Thursday, August 27, 2009

2009 Jimmy Fund Telethon

There are few causes that I bother with... actually, there's only one. Not that I believe other causes aren't worthy, but the Jimmy Fund radio telethon just MEANS something to me. I know I don't have a huge blog following. Hell, I don't know if ANYONE reads these silly ramblings, but every year, I will do whatever I can to prompt people to donate.

The goal is $5 million. Right now, according to the website (http://www.weei.com/jimmy-fund/home), they're at about $400,000. The telethon has been on the air for just over 5 hours, and they haven't even raised $100,000 an hour yet. It IS a 36 hour telethon, and I know a lot of the big donations come later on, and towards the end, so I'm not worried. I also know that when given the chance, people prove that they're loving, caring, and want to help. Especially in Boston, people have such a good relationship with the Jimmy Fund. We care about this cause around these parts.... and if you don't, maybe you should.

I know the shape the economy is in, but as I was listening to the radio this morning, I heard a stat (and I hope I get this correct) that 80% of their donations last year under $100. I don't know how true that is, but if it is true, it blows my mind! Think of it. If everyone you knew would give just five dollars... man, that would be over a hundred dollars just from THIS floor of this office! For the price of a Starbucks coffee and a scone, you can help the Jimmy Fund reach their goal of helping people with cancer. You can go without coffee for one day to help children going through chemo, can't you?

I got into a debate this morning with a friend. He's convinced that there will never be a cure for cancer and there's no point in trying to find one. My reply to him was simple... Even if there's NEVER a cure, we can still work our hardest to improve the quality of life for people who were stricken with the disease. We can still give parents precious years with their sick children. We can make sure that a few more parents are around for college graduations. We can give people hope, and comfort, and make it so that their last years on Earth aren't years full of pain and suffering. And along the way, if we can find cures for even a percentage of the types of cancer out there, then that's a bonus! My God, it's not all about finding a cure, it's about giving hope. Everyone needs hope sometimes.

So consider the people in your life who have been affected by cancer. I pledge every year in memory of my father in the hope that the research they're doing will be able to save someone else's father. Even if you don't know anyone personally... as a baseball fan, look at Jon Lester and Mike Lowell. They were the lucky ones. They survived. They are proof that the research is working!

Do it for guys like Greg Montalbano, who lost his fight with cancer last week. Do it so guys like Greg can live full lives. Greg is a testament to the fact that there is still so much work to be done. He was too young to be lost to this awful disease, and while I didn't know him, my heart goes out to his family and friends.

Do it because it's the right thing to do.
Here's the number... 877-738-1234

Tim Wakefield: Triumphant Return

On a day that had many people (including myself) mourning the loss of Ted Kennedy, Tim Wakefield made his return to the Sox. We hadn't seen Tim since the All-Star game, where he had a prominent place on the bench and a great view of the game. I don't care what your politics are, or what you thought of Ted Kennedy, he did plenty for the people of this country, so I don't want any badmouthing. Rest in peace, Ted.

Wakefield made his return alright, and pitched as if he didn't miss over a month of the season. One ER. That's all he gave up. Pretty snazzy, huh? It was nice to see Wakefield back. But of course, I wouldn't expect him to let an injury keep him away from the Jimmy Fund telethon. He HAD to be back by now. I think it's written in his contract. More on the Jimmy Fund later.

Big Papi with two (that would be TWO) home runs last night. I watched his first walk-off in two years while sipping a delightful basil lime martini. I'll tell ya, I could do that every night. Heroic walkoffs and awesome cocktails? I LOVE that combination. It's nice to have a spark in this lineup when we need it most. And, for the record, no. No I'm not rooting for the Yankees while they play the Rangers. I'm also not rooting for the Rangers, but I would PREFER that the Rangers won. This division has not been handed to the Yankees yet. I want the Yanks to have to fight for it.... and lose. But fight, nonetheless!

Really, though, that home run in the 9th was just what this team needed. Can they keep it up? Can Papi be Papi when we need him? Can Beckett stop the suckfest that he's been propagating the last few outings and be Beckett? Can Brad Penny be out of town before the first pitch tonight, never to return!? Can these things happen!? I hope so.

No. I'm not sad that Penny was released. It had to happen. It had to happen for a long time now. So now that two out of Theo's three major reclamation projects from the beginning of the year have failed, can we PLEASE have a change in the motto of who we look for when acquiring pitchers? Saito has been.... ok. Nothing spectacular and I certainly don't trust him in close games. Penny and Smoltz failed. How much more of this has to happen before our GM realizes that it's not working. Time for a new strategy!

Farewell, Brad Penny. I'm glad I didn't bother coming up with a nickname for you. Thanks a lot for pitching on July 4th, and sucking really badly, therefore making me waste my best seats of the year on a crappy, horrible game. Thanks for that. I appreciate it. Now get away from Beckett, you're tainting him!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Billy Wagner: Not Even Close to Making My List

What is the list, you ask? The list is the 'Top 100 Players I'd Like to See Theo Pick Up at Some Point." Wagner was not on that list. Neither was Penny. Neither was Lugo. Drew wasn't either.... and Gagne... no way. you know, I could go on and on about the names of people that Theo picked up that I don't care for and didn't want, but it makes no difference. I ultimately have no say of who is on my favorite team. I root for them anyway. You know who WAS on my list? Alex Gonzalez. So I have no reason to bitch about acquisitions for the rest of the year. I got who I wanted.

I've been playing a game since Gonzo has come back. You've been playing it, too, but you might not have known. The game is called "Lugo would have..." The point of the game is to predict what Lugo would have done with any ball that gets hit towards short. During the course of the game, you'll hear me shouting "Lugo would have missed that!" or "Lugo would have fallen on his face while pretending that he had the range to get there." or "Lugo would have thrown that away." or "Lugo would have found a way to completely botch that double play." The game is really fun for people like me who never liked POS. It's more fun for people who, like me, adored Gonzo's abilities on the field. The best part about the game is that we're all winners, because whatever Lugo WOULD HAVE done, he would have had to do it on another team. Yay! Gonzo's contributions with the bat, which have been fairly decent so far, are just bonuses in my mind, and I don't care what anyone has to say to counter that. Consider me happy.

We're not going to discuss the Commander here right now. I didn't write about his last start. I couldn't. I'm waiting until his next start to pass judgement.

As for Clay Buchholz... ugh. Please go home to Triple A, where it's safe and warm and such. I just don't like him. I can't help it. I tried, and I failed. Send him away.

And Jon Lester... that was probably the least lucky ND I've seen for him in a while. He pitched fine. I saw nothing wrong with his game. I saw some clumsiness on the field and some baseballs taking weird hops, but he deserved that win. Oh well, like I say some times... team stats are more important than individual stats. I've said that before, haven't I? Well, if I hadn't, I probably meant to.

Congratulations to CRW for snagging a Red Sox record of 55 bases. The old record belonged to Tommy Harper. I'm not sure if he was in the house last night to witness the event, but I do know he was rooting Ells on. I think we all were. I like seeing Red Sox records broken by decent people. CRW seems decent. Fun thing is, with more than a month left to the season, he has a good shot at shattering that record but good. Good luck with that!

I'm excited about Timothy's return tonight, and NO, I don't ever want to see Brad Penny coming out of the bullpen. The thought of that frightens me just slightly less than seeing him announced as a starter. Maybe Penny can drive Buchholz down to Pawtucket and get lost on his way back?

Friday, August 21, 2009

Jon Lester: Spits In The Face of People Who Don't Want to be Cool*

*Or that might be a gigantic lie that I made up right now.

Fabulous pitching last night from our end. 8 IP, 1 ER from Jon Lester was more than I hoped for, but I'm certainly happy to have it. It's a shame that he doesn't have about three or four more wins in his tally, because he definitely deserved to win his three starts prior to this, but I'm just going to have to let it go. He's got about five more starts to the year, so he could conceivably finish with 14-15 wins. Not stellar but good enough for me.

He's not gonna win the Cy Young, so I care less about his individual stats that the team stats.

It's nice to see JD Drew, well, do just about anything really without hurting himself. That man is made of glass. He is. It's not his fault, it's just how he was created. I'm toying with the idea that maybe he's part robot. I've never seen anyone as emotionless as Drew, even after hitting two home runs last night. Correct me if I missed it, because I honestly would like to know that there's some human left in there, but he just never looks ANYTHING! Not happy, not sad, not excited or worried... just nothing. Whatever, I guess. If he hits, he can look however he wants to.

I hate to say this. I really, really, really hate to say this and I'll probably change my mind about it in a few days, but it's looking like a good idea to keep Tek seated and let V take over for a while. He can hit. We need offense. I'm sorry, Jason! I am! But you just look so gosh-darned good with the coaching staff! Maybe... no. No, I won't say it. We all know. But I still love you dearly.

It hurt me physically to type that last paragraph. So now I'm wounded like half the roster.... maybe they all got hurt thinking the same thing. I'm just late to the party. Oh well. Elephant Man vs. Penny TO-NITE, LIVE! At GLORIOUS Fenway Park!

Go Sox. Go as far as you can. Or something

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Doc Halladay: Showing Mercy For Once

Yeah, the Sox do try to bring their A game against Halladay for the most part. But the only time I can recall seeing such a short outing from him is when he had appendicitis a while back. Five innings? Wow. If he's healthy, he was just showing us a little bit of mercy. He knows we need the wins, and his team really won't benefit from them one way or another. Or he might have been tired. Been pitching an awful lot of complete games this year. But, because this is my blog, I'm going with the pity/mercy train of thought.*

*Please note, I don't actually believe this, but I'm allowed to come up with whatever silly conspiracy theories I want.

Dahmer was good yesterday. I'm not a big fan of his, but I guess I'll give credit where it's due. 1 run in 6 IP is a good way to stay in the rotation. However, knowing that I'll be in Chicago in a few weeks, I really don't want to run the risk that I end up seeing him. Though I don't want to have to see Dice-K either. It's a tricky situation. Lesser of two evils might be Dahmer.... and that is officially the most twisted sounding sentence I've ever written in this blog, especially if you don't follow along with my nicknames. People who read that must be thinking 'man, that Dice-K guy must have done something HORRIBLE if he's considered to be worse than Dahmer. To my recollection, Dahmer was a pretty bad dude." And my response to these people is 'yes, he did do something pretty bad. Have you seen the way he was pitching this year?!' and then we'll all laugh and move on with our lives.

Hi, Gonzo! I know you're not reading this, but I want to remind you that I'm ecstatic to have you back. The two hits last night didn't hurt either. I really appreciated the effort from the whole team. You know, I was having a pretty awful day yesterday, and I think a bad game may have sent me over the edge. Because I'm overly dramatic and quick to anger. Can't help it. So, I really really needed that win, and they got it.... not just for me, but for all of Red Sox Nation and.... yeah. You understand. It made me happy. It gave us a lead in the Wild Card race. What's not to like? Thing of it is, it didn't really help our standing in our division, but it didn't hurt us either! Next series, we face the Yankees. Lets try to put a little dent in that 7 game lead.

First, we face Brett Cecil with Jon Lester on the mound. The boys have been scoring no runs for Lester lately, making it hard for him to win. I'd like to see him get some support tonight. I know he has as much support from me as I can physically manage. So put on your Papi jerseys, take a sip from your Red Sox freezer-safe glass that you got from the Red Sox team store, turn on NESN at 7:10 and start cheering. We're in the home stretch. We need all the help we can get!

Oh, and get ready to welcome Remy back to the booth! I'm so happy he's well enough to return. Glad to know he'll be back where he belongs (at least part time) on Friday. Don't think that means I don't still adore Eck, because I do. Can we fit all three of them in the booth?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Good Sign: Winning Games

When Beckett has a rough night and gives up 7 runs and Papelbon can't find the strike zone or escape unscathed from jams and we STILL win? That's what I call an awesome game, folks. No, it wasn't particularly easy to watch, and yes I swore repeatedly at Joshua, but he's allowed to have off-nights just like everyone else, and he was long past due for a bad performance. At least according to my logic he was.

Congratulations are in order for Kelli and Dustin Pedroia. I'll tell ya though... the thought of Pedroia raising a child is a little scary (mostly due to the personality for him I've made up in my mind). By all accounts, little Dylan is a healthy baby, so I'm happy for them.

I really have nothing else to say about that game except that I'm glad I watched it. It's nice to see Gonzo back in these parts. Makes me a happy girl.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

There is a Reason that I'm Still In Love With This World

And that reason's name is Alex Gonzalez.

Yeah, I wept a little tear of joy. What's it to you? You'll have to forgive my emotional outbursts, but I LOVE this man. The last shortstop that I gave my heart to.

I sent a text to a friend this morning when I read that Gonzo had cleared waivers... "What are the odds that Theo makes me happy and reaquires Gonzo?"

The reply? "He should. But he won't. Don't bother getting your hopes up."

So I didn't. I didn't think about it all day. My hopes were down. I was fully prepared to go through the season with Captain Planet at short. I was prepared, and I was ok. And then 1:00 came and I get a text from a different friend "Red Sox reaquire ss Alex Gonzalez from the Reds! He's back!"

He's back, my friends. He is back, and you can't pry this smile off of my face. There will be no airmailed balls into the third row behind first base. There won't be sloppy double plays. I have all the confidence in the world that if he gets to it, he makes the play. I love Gonzo, and I'm so happy to see him back! Don't bother trying to bring down my opinion of him. Aint gonna happen.

Welcome back, Gonzo. You have no idea how happy I am to see you!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Josh Beckett: Making My 201st post a Happy One!

No doubt about it, when Beckett is pitching the way we know he can, I am enthralled. He befuddled the Tigers the other day and it was great. It's extra great that it gave me the opportunity to use the word 'befuddled.' You'd be surprised how infrequently I get to use it!

Two Tigers got solo home runs off of my dearest Josh. They only ended up with three hits, so you know, perfectly acceptable. This game, in particular, has made the whispers of Cy Young pop back up for Beckett.

I want to stop these whispers now. He's not going to win the Cy Young, and I'll just get my hopes up and get angry again like I did in '07. My guess is that it's going to Halladay, and he has the numbers to deserve it. But there's still a month and a half left to the season, so things can change. All the reasons that CC won in 07 have become the argument for Halladay in 09. Let's take a look, shall we?

2007
Beckett 20-7, 3.27 ERA, 200.0 IP, 189 H, 76 R, 73 ER, 17 HR, 40 BB, 194 K, 5 HBP
Stupidface 19-7, 3.21 ERA, 241 IP, 238 H, 94 R, 86 ER, 20 HR, 37 BB, 209 K, 8 HBP

2009 - so far
Beckett 14-4, 3.10 ERA, 3 CG, 157 IP, 132 H, 61 R, 54 ER, 12 HR, 42 BB, 145 K, 4 HBP
Halladay 12-5, 2.73 ERA, 5 CG, 165 IP, 158 H, 55 R, 50 ER, 14 HR, 21 BB, 138 K, 3 HBP

Beckett's ERA's a little higher, and the IPs are lower... it's early, still. I know. And no, I'm not letting Stupidface into this year's Cy discussion. I don't think he deserves another one, since he clearly did not really deserve the one he got two years ago. All the good in the world that did him. He couldn't manage to beat his main Cy competition head to head. Questionable. I guess that's what an extra 40 IP will do to you by the end of the season!

According to my super scientific method of counting out the days in the schedule, Beckett's got about 9 starts left to shine those numbers up a little bit. Think he could do I? I sure do.

Oh, and don't think for a second that I haven't appreciated all of the offense from Kaz and Mikey. Granted, yesterday's game was a little less than spectacular on the offense side of things, but we were missing JD, Munchkin, AND Asshat. Hard to win games without two of your major offensive weapons. No, I don't count JD as a major offensive weapon. Munchkin and Asshat? Yes.

FoxSports is reporting that my beloved Alex Gonzalez has cleared waivers and can be traded to any team. Do I dare to even give myself hope????

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

200 Posts: And I Still Have Nothing Good To Say

This, I'm sure some of you will realize, is the scene when Tito got the boot during last night's game. But, my automatic reaction to this...

... is to imagine that the umpire is singing "Give me the beat boys, and free my soul. I wanna get lost in that rock and roll and drift away!" But not just singing it. Really, really getting into it. And Francona just looks slightly amused at the inappropriateness of the situation. I'm sure the exchange went something like this.

Tito: Scott, what are you doin out there (spit)? Do you even have your head in the game (spit)?
Scott: Terry, don't worry about my head. I went to this awesome concert last night, and I just can't get the songs out of my head.
Tito: Concert? You're.... kidding, right? Weren't you working at, I don't know, this park last night?
Scott: Yeah, but man, you gotta make your own music.
Tito: No (spit), you need to pay attention to what's going on! My guy was safe and...
Scott: Terry, Terry, Terry.... calm down. I saw the play.
Tito: But you got it wrong!... (spit)
Scott: That's ridiculous. I've got the power of good-time rock and roll on my side.
Tito: The power of what?
Scott: (singing) "OHHHHH Give me the beat, boys, and free my sooooooooul"
Tito: This is (spit) ridiculous. Can I eject myself from the game?
Scott: (still singing) "I wanna get lost in that rock and roll and drift awayyyyyy! Wooo!" (throws fist up in the air excitedly)
Tito: Ok.... um... That's it, Terry! You're out of here! (pause) See ya.

I think baseball would be more fun if it were more like the stuff I have in my head. Not to say it's not fun.... but it could be SO MUCH MORE!

Youk: The New Revenge Bringer?

Wow. That game was one of those games that you have to really watch.... at least the first few innings. It's a horrible thing to say, for sure, but I love when players charge the mound as long as no one really gets hurt. I guess that's the wrestling fan in me. Youk has always seemed like kind of a hot head. I'm surprised this is only the first time he's been up there. I'm also BEYOND surprised, as I think Don pointed out last night, that Youk made it all the way to the pitcher. The first baseman was essentially like, two feet from where they ended up. Maybe he wanted to see a fight, too? Then again, if that scary mug were charging toward someone near me, looking hell-bent on revenge, I probably wouldn't intervene either. I also have to agree with Jim Ed - that was a weak helmet throw. I understand it's probably hard to throw your helmet menacingly while running, but I expected just a little bit more from him. I do hope that Youk isn't hurt, though. That would be bad... although with our over-abundance of 1st base types these days, we might be able to wing it.

So Junichi Tazawa, welcome to your average, every day start. You'll have guys who couldn't turn a double play if their families lives depended on it (which, luckily they don't, otherwise Munchkin and Captain Planet would be screwed). I'm sure you know already, Junichi, that this isn't going to happen here every day. Just every few days or so. Or once a year, really, and you were just lucky enough that it happened to coincide with your first start in the majors. I'll give the kid credit. He looked shaky in the first, and that wasn't helped at all by the two blown double plays in a row, but he survived and he came away with his first big league win to counteract that terrible first big league loss that he should have never been responsible for.

I didn't see Tito get tossed, as I was baking when it happened, but it must have been comical. Also, Rick Porcello probably shouldn't have thrown at two of our guys and expect to not get tossed. He may have only hit Youk, but he came dangerously close to giving VMart a ball-shaped bruise on his ribs. Eck was unsure at first about Porcello's intentions, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was trying to hit him. I'm glad that by the end of the broadcast, Eck came around and realized what we all were thinking. Come on, Tigers. You really think Tazawa was trying to hit your guys? He had pitched two innings and was probably a little nervous. His control wasn't there. Porcello's control was there, though, until his guy got hit. Weird.

And how about that Mike Lowell, the beautiful man that he is, coming into the game on his night off and hitting two home runs! TWO! He is the reason we won the game. Just think, if Youk didn't charge the mound, we may have lost this game.

Again, Paps tried to make it interesting in the 9th. I'm just glad that he didn't make it TOO interesting. And not for nothing, but Curtis Granderson, stop being the bane of my existence, ok? Enough it enough (and it's time for a change?)!

Commander on the mound tonight. I can't wait, and admit it, neither can you.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Red Sox: Doing Stuff and Things that Confuse Me

So.... what the heck happened yesterday? I'm confused. The Sox, last night, they scored more runs than their opponent? I mean, the fact that they scored runs at all is mind boggling, but more than the Tigers? I don't know what happened. Is that allowed? Should Bud Selig, in all his useless glory, be called in to confirm that this is legal according to the rule book (not that I expect Bud to know the rule book). We're (sigh) only 5.5 games back now, with still almost two months to play. Awesome!

All kidding aside, that was not a pretty win, but you hear it all the time... there are no extra points for style. Penny was decent. I'd like to see him go longer in the games, but I know I can't have everything. MDC blowing the save in 7th made me twitch angrily for a few minutes, but then I remembered that he's still upset about the whole Fetus debacle, and I forgave him. If it were me, I would have given up runs, too.

So there goes my psycho conspiracy theory that the Red Sox actually enjoy losing. I was so convinced! It made too much sense.... the swinging at the first pitch, the staring at strike three, the pretend injuries... All of them were pretend. Don't think for a second that Jed Lowrie is really hurt. He just doesn't enjoy baseball. I don't know why he does it. And Kazerud? Hamstring? Come on, our old left fielder used that one. At least come up with an injury of your own. I don't know what's bothering Drew this week. Wakey? Well, he's gotten used to his August vacations. That whole 'livelihood' thing really gets bothersome when the kids want to go to Disney, eh, Timmy?

Ok, ok, I'm done with my stupid joke. I get it. It's not funny, I'll stop.... I guess. I did tell you that if the season ended today, we'd be in the playoffs. I do not lie about important things like that. Everything else? All fair game. For all everyone knows, I don't really like Jason Varitek at all.

....

I have no idea what's gotten into me today. I can't believe I just typed that. It's almost sacrilegious. I think I'm just giddy from a beautiful, perfect, wonderful combination of a Red Sox win, a Yankees loss, and Shawn Michaels in a chef's hat. And if you aint down with that, I've got two words for you...

uh....

Mike Lowell.

Yeah, that works. Junichi Tazawa vs. Rick Porcello on the mound tonight. Do we think that Eck will learn the Japanese word for 'cheese'? Here's hoping.

Monday, August 10, 2009

It's the End of the World as we Know it: And I Feel Fine

Really, I stewed this weekend about the putrid show (or should I say absence of) offense, but what good did it do me? The Red Sox didn't keep me awake last night. I'm not sure what kept me awake last night, but it wasn't the Red Sox. It wasn't the Yankees, it wasn't Jon Miller, or Joe Morgan, or the incessant clips of the Luis Tiant special that they just. kept. showing. I've got nothing against Luis Tiant, but for chrissakes, ESPN, I've got to watch my team lose. Get Luis off my screen, I want to watch Pedroia ground out after swinging at the first pitch!

The whole entire week of baseball sucked, and I genuinely figured I'd be furious beyond belief all day today. I wasn't. I found myself not even caring about the losses, because I looked up at my calendar and realized that it's August 10th. Seriously! We've got nearly two months left to the season. Even if the season ended today, or tomorrow, do we make the playoffs? Maybe not today, but tomorrow, I bet we do!

The bats suck, that's for sure. But man, our pitching has been TREMENDOUS! John Smoltz... well we all knew that experiment had to end. I feel awful about it, I do, but it had to. Junichi Tazawa? Just a kid. He'll be ok. I'm so not worried. Even Clay gave us a great start. How can you really argue with that? We've seen the bats go dead at the same time before. While I admit, this is a little scarier than I'm used to, I can't imagine they'll be this dead for the rest of the season, so just have a drink and take a deeep breath. We're going to be ok. Seriously... have you looked at Beckett's ERA lately? 3.12. I kid you not. Jon Lester has a 2.somethingawesome ERA since the beginning of June. Our pitching is there. We just need to get the bats up and about.

Hang on, folks. We're nearing the end of the ride, but we still have plenty of hills to climb. It's meant to be fun. I have to remind myself of that some time.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Ok, I Admit It, I Fail

Yes, I am woman enough to admit that I was wrong. This whole John Smoltz thing? It's a disaster. I figured a few bad starts, maybe a slightly elevated ERA, and then the future Hall of Famer would settle down and... I don't know... get some outs? Listen, it just didn't work out that way. I wanted it to work more than anyone I know. When everyone around me was jumping on the 'designate Smoltz' bandwagon, I stayed on the 'give him another chance' one. I think I've finally jumped off. Last night... it was one of those nail-in-the-coffin type moments for me. He can't seem to hold a lead. Ever. I don't know what it is. I do feel absolutely terrible for him because I wanted him to succeed, and I was thrilled when Theo got him. But, this only futhers my theory that I should never be a GM or a manager (not like that would ever happen) because I make decisions about the sport I love with my heart and not my head. In the same line of thinking, since Theo made the move I wanted him to make, maybe he shouldn't be a GM either.

Really, Theo? Paul Byrd AGAIN?! You have so much talent in the minor leagues (PS - where Clay Buchholz should be) and you sign Byrd? Ugh. No, you don't get it, do you? Guys like Byrd and Penny... they're not what we need. I'm not saying we need a Roy Halladay, although that would have been ultimately nice, but we don't need the five innings, 6 ER, 5 BB per outing kind of guys.

Don't mind me. I'm a little frustrated. We don't have Fetus, but we do have Gargoyle and Penny and Smoltz couldn't buy themselves wins right now. No one is scoring runs for Jon Lester, we're 3.5 games back in the division, and goddamn Longoria! You know what I mean. You all know what I mean.

Listen, we've got the Commander on the mound tonight. If he can't get us a win, I don't think I can stomach the rest of the series. He better bring his F-game with him (none of that A-game crap. I actually want to win).

Monday, August 3, 2009

Welcome to August

Man, what a week, huh?

I've been going to Baltimore annually for a long time, and I can say that I don't quite remember seeing it that crowded ever. Don't get me wrong. It's always crowded when the Sox are in town on a weekend, but I felt like it was especially crowded this weekend.

I wanted to head into the park on Friday night to see Smoltz pitch, but after the drive, I was just too tired so I watched it online. I'll admit, when he starts, I almost expect a loss. I hope for a win, but I don't expect one. Getting him the win was nice of Youk, considering that Smoltz probably did not deserve it. That's the benefit of being on a team with a really good offense. They score you runs, you win more games. It doesn't even matter that his ERA is somewhere north of, of I don't know, Saturn? Is Saturn north enough? I guess it really doesn't matter. He won.

Saturday, I hoped with all of my might that Josh was terrible. The funny thing about Josh is, when he says that he has his best stuff, it's usually after a loss. I clearly recall on a few separate occassions, after a particularly rough beating administered by some unsuspecting team, Josh claimed that his stuff was just 'too good.' I know I don't know a lot about the mechanics and minutae of pitching, but really? I'm expected to believe that he gave up 8 runs because he was too good? Well, if he says so. So because of that, every time he pitches, I hope that he is awful. Saturday, he was awful. He was terrible to the tune of 0 ER and 7 IP. Granted, he had a lot of luck with the double plays, but he was still good enough. 13 wins, my friend. Two months left to go. I doubt he'll get to 20, but you never know. I'm not even going to go into the possible Cy Young talk, because they'll just give it to some stupid fat ass who really doesn't deserve it anyway.

I'm mixed about my feelings towards Victor Martinez. While I try to find a nickname that I feel suits him, he will more than likely be called VMart because there is no way I'm writing out Victor Martinez every time. Matter of fact, that's probably the last time you'll see me write it out, so cherish the moment, ok? It's not that I dislike him, per se. My issue comes in the fact that we had to surrender a perfectly good Fetus to get him. I adored Fetus. Honestly I did. I wish him all the best and I'm very sad to see him go. I will always root for him because he seems like such a genuinely nice guy. I hope the major leagues are good to him, where ever he may end up. I'm among the minority who faults Theo for not dumping Buchholz. I'm not sold on him. I just don't think he has what it takes to be a successful major leaguer. It would be nice if he could prove me wrong, I'm just not buying it with him. So we get rid of a pitcher I love to get a catcher who's purpose is to replace the catcher that I love. It's not that I dislike VMart... I'm just sad that he has to be here, is all.

I admit, sitting at the park on Saturday, seeing Fetus' name come up beside the score for Cleveland made me a little misty eyed. I'm sure Manny Delcarmen was misty eyed right along with me. Poor guy. His sadness made him give up two runs on Sunday (or so I heard). I didn't see a second of the game on Sunday, as I was stuck on the god forsaken George Washington Bridge until... oh, just about 20 minutes ago. What the hell?! I haven't been over that bridge in years, and now I remember why I always avoid it like the plague. I moved two miles in forty minutes. I wanted to jump off the goddamned bridge. What the hell, New York?!

So, I hear we scored 18 runs? Awesome. Think we can keep it up against Garza tomorrow? I hope so!