Varitek

Comeback and Sunday’s Game LIVE!

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What a comeback last night. Whew. Scary. Live blog time!

Holy cow. What a match-up today. Halladay (on short rest) vs southpaw ace Lester.

Crap. Home run Toronto. Lester is throwing rockets but his control is off. Good thing we have game-manager extraordinare behind the plate (thank goodness for Tek!)

Batter up.

Single Jacoby! Yay! Here comes MVP Dustin Pedroia! (What? I can hope, can’t I?)
Steal Jacoby and Sac-bunt for Dustin, Jacoby to third and here comes big Papi. All we need is a single or sac-fly. I tell you what, Dustin does it all, home runs, sac-flies, doubles, triples, bunts…Papi’s out at first but Jacoby scores, tie game.

Youuuuuuuukkkkk. After a long at-bat, Youk hits a bat-shattering single. Mikey up.

Okay, I get that Toronto really wants to win, but pitching Halladay on three days rest is really not a good move, especially in September. Mike is out at first, and we go to commercial.

Overbay is up. And Lester got him. And the Yankees are leading the Rays 6-3 in the bottom of the 2nd (wow). Say it with me everyone. “Let’s go Yankees!”

Okay, count is full on Rolen and Lester walks him. He is really not finding the strike zone right now.  Wacko chopper, nice stop Pedroia and a bang-bang play. He’s out.

Lester is up 0-2 on McDonald. Come on Jon, just one more strike and we’re good. McDonald is battling. Lester really needs to get some control down, because he’s thrown WAY too many pitches for it to only be the 2nd inning. Swing and a miss, he’s out. Commercial time.

Back to the game. JBay is up. Bottom of the third, Yankees up 6-3 bottom of the third. Oh! JBay hits a double. Yay for JBay! Here comes the Captain. Come on Tek! We love Tek. Whatever he can do to get JBay to third or to score, he’ll do it. And you can talk about how his average is down – good eye Tek! – we need that man behind the plate as long as we can because that man is a beastly fabulous leader. Good job, Captain, sac-single to get JBay to third.

Cora is up and the infield is in. I have a feeling we’re in for a pitchers duel. Both pitchers are up over 30 pitches in the 2nd. The ‘pens will be getting some work tonight. Okay, I think the TBS is in love with Halladay, because they are fawning all over him. Yes, he is a great pitcher, but come on!

Oh, Cora out on strikes. Coco is up. I’d recognize that batting stance anywhere. Oh, and announcers, its impossible to take the Fenway crowd completely out of the game, you underestimate the fan-base.

Coco hits a 2-out RBI single and Ellsbury is up. He has caught fire again, and I am hoping he  can make a big push for Rookie of the Year. Bunt, but they got him. Inning over.

Lester seems to be getting things under control…big hit but Coco is there…1 out. Come on Lester, get them up. Liner back, Lester misses, Pedroia scoops it up and gets the out at first. 2 down. Next up, Alex Rios. Lester gets ahead 1-2. Lets close this one out with a K, lefty. Rips one…they try for it but its in the alley. Double for Rios. Next batter. He pops up and Cora gets it. Inning over.

Dustin is up. I love him, he doesn’t think any pitcher should be able to get him out, and he goes up knowing he’s going to get a hit. That’s the kind of batter I like. Fly out, out 1. That’s okay, here comes Papi. 2-2 on Papi, and he is really not happy with himself. And he strikes out swinging. Top of the 5th and the Yanks are still beating the Rays. Remember that old adage “I root for the Red Sox and anyone playing the Yankees”? Well, things sure have changed.

Youk’s up, down 0-2. Seems like Halladay has found his zone, but Youk is battling. Hit to third, out at fist.

While the Jays are up, here’s a score update: Yankees lead TB 6-3, Os lead Twins 5-0. Good things for the AL East and good things for the AL Wild Card.

Nice catch by Ellsbury for the second out. Wow, what a play by Lowell and Youk! Three out.

Three-up, three down. Crap. Anyone else think the strike zone on this guy is a little off? Oh well, at least he’s consistent.

Batista against JLes, Ellsbury has the catch. You gotta love the Sox outfeild right now. Coco and Ellsbury are speed demons and can move all over to catch the ball. And Jason Bay isn’t exactly slow either. Line out to Mikey and its 2 out. Lester is 2-2 on Batista, got him.

Okay, back to the game with 2 outs in the fifth.  Jacoby up. Come on buddy, get  a rally going.  At least stop the Halladay streak of retiring batters. Nope.  Took a swing at a bad one and struck out.

Bring on the 6th.

I have a theory about the TBS annoucers. I think they are biased, they clearly want Toronto to win this game. Now, in a nationally broadcast game, where there are many more Red Sox fans. Grounder to Pedroia, out at first. Grounder to Mikey and out at first. Liner and foul. 0-2. They are really swinging  at Lester. Swing and a miss and Lester has taken out 8 in a row.

Dustin is up to start. Lets break the Halladay streak. He’s thrown 85 pitches, they have to be getting close to pulling him. Pedroia hits it to third, thrown out at first. And here comes Papi. Yankees still beating the Rays, bottom of the 6th. Papi’s wrist is still kind of bothering him, but he won’t rest until the Sox are done for the season, because that is how Papi plays. Full count. Fly out. Youk is up, Halladay is behind 3-0 on him.  A few pitches later and its full count. Infield ground ball, out at first.

Lester is looking pretty good. Got his sixth K. Dang, Mikey couldn’t make a play, but good stop anyway. I don’t care if Halladay has retured 13 batters and Lester only retired 9. Scoreboard!

Walked him. Two on. Come on Lester! Masterson is warming up in the ‘pen, I love watching him pitch!

DP for Cora, DP and Youk, inning over.

Mikey is up. Halladay is at 105 pitches, full count on Lowell. Base hit Mikey. Lets get a rally started! Bay-man is up, popped out. Bring on the Captain, base hit for Tek! Cora is up and takes one high, ball 1. Hits it, Tek’s out at 2nd, but they can’t get the double play on Cora. Coco is up to bat. Line to left, drops down for a hit and Mikey is in. Coco gets his second 2-out RBI. Jacoby is up. Pops out. Inning done, but another run to pad the lead. Yay!

Okay, I’m gonna shut it down so I can go and get ready to watch the Patriots game. This has been fun, but I’ll blog later. 

Chasing the Rays is Fun, Especially if your the Sox

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The Wild Card-leading Red Sox dropped one in the ninth at home against Tampa Bay last night, but relax Red Sox Nation. It’s all good. Listen to the dugout quotes following the down-to-the-wire loss last night:

Sean Casey: “This is my 11th year in the big leagues, and this is one of the best
teams I’ve been on, in terms of people…Talent-wise
and people-wise, I don’t think I’ve ever played on a team like this.”

El Capitan (Varitek): “We need to continue what we’ve been doing. Playing the game right and going out and playing good baseball.”

The ever-venerable Tito: “It’s just a bunch of guys who seem to like to play baseball, it makes my job
a lot more fun.”

So while we’re now 1.5 games behind the Rays instead of a half game up, we have some good games coming up, and good news is, we probably won’t have to face Halladay.

Bring on the rubber-match. Go Sox!

Red Sox Blank Rays, Close In On AL East

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jles.pngRed Sox 3 Rays 0. Lester pitched into the 8th, allowing 0 runs on 6 hits, striking out 9 and walking 3. Paps came in and got a 4 out save allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. With this win, the Red Sox pull into within a half game of the AL East-leading Rays and move up to 7 games in front of the idle Twins for the Wild Card.

Not really the best night for the bats, considering the Sox had 9 hits and only 3 runs, all of those coming in the bottom of the 1st.  Lester  pitched 7+ innings of shut-out baseball, and Jackson pitched  6 shut-out innings. Fortunately for the Sox, that early jump proved to be enough to win the game.

Tonight the Red Sox made baseball history, breaking the streak for most consecutive home sell-outs with 456, beating the Cleveland Indian’s streak of 455. In honor of that, we will look at the 15 greatest moments at Fenway since May 15th, 2003 (when the sell-outs started).

Why 15? Well, 456 is reasons is way too many to cover in one blog, but 4+5+6=15, which is a much more manageable (not to mention readable!) amount.

15. April 22, 2007: Home Run Bonananza The Sox tie a major league record high 4 HR’s   back to back to back to back home runs in the third to help the Sox onto their first sweep     of the Yankees in Fenway since 1990. Hitting HRs were Manny, JD Drew, Lowell and     Varitek.

14. August 1 2008: A Brand New Bay Jason Bay makes his debut after the down-to-the-wire trade which sent Manny to LA and a few prospects to Pittsburgh. He has a great night,    
hitting well and making a spectacular catch, even scoring the winning run on Jed Lowrie’s
single in the 12th. This is not so great because of the game itself, but the fact that energy     returned to the Red Sox as they played like a completely different team after ridding    
themselves of Manny being Manny and his dramatic unhappiness.

13. October 25, 2007: Schill’s Last Game: In the last home appearance of the Red Sox in    
the 07 World Series, Schil and crew hang on to win a 2-1 pitcher’s duel with the Rockies.
 
12. July 2, 2007 Ellsbury Scores from Second on a Wild Pitch: Three days into his major league tenure, Jacoby Ellsbury did the nearly
impossible. He scored on a wild pitch from    
second base. Texas reliever
Willie Eyre hit catcher Gerald Laird in the leg with a pitch,
and Ellsbury was gone. He never
stopped, never thought twice as third base coach waved     him
home.

11. October 5, 2007 Manny’s First Walk-Off Home Run: Manny knocks a three-run shot out of the park to give the Boston Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League
    Division Series, beating the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) 6-3.

10. September 21, 2006 David Ortiz hits Red Sox Record Home Runs: David Ortiz    
cemented himself in the Boston record books by hitting 54 home runs in a single season in
2006. It was his 51st, on this date, that put him past Jimmie Foxx’s single-season record,
and made him (officially) Boston’s Home Run King.

9. April 5, 2007 Dice-K’s Debut: Dike K strikes out ten in his major league debut and gives Sox fans a preview of all the Ks that are to come.
 
arodtek fight.jpg8. July 24, 2004 The Fight: A-Rod is hit
by a Bronson Arroyo pitch and proceeds to jaw about it all the way down the first base line. He and Varitek have words, and bam! A-Rod gets a face full of angry catcher’s mit. A bench-clearing brawl later, Tek, A-Rod, Kenny Lofton, Gabe Kapler and Tito were all ejected.

7. September 28, 2007 Red Sox vs.    Twins: A Red Sox win and a Yankee’s     loss gives Boston’s its first division title     in 12 years. Dice-K racks up the K’s     and bows to the fans, while Papelbon    
dances barefoot and thousands of fans hang around for almost an hour to see     the results of the Yankee’s game.
 
6. May 13, 2007 The Mother’s Day Miracle: Bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox are down 5-0 to  the Baltimore Orioles, Julio grounds out, then Coco singles on a throwing error by Ramon     Hernandez and Papi scores him. Mo Pena somehow manages a single that moves David     to third. After both JD Drew and Youk manage a walk, scoring Papi,  Tek comes up and     doubles, scoring both Drew and Mo. Hinske walks, and Youk is out at home (its very close, though).  Back up to bat is Lugo, who made the first out of the inning. He reaches on a throwing error and Hinske and Tek score to win the game.

5. October 20, 2007 JD Drew’s clutch Grand Slam in game 6 of the ALCS: the Sox down to the Indians 3 games to 2, proved to be the straw that broke the Indians’ back and    propelled the Sox to their second World Series win in four years. It was the shot that was heard ’round Boston and will probably always be known as the 14
million dollar grand-slam,     simply because with the bases loaded and
no out, Fausto Carmona had struck out Manny     and gotten Lowell to
pop out, very few people had faith in the then-struggling outfielder.

4. September 1, 2007 Clay Buchholz’s No-Hitter: In his second Major League start, rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz tossed the 17th no-hitter in Red Sox history, striking out 9, walking     three and hitting one batter in the 10-0 defeat of the Baltimore Orioles. Why is this ranked     behind Lester’s? Keep reading.

3. May 19, 2008 Jon Lester’s No-Hitter: The reason behind this being ahead of Buchholz’s no-no is because not only was it the first Red Sox lefty no-no since 1956, it was also a     record for Jason Varitek, who has now caught 4 no-hitters, more than any other catching.     Aided by a spectacular catch by Ellsbury and some heads-up infield plays, the Sox beat     the Royals 7-0.

2. October 18, 2004 ALCS Game 5: After going 12 innings the night before, the epic game 5
outdid it by going 14, ending when Big Papi’s single brought in Damon for the win. The Sox     would go on to Yankee stadium for the Bloody Sock game, and as the 26th team in playoff history to
face a 3-0 series deficit, become the first to force a Game Seven.

1. October 17 2004  ALCS Game 4:  The Sox go 12 innings, with a walk-off homer in the 12th. But they never would have gotten there if Dave Roberts hadn’t stolen 2nd and scored     on Bill Mueller’s single, tying the game 4-4 in the 9th. This sparked the Sox comeback,     down 3 games to none, to win it in seven take their first World Series in 86 years.

So there you go, 15 great moments from the sell-out period of Fenway park. Next up: A big time pitching show-down as Rays ace Kazmir takes on Sox stud Dice-K. Should be a great game, with the AL East being given to the winner. (If only for a day) So put on your best Papelbon glare and watch the game!

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Favorite Red Sox Moments of 2007/2008

/ Sara / Leave a comment

First, check out these posters, made on the Despair, Inc. website:

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 (click images to see full-size)

And now on to my Top Red Sox Moments of 2007-2008
(these are my favorites so far, share yours in the comment section!)
10. Papelbon and Manny D’s Rain Delay video.(see #5)

9. Pedroia is the “Daddy” of Dancing (see #5)

8. Jacoby Ellsbury Stealing Bases (and a Taco!)

7. Jacoby Ellsbury Defense. He goes for it, 100%of the time. Here’s just one example:

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6. Grand Slams. From JD Drew’s 14-million dollar shot in 2007 to Youk and Pedroia’s firsts in 2008.

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5. Papelbon dancing. (no other description required)

4. Youk’s Wall-Ball Triple

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3. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis in the mix for AL MVP.

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2. Jon Lester throws a no-hitter

1. Winning the World Series

paps.jpgLike what you see? Have a different favorite? Let me know!

 

Byrd and Boston Soar to Win, but Brady’s Knee is a Big Loss

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The Red Sox won. The Rays lost. The Patriots won. I should be jubilant and obnoxiously happy as a write this, but as it stands, I have almost no joy.

According to wire reports from Yahoo and another site (both citing anonymous sources “close” to the Patriots) say Tom Brady has a torn ACL and will be out for the season. However, this is not from the Patriots as of yet, and could be the same “sources” who told the Boston Herald about the Ram’s walk-through being taped, which we all now know was wrong and unsubstantiated. There is no need to panic. I, for one, will not trust a report until it is coming from Bill B or Tommy or someone who I actually can see who said it. How can they know? He doesn’t have an MRI until tomorrow! So unless you have MRI-vision, oh “sources” of Yahoo, then how can you possibly know? Or are you going on the expertise of the Jets players (who are in Miami currently), who watched the play on TV and said he had a torn ACL?

Too much speculation. I remain optimistic until the official word has come down.

Okay, on to baseball.

Papi ended a 19-game homer-less streak. Yay. Lots to smile about here.

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David Ortiz after hitting a 2-run homer. Image found here

Varitek’s average has stayed in the high 220s for over two weeks now. That’s good news for him, it meas he’s probably closer to his old hitting self.

Ellsbury hit one and walked once (a totally clutch RBI hit with 2-out), Youk is back, Coco had an amazing night, and Byrd and co held the Rangers to 7 scoreless innings. The Rays, White Sox, Twins and Yankees all won, which does nothing but help the Sox in their wild card/AL east race.

PS…anyone notice that the Rays have dropped the past 3 games? They come to Fenway for a three game series, probable pitchers: Lester vs. Jackson. The Sox are hitting .308 against Jackson while the Rays are hitting just .250 against Lester. Should be an interesting game, especially with the AL East now squarely on the line and the Rays coming in having lost three, while the Sox come in having won the rubber match against Texas.

Bring on the Rays. God, if you can hear me, please, let Tommy be okay and let the Rays lose this next series.

Hey, God cares about sports too!

Of Dice and Men and Perfect Pedroia

/ Sara / 1 Comment

Dice-K had an astounding outing yesterday against the visiting chiSox. Which, I have a temporary complaint: we live in southeastern VA. I realize and understand that WGN is Chicago-based, but it is unnerving and annoying to watch a home game from the visitor’s side and I HATE Harrelson. Rem-Dawg (NESN) is clearly biased, but no one, I mean NO ONE is as bad as the guys who do games for the White Sox. If I have to hear something repeated/hear “he gone” one more time, I will strangle someone.

(Sorry, I’m watching the game right now, and I am so tempted to mute the TV and pull up gameday audio with WRKO so I don’t have to listen to these guys!)

Dustin was fantastic, going 4 for 4, and Papi, Youk and Tek had great nights. Talk about Tek, he has brought his batting average up, like .010 in a week and a half. (Note, this stat may not be so surprising for everyone, but for Tek, especially this year, that is great!)

Okay, game is on and commercial is over, I’ll write again when the game is over (though, I have to say, I’m loving our bats tonight!)

PS – anyone see the beautiful bit of acting the Captain  tried after catching a crazy in-and-out of the crowd bouncing foul? LOVE him! LOVE him!

Rockin’ The House That Ruth Built

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One more. That’s it. Tomorrow will be the last game ever played by the biggest rivalry in the history of American sports. It is also conceivably the Yankee’s last chance to get a shot at October this year. They are now seven games out of the Wild Card race, and only four head-to-head games left with the Wild Card leading Red Sox.

The AL East remains the third tightest division in baseball (not counting the wild cards). The Mets and Phillies continue their tango, the Phillies losing tonight to fall .5 games behind the Mets, with Chicago getting hammered by the O’s tonight, the Twins moved to 1 game behind the ChiSox, and with a Tampa Bay win the Red Sox remain 3.5 games back on the Rays. While it is true that the Dodgers are only 3 games back on the D-Backs, Arizona has lost the past 4 and LA has lost the past 6 games. That race is going to come down to who sucks less, as both teams are hovering just above or just below .500. The streaking Cubbies have a secure 5.5 game lead on the streaking Brewers, but no one is more secure in their position than the Angels. Even if the A’s beat the Angel’s tonight, they will still be 19.5 games back, while the second place Texans will be a mere 15 games back on the almighty Las Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Lets talk Sox-Stripes, though.

Ponson got a little rocked and knocked out early. Ramirez and Marte held down the fort, Veras and Robertson got rocked. A game that was tied until the 5th and close at 4-2 until the 8th ended up with a score of 11-3. A solid start for Byrd, a good appearance for Delcarmen, and can we discuss what a beastly amazing team player Timlin is? He’s one of those guys who just quietly does his job, acting as a great veteran presence in a mostly young ‘pen.

Varitek continues to bring his batting average out of the gutter. Cora was the only Sox player not to get on base, but he hit a sac-fly, so I’m okay with that. Jason Bay was phenomenal with a triple and a double. He may not be Manny, but would Manny actually be playing as much as Bay has? Would he have as many RBIs? Would our stress levels be much higher? Pointless questions, moving on. Ellsbury had two hits tonight, in his spot at the top. Maybe he’s getting used to leading off. Youk, who is having a, dare I say it, MVP year, was his normal, beastly batting self. And my boy, (I have several) Dustin Pedroia hit his first grand slam to really pound the Yanks in the 8th.

I gotta say, though I was balancing this game with Project Runway (a really interesting combination, let me tell you) I realized something. While this is historic and it’s a big deal ,y ever-cynical father pointed something out to me: even in a new stadium, the Yankees will always be hanging around to screw the Red Sox over in some way. The Yankees will still be the same pinstripe-wearing, stash-growing, hair-cutting, no-name-on-the-back-of-the-jersey Bombers we are bred to despise. So no sentimentality, we will always have those stories about how Schil took the mound with a bloody sock, the 2003 disaster, the 2004 miracle, and so on, those memories will always be there. And the Yanks getting a shiny new stadium to make Steinbrenner more ridiculous sums of money just makes them more and more the Evil Empire.

Last game is tomorrow night. If there ever was a must-win for a team to keep post-season hopes alive, its tomorrow night for the Yanks.

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Ehem…Aboot The Red Sox

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Hello all. So, as I said in my blog last week, the Olympics have taken over my life. That, combined with the wedding I was in, moving my sister into school, getting ready for school myself, and actually attending a Red Sox game have made it difficult to find time to blog. I went to game 2 of the Sox-Os series, had great seats, and sat next to a kindred spirit. If you don’t know by now, I’m a HUGE Tek fan. I jump to his defense the minute someone says something bad about him. Well, what do you know but I was sitting next to another huge Tek fan who swears the reason for his slump was because she hadn’t seen him play this year. At first, I thought “yeah, right” but then the captain, in his first at-bat, ripped one to left center for a solo shot. He’s hit a home run in his last three games. Even when he flew out, it wasn’t a weak popper to the infield or right to the outfielder, no, it was a long, almost out of the park beauty that the O’s had to chase. Hopefully he’s working his way out of the slump.

Dustin got tossed from the game after having a few choice words with the Ump (mind you, the strike zone was TERRIBLE) and Tito must have come out to argue at least three or four times. But lets talk about Dustin, and if we talk about Dustin, we must mention Youk. The two of them are absolutely fierce. I mean, if Youk continues his performance he could be in talks for the MVP, which he totally deserves. (I think) They are having great at-bats now, they’re hard to get out (most of the time), they hit homers, doubles, triples, sac-flies, RBIs and lots of singles. They spark rallies. They are great fielders. And the best part is, they’ll be great for years to come because they’re not that old (crossing fingers, praying for no injuries and/or trades).

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He is just too cute!

Mikey and Drew are still out (sad face!) but Byrd looked good last night. He got rocked a little, but he got good back-up from the bats (and the lower part of the order too!) So if we have Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Byrd and Wake (when he returns) then Colon, Masterson, Paps, Smith, Lopez, and Okajima, we’ll actually have a pretty good pitching staff. (bull pen is still a little scary, but if the starters can go six or seven without getting rocked too hard, we’ll manage) If we just keep that offense chugging, keep Lugo on the DL and get everybody healthy, we have a very good shot at the post-season.

A Rays collapse wouldn’t hurt either. And a Twins collapse. And if the Yankees start losing even more ground, I wouldn’t complain.

My boy is pitching today, so bring on the Jays!

Stress and the Sox

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    Okay, I know, we’re reining world champions, but I am not at the point where I can take a loss or a slump without the inevitable question of whether or not we’re done. It is still as stressful as ever, I  think had we been no hit tonight, I might have given up on them for longer than 24 hours. I might have even gone a whole week. But in comes Pedroia on his shining white horse and his hot bad, come to chase to no-hitter away. And just so we weren’t shut-out, Youk knocks one into the monster seats. Do I feel bad about the Angel losing his no-hitter with one out in the ninth? Heck no. The only no-hitters I want to see in Fenway are the ones the home-team throws.

    Tonight highlighted all the reasons I hate it when Clay Buchholz pitches. He’s like the schizo pitcher. He’ll be lights out, then suddenly, its like he’s a whole different pitcher. Then he gets back to business. Tek, if you can hear me, can you figure out a way to fix that please?

    One good sign in this game that maybe we’re about to turn things around is the fact that Lackey only struck out four and gave out 2 free passes (one on a hit batter to Drew). So that means 21 of 27 outs came from fielding the ball, either with a ground-out or a pop-out or a line-out. We;re making contact, and as my coach would always say, that’s the first step. Its always better to make contact or walk than strike out. Okajima was on tonight, but the rest of the bull pen…shaky as ever. I was so glad Tito put Paps in during the 9th. I mean, if he could just be our designated 9th-inning guy (winning or not) At least until the bull pen pulls it together on a consistent basis.

    Speaking of Paps, I think 20 years from now, when we look back on it, we’ll be remembering a lot of greats from this team.  We’ll look back on Paps,  Nomar, Pedro,  Schilling, Tito, Wake and all of those guys and talk about them like we talk about Tony C, Fisk, and Bobby D. We’ll always remember Damon as a traitor (sorry, but that’s life), so long as Manny doesn’t do anything stupid and retires in Boston or goes out quietly somewhere other than the Yankees or another AL east rival, we’ll always remember Manny, but what happens after this year determines how fondly we’ll remember him. Lester? Give him a few years and we could be calling him one of the best ever. Youk? Um, its Youk. That’s it. We don’t even need to say any more. He’s a beast. If Ellsbury continues to develop (and I think he will) he could become one of the greatest base runners ever. We just have to get him on base. Mike Lowell is one of the most remarkable and likable guys to play the game, of course we’ll be telling our kids about how, at the end of the 2007 world series, hundreds of fans stayed behind to throw their support at Mike Lowell and let management know what they wanted.
 
    Then we have Papi. I mean, he’s Papi. We love Papi. Of course we’ll be telling our kids about the slugger. Drew? Maybe. If he sticks around long enough and plays well. We’ll certainly remember his grand slam forever.
   
    The guys I think we may be mentioning up there with Cy Young, Ted Williams, and Yaz someday are Pedroia and Varitek. (Note, Papi will be here too, but we already covered him) Tek could probably be in a hitting slump the rest of this year, and we’ll still be talking HOF. (In my book, anyway) Anyone who is named the Captain of his team, and then is their captain for TWO world series (and hopefully more!) wins and is one of the main reasons they didn’t get discouraged when they were down games in the ALCS (both times) is a Captain to be respected and proud of. He had one of the worst batting averages in the league and the players STILL wanted to honor him as an All-Star. That tells you something right there. And as for Pedroia, he has all the makings of a phenomenal player. Low on the errors, gets on base, a lot, fast, smart at the plate, and plays with a lot of heart. I’m not saying he’s playing at a HOF level now, I just see a lot of potential (do not let him go, Theo). Who else would have broken up the first possible no-hitter at Fenway since 1953? My money was on him or Papi.

    So now we’ve lost two series at Fenway. Can this be our home losing slump for the season and then we can be done with it? Please? We haven’t had a real good hot streak all year. We’re starting the hottest month of the year, maybe we could develop a streak to match the weather? (watch, as I say this, God is going to make it the mildest August ever)

    We are now back to two games behind Tampa Bay, but another Yankee loss puts them further in our rear-view mirror. (Thank goodness). I almost expected this, because if you compare the teams we’re playing to the teams the Rays are playing…they’re playing Toronto, who are just barely above .500, we played the Angels, who currently have the best record in baseball. But, as I say that, I have to say this: look at their division. Their only competition is Oakland, who are 12 games back. The last place team in the whole AL East is only 11.5 games back. The AL East is the only division in baseball where four teams are above .500. So right now, I don’t mind losing to the Angels. As long as we win when it counts, like when we fell out of shouting distance of first place and won five out of six (helped by a Rays 7-game losing streak) to get back into right before the break, I’m happy. And here’s a good thought to end this not-so-happy blog on: the Yankees, who were surging, have now lost three straight, two to the worst team in the AL East. How nice would it be to have the 9-2 loss on Sunday be the catalyst for the Yankee’s undoing? (I was raised to hate them, for better or worse, richer or poorer, ’til death do I stop)

Next up,  Beckett. He only allowed one run to the Yanks last time, but since no one felt like swinging the bat against the platypus (Joba C.), we lost. Maybe Becks will only give up one run this time  and we can actually do a little work on offense. Who knows. Here’s hoping for some good mojo. We certainly need it.

Wheels, Deals and Happy Meals

/ 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.

1217244978_3318.jpgMan, 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…

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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!