For the final 10 days of 2010, WEEI.com will count down the top 10 stories of the year. In what was a memorable 12 months for all four of Boston’s major professional teams, there was a plethora of compelling storylines. Our next entry in the countdown is No. 7: The Red Sox‘ injury-plagued lost season.
Check out our previous entries:
No. 10: Kevin Garnett’s return to form
No. 9: The Patriots’ playoff meltdown vs. the Ravens
No. 8: The Marc Savard-Matt Cooke incident and aftermath
Also, make sure to cast your vote in WEEI.com’s poll for the 2010 Boston Athlete of the Year.
The 2010 Red Sox season was supposed to be predicated on two traits: pitching and defense. All offseason long, Theo Epstein raved about those qualities as the team signed Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron and John Lackey while letting Jason Bay sign with the Mets.
There was only one problem with Epstein’s plan. He could not have factored in the most important characteristic of the 2010 squad: injured, early and often.
Within the first two weeks of the season, the Red Sox already had suffered their first casualties of the season when two-thirds of their outfield went on the disabled list. Things would only get worse, as the team lost three starting pitchers to the DL, four catchers were sidelined and two of the most reliable and productive members of the lineup, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, missed large parts of the season.
Things became so bad that they were almost laughable. The Red Sox led the league in total trips to the DL with 23, and finished fourth overall with over 1,050 games lost to the DL and more than $20 million lost due to injury. Their 89-73 record look that much more impressive considering the Red Sox lost most of their most important players rather than just a slew of no-names.
Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka each missed five or more starts and those in the bullpen suffered myriad injuries. Victor Martinez missed just 23 games on the disabled list, a relative victory for a team of the walking injured. A torn thumb muscle forced Youkilis to ride the pine for over 60 games and Pedroia’s broken foot kept him out for more than half the season. Cameron, the most disappointing of the new acquisitions, managed just 162 at-bats. But the biggest exemplar of all the injuries and frustration of the 2010 season was Jacoby Ellsbury.
With Cameron’s addition, Ellsbury was supposed to take over left field duties and potentially become an even scarier threat on the base paths. The 26-year-old, who had led the league in steals in back-to-back seasons with 120 combined steals, was drawing very favorable praise during spring training.
‘I don’t know another player who looks so much like myself. It’s crazy sometimes,’ then-Rays outfielder Carl Crawford said before the season. ‘I think he’s almost exactly like me. When I see him, I see myself ‘ especially now that he’s moving to left. His game is almost the same.’
Esptein agreed with Crawford and called Ellsbury, ‘one of the best one or two left fielders in the game defensively.’ Unfortunately for Epstein and Ellsbury, the young outfielder would not get much of a chance to prove that fact.
On April 11, with one out in the ninth inning of a game against the Royals in Kansas City, Ellsbury and Beltre collided in foul territory trying to track down a Mitch Maier popup, completely derailing Ellsbury’s season.
At first the injury was treated as just a side note. Ellsbury was optimistic about a quick return from what was diagnosed as a ‘chest contusion,’ and the team expected its young star back soon. But 10 days later, when Ellsbury was still was struggling to breathe deeply, he went on the DL for the first of his three stints.
‘You never want to go on the DL, but we’ve pretty much tried everything to get me back out on the field,’ Ellsbury said. ‘I tried to push it out there, and it wasn’t working, so we had to make a decision one way or the other.
While the team was slightly frustrated by the injury, which was later diagnosed as four broken ribs, Ellsbury was ready to make his return by late May in plenty of time to make a huge impact on the season. That optimism was short-lived.
After moving back to center field because of Cameron’s injury, Ellsbury made a diving catch against the Phillies in his first game back but saw no change in his symptoms. Several days later he began feeling intense pain and once again was diagnosed with a fractured rib, this time in his back.
To make matters worse, Ellsbury vented his frustration with the Red Sox medical team, which apparently had missed his broken ribs on both occasions.
‘I think they downplay it because they misdiagnosed it,’ Ellsbury said. ‘They said you treat it all the same way. Remember that comment? How do you treat a bruise the same as a break?’
Ellsbury’s shot at the medical staff was just the first blow in what would turn into a public battle over his maturity and ability to handle pain. Teammates, former players and the media weighed in with thoughts about the young star, who would not return until early August.
After Ellsbury traveled to Arizona for five weeks to rehab instead of staying in Boston, Youkilis called Ellsbury out for not being behind his team.
‘I don’t know what went on there,’ Youkilis said. ‘I think that was more his agent [Scott Boras] and the Red Sox, but it’s very important. As a player, it doesn’t matter if you’re hurt or not. You should be out there cheering on your team.’
Jerry Remy criticized Ellsbury for taking an extended rehab rather than rejoining his team and making an impact. And other media members questioned Ellsbury’s motivation to play, noting his reputation as a high-maintenance player not willing to play through pain.
Ellsbury and Terry Francona tried to refute the claims, but Ellsbury’s third short stay with the Sox in 2010 did little to help his case. Just 10 days after returning, Ellsbury broke his rib once again after he ran into Rangers pitcher Tommy Hunter trying to beat out an infield single to lead off the game. The next day Ellsbury was placed on the DL once again, and the questions would continue.
While he’s currently in a Red Sox uniform, Ellsbury has been the subject of trade speculation this offseason and could be moved in future. After just three full years at the major league level, there are more questions about his ability to stay healthy and willingness to play than there were going into 2010.
His final line for 2010: 18 games, 83 at bats, a .192 batting average, no home runs, five RBIs and seven stolen bases (63 less than in 2009).
Although Ellsbury’s season began with blooming promise, it faded, mired in injuries and frustration just as the Red Sox’ season as a whole.