Was Papi's HR Bat-Flip Really Over The Top?

Papi Hurting The Empire's Feelings

After the Red Sox defeated the Empire 3-0 in a rain-shortened game in the Bronx, Will Middlebrooks asked David Ortiz, "What went farther, the ball or the bat flip?" After clouting a monster shot off Hiroki Kuroda, the Boston designated hitter flipped his bat and trotted around the diamond in between the on-rushing raindrops. Some in the Gotham press corps expressed displeasure with the gesture. And out of the swampland that is New York sports talk radio, there were even suggestions of plunking Papi in his next at-bat (Friday, July 19th at Fenway around 7:30 PM if you're keeping score). Have things become so silly in baseball that teams take offense at celebrations of mammoth homeruns? Amazingly, Joe Girardi had the same complaint against Ortiz almost exactly two years ago. Memo to Joe: start winning and you won't have to whine so much.

Muddy Chicken: 'I'm Better Than Mr. October'

The Muddy One Opines

No one ever charged the Red Sox second baseman with being short on chutzpah. While hanging around the batting cage over the weekend at The Concrete Bunker On 161st Street, the Laser Show walked up to Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and stated, "Barry Bonds, Dustin Pedroia and Reggie Jackson -- the top three players in Arizona State history." When pressed by reporters to rank order the three ASU stars, Pedroia shot back, "Kind of a coin flip between the first two". What was Mr. October's retort? "I’m just happy to be in the top five." Game. Set. Match to the Muddy Chicken.

Sox 'Rein' In Rubber Match; Smite Empire, 3-0

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Hey, if they can put away The Evil Ones in five and one-half innings instead of nine, they'll take it. Thanks to the quirky weather patterns in the Bronx, the Red Sox were able to defeat the Pinstriped Posers 3-0 and send The Bronx Embalmers into fourth place. Clay Buchholz got his eighth win against no defeats, outpitching Hiroki Kuroda. The righty gave up just two hits over five innings—and got the "complete" game victory, despite the fact that Andrew Miller was announced and warming up when the game was finally called. Boston's offense was spurred by solo HRs from Jose Iglesias and David Ortiz, while a Mike Napoli fielder's choice accounted for the first tally of the game. Boston now moves to a 2 1/2 game edge over Baltimore and a three-game bulge over Tampa. The New York entry holds an eight-game advantage over the last place Blue Jays.

Ellsbury Out Again Today; Jackie Bradley In CF

Despite manager John Farrell's optimistic assessment of Jacoby Ellsbury's injury status, the center fielder will sit out Sunday's rubber match against The Evil Ones. Daniel Nava (4 for 5 with 4 RBIs on Saturday) will again lead off and Jackie Bradley, Jr. (3 for 5 on Saturday) will hit ninth and play center. This is most likely an overly cautious move by the Red Sox, but, given Ellsbury's injury history, you can never make assumptions like this. Clay Buchholz goes for his eighth victory against no defeats.

Sox 'Nava'-Gate Bronx; Eviscerate Empire, 11-1

AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill

Daniel Nava had four hits and four RBIs—including a three-run HR—to lead the Red Sox over the Evil Ones, 11-1 tonight. Boston unloaded 18 hits on Empire pitching—including a Grand Slam by Mike Napoli (who had three total hits) and a solo shot by Stephen Drew. Felix Doubront was solid again, going six innings and yielding just one earned run on a sacrifice fly. The bullpen did the job from there, with Junichi Tazawa, Craig Breslow and Koji Uehara no-hitting the Bronx Embalmers for the final three innings. Other key offensive contributions came from Jose Iglesias (2-5, RBI), Mike Carp (2-3, RBI) and Jackie Bradley, Jr. (3-5, 2 doubles). Iglesias also made a ridiculous defensive play charging a slow roller and flipping a pea to first for the out. Boston regains their 2-game pad on the Yankees, with Clay Buchholz taking the hill in the rubber match tomorrow night.

Iglesias Could Stick With Sox In Utility Role

AP photo / Winslow Townson

Red Sox manager John Farrell has given the first indications that Jose Iglesias—still hitting .435 in 50 MLB plate appearances this year—might stick with the team even after injured Will Middlebrooks returns. This, of course, means that Pedro Ciriaco's days with the Red Sox are numbered. Ciriaco—renowned as a Yankee-killer last year—has been uneven (particularly in the field) in 2013. Clearly, Boston could not continue the 'party line' that Iglesias needed more time in AAA. Let's hope this kid seizes the opportunity and continues to force the organization to give him playing time in the major leagues.

FenwayNation's New Yardbarker/FOX Affiliation

As you may have noticed, FenwayNation is pleased to announce our affiliation with the YardBarker Network and FOX Sports.com on MSN. This allows us to offer readers easy access to a wide array of FOX Sports resources (see the new Yardbarker/FOX header at the top of the site). Moreover, Yardbarker is the largest network of sports blogs and pro athlete blogs on the web. FenwayNation remains completely independent—you won't notice any drop in our angst level regarding the Carmine Hose. We hope our readers around the world will  enjoy the added benefits of our new affiliation.

Dustin Pedroia Named FN's May Player O' Month

The Editors of FenwayNation have named second baseman Dustin Pedroia to be their May Player Of The Month. Pedroia batted .336 for the month, with three home runs and 18 RBIs. The Muddy Chicken had a .398 OBP and an OPS of .894. In addition, he had 40 hits in the month and 22 runs scored. Despite his newly-revealed thumb injury, Pedroia led the team by playing in thirty May games. Not to mention Gold-Glove level play at second base. Not surprisingly, the guy we named the 2012 Player Of The Year is now our 2103 May Player of the Month. Congratulations, Dustin!

Sox Drop First Game In Gotham; Lose, 4-1

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

While returnees Kevin Youkilis (RBI) and Mark Teixeira (walk, run scored) contributed to Boston's 4-1 loss to the Empire, it was decidedly the masterful pitching of C C Sabathia that spelled doom for the Carmine Hose. The big left-hander struck out 10 and regained the speed on his fastball that had disappeared for most of 2013. He went 7 1/3, gave up just six hits and walked no one. Boston batters were off-balance all night and never really were in this one. Jon Lester was his 2013 shaky self, going 6 1/3, but coughing up four earned runs and lacking command early. Dustin Pedroia kept up his sizzling All-Star pace, going 3-4—and scoring the only Boston run.