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Feeling lazy and beaten on a topic...

I was going to write about Buchholz, and how maybe Gabbard wasn't such a big loss because we obviously have an arsenal of up-and-coming pitchers grazing and grooming in the farm.

But Aaron beat me to it, talking about our "embarrassment of riches," in his post. You're just too quick for me, Aaron.

So here's a few pictures from that Sox vs. O's game I went to last week.

Here's Eutaw street. It's kind of like Yawkey Way, but without pavement or outside businesses. If you ever wind up at an O's game, get food from the Jack Daniel's barbecue. I've never had a better burger at a park.

You'll find these signs on Eutaw Street. Unlike other areas of the park, it's no joke here. I personally saw two balls ping off the sidewalk, then the wall of the old factory building. A hard hat might not be a bad idea. Neither would spider senses.

This was the view from our seats. Our $15 seats. Yep. $15.

I'm not sure who this is, but I think he batted eighth in the O's lineup that day. That could be why the Sox won 6-2. They must have sent this green player back to the minors before the next day's game thought, cause the O's won 6-3.

The view while leaving Camden Yards. Incidentally, this is also the view you will have while exiting this entry.

So Much for the Luck of the Irish

The baseball gods are not on my side this week. My sleeping eating and drinking patterns have all been affected by the shrinking lead we have over the Yankees. I know that stats are in our favor, but this is the Red Sox, and it is August. Getting comfortable is just cursing ourselves.

I went to a pub to watch the game, no luck as usual. But this time it got a bit scary. An elderly woman who mistook me for a cricket fan actually chased me out of the pub.

“Get out of here you English cricket fan” she said and threw in a few profanities here and there. I kept trying to explain to her it was baseball I was after. She kept telling me cricket would be the end to the Irish nationalists. I was forced out of the pub full of locals who at this stage all believed me for an antinationalist cricket fan. They must have been a bit too buzzed to hear my American accent at this stage.

I ended up having pizza. I mean they can't possibly kick an American out of a pizza joint, right? This is when I realized just how cursed I am. The lunch special was called the Yankee pizza. I looked up to the walls, and found myself staring at a picture of Matsui on the wall. At least it wasn’t A-Rod. However, I still lost my appetite.

I tell these stories of Ireland so you’ll be prepared. I was hoping for nice quiet pints of Guinness to nurse me through this hard time in August. Instead I keep finding myself getting kicked out of pubs eating Yankee pizza. So much for the luck of the Irish.

I can’t wait to return to the promise land.

Sox rookie dazzles then goes back to minors

Short and sweet. That about sums up the time spent in the bigs by Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz.  Facing the impressive Anaheim Angels at home, Boston opened a day/night double-header today by throwing the twenty-three year old rookie, previously 8-3 with AAA Pawtucket.  Buchholz and the Sox beat the first place Angels 8-4 and, in doing so, Buchholz notched his first major league victory.  Clay gave up three runs, scattered eight hits, struck out five, and walked three over six innings. 

Thank Pedro Martinez for the victory.  The only reason Clay is pitching in Boston, and helping the Sox win a pennant, is due to the trade that sent Pedro to the Mets a few years back.  Part of the deal ensured the Sox one additional first round draft pick, which they used to get Buchholz. 

But I said this was short and sweet.  Following the game, Buchholz was sent right back to Pawtucket.  The Sox have an embarrassment of riches as far as pitching goes and this appears to be a spot start for the young rightie.  Clay's performance against one of the best teams in the game probably means he will get another start.  Let's hope this kid has the stuff to join the club on a more permanent basis.

It used to be that the Sox relied on the Earl Weaver school of baseball: mediocre pitching and the three-run homer.  In the magical year of 2004, the Sox were strong across the board only to blow up the team in '05.  In that year, the Sox were a great defensive team with good (not great) pitching and good bats and they got swept in the first round of the playoffs.  Last year decent pitching and defense and a flagging offense cost the Sox a playoff birth.

2007 is a different story.  The team is hitting .277 (5th in the AL) and are among league leaders in runs scored and on-base percentage.  But on a team that features one of the 3-4 hitting combinations in baseball in Manny and Papi, players like Mike Lowell and Dustin Pedroia are the offensive standouts.  Manny, Papi, Lugo, Drew, and Pena fall in somewhere on the disappointment spectrum offensively.  The Sox rarely come back to win ball games and simply leave too many men on base.

This year pitching is the story and the reason the Sox are in first.  The rotation is leads the league in ERA (3.79) and opponent's batting average (.249).  The Sox are also second in saves.  The additions of Lester, Gagne, Matsusaka, Okajima, Delcarmen, Snyder, and Lopez make this year's team one of the best pitching staffs in recent Sox memory.  Do I need to mention Cy Young candidate Josh Beckett, power train Curt Schilling, and Wakefield?

I'm going to say something that may pain you.  This year's team most resembles the Yankees of the mid-90's.  Remember those terrible days when the Yankees hoisted banner after championship banner?  The Yanks won because of outstanding pitching, power threats, good defense, and contributions from everyone up and down the lineup.  It's the formula for success that makes them look similar.  The Yanks now look like the Sox of old with their spotty pitching and over-reliance on the three-run homer. 

I am fully aware that part of my pledge to the Nation is to rabidly hate on the Yankees, which I do with the utmost pride.  But, I am also a fan of the game and winning championships.  If the Sox stole the Yankee formula to success, then all I can say is thanks NY and enjoy your October...at home watching the Sox win the World Series.

Mike Lowell made a Little Girl Cry

That brute. Well, okay. He can't really be blamed.

Early on Saturday's game, Lowell beaned a long foul ball to left field that would have been a home run if it been ten feet closer to center. Instead it plunked down in the stands under me. Seconds later, I heard a little girl crying.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I heard someone say the ball hit her.

That could be. All I know is that I looked down to see a ten year old in a pink Sox T-shirt and a pink Sox visor rushing out of the stands with her mother following after with a comforting hand on her shoulder.

My guess is that she didn't get hit. I think the ball landed nearby and scared the Sox out of her.

That little girl wasn't the only near-beaning victim at Saturday's game - Beckett ducked a long-ball too.

Before the game started, he ran a few warm up laps in the outfield, and had just leaned against the center-field wall to stretch when someone told him to look out. He ducked and covered his head as a ball landed about five feet away and ricocheted off the wall.

Wouldn't that have started the game under a cloud?

Well, the long-ball mishaps didn't put too much of a damper on the game.

Hit or not, the little girl had returned to her seat when scanned the crowd in the 7th inning.

But Lowell probably a few adults cry in the ninth when he missed a couple of ground balls that probably cost Beckett a full-game shutout.

Red Socks

This is about the time of year when I start going crazy. The Yankees are closing in on us. I don’t care who plays who next, well I do, but nothing is enough to let me calm down. This seems to happen most years. We start out way on top and by the near end of the season Sox fans are falling down from heart failure all over the world. This is when I lose jobs and boyfriends due to the fact I can’t think beyond baseball. I told myself their losses might be my fault. I haven’t been the usual fan as I have nowhere to see the games.

I called pubs ahead this time, not even joking. Many of the people answering laughed at my American accent frantically asking if they were showing the Red Sox game. One pub finally said yes. I put on my boots and walked through the pissing rain letting my mind go. The woman on the phone said the game was already on, which means there must already be Sox fans there. I imagined the old pub half filled with old Irish fishermen, and half full of mental Sox fans.

I got to the pub. All fishermen. Golf was playing on every screen. I asked the barman about the game.

“Be right back.” He came back out with a Red Sox jersey over his bar shirt.

“Nice one!” I knew now they would for sure put on the game.

“Yeah, it’s not mine though. I’m a Mets fan. Lived in New York for ten years.” He said and waited for me to make polite conversation about New York since I’m American.

“They told me the Red Sox game was on.”

“They most have meant someone was wearing red socks, we don’t have satellite” he said pointing to the TV.

Sure enough some golfer was wearing red socks. So what do I do now? Wait? Go insane on whiskey and scream at my computer for the next month? I think I’ll do that as well as buy a calling card. I can’t sleep anymore anyway so the time difference doesn’t really matter. And then at least people would be screaming with me.

Sox on the Cape

I've been on Cape Cod for a week now and I have watched a total of zero Red Sox games. When I arrived in Barnstable I planned on watching the Rem Dawg while lying in a hammock sipping on a Pacifico. The beer and the hammock are great, but without cable and the ability to escape family commitments, I find myself wanting to run "errands" in order to listen to the game on the radio. So close, yet so far away.

Last night I hit bottom. I spent the night alternately cooking dinner for 8 and receiving phone calls from and 84-year-old Sox fanatic who watches every game. It was interesting to roast chicken and listen to the commentary provided by Grandma on whether or not the Sox would blow another lead. I thank the Red Sox for winning last night and not killing an old woman.

Today is Sunday, Schilling is pitching, and I have to strike. In order to see the game I either have to (a) go to Grandma's and endure a very LOUD game and withstand the wafting Carltons that she smokes during the game; (b) tramp on down to the local pub and sit around with sunburned men and listen to stories about how great Marty Barrett was; (c) or go for a long drive to Provincetown and listen to the ball game along the way.

Hmm. Decisions, decisions. Stay tuned to see if I will ever get to watch the Sox.

Yankees suck, even in Baltimore

I just came back from the Sox/Orioles game at Camden Yards, and if you were blind or drunk enough, you might have thought you were in Fenway.

Click the image for a bigger version, but that really is a line of mostly Red Sox fans waiting to get into the park.

It seemed like everyone that came Saturday was a Sox fan, a situation that lead me to wonder if the Orioles had fans, until I met two while waiting in line for a hot dog in the fifth inning.

Those two told me the best selling games in Baltimore are games against the Sox and the Yankees, and they said they hated it when the Yankees came to town. Both teams brought obnoxious fans with them, they said, but Sox fans have a sense of humor, while the Yankees fans could probably all come in one van, and call it The Tool Box.

The Orioles fans even asked a gravel-voiced Bostonian where he bought his T-Shirt. It read "Jeter Drinks Wine Coolers." They wanted to get their own for the next time the Bronx Bombers visited, but the guy with the shirt said he got it on Cape Cod. In Provincetown, to be exact.

By the time I got back from the hot dog run, I'd heard Sox fans chant "Let's go Red Sox" a dozen times. Later, they started a wave that circled the park half a dozen times, and rebuffed the stadium media crew's urging to chant "Let's Go O's," and turned it into "Let's Go Sox."

But the day didn't truly feel like home until a group behind me started yelling "Yankees suck" late in the game.

I've had a long drive, a day in the sun, and a good meal. I'm tired right now. Here's a couple more pictures of Sox fans in Baltimore, and come back when I tell you about how Mike Lowell made a little girl cry.

Paternity test confirms: Seattle is Boston's daddy

Last night the Mariners beat the Sox 7-4 and for the ninth consecutive time the Sox faltered at Safeco Field.  What is it about Seattle that confounds the Sox?  Some say the cross-country trip causes players to lose a step on the field or that the heavy (or is it lighter) air keeps the ball in the park.  Maybe the Sox are strung out on too much coffee and salmon.  Whatever the reason the disturbing trend continues and the Nation is not happy about it.

With the team that shall not be mentioned beating the Royals last night, the lead is now 7.  All those who think the AL East is a lock better get a grip.  The Sox are atop the division, but they only mustered an 11-8 record in July – far from championship baseball.  I’m not sounding the alarm bell, but if we want to raise another championship banner over Fenway Park next season, the Sox will have to consistently beat top-notch teams at home and on the road.

Baseball is a funny game and things often shift quickly.  Yesterday’s misfortunes disappear with the next day’s starting pitching.  And today Matsuzaka (12-8) will try and reverse the fortunes of the Seattle syndrome.  Look for another Ichriro vs. Dice-K matchup and hopefully an appearance by Gagne.

Rumors: Wily Mo Pena just might be replaced by Bobby Kielty, the former Cape League standout, recently designated for assignment by Oakland.  Wily Mo continues to be a "project" with a lot of power but little plate discipline and is a question mark in the outfield.  Kielty could potentially platoon with JD Drew.  What do you think about Wily Mo?

If you are looking for great coverage of the Sox, check these writers...
                      Sean McAdam
                      Dan Shaughnessy
                      Tony Massarotti
                     
                     

Sox Pub Crawl

I have been waiting for Sunday all week. My thesis is due in two days. But it doesn’t matter. Tonight is huge for me.  I have yet to see Dice-K pitch.

As soon as I walk into the pub the barman starts to pour my Guinness.

“Is it baseball you’re after, love?” he asks.

“Yes, it’s a big night for me.”

“Would you like to see the Yankees lose or the Red Sox win?”

“I want to see the Red Sox game.”

“Do you know what channel it’s on, love?”

“The channel that plays American sports.”

Unfortunately, there’s only one in the country.  He hands me the Guinness now perfectly settled and begins flipping through the channels.

“Found it for you,” he says.

I go to my usual seat. The one where no one can possibly block you. I sat here for all if football season too.  I look up at the big screen.  People around me in the pub look up too, probably thinking there’s a Gaelic match that’s slipped their mind.

            I see a bat. I see a very large head with a Tampa Bay hat. Then right above it I see a banner, telling me the network is blacked out.

           I gulp down my pint and head to the pub across the road that occasionally plays American sports.  I walk in and find a group of Americans occupying the one TV not playing football. They are watching NASCAR.

Defeated, I go home, drink a beer and watch a stick figured Manny hit a homer on Gamecast.