Starr’s 7 Questions: Are the Red Sox really that bad in 1st innings?

When does Fenway Park get another All-Star Contest To coincide with the nation s th birthday in Philadelphia will host the next All-Star Contest According to several reports Chicago s Wrigley Field will be the site of the MLB All-Star Event and San Francisco has been named as a probable host in as the Bay Area is a conveniently short flight away from Los Angeles where Dodger Stadium will host Olympic baseball that summer MLB and the players association are currently discussing the possibility of allowing players to compete Next up should absolutely be Fenway Park will mark the th anniversary of their last time playing host to a All-Star Battle that remains one of the bulk memorable special and iconic events in both Red Sox and MLB history As the last Midsummer Classic of Major League Baseball s first century in existence was about the past as much if not more than the present or future Scarce moments in baseball history compare to the All-Century Organization taking the field capped off by an elderly Ted Williams riding in on a bullpen cart driven by Tony Gwynn to partake in the ceremonial first pitch could be a tremendous -year preeminence lap for American s The majority Beloved Ballpark especially if the home squad can become a formidable contender again by then Less than two months after that magical summer night in the Detroit Tigers played their final match at Tiger Stadium and Fenway which opened the same day in April moved into sole possession of the title of MLB s oldest ballpark Five Octobers later the Red Sox completely vanquished the demons that had kept them from baseball s ultimate triumph for years Imagine sitting at Fenway in and telling someone that the Red Sox would win more championships in the next quarter-century than any other ball club But above all Fenway is standing the test of time The All-Star Competition was a chance for all of baseball to say goodbye before the wrecking ball s tour of forlorn ballfields made a seemingly inevitable stop in Boston Instead this lyric little bandbox of a ballpark as the late John Updike famously described it in recounting Williams final tournament for the Oct issue of The New Yorker remains That deserves every celebration Did you know MLB used to have two All-Star Games per season If you ve ever wondered how the great Henry Hammerin Hank Aaron could be a -time All-Star in of career seasons or how Ted Williams was a -time All-Star across of his -year Red Sox career this is the answer For four summers between - MLB held two All-Star Games between mid-July and early August an idea proposed by future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts as a way to raise money for the players pension fund Though the two-fer was short-lived it made chosen positive short- and long-term impacts during a period of enormous change for the league It helped equitably spread baseball around the country which had endured five band relocations between the end of the season when the Braves bid farewell to Boston and Opening Day in then the Giants and Dodgers introduced big-league baseball to California It was also an extra interleague challenge specific to All-Star and the World Series at the time Do you ever think about the ballparks you ll never get to see While we re on the subject of ballparks I ve craved to see Ebbets Field ever since I did a book assessment on Jackie Robinson in elementary school I also grew up hearing about the splendor of the Polo Grounds from my grandmother who grew up attending games with her older brothers and remains furious with the Giants for leaving New York During my two seasons covering the Phillies I became fascinated with the rise and fall of Shibe Park the long-ago home of the Philadelphia A s and later the Phillies and the league s first steel-and-concrete ballpark In photos after the fires Shibe s corner tower and its cupola where famed A s manager and owner Connie Mack once made his office stand tall among the charred remnants of happier days Five years later the last vestiges of what was once one of the crown jewels of baseball were razed while Phillies hosted the All-Star Match at Veterans Stadium Perhaps the saga of Shibe and the nomadic A s hits home because it could have been Boston baseball s story too When fires ravaged Fenway s left-field grandstands in cash-strapped owner Bob Quinn didn t repair the damage Without Tom Yawkey purchasing the struggling squad and repairing the ballpark at the height of the Great Depression of all times who knows where the Red Sox would be nowadays Now back to the present and more pressing matters Why is the first inning kryptonite for this starting rotation If you think first innings have been brutal for the Red Sox your eye test is showing vision Their ERA in the first is their highest single-inning mark this season by far and ranked th among the MLB clubs entering Thursday It s also the fifth-worst first-inning ERA in franchise history only outdone by and when Red Sox arms pitched to a still-record ERA Remove Garrett Crochet and Brennan Bernardino one scoreless opener appearance from the equation and Brayan Bello Hunter Dobbins Richard Fitts Walker Buehler Sean Newcomb Lucas Giolito and Tanner Houck have a combined ERA in the first inning With the exception of the fourth the pitching staff owns a sub- ERA in every inning this year The impact of these early setbacks has been brutal though The Red Sox are - when opponents tally first including - when they fail to pitch a scoreless opening frame only the Rockies White Sox and Diamondbacks have lost more in such situations Unsurprisingly starting pitching is at the top of chief baseball officer Craig Breslow s commerce deadline shopping list No offense The Red Sox staved off a Phillies sweep with their - extra-inning mastery in Wednesday s finale but they also went - and batted with a OPS on this post-All-Star break road trip The Boston bats had to contend with far stingier pitching staffs than the Nationals Rockies and Rays whom they bested during their -game winning streak before the break The Red Sox scored a combined four runs over the losses including getting shut out by the Cubs on Saturday and a one-run complete match by Cristopher S nchez on Tuesday Yet they had opportunities They left men on base over the road trip including going for with runners in scoring position and stranding eight in Philadelphia on Monday night If Phillies catcher J T Realmuto hadn t lost sight of Rob Refsnyder s sky-high pop-up in the fifth inning Wednesday the Red Sox may never have scored at all Should the Sox pact an outfielder Manager Alex Cora is at the moment juggling a slightly overcrowded outfield contingent Wilyer Abreu Roman Anthony Jarren Duran Ceddanne Rafaela Rob Refsnyder Masataka Yoshida and the Red Sox are listening to offers Will this be another second-half collapse year for the Red Sox Let s hope not