How 'bout them various MLB teams?

The Rivalry

2009-04-27T14:07:00.004-05:00

The Boston Red Sox just swept three games from the New York Yankees, coming from behind each night.

Friday night, the Red Sox were down by 2 with a runner on and two outs. Jason Bay (thanks Joe!) came up to face Mariano Rivera and promptly deposited the ball over wall. Watch it here. Kevin Youkilis ended the game in the 11th with another home run to Left.

I didn't see Saturday's game as a friend came up to visit, but it was on in the background where we went to dinner. There was a family of Yankee fans there, with one kid who couldn't have been more than 7 years old. When we got there the Yankees were winning 4-0 and added more to go up 6-0 and the kid clapped so hard and looked around at us all with such pride (more on that later). By the time I left the restaurant though, the Red Sox had struck again, capped off with a Jacoby Ellsbury homerun to tie the game just as we were paying the bill. The Red Sox eventually won that game, 16-11.

Sunday Night, the Yankees once again jumped out to a lead, 1-0, but the Red Sox ended up winning 4-1. The play of the game was Jacoby Ellsbury's straight steal of home, the first since Billy Hatcher (again, thanks Joe, I think anyway...) in 1994.

Granted, this is April, but it wasn't all too long ago that the exact opposite always seemed to happen. The Red Sox would jump out to early leads and blow them to the Evil Empire. I remember the old days. I remember being mad at the thought of all the 5 year olds at Yankee Stadium, who probably couldn't remember a time when the Yankees weren't World Champions.

I remember being at Fenway for a Ranger-Red Sox game, and Yankee fans (don't ask me why they were there, but there were loads of them) hung the number 1 for the first Red Sox who struck out, 9 for the next, 1 for the next and 8 for the next and repeating that pattern. As my cousin said to me "It sucks cause they're right and there's nothing we can say back."

I remember skipping a little league game to go to Fenway and see the Yankees beat the living day lights out of Boston... it was something like 26-3 and even though the game was at Fenway, my uncle and I were 2 of 3 Red Sox fans in our section and it seemed like every section was like that.

To tell you how bad it was, I remember a game when the Red Sox had a 3-1 lead at Yankee Stadium, recorded the 27th out of the game, and yet somehow still lost! I'm not making that up either. Look at September 18, 1993 in the link above. That's unbelievable. The Red Sox did everything necessary to win, but still somehow lost. I know of no other comparable moment in any sport. The next day, Anakin Skywalker said it was too bad it wasn't like football and they couldn't penalize the Evil Empire 5 yards or something.

But now it's different. I wouldn't say the roles have reversed completely, but it's nice to know that 7 year old in the restaurant has never seen a Yankee championship whereas the Red Sox have won 2 in his life time.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and K/BB ratios

2009-04-23T12:13:00.003-05:00

The Pirates lead the league in ERA! Wow!

And look at the staff they're doing it with: "Ace" Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Jeff Karstens, and Ross Ohlendorf. So, the lesson is, even with a bunch of below average pitching talent, if you just try enough times, eventually your staff will be good? Not even close.

Strike out to walk ratio is a pretty good gauge of how a team's pitching over all. The League-Leading Pirates staff? 77/52, or 1.48.

Here's the K/BB ratio for the rest of the top 10 ERA teams:
Mariners, 109/50, 2.18
Royals, 120/48, 2.5
Dodgers, 113/50, 2.26
Marlins, 112/58, 1.93
Cardinals, 97/47, 2.06
Padres, 100/54, 1.85
Cubs, 118/57, 2.07
Blue Jays, 125/53, 2.36
A's, 92/62, 1.48

So it takes until the 10th team to find another team with a comparable ratio to the Pirates. This means they're getting lucky. I'm sure they're better than last year, but still lucky so far.

What IS encouraging is that we've only given up 10 home runs in 9 games. This is tied for 6th best in the league, with the Phillies (29 HR allowed!!) and Indians (24 HR allowed) hanging out at the other end of the spectrum, with their ERAs suffering as a result.

However, at least the Phillies have a great K/BB ratio (97/40 or 2.43) so you'd have to think they are getting unlucky and their ERA will be knocked down over the next couple months.

The Indians, on the other hand, have a ratio of 93/67 (1.39). Yeesh!! The pitching will not be pretty this year for the Tribe, as that is the worst K/BB ratio and HR allowed combo in the league, unless they have an unbelievable defense.

Greetings from Ohio

2009-04-23T07:36:00.002-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen please allow me to me to introduce myself. I am mr. midge man, die hard Cleveland sports fan. While I know I am doomed for heartache for the rest of my natural sporting life I keep in good spirts by reminding myself that no matter how bad my Indians are we are at least still better than the Pirates. Even if our record may not show it.

I leave now for my morning class but I have one quick little point to make. While the Indians did lose last night two zip verses the lowly Royals I found this game to be the surest sign of a team turnaround yet. In all honestly how often do you think this team is going to be shut out? And if we continue to see a turnaround in the likes of Cliff Lee and Pavano... Be afraid, be very afriad.

4 Shutouts

2009-04-21T09:58:00.002-05:00

Amazingly, the Pirates lead the league in shutouts and stopped the "red-hot" Marlins last night. The season is enjoyable so far. I'm still expecting to break the record for seasons under .500 for all major North American sports. FOR SURE.

I'll be listening to the day game later this week at work, and I plan on going to one or two AAA games this weekend because the Pirates AAA team is in town here in Columbus Thursday-Sunday.

2009-04-18T15:43:00.003-05:00

I'm watching my first game at the new Yankee Stadium right now, and let me tell you, I like what I see.

The worst announcers in the history of baseball* spent the entire first inning talking about how nice it was and how much it costs and how they want to vacation in the Yankees Club House.

They then spent the entire second inning wonder if Cleveland was running up the score or not. Right now, it's 14-2 Cleveland. The Yankee Mystique is gone. To quote McCarver, (definately the lesser of the two evils cause he doesn't also ruin the NFL) "The Indians made the home plate in New Yankee Stadium pretty old pretty quick in the second inning."

*=The funny part is, I didn't even say who they were, and you knew who I was talking about, didn't you?

Harry the K

2009-04-13T18:30:00.004-05:00

What a sad day it is for Phillies fans.

Our beloved Harry Kalas has passed away... and watching or listening to a Phils' game will never be the same. He was our broadcaster for 38 years and will forever be known as "the voice" of the Phillies.

Growing up during the summer months I'd watch the Phillies games every day. I had created a little field and had index cards cut up to make little name cards that I'd move around the bases and put on the field for our defense. I kept track of the line-ups for each game in a little notebook.

And I lived to hear Harry's legendary: "Fly ball... deep to left field... watch that baby waaaaaaaaay outta here!! Home run Von Hayes!!" Von... or Michael Jack... or John Kruk... or Lenny Dykstra... or Ryan Howard... or Chase Utley.

For years I've been plugging into MLB.com just to watch the highlights and hear Harry's voice announce brilliant plays.

I loved listening to him and Whitey going back and forth... bantering... enjoying the game... just like two old friends should be doing. The difference was that millions of households were privy to their game-time conversations.

Sigh.

Admittedly... the voice of Harry Kalas has the ability to make me leap out of my seat and can also bring me to tears. It's the voice of memories. The voice of my childhood. And it will always be the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies.

It's a horribly sad day.

Josh Beckett vs the Lost Angelous Angels of Anaheim

2009-04-13T17:48:00.004-05:00

All the talk on the airwaves is about Josh Beckett's "altercation" with Bobby Abreu. Here's a video. Beckett was trying to hold Chone Figgin's on. Abreu called time after Beckett was already motioning to the plate. Beckett threw a pitch anyway, and it went up by Abreu's head. He didn't hit him. It was close though. I don't know if it was intentional or if Beckett was trying to stop and it slipped out of his hand.

I'm not gonna say much else about this, but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out the next time the two teams are in town. Abreu got his revenge his next at bat, as the link above will show you. I don't know if Californ...I mean Ana...um....whatever they're called now is satisfied with it though.

Triple Play

2009-04-13T10:24:00.003-05:00

Reds runners at first and second run on the pitch, soft hit into the shallow outfield, Jack Wilson backs up, makes the catch, throws to Sanchez at second who throws to LaRoche at first... the easiest triple-play I've ever seen. Congrats to the first Pirates who were involved in the play, Pittsburgh's first since 1993.

Click here to see the play.

I'll be listening to today's game at work today.

2009 Regular Season Predictions

2009-04-08T12:29:00.002-05:00

We're 2 or so days into the season already, but I'm going to deliver my regular season predictions a little late anyway. But DON'T WORRY. I'm not going to let the current standings influence my predictions WHATSOEVER.

American League

I think the Twins, Angels, A's and Mariners will all go about .500.

I predict that the Tigers, Royals, Indians, Rays and Yankees will all go winless, 0-162.

I predict that the Blue Jays, Orioles, Red Sox, White Sox, and Rangers will all go undefeated, 162-0.

Amazingly, Boston will miss the postseason despite going undefeated and having beaten the undefeated Blue Jays and Orioles several times each.

Toronto, Chicago and Texas win the divisions. Baltimore wins the wild card.

National League

I predict that the Cubs, Astros, Pirates, Cardinals, Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Rockies will all win about half their games.

I predict the Phillies, Nationals, Reds, and Brewers will all go winless.

The Braves, Marlins, Mets, and Giants will all go undefeated.

Braves, Pirates and Giants win their divisions. Marlins win the wild card.

Once again, let me stress that although these picks are late, I did not cheat by using the first 1 or 2 games as a gauge for the picks.

Opening Day

2009-04-08T09:15:00.001-05:00

The Red Sox are now on pace to shatter the Major League record and go an unheard of 173-0.

Nevermind.

2009-03-12T07:53:00.002-05:00

I just figured out that Pirate games are blacked out in Columbus on MLB.TV.

WHHHAAAAAAT????!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!!!!!!!!!#%^#%^#$%^@$^@%^@%^@$%^@$%^@%

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?

For the small price of $15/month, any of you can watch all the Pirate games. But I literally have no way to watch a single Pirate game this season. No Nationally televised games. No FSN Pittsburgh in this area. We are far from Pittsburgh. My only option would be to get a really expensive satellite package with FSN Pittsburgh.

2009 Coverage

2009-03-12T07:12:00.002-05:00

I hereby pledge to post regularly on this blog, at least for a couple months, starting at the beginning of the regular season.

After much deliberation and research, Jessie and I have decided not to get cable. On the flip side, I am going to buy MLB.TV (at least for a few months). It's only $15 a month and I can watch any game at any time on my computuer. That includes every Pirates game.

Therefore, I should have some things to say. I'll try to do a daily "lunchtime" post on the issues of the day over my lunch break.

I'm gonna invite a couple people to write alongside us too, to inject some life into this place.

Today is a great day!!

2009-02-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Year is Different

2009-01-19T19:22:00.004-05:00

Usually around this time of year I'm sulking. The Phillies normally end their season miserably... then the hope that I've put in the Eagles gets crushed by their disappointing finish.

This year is different.

As usual, the Eagles blew it. They lost a game they were supposed to win... which was typical of their play this season. In fact, I chose to stay home to watch the game instead of joining the 200+ Philly fans that congregate at a local bar downtown because I knew the Eagles were gonna lose. All season they won the games there were supposed to lose [like last week against the Giants] and lost or tied the games they were supposed to win. I'm pretty sure McNabb gets lazy when he thinks he's gonna win. It's horrible.

Another year... another NFC Championship game... and another loss. In the past 8 years, the Eagles have made that far 5 times... winning only ONCE before losing in the Super Bowl. 5/8. That's roughly 63% of the time. And they lost 4/5 times. Pitiful.

Anyway... the point. This year is different... because the Phillies won the World Series. No one was singing the Eagles' fight song at the end of the Phil's season this year. The stadium didn't empty early the last month of the season. I wasn't depressed. And no one was saying, "But they looked so good on paper!" or "I guess there's always next season." The Phillies... unlike the Eagles... finally lived up to their potential.

It's January 19th... and we've got a long way to go before Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Day...

Curt Schilling

2009-01-05T18:49:00.002-05:00

I was just watching the MLB network for the first time ever. They had a program about the 2004 World Series. I don't see how anyone could watch that or any other 2004 postseason highlight reel and deny that Curt Schilling is a Hall Of Famer. Just based on what he did and which team he did it for, who he did it against and where he did it. Phenominal.

Merry Christmas, Indeed!

2009-01-01T04:17:00.003-05:00

This year, my family and I not only celebrated Christmas together... we almost ceremoniously celebrated the World Series VICTORY by our beloved Philadelphia Phillies.

We wore our team shirts.

We discussed intricate details of the Series.

We played with the confetti picked up by my aunt and uncle from the parade down Broad Street as we watched the parade on DVD.

We watched Part II of Game 5... with Harry Kalas's radio broadcast of the pitch-by-pitch.

And... we stepped back in time to watch the last several innings of a game we went to in 1989. September 17th, to be exact. We've watched the VHS taped version of the game dozens of times since then and we still talk about that game amongst each other. We were along the 3rd base line for the first game of a double-header against the Cardinals. The Phils had a ton of hits, but couldn't put them together to score runs... so with a 5-5 tie game, we went into extra innings. The Eagles were playing the Redskins at the same time [in Washington] and the Vet aired the game on the stadium TVs. The crowd erupted as the Eagles did something miraculous and pulled off a win. Minutes [and maybe even seconds] later, John Kruk stepped up to the plate and blasted a 12th inning walk-off home run.

That small window of time is memorialized in my brain forever as one of my all-time favorite sports memories. Well... it was my very favorite... until the whole winning a World Series thing came along. The '89 game isn't irrelevant to my life... but it certainly plays second fiddle now to October 2008.

So now we're World Champs. Philly fans have been let down for eons, it seems... so to finally have something to REALLY cheer about for our city is still a little bit surreal. Getting to celebrate with my family certainly helped... but it's still hard to believe that they actually did it.

The Philadelphia Phillies actually won a World Series. A team from Philly actually won a championship!

Merry Christmas to me!!

Red Sox Uniforms

2008-12-17T19:45:00.004-05:00

I was gonna write about free agents, so I'll do that quickly. The Yankees are trying to sign Manny. They couldn't beat him. Might as well sign him I guess to go with Sabathia and Burnett. The Red Sox, on the other hand are trying to sign Teixeira. Talk on the radio is what will happen to Mike Lowell, who would be the odd man out with Youk moving over to third. I guess you'd have to trade him (while obviously eating a HUGE portion of his contract). I'll keep you posted.

Now, I've been very busy with finals and grading, so I just went to redsox.com for the first time in I don't remember how long. I almost threw up cause I read on the Sox are introducing new uniforms next year. New away, new alternate home, new alternate away. Thankfully they're keeping the home jerseys.

Here's what I think of each, and I'm looking at them for the first time as I type. These are my first impressions.
Road Jersey
The new road jersey. This is ok. I calmed down a lot after seeing it. I thought It harkens back to the days of my youth, if you consider preschool and earlier to be youth. They look similiar to the jerseys the team wore in the 80s. The major differences are the new jerseys have a font similiar to what they used the past 15 years or so, whereas the 80s jerseys looked like they were done in time new Roman. Also, the old 80s jerseys never had names on the back. These ones do. Reviewing it more, the color scheme reminds me of the New York road jerseys. That's not a good thing. I miss the old (new? 1990s version) ones already. I don't mind the red sox they have on the sleave. Can we comprimise and just put that on the road uniforms from last year?

Alternate Road Jersey
First of all, since when do the Red Sox do alternate road jerseys? That's something crappy teams like Seattle do to get more revinue. Oh yeah...revinue. That's what this is all about. Second of all, this is atricious. It's like one of those kids you see dressed up as a ball player on Halloween wearing nothing that comes close to resembling the actual uniform. In all honesty, I don't mind the jersey that much. I kind of like it better than the red alternates they've been wearing. Those things kind of hurt your eyes to look at. If that were the only change, I'd be quite happy. But the hat. That's disgusting. When I was a young boy, around 8 or 9, I use to think other teams like the Marlins had hats that were so much cooler than the Red Sox. I can't find an old Marlin hat online, but it was teal with a black bill and had the F and the fish and it looked awesome. So anyway, I spent many an hour trying to design an awesome Red Sox hat, and came to the realization, this is as good as it gets. This hat was worn by all the great Red Sox, and all their fans. This has all the history and tradition. Look at that beautiful B. Just look at it. No other way to describe it. It's beautiful. Now look at the alternate hat. It's hideous. It looks like something a little kid would wear. I'm 100% against it.

New Alternate Home Jersey.
I don't know why I wasted time looking for an image of the old alternate, cause this "new" alternate looks the same to me at first glance.

New Logo
They're also changing the logo. I miss the old one, with the Sox insider the baseball and "BOSTON" up top and "RED SOX" down bottom. The new logo is the hanging Sox on the hat. Not much of a change, I agree, but still, what I grew up with was better.

Off Season Stuff Part 1

2008-11-19T15:08:00.002-05:00

10 minutes ago (plus or minus), the Red Sox traded Coco Crisp. The fact he was traded probably surprises no one. The fact it took this long after the 2007 World Series probably surprises quite a few of us.

Crisp wasn't happy when Ellsbury took his job in October 2007 and didn't like the idea of the roles reversing this past season, which they pretty much did. Interestingly enough, Ellsbury lost his job to Crisp in the post season this year. I guess that was just a two week thing though and Ellsbury, unquestionably the centerfielder of the future, is also the centerfielder of right now.

The Red Sox sent Crisp to the 1985 World Champions, getting reliever Ramon Ramirez in exchange. I've never heard of him, but I like that at first glance he seems reliable with a 2.64 ERA in 71 appearences.

Also, according to redsox.com, the Sox and the Yankees are fighting over A.J. Burnett. Why? He's been in the division 3 years and pretty much did nothing substantial. He won 18 games this year, which I notice is the only the third time in his career. The Second was 2005, another free agent year for him. The 1st was 2002. I don't know if he was up for arbitration at the end of that season, but I wouldn't be surprised. Curt Schilling once said Burnett might have the best stuff of anyone in the American League. That might be true, he's just never healthy enough to prove it.

The Yankees want Lowe, Sabathia, and Burnett, the Red Sox only apparently are going after Burnett.

Aside from questioning Burnett, I'd also question why the Yanks would want D-Lowe. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything he did, getting a save in the clincher of the 2003 ALDS and winning the clinching games of the 2004 ALDS, 2004 ALCS, and 2004 World Series.
But 2004 was in a contract year when he pitched so crappily he was removed from the rotation for the post season. He got the ALDS win cause the game went to extras and he was the long man. He got the ALCS win cause Wakefield volunteered to pitch as a long reliever in the game 3 blow out and gave up his game 4 start, which the team gave to Lowe. Wakefield also volunteered to pitch long relief in game 5 if necessary (it was) and gave up his possible game 7 start, which Lowe got. Based on the ALCS, Francona let him start in the World Series. Did he pitch well in the post season? Yeah. I give him all the credit in the world for it, but I wouldn't want him back. I think physically, Lowe's a great pitcher. He's got talent. But as soon as anything goes wrong, be it an error by the second baseman, or the umpire making a bad call he loses it mentally and immediately gives up 3 runs. I haven't seen him much as a Dodger (if at all...) so maybe he's fixed that. Perhaps someone who watches the NL with regularity could comment.

Lastly, Dustin Pedroia won the AL MVP. Congratulations to him. Mo Vaughn was the last Red Sox in 1995, and that helped heal the wounds I had as a 10 year old after watching the Red Sox get swept by Cleveland out of the first round of the playoffs that year. No offense to Dustin, but that trick doesn't do it for me anymore.

Congratulations Phillies

2008-10-29T23:25:00.004-05:00

The Phillies are World Champions. Cory Matthews would be proud!

In all seriousness, congratulations Laura. Enjoy the title.

This is now the third year in a row one of our teams won the World Series. You know what that means?

Pittsburgh Pirates: 2009 World Series Champions.

You heard it here first.

Pitching Strategy

2008-10-29T14:45:00.002-05:00

So what do you do tonight? Do you go with a brand new starter to pitch 3 or 4 innings? Or do you use your bullpen like you would in any other World Series game in the late innings.

I think Tampa Bay's gotta start with Balfour, cause otherwise they lose him for the night. After that, I guess it depends on situation. Philly on the other hand has more options. For all intensive purposes, Hamels is on 2 days rest, and he's also leading off the inning. I haven't seen him play too often, but looking at his stats it doesn't seem like he's a great hitter. I might just go with a starter for the whole game...however long that lasts. Moyer pitched well in game four. You think he could give you three or four shut out innings tonight Laura?

!!!!!!

2008-10-28T19:26:00.003-05:00

I have SO many things to say... but no time to write. Here's a reminder for myself:

Mad River
horrible officiating
Bud Selig
rain delay and game suspension
Joe Buck
Cole Hamels
Joe Blanton
cow bells
RISP
home wins vs away wins
home field advantage
instant replay
the lack of Manny
my baseball
late nights
the real deal

I can't wait to write about this stuff... soon...

2008 World Series: Game One

2008-10-22T23:07:00.003-05:00

PHILS!!!!!!!!!!!

The pitching was absolutely outstanding... with Hamels, Madson, and Lidge performing brilliantly.

Utley... what can I say... the offensive man of the game.

Sexy Werth... dreamy as ever with his run scored and two doubles. [Sorry... that's just what I call him.]

The Flying Hawaiian... the new Mr. October?

Pedro and Ruiz... filling in for Rollins and Howard who're doing squat.

My concern: something needs to be done about these stranded runners. Guys are getting on base only to get left there. With Cole pitching it was okay cuz he's gonna keep the other team from scoring... but what about the rest of the week...

Overall... GREAT start Phillies!!!!!!!!

The Tampa Bay Rays are American League Champions

2008-10-19T22:47:00.004-05:00

I just wrote the title of this post. There are a lot of thoughts running through my mind. Francona shoulda pinched hit for Varitek in the seventh with two runners on and in the ninth when he was the tying run. Coco Crisp should have slid right at the bag instead of trying to take out Bartlett. The umpire shouldn't have called J.D. Drew out on the worst check swing call I've ever seen. But it doesn't matter what should have happened. It matters what did.

There are lots of people in Tampa Bay right now. I've seen hundreds of games there on television, and in the games I see, it's usually 50% of capacity and 95% of those people are wearing Red Sox gear. Now the place is packed with people wearing Rays gear crying and hugging each other like they've waited 95 years to see this. Congratulations to the four or five hundred diehards. You deserve something like this and I hope you got to see it along with the tens of thousands of people there who couldn't name a Devil Ray to save their life. Though to their credit they've been pretty supportive the past 2 months or so when they finally figured out they had a baseball team. Maybe they've been confused the past 10 years. I've never been down there, but I hear the stadium is in St. Petersburg, not Tampa Bay. Maybe they've been searching and just found the place. Hopefully this will be the start of something there. That would be good for baseball. And who knows... maybe next year these people will come back and they'll actually sell out a regular season game or two.

Last year I posted that the Cleveland Indians became irrelevant the night they lost game 7. I stand by that. The 2008 Boston Red Sox are now irrelevant. If I've counted right, the Red Sox have been in playoff series deciding games 8 times in my life. They're 5-3. All three loses were on the road, and in all three loses the Red Sox scored first. Nothing's sweeter than winning those games. Nothing hurt more then losing the first 2. This one stings a lot less. I guess two World Series titles lessens the blow.

I really thought the Sox were gonna win as Pedroia's homer cleared the wall. He had a great post season. A lot like Todd Walker in 2003. No one remembers that though, cause the Red Sox lost in the ALCS. No one will remember Pedroia's heroics this year either. Oh well. You can't win them all.

So that means it's Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia in the World Series. I haven't decided who I'm rooting for yet. I probably won't decide till it actually starts and I see it. I can't watch a game without rooting for someone. Teams I wanted to win in the LCS went 0-2, so I don't expect either team to start lobbying for my support any time soon.

I don't know anymore

2008-10-17T11:41:00.003-05:00

I watched game 5 at Jose's house. Funny story. He has cable but no TV. I have a TV but no cable, so for the entire month of October my television's been at his house. We both thought the Rays were American League Champions last night. I was complaining about Manny not being there, couting down the defensive outs Tampa needed. Jose was complaining about Varitek being worthless and about Ortiz not bunting down the third base line even though he was 1 for the series and Tampa's third baseman was playing within an arm's reach of secondbase the entire time. He also began wondering about offseason moves, getting rid of Varitek, Timlin and Byrd. We disagreed about Wakefield. I said he's done, Jose said he's too valuable as a fifth starter. I guess when you put the 5th starter label on him he still has value, but that's besides the point. Around this time Tampa score two runs off Papelbon to make it 7-0. They were inherited runners so they don't count against his ERA. But that doesn't matter. They still got to Papelbon. I was debating going home, cause I have lots of work I could be doing. But I stuck it out, figuring it'd be the last I saw the Sox till 2009.

In the home half of the 7th seventh Lowrie hit a fly ball we thought was gone but instead hit off the wall in right. We agreed it was irrelevant, though it would have been nice to get rid of the shut out. Down 7-0 in the seventh inning to a team that has beaten you badly in your own ball park 2 nights in a row, when your entire offense is more or less in a slump, you don't usually come back. Then they came back to tie it. And J.D. Drew, who had a monster game 6 against Cleveland last year, won the game in the 9th on a single. He also hit a two run homer in the comeback.

Beckett's going in game 6. I'm against this. I'd have Lester pitch 6 and then the entire team in 7. Beckett's been mediocre to put it nicely, so I have a feeling he's gonna need all the help he can get. But then what do I know? I thought this series was over when Tampa Bay took a 2 run lead before a defensive out had been recorded.

It's been 15 years...

2008-10-16T18:44:00.002-05:00

... and my favorite team is finally going back to the World Series.

The last several years have been particularly difficult for Philadelphia fans. For YEARS... the team would come up just a few games short of getting into the playoffs. Last year they finally broke it open and got in... only to get swept in the NLDS.

They'd been building a team... but just couldn't pull it together. It looks like they finally did it. [At least to be called the best in the NL... which... as we all know, is perpetually not quite as good as the AL... so we'll see what happens next week. More on that later.]

I was two the last time the Phillies won the World Series in 1980... so I obviously don't remember that. I was five in 1983 when the Phils lost to the Orioles... so I don't remember that, either.

But I remember 1993 like it was yesterday. I loved that group of guys... long hair and all: Darren [the hottie] "Dutch" Daulton, John Kurk, Dave Hollins, Mickey Morandini, Kevin Stocker, Milt Thompson, Jim Eisenreich, Mariano Duncan, Wes Chamberlin, Pete "Inky" Incaviglia, Curt Schilling, Terry Mulholland, Tommy Greene, Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, and of course... my all-time favorite baseball player... #4... centerfielder Lenny "Nails" Dykstra.

I remember the Hollins home run and the last out of the game where we finally beat the loatheable Atlanta Braves for the NL pennant. I remember the champagne spraying and watching all the interviews. I remember the elation.

And I remember the game 6 9th inning 3-run home run by Joe Carter off of the Wild Thing that broke my heart and crushed my dreams.

The Phils had a chance to come back the following year... except for the dumb strike that halted the season. Oh- and then Dykstra and Daulton got into a car wreck that for all intents and purposes ended their careers. For the next decade, Philadelphia fans became accustomed to singing the Eagles fight song at the end of Phillies games... showing their displeasure with the Phils and that they might as well move on to football.

Since the days of Jim Fregosi, the Phillies suffered through the leadership of Terry Francona and Larry "Anger Management" Bowa before acquiring Charlie Manual in 2005. Uncle Chollie, as he's known affectionately. Whoever would've thought that HE would be the guy to pull the players together and take them to a championship series? I giggle every time he "runs" out to mound. It makes me happy. : )

So that brings us to today. The losing-est team in sports... the Philadelphia Phillies... back in the World Series.

I cried.

Like I said... I don't have great expectations for the series... regardless of who we're playing. [At this point, Dice-K just gave up a 2-run home run in the top of the 1st.] Of course, I didn't think we'd beat the Dodgers, either since they entered the NLCS so hot. But they found ways to win... and when the top of the order wasn't doing it... Brett Myers got three hits... Matt Stairs came in and blasted a monster homer. There were heroes like Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino... but everyone contributed in some way on some day. It was a team-effort.

Can they do it again? Can they take the next five days off and come back and be up to par to compete for the title? I guess we'll see.

For the time being... I'm just gonna soak up being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.

Phillies in the Series

2008-10-16T06:27:00.000-05:00

I'm for it.

(Congrats Laura.)

Cheering for Bay

2008-10-08T11:51:00.002-05:00

The Rays are one of the best baseball stories I've ever seen; it's very exciting that they're winning, especially for a small-market fan like me.

However, I am cheering very hard for the Red Sox. The reason is not just because I said I would, but because I have found myself really, REALLY wanting Jason Bay to win a world series. No other outcome would make me happier.

I think I underestimated how much I like Jason Bay, because I have been cheering for him and his team like crazy since the trade.

As for Manny? In my opinion, apart from the personalities, it was a good baseball trade for Boston. Bay has played about the same for Boston (.293/.370/.527) as Manny played for them this year (.299/.398/.529). There is no evidence that Manny's outrageous numbers in L.A. were going to show up in Boston, especially with the problems he was causing, whether they were planned by himself or Boras.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox gave up two very ordinary prospects and got a guy who's under a super cheap contract for next year and who could be re-signed and playing at his current level for 4-6 more years. Manny would be gone at the end of this year.

Besides all that, I like Bay because he's a smart guy who knows the game. He approaches the game in a way that will give him the maximum possible success.

Go Sox!

ALDS Game 4

2008-10-06T22:39:00.002-05:00

Francona's the luckiest man in America right now. Lester was cruising through the game and had a 2 run lead. For some reason, even though the bullpen was strained from game 3, Francona pulled Lester for Okajima and Masterson in the 8th, allowing the Angels to tie the ball game. What was he thinking? This is October. Pitch counts don't matter anymore, and Lester was throwing 97 mph in the 7th. That was poor management. But the Red Sox found a way to win, so it doesn't matter.

What do you guys think of the failed suicide squeeze by the Angels where slid and V-tek tagged out Willitz then hit the ground and dropped the ball. Is that the old "the ground can't cause a fumble" rule? If Willitz was charging Varitek and knocked him over and he hit the ground then dropped the ball at home, Willitz would have been safe, right? What's the rule about that? A lot of the calls went the Red Sox way today, that one and pretty much every pitch called by the home plate umpire. You know if I'm admitting that, it had to have been bad. Is this MLB's way of making up for all those horrible calls that went the Yankees way the mid and late 90s? Anaheim must be pissed.

LA doesn't care cause Manny and the Dodgers are still alive.

I would have believed you if you told me there would be an all AL East ALCS in the beginning of the season. I wouldn't have believed you if you told me Tampa Bay was involved in it, never mind hosting it.

Wahoo!!

2008-10-05T20:08:00.002-05:00

The Phillies did it!! They made it past the first round of the playoffs by beating the Brewers this afternoon.

First, I must say that I'm incredibly proud of them. The pitching was light's out... even if the offense didn't make a huge stand.

Second, I didn't think they'd get knocked out in the first round this year. Course, I didn't think that against the Rockies last year, either... but the Rocks at the time were hot, so I figured it'd be tough. The Brewers, however, got into the playoffs cuz they were lucky.

Third, luck or not, I'm SO GLAD the Mets were eliminated... giving them another winter to miserably think about yet another collapse. To be fair, though, their bullpen is a disaster. You can't win games regardless of your starting pitchers and offense if your pen is more likely than anywhere else to blow leads. Either way... they're at home. Sulking. And the Phillies are still playing... for now.

Fourth, I'm not sure how I feel going into a new series with the Dodgers. Are they really as good as they looked this week against the Cubs? Or did the Cubs just fall flat on their faces yet again, making the Dodgers look unbeatable? It'll be a challenge either way.

Fifth, if the Phillies are to keep advancing... they need their bats to heat up. Utley, Howard, Rollins, and Burrell need to wake up. Thank goodness for sexy Werth and the Flying Hawaiian!!

I obviously hope they end up in the world series and put to rest talking about the Game 6 walk-off 3-run homer by Joe Carter vs. Mitch Williams. I'm pretty sure I see a replay of that home run at least once a season... and I'd like to replace it with something new. Like a trophy and scenes of Brad Lidge getting the last out of the game. That sort of thing.

Here are my predictions:

Phils over Dodgers

Red Sox over Angels

Rays over White Sox

Rays over Red Sox

Phillies over Rays

Now... who knows what will really happen. I don't think the Angels or the White Sox can come back to win their respective series. I'd like to see the Rays advance because I'm tired of the Red Sox winning [sorry, John]. And I can't pick against the Phillies... so there you have it.

If I weren't a Phillies fan, I'd pick the American League, no matter who got the bid. Let's just hope it doesn't turn out that way!

Manny being Manipulated

2008-10-02T15:23:00.003-05:00

Here's an article by Bill Simmons about Manny.

I'm debating buying a Manny Rameriz 99 Dodger Jersey. I've only been a traitor once in my life, buying a Toronto Blue Jay hat and wearing it everyday for Clemens tenure there. I still rooted for the Red Sox, it was more of a statement I made as an 11 year old. The Red Sox screwed up by letting Roger go. I'll still root for them now, but the Jersey will be a statement. The Red Sox screwed up by letting Manny go.

ALDS Game 1 Boston vs LA-ANA

2008-10-01T22:28:00.008-05:00

11:29 PM- So, maybe I'll try to live blog during this game to make up for my silence.. I'm watching it at my friend Jose's house. Jed Lowrie made an error in the bottom of the 3rd with two outs and a runner on first. The very next hitter was Tori Hunter, who got a base hit to drive in the inaugural run of the series. I said it about Graffino and I'll say it about Lowrie. He's so lucky the Red Sox have won a World Series in recent memory, otherwise he'd be hated by an entire region forever because of that.

11:46- Jason Bay just hit a two run homer. I've been badmouthing him a bit, saying I wasn't too impressed with him in the field. I thought he could have caught a few line drives if he tried instead of playing it safe. I was getting ready to tell Jose (who hates Manny) that Manny would have hit a two run homer here the take the lead. Before I could get it out, Bay hit his own jack and Jose said to me "What have you got to say about Manny now?" My response? "Manny would have hit it 10 rows further." Jose was right when he shot back "Doesn't matter how far it went."

Way to go Jason. Lowrie still owes me.

12:50AM- Vladimir Guerrero just made the second worst base running mistake I've seen in a Major League Playoff game. He was on first with one out. A popup was hit between Youkilis and J.D. Drew. As Youk ran out and made an excellent sliding attempt at it, Guerrero was 3/4 of the way to second. If Youkilis catches it, he's doubled off as Masterson's covering first. Fortunately for Guerrero, the ball drops in. Unfortunately for Guerrero, he decides to take off for third. Youkilis stood up and threw to Lowell and gunned Guerrero by 15 ft. Still 2-1 Sox in the top of the 9th.

12:58- Ellsbury hits a single to drive in Lowrie (who still owes me). 3-1 Sox. I'd take Bay out after this half inning, have Crisp play center and Ellsbury play left. As I type this, Ellsbury just stole second (for the second time tonight) to get himself into scoring position.

1:05- Ortiz singles to score Ellsbury. The announcers, whoever they are, state Ortiz now has a 12 game ALDS hit streak. Let's see...1 in 2008, 3 in'07, 3 in '05, 3 in '04 and 2 in '03. I guess that means Game 3 in the 2003 ALDS against Oakland (the Trot Nixon Game), was the last time Ortiz was hitless.

1:21- Game over. Lester the win, Papelbon the save, Lackey the loss.

Boston leads the series 1-0.

Wild Card vs. Division

2008-09-19T11:27:00.003-05:00

A lot of people around the Boston area (or at least at Boston College) are paranoid now that the Rays are a 1.5 games up on the Red Sox. To many, Tampa Bay will winning the division is the worst thing possible. I don't know if I agree with that.

Sure, it'd be nice to win the division and have that first series at Fenway, but would it make for the easiest road to the World Series? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no.

I assume either way, you have to play Los Angeles-Anaheim. LA-A has taken something like 7 of 8 from Boston this year, so it's safe to assume they're the better team. I also believe the better team is more likely to win a 7 game series then a 5 game series, which leads me to the conclusion that the Red Sox would be better off taking on the Angels in the first round. I like the that in a five game series, you can have Beckett, the greatest postseason pitcher in Red Sox history, pitch twice and Lester pitch once. If all goes according to plan, those are your three wins right there.

As a final point, taking on the Angels to open up the post season seemed to work pretty well in both 2004 and 2007. Both 3 game sweeps for Boston.

Conflict

2008-09-08T21:44:00.004-05:00

Drafting players for my fantasy team can always be a challenge. I try to avoid drafting players that I don't like... or who play for teams that I don't like. At the same time, however... I want my team to win! Sometimes that means drafting players that I'd rather not have do well.

For example... I picked up Mark Teixeira of the Braves this year. [Well... at least he was in Atlanta at the beginning of the season. I was rather relieved when he went to California and I didn't have to root for a Brave anymore!] It was difficult for me to root for a player on a rival team... but I sucked it up and did it anyway. I just hoped that the rest of the team fell apart... which they did, thankfully.

So... it's September. Why on earth am I writing about this now?

It's fantasy league playoff time... and I had a major conflict yesterday. Here's what happened:

On Facebook, I saw on my news feed that a friend of mine had the phrase "Go Mets!" on her profile status. It was horrifying. This wasn't just any friend... this was one of my best friends. And she was not only rooting for the Mets... but rooting for them in a game against the Phillies.

Horrified... I wrote on her wall. She wrote back and explained the situation. She needed ONE hold by a reliever to go past her opponent... and that reliever happened to be a Met. It was a do or die situation: if he got the hold, she'd win the week and play for 1st-4th. If he failed to get the hold, she'd lose the week and would play for 5th or 6th place.

Shoot.

Where does my loyalty lie? To one of my best friends and only other girl in our baseball league? Or to my beloved Phillies?

On the one hand... if I can't win the league... I want her to. So that makes me want to cheer for her. But on the other hand... how can I root FOR the Mets... and AGAINST the Phillies?!? Especially in a real-life playoff race!

It was awful.

But that day has passed. The Phillies lost. My friend got her hold and her win. And now the Phils have to win an extra game to make up for the loss.

We weren't friends yesterday... but I think we're okay now. : )

No-Hitter? Who cares? It's still his fault...

2008-09-01T10:25:00.003-05:00

There is a big hub-bub about the only hit in the Brewers-Pirates game yesterday that cost Sabathia a no-hitter. Was it an incorrect scoring decision? Was it a play he should have made on the nubber in front of the mound?
Maybe.
But I think something is getting lost here...Sabathia himself was the one who made the mistake! Maybe he should have made the play, but whether it was a no-hitter or not he still didn't get the job done on that. And yes, I understand that calling it an error shows how dominant his pitching was that the only way the other team could touch him was normal plays getting messed up. It is a measure of how great a pitcher is on a given day...which apparently doesn't have anything to do with fielding. Either way C.C. was incredible (for 11 starts now). An infield hit is basically the equivalent of saying the hitter got lucky. But in order to say the pitcher was as good as he could be, shouldn't that include not making errors?

This gets into the whole problem of unearned runs, at least indirectly. Does it bother anyone else that a pitcher can commit an error in a game and then not get charged for the runs it allows...that HE allows? How does that make sense? The point of an unearned run is not to charge the pitcher for runs he was not responsible for. If we are completely divorcing pitching from fielding, then I guess this makes sense. But we don't seem to have a problem with crediting the pitcher when a guy behind him turns in a web-gem to save a run...

Ok, just a soapbox.

Another question that has come up among friends is: At what point does Sabathia become a real choice for NL Cy Young?
I mean, he has thoroughly dominated his 11 starts, with 6 CGs and 9-0, barely allowing hits or runs...crazy. So, with, say...15 starts and 13-0? Webb is faltering lately...hmm...

Last (Regular Season) Game at Yankee Stadium

2008-08-29T18:06:00.002-05:00

The Red Sox blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to the Yankees on a walk off single by Jason Giambi yesterday. Giambi hit a 2 out homer against Hideki Okajima to tie the game in the seventh. You can read all about that I'm sure all over.

Sometimes it's the little plays that make a difference though. Lester had 2 outs in the 7th with two strikes on the Yankees first baseman Cody Ransom. Ransom foul tipped the next pitch right into Varitek's glove. If he had just sweezed it, Lester's out of the jam and the Sox are up 2-0. But Jason dropped it, and Ransom hit the next pitch for a double, causing Francona to go to the bullpen. He succeed at the inherited runner and went to Okajima, who immediately let up the aforementioned 2 run homer to Giambi.

That botched foul tip, though I doubt it got any press coverage, was the difference in the game.

Oh well. Good Riddance Yankee Stadium. Are they blowing it up or keeping it as a monument? If they're blowing it up, how do I apply to be the guy that gets to push the button?

Obnoxious.

2008-08-29T14:51:00.007-05:00

I went to the Phillies/Cubs game last night here in Chicago. Really good game. The Cubs ended up winning on a Ramirez grand slam in the later innings which was unfortunate... but the game was still a lot of fun.

On the way out, however... I started getting really annoyed.

Cub fans were yelling things like, "Phillies suck," "Utley sucks," and "Joe Carter."

First of all. Clearly, the Phillies don't suck. Three teams in the NL [including the Cubs and the Mets who just took over first in the East] have a better record than the Phils. Three. That's it. You don't suck and have that kind of record.

Secondly. Chase went 3 for 5 last night and also reached on an error... getting him on base 4 times. He also scored a run and drove in a run. You don't suck and have a day at the park like that.

Thirdly. Joe Carter? Really? That's just mean.

I don't like obnoxious fans. I'm of the opinion that people should be good sports. Win graciously. Lose graciously. [Granted... I'll say that Dallas sucks until the day I die. But that's b/c of a lifetime of loathing for the Cowboys.] Cubs fans don't hate the Phillies. We're not rivals. Philly fans don't care about the Cubs.

Some people... those drunk, in particular... just have nothing of consequence or intelligence to say, but figure they should open their mouths anyway. I wish they wouldn't.

Yankee Stadium

2008-08-28T02:08:00.003-05:00

The Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium for the final time ever today at 1pm. Here I'm making the not so bold prediction that one of the two teams doesn't make the playoffs this year. By the way, although the Rays could still lose 32 straight and finish below .500, I'm conceding defeat. Tampa Bay will win more games then they lose. But they're still a bunch of thugs and hooligans.

I always hated Yankee Stadium. I've never actually been there, but I have many bad memories watching games on TV. I learned life wasn't fair in '93 or '94. Both the Sox and the Yankees were way out of contention, but to a boy of 7 or 8, that's irrelevant. The Red Sox had a lead in the ninth and with two outs, a Yankee popped up to end the game. But a Yankee fan ran out onto the field before the pitch, so the third base umpire ruled that the play was dead. If memory serves correct, the kid was 13 or so. Given a fourth out for free, the Yankees rallied and won that game. I didn't even know about the rivialry then (the Yankees actually had sucked up until that point in my life, so no one cared...) but I was upset. I remember listening to a Roger Clemens interview later and he said it was unfortunate it wasn't like football and you couldn't penalize the home team 5 yards or something.

1996 continued my lessons of life isn't fair, but this time on a bigger stage. I had matured enough in my fanhood to realize the Yankees are evil, so I rooted against them with all my heart as they played the Orioles in the ALCS. In game one, Jeter flew out to right field, only this time another kid, probably also 13, reached out and pulled the ball over the wall. An ump was standing right there and missed it somehow. Jerk. The Yankees won the game and the series.

That brings me to bad memory number 3. Unlike the previous generations which delt with 22 Yankee Championships, I had escaped them the first 11 years of my life. In fact, before the 96 season, the Red Sox had the sole pennant and the only division titles (4 out of 11!) in my lifetime in the storied rivalry. I remember 10 years to the day after the Calvin Schiraldi/Rich Gedman collapse (often blamed on Bill Buckner, who certainly didn't help...) the Yankees had a 3-2 lead in the World Series. I saw lots of simularities between '86 and '96. For example, game six was in New York. The American League team was up 3-2 in the series. The games were on the same day of the calandar year. It seemed obvious to me that history was repeating and the National League team would come back and win in heartbreaking fashion. I shared this with my cousin Danny, who pointed out my observations implied that something bad for the Red Sox and good for New York was bound to happen again. Unfortunately, he was right. I believe the last out was a Brave popping out in foul territory just behind third base to Wade Boggs, a gutless trader if there ever was one.

The 1999 ALCS was no better. The Yankees and Red Sox met up for the first time in official post season history. Long story short, the umpires screwed the Red Sox out of game 1. In the tenth, Jose Offerman was on first and a grounder was hit to Jeter, who threw to Knoblach. Knoblach didn't catch it, but the ump called Offerman out anyway. Bernie Williams homered in the Bottom of the inning. A similar call happened later, which according to espn.com is the single worst call of all time. Search Chuck Knoblach phantom tag if you're interested. That happened at Fenway, so I won't bother. There were other horrible calls in that series, all of which went New York's way as the MLB handed them the pennant, but I won't get into it right now.

Skip ahead to 2003, game 7. Red Sox up 4-0 with Pedro on the mound, the Rocket sent to an early shower. I stood in my dorm room and applauded respectfully as he exited. "That's the last time the greatest pitcher of all time will ever pitch." I don't want to talk much about what happened next. It's all a blur. New York scored 2 to make it 4-2 in the seventh. Then David Ortiz hit what I still feel to this day is the most clutch homer ever, silencing the crowd making it 5-2 in the 8th. Pedro's back and the lead's gone. The game's tied in the 8th. I remember vaguly Todd Walker coming up to hit with a runner on second in the ninth or tenth or something and declaring "I swear to God, if he gets a hit here, I'll name my first born son Todd Walker McColgan." He didn't, though I would have. He had a great post season. Aaron Boone hit a homer in the 11th. It was so predictable. There were so many fair weather Yankee fans around, and I mocked them earlier saying I bet they couldn't even name the third baseman. They couldn't. And he's the one that came back to haunt me.

I remember screams of the one Yankee fan on my floor. His window looked directly into mine. He screamed "MAYBE NEXT YEAR" over and over again for an hour, right into my window. I just shut the TV off and the lights and laid on my bed listening to him. People kept checking on me. On drunk girl said they were all worried I was gonna kill myself. My mom kept calling too. I think she was thinking the same.

On top of all this, there were countlessly many games where the Red Sox just got destroyed there. I really don't like that place very much. Yeah, 2004 was sweet, especially game 6. It was unbelievable that two calls, Mark Bellhorn's homer and A-Rod tackling Arroyo, were overturned and went the Red Sox way. They don't make up for the past though, as those should have gone against the Yankees anyway, just like Jeter flying out and Knoblach dropping the ball and the phantom tag. I guess 2004 taught me sometimes justice does prevail.

I'm personally glad to see it go. The Red Sox won Wednesday, 11-3. NESN kept showing little kids in Yankee hats and shirts who looked miserable. As bad as it sounds, I enjoy their misery. The Yankees and their fans ruined so many of my summer nights in years passed. It's good to see the tide has turned. Here's hoping the new stadium continues not only the championship draught but also the recent Red Sox success there.

Boo-Birds

2008-08-23T22:08:00.007-05:00

This article in today's News Journal [out of Wilmington, DE] cracked me up and was too good to not share. Author Kevin Noonan is kind of the resident DE sports guru who's very familiar with how Philly Phans think and act. He should be... cuz he is one. So without further ado...

This is a city that is as well known for its boo-birds as it is for the Liberty Bell. It's a dubious distinction of which many sports fans around here are proud.

But even though it seems as if we boo everybody, not all booing is equal. We tailor it to each individual situation, and sometimes to each individual.

There's the boo of frustration, which happens when Pat Burrell strikes out with the bases loaded.

There's the boo of anger, which Jimmy Rollins has been hearing the last few days.

There's the boo of bitterness, which is directed at players like former Phils Billy Wagner and Scott Rolen.

And then there's the boo of respect, the kind Manny Ramirez heard on Friday night during the Phillies' 8-1 victory over his Los Angeles Dodgers.

Larry Bird used to hear it, and so did Magic Johnson and Lawrence Taylor and Emmitt Smith and Mario Lemieux. They were athletes the Philly fans hated, but also admired. They were athletes the Philly fans booed with all their leather-lunged might, but those same fans would have been thrilled to cheer for them if they had worn the home uniform.

Ramirez fits into that category. Some people might not like his king-sized ego. Some might not like his choice of hair style. But everybody loves the way he swings a bat and brings energy to a lineup.

Back to me. I LOVE the fact that there are indeed different types of boos. Seriously. And for some reason... we really DO take pride in it. Such a funny thing.

A fellow reader added this comment: "Nice try, Noonan...but you're flat wrong. David Wright gets the boo of respect. Manny Rameriz gets booed because he's a <>."

I actually agree with the reader more than Noonan in this case. My respect for Manny is waning, as I've previously discussed.

I'd give the boo of bitterness to Wagner and Rolen as noted, as well as J.D. Drew.

The boo of admiration would go to a lot of players... but specifically I'd have to think of guys like Wright, Holliday, Beltran, Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, both Chipper and Andruw, and prolly some other guys, too. But the boo of admiration is reserved mainly for guys who're on rival teams like the Mets or Braves. Gotta include Holliday in there, too, b/c of the NL run last year.

Anyway... love the article. Love the News Journal. Love Noonan. Love booing. Love the Phils.

Playoffs?

2008-08-20T23:36:00.003-05:00

In the beginning of the year, I probably picked the Red Sox to win the World Series. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've predicted that every year since I learned the World Series existed in '91. However, now it's not even certain they'll be in the playoffs this year. They're 4.5 games behind the Artists Formally Known as the Devil Rays* and are clinging to a slim half game wild card lead.

The problems with the team are so numerous it's tough to tell where to begin. First, I guess we'll start with the trading deadline, and more specifically, the Manny deal. Apparently, everyone was sick of him and my friend Jose is convinced he was throwing at bats and purposely making errors in his last days in Boston. According to rumors, a group of veterans including Varitek and Lowell went to Theo to tell him Manny had to go. I don't care how much of this is true, you don't trade away Manny Rameriz. You find a way to make him happy, and then he produces. That's the bottom line. Since he left Boston, he has 6 homers, 21 RBI, a .500 OBP and he's hitting a mere .413.

Former Yankee and Red Sox manager Joe McCarthy had a tie policy. Everyone had to wear ties unless they were in their uniform. Ted Williams didn't wear ties, and the media started asking McCarthy what he was gonna do about it. McCarthy said he wasn't gonna do anything about it cause "If you can't get along with a .400 hitter, you have no business being in the game." Whatever it took to make Manny happy, the team should have done it. He is the greatest Red Sox outfielder of my life time, and the fact they gave up two prospects, admittedly not great prospects, but two prospects none the less, plus they're paying all of Manny's salary and all they got was Jason Bay is silly. I'm not blaming Jason Bay for this. I really don't have a strong opinion on him one way or the other yet. He seems to be a right handed J.D. Drew. The good one from this year, not the bad one from last year.

Problem number 2 is the bullpen. In tonight's game, I watched Aardsma, Lopez, and Timlin all suck. One guy comes out after the other and the only question I have is how many runs will they give up? It's a given that every inherited runner will score, regardless of who comes through the bullpen door (even if it's Papelbon...). For Aardsma, Lopez, Timlin, and DelCarmen, at least 1 run and usually 2 are guarented. It got to the point tonight where the Red Sox warmed up middle infielder Alex Cora and considered bringing him in. I was rooting for him to come in and pitch a 1-2-3 inning. If he had, it would easily propel him to the top half of the bullpen depth chart.

The third problem is the rotation. Lester has been great, Diasuke has been good. Wakefield has been Wakefield. He's a .500 pitcher, which isn't bad for a number 5. Everyone else has been disapointing, none worse then Josh Beckett. I honestly thought Beckett was the reincarnation of Derek Lowe in 2006. He pitched well when things were going well, then he blew up and pitched like crap if one thing went wrong. I didn't trust him in 2007 even though he had a Cy Young calaber year until the playoffs. Then he pitched his rear end off in October and put forth the best performance in post season history leading me to declare him the best pitcher to ever wear a Red Sox uniform. This year he's 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA. That mediocrity is something I expect from Tim Wakefield, not the ace. Add on top of that Beckett now has numbness in his hand and might miss his next start, and this isn't what I expected from the heir to Pedro Martinez.

Buchholz was in my mind gonna be what Lester currently is. Well, maybe not that good, at least not yet. But he hasn't won a game since May! He's 2-9 with an ERA in the 6's, plus he got hammered tonight after the offense spotted him a 4 run lead against an Oriole team he no hit a year ago. He was optioned to AA Portland after tonight's shalacking. Interesting tidbit from the official press release, the Sox are 3-12 when Buchholz starts, 70-42 when anyone else does. I have no idea whose gonna replace him. Maybe they'll activate Wakefield from the DL.

I was originally gonna blame Epstein for problems 2 and 3, but I decided not to at the last minute. It's hard to considering the injuries (Schilling, Colon, Wakefield) and people underpreforming (Buchholz and Okajima) he's had to deal with. I was also gonna blame Schilling for being injured,but I decided not to. He's done way to much for the Boston Red Sox and I don't blame anyone for signing a deal that gives them millions to play a game...even if they're too hurt to play.

*-note as of tonight, the Artists Formally Known as the Devil Rays have 77 wins. That means my earlier prediction still has a mathematical chance of being true.

The Jimmy Fund

2008-08-15T17:47:00.005-05:00

So, the Red Sox official charity is the Jimmy Fund. It's part of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, but the focus is on kids. For the past seven years, the Red Sox along with radio station AM 850 WEEI and cable station NESN have taken a day to fund raise for it. This year, it's two days. Maybe it always has been. I can't remember. The goal is 4 million. They're at 3.7 million right now.

I was listening to WEEI all day today, and they had all sorts of little kids who were dying or recovering or survivors. It was heartbreaking. If you heard them you'd donate. If you think you could spare anything, even a few bucks, I urge you too. Call 877-738-1234 or else click here. The fundraiser ends tonight, but it's never too late to give. Here's the Jimmy Fund's home page for future reference.

UPDATE: This is a huge event every year with a great many contributors from all over. Everyone gives, including many affiliated with the Yankees. George Steinbrenner's always very generous, as is Yankee fan Donald Trump who threw out the first pitch last year wearing a Jimmy Fund Jersey cause he hates the Red Sox and won't wear there's. Here's a picture of Bill Cosby throwing out last night's first pitch in a shirt near and dear to all our hearts.

Texas vs Boston

2008-08-13T13:11:00.003-05:00

When I tuned in last night the score was Boston 10, Texas 2. The Sox added 2 more in the 3rd to make it 12-2. My only thoughts at the time were about whether or not Zink could go 7 innings and let the bullpen rest. Three hours later, Texas had the lead. In all my life, I never remember the Red Sox blowing a 10 run lead. According to Sports Illustrated's web page, the Red Sox were beating the Blue Jays 10-0 after 6 when I was 4 years old in 1989 and lost the game 13-11. I guess that's the only other time a Red Sox team has blown that big a lead.

There were a lot of crazy plays that went Texas way. Coco Crisp had a fly ball land inside his glove and then fall out. Crisp argued it was on the tranfer, but the umpire ruled it wasn't a catch. The official score keeper ruled it a double, not an error. That, along with 8 Ranger runs, pretty much sums up the fifth. Oh yeah...and it took Lopez and Aardsma to get out of the it in a game I was hoping the starter would go at least 7.

In the bottom of the fifth, Ortiz appeared to hit a homer, but an umpire ruled a fan reached out and interfeared with the ball. They decided it would have hit the top of the centerfield wall and gave Ortiz a double. Myself and all of Baltimore is currently wondering where this umpiring crew was during the 1996 ALCS. Aside from fantasy numbers, it didn't matter much, as Youkilis homered the very next at bat.

In the sixth with one out and a runner on third, a ground ball was hit that deflected off Youkilis. Pedroia picked it up and had plenty of time to toss to first to get the sure out, and even looked that way. Instead, he decided to throw home. Kevin Cash made a great play just to catch the horrible throw. The first thing you learn in little league is to take the sure out. Pedroia must have been sick that day. Than man who reached on the Youk error/Pedroia fielder's choice eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. Had Pedrioa just gone to first and gotten the sure out, the inning's over on that fly ball. Stupidity.

In the seventh, Okajima came on with a runner on first and 1 out. It was ugly how he did it, but after loading the bases he got out of the inning without allowing any runs. I mention this only cause it's the first time I've seen Okajima not allow an inherited runner to score this year. Hopefully he's gotten better at that in my time away. It's impossible for him to be any worse.

Anyway, in a game the Red Sox lead 10-0 and 12-2, they came up to bat trailing 16-15 in the eight. Thankfully, they scored 4 runs capped by a three run Youkilis homer to take a 19-16 lead into the 9th. The Rangers got 1 off Papelbon, but the Red Sox escaped with a 19-17 win.

Also, Tampa Bay lost and New York beat Minnesota. Sickening as it sounds, it's actually good the Yankees won. It helps cause Minnesota's in second behind Boston for the wildcard.

Lastly, at the risk of comprimising what little respect and integrity I have left, I'm keeping the faith that Tampa Bay will never finish above .500. Right now they have 71 wins with 44 games to play. In order to finish above .500, the Rays need only to go 11-33. 10-34 or worse may seem impossible. However, I've been watching them for 10 years play their role as the most worthless team in professional sports history. I'm confident if any team can pull it off, they can.

Byrd a Red Sox

2008-08-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

I'm back in Boston. I don't really know what's going on. I feel like such a fair weather fan. I saw part of the game Sunday, a 6-5 loss to the White Sox. I was technically still in Anchorage, but I was at a sports bar called Boston's. Close enough.

Apparently Buchholtz hasn't been everything I hoped for since I left. That's been the talk the last two days. I logged on to RedSox.com and saw the Sox traded a player to be named later and cash to Cleveland for Paul Byrd, who if I recall correctly, pitched better than Carmona and Sabathia in the ALCS last year. He's apparently gonna take Buchholtz spot in the rotation.

Wakefield's on the DL. The Sox have another knuckleballer starting tonight, Charlie Zinc. He's been really good with Pawtucket, 13-4 with a 2.89 ERA, 2 complete games and a shutout. It's his first start in the Majors. I remember Wakefield coming out of nowhere in 95 and leading the Sox to the division title that year. If Zinc can be half as effective for half as long during his Red Sox career, I'll be thrilled. He's pretty old for making his debut, about to turn 29 latter this month.

Obnoxious

2008-08-12T00:11:00.007-05:00

Top of the 9th in LA... Dodgers lead Philly 8-4. Everyone's ready to go except... left field is...vacant?

Where the heck is Manny??

After an awkward period of time [while people searched for him], he runs out from the dugout... grinning and looking ridiculous with his baggy pants and shirt not buttoned up.

From the announcers: "Well, we did a little special on "Manny being Manny,"... and we've got more. He's unbuttoned, he's late... who knows, huh? Who knows."

Absolutely obnoxious. His egocentrism and lack of seriousness about the game are not only annoying... but they also make the game seem like a joke.

You've got guys playing their hearts out... hustling down the line, chasing down balls in the outfield. It's like those guys realize that people are paying good money to watch them work hard. They realize that it's a privilege to be on the field in the first place and don't take it for granted.

And then there's Manny.

I've said it before... but one of these days [or years] Manny's offensive contribution will be outweighed by his mediocre defense and his lack of heart. On his way to becoming a player of little consequence, he'll go back to the AL and end up as a DH for awhile, I'm sure. [Which may happen sooner than later as he's hoping to go to the Yanks during the offseason. Apparently he wants to get back at the Red Sox or something. Good grief.]

He's a great hitter... one of the best of this generation. He'll make it to the Hall as his bat deserves to be there. But I wish the powers that be wouldn't tolerate so much stupidity and laziness from him. There's a higher standard for baseball players... and that he gets away with so much is an embarrassment.

Baseball is too good for Manny.

It's easy cheering for the Red Sox

2008-08-05T13:03:00.002-05:00

As a Jason Bay / new Red Sox fan, I am discovering just how easy and fun it is to like this team.

Mainly, there is this: The team is good. This therefore motivates me to actually seek the results of every game, and even more amazing, to find out how the Rays and Yankees are doing as well!

I like it.

Another thing is that their fans are intelligent. I've enjoyed becoming acquainted with the smart blogs Over The Monster and Joy of Sox.

Finally, I didn't realize how much of a fan I am of Bay personally until I saw him succeeding in games that mattered. My heart skips a beat whenever he's at the plate now and when he has a nice play or a good hit I get so excited!! Because what he does actually affects the fortunes of a team now. I have a feeling he's going to be better than ever with the Sox.

Standing Ovation

2008-08-01T05:18:00.005-05:00

Another title I considered for this post:

"Go Red Sox," because as I've said, I will cheer for Jason Bay's new team until the Pirates are good again. I will still be a Pirates fan, of course, but you can expect me to follow the Red Sox closely come playoff time, especially when Bay's at the plate.

But ultimately when I think about the trade deadline, I am blown away by the Pirates' rookie GM Neal Huntington.

Huntington was hired with no prospects and a pathetic major league roster. Many fans clamored this offseason for him to trade away Bay, Jack Wilson, Nady, Marte, and others right away. He resisted.

As it turned out, every one of those guys improved on last year's performances, especially Nady and Bay, who churned out All-Star-caliber years.

Another player improved, our center fielder Nate McLouth. The result was that we had a pretty darn good offense this season. Our pitching was terrible though, worst in the league. Conventional wisdom says to hang on for dear life to those hitters and try desperately to improve pitching through trades and offseason signings.

That is perhaps what former GM Dave Littlefield would have done, desperate for the team to look at least average, mortgaging the future for the illusion of competing.

But Huntington made the right choice. He knows that to truly compete, the Pirates need a stronger minor league system and not just talent at the major league level, but talent with depth. After making no significant moves in the offseason, Huntington had what appears to be a decent draft, although there are still many good players from the draft who haven't signed.

At the deadline, all eyes were now on the former Indians Assistant GM to make his move. And he performed a magic trick.

Over the weekend, he sent Xavier Nady (an impending free agent) and Damasco Marte to the Bronx in return for one top-shelf-potential-but-very-young OF prospect and three very ordinary, average pitching prospects. (Of course, they instantly became the Pirates' 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best pitching prospects.)

Some praised the return Huntington got for a LOOGY and a mediocre OF having a career year who would leave in a couple months. Others complained that it wasn't enough. Perhaps it's not an easy call.

As it turned out, though, Neal had mysterious ways, and ulterior motives in making a New York trade five days before the deadline.

Still spouting lies that the Pirates had no serious intentions of trading Jason Bay, Huntington began talks with two teams who suddenly had incentive to improve: the Yankees division rivals Tampa Bay and Boston. Tampa Bay, whose system is so rich with prospects that they don't know what to do with them, seemed unwilling to budge on a few players the Pirates were demanding. Meanwhile, Boston, who needed to rid themselves of Ramierez, searched desperately for the right team to send him to so that they could replace him with Bay.

At this point, TB and Boston had incentive not just to one-up the Yankees but to avoid having the other team improve. Not only was Huntington selling Bay at his highest value, but he was in a self-created perfect situation for negotiating with the upper hand.

As a result, Huntington was able to reject offers all week right up until the last second, ultimately taking 3B Andy LaRoche, SP Brandon Morris, RP Craig Hansen, and OF Brandon Moss. From what I've read in the past 24 hours, LaRoche is a gem, a major-league ready player who should eventually be a star. Morris has star potential and is only 21. Hansen and Moss have less potential but can step right in and be certain contributors for years here.

This deal was more fruitful than any of the rumored deals we "had together" with Florida or Tampa Bay. Huntington took players at their peak value, traded them to a team who had incentive to trade that was created by Huntington, and picked up great prospects who are being undervalued by the Dodgers, along with solid contributors fromo Boston.

Bravo, Neal. For two impending free agents and Jason Bay, you got 3 guys who SHOULD be future All-Stars and 5 other guys who should be contributors on the Pirates' eventual turnaround team in a couple years.

Until then, GO RED SOX!!

A deal that benefits me

2008-07-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

Junior in Chicago?!?

This excites me for absolutely no other reason than the fact that I get to have the most beautiful swing in baseball in my backyard.

Manny-Bay-Prospects... Does it make sense?

2008-07-31T08:18:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to see if I was dreaming about the likely three-way trade involving Jason Bay and Manny. Here's why it makes sense for everyone involved:

1. Boston gets to send Manny to the NL while getting a player in return who is nearly as productive this year but is not disruptive. Bay still has a year before free agency as well, and could therefore become part of the Red Sox' longterm plans. And the most important part for for Boston: Tampa Bay does not get Jason Bay. Boston also gets reliever John Grabow. It costs them Manny for the playoff run, cash, and a couple strong prospects.

2. Florida gets a productive outfielder, Manny, free for a playoff run (from what I hear Boston will pay Florida the rest of Manny's salary). They give up a couple strong prospects.

3. Pittsburgh gets much needed high-level talent for their farm system, something like four players. They give up Jason Bay.

At first I was skeptical that Boston would trade Manny at this point in the year but considering age, won't Bay be at least as good as Manny for the next few years? And they can more easily keep him around.

Meanwhile, we know Florida is a weird team and probably just wants to go on a strong run this year before selling their team off or something. They do not have to pay the full cost for Bay to the Pirates so it is not a big loss for them.

The Pirates will presumably get great return on Jason Bay, because the Rays and the Red Sox now have to work against each other, both having a desire not only for Bay but also for the other team to not have Bay.

Rumors are that either the Pirates want slightly better prospects or the Marlins want Boston to send a prospect their way. I'm sure I'll be addicted to checking back all day to see what happens.

The greatest part is that the Pirates don't NEED to trade Bay. If we're not happy about the deal, just hang onto him and trade him in the off-season or next year at this time. With a year of arbitration left, the guy is like gold. We should get a couple elite prospects and a couple 2nd or 3rd tier prospects for him.

Finally, with Tampa Bay and Boston both in the running for Bay, the Nady/Marte-to-Yankees trade looks better and better, as it turned up the heat on these two teams to improve their situation.

Trade deadline!!

2008-07-30T13:40:00.002-05:00

As I've said before, this is an exciting season for Pirate fans, as we have a new front office that sometimes shows shades of competence. This is a huge improvement from the last seven or so years.

The Pirates have a decent offense this year and the worst pitching anyone's ever seen. Our minor league system is practically bankrupt.

A couple days ago we traded RF Xavier Nady and RP Damasco Marte to the Yankees for four prospects. Three were pitchers of various pedigrees, although none are top-shelf talent. The last guy, whose name is Tabata, is a 19-year-old OF with potential to be a star, although he's had a rough year in the minors so far.

Despite what some media members have said, it's a great deal for the Pirates, because Xavier Nady is mediocre and is simply having a career year. He's just as likely to fall flat on his face in New York as to continue his good year there. Marte is a relief pitcher and was going to be gone at the end of the season anyway. Nice job (general manager) Huntington!

Some have complained that we helped the Yankees. I could care less if it's the Yankees or anyone else. In fact, I'll be cheering a bit for the Yankees because Nady and Marte are both really great guys who liked Pittsburgh a lot.

As I have stated more than once, if Jason Bay is traded, I will cheer for his new team until the Pirates are good again. That promise is still on, and while there is a good chance Bay will not be traded in the next 24 hours, there is still a chance.

In fact, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking more and more like his new team. The Cardinals are in the mix too, but they don't have as much to offer. I would be excited to cheer for the Rays, although it'll make me look like a bandwagon jumper. Oh well.

All Star Game Thoughts...

2008-07-16T22:16:00.003-05:00

1. I loathe J.D. Drew. So of course he won the MVP award.

2. I'm a little bit concerned about Brad Lidge. Giving up a walk-off homer to Albert Pujols in the NLCS a few years ago really rattled him. He didn't recover until he came to Philly this year. Will losing the ASG last night have a similar affect on him? I sure hope not... cuz he just signed a 3-year deal...

3. I was really impressed with that one inning where the AL had the bases loaded with no outs and the pitcher got three infield hits in a row with outs at home. The other really impressive play was Nate McClouth's throw from center to home for another out. It was a PERFECT throw. Any other location on the ball and it wouldn't have been an out. Perfect.

4. Fifteen innings? Really? I mean... I usually like extra inning games... but I think this was kind of ridiculous in light of the managers trying to get all the players in... and still trying to win... AND trying to protect guys like Kazmir and Webb who weren't supposed to pitch. Should the managers have extra players in case of a never-ending game like this year's? Should pitchers be replaced if they're not able to be used in the game?

5. With that... should the game matter? I like that it matters b/c it makes the guys actually try to win. On the other hand... since the AL is clearly the better league [though you wouldn't necessarily know it from last night's game] it's almost a "gimme" that the AL will get home field advantage for the World Series. That kinda blows.

The Battle for NL Central B

2008-07-09T22:43:00.002-05:00

The NL Central is the only division with six teams. This does not make it unfair for these teams, because two or three of these teams are always among the worst in the league.

Each year there are 1-3 teams competing for a playoff spot and the other 3-5 teams compete to be the best of the bad.

That's why I have created the NL Central B-division. Since the Pirates will never win the NL Central again, we can at least be the best of the teams that are eliminated by July.

If we take a look retroactively, the Pirates haven't even won the B-division for a few years:

In 2007, the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals all had at least 78 wins, while the Astros won the B-Division over the Reds and Pirates with 73 wins (Pirates: 68 wins).

In 2006 the Cardinals, Astros and Reds all had at least 80 wins while the Brewers won the B-Division with 75 (Pirates: 67 wins).

In 2005 the Cardinals and Astros had at least 89 wins, while the Brewers won the B-League with 81 (Pirates: 67 wins).

In 2004 the Cardinals, Astros and Cubs all had at least 86 wins, while the Reds won the B-Division with 76 wins (Pirates: 72 wins).

And in 2003, the Cardinals, Astros and Cubs all had at least 85 wins while the Pittsburgh Pirates won the B-Division with 75!! Oh yeah. This was of course a Lloyd McClendon-managed year of craziness, including Randall Simon hitting a certain sausage over the head with a baseball bat.

So it's been 5 years since our last B-League championship. How are things shaping up this season?

Well, the two divisions are clearly set already: The Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers are competing for playoff spots (50-55 wins), while the Pirates, Astros and Reds are in the B-Division (42-43 wins).

Currently, Cinci and Pitt are tied for the lead while Houston is a game back. I'll be chronicalling our quest for a B-Division championship the rest of the season.

Go Bucs!

(Hey, when you've been losing for this long, you'll take what you can get.)

c.c. ya later

2008-07-08T00:15:00.003-05:00

welp... so much for that.

c.c. if it happens

2008-07-05T22:40:00.002-05:00

could the phils get sabbathia?

who could they possibly give up that would even out the trade?!!?

i like the lineup just the way it is, thank you. so please don't give the indians any of the following:

utley... obviously
rollins
howard
burrell... though a year ago i'd be in shock that i now want to keep him
victorino
werth
feliz... we spent too long trying to find a good 3b
ruiz... bat's terrible right now... but defensively he's a gem
coste... great backup catcher and a good bench bat
dobbs... the "pinch-hitter extraordinaire"

i don't have strong feelings for bruntlett or jenkins or taguchi... but i appreciate what they've been able to do both in the field and at the plate. but... if they had to go... okay.

as for pitchers... i need to keep:

hamels... obviously
kendrick
myers
moyer... old... but reliable most of the time
lidge
condrey
durbin
romero

i'd eagerly part with eaton. and i'm always skeptical of madson and gordon... so i'd be fine if they left, too.

am i forgetting anyone important?

the alternative is for the phils to dig into their minor league prospects. apparently there are some good ones... though i don't know any of their names. it's a tough call for me... b/c we could have some brilliant players preparing to come up... but... at the same time, i'd more easily let them go since i don't have an emotional connection to them. [note that i said "to" them rather than "with" them. "to"implies the one-sidedness of the connection/obsession. "with" would imply a mutual connection. only in my dreams.]

if chase ever leaves me, by the way... i'll be absolutely devastated. i'd like the phillies to lay down the big bucks and just keep him for his entire career. course... that's what their plan was with burrell... until he hit his 3-year slump. course... he's coming out of it... and loves philly... so maybe he'll stay after all. [how he loves it there i have no idea... fans have been harassing him for the duration of his slump.]

hamels will jet the second he gets offered more money. not b/c he doesn't like philly... but b/c he's a little bit arrogant and has one of the most awful, greedy, manipulative human beings on the planet as his wife. i don't seem him staying with the phils long-term... though i wish he would. he'll prolly end up with the yanks or bosox or something like that. i'd rather keep him around... but money's a powerful thing.

as for c.c.... do i want him? depends on the price tag. not if it'd break up my beloved starting lineup. i can see him doing well in philly though... and having him would certainly bolster the rotation.

if, of course, he can get used to the hitter-friendliness of The Bank.

Losing

2008-07-02T10:34:00.003-05:00

I have to be honest. It's difficult for me to post when the Phillies are losing. I stop watching Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight. I can't go to ESPN.com or Delaware Online b/c I don't want to see articles about a single Phillies' loss... much less a streak of losses. I live in denial.

Brett Myers got demoted to the minors yesterday... though... they're saying that it's not a demotion. It's a way for him to get his fastball back to normal without the pressure of needing to win. And it's so he can reboost his confidence. He'll apparently be back in a few starts and the guy they pulled up from the minors to replace him will go back down.

It's a wonder they never sent Adam Eaton down to the minors.

I'm not really sure what's wrong with the Phils right now. Myers not pitching well is certainly part of it. But something weird happened with them during all the interleague play. It's rather distressing. Still in first place... but barely.

They're a good team. So I'm fairly certain that they'll pull it together and be back to their normal form soon. Well... at least I hope they will.

Beat the Best, Lose to the Worst

2008-06-23T22:08:00.004-05:00

There are many things I don't understand about baseball and probably never will. One is the multitude of ways a balk can be called, but almost never is...it always just seems so arbitrary. Another is why managers are recycled so often, as if the guy might just get it right with his fifth different team after bombing with the other four. Or why Tony LaRussa hits his pitchers eight most of the time now.

But one that seems to happen all the time is playing great against a tough team only to get swept by a crappy team...only to play well against a great team again. The crazy ups and downs of baseball are just astounding.

Take the Cardinals last several games as an example.

They play three against Philadelphia, NL East leaders who were playing really well...and started the series off with a 20-2 pounding of the Cards...no, it was an anihilation...or something tremendously awful. Then, STL rebounds to win the last two, taking the series. Pretty good against a hot, 1st place team.

Then the Cards take on Kansas City, perennial bottom-dwellers of the AL Central. Should be able to take this momentum and beat up on a bad team, right? Apparently not. STL got swept. Yeah, swept, not just lost two of three. Swept. And that leading up to playing the Red Sox in Boston.

Great, Boston doesn't lose at home. They are, like, 56-2 at home or something and we are coming off of getting swept by the Royals...not looking good. Without Albert my faith in the team is similar to my faith in the Royals. But that's not how it turns out, is it? The Cardinals were within one bad JD Drew throw of a sweep of the Sox themselves...IN Boston.
What?!
How does this make sense?

I know there are reasons within reasons in any single game. But it is just weird how this happens. Going 4-5 against those three teams, I would have thought a sweep of the Royals would have been in there, not a sweep BY the Royals.

Crazy baseball.

Adam Dunn: Why the haters?

2008-06-20T16:18:00.003-05:00

Adam Dunn leads the league in strike outs. Adam Dunn has a .228 batting average this season. All I hear all day on Columbus radio is Adam Dunn stinks, trade Adam Dunn, etc. Today the GM of the Blue Jays blasted him. I just watched the guys on Around the Horn agree.

Why does everyone hate Adam Dunn?

He has bad defense, but that's no rarity for right fielders. Other than that, he has a .396 OBP, a .511 SLG, has 18 home runs and he leads the league in walks!!

Not only that, he's been doing it every year!!

When will people learn that there's more to baseball than batting average? Dunn is still one of the best players in the league at not getting out AND he has power. I'd love him on my team.

I love everything about baseball...except one thing.

2008-06-17T23:49:00.004-05:00

I love baseball. I could watch it all day. I could read as many books or ESPN articles as you would put in front of me. I would love it if it was all year round (kind of like much of America seems to be doing with the NFL now) so I would have games every day of the year. I love the history of the game. I love the amazing and unexpected things that seem to happen every week. I love the beauty of the field, the duel of pitcher and batter, the dimensions of the diamond that make the stolen base a challenge and yet not impossible. I love going to games. I love listening to games on the radio...any teams. I love being able to flip between three or four games on TV. I love talking about it, debating it-the players, teams, rules, etc. I love everything about it. Except one thing.

I don't love that it can distract me...or even enslave me. It can become a god. I want to enjoy the players and the game, not worship them. But sometimes it feels that way. And tonight was a good example of how I/we can get so wrapped up and focused on the fun of baseball that we push God out of His rightful place as the center of life.

This wasn't dramatic or anything, but as one of my roommates and I were debating Hall of Fame worthy players--who's in, who's out, what about so-and-so, etc.--our other roommate, who had come in, finally said, "God is putting some stuff on my heart and I could use some prayer...". Now, this didn't upset me, even though I would have enjoyed more baseball talk. And we ended up having a great time of discussion and prayer together. But we also noted that we end up spending so much time talking about ultimately worthless things (like whether Mike Mussina has been merely a good player for a long time or a truly great player deserving of a place with those in the Hall--for the record, I don't see him as great) that sometimes we miss those opportunities for where God is leading. Miss opportunities to really get into life issues with each other and seek God's face together...it's a lot easier most of the time to talk about what the Tiger's chances are of making the playoffs this year or which team's injuries are the most devastating than to really engage with one another about God. Praying together is a big one of those.

How many times have I not wanted to interupt my roommates or inconvenience someone else with initiating praying together or bringing up heart stuff? Or how many times have I been so wrapped up in reading articles or watching a game or talking Hot Stove League speculation and not been "available" for my roommates and friends? And how many times have I decided not to read my Bible, but to read about the history of the Cardinals or about sabermetrics...not just once, but a week in a row or more?

Baseball is great. And beautiful. God wants us tobe able to enjoy it. But when it begins to come before Him or keeps us from really being attentive to Him and what he is doing around us...well, that is a problem. That is the one thing about baseball that I don't like.
May we all enjoy baseball, but never in place of God.

Final Thoughts

2008-06-15T14:32:00.002-05:00

The Red Sox beat the Reds, 9-0. Florida is beating Tampa Bay 9-2 also in the ninth. If that score holds, the Red Sox will have a 2.5 game lead in the AL East. Objectively, I can see only two problems with this team. The first and most obvious is the bullpen. Okajima's no where near as effective as last year. He still has problems with allowing inherited runners to score and now he's also having trouble allowing his own to score, if that makes sense. Papelbon's been good as has David Aardsma. Both Craig Hanson and Manny DelCarmen have shown signs of being reliable setup men, but both have also gone through periods of struggle. Javier Lopez has been ok as the left handed specialist. Timlin's just getting too old. I don't think he has anything left. I would like to see Theo get a middle reliever this year, not a closer. I think they learned that doesn't work with Gagne. Trade for a reliable setup man. I honestly don't know who right now. As I said before, Brandon Morrow would be great...but I don't think that's reasonable.

The other problem they have is winning on the road. The Sox are 16-21 on the road, which actually is getting a lot better. If the Red Sox finish even a game or two above 500 on the road, they'll be all set. They're unstoppable at Fenway with a 28-7 record.

Everything else about the team is awesome. The rotation is phenominal...no matter who is in it. Right now, it's Beckett, Lester, Wakefield, Colon and Masterson. Also expected to come off the DL this year, the Sox have Diasuke, Buchholtz and Schilling. Even with Manny and Ortiz both out today hurt, the Sox lineup was able to score 9 runs (and counting). Manny's bothered by his ham string and would have DHed in an AL park. He'll be back. AM 680 WRKO is reporting that Ortiz wrist feels fine and he should be able to comeback without the surgery. In his absense, J.D. Drew finally figured out how to hit in the American League.

One last thing. In the first inning today, 72 games into the season, Jacoby Ellsbury set a Red Sox rookie record for stolen bases, stealing second for his 32nd steal. He celebrated by stealing third to set a new record, and we're not even halfway through the year yet. According to my uncle Michael, and backed up by Wikipedia, Tommy Harper has the overall Red Sox record with 54 steals. I think it's safe to assume that will be smashed by the time I get back from Alaska.

This is the time for the Red Sox. I don't know that a team's been set up this nicely in history. The team keeps getting both better and younger. And the salaries are cheaper. Papelbon, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Buchholtz, Masterson. They'll all be around awhile and none of them make over a million. Theo's been brilliant. He's very Belichick-like, in that he's willing to part ways with fan favorites like Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez-even if it pisses off the fan base-for the good of the team.

In terms of history, I don't know if the Red Sox will ever catch the Yankees...at least not in our life time. The Yankees have 26 World Championships and 39 pennants. The Red Sox have 7 World Championships and 12 pennants. Granted, 27 straight pennants to close the gap isn't very likely, but this is the time to close the gap, one baby step at a time. This millennium, the Red Sox have the only two World Series Titles of the rivalry. Both teams have 2 pennants but I think its safe to say the Red Sox are the better of the two since 2001.

Now that that's done, we can look at things in terms of my life time. Right now, the Yankees lead, 4 world championships to 2. When it comes to pennants, the Yankees have the 6-3 advantage. This 5 year period is the time to strike at that. I think the Red Sox could win 2-3 pennants and 1 or 2 World Series in the next 5 years. It's amazing. I never would have thought when I was 13 or 14 the Red Sox would have a shot at having as many pennants in my life as the Yankees, never mind World Championships. But it's a very real possibility now. Is it going to be easy? Nope. Not at all. But it definitely is possible.

Boston vs Cincinnati

2008-06-13T13:01:00.003-05:00

For the first time since the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox will play the Reds. I didn't believe it at first when I read about it on redsox.com. For as long as Interleague has been going on, it seems every team would have played all the others at least once by now. I'm not sure if this will be the final National League team for the Red Sox. Looking at the teams real quick, I don't remember them ever playing the Astros in Interleague, who are on the schedule for later this year. I'm not sure about the Nationals, though they definitely played the Expos a bunch of times. I think I remember every other team playing Boston at least once in the regular season.

This will also probably be the last series I'll blog about for at least 6 weeks. I'm going off to Alaska on Monday. I'm told they have a really good semi pro league up there...on par with the Cape Cod League we have in Massachusetts. Maybe I'll check that out and let you know about it.

UPDATE: I just checked out the webpage for the Alaska Baseball League. There are 6 teams. I'm staying in Anchorage, who apparently has two teams... the Anchorage Buccs and Anchorage Glacier Pilots. I'm going with Campus Crusade, and they have a branch known as Athletes in Action who also has a team in the league, the Fairbanks AIA Fire. Don't know who I'll root for yet. I like the name "Glacier Pilots" though...

interleague :(

2008-06-13T07:49:00.001-05:00

Pirates record in interleague play: 57-94.

These two weeks ain't never pretty for the Buccos.

By the way, a new Indians blogger could be on the way soon.

6/13/08

2008-06-13T00:04:00.006-05:00

I kept score again, but unfortunately Lester didn't repeat his no hitter. I was very upset when a slow ground ball went down the right field line for a single. Youkilis, as is his way, was playing a righty waaayyy off the bag. Normally, it helps take away line drives. This time, it burnt him as most other first basemen would have had it. But that wasn't the last hit Lester surrendered, so it really didn't matter much.

Offensively, the Sox scored 9 runs, including a grand slam by Mike Lowell. Manny came up with no one out and runners on second and third. The Orioles walked Manny to load the bases and Lowell made them pay. Youk and J.D. Drew also hit two run homers. The Fenway Faithful have started to greet J.D. with the "DRRREEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW" call. I think that call should be reserved for the great Drew Bledsoe, so I boycotted it. Two or three good weeks, no matter how good, doesn't put you on the same page as a man who single handedly saved a franchise. Just my opinion. Anyway, the final was Boston 9, Baltimore 2.

I've been to many nonbaseball events, whether it be Patriots games, Celtics games, Patriots Super Bowl Championship rallies, UMass sporting events, weddings, classes, or Dropkick Murphy concerts where people chanted "Yankees Suck." Tonight, perhaps for the first time since the chant began in the late 90s, there wasn't a single "Yankees Suck" chant. However, there were plenty of "Beat L.A." chants, which is a nice transition to the real story of the night, the NBA Finals. When I got home, it was halftime and L.A. was up by 20. When I settled down to watch it, it was in the begining of the 3rd. The Celtics scored first, and I told my brother Boston was outscoring LA 2-0 in parts of the game I watch. I was just trying to be funny, and kept updating after every possession. For some reason, L.A. couldn't score. I'm not really a basketball expert or anything, so I can't give detailed analysis aside from the John Madden "they just couldn't shot the ball in the basket" comment.

Next thing you know, the leads down to 12 and LA's calling a time out. Then the lead drops to 10. Pierce gets fouled, hits the free throw knocking it down to 9. Then ABC announces Phil Jackson will be interviewed after the quarter. Lead is down to 4. I couldn't wait to see what Jackson would say. Mercyfully for the Lakers, the quarter ends with L.A. clinging to a 2 point lead.

Before play resumes in the fourth, they show the Jackson interview. I'm extremely disappointed. If I were coaching a team that blew a 20 point lead at home in a championship, I'd be furious, flipping out and throwing chairs. He said something stupid like "That's a good question. How did they get back in the game?" When the reporter pointed out he was the coach and it was his job to figure that out, he responded with "Momentum's a fiery lady, and she's jumped to the other side of the ship." He didn't even raise his voice or anything.

For the first half of the fourth quarter, Boston kept tying the game and getting the ball back, but couldn't get a lead. The Lakers would have some crappy possession filled with bad passes tipped by countless Celtic plays only to end up somehow getting a wide open dunk to regain the lead. Then finally, with four minutes left, Eddie House hit a jump shot to give the Celtics their first lead, and then Boston pretty much ran away with it at the end, winning 97-91. Series is 3-1 Celtics.

The sportscasters kept mentioning the Celtics great comeback in game 3 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals against the Nets. I think the comebacks are different for three reasons.

Firstly, in 2002, the Celtics were at home, which is a huge advantage. The crowd was so loud and supportive, especially at the defensive end. This game was on the road, with hostile Laker fans like Justin Timberlake. In that respect, tonight's comeback was more impressive.

Secondly, the in 2002, the team was down by something like 25 at the start of the 4th and were pretty much dead. Yeah, tonight the Celtics were trailing by 20, but they had an entire half to comeback. The Celtics had all the momentum going into the fourth. In that respect, the comeback in 2002 was more impressive.

Thirdly, the 2002 Celtics had Antoine Walker, my favorite Celtic ever. He was a huge motivating force in the comeback, literally screaming profanity after profanity in Paul Pierce's ear about how Pierce had to take the game over. The 2008 Celtics don't have Antoine to do that, though there were a few times tonight where I did bust out the "Walker Wiggle," the greatest basketball celebration ever.

All Star Ballot

2008-06-12T01:34:00.003-05:00

Here's who I voted for. I voted not so much based on stats but more based on who I like...which is pretty much the Red Sox

American League
C-J. Varitek
1B- Youkilis
2B-Pedroia
3B-Lowell
SS-O.Cabrera (arguably my favorite shortstop of all time)
OF-Manny
OF-J.D. Drew (stepping up big without Ortiz. Gets the nod)
OF-M. Bradley (as someone with a temper myself, I appreciate the man)
DH-Ortiz

National League- a lot tougher. Never watch these guys.
C-B McCann- totally on stats. Don't even know his first name.
1B-D. Lee- I've always liked him. Don't know why.
2B-B. Phillips-played great in a game I went to last year, and even hit a homerun to win some guy a lifetime supply of pizza or something. I respect that.
3B-NOMAH!
SS-H. Ramirez- Went based on stats. Didn't hurt that he's the reason the Sox have Beckett and Lowell...
OF-Griffey
OF-W. Pena
OF-D. Roberts-if one man deserves to be a perennial All Star, it is without question Dave Roberts.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-11T17:51:00.001-05:00

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday

2008-06-10T23:47:00.003-05:00

My friend called me up with an extra ticket to Thursdays game against Baltimore. Interestingly enough, Lester's pitching again. I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll keep score this time.

Stadium Checklist

2008-06-10T16:20:00.002-05:00

After the Braves game and the Yankees and Mets games, here is my new tally...

Stadiums been to:
Busch I (STL)
Busch II (STL)
Wrigley (CHI)
Comiskey I (CHI)--I even played a T-Ball game in the outfield before a game!
Comiskey II (CHI)
County Stadium (MIL)
Miller Park (MIL)
Tiger Stadium (DET)
Exhibition Stadium (TOR)--while Skydome is being built
Kauffman (KC)
Cinergy (CIN)
Camden Yards (BAL)
PNC (PIT)
Fenway (BOS)
Citizen's (PHI)
Coors (COL)
Tropicana (TB)
Yankee (NY)
Shea (NY)
Turner Field (ATL)
20 Parks

Hopeful other trips this summer:
Crapfest Park (Miami)--likely
Great American Ballpark (CIN)
The Jake (CLE)
Comerica (DET)

Someday I will have to hit all those West Coast parks. Someday.
Hooray for baseball!

Coca-Cola Stadium

2008-06-10T15:47:00.006-05:00

Oh, that's not the name?

It's Turner Field?

Huh, I guess I was thrown off by all the Coke advertising and logos in the ballpark. You know, like this thing...

If you notice, the entire thing is made up of baseball equipment.

So, Saturday, I met stayed with a friend in Georgia on my way down to Orlando for overseas training. And since I had not yet been to Turner Field (and more importantly, because it was baseball) we went to a Braaves-Phillies game. Which Shunta was, of course, very jealous of...but also excited that I could see her Phils.

I have already mentioned the Pat Burrell homer, but other than that...

*They had a ridiculous variety of hotdogs you could order, from traditional chili-cheese, to Chicago style, to combos of just about anything you could put on one. I ended up going with a plain jumbo dog, which was the cheapest (but still over $5) and oddly, it was not jumbo in the way I had thought. It was really just a footlong, which is apparently the rough southern equivalent of a jumbo dog. I was ok with that except that the bun was waaay too thick and also really dry...overall, just crappy.

*I liked the park, which has its charms, but overall I don't know that there is anything special about it. I did like that there was an area of the upper deck promenade(?) with a dugout in front of a baseline kids could run on...and outside the bleacher area there is a mural timeline of the different team names and such which was pretty cool (also boasting the longest continuously running franchise in baseball).

*For $9 (eBay, down from $12) we sat in the left-centerfield bleachers, which is a great price. On top of that there was a random giveaway in the statue park beyond left field before the game. It was not at the gates when you come in, like promotion nights, just bags being handed out to passersby in that area about an hour to game time.
Contents of the bag:
twill Braves hat--good quality, not cheap
foam tomahawk
cheapo waterbottle
bag of Cracker Jack
Skittles
bag of salted peanuts in the shell
Combos crackers (disgusting, it turns out)

Not a bad haul!

The game was fun, a pitcher's duel until late...which was partly brought on by a foolish move by Bobby Cox.
The Braves had the bases loaded with two out and the starting pitcher, Jo Jo Reyes up to bat...in the bottom of the sixth in a tie game. Bobby let him hit. And he got out. WHY didn't he pinch hit? He got six great innings and had a great chance for a lead. Was the bullpen taxed? Does he not trust the pen? Is Jo Jo another Micah Owings? I thought it was weird. And a bad move.
Well, he pitched well in the seventh, then gave up a couple in the eighth and that was the game.
Final score 6-2 (with a couple more late runs).

Bench-Clearing Brawls

2008-06-09T22:43:00.003-05:00

first... a warm congrats to junior who finally got his 600th homer. think he can make it to 700? surpass bonds? i hope so!! for as many players as i like and greatly admire... no one else has a swing quite as pretty and perfect as ken griffey jr. it's just beautiful. so clean... balanced. stunning. so good for him. i hope he stays healthy and keeps going!

now... for the topic at hand: bench-clearing brawls.

i love them.

part of it's the adrenaline rush. part of it's seeing who throws punches and who gets beat up and how.

but i think the thing that i [as a woman] love the most is knowing that they're all running out there to fight for their teammate. it's men being men... not passively sitting around... but doing something brave when something's wrong. it's so, so good.

i also love it when managers get ejected for arguing with an umpire [standing up for their men!!].

it's weird to do what gomes and crawford did... they may have taken it a little bit too far. brutality isn't sexy. sissy-fighting isn't sexy, either. you know... slapping and clawing and stuff like that.

but... to run out there and show your opponent that if they wanna mess with your teammate that they have to go through you first... WOW.

men being men. when it's done with honor and passion... watch out. enough to make a girl's heart melt.

Suspensions

2008-06-09T18:27:00.002-05:00

Boston
Crisp 7 games
Lester 5 games
Casey 3 games

Tampa Bay
Shields 6 games
Gomes 5 games
Jackson 5 games
Crawford 4 games
Iwamura 3 games

I was shocked when I saw Lester and Casey. I was away for the weekend and just got back, so for the first time I was able to review the tape. If you click on the link below, you'll see Casey (22) throw a punch at Shields in the very beginning of the fight. Therefore, I have no problem with it.

I kinda have a problem with Lester. The official reason is "hitting a batter after warnings had been issued." However, he wasn't even ejected from the game. Obviously it wasn't intentional. Can't say the same for Shields.

I Was On Sportscenter! (sort of)

2008-06-08T23:34:00.003-05:00

I will have to write more about the Phillies-Braves game I went to last night at some point soon. But one of the fun parts was Pat Burrell's homerun, which went about 5 feet over my head in the bleachers. My buddy and I paused the replay on Sportscenter when we got back and there we were, a couple rows in front of the guy who nearly broke his hand trying to catch it. Most people wouldn't be able to recognize the back of my head, but it was us. Finally, after all these years of top notch plays, I finally got my time in the highlights!

Coco vs Tampa Bay

2008-06-06T01:00:00.003-05:00

First, I'd like to point out that the DEVIL rays are a bunch of hooligans and rapscallions. Always have been, always will be. Always throw at Red Sox, and always charge the mound. One even charged the mound in a game Pedro took a no hitter into the ninth. Granted, he was the first hitter of the game, but still. Fools.

Anyway, as Laura said in the comments of my last post, Coco got beaned right in the leg in the second inning with the Sox up 3-1. He took a step towards first base, looked out to the mound, threw his helmet off and charged. DEVIL ray starter, James Sheilds (who earlier beaned Pedrioa), came off the mound took such a powerful swing at it...and just like every other DEVIL ray in history, whiffed. They can't hit anything. Must be the uniform. Crisp ducked and then landed a small punch before being tackled to Navaro. Before I post the link, I'll ask you watch it and look at the fight in it's entirety first, then watch the replays. Crisp throws one punch. See anyone else in the red and white throwing any? Now, Sheilds, understandably throws a punch. Those should be the only two. But look at the replays when they show Crisp up close. Watch how Gomes punches once, twice, three times... you'll lose count. And he's such a pansy about it. Navaro's on top of Crisp holding him down and Gomes is just decking him with punch after punch. I HATE GOMES. Watch Iwamura. He might be pissed still about last night, but he throws a punch or two on Crisp until someone (can't tell who...I think it's Beckett) in a Red Sox jacket pulls him off. Carl Crawford gets in on the action. As Crisp is held by Navaro, being walloped by Gomez and sucker punched by Iwamura, Crawford starts punching Crisp in the head and continues until Jacoby Ellsbury (46) pulls him off. Not one Red Sox besides Crisp throws a blow. Watch Lugo (23 wearing the batting helmet) all over the pile trying to make peace. Anyway, now that I've lectured you, here it is.

Part of me is happy no Red Sox got invovled. Less suspensions. A bigger part of me is disappointed, especially considering how many "men" ganged up on Coco.

I counted 9 punches Gomes threw. One hit Crawford. Stupid DEVIL rays can't hit anything they're suppose to. I count 1 by Iwamura, who was winding up for a second when he was dragged off. I count at least 6 by Crawford, several of which are as Ellsbury's dragging him away. Keep in mind, because players are running infront of cameras and the piles get big, you can't see every punch thrown. I can only imagine how many Gomes threw. Coco said they were scratching at him and pulling his hair. Sounds like a bunch of third grade girls to me.

Last year, I pleaded with the Red Sox to bean A-Rod. I think it's blatantly obvious that this year, Johnny Gomes, Iwamura, and Carl Crawford all have to get it. Iwamura and Crawford got hit tonight. I honestly don't recall Crawford's cause I stepped out for a while. Iwamura was barely grazed on his protective wrist pad on a 3-2 pitch. Doesn't count for retaliation. I'm willing to bet neither did Crawford's, since Lester wasn't ejected after both sides had been warned. I might hit Gomes a few times. I'm really pissed at him. But don't be like the foolish DEVIL rays. They only thing they can do right is lose. Have your starting pitcher throw at someone and get ejected in the second inning in an important game.

No. Wait till your up by 10 runs. This is the DEVIL rays. It's bound to happen, sooner rather than later. Then hit all three in a row. I wouldn't be surprised if the DEVIL rays stranded the bases loaded in that situation.

I don't buy into Tampa Bay. I still doubt they'll finish over .500, never mind make the playoffs. Joe, if the Pirates can put together a winning season anytime in the next 10 years, don't worry about that record. Tampa Bay will surpass the Pirates.

Anyway, a lot happened this game. Ellsbury got hurt making a great catch, Manny got hurt taking a pitch, Manny and Youkilis had a fight in the dugout. Why? Shrug. No one's talking about it. Crazy game. The Red Sox won though, but I guess I don't even really have to mention that, considering who they were playing.

Woes

2008-06-05T20:27:00.003-05:00

I have a big problem.

One of our family friends [Kevin Mench] plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Now... normally, I cheer for his team as I did with both the Rangers and the Brewers. Texas was a bit of a stretch for me since I generally don't like any sports teams that come out of Texas or Florida. But I survived.

The major conflict here is that Scott Rolen also plays for the Jays. I loathe Scott Rolen and spent the last however many years disliking the Cards [sorry Ken] because he was in St. Louis. Why do I loathe him so much? Simple. He used to play for the Phillies... and wanted to leave badly enough that he started playing poorly so he'd get traded. And all of Philadelphia hates him for it.

It suddenly dawned on me yesterday morning that Kevin and Rolen are on the same team. Why I didn't realize that before... the world will never know.

So... do I go against all of my natural Rolen-loathing instincts and root for the Jays [but not Rolen] for Kevin's sake? [And let's be honest... it'd be for my sake and my family's sake as well.] Or... do I just root for Kevin to do well... but maintain my hope that any team Rolen plays for loses horribly... therefore spiting that arrogant cuss of a man.

Perhaps I should also include in this decision the fact that the Jays are in the same division as the O's... my "tied for second" team. [Phillies... obviously #1. Tigers and O's... tied for #2.]

It seems most logical to be moderately indifferent toward the Jays.... and just hope that Rolen blows and Kevin's awesome. And hope that the Jays end the season below the O's.

I'm having a similar conflict over the NBA Finals. I don't like the Lakers or Phil Jackson... but I've grown weary of Boston teams winning and/or almost winning. [Sorry John.] Alas.... I think I have to root for the Celtics.

See how hard it is for a woman to be a sports fan?!? It becomes soooooooo emotional. But... maybe that's what makes it so beautiful for a woman to love sports. We bring our femininity into it... and I think that's awesome. So don't judge. : )

The Battle for First Place

2008-06-05T01:49:00.006-05:00

Since the beginning of the month, Drew's been one of the most reliable of the Red Sox. He's 7 for 13 with 2 homers, 5 RBIs and a stolen base. Plus, he's made at least three tremendous catches out in Right Field.

Today he went 2-3, made one of the great catches, drove in a run and scored two others as the Red Sox took sole possession of first place from the Tampa Bay Rays. It's about time. Both for Drew to be preforming and for the Red Sox to be ahead of Tampa Bay. Tonight J.D. got to hit third in front of Manny, so maybe he's seeing better pitches or something.

In other news, Coco Crisp seems to be in the middle of a feud with Tampa Bay. I didn't notice all this during the game, but I found it on the Red Sox web page. Crisp stole second in the sixth, and apparently jammed his finger because Shortstop Jason Bartlett put his leg in front of the bag to block him. Crisp called Bartlett's actions "shady" after the game and went on to say something along the lines of, "If you try to hurt me, I'm gonna come back and try to hurt you."

In the eighth, Coco again tried to steal second, but this time slid feet first and hard as if breaking up a double play. The only problem was Bartlett wasn't covering, Akinori Iwamura was. Yeah, it was a hard slid, but watching it live, I thought it was a good hustle play, and maybe I'm wearing my Boston tinted glasses, but I think the tags high and Crisp is safe. Granted at the time I didn't know Crisps intents, but at least he didn't pull an A-Rod and give Iwamura a flying elbow smash. I don't know. You be the judge.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was pretty mad about it and later on while making a pitching change, started screaming at Crisp who yelled right back at him and did his version of the P.J. Stock wave, only with a Red Sox jersey (note the Hockey reference, Cale.). Coco played well tonight, going 2-2 and adding a run and an RBI to his stolen base. It'll be interesting to see if anything carries over to tomorrow night's game.

The House That Ruth Built and The Shanty That Marv Throneberry Built?

2008-06-03T14:18:00.004-05:00

For the last couple years my buddy Brian and I have been talking about getting out to see Yankee Stadium before they tear it down and since this is the last summer for it, well, we decided to make those plans a reality. So, last weekend we met up in NY for a weekend of baseball and hanging out in the city. And since we were there, we thought it was a good idea to see Shea before the Mets move into Citi Park or whatever they are calling it. Two games in two days. I wish I could do that every weekend.

Here are some thoughts on the ballparks and experience:

1) The two New York teams reminded us both of the two Chicago teams...not how they play, win, etc, but in the dynamic between the teams in the city.

a)The Yankees are obviously the historical favorite and "big brother" just like the Cubs.

b)The Yankees play in more of a neighborhood setting like the Cubs in Wrigleyville, with no real parking at either.

c)The Yankees have the more wealthy fanbase (and ticket prices) just like the Cubs.

d)The Yankees fans are mostly white or Asian, while the Mets had many more hispanic or black fans...just like the Sox. There were also more Jews (Queens) which is not exactly a parallel, but noticeable because of the yarmulkes.

e)Yankee Stadium is to Wrigley what Shea is to Comiskey.

2) There was practically airport security to get into Yankee Stadium, which was strange and it took at least 10-15 minutes of standing in line to get in. I don't know how long they have been screening that way, but I have not seen anything like that other than when GW Bush threw out the first pitch on opening day at Busch Stadium a few years ago (there were sniper all around the roof, which was cool). There was only smiling, happy faces to greet us at Shea.

3) The atmosphere at the parks was different. This was twofold (at least):

a) The fans: Brian put it well when he said of the Yankee fans, "They were much more cohesive and invested in the game." Truly, there was a lot more "fan unity" at Yankee and maybe some of that had to do with it being sold out as opposed to Shea being maybe 3/4ths or so full.

b) The "aura": Part of this is the history of the parks, for sure, but you also feel closer to the field at Yankee and it is more enclosed than at Shea. The word intimacy is used a lot, but I think it fits. Everything is just so open and spread out at Shea. Even the announcer at Yankee Stadium sounds like he is still in the 30's or something. Not his 30's but the 30's. Just the pace of his voice and way he would say, "Now batting, shortstop,...Derek...Jeter...". It just seemed more "New York" to me. (After some looking, I found this is Bob Sheppard, who has been doing this since '51) What Shea offered was planes overhead every 2 or 3 minutes, literally. It is hard to sum up how it felt at the games, but it was markedly different...and not just because of expectations.

4) I was not overly impressed with either Stadium, really. I doubt anyone thinks Shea is one of the great parks in the game, but seeing Yankee Stadium on TV I expected something different. I think the renovations a few years back ('74-'75) diminish the look. There are no more support beams/poles and the facade around the top no longer has the "arches" or whatever you would call these. I could see why they are building new parks, since neither really has luxury boxes and the outfield backdrops are pretty crappy. They just seem so old, rundown, ugly. Monument Park might be cool, but you really can't see it for the most part. The Mets really should do something about that Homerun Apple, too. It looks like a bad paper mache project.

5) The hunt for nachos. We both love nachos and looked forward to enjoying some at the games. Well, we never did find them at Yankee. The girl at one concession stand looked at me weird and said she didn't think they had them in the Stadium. What?!

When we were at Shea it didn't seem much better...until we spotted a sign pointing the way to different concessions, which included "Super Nachos". Promise! So, we walked around and found the solitary nacho stand in the whole place, all the way on the other side of the park. Mediocre. But what is the deal with the lack of nachos in NY. Isn't it a ballpark/stadium staple? Very weird.

6) Maybe the coolest thing of either game was the Yankee "Roll Call" from the right field bleachers. I had no idea they did this, but the bleacher fans began chanting the names of the outfielders at the beginning of the game, which the fielder then turned and acknowleged the fans with a tip of the cap, wave of the glove, etc. "Jon-ny, Da-mon" "Bah-bee, Bah-bee" and so on. Nice connection with the outfielders, I thought...and then they carried that to chanting for the infielders, too. I liked the acknowlegement of the fans that it brought. That doesn't happen all that often.

7) The other cool thing was the Rocky-Yankee montage before the Yankees batted in the 8th. They were down 6-3, but then Rocky began training, spliced together with great Yankee moments of the past few years and then...4 run rally. 7-6. Culminating with Ichiro failing to catch a fly ball in right-center. I don't know if it was the sun, but it was misjudged. And Molina (Jose..."America's favorite game, Name That Molina!") drove in the winning run. Well, winning after Mariano came in from the bullpen to Enter Sandman, which a surprisingly large percentage of fans sang all the words to...verses and all. It was a good game.

8) One last thing...NY fans boo a lot. Whether it was Ichiro coming up to bat, Shelley Duncan making an error, Jose Reyes botching a grounder, Delgado popping up...there was a lot of booing. I understand both teams are underplaying expectations and all, but you don't hear that much at most parks (Philly excepted). Maybe I should have booed the lack of nachos. I think I would have fit in.

Manny Rameriz, David Ortiz, Barry Bonds

2008-06-03T00:12:00.008-05:00

I just got back from Ohio and Joe's wedding. It was a really good time, though I foolishly forgot my keys along with a few other items...

Lots happened when I was away on the Red Sox front. Manny celebrated Joe's wedding by hitting career home run number 500. The next day he hit number 501. Today, 502. I had a feeling he'd go on a rampage as soon as he got 500 out of the way.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox will be without David Ortiz for at least a month, and perhaps the rest of the season. Here's the video of him getting hurt. I don't really see what happened, but the possibility of losing him for the year begs the question. Who can replace Ortiz?

I thought about how it's Theo's job...nay, moral obligation, to get someone. Citizens of Boston are paying way too much for tickets to not replace him. But I'm a fan of the Ellsburys and Lesters and Papelbons of the world...so I don't want to ruin the farm system. The first name that popped into my head, and granted I'm a bit tired, was Barry Bonds.

Think about it. Who better to replace an excellent left handed hitter who can't play the field than an excellent left handed hitter who can't play the field.

There are two drawbacks. First, from what I hear is he's a complete total jerk. I'm not so worried about that. Winning seems to fix that. Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals about Corey Dillion and the Oakland Raiders about Randy Moss. Then ask the New England Patriots about the same two.

The bigger problem is the mutual hatred between Barry Bonds and the city of Boston. And no, this has nothing to do with steroids. It has to do with the fact Bonds is a complete total ignorant imbecile, and the first time the Sox played the Giants, Bonds said the following

"Boston is too racist for me. I couldn't play there. That's been going on ever
since my dad was playing baseball. I can't play like that. That's not for me, brother."
When the reporter countered that the racial climate has changed in Boston, Bonds
responded, "It ain't changing. It ain't changing nowhere."

That was taken from here. However, as far as I know, Bonds wants to play, and nobody seems to want him. He might very well take an incentive laden contract. Especially if it's the only offer on the table. Even if it costs a bunch to get him, who cares? There's no salary cap and the Red Sox make an obscene amount of money. This isn't the Kansas City Royals. Theo can afford to be wrong, and in my opinion, owes it to the Boston fans to at least call Bonds' agent.

And yes, I think Bonds would be booed by the home crowd at Fenway. That is, until he hits his first home run...

This would be the lineup:
Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Rameriz, LF (Neither Manny nor David likes to hit cleanup...)
Bonds, DH
Lowell, 3B
Youkilis, 1B
Drew, RF
Varitek, C
Lugo, SS

P.S.-The author in the above link actually agrees with Barry, and then goes on to supply all sorts of "evidence." He forgets to mention Bonds admitted to never once stepping foot in Boston, and neglects to mention if he's ever been here himself. I won't refute everything he said, cause yeah, stuff that happened is horrible. I won't mention how the St. Louis Hawks refused to draft Bill Russell based on race. I won't mention how Red Auerbach, often accused of being a racist himself, traded for the draft pick to get Russell. Or how Auerbach was the first coach to start five black players. Or even mention how he was the first to hire a black head coach in any sport. I won't even mention how the Bruins were the first NHL team to have a black player. Neither will anyone else, as it doesn't work very well with Boston's racist reputation. But I will comment on his "Chicago and New York" thing. I get a little upset when people root for New York over Boston cause of race. The Yankees were pretty white themselves, also being the one of the last teams to integrate. If race is your reason for hating the Red Sox, so be it. But don't be an ignorant fool about it. Root for the Indians or Orioles in the AL. Cleveland was first in the AL to have a black player (and first in the AL to have a black pitcher). Baltimore, on the other hand, was second and has a less offensive name.

Wedding

2008-05-29T11:51:00.003-05:00

Hey, I'm getting married Saturday. So I won't be posting in the next week or so. I will not miss seeing the Pirates lose. I will miss games 4-7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which is sad, but I'm guessing that'll be the last thing on my mind.

Getting excited for the Bucco Trade Deadline

2008-05-28T07:52:00.006-05:00

Stunningly, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the best outfield in Major League Baseball.

Nate McLouth is by far the most productive CF in the NL (.315/.399/.606). Jason Bay is arguably the second most productive LF (.294/.416/.550) after Pat Burell. Finally, Xavier Nady is probably the NL's second most productive RF (.317/.379/.525) after Ludwick. Overall, Pittsburgh OF are 2nd, 7th and 12th in OPS for all major league outfielders. No other team comes close to that kind of combined production. Heck, the Yankees and Red Sox don't even have outfielders higher than 15th (Matsui) and 19th (Ramierez).

Our bullpen is above average, too. Although they're 18th in MLB in ERA, they're 3rd in IP and we have a few extremely dependable guys (Grabow, Capps, Marte, Osoria).

So why do we suck so bad?

One reason is we have a terrible, terrible infield. Doumit, our best catcher, is injured. Jack Wilson just returned from injury yesterday. We have no third baseman. LaRoche, at first, is a joke at the plate.

The more morbid reason, though, is our starting pitching. Despite average relief ERA, the Pirates are dead last in team ERA. That's because our starting pitching ERA is 5.66, .33 runs worse than the Rockies, who are TWENTY-NINTH.

Think about that. That means that over the course of one season, if there were no relief pitchers, Pirates starting pitchers would allow 54 more runs than the NEXT CLOSEST TEAM. Compared to the Indians, who have the lowest SP ERA in MLB, the Pirates would allow over FOUR HUNDRED more runs.

That's HISTORICALLY bad.

What does this mean? Because of our bankrupt farm system, it means there's no hope for the Pirates the next couple years to not tie the Phillie's 16-season losing streak this year or to break the record next year (remember, that's for all major NA sports, not just baseball).

But, for obsessed Bucco fans it means we get to enjoy the first major trades by the new management, who so far seem to be more competent than the former management. Jason Bay and Xavier Nady will both be traded and their stocks are high, so that's very exciting. We should be able to get some top prospects and the Pirates will be looking good in 2011! I'm interested to see who we get.

If you remember, last season around this time I declared that I would cheer for whomever the Pirates trade Jason Bay to until they get better (see this post). Although I won't stop cheering for the Buccos, I still hold that I will become a fan of Jason Bay's new team, even if it's the *gulp* Cubs.

Also, I reserve the right to reject this promise if it's the Indians, because no one would wish that kind of heartbreak, misery, and insanity on anyone.

Do any of you guys' teams in playoff contention need a good corner outfielder???

Red Sox Bullpen: Getting a reliable number 3 guy

2008-05-28T01:36:00.006-05:00

This was one of those games that had millions of different story lines. Ejections, injuries, 499th Career homers, etc. But for fear of boring all of you, I'm sticking to one. I wanna talk about the bullpen. They did well, pitching 4 scoreless innings of relief...at least till the ninth when the Mariners walked off, scoring a run in the bottom of the 9th off Mike Timlin. He's now a career 0-6 at Safeco Field. When he came out of the bullpen, they showed his career stats there, and he had a 10.50 ERA, and seeing as how he had an earned run in 2/3 of an inning, it's only gotten higher. Timlin's pretty much done. He has 4 World Series rings, and has pitched in over 1,000 games. His ERA was 6.60 entering tonight, and he's just not effective anymore. My friend Jose and I were talking about who should replace him.

We nominate Brandon Morrow of the Seattle Mariners. He was unhittable tonight, coming in with no one out and two on in the 8th, he blew two straight fastballs by Manny to strike him out, and also blew Lowell away on a 99mph pitch. Then he got J.D. Drew to fly out. He's not even their closer. I don't understand why. I think he's better than J.J. Putz. Granted, I've only seen him pitch once, but it was Papelbon-esque. However, unless the Seattle GM is brain dead, it's highly unlikely he'll be traded as he's only 23 and he throws 99 mph. On the other hand, Epstein is suppose to be one of the greatest GMs ever though, so I'm personally challenging him on this very blog to make it happen.

Until Epstein gets that accomplished (read: for more realistic options), I checked who was down in Pawtucket. I'm serious about replacing Timlin. Not with someone who'd be a last resort, as Timlin is. But with a number three guy on your bullpen depth chart. Behind Papelbon and Okajima. Someone to consistently give the ball too in the 7th. The Paw Sox seem to have two closers, Lee Gronkiewicz, whose a year older than Papelbon and Chris Smith, whose a year younger than Papelbon. Gronkiewicz has a 0.79 ERA, 11 K's and 5 saves in 11.1 innings pitched. Not too shabby. Smith has 4 saves, 30 strike outs and a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings pitched. He has also started four games. Based on the numbers, I'd give the edge to Smith. They both have low ERAs and high Ks to IP ratios, but Smith's 33 IP make me think it's less likely to be a fluke. The only problem with either of these two is experience. I don't think either has played in the Major Leagues. Can the defending World Series Champions rely on an untested pitcher to be the number 3 man?

So let's look at experience for a second. One guy who intrigues me in Pawtucket is Kyle Snyder. He was with the Bo Sox last year, and was vastly underrated. He had a 3.81 ERA. In Pawtucket, he's appeared to struggle, with a 5.05 ERA, but that's been as a starter. I guess he hasn't done that well with the big league club this year, as he has a 21.05 ERA this year, but that's only in an inning and 2/3. The thing is, I don't think it's out of the question to expect the same of him as last year, which right now is much better than Timlin. Also with the Pawtucket Red Sox is Danny Kolb. Didn't he lead the NL in saves with the Brewers a few years ago? When did the Red Sox get him? Apparently know he goes by "Dan." Maybe he always did. I'm not to up to date on my former Brewers Closers. Anyway, he's only pitched 12 and a third innings, but his ERA is a respectable 2.92. He has MLB experience, and he's had success. The drawback, no offense to my fellow bloggers, is that success happened in the National League. I'm always weary of NL success, as many times it hasn't transfered to the AL. I call it Jeff Suppan Syndrome, though more recently the Red Sox have been burnt by Edgar Rentaria and J.D. Drew. Plus, I think Kolb was a bust with the Braves after being all the rave in Milwaukee...wasn't he?

I think, based on the above I'd go with Chris Smith first. It's too hard to argue with those numbers 30 innings into the season. It's also the most realistic, cause I think of the four, he's the only one on the 40 man roster, though I guess if Timlin's cut, it'll free up a roster spot anyway, so that doesn't matter.

In other news from the Pawtucket web page Kei Igawa is pitching for the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees against Devern Hansack and the Pawtucket Red Sox. The SWB Yankees are in first in the International League North division, a game ahead of the Paw Sox. That's good. That's why the Yankees paid all that money to talk to and then sign Igawa. To help them beat out the Red Sox and win division titles...at the International League Level.

One last thing then I swear I'll publish this. Apparently, the Phillies farm team, which also plays in the International League North, is called the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, with no space between Iron and Pigs. After much debate, I decided it was the dumbest name in history. Believe it or not, the debate was between whether it was the dumbest or best name. I think I got this one right though. No offense Laura.

Bartolo Colon

2008-05-27T00:51:00.003-05:00

With the Angels, Colon got a 4 year deal for $51 million, which tells me thats about $12.75 million a year.

The Red Sox are paying him $1.2 million this year, and that only became guaranteed once he made the 40 man roster. So far, in two starts, he's 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 8 K's in 12 innings pitched. Monday night, he out dueled Mariners Ace Felix Hernandez, who would be a household name if he didn't pitch for Seattle. So far so good.

The Red Sox are in second in the AL East, a half game behind the Rays. I refuse to believe Tampa Bay is for real. If it were any one else, I'd be following their games daily, checking up on them. But, they're Tampa Bay. Enough said.

The Yankees are in 5th place in the American League East. Joba Chamberlain is being converted from a reliever to a starter to try to stop the bleeding. They are hosting the All Star game this year. Imagine if they're still a last place team come July? Even better, come September? I couldn't think of a better way to send Yankee Stadium out than with a last place team whose sole claim to fame is hosting the All Star game which will be managed, mind you, by the Red Sox Terry Francona.

20-5

2008-05-26T22:41:00.002-05:00

20 runs.

utley had 6 rbis.

victorino scored 4 runs.

feliz had 4 hits.

moyers had 7 ks and has now beaten every team in the majors.

wow i wish i had been in philly for tonight's game....

too much to talk about...

2008-05-21T22:40:00.003-05:00

... so i'm gonna go with bullet points.

~ i went to last thursday's cubs/pads game at the friendly confines. a couple of fun things about that game:

#1- jimmy edmonds as a cub?!?! good thing i saw ken's post wednesday night... otherwise... i would've been REALLY confused. the weird thing is that the fans cheered for him rather loudly his first at bat. in philly... were a long-time rival to switch suddenly... the fans would boo them. chicago is too nice.

#2- it was CRAZY to get to see ryan dempster almost pitch a complete game. he'd been in the doghouse for so long here. i wish they hadn't taken him out during the 9th but let him finish the game himself. i've seen a complete game before... [thank you c.c. sabathia]... but i'm always eager for another one.

#3- it was also really cool to see greg maddux pitch in person. i saw tom glavine pitch in wrigley last year as a met [and get his 300th win, btw]... and now maddux as a padre. now i just need to see john smoltz pitch in person and i'll have the 90s braves trifecta. i'd take maddux over the rocket any day as the greatest pitcher in our era.

~ i don't really understand all the rules behind who gets the win and when... but when cole hamels pitches 7 innings for no score and doesn't get the win... i think that's messed up. instead they gave it to flash gordon. the phils ended up winning 1-0... with their run coming in the 9th. is that why flash got the win? cuz he pitched the last inning before they scored? what a disaster. cole should've gotten the win.

~ congrats to jon lester on his no-hitter!

~ congrats to albert poo-holes on single-handedly maiming half of the padres team tonight!

~ i'm struggling with brett myers right now. i dropped him from my fantasy team... partially b/c i found another pitcher who's been more consistent. but also b/c i was mad at him for not helping my real life team. i'm not really sure what's going on with him right now. a friend of mine said that he can't get his velocity up enough for his fastball... so he's going with his other pitches, which he's having trouble locating. so... those go out for balls... and then he goes back in the strike zone and gets hit. what a bummer. maybe he got so used to closing that he's more tired these days? i'm not sure what's happening... but i hope our "ace" [on paper, at least] pulls it together soon.

~ the mets and yanks continue to fall apart... which does so much for my soul. LOVE it when ny teams do poorly. i'm not sure what i think about willie's race comments. is he given a harder time b/c he's black [v. what joe torre endured through losses as a white man]? that seems to be a pretty popular thing to say these days [cue donovan mcnabb and someone else, too, i think]. is there any merit to their accusations? perhaps. but i don't know.

~ ryan howard had 2 homers in tonight's game. does that mean he's starting to turn his season around? let's hope so. last year's top scoring team has disappeared. i read that uncle charlie said it's partially b/c the phils got rid of aaron rowand and michael bourn. that could be. bourn would come in and replace burrell... and then fly around the bases and score at the end of games. rowand had a very active bat last year. it was dumb of him to go to san fran... and i wish we could have kept him for a little bit longer. but long-term i think i'd rather have jayson werth, shane victorino, and burrell in the outfield... as long as their bats hold up. ehhh... maybe not. oh i'm not sure. if i had to choose btwn jenkins and bourn... i'm not sure there either. jenkins has a more reliable bat... but man can bourn run. i saw him get to first easily on an infield single once. it was stunning.

that's all for now!

Home cooking...to the extreme?

2008-05-20T23:39:00.005-05:00

The Boston professional sports teams not named after bears are unstoppable at home. The Patriots went 10-0 this year at Gillette, Celtics are now 9-0 in the playoffs at home (take that Andy!), and the Red Sox have now won five in a row at home behind a great outing by Justin Masterson. Okajima made an appearance with the Sox up 2-1 in the 8th with the bases empty, and I figured he'd do well since there weren't any inherited runners, but for some reason he struggled. He managed to get 2 outs but left with the bases loaded. Thankfully, Papelbon came on and got a crucial strike out for the final out, and retired the side in the ninth for the save. That makes 8 wins in a row for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The road games, on the other hand, haven't been that great for any Boston team. The Bruins lost game 7 of the first round of the Playoffs to the Canadians at Montreal, the Patriots lost a their only game of the year in Arizona, the Celtics are 0-6 on the road in the playoffs and the Red Sox have lost 4 in a row, as well as 5 of 6, on the road. Is it cause Boston sports fans are that good and make that big of a difference? Probably.

By the way, I'm not one to kick a team while they're down or anything, but just in case your wondering, the New York Yankees lost 12-2 to the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Adding insult to injury, Derek Jeter got hit by a pitch and left the game. The Yankees web page say he's day to day. Fear not New York, A-Rod hit a home run in the sixth inning when the Yanks were down by 10, furthering his cause to be named least clutch hitter of all time.

The Yankees are now 20-25, which is good for dead last in the American League East, 7.5 games behind the Red Sox. As glorious as that is, I'm sure the Yankees will make this a race before the season ends.

Kansas City @ Boston, 5/19/08

2008-05-19T23:02:00.014-05:00

It was good to be back at Fenway. I had forgotten how fun it can be to be there. My sister Katie went with me. She's not as hardcore about baseball as me. This was only her third time at Fenway, whereas I've been to three Red Sox road games. I lost count of how many times I've been to Fenway by the time I was 9 years old. But, I was hoping tonight would be special. I told Katie we might witness history, as Manny needed two home runs to get 500 Career. Therefore, I was gonna keep score. I don't normally do that. I've tried before. Use to try every game I went to as a little kid, but never made it past the fifth or sixth inning. (I did it last year once at home and blogged about it here. Got through an entire 14 inning game, if you click on the "scoring a baseball game" tag at the bottom, you'll get more info.) I was also wearing my Manny jersey. I let Katie borrow the Ortiz.

We picked up the tickets at the StubHub office and then went to eat at McDonalds in Kenmore Square before the game, which still has photos of Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn, Scott Cooper, and Nomar Garciapara but no one from the active 2004 World Series or 2007 World Series. Every table was occupied except the one which had a photo of Roger over it, so that's where we had to sit.

Before we walked into Fenway, we picked up programs from people outside. If you ever go to Fenway and want a program, buy it outside. It's only $2. Inside, last time I checked it was $5. But I bet it's gone up.

There's this "how to keep score" example the page before the score card they really gotta update. They've been using the same example lineup for as long as I can remember.
5 Boggs
4 Barrett
3 Buckner
7 Rice
9 Evans
...
Boggs singles, Barrett reaches on a fielders choice (5-4), Buckner singles to move Barrett up to third, Rice doubles to score two, and then Evans flies out and Rice is caught tagging up and trying to advance to third. You never make the third out at third! Rice should know better than that. I think they use to give an example for how to keep track of the pitching using Clemens as the example, but they've gotten rid of that and assume now you can figure out "IP" stands for innings pitched, etc. Roger is hated everywhere at Boston, except that McDonalds.

Anyway, I've seen this hundreds of times, but I never really paid attention to another detail they included, the count. Apparently, there are three small boxes to in the left side and two boxes in the top of every box. You fill in the three boxes for balls and the two for strikes, so you can keep track of the count. I decided to try this out, and I liked it. It made it less boring for some reason. I think it's cause I was constantly looking at it.

We had bleachers seats, which are the best place in the ball park to sit. True, it's 500 feet or so from home, but you can actually fit in the seats. The grandstands suck. I'm never sitting in the grandstands again. I was actually surprised at how roomy the bleachers were. This isn't the first time I've sat there either, I was there twice last year. I'm wondering if they redid them at all this past year, or if I've shrunk.

I couldn't find my Red Sox hat before I left, so I went in my UMass Minutemen cap. I was pumped I did cause their Soccer Coach threw out the first pitch. GO UMASS! He's apparently the most winning coach in the programs history, and last year he led them to the finals or the final four or something where they lost to Ohio State. But they did beat Boston College the round before, which gave me bragging rights at graduate school. Anyway, he probably should have just kicked the ball, because the pitch went sailing to the backstop. I think it might have caught a piece of the catchers glove, so we'll score that E2.

The excitement began in the bottom of the third inning. Going into it, neither team had a hit, but then the Red Sox batted around the order. I know, cause I still have the score card. Drew singled on a 2-1 pitch, and moved up to third on a Varitek single (also on a 2-1 pitch). Then Lugo grounded out into a 6-4-3 double play, with Drew scoring. Great hustle play by Drew to get to third on the Varitek single. Something that doesn't show up in the box score. No RBI for Lugo though. Ellsbury came up and tripled to Center, which was awesome. Pedroia then walked and stole second. Ortiz walked the bases loaded to bring up Manny Rameriz. This was as excited as I remember being at Fenway. Everyone was on their feet screaming "MAN-NY! MAN-NY!." He's second all time in grandslams, and he got some pitches to hit, but fouled them off and worked a walk. 2-0 Good guys. Lowell popped up to end the...no! The second baseman dropped an easy pop up. Two runs scored, and Manny was standing on third. Youkilis got a double, sending Lowell to third and driving in Manny. J.D. Drew flew out to right field to end the inning. 5-0 Boston. Thankfully, my Uncle Michael, who taught me how to score, let me know what to do if a team bats around the order. Just cross off the "4" and change it to "3", the "5" and change it to "4" and so on and so forth. They give 14 innings, and my sister had a program she wasn't using just in case they went to 14 or batted around the order too often.

Jon Lester, meanwhile, had no trouble at all. He had a 1-2-3 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. The 4th was capped by an awesome Jacoby Ellsbury diving catch to save what would have been at least a double if it got by him. In fact, in the second, he walked B. Butler, and M. Olivo reached on a fielders choice, but aside from that, he had not allowed a base runner. He was cruising. Someone behind me said "Don't say those two words. Don't even think about it. If he gets through this next inning don't say those two words." I wish he would have shut up. Pretty much everyone in the park knew what was going on, but it was still really early. No need to be a knuckle head about it. Lester did get through the 6th, again 1-2-3. the guy behind me kept saying over and over "Don't say those two words, don't even think about saying them."

Youkilis lead off the sixth grounding out 6-3 on a 1-2 count. Then Drew got hit by a pitch in the foot. It must have really hurt, cause it bounced up above the screen behind homeplate after hitting him. Varitek came up next and hit a 2-2 pitch into the seats in rightfield to make it 7-0 Red Sox. Lugo struck out and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning.

As the seventh inning began, people are starting to feel it around the park. For the most part anyway. My sister asks if their still letting him pitch because he has a shut out. Now, in the words of Terry Francona, I don't believe in Karma, but at least for tonight, I didn't not believe in it either. So my response was "Yeah...something like that." I felt kinda bad cause I didn't think she got it, and this was big and it would be more fun if she did get it, but I couldn't point it out to her. I tried once or twice to make her realize by moving my pencil over the string of 0's at the bottom on the Royals side under in the "H" row, but she was watching the game, not me scoring the game. I figured she'd know soon enough, one way or the other, so I let it be. Maybe I'm a bad older brother, but it's a decision I made and I'm sticking with it. My brother Mikey and I saw Kason Gabbard last year get into the 8th. That's as far as I'd ever seen it, and I've been to a lot of games. I couldn't risk jinxing it, as stupid as it sounds.

Back to the game. Grudzielanek leads off and hits an easy grounder back to Lester. 1-3. Gordon's up next, and everyone goes crazy when Manny catches an admittedly easy pop fly for the second out. Someone behind me said it was cause he stinks so much defensively people are happy when he does something right. Another mocks him for being "The greatest left fielder in Red Sox history." I think the applause was more for Lester. There's two outs in the 7th for crying out loud. He struck out clean up hitter Jose Guillen swinging to end the inning. Someone turns to me and asks how many strike outs Lester has so far. "Six." The Red Sox similarly go 1-2-3 in their half, with cleanup hitter Manny also striking out swinging to end his day. Ellsbury moved to left and Crisp took Manny's spot in the lineup and played Center. I'm one Manny's biggest fans, if not his biggest, but I wasn't sad to see him go tonight.

The guy on my left asks me if I can see anyone up in the bullpen as Lester trots out for the 8th. I said someone's warming up for Kansas City, but my eyes aren't that great so I can't make out the number. He asks what about for Boston, and I said no, and no one should be either. The guy behind me sounds like a broken record player saying "Don't say those two words, don't even think about saying them." The guy next to me asks if that's another taboo... warming someone up. No, I respond. I tell him with a 7 run lead if Lester falls apart they'll be plenty of time to get someone ready, if it were closer someone would be up. I also predict someone will be up during the ninth. Tavarez? The guy asks. No, I respond, as Automatic Win Day's been cut. I don't call him Automatic Win Day to the guy, but you get the picture.

Lester strikes out Butler looking. My hands shaking as I'm writing the backwards "K." Don't know if its nerves, excitement or the cold. Don't care either. Olivo strikes out looking. Teahan hits a 1-2 pitch to deep center. We can't see it, cause you can't see the triangle from where we are sitting. But Crisp catches it. You can tell cause the place is going nuts. I write a big "8" and then start crossing out the unused boxes for the inning. My hand is shaking and my penmanship is getting a lot worse. The x's look a lot more like lower case alphas.

The Red Sox always play Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" in between the 8th. I don't know why. I think it's the dumbest thing in the world. But they do. They turn down the music for the horns and "SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!" part, both of which the crowd does. I always boycott it, but tonight, I'm so pumped and excited and nervous I'm belting it out with everyone else. I've never wanted a Red Sox half of an inning to end so badly, not even to make a game official when gray skies are looming. Mike Lowell flies out to center, and Youk grounds out 5-3. Then Drew comes up. I'm worried about this. What if he get's hurt? Manny can't come back in...who is the fifth outfielder? Lester needs rest...but I don't want him sitting there thinking about it for a while. More importantly, I don't want to be sitting there thinking about it for a while. "Take this first pitch, then whatever you do, don't get hurt" I mutter under my breath. Drew does take. Strike one. Takes again. Strike two. I'm hoping he gets out. Last thing I want is 8 runs here. Third pitch is in the dirt, but Drew swings. I debating still till this moment whether he did that on purpose so Lester didn't have to wait around too long, or if he's really that bad. I don't know and I really don't care. I'm just pumped he swung at it. Everyone around me is pissed, but I'm saying "It's fine, it's fine, don't worry about it." Katie says "Yeah, cause there up by seven, so whatever."

The entire park being pissed lasts about 5 seconds, and then Lester comes out of the dugout and the place goes wild. Chants of "Let's go Red Sox" and "Let's go Lester" are starting up in every direction. Due up for Kansas City are E. German, Tony Pena Jr. and David DeJesus. The PA Announcer says "Defensive changes for the Red Sox: now playing shortstop, number 13, Alex Cora." Place goes nuts again. Lugo leads the majors in errors. Not the person you want in at this time.

Everyone's on their feet screaming. I'm jumping up and down, unable to control myself, screaming "COME ON JON!!!!!!!!!!! GET HIM!!!!!!!!! GET THIS GUY!!!!!!!!!!!" sounding like a broken record player myself.

Lester's wild to start the inning. The first pitch looks a bit outside. BUT COME ON! GIVE ME A BREAK. In this situation, the strike zone has to expand. Especially at home. Especially with a 7 run lead. No dice. Ball one. Next two pitches to German aren't as close. 3-0. Lester throws one right down the middle, German's taking all the way. 3-1. Doesn't matter. Next pitch is ball four. Not the ideal start to the inning, walking the number 8 hitter. In a situation like this, I'd be tempted to have Lester ignore him and still pitch from the windup. Especially since this is the first base runner the Royals have had since the second, so the windup's been working really well for him tonight. But, he pitches from the stretch.

Tony Pena Jr comes up. His dad was a Red Sox. I just commented on one of Ken's posts about how weird it was to see him as an Indian. But at this point and time, though I really liked his dad, he's my least favorite player in the major league. Nothing he did. Just that he's trying to ruin everyone's night. He hits an 0-1 pitch right on top of homeplate that bounces a mile in the air. Lowell charges in, fields it cleanly, fires to first... and it's IN TIME! 1 down. The guy sitting next to me says he thinks Youkilis came off the bag early. I tell him not to worry about it, and besides, it wouldn't matter. It'd be an error...either on Lowell for pulling Youk off the bag, or Youk for coming too early. German moves up to second. As far as I'm concerned, he can go and take home. I couldn't care less.

DeJesus is up next. I notice Papelbon is warming up. Again, I mutter under my breath "No offense, but hope we don't see you tonight." DeJesus grounds a 2-2 pitch to Youkilis. Lester's covering, but Youk elects not to toss it to him, instead takes it to the bag himself. It was pretty close, or at least it seemed close, but Youk got him. Would have been a lot less close if he tossed it to Lester, but if it were me, I'd be petrified that I'd throw it over Lester's head or something, so I can see why Youk took it himself. 2 outs. German moves up to third. I still couldn't care less about him and really wish he'd just score or something. Get Lester back in the Windup.

So Grudzielanek should be up next. Lester has owned him tonight. Struck him out twice and got him to ground out 1-3. But the Royals pull a despicable Yankee move. If anyone's seen "For Love of the Game," you'll know why. If not, it's a great baseball movie. Not great for kids... a good deal of adult content, but I like it. Anyway, they pinch hit for Grudzielanek with Alberto Callaspo. I've never been so angry about a substitution. Now that I've stepped back, I can see you have to try to win the game, and pinch hitting made sense. But at the time I was irate.

Anyway, the first pitch is fouled off. Second, a swing and a miss. Third is a ball. It was definitely high, but everyone booed like the worst call in history had been made. The next pitch is fouled. Every single time contact is made, my heart skips a beat. I think it's over. Thankfully, Lester had pity on me, and blew one past Callaspo.

Earlier, I believe I said when Manny was up with the bases loaded, it was the most excited I've seen Fenway. I take it back. That moment was the most excited I've ever seen Fenway. I turn to my sister, and say "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?!" And she said "He just pitched a complete game shut out!" This is true. But, I was thinking something else, so I said "Katie, HE JUST THREW A NO-HITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And she said "He did????????" and then she looked up to the score board and said "OH MY GOSH HE DID!!!!!!!!!!"

We tried to get pictures with our phones, but neither of us could get the manual score board, so instead we got the Jumbo-Tron, which said "Red Sox Numbers. This is the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history and the ninth at Fenway Park." It's currently the background on my cell phone. The whole way home I kept saying "Unbelievable." Over and over again.

It was all so random. I just so happen to decide I want to go to a game. I buy from StubHub, which I've only done once before. I randomly decide to keep score, and actually stick with it. And Lester pitches a no hitter. Katie asked me to calculate the odds. They're low. You figure I go to, on average about 5 games a year... I try to keep score about once every 20 games I go to, and there have been 9 no-hitters in the 96 year history of Fenway. Is it (5/81)*(1/20)*[9/(81*96)]? First being 5/81 games at Fenway I attend, second being 1/20 times I attempt to score, third being total no hitters divided by total games at Fenway? If so, the probability of that happening is 0.00000357. That's pretty low.

Jerry Remy scores all games and charges 10 bucks or something. Below, are my scorecards. And my ticket stub. I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but it belonged to a season ticket holder. I bet he or she is kicking themselves tonight!

Here's the stub. I took the liberty of blacking out the season ticket holder's account info, just to protect them. If you click on the pictures, it zooms in and is pretty good quality. You can see my really bad penmanship.

Here's the Red Sox Hitters

Here's the Royals...well, can't really call them hitters tonight, can we?

And here's the pitching numbers.

A few loose ends...

2008-05-18T23:16:00.004-05:00

Every year, I swear I'm not going to a single home Red Sox game until they tear down Fenway. Every year, I break that promise. I was bored out of my mind today and have nothing to do until a certain blogger's wedding. I was online at Stubhub and found two bleacher tickets to tomorrow's game for $32 each, which isn't bad since the face value is $26. The Royals are in town the next three days, and their weeknights before school's out, so I figured this'd be my one shot to go this year, and I caved.

Monday May 19. Jon Lester's on the mound. By the way, today during the Sox game they showed the next three starters for the Red Sox, and my brother was convinced it was Pawtucket rotation. Lester, Masterson and Colon. I'd love to see Colon pitch, and I bet tickets are just as reasonable, but I'm going to meet the new men's basketball coach for the Massachusetts Minutemen at an alumni event, so tomorrow night it is.

In other news, I'm sorry to report that the Red Sox designated Julian "Automatic Win Day" Tavarez for assignment. I believe he cleared waivers and is now a free agent for any team that enjoys a crazy pitcher who looks like an air traffic control person every ground ball hit to the infield and who automatically winning every five days when in the rotation.

EDIT 5/21: Tavarez agreed to remain in the Boston organization and accepted his assignment to Pawtucket. Automatic Win Day begins in Pawtucket, every five days.

Another thing I've been meaning to write about. I don't know if I mentioned it or not last year, but the Red Sox Bullpen decided they were Pirates...not the Pittsburgh kind. The Captain Jack Sparrow kind. I think it happened when the movie was released. Anyway, they all have crazy Pirate names no one else is allowed to know and they have drum line routines they preform during rallies with spoons and empty water bottles. This year, they've added a Jolly Roger flag which they hangs in one of the windows of the bullpen bench.

Nightly Web Gems

2008-05-14T23:13:00.003-05:00

So, I don't know if you all get a chance to watch Sportscenter/Baseball Tonight on a regular basis, but in case you have missed this, Rick Ankiel is turning into a heck of a centerfielder. He has been great--diving for balls, making sick throws to nail runners at third, and then his latest tonight robbing Adam LaRoche of a homerun (sorry Joe). I am not surprised by this anymore..you know, the whole "wow, this guy used to be a pitcher?" thing...but it is still pretty great to watch.
It used to be Jimmy Edmonds on Sportscenter every night. Now Rick is starting to show up. He has been a great replacement for Edmonds, which are big shoes to fill in center.

Speaking of Edmonds...

The Cubs signed him today. What?
I know they are looking for a left-handed bat that can play center, but is he really the answer? At league minimum I suppose it is a low-risk, high-reward pickup. But is he going to give you more than Felix Pie?

The weirdest part for me is that the next time Edmonds roams center at Busch he will be wearing a Cub uniform. (shiver) That is just not right. It is one thing to have Cesar Izturis or Mark Grudzielanek join STL after being Cubs, but they weren't "Cub" Cubs. Edmonds was a fan favorite for years in STL and one of the real stars for what seems like most of their run in recent seasons. It just isn't right thinking of him playing for the enemy. I'm sure Red Sox fans felt that way about Damon, too. Well, except Damon could still play and he went directly to the Yankees from the Red Sox. But seeing a beloved part of your family (my friend loved to yell out at games that Jimmy was his biological father--of course he deals with abandonment issues, but that is another matter) playing for the other guys...weird.

I really can't remember the last time that happened. What about your teams? Are there those players for you?

Depth matters.

2008-05-14T07:02:00.003-05:00

Ron Villone??? I had no idea this guy was still playing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates: 4th in the NL in runs scored. What the heck?? We're 11th in OBP and 13th in SLG. So I don't see it lasting. But it's fun for now. One game away from the coveted .500.

At the same time, our pitching has been just bad, worse than the players actually are, so that will actually improve. (We're last in the NL in ERA.)

So is there hope for avoiding tying the Phillies for most consecutive losing seasons in major North American professional sports?

No.

The reason is depth. In truth, the Pirates are often around 20-20 at this time in the season. But our starting pitching is stretched so thin already, and our bench has no one of significant talent. Right around June or July, we get some injuries or guys just get tired and in slumps and our team totally falls apart.

June and July are the months when many teams like the Pirates who are mirages (even mediocre-looking mirages) will fade into bad, bad baseball because they have no depth.

So I'm not getting too excited.

Greatest Left Fielder of All Time

2008-05-13T01:03:00.003-05:00

Read this.

Manny apparently claimed to be the best Left Fielder to play in Boston. This could be taken several ways, but most are taking it to mean he's the best Red Sox Left Fielder of all time. Arguments could be made he's calling himself the best in the MLB (nowadays with free agency and interleague play, most Left Fielders play in Boston at least 3 games...) or that's he's the best to play the Left Field Wall. By the way, he is by far the best to play the Left Field wall that I've ever seen. That's probably what he meant.

As for Red Sox history, I don't know if he's the best ever, but he's definately the best in my life time. I'd pick Manny over Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell, and Troy O'Leary.

All time, I'd say he's probably in the top three, and you could make a strong case for Ted Williams, Carl Yastremski, and Manny Rameriz.

a real outfield?

2008-05-12T22:18:00.004-05:00

The Pirates have a lot of problems, but here are some positives:

Our new GM probably knows what he's doing, and the coaching staff is a big improvement too. Unfortunately, this sudden competence won't produce results for 3-4 more years.

Our pitching couldn't possibly be this bad all year (last in the NL in runs allowed).

We actually have a good outfield! Jason Bay has returned to form. Nate McLouth is suddenly the man, Nady is playing well. Our catcher, too, Doumit, is hitting well. Our infield is sad, but the outfield is actually above average.

For as bad as we've been this year, we're standing at 18-20 (after just breaking a 6-game win streak). Perhaps sometime soon we'll be back at .500. That would be exciting.

Saved!

2008-05-12T14:40:00.005-05:00

That's how I feel since Izzy was taken out of the closer role a couple days ago. He has looked pretty bad for awhile now and I (along with Cards fans everywhere) haven't felt confident in him to close out games for some time...I'm not sure I have ever really considered him an elite, shut 'em down closer, actually. I feel bad for him, especially after some of his comments about being embarassed and "pitching like a second grader". But I am also glad he is not closing right now.

Even in the last week or so there were 3 or 4 games they could have won that were coughed up by the bullpen, mostly Izzy. I know that a closer won't pitch well all the time and is going to blow some saves once in awhile (you realize how incredible Gagne's streak was a few years ago?) but how often is acceptable?

This year in the NL Central, which is what I hear about the most, there have been all kinds of closer problems, from Izzy to Gagne to Kerry Wood. I think Gagne and Izzy must have some kind of contest going to see who can blow more games...and they were both taken out of the closer role a couple days ago, so maybe they both won. Still, I wonder what is a typical save percentage for closers? (I've heard around 85-90% for the "good" ones). And how much impact does a closer have on the season...as opposed to, say, an 8th inning guy or a typical setup guy...or compared to an "average replacement closer"?

I think it is tough to gauge how good a closer is sometimes. We tend to remember the meltdown/blown save more and not notice the "easy" ones as much, for one. Two, the save is only so useful. I mean, the Rangers' pitcher got a save in that 30-3 victory last year. How quality was that save? And you can come in with a three run lead and give up two runs and strand 'em full and still get a save...that is just dumb. And if you are pitching for a team that doesn't present many save situations (because they are so good or so bad), maybe that doesn't look as good. If the closer is always coming in with a one run lead that is a lot different than those guys that come in with two or three run leads a lot and get saves. I'm sure some sabermetrician has figured this out somewhere, but I'd like to see it. I don't really need those numbers to tell me Izzy has hit the "suck" button this year, though.

Defensive Indifference

2008-05-09T23:06:00.002-05:00

Down by one with two outs, the Twins had 1st and 3rd. Papelbon wasn't even looking at the runner on first, and color man Jerry Remy, predicted a defensive indifference. I turned to my brother, who for someone who doesn't like the Red Sox sure is watching a lot of them this year, and said "I'd pitch out, or at least try to get the runner out." As usual, the Rem Dawg was right. Defensive indifference. It was immediately followed by a bloop single to left, and Ellsbury didn't even attempt a throw, not that it would have mattered. The Twins walked off, Papelbon blew his second consecutive save attempt, probably for the first time since 2006.

I understand the point of defensive indifference, so the fielders aren't out of position. I'm even in favor of it with less than 2 outs and up by like 4. But you gotta figure, in this situation, if you throw the runner out, the game's over. I understand the risk of either a double steal or the ball going into centerfield, but still. If you get the runner, the game is over. Have the sabermetricians looked at this defensive indifference vs attempting to throw the guy out?

it's weird when you look at it on paper

2008-05-09T21:50:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I feel like the Pirates aren't that bad. Nate McClouth has turned into a superstar in center field. Xavier Nady continues to over achieve. Jason bay has returned to form. LaRoche's bat will start to come around. Jack Wilson is above average for a short stop. Sanchez is Sanchez. Doumit is a far above average hitting catcher.

Our starting pitchers can't possibly pitch this badly all year. And our bullpen is bad, sure, but isn't everybody's? We're only 3 games under .500!

Yes, some days I feel that we're just a power-hitting 3rd baseman and an ace pitcher away from breaking the 81-win barrier.

Then reality sets in. There is no depth behind any of our good players. Many of the guys I think are good would just be platoon position guys on other teams. Our minor league system is bankrupt. We get 9000 people in the stadium on weeknights. Our owners don't care if we win. We lead the league in promotional give-away nights because everyone is so sick of the Pirates and won't come to the stadium otherwise (and the Penguins are freakin sweet this year).

This year we will tie the Phillies. Next year it will be ours. An unprecedented number of losing seasons in a row. Only the Pirates.

Hope I've made your day a little brighter. :) Maybe sometime this week I'll write about the few positives of our organization.

HAHAHAHAHA.

2008-05-07T23:26:00.003-05:00

ps... did anyone else see the replay on baseball tonight or sportscenter of the cubs' mascot's inadvertent beheading after falling off the cart he was riding on with the reds' mascot?!?

i laughed so hard i almost cried.

Tigers get lucky

2008-05-07T22:10:00.004-05:00

The Tigers blew 4-0, 5-2, and 8-5 leads tonight. The Sox took a 9-8 lead in the 8th and Okajima, pitching with no one on base, retired the side without allowing a run. That set up Papelbon in the 9th. Matt Joyce, who earlier got his first big league hit, added another to lead off the inning. It was a cheap hit, as he checked his swing and hit a dribbler to Lugo. Lugo made a great barehanded effort, but Joyce beat the throw by a step. Then Lugo made an error on a ball hit right at him giving the Tigers runners on 1st and 2nd. Detriot had a pinch runner in who was flying to second, so I doubt they would have gotten two, but Lugo definitely could have gotten the trail runner.

Pudge came up next. Not the real Pudge. The fake one. In fact, I'm gonna call him I-Rod from now on. Anyway, I-Rod put down a real nice sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and 3rd, bringing up Curtis Granderson. Granderson grounded out to second, but the runner scored from third tying it up without the ball ever leaving the infield. Before Granderson's ground ball, nothing had even passed the infield grass, and no one was walked...and somehow the Tigers tied it up. Anyway, Placido Polanco comes up next, and Papelbon breaks his bat, yet the ball just gets over the reach of Lugo who really couldn't do anything about it. He went back for it and timed his jump perfectly and it just was out of his reach. Anyway, the game winning run scores.

Ridiculous. The hardest hit ball was a broken bat bloop single and somehow the Tigers score two runs. Jonathan Papelbon calmly walked off the mound, went into the dugout, and proceeded to beat the crap out of two Gatorade coolers.

bonds

2008-05-07T19:02:00.003-05:00

i think it's really interesting that they're doing an investigation of sorts on why teams aren't signing barry bonds. apparently mlb is trying to make sure that the teams haven't made an informal pact to keep him out.

it seems like it'd be difficult to get all of the owners to agree to something like that... but if they did, what's wrong with that? bonds has single-handedly made a mockery of baseball. [okay... to be fair... he didn't do it single-handedly... and to be more fair... he also did great things for the sport. unless, of course, everything he did was tainted with steriods. in that case... he's just a big cheater and in my humble opinion... should have his records revoked.] either way... he's created a big mess. and with a person is as unlikeable and controvery-stricken as bonds is... it'd make sense that teams wouldn't want him.

for as much as i don't like a-rod... i'm looking forward to him surpassing bonds' home run record. at least he's done it cleanly.

point being... keep bonds out. i hope no one ever signs him.

Moneyball and Bill James

2008-05-06T16:24:00.003-05:00

Also, I finally got around to reading Moneyball and am also reading a biography of sorts about Bill James, The Mind of Bill James, both of which I highly recommend. Aside from all the eye-opening thoughts on how we need to look behind many of the commonly held assumptions of the game, it has been an incredible reminder of how much I love baseball, much because of all the ways we can break it down and analyze it. There is just so much that goes on surrounding every play, situation, player, team, etc. And it is inutterably beautiful.

And to throw out the first pitch...

2008-05-06T16:14:00.002-05:00

So, I went to the Cardinals-Cubs game on Saturday...a beautiful day, great view, and the first game of the year for me, but let us just avoid talking about how the game turned out...and noticed something I found peculiar.

I'm not talking about the 2:45pm start time, which was a bit different, but must have had something to do with the game being on the Saturday FOX broadcast. No, what was strange was the ceremonial first pitch.

I understand that it is almost a given to have a ceremonial first pitch at a game anymore and have seen many variations--I was even on the field to video my friend throwing one out (contest winner) at Busch a few years ago and also saw G.W. Bush throw out the first one on opening day--but I can't ever remember seeing six before one game before. Yes, six!

It was nice to see U of I basketball coach Bruce Weber...and then some guy from a local Association of whatever...and then a little boy who had suffered a stroke in utero...and then, well I can't remember all of them because they just kept coming out and throwing pitches. Two or three I have seen, but never six. It was weird. I know it doesn't interupt the game and is surely a huge thing to most of those people, but do we really need that many? It just seems a little too...minor league or something--where you have a promotion or gimmick between every half inning.

It was just weird.

Inherited Runners

2008-05-04T15:29:00.003-05:00

Today, Okajima came in the 7th with a runner on third and 1 out. I immediately said to my brother "I guarentee he's gonna let him score." Sure enough, Carl Crawford singled to left off Okajima, who then settled down and struck out the next two Rays.

It's very frustrating, cause Okajima is suppose to be a great reliever, but it seems like he allows every single inherited runner to score. His ERA is less than 1, but if we were to redo it to account for inherited runners, I bet it would be in the 3's or 4's. Anyone know of a site that gives stats about that?

Youk just homered as I'm posting. 5-3 Sox in the bottom of the 7th.

Order has returned

2008-05-04T00:47:00.001-05:00

Everyone can calm down. After the D-R...I mean Rays swept the Red Sox last week, Boston has taken the first 2 of this series, and I see no reason to not expect the full sweep.

too good to be true

2008-05-03T12:38:00.002-05:00

the phils are in first place.

pat the bat hit a walk-off 2-run home run in last night's game.

chase also homered in the game.

i got to listen to harry kalas announce, "this ball's outtaaaa heeeeeeeere," on mlb.com.

it's a good time to be a philly fan. : )

Red Sox almost get revenge...sort of...

2008-05-02T23:50:00.002-05:00

So, way back in the early 90s, I remember watching a Red Sox-Yankee game at Yankee Stadium. I forget most of the details, but what I remember clearly is the Sox were winning in the ninth inning with 2 outs. A Yankee, I don't know who, flew out to Mike Greenwell to end the game, or so we thought. Unfortunately, some little 13 year old punk in braces and everything sprinted out onto the field, I guess as the pitcher was releasing the ball. The Yankee Manager (someone other than Joe Torre) called time out. Tim Naerhing, 3rd baseman for the Sox, verified this in the post game show. The third base umpire, after the ball was caught by Greenwell and while the Red Sox were shaking hands in celebration and security was getting the little punk, decided to inform everyone of this. Apparently, even though he didn't elect to tell anyone, he decided to grant the time out to the Yankees, so the hitter got another chance. I was pissed. I can't remember what happened next exactly, I only remember the Yankees won that game. It was the first of many times in my life I've seen an umpiring crew hand a ball game to the New York Yankees. Roger Clemens was quoted a few days later as saying something along the lines of "It's too bad it isn't like football and they can't penalize the home team five yards or something when that happens." Too bad indeed, Roger. Too bad indeed.

Flash forward to Thursday Night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, Toronto's on top 3-0. Coco Crisp is up with Brandon Moss on 1st. Crisp pops up to end the game, and the Blue Jays begin shaking hands. Moss is jogging off the field, but all of a sudden, the second base umpire tells Moss to go to second base, and has Crisp go to the plate. He apparently, without letting anyone know, called a balk on B.J. Ryan. Toronto Manager John Gibbs was ejected in the immediate aftermath. Here's a video. Anyway, Crisp gets another shot at the plate, and singles, sending Moss to third. Jed Lowrie comes to the plate, and Crisp takes second on a defensive indifference.

Unfortunately, the Lowrie struck out to end the game. That means I'm still waiting for payback with almost 20 years of interest.

Manny's the Man

2008-04-30T21:12:00.002-05:00

Game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth. Jed Lowrie-who pinch ran for David Ortiz- is on second, Manny on first. 1 out. Brandon Moss at the plate. Moss gets a single up the middle, Lowrie tries to score, but he's thrown out by Vernon Wells. Fear not, citizens of Boston. Manny's on second.

Varitek comes to the plate, and similiarly singles to center. This time, Manny tries to score, and obviously beats the throw. Red Sox win 2-1 thanks to the outstanding hustle by Manny Rameriz.

Also...

2008-04-30T17:09:00.002-05:00

It would be great to have a few more folks on here. I know Brandt has been asked before, but maybe we could try again or see if there are another couple fans from different teams...

I have a couple staff guys in mind that are fans of different teams, but I know that it started as a small group that knows each other...not that I have met John. Maybe someday. Anyway, just a thought.