All offseason, members of Red Sox Nation had to say and repeat, “I love run prevention” 100 times before they went to bed. It was an order from general manager Theo Epstein, actually. While some still go to bed with the mantra lapping their brains, others have spit in the face of run prevention and prefer talljacks, slammalama-ding-dongs and goin’ yard.
Adrian Beltre Misses Grounder, Red Sox Nation Implodes
↵One of the main characters of this new “run prevention” ideology is Adrian Beltre, acquired by the Sox as a free agent over the offseason to replace hobbled Mike Lowell. How’s he doing this year? If you believe in the stat “errors,” then horribly: Beltre racked up his 5th error of the young season tonight when he let a hard-hit grounder bounce below his glove on his left side, allowing a Baltimore run to score.
↵If you don’t believe in errors, then well, he’s been pretty good.
↵(IMPORTANT NOTE YOU SHOULD READ: Immediately after Beltre’s error, a foul ball rolled down the first base side. The ball girl -- let’s call her “Sally” -- fielded it in perfect fashion by going down to one knee, keeping the glove on the ground and squeezing the ball in the mitt. There was no mock cheer from the crowd, but there should have been.)
↵Beltre’s fifth error puts him on pace for about 30 on the season. Beltre had 29 errors with the Dodgers in 1999, but hasn’t hit the magical 20 number since 2002. And his UZR/150 is ... nevermind. Let’s just not get into that. We’ll keep it simple.
↵Before the error, Beltre made a nice over the shoulder catch in foul territory to end a previous inning. Still, as many in Red Sox Nation will tell you, that was in foul territory, so defensive excellence does not count. It technically did not “prevent a run,” so we’ll act like it never happened.
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