Before I Forget

Don't you forget to go and get your free World Series taco today at Taco Bell between 2pm and 5pm. Be sure to thank Jacoby Ellsbury before you consume it.

Also, and very off topic; what the fuck is wrong with people in Wisconsin?

Don't Let Him Go

It’s tempting to go after A-Rod, but don’t let this guy go to do it. He may not be the MVP in the rest of the baseball world, but he is an MVP where it counts.

It’s been less than 48 hours since Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras announced A-Rod will opt out of his contract and test free agency this off season. The world has been left to ponder the absurd timing of announcing his opt out, where he will end up playing ball in ’08 and the general obnoxiousness of Boras.

Some Boston fans are squawking about the timing of it all and how it stole the thunder away from the Sox running away with the World Series. Most notably, ESPN “Analyst” and non-closeted Red Sox fan Peter Gammons almost cried on the air yesterday with my least favorite human being in the world, Colin Cowherd. Yes, it’s amazing that at this time last year Boston starter Jon Lester was undergoing chemotherapy and pitched a gem of a game to clinch the second championship in four years for the Sox, but come on. I hate the Yankees and I didn’t really care while I was watching the game and guess what? I don’t really care today either. I was too worried about if Francona was going to use an overworked Okajima in the 7^th or 8^th.

Everything that A-Rod does or does not do is going to be big news because people in general are stupid and they love their tabloid news. It’s just how it is these days. People would rather read about Britney Spears than humanitarian efforts in Outer Mongolia. And yes, A-Rod is to baseball what Britney is to the entertainment world. If you consider what she does to be entertainment I guess. The only people that this was breaking news to were people with the attention spans of tadpoles. If you watched any baseball this year you knew it wasn't going to work out between A-Rod and Yankees brass.

There have been talks of the Sox possibly pursuing A-Rod. This would be a monumental blunder. Especially if they let World Series MVP Mike Lowell go to free up money to bag him. A-Rod in a Sox uniform? The very thought makes me queasy. I think Epstein and company will take a pass after being embarrassed by A-Rod and Boras in 2003-04. It was almost as embarrassing as Wade Boggs winning a World Series with the Yankees. So, here are some words for the Red Sox front office to live by. I think it was the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air who once said “if it ain’t broke, then don’t try and fix it.”

Moving away from the crazy ass world of A-Rod and the fallout in the Bronx, Boston will have a victory parade today to honor the 2007 champions. It’s definitely not guaranteed, but since most people that live in Boston are generally assholes, I’m sure there will be some sort of disruption between Lansdowne Street and City Hall. The night of the victory when police tried to break up people celebrating in the street, some party goers threw beer bottles at them. Classy. As much as I love this team and the area they play in, the people kind of suck. Despite that fact, I'll be paying too much for tickets and a hotel room for my wife and I next summer to see them play in Fenway.

The Sox got their due by easily winning the last seven games of their championship run, and I was generally surprised that SportsCenter didn’t focus on it too much. They have to over hype other future matters. Joe Girardi is yet to say yes to the Yanks, Kobe is pushing for a trade and the greatest football game ever played this weekend between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots is on!! I’m tired of that game already, and they haven't even stepped foot on the field. This is how I feel about the Super Bowl usually, except it's still October.

One other thing regarding the Pats. I’m not a fan of their team in any respect, but if you think they ran the score up (they did) and disrespected the game of football by doing so you’re a douche bag. A big one. I think everyone made too big a deal of the videotaping scandal and it's cool Belichick is basically saying "fuck you" to the rest of the NFL. But consider this, maybe the Redskins should have played better? Did you ever think of that? When you suck you suck, and if you can’t compete don’t ask the other team to play the mercy game with you. Just try not sucking as much next time. How about that? Or maybe the next time your mom tucks you into bed at night you can ask her "why is the world so unfair?" If this question transcends from football to baseball this week, you probably live in Denver.

Sox Sweep!!!

Not much else to say, other than this season was great. That much is obvious. Capping off the year with a World Series sweep and second championship in four years will make any of the pitfalls or down points of the season seem trivial in the face of so much joy.

I'll admit I was skeptical about the Sox taking this series so 'easily.' With Colorado playing as well as they had down the stretch, how could you really bet against them? If short term history was any indicator (ahem, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals) you started to think the team that came in hot was on a fast track to taking it all. Fortunately for the Boston Red Sox, they caught their own momentum by coming back from being down three games to one against the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS and the best team this season won it all.

Tonight a poll and query was posed to America on the Fox broadcast asking the nation which team was better. The 2004 history makers, or the 2007 Sox? This is dumb question. On field talent is of course is no question. The '07 team won more games, took the division and relied on more than just an overpowering offense. That being said, you cannot discredit the '04 team for what they accomplished. If there are such things as curses, they broke it and blazed the trail for this year's darlings.

Speaking of offense, the Sox got sparks from more than just the old reliable fat of their lineup. Rookies Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury got things rolling each and every night. Pitchers like Jonathan Papelbon and even Jon Lester tonight showed the world that even though Boston has the dollars to land huge talent they also know a thing or three about developing talent as well. Make no mistake, the future of this team will rely heavily on the aforementioned players.

What can I say? If I had a choice between Mike Lowell and A-Rod, I'd go with the World Series MVP. Here's the thing...does anyone else besides me remember A-Rod before the Yankees? He's a goddamn shortstop! You don't have to decide between the two. All you have to do is decide between A-Rod and Lugo or Alex Cora. Keeping "Throw-In" Lowell should be a priority for the Boston front office, and I'm confident that it will be. Lowell loves playing there and Red Sox Nation loves Mike Lowell. It would be unconscionable to let him go at this point. Downright stupid.

You can't ask too much more from this team. They made moves on and off the field when they needed to, Manager Terry Francona was nothing short of genius (how big of balls do you have when you bench a red-hot Kevin Youkilis and put Big Papi on first for Games 3 and 4?)and General Manager Theo Epstein brought in players as needed as the season went forward. One of whom was the deciding factor tonight. It will probably be a footnote, but Bobby Kielty's eighth inning home run brought the Sox lead to 4-1 saving extra innings when Garret Atkins blasted a two run shot off of All-Star Hideki Okajima in the bottom of the same inning to bring the Rockies within one run. The score after the dinger ended up being the final, 4-3.

Everything just seemed to come together at the right time for this team. Sometimes that's what it takes to make it all the way to the top. And with all the talent coming up through the organization (and on the field now), the free agent spending power and winning standard it's not hard to imagine Boston contending for years to come. The Sox are now the standard, and that hasn't happened in almost 100 years.

For now, I'll take this. Again.

The Comeback - The Sequel. Or - Back in the Saddle

It's not an exact replica of the historic run in 2004, however this year's return to the World Series is not without it's gravitas but will no doubt be overshadowed by the recent memory of '04.

Between getting married and honeymooning in Mexico, I missed Games Two through Five. That was fine with me, since three of those four were losses. Good thing I recorded them, as I'll still watch them leading up to Wednesday night. Yeah, I even watch the losses.

Coming back from 3-games to-1 and winning a best of seven series in any sport is highly unlikely. The Red Sox coming back against three of the best pitchers in all of baseball from this season is almost impossible. Even though 2004 taught me that "it's not over until it's over" (sorry for the Yogi quote) I was still banking on the fact that if Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia didn't get the Sox, then Fausto Carmona or even Jake Westbrook tonight. Instead the Sox beat up the Indians and outscored them 30-to-5 in the last three games. When this lineup gets clicking, nothing can stop them, in my humble opinion. To illustrate, Westbrook is not one of the three best pitchers I was referring to. That distinction belongs to Rafael Betancourt. When Betancourt entered the game the Sox were only up 3-2. In the past two months Betancourt had only given up three runs. After the smoke cleared it was 11-2.

Even with ALCS MVP Josh Beckett on the mound for Game One of the Worlds Series on Wednesday and with everyone contributing in the batting order, the Sox are running into a buzz saw in the Colorado Rockies. The team that will be dubbed the "team of destiny" is nothing short of miraculous winning 21 if their last 22, holding the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies to godaweful numbers and blah blah blah. Everyone who does not have a vested interest in the Sox will probably root, root, root for the Rockies, and they should.

It was my estimation and theory that I pushed on my fellow flight partner last night who did not know me personally on the way back to KC from Denver, that maybe the past week and a half off would help cool off the Rockies as much as the Colorado snow. We'll have to wait and see I suppose if this hypothesis holds up. After watching the Saint Louis Cardinals limp into the playoffs and get hot to with the Series in 2006, I'd hate to see a repeat performance. Sure, the Rockies are a tad different, but I sort of dislike the National League and dislike teams just getting hot at the right time.

One important and pessimistic (what else would you expect from a Sox fan?) fact to remember about the Red Sox vs. Rockies World Series, Boston got bitchslapped back in June at Fenway with Josh Beckett on the mound. Hopefully the offense keeps going like it did the past three games. Just don't count the Sox out until it's all said and done.

P.S. - At this point, you may be mentally retarded if you don't think Dustin Pedroia is a lock for American League Rookie of the Year.

Some Time Off

This sort of sucks, but I won't be able write about Boston as they begin the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians. It's for good reason because this weekend I'll be getting hitched. That's right, that handsome fellow in the picture above was lucky enough to dupe that attractive lady into marriage. How'd I do that?

Anyway, if all goes well in the ALCS I may even miss a World Series game or two since our honeymoon is after our wedding this weekend. Hopefully Mexico has more than just ESPN Deportes so I'm not stuck with Futbol Mexicano all week.

I knew this was going to happen. I'd get married in the fall and the Sox would have a good shot to go all the way. I wanted to get married when it wasn't the middle of playoff baseball and college football season, but she did. Guess who won that argument?

In any event...Go Sox!!!!

Sweet, Sweet Tears

I know I may be piling on a bit here, but this so awesome. Lord knows (and everyone else does too) that I hate the Yankees. Sometimes people will come up to me and ask "do you just hate the Yankees on general principle, or are there contributing factors in your disdain?"

This has been covered very well previously at another blog site, so I'm going to focus a little more on Yankees color commentator Suzyn Waldman. She works on 880 WCBS in Gotham and has pulled two of the worst broadcasting performances of the year, possibly even the decade. More on those in a bit.

I'm not a sexist, and I'm certainly not misogynistic, because if this would have been a man it would have made it like 10 times funnier. I just can't believe that they still allow this hag on the air. Then again, everything that happens in the Yankee universe allows the baseball world to revolve the way it does, right? God is a Yankee fan after all. So I suppose her actions and comments are justified in the eyes of Yankee fans.

I am including last night's post game comments from Ms. Waldman regarding what she saw in the locker room and in the press room in what will more than likely by Joe Torre's last game at the helm of the Yankees.

So what's the big deal? Why would I include post game radio comments about a team I clearly hate? Well, there is no better way to say it, but she starts crying about it. On the air. It's so awesome. You have to listen for yourself.

Sure, broadcast partner John Sterling prevents a full on bawl fest, which you can tell would have been coming had the "awesome" Sterling not put the brakes on her rant. But alas, he did stop her by adding some rationality to the conversation. Shocking, I know.

So here you go, the audio clip from last night's post on 880 WCBS.

As an added bonus, you can listen to the most gripping and historic event at Yankee Stadium. The day from earlier in the year when Roger Clemens announced he was returning to the Bronx. That sure did a lot of good, didn't it?

This one's for you Suz and I'll leave you with this. In the end above all I believe in balance in the world and on my blog. So, to balance out my disclaimer about being a feminist loving sensitive tool, I'm closing with this...

Happy Trails?

So it's over for the Yankees and for their 2007 season. It's also possibly the end of the road for one Joe Torre. That is if owner George Steinbrenner puts his considerable amout of money where his even bigger mouth is. Is it fair? Should Steinbrenner cut Torre loose after three seasons in a row of ALDS defeats? What about all the wins? The pennants? The World Series glory? I'll answer those questions with a question. Who gives a fuck?

If you are looking for some rival fan's misty eyed respectful entry regarding a great manager, you've come to the wrong place. If anything, I'll be happy if they let him go. Torre is the glue that holds that team together. He knows how to handle overpaid egotistical ball players. He's the guy that the players on the roster who haven't been to the World Series look to for advice on how to overcome adversity from a stoic like father figure. I'll give him this much, he has done an excellent job righting the ship with the most bloated payroll in the bigs. Good luck to Don Mattingly if that's who they choose to replace Torre if he is in fact fired in the coming hours, days or weeks.

The club is about two or three bad personnel decisions away from falling into a tailspin. I say let the kookie old crusty owner make one final decision before he retreats to putting puzzles together in his Tampa abode. Let him go ahead and dismantle the dynasty that ruled the mid to late nineties. I'm all for it.

To close this brief rant, I'd like to order everyone on the roster for the Wanks a t-shirt reminding them of the last Championship Series they played in. Enjoy the off-season boys.

ALCS Bound

The Red Sox completed the ALDS with sweep over the Halos of Orange County today with ease. Boston only held a 2-0 lead going into the top of the eight but you never really got the feeling that the game was close. Curt Schilling pitched in his typical postseason form going seven innings strong with only six hits allowed while striking out four.

The Sox will be shipping back up to Boston and will have to wait until Friday before sinking their teeth into whoever comes out on top of the New York versus Cleveland series. This is of course at the earliest. If the Yankees find themselves coming back and pushing a Game 5 of their series, it could be longer. At least I think so. I'm too lazy to confirm that.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez went deep again and back-to-back for the first time all year to set the lead at 2-0 in the forth. The Sox would pile on seven runs in the top of the eighth and put the game out of reach for the Angels. Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, JD Drew, Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp all batted in runs in the inning.

All in all, Boston flat out dominated this series. The Angels were up for a majority of Game 2, but once again, you never got the feeling that Boston was going to derail. The Angels, who scored 822 runs this season, which was fourth best in the American League, were held to four runs during the entire three game series. Vladimir Guerrero continued his playoff woes only getting two singles the entire series.

The win today ensured that Josh Beckett will get the nod in game one of the League Championship Series and won't have to pitch in a Game 4, which is huge. Having him on the mound to start off the LCS is crucial. It will also give Tim Wakefield a little more time and possibly another Corisone shot to help his aging back for one more go 'round in the playoffs. Hopefully they'll come out sharp with all the time off.

As it stands right now, Cleveland is holding on to a 3-1 lead in the Bronx in the middle of the fifth. Once again, go Tribe.

I just noticed something. If current Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow and former Gator signal caller Rex Grossman had a love child, he'd look a lot like Philip Hughes. He almost looks like a product from Conan O'Brien's "If They Mated" machine.

Pick Your Poison

Big Papi? Or Manny? Who would you rather pitch to with two out in the bottom of the ninth with a tie game? Last night the Angles made their decision and Manny made K-Rod and manager Mike Socia pay after pitching around Papi.

He may play left field like he’s cloaked with the defensive ability of a Little League player, but he can still hit a baseball. Manny smoked one straight over the Monster down to Lansdowne Street for his first playoff walk off dinger since 1996. This is the first time I’ve provided a quote, but I couldn’t pass this one up.

"I am one of the best players in the game," said Ramirez, who missed almost all of September with a strained side muscle and finished with the worst full-season stats of his career. "I have confidence in myself, and I know my train doesn't stop here."

I love Manny, and yet I hate Manny. I love having him on my team because he does shit like he did last night, but I hate him because he’s an incredible douche bag. Most days I just wish he would just keep that fact to himself, but like most bags of douche that I’ve known in my life it’s almost an impossibility to do so. One saving grace is that Manny is within one home run of tying Bernie Williams for the all-time post-season record for going yard with his 21^st last night. Anytime you can supplant a Yankee in a record book is a good day no matter how high a rating on the douche-o-meter.

A close second on my personal hero list for last night’s game is Danny Vinik. Don’t know who that is? He’s the smart lad who stole a foul ball in the fifth from Angles catcher Jeff Mathis. Manny probably should have been out on this at bat, but he ended up walking and then Mike Lowell ended up hitting a sac fly to center to score Dustin Pedroia to tie the game at three. Even Stephen King gave the kid a high five. That’s kinda cool, right? Maybe not. Never the less, good job Danny because you could be (and maybe already are) the next Jeffrey Maier.

Dice-K had two awful innings to start the game. The bullpen and the Boston O were able to transform his performance into an afterthought, but now that the Sox are up 2-0 and will more than likely win this series, he’s making me nervous about what he’s going to do in an ALCS or possible World Series game. Hopefully he doesn’t have to play for another six to seven days to help his “shoulder fatigue.”

JD Drew came up big in the first to get the Sox on the board with a two RBI single. It’s nice to see him finally earning his $13 million contract. Yikes. David Ortiz went 1-for-1 last night. How’d that happen? Well, I’ll tell you. He was walked four goddamn times. I guess the Angels still aren’t over Papi hitting one of his two walk-off homers of the 2004 postseason. Walking Papi gets you to Manny though, and last night we saw how much trouble it can get you into.

Sunday in LA will be the time and place for Game Three. Curt Schilling will take the mound for the good guys and Jered Weaver will throw for the Halos. I'm sure I'll piss off my future in-laws who will want to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play with my requests to change the channel to the Sox game.

Some Yankee Hate

On the day after the Cleveland Indians laid a ass whoopin' on the Yankees, I just thought I would post a couple videos that confirm a few things...

#1 - A-Rod is a cheap shot player, no matter how good he is. I wish I could find the video of the '04 ALCS Game 6 where he did this...





#2 - I really don't like Matt Damon, but I was amused he went on Letterman in New York to represent.



Nice game last night Wang. The Yankees are gay*. Go Tribe.

*I apologize to the gay community for the insult by tying your sexual orientation to this ball club.

Near Perfection

Josh Beckett was the hero tonight throwing a four hit shut out to get the postseason underway for the Boston Red Sox. Beckett is no stranger to postseason success, tonight was his third shutout in the playoffs.

Speaking of not being a stranger to postseason heroics, David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a two run dinger in the bottom of the third to stretch the lead to three at the time. Kevin Youkilis started the night off in the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot and wound up going 2-for-4 on the night. Mike Lowell added the final run of the evening in the third inning as well, driving Manny Ramirez in on a single to center. The big bats of Manny and Big Papi also drew a walk each and went a combined 3-for-6.

All nuts and bolts aside, this game went fucking quick. It came in a hair under 2 ½ hours. Boston did a good job wearing down Angels starter John Lackey, but didn’t really knock him out completely. After the third inning he pitched three scoreless and Boston didn’t get to tear into the Angels bullpen until the seventh. This should help the Halos out in the long run especially since the series will not resume until Friday. Then again, Boston didn’t take a shot in the bullpen either with Beckett going the distance.

Dice-K starts on Friday night and he’d better be rested. I’m sure LA’s lineup won’t be held down the entire series. I don't want to say anything bad about the guy, but still...

There really isn’t too much more to say about tonight’s game. Boston scored as many runs as they needed while the pitching, which was the best in the American League this season, did their (or his) job by not allowing the opposition to get to second base, let alone the scoreboard. I knew Beckett would be automatic this first game, it’s just hard to gauge where Dice-K and Schilling will be. It sucks that Tim Wakefield isn’t on the ALDS roster for the Sox too, but better to rest him and save his back for the ALCS if they make it there. The Sox did help their chances in the short series by winning tonight though. I’m looking for Boston to take a two games to none lead back to LA for Sunday’s Game 3. Fingers crossed of course.

Your 2007 American League East Division Champs

Over the weekend Boston wrapped up the American League East and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The month of September was getting more than a little scary considering Boston almost blew their lead and relinquished control of the division to the Yankees. Instead of doing what most people in Red Sox Nation thought they’d do, they held on and secured the home field rights to Fenway Park. We’ll see if it helps come Wednesday and Friday night.

I want to take a minute to talk about last night’s one game regular season finale. It may have been the best baseball game I’ve watched all season. I was pulling for the Rockies mainly because it’s cool to see a team rally and come out on top after everyone was throwing dirt on them just a month ago. Too bad in last night's game Matt Holliday didn't touch home plate in the bottom of the 13th, but I'm not going to split hairs on the NL Wild Card race that was. The same thing goes for the Phillies, watching them win the division on Sunday and seeing the Mets historic collapse was awesome.

As exciting as it was for a couple National League teams this weekend, it’s time to visit more important issues, namely the Boston Red Sox and how they stack up against their American League Division Series opponent the Los Angeles Angels.

The Sox took the ten game season series 6-4 in their favor but had trouble in August when they played out west. Boston had the option to take the extra day in the series (which I still think is weird teams can do that) and did so. Just a side note, I think it’s dumb the playoffs could eventually reach November if we get a Game 7 in the World Series. They’ll play Wednesday night with Josh Beckett starting against John Lackey. Manager Terry Francona picked Dice-K to take the second start at home on Friday against Kelvim Escobar. Pretty much everyone expected Curt Schilling to take the Friday night start, but Francona opted to use Schilling on Sunday in LA against Jered Weaver. Hopefully Dice-K can put in a performance like he did last Friday against the Minnesota Twins to clinch the division after the Yankees blew a lead in extra innings in Baltimore. If it pans out, Francona will look like a genius.

The Angels can manufacture runs like no other team in the AL. That type of offense will bode well for them if a game comes down to a pitchers dual. Just don’t count out the Sox offense which has finally been playing up to spec the final nine games of the season scoring 56 runs.

The series is clearly in favor of the Red Sox, as the Angels have been resting players and losing momentum after clinching their division over a week ago. I wouldn’t count them out obviously, with players like Vlad, Casey Kotchman, Chone Figgins and Garret Anderson, moving on to the ALCS is not automatic. However, I wouldn’t count out Boston’s bats and postseason heroics of a few certain players (or one specifically) in that lineup either…

Now it you’ll excuse me, I have to re-work my schedule to coincide with watching the playoffs, despite the baseball schedule sort of sucking.