Because we haven’t had enough…
Wasn’t it nice back when none of the players were responding to the criticisms brought about by Bob Hohler’s article? Remember those halcyon days?
Now we have Jon Lester personally calling just about every sports writer in New England, Josh Beckett and John Lackey releasing statements, yesterday was Jason Varitek fielding softballs from Greg Hill on WAAF and today we get Clay Buchholz on WEEI at 1pm with Lou Merloni. Hooray for mass communication!
While the players all say that drinking in the clubhouse during a game isn’t a big deal, apparently drinking in the dugout is, as that report is what got Beckett and Lackey to speak up. Essentially the players are saying, “Sure we drank in the clubhouse but we wouldn’t dream of bringing those cups of beer into the dugout! The horror!”.
Personally, I find there to be no difference. If you’re drinking during a game, whether in the clubhouse or dugout, you’re drinking during a game. It would be nice if these guys would spend more time trying to break down exactly what happened in September since they’re so certain it had nothing to do with drinking or a fractured clubhouse. My interpretation of what is being said is “We just sucked and there is no reason for it”, which, frankly, doesn’t fly.
All through September I wrote about (and argued) how I absolutely didn’t believe that the team just “stopped caring”. It was unbelievable to me that a team of professionals could not care about the outcome of the games or the season given how hard they worked. I still feel like there were plenty of players who didn’t just give up but I feel like I still have to eat my words because frankly, the quotes these guys are tossing out there right now pretty much feel like they’re saying they didn’t care…and that is much more disappointing than the team losing.
I hope Tito is having a cup of green tea this morning, reflecting on what an amazing run he had with the Red Sox and thanking God that he’s away from the mess they have become.
Seven years ago today, the Red Sox won game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, beating the Yankees and confirming their spot in baseball history. All of this ridiculousness won’t change that but it sure makes me long for those days.
Red Sox at Tigers Live Chat
With tonight’s game canceled, we get two on Sunday (Actually, we don’t…the 7pm game won’t be televised because of MLB’s lame ass rules). Unfortunately, I won’t be able to run the live chat (then again, at least we won’t get Fox!!)
It would figure that I get home in time to start the live chat and the first message I read tells me that there is a good possibility of a rain delay…Let’s see how this goes.
The “Fox Blacked Us Out” Live Chat
A Good Morning
Last night is what they call a good sports night in Boston. Red Sox (with Tim Wakefield on the mound) won again, then the Bruins won the Eastern Conference finals and are now on their way to the Stanley Cup finals and, to top off the night, the Yankees lost, helping to bump the Red Sox into sole possession of first place in the American League East. It almost sounds like fiction, having everything align so perfectly in one night, but it isn’t…it happened and we get to bask in the glow if only for one day (it will be more than one day but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).
Sadly, I didn’t see one moment of last night’s Sox game, only got to see the last period of the Bruins game and missed the Yankees game altogether. Sometimes life gets in the way of sports, which is okay. They can win without me once in a while, I don’t mind!
Because I usually don’t give much thought to what time the games begin unless I’m planning a live chat, I didn’t discover until this morning that Fox has, yet again, made it difficult or impossible for out of town fans to watch tonight’s Red Sox game. I’ve been icing and resting the arm and this morning as I type this it feels a lot better than it has…so I am tentatively scheduling a live blog/chat for tonight. As long as my arm holds up, we’ll be here for Buchholz v Oliver at 7:00 tonight. This one, while it will include the same chatty banter as usual, will include (from me) more legitimate game updates live blog style for those who won’t get to see the game…join us won’t you?
Need something to drink after that game?
I hadn't planned on taking any photos...but I got at least one!
You know what? Yesterday wasn’t the worst game I ever attended in person. Think about THAT for a moment.
Great seats, crappy game, good company. It came out as a win for me. Let us not speak of it again.
After the game was a bit of interesting. I was one of many invited to the Charity Wines launch introducing this year’s Red Sox Wines: Jon Lester’s CabernAce and Clay Buchholz’ ChardonClay. Photos taken by my friend (and friend to many of you!), Kelly O’Connor, were used to inspire the artwork on the bottles so there was a lot to be happy about. Plus, there was free wine. I mean, really, why turn that down, right?
It was a very nice event and I truly appreciate the invite. Lester and Buchholz were both there with their families explaining how 100% of the proceeds of the sales of the wines will go to the Jimmy Fund (ChardonClay) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (CabernAce). If you’re out and about and hit up a liquor store in the Massachusetts and/or Rhode Island area, keep an eye out for these $14 wines.
I’m a red wine fan from way back but after tasting both I was surprised to find that between the two I enjoyed the ChardonClay a bit more than the CabernAce. They’re both good wines that you’ll enjoy AND be doing a good thing when buying them…so get thee to the packie!
Tonight Tim Wakefield gets another shot at at “W” thanks to Wednesday’s marathon game that Daisuke ending up pitching in. Here’s hoping the win actually comes!
(I KNOW I’ve been promising a contest that hasn’t happened yet…I’m going to put it off until the beginning of the week..and this time I mean it! Contest on Monday for another book giveaway!)
Theeeee Red Sox Win!
You're up next, Daisuke! (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor and used with permission)
Raise your hand if you had John Lackey and Josh Beckett as the first two pitchers to get a Red Sox win.
Now put your hand down because you are a liar.
Where John Lackey got the win on Friday in spite of his pitching, Josh Beckett earned every bit of his “W” last night. 103 pitches over eight innings made me happy enough…but the two hits, ten strike outs and only walking one made me practically delirious. While Carl Crawford was the only Red Sox player who couldn’t get a hit off of the Yankees, Robinson Cano and Eric Chavez were the only Yankees who could hit the Red Sox last night. These are all things we should be happy about.
The Red Sox came into this home stand with a record of 0-6. They were facing the New York Yankees, including their ace CC Sabathia, and needed to at least win the series if not sweep to save any kind of face. The “lowly” Red Sox who were previously swept by a powerhouse Texas Rangers team and a supposedly mediocre Cleveland Indians team got nine hits off of CC. Nine. Last night, Boone Logan was the only Yankees pitcher to take the mound who didn’t give up a run. These things, they are all good.
For various reasons, I was up for most of the night. I passed the time by reading message boards, blogs and Twitter accounts and came out with this: Many people, some Red Sox fans, think that we would be silly in celebrating what happened this weekend. I say foo on you people. Are we supposed to whine about the team until they’re over .500? Do we not celebrate any wins until the team sweeps a series? We wanted and needed the Red Sox to win and they did…two out of three times…I’ll take it any day of the week. (Also, it appears many Yankees fans believe the home plate umpire last night was biased in favor of the Red Sox because MLB wants the Red Sox in the race. I actually read/heard this from handfuls of people from different forums, including email to me, and they were serious. I know it’s tough to lose to a team whose record prior to the series was a whopping zero wins, but this is just sad…especially in April.)
I will happily take the two wins and bring them to this next series. The Rays are struggling as the Sox are so both teams need to step it up tonight. Much to my surprise, I’ll be at tonight’s game thanks to a phone call offering up a seat. (Confession: I had no intentions of going to any games against the Rays this year because of Manny Ramirez. I didn’t want to have to deal with anger at people booing him, anger at people cheering him and my own confusion about what it all meant to me. Sadly, Manny fixed that for me so I don’t have to worry about it. More on Manny later.)
So bask for a little longer, folks and then come back ready for another series that will probably try our patience and test our fortitude.
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Random stat that doesn’t mean anything so don’t let the Boston sports media freak you out today: From 2008-2010, Daisuke’s ERA against the Tampa Bay Rays is 6.00
Blog suggestion for the day: Allan over at Joy of Sox details the Clay Buchholz contract extension (which is much deserved and makes me very happy even if the timing of it is quite humorous!).
My Red Sox Confessions
Kyle Snyder in '06 - Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor and used with permission.
I’m not one who complains about Daylight Savings; I dig it being light out at 7, 8pm. But, apparently, it has been messing with my sleep patterns because this week I have gotten up every day at least an hour later than I usually do. So, once again, my post today is late and, this time, more of just a bit of rambling than any one cohesive thought. How about some confessions that you might or might now already know about me?
* I like Daisuke Matsuzaka. Sure it’s convenient for me to say that after he pitched so well yesterday, but I do. I’ve liked him from the beginning. I don’t fret over the money the Red Sox put out just to bid on him and I think, as far as making money in the bubble of the world known as MLB, he has been worth the money he’s being paid.
* I don’t like Jon Lester. I have my reasons just like everyone has their reasons for liking or not liking a player. Having written that, if he isn’t the starting pitcher for Opening Day, I will suspect Terry Francona was dropped on his head just before making the announcement. While I could also see Tito starting Clay Buchholz and being more than happy with that, I think Crabcakes has earned getting the nod first (and next).
* Ever since Mike Timlin left the Red Sox I haven’t developed a deep down, true favorite player. The seasons between 2002-2008 were magical for many reasons not the least of for me was the abundance of players to fall for. Kyle Snyder and Mike Timlin are the remnants of those years – both my last “favorite” players who are both no longer playing (hopefully that won’t be the case for Kyle much longer but who knows). I love the team and if I had to quickly pick the one whose being traded or DFA’d would rip my heart out I guess I’m looking at either JD Drew or Clay Buchholz. But it still isn’t the same. Ask anyone who went to a game with me while Mike Timlin was active and they’ll tell you how physically and emotionally involved I got in his appearances. You can also ask the handful of friends who spent the day texting me to find out if I was all right the Saturday Kyle was designated for assignment (yes, without looking I remembered it was a Saturday and they were in Toronto. The pain is burned into my memory). There’s no one on the team I feel that deeply for. Maybe that’s a good thing? I do know it changes the way I watch the games just a little bit.+
* I’ve never not had Bronson Arroyo on a fantasy baseball team and this year he’s on my team in two different leagues. So, in reference to the confession above this one, were he still on the Red Sox HE’D be the favorite. (I also still hold out the unrealistic hope of his returning to the Red Sox some day. I’m an optimist.)
* I’ve discovered (or maybe RE-discovered) that if I have any hard feelings for ex-Red Sox players (and goodness knows I do) they are stronger for Johnny Damon than they are for Manny Ramirez. I know the Yankees thing and the out and out lying thing are big parts of that but it struck me odd that I watched Manny and had NO feelings about how he did at bat (I felt “meh”) but just seeing Johnny holding a baseball bat my first thought was “I hope you strike out”. In real life, I’m a fairly rational person. Obviously this doesn’t translate well to my baseball fandom.
+If the Red Sox trade or DFA Tim Wakefield this year, I have no idea how I will handle it. They can only trade him with his approval because of his time in the league and on the Sox, so I guess I’d be more okay with that than with them just dumping him. He’s on a different level than a “favorite” player; he’s Tim Freaking Wakefield. I can’t write any more about it because it’s upsetting me just to think about it.
Bring on the Wine
The "Art Reference" for these labels? Kelly O’Connor! (Artwork & Illustration by Jonathan Banchick)
I’m a big fan of the Charity Hop baseball-themed wines. I like wine, I like baseball, so what’s not to like about these wines? Especially since the proceeds go to charity?
It’s already time to get your wine on! From the press release:
Debuting from Longball Cellars are charity wines for Boston baseball pitching aces Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. The players do not profit a single dime. Instead, 100% of their proceeds will raise big league dollars for charity:
- Clay Buchholz: ChardonClay, a chardonnay, benefits the Jimmy Fund
- Jon Lester: CabernAce, a cabernet, benefits Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The 2011 wines are produced by acclaimed the Selby Winery located in Healdsburg, California. Both wines are expected to retail for about $14 a bottle, and will be available beginning in May 2011 across Red Sox Nation. For wine connoisseurs and Sox fans out of region, wines can be purchased online at www.charitywines.com.
Retailers can begin placing their orders beginning today, and wine will hit the shelved in May.
I have to admit, it’s a bit of a stroke of genius to use Crabby and Clay this year. Heck, they’re the two pitchers in the Red Sox rotation that folks aren’t wondering about right now. Strike while the iron is hot, right?
There’s a tremendous irony in the fact that, given my preference for red wine over white, the one I’ll be buying will be Lester’s, yes?
I like the charities the two have chosen. Back in the day when I was selling “K Cancer” shirts to support Lester’s battle with cancer, half the money went to Dana Farber while the other half went to the Hutch, because those were the two places that Jon was treated. I think Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund are wonderful places that do extraordinary work, but it’s important for people to remember that there are other places out there doing important work as well. Nice of Charity Hops and Jon Lester to remind us.
Also from the press release, a bit of interesting information about how well the Red Sox-themed wines have sold:
To date, Red Sox player wines sales have raised more than $670,000 for various charities. In 2011, the 9th and 10th Boston ballplayers suit up for a wine label to support their cause. Charity Wines debuted in Boston in 2007 with releases from Manny Ramirez (Manny Being Merlot), Curt Schilling (Schilling Schardonnay) and Tim Wakefield (CaberKnuckle). Charit y Wines returned in 2008 with releases from David Ortiz (Vintage Papi), Jason Varitek (Captain’s Cabernet) and Kevin Youkilis (SauvignYoouuk Blanc). After a year hiatus in 2009, Charity Wines returned in 2010 with vino from Jacoby Ellsbury (ZinfandEllsbury) and Josh Beckett (Chardon-K).
For sentimental reasons, I still have a bottle of CaberKnuckle a bottle of Manny Being Merlot and a bottle of Schilling Schardonnay. For less sentimental reasons I also have a bottle of Vintage Papi, one of SauvignYoouuk Blanc and one of Captain’s Cabernet. I never picked up the Ellsbury or Beckett wines (mostly because, as you can tell, I tend to collect things I don’t need to when it comes to the Red Sox and since I don’t like white wine I talked myself out of getting these two!). I’m still a big fan of the CaberKnuckle and hold out hope that they make another wine that tastes like it!
It’s all the little signs of spring that get me excited for the season!!
Pitchers and Spelling
At some point in 2007, I read an entire blog entry about Clay Buchholz where the writer continually referred to him as “Taylor”. When this was pointed out to him, he responded by taking down the entire entry. I assumed that he had heard about an up and coming pitcher named Buchholz and ran with it, mixing up the names when he did a Google search. The cherry on the sundae was that he spelled Buchholz wrong (and differently) throughout the entry. Sometimes it was Buccholz, sometimes it was Bucholtz but not once was it Buchholz. It is a pet peeve of mine when people can’t spell someone’s name correctly. It bothers me in all aspects of my life (people are constantly spelling my last name wrong) but it really gets me when you devote yourself to something like, say, a baseball team enough to follow blogs (or write your own blog) and post on message boards about it and you can’t take the time to find out how a player spells his name.
I know there are times when I make typos aplenty on this blog (and it will be amusing if some make it through this entry). I go out of my way to triple check everything I write before I hit the “publish” button, but a lot sneaks through, so my criticism isn’t about the random typing mistake someone might make. If you are writing in a public forum and you want people to take you seriously, it behooves you to learn the proper spelling of another person’s name.
Well now everyone will, hopefully, get plenty of opportunities to spell Buchholz out as the Red Sox claimed Taylor Buchholz, last with the Toronto Blue Jays, off of waivers. Before they get the name right, though, be prepared for many, many writers who go out of their way to mention that the Buchholz boys aren’t related. As if with all the attention Clay has garnered in the last three years the fact that he had a relative who also pitched might have been missed. It will be amusing if Taylor took number 61. The press would go crazy for it with the “Everyone with an old Clay Buchholz jersey can wear it again” cracks. In any event, I’m just pleased that the moves the Sox are making thus far involve pitchers. Along with claiming Buchholz, the Sox traded Dustin Richardson to the Florida Marlins and got left-hander Andrew Miller in return.
Where it seemed last year the Red Sox were looking for veterans to help the bullpen get it together, it looks like maybe this time around they’re going with youth. I’ll wait until Spring Training before I decide whether I think this is a good idea but, as it stands, so far I don’t think it’s a bad one.
It's a thin line
At the very least, this man deserves a bit of a rest (and a stiff drink!). Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com and used with permission.
May I just tell you how much I hate this weekend?
I don’t hate it solely because the Red Sox won’t be in the post-season. You win some, you lose some and I can deal with that fine. And it isn’t that I don’t like the playoffs. I do. Even when the Sox aren’t in them they are usually compelling and fun to watch. Especially this year when there is really only one team I absolutely don’t want to see get past the first round. It’s nice to have a bunch of teams to watch that you know you’ll enjoy watching. I’m hoping for a Reds/Twins World Series but, really, as long as it doesn’t involve the Yankees, the World Series won’t be a disappointment for me this year.
The main reason I hate this weekend is because of the loss of every day baseball. During the season, there is almost no weekday evening where I don’t spend the majority of it watching baseball. If I’m home, pretty much from 7pm until at least midnight, there is a ballgame on somewhere in my vicinity thanks to the Extra Innings package. I just love baseball and I want to watch as much as I can. So marking the end of the regular season always makes me a bit melancholy.
There’s also the off-season to think about, which always gets me a bit emotional. Players we’ve grown to love (or at least really want around) might not be coming back, so the last weekend of the season turns out to be a longer goodbye for some of us and the players than others. I wonder if next season we’ll be witness to more dugout tomfoolery with Adrian Beltre and his head or if we’ll get to see Victor Martinez and his son playing on the Fenway grass. I wonder if we’ll be clapping and singing to “Shipping Up to Boston” in the top of the ninth or if it’ll be “Strange Hold” (is that even still Bard’s entrance music?). Come December, I’ll be a lot more eager to find out the answers to these and other questions but right now I’m a little blue thinking about them.
As a gift to we fans who have stood by this team all season long, the baseball gods have given us a final weekend of baseball at home…against the Yankees. Really, baseball gods? We haven’t suffered enough? Oh well. The bad news is that along with my boys, my last visuals of Fenway this season will include the likes of Slappy, Captain Intangibles and freaking Mark Teixeira. The good news is that the Red Sox could end up being the reason that the Yankees go into the playoffs on the dreaded (only by them) Wild Card instead of winning the division. The thought of this gives me joy-filled goosebumps.
I think it’s fitting that the two pitchers I’ll be seeing (if the weather doesn’t mess things up) are Clay Buchholz and John Lackey. Clay because he’s my guy in that rotation and Lackey because I feel like I’ve been one of his only supporters all season. I know how he’s pitched and I still think, when that contract is over, we’ll have gotten more good than bad from him. So I’m excited for the pitching this weekend and I’m excited to be able to be there to say goodbye to Mike Lowell (although not excited about saying goodbye). My hope is to shoot video of the tribute to share with folks but I can’t guarantee I’ll be in a good position to do it (nor can I guarantee my hands will be steady enough to shoot it!) but I promise I will at least make the attempt!
How is it possible that I’m dreading AND looking forward to this weekend?
Toeing the Rubber- Is Joe Maddon for Real? May 26, 2012
- Today’s Internet Find ~ Winlin! May 22, 2012
- .500 feels good May 22, 2012
- Uphill Battle May 20, 2012
- Brett Lawrie gets off easy May 17, 2012
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- Twitter / toeingtherubber
- toeingtherubber: RT @lorenandwally: Bill Lee coming up at 7:45, you can find him in Fall River this Saturday too! http://t.co/ViZB1oFj #WROR #REDSOX #SPA ... May 29, 2012
- toeingtherubber: Totally worth staying up until almost 1am to see Mark Trumbo hit a walk-off homer against the Yankees. Sweet. May 29, 2012
- toeingtherubber: RT @ac13alex: #Heat fans leaving early to avoid traffic, not acceptable in the playoffs. May 29, 2012
- toeingtherubber: Or, you know, obnoxious. RT @KeithCouch55: Lebron sayin yeaaaaaa in garnetts face #hilarious May 29, 2012
- toeingtherubber: RT @Trags: Yeah... Doc Rivers is really amused by Danny Crawford's giggling... May 29, 2012
