It was not all bad news for the Boston Red Sox when they placed pitcher Josh Beckett on the 15-day disabled list.  The move is retroactive to August 18 and the team hopes Beckett can start next Friday in Texas. 

Beckett saw Dr. James Andrews about his sore right elbow and there was no sign of damage requiring surgery to repair the injury.  The visit to Andrews was just precautionary and Beckett threw a side session earlier in the week.

Beckett’s trip to the DL made room for recently acquired catcher David Ross.  His promotion prior to August 31 will make Ross postseason-eligible. 

—–

The Cleveland Indians activated catcher Victor Martinez from the 15-day disabled list on Friday.  Martinez, out since June 12 after surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, is back in the lineup at first base for Cleveland.  The team designated infielder Andy Gonzalez for assignment to make room for Martinez’s return.

Prior to the injury, Martinez was hitting .278 with 21 RBI in 54 games.  The Indians plan to slowly integrate Martinez back into everyday duty behind the plate.  For now, Kelly Shoppach will continue as the team’s everyday catcher.

Martinez played eight games in a rehab stint at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo and went 8-for-26 (.306) with a home run and three RBI.

—–

Outfielder Scott Hairston was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the San Diego Padres on Friday due to a torn ligament in his left thumb.  The Padres also recalled outfielder Will Venable from Triple-A Portland to fill in for the injured Hairston.

Hairston was hurt in Wednesday’s win over the Diamondbacks diving for a ball in center field.  He is hitting .248 with 17 home runs and 31 RBI. 

In the Minors, Venable, son of former Major Leaguer Max Venable, hit .292 with 14 homers and 58 RBI in 120 games with Portland.

—–

The Arizona Diamondbacks added left-handed pitcher Wil Ledezma off of waivers from the San Diego Padres on Friday.  Ledezma made 25 appearances including six starts with San Diego and was 0-2 with a 4.47 ERA.

The D-Backs are expected to add Ledezma to their active roster on Saturday to give them a left-handed arm out of the bullpen.

WALKOFFS…
Jason Giambi’s walkoff single to center field lifted the Yankees over the Red Sox, 3-2, salvaging the finale of the last regular-season series between the team at the current Yankee Stadium. Xavier Nady opened the 9th with a single up the middle off reliever Justin Masterson and was replaced by pinch-runner Brett Gardner who stole second base to move the winning run into scoring position. After an intentional walk to Hideki Matsui, and an unintentional walk to Ivan Rodriguez, Giambi ripped a single off closer Jonathan Papelbon, scoring Gardner with the winning run. Giambi entered the game in 7th inning and pinch-hit a tying two-run homer off Hideki Okajima. Starting pitcher Mike Mussina held the Red Sox to two runs through seven innings. He scattered five hits, walked two and struck out six. For the Sox, Jon Lester struck out eight and walked none over 6 2/3 five-hit innings. Mariano Rivera picked up the victory. The game was the 773rd between the Yankees and the Red Sox played at Yankee Stadium; New York won the all-time series, with four ties.

Of much greater concern for the Sox is the fact that Josh Beckett was scratched again from a scheduled start tonight and the staff ace plans to have his ailing right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama today. These are not usually social calls and while Red Sox manager Terry Francona characterized the visit as a precaution, you can’t help but wonder about Beckett’s elbow. Here’s the deal, if there is nothing, or little wrong, rest will cure it. If there is something there, elbows are serious and you don’t like to hear “ulnar nerve” bandied about. “I think the best word I can use is we’re just trying to get some closure,” Francona said. This story is far from closure.

OH MY-OH MY
Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki hit a walkoff double with one out and the A’s beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 to win back-to-back games for first time since July 10-11. Joey Devine (4-0) pitched the eighth to pick up the victory for the A’s, who went 40 games without a winning streak. Suzuki’s double marked Oakland’s ninth walkoff hit of the season and just the 11th victory since the All-Star break for the (H)Apless’s.

SWEEP
NO TYPO
The Washington Nationals completed their sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday, 11-2.

Let that sink in a little.

Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle.

Let that sink in a little.

The Dodgers have lost seven straight, and their nine consecutive road losses are the most since dropping 11 in a row in June 1992. The Nationals earned their first series sweep of Los Angeles since long before the move to Washington — the last came on the Montreal Expos’ homestand from Aug. 4-6, 1998. Guzman’s cycle was the eighth in franchise history, by seven different players. Brad Wilkerson had a cycle as a National and a Montreal Expo.

8TH INNING MAGIC - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU
On manager Lou Piniella’ 65th birthday, Aramis Ramirez gave him a gift in the 8th inning with a grand slam as the Chicago Cubs rallied for five runs to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 for their sixth straight win and moved the team to 34 games over .500. Ramirez now has 99 RBIs. He already has five 100-RBI seasons in his career. He also has eight career grand slams.

HOORAYS!
Edwin Jackson took a shutout into the eighth inning, Cliff Floyd and Willy Aybar each homered, and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 last night to guarantee they will finish no worse than .500 for the first time in franchise history. Tampa Bay, 81-51 and an AL-best 49-19 at home, took two of three from Toronto and is 11-0-1 in series play since the All-Star break.  Jackson (11-8) gave up one run and six hits over seven-plus innings in winning for the sixth time in his last seven starts. Dan Wheeler pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 opportunities. The bad news is that the announced attendance was 14,039, making it the sixth consecutive Rays’ home game with a turnout under 20,000. I was on the radio yesterday in Tampa suggesting that people should have been evacuated from Tropical Storm Fay and sent to a Ray’s game. Rays closer Troy Percival (right knee) threw 39 pitches in batting practice and could be activated from the 15-day disabled list by early next week. Rays 3B Evan Longoria (right wrist) has started a throwing program and hopes to return September 2. Toronto designated DH-OF Matt Stairs for assignment after the game and purchased the contract of OF Travis Snider from Triple-A Syracuse. Stairs expects to be traded to be traded to a “contender” by Saturday.

FISH ARE FADING
Brian McCann hit a three-run homer to lead Atlanta over the slumping Marlins, 4-2. The Marlins are 10-15 in August and haven’t won two games in a row this month. Winning pitcher Charlie Morton (4-8) had been 0-6 with an 8.18 ERA this season at Turner Field, but the rookie right-hander went six innings and allowed only four hits.

DID YOU KNOW?
Yesterday, was the first day in which instant replay was used for boundary calls. There were no questionable calls so the reviewers watched “Family Guy” reruns.

Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller, published by ACTA Sports, and available worldwide. Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports or from your favorite bookstore.

…This isn’t good news for members of the Red Sox Nation, Josh Beckett (after being scratched from another scheduled start) is headed to see Dr. James Andrews today in Alabama to check out his pitching elbow.

Quoth Tito:

“I think the best word I can use is we’re just trying to get some closure,” Francona said. “We never want to send anyone out there that’s not 100 percent. We’re no more pessimistic about him today than we were, but when he goes out there [again] we want him to be able to pitch with peace of mind.”

…Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays, who after beating the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 have guaranteed themselves to finish no worse than .500 for the first time in franchise history.

“Hopefully getting past these barriers, mentally and numbers-wise, we can put that in the past and become the organization we’re envisioned on becoming,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.

…New York Yankee’s pitcher Joba Chamberlain hopes to return to the mound next week. But he expects to be used out of the bullpen, not the rotation. He’s slated to pitch a simulated game on Saturday and if all goes well a activation from the disabled list will follow. He doesn’t expect to be sent out on a minor league rehab assignment (kind of hard since most leagues are wrapping up their schedule with Labor Day weekend.).

…Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analyzes what’s turned into the Pedro Alvarez debacle. One of the things to take note of is that the Pirates have typically steered clear of Boras ‘clients’. And is Alvarez hurting himself in the long run with all this? College isn’t likely now, and if he doesn’t sign with the Pirates his only choice is Independent Ball.

…Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Matt Stairs from the Toronto Blue Jays - for a yet unnamed prospect. Stairs was designated for assignment yesterday to make from for 20 year-old prospect Travis Snider.

…With no clear time table on his return the Atlanta Braves had no choice but to put First Baseman Casey Kotchman on the restricted list. Kotchman has spent the last week at his mothers side at a Florida Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit.  Teams no longer have the option to ask for another seven days, hence the restricted list. Kotchman can be reactivated at any time, though he will not be paid for time spent on the restricted list.

True confession: I’m a Bill James junkie. I read bits and pieces of the old Baseball Abstracts almost every day, usually while I’m… er, never mind. Anyway, one of the things I always enjoy is stumbling across names of players who intrigued me long ago but who have largely slipped from consciousness over the years — Mickey Brantley, Von Hayes, Pete O’Brien.

One I stumbled across this morning is Gary Redus. For those who may not remember Redus, he was an outfielder who first came up with the Cincinnati Reds for a cup of coffee in 1982 and eventually retired after getting into a handful of games for the Texas Rangers in 1994.

In Redus’ rookie campaign, he hit .247/.352/.444 and swiped 39 bases. He finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year (Darryl Strawberry won) and generally looked like a player on the rise, except for two things:

1. He was already 26 years old
2. The Reds had a disgusting amount of outfield talent working their way up the ranks (Eric Davis, Paul O’Neill, Tracy Jones, Kal Daniels — ah Daniels, there’s another guy we should talk about some day)

I also seem to recall that Redus had some defensive issues, but I cannot say what exactly they were or how severe. I was young then and didn’t pay much attention to defense.

Here’s the real fun part about Redus. In his first exposure to pro ball, in 1978, he hit .462 with 17 homers in 68 games at Billings. Granted, the Pioneer League is a hitter’s paradise, and granted, Redus was a tad old (21) for the league, but still… Guys just don’t hit .462 at any level for any appreciable amount of time.

Back to the big leagues: After his fine rookie campaign, Redus never really stuck as a full-time player. That and 1987 (with the Chicago White Sox) were the only two times he amassed as many as 500 plate appearances in a season.

He had several years of 250-400 plate appearances and usually was quite productive in that kind of supporting role. Redus’ best performance probably came in 1989, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. That year he hit .283/.372/.462 in 324 plate appearances, with 25 stolen bases.

Redus’ career totals look pretty nice, too: .252/.352/.410 (107 OPS+) in a little more than 4000 plate appearances, with 322 stolen bases. His list of comparable players at Baseball-Reference includes some other fun names that I remember from back in the day — Mitch Webster, John Lowenstein, Mike Devereaux, Phil Bradley — all solid players in their time, all destined to be forgotten by generations that follow…

The players to watch and what to watch for this weekend:

J.J. HARDY, Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates (8/29-8/31)

At the moment, J.J. Hardy is one of the hottest players in the game.  He’s on a 12-game hitting streak which includes three consecutive and five of the last six multi-hit games.  During the streak, Hardy is hitting .404 with a 1.148 OPS, three homers and 12 RBI.  The team has won eight of the last 12 and 16 of the last 21.  The Pirates have been a favorite target of Hardy’s power — 10 of his 60 career homers have come against the Bucs.  In nine games against the Pirates in 2008, Hardy is hitting .472 with four home runs, 10 RBI and a staggering 1.409 OPS.  Trailing the Cubs by 6 1/2 games, Hardy and the Brew Crew need to capitalize on their much easier schedule to put themselves in position to catch Chicago for the National League Central.  They also get six games against the Cubs in September.  Once September begins, if history is an indicator, Hardy should provide more pop — he is a career .303 hitter in September and October.

TORII HUNTER, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Texas Rangers (8/28-8/31)

The American League West clash started on Thursday with the Angels and Rangers in a four-game set.  Torii Hunter went 3-for-3 and added a double, a steal and two runs scored in their 7-5 win over the Rangers.  With a 16 game lead over the Rangers in the West, a miracle needs to occur for the Angels to blow the division.  However, it is important to see how the Angels play down the stretch as they head into the postseason.  One player key to their success is Hunter who hit just .196 with no home runs and two RBI over the last 14 games and the Angels are just 5-9 in those games.  This year, the Angels are 29 games over .500 and 61-23 when Hunter gets a hit.  Also, the seven-time Gold Glove winner is error-free tracking down fly balls in center field for the Angels. 

VERNON WELLS, Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees (8/29-8/31)

One visiting player who will miss Yankee Stadium is Toronto’s Vernon Wells.  Wells has a lifetime .306 average at “The House That Ruth Built” along with six home runs, 26 RBI and 33 runs scored in 58 games.  Wells has been hot since he returned from his second stint on the DL this year with a .318 average, five home runs and 18 RBI in 16 games.  The Jays are 9-7 in those games and are within striking distance of third place in the American League East as the Yankees continue to leak oil down the stretch.  Wells is the top offensive contributor this year even with his two trips to the sidelines and with him back in the lineup, he gives the Blue Jays a better shot to take the lead in the season series with the Bronx Bombers.  The two teams have split the first 12 games of the season and with six games remaining, the Jays need to take four of the six to win the season series over the Yankees for the first time since 2000.

MARK KOTSAY, Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox (8/29-8/31)

With J.D. Drew on the mend, the Red Sox went out and nabbed outfielder Mark Kotsay from Atlanta to help provide depth in the outfield and was inserted into the lineup on Thursday’s series finale with the Yankees.  The Sox lost 3-2 and Kotsay went 1-for-4.  Kotsay experienced a career renaissance in Atlanta this year after his lackluster performance in Oakland in 2007.  In 88 games with the Braves, Kotsay hit .289 with six homers, 37 RBI and 39 runs scored.  Like the previously mentioned Torii Hunter, Kotsay is error-free in 84 games in center field in 2008.  There is not a definite date for Drew’s return and with the growing concern over Josh Beckett’s elbow injury that has him on the sidelines, the Red Sox need all the help they can get.  To add to their challenges, they face a red-hot White Sox squad who are 11-4 in their last 15 games.

ROY HOBBS, New York Knights (Saturday, 8/30)

If you are going to have the worst record in baseball, you better deliver on the promotions to get your fans to the game.  At 49-85, the Washington Nationals are struggling through their first season at Nationals Park.  Attendance is up from last season but nowhere near capacity.  This weekend, the club will pass last year’s attendance and will do it on “70s Night/Saturday Night Movie” promotion night.  The game featuring 10-game losers Jo-Jo Reyes and Jason Bergmann.  The fans who show up will be treated to 70’s music, trivia, giveaways and players with some retro looks on the big scoreboard.  The reward for making it through a game featuring the bottom of the National League East will be a showing of “The Natural” on the 4,500 square foot high high-definition scoreboard and my guess is no one in the game will “knock the cover off the ball” like Roy Hobbs for the Knights.  I’m sure Teddy loses the President’s Race, too!

Rich Harden, Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Friday, 8/29)

Everyone talks about the trade that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee but Rich Harden’s performance since joining the Cubs via a trade with Oakland is also worthy of notice.  Harden is 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA in eight starts and the team is 6-2 when he takes the hill.  One knock on Harden is the fact that he rarely goes past the sixth inning but in 49 innings of work since landing in Chicago, he has struck out 70 including five double-digit strikeout games.  Harden faces the Phillies for the second time this season.  He faced them in Interleague Play as a member of the Athletics and enjoyed his longest outing of the season — eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball.  Opposite Harden is former teammate Joe Blanton who was also traded from Oakland to the National League.  Blanton is 1-0 in seven starts but with a more ordinary 4.03 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 38 innings.  Both Blanton and Harden were teammates for the past five seasons and now face off against each other in a crucial game for both teams in their quest for a postseason berth.

UBALDO JIMENEZ, Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres (Saturday, 8/30)

The Rockies are coming!  The Rockies are coming!  OK, it’s more accurate to say the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers refuse to run away with the National League West.  The Rockies are just six games out in the West thanks to a solid post-All-Star break performance.  Since May 1, they are the best team in the West and with the way the D-backs and Dodgers are playing, the Rockies are again a dark horse to spoil the party for someone in the West.  One reason for their “surge” (it’s hard to call it a surge when the team is nine games below .500) is the performance of Ubaldo Jimenez.  Jimenez started off the season 2-8 but is 7-3 with a 2.94 ERA in 11 games since July 2.  The 24-year-old righty draws San Diego’s Jake Peavy on Saturday and a win guarantees they pick up ground on either the Diamondbacks or Dodgers since those two teams are scheduled to beat up on each other this weekend.

BRANDON WEBB, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Sunday, 8/31)

Attempt to win #20, take two for Brandon Webb.  His first attempt went poorly as Webb was clubbed in San Diego for his fifth loss of the season.  It is also Webb’s third start against the Dodgers in 2008.  He is 1-0 and went eight innings and gave up one run on six hits in both outings.  Sunday’s match-up with the Dodgers will see Webb pitch to Manny Ramirez for the first time in his career.  Webb faces Derek Lowe for the third time this year.  Webb outpitched Lowe on July 20 but the D-backs bullpen failed to hold the lead and Webb outdueled Lowe again on July 31 in a game won by the D-backs, 2-1.  Oddly enough, Webb has lost two in a row twice this year and is looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the third time. 

LaTROY HAWKINS, Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals (8/29-8/31)

Knock Ed Wade’s trade deadline deals all you want but so far the move to bring in LaTroy Hawkins has been beneficial.  In 12 appearances, Hawkins is 2-0 with five holds.  He also hasn’t given up a run.  In nine innings, Hawkins has allowed just three hits and struck out 15.  Since the deadline, the Astros are 17-9 but are two games further out because the Cubs are on fire.  The Astros are an even longer shot than the Rockies but battled back to two games above .500 and are closing in on the Cardinals for third place.  In their first meeting since after the trade deadline, the Astros have a great opportunity to play spoiler to their division rivals.  Unfortunately for Houston, St. Louis has owned the season series, winning eight of 12 meetings. 

Uber prospect Travis Snider will join the Blue Jays roster for this weekend’s series against after the Jays traded Matt “Mr Canada” Stairs to the Philadelphia Phillies for a PTBNL.

JP Riccardi and the Toronto Blue Jays have been extremely aggressive with Travis Snider this season. Travis started the season in high A and has advanced all the way to the Majors in just his second full season of professional ball.

A week or so ago, I had heard that the Jays might consider calling Snider up once the minor league season ends. They wouldn’t play him everyday, but would give him some hacks at big league pitching and to learn from the veterans, stuff he could take with him to the winter leagues in preparation for the 2009 season.

Snider should remain eligible to be a rookie in 2009 but this definitely will have an affect on Snider’s long term free agent status. This may come as no worry for the Jays who traditionally lock up their youngsters before they hit free agency-sometimes to a fault.

I love the post deadline deadline!