Lost in Seattle

LOST is always full of Red Sox references. Tonight the Sox game included a LOST reference! Juliet (aka Elizabeth Mitchell) was spotted in the crowd wearing a Sox hat, of course!

Double Trouble

Nothing is better than a bench clearing ejection, but almost as fun is a random double ejection! Pent up and permanently frustrated Lugo got thrown out while minding his business at short and Francona followed. I loving watching Tito jaw with the umps because he's otherwise so mellow. It's shocking (and funny) to see him so worked up...

E-6? You make the call...

I don't think this was scored as an error but I'm sure it would have been if Lugo had been the one at short. I wish the media would cut Lugo a little slack because the (1) shortstop is a hard position and probably the one in which you have the opportunity for the most errors and (2) the stress of sucking only makes you suck more...

Japanese Jumping Jacks?

Before he came out of the game, clutching his back with a fatigued shoulder, I watched Dice-K do these crazy jumping jacks behind the mound.

It took me a minute to realize that he was cleaning his cleats. Sure is an athletic fellow... Now let me just state for the record, that before Dice-K's back, I mean, shoulder injury, I mean, fatigue, he was losing his first game. Now the ironic part is that he was pitching better, IMHO, than we've seen him all year. By that I mean that he was not walking every other batter. There are rumblings about putting him on the DL. Thankfully, the Sox have a plethora of pitchers...

Are the Good Days Gone?

I love Mike Timlin. He seems like a great guy. I'm sure there are tons of benefits to keep the veteran clubhouse guy on the roster, but I've begun to cringe everytime he takes the mound. While it's not as bad as when Gagne' took the mound last season, I do have to watch through my fingers. I do assume that Timlin will give up a homerun. Granted, I am occasionally pleasantly surprised. But on a night when the rest of the was glorious, the Sox handed the Mariners the win. While the Mariners went for it, taking the risk by throwing JJ Putz, their closer, in the ninth. We played it, uh, safe, I guess, by saving our best for last. Last never came.

While some pitchers recreate themselves, replacing velocity with command, Timlin hasn't exactly done this. Sad as it is to say, I think it might be time for Timmy to retire. Or at least be reserved for days when the game has been decided long before the ninth...

I'm uncomfortable with change...

I don't have the luxury of watching all the Sox games on NESN. Being on the left coast, I rely on MLB.tv for my game coverage and they generally opt to show the home team's network. So I see the game but I don't get the in-depth explanations of the all-knowing Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo. For example, why, oh why, did Jason Varitek bleach his gear?

Beige is not a good look on a drab grey uniform. However if it busts this traveling slump I guess I'm for it..
BTW, Happy 2,000th game, Manny!

Fenway Flashback: In the middle of Yankee-Red Sox chaos, a squirrel finds a quiet spot

8-28-08 Yankee Stadium

Home, Sweet Home

It's been rainy and cold here for the better part of the week. It's getting depressing. And the Sox.... well, that's getting depressing, too. So I decided to take a trip down memory lane to last week when the boys hit 2 grand slams in one game.

Bullpen Mojo

The Sox bullpen got it's mojo back with a little feng shui. Upon returning to Fenway, the boys decorated with this pirate flag and it seemed to do the trick. No blown saves, no lost holds since!

Jonny Be Good

Words can't describe the no-hitter.

If you missed it, you can buy the game on itunes for $1.99. or watch it online at redsox.com.

McSteamy

=

Manny Being Manny

The highlight from yesterday's disaster of an outing in Baltimore was clearly Manny's crazy catch and assist. Manny made an out-stretched catch just shy of the wall, ran up the wall and high-fived a Sox fan, ran down the wall, and fired to the infield in time to get the runner who had to go back to first to tag. Lovelovelove when Manny plays defense!

I am someone

After a lifetime of trying to define myself, I've finally got it!

I am Doug Mirabelli's cousin's yoga teacher.

I just recently figured that out and deeply regret not figuring it out back when Belli was still on the team. Nonetheless, I am proud!

Spiraling out of control...

Casey and Cora came back this weekend and it looked like the team was whole again for the first time since I can't even remember when. But they had to let Julian Tavarez go, to fit Casey and Cora back on the roster. Tavarez no doubt put a crazy voodoo curse on the team. Just look at the evidence:

• Lugo's concussion


• Jacoby's bruised knee


• Francona's mother in law died


• JD Drew's sprained wrist


• Coco's upset stomach


• Youk in right field -- seriously, can anything good come of that?


• Buchholz' broken fingernail


• Big Papi's ejection


• Beckett's win-loss record


• THE RAYS IN FIRST PLACE

Seriously? Poor Brad Mills got way more than he bargained for, huh? Did I mention that Youk played right field? All I can say is that I can't wait for the boys to get back to Boston and put this road trip behind them. And I can't wait for a NESN game. I seriously can't take anymore talk about AJ Drew, Joey Cora, and Dustin Pedroia's bruised knee from bunting.

498

Manny's right on track to hit the big 500 on the next homestand...Here's 498:

While I'm celebrating Manny, I thought I'd share these pictures of Manny hanging out in the scoreboard during the Angels game a couple of weeks ago.

The Bullpen Band

Some nice footage of the bullpen band courtesy of NESN:

Big Papi Loves Live TV

David Ortiz never misses an opportunity to goof around on live tv. Sunday on ESPN was no exception:

It's The End of An Era

The Red Sox have designated Julian Tavarez for assignment. It looks like they are trying to trade him to the Rockies. Either way, it's the end of an era. As much as he drove me nuts, I'm really gonna miss the crazy fellow! For old times sake, here's Manny petting Julian...

Masterson Walks the Walk

and so does Don..

The Fenway Flu

During the height of the Red Sox battle against the cold and flu season, I went to Fenway and came home with the flu! Coincidence? I think not! They lost that game against the Angels, but it was still great fun to be back at Fenway.

We got there in time to watch some batting practice
and Mike Timlin shag fly balls. Ortiz hit a bunch of balls out to us, which gave me a new appreciation for outfielders. The balls simply disappeared in the bright blue sky. I had to duck.
Julian Tavarez spent the entire batting practice talking at Oki and his translator. I'm pretty sure Oki doesn't understand a word Julian says. Luckily no fly balls hit the back of Julian's head.
Parlay the Parrot was safe and sound in the bullpen.
The Red Chair
It was supposed to be a Jon Lester game, but the flu wrecked havoc on the rotation. As a result, Justin Masterson was called up from AA and I got to see his outstanding Major League debut.
Luckily, Wally didn't get the flu...The pirates make their way to the pen. Most of them were affected by the flu, which was evident when they went on to lose the game for the rookie pitcher.
and about 5 minutes later, Julian Tavarez made his way to the pen. Someone forgot to wake him.
One of the highlights of the game was Big Papi's 2 run homer in the 9th. It was too little too late for the Sox, but slump busting for Big Papi.
The other highlight was definitely the great debut of the young Masterson.
The hawk even made an appearance.
It was good to see the new World Series flag flying high!Outside after the game, President and CEO, Larry Lucchino, was walking around like a mere mortal, talking to vendors.

497 = 427

Finally, Manny busted his homerun slump and is back on track toward #500...

Boys will be boys...

Lots of antics over the weekend at Fenway Park... Clip one is Lester harrassing the robotic dugout camera. You know you're in trouble when your young pitcher is trying to emulate your bad boy ace and your rookie pitcher, in turn, emulates your young pitcher. Luckily, Lester has better aim with a baseball than with sunflower seeds.

And Jerry Remy was in fine form when he got a new cellphone from NESN.

And Julio Lugo wound up in left field!
And somehow, through it all, the Sox have found themselves back on top...

Beckett Demands to be Traded

According to the Boston Herald, the Sox Ace demands to be dealt unless the players' ice cream machine is returned

Curse This, Big Papi!

Big Papi came out of his slump with a slam:

The infamous jersey

The one unearthed from Yankee Stadium is on ebay for a mere $33,100. Bid now!

I heart Sean Casey

The best thing the Sox did in the off-season was acquiring Sean Casey to play backup...Not only is he awesome, but he's hella funny, too...

Crazy in the clutch: BOS 5 - CLE 3

Well, Jason Varitek pinch hit the go-ahead run and just about won baseball boyfriend of the day, but at the very last second Jacoby Ellsbury made this crazy foul ball catch in the stands. It looks even crazier in the replay as you can see his legs flailing about. The best is he comes up all attitude like he's bad-ass. Silly rookie ;) I love him!

Ortiz jersey unearthed and so is his bat....

David Ortiz has never been in a bigger slump than he has so far this season. So on Sunday, Ortiz sat on the bench while his team played the Yankees and his jersey was dug of the new Yankee Stadium. On Monday, Ortiz and his jersery were back in the lineup and Big Papi got TWO hits! Coincidence? I think not! The curse of the jersey wasn't on the Yankees but on Ortiz. Now, with the curse lifted, we can look forward to many homeruns to come!

Whose line is it, anyway?

IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2.2	2 0	0	0	0	4	0

Can you guess whose line that is? Oki? MannyD? Nope!! It belongs to this nutcase:

And his partner in crime hit a game winning homerun, they are definitely my collective player of the game...

The come-from-behind 9th inning was phenomenal. It had it all -- great base running, bunting, Ortiz hitting!!!, and Manny's homerun. I couldn't pick a clip of the day so here's the whole half inning (up until the pitching change)...

And Manny actually spoke to the press about it. Well, "spoke to the press about it" might be an exaggeration. But he did stand in front of the mic looking just slightly less annoyed than Josh Beckett. His answers are, of course, unintentionally hilarious.

Yankees not taking any chances

In an attempt to curse the New York Yankees, a Red Sox fan on the construction crew of the new Yankee Stadium buried an Ortiz jersey in the concrete of the new stadium. At first the Yankee management thought it was a joke, but upon realizing it was true, promptly dug it up. It took laborers 5 hours of overtime to collect the jersey. And I thought only Red Sox fans believed in curses.

Closer Competition

I had heard the rumblings. I heard that the Sox might try to make Manny DelCarmen a closer -- just for those days that Papelbon is off, of course. Well, Manny D proved he's got the goods, as he earned a save against the New York Yankees on Sunday night. Watch out, Pap! You've got competition....

Random Clip of The Day

I don't have cable. Yesterday I thanked that baseball gods that I have MLB.tv because otherwise I would have missed the 9th inning of the Yankees game. I was excited to watch a game on FOX but I don't have FX! Today, I'm blacked out on MLB.tv and I don't have ESPN. So I'm cursing the baseball gods and MLB.tv. I decided to occupy myself with a game from last August, back when David Ortiz could hit. For some reason, the boys at Rays TV showed the Coco Crisp gets run over by a moose clip. It was a really good video of the incident, so I uploaded it for your viewing pleasure. That is, if you're not otherwise occupied by a certain Yankees game!

Manny rolls through a stop sign

"F@#% Inner Peace"

Jimmy Kimmel sent his crew to totally disrupt a Mysore class...

The Fenway Hawk Conspiracy

Apparently a hawk has taken up residence in Fenway Park and it's not too happy about all the commotion in it's backyard. In fact, it attacked a young girl on a tour of the Park last week.

So you might wonder why this hawk hasn't been moved to a new home...

Well, watch the hawk's appearance in the Sox home opener against the Detroit Tigers as he appears to attempt to drop a mouse in the visitors' dugout. Maybe there is a reason that the Sox are keeping their new friend around...

Photos courtesy of boston.com. Video courtesy of NESN

Opening Day Highlights

No not the ring ceremony -- that was boring as crap and made me miss Dougie... The highlight of the 5-0 win over the Detroit Tigers was Manny's homerun -- I mean, triple, well, actually probably a double and an error, unless he ran right out of the box and then maybe a triple.. definitely a triple if he Coco Crisp. But for Manny, it was a homerun, of sorts. For the scorebooks, I believe, it was a triple and an error. But nonetheless, Manny rules!

Lords of the Rings

Before the game today, the Red Sox got their World Series Pennant:
And their rings:
And in case the size of the ring isn't apparent when they are side by side, check it in comparison to a normal ring. Holy heck!

btw, manny d doesn't suck either

just because he gave up a grandslam on one pitch, doesn't mean MannyD's off to a bad year. When Big Papi hits a grandslam, it never even enters our minds that the pitcher stinks. We know that Papi can hit in the clutch. And so can Frank Thomas. MannyD is in better shape than 2007 and has a year of experience behind him. He will have a fantastic year, and so far he has, if you can just erase that one pitch from your memory. Poor guy. I'm sure that's his nightmare -- called in with bases loaded and Frank Thomas at bat... if it didn't give him nightmares, it certainly will now!

On the bright side...

In an effort to erase the last 3 games from my memory, I watched a game from last August against the (Devil) Rays. Nothing like the Rays to make me think the Sox don't actually suck ;) So the worst is true. The boys are jet-lagged. Francona said that Mills called him at 1:30 in the AFTERNOON on a gameday to make sure he was still alive. Francona was still sound asleep. That's not normal. So when Ellsbury is jetlagged balls don't stay in his glove. So when Lugo is jetlagged, he can't, well, do anything. So when big Casey is jetlagged, he shouldn't get the nod at first. When little Dustin Pedroia is jetlagged, he can only make reasonable plays. And when Kevin Youkilis is jetlagged, he can't scoop up anything and make Lugo et al. look good. Now we know... Now we know what happens when our boys are jetlagged. The good news is that JD Drew will have a fantastic year and will prove that not only doesn't he suck, but he deserves his paycheck. The good news is that Manny Ramirez is not going to wait until May to hit, but he will also prove he deserves his paycheck. And the good news is that we still have Coco Crisp, just in case Ellsbury isn't exactly all that we hope he is, just yet..... And the best news -- this one took a late 2007 game to remember. This was was shoved to the back of my mind, trying to repress the agony -- but it is by far the most inspirational and motivating piece of good news that there can be -- let us not forget, ERIC GAGNE' IS NO LONGER ON THE BOSTON RED SOX. Oh YEAH! It is 2008! The boys are back in town and sleeping in their own beds (for 24 hours straight). Good times to come -- starting Tuesday at 2pm....

Manny Being Coco

With that and a third loss to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox are finally headed home for a well deserved day off....

In Tek We Trust...

In what was a disaster of a game (TOR 10 BOS 2), there was a highlight -- watch Clay strike out the batter and Tek throw out the runner all in one play

Flashin' Back

While watching Richard Simmons on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, I remembered him on General Hospital way way back in the day. So I went a googling and found this. Tooo funny:

The Pregnant Man

Manny Being Manny and Big Papi Being Big Papi

Now that games count again, (Thank God!) the Sox pitching is back on track. Dice-K and Lester both threw outstanding games against the Oakland As. Papelbon's command came back as well. The bats were looking a little jet-lagged until Big Papi hit this fantastic homerun. Manny, of course, tried to steal the show -- and he succeeded by starring in the funniest clip of the day. I love Manny being Manny...

Fenway Flashback: When Jonny Comes Marching Home Again

August 14 2007

It was Jon Lester's first start at Fenway Park in 2007 and he was greeted with quite a reception.

And he threw an outstanding game, giving up only one run and two hits over 7 innings. Lester had outstanding command of all of his pitches -- except for that first walk. He might have been a bit nervous ;)

NESN had a mic on Dustin Pedroia and provided this funny little clip:

And shortly thereafter an earthquake occurred -- no, it was just Kyle Snyder goofing around in the pen...

But the real highlight was the ninth inning. I'm still cuckoo for Coco Crisp!

Jimmy Kimmel should write the pop-up videos for Lost

Missing Japan

Some random screen shots from from Japan -- Did you see how the Japanese fans get autographs? The wall is too high to reach over so they literally fish for autographs and hang items and baskets over the wall to collect autographs. Very clever...
Look at the As players taking pictures of the Japanese dancers during the opening ceremonies. The ballplayers may have been the center of attention for the Japanese but they were still tourists in Japan...

Like an episode of LOST

Like the popular television show, the Boston Red Sox have been bouncing around in time -- from an exotic island to the city of Los Angeles. Is it a flashforward or a flashback? The Red Sox left Tokyo after their evening game -- you know, the one that was on at 3 in the morning -- and arrived in LA an hour before it started. Now if that doesn't cause some serious jet lag, what will? About the incident, manager Terry Francona said “So we throw our first pitch at 7:07 (p.m.) and we land at 6 (p.m.). I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said. “I have no chance.” The boys left a time when games counted and Brandon Moss was the star of the team. A time in the future when Manny Ramirez does yoga, talks to the press, carries around giant checks, and bats like it's postseason. They have arrived amidst spring training exhibition games that don't count. Brandon Moss is a member of the PawSox. But let's hope that even if Manny quits talking to the press, he will continue to hit the heck out of the ball. Manny Ramirez is my constant...

Fenway Flashback: Nobody Does It Better

August 13 2007

This NESN tribute to Tim Wakefield is unintentionally hilarious:

Sox vs. As Game 1: Ellsbury's catch

I've been questioning whether Ellsbury can be as good a defensive player as Coco Crisp. Well, yesterday, he proved he's got the stuff with this catch to save Bryan Corey's butt!

Manny Being Manny

I'm one of the few folks I know who loves it that Manny doesn't run when he hits the heck out of the ball. It's that moment that he spends admiring his hit that makes him Manny. It's the hustle that ensues when the ball doesn't go over the wall that makes him Manny. I love it! And I was treated to quite a Manny show in the season opener. Manny, who is embarking on a phenomenal season, won the game with this RBI... and no, he didn't run..

I Heart Brandon Moss

Brandon Moss wasn't expected to make the team. The Red Sox have too many outfielders as it is. Moss got to travel with the Sox simply because they were allowed a bigger roster for the trip. And he got to start simply because Drew's back hurt. But I think he just made this team. Just when the Sox were about to give up the season opener to the Oakland As, Brandon Moss hit his first big league homerun against the famous Huston Street...
Brandon Moss is definitely my baseball boyfriend of the day! :)

Fenway Flashback: Papi Keeps the Peace

August 13, 2007

In the best pitching performance, I've ever seen from Tim Wakefield -- he went 6 innings without a hit and in the end, threw an 8 inning shut out, giving up only 2 hits -- Big Papi tried to steal the show with his antics at the plate. When others might throw punches, Papi keeps the peace..

And Jon Lester tries to steal the show by being so dang cute:

Red Sox vs. Giants: JD Drew's Grandslam

The Sox beat the Japanese Giants 9-2. The highlight was JD Drew's grandslam homerun. The highlight for the Japanese seemed to be Dice-K getting knocked over by high-fives celebrating the grandslam. Japanese tv showed the clip over and over again...

In the opening ceremonies Terry Francona was crowned first runner up in the manager beauty pagent...