The Lenny DiNardo Blog

The Fiery 68 mph Curveball

The ProJo gives us Lenny's Tough-Guy Teammate Side:

Despite the no-decision, Boston starter Lenny DiNardo also made an impact.

As the 1-1 curveball broke into Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Carl Crawford's backside in the third inning last night, DiNardo made his point loud and clear.

His teammate, Alex Cora, was drilled in the top half of the inning, and DiNardo was only abiding by the unwritten, time-honored tradition of returning the favor. Despite his a no-decision -- his second in three starts in place of the injured David Wells (knee) -- the southpaw proved to his teammates he's a standup guy.

Of course DiNardo, like any other pitcher, denied he was throwing at Crawford.

"There's no way I was throwing at Crawford in that situation," said DiNardo. "It was a curveball that I didn't reach out on, but it's part of the game. It's part of the game and I'm going to live with it."

Because of the melee history between the clubs -- at least four brawls since 2000 -- home-plate umpire Mike Winters issued warnings, which brought Red Sox manager Terry Francona out of the dugout and pitching coach Al Nipper was irate from the top step.

"There wasn't going to be trouble," said Francona. "That was a 68 mile-per-hour curveball. We weren't mad at them, and I don't think they were mad at us. That [pitch] wouldn't have hurt me."

One Time Thru the Rotation

So, in preparation for tonight's game, I thought I'd look back at the starting pitching of our last six games (in which we are 2-4) - the ERA is calculated for that game only...
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Lenny (4/22) v. Toronto:

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
DiNardo (L, 0-1)	3.0	10	7	7	1	1	1	21.00

Clement (4/23) v. Toronto:

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Clement (W, 2-1)	5.1	7	3	2	2	4	1	3.53

Schilling (4/25) v. Cleveland:

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Schilling	6.2	9	5	5	2	8	1	7.26

Wakefield (4/26) v. Cleveland

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wakefield (L, 1-4)	5.2	5	5	3	4	3	1	5.19

Beckett (4/27) v. Cleveland

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Beckett (L, 3-1)	3.2	6	9	8	5	6	3	22.50

Clement (4/28) v. Tamba Bay

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Clement(L, 2-2)	6.0	5	5	4	6	4	0	6.00

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COMBINED (4/22-4/28):

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Starters (1-4)	28.7	42	34	29	20	26	7	9.09

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The point of this? To show that our rotation of Aces haven't been so money this last week. A lot of walks, too many homeruns, and 5 unearned runs allowed in the last week. Not great stuff. Even though DiNardo got beat up during his last start, one look at Beckett's numbers show it was just a bad week all around.

This is a new week...and Lenny the Stopper has to come up big tonight. Apparently, Tito considered going to DiNardo last night if Clement's asthma got too bad. Didn't happen, so Lenny's keeps his start today. Mow 'em down, dude.

Next Start: Friday, April 28 v. TB

I haven't had the time (or the inclination) to pull the quotes following the game in Toronto. Will I do it before his next start? We'll see.  It appears as though folks believe that Lenny's last outing (DirtDogs: DiNardo Disaster) didn't sink his chances in the MLB...as it shouldn't. The other day when I was going to post stuff about the game, I started looking around at other less-than-impressive outings from any number of former/future Cy Young pitchers. They've all been there. A bad outing is a bad outing. Lenny's got at least one more shot...Here's what the Globe is hearing:

The Sox, at last check, still intend to start Lenny DiNardo (0-1, 7.43 ERA) Friday at Tampa Bay. If he is hit hard again, the Sox do have options at Pawtucket. Abe Alvarez is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA. Matt Ginter, who appeared in 14 games (one start) with the Tigers last season, going 0-1 with a 6.17 ERA, is 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA for Pawtucket. Ginter, 28, is coming off eight scoreless innings in his last outing, in which he allowed just two hits and one walk. He fanned six...

DiNardo's Start: Today @1:07pm

DiNardo gets his second start -- and as noted below, his first road start -- today at 1:07p. Here's the RedSox.com 'scouting report:'

Saturday, April 22 Rogers Centre | 1:07 PM ET

Lenny DiNardo, LHP (0-0, 3.48) Red Sox (11-6)   @  Roy Halladay, RHP (1-1, 4.20) Blue Jays (8-7)

Scouting Report:

DiNardo makes his second straight start, filling in for the disabled David Wells (strained right knee). It will be DiNardo's first big league road start after making his first two at Fenway Park, last Monday and Sept. 2 of last year. DiNardo gave up a run in each of the first two innings Monday before settling down and retiring 10 of his final 11 batters faced, allowing six hits and just two runs over five innings. He threw 81 pitches, walking one and striking out one.

Halladay will rejoin the staff after skipping one turn in the rotation due to stiffness in his right forearm. The injury didn't turn out to be anything serious -- just a case of inflammation in the muscle. Halladay was able to throw without pain this week and will step in to face the Red Sox in the second game of a three-game set. Last year, the right-hander was 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA against Boston.

UPDATE: No, I will not be live-blogging this bad-boy. I'm sitting in the undergraduate library doing Trusts & Estates (and watching ESPN Gamecast).

How I'm Right & Shaughnessy is Always Wrong

Actually getting an email back from Eric Wilbur earlier today reminded me about the last time I wrote an email to a Globe sportswriter. It's not DiNardo-related, but Sox-related...and b/c this is my space, I thought I'd hash it out here.

Back in late 2001, the always-angry Dan Shaughnessy had a problem with the sale of the Boston Red Sox to those "carpetbaggers" John Henry and Tom Werner. Shaughnessy has had a problem with just about every Sox player, manager, and front office guy that I can remember.  Of his most unprofessional columns (and there are TONS), I'm reminded of the time he called Jose Offerman a "piece of junk." (May 26, 2002; BUNT NOT DOWN BUT FANS ARE POOR EXECUTION FROM OFFERMAN):

There was actually too much good news for all of us to handle. Red Sox and Celtics success on the heels of the Patriot magic carpet ride brought national attention to New England for Memorial Day weekend. Toss in some rare sunshine and Beantown was finally feeling like the true Hub of the Universe.

But then Jose Offerman couldn't get a bunt down and the Sox' world crumbled.

Let us consider for a moment the piece of junk that is Offerman. He gets paid $6.5 million per year, hits .250 with zero speed and power, can't get a bunt down in a crucial situation, then won't talk about his failure after a 3-2 loss to the Yankees.

Really, would it be that tough for Offerman to tell Red Sox fans what happened up there?

That was just a fun flashback. Anyway, here's the article that I was responding to back in 2001.

Shaughnessy Column (12/21/2001; "SOLD TOWNE TEAM HARRINGTON HAD GOLDEN CHANCE TO HIT HOME RUN FOR SOX FANS, BUT HE WHIFFS HE BLEW A GREAT CHANCE"):

"The Red Sox are a public trust. They are the heart and soul of New England. They are as important as any local institution. And last night they changed hands for the first time in 68 years.

Michigan-born, Yale grad Tom Yawkey rescued the franchise in 1933, and now we have unknown men named Henry and Werner taking charge of this most-cherished local team.

I wish I felt good about this and I hope I'm wrong. I wish I could get on the bandwagon and believe good things will come of this. Maybe John Henry and Tom Werner will be the best Boston sports owners since Walter Brown. Maybe they will build a new jewel of a ballpark in South Boston and reward us with a string of championship teams in the next decade.

But forgive me if I don't trust these guys. Any of them ever been to Durgin Park? Any of 'em know that the L Street Brownies swim in the ocean on New Year's Day? Any of them know the meaning of Curt Gowdy and "Hi, neighbor, have a 'Gansett?" Any of them know who hit Tony Conigliaro with that spitball in 1967? And that the pitch was thrown Aug. 18, a Friday night?

Shame on John Harrington. The cowardly little accountant had a chance to do something great and important here. This is the man who befriended Mrs. Yawkey all those years ago and - on that relationship alone - became CEO of the Red Sox and a Big Player in Major League Baseball. The record will show that when it came time to step up, Harrington caved to commissioner Bud Selig and the Lords of the Sport. He chose to serve the Boys in the Club rather than loyal, long-suffering, top-dollar-paying citizens of Red Sox Nation.

John Harrington and the Yawkey Trust win. You lose.

Joe O'Donnell and Steve Karp should be the new owners of the Boston Red Sox. They were the answer to every question. They have money. They have great reputations in the business community. They can get things built. They love New England. They grew up as Red Sox fans and share the blood type that flows through the veins of Red Sox Nation.

But Harrington didn't want the local guys. He was no doubt worried that O'Donnell and Karp would make him look bad. On Monday, he extended Aramark's concession deal for eight years, totally neutralizing O'Donnell's alliance with the limited partners from Aramark. This was downright dishonest. You don't make that kind of side deal when you are selling a team in an open bid.

So now we have this band of carpetbaggers, taking charge of our most cherished institution. Your Red Sox have been used as a pawn in the big league chess match between Major League Baseball and the Players Association. In the end, Bud Selig decided that putting a "team player" in Boston was more important than letting the Red Sox fall into the hands of a reputable local group.

Me: (Originally an email to Shaughnessy, ended up on the Letters to the Editor Page)

"Yes, we may have a few rich carpetbaggers coming into town to take over the Sox. However, of all the potential new owners, this is the only group that knows the value of keeping the Sox in Fenway, and to think that Commissioner-cum-stadium-builder Bud Selig actually approves a group that would rather renovate an ancient park than build a new one holds quite of bit of weight.
 
They're not simply coming in here with an eye for investment; they're buying into the tradition (rich people can do that). The Henry-Werner posse hasn't had the luxury of growing up with the heartbreak or the pride. But baseball is baseball - and to bring a new perspective to Boston (one which doesn't have its soul on lease to Yankee Stadium) is healthy for BoSox fans everywhere.
 
To sell a team to a hot dog pusher simply to have a hometown boy in charge doesn't help anyone, let alone Boston's blood-sniffing provocateur-journalists.
 
True Boston sports fans have indeed won."

Of course, I was right and Shaughnessy, like usual, was wrong. That's the point of this otherwise irrelevant post. That, and thanks to Eric Wilbur for paying attention to the readers and to the team we love.

NOTE: there is a whole blog devoted to the question: How does Dan Shaughnessy have a job at a major daily newspaper? It gets way more traffic than the MikeLowellSucks.com.

 

Bugging Eric Wilbur

Eric Wilbur, the Boston.com blog guy/sports journalist gave out his early grades on Sox players. From the top...

Jonathan Papelbon: I know, we all want to see him start eventually, but it’s just not possible right now. Papelbon’s dominance has shortened games to eight innings for the Sox, an invaluable asset that can’t be tinkered with. So far, the leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year.+++++

...to the mixed-bag/bottom:

Wily Mo Pena: Defensively, he is nothing less than atrocious. However, let’s give credit where it is due. We don’t know how many hours of the day Pena is spending with Papa Jack, but they do appear to be paying off somewhat in just the past week. Pena has shortened his swing a little bit, and has been more selective at the plate, going deeper into counts, or at least a little deeper than three pitches. He’s still a project, but he’s also become perhaps the most intriguing player on this team. Offensively: +, Defensively: -----

However, Wilbur failed to rank our man, Lenny DiNardo.  Oh, don't worry...I bugged him...and he sent this on:

OK, let's say it's: ++

Has pitched very well in relief, with a fairly good start to boot.

In Wilbur's eyes, this puts him in the same category as Wakefield, Stern, and Timlin -- which I think is a fair assessment. We'll see how his outing this Saturday helps or hurts...

Thanks for the response, Eric.

"Go out and pitch like Lenny DiNardo"

Last night, Tito confirmed that DiNardo will be starting Saturday's game against Roy Halladay.  Turns out the Globe had to inform Lenny of this situation, which means two things: (1) clubhouse communication isn't quite up to par and (2) Lenny isn't reading The Lenny DiNardo Blog regularly enough.

That said, the Globe article gave some begrudging praise in its article on DiNardo: "a more-than-serviceable spot start." 

They pulled some good quotes from Lenny, as well:

"I've always told myself I want to pitch in the big leagues, [as] a starter, a reliever, a ballboy, whatever," DiNardo said. ''It's just one of those things where this is a dream come true, especially playing for the Red Sox. It's unbelievable.

''Being a starter is icing on the cake. It's really surreal, me pitching for the Boston Red Sox and starting, with guys like Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, [Josh] Beckett, [Matt] Clement, all those guys.

''It's unreal. I'm going to ride it for as long as I can."

C'mon, Lenny. It's either unreal or surreal--can it be both?  Maybe, it can. Who am I to judge?

''Be aggressive, and pitch like I know I'm capable to pitch," he said. ''Don't go out and try to be Curt Schilling. Don't try to be Josh Beckett. Go out and pitch like Lenny DiNardo, which is a guy that's going to let the movement get the guys out. I'm not going to strike a lot of guys out."

That's the best advice I've heard in a while. I think I'm going to start talking myself up like that - "Go out and pitch like Lenny DiNardo." I like it.

Day-After DiNardo Coverage

After yesterday's outing, most of the coverage is focused on Bam-Bam Loretta's walk-off homerun. (There's been a lot of bad headlines up there, but no one thought of this one: "V is for Loretta" - hey, feel free to use it...I've got a whole bag full good stuff like that).  However, most of the local papers gave a head nod to Lenny's clutch fill-in performance.  It seems like Lenny got a little emotional at the end of the day:

"“It’s a feeling that I really can’t explain,” he said. “I can’t tell you what I thought. I did get some tears in my eyes, though. I can’t say that happens very often but it definitely happened when he hit that ball.”"

In terms of coverage, it appears that the Herald appreciated the outing ("A Special Kind of Win"), while the Globe could find little more than to say that he hasn't gotten a win (and make it sound like DiNardo was somehow disappointed in his outing).  This has been a pretty consistent slant (from both papers) since early spring training: Herald-Happy to see Lenny succeed; Globe-Would be able to write chicken little columns if he fails. They also disagree about how many appearances he has in the majors: Globe-33, Herald-31 (according to Baseball-Reference.com, he had 30 appearances before this season, so, plus 3 in 2006 should make 33).  The Globe points out that Lenny is coming up on Scott Williamson's record of 52 appearances without a win. 

As for the other papers, they followed the Herald's lead and had some favorable coverage: ProJo ("First Start Pleases DiNardo"), Hartford Courant ("Solid Start by DiNardo")

Here's a betting-odds article on DiNardo's start that I wish I had found before the game. The oddsmaker kept the Sox as the favorites, even with Lenny starting:

“I don`t believe you`ll see a significant drop in the Red Sox price,” says Belmont.com oddsmaker Peter Childs. “Wells had been slated to be the Red Sox fifth starter, the last man in their rotation. It’s not like DiNardo is stepping in for Curt Schilling or Josh Beckett.”

Here are some more quotes:

Lenny:

• "Yeah, I am ecstatic right now, more for the ‘W’ than anything else,” he said. “What can I say? Mark Loretta (who hit the walkoff, two-run homer) can’t get much more clutch than that. Kevin Youkilis (whose infield single preceded Loretta’s homer), he plays like that every day so it’s not like a fluke or anything. He hustles like that every day. So I am really excited right now."
• “I felt like my stuff was getting better throughout the game progressively,” DiNardo said. “Just trying to put the ball in play and give it to the defense, let them take over. They made some really great plays today.”

Tito:

• “Five innings, and I thought as the game progressed he got a little more comfortable,” Sox manager Terry Francona said. “It probably helped that when he got into the flow of the game, his ball started sinking a little bit better, cutting. Thought he did a good job. Five innings and keeping us right in the game is what we needed today.”

Captain:

• "He did a good job keeping us in reach," agreed catcher Jason Varitek.

DirtDogs:

• All Wells and Good: DiNardo Keeps Sox in the Game

The ProJo is also reporting that Lenny's outing was good enough to earn him another start, when Wells's spot in the rotation comes around again (Saturday v. Toronto). You thought Gil Meche was a tough pitcher to go up against?  Lenny faces a gimpy Roy Halladay on Saturday. The Herald's Blog thinks that Lenny might get a 3d start due to Wells's trip to the Dl...

PHOTO CREDIT: Boston Herald,  Matthew West

DirtDogs: DiNardokay

So, I've been busy and bad on the blogging front. I'm trying to get this kid out of jail (he got totally hosed), I'm studying for finals, and I've had some poker to play.  That said...this post is jampacked with some wicked awesome DiNardo news -- below you'll find info on:

(1) DiNardo's last outing
(2) David Riske's Trip to the DL
(3) David Wells's Trip to the DL
(4) Lenny's Start on Monday (plus, liveblogging!)
(5) Silvio Berlusconi's Loss (plus, fascism!)

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1.) Last Outing: April 12, 2006
Wells got shelled (as expected) and Lenny got a chance to work some innings. This seems to be Lenny's role on the team: A starter lets up half a dozen runs or so, Lenny is brought in to eat up innings until we can get to the next game.  Hey, it's a role...

Unfortunately, DiNardo let another inherited runner score (what the hell, Wells deserved the extra ER).  Beyond that, he pitched alright.  He allowed one run of his own over the 3 innings of relief to lower his ERA by .048 to 3.38. Here are the pitching lines for Wednesday's game.

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wells (L, 0-1)	4.0	10	7	7	1	1	3	15.75
DiNardo	3.0	6	1	1	1	2	0	3.38
Seanez	2.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	9.00

Also, the DirtDog's updated nickname for Lenny is a little better than last time: What a Relief: Lenny DiNardokay, Seanez Says Hello

2.) Riske on the DL
So, you may have been wondering -- how is it that DiNardo came in to relieve Wells? Wasn't he supposed to be sent down to AAA to make room for the Big Boomer? Yes, he was supposed to. But terrible pitcher, David Riske, experienced a bad case of back pain from sucking so much. The Sox placed him on the 15-day DL, leaving the spot for Lenny.

3.) Wells on the DL
After his painful outing last Wednesday, April 12th, David Wells was placed BACK on the 15-day DL as well, retroactive to Thursday, April 13th -- which, after careful sabermetricizing, comes out to about NINE HOURS of service on the team so far this season.

4.) Lenny's Start
The good news about Wells's and Riske's trips to the DL is that Lenny not only stays on the big league club, but he gets the START on Monday. Hey, I might try to Live-Blog this sucker. That would be a first for The Lenny DiNardo Blog -- and one that I bet would have about 3 people reading it live -- thanks, mom, Graham from Brookline, and Chris from Westboro.

No promises yet - but check back on Monday at 11:05am - the best In-Game action you're gonna find. Screw ESPN's gamecast.

By this point, this has been widely reported...but special thanks to Graham from Brookline for the tip early today when only Jeff Horrigan from the Boston Herald had the story.

5.) Berlusconi's Loss

This is the random piece of news from today: Insane Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi devised a system a few years back that allowed "Italians Abroad" (or those citizens of other countries who have Italian bloodlines) to vote in the National Italian Political Elections.

The "Italians abroad" voting scheme was designed by Mirko Tremaglia, the 80-year-old Minister of Italians in the World. An unapologetic defender of the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, Mr. Tremaglia is said to have modelled the scheme after a Fascist scheme that defined Italians as a race.

Under Mr. Tremaglia's new electoral law, eligible voters are defined as anyone with a continuous line of male descendants going back to a man born in Italy. The voter needs only to register with an Italian consulate, and does not have to speak Italian, have visited Italy or even have parents who were born in Italy. Link.

Turns out that the proud Italians in other countries actually voted against Berlusconi's government. Those foreign votes were actually the deciding votes in parliament -- which appears to have shifted to the center-left Prodi government. How crazy is that? And we thought that the World Baseball Classic definitions of an Italian were stretching a little. We had no idea that they were Fascist!!

...I wonder how the DiNardo clan voted?

Globe: Breaking Down the BP

The Globe has its pre-season look at the 25-man roster (and a good story about the upcoming "Fab 5" Pawtucket prospects).  They give Lenny some love: "the only trustworthy lefty the Sox have."   They also mention that "DiNardo never seems to get much attention."...which means they're not reading The Lenny DiNardo Blog enough.