Top 4 moments of the 2014 Boston Red Sox season
Jorge Camargo
Contributing writer
This season has mercifully ended. After yesterday's loss to the Yankees, the Red Sox finished up with a 71-91 record with only two more winning games than the 2012 Bobby Valentine Squad. We all know that this season wasn't enjoyable in any single way. From the ugliness of injuries to Victorino to the departure of Jon Lester, 2014 was a year full of dissapointments to the Red Sox.
Anyway, I suppose that if you are reading this you are a Red Sox fan. If there's something that characterizes the Red Sox Nation is that we know how to keep the faith when everything is going down. We know how to deal with not making it to the playoffs thanks to one of the worst collapses in baseball history, to our star hitter being suspended because of PEDs. Of course this season was a hell and the fact that we won the World Series last year makes it even worse, so to get our spirits raised to the offseason and the 2015 season, here are my top 5 moments in 2014.
4. May 2, 2014: Dustin Pedroia reaches to 500 RBI and 100 homeruns with grand style.
The Laser Show entered May 2nd game against the A's with 160 at-bat without a homerun, and with the quest of reaching to 500 RBI and 100 homers. Little did he know, that he will hit a grand slam in the sixth inning that will give the Red Sox a 6-1 lead. As a bonus to his player status being a Red Sox legend, Pedroia joined Carl Yastrzemski as the only two players in franchise history to hit 100 homeruns and steal 100 bases. There are no words to describe Pedroia's smile when he was rounding the bases.
3.- April 22, 2014: Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda gets ejected because a foreign substance was found in his neck.
Even though the Red Sox-Yankees rivarly has seemed to slow down a little over the past years, this chapter will definetely be remebered as one of the most iconics for both teams. On April 10, the Red Sox spotted pine tar on Pineda's hand but decided not to mention it to the umpire crew. Twelve days later, Red Sox manager John Farrell interrumpted Pineda because again it seemed that there was pine tar on his neck. The umpire crew confirmed and Pineda was ejected from the game. Many Red Sox fans took the discussion to Twitter and began calling the Yankees a team full of cheaters because of A-Rod and Pineda being a pitcher with pinetar.
2.- May 30, 2014: Benches clearing brawl in Fenway Park and walk-off.
It seems that the more the Red Sox-Yankees rivarly cools down, the Red Sox-Rays becomes more relevant. On May 30, the Red Sox were hosting the Rays on a opening game of a 3-game series. A week before, the Rays and Red Sox were involved in a brawl at Tropicana Field because of "unwritten baseball rules". So entering May 30th game, the Red Sox and Rays were in a war zone mode. The games begins and David Ortiz gets drilled by David Price in the 1st inning. Benches were warned and ironically, Red Sox Manager John Farrell is the one that gets ejected. Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo took over when Farrell left, but he also got ejected three innings later when the Rays pitcher drilled Mike Carp and didn't got tossed. Benches cleared and David Ortiz was in the middle of everything and it seemed that he was about to go mad and murder Price. Boom. 2nd Red Sox Manager ejected and the game was not even in the 6th inning. Red Sox 3rd base coach Brian Butterfield became the manager and everything seemed to be alright, until the 6th inning. Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman threw a pitch to Evan Longoria's shoulder and then got ejected. Why did Workman got ejected and David Price didn't? Brian Butterfiel went to argue with the umpires and then got ejected too. Three Red Sox managers and a player got tossed, when only one Ray batter was hitted. Tension was more than builded up and in extra-innings, A.J. Pierzynski hitted a triple that gave Boston the victory. Beating the Rays in extra-innings and with a triple was a perfect way to end this crazy game.
1.- May 3, 2014: Jon Lester 15 K's and one-hit game.
Let's get nostalgic with this one. Jon Lester dominated the Oakland A's during eight shutout innings where he only allowed one hit and two walks. The ace threw 119 pitches and 76 were strikes. During that time, Lester became the most dominating pitcher of the American League by holding the best strikeout record for several days. As a bonus, he also joined Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens as the only three Red Sox pitchers to throw a game of 15 strikeouts or more. Let's hope he comes back.
What were your favorite moments of this season? Post your comments below. Click here to read more by Jorge Camargo.
Contributing writer
Photo by: Christopher Evans |
Anyway, I suppose that if you are reading this you are a Red Sox fan. If there's something that characterizes the Red Sox Nation is that we know how to keep the faith when everything is going down. We know how to deal with not making it to the playoffs thanks to one of the worst collapses in baseball history, to our star hitter being suspended because of PEDs. Of course this season was a hell and the fact that we won the World Series last year makes it even worse, so to get our spirits raised to the offseason and the 2015 season, here are my top 5 moments in 2014.
4. May 2, 2014: Dustin Pedroia reaches to 500 RBI and 100 homeruns with grand style.
The Laser Show entered May 2nd game against the A's with 160 at-bat without a homerun, and with the quest of reaching to 500 RBI and 100 homers. Little did he know, that he will hit a grand slam in the sixth inning that will give the Red Sox a 6-1 lead. As a bonus to his player status being a Red Sox legend, Pedroia joined Carl Yastrzemski as the only two players in franchise history to hit 100 homeruns and steal 100 bases. There are no words to describe Pedroia's smile when he was rounding the bases.
3.- April 22, 2014: Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda gets ejected because a foreign substance was found in his neck.
Even though the Red Sox-Yankees rivarly has seemed to slow down a little over the past years, this chapter will definetely be remebered as one of the most iconics for both teams. On April 10, the Red Sox spotted pine tar on Pineda's hand but decided not to mention it to the umpire crew. Twelve days later, Red Sox manager John Farrell interrumpted Pineda because again it seemed that there was pine tar on his neck. The umpire crew confirmed and Pineda was ejected from the game. Many Red Sox fans took the discussion to Twitter and began calling the Yankees a team full of cheaters because of A-Rod and Pineda being a pitcher with pinetar.
2.- May 30, 2014: Benches clearing brawl in Fenway Park and walk-off.
Photo by: Barry Chin |
1.- May 3, 2014: Jon Lester 15 K's and one-hit game.
Let's get nostalgic with this one. Jon Lester dominated the Oakland A's during eight shutout innings where he only allowed one hit and two walks. The ace threw 119 pitches and 76 were strikes. During that time, Lester became the most dominating pitcher of the American League by holding the best strikeout record for several days. As a bonus, he also joined Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens as the only three Red Sox pitchers to throw a game of 15 strikeouts or more. Let's hope he comes back.
What were your favorite moments of this season? Post your comments below. Click here to read more by Jorge Camargo.