Red Sox and Dodgers Complete Huge Trade

The Red Sox have not been a great team this year no matter how hopeful I was about them. Some hitters had trouble out of the gate, top pitchers couldn't catch a break, and the organization seems to be in disarray. It's time to press the reset button.

The last coupe of days have been about a trade involving the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Despite the numbers that are involved in this deal, it got done. Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto were all traded to the Dodgers. In exchange, the Red Sox get James Loney and minor leaguers Allen Webster and Ivan De Jesus along with two players to be named later but are believed to be pitcher Rubby De La Rosa and outfielder Jerry Sands. As a result of the trade, the Red Sox shed more than $250 Million in salaries through 2018.

WTF?!?!?! The Dodgers have been perhaps the most active team when acquiring new players this year as they had gotten Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino. They cement that title with this humongous trade. To make things even more exciting for the city of LA, Adrian Gonzalez made his debut for the Dodgers earlier tonight and hit a 3 run home run in his first at bat for the team. He's already had a better debut in the LA area than Albert Pujols did.

Does this move, however, make them the favorite to win the NL West with about a month and half to go? I certainly hope not but it's hard to refute. The Giants still have 2 games on the Dodgers and they can't be counted out because of their starting rotation. However, the edge has to go to LA. They were keeping pace with the Giants as is and with these new additions it might be too much for any team to handle.

So where does this leave the Red Sox? In rebuilding mode for the foreseeable future. The chemistry on this team was not working and the organization itself needs sorting out. They first need to get their team management in order before they make any large move for the future. That includes evaluating whether or not Bobby Valentine belongs in that future. It will take some time for these things to sort out which might scare the Nation for the next season or so.

It's really a weird transition with these teams: one franchise on the decline of it's glory while the other is seeking to rise. It's a cycle every team has to go through... unless you're the damn Yankees.

P.S. RIP, Neil Armstrong. The last great explorer that took a giant step for mankind.

My First Trip to Fenway

In all my years as a Red Sox fan, I had never been to Fenway Park. It's kind of hard to do that when you live on the other side of the country and the other half of you is a Giants fan. That being said, it's been a dream of mine to go to the home of the Red Sox and I can finally say that I have done that.

I attended my first game at the 100 year old Fenway Park and it was amazing. I got to see Lansdowne Street and all the shops and people there. Then I went into the park through Gate C and went out to see the Beauty of the park. It was a great view from the Bleacher section as I looked into the field and the Grandstands. It was a wonderful view from there as I got to see all of the Ballpark: Pesky's Pole, the Green Monster, the Nachos in front of me. The Fans were great too except for the Blue Jays fans.

As for the game itself, it didn't go that well. Josh Beckett was on the mound and he didn't have his best stuff. He allowed 4 runs in the first two innings of the game but settled in a bit after that. Still allowed one more run later on. Aaron Laffey of the Blue Jays just stumped us. We managed to get plenty of hits but just couldn't group them together to get some runs. Laffey just kept stranding us on base the whole night. We managed to scrap in one run in the 9th inning to avoid a shutout but the result was still the same. Blue Jays beat the Red Sox, 6-1.

Despite the loss, I still enjoyed myself as I took in the experience around me. The atmosphere was great and I got to see the Red Sox at home. What more can you ask for?... A WIN!!! Going to Fenway again tonight. GO SOX!!!