Labels: baseball, family, Phillies, Red Sox

So far, this season for the Red Sox has been everything that we could have hoped for. Manny got his 500th only a little later than expected. Jon Lester is performing at or beyond most people's expectations. And J.D. Drew has risen to the occasion, taking up the slack for the wounded Papi. The Sox have the most wins in the Majors as of today, and the All Star Break is looming ever closer. With all the unusual things going on around the league, especially in the AL East (the Rays two games out of first and the Yankees doing rather poorly thus far) the Bronx Bombers have had a resurgence as of late and are now only 5 games out of first. Could we be in for a second half that resembles that of '07?

If you compare the standing as they exists today as compared to those of a year ago (both June 16) you notice some worrisome details. The Yankers, although they are in third now as opposed to second last year, they were nine games back a year ago today as opposed to five games we have on them now. The distance between the Red Sox and the third place team last June was greater than the current difference between the Sox and the last place team. Everything is tighter. Every game matters a bit more at this point.

As it does in many seasons, a lot will depend on what is done by the trading deadline. Rumors abound about possible moves. Will Ken Griffey go to the Rays? Will the Yankees try to get Sabathia? Will Kevin Millar get rid of his blond locks? (Just kidding!) Last years most noteworthy trade in the AL East was arguably Eric Gagne coming to the Sox. We all still have the bad taste in our mouth from that fiasco, the same bitter flavor the Brewers are currently trying to Listerine away. Theo undoubtedly has some thoughts as to what he'd like to do before that drop-dead date, but this year is seems like the biggest news could come from farther down the eastern seaboard.

Regardless of how the details play out, I'm betting that by September we Sox fans are waiting until the end of the month to clinch and that we have the Yankees directly behind us. All this is assuming that the Red Sox can play to the level they've been reaching thus far. The cushion this year is thinner all around the board.

Labels: baseball, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees

At the beginning of this series I was embroiled in an inner conflict. Red Sox? Phillies? How do I play this and not come out of it looking like wither a nut or a turd?

I'm not sure if I know the answer to that, even now. But these three days have not been lived without knowledge gained. The Philadelphia took the first game 8 - 2, then the Sox took game two, 3 - 2, and now today with the Red Sox up 7 - 4 in the bottom of the 7th, I'm seeing a pattern that seems to indicate something really positive for the Red Sox.

Here's the results of some recent games for Boston.

Ok. So the Red Sox swept the Rays (complete with a brawl). They then go to Seattle and drop the first game, winning the second two. Same in Baltimore. Same in Cincinnati. If the score holds out (now in the top of the ninth, same score), they will have done the same thing to the Phils. So, although they are dropping that frist game to teams that they haven't seen in awhile, Francona or Varitek or someone is evidently taking notes. They seem to be applying the info they gain in game one and applying it in games two and three.

This bodes well for the rest of their season, should they find themselves able to continue this process. That works out to just shy of .670 baseball. Not to mention it would make them the favorite in the post-season.

Labels: baseball, Phillies, Red Sox

Congrats to Big Papi! Now a citizen of the greatest country in the world.

Labels: baseball, Ortiz

Let's begin with the idea that no, Coco Crisp charging the mound was probably not the best thing to do. That having been said, the fracas that ensued was one for the archives, to be sure. Coco was ejected and rightly so. Shields was ejected and rightly so. That, if it were up to the Red Sox, would have been it. But the Sox weren't playing a team that is used to having games that matter. This was evidenced by the fact that Johnny Gomes was seen on top of Navarro (who was holding down Crisp), punching wildly and the pinned center fielder. Gome got tossed, too, and rightly so.

Where the "rightly so" ends is in the fact that Iwamura threw punches and did not get tossed. Carl Crawford can be clearly seen pounding on Crisp's head, and he did not get tossed. Suspensions don't necessarily follow ejections, so let's hope that they get some repercussions.

And for you Ray's fans, I challenge you to find one other Boston player besides Crisp that threw a punch. I've watched the play back at least a dozen times. What you see is a whole list of Ray's who felt they were entitled to throw punches. Let's remember that this all started with rookie Jason Bartlett dropping his knee to block second in the Wednesday night game. In all the years I've watched baseball, I have never seen a shortstop block second on a steal attempt. But all these things from Tampa...that knee drop, the beaning of Crisp, and the enventual pile-on, are no surprise. These guys are not used being where they are. Plus may their a little pissed-off as well because of all the empty seats at their home games!

There was also some baseball played. Manny hit a 3-run jack in the first and drove in two more later, for a 5 RBI night. And I can't help but wonder, didn't anyone think after losing the first two games of the series, dropping out of first by half a game, that the Ray's might forgo the attack on Crisp a little farther than the second inning? Thanks in part to the Ray's vengeance move removing their started in the second, the Red Sox trounced the visitors, 7 -1.

Jacoby then rolls his wrist on a typical Ellsbury stupendous catch. So far, the report is a strain, no breaks. Buy the MRI will be the real test. That left the outfield looking rather odd. Chris Carter in left (who went 2 for 3 at the plate), J.D. in center, and Youk, who was to have the night off, in left.

Youk was probably happy to get out of the dugout after Manny took a swing at him! What the heck was that all about? Good grief! Are there two guys less likely to be fighting in the dugout? Hopefully we'll get some insight on that disagreement in the days to come.

Manny, who spent most of his time in the dugout while acting as DH, was relieved of that job too when an inside pitch prompted him to move awkwardly out of the way and tweak an already tender hamstring. That brought Kevin Cash in as DH! Know, we all know Kevin Cash and his sun .200 career batting average in the minors, right. Only coming into last night's game, Cash was hitting .301! He only batted once, striking out, but in his defense, he was a bit distracted. He had to run out to the bullpen between his pinch running and then hitting in the DH spot to help warm up a reliever! Is there no one on the Red Sox coaching staff who could catch a pitcher for a warm-up?

In all, the game saw 5 hit batsmen. Pedrioa, Crisp, and Youklis for the Sox, Crawford (what a shame) and Iwamura (again, too bad) for the Rays.

The two team play again in Tampa for a four game set June 29 through July 2.

Can't wait.

Labels: baseball, fight, Rays, Red Sox

Remember when that nasty stomach flu ran through the Red Sox clubhouse awhile back. Well it ran through my house over the last two weeks, slapping every one of us on the way. I spent a lot of time holding a bucket for one sick child or another, wahcing my hands 20 times and hour in the hopes that I could escape getting it myself. I failed.

Labels: All-Star, baseball, Orioles, Phillies, Red Sox

I logged on to MLB.tv last night in the hopes that Manny would crank two homers and then I'd be the winner of some contest that I'd entered in March. That was not to be. Instead, I had the honor of watching my first no-hitter, compliments of Jon Lester!

Jon threw 130 pitches, by far the most he's ever done. He struck out 9, walked two, and commited an error on a high throw to first. In the end, superb velocity, wonderous control, and a little defense (especially Ellsbury's diving catch!) and history was made.
I'm not usually a superstitious sort of guy, but I bought into it all last night! First of all, I'm watching the NESN feed and logged on to TalkSox.com. Neither of which was using the tern "no-hitter" because that is a "no-brainer". So round about the end of the sixth inning, while reading all the comments about how Lester's stuff was filthy and various other raves, I check out Gameday to see what the actual numbers are. I even posted the pitches thrown and a couple of other things, but never mentioned the zero hits. It was total happenstance! After I posted, I was looking again and said, out loud, to the empty kitchen where I was located, "Wait a minute! KC has not hits!" Although I was in the most uncomfortable place to watch this game (kitchen chair, Gateway notebook on the counter) and even though I suddenly and urgently needed a bathroom break, I did not move for the next 45 minutes or so.

I'd missed out on viewing Clay Buchholz's No-No last September. After Lester was done last night, and I was going through "Remedial Baseball Scoring" lessons with my wife, we were trying to figure out where the heck we were last year that I missed Clay's feat. I still can't figure it out. But I know where I was for Lester's. I suppose I'll never forget.

I won't mention the other obvious story elements that make Jon Lester's historic night all that more special. That topic has been beaten to death on "Baseball Tonight", "Sports Center", "Mike & Mike" and every website I have seen thus far. All I can say is what I posted on TalkSox last night after the final strike: God bless Jon Lester and the Red Sox!"

Labels: baseball, Lester, no-hitter, Red Sox, Royals

Obviously, anyone who's a fan of the Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon would be a hypocrite if they said that fist pumping and mound theatrics bothered them. So it's the opposite position that I take in this whole swirl of commentary about Joba Chamberlain, the Yankee reliever who has been on the hot seat because of his mini celebrations during games. I really have no problem with it.

Goose Gossage, the ex-Yankee reliever and soon-to-be Hall of Famer, has an issue with it. Do you want to know why? Because he didn't do it. He believes that Chamberlain is below him. It's a "Back in my day..." sort of looking down on current guys position, if you ask me. If you're not as good as Goose, you should be doing everything like he did it in hopes of improving yourself. Forget that!

I will admit that, for an eighth inning reliever, his choices of instances to get wound up seem suspect at times. He's not getting a save or a win in most appearances. Perhaps the third strike in the 8th of a game that the Yankees are up by 3 seems less than wanting of a celebration. This is his job, though, and when he does it well, he's happy. What a freak, right? Let's not forget, too, that the Yankees need whatever good vibes they can muster these days, or the fact that Chamberlain was out recently to go home to be with his ill father, a man who by all accounts is a huge reason why Joba is where he is. When he's doing well, he's excited, both for himself and for his dad. How can you knock that?

If nothing else, these little seizures that he goes through should inspire opponents to play harder, which is never a bad thing. Instead, some opposing players get all trite and use words like "bush." David Dellucci used that very term to comment on Chamberlain's enthusiasm after striking him out recently. This strike out came the night after Dellucci went yard off of Chamberlain. If you can't get excited about that, there's something wrong with you. And if you can't understand why someone would get excited about that, you need to be in a different job. Yes, Mr. Dellucci, I'm talking to you! This is a kid's game that you play. The key term being "game". You're supposed to get excited because it is supposed to be fun. You make seven figures to do a job that people everywhere would be willing to do for minimum wage. You're supposed to be in a good mood!

I wish there were more guys showing emotion on the diamond. I don't have a problem with Manny raising his arms when he smacks a home run. What I do have an issue with is when he strikes out with men on and the Red Sox trailing and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "Oh, well." It bothers me, too, when a guy like J.D. Drew goes 0 for 4 and still carries that thousand-yard-stare that he wears all the time. Or when Eric Gagne blows yet another save with the same expression he always wears, none. What endears fans to players even more than raw talent is the appearance that they care about the games somewhere near the same amount that we do. David Ortiz went through a huge slump to start off this year. While he wasn't breaking bats or going on profanity laden tirades, you could tell by he mannerisms and reactions that he was as disappointed in the turn of events as we were. Ryan Howard has the same thing going on. He's doing lousy and you can tell he's mad about it. I assume that guys like Drew and Gagne are upset when they perform poorly, but I can't really be sure because they appear to not care.

I have made fun of Chamberlain on many occasions and will continue to do so as long as he is a Yankee and as long as he has that funny jowl vibration when shaking off a sign from his catcher. But to chastise him for exuberance would be both hypocritical and contrary to what I really want to see in a baseball game.

Labels: baseball, Jobe, Red Sox, Yankers

There are many things that could be the subject of a post today. There is the painful Red Sox loss last night to the Tigers that on the surface is attributed to Papelbon's first blown save of the season, but is really due to the Lugo error. I came very close to kicking the TV when that happened, and that's about all I can say on that, so...

The real story is one that I missed. How I missed it still baffles me. If you add up the time that I spend reading sports stuff online, listening to it on XM, and watching it on TV, the idea that I missed a story about a Yanker fan killing a Red Sox fan is just unfathomable. Yet, it happened and I missed it. On Sunday night, a Red Sox fan by the name of Matthew Beaudoin (29) was killed by Ivonne Hernandez (43) in Nashua, NH. The whole story can be found in many places, including here, but the gist of it is that he yelled "Yankees Suck!" and she ran her car into the group he was with and killed then man.

This is one of the the most ludicrous things that I have ever hear. There is one in the back of my mind about a football fan who was put in the hospital after a beating for wearing the opposing team's jersey (Was that in Philly? I can't seem to find anything on it.) This, however, is way off the chart of insanity.

We all take our sports seriously. We all get charged up when the Red Sox and Yankers play, and it never matters who's doing well and who's not, the rivalry is what it is. But when you get right down to it, none of it matters.

Let this be a lesson to all fanatics out there. Was there anything really wrong with yelling "Yankees Suck"? Not really. But won't we all think about doing stuff like that a little longer the next tiem the opportunity arises? I know I will.

Labels: baseball, Red Sox, Yankers

Yeah, yeah! I know. I'm a slacker. No excuses. But I've been paying attention to both the Phils and the Sox over the last few days, and what a few days they've been, huh?

As for the Phillies, they played a 4 game series with San Francisco. Each game was decided by the winning team's last at bat. This included 3 walk-offs by the Phillies. Chase Utley continues to have a good portion of the time on talk radio with early predictions of NL MVP. Ryan Howard, on the other hand, continues to suck. As of today, he's got a .168 batting average, and 47 K's in 119 ABs.

Over in Detroit, the Red Sox have taken the the first two in a four game series against the offensively anemic Tigers. This is following a three game sweep of the Rays at Fenway. The Orioles have slowed down a bit, getting closer to what they really are. And the Yankers appear to be dealing with a start similar to last year's, without the talk of firing Torre, of course.

Papi and Manny went back-to-back last night, which puts Manny at 497! I think I have 5/19 in the pool.

Labels: Giants, Orioles, Phillies, Rays, Red Sox, standings, Tigers, Yankers