Yay: Regular Season Review

Continuing in the tradition I started last year, I am going to go over my top five favorite games of the year that I got to attend. It's not bragging. Just think of it as a way for me to ward of alzheimers for a few minutes, ok?

Unlike last year, the games I attended this year were not record breaking (well, one was) or definite shoe-ins. I actually had bad luck at the park this year, and finished up with a .500 winning percentage after seeing them only win twice in six games from June to the first week in September... but I don't want to make a post about the best losses of the year. So, here they are, counting down to number one....

#5 - Josh Beckett vs. CLE (10/3) - Final score 11-6 Sox
Josh wasn't particularly dominant in the first two innings, and he only went five, but those last three were pretty snazzy (and very much appreciated!). His line looked like this: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 98 pitches. Not very Beckett-like, but he still got the win and kept his season ERA down below 4, which ALWAYS makes me happy. This game also featured Victor Martinez's first career grand slam (2nd inning), and Dusty Brown's first major league hit (a solo HR in the 8th). Munchkin also had a home run, and so did Brian Anderson (1st and 3rd innings respectively). Even with half a little league lineup, our offense looked incredible, and our pitching looked good. No, it wasn't great. Also, a BIG reason for this being on my list.... I was given the tickets for free, and you can never take free Sox tickets for granted. It didn't hurt that the seats were five rows behind the Sox on deck circle.... ok, I'm bragging a little here, but I swear, I'm not usually like this. Hopefully I'll put up some pictures eventually.

#4 - Tim Wakefield vs. MIN (4/22) - Final score 10-1 Sox
Another big-offense type game. I love those kinds of games. Granted, this was a rain-shortened affair, and the game was called after 7 innings, but come on. Minnesota wasn't going to score 9 runs off the best bullpen in baseball in 2 innings. I don't even see that as a possibility. Wake was great. This was during the part of the year where he was MVP while Beckett and Lester were struggling. Home runs were given to us from Asshat, Captain Planet, and Mr. Awesome. This was back when Asshat was hitting .462 (no, I didn't remember that, I had to look it up). Even though I missed the top half of the 1st due to train issues, it still ended up being a great, very enjoyable game on Admin day! Yes, I am an Admin, so it was only appropriate that my boss let me leave early to go to the game. It was a great day, for sure.

#3 - Josh Beckett @ BAL (8/1) - Final score 4-0 Sox
I loved this game. I love Camden Yards, and I love Josh Beckett, so the combination of the two is an amazing thing. Up until this point, I hadn't yet seen Josh pitch live for the season. I was supposed to have seen him three separate times before this point, but due to suspensions and scheduling changes, I missed him every time. He definitely rewarded my patience with 7 scoreless innings on the day that Victor Martinez made his Red Sox debut (yes, I love getting tickets for August 1st every year so I can see the new aquisitions or lament the recent departures). Another 5 K's for Josh, and one pristine inning a piece for Oki and Bard, and the Sox may as well have played "Dirty Water" at the end of the game... Baltimore, you're my (other) home! Josh picked up his league-leading 13th win, and he was looking like an unstoppable force. What's not to love about that?

#2 - Tim Wakefield vs. CLE (5/7) - Final score 13-3 Sox
Yep. This was the one record breaker that I saw this year. Some of you may recall this game. In the 6th inning, 12 men came up to bat and 12 men came around to score all before recording an out. The scoring in the inning was capped off by a 3-run HR by Jay Bay. I remember fans cracking up laughing in the bleachers, getting supreme enjoyment out of the moment. Three different pitchers tried, two in vain, to record that first out. Right after Bailey's hit in his only AB of the inning, people behind me were laughing, "How many outs? That's right NOBODY OUT!" Not the most clever catch phrase in the world, but in the moment, it worked. We were all happiness and smiles. How can you not enjoy scoring 12 runs in a single inning, never mind doing it all before the first out? Six innings and only 2 runs allowed from Wakefield made this one of the most fun Wakefield starts I've ever been to. Way to break a record, guys!

and finally... and this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone....

#1 - Jon Lester vs. TEX (6/6) - Final score 8-1 Sox
Once again, Johnny's got my best game of the year. Rather, I got his best game of the year. This was the infamous attempted murder game. Mike Lowell tried to kill me. Standing room only tickets on the monster resulted in my friends and I sitting in the first row closest to the Fisk pole. That's where Mike Lowell's home run ended up. I'm glad we didn't touch the ball, in retrospect, because there may have been fan interference. It was originally called a double, but it very clearly was up over the line. It smacked off the padding at the very top of the wall. Since we didn't touch it, the home run went to review, we were shown on TV, and the umps got the call correct. I will never mock Mike Lowell again. Oh, on top of that? Jon Lester had a perfect game going through 6 innings. He gave up a walk, a hit, and a run in the 7th, but he ended with a two-hit complete game victory, 11 beautiful, perfect strike outs, 107 pitches, and a win. Michael Young, for getting both hits of the night, is on my shit list (with Curtis Granderson) for the rest of his career. I know he was just doing his job, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. A lot of analysts were saying this after the game, but Jon DID look better in this one than he looked in his no-hitter (my #1 game of last year). He was brilliant, and after the rough start he had to his season, it was a great way to remind people just how amazing he can be. I look forward to seeing him start game one of the ALDS this week. I've seen what he's capable of. I feel good about it.

So those are my best games of the year. All in all, it was a pretty good season for the Sox. Thank God it's not over!

Gonzo: Sending Us All Home Happy

If you weren't at that carnival ride of a game last night, please change the heading to "Gonzo: Keeping us all home happy" or something similar. I could say plenty about this game, and I'm sure I'll say quite a bit, but I'll start with this...

Wow.

Not sure there was any adventures this game DIDN'T include, except maybe having the teams run frantically out of the path of a giant boulder hell bent on destruction... but even that could have possibly happened in the third inning.

We had constant lead changes, we had the Sciocia face, we had silly substitutions, we had Remy and Don, we had blown saves and stupid plays, good pitching, bad pitching, squeezing, blown calls, you name it! Thoroughly entertaining!

Yes, ball four to Nick Green was actually strike three and I willingly admit that. However, it was only fair that the umpires gave us that run back, because they were very clearly (to me... since I'm obsessive) squeezing Daniel Bard in the top 9th. The game should have been tied at that point anyway. I think if it had been tied, Captain Planet would have been called out on the third pitch, but the umps knew they had done a great disservice to the Sox by squeezing our rookie.

Hey umps! No squeezing the rookies!

So, this of course sets up the brilliant bloop hit by Gonzo that absolutely should have been caught... or at least there should have been a dive attempt. No hustle out there in left field, I'll tell ya. But I'll take it. And I'll thank anyone who thought Gonzo showed up with no bat to go jump off the Tobin (or, preferrably, something far less fatal and much more humbling... but I can't think of any examples, so please be creative). Love. That. Man. The End.

Oh, and I don't want to hear at all about the stupid gaffe by Tek. Far as I'm concerned, it didn't happen. And it didn't matter because we won. We won without Youk, VMart, and Paps. We used almost every man off the bench, with the exception of Kottaras. And not for nothing, but the entire game was put in the hands of a triumverate of shortstops! And I didn't dislike ANY of them!

Now if only the stupid Yankees had lost, that would have been the perfect way to end the night. Oh well, it'll happen. Optimistic of me or not, but I'm still looking towards division gold. Or material, as I'm all but certain that they don't make the pennants out of gold. Maybe plastic? I don't know. Not gold though. So I'm eyeing division whatever-they-make-the-pennants-out-of. Yeah!

Commander on the mound tonight. Let's hope he's gotten that ship corrected now that his flu problem seems to have flown. Look at me, trying to be clever. Ok, that's enough out of me! Go cheer on the Sox! (I know, it's 10:40 AM, but it's never too early to start. Let 'em hear it! Intimidate some umpires!)

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.

Nick Green: Should Have Made that Play

I'm kidding, of course, as I much prefer Captain Planet to not be seriously maimed. Scary moment there, though. Just imagine if the bat had hit him as hard as it hit the ground. He could have gotten seriously hurt. As I'm sure everyone else is thinking... something needs to be done about these bats.

Anyway. It's been a while. How are you folks doing? I'm alright, thanks. Been busy. You know how it is.

So Papi got his 1,000 career RBI last night. It came on a 3-run home run. That's right, a home run outside of Fenway. It's a glorious thing, for sure. It put a smile on my face anyway. You know what came after that? Of course you do, because you watch the Sox... and if you don't, you wouldn't be reading this. Yes, Jason Varitek followed up with his own 2-run shot... not RIGHT after, but after nonetheless. Despite his offensive struggles in the month of June and his sore shoulder, (to steal one of Eck's phrases) he knew what to do with one of Stammen's pitches. Awesome.

So Jon Lester gets the win. He SHOULD be over .500 right now, but he ended up with a tough-luck loss against the Marlins, and a no-decision against the Phillies after an incredibly pitched game. He didn't pitch his best last night, but he deserved the win, and I'm happy he got it. The once seizure-inducing ERA has fallen to a very average 4.67. In the last month, he's really taken great strides to bring himself back to where he was last year. Do you remember how awesome Jon was last year? He was amazing when we really needed him to be. He was the bona fide ace of the staff last year, and he pitched his heart out. He's got a long way to go to get that ERA back down under 4, but I think he can do it if he really tries. Josh Beckett did.

Beckett... he's another blog for another time. I was going to write one about his performance against D-Lowe on Saturday, but what can I even say about it? Everything was working for him. He was dominant. It was gorgeous. Nine innings of pure, calm brilliance from our once-and-current ace. Joshua, I've gathered, enjoys being on the quiet side of a very hyped pitching match up. All people wanted to talk about was Lowe. Almost like when all people wanted to talk about was Pedro. Beckett was on the quiet side of both of those matchups, and dear God did his pitching speak volumes both times. So, please... neglect to hype up the Commander. It only makes his desire to win more intense. What else can I say about him? I'm at a loss for words.

I'm hoping his next start leaves me at a similar loss for words. Actually, I'm hoping John Smoltz's start tonight will leave me at a loss for words. Let that soak in for just a second. John Smoltz is starting for the Red Sox tonight.

John.

Smoltz.

Red Sox.

Tonight.

It's beyond awesome to me to be able to say that. I don't hold any delusions of what he's going to bring. He's a 42 year old pitcher with a surgically repaired shoulder who hasn't seen a major league hitter in over a year. The AL is generally much harder on pitchers than the NL. He's not going to be the same pitcher he used to be. Despite all that... despite all of the reasons I have to not be overly excited about it, I'm just beyond thrilled to see him in a Red Sox uniform. The best part is, we don't really need him to be at his best. We've got enough talent to cover him if he struggles. We can just be excited that a future hall of famer is putting on a Red Sox uniform and pitching for us. I'm excited. I've always wanted to see Smoltz as a Red Sox and now I am getting my wish. No matter what we get from him, it's all just gravy. You know I'll be watching.

And really, can't we think of a better nickname for the guy than Smoltzie?

Beckett: Not So Secret Weapon

Holy hell, was Josh good last night or what? I really try to keep my hype down (do I?), but that was exciting. I think the base hit off of him should have gone as an error. As much as I enjoyed the play, and I thought Munchkin did an amazing job getting to that... he had the ball in his hand and dropped it. Had he not dropped it, I really think Cano would have been out at first. It's an error. Beckett was taken out in the 6th inning of a no-hitter.

It's ok though. Where are all these no-hit innings from Beckett coming from? I love it. I hope he remembers to stock up for his next start against the Phillies. How sad is it that the Phillies are world champions and I was sitting at a restaurant with my friends the other day, and we could name two definite Phillies, and a few likely Phillies. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins were the definites. Chase Utley and.... hmm, now I can't even remember who were the possibles. I'm bad with names, but this is inexcusable.

Like last Saturday's game... my friend said something about the guy starting against Lester. I couldn't think of his name to spare my life, but I managed to remember that he was 1-2 with a 6.90 ERA and a pretty good fastball. Why can I remember that and not remember what his name is? I don't get it. I think his name was Holland.

Anyhow, lovely pitching by Josh. Had it not been for the long waits, we would not have scored any runs and Josh could have pitched into the 9th. I'll take the runs and let the bullpen get a little work. I don't mind. I have a shockingly high level of faith in our 'pen, even if they do make me a little nervous.

And now, a note to Tito....
Dear Tito,
I can call you Tito, can't I? Of course I can. We're buddies. Tito, my friend, I know that when the crowd is chanting PA-PI! PA-PI! PA-PI! you probably just want us to shut up and get back to the game. I've seen you drag him out of the dugout for a curtain call. And that's ok, he was struggling. It was his second home run of the year. I have no issues with that. My issue is that I'm worried about this becoming a trend. I'm sorry, I don't think curtain calls are warranted for every home run. His first one, yes. His second one, ok. The third one? Now we're getting ridiculous. Please stop dragging him out. I feel that by doing that, you're just highlighting the struggles he's gone through. He obviously doesn't want the extra attention, so let him be. Thanks.
PS - I love you for playing Green as much as you've been. Thank you!

It really was an all-around good night for the Sox. The hitting clicked, the pitching clicked, the fielding was clean.... man, I would feel greedy asking for any more than that.

Curtis Granderson: I No Longer Like You

Curtis... oh, Curtis, I knew it would be you. I didn't want it to be you. I didn't want it to be anyone, to be quite honest. I kept hearing Eck and DO prattle on about how you are no problem for Beckett, how he's owned you and how you are helpless against him. That's how I knew it was going to be you. I didn't say anything to anyone because I'm not about to jinx a guy going for a no-hitter. I kept my fear to myself until said fear was realized.

You didn't have to do it. You could have just let him get the no-hitter. It's as close as he's ever come, and if you didn't get that base hit, the game wouldn't have fallen apart the way it did. So, I no longer like you, Curtis. I used to sort of like you. I thought you were a good player. Perhaps not the best, but good. Now.... no more. I never want to see your face again.

Beckett was unbelievable last night. Dominant. Everything I want in a starting pitcher. But the game devolved pretty quickly after that base hit. Looking at the score, you would never guess that Beckett took his no-no into the 7th, would you? Craziness ensued in the final innings. Not that it wasn't wacky before then. Let's recap, shall we?

-The night starts off with JD Drew getting hit 200th career home run off of Gallaraga.

-Youkilis steals a base (hopefully preventing a double play) and ends up getting doubled off second, even though he was clearly back to the bag in time, during JayBay's AB.

-Gerald Laird tried to drop down a bunt in... I want to say the 5th inning, but it may have been the 6th. The bunt attempt drove Eck crazy.

-Eck started talking openly about the no-no going on. ECK! You should know better! We do NOT mention the phrases "no hits," "no-no," or "no-hitter" in the middle of a no-hitter. You jinxed it, man. So not cool. Didn't anyone ever tell you to, um, NOT do that? D.O., you were sitting right next to him. For two innings, he kept saying the above banned phrases, and you did nothing to stop him? That's completely unacceptable. You can say "he's putting up a lot of zeros" or "no baserunners have reached except for (list recipients of walks), who reached on a walk" or even "he's dominating tonight." We'll know what you meant, and you don't have to annoy the superstitious part of the fan base by jinxing it. I'm not always superstitious, but you never NEVER say the phrase in the middle of a no-hitter. Never do it again, Eck.

Then in the 8th, it unravelled. Why was Beckett back out there, some people have wondered. Do you know why he was out there? Because he had been pitching well, and Tito felt no need to unnecessarily use the bullpen. I completely support that decision. Beckett is a grown up. He doesn't need to be babied. When he's on, let him pitch. I defend Tito's decision to keep him in there. The eighth was ugly. It started with a double, and a HBP. Beckett plunked Laird. Could it be because of the attempted bunt? I don't know, I guess it could have been. Don't tell me it was unintentional. Beckett had pinpoint control all night.

Unfortunately, the eight also saw us commit three errors. The first was from Munchkin, who tried to flip to Captain Planet covering second, and ended up throwing the ball into left field. The first unearned run scored. Daniel Bard comes in to relieve Beckett. His first batter reaches on a fielding error by Captain Planet. That's now two errors in the inning that Green has played a role in. Asshat gets kicked in the ankle and has to come out of the game. Mark Kotsay, who had replaced JD Drew, moves from right to 1st, and Baldelli jumps out to right. The next batter reaches on a fielding error by Mikey Lowell, loading the bases. The second unearned run scores. And then that smarmy little jerk Granderson hits a triple, letting the third unearned Beckett run scores, and a couple of unearned Bard runs score. Hideous. Just to recap, that was three fielding errors in the span of four batters (there was a K after the first error). 2B, SS, and 3B basically ruined the inning for us.

Then in the ninth, and I'll admit that I didn't see why this happened because I was getting myself ready for bed, apparently my beloved Mikey gets kicked out of the game. Mikey? Seriously? I wish I had seen that, because Mikey NEVER gets kicked out of games. I can't recall a single other occasion when Mike was kicked out. He just doesn't have the temperment for it. Then Saito was getting squeezed by the ump. I saw five to six pitches that were strikes that were called balls. I bet it was because of the ruckus.

Either way, they held on to win. What should have been a spectacular no-hitter turned into your routine 10-5 victory. I was beyond impressed with Beckett. He's now on the verge, and hopefully only a start away, from getting that hideous ERA down below 4. I think he's at 4.09 right now. There's nothing I love watching more in all of baseball than Josh Beckett when he's got solid command of all of his pitches. He throws some of the prettiest curves you can imagine when he's going good. And oh, the paint. He knows how to paint. The sexiest thing in baseball is an 0-2, 95-96 mph fastball that paints the outside corner and freezes a batter. I didn't get that last night. The closest we got was Brandon Inge's 2nd inning AB. Beckett throws a 94 mph 4-seamer right on the outside corner, and Inge just stares at it. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Now Wakefield, you no longer have the lowest ERA on the starting staff. Let's try to remedy that this afternoon against Dontrell Willis. I won't get to watch you, since I will be in class, but I promise that I'll be rooting for you while muddling through macro economics. Good luck, Tim!

Joshua Beckett: Surprisingly Not the One Bringing The Pain

Don't get me wrong, he brought a lot last night, but pain wasn't part of that. He brought a decent fastball. He brought a mostly cool and calm demeanor. He brought 5 K's, 108 pitches, and just enough for a win. He brought his ERA down below 7, which is what I'm most pleased about. It's at 6.75 right now. While that's not a GOOD ERA, it's better. I'll take better.

The one thing that Beckett did not bring was pain. It's not to say that the ten hits off of him weren't painful, because they very much were. He was sloppy, but managed to recover in time to prevent most damage. He didn't bring pain to the Yankees, and they deserved pain. There was nothing I wanted to see more than Beckett drilling Captain Intangibles square in the back with a 96 mph fastball. I wanted it so badly, but at the same time, I was happy it didn't happen. If he had hit Jeter, he would have been the one punished. The discipline committee, after all, is run by a Yankee. That's why Joba and his perfect control will not be penalized for sticking one between JayBay's shoulder blades.

"Weak." Eck grumbled after the HBP. I couldn't agree more, Eck. The guy gets twelve strikeouts, and is "painting" all night (as Eck would say), but suddenly the guy who's been hitting well comes to the plate and he loses his control? Bullshit. When the hell is someone going to do something about this fat, reckless asshole? Bad enough Drew got hit the night before. That might have been an accident. When Joba hit JayBay, that was no accident. He was happy about it. He walked off the mound pumping his stupid fists and getting all worked up. Guess what, asshole. You still lost. Nice job making yourself look like a bigger d-bag than I thought possible. I guess it runs in the family...?

Beckett's problems with the mound were 'not conducive to painting.' Seriously, I couldn't get enough of Eck last night. He was funny. He was refreshing after Buck Martinez and the random mish-mosh of personnel and reporters that were hanging around Tampa on Sunday. He's no Remy, that's for sure, but he was enjoyable. Please let Eck be the permanent Remy substitute when Remy needs time off. It would make me happy.

Hoping that CRW is ok, and hoping to see Youk back in a lineup soon. The guys just don't put the fear of God in opposing pitchers the way the Cincinnati Hillbilly does. JayBay is not an intimidating person (thank goodness that his bat does all the talking). Ortiz hasn't heated up yet. Can anyone really be unnerved by looking at Pedroia? Drew looks like he's always ready to take a nap. Tek doesn't intimidate anyone, even with the thighs of steel on his side. We need the guy who can literally scare the opposing pitcher into submission. That's Youk. Get well soon, Asshat.

My big problem from last night's game were the backwards K's. There were far too many of them, and a lot of them came with three pitches. I'm just going to take a few minutes and go over each one. Using GameDay to help my non-perfect memory, here is a rundown of the K's...

K 1) - Tek 2nd inning (looking)- Three straight called strikes. Not a single one of them was actually in the strike zone. Pitch 2 was close, but still outside.
K 2) - Captain Planet 2nd inning (looking) - Seven pitches. Strikes were called fairly.
K 3) - Papi 3rd inning (swinging) - Called strike 2 was outside. Other two strikes were swinging.
K 4) - JayBay 3rd inning (looking) - Four pitches. All three were in the zone.
K 5) - Drew 4th inning (looking) - Drew didn't move the bat off his shoulder at all. Three straight pitches were called strikes, though two were clearly out of the strike zone.
K 6) - Bailey 4th inning (looking) - After Drew took three straight pitches without moving, Bailey copied him and got the same results. All three pitches were in the strike zone.
K 7) - Captain Planet 4th inning (swinging) - Five pitches. No called strikes in this sequence. Green swung at pitches way out of the strike zone. Way out. Not even close. These pitches must have been up around his eyes.
K 8) - Vantastic 5th inning (looking) - 6 pitches. All three strikes were in the zone.
K 9) - Munchkin 5th inning (looking) - Eight pitches, just to take a strike three that was a very borderline pitch, belt high and inside.
K 10) - Mikey 5th inning (looking) - 5 pitches. All three strikes were in the strike zone.
K 11) - Drew 6th inning (looking) - 6 pitches. Another at bat where Drew didn't take the bat off his shoulder. 1st strike was borderline. 2nd strike was outside. 3rd strike was right on the outside corner. Apparently, Drew didn't feel compelled to do anything except wait for a walk here?
K 12) - Bailey 6th inning (swinging) - All within strike zone, except for the one he fouled off. At least he swung, I guess.
K 13) - Vantastic 8th inning (swinging) - Four pitches, three strikes. All strikes were over the outside part of the plate. Not even questionable.
K 14) - Mikey 9th inning (looking) - 6 pitches. Strike one was high and inside. The rest were actual strikes.

I account for the fact that umpires tend to be inconsistent, but we had four at bats where called strike 3 happened on the third pitch of the at-bat. In my eyes, that's no effort. If you see that the umps are calling strikes outside the zone, don't just stand there and wait for them to change their minds. Swing at anything close with two strikes. You've got far better odds of getting on base. This is basic stuff, isn't it? Our guys, some of them, were just not doing it yesterday. They weren't working counts, they weren't even moving the bat. Hopefully, our hitting coach was paying attention and, I don't know, does something about this? You can't do anything about where the umpire decides the strike zone is for the night, but you can do something about which pitches your guys swing on. A good rule of thumb is this... unless the pitcher isn't anywhere near the strike zone for the entire at bat, swing the bat at least once. Give me something in terms of effort. Lowell, Drew, Bailey, Green, and Van Every each had 2 K's. The only one without a K was CRW, but he was only in for three innings.

I've never been a baseball player, and I never will be, but there are a few things that I see over and over that just get on my nerves to no end. My three rules of what not to do are as follows:
1) Swinging at the first pitch.
2) Swinging at 2-0 or 3-0. Make the dude throw a strike! If need be, make them throw two.
3) Staring at strike 3.

There should never be a situation where a pitcher throws three strikes to major league hitters, and they don't move the bat once. We had it happen four times last night. It really bugged me. I know I'm not an expert, but I don't see anything useful in helping out the opposing pitcher.

Anyway, I'll stop dwelling now. Pavano vs. Fetus tonight. Here's hoping our little guy can bounce back from his first rough outing of the season!

Bullpen Band: Too Exhausted For Encores

Our bullpen is getting absolutely slammed by our starters' inability to go more than a few innings. Commander and Binky have been the worst culprits. Penny is next on the list. Wakey and Fetus had the unfortunate timing of having their shorter outings happen the two nights following our aces' terrible performances. I can't rip on Wakey and Fetus, because they have overall pitched their share of innings.

Well, it's time for the guys at the top of our order to go further into a game than five innings. Five innings is not enough. Manny Delcarmen looks injured. Hunter Jones, Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, and all the other pen guys have been pitching every night it seems. They need a break. We need a complete game, or at least seven innings, out of Jon tonight. He hasn't put it together yet, so I'm skeptical that he'll actually give us what we need, but I can hope.

Joshua tomorrow is another matter altogether. Don't even get me started.

No, I'm not yet concerned about David Ortiz. Yes, he looks terrible at the plate, and you can throw him just about anything and he'll swing at it. But that's what happens when a good hitter is going through a tough stretch. It seems like everything gets them out. I believe that he can turn it around, home runs or no home runs. Big Papi is still Big Papi. No more sillliness out of the media, please. (Yeah, like that's going to happen)

Why don't we rip on Julio Lugo instead? The team was going so well until he came back. Yesterday, he was 0-4. There were two plays he didn't make that I have NO idea how he didn't get errors for. Ok, well the first one, I have an idea. You can't assume a double play... ever. He got one out. It went as a force out, so I can see why he didn't get the error. The second play... that terrible throw to Youk, THAT should have been an error. His two misplays caused two runs to happen, but because they weren't charges as errors, they became earned runs. Bastard! We, uh, lost by two runs in case someone wasn't keeping track.

Saturday's game, Captain Planet played, and we won.
Friday's game, Lugo played, went 1-4, and we lost.
Thursday's game, Lugo played, got no hits, and we had a damn near perfect game thrown against us.
Wednesday's game, Captain Planet played, and we won.
Tuesday's game, Lugo played, went 2-3, made an error, and we lost.

I know it's super convenient for me to blame the last four losses on POS's return because it's wll documented that I don't like him. I never will. But come on... we were on an 11-game win streak, and all of a sudden, the old, useless SS comes back, and we go 3-4 in two series? Yes, it's perfectly logical of me to completely discount the fact that when we're on the road, this team looks like a bunch of kids who have never played baseball before. That's irrelevant. I blame POS. The more he plays, the more we lose.

When does the team return to Fenway? I could really go for some wins. I guess it could have been worse. We won the first series, and we didn't get swept in the second one. I should be more optimistic. So, I'm going to try to force ten positive things to carry over into tonight's game... here we go.

1) Penny pitched very well. That actually falls under the category of 'quality start' doesn't it? 3 ER in 6 IP? I think it does!
2) Rambo has still not allowed a run to score.
3) We only left seven men on base.
4) Munchkin was not caught stealing.
5) Drew had 3 hits.
6) Papi had one walk and no strike outs. So while he's not making GOOD contact, he's still making contact.
7) Buck Martinez was not announcing the game, and we didn't have to listen to him constantly mispronouncing "OR-tiz"... does he pronounce his own last name as "MAR-tinez"? Come on now... someone could have at least told him he was saying it wrong. That's just embarassing.
8) Kevin Youkilis is still batting over .400, and is hitting for power.
9) The Yankees don't run as well as Tampa Bay... and we have a lefty with a good pickoff move on the mound tonight.
10) We get until Friday before we have to face TB again.

Think positively everyone. They'll be ok

JayBay: Being All Dramatic In The Late Innings

What is it about the 9th inning that turns JayBay into the Papi of 2006? Does he start sitting closer to him in the 8th inning unconsciously? Does he have mango salsa between innings? Does he walk around the dugout, pre-9th, mumbling quietly to himself "...and that's why they call ME Big Papi"? Honestly now, can you even picture JayBay calling himself Big Papi? Even just the thought of that makes me feel uncomfortable. It doesn't seem like something he would do. Whatever it is that he's doing to lead up to the 9th, I pray to the gods of baseball that he keeps doing it.

Kerry Wood doesn't have the same reputation as Mariano Rivera, but JayBay made sure that they got the same results when they faced him. That right there is drama. Waiting until the 9th inning, waiting until your entire team looks exhausted beyond belief and can no longer put effort into baseball, to hit a game winning home run (or a game tying one, but we're talking about last night's game, not Friday night's game). The fun thing about JayBay is that we haven't had him long enough to get a complete feel for who he is as a player. There are scouting reports, and the last few months of the '08 season, but you really need to watch a guy for an entire season to know how they're going to respond to the pressure of Boston. I think that the pressure is making Jason shine. I really do hope he keeps it up. He's very talented, and I'd like to see him kept around for a while.

So, yesterday morning I started receiving angry text messages from friends bitching about Nick Green being benched for Julio Lugo, which of course did not happen yesterday, as if these people did not know that Lugo was going to be activated LONG before he was actually activated. My stance is this... we just got through with Earth Day, and there's been a big push (presumably globally) to "Go Green." Hey, if Green is good enough for the Earth, he's good enough for Red Sox Nation, right? I don't hear any countries, never mind planets, pushing for us to "Go Lugo." They might be pushing, but then again "Lugo" could very well mean something different in Scandinavian than it does in English. Maybe in Scandanavia, a Lugo is something that gets on base and fields well. Unfortunately, that's not how it works here. So work towards saving the planet and just stay Green (even if he does clash with the uniforms!)


I know, the job is actually Lugo's to lose, because Theo, for some reason, seems to be in love with him. Whatever. He'll lose it on his own merits. I truly believe that he will. Remember, when Green makes a bad play on the field, he gets a hit or two to make up for it. Can we say the same about certain POS's? No.

I would be hard pressed to write a long-winded post about last night's game without dedicating at least some space to the incredible pitching of Timothy last night. 1 hit in 7 innings? Tim was rolling... so were his knucklers... behind/in front of George Kottaras. Every time a Wakefield catcher misses a ball, I reactionarily burst out with 'Dougie would have had that.' I'm hoping one day that I can stop doing that. Perhaps before Wake retires...?

Anyhow, congratulations to Mikey, the AL Player of the Week. Even with that bad hip, he managed to leg out a triple yesterday, even if he was stranded at 3rd. It's ok. We still won. Way to go, Mikey!

(insert cheesy 'Penny' pun here)... so let's go for the full dozen tonight and hopefully take solo hold of the AL East.