Jennifer's Sox Site

Varitek

2008-10-15T22:14:00.002-07:00

Varitek entry to come this weekend, I reckon. Will give you a reason to check back, I guess?

ALCS pitching rotation

2008-10-08T09:12:00.003-07:00

Game 1: Matsuzaka
Game 2: Beckett
Game 3: Lester
Game 4: Wakefield
Game 5: Matsuzaka
Game 6: Beckett
Game 7: Lester

Are you shitting me, Terry? It's like our can-do-no-wrong Postseason managerial genius has been replaced by Grady Little. First of all, Wakefield over Byrd? Secondly, how in God's name is Jon Lester not going until Game 3? Perhaps you're trying to save him for Game 7. That logic is on par with Grady saving Williamson and Timlin for Game 8 in 2003. There is no Game 7 if you've already lost four games, Terry. With Beckett being a total question mark this postseason, Lester has to go in Game 2. You cannot risk the series going back to Fenway already down 0-2. You just can't. I suppose you could argue that Lester is much better at home. I get that and all, but you're really gambling that Beckett is 100 percent healthy, and that Game 3 against the Angels was just a fuck-up. I'm baffled by this move. Really. I'm trying to rationalize it and I can't.

More suckful Patriots news

2008-09-07T18:01:00.003-07:00

Tom Brady is reportedly out for the season, though the Patriots have not confirmed it. I am officially on suicide watch*.

Rest in peace, 2008 New England Patriots. We hardly knew, ye.

*Not to be taken seriously. I have too much student debt to be able to kill myself with a good conscience.

"I would like to look up in the stars one night and say, 'Goddamnit, we did it.'"

2008-08-30T20:43:00.003-07:00

That was said by Theodore Samuel Williams, who would have been 90 years old today. He came two years short of seeing his beloved Sox win it all. I was thinking about Teddy Ballgame and some other Old Timers today while watching the Major League debut of Michael Bowden. Let me emphasize that any time you can replace David Pauley's spot start in your major league rotation, it's a good thing. Bowden is one of those young kids like Jed Lowrie who just lives for the game of baseball and respects the game so much. I think Ted Williams would be proud of him.

He pitched all right -- nothing spectacular -- but good enough to get the win. Bowden features a four-seamer, curve and changeup. He's got a really funky delivery that looks like torture on the elbow. Today Orsillo or Remy (can't remember which) commented that he was under strict orders to pitch what Tek told him to pitch. So he mostly stuck with a fastball in the 91-94 mph range. His pitch fx charts are here, in case you're a nerd like me. The highlight of the night was definitely watching him talk to Sean Casey in the dugout while Okajima finished the game. He had this radiant smile on his face. I can't imagine what must have been going through his head as he realized that he was really about to get his first major league win. I hope there are many more to come.

Coco decided to spread the flu around the clubhouse, so in Youkilis' absence, Pedroia was moved down to cleanup. I fall more in love with Dustin Pedroia every single night. He was 4-for-4 tonight with an IBB, double and two runs. And in one of the funnier moments of the season, he slid into second base headfirst on the double and probably should have been out, but he averted the tag and was correctly called safe. Francona and Ozzie Guillen both ran out of the dugout instantaneously to argue the call, but Francona hadn't realized that he was actually called safe. He immediately turned around and walked back with a sheepish look on his face, prompting Jerry and Don to go into one of their patented laughing fits. Pedroia also went 4-for-4 last night with three runs, a walk and two stolen bases. He's now been on base in 10 consecutive at-bats. I know that hardware means nothing these days given the idiots who still have votes (Joe Morgan?), and he won't win the AL MVP award, but I hope he does get his fair share of votes. He and Youkilis are both putting up incredible offensive seasons.

It’s 2 a.m., I’m drunk again, It’s heavy on my mind

2008-08-19T21:28:00.004-07:00

Today was a fairly traumatic day. I found out Carl Yastrzemski was admitted to Mass General for bypass surgery. Two nights ago I had a dream that Yaz died, which was really eerie. But I send my good thoughts Yaz's way in the hopes of a speedy recovery.

On another devastatingly depressing note, LeRoi Moore left this world today. No, it has nothing to do with baseball, but he has everything to do with me. I don't know how the guys are still playing at Staples right now, as I type this. I can't even see my keyboard through the tears. I love you, brother. Sometimes a tragedy in life is all you need to completely forget about how meaningless baseball really is.

Just one month ago, my boyfriend and I filmed a video with 40,000 of our closest friends, chanting "WE WANT ROI" repeatedly. Jeff Coffin will never be able to replace you, Roi.

"And if I go, before I'm old,
Oh brother of mine, please don't forget me..."

Manny Being Manny: The Saga Ends

2008-07-31T23:24:00.009-07:00

Let me preface this blog entry by saying I'm a little drunk. Maybe that's the state of mind you need to be in to write about Manny Aristides Ramirez and his legacy with the Boston Red Sox. Look, Manny needed to leave the Red Sox. Whether or not you believe the report that the Red Sox had a secret meeting where the team voted 24-1 that Ramirez should be gone ... he had to go. He had worn out his welcome in Boston. He turned his organization into a Circus Act. He wasn't happy in Boston (had he ever been?) and the front office clearly had no plans to extend his option. So you sell Manny for 50 cents on the dollar? That's what had to be done. Personally, I won't miss Craig Hansen and I won't miss Brandon Moss, who in our organization was always going to be a fourth outfielder at best. I will miss Manny's bat, but I'm excited about what Jason Bay will bring to the Red Sox. I'm excited to see a real defensive left fielder, to see how he adjusts to playing in Boston, in front of the Green Monster, and in the AL East among real competition and a pennant race. I'm not asking Jason Bay to be Manny Ramirez. I have realistic expectations for how this season will progress, and I feel excited for 2009.

That being said, I wanted to reflect on Manny. And what better way to close out Manny's career than a Top 5 List of Manny Being Manny moments. The zany, the awesome, the clutch, the incredible. These are my favorite Manny moments.

1) Easily my favorite moment is the 2007 walk-off home run off K-Rod. I'll always remember I was in Atlanta at a Sox bar watching this game with George. I felt good about it from the start, because the Sox absolutely own the Angels in the postseason. After intentionally walking David Ortiz, Manny was given an inside fastball from K-Rod that sealed the game and the series. He lifted both arms in the air in a "Touchdown" motion. He knew it was gone and all of Fenway and RSN did too. I've never been so overjoyed by any hit of Manny Ramirez. I went nuts, running around the bar and hugging random strangers. Thanks, Manny. This was your finest moment.

2) July 21, 2004: Manny's cutoff. In one of the most bizarre defensive sequences in baseball history, Manny Ramirez played cutoff man to Johnny Damon's throw ... from about 15 feet away in left field. David Newhan's sure double caromed off the wall and Damon threw to in to the infield. Ramirez decided to dive for the ball to play cutoff man ... in the fucking outfield. Needless to say, Newhan turned the play into an inside-the-park home run. It's safe to say we members of RSN will not miss Manny's defense. Speaking of which ...

3) September 2004, Manny robbing Miguel Cairo of a home run in the Bronx. Cairo was so sure he hit a home run that he shook hands with Kenny Lofton, who was on deck at the time. Ramirez still ranks the catch as the best one he ever made. The catch proved to prevent the tying run from scoring against the Yankees, and the Sox came back against Rivera and won 3-2. I will never forget Manny actually coming down with the ball, then motioning into the Yankee dugout with his trademark two-armed point. The look on Cairo's face was incredible. Bless you, Manny.

4) Going along with No. 3, you absolutely cannot write about Manny's zaniest moments without mentioning this year's catch ... an out-of-this-world catch followed by high-fiving a fan in the first row of the left field seats and doubling up Aubrey Huff at first base. The video is located at this site. "Only Manny," comments Jerry Remy. His re-creation of the catch in the dugout with Ortiz is absolutely priceless. Please watch the video again. It's Classic Manny.

5) "Manny's back and he's back BIG." 2005, trading deadline, many Red Sox fans were sure he was going to be traded after expressing disappointment with the organization (some things never change). Manny enters the game in the eighth inning to pinch hit against Juan Rincon and ends up driving in the winning run, a little squibler past Nick Punto and Luis Rodriguez. He came in to a standing ovation and the hit prompted Don Orsillo's rather lame but enduring quote. Sox win 4-3. After the game Manny said, "Forget about the trade man. This is the place I want to be man. It’s a great man. They love me here man. This is the place to be. ‘Manny being Manny,’ he’s great man…we’ve been through a lot; this is the place for me. I’m just happy to be here…I’m back."

There are lots of other moments that stand out. Not just Manny failing to run out ground balls, or rolling over balls in the outfield. The errors in the 2004 World Series. The 2004 World Series MVP speech where he misspoke and said it was our "destination," not our destiny, to win. Getting drinks with Enrique Wilson. Not pinch-hitting in Philly (Thanks, Trot!) Losing his diamond earing in an exhibition game. Wearing an MP3 player in the field. Taking a leak in the Green Monster while Wade Miller was pitching. The hilarious SportsCenter commercial that's been airing lately. Selling his grill on Ebay. "Jeter is playing golf. This is better." Living in the Four Seasons for year after year. Running out on to the field with an American flag after he obtained his citizenship. Home run No. 500, which he hit when my dad and I were driving to Maine and barely had radio reception to hear Joe Castiglione call the homer. The first home run that he hit for the Red Sox in his first at-bat at Fenway. He, of course, went on to win AL Player of the Month and hit .408 with 31 RBI. For better or worse, all of these moments stand out.

One of the 25 ... always. I have an extensive photo collection of the Red Sox. Here are some of my favorites:

June 5, 2008

2008-07-27T01:42:00.002-07:00

*Note: I haven’t updated this blog at all this season. Every time I come here and read my last entry about the Patriots, it just hurts too much to write anything new. And while I don’t think I’ll ever get over what happened in Super Bowl XLII, I wanted to write about the most surreal night of my life. Here goes nothing.
_________________________________________

On June 5, 2008, thanks to a propitious auction and family connections, I experienced one of the greatest nights of my life. I was an honored guest of a very rich Bostonian in a private EMC-level suite at Fenway Park. At 6:05 p.m., starting pitcher Jon Lester threw the first pitch in what would be the consummate Tampa Bay-Boston game I’ve ever had the privilege to watch. And I’ve seen a plethora of Rays-Red Sox games. The night ended with my father and two of our dear family friends watching the Celtics defeat the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. I suppose I should mention we were watching said game on a 60-inch HD flatscreen television at Fenway Park. I digress. Let’s start from the beginning.

My grandmother, being the saint that she is, promised she’d secure a pair of Red Sox tickets for the week that my dad and I could be in Boston. She went to an auction with an old friend of my dad’s, Larry. Unfortunately, Larry was outbid for seats for the June 4 game by some millionaire from Beverly who invented a kidney dialysis machine. As it turned out, the guy is a friend of Larry’s and offered to give my dad, Larry, his son and me his private suite for the next night. A consolation prize, if you will. We begrudgingly agreed. (Sense the sarcasm?)

When walking into the private EMC Club entrance of Fenway, the Red Sox do a great job of making you feel like a million bucks. You walk up a ramp past the players’ lot, soaking in more Escalades, Mercedes and BMWs than you’ve ever seen. You’re whisked into the main EMC Club lobby. We liked to consider this the common area for the peasant folks who only have “regular” EMC level seats. This is the area that used to be glassed-in and called the 600 Club/.406 Club. Screw those patrons, they actually have to pay for food and drinks all night.

We bumped into Dennis Eckersley near the bar in the “peasant” EMC Club. He was happy to take a photograph with me, although I can’t say he was pleased when my father had the audacity to tell Eck that he remembered him when he was a “real pitcher.” Talk about embarrassing. Next, we were offered the opportunity to try on a 2007 World Series ring valued at $22,000. The four of us graciously tried on the massive, jewel-encrusted symbol of last season’s success, which was the size of my entire first knuckle. Another Fenway employee then allowed us to take pictures with the 2007 World Series Trophy. After posing for a picture with a Hall of Fame pitcher, trying on the most expensive piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen and touching the World Series trophy, I felt like anything else that happened on that night would be anticlimactic. I was wrong.

We purposely arrived at the park an hour and a half early to take advantage of the entirely free and unlimited food and drinks in our private suite. We opened the door to our suite and I was in instant heaven. When the first thing you notice isn’t the amazing view of Fenway Park, you know you’re in a great place. Leather couches and recliners, framed pictures of all of the Red Sox legends, our own huge, wall-mounted HD television, our very own bathroom with a brass sink and a picture of Ted Williams looking down on you as you pee. Our own refrigerator with enough free water, soft drinks and beer to last fifty people an entire game. Shiny wood floors that looked like they’d just been buffed. A computer with free Internet, you know, in case want to check in on the SoSH Game Thread. The largest assembly of popcorn I’ve ever seen in a metal Boston Red Sox container sitting on our coffee table. And that was just the beginning of the food. Hot plates were already set up with sausages, fried chicken wings and onions. Forget $5 Fenway Franks and $7 chicken sandwiches. On our “kitchen table” sat trays of crackers and cheese and a fruit platter of strawberries and grapes. And the best part of the food experience (well besides not paying for any of it)? An employee would come by every inning or so and make sure you didn’t need anything else. One of the millionaire’s sons decided he’d had enough of all the free sausages and chicken he could ask for. So the Fenway employees brought him an entire pizza within a few minutes. At one point, they brought around an ice cream sundae cart and let us have whatever we wanted. I never got to get one of those upside down baseball cap sundaes when I was a kid. So I had three to make up for my deprived childhood. You better believe I took the caps home.

Walking out of the suite and into the outdoor seats the view was just spectacular. So spectacular that I didn’t want to even get up between innings to partake in the free food. We were sitting on the third base side. If you looked straight down you could drop a chicken wing on the third base field box seats. It was, quite frankly, the most amazing view of Fenway I’ve ever seen. You were high enough to see all of the action. There was no pole in your way and no need to crane your neck because you seat doesn’t quite face home plate. No jackasses walked in front of you bringing their fifth $7.50 beer of the night. To my immediate left was the Monster. And to my right was the press box. Down below, I was watching a spectacular game in the greenest baseball park you’ve ever seen.

We saw Hondo throw out the first pitch after a great video montage of the Celtics. “Beat LA” chants were started repeatedly from the onset of the game. Everyone’s minds were on the Celtics, that is, until the bench-clearing melee at the pitcher’s mound when Coco Crisp laid a haymaker on James Shields. Everything else that transpired in the game was just details after seeing such a riveting brawl. I do remember that it was unusually chilly that night. No problem, though. We just turned on our heaters that were fixed above the suite. I sat there in awe of where I was throughout the entire nine innings. When the Celtics game started around the seventh or eighth inning, a few of the millionaires who were used to this luxury left the outdoor “Fenway” area and went inside to watch the game. I knew I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t soak up every drop of where I was seated. So I stayed and tried to memorize every nook and cranny of Fenway Park. I’ve been to Fenway hundreds of times, but I felt like I was seeing this baseball cathedral from a whole new perspective. Among all the opulent folks just in the suites to make an appearance sat a girl who knew she was in Heaven.

When the game finally ended, the four of us just couldn’t leave. I knew I’d probably never get a chance to sit in a private suite at Fenway Park again. So we sat and watched the Celtics-Lakers game. We had to have been some of the last people in the park. The players had probably been gone at least an hour after their showers and pressers. At one point, a lady knocked on our door and said the outside seats were now off limits, but we could remain to watch the Celtics as long as we stayed inside the suite. I got so comfortable in my leather couch, cheering on my C’s, that I forgot where I was. But if you glanced out to the left you could still see the illuminated Fenway Park. I felt like Ray Kinsella in those winter scenes, sitting in his kitchen and waiting for something to happen on his field. Fenway Park was my backyard.

After the game we reluctantly decided that the evening had to end. Walking out, Larry’s son decided it would be a good idea to take one of the ceramic white dining plates with a Red Sox logo on it. “To take back to college,” he said. I wish I would have taken something, too. Hey, it’s not like they would have noticed if a logo-d glass or plate went missing. My conscience got the better of me though, and I left empty-handed.

Walking out, the lights in the hallway of the EMC Club were dimmed, and the cleaning crew was vacuuming, already preparing for the next night’s game. It was pitch dark outside and all of the gameday traffic on Boylston Street was long gone. Nearly all of the player vehicles were gone. There was next to no traffic on Route 1, and the four of us sat quietly listening to Celtics coverage on WEEI.

Every night at Fenway Park is a good night. This was a great night.

sucks.

2008-02-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

This is the ultimate low. I really haven't felt this down since about 12:15 a.m., October 17, 2003. It's that I-never-want-to-laugh-again kind of low. That feeling that nothing in the world could possibly make you forget about how shitty you feel right at this very moment. I was so confident going into this game. And we were totally outcoached and outplayed. Josh is to blame. As is the entire o-line. GetPaid22 fucked up big time. Meriweather could have sealed the game, too. Brady just wasn't Brady. Why not go for the field goal? Why not more screen passes and 5-yard dump offs when they were blitzing so heavily? It just doesn't make sense.

This whole day was a nightmare, right? I'm going to wake up and everything will be fine. Except I'm not and this sucks and I'm stuck here living alone in Washington, D.C. with nobody who even remotely understands how painful losing this game was.

There are 10 days until Pitchers and Catchers report. I am trying to be positive but I'm too fucking bummed.

Santana??

2007-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

Are you KIDDING me? You have a chance to add another real No. 1 ace to a staff that already will consist of Beckett-Daisuke-Schilling-Wakefield-Buchholz (obviously, one has to go).

AND you're not giving up Ellsbury or Buchholz. Yes, some baseball writers seem to think Lester has more upside than Buchholz. I don't. And my opinion is what matters.

Where can I sign for this?

Edited Saturday:

Now it looks as if the Twins won't do the deal without one of Buchholz or Ellsbury. I'm no longer on board, as I love Clay, and trading Jacoby would thwart my plan of moving to Boston and marrying him. Let the Yankees get Santana by giving up Hughes. That's fine with me.

Edited very, very late Monday night/Tuesday morning:

Now the Twins appear to be accepting the original deal, per the Globe's blog and few other sources, like Buster Olney. Nothing is official yet, but this thing is gaining some major steam. Some think it might be official by tomorrow, with the Sox just needing a 72-hour window afterward to talk a longterm extension. Oh boy, I'm giddy with delight. I haven't been this happy since ... well ... four hours ago when my all-time favorite UF wideout Jabar Gaffney hauled in the winning touchdown, keeping the Patriots' perfect season intact. Possession? Maybe not. But it's nice that the calls are finally going our way after seemingly having to play another team and the referees from Weeks 2-11.

Sports ramblings

2007-11-14T01:16:00.000-08:00

I'm in full baseball deprivation depression mode. Thankfully the C's and Pats are getting me through that.

All 5'7'' (let's be realistic) of Dustin Pedroia took home the Rookie of the Year. No surprise there. Some Arizona paper had the contents of a text message that Pedro sent to his former ASU baseball coach on April 19, when he was mired in a terrible slump.

He wrote, "Book it. i am going to hit 300 even after the horrible start i'm having right now. you taught me how to deal with this. 1 for my last 26 no biggie. an explosion is going to happen soon."

We all know Dustin is a cocky little son-of-a-bitch, but that right there is just an incredibly endearing quote to me. Dustin's work ethic and grace under pressure won me over this season. I was one of the idiots wondering why Cora wasn't getting more playing time in April. I'll be the first one to admit I was wrong. I look forward to Buchholz and Ellsbury fighting each other for next year's AL ROY honors. That is, if they aren't traded for Miguel Cabrera.

Beckett lost the Cy Young to Sabathia -- not a huge shocker there. I read a lot of BoSox fan blogs expressing outrage, but I like numbers and I'm not a fangirl, so let's look at this objectively.

Sabathia started four more games and pitched 40 more innings. Sabathia's four CGs to Beckett's one probably influenced the voters. Sabathia had a better K/BB ratio, but Beckett had the better K/9. You know how much the voters love ERA as a statistic, so Sabathia wins there too. Their WHIPs were dead even. If you're into VORP, WARP and win shares, CC bests Josh in all three.

CC can have the award. I think it's fair to speculate that those extra innings tired the big guy. If Cleveland has Josh and we have Sabathia, the Indians are celebrating their first World Series title since 1948. Thanks, but I'll take Beckett's postseason performance over the hardware any day.

Moving along, the Patriots are still undefeated. The media still continues to fellate Peyton Manning. Boy, he was heroic in that Sunday night downpour in San Diego when he almost led the Colts to an improbable victory despite throwing six interceptions. And he's playing without Marvin Harrison. Boo-fucking-hoo, the Patriots were missing Rodney Harrison and Junior Seau in last year's AFC Championship Game. And Brady's go-to receivers not named Ben Watson were Headlights Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney and Heath Evans (!) It's a miracle the Pats even stayed in that game through the third quarter.

I still don't think the Patriots will go undefeated this season. They'll demolish Buffalo this Sunday, but I look to the Baltimore or Pittsburgh games to snap the undefeated season. With the Colts at two losses now, the first-round bye and HFA seem to be sewn up.

Things are looking great on the NBA front too. The Celtics are 6-0 after beating Indiana tonight. Paul did a push-up at the free-throw line after Jamaal Tinsley got physical with him. Apparently KG told him to do push-ups instead of getting technicals, so that works. They'll be playing Miami and Orlando this week, so I'll get to watch the boys on television again. ESPN is already comparing them to the 95-96 Bulls that only lost 10 games. We'll need to wait and see how they match up against the cream of the West first, but I'll just leave it at I'm finally enjoying watching the NBA regular season again.

I was going to jump into Heisman analysis, but I'm too tired. I left my pillow in Atlanta, so the entire purpose of this blog was to get me so sleepy I forget that I'm sleeping on a pillow that isn't my baby.

I got to see my Uncle Ken and the Thrashers in Atlanta though -- my first NHL game since I lived in St. Louis. I forgot how much I absolutely love going to live hockey games. I think hockey is the sport with the most discrepancy between how fun watching live versus watching on television is. I wish there were more Floridians who are as into hockey as I am. Maybe they're out there -- who knows?

A summary of how my life's going these days ...

2007-11-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

I never got around to writing about the World Series title. I re-read my 2004 recap and realized that it was the best piece of writing I've ever put together, and nothing could top it. I decided to not even try. I wonder how Gary Smith gets over that feeling ... oh well, guess that's why I'm going to law school and he's the greatest sports journalist ever. So instead, I give you the last four week's Sports Illustrated covers to show you how utterly fantastic my life is these days.

World Champions

2007-10-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

There are so many people who I wish could have been alive to see 2004, and now tonight. I'm thinking of them right now. I can't tell you how many members of my family and my close friends would have killed to have seen one championship, let alone two in four seasons. You're who this is for, and I hope you had a great seat watching it from high above.

... A more profound entry when it all sinks in.

Game 4

2007-10-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

... Second World Series in three years. Second chance to sweep it. Jon Lester, a year removed from chemotherapy, has a chance to close out the Rockies tonight.

Four years ago I was at the lowest I've ever been in my life. If you would have told me on Oct. 17, 2003 that the Red Sox would be going for their second World Series sweep in three years, I would have never believed you.

I feel so blessed right now. I just wish I had someone other than pops with whom to partake in the celebration. It's these special days when I miss New Englanders most.

Looking ahead to Game 3 ...

2007-10-27T01:12:00.001-07:00

I'm not happy with having to sit any of Lowell/Youkilis/Ortiz. Tito says he's going with sitting Youkilis, whose line for the playoffs is ONLY .396/.483/.771. Lowell comes in with a .333/.404/.584 line. Ortiz = .385/.527/.744.

What it boils down to is benching any of these guys sucks. My dad's all pissed because he's a big Youkilis guy, but I don't think you can take Ortiz's bat out of the lineup against a righty (Josh Fogg). Papi comes in with much better stats against righties than Youkilis, but you kind of get the vibe that Youks is so dialed in he'd hit anybody, anywhere. And I agree with leaving Lowell at third, mostly for the defense.

I wonder if management considered sliding Youkilis into the outfield slot, right field I guess, and having the now-incredibly-hot J.D. Drew play center. It isn't like Ellsbuy is lighting up the playoffs (OPS of .504, ouch).

Hopefully we'll jump off to a big lead against Fogg and Youkilis can come in for Ortiz by the sixth inning or so. I worry about how Ortiz's knees will hold up when he has to lunge for throws or dive for line drives. Papi diving -- that's a scary thought.

Side note: We named our family cat Joshua Foggy Klee after Josh Fogg in 1998. He passed away last winter, the victim of some sort of coyote or alligator attack in the backyard. We're not sure what animal got to him. But it's weird that we're facing Josh Fogg in the World Series now. I think Joshie would have wanted the Sox to light up his namesake. RIP Little Buddy ... I'll be thinking of you during Game 3.

Also, funny link of the day courtesy of the Onion:
The Curse of Curtis Leskanic

Sox take Game 1

2007-10-24T23:14:00.001-07:00

Beckett dominated. Jeff Francis did not. Our offense showed up. Colorado's did not. We win. You lose. All in a day's work. Yes, I realize that the ALCS started in the same fashion. But I also realized tonight what an inferior league the NL really is. As long as Schilling shows up tomorrow, I now think there's no way Colorado even wins a game in this series. Perhaps my prediction of Sox in 6 was a little pessimistic.

Lowell was the only starter without an RBI, and even the worthless Julio Lugo chipped in with a 3-4 performance. The Sox combined for a .414 batting average, and that's with Crisp and Hinske getting late at-bats. The Red Sox also combined for an OBP of .826 with two outs. EIGHT-TWENTY-SIX ... make sure you read that right. Meanwhile, through 4.2 innings, Rockies pitchers had already thrown 154 pitches and allowed 13 earned runs. Truly a pathetic performance.

Tomorrow we get Ubaldo Jimenez and his pretty terrible K/BB ratio. Hopefully Red Sox batters will be patient (per usual) and work a lot of walks. Like I said, if Schilling shows up with his ALCS Game 6 stuff, we should be headed to Denver with a 2-0 lead.

I got home to find my new SI bearing a brilliant photograph of Ray Ray, KG and the Truth, with a pretty Celtics green background for good measure. Boston's championship banners can be seen in the background. While SI didn't pick the Cs to win it all (Dallas, what the fuck?!), it was still pretty cool to have it really sink in that the Celtics are relevant again.

The issue also had Joe Sheehan's projection for the series, in which he correctly said that the Red Sox dominate the Rockies in hitting, pitching, and yes, even fielding. (Sorry, Joe Morgans of the world, but fielding percentage just isn't the best way to measure how good a team is defensively anymore.) I was surprised to see Sheehan bust out with EqA statistics, as if the common, simpleton SI reader could possibly comprehend that EqA is a much better hitting gauge than batting average. But alas, these are the changing times. It's refreshing to see a national magazine like SI give BP writers (aka Gods) the credit they deserve.

World Series begins tonight

2007-10-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Days like today make me realize how significant Oct. 27, 2004 was to my life. People down here in Florida who just don't "get it" couldn't possibly understand how a World Series title could change an entire collective psyche of a region. But it did.

Instead of nervous, I feel optimistic. Instead of my stomach being in knots, I feel ready for whatever the "Baseball Gods" throw at us in the next week. I won't live and die with every error or save situation or bases-loaded jam. What a difference it was between the Tony Clark-Keith Foulke at-bat of 2004 and the Kenny Lofton fiasco of 2007. Yes, I was nervous and my heart was practically popping out of my chest, but I didn't have this overwhelming sense of doom that this team is never going to win it for my grandma, dad, me, etc.

If they win the World Series this year, I won't go outside and stare at the moon and think about all of my family who weren't around for 2004. I won't go leave a Red Sox hat at a grave site after the parade. Hell, I probably won't even make it up for the parade this time around.

Right now, it's just about finishing what we started in April. A team that finished (tied) with the best record in baseball has a chance to complete what it set out to do in Spring Training. This team was built to win a championship, and you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody in Boston who didn't consider the Red Sox the favorite to win. This season has been a hell of a ride, but there are still four wins to go.

If it doesn't work out, life will go on. But for all I've invested in this team in 21 years, I think I deserve another championship. It's midnight, Cinderella.

My pick: Sox in 6. Beckett dominates tonight.

Shipping up to Boston

2007-10-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

For the love of God, Tito, put Ellsbury in the starting lineup. Or just leave Coco in Cleveland -- that works too. He left his hitting skills there in 2005. He should stay there until he finds them.

Back to Boston -- where the Water is Dirty, the air is nippy and Curt will dominate. I have full confidence that this series is going seven games.

"It's on bitches."

Oh, and Beckett is my hero.

I HATE this team.

2007-10-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have a colossal, epic rant somewhere deep inside my tiny frame. Unfortunately, I don't have time so instead, you get this:

Fuck you, hitters 6-9 in the lineup. And fuck you to the leadoff hitter, too. You may be the Rookie of the Year and you my have saved Clay's no-hitter, but you're not immune to my ire. Choking fucking runt. Fuck you, Terry, for even refusing to consider starting Beckett in Game 4. Yes, it's a huge gamble. But you're so smug and confident in your veterans that you don't even consider your options. Exhibit B: No sign of Ellsbury despite Crisp's COMPLETE INABILITY to do ANYTHING productive for this team in the past ... well, really since he slid into third base head-first. Fuck you, Schilling and Daisuke. Your inability to put together anything resembling a quality start has put us in a major hole.

Look: Ortiz, Beckett and Ramírez CANNOT do this alone. You cannot win a battle of three against nine. You will lose EVERY TIME.

Tomorrow, we'll see Wakefield against Byrd and undoubtedly Crisp at center field. It's really scary to think that our season hinges on Tim Wakefield, who we haven't seen pitch since the last week of the regular season.

Uggghhhh.

I'm a former copy editor, forgive me.

2007-09-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Yankees chose Joba 41st in 2006, the highest pick for any American Indian player in the history of the college draft. Starting the season with the Yankees' single-A affiliate in Tampa, he streaked through their system -- double-A ball in Trenton, N.J.; triple-A in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa. -- in what seems like less time than it takes to drive from Florida to the Bronx.

-The Wall Street Journal

Jacoby Ellsbury, the 23rd overall pick in 2005 and a Navajo, begs to differ.

Yup, Tito does want to be sacked.

2007-09-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A: The usage of Eric Gagné tonight, with no Papelbon in sight despite not pitching yesterday.

If this moron is extended, I'll lose all faith in humanity. Luis Alicea for Manger in 2008? I think I could get on board with that.

I'm taking the LSAT September 29, so I'll be gone until then.

Joe Morgan and why he sucks

2007-09-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

Caught this gem while flipping between the Pats and Sox tonight:

"Sometimes Boston gets a call here or there and (the Angels) were concerned about it. I don't think the umpires do it intentionally, but that's the way many teams feel. Sometimes things happen in Boston and that just happened. Something just happened."

Wow. Top-notch analysis, Joe. Normally I let the folks over at FJM take care of the Morgan ass-raping, but let's just make sure we all understand what Joe, here, thinks:

Boston gets calls in their favor at home in Fenway Park. Brilliant, Joe. The umpires really helped us win all those World Series titles between 1918 and 2003. Tim Tschida, anyone?

(I know I'm not the only one who still curses that name every now and again.)

I can't decide if I want to go to the Red Sox game(s) this weekend. The last and only time I've been to six games in one season was 2004. Color me superstitious, but I'm sitting on five games right now and I kind of feel like I have to go. If I do it'll probably be Saturday night. I'll try not to almost kill any more relief pitchers in the process.

In other news, the Patriots are really good.

Tito, you wanna give the division away?

2007-09-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

I will never understand Terry Francona. Never. Tonight, my dad says, "I've met rocks smarter than Tito." So true.

First, he was WAY too slow with the hook on Dice-K, was obviously completely cooked and at 120 pitches. It took a ridiculous pitching peformance from Timlin to get the last out in that inning, and I still don't think there is a Red Sox fan on earth who feels comfortable with Timlin pitching with runners on, let alone the bases LOADED.

Next, resident LOOGY Javier Lopez comes in to face quite a few lefties. He gets two quick outs, walks Posada, and all of a sudden the sky is fucking falling and we need to bring in Okajima? HUH? The Red Sox were up 7-2 at this point.

Francona's always been hesistant to bring in Okajima again after he pitches in one inning. So I'm thinking, "All right, he'll warm up Gagné or Buchholz or Manny Delcarmen" or basically do ANYTHING except bring Oki back. OH well, out comes Oki for the top of the eighth. His first two batters crush the baseball. 7-4 game. Time to get Oki out with the guys who were warming during the bottom of the seventh, oh wait .... nobody was. So we're stuck with Okajima and he promptly walks Cabrera and gives up a double to Damon. Jima's hanging his shit up in the zone and that doesn't even warrant a mound visit?

WAKE UP, TERRY. Instead of having somebody warming, now he's rushing Papelbon to come in. He obviously wasn't ready to pitch and it showed. You saw what happened.

This is just about the hundredth time this season that Francona has SO poorly managed the bullpen that even the casual fan can see it.

On top of the pitching, WHY THE FUCK is Crisp pinch-running in the eighth? Yes, he's the second-best base stealer on the team. But he's also got a bad hip that kept him out of the starting lineup. I can imagine running on a bad hip is probably not the easiest thing in the world ... caught stealing to end the eighth. Fucking perfect. It also removed Mike Lowell's bat from the game. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things, but had that game gone extra innings and Royce fucking Clayton comes up for Lowell, I'm going to start hurling things at my television.

The ninth leaves you with the black hole of the lineup to try to hit Rivera. Drew reached on a gift from Cano ... and that was all the offense we mustered against the once-beatable, now completely dominant Rivera.

Cool, Terry. The lead is still 4.5 but it feels like it's about -2 right now. I see no way this team holds on to the division lead. Come back here in two weeks and tell me I'm wrong, I don't care. But this is not a team that is playing or being managed as a division winner.

Pats' punishment

2007-09-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is good material for an off-day.

First, Roger Goodell: Go crawl away back to your hole and die. The first-round pick is certainly much higher that I predicted in the previous entry. But you know what? I think I can move on from losing the 32nd pick in the Draft.

That's right, Joey Porters, Carson Palmers, Hines Wards, etcs. of the world. Keep running your fucking mouths. Keep giving us bulletin board material. Keep saying that illegal taping, which Belichik admitted in his released statement was NEVER used during games, contributed to the Super Bowl reign. Because it only fuels this incredibly talented team's fire. They WILL be Super Bowl Champions in February, and they will be losing the very last pick in the first round, which I think we can all move on from.

Also, mark your calendar for December 16, because that's when those cry-baby Jets come to Foxborro. It's going to be an ass-whooping of epic proportions. I hope it is on national television so EVERYONE can see that the New England Patriots do not need spy material to put Mangini in his place.

So Mr. Goodell, at least try to smile when you're handing the Patriots the Lombardi Trophy in February. Bill Belichick may be $500,000 poorer, but he will have the last laugh.

huge series coming up

2007-09-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's September 13 and we're still only five games up in the division. It seems like we should have clinched this thing forever ago, but with the Yankees winners of seven straight, the magic number hasn't been dwindeling very rapidly.

Still -- two solid wins over Tampa Bay in the last two days. Ortiz gave the Red Sox only their third ninth-inning walk-off this season with a dinger that hit off a chick's shirt in the front row of the right-field stands. FWIW, Delmon Young should have caught the ball, but he took a Gavin Dickey-esque circuitous route and never planted himself in front of the wall to make the catch. Ortiz's two home runs accounted for every run tonight. Sox fans have to feel good that Papi appears to be hitting some kind of stride heading into mid-September. Not that he hasn't hit well all year (.320/.434/.589), but the clutch hits have eluded him.

Last night, Boston went from seven runs down to seven runs up. It was pretty remarkable, although it was against the Tampa Bay bullpen, so ... yeah. Drew was 3-for-4 with a home run. I was listening on the radio, but I think my dad said it was his first home run at Fenway since April. Could we possibly be seeing Drew come out of his season-long power funk? That might be just what the doctor ordered (pardon the horrible cliché) with Wakefield and Matsuzaka seemingly hitting brick walls.

Friday begins the big series with the Yankees at Fenway. We're off tomorrow and the Yankees play Toronto, so assuming they win that game and we're swept over the weekend, the worst we can be is up 1.5 with 12 games remaining. Not that I think we'll be swept or anything, but I'd like to sew up this division as fast as possible to set the rotation for the playoffs and have first dibs on Division Series A (the one with the extra day of rest).

By the way, I know it's no one particular person's fault, but I'm not happy at all with the Patriots-Chargers game perfectly lining up with the Sox-Yankees game on Sunday night. My remote control skills, along with my sanity will be tested. Three hours of Joe Morgan is three hours too much.

Speaking of the Pats, my prediction for their penalty: $500,000 and a fourth-rounder. You gotta factor in Bob Kraft's enormous weight in the NFL and figure Goodell will go relatively easy on them. I'd be shocked if the draft pick we lose is any higher than Round Four.

Buchholz no-hits Orioles

2007-09-02T00:12:00.001-07:00

I rarely update this blog anymore, but tonight's monumental feat by rookie Clay Buchholz deserves a post.

Today was a fantastic sports day, period. My beloved Florida Gators opened their season with a lightning-shortened romp over Western Kentucky. My personal story with Buchholz starts with this game, because I was out drinking Friday night, got about three hours of sleep, and woke up to begin tailgating around 8 a.m. Needless to say, after three hours in the hot Florida sun watching what can hardly be called a game, I was dead tired. I took a nap when I got home, and ended up sleeping through Buchholz's first two innings of work. I woke up around 7:45, walked out to the living room and jokingly asked my dad if Clay still had his no-hitter going. He threw a pillow at me and told me not to jinx it.

Seven innings later and Clay had completed the first Red Sox no-hitter since Derek Lowe in 2002, and the first one I have personally watched. For Nomo's and Lowe's, I remember being relegated to internet audio. That was back before we invested in mlb.tv. I remember how crushed I was when John Flaherty broke up Pedro's no-hitter at Tampa Bay (the infamous Gerald Williams brawl game). And of course, I was listening to Schilling's bid for a perfect game this summer on the radio while at work. So this no-hitter was really special for me in that it's the first Red Sox no-no I've seen live.

Really, the kid is unbelievable. It took 115 pitches, and Theo Epstein admitted after the game that if he'd gotten to 120, he would have been removed. His next-longest outing this year was 94 pitches in the minors. He really had the curve and change working, keeping Orioles hitters off-balance and outright baffling them at times. Varitek's pitch calling has been criticized this year, but Tek deserves a lot of credit for Buchholz's peformance. I don't think Clay shook him off one time; the rookie had to rely on Varitek's veteran expertise.

It's been said a lot, but Pedroia's diving stop to rob Miguel Tejada was absolutely the play of the game. As Miggui was hitting, I turned to my dad and said, "You just know that little whining bitch is going to break this up." He tried, but Little Dustin's dive and rocket across the infield sealed the no-hitter in my mind. After he made that play, I knew Clay was going to finish the job. I particularly enjoyed his "FUCK YEAH" scream after he made the play. You could tell how fired up all of the players, both on the field and in the dugout, were to take part in this game.

It's also worth noting that the Red Sox were really reeling coming into tonight's game. They were swept by New York in the Bronx in a series that, had the Red Sox even showed up for, could have effectively eliminated the Yankees in the divisional race. The Sox were throwing their three best starters, and all three took losses ... mostly due to the offense's complete inability to generate runs. They scored six runs in three games after scoring FORTY-SIX in a weekend series at Chicago. Then the O's came in losers of nine straight games and Boston went and dropped Friday's night's contest with them. Wakefield had to be scratched from his start, pushing Tavarez up to pitching Friday. That was what opened the door to Buchholz's start tonight, so I guess we can thank Wakefield for the no-hitter.

It was a pretty special night to be a Sox fan tonight. The only thing that slightly soured the night was having to cheer up a certain Michigan fan who is now on suicide watch for the next few days. We're five games up of New York with 26 games remaining. The divisional title is well in sight.

Once again, congrats to Clay. What a fantastic pitching performance. This kid's future is so incredibly bright, and I'm just ecstatic he's in our organization.

Papelbon and Okajima

2007-08-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Other than the fact that I turned my video camera sideways on accident -- pretty cool stuff.

Fun with numbers

2007-08-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox are currently 78-51, 6 games ahead of New York (pending the outcome of the Detroit-Yankees game, which didn't start until about 11 p.m. EST tonight). The magic number to clinch the division stands at 29.

There's a good chance these numbers might be a bit off, because I just fumbled through the box scores quickly while waiting for the Yankees game to start.

But I find it pretty alarming that the Red Sox have only scored 36 ninth-inning runs all season. Contrast that with 106 eighth-inning runs. The ninth inning is by far the Sox's least productive inning. Of course, you have to factor in the fact that they don't bat in the ninth inning for home wins, but the Sox also only have two wins when trailing after eight this season (the "Mothers Day Miracle and the Tampa Bay game in August at Fenway). The next least-productive inning is the second, where they Sox have plated 58 runs this season. And in case you were curious, runs scored in the third through seventh innings is fairly evenly distributed -- at 78, 80, 76, 69 and 67, respectively.

When examining close-and-late batting averages of the Sox regulars (e.g. I'm throwing out people like Brandon Moss), only three are hitting above .300 -- Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew. A plethora of Sox hitters are around the .270 mark in close-and-late situations -- not terrible. But Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis are hitting .186/.304/.356 and .164/.299/.255 respectively, which is pretty piss-poor.

What does this boil down to? Well, the 2007 Red Sox certainly lack the late-inning dramatics of the 2003-2006 teams. But they're winning in conventional ways, which is fine by me. They're fourth in the league in OPS (.800 even) and second in OBP (the stat that just completes my life), although NYY has the edge over Boston in both of those categories. They aren't hitting home runs like the Red Sox teams of the past (17th in the league), but that's okay with me when they're the second best pitching team in the league by ERA, only behind Oakland. Their starters have the best WHIP in the American League, at 1.29. The Sox also boast the best bullpen in the majors (2.97 ERA). To show you how dominant that bullpen has been, of legitimate American League playoff contenders, the next-best bullpen ERA is Seattle's at a 3.70 ERA.

On a complete side note, I used to think that Joe Morgan was the most vile, annoying, intolerable sportscaster in the business. After listening to Hawk Harrelson for two games, he's taken over as the worst. If I have to hear one more "He gone" or "STAY FAIR FOR PAULIE!" or "You can put it on the boooaaard, YES!" or "1-0 Good Guys" ... you get the idea ... I will shoot him. He and DJ answered a viewer e-mail during Game 1 of today's doubleheader about sports broadcasters that they both like. I was shocked to hear that Harrelson grew up admiring the likes of Vin Scully and Chick Hearn. He sure didn't learn anything from these two legends. He then said, "There are some great broadcasters out there, and some I really don't like." Hello Kettle, this is Hawk. You're black.

Sox-Rays series

2007-08-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

Kyle Snyder -- very nice guy.

Hideki Okajima signed this after I nearly killed him. I kid you not.

DC Sox Fans?

2007-05-24T15:59:00.001-07:00

I decided my life was way too busy to bitch and moan about the Red Sox. Oh, that and the simple fact that they're 31-15, 9.5 games up on the Yankees and holders of the best record in baseball. Not too much to complain about.

However, I've relocated to Washington DC for the entire summer ... at least until I'll be in Massachusetts in early August. The internet is a pretty vast place, so I'm hoping some Red Sox fans in the DC area happen upon this post. Does anybody know of an Irish (RE: Boston) bar, or even a bar that has MLB Extra Innings? I'm in Northern Virginia (Alexandria, to be exact) and looking for a way to watch the Sox and have a beer at 7:05 every night.

If you want a Sox fan in your life for the next two months, get at me. This sounds like a personal ad or something. I promise, I just want to watch baseball in DC ... and not Nationals baseball. Real American League baseball.

kleej11@ufl.edu

Wow, long time, no update.

2007-04-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

I used to update this blog a lot during the '06 season for class. I haven't since the last day of that horrific season. But my friend reminded me the other night that this thing still exists, so I might as well update it.

With apologies to Don Orsillo, I'm back and I'm back BIG.

It's really over.

2006-10-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. Today, October 2, a Sunday of rain and broken branches and leaf-clogged drains and slick streets, it stopped, and summer was gone."

-A. Bartlett Giamatti
"The Green Fields of the Mind"

The fact that our season ended on a rain-shortened game just makes Giamatti's writing even more painful.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

-Rogers Hornsby

Go Tigers!

The Boston Globe = a disgrace

2006-09-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

As a journalism student and sports copy editor, I appreciate accuracy. Reading The Gainesville Sun's sports section daily really makes me appreciate a good sports section (because it's so consistantly bad). Today the Boston Globe Sports section has reached an all-time low.

Today Nick Cafardo wrote an article on the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. I'm terrible with the whole linking thing in blogs, and it doesn't really matter because his egregious errors have been corrected in the online version anyway. But check this out. I kid you not, this passage appeared in the Globe IN PRINT and ONLINE today:

"The '03 draft produced Rocco Baldelli, Mark Teixeira, Jose Reyes, Joe Mauer, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, Travis Haffner, Hanley Ramirez, Rich Harden, Lastings Milledge, Brandon Wood, Nick Markakis, Chad Cordero, and Rickey Weeks."

Oh boy, where do we start?

Of these 15 players, only FIVE were actually picked in the 2003 MLB draft. Five. Talk about bad proof-reading. How is it possible that a sportswriter could be hired at the prestigious Boston Globe and still have a job after printing this? That's 10 fact errors, if you're keeping score at home.

It gets worse. ANY real fan of baseball knows that international players are not elligible to be drafted. How then, do we explain Hanley Ramirez, who was signed as an international free agent out of the D.R., being drafted in 2003? How dumb are the Red Sox for passing on Venezuelan stud Johan Santana and drafting outfielder David Murphy instead, you might ask. Wait, what's that? Johan Santana was actually signed in 1995, roughly eight years earlier than 2003? How could a baseball beat writer not know that? Johan Santana WON the 2004 Cy Young award and was a serious contender in 2003, yet Cafardo seems to think that was the year he was drafted. (Let's not even mention that once again, international players cannot be taken in the MLB draft, which would exclude Reyes and Cabrera too).

Rich Harden PITCHED in the 2003 American League Division Series, yet somehow that was the year he was drafted? In all actuality, only Lastings Milledge, Brandon Wood, Nick Markakis, Chad Cordero and Rickie Weeks were actually drafted that year.

Another interesting tidbit: Both Travis Hafner and Rickie Weeks' names are spelled wrong. I mean, as if the fact that 10 players listed weren't drafted in 2003 weren't enough. My editing lab instructor said today in class that most writers would be fired if they spelled three names wrong in the span of a month. Cafardo should lose his job over this article, which essentially has 12 fact errors in just one paragraph.

One last note: An omission that really makes this article laughable is that he didn't even mention the most important 2003 draft pick: the one and only Jonathan Papelbon. Granted he was a fourth-rounder, but if you're going to make up that 10 All-Star caliber players were drafted in '03, at least include the Red Sox All Star who actually WAS.

This is my latest rant on how stupid the Globe is. I'll get to my "Why Dan Shaughnessy should be burned at the stake" rant some other day.

When it rains, it pours...

2006-09-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."

-William Shakespeare

I think Billy Shakespeare was channeling the 2005 Red Sox when he wrote that line in the early 17th century.

Papelbon felt a stinging sensation in his right shoulder and was removed from work in the ninth inning today (a game the Sox actually won 2-1). This is ridiculous. Has any team EVER experienced this many injuries to their 40-man roster in one season?

On NESN he just called it fatigue-related and that the best case scenario was he'd be back in a couple of days. But Lester thought he'd be checking out of Mass General after a car accident with some minor bumps and bruises, and instead he got a cancer diagnosis. Papelbon, our resident Oncologist, also said in the press conference that Jon Lester would be back to play for us by spring training next year. And you thought Southeastern Conference athletes never went to class...

This team makes me cynical. You'll have to forgive me.

Just did some research... Alex Cora, who can also pitch by the way, is the ONLY player on the 25-man roster who hasn't spent time nursing injuries. Look at this:

David Ortiz - Irregular heartbeat
Manny Ramirez - Knees
Willy Mo Pena - Wrist
Trot Nixon - Forearm
Kapler - out for most of this season with achilles issues
Coco Crisp - broken finger
Youkilis - sat out a few games with elbow problems after HBP
Lowell - can't stop fouling the ball off his foot, out a few games for that
Loretta - Back
Gonzo - Knees
Varitek - Knee
Dougie M - Back

Pitchers:

Wakefield - rib cage/back
Schilling - strained lat (he's missing his next start)
Lester - cancer
Papelbon - Shoulder
Beckett - finger cut issues, only guy to not miss a start yet, but had to have a few pushed back
Clement - worthless piece of shit with everything wrong with him, including his vagina
Delcarmen - shoulder
Dinardo - 60 day DL
Timlin- Shoulder
Foulke - Knees/Back

Is this payback to the baseball Gods for what they let us accomplish in 2004? Can this really be happening? Currently we are down Nixon, Manny, Tek, Clement, Wily Mo, AGon, Ortiz, Wakefield, Lester, Schilling and Papelbon. Kevin FUCKING Jarvis is going to start tomorrow! Our rotation is currently made up of JULIAN TAVAREZ, Kyle Snyder, Kevin Jarvis, Josh Beckett and Lenny Dinardo. Alex Cora may soon have to join this rotation.

It's just a flesh wound...

Get well soon, Jon

2006-09-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Just got a Boston Globe breaking news alert that Jon Lester has been "diagnosed with a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma and will begin treatment within the coming week."

This has got to be the pinnacle of the ugly, black cloud that has descended upon this organization in the past month or so. One of our own players with cancer?! Albeit a very treatable form of cancer, and an incredibly early discovery of the lymphoma that will make his prognosis favorable. But still... can you imagine if Jon Lester hadn't been in that car accident that subsequently led to this diagnosis? He could have played on for months (years?) without knowing.

Cheers to blessings in disguise.

Mr. Lester, you have the support of an entire NATION (that's Red Sox Nation) behind you. Godspeed, amigo.

the ship is sinking

2006-08-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Blame who you want-- untimely injuries, bad management (Tito, Nipper, Wallace), Theo's terrible front-office moves-- this team is done. Stick a fork in them. I'm excited for the future of the Red Sox though. And I've come to the realization that the out-of-this-world way that the Sox were playing in April was just a fluke. This utter failure for anyone on the team to string together clutch hits or pitch scoreless innings is amazing. It reminds me a lot of August-September 2001.

Oh well, it couldn't have happened at a better time. The Gators kick off their season in four days. So give a cheer for the Orange and Blue...

Simmons sums up my feelings about the Sox right now

2006-08-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

Sports Guy just wrote a column about who are "for real" and who aren't in the race to the American League pennant and World Series championship. At first I was afraid his Boston bias would blind him into believing that this year's Red Sox team are actually going to do something in the postseason (that is, if they get there).

Instead, he has summed up everything I feel about the team right now. Every frustrating detail. From their inability to keep the '04 team together to Terry Francona's mind-numbing stupidity, to the Jekyl-Hyde bullpen... the list goes on. What he doesn't mention is that this is a team built for the future. And while I've probably given up on any run in 2006, I think the Red Sox are headed in the right direction. (Except for maybe the Beckett extension, wtf were they thinking there?)

Simmons says:

THE THREATENING NON-THREAT

4. Boston
Here's what I like: Big Papi, Manny, Schilling, Papelbon, Youkilis, Lowell and Gonzalez on the left side of the infield; Jon Lester's potential; Wily Mo in any game where the Red Sox are leading or trailing by four runs or more.

Here's what I don't like: Everything else.

Bottom line: They overachieved in the first half because of Papelbon (who was simply out of his mind) and Big Papi (who probably swung 6-7 games in Boston's favor it had no business winning). Now the Sox are underacheiving. It's probably a 92-win team at best. And I could spend the next 3,000 words ranting and raving about the unacceptable performance of the Henry/Theo regime since they won the World Series -- the catastrophic Renteria/Clement signings; lowballing Pedro/Damon, then half-heartedly renewing talks at the last second; overvaluing Beckett (a genuine disappointment) and Crisp (a colossal disappointment); undervaluing their own prospects (Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez) in the Beckett trade; freezing at this year's trading deadline; dealing Arroyo without knowing about the health of Wells and Foulke; allowing 40-year-old Mike Timlin to pitch in the WBC (he's a walking corpse now); letting Roberts and Cabrera go; handing Beckett that unconscionable $30 million extension (I yelped out loud when I saw the headline); and we haven't even mentioned last winter's soap opera with Theo yet -- but I don't want to ruin my chances of getting a key to the office next season. So let's just say that everyone did a swell job and I fully support every moronic decision that was made. Now where's my key?

(Note: Not to keep bringing up my keeper league, because I wouldn't want you to think that I'm obsessed with it, even though I probably am … but Hench and I had Timlin, Delcarmen AND Hansen on our keeper team this season, and we traded all of them in separate moves last month. Why? BECAUSE WE WATCH BASEBALL! BECAUSE ALL OF THEM SUCK! THAT'S WHY! Really, we're going to war with a one-man bullpen for the next 10 weeks? That's the plan? Good God, I can't wait to have Belichick and Brady back in my life. I want everything to make sense again.)

I could not agree more. Is it football season yet?

Unbelievable.

2006-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Papelbon just blew another save against a last-place team. I will now build something very tall and jump off of it. This is September 2001 all over again.

Just saw the worst loss of the season.

2006-08-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Julian Tavarez continues to ruin my life. What I also can't believe is that TERRY FRANCONA CONTINUES TO PITCH HIM IN CLOSE GAMES! This shit is unbelievable. At least we got a foul ball at the Devil Rays game, and I beat a bunch of kids in some lame baseball trivia game, only to be given a free Wade Boggs DVD for my efforts.

As of right now, we're down 5-3 to the Royals. They have the bases loaded on two straight errors from Lowell and Mr. Suddenly Worthless, Craig Hansen. Kansas City hasn't won a game in a week and we can't even beat them.

The Javy Lopez trade was asinine. The injuries are killing this team.

And this is rock bottom. The Boston Red Sox will NOT make the playoffs this year.

Another thing that really irks me lately is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. It makes me so angry that they are so anti-Red Sox. They post shit on their big jumbo screens like, "Make noise, don't let the Red Sox take our house." Their idiotic mascot Raymond messes with our bullpen, and takes Red Sox hats off fans and throws them on the ground. If he sees a guy with a Yankee hat he'll take it off and taunt the Red Sox fans. The D-Rays fans are really hostile when we come in and take over their stadium. One even got up in George's face yesterday after the walk-off loss, saying how the "RED SOX SUCK." Last time I checked, they are a last-place organization. They are 28th in the major leagues in attendance, and if Red Sox fans stopped going to Tropicana, they'd be dead last. On top of that, the Rays got mad because they think we tampered with the Julio Lugo trade talks, so they blocked the Adam Stern waiver trade to the Orioles.

I vow to never return to that shit hole of a stadium to see that terrible excuse for a baseball franchise. I think I might write a letter to the Devil Rays on behalf of all Red Sox fans and tell them what a bunch of asshats they are.

Tough loss tonight

2006-07-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Sox dropped to only a half game up on NYY with an 8-3 loss to the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Not only did Jon Lester pick up his first loss of the year, but we had to sit through a two-hour rain delay to watch it happen. Wouldn't be Friday night at the Fens without rain though, would it?

I know that the Angels are a very good team, and I'm probably overreacting, but I really can't see this team making the playoffs with the rotation they have right now. Schilling is our only ace. Yes, Beckett has just as many wins as Schill, but I just don't have that overwhelming confidence in Josh that I have when Curt takes the mound. Lester's just a kid. He's not a legit no. 3 starter yet. Unless Wakefield and/or Wells come back with some serious authority, this team will miss the playoffs.

I'm also not opposed to trading away some of the blue chip guys for Dontrelle Willis. How about Hansen + Ellsbury and a scrub for the D-Train? I'm not sure the Fish would take that bait though. I've heard Zito's name thrown around. I Don't like that idea at all.

The Sox apparently offered Coco (who is looking more and more worthless every day) to the ChiSox for pitching, but were turned down. Speculation is the pitcher was Brandon McCarthy, who was supposed to have been involved in that Soriano deal that never got done (yet).

Buster Olney has been the go-to guy at ESPN for trade rumors. It's times like these when I really miss Peter Gammons. I feel like you have to take everything those idiots at ESPN say with a grain of salt, Gammons being the only exception. If you're out there, Gammo, get well soon.

Back from my vacations

2006-07-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Your favorite Red Sox fan has returned from a two-week vacation in Italy, followed by a two-week vacation in Boston. I went to a couple of games at Fenway. Fenway's pretty much... Fenway. Shitty bathrooms, the most uncomfortable seats you ever sat in in your life-- none of which actually face home plate-- but if you can get around the inconveniences of a 94-year-old landmark, it's pretty much heaven on Earth.

The World Cup has come and gone. If it weren't for baseball I might just crawl up in a cave and hibernate until 2010. I'm pretty bummed that I couldn't be in Italy when the Azzurri won their first World Cup title in 24 years. But I did the next best thing: I partied it up with all of the Italian-Americans in Boston's North End. It was pure insanity. I got caught up in the Italian fandom while I was exploring Tuscany. I was, of course, cheering for my adopted patria, España, but then the fucking French knocked them out, so Italy seemed like the next best option. I was being very anti-French up until the final. At my grandmother's house we had a few French guys over to watch the World Cup final. My dad had to give them a ride to Connecticut directly after the game, so their only other option was watch it in City Hall Plaza with 100 million Italians. They opted for my grandma's cozy house in Beverly. I was cheering for Italy pretty much the entire game, and the Zidane headbutt pushed my Italian support over the edge. Maybe I'll write an entry on that incident later, maybe not. The bottom line is Zizou's actions were completely out of line, regardless if Marco Materazzi (I've been driving for 12 hours, not looking up if that's spelled right) called Zidane a dirty terrorist or insulted his sick mother or what not. Zidane's actions may very well have cost France a World Cup title. He likely would have been taking a PK, and maybe things would have been different. There is no way to tell. It's sort of like why I think NESN airing that "What if" special on the 2003 ALCS was completely pointless. It's stupid to look back and wonder what "might" have happened had so-and-so action not occured. It did. And Italy are the World Cup champions.

The French people we watched the game with were in tears after the game. My dad said they didn't say a word the entire drive from Beverly to CT. That's real fandom. Sometimes I wish I were a European soccer fan... a real fan. You just get caught up in their singing and cheering and jeering. I mean, Fenway Park can sing "Sweet Caroline" in unison, but I'll bet if we attempted to do what Liverpool fans do-- have an entire stadium belt the lyrics to "You'll Never Walk Alone"-- we'd be done after the first line. I boast about being a Sox fan. I am proud of being a member of what I believe to be the greatest fan base in American sports. I don't know another group of fans that have been through what Sox fans have, and still continuously sell-out the stadium. But we don't hold a candle to soccer fans.

I like how Bill Simmons has decided to adopt an EPL club to support. I think it's interesting, and it will make for some great columns in the future when he stars to feel the team out a little bit. I wanted him to pick Liverpool because of all the obvious Red Sox connections that I'm not going to discuss because you probably already know them or you can read his column. I still stick to my belief that you can't just "pick" a sports team though. You have to be born into it. If your father wasn't a fan of the team that you support, then you're a bandwagoner, plain and simple. And he's going to be a bandwagon Spurs fan. Whatever... that's his perogative. It's just nice to see Americans starting to recognize the beautiful game.

This entry was all over the place. You'll get some Red Sox thoughts when I have time later.

Oh Atlanta...

2006-06-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

After a miserable Twins series where my Sox were swept, we're moving on for the second installment of Interleague Play. To Atlanta, we go! I despise the Braves and Braves fans, so I'm hoping for a series sweep to make up for how pathetic we played in the Metrodome. Plus Josh really aggravates me with his anti-Boston fan stuff so beating the Braves would be extra sweet.

I am leaving for Italy early tomorrow morning, so you definitely won't see any updates until I get back. Actually being in the same time zone as the World Cup will be a welcome change. Although following this year's Cup hasn't been as tortorous as 2002 (4 a.m. stars anyone?!), I still don't enjoy the morning games. I had to wake up at 8 a.m. to watch my beloved Spaniards kick the crap out of Ukraine, 4-0. That was the biggest blowout of the cup thus far until Argentina ripped Serbia & Montenegro a new one this morning (6-0). I think the Argentines have to be the new favorites in this tournament, especially considering the fact that I wasn't impressed with Brazil at all in their opening game. Germany, the hosts, looked dead against Poland until they scored the winning goal in Injury Time. I fully expect the Americans to lose tomorrow versus Italy. I kind of hope they do, just because if the USA managed to win, I'd have to deal with a lot of pissed off Italians when I land in Milan on Sunday.

I'll update when I get back from my little hop across the pond.

fucking julian tavarez

2006-06-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

I just wasted 3.5 hours of my life watching 12 innings of perfectly pitched baseball, only to see Julian Tavarez give up a walk-off grand slam to the Twins.

I swear on my life, if I ever run into Julian Tavarez, I will kill him. I will do it with no hesitation. Then I will go to Terry Francona's house and kill him for continuing to pitch the most incompetent reliever in the history of Boston baseball. I hate Julian Tavarez. I'd like to take his head to a taxidermist, have it stuffed and give it to his wife as a present on Valentines Day.

Who am I kidding? A man that ugly couldn't possibly have a wife. Hopefully his mom is still alive to read about the death of her son at the hands of a Nation of Red Sox fans. If I don't do it first, someone else will.

I hate you, Julian Tavarez. Die! Actually before we kill you, you should go punch a wall and break your hand (again). Then die!

P.S. Thanks for the Mark Bellhorn home run in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series.

Big Ben/RIP USA Soccer

2006-06-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

By now I'm sure everyone who reads this blog has had the chance to read about the utter stupidity of Ben Roethlisberger. Sure makes Terry Bradshaw's rant about fools who ride bikes without helmets look awfully smart. Riding a motorcycle period, let alone without a helmet, is like playing Russian Roulette. Big Ben found the bullet today.

I have no sympathy for him whatsoever. This may be partly because I hate Steelers fans and generally find them to be the most obnoxious group of sports fans this side of New York City. Maybe I'm completely unsympathetic because I'm a Patriots fan and Tom Brady would never do something that stupid. Or maybe I just like to see stubborn, moronic athletes get what they deserve. (Hey, it's my blog, I reserve that right.) Did he not learn a thing after Kellen Winslow's accident a little over a year ago?

Judging by the initial reports, Big Ben has "severe knee injuries" that could put his NFL career in serious question. Then again some Pitt. stations are reporting it's just severe road rash, so who really knows? Why the Steelers didn't put a clause in his contract to prohibit this reckless behavior is beyond me. He has publically admitted that he rides without a helmet. Jason "Jay" Williams and Winslow Jr. are proof that mixing sports with motorcycles can produce nothing good.

Ok, and as a diehard Pats fan I have to throw this in. The fact that a car with Maine plates hit Roethlisberger is beyond funny.

__________

In other news, the US's World Cup run ended today with a humilating 3-0 loss to the Czechs. Yes, I know they're not mathematically eliminated with only one loss. But the team I watched get embarrassed today doesn't look like they are up for the challenging uphill battle that would be surviving Group E.

World Cup

2006-06-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting four years for today. Finally the World Cup has started. Don't expect many baseball updates for a little while. I will be totally engrossed in la joga bonita for the next month.

I may update a little about the Cup every now and again though. As most of my readers are American, I wouldn't expect you to understand :-D

We meet again

2006-06-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

After a fun series win over the Detroit Tigers (who are essentially last year's Baltimore Orioles), we now set our sights on the 843rd series this year with the YAAAnkees. Obviously that was an exaggeration, but I feel like these teams are playing way too much. Thankfully we won't meet again until August when it will be much clearer who is for real and who isn't in the division race.

With all of the injuries that the Yankees are experiencing, I will accept nothing less than a series win. I want three games. Four would be ideal. Two would be disappointing.

Kill the Yankees!

Bullpen=Disaster

2006-05-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today is May 30. It is National Start Freaking Out That We Have No Bullpen Besides Jonathan Papelbon Day.

The bullpen spoiled Jason Varitek's first clutch hit since sometime last season. He hit a three-run home run to tie the game when we were down 6-3. Turns out bringing in David Riske in the bottom of the eighth was, well, risky. Old Friend Shea got the winning hit off him, and we managed nothing off BJ Ryan in the top of the ninth. Figures.

I blame Terry Fran-coma for this lost. Should have brought in Foulke. Paging Mike Timlin. Where art thou, Mike Timlin?

I f-ing hate the Blue Jays.

In other news, Matt Clement still sucks.

Thanks, Willie. And thank you, Devil Rays.

2006-05-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

I do enjoy playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. With the Yankees playing the very sweepable KC Royals and a trip to Toronto looming, we were able to sweep the Rays and maintain our first-place standing. Sunday's game was one of those Oh-shit-I-think-I'm-having-a-heart-attack-and-it's-only-May games. In 16 or so years of cognizant baseball watching, I'm not sure I've ever seen a team so adament on blowing a game in the ninth inning as I witnessed today.

Thankfully we were playing the Devil Rays and Tom Foley did his best Dale Sveum impersonation, sending Joey Gathright around third on a Carl Crawford single. Willie Harris, filling in for Manny, threw him out at the plate by several feet. With Paps being totally overworked lately, we had to rely on Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez to get the job done today. You would think a five-run lead against the Devil Rays would be safe, but nooo, not with our bullpen.

For eight innings, Tim Wakefield pitched shutout baseball. He really owned the Devil Rays. Made those idiots at ESPN look stupid for moving us three spots down in their power rankings and saying that "Tim Wakefield's days as a dominant starter are over." I was all for leaving Timmy in for the ninth. He was at 110 pitches or so, but Wake can throw until his arm falls off.

Rudy Seanez entered the game having thrown well in May. He has something like a 1.50 ERA this month, so he has really rebounded well from his shakey month of April. Just as I'm telling my dad that I'm gaining more confidence in Rudy as a set-up man and not to freak out about Timlin going on the DL yet, Seanez walks Johnny Gomes, gets two outs, allowing both batters to go to 3-2 counts, then walks Travis Lee and Josh Paul. Bases loaded, no runs in yet, two outs. Enter Julian Tavarez. At this point the entire crowd is chanting PAPEL-BON, PAPEL-BON. Tavarez struck out Greg Norton, but Mirabelli got lacadaisical and the runner reached on a third-strike passed ball. First run in. It's now 5-1. No problem... just one more out. Only Tavarez then walks Joey Gathright. One more run in. Score's 5-2. That's okay-- one more out, but the top of the order is up now and I'm starting to sweat. Julio Lugo walks. Shit. Score's 5-3 and now the hottest hitter in the American League, Carl Crawford is up. Still no sign of Papelbon. Apparently Francona was waiting for the 10th inning or something. Crawford predictably singles, but the potential tying run in Gathright is erased on Harris' outfield assist.

Willie Harris threw the only strike of the entire inning. And yesterday I was going to write an entry explaining how he was Cesar Crespo Version 2. Oh well, you earned one more day on the roster, Willie. Thanks for that.

Only the Tampa Bay Devil Rays could lose a game like that. Might I add that all of their runs in the top of the ninth came on NO hits until Crawford's hit that ended the game. NO HITS. I officially have no faith in this bullpen again. Although I probably should give Tavarez some credit because he did strike out Norton. It was Mirabelli's fault the guy reached base. Tek woulda had it.

Coco's back too... a day early. Gotta say I'm gonna miss Kevin Youkilis hitting leadoff.

On to Toronto, where the Jays saved Roy Halladay just for us. Aww, isn't that sweet of them. We really struggle with the Jays. Hopefully NYY will do the same at Detroit.

Barry hit No. 715 today, and ESPN interrupted exciting Super Regional coverage of Michigan-Tennessee softball. I'm not being sarcastic. Michigan had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, down a run. We missed the end thanks to fucking ESPN showing us every home run from No. 1 to No. 715. Okay, not really EVERY home run, but the coverage was really, really unnecessary. Fuck Barry Bonds. I hope he gets run over by a bus.

Congrats to Curt

2006-05-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Schilling picked up win No. 200 in his career tonight against the lowly Devil Rays. He had his wife and kids in attendance, and coincidently it was his son Gehrig's birthday. The kid was adorable-- holding up a sign that said "GO DAD" all game. Schill even wished him happy birthday on the jumbo screen during the game.

Curt's a class act. Yeah, sometimes he runs his mouth too much. But when all is said and done, you'd be hard-pressed to find a major leaguer who cares more about winning than Curt Schilling. He truly loves the fans of Boston and winning in front of the greatest fans in sports. He learned to love us even more through Sons of Sam Horn, and I truly believe that once Curt retires and Boston fans reflect back on his years with us, we will decide he needs a statue just like Red Auerbach and Ted Williams. Without this man, 2004 doesn't happen. And without 2004, I think I would have killed myself already.

Here's to hopefully another 30 or so wins before Schill hangs it up. I'll be at Cooperstown in about eight years with my 2004 Red Sox World Champions banner cheering him on as he's inducted into the Hall of Fame.

So I know that Schilling is a total internet geek with us, and while the chances of him reading this are pretty damned remote, I'd just like to say thanks for all you did for our franchise, and almost as importantly, thanks for caring so much for the ALS sufferers of the world.

Timmy goes for the sweep tomorrow.

More Wells news

2006-05-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

Deep knee contusion, no initial evidence of a break on Boomer's knee. Looks like this may not be career-ending afterall. With the good start he got off to tonight, we could certainly use him coming back.

The Sox are tacking on lots of runs as I type this. Looks like we should coast to victory and give Kazmir a big L.

Bye bye, Boomer.

2006-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wells just took a linedrive off the knee that has been bothering him practically his whole career, the same knee he had surgery on in the offseason. I don't like to assume the worst without even hearing an injury report, but I gotta think his career is over.

It would be nice if the Red Sox could actually beat Scott Kazmir. I'm getting really, really sick and tired of the Scott Kazmir LoveFest on the DRay's broadcast. NESN is blacked out on MLB EI, so we're stuck with these morons. So far, they have compared Scott Kazmir to Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton and BABE RUTH, and the kid is in his second full major league season. There are no words.

They also had another incredibly intelligent comment when one of the guys says, "You know, without Ty Wigginton, I don't know where this club would be."

My dad (always the comedian) had a classic response: "Well, I think they'd be in last place. Oh wait..."

You gotta find the small things to humor you because my God we're in for a long season.

Oh and the greatest line ever in Sons of Sam Horn Game Thread History goes to "OCD SS"

"The chances of David Wells reaching his incentives are ... remote."

(Think Red Roof Inn commercials on MLB Extra Innings. If you don't subscribe, you're really missing out)

David Ortiz just drove in two runs off Kazmir, after DeMarlo Hale failed to send Wily Mo Peña on a sac fly on the previous pitch. WIN IT FOR BOOMAH!!!! These Devil Rays announcers have really shut up with the Kazmir sploogefest all of a sudden.

F--k you Matt Clement

2006-05-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Matt Clement should be put on the Disabled List until his yeast infection clears up.

That, or shot. I really have no preference.

Kick 'em while they're down.

2006-05-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

The win over the Yankees last night was sweet. Beating the Yankees always feels good. But I'm no moron, and I know the team we hammered last night is not the Yankee team we'll be facing in September and (knock on wood) October.

I was at the Alligator from 7:30 p.m. until well after the game ended, so I only caught bits and pieces in between copy editing various softball/golf/baseball-related stories. I had to fight Josh for control of the AlligatorSports television. Seriously-- Yankees/Red Sox or Spurs/Mavs. Yankees/Sawx wins out any day :)

I honestly didn't know the Yankees even had Terrence Long in their minor league system. Then I hear his name when he was involved in the play when DeMarlo Hale held up Mark Loretta at third when he should have sent them. Was anybody getting Dale Sveum flashbacks?! I know I'm not the only Sox fan who was waving Loretta home and then dying in horror when I saw Hale putting up the Stop Sign. I remember Terrence Long from the 2003 ALDS in Oakland. I distinctly remember Ramon Hernandez dropping a bunt in Game 1, rendering my staying up until 3 a.m. when I had school at 7 a.m. pointless. Remember that series? Then everything came full circle when Derek Lowe struck Long's ass out to end Game 5, setting up the 2003 ALCS with the Yankees.

That was a tangent. Anyway, the point is that the Yankees are playing with scrubs like Terrence Long and Melky Cabrera, who according to resident Yankee expert Erica, once ducked to get out of the way of a fly ball in the outfield in the minors.

As I said, a win is a win though, and Schilling picked up No. 199 in his career last night. He was incredibly dominant, and the only reason that the final score is close is because of Keith Fucking Foulke, who gave up four earned runs on five hits in the top of the ninth. Thank God Willie Harris and Alex Cora knocked in a few insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, or I would have been really sweating bullets. At this point, Josh had changed the channel to the NBA game and I was following the Sox online, so you can imagine my horrow when I'm seeing hit after hit after hit register on my screen.

Remember when George Steinbrenner was paying Ramiro "The Embedded Yankee" Mendoza to suck so badly for the Red Sox? My theory is that they are doing the same to Keith Foulke this season. It's not even safe to use him in mop-up duty anymore. From now on I only want to see Timlin and Papelbon ever in games where the Sox are up by less than 10 runs.

Typical Alex Rodriguez hit a home run when the game was already over. The game was at 9-1 when he hit a two-run home run. The Baseball Tonight crew showed footage of his home run, then proceeded to call A-Rod "very clutch." Luckily one of the other guys (not sure who) added that Manny and Papi hit home runs when the score is 2-1, whereas A-Rod hits them when it's 9-1. Just pointing out who the real MVPs are... don't mind me.

Tonight it's Jaret Wright (1-3, 4.94 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) versus Tim Wakefield (3-5, 4.17 ERA, 1.32 WHIP). Looks like a mismatch on paper especially taking into account Wake's consistent dominance over NYY... but I guess that's why you don't play the games on paper. Looking at Wright's splits, lefties seem to be hitting him a lot better, and Ortiz has a lifetime .385 BA/1.092 OPS in 13 at-bats. Sheffield should play tonight. He hits Wakefield decently. Giambi, who can't seem to figure out the knuckler to save his life, will probably get a day's rest. According to the Post, Joe Torre is also considering sitting Posada for Kelly Stinnett tonight, because Stinnett and Wright have worked well together in the past.

Should be another good game tonight. Go Sox!

Watching the Sox...

2006-05-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm currently watching a nifty pitchers' duel between Josh Beckett and Brett Myers. Both starters look good so far. (knock on wood)

I litteraly just typed that and Chase Utley hit a homer to break the 0-0 tie. I loathe myself.

I haven't caught a lot of Sox games recently because I've been working and trying to spend a lot of time with some good friends who are leaving for the rest of the summer. My dad's been in New Zealand too, and baseball is rather boring to watch by yourself. Especially when my dad and I are a great tag team at moaning and bitching about how much the Red Sox suck together. (Yes, we're in first place, but we're still Red Sox fans).

Aflack trivia: Which 2 Phillies OFers have won Gold Gloves? Bobby Abreu is one. Don't know the other.

In non-baseball news, please keep your thoughts and prayers with the beautiful horse, Barbaro. My guess is they're going to have to put the poor thing to sleep. He's got a nasty break in his hind leg. He came up lame during the first few seconds of the Preakness, ultimately spoiling another Triple Crown chase. ESPN reports that with the kind of fracture that the horse has, a human would have to spend six weeks in bed. Obviously with a horse that is impossible. It would be a shame if he had to be put down.

I think the Triple Crown has got to be the hardest feat in all of sports to accomplish. Forget winning a World Cup, sinking a hole-in-one, or even hitting for the Triple Crown in baseball. In horse racing you have one shot to do it. One. The courses are all completely different. The Preakness is relatively short and built for fast sprinters. In the Belmont, the longest of the races, you have to run 1 1/2 miles. And you have to accomplish the feat in a five-week span. There's a reason that it hasn't happened since 1978. Obviously, it's been a lot longer since someone hit .400 (Williams, 1941), and nobody has accomplished the Triple Crown in baseball since 1967 (Yastrzemski). But can you imagine only having one shot in your entire life to accomplish a sports feat? I guess that's why I think the Horsies Triple Crown is tougher.

Regardless, send positive thoughts to Barbaro.

Garry Maddox was the other Phillies OF to win a Gold Glove. Duh. He won a whole bunch of them in the mid-70s.

The Sox cannot hit Myers. This sucks.

Simmons at it again

2006-05-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

With all of the rain, I feel like I have nothing baseball-related to write about. Keep your thoughts and prayers with the people of New England. They're fighting off a bitch of a monsoon right now. My grandma is in Beverly, where the damage has been pretty bad. She phoned yesterday and said she was okay though.

Simmons' new column was f-ing hysterical. One thing I miss about the North is being able to listen to Mike & the Mad Dog all of the time on the WFAN flagship stations. Anyway, he provides a running commentary of a show... complete with plenty of New Yorker jabs.

Simmons' column mentioned the greatest day in the history of talk radio:

Strange twist with the Dog: He's a diehard Giants fan who usually loves twisting the knife with Yankees fans; his joyous show after Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS should have been immediately sent to the Smithsonian. Meanwhile, Francesa is a huge, huh-yuge Yankees fan. See, this would never work in Boston -- you could never have an anti-Sox guy hosting a drive-time show. He'd end up getting shanked by Murph and Sully one night outside the Cask 'n Flagon after a tough Sox loss. And you think I'm kidding.)

Link to Simmmons' column

That made me want to dig up the transcript to that show. This is long, but well-worth the read.

MIKE FRANCESA: All I want to tell you, for you, for all of Red Sox Nation and for all of you doubters. Someday, some team will come back from 3-zip to win a series in baseball. Not on this day.

JOHN STERLING: Swung on and lined to deep right! It is high! It is far! It is gone! David Ortiz has hit a two-run home run on Brown's first pitch ...

CHRIS RUSSO: The Yankees, from the manager -- and you will agree -- right on down, are incredibly tight!

JS: ... and the Red Sox take a 2-nothing lead!

JOE TORRE: We've always respected their ballclub. We knew they had a ton of ability. Uh, you know, the fact that when they get on a roll, they can do things like they did to us...

JOE CASTIGLIONE: Swing ... and a high drive to deep right! Back toward the corner it goes! ... Sheffield looking up! ... Grand Slam! Johnny Damon! ...

BOB HEUSSLER: This is history. This is collossal collapse potential here on the part of the Yankees. And when they do that parade down the Canyon of Zeroes with the Karate Kid leading the way with his left-handed baton ... (Russo giggles) ... I want to be there to cheer them on. I want to be a part of that.

CR: There you go, Bobby!!!

JC: ... With one swing of the bat has given the Red Sox four more runs! They lead it 6-to-nothing!

CR: If you're going to break a hex, a curse that is almost insurmountable, you need to do something cataclysmic.

CHARLEY STEINER: There's a flyball to right field and Johnny Damon has hit another one! ...

BH: This will be remembered more for ... a first! A baseball first. A team that has won 26 world's championships, 39 pennants, would be remembered for the worst collapse in the history of baseball postseason.

CS: ... Into the upper deck. A two-run home run. It is now 8-1 Red Sox.

TERRY FRANCONA: I think to do what we did you have to have people chip and do some special things. We found a way to win some games while Johnny wasn't swinging the bat. Then, all of a sudden, Johnny gives us huge lifts.

JS: The pitch is hit in the air to deep right. Fair, it's gone. That ball is ... gone! It hit the foul pole. Mark Bellhorn homers off the right field foul pole, and the Red Sox take a 9-3 lead. ...

CR: The Red Sox tonight will dance at Yankee Stadium.

JS: ... All nine Boston runs on home runs.

Alex Rodriguez: I'm embarrassed right now. You know, I think in the long run this is going to make us better. We're going to come back and be a better team because of it.

JC: Swing and a ground ball to second base. Pokey Reese has it. He throws to first and the Red Sox have won the American League pennant! They mob Alan Embree on the mound! The Boston Red Sox have pulled the greatest victory in team history!

ORLANDO CABRERA: This is great. We've got faith from the beginning, when we were down three games, but we've got the heart. The people here played with heart and we knew we could do it.

Yankees home run chimes die a slow death.

Mike and Dog theme song.

CR: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY!!!! Red Sox Nation in the South Bronx! Mark Malusis, Eddie Scasari, the Big Guy's here!

MF: Like I had a choice?

CR: (Laughs). Oh baby! Oh baby! Did you ever think you'd see the day! When Trot Nixon ... it's Wade Boggs in reverse! With the champagne in the bleachers in right! And the New York Yankees, epically, they've been asphyxiated! They have been used up. The Red Sox are going to the World Series!

Good afternoon there Michael.

MF: And how was your night?

CR: (laughs) Mrs. Lincoln.

MF: How was your night?

CR: Oh Boy!

MF: I saw how your night was.

CR: Oh boy. ... Well, you know who I feel good for? And I'll give you credit, because you got him in. He thinks I got him in, you got him in last night. And that's Eddie Coleman.

MF: Yeah, Eddie was ecstatic.

CR: Eddie's been sitting there for 50 years, his father, the whole bit. And he gets that and he wins a championship.

MF: You know, Dog I ... and we've got a lot to do -- and we have plenty of time, plenty of time, to field your phone calls, Red Sox Nation. And, yes, you Met fans who have been looking to take a piece out of me for about 10 years. I'll be here for your pleasure for the next five hours, listening to you. Because they've been calling the newsroom Dog, making sure I'm going to show up today! Yes, I was going to show up. I promised.

CR: Mike's going to be here.

MF: So, Dog, last night ... they way I put it when I was on Imus this morning, the first thought was, here was -- the expectation, we built it up to such a heightened state. It was like going to a heavyweight fight and all of a sudden, you're just in your seat, the defending champion takes a right hand and he's out for the count.

The problem with baseball -- in boxing you get up and leave. In baseball, they drag 'em around the field for about four hours, and that's what happened last night. They dragged the Yankees around the field for four hours. That was a mugging with an audience. That was a disaster.

And I'll tell you what I take, sitting there as a Yankee fan ... and Dog will give you the perspective in Red Sox Nation, which was about four seats away, it started and went for a about a mile ... with each passing home run, with each passing Yankee mistake -- and there were plenty -- with each bad at-bat, with each out that they registered -- and they were counting the outs after the third inning. I heard them ... ching! 17 ... 16 ... 15 ... 9 ... 8 ... counting them down.

CR: Five! When it got to five, getting past five was significant.

MF: The, the ... it seemed to be a very strange phenomenon in the Stadium. The Stadium seemed to change with each out from blue to red. And it seemed like with each out, the Red Sox fan was somehow multiplying before my eyes in the Stadium. Next thing I know, we're in Fenway Park in the eighth inning!

And I stayed to see the celebration. Now, I could only take about four minutes of the Red Sox on the field. That's about all I could take, and the chanting and the people going crazy -- Dog stayed for 45 minutes, he will fill you in on that. I stayed for the last out. I wanted to see it happen. I stayed and watched it. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen.

And let's put it in perspective: No. 1 ... forever the Red Sox will be emblazoned as the comeback kids, because this is the greatest comeback in postseason history. And No. 2 ... the Yankees, who are the storied franchise as we all know, are now at a dark hour, because they just took the worst defeat, not only in my lifetime as a Yankee fan, I think without question the worst defeat in their history.

Because to be the team that has a team come back from 3-0 -- and we know the numbers, we've given them to you time and time again -- and now to be remembered ... because, you see, someone said to me this morning, 'Well, there are World Series losses that are worse.' No, that's not true. Yeah, the 60 Pirates was a bad loss...

CR: That's the second one.

MF: Yeah, the 81 Dodgers was a terrible loss up 2-zip and had Fernando on the ropes in Game 3. Terrible loss. Yeah, Arizona. Folks, I was sitting in the fifth row, Arizona was a tough beat. But World Series losses happen. They happened to Ruth. Didn't happen much to DiMaggio. They happened to Mantle. They happen. But you're still in the World Series. This is one -- and it's forgotten, you lose a World Series, you lose a World Series. You come back and win another World Series.

Now, whenever you see a team go down 3-0 in any sport, they will put up a graphic on television which will say, with a little asterisk, '2004 Red Sox, down 3-0, beat New York Yankees.' This is now part of sports history. And every guy who's got a team down with its back to the wall is going to talk about the Red Sox for the next 30 years.

CR: Absolutely.

MF: So this is a historic collapse, and, on the other side, a historic victory.

CHRIS RUSSO: Well, Mike, a couple of things: I would say the Mazeroski game would be the next closest thing...

MIKE FRANCESSA: I don't remember that.

CR: ... because they were dominating. They were so much better. They should have won that.

MF: They were. Mantle always said his worst defeat, but I don't remember ...

CR: So I would put that one second.

MF: ... I don't remember that one. The ones that came to mind for me were ... 64 did not crush me ...

CR: Not bad, not terrible.

MF: ... OK, 63 was frustrating, but we were overrun by that pitching.

CR: Right, exactly.

MF: The ones that bothered me the most ...

CR: 81.

MF: 81 forever. Because they had Fernando on the ropes in Game 3. They were up two games to zip. They lost the game, the had a 4-nothing, they lost the game 5-4 and they lost the rest of the series. So that was a crusher. And 2001, lead 9th inning, Rivera on the mound, as we know, in Arizona. That was a crushing loss. This. Is. Worse.

CR: Mike, I can't say ... listen, I think it definitely is. I mean, maybe that 95 is a bad one against Seattle, but that was the first year ...

MF: The first year back, I could live with it

CR: You could live with that one. That was a tough 9th-10th inning. But this is as bad as it gets for the Yankees. There was two things about it. First off, the biggest at-bat last night was the Ortiz home run. Not because it was a home run. It's because the Yankee fan could not celebrate the big play at the plate.

MF: I agree.

CR: The next pitch!

MF: I agree totally.

CR: So the Red Sox didn't even get a chance to feel, 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' The next pitch. Out of the ballpark.

MF: And it finished Kevin Brown.

CR: Ah, it killed him.

MF: It finished Kevin Brown, who showed nothing last night.

CR: Terrible. So that's the biggest at-bat, the biggest pitch of the game. And the Red Sox, to me, I know the game was very flat from a Yankee perspective. It didn't have any of that epic conclusion that you wanted to see. But I think the Red Sox had to have a game like that. I think if the Red Sox were in a white-knuckler last night, I'm not too sure if they could have gotten through it. So they needed to have a large working margin and they could even withstand Pedro -- will get to that in a second -- so that's No. 2.

No. 3 ... I think for a Red Sox fan, and I was with them all the last three days, so I'll tell you what they told me: This eliminates Bucky Dent, and this eliminates Aaron Boone. This does not eliminate World Series now.

MF: No, it can't. They still have to go on and win the World Series, otherwise that other curse lives.

CR: This does not eliminate Bill Buckner.

MF: Right.

CR: This does not eliminate Enos Slaughter. This does not eliminate that. But -- it doesn't eliminate Morgan against Burton -- but it does eliminate, if you're a Red Sox fan, it eliminates the Boston Massacre.

MF: Yup.

CR: It elimiates 13 1/2-game lead in July.

MF: Right.

CR: It eliminates Bucky Dent off Mike Torrez.

MR: I agree with that.

CR: It eliminates Gossage and Yaz. And, I'm sorry, I hate to say it to Yankee fans, because this is going to be very painful, if you're a Red Sox fan this has got to eliminate last year's eighth inning.

MF: I don't think there's any question.

CR: There's no other way ... if you're a Yankee fan who wants to put this ... you can't say that now, because they came from 3-0 down. Now if they just won a Game 7, it was tough series and they won a Game 7 10-3 ...

MF: You'd tip your cap and move on.

CR: ... You can get over it. But you blew a 3-zero lead in this series.

MF: And had a 4-3 lead with the best closer in the world on the mound in the ninth inning.

CR: Which brings us to the next point, and I'll throw it out and let Mike comment. The biggest at-bat, to me, in this series. The biggest at-bat ... is not Millar's walk. The biggest -- in the fourth game -- the biggest at-bat is A-Rod.

His strikeout against Timlin in the eighth inning of Game 5 after they got out of the bottom of the seventh on a Manny Ramirez double play, after Cairo hit that double off the left-field wall, it was a pin-drop in Fenway. Jeter lays the bunt down ... if the Yankees get that fifth run, this series is over. If A-Rod does what he's supposed to do, and A-Rod, he's got a lot to answer for ... he hits a sac fly there at 5-2, I think, myself -- Mike might differ -- I think this series is over.

MF: Oh, I totally agree.

CR: So from my standpoint, that, to me, is the biggest at-bat of the series. Mike might tell you the Dave Roberts steal, Mike might tell you Millar's walk, Mueller's hit ... that to me was the biggest at-bat of the series.

MF: Well, I think it all ties in at the same time, Dog. And I think the thing unraveled after that first game, because they did a bad job in the second game ... in Game 5, being the second game they lost ... from a lot of different standpoints in my regard. And the Red Sox got tougher and tougher as the series went on. And finally the Yankees' lack of pitching reared its head. It hadn't reared its head. We thought it would rear its head. Surprisingly, it had not.

But the Yanks got outpitched in their building in Game 6, by Schilling, who did a great job. Lieber didn't pitch badly, but he didn't pitch as well as Schilling. And then they got destroyed in Game 7.

And there's a lot of different things here. First thing you want to take is the big picture. I think Dog just did that with the Red Sox. No longer can you thumb your nose at the Red Sox about this. Now, the Red Sox haven't won their World Series. They have to go do that. That's up to them. But that's a different deal. This is about the Yankees. The Yankee perspective on this first. I'm going to give you that and we'll get to the Red Sox.

Because the Red Sox, they are going to chronicle this as one of the great moments in sports history. It's going to be one of the great comebacks and one of the great stories ever in postseason history, and they're right about that. It was that big. It was played out with that much tension, that much pressure, this built up all year. Remember, this is a two-year thing that culminated last night. It has been a two-year war with the Red Sox. It's gone on from Day One for two years.

And for them, under that scrutiny and that pressure ... and they were getting destroyed on Sunday morning. They were getting beat ... they were getting beat to a pulp on Sunday morning. And you know what, if you looked around there, you looked around that stadium that night -- ninth inning, Game 4 -- they thought they were dead! Why wouldn't you think they were dead?

CR: 19-8, 19-8. my god. ... Oh, you're talking about the next day ...

MF: Yeah, the next day they thought, 'We're going home.' But, you know what? They didn't go home. And then they got stronger from there. But the point of this is, there is a Yankee perspective to this, and the Yankee perspective to this is here is this team, built to win championships, that a) is no longer, no longer, has any connection. The book is closed. They no longer have any connection, and it's going to get worse and worse because guys who have been the staple of that, such as Rivera, who right now, maybe ready to hand off the mantel to this kid Lidge as the next great closer. I mean, he's already had a decade of it, you can't expect him to go forerver.

CR: I agree.

MF: OK. And Bernie Williams, who is winding down, and again -- again -- they try to bury Bernie Williams and he probably was as consistent as any Yankee again in this series as the guy you want up in the big spot every single time.

CR: Absolutely.

MF: And you know what, he's winding down. So the guys who are the remnants of that run -- and Jeter made that point last night Dog, and he did it with a little fire in his eyes when he said 'Don't be comparing those teams to these teams. There's no relationship.' And he's right. It's now four years removed from a championship and that group has whittled down to four and will whittle down from there. Soon, soon, it will just be Posada and Jeter. Eventually that's what you'll be left with for a while. And that's it from that core. And this group has not gotten the right mix.

But what happened here is different. You're talking about the Yankees, the proud Yankees, the way they're built, the money, the whole thing -- everything that makes the Yankees the Yankees. For them to collapse on the grand stage ... and right now the Red Sox-Yankees stage is even bigger than the World Series. It is. It's bigger. It's watched by more people. More people care about it. The city cares about it more. To have them collapse at this level, on that stage, when they are three outs away, three games up and three outs away and lose the series is, without question, the greatest postseason collapse in the history of sports. That's a lot.

CR: Hey ... if you want to look at it this way, when you're in enough of these situations, sooner or later you're going to have something bad happen to you.

MF: Not like this.

CR: It's funny about the Yankees. They have so much good history, that we all have to hear who hate the Yankees ... whether it was the trade, whether it's DiMaggio, whoever it might be, Gehrig, Mattingly, whoever it might be. For once, for once, the Yankee hater, the Crack Committee, now has something that will stick to the Yankees that's bad forever.

MF: Absolutely.

CR: And that is something that has not happened to the Yankees. Mike gave you the situations about the World Series. Games happen. They haven't had anything like this. They haven't had anything historic happen to them badly. Now they have.

MF: Yeah, in their whole history, Dog, they have had bad losses. '26 World Series to a team they were a 5-to-1 favorite over. They lost to Grover Cleveland Alexander. It happens. Babe Ruth lost that Series. Mantle, the '60 World Series. They won the three games by 90 runs and lost four squeakers and lost the Series. Worst loss of his life. That happens. It happens.

But this is different. This is an utter collapse. This is one that will reverberate. Now, we'll get to all the different things in the days to come. You know Steinbrenner is going to do something, who knows what. He doesn't really have a lot of options, which we'll get to. But this one, as Dog said, will stick to the ribs. This is one that will follow this franchise. This is a big blemish. Because this is the ultimate winning machine, and for it to collapse this way, is a big deal. You can't minimize it.

This is a black mark on the Yankee history.

Post columnist suggests NYY bean Ortiz?!

2006-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

The typical New York med=iots are at it again. Today, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post called for David Ortiz to be beaned because he is too good against the Yankees. Brilliant, Vaccaro. If any Globe columnist like Shaughnessy or Ryan called for Jeter to be thrown at, there would be a complete uproar.

THE Yankees have to droppy Papi. They need to brush the beast back. They need to pick out one of David Ortiz' chins and let a little music dance across the whiskers. And they need to do this immediately.

I think Wily Mo Pena needs to kick this moron's ass.

Link to article

Schilling fired back this morning on Dennis & Callahan:

"Most of the guys and gals that write here [in New York] are such horrific hacks anyway that that stuff doesn’t… I mean, seriously, I’ve played in a couple of cities before coming to Boston and the dredge of the places that I played in respect to the media, the people who wrote there have left those cities and come here, and they write here now. If I could just pick out some of the guys and people that were just horrible writers and I thought bad people, the places that I played before I came to Boston, they all went to New York and are writing there now. It’s so perfect, but it’s such a different… they’re just bad people. It’s just stupid, stupid, irresponsible stuff to do because again, this is such a different series."

Normally, I hate when Curt opens his mouth, but something had to be said about the idiocy of Vaccaro's column.

Yankees Suck

2006-05-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Since I have the maturity level of a 5-year-old when it involves Sox-Yankees, I thought this picture was pretty money... (Boston Dirt Dogs gets all the credit)

Sox are owning Josh Towers right now. Game still in progress.

Squander, thy name is Red Sox

2006-05-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

I fucking hate this team. I really do. Tonight's loss to the Blue Jays was so f'ing winable. They blew it... flat out blew it. I hate this. Josh Beckett is looking more and more like a .500 pitcher who had one good postseason. Loretta blows. Why is Alex Gonzalez even playing? How can you be a major league player who spent the majority of his career in the NL and can't lay down a critical bunt? Plenty of blame to go around tonight-- idiot Tito pinch-hitting Dustan Mohr for Trot. I mean, Trot's BA against lefties is actually HIGHER THAN MOHR'S. What was he thinking? Granted Mohr did get on base in the bottom of the ninth on the dropped third strike, but he should have been Out Numero Tres.

Pap took his first loss tonight. The offense should have bailed him out, and it should have never come down to that. I don't really blame the guy. You can't be unhittable all season.

GOD THIS TEAM IS SO FRUSTRATING! I hate how we lay over and die when we play the Blue Jays. I will be cursing Gregg Zaun and old friend Shea all night.

Sox Sweep Yankees

2006-05-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

No game tonight. Damn the rain. Well, we took one of one and in my mind, that is a sweep.

Beckett vs. Halladay tomorrow. Should be a good one. I might have to skip Marvel's shindig for that pitching matchup.

Sox take first blood in war with MFYs

2006-05-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

My Sox just pulled off an incredible win-- 7-3 over the Evil Empire of the South. The wind tried to steal a win from us (we should have had about 17 runs), but the Mighty David Ortiz would not be denied. How fitting that the homer he crushed to right center sailed right over Damon's head and into Papelbon's glove.

The deciding run was actually scored by Willie Harris, who appropriately had a slide that looked just like Dave Roberts' in Game 4 of the ALCS. Only it was Loretta driving him in and not Bill Mueller... and there was a different noodle-armed idiot in center field watching helplessly as he has no chance of throwing out the runner at the plate.

I very much enjoyed Jeter's critical blunders. Just as ESPN and the biggest fucking moron on the planet, Rich Sutcliffe, got done ball-washing him for the millionth time, he gets thrown off second in the DP that bailed Wake out of a jam. Take that, Captain Intangibles. He was very, very tangible tonight...

The story of the game had to be Doug "Superman" Mirabelli, who flew cross-country and needed a police escort to get to Fenway on time. Now, I am very familiar with the Boston area having spent my summers there, and I did not know it was humanly possible to make it from Logan to Fenway in a half hour, let alone 10 minutes. The Stud Who Hits Bombs told Erin Andrews after the game that they were going 100 mph down the freeway, and he changed into his jersey in the back of the limo. He had about two minutes to get re-acquainted with Wakefield before he had to catch him. Josh Bard gave up 10 passed balls already this year in five starts. Mirabelli gave up none today (and had some pretty nifty stops), and let's also mention that he threw out a would-be base stealer-- the first one to be thrown out with Wakefield pitching this season. Welcome back, Stud. I hope the PTBNL who he was traded for is Rudy Seanez (worthless shmuck...)

I like what I saw out of the Sox tonight. I feel like every loss we've taken this season, with the exception of the Cleveland blowout, we've been one hit away from breaking the game open. Tonight we did, and Ortiz put a cap on the victory with the home run off Mike Myers... an emphatic "F YOU" to the ineffective LOOGY. David Ortiz is too good for LOOGYs, Joe Torre, take note. I find it funny that the reason Mike Myers was acquired was to get David Ortiz out. So much for that...

Let's sweep this two-game series with a Josh Beckett win tomorrow.

I was going to write about the crowd reaction to Damon, but it's been discussed ad nauseum by everyone else in the media, so I'll just leave it at this: He should have been given a standing O in his first at-bat. After that, boo him all you want until it becomes almost comical. Without Johnny, the lives of Red Sox fans would be drastically different. We'd still be walking around with our heads down, sulking in our "Woe is me" attitudes, and wondering if God really does hate us all for 86 years ++ of suffering and torture we've had to endure. There is no 2004 World Series win without Johnny Damon. I would have stood for Johnny, because he delivered for us.

He's a Yankee now, and that's not cool at all, but for once, can we put aside the rivalry and realize that this man busted his ass 24-7 to bring us a title. If I saw him walking down the street, I'd shake his hand and tell him thank you for changing my life. I did that for Bronson Arroyo. I wish I could tell every single one of those 25 men how much they mean to me. Yes, Johnny Damon did a bad thing by signing with NYY (and lying about it on May 1, 2005)... but come on, Red Sox fans. Show some class.

Okay, I'm done now. Get it done, Beckett!

Patriots Draft

2006-05-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog. For about a week, my school work had to come first. But my exams are over, summer has officially begun and life is good if you are Gator football players right about now...

The New England Patriots selected TWO Gators in the NFL Draft and proceeded to sign three more to free agent contracts. I always knew that Belichick and Urban Meyer were close... but this is ridiculous. (a good kind of ridiculous)

I love, love, LOVE the Chad Jackson second-round pick. Although I must admit that he has the potential to be just another Bethel Johnson. Jackson appears to have more tools than Bethel though, and I read that Mel Kiper thinks he has the best hands in college football (perhaps a bit of an overstatement). Kiper had Jackson as the 15th best-valued player in the draft, so I'd say getting Big Play Chad in the second round was a steal. With the Maroney pick in the first round, the Pats' offense just got a hell of a lot younger and more talented.

Now, about Maroney... I think the Patriots probably should have addressed their LB/CB/K needs first, but after reading this quote from Mike Shannahan about Laurence Maroney in MMQB, maybe I'm willing to change my mind:

"I loved him," Shanahan said. "I think the Patriots got a steal. An absolute steal. I think he's going to be the best back in the league."

Mel Kiper gave the Pats a B overall, with this to summarize their draft:

Laurence Maroney gives the Patriots a security blanket at running back. Wide receiver Chad Jackson was a nice pick in the second round and could have gone in the middle of the first. Tight end Dave Thomas has excellent hands and Garret Mills might be more of a fullback. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski was a reach in the fourth round (I didn't think any kickers would get drafted). New England had a great first day and a good second second day.

Note that no team got higher than a B+ (49ers)

Now, as for the Gator free agent signings... Herring and Brown were among the team captains for the Gators, which already shows they will fill in well in Belichick's "Team First, Individuals Second, No TO-type figures" team.

I hated Randy Hand all last season, and I think the inept Gator O-line was one of the main reasons that UF's offense was so unsuccesful last year. So naturally, I don't think Randy Hand will contribute anything to the Patriots.

Andy Staples, the Gator beat writer down at the Tampa Trib, pretty much called the Patriots' interest in the Gators. See link: http://www.tbo.com/sports/MGB959PIFME.html

"Then another thought struck. One or more of those three guys is going to be a New England Patriot. My guess is that Mincey will get the call during this weekend's NFL draft, because it makes too much sense."

Sawx-Yanks tonight. Thank GOD Doug Mirabelli is back. Only a few more 2006 offseason moves for Theo to undo. Let's continue with getting rid of Rudy Seanez. Hopefully he is the PTBNL in the 'Belli trade.

Sox take 2 of 3 from Tampa Bay

2006-04-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

No surprise here, the Red Sox dominated the Devil Rays. They probably should have won all three games, but Wakefield, again, was forced to take a loss after pitching very well.

Let's start with Tuesday night's game. Clement pitched much better than his Toronto start, giving up 3 ERs on 8 hits in 7 innings. He also struck out six Rays. The bats were quiet most of the game. In six innings, the only run the Sox scored was on a Manny Ramirez double that plated David Ortiz. In the seventh and eighth innings, both teams' pitching collapsed, and the Rays scored 4 runs in both innings, and the Sox scored six. With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Youkilis hit a huge double that scored two runs. He has really impressed me with his bat and 1B defense this year, considering he is still learning the position. With the Sox now up three runs, Papelbon's ninth inning proved to be his roughest outing thus far. He loaded the bases on a single and two walks before Damon Hollins hit a line drive that Adam Stern dove and caught in center field. It really was an unbelievable catch that saved the tying runs from scoring. This game proved that Papelbon is, indeed, human -- contrary to popular belief.

On Wednesday, Curt Schilling picked up his fourth win in a shellacking of the Devil Rays. Amazingly, this is the first time in the future Hall of Famer's career that he has begun the season 4-0. Youkilis led off the game with a home run, and ended up 3-4 with 2 RBIs to lead the offensive tear. The Sox's seven-run third inning was the most runs they've scored in an inning all year. Check out this line:

- M. Loretta singled to center, K. Youkilis to third, K. Youkilis scored, M. Loretta to third on center fielder J. Gathright's throwing error
- T. Nixon singled to right, M. Loretta scored, D. Ortiz to third, M. Ramirez to second
- J. Varitek hit sacrifice fly to center, D. Ortiz scored, M. Ramirez to third
- M. Lowell doubled to deep center, M. Ramirez and T. Nixon scored
- A. Stern safe at first on pitcher J. Childers' fielding error, M. Lowell scored
- K. Youkilis singled to shallow left, A. Stern scored, A. Gonzalez to third

Tampa Bay is such a terrible, terrible ball club.

Schilling only went six innings, but he was at 108 pitches, so Francona definitely made a wise decision to pull him, especially with the huge lead. Seanez, Tavarez and Foulke finished Schilling's masterful game-- giving up no runs and only one combined hit. For all the people who doubted Curt Schilling's recovery, I think it's safe to say that you were wrong and you might want to pencil him in as an early favorite for the Cy Young Award. (Yes, I think it's April...)

The Red Sox lost on Thursday night to the Rays by a score of 5-1. When Scott Kazmir isn't busy beaning Red Sox players, he actually really owns us. He made Ortiz and a few other lefties look ridiculous with his slider. The Sox were leading 1-0 on a Dustan Mohr home run until Josh Bard's defense screwed us again. Travis Lee scored on his passed ball. Jonny Gomes also hit two tape-measure shots, one off Wakefield in the seventh and the other off Julian Tavarez in the ninth that put the game out of reach.

Wakefield really didn't pitch all that badly. Like I mentioned in another entry, you just cannot expect the Sox to win for Timmy if they don't score at least four runs. He only gave up two earned runs on four hits. His ERA is incredibly low for Wakefield (3.71), and the fact that his record stands at 1-3 is depressing. You have to feel bad for the kid...

The Sox put up a valiant effort to come back in the bottom of the ninth against Dan Miceli. Down four runs thanks to Julian Tavarez' inability to hold the line, the Sox ended up loading the bases. With only one out, Nixon Kd and Varitek, who pinch hit for Bard, flied out.

Oh well, two out of three ain't bad. We're at Toronto for a three-game series that starts tonight. The Red Sox always struggle with Toronto, so if we can just win Beckett's start tonight, I'll be happy. In the mismatch of the century, Lenny Dinardo has to go up against Roy Halladay on Saturday. And you never know about Matt Clement on Sunday...

Mariners Series- Sox take 3 of 4

2006-04-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

I am incredibly impressed with how the Red Sox are battling through some key injuries (Crisp, Wells, Nixon), and still winning close games. All three of our victories over Seattle were by one run. In all three, Papelbon picked up more saves. He is now seven-for-seven in save opportunities. In the process, he tied Jeff Gray's team record set in 1990 for saves by a rookie in one month, and let's also not forget that he is boasting a 0.00 ERA-- that's right, not a single run allowed yet. I knew Papelbon would be a special pitcher, but I had no idea how dominant he would be in his first full season in the majors.

The one loss to the Mariners was on Saturday, and Wakefield actually pitched brilliantly. Our bats were just shut down by Joél Pineiro. There is also no excuse whatsoever for loading the bases and not scoring a run. The lineup on Saturday was pretty ugly, and I'm not sure I agree with Terry Francona's decision to give Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta the afternoon off, especially factoring in that Bard had to be in the lineup, as he is Wakefield's personal catcher. Wakefield should NOT have had to take a loss in this game. He pitched beautifully. You have to believe that Wakefield, with his crazy knuckler, is going to give up at least four runs in a game, so therefore the offense must score five. Didn't happen on Saturday... but we sure had a great chance to sweep this series.

The pitching performances from Schilling on Friday and Beckett on Sunday were remarkable. Schilling's fastball is up to mid-90s, and he really looks comfortable out there on the mound, for what it's worth. He only allowed three hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking NONE. This is also his first time since 2002 that he has started out 3-0. He lowered his ERA to 1.64, and his WHIP is a ridiculous 0.64, which is good for first in the majors.

From one 3-0 starter to the next, Josh Beckett just looked unhittable on Sunday. He was getting his fastball up close to 100 mph on NESN's radar gun. When he did allow runners to reach base, like in the sixth inning when Raul Ibanez was on third thanks to WMP's error, Beckett struck out two straight Mariners to get out of the jam. Beckett's 1.29 ERA thus far just shows that he is adapting well to the American League, and hopefully picking up a few pointers here and there from Schilling. You always see them sitting together in the dugout...

I suppose I should mention Mark Loretta's walk-off home run on Patriots' Day. The Sox were down one going into the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Youkilus hit a dribbler to José Lopez on second and hustled to beat out the throw. Loretta followed with the game-winner into the Monster Seats, just minutes after all of the Marathoners had passed through Kenmore Square. Loretta said after the game that it was his first walk-off home run ever, including Little League and Legion Ball and all that good stuff. The feeling must have been euphoric. Have I mentioned that I'm really, really taking a liking to Mark Loretta? The improvement over Mark Bellhorn is just outstanding.

I also would like to mention that Wily Mo Peña may be the most worthless POS player this team has had in a looong time. We're talking Tony Clark-worthless here. He makes Manny Ramirez look like freaking Ichiro out there. He's a total basketcase. He can't field balls in the deep right field triangle, and he lets fly balls go right over his head. His error total doesn't show it, because he can't even get the glove on the ball. There needs to be a new stat in baseball called "Stupid Wily Mo Peña-esque errors," and I think Peña would lead the league in his own category. He's terrible... just attrocious. Trot Nixon cannot get back soon enough. And another thing, it's not even like the guy is making up for it at the plate. I cannot believe the Red Sox pinch hit for Alex Cora in the bottom of the ninth of Monday's game. Predictably, he struck out. At least Alex Gonzalez is a terrible hitter, but makes up for it by fielding nicely. Wily Mo does nothing. I haven't even seen the so-called "power" that scouts said he has. He's hit one home run and is batting .261, which I'm sure will drop as the season progresses and he gets more at-bats.

Well, that's my short recap of the Mariners series. Tonight the Red Sox (9-4, 1st place AL East) begin a three-game series with Tampa Bay (7-6, 3rd place in the division) at Fenway. Clement will look to rebound from a bad start at Toronto, when he gave up seven runs in four innings. He faces lefty and former Red Sox Casey Fossum, whose cousin lives down the street from me (just added that for good measure). Last season, C-ment went 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA against the Devil Rays. This may be his first time facing them since he took a Carl Crawford line drive off his face. But I'm too lazy to look it up. Manny has great lifetime numbers against the Devil Rays, so look for him to bust out of his slump with authority.

Sorry for the lack of updates

2006-04-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have amassed a loyal following of about four readers, so my apologies for not updating on the M's series. I've been very busy with classes, finals approaching and working two jobs. Look for a big update once the series ends after the matinee game tomorrow.

Game 9: Jays 8, Sox 6

2006-04-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ted Lilly continued his baffling mastery over the Red Sox last night, and the Blue Jays held off a ninth inning rally by the Sox to take the rubber game of the three-game series at the Fens.

The game was over by the top of the second, when Matt Clement loaded the bases and gave up a grand slam to Vernon Wells, his fourth home run of the year.

Ortiz continued to swing the bat well, perhaps a result of his new $52-million-dollar contract. He has now homered in three consecutive games. But we really needed a homer in the bottom of the ninth, when he represented the tying run with two outs. The Sox were down 8-3, and they battled back to make it 8-6 on a Youkilis double that scored J.T. Snow and Wily Mo Pena, and a Loretta single that scored Youkilis. Ortiz ended up flying out to right field to end the game. I guess you can't expect him to get the clutch hit every time he's up. (Sabermetricians argue that there is no such thing as clutch anyway...)

The attendance last night, 36,524, was the largest crowd to see a game at Fenway in more than 60 years. I cannot wait to get up there in July for a couple of games.

Tonight the Mariners (5-5) come to Fenway for the start of a four-game series. Monday will be the annual Patriots Day matinee game. As for tonight, it's Curt Schilling (2-0, 1.93 ERA) against Jamie Moyer (0-1, 4.38 ERA). Moyer has been destroyed by the Boston bats over the past three seasons, going only 13.1 innings over 3 starts, and posting an ERA of 11.48.

I feel confident that the losing streak stops tonight. Let's go Curt!

Game 8: Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 4

2006-04-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

So the other day in sports reporting class, Andrew Abramson had a remarkable suggestion that Major League Baseball should have Barry Bonds secretly assassinated.

I wouldn't mind if MLB did the same to David Wells.

That is really all I have to say about this game.

Game 7: Sox 5, Blue Jays 3

2006-04-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thank God for the Florida Marlins' firesale. Marlins' castoffs Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell led us to our fifth straight win yesterday, a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. We're now sitting at 6-1 and 2.5 games ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AL East.

I didn't get to watch the game because I was stuck in class. Many thanks to professor Marvel for letting me follow the game on my computer though :) Apparently I missed Jerry Remy in rare form. He has now dubbed our infield the "Santana Infield," because "Yo Lo Go Lo Va" sounds like "Oye Como Va" in his obscure form of Remy Spanish. (By the way, if you didn't get that, YO LO GO LO VA is Youkilis, Loretta, Gonzalez, Lowell, and Varitek catching).

We may need to rethink Last-Out-Lowell's nickname after his 4-4, one-RBI performance. He doubled in Trot Nixon for our first run of the game in the second, a critical run with Beckett struggling to find his control at the beginning of the game. Josh ended up pitching seven innings and giving up one earned run on three hits, although he walked four (including walking in a run), and only K'd two.

Ortiz picked up his second home run of the year, a seventh-inning blast off Vinnie Chulk that just cleared the right-field fence.

Unfortunately, my Sox are dropping like flies to injuries. Crisp is officially on the Disabled List, and Trot Nixon had to leave the game in top of the fourth with a strained left groin. Wily Mo Pena took his place, and it is very apparent that he has NO idea what he's doing in the outfield. The "home run" that Keith Foulke gave up bounced right off his glove and into the Sox bullpen. Way to go, Wily Mo. Worthless assclown.

Can we get Bronson Arroyo back still? Maybe he can be the DH... he does have two home runs already this year. Which is two home runs more than Barry Bonds has.

Papelbon got his fourth save, and once again, I'd like to say "you're welcome" to all of the people who I told to pick him up as a closer for Fantasy Baseball. His ERA is sitting at 0.00 still.

Game two of the Blue Jays-Sox series commences at 7:05 tonight. David Wells will get his first start of the year. He is opposed by southpaw Gustavo Chacin (1-0, 4.05 ERA). I have a feeling that our win streak will stop tonight, but then again, I have no faith in David Wells as a human being.

Ortiz extended through 2010 (with 2011 club option)

2006-04-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

We've been hearing about the Red Sox's extension of David Ortiz being "imminent" for about a week now. Today, it became official.

David Ortiz will play in a Red Sox uniform through at least 2010.

I'm at work, so I wasn't able to hear the press conference live, but here are some tidbits that I picked up from various message boards.

Theo opened by announcing that, on behalf of the Sox, David Ortiz will get an extension to 2010, with a club option for 2011. He mentioned that Papi is a player who means so much for the organization, and wants to stay in Boston. David Ortiz then said that he's happy to be in Boston, and proud to be a Red Sox player. He said that he wants to finish his career in Boston, and he thanked Lucchino, Henry, Werner and Theo.

John Henry then said that in the negotiation w/ Papi, he kept expressing his love for Boston—the city, the fans, the organization. Henry said it was a first for him as an owner — that he'd never had a player say something like that during a negotiation.

When asked why Ortiz didn't opt for free agency, he said something along the lines of, "You have a lot of people coming right at you when you are on the market. I feel great playing in Boston. I feel like this is my house. I want to protect my house. I like to put everything I have out there every single day. I thank the Red Sox for doing this while they still have control of me."

(Love that quote about wanting to protect 'his house.' David Ortiz is amazing.)

Theo was asked "Why sign David Ortiz, and why now?" Again, this is paraphrased. Not an exact quote.

I can't think of a player who contributes in so many different ways. He embodies what we want a player to be. He has worked hard, supports his teammates, sees big picture, has a smile all the time, sets right mood, means a lot to our franchise, in the Dominican, throughout Boston, throughout Red Sox Nation. We think he will continue to contribute that much and more. Why now? I think it is a good time. The club approached David about exploring the extension. 98% of work was done in spring training. The finishing touches were just finalized. Many thought we wouldn't be able to keep David if he hit free agency. We put a value on players and stick to it.

Ortiz then praised playing in Fenway, and what it means to play in front of the greatest fans in baseball:

"I keep telling the new guys, 'Wait until you play your first game at Fenway Park. You might need a diaper... You might need a diaper, homey. It's gonna be like that every day.' It's outstanding."

For the Red Sox, this is one of those players that, no matter what he is demanding, or what it would have taken to sign him, the team absolutely had to keep that guy in a Red Sox uniform. David Ortiz means SO much to my team. I can't even express how grateful I am that this man will be tearing shit up for us for 4-5 more years after 2006. Yes, PECOTA and other sabermetric projections have his numbers seriously declining. Yes, we may have overpaid a bit for Ortiz, just like we did to keep Varitek here in the 2004 off-season. But the bottom line is, you can't let a guy like Ortiz walk away. Having him not retire a Red Sox would be a mockery. It looks like he probably will now. And I am happy.

Can this signing officially cement Ortiz as the "Yaz" of my generation?

Uh Oh...

2006-04-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Per WHDH Boston and Joe Amorosino, it looks like Coco Crisp may have broken or fractured his hand on that slide that I said in yesterday's blog would only keep him out day-to-day. It appears that Crisp didn't think the injury was serious, but then it swelled up after the game. Nobody else has this story besides WHDH. WEEI and BostonDirtDogs are just using the WHDH report as a source. Amorosino is claiming Crisp will be out a month minimum, and more like 6-8 weeks.

Pleeeeeaase for the love of all that is good, let this be false. I need a confirmation from a credible news source before I start flipping out.

If it's true, who is our new center fielder? I gotta think Adam Stern gets the nod over WMP.

*Edit* The Red Sox are going to announce what the hell is going on with Coco's left index finger during Ortiz's 3 p.m. press conference.

Per the Globe:

Boston Red Sox Medical Director Dr. Thomas Gill this afternoon issued the following statement regarding the condition of outfielder Coco Crisp:

“Coco has a non-displaced fracture at the base of his left index finger,” said Gill. “He will be placed in a splint for 10 days and reevaluated at that time. Once sufficient healing has occurred, Coco can begin batting and return to baseball activities. No surgery is indicated at this time.”

So he's out a minimum of 10 days. Please God don't let it be any worse than that...

*another edit*

The news keeps changing on this story. As of right now, he's going to be in a splint for 10 days, then might need surgery afterwards depending on the re-evaluation. This spring, Luis Rivas had a nondisplaced fracture in his hand and was initially supposed to miss only about 15 days. After later evaluation, he needed surgery and the recovery time was uppoed to 6-8 weeks. Godspeed, Coco!

If this team cannot win without their leadoff hitter for a month, then they weren't built for a title run in the first place. Let's just hope Timmy Wakefield isn't matched up against too many lefties this month, so we see a lot of Stern, and not so much Wily Mo.

An update on the Ortiz extension is coming. Boy, it's been a busy day for Red Sox news today.

Game 6: Red Sox 2, Orioles 1

2006-04-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox picked up another win in a close game this afternoon. I'm gaining more and more faith in how good this team is daily.

Wakefield rebounded from a tough first start, allowing only one uneared run the entire game, and consistently pitching out of trouble. In the bottom of the sixth, he had runners on second and third with no outs, and he struck out the side. He only retired the Baltimore side in one inning (third). Wakefield's only charged run came in the first on a Tejada single. It was unearned because of Loretta's first fielding error of the season.

Crisp didn't play this afternoon due to jamming his finger on his caught stealing at third base last night, but Adam Stern filled in nicely in the leadoff spot, going two for five with 2 RBIs. Crisp is day-to-day, and with the offday tomorrow, I expect to see him in the lineup on Tuesday. Loretta had the other Sox RBI on a lineout that scored Josh Bard.

Speaking of Bard, he looked a little better today catching Wakefield.

Papelbon continues to look like a dominating closer. Yes, he let two runners reach base in the bottom of the ninth, but he retired who he needed to. He got Kevin Millar to pop out on the first pitch to end the game... how fitting. Timlin pitched the seventh, allowing a single to Jay Gibbons and a walk to Kevin Millar, but nobody scored on him.

Keith Foulke had an impressive eighth inning. His velocity looked good, he was hitting his spots and most importantly, batters were swinging and missing his changeups. Our bullpen could be filthy ridiculous if we can get him back to 100% healthy. I still stand by J-Paps as the closer though. Julian Tavarez will be back Thursday from his suspension as well.

A sweep over Baltimore is a good thing. We always dominate them at Camden, and they come into Fenway and own us.

I am very impressed with this team's 5-1 start. I haven't felt this good about a Red Sox team this early since the '99 team, who coincidently were the last team to start off 5-1. The Yankees are off to a slow 2-4 start, but I think I read the last time they started off 2-4 was 1998, and we all know what happened that year. I will never, ever count the Yankees out until the 162nd game of the season is over, but I like the direction that my team is going in right now. First place feels nice, even if it is the first week of the season.

Game 5: Red Sox 2, Baltimore 1

2006-04-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Any doubt that Curt Schilling could not rebound from his pathetic 2005 season has effectively been erased. And I'd like to add that these Boston Red Sox are going to be a scary-good team this year. Just give me credit and say you heard it here first when we're hoisting the 2006 World Series trophy.

There isn't a whole hell of a lot to say about today's game. Not much action occured. Schilling picked up his second win of the season. He went 7 strong innings, allowing only one run on a solo homerun to Luis Matos. Schill gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four. Even in in the seventh, he looked like he reached back for another gear and was blowing the ball past the O's hitters.

We've now gotten seven strong innings out of Curt in both starts, as well as Beckett in his start and Clement last night. And I really, REALLY like the concept of Timlin in the eighth and Papelbon in the ninth. Remember the motto that Grady Little managed to fuck up in the 2003 ALCS-- Williamson in the 8th, Timlin in the 9th? Well Tito isn't going to mess this one up. He knows how strong of a closer Paps is, and I hope to God we never see Keith Foulke doing anything but mop-up duty.

This team has proven to me already that they can win close games when they don't score many runs (like tonight), and win big when the offense kicks it up a notch (see last night). NESN said today that we've only had one error in five games so far, which is incredible. I can't even think of who committed that error right now-- I must have missed it. Although we did have a scary defensive moment when, during today's game, Varitek went chasing after a foul popup and slid knees-first into the bricks behind home plate. Seriously, who the hell's idea was it to put bricks behind the plate? That's an injury waiting-to-happen. He started clutching his knees at first, but then appeared fine.

And Manny "the Gazelle" Ramirez had another fine play in the outfield this afternoon, on a hit that would have surely scored 2 runs for Baltimore. Manny's working hard on improving his Gold Glove status.

Wily Mo Peña has got to do something about his reckless swing. An MLB.com article described how he's been working with Manny and Ortiz on hitting. I hope Papa Jack had a word with him today during or after the game. He looked terrible, swinging at 3 straight fastballs out of the strike zone in his first at-bat. When he actually took a pitch in his 2nd at-bat, the crowd at Camden (Fenway South) cheered him. He managed to strike out on four pitches though. Ortiz has taken to calling WMP "Little Papi," but he has a long way to go before he lives up to that nickname.

Two miscelaneous notes:

Baltimore pitcher Sendy Rleal gave up an RBI double to Varitek today. Does his name not look like a bad typo? How in the world did that extra L get in there? It's pronounced like "Real" of Real Madrid fame... royal in Spanish. I thought NESN had messed up the graphic at first when his name appeared on the screen.

I can't find the quote in the Globe right now, but apparently during yesterday's game, many Red Sox players were seen reading in the clubhouse... including Coco, who was reading and highlighting passages from a book, Timlin and Schilling. On last year's team, Kevin Millar and Johnny Damon would throw grapes at you if you were caught reading. Looks like now that the "idiots" are gone, we have a team full of librarians*. I think I prefer the 2006 guys.

(* Except Manny. I don't think Manny can read yet.)

Pitching and defense win championships, look out for the '06 Sox. You heard it here first... remember that.

Game 4: Sox 14, Orioles 8

2006-04-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I was safe leaving the house with the Red Sox up 11-0. I guess I didn't account for the Rudy Seanez factor. He just continues to suck-- the 2006 version of Mike Remlinger, if you will. Because of his craptacular pitching, the O's jumped back into the game. Seanez has now given up 6 hits in 2/3 of an inning, or three hits per out. Now that is what you call ineffective middle relief.

Francona left Clement in an inning too long tonight (story of his 2005 season), but other than that the guy looked fantastic. His line doesn't look that great on paper (7 innings, 9 hits, 4 R all earned, 1 BB, 7 K), but keep in mind almost all of that damage came in the seventh inning. Before that he was mowing down one Oriole after another. Clement improved his record to 5-0 all time against Baltimore.

The Sox offense got to Daniel Cabrera early. I fell asleep somewhere in the first inning during all of the walks, but they scored 4 runs in the first, 3 on bases-loaded walks, and one on a sac fly with the bases loaded. Cabrera walked 6 in the first alone. To say that he had no control would be a bit of an understatement. The Red Sox offense saw an astounding 223 pitches tonight.

Manny finally decided to contribute to this team offensively. He came in at 1-11 on the season, and went 3-4 tonight with 2 RBIs and a walk. Welcome to the Red Sox, Manny. He came up twice with the bases loaded today. I know he's sitting at only a few off of the all-time record for grand slams. I think Gehrig has the record. I'm too lazy to look it up though. I think he's two or three off though still. Ramírez has 20 in his career.

Some of the subs got to see some playing time tonight with the blowout. Francona took a lot of starters out when the game was at 11-0, Sox. Adam Stern, Alex Cora and JT Snow all played.

I like the way that Tito used Foulke. He came in the ninth with the Sox up 6 runs. I think Foulkie needs to get some confidence back before he's ever named closer again. I hope to God Papelbon stays in that role all season though... and not just because I told three different people last week to pick Paps up. Foulke hit 86-88 mph on the radar gun tonight, and his body language and location looked a lot better than Game 1.

Schilling posted a gem of a quote today on SoSH. I'm not sure how in the world he posted this, since it was during the eighth inning of the game, but he was talking about how back in the day he predicted to a journalist that BK Kim would be one of the best pitchers in the majors.

"You got me, sort of. I now remember the quote, and the hard part to convey is that anyone not in uniform that didn't know him would have a hard time understanding the 'if' part of that comment. BK was as physcially talented as I said, if you could have seen what I saw in 2000 when I first went to Az you'd have agreed. He never changed, he never listened and he never adapted. I have never seen anyone get more shots and have more people at the ready to help when/if he needed it than he got. Nor did I ever see anyone basically say 'f you' to every single person that took time and put in effort to make him better, ever. Josh Beckett and BK belong in the same breath like Curt Schilling and Mariano Rivera, it's not even close, no comparison."

Good to know where Curt thinks he stands. He needs to stay off the computer during games. Hopefully he'll have a good start tomorrow.

Game 3: Sox 2, Rangers 1

2006-04-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox improved their record to 2-1 with a solid fundamental win over the Rangers tonight. We always struggle at Texas, so a series win is a nice way to get out of the enema bag of the country. We were stuck w/ the Texas announcers on Extra Innings tonight. Apparently we missed a gem of a freudian slip from Don Orsillo on NESN when he mentioned young GMs "having success" and instead said "having sex." Remy cracked on him all game for it. Too bad we were stuck with the Rangers' broadcasters, who were nearly as bad as the Devil Rays' guys... and that's bad.

Back to the game:

It's fairly obvious to me that Keith Foulke has lost his closing job. Your new Boston Red Sox closer has got to be Jonathan Papelbon. He came in in the ninth in a one-run game and shut the door on Texas, striking out two, and getting his first major league save. Good for Paps. Happy Trails, Keith Foulke. Thanks for 2004, but there's a new sheriff in town.

The offense looked terrible against Cameron Loe pretty much all game. He induced 2 GIDP from Papi, and pretty much every out until Trot Nixon's 2-run home run was a weak, infield grounder. Nixon's blast proved the difference in the game. It was a tough loss for Loe, but somebody's gotta take the L, and it wasn't going to be Josh Beckett tonight.

Speaking of Beckett, he started out shaky, but finished REALLY strong. I was incredibly impressed with his outing. He had some trouble locating his fastball in the early goings, and he threw a few curve balls about 58 feet. But he got his act together and picked up his first (of hopefully many) Red Sox wins. Beckett had 5 K and only 1 BB, and threw 75 strikes out of 109 pitches. I thought Francona kept him in the game the exact right innings. I've been impressed with Tito's bullpen/starter management thus far this season... and especially that he had the cojones to bring in Paps over Foulke tonight.

Mike Timlin tried to blow the game in the eighth inning, but the Rangers got Sveumed when Mark Teixeira was thrown out at the plate by quite a few feet. It looked like Jason might have missed the tag in the slow-mo replay, but Manny's relay to third, and Lowell's throw home were very accurate and on time. That proved to be the difference, as that would have been the tying run in the ballgame. It doesn't happen often that you can put three runners on and not allow a run, but Timlin managed to tonight.

I'd just like to add that my buddy Brad Wilkerson is tearing shit up. I remember when I used to spend many-a-nights taking in Gator baseball games with Brad in the left field bleachers at McKethan Stadium. He and Mark Ellis used to talk baseball with my friend Laura and I for hours on end. I never had any doubt that either of those guys would end up playing in the majors. They're two of the nicest guys I've ever talked to in my life, and I wish them all the success in the world, except when they play the Sox. I'll hopefully see Mark again this summer at the Sox-A's game at Fenway. Ah, the perks of growing up in Gainesville. Good times.

On to Baltimore after an offday on Thursday.

The guys at Baseball Prospectus are geniuses

2006-04-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

ESPN Page 2 posted some fascinating excerpts from Baseball Prospectus' "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game is Wrong."

I've been into sabermetrics for a few years now thanks to the nerds at Sons of Sam Horn, and BP is definitely a daily must-read for me.

For years, sabermetricians have argued that there is no such thing as clutch hitting. They simply argue that good hitters are clutch hitters... with the exception of A-Rod, who couldn't make a clutch play/hit if his life depended on it. Okay, I made that up, but one day I will do a study proving that A-Rod is the worst clutch hitter in the history of baseball. Besides Rob Neyer's Insider columns, ESPN doesn't show a lot of love to sabermetrics. Just look at Joe Morgan, who vehemently opposes all of the work that Billy Beane has done in Oakland. Hell, Morgan still thinks that Billy Beane actually wrote Moneyball. It's not like sabermetrics is difficult stuff to comprehend. Bill James couldn't lay it out any simpler in his Baseball Abstracts. I wish ESPN and media outlets in general would switch over to OBP, OPS, Runs Created, etc, instead of Batting Average, which is pretty much a worthless statistic.

Anyway, I enjoyed Nate Silver's piece on David Ortiz and Clutch Hitting, and you will too if you read it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=betweenthenumbers/ortiz/060405

And in other news: Bronson Arroyo just hit a home run in his Cincinnati Reds debut. Can we get that trade retracted? I have a bad feeling we're going to need Bronson this season when Wells and Schilling start to show their age.

Nomar Garciaparra was put on the DL... again. Is there any doubt in ANYONE's mind that that guy was on some serious steroids cerca 1998-2000.

Game 2: Rangers 10, Sox 4

2006-04-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the Red Sox are trying to prove by having Tim Wakefield be their second starter. This guy is a FIFTH starter on just about any team. He's good for a 10-10 record any year, with a couple gems when the knuckler is on (usually against Tampa Bay), and a couple major blowouts... case in point tonight. Beckett needs to be the No. 2 guy.

Timmy left a lot of knuckle balls up high, and the Rangers crushed him. Especially Phil Nevin, who is now batting like .500 against Tim Wakefield. The game was over in the first inning after Nevin's 3-run home run. What's even more disturbing is that Josh Bard has no idea whatsoever how to catch Tim Wakefield. Doug Mirabelli was Wake's designated catcher last season, but we traded him away to the Padres for Mark Loretta. Granted, Loretta is looking great so far this season at the plate, with some fantastic at-bats, but right now, I'm really missing Doug "Stud who hits bombs" Mirabelli. (If you don't frequent Sons of Sam Horn, you won't get that nickname).

Riske and Seanez look as if their Spring Training suckitude is going to continue into the 2006 season. But after Papelbon's performance in Game One, I'm really not worried about the pen. Julian Tavarez will be back in eight games anyway. And as Bill Simmons pointed out in his always-hilarious Running Game Commentary of Opening Day, Paps is going to be the closer very soon. Look out, Keith Foulke. I feel so proud for telling George to draft Jonathan Papelbon high in his fantasy draft. That kid has "stud" written all over him.

Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised by the offense thus far. Ortiz is hitting like everyone knew he would, but Loretta and Crisp are looking great too. We have a fantastic 1-2-3-4 punch. The only problem is once you get past Varitek and Nixon and head into the bottom of the lineup, we've got nothing. My dad had a good point during the first game of the season when he said that any hit we get out of Gonzo/Cora/Lowell is just bonus to what we thought they would do. Manny is looking shitty at the plate thus far, but his Aprils always stink. He'll come around... just Manny being Manny.

I'm looking forward to watching Josh Beckett's Red Sox debut tomorrow night. Hopefully it goes smoother than Wakefield's first start tonight. He's such a bum. (But when he wins, we like him... Red Sox fans are as fickle as they come).

In non-MLB news, the Gators won their first NCAA basketball championship last night. I think I read in Andrew's column that we're only the sixth school in NCAA history to win a football and basketball championship. While the party on University was nowhere near as cool as the '96-'97 football championship, it was still pretty fun. Too bad I was watching the celebration live on a television in the 95-degree Sports Desk at The Alligator. I'm proud to say that I've been in Gainesville for both title wins, and I hope to God I'll be in Gainesville for Urban's first championship. I wish the Gator baseball team would take a page from the basketball team and figure out how to gel together and win. Their starters stink-- nobody besides Brian Augenstein can even find the plate these days. Even Mr. Reliable Darren O'Day blew it tonight-- we lost to freaking NORTH FLORIDA 6-5. That is despicable.

All right, enough Gator/Sox ramblings. I am about to update my Opening Day entry w/ quotes from Bill Simmons' column, so check that out.

Opening Day-- Sox 7, Rangers 3

2006-04-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Overall, it was a very succesful Opening Day. I couldn't have asked for much more from Schilling. I've had a really nasty stomach virus since this morning though, so I'm going to have to cut the update short. I will add more analysis on the game after I stop throwing up every 20 minutes. I have to work until close to 2 a.m. with the Gators playing for the national title tonight. So pretty much today sucked and will continue to suck-- but at least my boys are back and they won! More on Opening Day later.

_______________________________

Instead of me updating about the first game of the season, I'm going to let Bill Simmons do it for me.

Here was our lineup, in the comical fashion that Simmons is the master of:

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Mark Loretta, 2B
3. The Real 2005 A.L. MVP, DH (HAH!)
4. Manny Being Manny, LF
5. Gerry McNamara, RF
6. Jason Varitek, C
7. Mike Lowell, RIP-er, 3B
8. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
9. The Alex Gonzalez Who Always Does Well In The Winter World Series, SS.

(P.S. How much does Trot Nixon look like Gerry McNamara? Why can't I come up with this stuff? How is it that Simmons comes up with all the witty stuff that is on the tip of every member of Red Sox Nation's pens?)

Great quote from the Boston Sports Guy: "There are about 7,000 reasons why I'm excited to have baseball back, but I think the chance to have David Ortiz back in my life on an everyday basis cracks the top 10. It might even rank first."

Thank God for David Ortiz, seriously. I love his big, gap-toothed smile.

"11:30 -- Our first glimpse of Manny Ramirez, who grew dreadlocks and bleached them gold for the 2006 season. I'm just glad that he didn't randomly decide to pierce his left eyeball or something. Manny grounds out to second, then jogs to the dugout with an "If I poop in the shower after the game, maybe they'll try harder to trade me" look on his face. Thirty cents on the dollar, here we come!"

(That was a gem. Thanks for putting Manny in his place, Bill.)

"1:33 -- Nix robs Trot Nixon of a double. He's on pace for 1,444 fantastic catches this season. Meanwhile, after 10 minutes of the ESPN guys discussing Clemens' possible return and the steroids scandal in lieu of the actual game, I contemplate switching back to Don and Jerry (HDTV be damned). Is this "Around the Horn" or a baseball game?"

(Reason No. 5,683 that I refuse to watch ESPN broadcast a baseball game. Thank God for MLB Extra Innings. Don Orsillo may be annoying as hell, but he's nowhere near as bad as Jon, Joe, Rick Sutcliffe, David Justice, John Kruk, Harold Reynolds... pretty much anyone who mentions baseball on ESPN).

"12:54 -- Hey, is it a bad sign for the Lowell Era that Texas' outfielders are moving up 10 steps for his ABs, almost like the token chick coming up during a company softball game? I say it is. He just flew out to left. More importantly, the top of the sixth just ended with a pitcher named Feldman striking out Youkilis. That's the Jewish baseball moment of the year so far.

1:00 -- Good Golly. Manny just chased down a Michael Young bomb, hauled it in and crashed into the fence, followed by Schilling accidentally making an "I can't believe that nimwit just saved my ass" face ... quickly followed by Manny sitting down Indian style and eating three handfuls of paste. OK, I made that last part up. But the rest happened."

(Simmons, you crack me up... cracking on Manny is way too easy though. Schilling's look really was priceless.)

"1:28 -- After a Trot Nixon single, Joaquin Benoit comes in for the beleagured Rangers bullpen. Have you noticed that "Joaquin" is the Latin version of Antoine? You can spell it Joaquin, Joaquim, Joaqim, Joakim ... when will someone break out the "Joa'quine" for hoops? However you spell it, he gets Texas out of the inning."

(Nice to see Simmons showing some love to UF's own Joakim Noah, but Joakim sounds nothing like Joaquín, and no self-respecting Spanish person spells Joaquín any different than Joaquín Benoit does).

"1:57 -- Pitching the eighth inning: One of the keys to a 95-win season (and both of my fantasy teams) ... young Jonathan Papelbon. And yes, I'm a believer. If there weren't 25,000 companies making baseball cards right now, I would even buy one of his rookie cards.

(Of course, he retires the side on 13 pitches. If you don't think he'll be closing for this team within five weeks, you're insane. Pick him up for your fantasy team. Do it. Trust me.)"

(I knew this months ago. Hence why all of my friends have Pap on their Fantasy Teams).

"2:16 -- With one out, Crisp robs Nix with a leaping grab at the warning track (not only was that catch a 9.9 out of 10, Damon wouldn't have come within five feet of that ball). That's followed by Barajas barely missing a homer down the left field line and eventually grounding out to end the game. Our final score: Sox 7, Rangers 3.

"Well, Keith Foulke, kind of a rough outing in the ninth," Orsillo tells us, guaranteeing himself the 2006 ESPY for "Understatement of the Year."

I can't even speak right now. Why throw Foulke out there? Why? Couldn't we enjoy one satisfying Opening Day win in peace? Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day worrying about this. Five-year grace period, five-year schmace period."

(So true. Foulke is toast and the season has barely started. Give me Papelbon now!)

Nothing too exciting

2006-03-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm very bored of Spring Training. I'm ready for the season to start. Only six days until Opening Day at Texas. This offseason feels like it has been so long compared to the 2004-2005 offseason, which was pretty much a five-month celebration.

My dad is going to New Zealand some time soon to do God knows what, but he says he's using the money he's earning for speaking there to buy us a new HDTV and the Extra Innings package. It looks like I'll be spending quite a many evenings at my parents' house, instead of listening to the games on the internet. I welcome the thought of getting to see Jerry Remy on NESN every night.

I read a column today that broke my heart.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview06/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=2385486

(Sorry I still haven't figured out the whole HTML thing, just humor me and copy and paste).

It's Jim Caple's take on the Cubbies' chances this year. I hope to God the Chicago Cubs win the World Series this year, even if it comes at the expense of the Red Sox. Reading Russ Hibler's story of following the Cubs for 80 years was heart-breaking. It reminds me Sox fans pre-2004. Diehards like Hibler deserve to celebrate a World Series win before they kick the bucket.

Arroyo + Vinatieri gone

2006-03-21T18:20:00.001-08:00

Let's start out with Adam Vinatieri. I think, deep down, I knew that the Patriots weren't going to be able to re-sign Adam. It sucks. This offseason has been abysmal for the Pats. I'm sick of that In Belichick/Pioli we trust bullshit-- I want some real moves, and I want them now. We're sitting around while other NFL teams are getting better. We just let the best kicker in the history of the NFL walk away to a team that is becoming our biggest rival (Colts). Losing Vinatieri sucks, and yes, I am a little bitter that he picked to sign with one of the NFL teams that I hate the most. AV never gave off that mercenary vibe that Johnny Damon, a Boras client, always did. So losing him is sort of a suckerpunch. Some guys are talking about replacing him with Olindo Mare, which scares the living crap out of me. I think that Adam is irreplaceable right now, but hopefully the Patriots have a plan for the future.

Right now, the team is sitting at 20 million dollars under the salary cap, with nobody to spend it on (unless you believe that Ray Lewis to the Pats rumor). I don't understand why this team didn't franchise Adam when they had the chance. I don't understand how they are letting all of the superstars who won us three Super Bowls in four years just walk away.

Still, Adam is an "indoor" kicker. He's always had more success indoors. Statistics don't lie-- he's never missed a PAT indoors (97.9% outdoors). In his career, he's only hit 7 of 16 from 50+ outdoors. He's made 94.4% of all of his indoor FGs. Compare that with only 80.4% outdoors (Mike Vanderjagt has nearly identical indoor/outdoor FG % made). Adam is in his waning years, but he will thrive in the RCA Dome. It's unfortunate that he will never win a Super Bowl with Manning QBing that team though.

They sky is not falling. Life will go on. I can't understand what the Patriots were thinking, but I've got to think that because we are indeed the Patriots, they have a plan.

_____________________________________

In other news, Bronson Arroyo was traded yesterday. Dealing Bronson was inevitable, and here's why. I cursed him. A month ago, I saw Bronson play a concert at Po' Boys, and I got his autograph and what not. You see, everytime I get a Sox player's autograph, they are traded within the year. Sometimes it only takes a week before they're gone. In 1998, I got Jim Leyrtiz' autograph at a Tampa Bay-Sox game, only to see him traded to San Diego the very next day. I cursed John "Way Back" Wasdin and Brian Daubach. A month after I got both of their autographs, they were traded. My biggest curse was Nomar Garciaparra. A year after I got his autograph for the second time, he was traded to the Cubs. There are several more, but I can't think of them right now. The bottom line is that it is my fault that Bronson was traded.

I think I like this deal. I'm pretty sure I do. My heart feels bad for Bronson. He took a hometown discount to stay in Boston. He loved the city, loved the fans, loved the music scene, loved working with Theo. He had some quotes that were pretty depressing today in the paper:

"Theo [Epstein] called me, as soon as I saw his name come up on my [cell phone] I figured he traded me. Yeah, definitely surprising. I always knew it was a possibility just because I'm a young guy who's got a pretty low salary, but I still didn't think he'd trade me, either.”

"“I said all along I'd rather pitch out of the pen here than start somewhere else. I still feel that way right now. But it's good knowing that I'll get 33-35 starts and not have to worry about being left out of the rotation. Still doesn't change the fact that I want to play in this uniform.”

On what was it about Boston and the team that made him want to sign that contract:

"Just, you know, going to Fenway Park 81 times a year, man. There's an excitement in that place I'm not going to get anywhere in the National League except maybe Wrigley. So that was the No. 1 thing. And then, just the group of guys we've had that a lot of 'em still here, pitching to Varitek. I felt like Boston was my second home and I hadn’t felt that way about any other place I've ever played. So, you know, stuff kind of being uprooted. You feel like you're being ripped out of your home. That's the way the game is.”

I'm glad that Arroyo appreciates that that that is the business of pro sports. I genuinely feel bad for the kid, but we've got enough pitching for two teams right now, and he was expendable. He came here after being designated for assignment, and now he has a 3-year contract and a World Series ring.

I welcome Wily Mo Peña into Boston with open arms. He's a guy who could replace Trot or Manny in a few years if he ever learns a thing or two about plate discipline. He's got major power, and he's probably now our best power prospect in the Sox organization. He hit 19 home runs in only 311 ABs last year. He's only 24, which means we can still mold him into the hitter that most organizations believe he has the potential to be. You also have to think that having two other Dominicans, Manny and David, can only help the kid mature into a great hitter. Next year, he can be Trot's platoon man. His career OPS against LHP is .881, which shows amazing production. Peña's got a good arm, but is sub-par defensively, which could be ugly in Fenway's huge right field. ESPN's scouting report says that Peña has the potential to hit 40 homers, which is exciting if it pans out.

Here's Baseball Primer's take on Wily Mo:

"Pena's pathetic OBP is tolerable if he continues to maintain a slugging percentage near .500 or higher. Against RHP last year, he only batted .234/.282/.468, which still is excellent power against them, but a sub-.300 OBP is concerning. He probably doesn't want to become part of a platoon at the age of 24, but given the lack of depth by the Reds, he doesn't need to worry about that.

He's a liability in the OF except for his arm, which means his power at the plate is all that he has right now. If he can maintain it, he should receive more respect from pitchers, and his walk rate might increase if he can accept keeping his bat on his shoulder when he doesn't have a good pitch to hit."

Some Sox fans I know are being incredibly critical of this move. On paper, Wily Mo seems like a one-dimensional hitter. And there's that, "You can never have too much pitching" cliché. Yes, I'd rather Clement have been traded instead of Arroyo, but you have to take what you can get. This should work out well for the Red Sox, but I'm only cautiously optimistic that Peña will ever be a great hitter.

We'll miss you, Bronson. Anytime "one of the 25" leave Boston, you have to feel a little sad.

some Boston-related ramblings and Spring Training

2006-03-19T09:52:00.000-08:00

Continuing over from the Willie McGinest entry, I thought the statement that he released through his agent on Friday just epitomized his class. He said:

"I would like to thank the New England fans, players, media and organization for all of their support during my time with the Patriots. The last 12 years of my life have been nothing short of spectacular, and there will always be a special place in my heart for the Patriots. That being said, I am extremely excited about starting a new chapter of my life in Cleveland. To all of you in the New England area who have laughed, cried and celebrated with me and the Patriots over the past 12 years, thank you. I will always cherish those memories, and I will miss you."

Perhaps Johnny "Judas" Damon could take a few pointers on how you leave Boston with dignity and class. All Johnny did was run his mouth and pour salt in our wounds for a month before he decided to take out an ad in The Globe thanking us. Too little, too late, Johnny. I wish I could be at Fenway when the Yankees first come to town, so I could stand up and boo that man. Guys like Dave Roberts, Derek Lowe, Bill Mueller and even Pedro Martinez will never have to buy another meal in the city of Boston again. It's not too difficult to leave Boston on good terms with the fans-- especially if you've helped win us a World Series for the first time in 86 years. Unfortunately, Johnny managed to completely tarnish his reputation here by not even thanking Boston fans at his NYY signing press conference.

At the Blue Jays-Sox Spring Training game yesterday, this guy walks by with a shirt that says "JOHNNY SUCKS" and "TRAITOR 18" on the back. He got a standing ovation from Sox fans. I'm sure he bought it from those same vendors who hawk t-shirts like "Posada is a little bitch" and "Jeter sucks A-Rod" to fans outside Fenway Park.

The game was quite fun though. If anything, it's nice to be surrounded by obnoxious New Englanders who don't pronounce their Rs and think "wicked" is an adverb to describe anything. And by obnoxious, I mean completely charming. I wore my "Real Women Don't Date Yankee Fans" tank top and got quite a few thumbs-ups and smiles. One Yankee fan stopped me and said, "Aw, isn't that a shame?" The same guy was drilled by a foul ball in the stands a few innings later... proof that God does indeed hate the Yankees.

The game was wicked hot. Most of the snowbirds couldn't last the whole game because the sun was just beating down on us. As acclimated Floridians, we toughed it out though, with the sunburns to prove it. We saw Santa Fe High School's own Lenny DiNardo pitch 3 scoreless innings (39 pitches). Lenny needs to have a good year because he's one of only two LOOGYs that we have. (That's Lefty One Out GuY if you aren't savy with baseball abbreviations). DiNardo picked up the win, allowing only two hits, while striking out two.

The Sox, and I use the term loosely because most of these guys won't make the Major League roster, got to Blue Jays' starter AJ Burnett early. I don't have an inning-by-inning recap, but they scored 2 in the first on a collection of hits by Adam "O Canada" Stern, Willie Harris and JT Snow (who by the way, wears the coolest number in baseball, 84, in honor of his dad).

Snow and Stern had awesome games, although Snow's ended early when he was ejected by the home plate umpire for arguing balls and strikes. He wouldn't stop yapping after his K, and when he went to take the field to play 1B the next inning, the umpire ejected him. You really have to try hard to get ejected in a Spring Training game, but Snow managed the feat.

Seeing Enrique Wilson was pretty f-ing funny. I will always equate Enrique Wilson with the infamous night with Manny Ramirez at the Ritz Carlton. Manny was "too sick to play," yet someone in the media found out that he had been out drinking with Wilson, a Yankee at the time, the night before. I don't expect Enrique Wilson to make the team, as we already have 2 capable third basemen in Lowell and Youkilus. Wilson had a homer off Scott Schoeneweis in the 4th inning, as did Adam Stern. Stern finished a triple short of the cycle. He's having a hell of a Spring Training, if you count how he played with the Canadians in the WBC. Good for Adam. He'll compete with Dustan Mohr for the fourth outfielder (Trot Nixon contingency plan) spot.

The pitchers we saw for the Sox weren't spectacular. Dave Riske, who we obtained in the Coco Crisp deal from the Indians, was terrible. He only managed 1.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, 4 ER and walking two. He's having a pitiful Spring Training.

We also saw Rudy Seanez, the well-traveled setup man who the Sox signed this offseason. Seanez pitched one perfect inning, striking out one Blue Jay.

Other than that, the game was fairly uneventful. AJ Burnett did leave in the top of the second with an apparent injury. I read later that it was an elbow problem. An MRI today showed no significant damage though. Regardless, he pitched like garbage in the first inning against the Sox, and I hope that continues on through the 2006 season. Color me crazy, but I think the Blue Jays made a big mistake in giving him a $55 million, five-year deal.

Pictures from the game are on my dad's digital camera. If they turned out good, I'll add them later. So if you're one of about three people who read this blog, come back and look for an update sometime soon.

In football news...

2006-03-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

I know that this was supposed to be a baseball blog, but there isn't much exciting going on in baseball except every Red Sox pitcher sucking some serious ass in Spring Training.

The Patriots lost Willie McGinest today, and I'm really bummed. Willie Mac was a Patriot for 12 seasons. We non-bandwagon Patriot fans, who have been following his career since he was drafted, are feeling this loss pretty hard. Christ, I remember writing a poem about how ferocious a linebacker #55 was in the seventh grade. He and Tedy anchored the defenses that won us three Super Bowls.

Willie will be reunited with big Ted Washington, and of course the one and only Romeo Crennel in Cleveland. I can't say I disagree with the Patriots not matching the salary that the Browns are offering-- I think it's $12 million over three years, plus $6 million dollars in bonuses and guarantees. The Browns have the money to spend, few upcoming, young free agents to deal with, and most importantly-- the need for a guy like Willie behind the scenes. You really can't knock Cleveland, Willie or the Patriots for this deal happening.

From the perspective of a fan, I truly hoped the Patriots could have helped Willie retire in New England, though. As cliché as it sounds, he always played with his heart and soul, and he never pulled any of that Terrell Owens holding-out bullshit. His presence will be missed in the locker room more than anywhere, in my opinion.

The Patriots also lost David Givens to the Titans, for money he is well worth to them and not to us. He'll be missed too, but not as much as 55.

Now all we need to do is work on re-signing ADAM VINATIERI (a MUST-DO), and extending Richard Seymour and Deion Branch. I swear on my life, I will start questioning my loyalty to this team for the first time in years if we let Adam Vinatieri slip away.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled baseball blog. I'm off to Spring Training on Saturday to see the Minor League Red Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays. It should be good fun. Also, the Gators open their SEC series against Arkansas this weekend at the Mac. Come out and support your Gator baseball team as they defend their SEC title.

World Baseball Classic

2006-03-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

George and I had a great time in Orlando last night watching the Dominicans stay unbeaten at the World Baseball Classic. They defeated Australia 6-4.

We really just went for the atmosphere and to hang out with a bunch of crazy Hispanic people for a few hours, so the fact that we got some autographs and saw a decent game was just bonus.

To tell you the truth, it was hard to pay attention to the game with all of the screaming, dancing, drum-beating Dominicans being so rowdy from long before the first pitch was thrown, until well after we left. Those people have WAY too much energy. I was telling George that it reminded me a lot of a European soccer game. Except here, I don't think any of the fans really cared much about the outcome, as the Dominicans had already clinched a spot in the second round of the WBC. Of course, we all went nuts when Pujols, Ortiz and Tejada batted though.

The Dominican fans were awesome-- this old lady who I guess is a grounds keeper was running around waving a Dominican flag, and everyone out on the lawn would start chanting "LA VIEJA LA VIEJA" which roughly translates to "GO OLD WOMAN!" They would pick out random gringas and teach them how to salsa and merengue between innings. I swear, those Dominicanos know how to have a good time. And they are incredibly baseball-knowlegeable. I'm bad with recognizing faces, so before the game a lot of them let George and I know who various players were.

I'm jumping around a bit... but before the game we were fortunate enough to get Moises Alou to sign for us. We had given up trying to get autographs on the Dominican side of the field, because it was just a mad house. At one point, Ortiz came over to talk with a woman he knew, and I nearly got trampled. I didn't even get to take a picture because I think a bunch of random Dominicans were trying to kill me. So we left and went over by the Australian dugout. Some cute Aussie pitcher gave me a baseball, which was nice of him. I loved George's line-- "You're a girl, you could get anything you want from him." George got a baseball as well. We saw Ronnie Belliard getting interviewed by the Spanish media about 5 feet away from us, which was pretty cool. He wouldn't sign though... jackass. Then Moises came over and signed autographs for about 20 minutes. He litteraly signed for EVERY single kid who wanted his signature. George and I got both balls signed, plus the Dominican flag, which he was happy to sign for two American kids. I'm hopefully going to fill up that flag with signatures in the upcoming future, as I have tickets to a ton of Red Sox games this year in Tampa Bay/Fenway.

At one point before the game George got bored, and we saw a guy wearing jersey no. 51 signing back over by the Dominican dugout. He asked me who it was, and for some reason I blanked out and thought Bernie Williams was Dominican and not Puerto Rican. So he ran off to get the autograph of "Bernie Williams," who really ended up being a coach. In between all of that mess, we ended up meeting and getting the signature of JUAN MARICHAL, probably the greatest Giants pitcher of all time. That was SO awesome. He signed my baseball right on the sweet spot: "Juan Marichal HOF '83." He was a really nice guy too. What a great experience. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us when we ran into Marichal. But just picture an old, decrepit-looking Spanish man, and that's him. I went home and had my dad tell me all about Marichal's career. He told me how he was one of the most fun pitchers to watch, because he was just so dominant and got everyone out. Plus he had that awesome high leg-kick delivery. I guess I would compare his dominance to the Pedro Martinez, cerca '99-'02. I looked up his stats at some site. I had no idea Marichal played a season for the Red Sox. He was washed-up by then, but that was my new fact that I learned today.

After the game commenced, nothing terribly exciting happened... except of course for dancing and singing with all the crazy Dominicans. I tried to take pictures, but once it got dark, my camera didn't cooperate well. My zoom feature doesn't cooperate in the dark for some reason. So I am going to post a ton of pictures (with comments) so that you can see what the atmosphere was like.

I really hope this WBC idea works, because we had such an awesome time. I'd love to go back next time the event is held. It was a great way to kick off Spring Break...

These pictures aren't in any particular order.

Here's Moises Alou signing. He was a really nice fellow:

Best.Sign.Ever. See, even his own countrymen hate him.

The poor man who took this picture spoke no English. So George didn't know when to smile. Way to ruin a great picture of me, Jorge.

This was before the game, when they brought out the flags for each country represented in our Pool.

And all of the players lined up during the flag ceremony:

A shot of the fans in the lawn on the third base side, where we were sitting. They were incredible.

Another fan shot. This time you can see them all playing the drums. MLB had to have made a fortune off of merchandise sales. Everyone there had purchased Dominican jerseys or t-shirts.

The flag's backwards, but I think this will be my new facebook picture:

Aquí se habla béisbol:

If my camera weren't so shitty, you'd be seeing a great picture of Ortiz swinging here:

Ortiz fielding during BP. I love Papi!

Deep down, David Ortiz has a Gold Glove-winning first baseman inside of him.

My two favorite baseball players, David Ortiz and Albert Pujols, during BP. Again, sorry for the crappy photo quality.

Ronnie Belliard, Indians 3B, being interviewed by guys from ESPN Deportes, I think.

Migui Tejada.

O Canada

2006-03-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

The World Baseball Classic is heating up...

...and I may just be the only one in the world who cares. It's been fun, to say the least.

I enjoyed watching the United States get their asses handed to them by Canada today. While the score was close in the end, Canada almost mercy-ruled the U.S. in the early innings.

My boy Adam Stern had a hell of a game-- 2 amazing outfield catches, a double shy of the cycle, an inside the park homerun, 4 RBI. Give the Canadian a roster spot! He also went 2-3 in Canada's first game.

Jason Varitek had a grand slam in America's losing effort. I'm sure all Red Sox fans out there were thinking the same thing as me: Why the hell can't you do that with the bases loaded in REAL games, Tek? As of right now, Varitek has something like the lowest batting average in baseball with the bases loaded with a required number of plate appearances. He only has ONE career grand slam, and that was last season. Before that, he led the majors in most career bases loaded plate appearances without a home run (grand slam). Regardless, his homer was a bomb. Ernie Whitt, the Canadian manager, brought in a lefty to turn 'Tek around and have him hit righty. Apparently, he didn't get the scouting report. Everyone else in America knew what was going to happen. (Or maybe it was just me?)

Given the typical idiocy of ESPN announcers, whoever called the grand slam said, "Red Sox fans out there won't be surprised to see that." Uhhh, how about a stat check on Tek's career grand slams, ESPN? I was also absolutely shocked that yesterday, Harold Reynolds said David Ortiz's Dominican Republican home run was the "greatest home run of his career." Apparently neither Game 4 nor Game 7 of the ALCS-- games that actually counted--crossed his mind.

After Tek's grand slam, your updated Boston Red Sox in the World Baseball Classic statistics are an ungodly:

.750/.786/2.667 = 3.452 OPS
7 runs, 12 RBI in 14 PA

Not bad.

So here's where we stand in the United States' pool:

The U.S. will NOT make the second round if Mexico beats Canada 1-0 tomorrow. If Mexico is to beat Canada (which they could because Esteban Loaiza will likely pitch), the US, Canada and Mexico would be tied at 2-1 records, and 1-1 against each other. That is the first tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker is runs allowed. The U.S. has allowed a total of 8 runs total to the two other teams. Mexico allowed 2 to the U.S.; Canada 6 so far. So if Mexico beats Canada 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1, it would go:

Mexico 2
Canada 7
U.S. 8

...and our darling American team would be eliminated. The U.S. can also be eliminated if South Africa puts up a substantial number of runs on us. But that is all just really confusing, and I'm a journalism major, not a mathematician.

As much as I would like the cocky, Yankee-filled U.S. team to be eliminated in the first round, it wouldn't be good for the future of this World Baseball Classic. As the finals are in San Diego, revenue would plummet because fewer spectators would go, and the TV ratings would probably drop with the Americans out. We may never see another WBC if the United States can't advance out of their pool.

But from the perspective of a Dominican fan, I am enjoying this classic quite a bit. I'm going to the game Friday in my David Ortiz-supporting attire. Yo seré la fanática con la bandera dominicana, gritando con mucho fuerte por mi Papi y Albert Pujols. ¡Qué viva la República Dominicana!

Why does this gringita have a Dominican flag? For occasions like this. It should be great fun.

In other news, I just finished my article on sabermetrics. It's good, I think. I'll post it when I get some feedback from my professor. I think I probably did twice as much work as other people had to do, because my entire article is expert testimony on sabermetrics. Instead of just looking up statistics to verify a trend, I had to really dig deep to find people who knew anything about the topic. I should get extra credit for that.

Bonds

2006-03-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

The straw that broke the camel's back has just emerged in the Barry Bonds-steroids saga. Sports Illustrated has released an excerpt from a new book, Game of Shadows by two SF Chronicle reporters, that has hardcore evidence that Bonds repeatedly used steroids, beginning in 1998.

I'm sure Barry will vehemently deny everything that these authors allege. But at this point, these are no longer allegations. I am left with NO doubt in my mind that Barry Bonds cheated the game of baseball. Barry's steroid use can no longer be called speculation by any reasonable standard.

I am outraged as a fan that he continues to attack the media, claiming racism and a personal vendetta against him. This man used steroids, and it's about time that Selig did something about it. I can't believe Barry had the indecency to do a press conference with his son sitting next to him, attacking the media and saying how we (the media) really got what we wanted.

So what do we do?

Let's wipe out his records. His 73 home runs in a season is now a worthless record. Letting him pass Ruth (714) and eventually Aaron (755) is a disgrace to the pure hitters in baseball who never had the advantage of PEDs.

These allegations had better not be just another "PR" hit to Bonds' reputation. I want real action. I want Selig and Major League Baseball to come out and condemn Bonds. I want him to be forced into retirement. I want him to never play another game of baseball in his career.

I am deeply saddened by the hits that my beloved game continues to take, due to assclowns like Barry Bonds. Today is a very dark and sad day for the game of baseball.

Spring Training commences

2006-03-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've been getting behind with updating this thing. I'm working on a lot of stuff for classes. Anyway, my Sox have dropped their first 2 Spring Training games. I really couldn't care less. I think Spring Training is meaningless. It's just a way for young guys to prove they belong on the team, for fans to get acquainted with new faces, and the new faces on the team to get acquainted with each other.

Spring Training for the Sox began on Thursday night. We lost to the Twins 6-3. We had a scary moment in the first when SP Jonathan Papelbon took a line drive off his foot. It was bleeding, Curt Schilling style. He stayed in the game, and Tony Graffanino bailed him out with a sweet DP ball. Pap finished with a line of: 1.2 , 4 , 2 , 2 , 1, 1 and left the game having thrown 37 pitches. Papelbon said in a WEEI interview after the game that he thought at first his ankle was shattered, and he would miss 3-6 months. Luckily, it appears the injury is nowhere near that serious.
Coco Crisp ended up 3-3, a homer shy of the cycle. I'm really expecting BIG things from him this year. I think he's going to be a solid replacement for Damon and then some. You watch, Red Sox Nation. Coco Crisp is going to pleasantly surprise you-- and I'm never wrong.
David Murphy, Theo Epstein's first draft pick, if I'm not mistaken (too lazy to look it up), finished with 4 strikeouts. If he's trying to earn a spot on the team, it's not working.

Today, we dropped a game to the Pirates 7-6. This one was on NESN, and it pains me that I couldn't watch it. Edgar Martinez took the loss. It looks like mostly scrubs started the game. Nice to see Loretta go 2-2 though. Alejandro Machado had 2 ribbies on a hit. Arroyo started the game, going only 1.2 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits. Not so hot, Bronson-- maybe he played a show last night? The only other pitcher of any significance who threw was Craig Hansen, who walked two, K'd 1 and gave up no ERs.

So, if you're keeping score at home, we've started spring training 0-2. It could be worse-- we could be the Yankees, who are 0-3. Like I said, ST is pointless.

In other news, Manny actually showed up last week. That was awfully nice of him to take time out of his busy schedule to report to Spring Training. I wonder what the hell he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all, for that matter. I'm not sure much goes on upstairs in the head of Manuel Ramirez.

I'm starting to regret buying these Dominican WBC tickets. It seems like the Dominicans lost their entire team in the span of a week- Manny, Pedro, Vlad Guerrero and Aramis Ramirez all dropped out last week. At least we're still going to see Papi and Albert Pujols, which will hopefully make the 2-hour drive to Orlando worthwhile.

And I think this story is pretty crazy-- the Yankees actually put up a sign in Spring Training to apologize to their fans that all of their superstars are gone competing in the World Baseball Classic. I don't know how to do link things in this blog, but there is the story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2006/news/story?id=2354461

What a ridiculous, Yankee-like thing to do. These players are off representing their respective countries, and the Yankees are whining and bitching about it. Probably because they think less fans are going to buy tickets to Spring Training if Jeter and co. aren't around. The fact that my two favorite Sox players, Tek and Papi, won't be in Spring Training isn't stopping me from going to 2 games over Spring Break. I wish George Steinbrenner would just hurry up and die. (Yes, it's my blog, and I can say things like that).

I'd continue rambling about baseball, but I want to watch the Duke-UNC game. It's the only rivalry in sports that comes close to New York-Boston.

The never-ending saga of Manny being Manny

2006-02-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

Well, all of the boys reported to the first full day of workouts in Fort Myers today, except for... you guessed it... Manny Ramírez. Manny has been given special permission by the team to arrive whenever he damned well pleases, which is typical. Manny is probably my least favorite Red Sox player of all time, if you haven't figured that out yet. Last week, Ortiz told some reporter that he thought his Dominican amigo was off in Turin watching the Olympics. Faaantastic. The thing with Manny is that I almost believe David Ortiz wasn't kidding when he said that.

Manny is scheduled to arrive in Fort Myers on March 1. Knowing Manny, he may or may not show up. He probably doesn't even know what day of the week March 1 is. We're talking about a guy who was breastfed until he was five years old. He's a few bananas short of a bunch, as seen by his frequent trips inside the Green Monster while play is going on, and wearing an MP3 player on his sunglasses to listen to music during a game... etc., etc.

I have tickets to see the Dominican Republic play Australia in the World Baseball Classic on Friday March 10 in Orlando. I bought the tickets initially as something fun for George and me to do to kick off Spring Break. He loves Manny. I hate Manny. But we both love David Ortiz-- so that's pretty much why we bought the tickets-- to see Ortiz. Now that Manny is out, it kind of sucks for him. But the way I figure it, we'll still get to see Migui Tejada, Vlad Guerrero and a host of other cool players. It looks like we won't be seeing Pedro though, which is kind of a bummer. I haven't seen Pedro pitch live since August of 2004. Regardless, we'll be the two who don't speak Spanish out in the lawn waving the Dominican flags.

I guess deep down I'm glad Manny isn't playing. Since he's reporting a week late to Spring Training, I think his punishment should be to have to partake in all the stretching, fielding drills and batting practice while a lot of his teammates are off representing their countries in the World Baseball Classic. From the standpoint of a Red Sox fan, Manny needs to spend time in Fort Myers, reconciling with his teammates who aren't participating in the WBC. He alienated himself from the entire team this offseason by demanding a trade, and now that a trade involving ManRam couldn't get done, he's going to have to stick it out in Boston. (And as a sidenote, how could this guy possibly have come to play in Boston and not realize that a lack of privacy was going to be an issue? What a dumbass).

I still hope the Dominican Republic wins the WBC. I think they have a good shot, especially if Pedro pitches in Round 2. If I were the Mets, I wouldn't want him pitching. I'm very worried about my Sox players suffering injuries in this tournament. It would be just our luck to lose Jason Varitek for the season with a home-plate collision. Now that I've said something, watch it happen.

Well that's enough incoherent ramblings about baseball for tonight. I am in the middle of re-reading Moneyball for a trend story that I'm writing for JOU 4308 on sabermetrics, and I should get back to my reading. I'm excited because Bill James, Eric Van (Red Sox employee) and Rany Jazayerli (founder of Baseball Prospectus) have all agreed to talk to me. I'm calling Rany tomorrow to do a phone interview. I'm very nervous... mostly because I have no idea how to pronounce his name.

RIP Curt Gowdy

2006-02-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to devote an entry to the unknown whereabouts of Manny Ramirez, but the death of one of the greatest sports broadcasters of all time will have to postpone the annual "¿Dónde está Manny?" entry.

Curt Gowdy is a legend in Red Sox Nation, and a legend in the broadcasting community. He passed on today, at the age of 86. While he was way before my time, my father grew up listening to his play-by-play, and his impact on the sport of baseball (and all sports, really) is so profound that I feel like I should take a minute to commemorate his life.

Gowdy began broadcasting with the Sox in 1951, and was THE guy, along with announcers like Ned Martin, Art Gleason and Mel Parnell for almost two decades. He was "The Voice of the Red Sox" for most of the Baby Boomer generation, but even a young fan such as myself can appreciate what he brought to the Red Sox and broadcasting.

As versatile as they come, Gowdy went on to work for ABC, NBC and CBS. He could do just about any sport-- baseball, college basketball, football-- you name it. He covered 13 World Series, 16 MLB All Star games, 9 Super Bowls, 8 Olympic Games, 14 Rose Bowls, 24 NCAA Final Fours, and was also the host of the ABC American Sportsman show.

Gowdy won the first Foster Peabody award for outstanding journalistic achievement ever. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in the media wing (Ford Frick Award). He won four Emmy's, including a lifetime achievement Emmy, among numerous other honors. Gowdy is rightfully a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, as well the Basketball Hall of Fame (for broadcasting).

One fan on the online message boards summed up Gowdy well: "He was a broadcaster who made anything he called into a 'must-see.' "

Gowdy had the famous call on Ted Williams' last at bat ever-- the moment that John Updike immortalized in his "Hub fans bid kid adieu."

I may not believe in this stuff-- but I hope Curt Gowdy is up there somewhere, having a beer with Ted Williams and talking fishing. Thank God he lived to see 10-27-04. RIP.

Here's a blast from the past for all the old timers out there:

You're just in time
For the ballgame
You're just in time
For excitement and fun.
WHDH has reserved your place -
So glad you could make it
We know you'll have fun!
Here's Curt Gowdy standing by -
The voice of the Red Sox -
A real nice guy

Pitching & Defensive Improvements

2006-02-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

"Pitching and defense, that's the whole name of the game. If somebody throws a shutout, all you need is one run to win a ball game. Plain and simple."
-Kevin Youkilis

I am really having a hard time comprehending how people can believe that this year's Red Sox team is worse off than last year's. With all pitchers and catchers reporting on the 18th, and some non-P&Cs in Fort Myers already, let's talk defense/pitching.

Curt Schilling looks absolutely fantastic. BostonDirtDogs.com had this telling "Before/After" pic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/JKGator11/BDD_cs_compare-1.jpg

Francona had a great quip about Schilling's physical form:

“Schill’s never going to be a male model (but) he looks terrific. “I think he’s too good to allow what happened last year to happen again.”

If I were a betting woman, I'd put a lot of money on Curt putting up numbers like 2004 (32 GS, 21-6 3.26 ERA), and not 2005 (11 starts, 8-8, 5.69 ERA). He just appears to be driven to finish his career on a high note.

Adding Josh Beckett gives our rotation so much depth, and two TRUE aces-- very similar to the Martinez + Schilling 1-2 punch from the '04 team. As I mentioned in a previous entry, this team is currently featuring 7 starting pitchers, if you count Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon expressed optimism about the pitching situation in a recent Boston Globe article:

"I think we're great," Papelbon said. "We've got a lot of veteran guys that have performed in the past and you can count on them day in and day out, and we've got a lot of young guys."

The young guys he is referring to are Craig Hansen and also RHP/Boston native Manny Delcarmen, who with a solid Spring Training showing could make the major league roster and be a factor in the bullpen.

Closer Keith Foulke's nagging knee injury seems to be in the past. Even if he does show some lingering problems, former St. Johns stud Craig Hansen looks like he could be a real threat to take the closer spot. Hansen has a slider and fastball that he can get up to 97 MPH, and he has spent this offseason working with pitching coach Dave Wallace on a changeup. According to a Boston Herald report, Hansen believes the velocity of his changeup could be low-to-mid 80's, giving him an arsenal of three pitches that he can blow away major leaguers with (*knock on wood*). He looked great in 17 major league appearances last season, and that was without any sign of a third pitch.

Defensively, the Sox are world's better this year. To this day, nobody knows what got into Edgar Renteria last year. But 30 errors was not cutting it, and I'm a firm believer in the fact that Renteria just didn't have the mental mindset to make it in Boston. The boos got to him, and he couldn't take the constant media barrages from WEEI callers and the fickle Boston Globe columnists. Do I think Edgar will play better in Atlanta? Absolutely. Mostly because fans in Atlanta blindly root for their team, and don't care half as much as Boston fans do. (Do any fans care as much as Boston fans do? That might be a better question.)

Needless to say, getting rid of Edgar was a good thing. Perhaps Tony LaRussa was right when he suggested that Edgar would never make it in Boston. "Renterror" is being replaced by former Marlin Alex Gonzalez, who had half as few errors as Renteria. His 2005 fielding percentage (.974) was 20 points better than Edgar's 2005 fielding %.

The switch from Bill Mueller to Mike Lowell at third base is interesting. Though I don't have the stats to back it up in front of me, I know that Bill Mueller was an absolute Yankee Killer. The Sox will miss his bat because Lowell's is a big question mark, and certainly there isn't much of a defensive upgrade there.

At first base, the Sox will probably rotate Kevin Youkilis and JT Snow, who has won six gold gloves. Anything is an improvement over Kevin Millar, who wasn't a particularly good fielder. As far as we fans can see, the only thing Millar was good at was coming up with catchy, team-unifying slogans ("Cowboy Up") and drinking Jack Daniels in excess. If you ask me, Millar was probably on steroids because there quite frankly is no better way to explain his pitiful 2005 season.

Loretta over Bellhorn at 2B is an upgrade as well. The veteran infielder has never made more than 10 errors in a single season. You would be hardpressed to find a more consistent defensive 2B than Mark Loretta in baseball.

Johnny "Noodle arm" Damon is being replaced by Coco Crisp-- another significant defensive upgrade for the 2005 Red Sox. I'm not sure how Damon believes he is going to cover that massive centerfield in Yankee Stadium. He's going to need 3 cut off men just to get the ball back to the infield. I can't wait to watch Coco Crisp in action. He is sure to be a fan favorite by the end of April... if anything because Boston fans love great nicknames (Spaceman, Monster, Oil Can and my personal favorite: El Guapo!)

There are at least four positions (1B, 2B, SS, CF) where the Red Sox have improved defensively. Only one position, 3B, could you make an argument that they've gotten worse. And you can't go wrong with seven quality starting pitchers and a revamped bullpen that couldn't possibly be worse than 2005's pen. While our offense probably won't be as good as last year's, I'll take the defensive/pitching upgrades any day.

Ozzie Guillen makes me smile.

2006-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

Alex Rodriguez is yet again the target of some baseball bashing. The always outspoken Ozzie Guillen called A-Rod out in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2332682

The highlights of the interview:

"Alex was kissing Latino people's asses," Guillen, who's from Venezuela, said in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated. "He knew he wasn't going to play for the Dominicans; he's not a Dominican!"
"I hate hypocrites: He's full of [expletive]," Guillen told Sports Illustrated. "The Dominican team doesn't need his ass. It's the same with [Nomar] Garciaparra playing for Mexico. Garciaparra only knows Cancun because he went to visit."

Nomar Garciaparra diss aside, I think this shows how incredibly disliked that A-Rod is all around baseball. Guillen's 'more Latin than thou' tirade is borderline ridiculous, though it shows what people will stoop to in order to take a cheap shot at A-Rod.

I hate A-Rod as much as the next person, but to imply that Rodriguez isn't Dominican is ridiculous. I have a Cuban boss who has never even been to Cuba, but considers herself more Cuban than American. Garciaparra's father's name is Ramon, and Ramon Garciaparra was born in Mexico. Nomar speaks fluent Spanish, as does A-Rod. These guys should be able to play wherever they feel allegiance to playing. Just look at Lenny Dinardo and Mike Piazza-- neither of them have ever lived in Italy, but their parents are Italian and they consider themselves Italian enough to play for Team Italy. Nobody is criticizing them.

I think Ozzie has a point that A-Rod was trying to kiss some Dominican ass. His wishy-washy "I'm Dominican... no wait I'm American..." act was tiresome, and ultimately just a publicity stunt.

Still, I have to admit that his quotes were pretty funny. I like a guy like Ozzie Guillen who isn't afraid to tell you what he thinks. My favorite part of watching the White Sox is when they mic up Ozzie Guillen. I'm almost glad that the ChiSox won the World Series last year, because that means we get to hear more of him on Sunday Night Baseball. The guys over at Sons of Sam Horn made a great observation-- I'm sure ESPN is counting down the days until Guillen retires and they can put him on Baseball Tonight with other knuckleheads like John Kruk- who are all talk, but absolutely no substance.

A.L. East predictions

2006-02-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

I've been perusing through predictions for how various writers think the A.L. East will pan out this year. As a rule of thumb, I think that most writers don't have a damned clue how anything will turn out. How can you? Sports are simply that unpredictable. Take a look at SI's feeble attempts at predicting how the March Madness tournament will go-- they're always dead wrong.

This year, I think the AL East is one of the toughest divisions to predict. You can go ahead and give the Braves their NL East title. I think Oakland should run away with the AL West. The ChiSox, barring no huge pitching injuries, will take the AL Central.

The AL East is a different story though. CNNSI.com's baseball guy, John Donovan, says that the Red Sox should finish THIRD in the AL East, behind New York and Toronto. The Boston Globe's online blogger guy, Eric Wilbur, thinks the Sox will take the division. Let's look a little closer at the new additions to the Yankees, Sox and Blue Jays. (At this point, I'm ruling out Baltimore and Tampa Bay having any shot of contending for the division. Those teams only tend to play the role of spoiler in late September division games).

The Yankees have gone out and solidified what will be hands-down the best lineup in baseball. I have no doubt in my mind that NYY will score runs in record amounts this year (probably challenging many of the 2003 Red Sox records). Here is a potential lineup for the Yankees. I mean, all hatred that I have for that team aside, this is a SICK lineup:

1. Damon (L)
2. Jeter (R)
3. A-Rod (R)
4. Matsui (L)
5. Sheffield (R)
6. Giambi (L)
7. Posada (S)
8. Williams (S)
9. Cano (L)

But what about pitching? Can the Yankees really expect Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small to put numbers up like they did last year post-All Star Break. Aaron Small finished the season on a 10-0 winning streak. You can bet that won't happen this year. Their pitching is old (Johnson, Mussina), and shaky at best (with the exception of Mariano, who is getting pretty old himself). And what about Kyle Farsworth? How is that going to work out? I don't follow the National League well, so the only thing I know about Kyle Farsworth is that I have a friend who is a diehard Cubs fan, and she used to call him Kyle Farsworth-less. As a Sox fan, I can only hope she is right. Farsworth is going to have to eat up the 89.2 innings that ole reliable Tom "Flash" Gordon gave the Yankees.

All of their pitching uncertainties aside, I don't feel there is any way this team doesn't win the AL East.

How about those pesky Blue Jays? Are they actually a legitimate threat to contend for the division title this year? Rob Bradford of The Eagle-Tribune is another writer who believes that the Blue Jays are the second best team in the AL East. The BJ's big 5 acquisitions this offseason were B.J. Ryan, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, Bengie Molina and A.J Burnett. Color me crazy, but I don't think that those 5 guys take the Blue Jays from an 80-win team, to a 95-win team (approximately how many wins it is going to take to win the division). Burnett is an obvious improvement over David Bush. Burnett posted a respectable 3.68 ERA last year. I expect that ERA to shoot up at least a point with the league switch though. Overbay is also coming off a serious decling season, with his VORP down 20 points between '04 and '05.

What the Jays' real success hinges upon is Roy Halladay staying healthy (missed half of last season with broken leg), and Ted Lilly returning to form. A rotation of Halladay-Burnett-Lily-Towers-Chacin looks great on paper-- but predicting how it will really pan out is next to impossible.

In my opinion, the Blue Jays did NOT improve their team enough this season to warrant a second place finish in the division. If you want to look at a gaping hole that could impact them down the stretch and in close division games, their infield is incredibly weak.

Now on to my Sox. Again, it's incredibly difficult to predict this division-- each team is full of question marks. I simply feel like the Jays have more question marks than the Sox, so I predict them to finish below the Red Sox. I'm also quite biased. Last year, the Red Sox were 7-11 against the Blue Jays. This season, we play them 19 times. One thing's for sure: if the Red Sox cannot improve their record against weak teams like Baltimore and Toronto, they are going to find themselves in third place in the division.

However, I think this year's Sox team is actually better than last year's. The only significant loss in the lineup is Johnny Damon (good riddance, Mark Bellhorn). Filling Damon's hole as the leadoff batter will be tough. But the Sox have improved defensively with Crisp in CF. Their defense is actually substantially better this year, and I'm a firm believer that defense is key to winning championships (see the 2004 Sox, and what an impact defensive-minded players like OCab and Mientkiewicz had). The Sox currently have 7 starting pitchers-- Schilling, Wakefield, Wells, Clement, Arroyo, Pabelbon, and new arrival Josh Beckett. This probably won't be the case on Opening Day, as Wells still wants out, and rumors are flying all over the place that the Sox want to part with Clement. Their bullpen should be excellent, and I have no doubt that Keith Foulke will rebound from a disastrous 2005. He was, in fact, the first player to report to Spring Training yesterday.

The Sox lineup is going to hit-- how can a lineup with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez not score 800 runs?

Just the fact that there are less question marks in that team makes me believe that they will finish second in the division, with the Blue Jays getting squeezed out of a playoff spot, once again. Life is tough playing in arguably the best division in baseball.