Not Those Kind of Surprises!!

13-0?

A one-hitter?

Who were those guys and what did they do with the Red Sox?

An investigation will ensue immediately.

I Love Surprises!!

When I went to bed for my brief nap before going to work last night, the Sox were behind 5-0, and Carmona was shutting them down handily.

I arrived at work at 10pm, and got right into work stuff, so I briefly forgot about the game.

I know. I'm not worthy.

But then this buddy of mine walked in, who happens to be a Cleveland fan. I suddenly remembered the game, and immediately opened up my Interwebs browser, expecting to congratulate him on his Indians whipping up on my Red Sox to take the series.

I went first to MLB.com, and the first thing I saw was a headline that says "Van Every's shot lifts the Red Sox in the 10th." I almost fell out of my chair. Life is good.

I know in my heart that our Sox can never be counted out, and it ain't over until the mythical fat lady sings. And one of the things I love so much about baseball over all other team sports is that there is no wimpy putting down a knee and letting clock run out, or dribbling in place until the clock runs out. It's not over until that third out is posted in whichever half an inning ends the game. You have to earn that last out. And there is nothing quite like the thrill of standing with the Red Sox nation in any park in this country and cheering your fool head off when there are two strikes on that last batter in the 9th inning. Of course it's magnified by 1000000000000000 if you happen to be in Fenway Park when this happens.

I should write for a newspaper.

Just kidding. But I do think it would be great fun!

Anyway...back on top for the Sox, once again. Here's hoping for a series win (a sweep would be nice) in the Juice Box (I like that name, Dawn) against the Desperate Housewives, who appear to be even more desperate this year.

Hey...anyone ever gone from Worst to First to Worst?? Hahahaha

TTFN, y'all!

Give Lugo To the Yankees

In his first game back, much to the Red Sox Nation's dismay, Julio Lugo effectively ruins the Red Sox winning streak. Singlehandedly, no less.

When the score was at 7-4, Sox winning, Lugo missed the throw at second base that would have been a double play, ending that inning. Next batter hits a three run homer, tying the game.

Cleveland would go on to win on an error by the pitcher on a routine play at first. 9-8, Indians. However, subtract the three runs from that homer, and the Red Sox win 8-6.

Julio Lugo sucks. And the Red Sox management are morons for letting him back in the game when everything was working just fine.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!!!!!

A Letter

Dear Misters Francona and Epstein,

Please get Lugo out of there. We don't like him. We never have. We like Nick Green. Even Jed Lowrie. Anybody but Lugo.

Thank you,

Me and every Red Sox fan that I know.

Back Where We Belong!

First of all, I must correct an error from my last post. Apparently, I grossly misunderstood something during all the excitement Sunday night, after Captain Stealth made away with home plate.

Jacoby wasn't the first Red Sox to ever steal home. But it hasn't happened on a straight steal since 1994. Ok. Got that cleared up.

Now. On to today's topic.

Life is good. The Red Sox have returned to their rightful place atop the AL East (if only by a few percentage points). They have won 11 straight games. Wow! And the Yankees lost yet another game to Detroit last night. To make things even better, people are actually laughing at the new Evil Empire Stadium! I've heard one radio person refer to it as a little league park. And I clearly heard a heckler on Saturday afternoon, after Jeter hit a medium length foul ball, say, "That would have been a home run in your park!"

And the Rangers are within 1 game of .500 again, coming home to a series against the Oaklands. The Athletics are, according to the guys in the Rangers post game show, scoring an average of 4 or less runs per game. So there's a chance that they could come out of that home stand over .500. I don't know how long it's been since they've been over .500 in April! (Not counting the first week.)

Here's hoping Mr. Penny doesn't give up another 8 runs today. Wakefield was bloody brilliant last night. As was Cliff Lee, to give him his props. Both pitchers were great. That should have been what happened Saturday with Beckett and Burnett on the hill. Oh, well. You just never know.

TTFN, y'all!

...And It's A Sweep!

The Red Sox have swept the Evil Empire for the first time since 2007.

And...

Jacoby Ellsbury became (according to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan) the first Red Sox player to ever steal home on a "straight steal."

Jacoby, you rock, son. You simply rock.

Ok. Now, I must work.

TTFN, y'all!

Rival Saturday

It's time for game number 2 in the series between the Red Sox and the Evil Empire.

I tried to set up a LiveBlog account, but I can't get the site to work right. Every time I click on the "next" button after entering the information, I get a blank screen. Oh, well. Game starts in 4 minutes.

Top of 1st. Jeter. Great stop by Lowell. One out. Demon gets a single. Tex walks on four straight pitches. They got Swisher batting cleanup?? Heh. He looks like a punk Italian kid. Swisher singles. Demon scores. 1-0 already. What's it take to get a strike called here?? Cano pops to center. Two outs. Aw...they have an honorary batboy...turns 100 tomorrow. Cool. Man, Beckett's wild in the first inning. Posada singles to left. Tex scores. 2-0. Prayer meeting at the mound. Beckett is behind 16-15, balls to strikes. Matsui grounds to Youk, easy play. Three out, but it's 2-0.

Bottom of 1st. Ellsbury leads off. He flies to Demon. One out. Ok. Shut up telling me how great Burnett is. Pedroia is up. Single for Pedie. 8 game hitting streak going on. Papi up. Struck out four times last night. Hits into a double play. Crud. Three out.

Top of 2nd Berroa grounds out to Lowell. One out. Woot! Beckett strikes out Gardner looking! Looking better already. Jeter singles to center. Two outs. Demon pops up to shallow center, Ellsbury catches. Three outs. Good inning.

Bottom of 2nd Youk's up, one of last night's heroes. Grounds out to third. One out. Drew is up, one of last night's goats. This ump is calling strikes for Burnett that were balls for Beckett. Grr. Drew walks. Bay is up, another of last night's heroes. He hits the ball right to Swisher. Swisher didn't even have to take a step. Two outs. Lowell is up. Lowell out on a pretty ugly strikeout. Three out, still 2-0.

Top of 3rdWho's that idiot in the camera pit? The ump walks Tex. Seriously, he called that same pitch a strike for Burnett! Hah. Swisher swishes! Heheheh... One out. Oh, crap. Cano hit's a two run bomb to right. 4-0. Posada singles to center. Matsui grounds to second, Posada out. Two outs. Berroa singles to right, runners at first and third. Gardner grounds out to second. Three out, but it's 4-0.

Bottom of 3rd.Tek dribbles for an easy out. One out. Nick Green grounds to short. Two out. Why are they talking about Nascar?? Ellsbury's going to bunt? Maybe not. Shoot. Ellsbury pops to second. Three out. Still 4-0.

Top of 4th. Sigh. Jeter singles to center. Demon flies to right. One out. Jeter steals second. Wow. Nice throw after fumbling with the ball a second. Tex walks again! He is very patient...walks a lot. Runners on first and second, one out. Hunter Jones is warming up. Hah. Swisher swishes again, only this time without swishing. Two out. Bad words! Bad words! &%$%^&*% Cano hits a wall double, scoring two more runs. 6-0. Beckett needs to leave now. He's not on today. Posada flies to left. Three out.

Bottom of 4th. Really needing a rally right now. I may have to get a rally cap going here. Pedie is up. Good. Pedroia draws a walk. Papi tries again. Aw, man. Papi pops out foul. What a waste of an at-bat. One out. Youk is up. Youk singles to center. Two on, one out. Drew walks, bases loaded for BayBay! One out. Bay singles to left, one run scores. For some reason, Youk is stopped by Hale, but Demon bobbles the ball. We could have had two runs. Oh, well. 6-1, bases still loaded, one out for Lowell. C'mon Mike!!! That was a sorry pitch! Same pitch he struck out on last time got him again! Two outs. Tek up. Hahahahahah....GRAND SLAM TEK!!! 6-5! The crowd chants "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!" Green up. Green strikes out, but our captain has gotten us back into the game.

Top of 5th. Oh, dear. Beckett's still in. *scared* Matsui at the bat. Grounds out to Pedroia. One out. Berroa lines straight to Youk. Two out. Delcarmen is warming in the pen. Gardner flies to Ellsbury, Beckett gets out of this inning with only 10 pitches.

Bottom of 5th. Sure feels later than the 5th inning, but I'm glad it's not. While my 'puter was frozen, Ellsbury tied up the game with a solo shot into right. Pedroia got a hit on the very next pitch. One one, no outs for Papi. Papi hits a wall double, Pedie goes to third. Runners at the corners, no outs. Youk is up. Burnett hits Youk in the leg. Bases loaded for Drew. Arrgh. Drew hits into a DP. Two out, runners at second and third for Bay. BayBay hits a wall double, scoring two runs. It's now 8-6! Lowell, up, lines to Swisher for out three. But the Sox catch up and go ahead.

Top of 6th.Beckett is back, with over 100 pitches. Jeter walks. Boo. Demon, the traitor, hits a two run shot to right, and the game is tied. Foolish on Tito's part in my opinion...shouldn't have let Beckett come back. Pitching change, Delcarmen is coming in. No outs. Hey, Tex didn't walk, he struck out! One out. Swisher doubles to left field. Cano grounds out, great tag by Youk. Two out. Posada strikes out! Three out, tied 8-8.

Bottom of 6th.Hm. New pitcher. 41. Who's that? Tek strikes out. Nick Green up. Who does not need to be replaced by Julio Lugo. Green gets hit on the arm. Ellsbury up. Another wall double. Green to third. Pedie is up. One out. Pedroia walks. Looks like a pitching change. Bases loaded for Papi. Papi flies out to right, Green tags and scores the go ahead run, but Pedie has a brain cramp and gets tagged out at second. Three out, 9-8 Sox.

Top of 7th. Delcarmen's back. Matsui up. Matsui singles up the middle. Berroa grounds to Lowell, who throws out Matsui. One out. Base hit by Gardner, Berrow gets to third. One out. Jeter up. Gardner steals second on Tek. Now we have two runners in scoring position. Jeter strikes out! Demon is up. Okajima pitching. OH MY GOSH!!!! Pedroia does a Bill Buckner!!! Two runs score on Pedie's error. Evil Empire leads 10-9. Two out and Tex is being intentionally walked. Demon gets caught off base and tagged by Pedie. Three out, 10-9.

Bottom of 7th While my 'puter was locked up again (sigh), Youk got a double, somebody got walked, and Lowell hit a homer over the Monster to put the Sox ahead 12-10. Tek flied out to left, and Green grounded out to short. 12-10 Boston after 7 innings.

Top of 8th. Okajima vs Swisher. Swisher pops up to Bay. Cano is up. Sigh. Another homer for Cano. 12-11. What a slugfest. Pitching change. Ramon Ramirez is in to pitch. Shut up about the NFL draft, you're announcing a baseball game!!! One out, Posada walks. Matsui is up. Matsui doubles, Posada goes to third. One out. Melky Cabrera in to pinch hit. Ahahaha...Cabrera grounds to pitcher, they get Posada gets caught between third and home, but Matsui was already to third, so Posada is out. Two outs. Gardner's up. Gardner grounds out to Pedroia, who gets it this time. Three out. 12-11 Sox.

Bottom of 8th. Ellsbury gets on, due to interference by Posada. Ellsbury steals second on a close play. Hmmm...we got a break there. He was tagged. Pedroia gets a hit, Ellsbury, with fire at his feet, scores from second. 13-11! New pitcher. Pedie gets to second on a passed ball. Papi flies out to Swisher, Pedroia tags and goes to third. Youk is up. They're walking Youk. Another new rule proposal. On an intentional walk, let's just let the guy go. Don't make the pitcher throw the pitches. (Papelbon is warming up for the ninth.) The walk Youk to get to Drew, which is pretty smart on their part. Drew strikes out. Anyone surprised? I think last season was a fluke. Oh, dear. Another pitching change. Let's make this game even longer. Bay is up. Bay walks after getting a full count. That brings up Mike Lowell, who has already homered in this game. Lowell gets a wall double, scoring all three runners. Demon creams the wall, but, unfortunately gets back up. 16-11 Sox. Tek up. Aw...Tek strikes out looking, thought it was a ball. Three outs.

Top of 9th.Papelbon comes in, hopefully to shut this game down. Long at bat for Jeter. He draws a walk. The announcers seem amazed that no one has left the game. It's like they've never announced a Boston home game before! Demon hits a "little flair" to Nick Green for out number one. Tex is up. Hm...Jeter got to second. Must have been "defensive indifference." Tex walks for the fifth time today. Swisher is up. Swisher swishes again. Two outs. Cano is up, who has been trouble today. These announcers are very hung up on how long this game has been. Pop up to Ellsbury. Three outs.

Final score: Red Sox 16, Evil Empire 11!

No Lugo! NO!

Word on the website is that Lugo could be back in the lineup by Monday.

Why?? Pray tell? Nick Green is doing quite well.

Anybody know where Tanya Harding is? Maybe get her to whack Lugo in the shins with a pipe?

Red Sox vs Evil Empire, Friday Night, 4/24

I'm listening to the crowd at Fenway chanting "Joba. Joba. Joba." as Joba the Hut has been rattled right out of the box. First by a balk call, advancing Jacoby to second, then the steal and passed ball, resulting in Ellsbury scoring. He then follows this by walking Pedie. I love it. Because I can't stand Joba.

Aaand Youk walks!


Lester struck out the side in the top of the second! Around a couple of walks, but still.

Bottom of second. Bay gets a nice hit. But Lowell hits into a double play. I missed the third out.

Top of third, Lester gets out of a challenge with no runs.

Bottom of third. Nick Green gets a hit. That boy is impressing me. Peds gets a double. Papi strikes out again. After going to 3-1, Joba intentionally walks Youk. Bases loaded. Drew hits a long out for out number 3. Drat.

Top of fourth. Lester's in a little trouble. Runners at 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Base hit, run scores, tie game. Fielder's choice scores another run. Evil Empire leads 2-1. Lester gets a strike-out for the 3rd out.

Bottom of fourth. Nice. Bay gets a double off that weird wall in left field. Joba hits Tek! Hah!! Nick Green hits a shot right back to Joba, and Joba makes a crappy throw to second. Everyone is safe! Dang it!! Ellsbury hits into a double play to end the inning. Still 2-1.

Top of fifth. Nothing for NY but a double by Nick Swisher. Heh. He should have changed his name. "Swisher." Hahaha...

Bottom of fifth. Pedroia got on first somehow...I missed it. Ortiz singles to right. Youk grounds, getting Ortiz out at second. Then Drew hits into another double play. Still 2-1.

Top of sixth. Manny Delcarmen's warming in the pen. Nice catch by Ellsbury for out one. Nice double play to end the first half.

Bottom of sixth. Bay hits a long out to right field. Lowell doubles off the monster! Tek gets a single, sending Lowell to third. Green singles, scoring Lowell. Tie ball game. Pitching change. Jacoby flies out. Pedroia flies out, getting Joba the Hut off the hook for the game.

Top of seventh. Okajima's in to pitch. The guy that looks at the ground when he throws. How does he do that?? Jeter gets a double because Drew was afraid of the wall. C'mon, JD!! Ok. Now, Okajima blows a sacrifice bunt and doesn't make the throw to get the guy out. Runners at the corners, no outs. Delcarmen is warming up again. Crap. Tex gets a hit, scoring Jeter. 3-2, no outs. Another hit, bases loaded. Pitching change, thank goodness. Delcarmen coming in. Bases loaded, no outs. Fly out, one out. (Michael Young just hit a two-run homer for Texas in Baltimore to put the Rangers ahead 5-4 in the top of the ninth!) Fly to Bay, but he has to dive to catch it, so runner tags. 4-2, 2 outs. Ground out for number 3. Finally out of this one.
o
Bottom of 7th. Papi flies out. (Marlon Byrd just made the catch for Texas that JD Drew missed while ago. Byrd wasn't afraid of the wall. Both of those runs should be charged to Drew.) Hmmm...Youk got out while I was watching the Rangers win. 2 outs. Drew up. He walks. Pitching change. Bay hits into a fielder's choice, getting Drew out at second. Still 4-2. I'm getting nervous.

Top of 8th. Oh, no. Saito's in with his 6+ era. There's a one out walk. Nice throw by Peds to get out 2. Struck him out! Yeah!

Bottom of 8th. Need some action here. Let's have one of those famous Red Sox 8th innings! BAD call on Mike Lowell! That ball was inside. One out. Tek routine grounder. Two out. Ouch! He hits Nick Green in the knee! Changing pitcher in the middle of a batter?? C'mon! YES. Ellsbury gets a hit. Two on. NOOOO!!! Pedie gets called out on another bad pitch! What's WRONG with this ump??

Top of 9th. Lopez in and starts out by hitting the batter. Well, great. And a walk. Sob. And another walk. Whyyyyyyyyy????? Oh, yeah!!! Nice double play, getting the lead runner! And my media player freezes up. Boo. Cabrera pops out, saving the inning.

Bottom of 9th. Ortiz strikes out...again! Youk singles. Drew grounds out, but Youk gets to second. BAYBAY!!! Home run, ties the game!! Van Every comes in to replace Lowell (why??) and singles. Tek strikes out. Here we go into extra innings.

Top of 10th. Papelbon in. Molina singles. Expected sac bunt. One out, runner on second. Great play by Peds to get Jeter out...Molina advances to third. Shoot. Demon walks. Tex is up. And there's a prayer meeting on the pitcher's mound. WOOT!!! After a long at bat, Tex strikes out on a high pitch! Three out!

Bottom of 10th. New rule proposal. Batter gets to steal first anytime the catcher misses the ball, regardless of the count. Oh, Nick! Struck out on a high pitch. One out. Ellsbury pops out to Jeter. Sigh. Argh! Peds strikes out.

Top of 11th. Ramirez pitching. Posada walks. Another lead-off walk. Sac bunt fails. Posada out at second. They should know better than that. Posada is old, damaged goods. Base hit to right. Two on, one out. (In my mind, we wouldn't be here if JD Drew wasn't AFRAID OF THE WALL!!) Nice. Another double play, good play by Pedroia, the MVP! Three out.

Bottom of 11th. Ortiz has a chance to be the hero. I'm calling it. Oops. Wrong again. Ortiz strikes out.......AGAIN! Four tonight. One out. YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK!!!!!! I called the wrong batter! Youk takes it deep for a walkoff home run (did that ball go in the street??) over the Monster, and the Sox have won 8 straight games!

Final score, Red Sox 5, Evil Empire 4.

This Is More Like It

As we approach the morning start time of the Patriot's Day game, the Sox are sitting on a 4 game winning streak. They are still tied for third place, but it's an improvement, and they seem to have come alive a bit. Yesterday's game was a nice effort by the pitching staff.

Over in my neck of the woods, the Rangers continue to struggle, but they are tied for second place, and took yesterday's game from the Royals with a walk-off homer by Michael Young. The real excitement for them was last week, though. In their 19-6 blow-out of the Orioles, Ian Kinsler was the superstar. It wasn't enough that he hit for the cycle in that game (seems to be a popular thing this season), but he also went 6-6 in the game, becoming the first Texas Ranger to ever get six hits in a regulation 9 inning game. He would eventually have 8 at-bats in a row with a hit, across mutiple games. Kinsler remains my favorite Ranger player. Yes, even ahead of Josh Hamilton. Elvis Andrus is coming that ladder really quickly, too.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that my favorite part of this past weekend had to be the part that happened in a brand new stadium somewhere in the Bronx. It wasn't enough that the Indians spoiled the home opener in that brand new stadium. They had to go and beat the Evil Empire 24-4 on Saturday, with a 14-run second inning. Awwww....anybody feel sorry for them? I didn't think so.

In the meantime, I'm going to try my hand at MLB 2K9 this season. See how my Red Sox fare with me manning the controls. I'm not very good at this game, so I'm playing in "rookie" mode. Pitching and fielding seem to be ok, but the batting part is killing me. I can't get the timing down yet. Oh, well..."the season is young." Bahahahaha!!!

TTFN, y'all!

AAAAARRRGH!!!!

So close! So close!

Oakland 6, Sox 5, bottom of the 12th.

Still in last place. How long can we use the excuse, "The season is still young?"

What's Going On In Boston???

Hello.....

Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me...

Is there anyone home??

---

Hey guys!!!

The season started last week, ok??

Time to wake up and start playing baseball!

What's Going On In Texas??

Baseball season is three days old, now, and things are starting out rather strangely. I am, of course, disappointed that Boston has lost their first series to the dreaded Desperate Housewives, but right now, my attention is on my second-favorite team, the one in Texas.

Of course, we were elated that they won Opening Day, and won it very solidly. Then, they won their second game, with Nelson Cruz crushing two home runs, one going into the second deck beyond left field, over 400 ft. We're hoping that he doesn't do what he does every time he comes up from the minors. Usually, he hits like crazy for a couple of weeks, then goes to sleep. Elvis Androus also got his first major league homer in the second game (along with his first error, but, oh well). The Rangers have not won their first two games since 2000.

Then the unheard of happened. The Texas Rangers SWEPT their opening series!! The last time they did that, they won the American League West. Not trying to put the cart before the horse, but this team looks different this year.

As for the Red Sox, they are still going to be ok, I think. The season is very young, and things are just getting cranked up.

But it's baseball season, so all is well.

TTFN, y'all!

PLAY BALL!!!

It's been almost two months since I've been here. But life has begun again. Now that there has been baseball at Fenway, I can sincerely say that it is, once again, BASEBALL SEASON!!!

Can I get a "WOOT!!"

And this has been, perhaps, one of the best Opening Day (two days?) in recent history. First, Stephanie and I and another family member (Christi's stepfather) watched in somewhat chilly temperature as the Rangers got all over Cliff Lee and the Indians yesterday, 9-1. Kevin Millwood looked stellar for 7 innings, and the only run that the Indians got came in the bottom of the 7th when poor Kevin let one get away from him and Salty couldn't stop it. An Indian was on third base and scored on the wild pitch. Millwood struck out the batter on the next pitch for the third out. C.J. Wilson looked great in the 8th, and Frank Francisco closed it out in nice fashion. The game featured some great plays by all team members, a three run jack by Blalock and a solo shot by Salty. Elvis Androus made a great play at shortstop that, well, sorry, Michael, but you just probably woulnd't have gotten that one.

And then, things got better!! How, you ask? I'm glad because I'll tell ya! The Orioles beat C.C. Sabathia!!!!!! Take that, HANK! The ORIOLES!!!!

Today completed the near-perfect set of Opening Day games when our beloved Sox handed the Desperate Housewives the first of what we can only hope will be multitudes of defeats during '09. I got in on the 8th inning on MLBTV, as I was, you know, sleeping for the day. Beckett must have looked pretty good today, from what I could gather. It was 5-1 when I started watching, and Okajima had put two men on. They scored when Eva Longoria got a hit off Masterson. 5-3. But Masterson took the rest down and that was it. Papelbon closed it out as only Papelbon can do, and the Red Sox are back where they belong, in first place in the AL East.

I feel alive again.

TTFN, y'all!