JustSON the Numbers: Jason Bay

With this edition of JustSON the Numbers I'll be breaking down the Boston Red Sox Jason Bay (.324 batting average, .468 on base average, 9 home runs, 34 RBI, 29 runs scored in 32 games) and his propensity to come up with big hits in what is becoming to seem like every game.

Manny who? I think all of Red Sox Nation can easily say that with the clutch hitting that Jason Bay has exhibited just a little over a month into this season. So far this season Bay has gotten a hit in or after the 5th inning that has driven in the run(s) that have tied, put the Sox ahead or ended up being the winning run. Once he did it twice in one game and five times he has done it to the Yankees (3) and Rays (2).

On April 11th the Red Sox were in Los Angeles playing the Angels and desperately needed a win after losing their previous three games. That's when Bay stepped in and hit a 2-run home run in the 7th to put the Sox up 4-3, he then added a solo shot in the 9th to make it 5-3 and it turned out to be the winning run as the Sox won 5-4.

Next up was Baltimore on the 17th at Fenway. After Brad Penny spotted the Orioles 7 runs Bay and the rest of the Red Sox got to work, with of course Bay starting things off in the bottom of the 2nd with a 2-run home run. He eventually put the game away for good with his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 6th to make it 9-8 Red Sox. The Sox went on to win 10-8.

Then it was time to torment the Yankees in back to back games on April 24 and 25th. The first game saw Bay tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two out 2-run home run off of Mariano Rivera, then Kevin Youkilis won it in the 11th with a solo home run. The next day Boston won a wild won over New York 16-11 with Bay getting the offense going in the bottom of the 4th, with the Sox down 6-0 Bay singled in Dustin Pedroia, then put Boston ahead in the bottom of the 5th with a 2-run double that put them up 8-6.

Two days later in Cleveland, Bay hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 9th in a 0-0 game, which Boston eventually won 3-1. After a trip to Tampa Bay, Boston made their first visit to the new Yankee Stadium on May 4th and Bay felt right at home their as he hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 7th to make it 6-3 Boston. At the time it was a couple added insurance runs but ended up being the game winner as New York tacked on a run in the bottom of the 8th which would have tied the score.

And just this past week Bay has come up with a run scoring double in the 6th to tie the game on the 7th against Cleveland, which the Sox won in a landslide 13-3. Then the Rays came to town the following night and Bay did it again as he hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 6th to tie it at 3, he was then followed a few batters later by a 2-run shot off the bat of J.D. Drew. Boston went on to win 7-3. Then to finish off this home stand on Mothers Day Bay decided to give his mom the best gift and that was a run scoring double in the bottom of the 8th to put the Sox up for good 4-3.

So as you can see it looks as if Jason Bay has stepped in quite nicely for the Red Sox in providing clutch hits. I'd say not bad for a former Pittsburgh Pirate and Gonzaga Bulldog.

I've noticed something about the Boston sports scene...

Observe some of the popular sports figures in Boston...






If I didn't know the complete bio of Captian Jean Luc-Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation, I would have assumed he was from Boston. What is it with everyone being bald in that city? Might need to check the water.

 
Oh wait... maybe not. Thanks Randy Moss!

It's day 2 and all is pretty much right in the world

I know there's 161 more games to go for the Red Sox, but you've got to start somewhere, like today's opening 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Beckett pitched nicely, striking out ten and giving up only one earned run. However, the real star of the game... this guy...

God bless Dustin Pedroia, who hit a homer in the first. The baseball player formerly known as Jason Varitek also went yard against the Devil Rays. Great start for Sox fans - even though they have a long ways to go.

Now you may wonder why I have a picture of the New York Yankees on this blog... well buckaroos, yesterday in their season opener, the $161 million dollar man CC Sabathia sucked it up on the mound in his first outing for the pinstripes. He didn't get through five innings, gave up six runs and didn't record a single strikeout. Marky Mark, or better known as Mark Teixeria went 0-for-4 and stranded five runners. In the end, the Yanks lost 10-5 to the Baltimore Orioles.

And the best part about it is I'm pretty sure somebody robbed the Yankees team bus of their tires and left the thing on cinder blocks. That's the kind of wonderful town that Baltimore is. As my buddy Colin (who went to school at the University of Maryland) would say "there are apartments in Baltimore that only have three walls, you do the math. Yeah it's a dump."

And this? This is a photo of your 2009 Seattle Mariners blowing a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Somebody please bring back Heathcliff Slocumb.

I love Dustin Pedroia

How could you hate this man? The 5'9" 170 pound wonder that won the AL MVP award last season and is apparently a wearer of the green Holiday Inn shirt when he likes to get his crunk on. And the second baseman for the Red Sox says stuff like this...

Tomorrow, perhaps leery of feeding a rivalry whose coverage in the tabloid press alone accounts for the destruction of several spotted owl habitats, Pedroia will ask that his comments about A-Rod be stricken from the record. ("That guy," he will say, pausing for a moment to find the right word, "is a dork.") But at this moment, here in the shade of the clubhouse, he is expansive.

A-Rod a dork? Thank you Dustin Pedroia, that's all I need to know for this upcoming season. I'm going to go out, get myself a Holiday Inn shirt, crank Tessie and Shipping off to Boston and find a Yankees fan to pick on.