The Rolling 2005 BOSTON RED SOX THREAD

So, of course, as I type this, Womack somehow ends up on 2nd base after hitting a single, & Jeter's at 3-1. Wheeee.

The guy they should probably have @ the #2 slot is the guy that thrived in that spot last year - Mark F&*#(ing Bellhorn. I don't mind Nixon up there, tho - he'll see some strikes w/ Manny behind him, and he can handle a fastball (& I still say he could hold his own against most lefties, tho I don't mind him riding the pine against folks like RJ). Renteria should be a bottom-order guy, w/ Varitek hitting 6th.

&, Yanc3, in Red Sox Nation, it's never too early for anything. I imagine the Woe Is Me Brigade saddled up after Sunday night's debacle. (NOTE: the Red Sox have lost FIVE consecutive Opening Days.)

[xpost]

That's BLAINE. Blaine F#&@in' Neal.

John Halama + Jorge Posada = Yankee bingo. (This is a prediction, not a fact.)

ESPN's page is showing a recap of the Yankee's 3-run rally. What're you guys hinting at, huh?

xpost

These ex-Met ballpeeners are very generous.

Bullpen looks a lot better today. Thanks to Tony Womack again for working Keith Foulke for ONE PITCH. I think the guy likes playing defense / spitting seeds.

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/players/04/04/on_location0411/t1_location.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/players/04/04/on_location0411/t1_location.jpg

Yay for more dumbshit woo-hoo fistpumping.

i wd be interested in foulke's stats in the 9th when he's already been in for an inning vs his stats in the 9th when he hasn't (also i'd be morbidly interested in his stats after two more years of getting used two innings of almost every game) .. we have guys who can pitch the eighth, i think we ought to use them .. i can understand wanting get get foulke warmed up at the start of the season, get him some action but bringing him in when yr DOWN by one? it smacks of desperation, or point-proving, or some comb of the two, a bit like bringing pedro into a late-game situation to give up lots of hits in the playoffs last year

Which leads me to agree w/Tracer, it *would* be interesting to see his stats split out for appearances of more than one inning.

i can understand wanting get get foulke warmed up at the start of the season, get him some action but bringing him in when yr DOWN by one? it smacks of desperation, or point-proving, or some comb of the two, a bit like bringing pedro into a late-game situation to give up lots of hits in the playoffs last year

It smacks of desperation to bring in your best bullpen pitcher to keep a one-run deficit from becoming a worse defecit? Funk that - I wish MORE teams shucked off that LaRussa-perfected micro-managed bullpen horsesense (LOOGY / ROOGY / LOOGY / LOOGY / ROOGY / setup guy in 8th / closer in 9th / backdoor slider / blown saveski), & went to such "desperate measures" to keep games close! Forcefeed me a Krispy Kreme donut for every time a game was put out of reach because the bullpen waterboy found themselves in a save-sized deficit game pitching fungos to a like-sided fellow w/ guys on base, and I'll be dead in 30 minutes.

HOWEVER, Foulke was pitching to the ass end of the lineup when he entered the 8th - I guess, ideally, it would've been better to have someone else start the frame, get in trouble, and then bring in Foulke to keep him fresher for the 9th. But, then, (and apologies to Joe Sheehan), if you're going to bring in Foulke in the 8th if your guy gets in trouble, why not bring him in to start the 8th to avoid any trouble?

&, Tracer, since I'm feeling nitpicky, that Pedro appearance in ALCS Game 7 WAS a bit of a desperation move, given how, at that point in the series, the entire pitching staff had thrown approximately 5 billion pitches over the course of 72 hours and 40+ innings.

FWIW, I think Foulke threw as many pitches in his 1+ innings as Mariano threw in his 1. But, yeah, splits would be nice (by inning AND by pitch).

David OTM. Tracer, I imagine you're not old enough to have seen it, but Before Bruce Sutter this is how the ace reliever was used ALL THE TIME.

"Foulke is unusual in that he's used more aggressively than most closers. Of course, relievers did this for years prior to the adoption of hyper-match-up playing. What we don't know is if Foulke and other multi-inning relievers are prepping themselves the same way. Baseball doesn't change much, so the guess is yes. Someone ask Johnny Pesky."

And Casey Stengel would bring in his best reliever in the third sometimes. Did I just blow your mind?

(no, I don't remember that)

Tracer Hand = John Kruk

You're remembering wrong. I don't have the stats in front of me now, but in Rivera's postseason career, an overwhelming %age of his saves were 1+ IP jobs.

Nor does the real possibility that once a team starts to hit a pitcher, they gain confidence and a mental poise they might not have had previously. I think it's pretty clear that there's a huge psychological/mental element to hitting.

I would be interested to see Boston's hitting performance v Rivera analyzed against the rest of the AL.

I do, however, think that "clutch mythology" is likely to have some basis in reality, due to varying psychological makeups -- just not close to the extent the mythologizers would have you believe.

(get well soon TF!)

1) Mark Bellhorn is on pace for 405 Ks - that'd be a record!
2) The Red Sox haven't been 2 games under .500 since 199something - that's fancy!

I love that first-week projected stat bullshit - it's sportswriters & broadcasters saying, "HI DERE I CAN MATH!"

seriously, dude, you need to chill on Renteria. or just to chill. (haha: a) look who's talking; b) rap0sa rulez)

Awww, Nym, hugglez & all that hetero lifemate stuff. For the record, my RENTERIAAAAAAing (& all Sox-related CAPS LOCK FURY now & in the future) was an approximation of the off-the-chain nuttery probably shaking the very foundation of the Nation, & not in any way an actual criticism of Edgar, whom I believe / hope will do just fine in Boston (though not as well as those folks thinking his 2003 was a run-of-the-mill ER year).

Also, since Chris Baby Bingo hasn't posted to this thread yet, someone's gotta hold down the shit/piss rage fort of luv.

Also, it's either me going BALHALKSL on this thread or me going BLAJKLSJALKJ in the ASP code I'm tweaking, & I don't think users want to see lines like "TAKE ONE PITCH MANNY" popping up in their browser while they're doing their work.

Speaking of BLAKJSKLJLA - 40 minutes till GAME 3 of this storied REMATCH of the RIVALRY cum GRUDGE MATCH cum PISSING CONTEST between THE TEAM THAT WON and THE TEAM THAT CAN'T COME TO GRIPS W/ THE WIN, coming to you from THE HOUSE THAT CAN'T LET FANS DO A DAMN THING ON THEIR OWN W/OUT BEING PRODDED BY TASERS & HOT POKERS.

i don't even know why i'm posting so much to this thread since i am, really, neutral on the sox, and any love for them comes from: a) regularly schtupping a longtime sox fan (if yr a.c., david, i'm magic -- oy!) and b) hating the pinstripes like they were a 26-time case of the runs. that and i'm too scared to start orioles or a's threads (my legacy teams).

I hadn't even heard about Pedroia, but I thought Hanley Ramirez was the go-to-guy. & yeah, ER was the best SS out there, & I was happy he came to the Sox, but $40M for 4 years when you have at least 1 guy in the wings seems a bit wacky - if they could've swung the Roberts / Payton trade before that signing (assuming they didn't - I can't recall which came first), I think the Sox could've gotten away w/ Ramirez starting & Vazquez on the bench to backup / platoon / take over if HR falters. Regardless, I'll give Edgar a month or so before I start sharpening the corn cob holders. (But PLEASE keep ER out of the top 6 batting slots. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.)

UNGH

i'm down w/ an o's thread. i though i was the only one! so this is what it sounds like when doves cry...

i'm very rah-rah that the nats exist, but just don't have that institutional memory yet.

VICTORY!

Among many, Joe Torre, I believe.

I can't wait til that Toronto dynasty starts and Yank & Sox fans are quiet and humble for a decade.

WHA HAPPEN?

The three most painful words to group together in the Anglish langauge: TONY WOMACK WALKS.

HI DERE I CAN MATH TOOO

Who's up in the bottom? Will Foulke get Mo another cheap win?

F-raud w/ the WP! Oh, to hear the Yank throng spewing their boos.

and i think three games into a 162 game season is a bit early to be bitching about renteria's performance. a lot of guys take a month to tune up, it happens.

BTW, I'll only be going post gonzo during the day games - after 6 PM, I'll be watching the games on the telly & throwing hissy fits away from the keyboard. But, yeah, I'm WILD!

I think it's safe to say that I'm goofing all the time, except when I'm not. Don't go looking for any winkies. CAPS LOCK might be a good hint, tho, except when it's not. Or maybe I'll just type GOOFING every time I'm being cheeky.

Here's a quick & easy reference guide to discern the many moods of my posts:

GOOFING: "Speaking of BLAKJSKLJLA - 40 minutes till GAME 3 of this storied REMATCH of the RIVALRY cum GRUDGE MATCH cum PISSING CONTEST between THE TEAM THAT WON and THE TEAM THAT CAN'T COME TO GRIPS W/ THE WIN, coming to you from THE HOUSE THAT CAN'T LET FANS DO A DAMN THING ON THEIR OWN W/OUT BEING PRODDED BY TASERS & HOT POKERS."

SERIOUS: "UNGH"

UPSET: "UNGH"

CHAGRINED: "UNGH"

DISTRAUGHT: "UNGH"

HORNY: "WAHEY"

WHIRLS IS NOW DE-ENTERING: BE GENTLENESS, TIT GIVER

BTW, Tino has 13 hits in 40 Wakefield ABs, w/ a 1100+ OPS. Hot cha cha cha.

BTW, I did get an explanation of that dopey 7th inning play where Damon was called out at 2nd on a walk. What ACTUALLY happened (as I saw in the game, replayed later that day) was that Damon ran on the pitch (which was ball 4), & would've been safe had he just waltzed into 2nd (or boxstepped) (or achy-brakey heart'd).

I don't know the official wording of the rule re: runners advancing on a walk, but I imagine it's something to the effect of: "Runners on base when a walk is thrown are allowed to advance one base freely, without contest, if the trailing runner would, upon advancing one base, occupy the base where the runner is currently stationed."

Instead of just trotting into 2nd, though, he ran full-bore - he was stealing the base, after all. Damon slid, touched the bag, and then slid past the bag & came off - in effect, rounding the bag - thereby becoming fair game to a tag play. And Jetes, being the saavy bastard that he is (or just doing what you should do) kept on tagging Damon as he came off the base. So, yeah, Damon was called out on a walk. Fancy.

Really, on a walk, it's within the rules to TRY and advance more than the one base the rule awards you; it's just not done that often, for obvious reasons. I think I've seen speedy runners try that on passed ball walks, tho (& I think I saw one runner actually GET to 2nd on a passed ball walk - I want to say it was Carl Crawford).

This reminds me of a scenario we talked about lastyear on ILB when some team had the shift on Barry with a man on 1st. the team ended up unintentionally walking him and the crafty baserunner from first kept going to 3rd to beat out the shifted 3B to the bag.

BTW - I! LOVE! EDGAH!

I sat up in the bleachers, and there was one big guy with Yankees gear constantly getting pelted with peanuts and beer all night. Somebody else threw up all over the person a few rows in front of me. Outside on Brookline Ave, T-shirt sellers proudly announced their slogans - "I boned Gary Sheffield's wife!" they cried, as mothers with ten-year-old kids looked on, horrified.

There's nothing like Yankees/Red Sox games.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-sbhey154218977apr15,0,4203736,print.column

).

2xpost

[xpostage due!]

I imagine it was either misplayed off the Green Monster (both OFs went to the wall, instead of one going to the wall & one backing up the play), it got stuck somewhere, it clunked off a glove and rolled far far away, or there was a collision (which I really hope wasn't the case).

5.0 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks (!!!), 5 R, 3 ER, 117 pitches (84 for strikes, of course)

2.0 IP, 7 H (1 2B, 1 HR), 2 BB, 3 Ks, 7 R, 7 ER, 69 pitches (40 for strikes)

Yeah, pitching to 15 batters in only 2 innings isn't gonna get it done.

"I thought it hit the red line," he said. "I haven't seen the replay. Some guys have said it cleared. If that's the case, they made the right call."

from http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=250418102

Is Wakefield gonna remain in the rotation?

that palmeiro call was questionable at best, but then again, it looked like millar tagged tejada TWICE before he got to first in the 8th. would've been more of an issue the d'oh-rioles actually scored, i guess.

After looking @ the numbers, I take back my alarmist talk up there. This speedbump KF's experiencing is the type of small-sample performance that "made" Jerry Manuel pull Foulke out of the closing role in Chicago, which lead to the Oakland trade, which lead to Manuel getting shown up as a moran.

Foulke's "only" had two poor performances out of eight this year - last night (1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 HR), and April 8th against the BJs (1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 R). There's also the HR to Jeter after pitching one inning (April 5th), there's the 2 inning performance against los Yanquis (April 14th) where he walked 3 (0 R), and there's the run he allowed against the Jays on 2 hits on April 19th, but those two appearance I mentioned at the start of this paragraph are where he actually looked like crap.

And (LISTEN UP RED SOX SPAZZES) those two performances feature 7 of the 13 hits, and 6 of the 8 runs, Foulke has allowed this year. If there is ANY talk of pulling Foulke from the closing role for any reason besides him being hurt, I will take Bob Ryan & Dan Shaugnessy into the Bronx wearing JETER SUCKS A-ROD t-shirts, and leave them tied to the Yankee Stadium turnstiles. (I might do that anyway, tho.)

I just checked out last year's stats for Foulke - holy crap he was good! Only 15 walks ALL YEAR! The only comparable crap stretch for him came in late September against (of course) the Orioles:

Sept. 20th: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 HR
Sept. 21st: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 HR
Sept. 22nd: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 HR

Miller looked real good (esp. early on) (which is expected, I guess) (stupid WIKI GONZALEZ!!!) (nice work by Da RemDog talking about Miller's revamped pitching motion), Cla not so good, though it was nice to see him get some work in a situation more befitting his unheralded rookie status (that is, in the 8th inning of a 13-3 laffer). Pitchers really need to stop knobbing Manny, esp. since Jay Payton seeing regular time is giving me flashbacks to his whifftastic Met ways.

Millah is probably hitting well enough now that folks (myself included) can stop calling for his head, which is nice, given Manny's ability to attract fastballs to his head. (Also, I didn't realize Olerud was signed to a minor league contract - no doubt he'll be slogging around Pawtucket for a while, getting into whatever shape he should be in.) Bullpen still gives me the willies, though the Top Three (Timlin, Embree, & Foulke) have looked much better lately. (NOTE: I'd need the Angels bullpen in order to feel totally safe.) Orioles, Schmorioles (and YES I am saying that after Cabrera's PWNAGE against the mighty KANSAS CITY ROYALES WITH CHEESE).

Poetic Justice Alert: Idiot Millar makes two errors that lead to the 2 Oaktown runs, then hits the game winning 2-run HR in the 9th.

Also - BRANDON STILL HOTTTT.

Also, hi, 4 of the last 5, why you bitchin?

And while I'm prone to bitchery as much as the next guy (see, um, most of my ILBB posts), the fact that Los Sox are 7 games over .500 w/ their ace A) on the DL for the 2nd time and B) pitching like crap when off the DL, and their closer trying to rediscover his mojo on the fly - I'll take that. Only 1.5 games behind the ridonkulous O's!

- J. Damon doubled to left center
- E. Renteria flied out to center, J. Damon to third
- M. Ramirez homered to deep left, J. Damon scored
- D. Ortiz grounded out to second
- K. Millar hit by pitch

- K. Foulke relieved M. Myers
- E. Durazo struck out swinging
- B. Kielty walked
- S. Hatteberg grounded into fielder's choice, B. Kielty out at second
- M. Scutaro doubled to deep center, S. Hatteberg to third
- K. Ginter singled to center, S. Hatteberg and M. Scutaro scored
- J. Clark ran for K. Ginter
- E. Byrnes homered to deep left, J. Clark scored
- M. Kotsay walked
- J. Kendall flied out to right center

And, y'know, bullpen screwed the pooch, sure, but they're going for the series tomorrow. If they can win 2 games in a series, it's all good.

Maybe Cla can pla?

ok, don't! fine w/ me!

i'm not sure there are a whole lot of options there, but it seems pretty obvious something has to tbe done. the sox bp is 1 man deep right now, and that dude's like 50.

guardado?

...talk about ancient closers!

I'd like to see them go after Danys Baez, but I think the price is probably going to be pretty steep - if the Dodgers decide to sell I'd love to know what it'd take to get Brazoban. I've also got a sneaking suspicion that the Brewers might wave Derrick Turnbow in front of a few teams, cf. Kolb last offseason, but I feel like Mesa, Wagner, Guardado, or Batista are probably more likely.

I wonder if they might try to go after an all-purpose lefty as well, since Embree's nice and cooked - Scott Eyre, maybe? (I'd rather see them fill this role with either DiNardo, Malaska, or Alvarez, personally.)

baez seems like a likely option, and one i as a yankee fan would be able to swallow pretty easily.

I guess the problem with any of these trade scenarios, like Dave pointed out, is that you're either overpaying for a brand name or getting someone totally past their prime (Jose Mesa, at this point, must be to closers what Peavey is to guitar amplifiers). I'd like to see them be more creative with their trade chits; I think Baez could certainly contribute for cheap, and even getting someone like Mike Adams, currently languishing in AAA, could help them significantly. Bear in mind, too, that once Schilling comes back, either Arroyo or Wakefield gets sent to the pen, which will at least give them one more arm that isn't flopping around in its socket.

And not for nothing, keep an eye on Anibal Sanchez and Jon Papelbon, both recently promoted to AA and AAA, respectively - the latter threw six no-hit innings the other day in his final Sea Dogs appearance.

there's a substantial difference between a superelieface like wagner and a quality reliever like baez. i have no clue what the cost would be for either; sure wagner wd be steep but i doubt baez could be had for a song (am i using this expression backwards? i don't really know what it means but i like it).

papelborn isn't going to be a great starter but he could be sure help a lot out of the pen. sanchez sounds downright nasty.

BOSTON - The Red Sox are sending Curt Schilling to the bullpen temporarily as the right-hander tries to recover from an ankle injury, manager Terry Francona said Wednesday.

Francona said in a radio interview that Schilling will pitch in relief while he tries to get back to full strength.

"For an inning or two, he might be one of the best in the game," Francona said on WEEI-AM. "For now, I think this is the way to get him back and impact our ballclub."

Schilling will pitch in relief for Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday and probably throw at least one more time in the minors after that, Francona said.

That would put him on pace to join the Red Sox bullpen after the All-Star break, which begins on Sunday.

Iiiiinteresting.

i really hate that guy, by the way.

Not that Dave Roberts was going to be much happier than Payton as the fourth OF or anything, but still. Interesting to see what Payton gets as trade bait now; I bet he'd look a hell of a lot better in the Giants outfield than Alex Sanchez, and I bet Scott Eyre would look fantastic in Embree's role.

Outfielder Gabe Kapler, on a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, is going to be in Buffalo for the club's series there that ends Friday, and then likely join the Red Sox.

``He really seems excited, which is good,'' Francona said. ``He must have had a hell of a time in Japan.''

Francona reported that during his time in Ft. Myers, Kapler caught a glimpse of former Sox right-handed reliever Rich Garces, who has re-signed with the ballclub and is currently working out for them.

``I've heard he's big,'' Francona said of El Guapo, ``and I heard he's throwing the ball great.''

Holy crap! El Guapo lives!

BOSTON PITCHER MATT CLEMENT WAS TAKEN OFF THE FIELD ON A STRETCHER AFTER HE WAS HIT IN THE HEAD BY A LINE DRIVE OFF THE BAT OF TAMPA BAY'S CARL CRAWFORD.

is he all right?

It was some scary stuff -- the ball hit him in the back of the head and caromed all the way to left field.

Concussion for sure, will miss starts for probably sure. Nerves about putting himself back out there as a target, not so sure?

Translation: meh.

translation: YES!!!!!

Not to mention that I've been dying all season to make "Petagine's old lady" jokes. (His wife is something like 55 years old.)

xpost - My fear with Petagine is losing him (I'm pretty sure he has an out clause if he isn't called up by a certain date) and finding out that he isn't AAAA. I don't think we're talking about another Earl Snyder here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-redsox-ramirez&prov=ap&type=lgns

Not that it matters, thanks to that 8-run 4th inning.

Worse comes to worse, Petagine's a big lefty bat off the bench; I'd love to say fuck a Millar and start them both at this point, but that's never going to happen.

Meanwhile, Youkilis goes down and Petagine stays up, as Olerud returns to give the Red Sox three limpin' first basemen (four, if you count Ortiz!). Can't argue, I guess.

http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/caron/08_17_05/

Interesting note from Tom Caron, too:

Reports on Hansen have been overwhelmingly positive. One member of the Red Sox front office said there are no plans to promote him to Triple-A, and that he could be thrown into the fire of an AL East division race after this weekend. Hansen will pitch twice over the weekend in Portland, and will be re-evaluated at that time. Don't be surprised if he winds up with the big club in Kansas City, barring any setbacks over the weekend.

It wasn't that long ago, while Hansen was still unsigned, that fans spoke of him closing games this summer. That projection might not have been so far-fetched after all. Hansen's fastball has been in the upper 90s, and stays down in the strike zone. For a bullpen that's been fighting to keep the ball in the yard, Hansen could be the perfect addition.

rupe

"That was interesting. Watching him run to first base, it looked like he stole something. Those arms were swinging."
--Red Sox manager Terry Francona, on Ortiz' bunt

"He said, 'Way to set the table for the big boy.'"
--David Ortiz, on what Manny Ramirez said to him after homering immediately following the bunt

!

In an interview with Boston radio station WEEI on Wednesday, Schilling recalled that he and Palmeiro sat together in March when both testified before Congress. Palmeiro denied taking steroids at the time, but was given a 10-day suspension Aug. 1 after failing a drug test.

``He obviously sat next to me in Washington and lied,'' Schilling said. ``I don't know that there's any way to prove that anything he did was not under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.''

Palmeiro had 3,020 hits and 569 homers going into Baltimore's game against the Angels on Wednesday.

Schilling's remarks echo those made by Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson, who hit 568 homers in his Hall of Fame career.

Schilling, who is scheduled to return to the Red Sox rotation Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals after filling in as the closer, said earlier drug scandals took away his idealism about baseball.

``I just kind of got to the point where I finally realized that liars and cheaters and criminals exist in all professions,'' he said. ``Baseball doesn't absolve us from being human beings.''

Schilling also said he would have nothing to say to Palmeiro when Boston and Baltimore meet Sept. 2-4 for a series at Fenway.

``I've never played with him,'' he said. ``I'm not his teammate. My hope is that Raffy does whatever he can possibly do in his position to help further the message that Major League Baseball needs to send to kids, to people.

``Whether he's going to be able to do that, given what he's done, to me, doubtful,'' Schilling said. ``He has no credibility, I don't think, in that area. It's going to be tough. I just hope his life gets righted and he does the right thing.''

There was a Sea Dogs game on some random Comcast cable-access channel the other night in which Hansen pitched. I know it's AA and all, but he's got the goods.

Supposedly he's been working on a changeup, but hasn't built it up much past the low 80s; nonetheless, I see where the Lidge/Wagner comparisons were coming from before the draft. He's going to be really good; he needs to locate the slider a little better, but the velocity's there.

And his callup couldn't come at a better time, what with Timlin struggling and Foulke an unknown quantity. I have no idea why the Red Sox are still employing Mike Remlinger, as last night's debacle ably illustrated.

For me, it's about his fastball, and frankly, I'm not sure it's back. I didn't see the game tonight, so I don't know if it's popping like it used to. Francona claims that Schilling told him his fastball started "clicking" in the fourth inning. Setting aside the possibility that Schilling may have just been hearing his ankle, I find this hard to believe. Stirring the tea leaves, we find this quote from El Capitain - "You have to stay within and execute what you can do. I think that's the most important thing, doing what you can do. He found something in his side sessions that allowed him what he wants to do. I think he felt very good about it. At least he should." That doesn't sound like "the flame is back, baby!" It sounds like Schilling is trying to figure out very quickly how to be a Maddux.

(I wouldn't count on Schilling though.)

"Outslug 'em" was the Red Sox mantra since at least the Jim Rice days, and probably before. It never worked.

AND NO I AM NOT UPSET AT THIS TURN OF FUCKING EVENTS.

I am going to the BOS/NYY game next Friday. It'll be a miracle if I have any fingernails left after that one.

I'm so down w/Graffanino -- especially after last night's cool-ass clutch double in the ninth -- I feel like the trade for TG has been way underrecognized as a huge move for these guys (considering how badly they need killer hitting to make up for what they're trying to pass off as "pitching").

Gordon Edes turns on the waterworks:

BALTIMORE -- The sweep of the Orioles accomplished, the road portion of the schedule completed, they're coming home.

Home, where the air is redolent of Fenway Franks, Legal's chowder, and Sam Adams beer.

Home, where Molly Walsh answers the phone, and Joe Silva and Mike Chester park the players' cars, and Joe Flanagan, the retired cop, stands guard at the clubhouse door, and the widowed but still-smiling Johnny Pesky, who turns 86 tomorrow, sits just inside.

Home, where Dave Mellor manicures the lushest lawn you'll ever see, and Andrew Crosby places the bats in the bat rack, and Luke Ansty prepares the players' postgame spread, and Bob Levin checks the reporters' passes.

Home, where David Ortiz pops some reggaetron into his car stereo (''Daddy Yankee," we kid you not, is a reggaetron star) for the ride to the ballpark, and Doug Mirabelli, without fail, stops at Starbucks for a grande nonfat latte.

Reggaetron!

I think his addition to the team is definitely analogous to Cabrera's last year, in terms of adding infield defense and a major upgrade over Bellhorn/Vazquez/Cora/whoever offensively. If they're smart they'll resign him and give Pedroia another year in the minors.

The Red Sox are like the guy that's a decent enough player when he gets cards, but can't do a damn thing when the cards are against him, and picks the exact wrong time to make a move because he's frustrated.

The Yankees, OTOH, are the free-wheeling asshats sitting to the left of the Red Sox, just raising and chasing flushes and straights, and somehow, after being whittled down to nothing, gets on a run where folks give him chips thinking he's bluffing when he's not, and now has a big fuck-you stack and can bully with impugnity.

The Orioles are those fuckers that have no fucking idea what they're doing - they gave the Yankees 95% of their chips in the span of 6 hands.

PS - I've lost $200+ in the past 3 days = GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

After this cycle repeats a few times, they're down to the final three and are short-stacked (but not by much). Finally, they stupidly go all in with Q-10 suited, land nothing, and are eliminated by two pair.

"Hey how do you play this game anyway?"

"Damn, nice flush. I only have three 9s and this stupid pair of 2s. Wait - why do I get the chips?"

ts: mike stanton vs alan embree

Sox hitters still absolutely crush bad pitching. The problem is, everyone else crushes Sox pitching, so it all kind of evens out. We are flawed, flawed flawed.

I think the NL wins the Series this year.

Basically incapable of functioning here while thinking of this weekend; I'm not one to lightly throw around Clemens comparisons, but is Papelbon afraid of anything?

PS - I am no fan; I only watched a little bit of the game, after they went down 4-1, and then went to read comic books & play poker.

< / dork >