The Possible Dream

#2 Ranked BC Eagles Will Face Weather Again

Starting Aces — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:08:00 +0000

Anyone who watched last Thursday's BC/Virginia Tech game saw that the fiercest opponent at Lane Stadium was the weather. The first quarter punt festival tested the QB skills of both Matt Ryan and Sean Glennon, as neither of them were able to get much of a grip on the ball. Glennon would shape up enough to help put 10 points on the board for Tech, but Matt Ryan's 2 minute drill miracle ensured a victory for BC.

This Saturday, BC will face the elements again. The remnants of Hurricane Noel will be passing through New England tomorrow night. In the Caribbean, Noel killed about 115 people. Thankfully, all he brings to the Northeast is 6 inches of rain (possibly turning to sleet, then snow), sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph, and gusts up to 60 mph. Ryan and company may also have to deal with game-time temperatures around 40 degrees, that may dip to as low as 30 before the game is finished. The Eagles are going to have to deal with even worse weather than last week if they want to defend their title hopes and #2 ranking.

Brady/Manning Bowl v10.0

Starting Aces — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:43:00 +0000

Currently, Tom's leading the career matchup 6-3... but Peyton's walked away with the last three wins, including the AFC Championship game last season. Try and wrap your head around this game: the teams are a combined 15-0. Both are helmed by Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks who have defeated every other team in football at least once. Both teams average over 32 points a game (Indy about 32, NE about 41). Both teams allow an average of 16 points a game.

Across the entire season, the quarterbacks were sacked a combined 13 times (one more than Donovan McNabb was sacked in a single game). Brady has thrown more TD's in 8 games than he did in the best entire season of his career. Both teams succeeded without their starting running backs. The Pats are the face of dominance, the Colts are a model for efficiency. This leaves one more mind bender:

The Patriots are 5.5 point favorites over an undefeated team that has the 2nd best record in the entire NFL. Sunday is going to be quite a show.

Big Three Debut Tonight, Arenas Talks Big

Starting Aces — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:22:00 +0000

Tonight is the debut of Boston's new Big Three. Pierce, Garnett, and Allen will share the parquet for the first time in a regular season game against the Washington Wizards at the Garden. The trio has looked solid so far in preseason play, seemingly building team chemistry in the short time that they have been teammates. However, Wizards PG Gilbert arenas has guaranteed that the game will result in an L for the Green.

So anyway, since everybody is back on the Boston bandwagon it brought back old memories. So listen here. On November 2nd, we're going to go into that building, we're opening up Boston. Right now I'm telling the Boston fans: You guys are going to lose. It's not going to be a victory for Boston. You might as well just cheer for me, because Boston isn't winning in Boston for the season opener. I'm sorry.

Gilbert is still smarting from being called "immature" by then-Celtics-coach Jim O'Brien for not showing up to a two-day workout before the 2001 draft. When he's not cheating at Halo 3, AgentArenas is providing bulletin board material on his reportedly ghost-written blog. Let him rile up the C's, it should make for a good show at the Garden tonight.

Editor's Note: To be fair, Gilbert's rank of 46 in Halo means that he can legitimately beat you, everyone you've ever known, and about 95% of any people who've played the game... fair and square.

New England Revolution Get First Trophy, Looking Towards Championship

Starting Aces — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:54:00 +0000

The New England Revolution seem to have a Buffalo Bills-eqsue issue with the MLS Championship game. They can certainly make it to the big game, but they never won a trophy.

Until 2007.

The New England Revolution quietly walked away with their first piece of hardware this season. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is a tournament held every year that is open to professional soccer teams in the US. The Revolution won this year, getting their first trophy in the team's 12 year history. Many Rev players seem to think that this has released the burden of failure in the finals.

Midfielder Steve Ralston feels that the Cup win will help them in the MLS playoff this year. "We know what it takes. We've won something now; it kind of gets the monkey off the back a little bit."

On Saturday the Revs face off against the New York Red Bulls in the second game of the Eastern Conference Semis. Last week the teams played to a tie in game one of the series.

Claude Julien's '07 Bruins looking Solid

Starting Aces — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Despite the loss of young gun Patrice Bergeron to a grade 3 concussion, the Bruins put together a great performace at the Garden last night. Filling in for Bergeron, Glen Metropolit scored two goals and notched two assists in a solid performance. The real star of the night was Marco Sturm, who deflected a shot off of Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller for the overtime win.

11 Games into the season the B's are 7-4 with 14 points, putting them at third place in the Northeast. The Bruins are playing much better than most sportswriters and fans had predicted they would. Chalk it up to Claude Julien focusing the team's attention on cleaning up their game. Last season the Bruins were one of the most penalized teams in the NHL. The B's weren't playing dirty, they were just playing sloppy. With cleaner play comes more opportunities to take advantage of the power play, and less pressure on constant penalty killing.

Led by face-breaking (or wound re-opening if you prefer) Zdeno Chara and a well-rounded team, the 2007-2008 Bruins are looking towards the Possible Dream of getting back to the playoffs.

Possible Dream: Achieved

Starting Aces — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:29:00 +0000

The Boston Red Sox are the 2007 Champions of baseball. Three years removed from the '04 miracle Sox, and 40 years removed from the Impossible Dream; a different kind of Red Sox team has clinched the World Series title. Four homegrown players were on the starting lineup card, and four homegrown players were on the field at the end. A team of well-developed prospects, savvy free agent signings, and luck (as is the case of Mike Lowell... originally the $9 million a year "throw-in" to the Josh Beckett deal) worked together as one of the most well rounded groups to take the field in the Series.

The pieces started to come together just as the Sox were raising the Championship banner in 2005. The '05 amateur draft proved to be a great one for the Sox. Theo Epstein stockpiled draft picks, 4 of the first 42 to be exact. Among those were Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz. Both of those players shined in short '07 stints that don't even count as their rookie years. 1996 saw the acquisition of Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett from Florida. Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo were signed as free agent This season, Rookie Dustin Pedroia would be the starting Shortstop. Despite an anemic April performance, Dustin turned it on the rest of the season, and likely winning the Rookie of the Year honors.

Tomorrow we will be taking a look at the Possible Dreams that other New England teams are trying to achieve this year.

Game 7's at Fenway

Starting Aces — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000

There's nothing like a Game 7 at home. Let's take a trip through the last four game 7's at Fenway Park.

October 12, 1967

The Impossible Dream became a nightmare when Bob Gibson stepped onto the mound for game 7 of the '67 World Series. Gibson threw a 3-hit complete game, allowing only 2 runs. The Sox would manage to bring the game within 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th, but the Cardinals blew the lead open at the top of the 6th.

October 22, 1975

A day after Carlton Fisk hit what was quite possibly the most memorable home run in postseason history, the Sox dug in against Reds hurler Don Gullett. Gullett would give up the lead in the third, with the Sox jumping ahead 3-0. The Reds would tie the game in the 7th, and eventually take the win on a Joe Morgan single in the 9th.

October 15th, 1986

Down 3 games to one to the California Angels, the '86 Sox went on to win games 5 and 6 to force a decisive game 7 at Fenway. Young gun Roger Clemens would hold the Angels to only 4 hits and one run across 7 stellar innings. Calvin Schiraldi closed out the last 6 batters, sending the Sox to the World Series.

October 21st, 2007

Like the '86 Sox, the '07 club was down 3-1 in the ALCS, and won games 5 and 6 to force a game 7. Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka had been shaky in every playoff start up to that point. Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook looked solid in his game 4 start. The Sox would make the first move, scoring on a Manny Ramirez single in the first, and on a Julio Lugo double play in the second. Mike Lowell would drive in a run on a sac fly in the third. The Indians answered with runs in the 4th and 5th innings, and Matsuzaka's night ended. Hideki Okajima would throw scoreless 6th and 7th innings.

In the bottom of the 7th, Dustin Pedroia hit a David-Ortiz-esque rocket over the left field wall. With a 5-3 lead, Jonathan Papelbon would take the ball for the rest of the game. The Sox followed Papelbon's first inning with an offensive explosion. JD Drew, Pedroia, and Youkilis would drive in a collective 6 runs to put the nail in the coffin. Papelbon gave up a leadoff single too begin the 9th, but induced a lineout and two flyouts to punch Boston's ticket to the World Series.

These are your Possible Dream Red Sox.

The Playoff Picture - How Each Team Looked on October 1st

Starting Aces — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:50:00 +0000

Both the '67 and '07 Red Sox made it into the playoffs, although in very different situations. Without the Wild Card as a safety net, the '67 Sox barely edged out Detroit and Minnesota for the top spot in the American League. This marked the first that that the Sox took the AL since twenty years earlier, 1946 - a World Series marred by Enos Slaughter... and Pesky "holding on to the ball too long". The '07 Sox also finished as the top AL team, thanks in part to having the tiebreaker over the Indians. '07 marks the first AL East title since 1995 (which was won with a paltry 86 wins).

In 1967, Carl Yastrzemski led nearly every offensive category that existed. His individual effort was rewarded with the AL MVP. While the '07 Sox only had leaders in walks, OBP, and extra base hits... they do have Rookie of the Year favorite Dustin Pedroia.

Both teams accomplished this with only one 20-game pitcher, and team era's under 3.9. Jim Lonborg won the Cy Young in '67, and Josh Beckett is at the top of the list of nominees in '07.

The '07 Sox are alot like the '67 Sox... maybe with the talent spread across a few more players... but it is there.

Clay Bucholz vs Billy Rohr

Starting Aces — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:41:00 +0000

Recently there has been quite a bit of comparison between rookies Clay Bucholz and Billy Rohr. Both 22/23 year old rookies flirted with a no hitter within their first two games in the majors.

Mr. Bucholz sealed the deal on his attempt, throwing a no-hitter in his second start. Billy Rohr got off to a slightly faster start. In his first start he took a no-no into the last out of the ninth, only to surrender a hit to Elston Howard.

Clay Bucholz domination of the Orioles ended a Sox skid that included a 3 game sweep by the Yankees. Rohr's "almost" was against the Yankees merely two weeks into the season.

In terms of competition, Rohr faced a Yankees team nearly split between old timers and young guns. Mickey Mantle (who had a pinch hit at-bat) was in his last year, Elston Howard was in his next to last, and Hall of Famer Whitey Ford only had 6 more starts in him before he called it quits. Bucholz faced only one potential HOF'er... but Tejada won't likely be anywhere near the hall unless he plays until he's 45. Opposing pitcher Garrett Olson is also in his rookie year, with a tidy 7.22 ERA in his 6 ML starts.

Bucholz has the edge in strikeouts, with 9 to Rohr's 2. Rohr walked 5, while Bucholz walked only two. Bucholz allowed a runner on an HBP (Nick Markakis), and Rohr had an error that allowed Lou Clinton to reach, and also gave up the infamous hit to Elston Howard.

While Rohr faced some bigger names, and was part of the strong start to the '67 Impossible Dream year, Bucholz helped to revive a floundering Sox team at the tail end of a losing streak... and he managed to hang on to the no-no in the ninth.

Edge: Bucholz (2007)

Jim Lonborg vs. Josh Beckett: Part One

Starting Aces — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Herein lies the first time I've had an existential crisis comparing two players on the '67 and '07 teams.

In their histories, both are one-time all stars who have led unlikely teams to the World Series. Unlike Lonborg, Beckett sealed the deal on game 7 for his team. Lonborg generally threw a few more innings on average than Beckett each season, tossing 273.3 in '67 (versus Beckett's projected 190-ish in '07).

The impact that '67 Jim Lonborg had on his team was tremendous. He started a staggering 39 games, winning 22 and losing only 9. His aforementioned 273.3 innings (with a 3.16 era) meant much less work for the bullpen. Obviously, Lonborg won the Cy Young.

'07 Beckett might be on pace to throw half as many innings as Lonborg, but he has shown vast improvement over last year. He's fixed his mechanics and learned to deal with blisters- I mean avulsions. His era came down from a 5.01 to a 3.29 in his second season adjusting to the American League. Like '67 Lonborg, he's leading the AL in wins.

Look for the exciting conclusion tomorrow, when we throw down some league adjusted stats and see what Beckett and Lonborg might have been like on the same team.

Mike Andrews vs. Dustin Pedroia

Jay — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:51:00 +0000

I suppose the cheapest way to start an article comparing Mike Andrews and Dustin Pedroia would be to point out the 6 inches of difference in height, but because I think more baseball fans are concerned with results and numbers than genetics there’s got to be a better way to compare the two players who manned the right side of the middle infield.

First the obvious, both players were in their first full major league seasons at age 23 after following up an underwhelming September call-up from the previous year. Both started low in the order; Andrews hitting 7th and 8th primarily for the first 40 games before shifting to the top of the order. Pedroia took a little longer, approximatlely 50 games and some platooning with Alex Cora before moving to the two-hole. Andrews got to the top of the order faster because of a .321 start in April and May, whereas Pedroia almost got run out of town with a .182 average.

As the season went on both players gave you exactly what youd expect from the position, lots of slap singles, a low strikeout to walk rate, and sparse power (though Pedroia gets the edge for his ability to hit doubles)

Percentage of hits for singles:
Andrews -78.5% of all hits
Pedroia – 73.5%

Stikeout to Walk Rate:
Andrews - 1.16:1
Pedroia – 0.78 :1

Isolated Power [Slg% - Avg]:
Andrews: .089
Pedroia .116.

As expected from young players, both struggled with power pitchers (pitchers who strike-out or walk more than 28% of batters) as compared to their numbers against finesse pitchers (pitchers who’s rate is lower than 24%)

(rates are AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS)

Power
Andrews: .236/ .302/ .358/ .660
Pedroia: .257/ .339/ .448/ .787

Finesse
Andrews: .317/ .405/ .410/ .815
Pedroia: .375/ .432/ .480/ .912

Defensively Pedroia has better range than Andrews had in 1967 (4.92 vs 4.66) but comparing against other second basemen of their time, Andrews was actually an above average 2b (4.66 vs 4.19 league average) where Pedroia is a tick behind league average (4.92 vs 4.98). I suppose 40 years of nutrition and medical advancement should produce better athletes, but I’d give Andrews the edge defensively as he never had those advantages.

Offensively however as we’ve already started to see, there’s no comparing the two. Pedroia’s average is 61 points higher and ranks 6th in the league. Pedroia’s OPS is 139 points higher (A very respectable .837 vs a typical light hitting second basemen’s .698)

Defenders of the ’67 squad are right to point out that the game was a lot different back then, and that offensive numbers weren’t anything like they are now. However even when we adjust Andrews’ and Pedroia’s numbers to the same team (The 2006 Red Sox – obtained from baseball-reference.com) Pedroia still comes out ahead - and still by a large margin)

Translated stats to 2006 Red Sox
Andrews: .283/ .370/ .380/ .750
Pedroia: .326/ .398/ .442/ .840

I’m sticking with the new Pedro. Hopefully like Andrews he’ll get picked as an All-Star two years from now as well. At this rate it may not even take two years.

Edge: Pedroia (2007)

Sparky Lyle vs Hideki Okajima

Starting Aces — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:00:00 +0000

Ok, so Hideki Okajima hasn't been having the best week ever. He's still put up some solid numbers this season. He'll be going up against '67 rookie hurler Sparky Lyle.

Sparky Lyle made his Major League Debut on July 4th, 1967. Lyle came out of nowhere and solidified the Sox bullpen, pitching them out of many tight situations. After the Impossible Dream year, Lyle's dominance led him to the top of the Sox bullpen. After being traded to New York in 1972, Sparky would build his reputation as one of the best relievers of the 70's. That year, he saved an AL record 35 games. Sparky would be selected to the All-Star team 3 times and lead his teams to the World Series twice as well. In 1977 he won the American League Cy Young award, but was "replaced" when new Yankees reliever Goose Gossage outshined him.

Hideki Okajima is also in his rookie year with the Sox, but he has a bit more professional baseball experience. Okajima is a 12 year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball (the Japanese Major League level), having been selected to 3 all-star games and being a part of 3 Japan Series winning teams (2 with the Yomiuri Giants, one with the Nippon Ham Fighters). At age 31, free agent Okajima signed a $2.5 million deal with the Sox, eyed as being a probable 7th inning option.

Both Okajima and Lyle spent their first years with the Sox in many set-up and spot-closing roles. Lyle also had sporadic long relief outings. Okajima has quite a few innings on Lyle, who joined the team about three months into the season.

In 27 appearances, Sparky threw 43 1/3 innings, posted a 2.28 era, with 5 saves and 42 strikeouts, with a solid 1.085 WHIP.

In a projected 68 appearances, Okajima should throw around 72 innings, with a 1.26 era, with 5 saves and 60 strikeouts, and a .825 WHIP.

Outside the stat lines: on four different occasions in '67, Lyle would toss over 3 innings on the way to a Sox win, two of those in extra innings. Okajima has only thrown more that 2 innings 3 times this season. Okajima, on the other hand, went 19 appearances (20 ip) between giving up his first and second earned runs. Lyle was a bit more liberal giving up runs.

Both players had some of their best stuff against the toughest competition. Okajima and Lyle each excelled against solid Detroit teams, and kept their division rival Yankees in check.

Though Lyle has the better strikeouts per nine (Sparky has an impressize 8.73 k/9, to Hideki's 7.39 k/9), Okajima leads Lyle in the rest of the stat categories. I don't want to belittle what Sparky Lyle did for the '67 Sox, but Okajima's early season dominance was an integral part of the '07 team's stellar April/June run. Without that run, the Sox would not have had their large lead to work with (which is even more important in light of the Sox's recent lean streak).

edge: Okajima

George Scott vs. Kevin Yo(ouuuuu)ukilis

Matt — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:35:00 +0000

2007 is technically All-Star-snubee Kevin Youkilis' fourth year in the majors, but it's only his second full season. Fancy that. Perfect time to compare him to one George 'Boomer' Scott who, in 1967, was in his second season as the Red Sox first-baseman. The oh-so-sweetest part about this head-to-head comparison is not just seeing how close their numbers are '67 vs '07, but rather the realization of what Kevin could be. Granted, Scott was only 23 years old in 1967 - five years younger than Youkilis is now.

Could his numbers could be matched by his modern-day successor? Veteran fans might shake a stick at the notion.

Scott was an All-Star in his inaugural year ('66), finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. He mashed in 27 long-balls and drove in 90. Pretty impressive. Actually - extremely impressive. But it only takes a glance to see a major flaw in his game: On-base percentage (OBP). Scott's OBP was surprisingly low for someone with such average BB/K figures, but not so surprising when you scope out the .268 career batting average (.245 in '66). Your classic swing-for-the-fences kinda guy (minus the Adam Dunn strikeout totals). But a guy with Scott's kind of eye - a guy who, only four years earlier was awarded the Eastern League Triple Crown - couldn't bat .245 forever, right?

'67 brought a more balanced batter. The power was still there. Despite not reaching the 20HR plateau (19), Scott still posted a beefy .465 slugging percentage and drove in 80+ runs. The equalizer in Boomer 2.0 was the eyes as he raised his batting average by over 50 points (.303) from the previous year.

As of today, "Youkie" (thanks Tito) is batting .303 and is in line to launch 18-19 over the wall [stats]. Sound familiar?

Of course, saying Youkilis will have a career as outstanding as Scott's is a roll of the dice, but he'll certainly get on base far more frequently.

Boomer gets the edge. (1967)

Joe Foy vs. Mike Lowell

Matt — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:50:00 +0000

It's only two and a half weeks since the 2007 MLB All-Star Game and '07 Mike Lowell already has surpassed '67 Joe Foy in almost every major batting category imaginable, save for runs.

Foy never had the kind of career Mike Lowell is having. He never hit over 30 home runs. He was never an All-Star. He never drove in over 100 base-runners. In fact, "Iron Mike" hit more home runs during the '03-'04 seasons (59) than Foy did in his entire career (58HR over 6 seasons). Aside from the fact that they both have patrolled the left sector of Fenway's infield, there really is not that much in common between the two. However, after much hair-pulling and head scratching, we've found that they do share one pseudo-similarity after all: On-base percentage... sort of.

In '67, Foy suffered his career-low OBP. He reached base safely 161 times in 446 attempts - good for an OBP of .325. Not overly impressive. Certainly a dramatic drop from his 1966 rookie campaign in which he boasted a respectable .364 - 39 points above the league average. He would hover in mediocrity for another full season until his fortunes changed. As a member of the 1969 Kansas City Royals, Foy would see his OBP revert to respectability. Respectability falls right in line with Lowell's career OBP at .341 - just a bit lower than Foy's career line (.351).

Just for fun, let's look at some brutal comparisons in the "specialty" categories.

Fielding:
Lowell is a Gold Glove winner. He has a minuscule 81 errors in 10 years. Foy, on the other hand, was an apparent train wreck with the glove: 125 errors. 5 years.

Postseason Batting:
Neither are particularly impressive. However, unless you're Derek Jeter, you're probably not going to have the largest set of data to compare. Anyhow, you've got to give Foy a mulligan on this considering Lowell had over three times the at bats to get his act together.

For what it's worth...
Lowell: .196 AVG in 46 postseason at bats.
Foy: .133 AVG in 15 at bats.

I can't keep this going. This one is too obvious.

Edge: Lowell (2007)

Yastrzemski vs. Ramirez

Matt — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:11:00 +0000

In 1967, Yastrzemski was only 6 seasons into his 23 year career with the Red Sox. At that point, he had accumulated a total of 95 home runs and was already the clear-cut lion in the heart of the Sox lineup. It wasn't until '67, however, that he truely broke out, mashing 44 dingers and driving in 121 runs. Yaz batted .326 that year, on his well-documented road to the triple-crown.

Fast-forward forty years.

15 years into his career, Manny Ramirez is showing signs of slowing down. Once a lock for 35/130, the jovial left-fielder is on pace to just barely approach 30/100. Though Ramirez is a perennial late-bloomer, it's hard to ignore his SLG, which is currently nesting about 80 points below his career average. That's not to imply that Manny is not still one of the most feared right-handed bats in all of baseball. He is.

Now, let's compare stats... That's always fun.

These figures are based on career averages ('07 is included for Ramirez) and are purely offensive.

Yastrzemski:
AB: 587
Runs: 89
HR: 22
RBI: 90
AVG: .285
OPS: .841

Ramirez:
AB: 586
Runs: 111
HR: 41
RBI: 134
AVG: .313
OPS: 1.006

Even for a die-hard Sox fan and historian, seeing these numbers side-to-side makes it hard to go with Yastrzemski over Ramirez. Fortunately for me (and my desire to not be exiled from The Nation), we're cherry-picking two specific years.

'67 Yastrzemski:
AB: 579
Runs: 112
HR: 44
RBI: 121
AVG: .326
OPS: 1.040

'07 Ramirez (Pace as of 8/1):
AB: 589
Runs: 99
HR: 28
RBI: 107
AVG: .299
OPS: .911

Hard to argue with a triple-crown season.

Edge: Yastrzemski (1967)

The Year of "The Possible Dream"

Starting Aces — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:09:00 +0000

The 1967 Red Sox defied the expectations of nearly everyone. Their inspiring worst-to-first climb created the backbone of what is now referred to as Red Sox Nation. This year, the Red Sox have a solid team and great expectations from the start. The 2007 "Possible Dream" Red Sox are Vegas odds favorites to win the World Series.

With the addition of elite reliever Eric Gagne at the trade deadline, the Sox bolstered what was already the best bullpen in baseball.

This blog will be talking about the '07 Sox, reminiscing about the '67 Sox, and doing special entries comparing players on both teams. Here's the tentative list of who is being compared.

Position Players:

C - Mike Ryan vs. Jason Varitek
1B – George Scott vs. Kevin Youkilis
2B – Mike Andrews vs. Dustin Pedroia
3B – Joe Foy vs. Mike Lowell
SS – Rico Petrocelli vs. Julio Lugo
LF – Carl Yastrzemski vs. Manny Ramirez
CF – Reggie Smith vs. Coco Crisp
RF – *Tony Conigliaro vs. JD Drew
*Ken “Hawk” Harrelson vs. Wily Mo Pena

Pitchers:

Jim Lonborg vs. Curt Schilling
Gary Bell vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka
Lee Stange vs. Josh Beckett
Bucky Brandon vs. Tim Wakefield

John Wyatt vs. Jonathan Papelbon
Jose Santiago vs. Julian Tavarez
Sparky Lyle vs. Hideki Okajima

Feel free to comment and suggest any changes we should make, or other players we should include. With the lack of a DH, we found it hard to give David Ortiz a match on the '67 team. Maybe this should count as a +1 to the '07 team.

Here's to The Possible Dream.