Take A Deep Breath…And Let It Out

September 4, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / 1 Comment

I have some staggering stats for you following last night’s down-to-the-wire game.

455. Fenway has sold out 455 consecutive times. Tying the Indians record for most consecutive sell-outs. When they return home after the brief trip to Texas, they will break the record.

.621: That’s Dustin Pedroia’s batting average over the past 7 days.

3.79: that’s the ERA for the starting pitchers. Not bad when your team has average 5.3 runs a game. Look for the ERA to get lower as we roll into September and October. (Especially if Beckett returns to his dominance, and Lester gets his power under control.)

97. That’s how fast Lester threw one pitch against the Orioles. He claims to have never gone higher than 96 in his career. If he can get a fastball that fast under control, he will be the ace of the AL.

44: Stolen bases for Jacoby Ellsbury, who has struggled to get on base all year. Imagine how much larger that number would be if he could get on base more often…

110 and 191. That’s how many times Dustin Pedroia has scored and how many hits he has this season. Those are both Major Leage Leading Stats.

2. That’s how many players the Red Sox have who are in the running for MVP, some might even say that they are the front-runners.

and finally…

3. That’s the games back we are on Tampa Bay, who still have one more
night with the Yankees, who have now won 6 straight road games. We still lead the Wild Card, but I would love to retake the East just in time for the playoffs.

Now, back to the game.

Dice-K did well, not one of his stronger outings, but not bad either. We just could not get any offense going.

Except for Dustin, who looks like he could get a hit in his sleep. The bottom half of the order produced too, at least, a little.

Youk was again out, and Jason Bay had the day off, so already the bats are just a little bit weaker.

The Sox started to come back, then stalled, leaving the score at 4-2 Orioles.

Then Papi got a free pass. Dustin got a double, and Kotsay hit a wall-bouncing triple to score them both, tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.

The Sox held the Orioles, who threatened with two men on in the 9th, but could not deliver, and then the bottom of the order came up. Cora singled, then Crisp singled on a wack-a-doodle bunt that 99% of the time rolls foul, but didn’t, then Jacoby, who popped out in the 7th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, stepped up and bunted. Cora dived into third, the ball was overthrown, so he got up and scored, meeting his teammates at home, ecstatic to have come back and finished the sweep, something that had been unable to do against the White Sox and against the Yankees.

Yay. And Crisp was running his heart out, not realizing that Cora was the winning run and the game was over.

That might be the weirdest walk-off win I have ever seen, on a sac-bunt and a throwing error.

We have the night off. Good. I’m tired and I need to watch the season opener for FOOTBALL!!!! Yay.

Disregard this. Minor webmaster testing nonsense.

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MVP! MVP! MVP! (And Welcome, Michael Bowden)

August 30, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / 1 Comment

I can’t help myself. Everyone is catching MVP fever. Especially Sox fans, because we have Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. I will suspend a recap of tonight’s game momentarily because I feel like pushing DP and Youk as the MVPs for the AL.

Let’s discuss.

Youkilis. He is a beastly hitter (the average is down, but he still scares pitchers. Actually, he kind of scares everybody.) He plays third, he plays first, and the play is SOLID. He loves the game and would rather have his team win a world series than win any special honors for himself. Yay!

Pedroia. Aside from lying about his height (5’9″? I don’t think so. He can’t be taller than 5’7″. Not that we mind.) he’s a solid second base-man and he is 8-8 in the past two games, hits on the road well, hits at home well, and leads the majors in batting average since June (with at least 220 at-bats).

Okay, so this pic is horrible, but it was taken while the loveable Mr. Pedroia was making one of his many great catches for the night. (Note, the ChiSox easy “falling” catch is on replay for top play, but Pedroia’s crazy good grabs? Nowhere. Travesty!) He played out of his mind. And hey, Pedroia has gone two games in a row hitting perfectly.

Now seems to be the perfect time to transition to a game recap. Welcome to the majors, Michael Bowden. He pitched a solid 5, and the bull pen looked decent. I feel like I’m writing that phrase more and more these days…as opposed to “I hate our bull pen” or blogging about my fears of Lopez and Delcarmen (note, these feelings have not vanished, but they have decreased significantly)

Yay for a great rookie outing, backed by awesome offense. And how ’bout when they intentionally walked Tek???? I have never seen anyone throw the ball like that for an intentional walk. And our pitchers got the chiSox to ground into 3 double plays. Then Ellsbury (or Wheels, as we so fondly call him) went 5-3, and our young guys looked good on a night where most of the older vets were not playing (Youk sick, Lowell on the DL, brand new pitcher, etc.) It was a good night overall. Next week (barring rain-outs) the Red Sox will break the consecutive sell-out mark. That, to me, is almost sweeter than this night could have been had the Rays not pulled a win out of their butts against the Orioles (if that comeback doesn’t highlight bullpen trouble, I don’t know what will.) Oh well. At least the Yankees lost.

In other news:
Cincinnatti WR Chad Jackson changed his name (officially) to Ocho Cinco. (His last name, anyway) Wack-a-doodle.

Goodnight, Sox Fans, see you tomorrow!

Wake Up The Bats

August 7, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

Finally, Wake gets the bats he needs to record a win. And it came on a night without Youk and without Pedroia. Yeah. Now add them back into the lineup, and we have a fierce offense even without Manny.

Wake had a great outing. And he left the game in the lead and they won. Yay!

Ellsbury hit a three run homer in the seventh. Uh-hu. I’m thinking maybe the slump is over. And that great catch. in the fifth…head over heels with infielders all around.

Ellsbury watches the ball go over the center field wall for a three-run shot in the 7th.

Ellsbury continues to roll after a great catch in the 5th.

Jason Bay has hit safely in every game he’s played in a Red Sox uniform. True, that’s only been six games, but he seems to be fitting right in with the rest of the boys. We win the rubber game against the Royals, and hey, we have a winning record on the road for this trip (just making lemonade here, people)

After a day off, here’s to Youk’s health (which seems okay) Mikey’s health (which also seems okay) and Papi’s wrist (which again, seems okay). I feel like this is a brand new team, like they have a new lease on the season. Now if only the Rays would start losing…

On the Importance of Playing Wall-Ball

August 6, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

After a few days spent on vacation with my mom and sister (thus, sports were almost banned altogether) its good to get back into the news world. And to think, I’ve been missing all the minute-by-minute updates on Brett Farve!

Sportscenter:
Levy: Mort, what’s happening with the Farve situation in Greenbay?
Mortison: Well, he got up to go to the bathroom, so clearly he thinks this meeting is going to go longer than he thought and he won’t be able to hold it.
Levy: Any other updates? How does Aaron Rogers feel about this?
Mort: He feels that it is his turn, he thinks Brett can go to the bathroom, but how can he pee at a time like this? Aaron kind of feels like maybe Brett could be home in Mississippi using the bathroom, or in the front office.
Levy: So he’s really being distracted by this whole situation, then?
Mort: If this continues, I wouldn’t expect the Packers to be much of a threat this year. I mean, the Lions might actually win ten games (and Kitna might not get sacked every game), the Vikings could improve their quarterback overnight so they wouldn’t have to lean on that fierce running game all season, and the Bears could have more than just an iffy defense, if they pick a quarterback that is not their number one or number two.
Levy: Well, that’s all the time we have for this Sportscenter update. For baseball scores and any sports other than Farve-watching, go online to ESPN.com. Oh, and we love the Rays.

(sorry for the dabble into football, but I am SO over this Farve situation. We should be talking baseball and a little bit of pre-season football this time of year, not just about one washed-up player)

On to the Red Sox.

They look so much better. So much. Even in the loss, they were looking a lot better than they have in weeks. They seem to care about baseball again, they seem to be having some fun. Ellsbury has finally seemed to come out of his slump, Varitek has been on base more times than he’s struck out in the month of August, Pedroia has struck out 4 times in the last 10 games (do we have a new Greek God of Walks?), and Youk has been settling into his new role as Manny. Seriously, when they got in a fight a few weeks back, maybe Manny transfered some of his bat-swinging mojo to Youk. He’s having the season of his life, and I’m glad Tito moved him behind Papi. And Bay? Did you see the ball-rolling almost homer? Classic. And a second one for the Red Sox this year. Weird.

Tonight, Pedroia has the night off, which is not good, but well-earned, Jason Bay seems to be fitting right in and loving playing for Boston, and in other good news, the Platypus (Joba Chamberlain) is on the DL. No offense to the guy, but anything that hinders the Yankees makes me happy). Mikey and Papi seem to be OK, and Ellsbury has his wheels back. Here’s to fifty stolen bags this season (hey, I can hope!)

Hey, the Olympics start Friday! Yay!

Wheels, Deals and Happy Meals

July 28, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / 1 Comment

In the course of one weekend, I went from hating the game of baseball, deciding the fat lady had sung on the Sox season, and giving up on baseball all together for about 24 hours to being impressed with the team and hoping for another championship. There is only one team in baseball that can do that with all of their fans so effectively: the Boston Red Sox. Its like one of those movies where you are so angry at the characters that you get up to leave, but once your out, you can’t stand to leave in the middle, so you just go to the bathroom and head back in, only to see the characters completely turn things around.

Lets not talk about the first two games, where the Yankees hot streak clearly got the better of the issues Boston has with leaving men on base, the bullpen, and the lineup. I’m sorry, when Josh Beckett pitches out of his mind and you can’t get him any runs to help out? That is not good. But that’s all I’m going to say about Friday and Saturday. On to Sunday.

Once again, the Sox lean on Jon Lester when they are spiraling into a losing streak. Once again, Jonny pulls out a great game and saves the Sox. I had a lot of confidence going into Sunday, because lets face it, Sidney Ponson? Despite the surprising streak he’s been on, his low inning count and high walk rate had to eventually catch up with him. I’m hoping that this loss sparks a whole new Yankees collapse, though I doubt it because yet again, the big money boys have made some big money deals to bring in a bit of help. Sure enough, the combination of the-pillar-of-the-pitching-staff Lester (note, he may not have the most wins, but he always goes deep, and I always feel a little bit safer when he’s on the hill.) He’s the only one I really trust to pull the team out of a losing streak, he’s really good at that, and like Tek said, he’s only going to get better. Coming from Tek, who is probably one of the best pitching judges out there (he should really become a pitching coach when he retires, with all the good he does behind the plate, I think he’d be great as a coach.) that’s high praise.

Speaking of Tek, guess who is still hitting. Yay! And the Papi-Manny Double-Whammy is back in business as of last night. I think Manny is starting to realize that he needs to be on his best behavior if he wants to get a better deal at the end of the season, which I’m sure his agent has been telling him. But that’s all I’m going to say about the Manny Saga. Anyway, Boston’s bats were a’swinging last night with a bunch of doubles and a two-run dinger from none other than Big Papi. I think he needed that.

Man, its good to have the big guy back. And with him back, Dustin can be the lead-off man (I know Tito still wants Jacoby in that spot, but I think he’s not ready yet) followed by Youk (anyone else think Joba should have been ejected from the game for that ball he threw at him? I don’t care how stupid the timing was, there is just no way that wasn’t intentional) then the Papi-Manny duo that hopefully will again start to terrify opposing pitchers. I like the batting order now. I like having Jacoby at the bottom, I think he needs some more time in the bigs before he really is an effective lead-off man. I think this visit to the 9th spot will be good for him. Speaking of Jacoby…

What a catch. I tell you what, with his speed and defensive ability, I don’t care that his arm strength isn’t that good. That boy has wheels. He’ll be stealing bases again in no time, and with him on, a single can turn into a double or triple. We like to call him wheels.

The trade deadline approaches, and no word yet from Theo about anything. Do we make a quick trade to shore up the bull pen or do we work from within, like with Masterson? (who I still think is going to be a solid reliever). Do we trade Coco or keep him? (keep, sorry Coco) Can we please trade Lugo? I mean…come on, won’t anyone take him? What kind of dealing will be done? Will the Pirates continue to let other teams raid their cookie jar? Who knows. Will the Yankees continue to make ridiculous deals to make sure they are contenders? Of course. They’re the Yankees. They must be in the playoff hunt every year. Its a conspiracy, I tell you, the Steinbrenners are paying off the baseball gods…but thats another story for another day.

So, that’s the wheels, the deals…what about the Happy Meal? After deciding the fat lady had sung on the 2008 season, I went and got myself a Happy Meal to bury my sorrow in a little pack of fries, a burger, and a very small diet coke. It was partially the Happy Meal I had for lunch on Sunday and the Sox performance that night that renewed my faith in the boys. (Not that I had ever actually lost it, but in true Sox fan form, I let it go temporarily) What did I have for lunch today? What do you think. Superstition rules all, and the toy I got today was way better than yesterday.

Next up, Dice takes on the Halos. God help us and not them. (Seriously, I know they’re the Angels, but we could use a little help, and if that help comes in the form of a Rays and Yankees collapse or Sox mega-hot streak, I’ll leave that up to You, Big Man.)

Batter up!

Dice-K and Dustin: The Road Warriors

July 23, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / 1 Comment

Okay. Dice-K wasn’t dicey. At least until the 8th. That was a switch. And the Sox are looking good on the road, I mean, its against the Mariners, but still. I’ll take what I can get.

Some really good things happened yesterday:

1. Dice-K went 7 1/3 and only let in 2 runs towards the end there…not too bad
2. Okajima looked good. It was like a flashback to last year, maybe he’s out of his slump?
3. Paps notched save #30. That’s the third year in a row he’s had a least 30 saves in a season.
And its only July. We’ve got a lot more baseball to play.
4. Tek had another hit. Do we dare to hope?
5. Mikey had a good day swinging the bat, possibly signifying that he’s coming out of his little mini-slump
6. Jacoby Ellsbury looked good. I mean, he didn’t have a great night for a lead-off man, but he looked good.
7. Manny and Dustin extended their game hit-streaks to 11 and 23, respectively.
8. This afternoon’s game will hopefully be the last one we play this season without Papi, who returns for Friday’s home stand against the Yanks.
9. JD Drew homered. That’s always a good thing.
10. The Rays lost. Actually, the Rays got spanked. Good stuff.

So now that we’ve discussed the 10 good things that happened last night, lets talk about something magical. I was watching the game, and there were a couple of balls hit to third, and I remember thinking: “okay, good, we got that out.” when in fact Mikey had barely begun to field the ball. The duo of Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis is the most comforting corner combination ever. They are both tremendous defensive players, and sometimes I feel like any ball hit to them is an automatic out. And obviously Dustin Pedroia is up there too, they’re all golden glove candidates (again in Mikey and Youk’s case) in my book. That should have been your All-Star infield: Youk, Pedroia, Jeter, Mikey. (A-Rod is WAY overrated. I mean, at least Jeter is good and a class-act, but A-Rod…eh. not so much.)

Clay B. is starting for the Sox this afternoon (what a weird time for a game, not that I’m complaining, because I’ve been up late every night this week watching the late night games. I mean, I know its a 1:40 game in Seattle, but 4:40 is just a bizarre time to start a game ) hopefully this start will be better than the last few, especially since the Sox are up against Felix Hernandez, which is quite scary (especially for righties).

What do we need?

We need a quality outing from Buchholz, good, clutch bats from the boys, and I want to see Paps out there in the 9th. And a Rays loss wouldn’t hurt either 🙂

Go Sox!!

Aye Aye, Captain

July 22, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

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Jason Varitek hit a 2-run shot to put the Sox over the Mariners last night. I feel like that needs its own headline.

I really hate west coast swings. I mean, the games go so late, and I have to work in the morning. But at least I got to go to bed happy.

Can we just discuss how much of a beast Lester is? I mean, in 103 pitches (which went well into the 8th inning) he threw 18 balls. That’s enough to walk 4 batters. Just 4. And he didn’t walk anyone. That boy is solid. And Pedroia. 22-game hit streak. 22 games. He doesn’t always hit deep or hard, but he’s a staple on base. Now if we could just get Papi back and get JD out of his double-play hitting streak, we’d be good. As for Ellsbury, I’m not too worried, I think he’s just in a slump, and these things happen. We, as fans, just have to keep the faith and hope. We still have one of the best teams in baseball, and we’re fierce down the stretch. I don’t know what has gotten me into such an upbeat mood, maybe its because my boy got a hit…I don’t know.

Lets talk about Tek. Tek is my boy. I have been waiting for him to battle out of this slump for months. And his contract is up this year…I don’t think we should give him a 4 year deal, but I think the dumbest move the Sox could make would be to get rid of Tek. I don’t care what he’s hitting, if he gets into too bad of a slump we can always pinch-hit for him. There is nothing that compares to the defense and intangibles that he brings to the team. You can’t get rid of the Captain…that doesn’t even make sense.

Next up, Dice-K vs. Dickey. Here’s to another late night. 🙂 Go Sox!

The AL East, The All-Stars and the Rays, Oh My!

July 16, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

Sorry for the long hiatus…I was on vacay during the all-star break, but I’m back with notes and ready to go.

O’s game first. We lost. Moving on. O’s again, but this time, we weren’t planning on losing. Wake pitched great, and Youk, fresh from the last strikeout to lose the game Friday, was angry. When is Youk not angry? He is always fired up. Anyway, its the 3rd inning, bases loaded, here comes Youkilis. I was sitting on the couch with my neighbors dog (I live with people who think its okay to have a cookout when the Sox are on TV. eh) and I looked at the dog and I said “I think Youk’s gonna hit one hard.” Sure enough, Grand Slam for Kevin. Yay.

Picture 2.png Manny and J.D. hit solos….that was just a really bad inning for the O’s. I remember thinking towards the end there: wait a minute. Pedroia and Ellsbury have already hit this inning…like I said, bad inning for the O’s. And because it’s an AL East game, they keep updating us on the Rays scores.

Speaking of the Rays, they’ve lost seven in a row going into the break. Seven. Now, for older teams, that doesn’t worry me too much. But for the Rays…well, they’re pitching will keep them in it, maybe, but it all depends on whether or not they let this slump affect them, shatter their confidence. They were on top for three weeks or so, and they couldn’t hold it. Whether that’s over confidence on their part, bad luck, or just some nerves, I don’t know. I don’t see the Sox giving the East up any time soon, and I don’t think the Rays are going to go on a tear again, because as good as they are at home, they are that bad on the road. Unless the Jekyll and Hyde thing can be sorted out, they may fall out of the Wild Card race. Notice, I said “may”. Its baseball, anything can happen.

Okay, so the O’s fell to the Sox 12-1. I just think they had Liz’s number.

On to the next game. The nail biter. I mean, not really, but really. Dice-K threw an enormous number of pitches (scary) walked five (really scary) and four hits (really, really scary) yet somehow, it was scoreless. Paps looked a little sloppy on the save, but thanks to a diving catch by Pedroia and a few other good plays, he notched his 100th save. Nice. And with this win and the Rays loss, the Sox pull a half game ahead of the Rays just in time for the All-Star break.

Picture 3.png

So, the All-Stars. Okay, in Paps defense, he really didn’t mean that he thought he should close instead of Mariano Rivera. That was not what he said. What he said is exactly what every back-up was thinking: “I don’t care if [name] is the best [position] in baseball, I want to start at [position].” Duh, people. And New York fans, you can hurl all the insults you want at the boys, they expect it, but leave the pregnant ladies alone, okay. That’s just wrong. I wouldn’t say a bad word to a pregnant woman that would seem threatening, even if she was covered in Yankees gear. So heckle the players, heckle the other fans, but leave the future mommies alone.

Now on to the All-Star game. There were a ton of Sox playing, which is wonderful, and I gotta say, listening to an interview by Tek, I understand so much more why he is so respected by EVERYBODY. (Except maybe A-Rod. They may still have some beef) That is the most humble, intelligent player ever. He was so honored to be there, and I don’t care how bad he hits, you can not ask for a better captain or catcher. The oh-so-classy NY fans booed Tito and the other Sox. Surprised? I think Yaz and Fisk should have been on that field for the opening ceremony, but its the Yanks, what do you expect. This is what made me happy to watch the final All-Star game in Yankee Stadium:

Count ’em: 16. Yep. That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!

Now really, onto the game. I think Tito did a good job, they all played, they looked like they were having a good time, and hey, the AL won. Again. After 15 innings. And in almost every one, either side had a chance to put the game away for good. It was a weird game. I was in bed, watching it, thinking, I can drift off to sleep to the post-game, it’ll be here soon. (That was in the 11th inning)

You gotta love JD Drew in this game. He comes in, gets on base 4 out of 5 times, one of those was the game-tying 2-run homer. Combine that with good defense, he was an obvious choice for MVP. I mean, really, who else would you pick? Longoria? Its not even close. So congrats to JD.

Picture 4.png

In other news, Che-Hsuan Lin, a previously-unknown defensive replacement in the All-Star Futures game from Class A Greenville, was the MVP of that game. The Sox signed him, and are hopeful that with some work, the slugger and stellar defensive player will work his way up onto the Fenway roster, which is all that Lin wants to do. He wants to play for the Sox. I love a guy like that. So, the Sox come in with the most All-Stars for the AL, they get the MVP, and then the farm system gets the Futures MVP. Yep. That’s exactly the way I wanted Yankee stadium to be sent off. Actually, had it been Drew instead of Young who hit the game-winner, that would have been great.

I should not go on hiatus, the blogs get really long. Well, here’s to a strong second half.

In final, closing, seriously, the last bit of news…

I’m trying to be Governor of VA for Red Sox Nation. Its truly my passion, and I would love to do it, so anyone interested, you can endorse me, Sara Hannon, at RedSox.com, my email is: hannonse@gmail.com.

Thanks. See you in the second half! 🙂

And The Hits Go On

July 11, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

After a few games one-hit wonder one run squeaks, the Sox let it all go for Wednesday’s game against the Twins. Final score? 18-5. Score in the first inning? 0-3. Yeah. We all got worried, and then, it was like someone flipped a switch.

Tek got some great hits. Maybe he’s coming out of his slump to go on a hot streak. (Being a catcher myself, it is really hard to concentrate on anything but catching, so working out of a batting slump along with being a game manager…its really, really hard. So I’ve been rooting for him) The best part? His hits were RBI singles.

And if that weren’t enough, Jacoby got 4 hits, Manny, Youk and Casey got three (including Youk hitting a homer) The Sox had 23 hits, 10 for extra bases. Jeez.

And this wasn’t the Mariners we were beating here, its the Twins. The Twins who came to Fenway winning 19 of their last 25 games. Why can’t we play like this against Tampa Bay? Maybe we can now. Maybe it won’t matter, if the Rays continue the slump they are on. The Sox are 1.5 games back on the Rays, hanging around and making things difficult for the young team.

Congrats to the All-Stars. I think Mikey should be at third, but that’s a rant for another day…and Cheers to the Nation for giving J.D. Drew one of the biggest voting boosts in the history of the All-Star game. Nice. We’ve got seven, eight if you count the skipper, I think that’s a fitting way to end the days of Yankee Stadium – filling it with Red Sox players. 🙂

This may sound terrible, but I need Evan Longoria to suck it up from now on and I need Jacoby to have the season of his life from now on. I want him to win Rookie of the Year, but as long as everyone is in love with Longoria, that’s not going to happen. I’m not saying this out of spite for the Rays, I want Jacoby to be the Rookie of the Year, and anyone who stands in the way of that goal is the enemy.

Clay Buchholz is back after his stint in the minors, and since he had such a strong few games in Pawtucket, spending that time to work on his mechanics, we’ll be getting a really good pitcher back who can take out the O’s.

Final thoughts: Manny is always going to be Manny. It’s how life is. But this? I feel like we could have a highlight reel of Manny’s antics and never mention how good a slugger he is. I mean, you have the catch, give a fan a high five, and still get the double play highlight, his often confused base-running, or this:

Manny has climbed into the Monster before. But the cell phone? Oh well, its just Manny being Manny.

So Good, So Good, So Good

July 3, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

Before we begin, I’d like to take a moment of silence for the city of Seattle. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.

…

Done. Okay. On to baseball! It’s always a good day when we beat the Yankees. When we beat the Yankees with a Jon Lester complete game shut out? Lets just say the Rays series stings a bit less (no pun intended) And Tek got a hit. Yay! All is right in my world tonight, and I can start praying for a Tampa Bay meltdown…probably not going to happen, but hey, its something we can hope for.

Congrats to Dustin Pedroia (or, D.P. as we lovingly call him) on extending his hitting streak to 11 games. J.D. was Mr. June…could Dustin be Mr. July? Don’t know. We also find out how many of the boys will be taking the field for the All-Star game. Probably a lot. And Tito gets to run the show. I feel like this is just torture for the Yankees, and its sadistic, but I love watching them get tortured.

And who doesn’t love Lester? I mean, how can you not? He’s one of those players who you have a grudging respect for even if you hate their team (like my relationship with Jeter. Respect him. Great player. I’d love him if he played for anyone else, but I can’t hate him. He’s too much of a class act.) Lester is one of those guys that you just have to love. I think this is Lester’s year. I mean, he’s got the no-no, two complete game shut-outs…could we add a ring to this to top it all off? I think so.

Here’s to Beckett and the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day, y’all! (What, I may like the Sox, but I’m still a southerner) Shouldn’t we automatically win on the 4th since Boston was like, huge in winning this whole Independence thing? Ya know, Paul Revere, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre…isn’t there some karma from that or something?

And I’ll leave you with a few thoughts.

–Burn Notice is a great show. Check it out! (It has the line: “Guns make you stupid. But Duct tape? Duct tape makes you smart.”)

-Jacoby Ellsbury is like the Speedy Gonzales of Baseball. No joke.

-One of the issues facing the Sox at the end of the year is Jason Varitek’s free agency. Normally, I am against falling in love with a player and thus not letting them go when it’s time, but removing Tek is like taking away the soul of the team, a great defensive player, and an almost coach. How stupid would you have to be to trade the Captain? The guy who manages games better than any other catcher in the league? (Note: I fully believe the Sox will re-sign Tek, but this is just me getting out my two cent)

-A sweep of the Yanks would be great. Really, really, really great.

One final thing: this is from March, but it’s too funny to pass up. Look up “Mike Lowell’s Dancing With the All-Stars”. This isi from March
but it still makes me laugh. There should be four videos that go along
with these three pictures, along with mentions of Nutrisystem, being
turned on, and the ownership of a particular shirt.