Red Sox Magic Number - 56

Yesterday the Red Sox magic number was 57. With the win over the White Sox today the number is 56. Yesterday I thought the Red Sox had a deal in place for Rich Harden. I thought it was a good deal for both sides. Harden has talent but his health was the issue while Lars Anderson is blocked in Boston with Adrian Gonzalez under contract for years. I was actually already rooting for Anderson to have a fresh start with the A's. Then the deal for Harden fell apart.

I am still hoping for some sort of magic number symmetry though. Yesterday the magic number was 57 which also happens to be the number of career victories for Rich Harden. Today the magic number is 56 which happens to be the uniform number given to Aaron Harang when he first came up to the majors with the Oakland A's (he was later traded by Oakland to the Reds for Jose Guillen). I am hoping that the Red Sox attention turns from a current A's player in Harden to a former A's player in Harang.

The Padres say they aren't trying to deal Harang but for the right offer I'm sure he's available. Lars Anderson probably won't be part of a deal with the Padres with former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo blocking the way but a third team could step in to take Anderson and give the Padres something they want (Billy Beane loves getting involved in deals like that and he just showed that he wants Anderson). It would take more than Anderson to land Harang though but that's OK - the Padres are very familiar with the Red Sox minor league system.

As an aside - is it me or does Aaron Harang look like Paul Giamatti if Giammati was to play an evil professional wrestler?

As a second aside - there would be even more symmetry with the Red Sox trading for Harang when you consider that he was first drafted by Boston in the 22nd round of the 1996 draft but chose to go to San Diego State instead. Though come to think of it - the symmetry works if Harang evades the Red Sox grasp to stay in San Diego just like 15-years ago.

Red Sox Game 2 in Japan Live Blog

6:00 - Tokyo is the world's largest city? I hadn't realized that. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jon Lester looks tonight. I haven't always been a believer in Lester but I'm coming around.

6:09 - I just realized that I wrote "tonight" when it's actually morning. I guess the fact that it's night in Japan coupled with the fact that the sun hasn't risen yet coupled with the fact that I haven't had any coffee yet has me confused.

6:16 - Rich Harden has a no-hitter going! He lost the perfect game by walking Ortiz though.

6:25 - Jon Lester has a no-hitter going too! He lost his perfect game with a walk in the first too though.

6:33 - Rich Harden keeps his no-hitter bid alive with a 1-2-3 second inning. This may only interest me and it's no secret that Kevin Cash is no wizard at the plate but I found it interesting that last year in Pawtucket (AAA) he hit just .176 in 176 at bats. Symmetry.

6:48 - Jon Lester loses both his no-hitter and shut-out as the A's take a 1-0 lead. I was reading Alex Beam's review of the HBO series John Adams during the inning. Glad to see he mentioned John Bell's blog Boston 1775. I've had that blog on my blogroll for over a year.

7:03 - Rich Harden has his no-hitter still intact after 3 innings and I have my first cup of coffee in the morning.

7:10 - I should note that Coco Crisp is playing today in place of Jacoby Ellsbury. I think this is because Terry Francona wants to get Crisp a start and also because Crisp has had some success against Harden in the past (2-6). Emil Brown hits a 3-run blast and the A's take a 4-0 lead. I'm going to take this opportunity to see if Emil Brown is taken in any of my fantasy baseball leagues.

7:29 - Harden loses his no-hitter but now has 7 K's. He's looking sharp. I can't wait for the Sox to get into the A's bullpen.

7:33 - I'm assuming that if I were listening to ESPN2's broadcast of the game that I would have heard Steve Phillips talk about how Harden has this year's Cy Young Award wrapped up by now. Middle of the 4th and both pitchers have thrown 73 pitches.

7:48 - Should I be worried that Jason Varitek may be taking batting tips from Kevin Cash? I've been impressed with what I've seen of David Aardsma who has come into the game in relief of Lester. The guy is only 26 and was a top draft pick (22nd pick of the 2003 draft). Manny hits a HR and wins me $20 in my home run pool. Thanks Manny. A's lead 4-1.

8:15 - I'm not sorry to see Rich Harden go. His final line was 6 IP, 1 ER and 9 K's. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the UMass basketball team on a great come from behind victory at Syracuse last night. That was an exciting game to watch. My guess is that UMass coach Travis Ford gets a job offer from a bigger program after the season is over. If Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a MLB GM - he'd be the White Sox's Kenny Williams.

8:35 - I would not be surprised in the least if Huston Street is either traded or demoted to set-up duty by the A's and that Keith Foulke takes over as closer. I admit that I was surprised both to learn that Foulke is only 11th on the all-time list for saves for the A's (with 43) and that Hall of Famer Left Grove is above him on the list (with 51). Foulke is probably the early favorite for come-back player of the year. A's take a 5-1 lead as we head into the 9th.

9:01 - Alan Embree pitches a scoreless 9th and the Red Sox lose 5-1. For the record - yesterday I had a bacon and cheese omelet and today I had brown bread toast and a banana.

EDIT: Lyford was up and blogging this morning as well.