2007 ALDS: Red Sox vs Angels

Angels in a walk

so it'll be:
Beckett vs Lacky
Schilling vs Escobar
Matsuzaka vs Weaver?

i dunno, this could go either way

Red Sox in five.

Red Sox in five. Their offense is just a touch better, I think.

BOS-5

Series MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury

Should the Angels win, Chone will be MVP.

Red Sox in 4, MVP Josh Beckett

sox in 5, i guess.

Wed-Fri-Sun

MLB: TV's Bitch.

*
*
*
*

Angels, pleeeeeeeeeeease

Definitely supporting the Angels.

(No offense, DR [not Dr].)

Red Sox in 5, unfortunately.

lackey shellackeyed at fenway

SOX SWEEP BOOOOYAAAAAAA

bosox, 4. unfortunately is right.
or tease me = mvp

I like Big Papi, but I hope the Angels crush the Red Sox.

red sox sweep

BOS in 4.

Sox in 4.

I like the Angels' starters going into this one. Matsuzaka is a total wild card at this point. Angels in 5.

wow, Boston has 103 3rd-order wins.

Lackey has struggled when facing Manny Ramirez, who is 10-for-23 (.435) with four homers against him, and David Ortiz, who is 10-for-26 (.385) with two homers.

this sounds good!

red sox = one of the best home records
anheimlic angelic angels of orange county's anaheim not too far from los angeles = .500 road team

Something's gotta give!

no Matthews for the series. Vlad will DH the opener, Scioscia sez he'll be in RF later on.

Eww, G. Anderson is all swole up with pink-eye.

Angels' pinetar-helmet goo developed by Cronenberg.

eye lol

Way to run out your in-the-dirt-K with a runner on third, Pinky.

yah srsly

Pedrique

boooooyaaaaaa

Lackey pitching in Fenway.

Lackey's stats against Boston are really terrible. I had no idea.

It's funny too cuz on paper he seems like the kind of guy who would do well against. It's not like he's a junkballer who doesn't whif anyone.

One hour into the ALDS and my prediction is already looking stupid.

Hay the TBS PbP guys aren't too bad!

wow @ beckett.

godlike stuff from beerface #1

but wtf is beerface #2's deal @ fenway??

Hay the TBS PbP guys aren't too bad!

"I'll take 'Jewish Sports Legends'" for 200, Alex.

Dig the randomized quote marks.

Stone made the Cubs broadcasts tolerable during the '80s and most of the '90s.

Uh, Beckett's blister problems were due to Florida humidity? He did a 15-day DL stint THIS YEAR with a blister.

Huh.

One of them made a big deal of Figgins' high average despite a late skid when it's really more remarkable that he spent the entire month of May below .200 (much of it below .150).

Beckett was filthy tonight.

wow. it'd be cool if he sends the Yanks home again down the road :D

yeah he was on fire

from "Kapler's corner", the blog of roid-head bodybuilder sex-toy-to-the-Japanese Gabe Kapler: "When Kevin Youkilis made contact with that John Lackey fastball in the first inning, I bet he immediately felt an intense euphoria.The feeling is kind of like throwing up after feeling nauseous for a while. Its relief. Intense relief!"

i love gabe kapler.

Since LAA was hardly ever in the game, I'm glad I went to see the Mekons for about the 25th time.

re announcers, wdn't the absence of BuckCarver endear them automatically?

YES

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/04/sports/04redsox.1.190.jpg

Josh Beckett Postseason Stats:

Games Started: 7
Record: 3-2
Complete Games/Shutouts: 3/3
Innings Pitched: 51 2/3
ERA: 1.74
WHIP: 0.72
K/9: 9.58
K/BB: 4.58 (55/12)
OPSA: .457

I still boil at seeing he's tied with Mathewson and Whitey Ford with 3 "postseason" shutouts. APPLES & ORANGES, DINGBATS

I think his 3 shutouts are more impressive frankly.

ooooooooh? Beckett didn't have to face Ossee Schreckengost!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHA/PHA190510120.shtml

and Whitey Ford's were 3 STRAIGHT in the '60/61 WS ... Those Reds could hit a little.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196110040.shtml

Brady (Baltimore): TBS is awful. The field reporter during the Sox game brought to mind the magazine salesman from "Office Space."

Keith Law: (1:13 PM ET ) I particularly liked his explanation that Beckett's blister problem went away because of the lack of humidity in Boston (seriously, has that guy EVER been in Boston in July or August? Or tonight, for that matter) and because "he wants to win." Oh, is that all.

I still boil at seeing he's tied with Mathewson and Whitey Ford with 3 "postseason" shutouts. APPLES & ORANGES, DINGBATS

Career postseason starts:

Ford: 22
Mathewson: 11
Beckett: 6

Ford and Mathewson did not make ANY "POSTSEASON" STARTS cuz THERE WAS NO "POSTSEASON"!

btw Mordecai Brown also had 3 WORLD SERIES shutouts (in 7 starts).

AND ONLY THREE FINGERS!

I get your point. All I'm saying is that it's very cool - especially in this era of pitcher usage - that one dude is responsible for 3/5 of all the playoff shutouts thrown during the six years of his career:

Jason Schmidt, September 30, 2003, SFG vs. FLA
Josh Beckett, October 12, 2003, FLA vs. CHC
Josh Beckett, October 25, 2003, FLA vs. NYY
Jose Lima, October 9, 2004, LAD vs. STL (!)
Josh Beckett, October 3, 2007, BOS vs. ANA

I mean, Beckett's fine and all, but he's no Pud Galvin! They'd eat him alive in the Federal League.

xpost- By that logic, Antonio Alfonseca...

Jose Lima has tainted that group beyond salvaging.

Yeah, but it pretty cool to see -- Dodgers down 2-0 in the series, and Jose Lima (?) makes it look like they've still got a shot, even if it was just for one day. Twenty years from now, none of us will remember anything about Jose Lima other than that game (and his wife).

it *was* pretty cool to see ...

and to this day, mordecai "three fingers" brown is one of my favorite names. antonio "count rugan" alfonseca doesn't quite have the same ring.

dumb offtopic question, but maybe someone here will know: when will tickets for the 2008 season go on sale? i found a suggestion of "sometime in december" on one forum, but no other info...

From memory ... they sell soxpacks (4 or 5 games) for a limited time before christmas to cash in on the gift giving season. Single game tickets are usually an early Saturday in February. You have to stand in line at Fenway and get a wristband until all the 'slots' are filled (usually early that morning), then you get access to the ticket counter based on the # of your wristband. After that they open up the web, by Monday pretty much everything they make available is gone.

Dice-K

Dice-BB

Dice-31 pitches in the 1st inning but it's okay cuz Escobar is having a tough time too...

j.d. drew.....hero?

finally worth that ridic. contract lol?

Choned

BIG INNING #1

manny being manny

whoa did he crush that

good thing they walked ortiz to get to him!

that went out out, onto the street, yeah?

Straight onto Lansdowne street! Two four-hour epic walk-offs tonight. I guess those October baseball ads were pretty spot on.

I was at a bar where my friend was DJing tonight, and the whole place exploded when Manny hit the game winner to some high energy disco in the background. It was the most uplifting moment of my week for sure.

Summary: Manny Ramirez smashed a towering three-run, game-winning homer as the Red Sox took a 2-0 series lead over Los Angeles. This was Ramirez's first walk-off homer since Sept. 10, 1996.

!!!!

This quote from Manny is priceless:

"I haven't been right all year. When you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's how you know you're a bad man."

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/06/sports/06redsox600.3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/1191648169_0157.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/1191647206_8096.jpg

not quite as crushed as pujols' shot in houston in 2005, but still good

"I am one of the best players in the game," said Ramirez, who missed almost all of September with a strained side muscle and finished with the worst full-season stats of his career. "I have confidence in myself, and I know my train doesn't stop here."

yeah, what does that last part even mean? is that an expression people use?

<3manny

and let's not forget the crucial "anti-Bartman" play

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/10/06/1191653195_1272/300h.jpg

lol @ stephen king behind him in pink shirt

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/10/05/1191639963_3910-1.jpg

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/10/05/1191641569_0794.jpg

Plaschke has some bold things to say as the Angels are on the brink of being swept:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke7oct07,1,4887608.column?

Which means you're not going to like what I have to say, but it has to be said.

Get over it.

Dump the idea that this Angels style can win a championship, because it can't.

Break up with the notion that this Angels way can parade under November confetti, because it won't.

Split up with the theory that these Angels are a miniature version of the 2002 World Series-winning Angels, because they're not even close.

Those Angels literally had the power to triumph in playoff games like Friday night's Boston marathon.

These Angels, like each of the last three Angels teams, do not.

man i hate that guy

local newspaper baseball columnists are up there with gossip bloggers and nightlife photographers as far as uselessness, imo.

back 2 back!

http://www.cobrabrigade.com/images/MannyRamirez.jpg

i am so gay 4 him.

Two post-season tacos too many?

If only the Angels had sluggers like Scott Spiezio and Adam Kennedy -- like they did in 2002 -- they might not be in this mess.

wow this is embarrassing. 9-zip

Gagne is the human victory cigar!

When somebody talks about baseball teams having "the power to triumph," you can only marvel that they can presumably tie their shoes.

"my train doesn't stop here."

Manny IS Woody Guthrie

or Casey Jones