Respect for JD

Everyone remembers J.D. Drew’s grand slam in the sixth game of the ALCS. Back at Fenway, down 3 to 2, facing Carmona, the Sox might have found themselves in a tight spot. But once Drew staked them to a four run lead, and Schill settled down, it was a one game series. For many fans, perhaps your author included among them, this one hit redeemed what had been a mostly disappointing season. But the truth was that Drew had busted out of his slump long before Game Six. Last year after Labor Day, he batted .342, but his first few months at Fenway had been so bad that this turnaround was close to invisible, at least in the stats. His numbers had been so bad that even a great month merely made his season mediocre, at best.

This year, however, Drew has been earning his 14 extra large. He’s been hitting consistently all season, and playing solid out in right field; but more importantly, with Papi on the DL, Drew has single-handedly supplied the Sox power from the left side of the plate. In June, with David sitting, Drew has batted .519, with four homers, ten RBIs, and ten runs. That’s an average of two runs produced every day. Like today, for example. He brought in the first run when he was hit by Bedard in the third inning; and he scored the second and winning run with a solo home run in the sixth. Not to mention that he took a home run away from the Mariners with a leaping catch in front of the bull pen early on. That’s plus three runs from JD alone. A pretty good day’s work.

My only question is this. His name is David Jonathan Drew. Why isn’t he DJ Drew? How did they end up with JD instead of DJ?

I know that the big pitching story today was Masterson, holding the Mariners to a single run, and earning his third win. But the guys I think we need to show some respect to are the relievers. The bull-pen seems to be settling down after a real rocky start this year. Hansen threw a scoreless inning today, the sixth straight appearance when he did that. Earlier in the year it was time to hold your breath every time Hansen came into the game. Either that or turn off the computer/TV/radio/whatever, and just assume that the lead had been lost. During this recent stretch, he’s lowered his ERA to 4.3. Not great, but much better than the sevens and eights he was posting earlier. Pap and Okajima were both terrific today, using only 14 pitches between them, to get the last six outs. Pap got through the ninth with only five pitches. How’s that for efficient? Both have had their ups and downs, but on most days this year, they’ve remained virtually unhittable. Pap has converted 18 of 20 save opportunities; and if not for that four-run meltdown in B-More, Oki would have an immeasurably small ERA. (About the size of Gaimbi’s thong I would guess.) The weirdest year so far is being turned in by Delcarmen, who has posted a 2.77 ERA away from home, but a six spot at Fenway. What’s especially weird is that Delcarmen is a Boston kid; he’s throwing at home, probably in front of family and friends, and he’s apparently freaking out. Either that or his girlfriend is wearing him out every time he comes back to Boston. Are we talking Jessica Simpson here? Aardsma and Lopez have kept their numbers solid this year; Timlin has worked his way down from triple digits to below six. Not great yet, but Tito probably figures he just needs a few innings out of Tim in October; that’s all.

So while the team is banged up; while the lineup has changed almost daily; and while the pitching staff features our number six and seven starters, Sox have continued to play .600 ball, and as far as I’m concerned that’s the magic number. .600 will get anyone in the AL into the post-season this year. So despite all the shuffling in the lineup, and even without all the starters in the game for most games this year, Sox remain right on course.