Playing Catch-up: Closing Out the Diamondback Series

It's not a well-kept secret that I have no faith in John Lackey. Somehow, I got the impression that Lackey is always on the mound when we have the chance to sweep, and he always comes up short. Being the good, completely not-lazy blogger that I am, I decided to go back through the whole entire season, three grueling months, and check out any opportunities to sweep. I would have bet my firstborn on the fact that it was Lackey blowing our chances at the sweeps. Instead, what I found made me sort of sad. Results are here:

Missed Sweep Opportunities
April 22, Rangers @ Sox - Starter: C. Buchholz
April 25, Orioles @ Sox - Starter: T. Wakefield
May 12, Blue Jays @ Sox - Starter: T. Wakefield
June 3, A's @ Sox - Starter: T. Wakefield
June 6, Sox @ Orioles - Starter: J. Lackey
June 13, Phillies @ Sox - Starter: T. Wakefield

Sigh. Poor Tim. I don't know how I turned his starts into Lackey starts in my mind, but I guess Lackey deserves a little more credit than I give him. I still won't give it to him yet, but he deserves it.

Anyhow, that still didn't leave me very confident in the matchup of John Lackey vs. Dan Haren (PS, Dan Haren? The hobo look does not suit you. Clean yourself up). It wasn't as if Haren had much better numbers than Lackey, or that he's intimidating. He doesn't, and he's not. I just... don't trust John. He had two innings in which he didn't allow a run to score. His only clean inning of the night was his final inning - the sixth. All in all, he allowed 8 hits, 2 walks, 3 ER's, and he hit a guy. Not the most impressive outing against a team that came in to this game with a record of 26-41. They're not the Orioles, but they're also not a very good team. It's ok, he walked away with the win, and it's good enough for me, I guess. Ok, it's not, but I'll deal with my own Lackey-related issues another time.

The offense backed Lackey with 10 hits and 8 runs, including a 2-run home run by the Large Father himself. If there's any doubt that Ortiz is ok and people pressed the panic button too early with him, his 14 home runs and .266 average should alleviate some of that doubt. Turns out he just had a slow start. I promise, this is the last I'll harp on Papi's slow start and the horrible overreaction to such. I'm just happy that our Papi is back, and can still hit them out. Every Papi home run is like a ray of sunshine on a cold, rainy day.

Daniel Nava, though, was great. The kid, as of the June 17th game, had four doubles, six RBI's, and a grand slam in less than a week. Could we really ask for more from him? Oh yeah, he scored two runs of his own and contributed with three hits to help finish off the Diamondbacks. He's honestly got to be on top of the world, and I hope he gets to stay there. I bet he and Wake have plenty to talk about, what with no one wanting them to play baseball and still managing to pull themselves up and have big league careers and all. I know, I'm getting ahead of myself with Nava, but he's just got such a great story that it's hard for me not to. I wish nothing but good things for him.

Overall, the only batters without hits were Youk, Drew, and McDonald, which is perfectly fine, because we all know they contribute other times. How can I really complain about a win, especially when I'm this far behind with my blogging (not going to meet my quota for the month... damnit!)? I can't. And I won't. I'll gladly take a sweep and a Papi home run any day, even if it IS Lackey on the mound.

Next in my catch-up effort... Manny returns. Bet you can't wait... because Lord knows we hadn't heard enough about him!

Two Days Behind: Wednesday Night at Fenway

I'm so frazzled from school and work that I honestly can't remember if I already wrote about this game. I know for sure I didn't get to upload any of my pictures yet. I'll get to that this weekend, but whether or not they make it onto the blog is debatable (they probably won't).

But I wanted to make sure I wrote about it, because it was a fun game. I love watching Jon Lester pitch. I honestly do... not that this fact surprises anyone. Though, this season, whenever I've seen Lester pitch, I'm on the wrong side of the field. Luck is funny like that. Anyhow, Lester wasn't sharp. He wasn't bad, but he definitely was struggling with keeping the ball in the strike zone. He walked three and hit a batter, but still managed to strike out seven D-backs. I also had to laugh, because the other player I wanted to see, Stephen Drew, didn't play. Figures. I would have had a perfect view of him, but it was not to be. I got a few shots of him at-bat in the 9th, but you couldn't really see his face. Maybe next time. Yes, I covet the younger Drew... less now than in the past. When we had Lugo, man, I would have given my left hand to swap him for S. Drew. Now we've got Scu-Scu-Scutaro, and I'll be honest, I sort of like him. So, no more Drew brothers for us. For now.

David Ortiz had the only two walks given to the Red Sox on Wednesday, which strikes me as a sign that he is back at that level where people are afraid to pitch to him. Maybe I'm just delusional because I want to believe that, but either way works for me. Our farm system twims, Munchkin and Youk, both had 2-run home runs that were clobbered pretty solidly. Overall, we had ten hits, Scutaro, Munchkin, and Beltre had two apiece. Really, against Rodrigo Lopez, I sort of expected more, but I will happily take these results.

So, despite his lack of sharp command, Jonny managed seven innings, allowing 2 runs on a home run, and four hits overall. He may not have been sharp, but his performance was certainly good enough. Bard, Rambo, and Paps finished up the game for us. Daniel had a clean inning in the 8th. Rambo came in for the ninth, pitched 2/3rds, and gave way to Paps who technically got a save. Sure, he came in with 2 on, meaning that the runner at the plate represented their possible 5th run, making it a technical save situation, but in the 9th, the game never felt like a possible loss. The Diamondbacks are just in a free-fall right now, and they aren't scary. I was happy to get the win, and I do love Pap's entrance into the game, so... good things. All good things.

On top of that, the weather held out, and we ended up with no rain after all. Perfect night. Not hot, cold, or humid, and a relatively easy commute home. I would be greedy to ask for anything more

Manny: My Favorite Subject

Good game last night. Dahmer struggled a bit early, but still turned in a quality outing. Sox lost no ground in the standings. I love Stephen Drew, blah blah blah. I can't convince myself that I want to write about that game last night. It was good. We won. Aside from a home run from Papi and the fact that Adrian Beltre has gone like, a whole week without maiming an outfielder, it was a pretty easygoing game. Nothing exciting to write home about.

The topic on everyone's minds right now is Manny. He's coming. On Friday, Manny is back in Fenway park. I'll laugh if he's not in the lineup on Friday, but since I suspect he will be, the decision that all 37,000 fans that will be in attendance that night comes down to one issue. To boo or not to boo.

If you even CONSIDER booing Manny, I have to question your fanhood. If you actually do it, you should be ashamed of yourself. I'll be standing and clapping for him, because he deserves it. Things ended badly, of course. Don't they always seem to?

Manny is what we made him. He became a spoiled child because we LET him. No matter what he did, we cheered. And really, he did plenty of amazing things with the Sox, so Manny gets the standing O. I went out of my way to get tickets to the game on Friday specifically so I could cheer Manny. He deserves it.

Pedro got the appropriate reaction. Do right by Manny, even if you didn't like how he left.

Daniel Nava: Making Me Sit In The Rain

I love Fenway. I'll sit in that park through many bad conditions, especially if we're winning. On Saturday, under a constant drizzle-to-light-rain, I sat in row 47 of the bleachers. I was two rows in front of the Dunkin' Dugout, and I'll tell ya, those aren't bad seats. Sure, you're far from the field, but there are no obstructed views, and the fans out in the bleachers are usually the most passionate fans of them all. We were suprised, my friend and I, when Dice-K was not on the mound. We couldn't figure out why Atchinson was starting. I'll admit, I was worried. But he did a fine job, considering that it was the first start of his career and he only had about 5 minutes of warning before he had to go face the Phillies. Two runs in three innings is good enough for a reliever in my book.

There were a lot of Phillies fans in my section, and for the most part, they were pretty cool. There were a handful that got very drunk and obnoxious, but I'm sure there were just as many drunk, obnoxious Sox fans. The one thing we all agreed on was the fact that the Yankees suck. A Yankee fan in attendance with an apparently good sense of humor decided to stand up and show off his 27 rings shirt, earning him the boos of everyone around him. We were all having a good time until one guy had to take it too far. He walked over to the Yankee fan and smacked his hat off his head, earning him a quick ejection from the park and the boos of the rest of us. I hate it when there's one person that takes it too far. For the record, the jerk WAS a Phillies fan. Please, if you're going to come into another team's park, at least don't be an ass.

So, Sox were down by a run when Daniel Nava stepped to the plate. A few people around us hadn't heard of him, but I had read before the game that he was called up (and I was excited, because I knew his back story, and I love when guys like him get a shot at the majors). We didn't even get a chance to debate the merits of him getting a call-up when he smacked Joe Blanton's first pitch into the bullpen (caught by Manny Delcarmen!) for a grand slam. Fenway was crazed. I love it when that old park gets that level of energy, especially in the rain. We were buzzing again when he came up for his next at-bat with the bases loaded and nobody out AGAIN! What are the odds of that? I know that four people have hit grand slams in their first major league at-bat, and only Kevin Kouzmanoff has hit it on the first pitch, but how many batters have had bases loaded with no one out for their first two major league at bats?

Also, I find in incredibly interesting that Wolverine was one of the other two players to have hit a grand slam in his first at bat, and the reason that Nava got the opportunity to HAVE that at-bat was because Wolverine was on the DL. I don't know, maybe that's not amusing to anyone else, but I think it's a fantastic coincidence. Overall, Nava ended up with two hits (GS and 2B) and four RBI. That's a debut you can be proud of. Welcome to Fenway, Daniel! Also, very cool that his parents JUST made it to the game and recorded the whole thing for him.

Our bullpen did a great job of banding together on a night when we suddenly found ourselves without a starter. As mentioned, Atchinson only gave up the 2 runs, but because he only pitched three innings, he wasn't eligible for the win. Delcarmen came in after Atch, pitched two scoreless innings and got the win. Oki pitched 1 1/3, and Rambo collected 1 2/3rds. Paps, coming back from bereavement leave, pitched the ninth just to get some work. After all, we had an 8-run lead at that point. Great job all around by our pitching.

In other parts of the lineup, Drew had a very nice night with three hits. Six out of nine guys had 2 or more hits. Tek, Youk, and Scutaro had one hit a piece. I mean, what can I really say about this game that hasn't been said already? Great night, and a great way for Nava to introduce himself to the Fenway Faithful, even if it was raining.

Tim Wakefield: Giving Me A Legitimate Reason To Have To Post

The blog is something that I tend to fall away from easily. I like writing it, but sometimes I'd just rather read what other people write. That is my explanation for why I've ignored some pretty great games by the Red Sox, and wrote absolutely nothing about my trip to Baltimore this past weekend. But, Tim has prompted me to action once again. Maybe the good vibes coming from Mr. Wakefield will keep me motivated for a few days.

Timmy officially passed The Texas Conman on the Sox all-time IP list. That is no small accomplishment, to be sure. Tim has now pitched 2,777 innings as a member of the Red Sox. That's 8,331 outs. Using my magical estimation of roughly 5 pitches per batter, it means Tim's thrown 41,655 pitches as a member of the Sox. I may go back and do some actual research later, but try not to hold your breath for that. Sixteen seasons. Do you know how old I was when Tim joined the Red Sox? Nine. Since then, I've gone on to graduate high school and college, plodded my way almost through a master's degree (only a few months to go before I'm done!), had three different jobs, two different cars, and countless different friends. I've gone from listening to a cassette player, to a CD player, to an iPod. The walls in my room have been painted five times. When Tim started pitching, my TV weighed about 500 pounds (rough estimate), and the picture was grainy. Now it weighs about 20 pounds and we have HD. All these things have changed, and yet Tim stays the same. On he goes, with his 66 mph knuckleball dancing down the lane, and his 70 mph fastball somehow still confusing people.

Sure, there are plenty of stats that don't look so hot on Tim's record, and he's still got a long way to go before he reaches the top of the Sox all-time win list. He's piled up quite a few losses, and he'll never make Cooperstown, but there is no one I would rather see get to the top of that list than Tim Wakefield. He's been a good soldier throughout his career, both on and off the field, and I've got nothing but respect for what he's done.

So his win last night was appropriate. Timmy went 7 1/3rd innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned), four hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. He lowered his ERA by half a run. Tim was helped out with some two-out RBI's from Youk, Beltre, and Hall. Three runs was all he needed. Granted, the Indians aren't the hottest hitting team in baseball right now, but they're still better than some teams... aren't they? I don't want to get into the offense, really, because it took an error for them to start scoring any runs against a guy who almost got his head taken off a few weeks ago. A guy who's 2-7 with an ERA over five and a flat fastball... yeah, they couldn't hit off of him. It's fine. They gave Tim just enough, when they usually give him nothing. I'll take it.

Sure, all-time IP leader may not be the most impressive title, but I don't care. Congratulations, Tim Wakefield. Here's to sixteen more wins!

Armando Galarraga: Robbed

Ugh... All I have to say about the attempted perfect game by Galarraga is that the umpires blew it. To lose a no-hitter is one thing. Sure, it's painful, and sure, you may never get it again, but it's not as bad. Galarraga had what would have been the third perfect game of the 2010 season if the umpire at first, Jim Joyce, hadn't completely blown the call. There have never been as many as two perfect games in a season before this year. Three would have been amazing.

Listen, I can't speak for what Jim Joyce saw or heard, but Jason Donald was out by a whole step. Sure, Galarraga snow-coned the ball, but he was holding onto it. Heartbreaking. Galarraga handled the news well, but his facial expression broke my heart.

Jim Joyce should be ashamed of himself. I've been saying it all season... the umpiring this year has been disgraceful. I don't care if he made the call he thought was right, I hope he gets punished for it.

Also, in news that I feel I should have more to say about... Ken Griffey Jr. has announced his retirement. For a long time, Griffey was the embodiment of hope. He was going to be the next Hank Aaron. He was going to break the home run record. He was going to break every record there was. And then injuries derailed his career, and we were all left wondering what could have been. Don't get me wrong, The Kid put together a tremendous career, and his accomplishments are certainly nothing to be ashamed of. He had a wonderful 22 year and 2 month career that will almost definitely end with him getting into Cooperstown on the first ballot. If he doesn't, it'll be a crime against baseball for sure.

He finishes up with 630 home runs, putting him fifth on the all-time home run list. There's not a whole lot I can say about Griffey that won't be said a million times in the coming days. All I can say is that in the game of baseball and the hearts of baseball fans, he's a legend in his own right, and he will be missed. Thanks, Junior, for all the memories and good luck!

VMart: Saving Lackey's W

Five hits came pouring off the bat of Victor Martinez last night. Just enough to ensure that he literally did ALL he could to get the W for Lackey. This looked like a game that was destined to result in a Red Sox loss. You had a pretty unimpressive starter, a bunch of hitters who couldn't hit with runners on base, and just a general sense of 'aw, this is not gonna be fun'

Lackey didn't deserve the win, but he got it. Personally, I don't think he's deserved any win this season. Instead of writing an actual post, because really, why would I want to do that, I'm going to make a list of people I think deserved the win more than Lackey last night. In a semi-particular order:

-Victor Martinez
-Adrian Beltre
-Manny Delcarme
-Daniel Bard
-Joe Nelson
-Dustin Pedroia
-Kevin Youkilis
The bottom 3rd of our order
-Kerwin Danley
-Gio Gonzalez
-Alex Gonzalez
-Tim Wakefield
-Josh Beckett
-The impending pitching performance of Daisuke Matsuzaka
-Billy Beane
-The concept of Moneyball
-The cast of Hell's Kitchen
-My cat, Pandora
-My other cat, Izzy
-Kevin Millar
-Don Orsillo
-Jerry Remy
-The game Family Feud
-Jose Lima (Rest in peace, Jose)
-Roy Halladay
-The city of Baltimore (I'll see you Friday, Baltimore!)

That about does it. Man, and you thought I couldn't get any lazier!