Four big games in three days await the Jays, who go from raucuous Yankee Stadium to frenzied Fenway.
* General: Will the Red Sox be caught looking ahead to their most meaningful final-weekend series with the Yankees since 1949? ... Bob Ryan fretfully wrote today that there were many teams he'd rather see come to town than the Jays, who are 9-5 against the Sox this season ... The rainout will nix the highly-anticipated Curt Schilling-Randy Johnson showdown for Saturday. Schilling will now have to start on Sunday, while the easy-throwing Tim Wakefield will go Saturday on short rest ... Despite various stopgap efforts, the Boston bullpen has remained the worst in the AL ... Speaking of which, Keith Foulke, though technically on the active roster, has been shut down for the year. He'll certainly have left knee surgery, and he may also elect to operate on his right knee. Foulke has apparently been so upset by the intense -- and often negative -- fan attention that he's moving his family out of Boston after the season, regardless of when he returns to the Red Sox ... Adam Stern will undergo surgery to repair his torn labrum ...The Bosox are hoping Kevin Youkilis will be healthy once the playoffs arrive ... Remember when the Red Sox signed Cuban defector Michel Abreu, as described in a past Advance Scout column? Well, they're un-signing him. Because Abreu apparently lied about his age, the Bosox have applied to void the deal ... If the Red Sox and Tribe need a one-game playoff to determine the wild card, it will be played at Fenway ... Retired Boston Globe scribe Nathan Cobb recently took public credit for coining the phrase Red Sox Nation ... In New England, visits to emergency rooms of hospitals are at 15% below normal levels during the Red Sox pennant race ...
* David Ortiz: Terry Francona has been lobbying hard for Ortiz to bring home the MVP award ... With 98 walks, has easily surpassed his career best. He's scored 26 times on those 98 walks ... Absolutely bludgeons fastballs on the inner half of the plate ... He has one (usual) weakness at the plate: Breaking stuff down and in, and out of the strike zone. But he's patient, and you have to get ahead of him for this plan to work ... Struggles more with lefthanded junk than righthanded breaking stuff ... Song Airlines, which flies to Boston's spring training home of Fort Myers, FL and sponsors the Sox, named their first craft "Big Papi" ...
* Manny Ramirez: His tremendous bat speed enables him to stay back on pitches and still crush fastballs from the middle of the plate in ... You can't sneak a fastball by him after a barrage of offspeed stuff -- if a breaking ball is your out pitch, stick with it ... Hitting lefties better now than he did earlier in the season ... Seemingly playing with more emotion down the stretch ... Became the second player -- after Yaz -- to have three 40-homer seasons for Boston ...
* Kevin Millar: Just 1 for his last 11 (.091) ... His head comes off breaking pitches on the outer half of the plate ... Prefers the ball up ... Has improved defensively at first, both in fielding ground balls and handling throws ... Has a home in Beaumont, Texas, which has caused Millar plenty of Rita-related worry ...
* Curt Schilling: Has not been throwing his splitter as hard, or throwing it as well, as he did as recently as last year ... Because he doesn't get it down as well, righthanded hitters have feasted on it ... Likes to run his two-seam fastball back on lefthanded hitters; it breaks back over the plate ... Likes to work away from righthanded hitters ... Seems to be short-arming the ball lately ... Schilling: "Purely on a professional level, this year has been by far the hardest for me in my career" ...
* Trot Nixon: Fastball pull hitter who thinks right and right-centre ... Has difficulty laying off the high heat from lefthanded pitchers, against whom he struggles to pick up the ball sometimes ... Likes the ball in and can be frozen on the outside corner ...
* Tim Wakefield: Watch out for his sneaky get-ahead fastball as his first pitch in an at-bat ... His knuckler remains prone to gopherism, when it sails on him ... Doug Mirabelli remains his personal catcher ... His two-seam fastball breaks away from lefties. It's far less effective against righties ...
* Edgar Renteria: Not trusted by Red Sox fans offensively, and he's hearing boos at Fenway ... Has hit a woeful .198/.238/.242 in September ... Having difficulty laying off pitches on the inner half ... Still has that gun of a throwing arm at short, but suffering from some concentration lapses in the field. His hands have been very poor ...
* Bronson Arroyo: Does not have an overpowering four-seam fastball. He needs to keep it in on the fists of lefties, or it's vulnerable ... Will hang his slider on occasion. When it's on, though, it breaks late enough to backdoor lefthanded hitters ... Very difficult to run on, such that it's not worth it to even try a hit-and-run ...
* Matt Clement: After a 10-2, 3.85 first half, Clement has posted a mere 3-4, 5.61 line in the second ... Tossed six shutout innings at the Orioles in his last start, but walked six batters and flirted with trouble ... Throws a sharp slider that doesn't fool lefthanded hitters, especially out over the plate ... But it does fool righthanders. He starts it on the outside corner, and it runs away from righties ...
The Fighting Jays have played the Bosox awfully tough this year, and it would do wonders for the confidence of some of the younger players if the good guys could steal a couple of wins this week. The Red Sox are unlikely to overlook the Jays, though; they know that this is not the roll-over-and-die Orioles in town.
This week's Scout features a struggling veteran hurler, a locked-in MVP candidate and some empty hospital beds. After all, the Sox are on TV at home.
On to the Advance Scout!* General: Will the Red Sox be caught looking ahead to their most meaningful final-weekend series with the Yankees since 1949? ... Bob Ryan fretfully wrote today that there were many teams he'd rather see come to town than the Jays, who are 9-5 against the Sox this season ... The rainout will nix the highly-anticipated Curt Schilling-Randy Johnson showdown for Saturday. Schilling will now have to start on Sunday, while the easy-throwing Tim Wakefield will go Saturday on short rest ... Despite various stopgap efforts, the Boston bullpen has remained the worst in the AL ... Speaking of which, Keith Foulke, though technically on the active roster, has been shut down for the year. He'll certainly have left knee surgery, and he may also elect to operate on his right knee. Foulke has apparently been so upset by the intense -- and often negative -- fan attention that he's moving his family out of Boston after the season, regardless of when he returns to the Red Sox ... Adam Stern will undergo surgery to repair his torn labrum ...The Bosox are hoping Kevin Youkilis will be healthy once the playoffs arrive ... Remember when the Red Sox signed Cuban defector Michel Abreu, as described in a past Advance Scout column? Well, they're un-signing him. Because Abreu apparently lied about his age, the Bosox have applied to void the deal ... If the Red Sox and Tribe need a one-game playoff to determine the wild card, it will be played at Fenway ... Retired Boston Globe scribe Nathan Cobb recently took public credit for coining the phrase Red Sox Nation ... In New England, visits to emergency rooms of hospitals are at 15% below normal levels during the Red Sox pennant race ...
* David Ortiz: Terry Francona has been lobbying hard for Ortiz to bring home the MVP award ... With 98 walks, has easily surpassed his career best. He's scored 26 times on those 98 walks ... Absolutely bludgeons fastballs on the inner half of the plate ... He has one (usual) weakness at the plate: Breaking stuff down and in, and out of the strike zone. But he's patient, and you have to get ahead of him for this plan to work ... Struggles more with lefthanded junk than righthanded breaking stuff ... Song Airlines, which flies to Boston's spring training home of Fort Myers, FL and sponsors the Sox, named their first craft "Big Papi" ...
* Manny Ramirez: His tremendous bat speed enables him to stay back on pitches and still crush fastballs from the middle of the plate in ... You can't sneak a fastball by him after a barrage of offspeed stuff -- if a breaking ball is your out pitch, stick with it ... Hitting lefties better now than he did earlier in the season ... Seemingly playing with more emotion down the stretch ... Became the second player -- after Yaz -- to have three 40-homer seasons for Boston ...
* Kevin Millar: Just 1 for his last 11 (.091) ... His head comes off breaking pitches on the outer half of the plate ... Prefers the ball up ... Has improved defensively at first, both in fielding ground balls and handling throws ... Has a home in Beaumont, Texas, which has caused Millar plenty of Rita-related worry ...
* Curt Schilling: Has not been throwing his splitter as hard, or throwing it as well, as he did as recently as last year ... Because he doesn't get it down as well, righthanded hitters have feasted on it ... Likes to run his two-seam fastball back on lefthanded hitters; it breaks back over the plate ... Likes to work away from righthanded hitters ... Seems to be short-arming the ball lately ... Schilling: "Purely on a professional level, this year has been by far the hardest for me in my career" ...
* Trot Nixon: Fastball pull hitter who thinks right and right-centre ... Has difficulty laying off the high heat from lefthanded pitchers, against whom he struggles to pick up the ball sometimes ... Likes the ball in and can be frozen on the outside corner ...
* Tim Wakefield: Watch out for his sneaky get-ahead fastball as his first pitch in an at-bat ... His knuckler remains prone to gopherism, when it sails on him ... Doug Mirabelli remains his personal catcher ... His two-seam fastball breaks away from lefties. It's far less effective against righties ...
* Edgar Renteria: Not trusted by Red Sox fans offensively, and he's hearing boos at Fenway ... Has hit a woeful .198/.238/.242 in September ... Having difficulty laying off pitches on the inner half ... Still has that gun of a throwing arm at short, but suffering from some concentration lapses in the field. His hands have been very poor ...
* Bronson Arroyo: Does not have an overpowering four-seam fastball. He needs to keep it in on the fists of lefties, or it's vulnerable ... Will hang his slider on occasion. When it's on, though, it breaks late enough to backdoor lefthanded hitters ... Very difficult to run on, such that it's not worth it to even try a hit-and-run ...
* Matt Clement: After a 10-2, 3.85 first half, Clement has posted a mere 3-4, 5.61 line in the second ... Tossed six shutout innings at the Orioles in his last start, but walked six batters and flirted with trouble ... Throws a sharp slider that doesn't fool lefthanded hitters, especially out over the plate ... But it does fool righthanders. He starts it on the outside corner, and it runs away from righties ...
