Goddamnit

From sweepers to sweepies. Not the best way for the Sox to enter into their end of week and weekend getaway touring half of the AL East. The Sox had no answer for Vernon Wells. Again. Manny Ramirez came back down to where he was before the Yankee’s series going 0 for 9 with 2 strikeouts and leaving 4 on base. Jason Veritek also had issues tonight with his bat. Tek sat out last night since Tim Wakefield was on the mound with catcher/man-slave Doug Mirabelli in toe. It was looking positive after taking two of three on the road in Toronto. Now the season series is 3-2 in favor of the blue birds, eh. If the Sox want to get back to the post season they can’t suffer post-Yankee letdowns like this. Not when you play them in 15 more times.

Baltimore may be an interesting trip since it will be in question on which Orioles team shows up for work on Wednesday and Thursday and if Boston will be looking past the O’s and up I-95 for the rematch with the Yanks. The Orioles get the front half of the rotation in Schilling and Beckett while the Yankees are going to get Matsuzaka for his and for the Sox first game in Yankee’s Stadium in ‘07. That game is going to be feast or famine and I expect no middle ground for Dice-K. Even though the Yankee faithful are a fickle bunch, losing two of three (or maybe three of three) to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the atmosphere should be nothing short of electric. Wakefield is no stranger to Yankee’s stadium so I’m less worried about this game than any of the three. The Sunday game is the game that scares me the most. Hopefully Francona (an Aberdeen, South Dakota native (just thought I’d throw that in)) and pitching coach John Farrell have figured out what the fuck is wrong with Tavarez and if they haven’t I hope they do before staring him again Sunday. Even though Wily Mo Pena didn’t give him any help in center field tonight. Wily Mo was giving the usual number eight Coco Crisp a little rest, but whatever. What ever happened to Matt Clement after having surgery in September? The Alabama doctor who repaired the tears in his shoulder is the same dude who repaired Drew Brees’s shoulder, so what the fuck? He had a solid ’05 and helped the Sox quite a bit winning 13 of six and holding down a respectable ERA of 4.57 in his first season in the American League. Not that he was a certifiable ace in his 12 starts last year, but he is better than Tavarez as a possible fifth or even fourth starter. Tavarez should be a reliever. On a positive note for the Dominican hatchet face, I still maintain he told Dice-K last Friday to put a fastball through A-Rod’s ear hole on his first pitch to him on Sunday night. That may be JT’s only highlight of the season.

Here are a few things that need to happen if Boston is going to get off the road trip with a winning record.

-Boston’s bats need to get on young Adam Loewen early and often just like they did last year when he was a rookie. Loewen saw the Sox two times in the second half of the season (the same time the Sox were sucking eggs after the Yankees raped them repeatedly in August and tossed them aside in a ditch on the road to the playoffs with nothing but socks on) and gave up a loss and a no decision while surrendering nine earned with a combined ERA of 5.86. Hopefully this hypothetic situation will give some lost momentum back to the line up and trickle down to the next four games.

-They need to find a way to stop spotting teams runs in the first inning. In the last five games the starters have given up eight runs. It’s not a huge margin and only comes out to about 1.6 a game but it’s not the way you want to start out at home, much less on the road. The amount isn’t the point, it’s the momentum the opposing lineup gets to start off. The line up isn’t always going to be able to bail you out, Josh Beckett. I know you’re 4 and 0, but it’s somewhat because you’ve been on the beneficial end of a lot run support.

-Speaking of pitching, the bullpen needs to find a way to bridge the gap between XYZ reliever and Jonathan Papelbon. Along with this the starters need to put the bullpen in a better position to get to him in the first place. Give him a three run or less lead and he’ll get your win and a save. He’s not going to save everything of course, but chances are he’ll come up saving it rather than blowing it. Hell, even Hideki Okajima proved Friday he could be a second option to Papelbon.

-Manny, Manny, Manny. What the fuck dude? I’m not the biggest fan in the world and I never really have been. I like your ‘do even less. Despite all that I love counting on your bat behind Big Papi to get things rolling after he bats in a few ribbies. Now that you’re protected even more by having a potent hitter in JD Drew right behind you the excuses need to stop. Don’t tell John Miller and Joe Morgan you’re going to show up for Sunday Night Baseball against the Yankees and then go back to staring blankly at pitches the next day. That’s why a lot of people don’t like you. Well, besides the fielding. And the hair. And you just being you. I’m usually the first to stick up for you when someone really rags on you. Please please please, I’m begging you, don’t sell me up with river with shitty batting. You’ve been in the league what, for almost 15 years? Timing? Come on. Maybe you should show up to camp on time once in awhile rather than collect cars. Leave that shit to Reggie Jackson.

Like the last few seasons, the Sox don’t need to fix or patch up that much. Just a few mental issues that need tinkering. So hopefully they figure it out and come out on the winning end after Sunday night is in the books and are ready for a two game home stand against the Oakland Athletics, because after that match up they have another six game jaunt.

In local news, the Royals and Pale Sox game was on rain delay tonight. Not that this is something to bat an eye at but I was at work late and a buddy of mine and I were thinking about going after we were off. The game started around 8:45 and we were off at 9. Turns out he had to go home since his almost wife was going out and he needed to watch his son. I’m at home watching this game in the background while typing this up. It’s the top of the 6^th and it’s tied 4-4 so it’s a decent game. I should have gone by myself. I’ve never been to a ballgame alone and I don’t see much shame in it. It’s like that first time you go to a movie by yourself. You’re not sure if it’s cool or not, but once the movie gets going you know it’s ok. Maybe next time.

Even though I’m a Red Sox fan and will be until I die, I’m really pulling for the Royals to turn it around. There is something about your hometown team doing well that I’ve heard about but never experienced. I want there to be a buzz in this town come September. I want those last games of the season against the Twins, Tigers, White Sox, or Indians to be exciting. I want it to be hard to get tickets. Last Friday against the Twins Kauffman Stadium had 9,000 walkups and a total of about 32,000 people, which is almost unheard of here outside of Opening Day and the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. People are dying for a reason to go back out to “The K.” This team used to be the crown jewel of Kansas City and people want it to return because it was a model for small markets to pattern themselves after. Before John Schuerholz (pronounced Share-holts) turned the Braves from “worst to first” back in the early nineties and made them winners he did it here in Kansas City with the Blue Crew in the 80’s, building on the success of the late 70’s and building around George Brett. Speaking of Brett, I've noticed people in this town love that man. They love him like a stalker loves their favorite celebrity. Like he is Elvis. They named a highway after him, he has his own restaurant. At 5 o’clock all born in KC must bow down, face towards Kauffman and pray for five minutes and then go about their business. It’s really weird. Anyway, the people in this city are hungry for that feeling again, and if you ask me I think they (and me too) deserve it.

In closing I’d like to mention something a friend of mine brought up to me about the red hot Alex Rodriguez. “Sports Guy” and fellow Red Sox fan Bill Simmons made a good point that said friend noticed. “A-Rod is like pollen, you can always count on him to make an impact in April and May.” Remember that in September and October kids.