Hall of Fame Voting

Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame. This will be his 14th year or something on the ballet, and I don't understand why it's taking so long. The man dominated baseball. According to MLB.com, from 1978-1986 (9 seasons!), he lead all American Leaguers in games played, at bats, runs, hits, homers, RBI, slugging percentage, total bases, extra-base hits, go-ahead RBIs, multi-hit games and outfield assists. It is clear to me that the previous sentence proves my point, so I'm gonna shut up now and wait for him to be voted in.

Farewell, Jimmy

It is a strange thing how I feel about Jim Edmonds being traded. For most of the last couple years I can only say that I had little confidence in Jim at the plate, usually forseeing a strikeout on a pitch up around his helmet. I was surprised when they signed him to a two year $19M contract last year since he had done so poorly and been so hurt the year before...and he didn't seem to have much left in the tank. Probably from running into so many walls and throwing himself all over centerfield so long. (My roommate--loser Cub fan--seems to think all Jim does is catch the ball and fall down...cynic...he just doesn't know baseball).

So, after half wishing they hadn't resigned him and thrown money at a player so obviously not going to live up to it and groaning when he would come to the plate in clutch situations...well, I am sad that he is gone. I was a little surprised, to tell you the truth. Not just because another team would want to trade for him (and I hope he plays well for the Pads...what about Cameron, though?). Jim just seemed like one of those guys the Cardinals would hold onto because he was a real Cardinal and would retire a Cardinal. He has certainly been a fan favorite for years and it won't be the same without him in center. I won't miss his swing-and-miss approach to hitting these last few years, but he was amazing out in the field and still gave me confidence that that part of the diamond was covered. I guess this is what happens when a team gets old and needs to start looking to the future.

Farewell, Jimmy. You will be missed. (and not just by my friend Brian, who likes to pretend you are his biological father)

what a sad, sad day

i can't believe the phillies didn't give aaron rowand what he wanted. he was looking for a long-term deal where he could settle down for awhile. and the phils weren't willing to give it to him, so he moved on.

i think they may have been scared of another pat burrell incident.

burrell was a beast a few years ago... and they gave him a huge contract to keep him in philly. problem was, he started sucking. for three years he became an albatross that the phillies had no choice but to carry, since no other team wanted to pick up a mediocre, over-payed player. it was helpful for the bat of... well, "pat the bat" to pick up again the second half of this past season.

back to rowand. here's a guy who thrives in philadelphia b/c he's a philly-type of guy. he appeals to the blue-collar, gritty south philly crowd b/c he's a gritty-run-into-the-wall-and-break-your-nose kinda guy. that's who we want in philly.

sadly, before rowand, we hadn't had a guy like him since my favorite baseball player of all time, lenny dykstra. coincidentally, also a centerfielder who was covered in dirt after every game. or was it his tobacco juice? ehh... i think it was both.

let's talk about the philadelphia management for a moment. their out loud excuse is that they don't want to pay the money to keep rowand there long-term when they need to spend the money on good pitching.

problem #1: they don't get good pitchers. they get average guys who they say "have a lot of potential." so they don't keep rowand [who, for argument's sake was perhaps a little bit greedy and would have been better off playing three years in a contending city than spending five in san fran, who for all intents and purposes sucks] to save money... and do what with it? THEY SURE DON'T GO AFTER HIGH QUALITY PITCHERS! they're looking at average guys and are willing to give them a shot.

problem #2: there is no shot available to average guys at citizen's bank park. it's a hitter's ball park... and the only way for a pitcher to truly be successful there is to be GREAT... not average.
countless pitchers over the last few years [garcia, eaton, lidle, leiber, etc.] who came in with high hopes sucked.

solution: when your pitching sucks, and there's no hope for having a solid pitching order b/c you're playing most of your games at cbp, it would make the most sense to bulk up your offensive line-up as much as humanly possible and spend the money to bring in ridiculously good pitchers.

this means, keeping your gold-glove, all-star, .300-hitting center fielder.

it means keeping michael bourn, potentially the fastest man in baseball right now.

it means getting rid of two of your four mid-career 3rd basemen to build up some cash or three of your four if you're gonna go after a great corner guy.

it means getting rid of the sucky catcher you paid big bucks for last off season who didn't end up starting after all to find a great 3rd baseman or better yet, some high-quality, sustainable pitching. [which... in looking at their roster, they seemed to have done.]

it means not letting GREAT players leave... like curt schilling all those years ago... who they thought was probably done [though i'll never know why]... but ended up being a hero on what... three world series teams?

the management in philadelphia is insufferable.

so, now they're on a hunt for another outfielder [since they gave up both rowand AND bourn]. they still don't have a great third baseman AND they let iguchi run off with another team, who could have filled that spot.

and alas... they still don't have too much hope beyond cole hamels from the pitcher's mound. we'll see what happens with lidge in the mix... and whatever other scoundrel they pick up.

the philadelphia phillies just dropped down a notch.

you're going backwards, boys... you're supposed to be making your team BETTER... not worse by giving away your great players...

A pleading

Dear Phillies,

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE... don't let Aaron Rowand go.

Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Mrs. Utley??????

Free Agents Part 1

Reports are that the Red Sox are close to signing Schilling. I heard 10 million for 1 year, which means if he pitches as well as he did this year, he will earn more than 1 million dollars a win. Not too shabby for him.

It doesn't bother me though. The Red Sox can afford it. If you believe otherwise they've fooled you.

The great debate is Mike Lowell vs. A-Rod. I say try to get them both. Imagine A-Rod and his 55+ homers replacing Lugo and his, well, 55+ hits. Again, if you don't believe the Red Sox can afford it, they've fooled you. They're a lot richer than they let the fan base think.

The other argument is everyone here hates A-Rod. True. But, those of us who were around back in the late 90s (when you could show up the day of the game and buy a ticket...when Fenway had less seats...and the tickets were half the price they are now...) remember that the most hated player in Boston was Manny Rameriz. Funny how things change.

Ellsberry
Youkilis
Ortiz
Rameriz
Rodriguez
Lowell
Pedroia
Varitek
Drew

That's a lineup.

2004 vs 2007 Red Sox

So, I've been catching up on work and I haven't read anything about the World Series and I missed the parade today. But here is just a thought:

Regardless of who had the better team, the 2004 Red Sox will always be number 1 as far as I'm concerned. No one ever had to overcome more and no one ever will.

75 percent of this region was convinced the Red Sox were cursed. I say 75% now, but in all honesty, it was 100%. I was on record as saying "I'm agnostic when it comes to the Curse of the Bambino," which is mostly because as a Christian I didn't believe Babe Ruth or any other mortal had the power to do that. But it was getting harder and harder every year to argue against it.

Aside from having every single fan in the ball park night after night debate on how the Red Sox would collapse, you had old players, managers and general managers whose careers had been ruined. Grady Little was on record as saying that throughout the playoffs he had players coming to him saying they were terrified of becoming the next Buckner. I believe that.

Then, on top of that, you have to play the Yankees. You don't even understand how much of an inferior complex Boston had to New York. It was horrible. Yankee fans were correct in stating the rivalry was the equivilant of the rivalry between the hammer and the nail. And on the rare occassions the nail won, we were all reminded how irrelevant it was "NINETEEN-EIGHTEEN." It's true the Celtics are historically better than the Knicks, the Patriots are better than the Jets, and hockey is irrelevant. But New Yorkers knew better than anyone that Boston is a baseball town. If you beat Boston in baseball, you've beaten Boston. The region would have traded Super Bowl XXXVI for a World Series in a heartbeat. It might have even traded Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII for a World Series. And all of New York knew that.

(Random Aside- I never once before 2004 met a New Yorker who was a Jet fan. As soon as you'd try in chat rooms or message boards or real life to shield Boston sports from taking a beating by bringing the Patriots into it, you could never find a New Yorker who admitted to watching football. I've never once met a New Yorker who was a Jet fan since either. Do the Jets have any fans???? How do they still exist as a franchise?)

Then you go down 3 games to nothing and are losing in the 8th inning of game 4 with a man who had dominated the league for the last 8 seasons on the mound needing 5 defensive outs. You'd have to be, well, for lack of a better term, an idiot to not realize what was at stake and collapse and fold under the pressure. Cue Kevin Millar. That was amazing. It was a wild ride. The floor I lived on had predominantly people who were from New York. In fact, there was 1 other room besides mine with Red Sox fans. They looked pretty depressed before game 4, which was how I felt. I saw them though, wearing Red Sox gear, and I said "Hey, you gotta keep the faith. And what better way to break a curse then to come back and beat those... in 4 straight." I don't really think I believed what I was saying. I thought they were toast too.

Man, the excitement of that 2004 run will never be matched. Even if the Cubs come back from down 0-2 in the NLDS, go down 0-3 to St. Louis and come back and win the series, then go down 0-3 to the White Sox and come back and win a World Series, there is a precident.

Sure, 2007 had a better rotation than 2004. And it's true 2007 had a better closer. 2004 could hit the ball a lot better and their middle relief would get the edge. 2004 was an aging team which was on it's last legs, and 2007 is a young team on the way up. We'll really see that come 2008 when the Red Sox might win back to back World Series for the first time since 1915-1916. But in the grand scheme of things, 2004 opened the door for 2007 to accomplish what it did. I don't think 2007 could have otherwise.

After the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, in the middle of the celebration, Schilling called them all together and offered a toast along the lines of "To the 2004 Red Sox, the greatest Red Sox team EVER."

I agree with that statement a lot more now then I did then.

it's a sad day...

... because baseball is gone until the springtime.

CONGRATS to john and the red sox! i'm glad at least someone on our blog had a great ending to the season.

do pitchers have a report date yet?

in the meantime... i suppose there are still things to write about. like off-season trades and where a-rod might be going... how our teams could be better... why the nl is so tragically worse than the al... why people insist on bunting being appropriate for baseball... and that joe buck and tim mccarver really aren't all that bad. i like them! [course... i have to like mccarver, being a former phillie and all.]

congrats again to the red sox. they played like champions... there's no doubt about that!

Who is the Best Team in Major League Baseball?

Boston Red Sox
Seven Time World Series Champions
1903 1912 1915 1916 1918 2004 2007

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!

"WELL I LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER....OH- BOSTON YOUR MY HOME!!!!!!!!!"

"DON'T BLAME US IF WE EVER DOUBT YOU, YOU KNOW WE COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU-RED SOX YOU ARE THE ONLY ONLY ONLY"

This one was no where near as stressful as 2004. I remember hanging on every pitch in 2004, wondering who was gonna blow it. I remember "Ground Ball Back to Foulke" and expecting him to throw it into the first row of the seats. This one I didn't. I knew it was over tonight. I would have flipped out if the Cardinals pulled within 1 run in game 4 of '04, but I just got annoyed at the Rockies in the eight and delaying the inevitable. Really, Colorado had no business being on the same field as Boston. They are who I thought they were. A team that got hot at the right time and got lucky and played in the National League. And the Red Sox didn't let them off the hook. I don't have any great indepth analysis or anything right now. I might ramble on for a bit or I might stop the post here.

2007 World Champions. I really don't know what to say. There's no way to sum it up. It's definitely no where near as special as the 2004 Championship. But it's much better than any other year since 1985.

When Papelbon blew away Seth Smith, another guy I never heard of, two things happened. I screamed at the top of my lungs "HE GOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and I noticed Varitek put the ball in his pocket. The Red Sox owners made a huge deal over the 2004 ball with Mientkiewicz. I hope they let Varitek have it. If they complain, I hope Varitek sells it on EBAY or something. Difference between 2004 and 2007: 2004-ground ball, I fall to my knees and almost have heart failure, hanging on Joe Bucks' every word (he sucks so much by the way, he keeps insisting Youk wasn't active in 2004. Why doesn't someone from Fox enlighten AND/or fire him? Note the stress on the AND...) 2007- up and walking back and forth excited, watching Papelbon be Papelbon and then yelling loud enough to block out Buck and McCaver before my baseball IQ dropped any lower.

My grandfather was born in 1915. The Red Sox won the 1915, 1916 and 1918 World Series in his life time. Then he turned 4 and they stopped. He died in May of 1987. The last World Series he ever saw was 1986 when the Red Sox blew a two run lead in game six in the tenth and a three run lead in game seven.

My grandmother was born in February of 1919. The Red Sox were defending World Champions. She died in November of 2003. The Red Sox won the very next World Series.

I had a friend I went to high school with who died in April of 2004. The Red Sox were gonna play in Texas that night, but it was rained out. It was very fitting, cause the last thing I wanted to do was watch a baseball game. He never got to see a Red Sox World Series Championship.

There are plenty of stories like that. Eddie Andleman is a talk show host around here who had his tombstone made up saying "Here lies Eddie Andelman. He never saw the Red Sox win a World Series." He's still alive, so I hope for his sake he wasn't watching in 2004 and didn't watch tonight. Otherwise, he'll need a new tombstone, and those are probably expensive.

As great as it is to be a fan of the World Series Champions, I've learned that baseball isn't everything. I never would have typed that before 2004. In 2004, my thoughts were about people who never got to see it. I guess now I am thinking about that too. But watching the game, my thoughts were along the same lines as Billy Chapel's in the movie For Love of the Game. He pitched a perfect game, and then the next day raced to an airport to meet his ex who was leaving him to take a job in London. He said something along the lines of "Last night should have been the best night of my life, but it wasn't because you weren't there to celebrate with me." I'm not saying it wasn't fun. But I am saying I would have enjoyed it A LOT more if I was in Amherst with my girlfriend Amanda, or if she were in Boston with me. She doesn't even reads this, so you know its true.

Boston Red Sox
Seven Time World Series Champions
1903 1912 1915 1916 1918 2004 2007

And counting...

Game 2

Well, I expected a each side to score more runs, but in the grand scheme of things, the result was the same I anticipated. The Boston Red Sox are now 2 games away from winning the 2007 World Series.

Schilling pitched well. He's been spectacular this postseason, minus that game 2 start in the ALCS. I honestly didn't think he still had it in him. He went 9-8 this regular season, and he's 3-0 in the playoffs. Granted he was hurt for a good deal of the year so I don't know if he's just healthy now or if it's adrenaline from pitching in the postseason or if he's looking for a big pay day next year or whatever. Doesn't matter. It only helps the cause.

On a personal note, I watched the game at home last night. I watched the entire 2004 World Series in Amherst and game 1 this year at a friend's house, so that was the first time I watched the Red Sox play in a World Series game at my house since 1986 when I was one year old. My mom says I watched then, but I don't really remember too well...

Diasuke pitches tomorrow night. The big debate is which of the three do you sit in the NL park? Ortiz, Youkilis or Lowell. I might sit Big Papi to tell you the truth. Crazy as it sounds, Youk and Lowell are too valuable defensively and Ortiz knees hurt. Sit him game 3 and see what happens before making a decision. Plus, you could use Papi to pinch hit for Matsuzaka. I think Papi would be best at that, seeing as how being a DH is pretty much just pinch hitting four times a game anyway...

Speaking of Youkilis, Fox keeps saying he wasn't active during the 2004 World Series. Before this postseason, I had 0 respect for either Buck or McCarver, cause they both are horrible. I gained some because they were better than whoever TBS sent to cover the Boston-LA of Anaheim Series. I've lost all that respect again.

I knew Youk was active in 2004 during the series. After they won the world series, I went to redsox.com and memorized the active roster. But if you hear Buck and McCarver say he wasn't active night after night after night, you begin to doubt yourself. I tried copying and pasting a link but it doesn't work. Go to redsox.com, then go to the press releases, then to the archives and check out October 23, 2004. Interestingly enough, the Red Sox active roster for the 2004 World Series includes 20 Youkilis, Kevin. I should announce the games. I know more about the Red Sox than either of those two.

Game 1

Firstly. Josh Beckett is the greatest postseason pitcher in Red Sox history. That is an undeniable fact. He is arguably the greatest postseason pitcher period. Another start or two and that'll be undenable fact...

Secondly, I can't say I expected the Red Sox to demonlish the Rockies like that. On the other hand, I can't really say I'm surprised either.

I overheard a Rockies fan on the Boston College Shuttle (last week there were Cleveland fans all over campus. Now, besides the three or four in the discussion section I teach they've all dissapeared. Since yesterday I've seen 2 Rockies fans. Where do these people come from? Where do they vanish off to afterwards?) complaining about how Beckett threw nothing but fastballs for four innings and Colorado was so rusty they couldn't catch up. I mention this because it's an excellent point to bring up. Rust had to be a factor. Major Leaguers should be able to catch up to any fastball if they see it over and over again a time and a half through the lineup. Therefore, I am willing to be the rest of the series will be more competitive.

It's interesting though. Game 1 of the ALCS was a blowout too. While it's nice to give Beckett run support, he really doesn't need to much of it. It would have been nice to save that type of production for whoever is pitching game 4 (Lestor?). But, whatever. A win is a win.

I was thinking about it. I know Colorado might win this World Series, but how good are they really? I think the Red Sox and Yankees are better than them. The Rockies are definately better than Baltimore and Tampa Bay. What about the Blue Jays? I give the edge to Toronto, especially if B.J. Ryan is healthy. The Rockies a 4th place team in the AL East. I think Cleveland and Detroit are better, and probably Minnesota, especially if Liriano is healthy. Colorado would be a 3rd or 4th place team in the AL Central. In the AL West, I think I'd go with the Angels as a better team. Seattle-Colorado is a toss up. Pitching to the Mariners, offense to the Rockies. I give the edge to pitching, so the Rockies are a 3rd place team in the AL West.

Regardless, the Rockies are a middle of the road team that finishes about 10 games out of the wild card in the AL, and they might win the World Series. Only in America! Especially now that the Expos don't exist...

Game 2 is tonight. Schilling is on the mound for what might be his last start as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Let's Go Boston!

World Series

Ok, I'm gonna be honest. If I saw any Rockies games this year, they were the 3 against the Red Sox in June. I checked the blog, and I made a reference to the series here, but that was more of an "I'm against Interleague play" type post. I don't really remember any of the three games, which could be either because the Red Sox were blown out in 2 of 3 and I blocked it from my memory, or I was working those nights so I didn't catch them. So, the Rockies are an unknown. Even if I did remember anything, that's all irrevelant now, as it seems they became a completely different team this past September.

That being said, I'm gonna be honest. I truly believe the American League is exponentially better than the National League. I truly believe the Red Sox are the best team in the American League. I don't know if I believe the Rockies are the best team in the NL or just the hottest. Either way, I think the Red Sox should kill them.

I think the Beckett, Schilling and Diasuke are better than any starter the Rockies have. I'd take Manny any day of the week over Matt Holiday. I'd take Mike Lowell over Garrett Atkins. I'd take Dustin Pedroia over Kaz Matsui. I think Youkilis can hang with Helton, and even if you give the edge to Todd, I'd go ahead and take Ortiz over Helton. I'd take Varitek over Torrealba. I'd take Papelbon over anyone. In 64 less games, Ellsbury had 1 more homer, 1 less triple, and 6 less RBI than Taveras. I think it's safe to say Ellsbury is at least as good as Taveras, if not better. The only advantages I'd give Colorado are at Shortstop and Right Field.

The Red Sox should win this World Series. Losing would be the biggest upset in team history.

Game 7

So what team lost the 2007 ALCS? Doesn't matter. They're irrelevant.

I can't believe it. Down 3-1 in the series, come back and beat two Cy Young Candidates to force game seven. Then jump out to an early 3 run lead, but almost blow it.

Up by one in the 7th, Julio Lugo drops an easy pop up, letting the game tying run get to second base. But Cleveland choked. Base hit to left field that easily could have scored Loftin, and they held him. Next batter grounds into a double play to end the inning, lead still intact. Excellent! I truly believe that wouldn't have happened before 2004. They would have been worried about ghosts and would have collapsed, fallen apart just like the Cubs after Bartmen. The ground ball would have went right past Lowell just like it did Rameriz in 2003. But Lowell threw it to Pedroia who threw it to Youk to end the inning.

That brings us to the bottom of the 7th and reason number 2 why John shouldn't manage the Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia up with a runner on third, up by one run and I think there's one out. I say aloud "I'd suicide squeeze here." This is very unusual for me. I am almost always against bunts. By almost always, I mean every time besides tonight when I called for a suicide squeeze. First pitch is a strike. "You're not gonna squeeze with one strike. That's stupid. Actually, no one's expecting it. Yeah, whatever. Suicide squeeze!" Dustin Pedroia swung away against my wishes and deposited the ball into the Green Monster seats. As I've stated before, what do I know?

What do I know? I know Boston exploded for 6 runs in the 8th. I know Coco Crisp made a spectacular catch to end the game. Most importantly, I know that the Boston Red Sox are going to the 2007 World Series to play the Colorado Rockies.

Do Or Die

170+ games comes down to this. The winner goes to the World Series. The loser joins 28 other teams in obscurity. After all, who lost the 1997 ALCS and NLCS? What about in 1987? Chances are, unless your favorite team was somehow involved, you have no idea. For the American League I think it was Baltimore in '97 and no idea for '87. Maybe Detroit? I can't even fathom a guess for the National League. Atlanta in '97? The Mets in '87? Whoever it was is irrelevant. As for who played in the 1997 World Series, Cleveland and Florida. 1987? Minnesota and St. Louis. I know that and I was two years old at the time.

Jake Westbrook vs. Diasuke Matsuzaka with the season on the line.

Don't let these past two games go to waste. Never mind that. Don't let these past 171 games go to waste.

To quote the legendary Ken Casey, "LET'S GO BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Game 6

With one swing of the bat, J.D. Drew and the Boston Red Sox both had a clean slate.

In the bottom of the first, the Red Sox loaded the bases with back to back infield hits by Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis followed by a walk to David Ortiz. Carmona struck out Manny and got Lowell to pop up to shallow right field, not deep enough to score a run. J.D. Drew came up, and Carmona threw three straight balls. Drew was taking all the way and Carmona delivered strike 1. I was watching the game with my friend Jose at his place and I said "I'd have Drew take this pitch too. 3-1, walk gets a run, Drew's up? Take it. But then again, what do I know?" He agreed with me, as Drew has pretty much sucked with the exception of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers he was part of against the Yankees in April and that three game series in Arizona. 3-1 pitch, Drew swings and drives it to centerfield. It looked to be a low line drive, so I'm yelling for it to get over Sizemore's head, whose running back towards the wall trying to chase it. It becomes apparent he's not gonna catch it, and I'm thinking "off the wall, come on, bounce around in the triangle." But the bounce never came. It ended up in the camera well in center field for a grand slam. Everyone in the apartment complex erupted. As I stated earlier, what do I know? I would have had Drew take it.

As far as I'm concerned, that one hit makes up for anything and everything. I'd take that grand slam and his pathetic season any day over him hitting 50 homers during the regular season but striking out to end that inning. If he hit 50 homers and batted .350 and knocked in 140 and won the triple crown or whatever, what difference does that make? The Red Sox win 100 games as opposed to 96? They get the top seed in the AL without relying on the tie breaker? But if Carmona gets out of a bases loaded nobody out in a tie game situation, the games completely different. I refuse to think about it. Moral of the story is J.D. Drew has been absolved of all his sins. What I am thinking about is the fact that for the fourth time in my life, the Boston Red Sox will be playing game 7 of the ALCS.

The Red Sox also got a clean slate tonight. Their backs are still against the wall, but the Indians are too. It's not so insurmountable anymore. Jake Westbrook vs. Diasuke Matsuzaka. I suppose "and friends" should be added to each. Recent Red Sox game 7 history has taught me to expect one team to go to its bullpen REALLY early. That doesn't necessarily mean the team will lose mind you.

For the past three or four days, the Boston Red Sox have been one loss away from elimination. Now, the Boston Red Sox are one win away from the World Series.

Here goes nothing

This is what it all comes down to ladies and gentlemen. We are guaranteed one last game of Red Sox baseball in 2007. Depending on what they do with this one game, we might be fortunate enough to have another.

I wanted to buy a Schilling Jersey for the game. I went to several stores looking for one. I found the home white one and the alternate home red one. The both had "SCHILLING" on the back, which is unrealistic as the Red Sox don't put the player names on the backs of their home jerseys. Boston fans know the players by number. I didn't get either cause if I'm paying that much I want it to be realistic. Also, I really wanted the road gray one anyway, for reason I may or may not have mentioned previously.

But alas, now is not the time to discuss that. Now is the time for playoff baseball.

I love that dirty water...oh, Boston you're my home!

Game 5

I'm shipping up to Boston (woah-oh-oh)
Shipping up to Boston (woah-oh)
I'm shipping up to Boston (woah-oh-oh)
Shipping off to find my wooden leg.

No idea what that has to do with baseball, but that's the song they play everytime Papelbon starts warming up on the mound at Fenway. It's pretty surreal. As he's running in from the bullpen, they play "Wild Thing" like in Major League. Then once he gets set on the mound and comes to the set, the Dropkick Murphy's "Shipping Up to Boston" blares. Hopefully Fox'll show it Saturday Night.

So, there's so many things I wanna say, but I haven't really had time to process. Basically, it comes down to these two points:

1. Two wins in the ALCS is just as irrelevant as one win is just as irrelevant as zero wins. Nothing has been accomplished.
2. Josh Beckett is everything that Roger Clemens never was, never could be and never will be. Clemens routinely choked and was knocked around, ejected in the second inning (many think purposely cause he couldn't deal with the pressure), allegedly begged to come out of the World Series, etc. Beckett is everything Bostonians expected Clemens to be, everything Clemens could have been, everything he should have been- but wasn't. Win or lose this series, Josh Beckett is the greatest post season pitcher in Boston Red Sox history. You put Beckett on the '86 team and there is no "Curse of the Bambino." You put Clemens on the 2007 team and there is no game five, let alone game six. Someone as dominating as him deserves another shot. He's pitched too well and worked too hard to not get a crack at Colorado.

So, it all comes down to this. Fausto Carmona vs Curt Schilling. Just win this game. Seriously. I don't want Cleveland to ever win a championship. I especially don't want Kenny Loftin to ever win a championship. Don't let them go into the World Series rested. Beat them, tire them out, do whatever. Just win this game. Game six is all I ask. Just win game six.

Calm before the storm

So, this is what it all comes down to. Josh Beckett vs C.C. Sabathia.

Just win tonight. All you have to do is win tonight. If for nothing else but to tire the hell out of Cleveland. Don't let Cleveland go into the World Series fully rested. Just win tonight.

Game 4

I thought for a few minutes what to title this post. The above is the only thing I could come up with.

World Championship caliber baseball teams do not allow 7 runs in one inning. It might happen once, as a fluke, in the regular season. But to happen in the post season is disgusting. Again, perhaps we could write it off as a fluke, until it happens twice...in the same series.

I sent my friend Luke a text message after the Indians fifth. "I don't think the Red Sox are going to the World Series..." I stand by that statement.

It's quite unfortunate. Aside from those two half innings, the top of the 11th in game 2 and the bottom of the 5th in game 4, the Red Sox have played excellent. I really don't think Cleveland is that good. That could be jealousy, it could be being a sore loser, it could be whatever you wanna call it. It doesn't matter. They're not. I just can't understand how the Red Sox could melt down twice in the same series like this. I don't know.

One thing I'll say for Cleveland: I think they love and care about each other. You can tell every time they score a run or win a game just by the way they celebrate. The Red Sox celebrate in a way I would celebrate getting a problem correct with other graduate students. In a very professional and business like manner. No big deal. We did our job. Kind of the feeling I got from the Yankees from 1996 till now. Cleveland celebrates like a family would a wedding or a birth or something. Perhaps this is an X factor or whatever. Something I think Cleveland shares with the 2004 Red Sox. I don't know. It's just something I've noticed.

The last two Red Sox teams to win the American League Pennant were 1986 and 2004. In both those series, the Sox trailed 3-1. In both those series, the Red Sox were also losing game 5 in the 8th inning. Perhaps this is just the only way for the Red Sox to win a pennant. I'm pretty sure either '85 or '86 was the first year of the best of seven LCS, so we can't compare to the 1975, '67, '46, '18, '16, '15, '12, '04, and '03 teams.

At any rate, I still take Beckett over anyone. Hopefully the Red Sox win game 5. Then they're better off than the 2004 team. '04 had to win two in a row at Yankee Stadium after game 5. If the 2007 version can live to see Friday Morning, games 6 and 7 are at Fenway Park.

Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka. Those are the three you would have wanted in control of your destiny before the season. The 2004 version had Pedro (2004 Pedro, not automatic win Pedro from '97-2002ish), Schilling (pitching with that sutured ankle or whatever...) and cast away Derek Lowe. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Panic Button

All day, people have been calling in WEEI and demanding that Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, and Julio Lugo are benched for Jacoby Ellsbury, Bobby Kielty, and Alex Cora. Others are demanding Josh Beckett tonight instead of Tim Wakefield. There's even demand for Julian "Automatic Win Day" Tavarez to take Gagne's spot on the post season roster. That's not legal unless Gagne gets hurt... Francona heard the same cries in 2004, when Mark Bellhorn was 0 for games 1-5 in the ALCS and fan favorite Pokey Reese was riding the bench. Francona stuck with Bellhorn who hit the game winning homer in game 6, another homer in game 7 and either the game tying or winning (can't remember) homer in game 1 of the World Series. Will Francoma magic strike again? Get it? Francoma? Cause he's not making changes...like he's in a coma? And it's working? No? Ok.

So, it's 2-1, but it feels urgent. It feels like it's an elimination night. Win or go home. The last time I remember this sense of urgency is... never. Before 2004 there was always a sense of impending doom, and usually people are reluctant to urge doom. In 2005 the Sox were eliminated by the Sox before any mass sense could settle. In 2006 the Sox were hurt and just collapsed and the Patriots started up before anyone knew what hit them.

By the way, I don't believe I've ever honored the 2004 Red Sox World Series Roster. Teams always bring back old heroes for important playoff games to set the mood. I can't really bring any of them to be guest posters or anything, but I can name them all. This seems like as good a night as any to list, from memory, as any good New England boy and girl should be able to do at a moments notice.

3 Calvin "Pokey" Reese
7 Christopher Trotworth "Trot" Nixon
11 Bill Mueller
12 Mark Bellhorn
13 Doug Mientkiewitz (spelling?)
15 Kevin Millar
18 Johnny Damon
19 Gabe Kaplar
20 Kevin Youkilis
24 Manny Rameriz
28 Doug Mirabelli
29 Keith Foulke
30 Curtis Leskanic
31 Dave Roberts
32 Derek Lowe
33 Jason Varitek
34 David Ortiz
36 Mike Myers
38 Curt Schilling
43 Alan Embree
44 Orlindo Cabrera
45 Pedro Martinez
49 Tim Wakefield
50 Mike Timlin
61 Bronson Arroyo

what now?

well, i've finally turned baseball back on. it took me a little while to deal with the pain of the phillies leaving the postseason pitifully.

i mean honestly... they really sucked it up. no offense at ALL... which is obviously VERY abnormal for them... with their nl-leading highest scoring offense.

the one thing that's offering me a bit of solace is that the rockies still haven't lost a game since, like... september. they're currently 20/21... with another win coming soon. as i write this, they're up 6-1 in the bottom of the 7th. they seem unbeatable. i'm not sure why... but they just can't lose!

so what now? well.... i hate to say it... but, i'm rooting for the indians in the al... and the rockies in the nl. it feels weird to me to root against the red sox... cuz i'm used to rooting for them in the al. however, they're on my bad side right now. so, i'm rooting for the indians.

now... as for the world series... i have NO idea what to do. it's almost a guarantee that the rockies are going to the big game... and i may root for them no matter what. i just think their streak is unbelievable and makes it worth cheering them on.

the al is up for grabs. it could go either way at this point.

five more outs for the rockies until they're officially crowned the national league champions!

ps... the greatest thing about the nl playoffs being on tbs is the frank calliendo commercials. they CRACK ME UP.

4 outs away.

there aren't many things in life that i think are better than postseason baseball.

WHOA! 3-run homer for the d'backs. 6-4. you just never know.

i love baseball!!!!

Game 3

I hate the Cleveland Indians. I was once told hate was a strong word. If I could find a stronger one I'd use it.

I'm actually more disappointed in the Red Sox. Sabathia and Carmona were proven to be no match for the Red Sox the first two games. Therefore, there is no logical explanation for why the Red Sox are down 2-1.

Wakefield takes the hill tomorrow. I guess regardless of what happens Tuesday Night, they '07 Red Sox are in just as good a position as the '04 Red Sox were.

Game 2

Well, I honestly thought I'd be blogging about how Manny was a hero again. Don't get me wrong, he was. His two run bomb not only put him in first place all time for career post season homeruns, it also tied the game at 5 and set up Mike Lowell's go ahead 1 run shot.

But, the Sox blew that lead. And Eric Gagne, who has been the biggest trade deadline bust in the history of the world, came out in the 11th inning of a 6-6 game. He had a short leash, as evidence of the fact that he was pulled after walking someone, leaving men on first and second and only having retired one batter. Javier Lopez comes in to face old friend Trot Nixon, pinch hitting. In Boston, Trot never ever got a hit off a left handed pitcher. Until Sunday Morning at 1:30 AM that is. And then Cleveland just poured on, scoring 7 which is apparently a MLB record for most runs scored in an extra inning of a postseason game.

So, the series is tied 1-1. It's exactly what Cleveland wanted before the series began. We more or less have a five game series, one in which the Indians have home field advantage.

The Red Sox obviously need to take 1 in Cleveland. Otherwise the series is over. But I'm asking for 2. Take 2 out of 3 at Jacobs field and come back to Boston up 3-2. Then everything will be fine.

Game 1

The Red Sox dominated last night, 10-3. It wasn't even funny. Manny had another good night, making two spectacular catches in left field and knocking in three runs. Beckett was in cruise control the entire night and came out after six innings with a pitch count of 80. The announcers kept talking of him coming back on short rest to pitch game four. I'd only consider that if the Sox are down 2-1. Unlike any year previous to this in my life time, the Red Sox are the clear cut best team, so it's kinda unnecessary. Right now, at this instance, I think they can win with any of their pitchers on the mound. In '99 I would have done anything to have Pedro pitch every playoff game, because he was the one shot to win. Unlike Pedro, Beckett has help. No need to risk him getting hurt.

Schilling is on the mound tonight against Carmona. I was terrified of this matchup before the series, but something about the Red Sox winning 10-3 in game one relaxes me. I think I've been lulled into a false sense of security. We shall see tonight

...in other news...

The Indians will not win the World Series. A Cleveland sports collapse is like watching a great Shakespearian tragedy: You know everyone dies at the end, but you enjoy seeing how it happens.

Also: The Patriots are overrated.

Ok, I've made my World Series champion pick....

I think the Padres are going to win it all! They've been tearing it up recently.

Who agrees with me?

It feels weird...

Doesn't feel like it should be the ALCS. Not without the Yankees. It doesn't feel right.

No disrespect to Cleveland. I honestly think they have a real good shot at beating Boston. But something is missing without the bitter hatred between Boston and New York. Fans hate each other, the media members hate each other and the players sure don't love each other.

I used to root against the Yankees all the time in hopes of avoiding them. I can't say I wanted the Yankees to beat Cleveland. But I do miss the headlines and sidestories that could have ensued. Would have been much more interesting than the talk of the bugs attacking in Cleveland I'm currently listening too...

The Greatest 10 Word Phrase in the English Language

New York has STILL not won a championship this millennium.

Let's review. The millennium started January 1, 2001. Below is a team by team breakdown of championships won by New York teams in the four major sport teams since then.

New York Yankees- 0 championships
New York Mets- 0 championships
New York Jets- 0 championships
New York Giants- 0 championships
Buffalo Bills- 0 championships
New York Knicks- 0 championships
New York Rangers- 0 championships
New York Islanders- 0 championships
Buffalo Sabers- 0 championships

I'm pretty sure the Nets are moving to Brooklyn or something in the next few years, so let's look at them too.
Brooklyn/New Jersey Nets- 0 championships

So yeah, 9, maybe 10 teams. 0 championships this millennium. I could look at New England, which has 4 teams and 4 championships (that's less than half the teams, more than infinitely times more championships) this millennium. But I won't.

Anyway, in more relevant news (oh...he just said New York and it's sports teams are irrelevant...oh!!!), it's the Cleveland Indians vs. the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. Where is David Williams? I think he should be a guest blogger for this series.

Cleveland's good. Especially their pitching. I guess no matter who you get in the ALCS it's gonna be tough, but this seems a little too tough. I don't like how they won tonight and didn't have to use Sabathia in game 5. Now it'll probably be Sabathia vs Beckett, Carmona vs Diasuke, Westbrook vs Schilling and Byrd vs Wakefield/Lestor. I think Beckett can beat anyone, so it would have been nice if he took out Carmona, leaving Diasuke vs Westbrook and Schilling vs Byrd (advantage Diasuke/Schilling). True, Sabathia would then kill Wakefield/Lestor, but then you're up 3-1 with Beckett on the hill. Can't complain about that.

It might be worthwhile to screw around so something like that happens. I like Beckett vs anyone. I'll take my chances. I realize it's not automatic, but I'm counting any day he pitches as a win. Throw him game one. Pitch Wakefield game two, and if he loses to Carmona, big deal. So it's 1-1. Diasuke could beat Westbrook and Schilling Byrd, so it's 3-1 with Beckett vs Sabathia again. I'm still taking Beckett.

I don't like the Indians. I never did. I use to hate Manny Rameriz. Oh, I would fear him. He was so good he'd somehow knock in the guy on the on deck circle. He hasn't done that yet as a Red Sox, but I seem to recall it quite a few times when he was with Cleveland. The Indians and Red Sox have met up in the playoffs three times. In '95, the Indians swept Boston. In '98, I think it was 3 games to 1 Cleveland. In '99, the Red Sox had what was up to that point the greatest comeback ever, winning game 5 and the series after being down 0-2. In game five, Indian Manager Mike Hargrove intentionally walked Nomar Garciaparra twice to face Troy O'Leary, a true Irish Man. Both times, O'Leary homered. One was a three run shot, the other a grand slam. Mike Hargrove was fired afterwards. Pedro Martinez came out of the bullpen in the fourth and pitch 6 perfect innings. It was glorious. Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS might be my favorite game ever.

1948 was the last time Cleveland won a World Series. That year, they tied the Red Sox for the AL Pennant, and a 1 game tie breaker was played at Fenway Park. Clearly, the Indians won, and went on to beat the Boston Braves. So, yeah. all the more reason to not like Cleveland. I'd say it's about time to get some revenge.

P.S.- Yesterday, the New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns. To all our loyal Cleveland readers, Belichick says "Hi."

devastation

i can't even talk about it b/c i'm too sad.

it's like they just decided to stop playing baseball.

ugh.

Game 2

So, the Red Sox had a 2-0 lead. The Angels were up and a runner was on second. and a ball was hit to left field. Manny Rameriz, hustling as are his ways, overran the ball. The run would have scored from second anyways. The damaging thing is that it turned it from a single into a double.

The Angels tacked on two more that inning, the last on a double to left by one of the 25, Orlando Cabrera. My mom and my girlfriend both were mad at Manny, and began taunting me cause I'm a big Manny defender. Rameriz couldn't have caught the Cabrera fly ball. It landed closer to Crisp than him. Some people just really hate him for some reason.

In the fifth inning, Manny came up to bat and appeared to pop out. But the ball carried into the stands. Angels catcher Jeff Mathis reached into the stands and made an excellent effort, but a fan caught it. A lot of people are comparing this to Bartman and Jeffry Maier. I don't really remember the Bartman thing, as to whether he reached out or Alou reached in. But this is nothing like Maier. Maier was a little punk who reached out over the playing field in right field
and took a Jeter pop up and made it into a homerun. Major League Rules say when fans reach onto the playing field like that, they are to be ejected. The New York Yankees, as always acting above the rules, instead gave him tickets behind the dugout for the rest of the playoffs. This kid in Boston had every right to the ball, as it was clear Mathis reached into the stands.

Anyway, there was one outs when this happened, and Manny drew a walk to load the bases. Lowell hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game up.

Later in the game, Rameriz made a spectacular catch on a ball the wind was blowing all over the place. He got turned around two or three times before picking it off right before it hit the ground. If anyone else makes that play, they are applauded and talk of a Gold Glove ensues for the next ten minutes. Because it was Manny, the announcers talk about how it proves Rameriz obviously isn't in the lineup for his glove and he got extremely lucky on a routine fly ball. P.S.- I never thought I'd hear worse announcers than the Buck/McCarver or Miller/Morgan combos. Then TBS/TNT started broadcasting games. Rumor has it Don Orsillo is doing one of the National League series. Why can't he do the Red Sox? He actually has talent.

Anyway, game tied at 3 in the bottom of the ninth. Lugo leads off with a single. "Excellent," I proclaim, "now Manny will send us home happy." My mother and my girlfriend shoot me looks of disgust and then look at each other rolling their eyes. Pedroia's at the plate. Sox hit and run, which is a good thing cause its a ground ball that otherwise would have been a double play. 1 out, Lugo on second. Youkilis comes to the plate and the so called Greek god of walks strikes out. Nevermind the fact he's not a god...he's not even Greek. That brings David Ortiz up. I predict loudly that Ortiz won't come through, but Manny will bail him out. The aforementioned company doesn't like this prediction. The Angels intentionally walk Ortiz. "Fools!" I proclaim, "Why would anyone want to face Manny with runners in scoring position?" My mother tells me it's cause Manny's not that good and the Angels know they can get him out. First pitch, ball low and away. Second pitch, a swing like only Manny can put on the ball, and immediately my hands shoot up into the air. "I told you so!" I proclaim. I thought of proclaiming instead "I hate to say I told you so" but such a proclamation would have been false. I thoroughly enjoyed proclaiming it.

My mom, watching the Red Sox celebrate, said "Why would they ever wanna pitch to Manny in that situation?" I don't know Mom. I don't know.

P.S.- The Yankees are down 0-2 with Clemens on the mound. I really really really hope he vows to "Pitch like a warrior." There's a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie out. Wonder if he feels like advertising for them...

Game 1

Josh Beckett pitched the most dominating game in Red Sox post season history tonight. Some might argue this is a ridiculous statement, as Red Sox post season history is over 100 years old and I definately didn't see all those games. To steal a line from Jon Stewart in his book "America", those people are communists. Josh Beckeet pitched the most dominating game in Red Sox post season history.

9 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, no runs, no walks. The numbers don't do the performance justice. Beckett was unhittable. The outcome of the game was never in question. I don't remember a single Angel reaching second base. After allowing a lead off hit to start the game, he retired 19 straight and made them all look like fools. People were swinging and missing by several feet. It was glorious. I was reminded of vintage Pedro, but on a bigger stage. In fact, the only Red Sox post season performance that rivals this is Pedro coming out in relief in game 5 of the 1999 ALDS and pitching 6 perfect innings to beat the Indians. Yet, Pedro only retired 18 straight in that effort.

But alas. It's only 1 game. Only 1 win. One October win is pretty much as meaningless as zero October wins. Diasuke Matsuzaka takes the hill Friday in game two against Kelvim Escobar. Keep it up gentlemen. 1 win, 10 to go.

THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

i still can't believe it. seriously?!??! did this REALLY just happen!?!??!

unreal. even unfathomable.

let's review.

actually... i'm too excited [and too distracted by the sucky eagles game] to think through all the reasons of why this shouldn't be happening.

BUT IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'll flesh out the details later... but for now... i just HAD to acknowledge the amazingness of the day.

GO PHILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007 American League Eastern Division Champions

Well, the Boston Red Sox did something they haven't done this millennium. They beat the New York Yankees in the regular season. Also, they own the tie breaker over the Angels and are two games ahead of them with two to play, so they are guaranteed to have home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But it's not over yet. Division titles are pretty worthless. Let's look at history.

1995- Red Sox win AL East to participate in the first ever MLB 8 team playoff. Back then, the MLB had a quirky rule where the first round matchups were played based on which division the wild card winner was part of. Therefore, although they had a better record than the wild card New York Yankees, the Red Sox had to play the best team in the AL in the first round, the Cleveland Indians while the Yankees got an easier draw of the Seattle Mariners (note how everything always favors the Yankees...). The Red Sox got swept in three games, though justice prevailed a bit as the Mariners beat the Yankees in five. Roger Clemens blew a 2 run lead in the sixth inning of game 1, which the Red Sox eventually lost in 15 innings or something ridiculous like that. Just wanted to point that out.

1990- I don't remember this year so well. I was five years old, but through stories and rumors and stuff, this is what I've pieced together. The Red Sox were trailing the Oakland A's 3 games to none in the ALCS on the verge of elimination. This was before the wild card so this was the first round. Ace Roger Clemens vowed to "pitch like a warrior" and came out wearing heavy eye black and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shoelaces (I'm not making that up...). He then got ejected in the second for arguing balls and strikes and the A's swept the Sox to go to their third consecutive World Series. Way to go Roger!

1988- I was three years old, so this is what I know: The Red Sox met up with the Oakland Athletics featuring Bash Brothers McGwire and Canseco. I don't know anything about the series aside from the fact that the Sox were swept 0-4. Oh, yeah. I'd be willing to bet Clemens probably had a meltdown of some sort. I looked it up on Wikipedia. I was right. Game two says the following:

"Trailing for the first time in the series, the A's deficit only lasted two batters. Henderson singled and Jose Canseco hit his second home run in two games to tie the score at two. Dave Parker singled but was forced at second by Lansford. Lansford got to go to second when Clemens balked and to third on a wild pitch. Lansford then scored on Mark McGwire's single to give the A's a 3-2 lead."

Way to hold that lead, Roger!

1986- This is what I know. I know from stories. I know from seeing it on classic sports. I know from countless hours spent researching. Bill Buckner caught the final out to clinch the division championship. It was a pop out to first base. And he caught it.

Then he gave an interview, and a question came up about being nervous. He said something along the lines of "Well, no one wants to have a ground ball go through their legs in the ninth inning of the World Series to let the winning run score, but you can't think about that."

Um. Yeah. The Sox should have lost in the ALCS to the California Angels. In fact, rumor has it several Angels had already opened up champaign to celebrate during game five up 3 games to 1. California was up 5-2 in the ninth. The Sox rallied to take the lead, capped off by Dave Henderson's 2 run homer off the Angels closer Donnie Moore. He eventually killed himself. I don't know if it was because he blew the game, but that couldn't have helped. The Sox blew the lead in the ninth, but eventually won it in the 11th. The Sox won the next 2 games to win the series and set up a date with the Mets.

Everyone knows what happened. The Red Sox lost 4-3. Buckner's interview fear came true during game six. The Sox had a 3 run lead the next day but still blew it and lost the Series. Say what you will about Buckner, but he hasn't killed himself and I pray he never does. Roger Clemens had a "blister" in Game 6 well before Buckner ever became a goat and came out of the ball game. The Bullpen blew it. Fights still break out to this day among members of the team as to whether Roger was forcibly pulled by manager John McNamera against Clemens wishes or else begged to come out. It's irrelevant. It started the Clemens post season meltdowns that plagued him as a Red Sox.

Anyway, what was the point of this trip down memory lane? The last game the Red Sox won in 1986 was Game 5 of the World Series. If you notice, it's also the last time the Red Sox won a playoff game as a division champion. Since Game 5 of the 1986 World Series, the Red Sox are 0-13 as division champions in post season games.

So yeah. Congratulations on finishing ahead of the Yankees. That really is awesome and well, I guess it's about time seeing as how it's been 12 years. But I guess what I'm trying to say is division championships are pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't matter if you go to the Prom in a Limo or on the MBTA (which I REALLY wanted to do my senior year, but no one else did...). Once your there, you still gotta dance.

"no one in the nl can clinch ANYTHING"

says the espn news guy.

ISN'T IT EXCITING?!?!??!?!??!!?!?

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

i'm starting to have hope. but the phils have done this 4 of the last 5 years... so part of me is afraid to hope.

one game behind in the east. either .5 or 1 game behind in the wild card. i'd much rather them win the east.... but right now i just want them in the playoffs!!!!

Amazing

The Tigers won today, but the magic numbers went down!

The Red Sox beat Tampa Bay, 8-1. The game was much closer than the score would lead you to believe. The Sox blew it open scoring 1 in the 8th and 4 in the ninth. It was Josh Beckett's 20th win this year. Tampa Bay actually pitched pretty well behind starter Scott Kazmir. Devil Ray pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, which is ridiculous. So it was a pretty good game.

And, the entire night, the Yankees were losing to Toronto 4-0. Roy Halladay was pitching in the ninth and was 1 out away from a complete game. Then Aaron Hill made an error and the Yankees eventually tied the game. Seems to always happen at Yankee Stadium. But, Greg Zaun hit a homer in the top of the 14 or 15th or something, and the Yanks were retired in order. That means the AL East Magic Number dropped for the first time since last Saturday!

Updated Board looks like this:
Red Sox
Playoffs: 2
AL East: 7

Patriots
AFC East: 13


Fun fact- I learned while listening to the game on AM 680 that the Devil Rays are changing their name next year, and their uniforms. I guess the uniforms will be blue and the team will be called the Rays. I guess I'll have to call them the Pesky TB-Rays next year...

Apparently, some people think God cursed the team because of the Devil reference (I'm not making this up...). I guess those people don't realize the New Jersey Devils have won two Stanley Cups since the Devil Rays came into existence. But then again, not many people do because the NHL is irrelevant...

Magic Numbers

So, in my office, I have on the bulliton board a "MAGIC NUMBERS" Section.
It has the Red Sox's magic number for a playoff spot, the AL East, and the Patriots' for the AFC East.

All I can say is I'm very thankful the Tigers keep losing. That's the only reason any of those numbers change on a day to day basis. The Patriots can change at most three times a week but mostly just once a week. The Red Sox suck so they lose nightly. The Yankees no longer suck so they win nightly.

The Red Sox are gonna back their way into the playoffs. They probably won't win the division. It doesn't seem like they care. Bucholtz was pulled after allowing 1 earned run over 4 and 2/3 innings. They only pitched him to set the post season rotation up. They've shaved 2 games off their AL East Magic number this past week, and they're already worried about post season rotation.

All I'm saying is it's a real good thing the Tigers keep losing. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the only way the Red Sox make the playoffs this year. Three Tiger losses.

could it be?!?

could the phillies really be getting serious about making it to the playoffs?!?!!?!?!?!?!!??!?!?!?!

I Missed My Chance

Well, now that I am getting around to writing it is painfully obvious that the Cardinals will not be appearing in the postseason this year. I have said that many times during this season, but after the Cards climbed to within a game around a week ago I was actually hopeful that they could pull it off. That may have been foolish, but there was real hope and reason to believe. I should have been writing about that back then...I missed my chance.

Now all I can do is lament the fact that I got my hopes up for awhile. And state for the record that I have been rooting for the Brewers most of the year to win the Central. Not that I was rooting for them over St. Louis...I have just not felt confident that the Cards could really win it and I KNOW I can't stand the Scrubbies winning it. So, knowing that the most likely scenario for the Cubs not winning the division is for Milwaukee to win it, I have rooted for them to win. Friends tried to point out that we need the Brewers to lose to gain ground on them and get to first place, but when you have given up on your team actually being good enough to be in first place, well...it changes the situation. So, I am hoping for the "Brew Crew" to play well and the Cards to give them some help this weekend against Chicago. But I just can't see STL pulling off a miracle and winning the division.

Oriole Elimination Night!

The Red Sox beat the Orioles tonight in Camden Yards 7-6. The Orioles are now officially eliminated from the AL East. That's the way to do it. Go into their house and end their division dreams. Taking care of business. Two down two to go. The Blue Jays elimination number is 10.

The Pesky D-Rays are still hanging on in the wild card. Their elimination number is 3. It'll be at least two days till we have the Devil Ray elimination party.

Next division elimination: The White Sox. If the White Sox lose or the Indians win, the White Sox will be eliminated from the AL Central. The Indians are playing as I type, but losing 5-3 to the Angels. The White Sox wild card elimination number is 4, so they could go out the same time as the Pesky D-Rays.

Oriole Elimination Night?

I'm going to Fenway Park tomorrow with some friends from college. Can one going to graduate school say that and have it be understood they mean friends from the undergraduate institution? Whatever.

Anyway, the Orioles elimination number from the AL East is 2. If the Sox beat the Blue Jays and the Pesky D-Rays beat the Orioles, then the Orioles will be eliminated from the AL East. Where better to celebrate Oriole Elimination Night than Fenway Park? Make it happen!

I slept a lot better last night...

The Red Sox beat the Orioles 3-2 Sunday. The win eliminated the Pesky Devil Rays from the AL East Race. 1 team down, 3 to go. The D-Rays are the only team mathematically no longer alive for a division crown, but I bet if we went through the schedules and senerios, a few more teams would be eliminated. Mathematically speaking, Tampa Bay's elimination number from the post season is 6. So, probably some time in the next week or two, we'll be having a Tampa Bay Devil Ray elimination party. Everyone's invited.

p.s.- Baltimore's elimination number in the AL East is 5.

Back on track: Clay Buckholz's better than Schilling

So, the Red Sox went into Saturday Night's game having lost four in a row. I missed the begining of it, because my friend Jose and I went to see the Boston College Eagles defeat the defending ACC Champion Wake Forest Demon Deacons (what a silly name). Afterwards we went to his house and turned on the tv and booted up the computer to check the box scores on what we'd missed. Jose told me "The Sox are up 1-0. Crisp drove the run in. Buckholz has a no-hitter through two and a half. That doesn't mean anything." We met up with Jose's friend Andre and went to the super market after the fifth to get burgers to grill, listening to the game on the way. When we got back to his house, the Orioles still hadn't going into the 7th. And for the most part, Buckholz seemed unhittable. Jose's brother went and fired up the grill and kept asking us when we were going cook the burgers, but we kept waiting. Andre said it was gonna end up like Schilling. Jose told him he couldn't say that until after the game.

The ninth inning went relatively smoothly. First batters were retired in routine fashion. That brought up Nick Markakis. On a 1-2 count, Buckholz threw a pretty nasty off speed pitch- looked like a curve to me but the Rem Dawg kept saying the pitches that looked like curves to me were actually changeups (most movement I've ever seen on a changeup)- which Markakis took. "Strike Three" I declared. It started above his belt and was caught below his knee over the heart of the plate. Clearly a strike. I mean, I don't know how anyone could think any differently. If it starts above the belt, crosses the plate, and ends up below the knees, it has to have gone through the strike zone. The Home Plate Umpire took a few seconds, and just looked. He soaked it all in, the atmosphere, Fenway Park, sold out as always, rookie pitcher in his second career start, officially one strike away from a no-hitter. Then he stood up and raised his fist to confirm what I already knew. Strike Three.

The hoopla that follows no-hitters is always interesting. It looks like the team just won the World Series. But this was particularly interesting. After they got done jumping up in down in a Royal Rumble type looking thing, they all took turns shaking Buckholz hand. Beckett was in line right before Curt Schilling. I think Schilling must have pissed off Josh because he grabbed Buckholz and started screaming "BETTER THAN SCHILLING'S! MUCH BETTER THAN SCHILLING'S!" Maybe once or twice to Clay, but like 57 times to Curt, who quickly shook Clays hand and turned to go back to the Club house with an ecstatic Josh Beckett on his heels still shouting "BETTER THAN SCHILLING'S!"


The Yankees won, so they're still five games behind the Red Sox. But more importantly, the Red Sox win coupled with the Yankees beating Tampa Bay puts the Devil Ray's elimination number in the AL East down to 1. One more Red Sox win or one more Devil Ray loss means they are eliminated from the AL East Division Race. I don't know about you, but I'll sure sleep alot better knowing the pesky Devil Rays are eliminated.

And I think it's gonna be a long long time....

The Rocket will face the Boston Red Sox tonight for the first time since Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Josh Beckett, who came real close to wearing 21 for Boston, will pitch for the Bo-Sox. The Sox have a 7 game lead, but it's still a big game. I really want Roger to get his butt kicked in this one. Just to give him an idea of what he's missing out on.

I don't think I've watched him pitch at all this year. It's weird. It kinda feels like he never left New York to tell you the truth. He spent the better part of his first five years claiming he was a true Yankee and how he'd spent as much time there as Reggie Jackson. I guess I'm forced to agree with him. Give him what he wants. Put the interlocking NY on his Cooperstown plaque. It's who he really is. For all I care, don't even put "Boston 1984-1996" on his plaque. Definitely don't hang up a red 21 above the rightfield grandstand. Not unless its for Tex Hughson.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

CHASE IS BACK!!!!!!!!

and he hit a homer today to prove that he's all better. : )

is there any hope left?

4 major players are out:

chase utley
cole hamels
shane victorino
michael bourn

not sure what the status is on vic or bourn... but utley and hamels should be coming back soon. utley's been playing in the minors [though not very well]... and hamels has a return date of september 3... as he's been throwing some pitches, etc.

do they have a chance? can the phils make it to the playoffs?

let's be honest... they have one of the best line-ups in the league... but a horrific pitching staff. hamels is superb... moyer gets the job done most of the time... and the new guy, kendrick hasn't been doing too badly. but... much of their maligned rotation and bullpen have both been absolutely terrible. i think the phillies' solution to the problem has been to put guys on the dl. garcia, eaton, leiber, gordon. oh flash.

now, i'm aware that citizen's bank park is a hitters ball park... which is partly why the phillies lead the league in runs scored. but, that also means that when opposing batters come in, they also do decently well. but in my mind... the pitching staff needs to compensate for that.

the management keeps picking up these random guys who're pitching terribly elsewhere... saying that there's something about them... and that if they could just harness their weaknesses, they could turn them into strengths. HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YOU, BILL AND PAT?!?

honestly.

i read last night that when chase gets back, they're gonna put tadguchi on the bench. i think this is a bad idea. in an ideal world... they'd be prepping him to play 3rd... so the starting line-up would look like this:

1st: howard
2nd: chase
3rd: j-roll
c: [this one's tough...] coste?
rf: vic
cf: rowand
lf: burrell [only b/c he's got a hot bat right now]... being replaced by bourn part-way through the game

don't think for a second that burrell's growing on me. i'm just logically acknowledging that he's hitting the ball pretty well these days. course... he has to... cuz if he doesn't hit home runs, he might not make it around the bases any other way. like that guy in the stands my first game of the season said, "hey pat! leave your wallet in the dugout so you can run faster!!" so good.

anyway... i think they have a chance. course... they have to get out of the 7-game hole they've just dug themselves into. and to be fair... the mets are incredible. not perfect... but they have some serious talent. but so do the phillies. i honestly think that if the pitching comes together... and the defense limits their number of errors... and the offense keeps hitting like they have been...

... the phillies have a fighting chance. or... should i be cheesy and say a "phighting" chance...

300

a pretty good movie, so i've heard. but, also the win total that tom glavine reached two sundays ago a wrigley field... when i was there. : )

it was a "magical" evening. i'm actually serious. it had a playoff feel to it... b/c a LOT was at stake. the cubs were playing the mets at the same time that the phillies were playing the brewers. two sets of playoff contenders... trying to maintain or takeover first place in their divisions. add to that... glavine trying to get his 300th. add to that... wrigley. i gotta say... those are some intense fans. they care a lot more than i thought they did.

so... my new roommate... malissa... was in town for the weekend and she's a huge cubs fan. we spontaneously decided to try to go to the game. the only seats left were $12 standing room only seats... so we took them!

the interesting things of the game:

~ soriano got injured.

~ the home plate umpire got beaned in the head with a pitch. not only did they take a time out... but the entire field cleared for a time since they didn't know when play would resume. apparently they thought he may have had a concussion. so bizarre.

~ there was a "disturbance" in the standing room only section. security was "talking" to these two guys for quite some time.

~ kerry wood showed up... and the crowd went NUTS. i've never seen so many camera flashes over one player in my life. he's their messiah figure... and this was his first major league appearance since june 1996.

~ glavine batted in the mets first run. love it when the pitcher impacts the offense.

~ we had a lot of mets fans near us.

~ it was american girl night... so there were thousands of little girls with their american girls in tow. they were given little cubs outfits for their dolls. very cute.

~ of course... tom glavine got his 300th... which was incredible. even though he used to be with the braves and now he's with the mets... i have to admit that he's a really good guy and i was hoping he'd get the 300 while i was there. although... don't be deceived... i still loathe the mets.

~ hmmm.... was there anything else strange or really cool? i can't remember.

~ oh. i guess i could mention that there were some really good defensive plays during the game. in particular... by the mets.

i love baseball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh. and we ended up sitting for a good portion of the game... lower level... behind home plate. not bad for $12. : )

Welcome Back, Rick!

Congratulations to Rick Ankiel on his comeback to the Majors last night. Who would have thought after his tragic and mysterious meltdown and fall out of the league that he would ever come back, let alone as a slugging outfielder. Who knows if he will end up hitting well enough to hang around for years or how good he will be, but what an incredible story. Not just that he made it back, but that he did it in such dramatic fashion. Homering in his first game is almost to perfect to be true. You almost couldn't have scripted it any better. About the only thing that could add to this story would be for him to spark a climb into the playoffs or something. Not likely, but the other teams in the division seem to want to help make that a reality.

I still remember seeing him pitch in 2000 and almost falling out of my seat watching his sick curve. I also remember reading about his meltdown while I was in Germany. I remember feeling sick for him when it was obvious he wasn't going to move past it. And then being shocked to hear he was going to pursue becoming an outfielder a couple years ago. I certainly hoped he could do it and not have another mental block...but I don't think I really thought it would happen.

I hope he stays and spends years hitting in front of or behind Albert, that he will be another power bat they desperately need.

Just don't put him in as a last ditch reliever some game (like Speizio or Miles this year) and risk another freakout.

So far, Celtics got the best deal...

I'm not impressed with Gagne. Not in the least bit. So far he's pitched three times for the Red Sox. The first game was just to get him some work. It was 7-3 or something. He let up 2 hits and a run. No big deal. Appearance two was a bit different. I believe it was 4-1 when he went in. This time he lets up three hits and another run. Appearance three was tonight.

I worked till 11 tonight. Normally, the Red Sox are over when I get home. I forgot they were on the West Coast tonight, so I got distracted by other things. I was about to go to bed 20 minutes ago, but decided to check and see if they won, come to see the game was still going on. I turn on the radio and Gagne's pitching. First batter I listen to, he walks to bring the tying run to the plate. Then I decided to turn the TV on. The score was 9-6 Boston and there were runners on 1st and 2nd. Chone Figgins is up. Gagne throws strike 1 before losing control and throwing three straight balls. Not a good sign. However, he battled back and struck out Figgins before getting Cabrera to pop out to end the inning. It doesn't sound as bad as it looked. He doesn't seem focused or whatever. I heard his numbers in Texas were worse in non-save situations. That's not good.

Papelbon came in for the 9th, and after he threw one pitch to Vladimir Guerrero, I knew the game was over. Jonathan threw a fastball right over the center of the plate that Guerrero swung so hard at he almost fell over. Obviously he missed it, cause you can't hit Papelbon. The Angels went 1-2-3 in the ninth as the Sox avoided the sweep. The Yankees got beat badly by Toronto, so the leads back up to 6.

But getting back to this trade, I went to two of Gabbard's last three starts as a Red Sox. One, he pitched a complete game shut out of the Kansas City Royals. The other was a seven inning 1 run win over the White Sox. He allowed three hits and walked one in each start. Last year, the Sox traded Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena. Injuries then plagued the team's starting rotation and the Red Sox fell out of contention. Schilling just came off the DL and pitched two nights ago, and granted he wasn't horrible, but he took the loss. He hasn't been the same since 2004, and I know it was worth it and all, but now's not the time to reminisce on the good old days. I don't know what he has left in the tank. Gabbard could have given the team a few good starts down the stretch. This looks like it'll go down as a bad trade for the Red Sox, especially if Gagne continues to be a mediocre setup man.

i have some MAJOR things to write about...

coming soon....

Trade Deadline

It's hard to tell who had a better trade deadline, the Boston or Boston. The Red Sox picked up Eric Gagne, making their bullpen awesome. DelCarmen to Okajima to Gagne to Papelbon. Plus, Tavarez is in the bullpen now. Man, this is pretty much the greatest relief squad ever. The Celtics, on the other hand, picked up Kevin Garnett. I think someone needs to tell Danny Ainge it was the baseball trading deadline, but whatever. The talk of the town (for the first time in a long time) is the new Big Three- Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

July 31st

The day before August is crucial for two reasons. First, it's Harry Potter's birthday (Happy Birthday H-Man!). Second, and more relevant, it's the MLB trading deadline. It's a time teams mortgage their future in hopes of cementing the present forever by bringing home a World Series Title.

The Boston Red Sox always seem to be a player come the trading deadline. Here's my personal break down of their last five trade deadlines:

2002- Acquired Cliff Floyd from the Montreal Expos for two pitchers who were never significant. At the time, the Expos were owned by Major League Baseball prior to moving them to Washington. This trade was good cause it pissed off George Steinbrenner, who did his best Al Davis impression and ranted about how the whole league was against him and was trying to fix it so the Red Sox would win. Floyd didn't really do much for the Sox, and the team missed the playoffs. But hey, I'm in favor of anything that pisses off Steinbrenner.

2003- Acquired Scott Williamson from the Reds for some irrelevant. Acquired Jeff Suppan from the Pirates for Freddy Sanchez. Willamson was pretty irrelevant himself for a while, but pulled it together and became their closer come playoff time. Good deal. The Suppan trade seemed stupid at first. Suppan was originally a Red Sox and supposed to be the next Roger Clemens, and he stunk so they let the Diamondbacks have him as a welcome to the MLB present. Then all of a sudden they trade their top prospect for him? Plus, Suppan got beat so bad the team didn't include him on the ALDS roster, and didn't let him pitch in the ALCS. Then factor in that Sanchez is a perennial All Star and the defending NL batting Champ. This deal's looking bad. HOWEVER, Suppan helped the team win the World Series in 2004. As a pitcher for the Cardinals, he was on third base and the Sox were winning 2-0 or something like that, and had the infield back. A ground ball was hit to the right side, and Suppan took off for home. The Red Sox saw this, and conceeded the run and threw to first. But, for some reason, Suppan stopped between third and home. Ortiz was ready to throw the ball around the horn, but saw Suppan literally inbetween third and home just standing there. Ortiz pumpfaked and Suppan broke for third. Ortiz threw the ball to third and picked off Suppan. I'm pretty sure Jeff did that to make up for being a bust as a prospect and a bust as a deadline pickup the year before. Therefore, this trade goes from awful to mediocre.

2004- In a 4 team deal, the Sox gave up Nomar Garciapara and a minor leaguer, acquired Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz. This was a good deal cause Nomar was hurt the whole year and on the downside and the team needed defensive help bad. Cabrera turned out to be a scrappy little guy and is currently my favorite MLB shortstop. Gotta love the scrappy little guys. Plus, Mientkiewicz kept the ball from the final out of the 2004 World Series, and refused to give it to the Red Sox when the team asked nicely. They appealled to the Commissioners Office. MLB said they didn't care who kept the ball, so the Red Sox actually sued him for it. All offseason, we got to talk about some stupid ball, and where it was, and what would happen if Mientkiewicz gave them a substitute fake ball. It was a jolly good time and even made the front page of the New York times. I really wish he blew it up. Imagine how many hits that would have gotten on YouTube? When Mientiewicz still wouldn't give it too them or post a video of it exploding after a month or two, they traded him and began talking publicly about a new team policy for ownership of the balls of final outs of series clinching games. Only the Red Sox... As my Uncle Michael pointed out, not once did we hear anything about what happened any of Vinatieri's Super Bowl winning field goals.

The Red Sox also acquired Dave Roberts for some no name. Take away game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, this trade is a footnote. THE trade involved Nomar. Roberts barely played. The one regular season highlight involving him at Fenway Park was before the trade when he was a Dodger and hit a line drive ten feet up in the air that Pokey Reese somehow caught. He never had a year plus long dispute with the team over a baseball (it just sounds so funny when you put it like that...). However, you can't take away game 4. The Stolen Base made this trade the greatest trade in Red Sox history.

2005-Acquired Tony Graffino for two no names. Graffino played well till game 2 of the ALDS, when, as everyone in US Cellular Field was kind enough to remind me, he made a huge error with two outs which was followed by a grand slam. The Red Sox lost the game and were swept. Graffino is extremely lucky this happened AFTER 2004. Otherwise he probably would have been shot. Several times.

2006- The Red Sox do nothing, everyone gets injured, the team gets swept in a five game series against the Yankees in Fenway (I was so frustrated after game 4 that I honestly took a baseball bat and beat living daylights out of the lawn in my backyard), and falls out of playoff contention. This was the worst and most disappointing trading deadline ever. I was so excited coming back from work on the L wondering who the team was gonna pick up for their post season run. I hope they don't make the same mistake in 2007.

Scoring Games

Saturday night the Boston Red Sox played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Lately I haven't been able to watch too many games due to work and stuff, but I had Saturday completely free and planed on watching the game. However, my brother was finishing up his game in NCAA 2005 dynasty we started 2 years ago and are currently on year 5, so I was forced to listen to the beginning of the game on the radio. Lately for some reason I've had trouble focusing on baseball broadcasts. I bet its cause the Red Sox switched from Sports Radio AM 850 to Talk Radio WRKO AM 680. In order to help focus, I decided to score the game.

My brother finished his game around the second inning, so I switched to watching it (which, by the way, I have no problem focusing on since the games are still on NESN). However, I decided to keep scoring it. I hadn't scored a game in probably 10 years. I use to do it all the time as a little kid, especially when I went to games. Usually I'd get board of it in the fifth or sixth inning, but I was determined to complete this game. I had a pretty good score card too. I forgot to mark two batters all in all, but found out what happened to them their next at bat. I also stopped keeping track of who was pitching for Tampa Bay after the 6th, figuring I could get that later online. I used the standard scoring system, though sometimes I wrote more indepth descriptions. For instance, in the third, the official scorer gave Ortiz a double. I said it was a single and charged the shortstop with an error. Had he caught the perfectly thrown ball from the cutoff man, Ortiz would have been out. I therefore charged the official scorer with an error for mis-scoring the play. Also, in the 4th, Gomes hit a ball that seemed destined to bounce into the seats, but Manny came out of no where and made a spectacular running catch while slamming into the wall. I scored it "7... WHAT A CATCH!!!!" Manny's awesome.

Come the ninth, I was pumped, thinking that with Papelbon on and a 2 run lead, all I had to do was three more hitters and I'd have a complete score card. Unfortunately, checking my score card, I see D. Young RF lead off the inning with a single, which if memory serves correct was a broken bat single on the first pitch. J. Gomes LF came up next and hit a 2 run homer to tie the game. Gomes also hit a homer his previous at bat, a solo shot off Jon Lester according to the score card (which by the way, was is a couple of pages from a class notebook I didn't use up...).

The game went on into the tenth, and I was on my last column on the page. Still, I faithfully kept score. Then it went into the 11th. I had to use two more sheets and recopy the lineups and everything, but I was determined to finish sans the Tampa Bay pitchers. Finally, the Red Sox rewarded me in the 12th. With 2 outs, Julio Lugo drew a bases loaded walk (his second of the game!). All Star Snub Kevin Youkilis followed with a base clearing double. Ortiz drew a walk, and Manny came up and hit a liner to center that curved really weird. Red Sox analysis Jerry Remy said the Devil Rays had to have the airconditioning on too high or something, cause the ball was heading straight for CF B. J. Upton, but it curved around him at the last second. No one was backing him up either, and the ball was destined to roll all the way out to the wall. As the camera showed Ortiz rounding third, I thought to myself "Manny's gonna get a triple, might even get an inside the park homerun..." But alas! As the Devil Rays got the ball in, the camera showed a smiling Manny standing at second. That's one of the many reasons you gotta love him. Ortiz, on a bad knee, goes from first to home, and Manny jogs into second. I'd curse anyone else, but you can't curse Manny. He's pretty much the greatest player ever.


So yeah, the Sox got six in the 12th and Lopez came out and retired the Devil Rays in their half, giving the Red Sox the win. I'm glad I scored it. I don't know if I'll be doing it again anytime soon, unless of course, the Devil Rays want me to be their official scorer cause they obviously need a new one. But, yeah, it's fun once every few years or so.