Unbelievable.

The big man does it again. I'm speechless. I watched this very entertaining - if at times frustrating - game from the first pitch and it was one of the best of the year. Ortiz hit another dinger in addition to the walk off, breaking the record for most HR and RBI in the month of July in the entire history of the Red Sox. Manny also poked one, as did Willy Mo's tape measure bomb which had to have cleared the Landsdowne Parking Garage. Wells looked poor in his first appearance in two months but that's not totally unexpected under the circumstances. (The crowd seemed to agree as they gave him a healthy affirmative as we walked off despite giving up 8 runs.) But the story of the night, rivalling the walk-off, was the outstanding relief work by Kyle Snyder. He's obviously been roughed up lately but his performance tonight was truly special. He struck out 6 while only allowing 1 hit in 4+ innings. After the flurry of runs that they saddled Wells with early on, this great performance was totally unexpected. He threw some of the nastiest breaking stuff i've seen lately and absolutely deserved the win. This kid has some stellar stuff and if he can become consistent, I'd like to see much more of him.
But Papi! The crowd stuck around for minutes afterwards chanting "MVP" repeatedly. All hometown bias aside, given his accomplishments through the year I don't see how any true afficianado of the game can possibly disagree.

J.W. Dundee Sampler 12 Pack

I tried a new variety pack this last week end. I took it up to share with Dad. This 12 Pack had 3 each of J.W. Dundees Pale Ale, Hefe Wiesen, Amber Lager and Honey Brown Lager.

The Wiesen was excellent, of course I have a soft spot for it, with 2 plus years in Germany hefe wiesen is a sentimental favorite, and I can't remember not liking one. This one had a nice flavor, good color and the short after taste I like. I'm not a big one on long after taste. If I want to taste it again, I'll burp. (Ok it's gross, but admit it you laughed). The wiesen was one of those beers that was as good a little warm as it was cold.

The Honey Brown Lager was good too, though, unlike the wiesen, better ice cold than luke warm. It had a nice sweet flavor, that made it a good sipper brew, but don't take too long.

The Amber Lager was nothing special, a good brew for a hot day to quench the thirst, it had more flavor than Bud, but that doesn't take much.

The Pale Ale I left for last as I'm not a use fan of Pale Ales, I find them ok, but not to my tastes usually. So I hesitate to say it was a good Pale Ale, but I did like this one. Since Dad went back for the last one, I'm assuming he thought it worth the time. Of course it could just be it was handy, you all know Dad.

Stone Brewing and Charity

so, MM and I went to a charity event last night at the bar called The Penguin last. There was a raffle and silent auction. I thought I would report on the beer I drank and one of things I bid on.

First the bid, a signed Pedro ball! It sold for $240! I peaked at below $200. I think it might be worth over $400.

Second the beer,... I tried a few by Stone Brewing Co. of San Diego. the IPA was great - right there with Harpoon's - great fruitiness:) http://www.stonebrew.com/tasting/ipa/index.html. the other one I tried was http://www.arrogantbastard.com/index2.html. Whoa Nelly! 7.2% alcohol. It was quite good, but definitely had a kick. A few of them and you would be on your butt.

Trade Rumors gallore....

Here is a link to the Globes latest trade rumors: Rumors and also More Rumors

There are talks about a trade for Jason Schmidt or Scott Linebrink and Julio Lugo. San Diego wants Lowell and San Fransisco is talking about Youkilis. I'm not sure I like either trade to be honest. It's too bad that Wells start tonight isn't until after the deadline. If he pitches well we may be Ok. Although Another pitcher, starting type, would allow them to shit can Tavaris and move Snyder to the pen. That is as long as Wells is good to go. The other news today, Clement was moved to the 60 day DL tomake room for Wells. I dont' have any faith that Clement will ever pitch for the Sox again.

Papi Does it Again!!!

Quick chat on Saturday's gem. Mama Joan, Uncle Bruce and his fiancee rolled down to see the game with MM and I. We at in Section 42, Row 16 - sweet bleacher seats. I figure if Trot had actually connected, we might have caught that ball. ok,... the game was great of course. Beckett pitched fine after he shook off the first few innings. Waiting it out to see Papi do it again was outstanding, but tell me... can someone else step up? Geeez. Uncle Bruce hadn't been to Fenway in 12 years! it was great to see him so excited to be there; like a little kid. The park is so much nicer than 12 years ago. Man, was it hot at the game! Sammy came to the rescue though;-) By the way, there were a few close plays that Terry got pissed about? One of the them was a play at the plate where Lowell? was safe? The don't replay stuff like that so i had no idea what happen? What did? I wanted Terry to get kicked out - the guy is too nice.

Anyway,,...get this trade day over with PLEASE!

Dreadful.

That's it. Absolutely dreadful.
I'd talk trade stuff but i'm too pissed off.

An interesting statisic

Because i'm such a frigging geek (and because i'm in a fantasy league... not that those are mutually exclusive, come to think of it) I decided I would subscribe to ESPN "Insider" and did so tonight. Well, baseball guru Jayson Stark (by the way Jayson, I love your baseball acumen but you've got to lose the "y", dude) offers a series of stats indicating the leaders in various categories using the All-Star games in '05 and '06 as signposts. While there were a couple of Sox entries (Papi having the most HRs and RBIs and Papelbon with the lowest ERA for a reliever, both in the entire major league over that time period), one stat stood out for me: the Sox have the most wins with the least losses. Between the two summer classics, the Sox have been 99-62 - the best in the majors. The White Sox - the only team in the neighborhood - also had 99 wins but logged three more losses, with 65. (He only listed the top couple of teams so I don't know where the Yankees stand but i'll bet they're not too far in the rearview. They do have a knack for always being closer than they appear, no?) Anyway, I didn't expect that they had topped the crowd but I suppose it makes sense. They had a great second half last year, almost unbeatable for a stretch until the late season (and playoff) doldrums. This year... well, we all know about the general excellence tempered by some rare but significant stretches of sloppy baseball. Nonetheless, they find themselves still in the driver's seat. Therefore I think the most important aspect of this stat is that although they drastically altered their roster and game strategy this year, it hasn't hampered their success in the least. It's amazing that with the huge differences in the lineup and staff between this year and last there hasn't been some sort of alteration to their win ratio in one direction or the other. On the contrary. With the consistency, one would never know that there was such wholesale change over the winter. Has the whole offseason soap opera paid off?

Mixing Sports and Politics

Charles Barkley is thinking of running for Governer in Alabama according to this Fox News report: Barkley for Gov

So what do you guys think of sports figures running for office. There have been a few that made successful runs, but Barkley just doesn't strike me as a politician, quite frankly he's too damn honest and straight forward. He speaks his mind and doesn't care who hears it. Quite frankly I like those characteristics, but they tend to doom politicians.

I'm curious to see how you guys wiegh in on this. Perhaps this will be the oppurtunity for the man from DC to offer his opinion.......

Just Manny being Manny....

There was story in yesterdays Boston Globe that talked some of Manny's stats. What they did was to take a split before the All-Star break as opposed to after the All-star break, then also home versus away. These numbers are for his carreer, not just with the Sox.

Before All-Star break: .314 BA, .409 on-base, .598 slugging
After All-Star break: .314 BA, .411 on-base, .601 slugging

Home: .313 BA, .413 on-base, .608 slugging
Away: .314 BA, .407 on-base, .591 slugging

I don't know how much more consistant, you can read that as reliable if you like, a guy can be. It just re-enforces what we already know, Manny is going to perform all year, every year. I just found these interesting, it would be interesting to see how other top hitters stack up in these areas. As we all know Vlad won an MVP the year before last basically in the last month of the season. I know I thought Manny would get the votes that year based on his year long play, I wonder if anyone even looks at these stats when looking at MVP candidates.

Sean McDonough Rant

At Zebster suggestion, the following is extracted from a comment that I had to AA Post about last night's game.

Tell me I am wrong, that's fine, but he irritates me. MamaJoan can't take him either.

"Now on to Sean "freaking" McDonough. He is on EEI with Holly. I hate this guy. I think he is a prick. He has been whining about how Orsilo "sounds" like him (as if Don had a choice on how his voice sounds) he claims that Don steals his ways of describing the games events, etc... If the Bald Prick could keep he mouth shut and just call games, I would never of had a problem with him, but he always babbles about non game crap, spends more time ripping his cohost than providing good game calling... whatever, i was just irritated and thought I would whine. "

A wacky win

Good V last night, if a bit of a strange one. After jumping out to an early lead due to some back to back long ball by Manny and Trot (yes, I said Trot - I know it's hard to believe), Schilling pitched well overall but left after six with somewhat less than a comfortable lead. DelCarmen came in for the 7th and struggled, loading the bases and surrendering a run before getting out of it in strong fashion. We blew it wide open again in the eighth, capped off by a bases clearing 2B by Varitek which had Trot coming around from first and scoring on a close play at the plate after ignoring Hale's stop sign. Nice aggressive hustle from the hillbilly there. Youk, Crisp, Lowell and Loretta all had 3 hits, and - I can't believe I'm saying this - Seanez actually looked sharp in the ninth, ringing up Kotsay with a filthy deuce. 13-5, on 18 hits. Not too shabby.
Other notable moments:
A nice 5-4-3 DP from deep in the hole at 3rd.
A priceless meltdown by A's relief pitcher Duscherer who got tossed after bitching about some calls that didn't go his way, prompting a very heated argument with the home plate ump. I see a healthy fine looming for this one.
Sauerbeck leaving the game suddenly in the 8th with an injury, causing about a 10 minute delay while the replacement took his sweet time warming up. You don't see that very often.
A very interesting game, indeed.

And how about them Twins? They are playing unbelievable ball, which shouldn't come as a surprise to Sox fans after we took it in the shorts and got swept last month. They certainly seem as if they'll be a player in the wild card stakes.

Finally, has anyone heard anything about why Harold Reynolds is suddenly no longer employed at ESPN? I've always thought he was an exceptional analyst with a great demeanor - it's too bad to see him go. He's been there for 11 years doing everything from Baseball Tonight to college and little league world series. Something must have happened because it all seems quite sudden.

Afternoon game today, boys. Let's go for the sweep!

Now that Blogger is back to normal......

It looks like the Sox may be back to normal as well. I sat up for the first few innings last night and I'm listening to the XM now, I recorded the game last night, gotta love the XM. The offense was hitting well and Beckett was throwing well, a deadly combination for Oakland.

What I had wanted to write about yesterday was the debaucle on Sunday. It's one of the most frustrating kinds of games to watch. They fight back from behind, get a lead in the top of the inning and then give it right back in the bottom. They did this twice in the game. The question I have is why wasn't Papelbon pitching the ninth on Sunday? You've got a one run lead, that is when your closer earns his money. I like Timlin, but Papelbon is the closer, he needs to be there to close.

Now the A-Fraud report. Yankee fans here at work are talk about a trade. A-Fraud for starting pitching prospects. They concluded that he can't play in New York, the pressure is too much. I'm hearing comparisons to Chuck Knoblock and Steve Sax. It's an interesting discussion, but most agree A-Fraud isn't going anywhere. His pay is too high, he's too good a player and Stienbrenner won't admit he's wrong.

Son of Massacre!

I know you'll all think i'm totally goofy but I have to admit that I kind of like the late games. I'm up anyway and it gives me some good baseball to catch once Meg goes to bed and gives me a rare chance to listen to the game during the week, something I love doing. So, after strapping on the Sennheisers with no score in the 2nd, here comes the next batch...

Runaway Train (D. Andre Konchalovsky, 1985) - Based on an unrealized screenplay by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, this brutal yet gripping film boasts exceptional camerawork and astonishing stuntwork long before the days of CGI. It also displays one of the great eccentric (and deservedly Oscar nominated) performances of recent years, by Jon Voight. The main story concerns the escape of two convicts (Voight and Eric Roberts) from from a maximum security prison in a remote part of Alaska. Roberts, in awe of Voight's legend as a master criminal, helps with the escape and tags along as they eventually find themselves on the title vehicle. While the picture has tense action scenes as they try to stop the train and evade the equally determined warden giving chase, the film's real power lies in the heartfelt exchanges and power struggle between the men (and a woman also trapped on the train) as they find their options dwindling while the situation becomes increasingly desperate. Topping it all off, the final shot is absolutely haunting. A great film... with one caveat that deserves mentioning. There is unfortunately a subplot so terribly acted and realized that it almost seems as if there are two separate films playing simultaneously. Nonetheless, this is a strong picture that deserves viewing.

The Wages of Fear/Sorcerer (D. H.G. Clouzot/William Friedkin, 1952/1977) - In 1952, French filmmaker H.G. Clouzot spun a tale of disparate refugees mired in hopeless conditions in some God-awful shithole who find themselves offered a chance to break out and gain their freedom. The catch is that they have to transport unstable nitro-glycerin across hundreds of miles of primitive rainforest roads - in barely pieced together trucks - in order to extinguish a fire at a local refinery. If you can make it through the important first hour of set-up and characterization, you'll be picking your chair's upholstery out of your fingernails after the second - it's that intense, primarily due to the incredible direction. You'll find yourselves in disbelief when you realize when this film was made. In 1977, William Friedkin (of The French Connection and Exorcist fame) tried his hand at remaking the film as an homage to one of his primary inspirations. He adheres to the basic story (while throwing in Roy Scheider as a familiar face) while intensifying the squalor of the situation that the men find themselves in. Once the action starts, Friedkin ratchets up the tension in several excellent set-pieces. While the remake doesn't belong in the same league as the original, if you've never seen (or even heard of) the former, I think you'll agree that it's one kick-ass movie. Both highly recommended.

The Lone Wolf and Cub series (Various directors, 1972-1974) - This Japanese series of 6 films explored the adventures of a disgraced Shogunate assassin who, along with his infant son, renounces all faith and vows revenge upon those who betrayed him and murdered his wife. With the protagonist more silent and laconic than the most stoic Clint you can think of, there is more insane ass-kicking here than I can even describe. And the kid gets in on it too as his carraige is mounted with the most insidious and crazy weapons imaginable. These films, an obvious and acknowledged inspiration for Tarantino's Kill Bill films, are certainly gory and violent, yet they are also extremely well done. Fantastic camera work and editing abounds. If you like an occasional extreme swordplay film - and who doesn't - these are the graduate course.

Testosterone Massacre - Vol. 1

Well, I'm sitting here listening to Joe and Jerry (3-0, bottom of 3rd - Manny and A-Gon. both going deep) and decided that i'd try to race my dial-up and throw a couple of revised entries of some cool action flicks your way.
The other night I somehow coerced the Megster to sit through "The Rock", which she actually liked. It got me to thinking about action movies in general and tried to come up with some of my favorites. These taht I chose are all here because I think they offer a combination of good, solid ass-kicking (a necessary ingredient of all great action flicks) and sturdy, stylish filmmaking (equally important if far less common). While this is by no means definitive - I may come up with completely different examples if you ask me tomorrow - these were the ones that first came to mind. I think all exemplify the criteria that I mentioned. In no particular order:

The Guns of Navarone (D. J. Lee Thompson, 1961) - Easily the most white-knuckled WWII flick ever made, and possibly the best (along with "Patton"). This nearly three-hour excursion into the complete development of a secret mission to disable a fortress housing a pair of strategically place guns is taut, gripping filmmaking. Riveting from start to finish, this Oscar nominated film boasts an uncommonly good screenplay, excellent special effects, and stellar performances by such luminaries as Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and David Niven. Brisk, fun stuff.

Aliens (D. James Cameron, 1986) - Possibly the most bad-ass action flick ever. Starting with the heroine from the straight sci-fi/horror film "Alien" from 8 years prior, Cameron took the initial concept and amplified it, ratcheting up the tension to an unprecedented level. The first portion of the film establishes the set-up and the new characters (many of whom you will recognize) but once the alien ass-stomping kicks in... hold on. Despite having seen this several times, a recent viewing reminded me what an effective (and exhausting) film this is. Cameron's best work by a mile... and I love "The Terminator".

To be continued...

BTW, Varitek and Youk. have also both tagged dingers. 6-0!

What if... or As if..., as the case may be

If I beat anyone to punch on chatting about the What if... 2003 ALCS deal on NESN... all I can say is Waaah.

I won't be long, but I watched the end of it and have some thoughts. The ending seems plausable. 80% of the time they ran the simulating from the 8th inning on, the Sox won. What was funny, was that the anal-ysis geek said they ran "only" 20 runs where Pedro was left in. I think they said that the Sox won 75% of those? hmmmmm Oh the sample is much smaller... I think the whole thing is weak, but fun and I took it for what it was. They also said that Aaron "freaking" Boone never enter the game in any scenario they ran! hahahaha

A couple of random thoughts....Big Papi was "Medium" Papi is 2003; forgot that. Manny and Damon didn't look like rock stars....I miss Mueller...I forgot how close they really were!!!! Ugh. I think they have better team this year.

Good win against the Rangers

So Schilling is now 12 and 3. Not a great pitching performance yesterday, but a typical Schill gutsy battle to keep the Sox in it; 7 full inninings of work one walk, 6 strike outs and 10 hits. Ortiz with a rare day off, and Youkilis hitting third. Personally I don't think it matters where he is in the line up, he's going to get on a couple times a game. I think yester points to the Sox depth, as far as position players. 3 back up guys making starts yesterday, Kapler, Pena, and Cora, and I still have the feeling at the start of the game that our chances of getting the win are good.

I've got to say I love the XM guys. I was able to listen to the game last night all the way home from work with out having the channel hope for the best signal, and I was able to keep track of the Yankee game last night on the way home from bowling. By the way I'm taking credit for the 4 runs Toronto had in the 6th inning. Let me explain, on Wednesday I called A-Fraud out, see my earlier post for details, so he must have read that, and the pressure got to him you see, knowing I was on to him, and that's what triggered the bone headed decision to try to get the runner at home with a 3-0 lead. That throw went over the catcher's head all the way to the back stop leading to the 4 runs.

Zeb this blog just may win the division for the Sox!!!!

Sox Math

A few days ago I did some very quick math analying the Sox's projected finish to the season. I figure Theo crew do this every year. Basically, I took the games left to play before the last two wins with KC and made the following assumptions. I didn't include make up games.

1.) the Sox will win 75% of all games vs. teams with less than a .500 winning record.
2.) they will go .500 against the above .500 teams.

Well... guess what, it cam to 97 wins! I think that gives them a decent chance at the playoffs. Any thoughts? By the way, the projected winning percentage was about the same as their current - ~.600.

32 games against below 500 teams and 36 against above 500.

Here is the numbers games left by opponent.

NY 7
Sea 6
Oak 6
LAA 6
CLE 4
TB 5
KC 6
Bal 9
Det 3
Tor 8
Chw 3
Min 3

I think they can get to 97 wins with who they play the rest of the way. If they can deal with Toronto a bit better and sweep KC, TB, and Bal.....lol

No lack Luster is Lester

I, for one, was waiting for a performance like last night from this kid. You could see it is in his stuff, but control problems, while not major, kept his pitch up early in games and held him to 5 to maybe 6 innings. He was very efficient needing only 100 pitches through 8 innings of work. He through nearly 2/3 of his pitches for strikes, 57 to be exact, this is usually where you see Schilling and Beckett. This means he's usually ahead in the count and that's a good place to be.

Those pesky Yankees just won't go away though, winning in extra innings last night. But the story of the night was A-Fraud. Getting booed off the field, 3 errors and a strike out with bases loaded and the game on the line, typical. Can we finally stop this talk about this guy being the best all around player? With guys like Albert Pujols, Ichuro Suzuki, and Chipper Jones out there, that play gold glove caliber defense and are clutch performers, isn't it time to wake up and smell the fraud? Not to mention the fact that none of the afore said have left a game because of being booed.......I mean for a toe injury. When you look at guys like Chipper Jones, Soriano and our own Youkilis that have changed positions and adapted very quickly, isn't it time to stop making excuses for this guy? It's his third season of playing third for the Yankees, if hasn't adapted now, he's not going to. If he can't adapt, and others can, he can't be the best player in baseball, it's that simple.

Shipyard's Captain's Collection

In honor of it being American Beer Month Beer Town , the fact that it's hotter and stickier than hell and this is, in fact, a tavern, I'll preview Shipyard's Captain's Collection of ales. This variety pack contains a brown ale, Shipyard Export, Old Thumper and a summer ale. I could swear the last time I bought this collection it had an IPA in it. It must've been some other collection of Shipyard's. Too bad because their IPA is one of the best around. Shipyard
Let's start with the brown ale. No Sam Adams brown ale is this, I'm afraid. It's good, mind you, but much mellower than a Sammie brown ale. It's almost too mellow for an ale. It doesn't have that deep toasted malt and caramel taste I expect in a really good brown ale. In fact, it simply needs more hops. If you're used to drinking American mass-produced, watered-down lagers and want to experience something more tasty and hearty, then this ale would be a good bridge. I prefer ales to lagers. So I'm picky about ales. So it's a good ale, just not a very good brown ale.
The Shipyard Export is better, mostly because it's supposed to be lighter than a brown. It's smooth with just the right aftertaste. For me it would be better if it were a tad more robust, but it does a nice job of being tasty yet smooth enough to be a good thirst quencher on a hot day like today. I would certainly recommend it.
I found the hops and malt. They're in Ringwood Brewery Old Thumper. The bottle states that this is bottled and brewed by Shipyard here in Maine as well. So I suspect the Ringwood Brewery mention is because it is either a Ringwood recipe or a Ringwood recipe is the genesis of this recipe, paying homage, as it were. This has enough hops for a full-bodied flavor, yet is still nice and crisp, with no overpowering aftertaste...pretty much right on the spot for me as a very good ale. It has that lightly toasted flavor you're looking for in a good, hearty ale. How about we put this is the highly recommend category. The only one of the four that really does it for me, I'm afraid. It gives good head when poured too.
And now for the summer ale. Maybe it's my smoker's tastebuds, or lack thereof, but they all taste very similar to me, too similar; or I've been spoiled by Sam Adams. It's good but it has no full-bodied flavor in my opinion and no panache. It's a summer ale...give it a little spice, a little something different...or at least more malt. So if you want something that's only a little more flavorful than a Coors Light, give it a go; you'll love it. If I didn't know it was an ale from the label, which in this day in age usually means more flavorful than say a Bud, I couldn't tell. Actually Bud has more flavor, even if it is bad flavor.


Some info from Shipyard on the flap of the box, for what it's worth, "You are opening a very special 12-pack. The Captain's Collection features a sampling of our award-winning, year-round, and seasonal ales. This selection is packed at random (that explains no IPA this time) and varies according to the season. Every time you open a Captain's Collection inside you'll find an exciting new assortment of Shipyard ales. All our beer is hand-brewed using time-honored methods and only the finest ingredients. Our award-winning beer is hand-crafted from recipes developed by Master Brewer Alan Pugsley, who apprenticed at the world-famous Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England under the tutelage of renowned Master Brewer Peter Austin. We're committed to brewing the freshest, most flavorful, full-bodied ales available and hope you enjoy the variety found in our Captain's Collection."
beer Samuel Adams ale Shipyard Captain's Collection hops IPA Ringwood Brewery Old Thumper Maine Hampshire Peter Austin

Mid Summer Classic

The AL pulled off another win, that makes 9 in 10 years, the other game in this last decade was the tie debacle that brought about the change of the All-Star game deciding home field advantage in the World Series. To tell you the truth I was kind of rooting for the NL this year, it'd be nice for the Sox to win a the deciding game 4 at home this year, but alas they'll have to win it on the road again this year.......Of course if the Sox don't sweep the series, or worse don't make it, this post will have to be deleted and then certain memories of it erased.....

As for the game it's self, it was a well played game I thought. The National League played it's brand of baseball, small ball, with a steal leading to scoring the go ahead run early in the game. This was a good case of great pitching shutting down great hitters though. The only real rally was in the top of the ninth with 2 outs when the AL scored the winning run on a triple by the eventual MVP, Michael Young.

Now on to the oldest argument in baseball, or at least it seems that way now, if a player with draws from the game due to injury, or any other reason, should that player still put in an appearance at the game and festivities for the fans' sake? I'm inclined to say no. If a player has removed himself due to an injury, the purpose of with drawing from the game is to get rest. They can't do that if they're out obnobbing and doing autograph and press sessions. Of this opinion gives the benefit of the doubt to the player that there is an actual injury.

Looking ahead to the second half, the Sox need Varitek and Crisp to start performing at the plate, and Schilling and Beckett to keep the ball in the ball park. It seems the bullpen has been shored up with the young arms. The real missing piece though is a number 5 guy. Lester has stepped in as a number 4 and done very well in that role. But I have doubts as to whether Wells or Clement will ever make another start for the Sox. I see that Johnson made a good start in the minors, but his only start with the big club doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies about his return. What happened to the guy they picked up from the Kansas City scrap heap? He pitch pretty well for the one start and then was instantly demoted to Pawtucket and never heard from again. I can't even remember his name......Oh it was Snyder, I had to look it up in the roster on the Red Sox web site: Red Sox. It says he's made 2 starts for a total of 7 innings this season, one for the Royals and one for the Sox. Anyone have any information on what's happened with him? He's listed on the PawSox roster, but I don't see any stats page listed.

My favorite "sports" story of the week

This weekend I read that some 31 year-old dumb-ass idiot from North Carolina was partially paralyzed during the annual "Running of the Bulls" in Pamplona, which should be called "Running of the Morons". Let's see... Take a week of vacation and spending hundreds on plane fare and hotels to run in front of stampeding animals with huge horns. What fun! I guess you won't be doing THAT again - nor much else - will you, pal?
What a f-ing jackass. No sympathy whatsoever.

Heading to the break.....

As we head into the All-Star break the Sox are looking pretty good. The offense has been a suprise this year to some. I know around work no one expected, for reasons I can't understand, for Lowell to hit has well as he has. He has a carreer batting average of over .3oo and while he had a bad year last year, that was an aborhition. I think the other suprise has been the pitching, I for one didn't see the woes coming that we've experienced this year. While it has improved of late, there was a stretch where I cringed when ever the bull pen was called on, and no one could fore see Schilling and Becket giving up the quantity of long balls they have this year.

As for the All-Star game it's self, I'll watch, I always do, if only to see the Sox players get their turn at the plate or the mound. The one thing I do enjoy is the HR contest that will air tonight. While I admit it is way too commercial, it's essentially a 2-3 hour advertisement for Century 21, when one of these guys gets a groove, it's just damned impressive. The first year I remember seeing this type of display was '99 in Fenway, when McGwire was launching 400 footers over the Monster and score board. I'm sure I'll hear it from Zeb and AA, but I'll just consider the sources in those cases.

It wasn't a game winner, but still clutch...

The game just got over and Big Papi hits a Grand Blast to open the game up in the eighth, and what is Shields trying to fool Manny with an off speed pitch? Come on...this is Manny, the man who sets up pitchers. Wake comes through again and acts as the stopper again, his fifth win after a Sox lose this season. I'd hate to see the rant from AA if they'd been swept by the D-Rays. Definately a rated R rant at best.

A Gon hitting 272 with a triple last night, I won't make fun of Mirabelli scoring from first on that one, as I can sympathize with the need for oxygen!!!

Let's hope this gets them righted, so they can go into the All-Star break in a high note.

To close out, I know Zeb doesn't care, and that's mainly why I bring this up, but Nomar got the last spot on the NL All-Star roster. Go NOMAR!!!!! I for one think it's great he's having such a good year.

Enough is enough!

Okay, I can forgive the Kazmir performance. Even the '27 Yankees would have been 2-hit by that nasty shit. But the past two nights... where's the offense? Where's the pitching? Where's the team that just won a ton of games in interleague play? The Yankees aren't going away so they better get whip themselves back into shape, pronto. And as Zeb said, there are way too many pokes to the bleachers being allowed.
My main beef with last night was that everyone clearly had their heads up their tailpipe when Crawford was on 3rd. Pitching from the windup? Huh? He was halfway down the line on the first pitch! I'm not going to give the very questionable Johnson the benefit of the doubt because he apparently doesn't even know that a sinker, by definition, is not supposed to end up belt high. But what about Varitek? Francona? Nipper? Anybody? Clearly i'm lacking in knowledge of baseball strategy so if someone can explain the logic behind that approach, i'm all ears.
Fundamentals, team. Smarten the hell up.

Long ball woes

Although for the most part they're solo homeruns, I'd obviously like to see the dinger percentage come down with Beckett and Schilling, though it's a sign they come after hitters instead of pussyfooting around. So we've lost two straight to Tampa with our two best pitchers on the hill, but it's certainly no disgrace to lose to Kazmir. That kid is something else, he always gives us problems and lefties give us problems surprisingly. This little stretch is no big deal; it'd just be easier to take against a better team. Thank goodness the Indians are shelling the Yankees or we'd only be up two games on them after this long winning stretch.
You think maybe someone needs to plunk Wiggington?
It's just frustrating to lose two straight, as well as they've been playing, to a team that can only hit homeruns.

Sox win 14 of last 16

Unfortunately, we're finished playing the National League. Playing the National League has a fair bit to do with this winning streak, though more than anything this streak is attributed to playing all-around fundamental team baseball. Every player (except Tavarez) has contributed positively.
What do you guys think about Schilling and Beckett being left off the all star roster? See my thoughts here: All Things Zebster: Snub or blessing The fact that Mark Loretta made the team makes up for everything in my opinion.
Congrats to Bronson Arroyo and Freddie Sanchez on making the National League roster.
I think John Lester needs a boost of confidence. His last two outings he's thrown too many pitches early in the game because in my opinion he's giving too much credit to the hitters and not enough to his own outstanding stuff. I think he needs to go after hitters more and quit trying to make perfect pitches. He apparently has the best stuff in the Red Sox system, but that won't do him any good if he doesn't throw strikes and get ahead of hitters.
Schilling Red Sox Beckett Loretta Boston All Stars Lester Arroyo Sanchez National League

All-Stars announced....

It seems that some of the RedSox great play hasn't gone unnoticed. The suprise for me was Loretta getting the nod at Second, though he certainly deserves it. I do find it a little amusing that Ortiz was voted in at first, it goes to show the respect the guy has earned. Papelbon and Manny were slam dunks in my opinion. Yet, how does Lowell not get selected by his peers? A-Fraud was a shoe in for third from a fans perspective, even though Lowell is by far the better all around third baseman, well on his way to another gold glove. Not to mention his batting average is higher than A-Fraud and he's leading the league in Doubles right now, how does he get passed over? What does this guy need to do to get some respect. I guess he's not enough of a media whore.

As for the Sox in general, Tavarez is as scary as ever, but the Sox roll on inspite of him. I think they finished up this round of interleague play 16 and 2, winning 14 of their last 15. Winning 2 of those with small ball tactics. Poor a Sammy, here's to hoping the good play continues.