12.30.2011

Josh Reddick got lost in Providence more than once.

I'm going to sift through the archives and take a look back at Reddick's time with Pawtucket, starting in August 2009. He didn't start the season with Pawtucket - Guys like Jonathan Van Every, Zach Daeges, Sean Danielson, Jeff Corsaletti, Chip Ambres, and occasionally Jeff Bailey were covering the outfield. And Freddy Guzman, Brian Anderson, Bubba Bell, and Mark Kotsay. And Chris Carter and Chris Duncan. It was the year that Bobby Scales got called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career.

Kid, precious kid:
1. First appearance! "Reddick hit an RBI triple in the seventh." It was versus Gwinnett. Reddick was flanked by Bubba Bell and Jeff Bailey in the OF.

2. 8/26/2009 - Josh Reddick, now Pawtucket's leadoff guy, hits a walkoff RBI single off Buffalo reliever Eddie Kunz.

3. 8/27/2009 -
"Reddick made possibly the greatest diving outfield catch I've ever seen at McCoy. Sixth inning, one out, shortstop Andy Green at the plate. And Green drives one out to left center! Reddick fucking LEAPS to his left, I mean, the kid is PARALLEL to the ground! And he snapped that ball up!! The crowd went nutso, people were standing up and cheering!
I would try to re-enact this for you if I had any hope of doing it justice. But you would just laugh and laugh. I hope someone somewhere recorded it... I hope someone aside from me writes about it. I love you, Josh Reddick!"
WOW! Glad I was at that game.

4. 8/30/2009 - Pawtucket plays @ the Yankees in a Pennsylvania double header: "Josh Reddick made an outfield assist, which reminds me of Sean Danielson and his very exciting assisting outfield arm." Yeah, Danielson was a small guy with a big, big arm. I used to love it when visiting teams tried to run home on SPD. HA! GOTCHA!

5. Opening Day, 2010 - I correctly predicted Reddick would bat first in the lineup. I had Jorge Jimenez batting 8th, but Torey Lovullo placed him second. My idea was much better, in retrospect.

6. A few days later... "Josh Reddick is still searching for his first hit. All the fans are really worried about this. Looks like his career may in fact be over. What happened to the prospect who did so much in the low minors? Reddick is a shell of himself. And the front office is whispering about possible trades." (I hope you recognize that I was not being serious.)

7. 4/15/10 - "Bubba Bell led off in place of Josh Reddick. Right now they are interchangeable, which is weird because Bubba Bell is not going to last the season in Pawtucket. And Reddick is media masturbation material." That's true.

8. 5/15/2010 - "Josh Reddick went 0-5 with a strikeout. Hey, I know what would help, Josh! Get another wacky haircut!" Funny how fast love disappears when the player starts losing it at the plate. This would not be my last reference to Reddick's hair. I can't believe it bothered me that much.

9. And the next day: "Did you know that Pawtucket got 14 hits and left 10 batters on base? You can thank Tug Hulett, Josh Reddick, and Angel Sanchez for that. Those three no-goodniks each came up twice with two outs and RISP and did not produce a run." Is Angel Sanchez still on my favorite team, the Astros?

10. Boof, there it is!
"So with two outs, Ellsbuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifry walks and Josh Reddick hits the ball hard to right. Chris Duncan has a hard time coming up with it and Ellsbury scores... Josh Reddick is running his ass off and Lovullo is furiously waving him in but the incredible edible Carlos Maldonado is waiting with the ball. Reddick tries to dodge Maldonado but YEAH RIGHT and he is out and he tumbles down to the ground. It looked painful and N. Romero helped him up but he was okay.

Sometimes I think Josh Reddick is really dumb, although it was his manager waving him in. I don't know about that guy."
(May 17th 2010)

11. Jake Arrieta is a badass: "Arrieta's first K was also the first batter he faced, that being Josh Reddick. Not too interesting, since Reddick strikes out more than anyone on the team. And, seriously, it's not like he's Daniel Nava who also strikes out a lot, but leads the team in OBP." - (5.20.10, Arrieta pitches seven scoreless innings and gets 10 K's.)

12. "Josh Reddick is no longer the leadoff hitter. Reddick has some serious problems at the plate right now." (May 24th 2010) (Tug Hulett took his place batting in the one-hole. Yup. Torey Lovullo, folks.)

13. 5.29.10 - Reddick's struggles continue: "Everyone on the PawSox got a hit except for Josh Reddick. Reddick's had a tough time, but what can you do except get up and go to work?"

14. 6.27.2010 - Reddick slowly starts heating up: "But it was the third inning when Pawtucket scored five runs... Shealy's two-run homer and Josh Reddick's three-run blast. Yes, Josh Reddick. Don't bury him cause he's not dead yet."

15. 6.29.10 vs. SWB Yankees - "PJ Pilittere also tried to cross the plate on Rivera's hit, but he was thrown out at home by the ordinarily useless Josh Reddick. Good work, Reddick. This pissed off Yankees manager Dave Miley enough to get him ejected while he was arguing the tag at home plate."

16. 7.21.10 - "Josh Reddick went 0-4 with two K's yesterday. And then after the game I read an article about how he is allegedly improving."

17. 7.29.10 - "Reddick is back and he went 3-4 with a triple."

18. 8.6.10 - Yankees win, 9-5, and it is mostly Kris Johnson's fault. "Reddick cleared the bases and tried to make it all the way to third, but center fielder Greg Golson relayed that shit right over. OUT!" And then... "Reddick led off the ninth inning with a home run and, uh-oh! Bases loaded with one out for reliever Jonathan Albaladejo! But neither Aaron Bates nor Yamaico Navarro felt like doing something nice for the fans and rather selfishly struck out. What a couple of jerks." Also, Reddick started batting leadoff again.

19. August 9th, again with the Yankees: "Josh Reddick went 0-4 and twice came up with runners in scoring position, but could not help his team out. I get no joy from sharing that. Okay, maybe a little joy."

20. "Josh Reddick went 3-5 and is maybe superstitious, since he is still wearing his prostate cancer wrist bands from a couple of weeks ago." (8/13/10)

21. 8.24.10 - "Josh Reddick went 3-4 with two home runs. If he's crowned team MVP then I will projectile vomit." That wasn't very nice of me. They wound up losing this game to Buffalo, anyway, 12-4, thanks to Kris Johnson and TJ Large.

22. But the next day, Reddick continued his onslaught v. the Bisons: "Looks like Josh Reddick went 5-5 with another home run. His parents must be so proud. I'm glad I don't have to work with him."

23. And again the next day! "In the tenth inning, Josh Reddick hit a grand slam, but who cares because Jorge Jimenez hit an RBI single earlier in the inning which would have won the game right there. Manuel pitched the bottom of the inning and the Bisons didn't score, so think about that!" Maybe I was so hard on Reddick because I cared too much.

24. 8/27/10 - Reddick continues storming the castle: "Josh Reddick hit a three-run homer and I still think he's a jackass." Wow, what the hell was my problem?

25. "Reddick hit two doubles. They are going to give him the team MVP award. I have no idea why I care so much about this. But it's gonna be this cliched thing about his early struggles and what a fighter he is and what a professional young man he is and I swear, I am going to throw up.." - (AUG 28 2010) (Bubba Bell got the MVP, and rightfully so.)

26. 9/6/2101 - Last game of the Pawtucket season, Red Sox beat Syracuse 4-3. Reddick hits a two-run homer.

27. 4/8/2011 - A new season, a new start: "Pawtucket loaded the bases in the ninth, but Josh Reddick failed to get a run across, instead grounding into a double play. Instead of insulting him, I'll just say 'It happens' and it's a long season so better luck next time."

26. 4.23.11 - "Josh Reddick tripled and of course Nava and Navarro made it across. 2-0 PawSox! Good triple, Josh Reddick."

27. 4.28.2011 - "Reddick and Sutton, 3-5. These guys are fire oil. Reddick with two home runs."

28. 5.14.2011 - "Josh Reddick's home run in the sixth killed DJ Mitchell's no-hitter. Attaboy, Josh Reddick!"

29. 6.13.2011 - "With one out in the top of the second, Reddick retrieved a hard hit ball by Danks at the warning track, a 400-foot shot. Reddick bashed into the wall on the catch and had to be tended by medical personnel for nearly five minutes. The inning ended on a double play with third baseman Hector Luna catching a line drive by Milledge and tossing over to first to get Tyler Flowers (walk) out at the bag. Reddick was okay and did stay in the game." (Steve Mazzone, Pawtucket paper)

And that was it. Boston came calling and it was adios, Pawtucket. Hope you can piece together an idea of Reddick's time with the PawSox. Good night and god bless.

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