Coco Crisp wins gold medal in vault

video courtesy of MASN and MLB.tv

Life is like a box of chocolates abscessed anal sac

My dog has an infected anal sac. Yup, it's as nasty as it sounds. It pretty much sums up life these days. Nothing life threatening, but definitely not pretty. Sums up last night's game too. The Sox are supposed to be a favorite to win the World Series, yet they have their utility infielder in the bullpen... Not pretty, but it is kinda funny. It really had Jim Palmer perplexed. In later innings, when the Sox didn't use Cora, thanks to a surprisingly great outing by Hideki Okajimi, Palmer decided that Cora must have just been goofing around out there. I wish that were the case!

video courtesy of MASN and MLB.tv

Congratulations, Dice-K

Thanks to his five walk outing last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka now leads the American League in walks. Somehow, he's also fourth in wins...
has the lowest opponent batting average with runners in scoring position and....

hasn't given up a run in the 14 times that he's loaded the bases. That's really amazing. And really, really, REALLY stressful.

Dear Sean Casey,

First of all, let me just say that I'm a big fan. I think you bring a great energy to the Red Sox and have really helped out the Sox this season. I think you are hilarious and fun and I love watching you laugh and smile. You hit like Ichiro-- knocking in everything thrown at you for a bloop hit. However, you do not run like Ichiro. You run more like an elephant..... with his feet tied together... You make Mike Lowell look speedy. It's okay. You are awesome and you do not need to run. Let the rookie do the running. Accept the fact that you cannot run and be okay with that. Please please please stop trying to stretch out hits for an extra base. You will be called out. Every time. Even if you are safe, because it'll be impossible for the umpire to believe that you beat the throw. Yeah, you really do look that slow. Sorry... peace, love, and double-plays, lynne

An argument against vest jerseys

I've always hated vest jerseys, but then again baseball fashion is, well, not exactly fashionable. And it's not like the guys aren't wearing t-shirts under the vests. I'd really be worked up if the boys were bearing armpits. I just pretend that they are wearing different colored sleeves. But last night, poor Tommy Hunter proved that vests are not okay.

Oh the screen cap barely does it justice.... Hunter had a tight tee on under his vest. I think the tight sleeves are probably far more functional than the lose sleeves, especially for a pitcher. You don't want all sorts of extra fabric bunching up around your shoulder and tighter is definitely warmer. However tight shirt + vest = fashion disaster. It's worse than high socks. It's worse than stirrups! I think that Jason Bay is happy to be a Red Sox not because of the chance to be on winning team, but he's happy to escape the god-awful VEST!

Nearing the end?

I've been worrying that Jason Varitek's recent batting slump is a sign that his career is nearing the end. However, boston.com reports that it's not his career, but his marriage that is ending. Apparently Tek filed for divorce at the end of July. Tek was married for 11 years with 3 kids, so I am sure it's a sad and stressful time for the captain. Undoubtedly, it's had an effect at the plate as well. I'm sure that once the dust settles, Tek's swing will be back in fine form.

Forgive and forget?

Alright, the boys did a good job of trying to distract me last night -- the baby-faced knuckler and the nearly 40 runs. What a wild ride it was. But it's morning and I'm still mad. Surely Sox fans remember the ALCS last year against the Cleveland Indians and we remember that Paul Byrd was busted for HGH use during that series, missing his start. Are we supposed to have forgiven and forgotten?? Come on -- we're Red Sox fans. Red Sox fans never forget...

I know the Sox need a starter as they make a playoff bid, I really do get it. I want the Red Sox to win. But I'm not convinced I want an admitted HGH user in the clubhouse. But I didn't want to be quick to judge, so I looked around. Byrd claims to have a tumor on his pituitary gland which causes him to be deficient in HGH, so his doctor prescribed it for him. . Ah that sounds convincing enough. But just to be sure, I looked him up in the Mitchell Report. Here's what George had to say:

On October 21, 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd had bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, one of the anti-aging clinics implicated in the Signature Pharmacy investigation, in thirteen transactions between August 2002 and January 2005. According to the story, Byrd used his credit card to purchase the substance and received more than 1,000 vials of human growth hormone in the transactions, which were sent to his home in Georgia, to the spring training facility of the Atlanta Braves, where he was playing at the time, and in one instance to a New York hotel.

In public comments in response to the article, Byrd admitted that he had been taking human growth hormone but said that he had been using it to treat a tumor on his pituitary gland. Byrd reportedly said that he had never taken “any hormone or drug that was not prescribed” to him by a doctor. The Chronicle reported that two of Byrd’s prescriptions had been written by a Florida dentist whose license was suspended in 2003. Byrd also reportedly said that “[t]he Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time,” but Rob Manfred in the Commissioner’s Office denied that Major League Baseball had given Byrd or any other player a therapeutic use exemption for human growth hormone.

A dentist? The same dentist that prescribed HGH to other ballplayers, like Jose Guillen. Oh brother. If you want to really clear your name, you clear it. You show the MRIs of your tumor. He show your medical charts. You show your prescriptions. Your doctor speaks on your behalf.... Byrd knew that HGH was a banned substance in baseball, but has yet to present documentation that he was indeed a medical exception to the rule. If you know you are breaking the rules, you'd better document your excuses. I don't know if Byrd is telling the truth or not, but I can't find anything to convince me he's not guilty, that he didn't cheat. Yet, I'm supposed to cheer him on and hope he helps the Red Sox on the way to a championship. Maybe after his first win, I'll be able to put the past in the past. I'll forgive and forget. Who am I kidding? I'm a Red Sox fan...

What slump?

Jacoby Ellsbury ended his long slump this week in KC, concluding the trip with this lovely 3 run homer:
Redsox.com has the video

Big Papi celebrates Bay's 4 hits

Damn that wall!

There's a teeny little wall in the outfield in Kansas City that is getting the best of Jason Bay. When you are used to seeing the Green Monster out there, the Royals' little fence looks like a little league fence. It looks like it'd be easy to hit a ball over it. But somehow Jason Bay managed to hit 2 balls off the wall rather than over it. Just when I started cursing the little wall, this happened:

Video courtesy of FSN KC
It was reminiscent of Johnny Damon's near catch at Yankee Stadium early this year. Then a Kevin Youkilis would-be homer was knocked out of Damon's glove and perch on the top of the wall. This play was even more unlikely as the ball, while rolling along the top of the wall, was knocked down by the left fielder and put back into play, robbing Jason Bay of a homerun. The Sox went on to score all those runs on a Jed Lowrie base clearing triple, so no damage done!

A light moment

Last night I made a discovery -- the only thing harder to watch than a Dice-K walk-fest is a Clay Buccholz' walk-fest. In a disaster of a game, there was a light moment. The FSN announcers noticed gum stuck to Dustin Pedroia's helmet. It's good to know that at least the guys are having some fun in the dugout. =)

Red Sox sweep and Papi steals a base!

It's official: I love Jason Bay

I went out of my way to watch some Manny-wood clips. They made me miss him. Then this happened.... Manny who?

Now that just looks weird...

Manny in a dodgers uniform. Messed up... It'll look even more messed up when he cuts his hair! No wonder Manny had last minute second thoughts ;) BTW, while Jason Bay hit a clutch triple last night, Manny hit into a clutch double play....

That ain't Manny

'nuff said

Bay's Welcome

Jason Bay was greeted with a standing O in his first at bat in Fenway park. The way the Sox fans treated the left field replacement makes me proud to call myself a sox fan....

Bay walked and went on to score the Sox first run of the game.

Born Into It... Your Left Fielder, #44 Jason Bay

Jason Bay has arrived in the Bay State. He addressed the media this afternoon and said he grew up in BC wearing a Red Sox onsie. Last night I was sad, but after reading that the veterans met with Theo before trade day and encouraged him to make a move, I'm getting more and more excited for the post-Manny era...


Love his comments on playing the wall -- he's looking forward to a lot less running ;) Sidenote, Jason Bay looks much cuter in red! =)

Bittersweet goodbye

Last night was, unimpressively, Manny's last night as a Boston Red Sox. If you had told me a month ago that the Sox would trade the slugger by the trade deadline, I would have undoubtedly been angry and horrified. But considering how ugly things have become over the past week, I find myself relieved and excited by the new guy, Jason Bay. I don't know a thing about him, other than this season's numbers are comparable to Manny's but I'm willing to go out on a limb and guess that he's probably easier to deal with than Manny. I mean, he looks like a guy that might even run down the first base line. I came across this nice blog about the fellow. Apparently he's Canadian and he's getting to big for the Pirates who won't be able to afford him next year. I also came across this and freaked out a little because he looks like Canadian version of Manny. I wonder if he has hair? Will he grow dreads?

And then I came across a quote in which he's less than kind about the Pirates management and I started to freak out again. But then I saw this:

"Whether you're playing chess, checkers or major league baseball, no one likes to lose," Bay said. "When you lose over and over, it's very frustrating. You want to win, but there's a lot of ways that people can help you do that."

Aha!! The man wants to win. Halle-freaking-lujah! I like him already even if he isn't the polar opposite of Manny Ramirez, but then again, we already have JD Drew ;)

On a sad and surprising note, we do say goodbye to Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss. It sure did take a lot to trade Manny, huh? Both Moss and Hansen have had moments of bright promise. But I've never really seen an upcoming hole in the Sox lineup that would create room for Moss, and I never really thought poor Hansen would learn to deal with the pressure of the pen. I hope each find much more success elsewhere, just like Eric Hinske did.

Masterson joins the band...

Questionable umpiring, Manny's questionable absence from the line-up, Joba's questionable sanity, and questionable shift with runners aboard, all combined for a 1-0 loss to the Yankees. The one highlight was the incorporation of Justin Masterson into the bullpen band. Welcome to the pen, Rookie!

Duchovny on Letterman

Duchovny.net has the video of DD on Letterman:

DD also cohosted Regis today. LiveRegisandKelly.com has the host chat on their homepage.