A Few Red Sox Notes

As the Red Sox prepare to open a huge four game series at Fenway against Oakland, I need to cover a few quick points about the Red Sox. 1. Craig Hansen should be called up this weekend. The bullpen needs help -- Mike Timlin can't pitch in every crucial situation from now until October. The hope was that Keith Foulke would return to form after coming back from knee surgery but that seems like a longshot (at best) right now. Mike Myers and Chad Bradford are decent but they are not dominant set-up men. Jonathan Papelbon is a positive but he can't help Timlin alone. So, why not bring up Hansen? I don't buy Hansen's "dead arm" and consequent ten day "shut down." I think that was a move made by the Boston front office to try and restore confidence in Foulke when he returned; the thinking being that if Hansen was not on the mind of Red Sox Nation than Foulke would have an easier time bouncing back to his old form. So far Foulke has been far from his old self so all of a sudden Hansen is back throwing in games and firing heat-seaking, 97 m.p.h. fastballs past batters in the Eastern League playoffs. The time is now to call Hansen to Boston. The 2005 first round pick can be the power arm in the 'pen that could take the Sox back to the World Series. 2. Give Theo credit for the David Wells signing. Resign yourself to the fact that there was no way Pedro Martinez was coming back to Boston after becoming a free agent. With that knowledge, Epstein went out and signed the (now) 42-year-old lefty with a history of a bad back, late hours and hating Fenway Park. The Theo critics were out and about, Ron Borges style, ripping the Sox GM only weeks after delivering Boston a World Series. Early on it seemed that the critics were right about Wells. He started slow and then landed on the disabled list in April with a foot injury. But since coming back from the DL he has been a horse in the rotation, a veteran for Terry Francona to lean on. Take a second to ponder where the Sox would be without his 13 wins. Good call on Wells, Theo. 3. Kapler injury puts strain on lineup, clubhouse. The painful ruptured achilles tendon suffered by Gabe Kapler while rounding second base after a Tony Graffanino home run last night in Toronto will continue to cause the Red Sox to suffer weeks after Kapler is placed in a cast. Kapler was the ideal fourth outfielder. He plays extremly hard, is a good fielder, runs well and has some pop in his bat. Kapler is also a tremendous teammate, always the first one to offer congratulations and support to the rest of the club. He may not have the talent of, say, a Jay Payton but he fits into the Boston Red Sox like a handful of ice cubes in a white russian. Replacing Gabe -- on and off the field -- will be no easy task. Lately he has been playing more because of Johnny Damon's assorted bumps and bruises and now Damon may have to come back a few days earlier than expected. The Red Sox have already re-signed Adam Hyzdu but he will not fill the void left by Kapler. TheBostonInsider is suggesting that the Red Sox go out on a limb and call-up David Murphy from Double-A Portland. A first round pick in 2003 (Theo's first draft pick), Murphy hit the hell out of the ball in the second half of '05. He is currently in the Eastern League playoffs with the Sea Dogs but the need in Boston necessitates his promotion. 4. Tonight's game. Curt Schilling (6-7, 6.28) tries to build on his dominant Saturday performance in New York against the A's tonight at Fenway. Schill still has not recorded a win as a starter at Fenway this year and tonight is as good as night as any to end that streak. Joe Blanton (9-11, 3.60) gets the call for Ken Macha's A's. This is a crucial series for the Red Sox. Taking 3-of-4 or a sweep not only would put an enormous amount of pressure on the Yankees but it would also pretty much eliminate the slipping A's from playoff contention. Relax, the Sox still have a 2.5-game lead over the Bombers. And Giambi will test positive any day now. (But the nerves will still be a little sensitive the next few days.)