Game 19,20,21...or better known as "Tyler was busy Game Recaps"

Note: Sorry, guys. I have been incredibly busy. But somehow I have managed to watch most of every Red Sox game. And yes, I haven't posted an economic post in some time, but quite frankly it's been quiet on that front.

Gavin Floyd = A very bad Sunday afternoon

So, this weekend was very good to the Red Sox. Coming off the heels of a sweep of the Minnesota Twins, The Red Sox went to Chicago with one thing on their mind....get to .500.

That came and went...within 3 games. But even though the winning streak is broken, there is a a mountain of positives to build off of going forward.

Let's start with Game 19. Daniel Bard looked pedestrian, but he made it through 7 solid innings. I am beginning to like the decision to keep Bard in the rotation, rather than move him to the bullpen to solidify it. Bard's slider has finally seemed to come around, and his arm slot looks a lot better from his first start. And let's not forget, the 5 different pitches we heard about in spring training, were finally seen. Follow that up with a spurt-like offense led by David Ortiz, the Sox rolled to an easy 10-3 win.

Game 20 was a bet more scary. Jon Lester, though solid, met another solid pitcher in Jake Peavy. But before we get into that....

Hello, .500. Whew, feels good to say that. Also, keep in mind, it took the 2011 Red Sox to game 40 before they saw 20-20 (aka it took this team half as long to get .500).

Now that that's out of the way, Lester looked tremendous in the shut out through 7. Behind 2 solid innings from the bull pen...the one run we scored off a Adrian Gonzalez RBI, seemed to be enough.

Game 21. Ouch. 

Gavin Floyd was simply great. Pitching a perfect game until the 5th, and a No Hitter into the 6th. If it wasn't for a Dustin Pedroia bloop single, the only thing stopping him would have been his pitch count.

Let me just say, Adrian Gonzalez looks very pedestrian right now. He went through the same thing last year, but this seems different. he just seems lost at the plate (.284 BA/2 HR/81 AB). 

It's beyond the numbers that matters, in big situations, AGon does not look like the AGon we thought we were getting...you know, the guy who hit 40 HRs in Petco Park, the biggest pitching park in the league. 

Needless to say, we lost that game. So with a record of 10-11, the Red Sox losing streak hangs in the hands of the shell of the pitcher that once was Clay Buchholz. 

Tomorrow is a new day, let's rejoice the fact that we have now tasted.500 and it wont take long for us to get back.

Also, let's remember, we have the worst record in the AL East, but still only 3.5 games back from first place. Just another perk of playing in the AL East. 

As Always....Go Red Sox!

Game 18: RED Sox 10, the other Sox 3

"On the other side of this photo, Youkilis is bored."
Direct quote from Bobby Valentine

Note: I know I did not write a economic blog post yesterday, but there is good reasoning behind it. I do not like to blog at work so most of this blog posts are written early in the morning or late at night and set on a timer. I didn't get around to an Eco post, but I should be all caught up the weekend. Thanks for patience!

First off, I would just like to thank the Texas Rangers for dumping off Salty-mocha (Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia) for entirely too cheap.  I also want to thank Phil Humber, perfect game pitcher a week ago, for totally missing his spots and relying way too much on his fastball to get him out of trouble.

The game was a widly entertaining, and way less panicky-y than last night's ball game. But it certainly had the makings of another blown multi-run game.

Let's start off with Felix Doubront. I am an absolute huge fan of Felix, but he does make it hard on me. He has impressed thoroughly through 4 starts. Let's just say he SHOULD have already picked up his first victory, after shutting down the Yankees, but his bullpen failed to help him out.

Not the story of last night. Behind strong bats from Youk (a 3rd inning Grand Slam, which is the ONLY 2nd one I've ever witnessed) and Saly-mocha with his 2 home run game. Which, if you're counting at home, is twice as many home runs per millions of dollars we pay Salty than Carl Crawford...but more on him later.

Can we all agree the White Sox are not a very good baseball team? They have pieces, but in the transition of the Robin Ventura era, it's becoming more and more evident that they just aren't a good team. That's not saying they cant be, (I.e The LA Dodgers) but given their payroll, they will likely be shippers rather than receivers come Trade Deadline time.

Another bright spot to take away from this game is the absolute shutout Junichi Tazawa dealt in the 7th, 8th AND 9th innings. Although, there was a risky appearance of Franklin Morales, on the heel of an appearance last night, warming up in the bullpen. I don't want to take this appearance too wildly, seeing how it is a very small sample size, but it reminded me a lot of Okajima in 2007 (remember him?). Maybe, just maybe, the Red Sox bullpen isn't exactly as bad as the media as made it out to be. People have to realize we played Detroit, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Texas and the Yankees the first part of the season...all of whom are expected to contend for a playoff spot. Were finally playing the middle of the road teams and were doing a lot of what we should be doing.

Exploiting weaknesses and capitalizing on having better talent. As much of a factor as numbers are, there is no number for better talent beating lesser talent.

Let's just hope this continues, were 8-10, 2 games away from .500 and the season basically starting over. And were also only 3.5 games out of the Lead in the toughest division in Baseball.


Hey, it could be worse, nation. We could be LAA Angels fans.

Go Red Sox!

Game 17: Red Sox 7, Twins 6

On the other end of this pitch....someone is getting plunked.

I believe I know now how I will someday die. A heart attack due to stressing over if Alfredo Sauce can close out a game.

Oh, and can we call Justin Thomas what he is? A Triple-A pitcher.

The Red Sox seemed to be smooth sailing to a clean sweep of the beloved, by all fans of "Little Big League", Minnesota Twins. Clay Buchholz seemed to be rolling along just fine. The cutter and curveball he had in his infamous first ever start no hitter, was back, baby. And back with vengeance.

Then the 6th inning came along, and suddenly I was in October of 2003 again. (Okay not really, and if I was to go back in time that's one place I would never go.)

Bobby Valentine takes Clay out with the bases juiced, and brings in Scott Atchison First off, let em go by saying Bobby Valentine has got that down. Atch should be the first one called upon if the starter is struggling in the early innings. But, what I dont understand pulling him after a ground ball single to make it 7-2 with the bases load still in favor of....

Justin Thomas.

WITH THE BASES LOADED.

I am a stats guy, by nature. But even the stats dont work in favor of a career Double-a pitcher against the best hitter in the Twins Organization by far. And of course, Bobby can walk away okay with it, since he got out of it by the skin of his teeth with a score of 7-6.

Fortunately, it was a much nicer ending, although to be honest, I do not think Alfredo Aceves is fit to close a game, by any means.

I will commend Padilla and Morales for their bridge work in the 7th and 8th innings. But that wont extend to Alfredo Aceves, who is literally trying to kill me...one HBP at a time.

In the end, I cant complain much. The Red Sox won and I think every single guy in the clubhouse tried their butts off to get this sweep. They grinded and got to bullpen early on offense, and had semi-good work out of our bullpen. Great way to start off the Road Trip.

Phill Humber, the 21st pitcher to pitch a perfect game just last Saturday, is next.

Go Red Sox!

FED Open Market Committee Meeting April 25, 2012 - Quick Reaction

Fed Chairman Bill Bernanke

The Fed Open Market Committee concluded it's meeting today. It raised it's economic outlook and said to be more optimistic about unemployment, due to the fact of the large improvement the last few months.

The Fed also predicts that the economy will grow between 2.4 and 2.9 percent, which compared to the numbers predicted in January, is a .2 percent increase. In which case, the Unemployment rate will drop to about 7.8 percent...which will also have looking at a inflation rate at below 2 percent.

This all sounds good, except when you get to the part that seven open market committee members, a little more than half, predicted a inflation rate hike.

All of this information is relevant because it will help the Fed decide whether to start their third---yes third round of Quantitative easing to boost the economy. If you don't know what Quantitative easing is, it is essentially the government increasing the money supply by flooding financial institutions with capital (government buying and selling their own bonds). Investopia will help me out with the rest.

Central banks tend to use quantitative easing when interest rates have already been lowered to near 0% levels and have failed to produce the desired effect. The major risk of quantitative easing is that, although more money is floating around, there is still a fixed amount of goods for sale. This will eventually lead to higher prices or inflation.      
(Hat tip investopia.com)

I cant say I am on board with this type of thinking. It's been well documented in the numerous essays that I have wrote about the Faults in Bill Bernanke's system, but I honestly think the man is trying his best. We have to understand that we've done this to ourselves, and there isn't much we can do but believe in the Free Market economy that we have, and work ourselves out.

Bill Bernanke also expressed many thoughts of the holes that are evident in the economy. Such as the housing market. It is written off by the Open market committee as "Depressed". Pair that with the student loan debt (soon to be) bubble, we could be looking at a 2008-esque economy.

After every thing was said an done, The Committee voted 9-1 to keep rates low, including the discount rate, which sits currently at .75 percent.

Dollars and Sense April 25th, 2012

I guess since I said I would blog about Economic issues, I should start now.

First I guess I should explain myself. I Am an Ag and Applied Economics major, which means I am focused more on the microeconomics of the every day world. If you don't know what microeconomics is, it's simply the economics of a business. How to keep a business or entity running and surviving. I do know a lot of Macroeconomics (which is the study of the economic as a whole, as in policy and government interaction in economics.) But, I will not say I wont post some Macroeconomic stuff from time to time.


So, without further ado, let's get to it.


I came across this link this morning on CNBC.com (I try not to post from the big boys, but they do a great job a majority of the time.) Are Student Loans the next bailout? If you're like me and have a ton of student loan debt, which in a recent study that would mean close to 70% of you do, you could be thinking there is no end in sight. It, of course, brings in President Obama's stance on Federal Stafford loans interest rate to be cut down, or even done all together.

I cant think I'm totally on board on this one. Although, there is a clear conundrum I am facing, partly because I owe more than twice of what I make, the temptation of a bailout happening is over powering. but I cannot fathom not to pay this debt back, in full.

I began school because my parents were not college graduates. My parents, in hopes I would just go to a junior college for 2 years and be done with it, told me I was on my own to pay for college. For me, i figured going to college and just taking classes would be a success, but the more and more I attended class, the more I found out there is no success until they let you walk across the stage.

What I didn't expect though, was the cost. I found out early on that it's not cheap, but there is no free lunch. (And let's all just bow and be glad there isn't such thing as 'Free college') I ate ramen noodles and PB&J countless of times. I got out and it was rewarding. I conquered a dream I've had forever, and did it by myself. I am the first "Lucas" to get a college degree.

That alone was worth the 60,000 student loan debt. I truly hope all graduates can see it that way.

Chairman Bernanke wants you to know the FED was the hero who saved the economy from eternal doom.....uhhh, sure. Beauty is a perspective in the eye of the beholder...

The financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 will leave a lasting imprint on the theory and practice of central banking. With respect to monetary policy, the basic principles of flexible inflation targeting--the commitment to a medium-term inflation objective, the flexibility to address deviations from full employment, and an emphasis on communication and transparency--seem destined to survive. However, following a much older tradition of central banking, the crisis has forcefully reminded us that the responsibility of central banks to protect financial stability is at least as important as the responsibility to use monetary policy effectively in the pursuit of macroeconomic objectives.

Yeah, Okay. Moving on.

Finally, a blog I follow and in turn love, is Marginally Beneficial. It's author is one of my previous economic professors (in macro economics no-less!) and he is one of the most brilliant guys I have ever known. Go Check his blog post out on if a College degree is really worth the cost... then tell me you don't feel the same. (Hint, it's about opportunity costs!)

I'm going leave it at this for the day. Y'all have a great day!

Go Red Sox!

Game 16: Red Sox 11, Twins 2

I like seeing this. A whole, whole lot. (Hat tip to overthemonster.com for the picture.)

So....that was fun. Huh?


I wasn't able to catch the beginning of the game because of car shopping and dinner with the girlfriend. But luckily for me, I date a girl who knows my love for the Red Sox and had the alerts on her phone whenever they scored.

I think, offensively, it started out well. A double and a lot of singles helped start the lead at 3. The offense seems to know that they need to put runs on the board often and early to help out the pitching. either that, or this is a well oiled machine that Bobby Valentine should not, under any circumstances (sans Crawford and Ellsbury make marvelous comebacks) mess with.

In the bottom of the first it looked like Josh Beckett was going to give the lead right back. He seemed to be pressing and it looked as if the curveball was not hitting the spots. He walked the bases loaded and even walked one in.

But that was the only bump all night.

He settled down, found his Kick ass place, and mowed over the Twins. BecKKKKKKett was Mr. Bad Ass again. And I loved it.

And how about that Marlon Byrd Character? I think he is fitting very nicely in his Red Sox uniform. I believe the reason behind it could be he is on a club that has a good chance of winning a lot of games, and he doesnt have to press in order for that to happen. He has his money, he knows his role and it's working.

Oh, by the way. For those of you who were worried about Mike Aviles being a starting Shortstop, I have one thing to say to you.

Nana-nana-boo-boo, stick your head in doo-doo.

Mike Aviles : 60 AB, 10 RBI, 3 HR, 20 H....15 games
Scoot (2011) : 395 AB, 54 RBI, 7 HR, 118 H.....159 games.

Just sayin'.

Anyway, let's rejoice that the bullpen didnt give up a 10 run lead, and we have actually won two games in a row. Go for the sweep tonight, boys.

Go Red Sox.

2012 Season

Since I'm starting this blog in the middle of the beginning of the season (Someone please check me on that, if it's even a real place?) I thought I might as well give you a small recap of the 2012 season so far.

It has sucked.

It really hasn't been a good start for the Sox since the September collapse. Bobby V is as close to being run out of town as you can possibly get, and we have been outscored by 10 runs or more 4 times already this season.

Keep in mind, it's only 14 out of 162 games, so it's early. But all these games count, whether you think so or not, and we need as many wins as we possibly can get to keep Bobby V ...well, alive, basically.

It started with a Tiger sweep, in which our starting pitching looked good and pitched well enough to win, but the offense was lagging. Add in a couple of questionable calls by Bobby V (WHY ARE WE BUNTING WITH A RUNNER IN SCORING POSITION WITH BIG PAPI AT THE PLATE?) and you have a recipe for a bad road trip.

Then it was to Toronto, where the Sox got their first win behind good, not great, pitching by Felix Dubront. I'm one of the few who are very excited by what I see in Felix, and I'm totally fine with that.
Unfortunately, the Sox couldn't keep it up, when we fell back to back to the Blue Jays.

All was not lost, as the Red Sox came home to the Home Opener at Fenway, Winning 3 of 4 games against Tampa bay, with the final one on President's day being a lock down win except for some horrible umpiring by Larry Vanover.  Where every one of the 5 pitches pitched to Cody Ross with two runners on base in the Bottom of the 9th were balls.

Proof Larry Vanover is the worst umpire ever.

Then of course, there was the Boston Massacre. The Texas Rangers murdered us. That is all I will say.


Then the sweep by the Yankees. Which i will not discuss further, either.

Needless to say, me and Cody Ross have the same opinion on the way the season is starting...



Anyway, after our victory last night in Minnyyyyy-sota, we will see exactly where these 2012 Red Sox stand on the subject of "Adversity".

Should be good TV. I'll be here tomorrow with a recap.

Go Red Sox!

The Beginning

To start off this blog, how about some background info on why I love the Red Sox so much, being 1,000 miles away from them?

I live in Dallas, Tx. to be exact, North Dallas. Heart of the bustling, very die-hard fandom known as the Metroplex. I love the Cowboys and the Dallas Mavericks, and even the Dallas Stars. But one team I differ from all the rest of the Hometown boys. The Texas Rangers.

Dont get me wrong, I love Nolan Ryan. He is my all-time favorite Baseball player and it's really not even close (Except my current favorite player who plays now, but we'll get to that in a minute). I love the Ballpark they play in, I will say it's one of the best in Major League Baseball...but I'm not a fair weather fan. And for the longest time in my life, the Texas Rangers were pretty much considered a Triple-A ball club, with a horrible owner. As a kid, who was just fascinated with the sport itself, I didn't watch much of the Rangers. There was really no reason to. I watched and was a fan of players, rather than teams. I loved seeing different players succeed, and i identified with most of the ones I adored. One in particular.

I remember the first time I saw Nomar Garciaparra bat. I was maybe 9 years old, and finally talked my parents into letting me have a TV in my room (basically, so I could watch baseball and see end of games rather than read about it in the newspaper...no Internet back then, guys). I instantly identified with him. He didn't play my position, 2nd base, but he played shortstop and most of my favorite players had things in common. They were all middle infielders. I remember when after I saw him on April 29th, 1997. After stepping into the Batter's box, he had a routine before EVERY pitch. He tightened his batting gloves, checked his wrist, stepped in, nodded and circled the bat as he toe tapped each toe (left, right, left, right) each 5 times before finally being settled.

That next day, at a baseball game, I did the exact same thing. I wish I could tell you I was lying.

I even started wearing his number, instead of my usual no. 1. (This is because the first pick in the draft was always no. 1 in Hopkins County baseball, and I was always a 1 round draft pick. I like to plug that in from time to time.)

I followed Nomar from that day until my Sophomore/Junior Year of high school. I would grab the sports page and flip back to the box scores and see how Nomar (and of course the Sox) did that following day or week, whichever the Dallas Morning News would put. I did this until the 2004 season, when my heart would be broken, but stringed back together with a few rallies in October.

Nomar was traded under, then first time GM Theo Epstein, in a very ugly scenario they played out in the public which I hated. I began to understand baseball as a business it was, rather than the naive notion that people played for the same teams forever.

From that day, I had to make a decision. I could keep following Nomar, and be loyal to the man that brought me into fandom of such a wonderful organization, and stop my love for the Sox dead in it's tracks. OR, I could understand it is a business, and the team makes decisions that are always best for the team, and keep following Nomar, but keep my love for the organization.

I'm so happy I stayed with the team. I will always love Nomar for the player he was, and I owe so much to him for bringing me to the fan I am today.

So, this long and boring story has a purpose I swear, Since 2004, I've been lucky enough to see my Red Sox win 2 World Series championships, win a bunch of games, but also lose a bunch of games. Many, upon many Shortstop changes (Julio Lugo, that's all I have to say) and watch the Sox go from the little team that could, to the machine that it is today.

All in all, whether my boys go 0-162, or one game from the World Series, or even win another World Series (PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD WIN ANOTHER ONE BEFORE I DIE) I will always be a Red Sox fan. Commence the Hating.

Go Red Sox!

First one

Well, Welcome to Sox and Cents!
Let's start off with Me. My name is Tyler Lucas and I am a 24 year old young professional who lives and works in Dallas, Tx. I graduated from Texas Tech University (trust me, they will squeeze into this blog as well) with a degree in Ag and Applied Economics (no, I did not count Cows as a class). I have had one thing in my mind as a future profession since I sort of got the hint early I would not play professional baseball. And that was being a Banker. I currently have a entry level position at a bank in Dallas and I'm working my you-know-what off to one day become what I've wanted to be. I have an amazing Girlfriend, Wesley, and a Dog, Geisha (we just call her GG, G, Cray-cray...and puppy). Good life, huh? Well....

I have an obsession.An addiction of the worst kind. And it is with baseball. Not only just baseball, but with the Boston Red Sox. I love everything about this organization. From April-October, they control (most) of my life and spare time. As sad as that sounds, I love that I love it.

I'm an inspiring Banker by profession, so this blog will also incorporate an economics feel as well. I will keep up with the events and news of the economy and try my best to relate them to banking and my profession. I hope to repair the damage the image of bankers and people who work in banks have taken these days.

Oh, and I'll dabble about the Red Sox, too.

Let's get it out of the way, I have never been to Fenway park, nor even to Boston (This will happen soon and I'm for sure blogging it.). If you want to know the story of how I became a Red Sox fan, I will post that story later. But for now, let's get things straight. I have 5 priorities before this blog, so I cannot stress enough how being patient with me will only help you. I will try my absolute best to give you a post, maybe even a couple of posts, every day. But this blog sits nicely behind God, My Girlfriend, My Family, My dog, my job and in front of Peanut butter on the priority list. So, please, just be patient.


Anyway, I'm going to try and enjoy myself with this blog. I believe that's the reason anyone starts a blog. Enjoyment, or in my case, the need for a hobby. Either way, I really hope you guys (or gals) enjoy it as much as I do. And as Always..

Go Red Sox!