We’re late, but that’s ok – the heavens have opened up in Boston and the game is currently in rain delay. When it starts, use this as your thread for discussion.
It’s Raining (men left on in scoring position): White Sox – Red Sox Gamer I
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Anyone know what the chances of this game happening are?
> Anyone know what the chances of this game happening are?
Good odds. Daniel Malloy of boston.com says sometime after 8:15.
NESN just said not before 8:45
Thanks, Gerbs. I’m currently in a time zone four hours behind Boston, so 4:15 my time is much better anyway…
I’m currently in a time zone four hours behind Boston
Where is this? Alaska?
Yep, Alaska… Take a gander:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/columbia/854685411/
(I’ve yet to figure out for whom Alaskans root in MLB… I’d have assumed the Mariners, since they’re the closest, but haven’t seen anyone sporting Seattle gear.)
Beautiful. You there working?
Yeah, working on a documentary film… a great excuse to see some of the most staggering scenery on earth. It’s unreal up here.
OK, according to some info found at the Sports Illustrated site, Alaskans’ favorite major league baseball teams are the Mariners (22%) and the Cubs (11%). (Come to think of it, I did notice a Cubs game on the tube in a bar.)
Also, “the teams most hated by Alaskans are the Fresno Falcons (13%) — the Aces’ archrivals — the Yankees (9%) and the Oakland Raiders (9%).”
MLB Gameday now says “Warmup” …
After the Yanks lost this afternoon I think some of the pressure is off the Sox. Really hoping to see them get the game in tonight.
Hud:
We were in your namesake town last Sunday for dinner, burritos and enchiladas at Mexican Radio. The toddler loves guacamole.
Cool, SF… I also like the food at Daba and the crowd at Red Dot, but I can see how Mexican Radio would be better for kids…
ChiSox go up 1-0 in the first. Sox now coming up to bat for the second time.
Lowell with a lead off single.
Lowell leads off with a single to right. (The Sox had runners at the corners in the 1st but stranded them.)
Was there some wierd strike out, made it to first thing in the first two innings? Dice is showing 2.1 IP.
Tek singles, he had been 0-10 against Vazquez prior to that.
Wiffy grounds the first pitch into a FC, that cuts Tek down at 2nd.
Tek singles, WMP (he’s still playing!) grounds it to third, 5-4, runners at the corners again… One out.
Another FC brings Lowell home, 1-1 game.
Well Lugo drives in Lowell, Pena out at 2nd.
Crisp singles, 1st and 2nd. Pedroia up.
3-2 count, Coco outruns the throw from short, 1st and 2nd, still 2 out.
5 Sox hits already, it would be great to chase Vazquez early and make the ChiSox wear out their pen a bit in Game 1.
DPed single scores Lugo, Crisp tries to score and gets in a pickle, tagged out. 2-1 Sox.
Agree Hudson. We seem to get the hits, just not the runs to back them up.
That was an interesting play… Pedroia was either stuck between 1st and 2nd when the throw from home was cut off, or was trying to lure Chicago into chasing him in a rundown so Lugo could score… If it was deliberate, it didn’t work.
Coco getting caught in the pickle just seems to be the typical outcome of things lately. Things going well in an inning and then a bad play knocks us out of it.
Watching the replay, it seems to me that Pedroia was playing heads-up (if possibly over-ambitious) baseball, and Coco didn’t catch on to his ruse in time.
If Crisp had broken earlier, when they started chasing Dustin, it might have at least been close.
Ok. Is it possible we are trying to hard instead of letting things happen naturally (minus the T-Ball trio)?
I am really beginning to wonder if Papi is going to break the 100 RBI barrier.
By the way, I just have to say that whatever the outcome of today’s game might be, it puts a smile on my face to see Javier Vazquez on the mound against the Red Sox.
When “Vaz” went to the Yankees, there was much rejoicing in New York… But his Bomber legacy is the 2nd-inning grand slam in Game 7. Sweet memories.
Manny singles, he’s 2-for-2 tonight.
Very true Hudson. My wife had been reading a magazine when I jumped up screaming. I got called multiple names for scaring the crap out of her.
Damn, Youk has done nothing at the plate for what seems like a long time.
Another runner stranded. Lowell flies out.
Wiffy strikes out…shocker.
Pedroia strikes out stranding two. 8 hits and 1 walk, we have two runs.
Headed to the bottom half of the 5th. Sox batters need to hang a few more runs up on the board. Dice is already at 89 pitches.
Ortiz flies out again.
The funny thing is that I don’t even worry about Dice-K’s pitch count anymore.
Well it is te top of the 6th, the bases are loaded, Dice at 108 pitches and no one out…and appears no one is up in the pen.
effin joy.
Pierzynski with a two run single. Sox trail 3-2.
Delcarmen in to put the fire out.
Dice was the problem this inning. He walked the bases loaded.
Joe Torre, take note of smart bullpen usage. Promising rookie pitcher pitches well out of the gate, he is used and used some more to make sure he is for real. Then he can be brought in for the early innings in close and tense situations, instead of bringing in the equivalent of Joel Pineiro!
I, for one, would not object to Terry Francona managing the Yankees.
Delcarmen strike out Dye. 1 out. Depserately in need of a DP here to end the damage.
Wow, how much do the White Sox suck? With men on first and second, they get a hit, the throw gets by the catcher, and still they do not score. It’s hard to remember how this team was good only last year, and World Champions the year before.
Mackowiak sinlged to reload the bases. Fields hit into a FC, with the runner being cut at home. two down.
That was me. Sorry to troll, the entire White Sox team save Vazquez just reeks of patheticism.
Uribe pops out to short. So with the bases loaded TWICE, they score two runs.
Good job again by Delcarmen to put out a SP’s disaster.
No problem Andrew.
One inning away from being at that magical moment, 7th inning down by 1 run.
Lowell BUNTS for a leadoff out.
You’re not the one stinking up the joint, Andrew. Walking the bases loaded isn’t a Yanks v. Sox thing. It’s a cardinal sin. Now we get to see if the Sox can break the 0-9 streak in 1 run games. I ain’t optimistic.
WMP draws a WALK. Not sure how that happened. A few of those pitches looked an awful lot like strikes.
Lugo hacks the first pitch to right and flies out.
We are now in that zone of down by 1, past the 7th inning.
Lopez in the game now and strikes out the first batter he faces.
Yup. I wonder sometimes if we will ever hit “rock bottom.” We just don’t seem to get disgusted enough with mediocrity to fire ourselves up and rally in these types of games.
Lopez strikes out Iguchi.
It is getting harder DW, I was sitting at home tonight wondering if I should even get on this page. Of course, I sit here and this is the crap I deal with.
Thome grounds out to 2nd.
Top of the order due up. Someone needs to punch thier ticket to man town and do something.
I think Tito should send someone to the Cask & Flagon to see if our offense is already seated and getting beers.
Crisp flies out to right.
There has to be a lefty up in the Chicago’s pen for Papi.
Pedroia singles to center.
No arguments here, Rob. I’m trying to accept that this could get very ugly from a historical perspective. I like summer and I like baseball. I don’t want this to ruin my season.
Thornton in to face Papi
Ortiz singles, Pedroia to second.
Bukvich in to face Manny. We are like so over due for a big homer late in the game.
Sigh…Manny hits a long out.
Due but not by Manny. Maybe Kevin?
Ramirez flies out deep to center, Pedroia tags and moves to third.
Need a clutch hit.
Perhaps NTSB. I am trying not to be choosy over who gets it, just want someone. Maybe I am expecting to much out of our “power” hitters.
Ahhh…the fetid air of suck-i-tude. Pathetic.
Youk K’s. 2nd K tonight. Again we are out hitting someone and losing. Not sure these guys would pass for a “everyone” hits T-ball team.
Okajima now to pitch.
Here comes Oki to turn in yet another stellar performance…which we seem determined to squander.
Okay, I revise that statement. Oki just barfs up a homer.
Konerko homers to left off Okajima.
Chicken Little, the sky is falling.
Pierznyski singles.
When they lose this game we’ll just get treated to more cliches e.g. “man, we’re, like, not getting it done”, “we need to step it up”, “yeah, it was going to get closer in with the Yanks” or, my personal favorite, “I’m disappointed with how I pitched.” No urgency. No fire.
Fields strikes out to end the inning.
Down by 1, Down by 2. Does it really matter at this point?
They are acting like a football team up by two touchdowns in the 4th quarter. Playing not to win, but playing not to lose.
Lowell, Tek and T-Ball up this inning.
Somehow the Yanks lost today.
I want to punch something. THis is looking bad. And Lowell, if the dude looks like he’s gonna hit you, let him. It’s the 8th and we need baserunners.
Lowell singles. The tease has started again this inning.
Tek grounds into a DP…typical. And Tito allows Wiffy to hit.
Well we can’t have JD Drew hit, he might break into 1000 pieces. Crap, this is frustrating.
Who promptly flies out to center. So in the 9th we get:
Lugo
Crisp
Pedroia
Just remember:
“we have a __ game lead. Don’t worry.”
“our pitching is too good to lose the AL East.”
“Schilling is coming.”
“It’s just a bit of bad luck.”
“The Yankees can’t keep it up.”
…and so on. There are a myriad of excuses, justifications and rationalizations we can tell ourselves to keep ourselves happy in October as we watch the Yankees get beat by the Halos, Tribe or Tigers.
Snyder in
I think they fall into excuses more than anything.
Owens bunts his way onto first.
Thome walks. 2 on, 2 out.
Trade Manny or trade someone who’s way too comfy in the clubhouse. (Manny would probably be psyched to finally get traded) These guys are frustrated and lifeless, need a major shake up here.
Well, they will be what we tell ourselves as another season slips away due to some bizarre incompetence being slipped into the air or water at Fenway.
Konerko grounds out.
Here we go again, bottom half of the ninth.
Who are you going to get? We just spent a boatload on a guy who pitches great…until he shits the bed for an inning or two and hands out walks. We have right fielder who is supposed to be an upgrade but who is made of glass and can’t hit the long ball. We have a shortstop who makes Gonzo look like Papi ala 2006. Who are you going to bring in who will wave his magic bat and banish the suckitude?
Hark, Jenks is not invincible this year. Per’aps we might have a bit of magic in the making, me hopes.
Lugo grounds out.
Crisp K’s.
MAGIC!!
Out with a whimper. Pedroia fouls out to third.
This team finds way to lose.
….
That was not very magical.
Hate that the only positive thing from that game is that we didn’t lose any ground. But the way they’re playing, I’m sure we will tomorrow.
The really sad thing is sitting up to 1230 in the morning to watch crap like this.
The slow swan dive is the worst. Just rip the band aid off already.
…not sure what to say anymore. I’d comment more often, but they blocked typepad at work for some reason…but here goes.
During yesterday’s game, which I listened to on the radio, Castiglione pointed out that Boston had been tops in the game W/RISP before June 1, somewhere in the .280 range. Since then, the team’s batted something like .230, which at the time of that broadcast, was good for 27th in baseball. Over the same period, Lugo, Manny, Ortiz, and Crisp all began to hammer the sh*t out of the ball; Lowell had a bad June but is off to a hot start in July, and Varitek has picked it up in after a lousy June.
So what the f*ck is the deal then? It’s not, despite how it might seem, the pitching; the team’s ERA has taken a bump to 4.04 in July–not awful, but not as good as we’ve apparently grown accustomed–after finishing June at 3.83…still pretty damn good. The offense in June was a picture of ineptitude, managing only 112 runs–23rd in the game–and a .761 OPS, compared to .790 for the season. So yes, that sucked. Pretty bad. So far in July, though, Boston’s actually been far better then their season average, with an .833 OPS for the month buoyed by a lofty .289 team batting average. And they’re 6th in runs scored. (The White Sox, by the way, are tied with the Yanks for first…so yeah, looks like we caught them at a fantastic time…)
As far as I can tell…this team should be scoring a hell of a lot more often then it has been…hehe. And I’m %90 sure this is just a run of truly god-awful luck; take tonight’s game for example. Unless the radio guys were just sort of lying, Boston managed to spray liners and deep drives all over the field in the first few innings, with and without runners on, but just couldn’t get anything to fall in. Tek missed what, two homers by a couple of feet? And Manny’s drive to center late in the game was just…ugh. Snakebit much? (For those who didn’t see…three feet to the right and the ball lands in the Boston bullpen, and the Sox likely eke out a victory)
But since that’s hardly an answer…why not consider shaking the sh*t out of the lineup? Youkilis has been beyond awful since his move to the 5-hole and is probably one of the biggest reasons this team struggles with men on base. He looks like he’s pressing way too hard with runners on, guessing–wrongly–instead of putting on the long, drawn-out ab’s we’ve grown accustomed to. Why not bat Pedroia first and Youkilis second, with Lowell or Drew–if he’s healthy–hitting fifth? (And yes, I realize Drew’s been bad lately…but Varitek isn’t really an option, and neither are Coco or Lugo.) It’s kind of a tough situation because the team’s hottest hitters right now are the guys without any pop…and you can’t just stack them all together and expect good things to happen. Unless you’re the Angels…
There’s nothing anyone can do to fix the offense…there’s really nobody on the field who can lose their job. Lugo? He’s hitting again. Crisp? Ditto. Drew? Huge f*cking contract. Youk? I’m not ready to bail on him just yet…And aside from adding a starter to replace the broken-down Tavarez, which is something Schilling might end up doing–I actually kind of like Gabbard, and he does project as a long-term 4th or 5th starter–there’s not much to do with the rotation, either. (That said…I’m growing concerned with Wake as well; he’s walked fewer guys of late, but hasn’t struck out anyone. Seems to me that maybe it’s not moving as well as it used to. But there’s also a strong possibility he’s just in one of his slumps and will come out of it sometime soon.) Could probably stand to add another bullpen arm, too. Other then that…I don’t know what else to do. I think we just have to wait it out.
(PS: I’m convinced the whole “fire” and “intensity” thing is a figment of the fan’s imagination. Funny how when things are going well the whole club “seems” determined and fired up, and when it isn’t, they look lifeless and dull. I’m just saying, you don’t make a move because the team feels listless. 2004 was a special case as Nomar was basically a cancer/useless at that point…this is different. I really don’t understand how an inability to hit in key situations–despite loads of success in getting themselves into said situations–is evidence that the team’s chemistry is off to such a degree that a blockbuster of some kind is in order. And if you want somebody to really get angry at over a lack of clutch…look at David Ortiz. In Close and Late situations this season, Papi is 9/41 with 5 doubles and ONE rbi. And that’s actually UP from where it was a week or two ago. Meanwhile, Manny’s at a robust 8/41, but at least he’s managed two homers and 4 RBI…)
Youk + Pena + Pitching Prospect to Texas for Tex? Anyone want to raise their hand for this one?
Nope. And Texas wants pitchers, not hitters. Everyone agrees that WMP is a lost cause but Youk is someone we should have in our lineup. We need a few grinders out there taking pitches and working pitch counts.
Hand Raised high, SF.
Deal Youkilis and Buchholz–which is the bare minimum of what that deal would cost–for 1.5 years of Mark Teixeira, a Boras client with a professed desire to play for Baltimore and a career .850 OPS away from Arlington? No thanks.