ARod is a Tool (Take note. I’m sure I’ll use this title again this season!)

MacDonald should have just punched him dead in the face. I’m sure it would have been well worth the suspension!I was at the game tonight and, well, it sucked.  Pretty much nothing else you can say about it.  Seeing that the Yankees won sucked too.  I know it really doesn’t matter.  "Oh the Yankees are coming to town only 13.5 games behind the Sox!"  (An email I actually just received from a Yankees fan) Whatever.  Regardless of the standings, I enjoy a good Yankees loss.  Hope to see a few more this weekend.  🙂

Apparently ARod is up to his assholiness again.  When it isn’t throwing an elbow or slapping a ball, I guess now it’s yelling to fake out an infielder.  Does this guy have any IDEA what it means to be a good sport?  Is the idea of sportsmanship totally foreign to him?  Has all the money he’s made put  him in a position where he doesn’t care if 90% of MLB fans and, probably, players, think, regardless of his talent, that he’s a total dick?

I’m not sure I’ve ever written this about anyone in my blog:  I hope he gets hit.  I hope the Red Sox hit him for the shit he pulled with Pedroia (which he acted all tough about in the press and then mouthed an apology during batting practice) or I hope the next time the Blue Jays face the Yankees, they knock him on his ass.

I don’t want him hit in the head.  I don’t want him hurt.  I want him to know that you can’t act like a freaking pussy on the field and get away with it. Good God this guy makes my skin crawl.   Someone should point him to the standings.   Yankees are a game and a half behind Toronto and 13.5 behind Boston.  Maybe he should focus on helping his team win by getting more hits instead of the bush shit he’s been pulling lately?

Okay, my rant is done.  Bottom line, Sox took the series from Cleveland.  It was great to be able to see Trot twice this week and I’m really looking forward to the series this weekend.  No trips to Fenway for me.  Which is great.  I like to enjoy some games from the comfort of my couch! 

Who says baseball is boring?

 

So my plan last night was to crash at home and just relax.  It was a wild four days and I’m back at Fenway tonight, so I needed a night to just chill.  I did.  But  also ended up staying awake much longer than I planned on, thanks to a ton of exciting games last night.

What can I write about the Sox that everyone hasn’t already written?  Beckett is back and still amazing.   He has now won 8 consecutive decisions (after a no-decision on Mother’s Day and missing two of his starts after that).  Kevin Youkilis has a 21 game hitting streak and in the last nine games he has two or more hits which is the longest streak of consecutive multi-hit games by a Red Sox player since Jim Rice.  (Nine in a row in 1978)!  Jason Varitek got in on the fun with a home run last night too.  This team is just ON right now and I’m enjoying every minute of it.  Speaking of Youk, he has a new blog at MLBlogs. Pretty funny stuff already.  Check it out!

If you watched the Yankees game, you saw Aaron Hill straight steal home on Andy Pettitte.  I had just turned the game on when Hill was up at bat, so I got to see it ‘live’.  Even watching it on television, it was one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in baseball in quite a while.

Then I turn on ESPN just in time to see the Mets and Giants tied up in extra innings.  I keep it on, thinking once they have the bases loaded, David Wright will win it.  Nope.  Then the Giants take the lead and I’m convinced it is over.  Oh me of little faith.  Two Armando Benitez balks and a Carlos Delgado home run later, and the Mets fans get to leave Shea happy.  Quite the fun night in baseball. 

Someone who didn’t have quite the ‘fun’  night in baseball that he should have is old friend Lenny Dinardo.  Based on his fabulous work in the bullpen, and the fact that the A’s need starting pitching, he got his first start as an A last night against Texas.  He looked, pretty face aside, damned good.   He pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up only 3 hits.  Then came the sixth.  A walk, followed by a guy on first when it should have been a double play (thanks to Lenny’s own error) and then a wild pitch, led Lenny to have to walk the bases loaded to pitch to Sammy Sosa.  That’s when things broke open.  Because the A’s couldn’t score against Texas, the one earned run (out of four that scored against Lenny) was the run that lost the game.  Lenny deserved better.  Bet he’s missing Boston right now, the poor kid.  Better luck next time, Len.

Along those same lines,  while Jon Lester had a super outing last night (Four hits in five innings.  No runs, 6 strike outs, 79 pitches.  The time is coming soon to see Jon in Fenway again!), Mike Timlin, unfortunately, didn’t.  He threw 23 pitches and gave up 3 hits, a walk and a run in the seventh.  Oh my Mike.  Hang tough, baby!

It’s no secret I take great joy in the shortcomings of the Yankees.  So seeing this  should have brought me more joy than it did.  I mean, how stupid is Alex Rodriguez?  I’ve heard plenty of stories from those ‘in the know’ about his extracurricular activities and as much as it bugs me (what IS it with baseball players cheating on their wives?) it was, at least, always kept out of the spotlight.  This rocket scientist is one of the most-watched players in MLB, on the team most covered by the media, during a time when everything the team and its players do is super-analyzed, and he can’t keep it in his pants for a couple of days?  Cavorting at a strip club with a blonde who is NOT your wife, Slappy, isn’t just sleazy, but it’s stupid.  Congratulations on that.

Daisuke on the mound tonight.  Sox have taken 2 out of 3 thus far from the team that was supposed to come in here and prove to Sox fans that this team isn’t as good as we think they are.  How’d that work, huh?

Trot is back and we won another

I was at the game last night.  I have now seen, AT Fenway, the last two ‘in the park’ home runs hit there by Red Sox players! 

Had many friends at the game last night so it was fun to be able to celebrate Trot’s return along with a great outing by Schill, Drew’s continuation of getting on base pretty much any way he can (with another RBI to boot!) and Manny smash one into the Monster seats.

But, honestly, being able to thank Trot again was the highlight for me.  The picture is fuzzy (hey I was in section 43 in the bleachers!) but I love that I was able to get it. 

Trot meant a lot to us and we got to ‘tell’ him that last night.  I was happy for that opportunity – as I was also happy that Drew came through the way he did last night.  Nice passing of the bat, so to speak.

How ’bout them Yankees, huh?  Schadenfreude right now, baby.

And do the Sox get credit, YET, for beating a ‘good’ team? 

Beckett is back tonight.  I’m hoping for more great things from him!  Kick some butt, Josh! 

Memorial Day

Good times, good times…

Photo of JD Drew taken by Kelly O’ConnorHaving a wonderful weekend with the Sistahs.  (Sadly, ending today.)  Can’t ask for better weather, better company or better results from the scoreboards.  Sox win the first two of the weekend, Yanks lose the first two.

Happy days, people.

A message  for Jerry Remy:  It’s pronounced "Dawn – uh – lee".  There are three syllables.  Donnelly.  This isn’t so tough.  Even Don Orsillo pronounces it correctly.  "Don-lee" is a totally different name. 

Get it right, bub.

And about this upcoming series at home against the Indians (where I’ll be at two of the three games)…Sox fans, lay off JD Drew.  He’s having a rough time of it right now and that will only be emphasized with Trot Nixon’s return to Fenway.  Keep some things in mind, though.  It isn’t his ‘fault’ the Sox didn’t re-sign Trot.  It isn’t his ‘fault’ the Sox gave him the money they did, and it isn’t his ‘fault’ they let him have number 7.  This guy is our right fielder now, not Trot. 

Now I love Trot.  Hell, I bought the tickets for tomorrow’s game the DAY he signed with Cleveland and purposely got them in a section where I’d be able to see him and cheer him when he takes his position.  No one was more pissed than me about JD having number 7, and no one was more upset than I was to see Trot with another team.  Much like Nomar, I have a very difficult time watching Trot play now because I wanted him to finish his career in Boston.   But he’s an Indian now.  I wish him every bit of luck and all good things.

But I want him to lose tomorrow.

And I don’t want Red Sox fans to use his return to Boston as a springboard for booing JD Drew tomorrow night.

Give the guy a little slack.  

I can’t wait to be part of the massive ovation Trot gets tomorrow night.  I truly can’t.  But I’ll be cheering for JD just a little louder tomorrow.  I hope Sox fans at the park do the same.  Let him know he’s ours. 

Day 2 of my long weekend begins…

Day 1 was fun.  After a few missteps, I was able to relax and enjoy the time heading up to game time.

Then, of course, we got hit with a two-hour rain delay which messed everything up.  🙂

I missed the last two innings of the game.  I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.  But I saw enough to see two things clearly :

1) Daisuke has brass ones.  According to Nick Cafardo, he started the game with stomach issues, was vomiting by the second inning, battle nausea the entire time he was out there (for five complete innings), and he still got the win.  It wasn’t pretty, for him, but it worked out.  Sports writers are beating him up today, but I’ll tell you what, I can’t sit at my desk and type while I’m nauseous and vomiting.  So for him to go out there and pitch a MLB game in that condition says a lot about him as a person and a player.  Way to go, Daisuke!

and 2) This team doesn’t let losing get them down.  They lost the series to New York, they lost their 4 run lead to Texas early, and they still came out fighting.  I  hope this keeps up throughout the year.

Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless inning in Pawtucket last night and said his shoulder is ‘sound’.  He pitches again on Sunday in Pawtucket.  Slow and steady, Mike.  No need to rush back.  (Jeez, how nice is it to write THAT?)

For reasons I haven’t found yet, they changed the time of today’s game from 3:55pm (on Fox) to 8:05pm (on NESN).  Oh well…maybe the rain will be completely gone by then.

Damn fine win for the Red Sox AND the PawSox last night.  Let’s keep up the good work fellas! 

Miscellaneous news on a Friday

Jon at Fenway earlier this month – courtesy of Yahoo! SportsMost importantly for Sox fans, Jon Lester had a great night in Pawtucket.   He threw 65 pitches, walked one, struck out one and allowed five hits and one run in his five-inning stint last night.  All good signs for the young pitcher.  Keep it up, Jon!

Speaking of Johns, John Smoltz got his 200th win last night, against the Mets and Tom Glavine.  I’ve always enjoyed watching him pitch (even when he mowed the Sox down last week – the first and only time I’ve ever seen him pitch live).  Congratulations, John!  A well-deserved milestone.

In not-so good news, reports are that Josh Hancock’s father is suing, pretty much anyone who even looked at his son the night he died.  To steal from Jere, terrible job, Mr. Hancock.  When will people in this world take responsibility for what they (or those they love) have done?  What happened to Josh was tragic and my heart is definitely with his family and loved ones, but no one made this kid drink the  way he did.  No one made this kid get in his car.  No  one made him speed.  No one made him, most likely, get high.  No one made him not wear his seat belt and no one forced him on to his cell phone.  Hancock basically made many bad decisions that night.  He’s dead because of that.  Not because of anyone else.  I understand that the Hancock’s are suffering right now, but dragging others into their suffering just to make some money isn’t going to bring their son back.

I’m spending the weekend with some of the Sistahs and then Monday I’m back at Fenway with some of the gang from Surviving Grady – weather should be great, the Sox are in Texas and, for the locals here, Kathryn Tappen just said that Eric Frede will be hosting Sports Desk tonight!

Let the long weekend begin! 

Life is funny

What? You don’t see the resemblance?So, I’m getting ready to come online and write about tonight’s game.  I was considering writing about Yankees fans.  How this game is the, what, fourth or fifth game this year where they needed to say "Okay THIS is the game where they turn it around"?  Hell it’s the third game this WEEK where they’ve said that.

 

Anyway, I decided against writing an entry about the fans because it isn’t their fault they have to finally accept that the small victories might be the only ones they get this year.  But then I log on and old RSC fan favorite "EvilSnare" is here, after quite the long hiatus, to try and talk his version of trash.  And any sympathies I had for Yankees fans disappeared.

I said from the beginning that not winning this series wouldn’t be a big deal, so EvilSnare and others of his ilk will be disappointed to find that I’m not terribly broken up about this loss.  Curt looked crappy, and I’m reminded that I thought Theo, yet again, made the correct call…this time in waiting until the end of the season to talk contracts with Schilling.  I’m certainly not writing him off.  For as poorly as he pitched at times, he had some bright spots too and got himself out of trouble, but I’m definitely wary of his pitching right now.

(And, let’s be honest, these are the Yankees.  And with Demon, Captain Intangibles, Slappy, HGHiambi and Sid the Sloth – you know they’re going to win some games.  It’s silly to think they won’t.)

Still, this loss is as far from a big deal as you can get.  Would I rather the team be 11.5 ahead instead of 9.5 ahead?  Of course.   But this is the first series that the Sox have lost since getting swept in a two-game series by Toronto on April 23rd and 24th.  

(They split a two-game series with Oakland on May 1st and 2nd, after sweeping Baltimore and taking two out of three in New York – from that point on they beat Seattle in a makeup game, won the Minnesota series, swept Toronto, and then took the Baltimore series as well as the ones against Detroit and Atlanta.)  

So, losing the series to New York doesn’t grate on me the way it might have in years past.  The Sox are 6-3 against the Yankees and 25-12 against the rest of their opponents.

Regardless of what happened tonight, still looking pretty damned good, I’d say.

Let the Yankees fans have their moment.  At this rate, it might be all they get. 

Random Bronson Arroyo news:  Tonight is "Bronson Arroyo Bobblehead Night" at the Great American Ball Park.  Bronson pitched on Monday, so he wasn’t in the game, and the Reds are currently losing 12-7 going into the bottom of the ninth.   The Reds are 18-28 and last in the National League Central Division…so I’m getting the good and the bad out of my baseball fandom!

Jesus Colome is pitching for the Nationals and the Reds broadcaster just said the Reds need help from "The real Jesus" to win this game.  He then added "People, relax, it was just a joke".   Wee…religious/ethnic humor!   

Reds held on to lose, Sox get a day off and then are in Texas for three days.  Good times ahead, folks! 

Do NOT be messing with Tim Wakefield!

Granted, I’m a day late with this, but regardless, if you’re a baseball fan, of any team, and haven’t seen this piece yet, I implore you to go to Fire Joe Morgan and read Ken Tremendous’ take on it.

Here’s an excerpt: 

What I want to know is, how in the world has Wakefield been able to draw a major-league paycheck since 1992 with the kind of stuff you generally see at a family barbecue?

I read about it first from Jere and the more I think about it the more pissed off I get.  You can email the editor of Newsday at editor@newsday.com to let this jerk’s superiors know that he can’t get away with such a hate-filled, biased and INACCURATE account and pass it off as being anything close to the truth.

Or, you could add your comments to the over one hundred that are already on the Newsday website.

I don’t mind criticism, but this guy obviously hasn’t ever watched Wakefield pitch and everything he wrote seems to have come straight from his ass.

(Photo courtesy of "Mr. Versatility:  The Tim Wakefield Fan Page") 

Julian gives himself a birthday present

He gives up only 3 hits to the Yankees last night.  No excuses to be had.  No injured players, one of their best pitchers on the mound, and the Sox win 7-3.

I could have done without the 87 walks* the Sox pitchers gave up, but on a night when Okajima and Papelbon weren’t as sharp as usual, it was nice they had a cushion to work with.  And Javier Lopez?  Fantastic!

NESN said last night that David Ortiz now has a .308 average against Mike Myers.  So much for that whole "the Yankees picked up Myers to get Ortiz out" theory, eh?

In reading through the various blogs and messages boards that I do after most games, I noticed two issues coming up over and over again.   The ‘safe’ call on Coco Crisp and the elbowthrown by ARod.  Yankees fans seem convinced that the replay showed he was clearly out.  I’ve watch the ‘up-close’ replay on NESN quite a few times now, and while it was definitely close, Coco was safe.

(EDITED TO ADD that a photo of the tag shows how truly ‘out’ Coco was.  Yankees still can’t blame the game on that.  Bad calls happen all the time but, unless they actually end the game, don’t lose games.  Teams not performing lose games.  The entire thread that photo is on is an embarrassment to baseball fans.)  Not by an awful lot, but he was safe. 

Yankees fans seem to be complaining about the umpires quite a bit this year (going by the message boards at Yankees.com and NYYFans.com).  I find it ironic given how many "bad" calls have gone their way over the years without a peep from them.  Chuck Knoblauch/Jose Offerman, Jeffrey Maier/Baltimore Orioles, anyone?

And if we’re talking about bad calls, ARod should have been called for that elbow throw and the Sox should have been awarded the double-play for it.  He took out Pedroia the way you’re taught to, but that extra elbow throw was bush league at best.  Shouldn’t surprise me, coming from Slappy though, I know.  I hope Curt has the game well in hand tonight and then sends ARod a purpose pitch.  He doesn’t even have to hit him.  Just remind him that the team won’t put up with that cheap stuff.   Although, I like what Pedroia had to say about it:

 

"He went in late and threw an elbow, but it’s no big deal," Pedroia said. "I know now that when he’s going in, my arm slot drops to the floor. Some people play like that, and some people come in with hard, clean slides."

 

Kevin Youkilis is quietly having  a damn good season thus far, continuing his hitting streak last night.  Mike Lowell also continued his offensive charms and Manny came through with a huge home run.

And did I mention David Ortiz owning Mike Myers yet again?  🙂 

Julian Tavarez really deserves his props.  Our number five pitcher (still acknowledging he’s just keeping the spot warm for Jon Lester) now has two wins against the Yankees.  He’s pitched great.  And if you don’t think so, compare him to some other number fives around the league.  He’s no Beckett, but he certainly fills that fifth roster spot fine right now.  Nice way for Julian to celebrate his birthday.  And what does he say?

 

“It doesn’t matter.  I could throw a perfect game in my next start, then a perfect game in my next start and a perfect game in my next start, and Jon Lester, the next game belongs to him. He’s going to be one of the great pitchers in baseball.”

That’s the epitome of a team player.  And right now he’s making it a little easier for the Sox NOT to rush Lester up here.  So many of these wins are such a ‘team’ win.  It’s part of what makes it so much fun these days.

 

Schilling v Pettitte tonight.  I want the Sox to crush them in a major way.  

I don’t ask for much.  🙂 

*Probably not the actual number!