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.