Sox in '96 on the game I decided to include him. Largely because I wonder the same thing about him as I do Nomar, what might have happened differently if Dan "Dumbass" Duquette had elected to resign him at the end of the '96 season and if he had stayed a Red Sox player for most, if not all, of his career.

I will be using CatKnight's Competitive Balance settings. Other than that I simply say this: I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good (:P)....I mean I do solemnly swear not to rip off the computer and keep an eye on the league for the sake of competitive balance .

So let's get this underway!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

An Introduction to the Stars of the Show!

SS/DH Nomar Garciaparra (79/92), 22 years old



Nomar will begin this as a 22 year old rookie and the team's starting designated hitter. There really isn't much question about his ability to hit, but his defense is a big achilles heel right now, and with the more sure-handed John Valentin on the roster to handle SS and no real DH on the team Nomar will simply fill that role, as well as filling in around the infield in case of injuries, ineffectiveness, or need for a day off. In Nomar's three year's of rookie ball he has amassed 24 homers, 115 RBI's, 183 hits, 108 runs, and a .270/.324/.430. Not remarkable, but with his rating of 79/92 at only 22 years old you have to think he'll do much better in the bigs.

SP Roger Clemens (96), 33 years old



Roger starts at 33 years old and going on his 13th year in the league. He is coming off a poor season (by his standards), going 10-5 with a 4.18 ERA in 1995. But over his career at this point he is 182-98 with a 3.00 ERA and 2333 strikeouts in 2533.1 innings pitched. He is in a contract season, and being that he is a focal point of the dynasty and the ace of the otherwise weak pitching staff we will be re-signing him ASAP.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Opening Day Roster

The Starting Nine:
1. DH Nomar Garciaparra (79/92), 22 years old
2. SS John Valentin (82), 29 years old
3. 1B Mo Vaughn (84), 28 years old
4. LF Mike Greenwell (81), 32 years old
5. C Mike Stanley (82), 32 years old
6. RF Jose Canseco (86), 31 years old
7. 2B Jeff Frye (75), 29 years old
8. 3B Tim Naehring (74), 29 years old
9. CF Troy O'Leary (75/79), 26 years old

Thoughts: 1-6 it's pretty solid. Nomar and Valentin in the leadoff spot provide us with two guys very capable of making contact and drawing walks, and Vaughn, Greenwell, Stanley, and Canseco are all RBI machines and capabling of going yard in any given at bat. That said, 7-9 is extremely iffy. Naehring really shouldn't be starting for any team with realistic playoff aspirations, and while Jeff Frye and Troy O'Leary aren't completely horrible they do leave a lot to be desired. The defense is also seriously lacking. None of them are anything to write home about, and only O'Leary, Greenwell, Valentin, and Naehring are average-ish. Possible spots we would look to upgrade, depending on how the first few weeks/months of the seasons go would definite be third base, and probably center field, second base, and left field.

The Bench:
LF Phil Clark (71/79), 27 years old
CF Dwayne Hosey (72), 29 years old
LF Kevin Mitchell (76), 34 years old
SS Wil Cordero (76/85), 24 years old
C Bill Haselman (72), 29 years old

Thoughts: Pretty decent depth. Mitchell only just last season smacked 30 homers and put up an OPS of 1.110 in 310 at bats. Wil Cordero is also a good bat off the bench, and if he can figure it out with the glove he'll probably find himself in the starting line up, although he'll probably find himself there anyways since Naehring is an injury waiting to happen.

The Starting Rotation:
1. Roger Clemens (96), 33 years old
2. Bret Saberhagen (88), 31 years old
3. Jamie Moyer (82), 33 years old
4. Tim Wakefield (78), 29 years old
5. Butch Henry (75), 27 years old

Thoughts: Not too bad. Excellent top two in Clemens and Saberhagen. Clemens should continue to be a Cy Young contender, despite his relatively poor 1995 season, although I do have some doubts about Saberhagen moving forward. Then a solid 3-5 with Moyer, Wakefield, and Henry. Moyer, Wake, and Henry are all pretty much soft tossers, but it does provide an excellent contrast to the hard throwing Clemens, and somewhat hard throwing Saberhagen.

The 'Pen:
CL Tom Gordon (84), 28 years old
SU Heathcliff Slocumb (77), 29 years old
SR Mike Maddux (75), 34 years old
SR Mike Stanton (77), 28 years old
MR Stan Belinda (74), 29 years old
LR Steve Ontiveros (74), 35 years old

Thoughts: Meh. It's not completely horrible, but I don't expect it to win us any more games than it loses us. The backend of Gordon and Slocumb is quite good, and Stanton is a strong short reliever, but otherwise it's not very impressive. Fortunately, though, the bullpen is one area where I happen to have a lot of minor league depth, with Rich Garces, Brian Shouse, and Hideki Okajima all capable of coming up in the event of injury or ineffectiveness.

Overall thoughts: I think we've got a pretty competitive team. The projected win-loss right now has us pegged for 99 wins, five games behind the Yankees projected 104, which seems a little optimistic. However if the league played out with everyone matching their projected win-loss that would give us the Wild card by seven games over Baltimore. Our performance this season probably hinges on the performance of Nomar, the back of the rotation, and our all-or-nothing sluggers.

[Red Sox Fan 734]

Noooooooooooomaaaaaaaaaaaahhh

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 2
Red Sox (0-1) @ Tigers (1-0)
Red Sox 5 - Tigers 6

Both of our stars put in good games, but unfortunately it still wasn't enough to pull through with a win on opening day. Nomar grounded out in his first career at bat, but finished the game 2-4 with a walk, two runs, and his first career homer and first career steal. Clemens turned in a strong performance, but unfortunately the defense made two errors and let him down, as he allowed five runs, but only one was earned. Overall his line was 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 HR, 5 R, 1 ER, 9 K. Mike Greenwell also homered and drove in two runs, while the big hitter on the Tigers side was Travis Fryman and his three run homer.

WP - Bob Scanlan (1-0)
LP - Mike Stanton (0-1)
HR - Mike Greenwell (1), Nomar Garciaparra (1), Cecil Fielder (1), Travis Fryman (1)

April 3
Red Sox (1-1) @ Tigers (1-1)
Red Sox 10 - Tigers 9

Bret Saberhagen started this game strong, but fell apart and allowed five runs in the fifth inning. Fortunately, though, the offense and bullpen showed up to play. Mike Greenwell went 5-6 with three runs and an RBI and Jeff Frye went 2-5 with a homer and four RBI. While the bullpen allowed only two runs (one earned) in 4 1/3 innings.

WP - Mike Maddux (1-0)
LP - Brian Williams (0-1)
SV - Tom Gordon (1)
HR - Mo Vaughn (1), Jeff Frye (1), Cecil Fielder (2), Alan Trammel (1)

April 4
Red Sox (2-1) @ Tigers (1-2)
Red Sox 10 - Tigers 9

The pitching blew it out the ass again, but fortunately the offense showed up and won it for us again, in spite of four Tiger home runs. Valentin and Mike Stanley both hit three run homers, and Canseco went 4-5 with a homer, while Moyer allowed 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Nomar, Naehring, and Frye also had an RBI each.

WP - Stan Belinda (1-0)
LP - Fernando Rodney (0-1)
SV - Tom Gordon (2)
HR - Mike Stanley (1), John Valentin (1), Jose Canseco (1), Cecil Fielder (3), Alan Trammel (2), Chad Curtis (1), Bobby Higginson (1)

Thoughts: The offense has been really strong from 1-8. O'Leary is hitting like a chimp with a railroad spike through his head, but everyone else is more than picking up the slack. It's a good thing too, because the team is sporting an ERA over 6.00. Oh, and everyone on defense might as well start wearing their gloves on their head and try catching the ball with their teeth. They would probably make fewer errors that way.

[Alloutwar]

Greenwell - wow, what a guy. I wish he had lasted longer. Nomar, Greenwell, the Rocket all on the same team. Too bad Burks went out to Colorado or wherever.

Rich Garces! Viva El Guapo!

Any chance you are considering trading Slocumb to the Mariners? For a starter and catcher who shall remain nameless? I would highly advise it!

Good concept, I would have done something similar myself, if I wasn't already engrossed in multiple dynasties across different games.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Greenwell - wow, what a guy. I wish he had lasted longer. Nomar, Greenwell, the Rocket all on the same team. Too bad Burks went out to Colorado or wherever.

Rich Garces! Viva El Guapo!

Any chance you are considering trading Slocumb to the Mariners? For a starter and catcher who shall remain nameless? I would highly advise it!

Good concept, I would have done something similar myself, if I wasn't already engrossed in multiple dynasties across different games.

Nomar, Greenwell, and the Rocket are all doing fantastic, too.

El Guapo is almost certain to see some major league time before the end of the season, possibly soon.

Haha. Well because of the way Baseball Mogul just is, Varitek is already in my farm system, rated as a 70/88 or something, but for some reason Lowe isn't. Hmm, maybe Slocumb goes, Lowe comes to Boston, and Garces comes up and replaces Slocumb......

Thanks . Rocket is/was one of my favorite players, but unfortunately his time in Boston was before I started watching baseball. Same with Nomar, his last season in Boston was my first season of paying attention to baseball.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 6
Athletics (0-4) @ Red Sox (3-1)
Athletics 6 - Red Sox 7

Wow. Great game. We score four runs in the final two innings to win the game; two in the eighth on a Kevin Mitchell pinch hit single, and two in the ninth on a Canseco ground out and bases loaded Jeff Frye walk to win the game. Nomar played a good game going 2-5 with two runs, additionally Jeff Frye hit two doubles and Mike Stanley homered, while Wake' struck out ten but allowed six runs in eight innings.

WP - Mike Stanton (1-1)
LP - Jim Corsi (0-1)
HR - Mike Stanley (2)

April 7
Athletics (0-5) @ Red Sox (4-1)
Athletics 0 - Red Sox 1

Wow. What a great game pitched by both sides. Tim Hudson shut us down and pitched an eight inning complete game allowing only one run on seven hits and five walks, but fortunately for us Clemens was just too good on this night and pitched a complete game, three hit shut out, while sending the A's down on strikes 13 times. The lone run of the game came on a Valentin RBI single in the sixth.

WP - Roger Clemens (1-0)
LP - Tim Hudson (0-2)

April 8
Athletics (1-5) @ Red Sox (4-2)
Athletics 2 - Red Sox 1

We really should have whipped the A's starting pitcher in this game. He didn't have a single rating above 67 besides his endurance (which was 82), but instead he shut us down for seven innings and we failed to touch the bullpen either. Good news is Troy O'Leary seems to be snapping out of his funk after going 3-3 with two doubles.

WP - Willie Adams (1-0)
LP - Bret Saberhagen (0-1)
SV - Jim Corsi (1)
HR - N/A

Thoughts: Can't be disappointed with 4-2 and a tie for the division. The pitching seems to be coming around. Clemens pitched a fantastic game in his one start this weekend, and Saberhagen also threw a great game in the 2-1 loss (7 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 5 K). Our big hitters are doing just as well as we were hoping. Vaughn is hitting .381/.536/.571, and Greenwell is hitting .407/.448/.667. Noooommmmaaaaahhhh is also ripping the cover off the ball with a line of .360/.448/.560, and The Rocket has been a beast in his two starts, pitching almost 16 innings with a 0.57 ERA and 22 strikeouts to only four walks. Coming up we've got the 3-3 Blue Jays coming to Boston.

[rockiesfan4ever]

You are missing the score for the last game. Great start though

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

You are missing the score for the last game. Great start though

Whoops . Fixed it. Thanks though .

[OldYankFan]

I can still hear the echos of the Fenway fans as Derek Jeter comes up to bat...

Nomars better, NOMARS BETTER, NOMARS BETTER!

That was then...

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I can still hear the echos of the Fenway fans as Derek Jeter comes up to bat...

Nomars better, NOMARS BETTER, NOMARS BETTER!

That was then...

He was better. But then his body just started falling apart on him. Probably a 'roider. He was so good when he was young, and then nothing.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 9
Blue Jays (4-3) @ Red Sox (4-3)
Blue Jays 3 - Red Sox 2

Stieb managed to shut us down (in spite of being at the end of his career rated as a high 60's/low 70's pitcher and not having pitched in two years) for seven innings of one run ball, and we couldn't touch the 'pen either. Jose Canseco thoroughly embarassed himself going 0-5 with three strikeouts.

WP - Paul Quantrill (2-0)
LP - Stan Belinda (1-1)
SV - Mike Timlin (1)
HR - Juan Samuel (1)

April 10
Blue Jays (4-4) @ Red Sox (5-3)
Blue Jays 2 - Red Sox 8

A great game pitched by Tim Wakefield (7.1 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 K) worked in tandem with a great offensive output to help us win this game. The young Garciaparra especially had a great game at the plate, collecting three hits in four at bats, scoring twice, hitting his second homer and driving in three runs.

WP - Tim Wakefield (1-0)
LP - Woody Williams (0-2)
SV - N/A
HR - Nomar Garciaparra (2)

April 11
Blue Jays (4-5) @ Red Sox (6-3)
Blue Jays 2 - Red Sox 12

Butch Henry spins a gem in his first start of the season, going seven innings and giving up only one run, and the offense completely goes off against Hentgen. Everyone in this game but Valentin got a hit, and everyone but Jeff Frye drove in a run. We also got homers out of Mike Greenwell, Mike Stanley, Jose Canseco, and Tim Naehring. Nomar went 3-4 with a walk, two runs, and two runs driven in.

WP - Butch Henry (1-0)
LP - Pat Hentgen (0-1)
SV - N/A
HR- Mike Stanley (3), Tim Naehring (1), Mike Greenwell (2), Jose Canseco (2)

Thoughts: The offense really picked it up against the Jays, and the pitching didn't falter at all. It was nice to see the back end of the rotation put in some good innings, as well as seeing the bullpen hold tight. We're flying high at 6-3, a half game ahead of Baltimore, and it's also fun seeing the Yankees at 3-5 at the bottom of the division. Nomar is absolutely ripping the cover off the ball, batting at a .405/.477/.649 clip.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 12
Brewers (7-3) @ Red Sox (6-4)
Brewers 6 - Red Sox 3

A strained elbow kept Vaughn out of this game, as it will the next three as well. Pitching was the big story in this one, with Clemens getting roughed up a bit and Cal Eldred shutting us down for seven strong innings of two run baseball. Mike Stanley was 2-3 with a homer and two ribbies in a losing effort.

WP - Cal Eldred (1-0)
LP - Roger Clemens (1-1)
SV - Mark Davis (1)
HR - Mike Stanley (4), Jose Canseco (3)

April 13
Brewers (7-4) @ Red Sox (7-4)
Brewers 3 - Red Sox 4

Someone might easily have mistaken the line score of this game for something written in binary code or ASCII, with both teams putting a lot of 1's and 0's on the board throughout the game. Bret Saberhagen pitched a solid game (5.1 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 3 R, 7 K), but the bullpen is what really saved us. We got 3.2 innings out of Mike Stanton and Heathcliff Slocumb without either allowing a run or a walk, only three hits, and two K's. Offensively, Naehring had two runs batted in and drove in the winning run on a sac fly in the bottom of the sixth with O'Leary on third.

WP - Mike Stanton (2-1)
LP - Ben McDonald (1-2)
SV - Heathcliff Slocumb (1)
HR - N/A (previously I had been listing homeruns hit on both teams, but from now on, unless it's relevant in some way (500th of career, league leader, etc.) I'm only going to be listing homeruns hit for the Red Sox)

April 14
Brewers (7-4) @ Red Sox (7-4) (prior to this game I was writing the team's record after actually playing the game, but I'm going to start writing what it is before the game since I've gotten in the habit of writing these as the games is played, and not after I play the game)
Brewers 3 - Red Sox 6

The fourth inning was the big story of this game. The home half of the fourth featured a triple by John Valentin, an RBI single by Tim Naehring, an RBI double by Jeff Frye, and a two run single by Nomar. Moyer also had his first solid start of the season, going seven innings and allowing only three runs on five hits and two walks.

WP - Jamie Moyer (1-0)
LP - Steve Sparks (1-2)
SV - Heathcliff Slocumb (2)
HR - N/A

April 15
Brewers (7-5) @ Red Sox (8-4)
Brewers 5 - Red Sox 7

A three run cushion after the first inning made it easy for Wakefield to settle in early, and settle in he did. Wake' allowed only three runs over nine innings on no walks and nine hits, striking out two. Offensively, all our RBI's game from the 3-6 hitters. Valentin had three RBI's on a 2-4 day, while Canseco had two RBI's on a 4-4 day, as well as scoring twice.

WP - Tim Wakefield (2-0)
LP - Brian Givens (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - N/A

Thoughts: The team is really going on all cylinders right now. We've got a game and a half lead over the second place Orioles, as well as boasting one of the highest team batting average's in the league (.319) and lowest team ERA's (3.85). The end of the month is big for us, with six of our next twelve games against the Orioles, along with three against the Yankees and three against the Tigers. Fortunately Mo comes back when we start our next series against the Tigers on the 17th.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 17
Red Sox (9-4) @ Tigers (5-7)
Red Sox 11 - Tigers 5

Roger Clemens ERA continues to climb at an astounding rate. It's gone from 0.57 before the start before this one, to 3.51 after this one. He's still racking up strikeouts, with 35 in 25 innings, but it would be nice if he could get a handle on keep guys from crossing the plate. Vaughn homered in his first at bat back from injury and finished the game 2-4 with a homer and three RBI's, while Nomar went 2-5 with a homer and a career-high four RBI's.

WP - Roger Clemens (2-1)
LP - Brian Moehler (1-2)
SV - Steve Ontiveros (1)
HR - Mo Vaughn (2), Jose Canseco (4), Nomar Garciaparra (3)

April 18
Red Sox (10-4) @ Tigers (5-8)
Red Sox 8 - Tigers 3

A fantastically pitched game out of Saberhagen (7 IP, 5 H, BB, HR, 3 R, 0 ER, 6 K) in combination with three RBI's out of Stanley and a two run homer out of Naehring help make us the victor in this one. We go for the sweep tomorrow.

BREAKING NEWS

Today we opened contract talks with Clemens, and much to my surprise we were able to lock him up right off the bat. We signed Clemens at four million a year for five years, which will take us through the 2000 season. Through four starts this season Clemens is 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA and 35 strikeouts, to only six walks, in 25 2/3 innings.

WP - Bret Saberhagen (1-1)
LP - Omar Olivares (0-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Tim Naehring (2)

April 19
Red Sox (11-4) @ Tigers (5-9)
Red Sox 4 - Tigers 5

Jose Lima pitched a good game to help prevent us from completing the sweep. The Tigers also got homers out of Cecil Fielder and Travis Fryman. One brightspot we can take away from this game is that John Valentin seems to finally be remembering how to hit a god damn baseball after going 3-5 with two ribbies and raising his batting average to .200.

WP - Gregg Olson (1-1)
LP - Heathcliff Slocumb (0-1)
SV - N/A
HR - N/A

Thoughts: We're playing really well right now. We currently boast a 2 1/2 game lead over the Orioles, which we'll hopefully be able to substantially build upon as six of our next nine games are against them. I'm a little bit concerned with Clemens' ballooning ERA, but hopefully now that he's locked up and getting paid handsomely he'll turn it around and start earning those fat paychecks. After things start evening off, as they should soon, I'll look into addressing any needs that present themselves