2009 BOSTON RED SOX
SWEPT AWAY BY A "RALLY MONKEY" ...
 

The Red Sox opened the season with a postponement due to rain. However, on April 7th, the season began at Fenway with the first pitch being thrown out by Senator Edward Kennedy, and a vintage Josh Beckett victory.  

Throughout the first half of April, the pitchers weren't pitching. The hitters weren't hitting. Three series into the season, the Red Sox had sunk into last place in a division they were supposed to win, as the first road trip of the year ground to an end. They were 2–6 in the first eight games and in last place, 4 games out. On April 12th, Jacoby Ellsbury set a team record after playing in his 179th consecutive game without an error.

During the losing streak the Sox lost Jed Lowrie with a broken wrist.  With Julio Lugo still in spring training, that left Nick Green as the Sox shortstop. Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was placed on the disabled list with a dead arm, after just two starts, with an injury that manager Terry Francona attributed to his participation in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for Japan.

Kevin Youkilis started the year as the Sox hottest hitter.  After ten games he was hitting .467 with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, and 11 runs scored.  But most of the Sox hitters started slowly.  The Sox won 11 straight games beginning on April 15th. The win streak was the team's longest since 2006 when they had a 12-game win streak.  In the first game of the winning streak, against Oakland, the Sox were desperate for a good start. Tim Wakefield delivered that day, and didn't stop, pitching three gems.

On April 20th, the hitters broke out with a 12-1 beat down of the Orioles on Patriots Day.  That was followed up with the sweep of a doubleheader with the Twins on April 22nd. 

Then a dramatic Yankees-Red Sox series began. The first game took place on April 24th.  The Sox came from behind as Jason Bay tied up the game with a two out homer off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th inning, and then watched as Youkilis knocked out an 11th inning walk-off, game winning homer in the 11th.  On April 25th, Mike Lowell brought the Sox from behind with a late inning home run in a 16-11 slugfest. Another highlight was Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home on April 26th to cap off the three-game sweep of the Yankees.  It was the first steal of home for the Red Sox since Billy Hatcher in 1994.

They finished April with a record of 14–8 and tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the division lead. Mike Lowell was named American League Player of the Week, going 10 for 23 with 11 RBIs that made him the league leader with 22 RBIs for the season. Lowell, coming back from hip surgery last October, played in all but one game.  On the other side, the starting pitching was not up to par.  Jon Lester, Justin Masterson and Brad Penny had not pitched deep into games.  Josh Beckett (1-2) had a 9.14 ERA since his opening day masterpiece.  The only starter with an ERA under 5.00 was Tim Wakefield (2.93).

Off the field, Jerry Remy, NESN color commentator, had surgery over the winter to remove a small area of cancer on his lung. While recovering, he also got pneumonia and ended up suffering from fatigue and depression, which kept him out of the broadcast booth from the end of April thru August.

At the beginning of May, the Sox lost 3 of 4 to the Rays at the Trop.  David Ortiz (.208) struggled with the bat and had not hit a home run so far, being criticized by the fans.  Kevin Youkilis was on the DL with a strained oblique and Jacoby Ellsbury had a pulled hamstring, but the Sox had Jason Bay.  Bay led the Sox, taking 2 of 3 games from the Rays back at Fenway.  On May 8th, he brought the Sox back, tying up the game with a homer.  On May 10th, his 8th inning double put the Sox in the lead.

In early May, Manny Ramirez was suspended from the Dodgers, 50 games for doping, further tarnishing his reputation. The Sox reacted to Ramirez's suspension with mostly surprise, sadness at what it meant for baseball, and nonchalance at what it meant to them. They defended the World Series titles they won with him. Mostly, the Sox didn't think they would be dealing with Ramirez again, and definitely not for the reason they had to.

Despite the team's struggles, the Red Sox set an American League record, tying the Major League record, on May 7th by scoring 12 runs without recording an out, during the 6th inning of a game against the Cleveland Indians.  On May 12th the Sox started a west coast trip with a come-from-behind win over the Angels sparked by the weak hitting captain, Jason Varitek (.239). 

The next night, May 13th, saw the debut of Daniel Bard. It met with soaring expectations, created during spring training and the season's first month and a half. He fired two scoreless innings, allowing a single and a walk and striking out one.  Thru mid-May, Justin Masterson proved a very able fill-in for Dice-K, as Jon Lester (6.31) struggled on the mound while Ortiz failed again and again to get going at the plate and was benched.  On the flip side, Jacoby Ellsbury was hot with a .344 BA in a 13 game hitting streak.

After a 2-4 west coast trip, the Sox returned home 3 1/2 games behind the league-leading Blue Jays, who they squared-off with.  In the first game, the year's stopper, Tim Wakefield (5-2) spun a 2-1 victory while Papi (.203) slumped  to 1 for 17.  David Ortiz finally hit his first home run on his 136th at bat of the season, in the second game of the series, on May 20th.  On the scorecard, Ellsbury tied a major league record pf 12 putouts in a single nine inning game.  The Sox completed the Toronto sweep to move in within 1/2 game.  Jason Bay was the hero, setting a team record for homering 11 straight times with a man on base.

The Mets moved into Fenway Park and tagged Jonathan Papelbon for a 9th inning homer for a 3-2 Sox loss on May 23rd.  It was Papelbon's first blown save of the year, having gone 11 for 11 in save opportunities with a 0.95 ERA. 

The Sox became increasingly frustrated with the shortstop position.  Nick Green proved not to be a good substitute defensively, with 8 errors in 23 games, for the injured Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie.  Lugo came back in May and wasn't much better, costing the Sox a game in the Mets series, with his 4th error of the year.  Bad defense was not limited to the shortstops. Justin Masterson and Dice-K Matsuzaka combined with back-up catcher George Kottaras, to set a modern day major league record with six wild pitches during a game in Minnesota on May 27th. 

The team had flattened out in May, going 15–14 for the month but still kept pace with the Yankees and Jays, staying only 1/2 game out of first place.  Ortiz was batting .185 and Varitek hitting .239.  Kevin Youkilis, on the other hand was hitting .366 and Dustin Pedroia at .326 

On the mound Josh Beckett turned it around during May, going 3-0 for the month.  Then on June 3rd, Beckett flirted with a no-hitter until the 7th inning in Detroit and shutout the Yankees on June 9th.  Beckett had allowed just three earned runs and 15 hits in his previous five starts. 

Jon Lester turned it around also.  He followed a six inning, twelve strikeout performance on May 31st, with an 8 to 1 victory over the Rangers on June 6th, were he was perfect through six innings. On June 12th Lester had a stretch against the Phillies where he struck out six straight batters, getting 10 of his last 12 outs via strikeouts.

Dice-K still couldn't get it together and continued his troubles.  Opponents batted .349 off Matsuzaka in his past four starts thru the end of May.  On June 7th, Hideki Okajima gave up a solo home run, snapping his string of 16 1/3 scoreless innings, which began April 28th. It was the longest by any Sox pitcher this season.

On June 11th, the Sox beat the Yankees and swept the series, leaving them undefeated against New York for the season.  The win also put the Sox two games in first place over the Yanks.  In Philadelphia, the Sox took 2 of 3, completing a 9-3 streak against four teams that were in first place in their divisions, when each series began, and at 38-25, they trailed only the Dodgers for baseball's best record. However, the Red Sox were one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. The Sox made 38 errors, 12th most in baseball, and their .983 fielding percentage ranked them 19th.

Tim Wakefield notched his 9th win on June 16th.  The knuckleballer was 8-0 in his last eight starts at Fenway Park, with a 2.79 ERA.  On June 20th, Josh Beckett continued to impress, with a 3-0 complete game shutout of the Braves.  In his next start, he pitched seven shutout innings against the Braves. 

Nick Green provided some heroics with a walk-off homer in the 9th inning on June 21st.  David Ortiz was making his way back at the plate, as he hit his fifth home run in 14 games, a span in which he was hitting .326 (14 for 43) with nine RBIs.

On June 23rd, the Sox took the Washington Nationals apart, 11-3, having won 10 of their last 13 games and enjoying a 5 game lead in the A.L. East.  Jacoby Ellsbury with a .449 OBP during that stretch, had one of the best games of his career. He reached base all five times with two triples, two singles, and a walk. He scored one run, drove in three, and stole a base.

John Smoltz came back from shoulder surgery and made his first appearance for the Red Sox in late June.  He was hammered, facing 13 batters, 10 of whom scored.  In his first start at Fenway Park, in early July, he was knocked around by the Oakland A's, who rapped out 10 hits off him in six innings.

The Sox concluded a successful June, going 18-8 and still maintaining the top spot in the A.L. East.  On July 1st, the Sox scored four runs in the top of the 9th inning in Baltimore, to tie up the game and send it into extra innings.  In the 11th inning, the much-maligned Julio Lugo, knocked in Ellsbury with the winning run.

Led by Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox bullpen (3.12 ERA) was the best in the American League going into July.  Relievers Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito and rookie Daniel Bard put up impressive numbers.  But in three of four games in the beginning of July, they had a meltdown.  They blew a nine-run lead, give up a game-winning hit on a 0-2 count against Seattle, and walked three straight batters with the score tied in the ninth inning.  The early July homestand, against the Mariners, A's, and Royals, was thought to be means for adding cushion to the first-place lead. But the Sox bats slumped, the bullpen proved mortal, and their bodies ached.

On July 6th, Oakland Athletics DH, Nomar Garciaparra received a long standing ovation when he stepped into the Fenway Park batter's box for the first time since 2004.

After a complete game 6-0 shutout of the Royals, Josh Beckett (11-3, 3.35 ERA) finished the best half season of his career, with an 8-1 run and a 1.79 ERA over his last 11 starts.  The Sox closed baseball's ceremonial first half not only with the A.L.'s best record at 54-34, but also with the A.L.'s best run differential at plus-85. They led the Yankees by three games in the A.L. East. The Sox placed six players, led by first-time All Star, Tim Wakefield (11-3) on the American League squad.

With the start of the second half, the Sox lost two of three in Toronto, then were swept in Texas.  In the process, the team lost first place to the Yankees. The team found themselves in a batting slump.  Only Youkilis and Pedroia were batting over .300

Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie came back from a DL stint.  Mark Kotsay and Julio Lugo were then traded, while Tim Wakefield was out with a lower back strain. 

Adam LaRoche was quickly picked up from the Pirates for prospects, as insurance toward Lowell's troublesome hip.  With a two-run homer in his first game, and two singles in his second, LaRoche topped himself with doubles in his first two at-bats against the A's on July 27th.

As big a start as LaRoche had, after five starts with the Red Sox, John Smoltz was disappointing with a 1-4 record and a 7.04 ERA.  The other newcomer, fifth starter, Brad Penny (7-4) was having a good year. Penny had a 3.92 ERA in his last 15 outings. Overall, the Red Sox were 10-9 in his starts.  The growing story was Daniel Bard however. Bard had not allowed an earned run in 11 1/3 innings, covering nine games, and allowed just three hits in that span. Of the 34 outs in that period, 20 had been strikeouts.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-5, 8.23 ERA) who has spent most of the season on the DL with a strained right shoulder blamed the Sox publicly while rehabing in Florida, for their training regimen.  The comments infuriated Terry Francona, and pitching coach John Farrell.

Honors were given Jim Rice as he had his #14 was raised alongside the other retired numbers on July 28th.  A few days later, on July 30th, a N.Y. Times article came out reporting that David Ortiz had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.  That night Ortiz's homer led the Sox in and 8-5 comeback against the A's.

The Sox split the series with the A's at the end of July.   Jon Lester was building up a solid season on the mound, with three earned runs or fewer in 10 straight starts and a 1.83 ERA over that span. Jacoby Ellsbury had multiple hits for the sixth time in six games on the homestand with the A's and the Orioles, going 13 for 28 (.464) in that span.  On the other end was Jason Bay. Bay was hitting .163 since June 24th, with just one home run, five RBIs, and 36 strikeouts. The Sox finished the July homestand in second place, 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

At the July 31st trading deadline, the Red Sox traded Adam LaRoche to the Atlanta Braves for Casey Kotchman.  The team also traded pitchers Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone to Cleveland for catcher Victor Martinez.  In his second game, on August 2nd, Victor Martinez collected five hits in an 18-10 romp over Baltimore.

During the first week in August the Sox lost a two game series to the Rays and then visited Yankee Stadium and were hammered, losing four straight and being shut out twice.  Jed Lowrie re-injured his wrist. Jason Bay was out with a hamstring injury and Rocco Baldelli was hurt and on the DL, so Kevin Youkilis played left field.  David Ortiz slumped, going 1 for 25 since the illegal substance use news. The primary pitching victim was John Smoltz (2-5, 8.33 ERA) and he was released.  The team fell 6 1/2 games behind New York.

The Sox came home and brawled with, and took 3 of 4 from the Detroit Tigers.  Kevin Youkilis was suspended and gimpy Mike Lowell came off the bench and knocked out two home runs on August 11th.  Josh Beckett won his major league-leading 14th game on August 12th, 8 to 2, concluding an 18 inning scoreless streak, by giving up a home run.  Also, Clay Buccholz and rookie Junichi Tazawa both impressed on the mound.  Sox starters had a 2.00 ERA, but the team only won three of their last seven games.  Ortiz (.114 BA) was 4 for 41 and Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 22.  The hitters weren't hitting.

Theo Epstein re-acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the Reds, to play for the injured Jed Lowrie, on the day they won a dramatic come-from-behind game on August 14th, with a six run outburst in the 9th inning against the Rangers.  But the Sox lost 2 of 3, going 12-17 since the All Star break, and sunk 7 1/2 games behind.  Brad Penny was 1-5 with a 5.56 ERA in his last 10 starts, and the Red Sox were 3-7.  He often pitched well enough to keep the Sox in games, but hardly ever had been dominant enough to decide a game himself.

David Ortiz had arrived in Texas going 4 for his last 41, without an extra-base hit during the span.  In five games since, Ortiz went 7 for 16 with four home runs, two doubles, seven RBIs, eight runs, and seven walks. With his surge, Ortiz lifted the Red Sox' offense.  The Sox swept the Blue Jays in Toronto and scored 24 runs.  On August 19th Clay Buccholz outdueled Roy Halladay, 6 to 1, and the next day Jon Lester (10-7, 3.58 ERA) sparkled in an 8-1 Sox win, allowing just three hits.  A week later, Buccholz dominated the Jays again at Fenway.

But then the Yankees came to Fenway Park and massacred the Sox with a 20-11 whipping on August 21st.  Brad Penny was the main victim.  Penny was pretty much ineffective, winning only one of his last eleven starts with a 6.31 ERA.  The next night the Sox bounced back with a 14-1 whipping of their own behind rookie Junichi Tazawa.  The Sox offense continued an explosive trend by scoring 49 runs over the last five games.  The Yankees took the final game of the series and gained a game in the standings.

On August 25th the White Sox lost their second game in a row at Fenway, with Jacoby Ellsbury stealing his 55th base, breaking Tommy Harper's team record.

When Tim Wakefield came back from the DL, he pitching a great game on August 26th, leaving with the score tied at 2-2.  David Ortiz then produced another classic walk-off with a 9th inning home run that gave the Sox the win.  Big Papi had hit 22 home runs and 62 RBIs since struggling to hit his first homer.  It also gave Daniel Bard his first major league victory.  The rookie, Bard, was able to reach past 100 mph with many of his pitches, giving the Sox a stronger pen.

Brad Penny was dropped from the team when Wakefield returned, and the Sox picked up Billy Wagner for more bullpen help.

As August ended, the Sox took 3 of 4 from the White Sox and then swept the Blue Jays.  Paul Byrd made his season debut on August 30th, shutting out the Jays and Roy Halladay.  The Sox couldn't gain ground on the Yankees, staying 6 games behind, but led the Rangers by 3 1/2 games for the wild card.

Jon Lester set a team record for most strikeouts in a season by a lefty, with 196 Ks, on September 1st against the Rays.  The Sox went on to take 2 of 3 games in Tampa, pushing the Rays further behind in the wild card standings.  Lester (12-7, 3.44 ERA) next easily beat the White Sox, 6-1. In 17 of his last 18 starts, he had given up three earned runs or fewer.  Mike Lowell, since returning from the disabled list on July 17th, went 40 for 122 (.328) with seven homers and 28 RBIs.  But the Sox lost 3 of 4 in Chicago, fell 9 games behind the Yankees, and stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of the Rangers for the wild card.

On September 8th, Clay Buccholz beat the Orioles at Fenway Park, 10-0. Once a luxury, Buccholz starting become a necessity. The Sox swept the Orioles and then came the Rays.  On September 12th and September 13th, the Red Sox swept a three-game homestand from the Rays in less than 24 hours.  The sweep was highlighted by stellar performances from both Buccholz and Jon Lester.  They got seven innings and one run from Buccholz and eight innings and no runs from Lester.  The Sox gave Buccholz his first start after the All-Star break as a reward for his work in Triple A, a planned cameo. As injuries and ineffectiveness struck the Sox staff, he took up residence in the rotation.  The Sox won the past six games he started.  His ERA over these starts was 1.59, and opponents only batted .172 against him.  

Jonathan Papelbon also earned his 36th save, with a 0.73 ERA over his last 10 games, over 12 1/3 innings. In that time, Papelbon allowed just one run, striking out 17.  David Ortiz hit his 24th home run of the season, and the 270th of his career as a designated hitter, pushing him past Frank Thomas on the all-time list. 

The Sox took to the road and swept Baltimore and split in Kansas City, with Buccholz (7-3) winning his fifth straight and earning a 2.80 ERA.  They then went into Yankee Stadium and were shut out, ending any chance of capturing the A.L. East. As the regular season drew to a close, slumping Jason Varitek (.208) had lost much of his catching time to Victor Martinez, who had a 25 game hitting streak, and was batting .335 since joining the Sox.

On September 30th, the Sox lost their sixth in a row, but clinched the wild card when Texas lost in L.A.  In the eight seasons of the Henry/Werner/Lucchino regime, it was the sixth time that the Red Sox were in the hunt for October, and was the seventh time since 1995 that Boston was the A.L. wild card winner.

And on the final day of the regular season, Jacoby Ellsbury stole his 70th base of the season. It was the second year in a row that he led the league in base thefts. Jason Bay had a full year with the Red Sox, leading the Red Sox with 36 homers and with his 119 runs batted in.  Kevin Youkilis hit 27 homers and J.D. Drew hit 24.

In the American League Divisional Series, after several years of playoff frustrations against the Sox, the Angels finally had a breakthrough and swept.  

In Game 1 John Lackey outdueled Jon Lester to earn his first postseason victory since 2002. Torii Hunter's home run in the fifth inning led the Angels to a 5-0 victory. The Sox didn't manage an extra-base hit, while getting shut out in the playoffs for the first time since 1995.  Lester allowed just four hits over six innings.

In Game 2, Jered Weaver followed up Lackey's performance, with a 4-1 victory over the Sox. Weaver dominated the Sox, whose silent bats continued to do nothing. Jacoby Ellsbury finally scored a run on Victor Martinez's single in the eighth inning, ending the Sox string of scoreless postseason innings.

In Game 3, at Fenway Park, leading  6 to 4 in the ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon was one strike away from extending the series with three different batters, but couldn't get the job done each time.  Vlad Guerrero finally singled to center, sending Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu racing home, to give the Angels a 7-6 lead.  The Angels advanced to the AL Championship Series, where they lost to the Yankees, 4 games to 2 games.