Here we are. Not quite what it could have been, which is either gladdening or disheartening, depending on your sense of fatalism and likely the side for whom you root in this 106-year rivalry of ours.
The Sox and Yanks have played down to the wire more times than probably any teams in sport. Even when the Yankees were the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, they were the Boston Americans’ biggest rival, duking out, sometimes literally, on the field. 1904. 1948. 1949. 1977. 1978. 1979. 2003. 2004. 2005. Each of those years, the Sox and Yanks met later in the season than this with a smaller gap separating them in the standings. In 2003 and 2004, it was in the playoffs, about as late and close as you can get.
This year, there are about 10 games left for each team after these three. This isn’t the end of 2005, when the rivalry seemed so feverish as the rivals played for the division in the final series of the season that it was exhausting and, frankly, stopped being fun. Even the most fatalistic Sox fans have to admit that winning just one game here all but seals the division, and even being swept keeps the Sox 2.5 games up. Both these clubs, no matter what, are nearly certain of going to the playoffs. So here’s the wager I’d put money on, were I to bet: This series isn’t the last time the Sox and Yanks will face each other in 2007.
Tonight, it’s Pettitte (2-1, 4.97 in five starts vs. Boston this year) vs. Matsuzaka (2-1, 6.98 in three starts vs. the Yankees).
Comment away!
As an aside, I really enjoyed the Providence Journal’s interview with Brandon Moss, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Cash and Bryan Corey. Tonight is each rookie’s baptism into The Rivalry. What better place to do it than The Fens?
Joe Torre says Joba Chamberlain is probably not pitching tonight because of his work on Wednesday. That means, based on the ballyhooed Rules (though I thought those had been lifted?), he’s only likely to pitch once in this series.
Yankees
1. Johnny Damon, DH
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Jorge Posada, C
6. Hideki Matsui, LF
7. Jason Giambi, 1B
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF
Red Sox
1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Dustion Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Mike Lowell, 3B
5. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Bobby Kielty, LF
9. Coco Crisp, CF
No Manny, and Hideki Matsui’s batting sixth. Otherwise, all is as you’d expect.
Let’s not forget the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS of 1999, while we’re listing these meetings.
Torre says Joba is “probably out” for tonight. Cashman says unequivocally that he is out. He’s out.
We have arrived at the festive Fens. Currently in line awaiting Italian Sausage!
Enjoy YF and SF – I am jealous.
Am listening on radio on late work-night. A beautiful night for baseball.
YF & SF have a blast guys. Where are your seats?
Dice warming, first pitch coming momentarily. Great night for ball, dry, 70 degrees. More later!
Crisp has been scratched fellas.
first base line, Trisk, midway between home/1st. Maybe 30 rows from the field.
Dribbler past the mound, Daisuke can’t field it. Base hit Johnny.
Nice seats!!!! Please get a couple snapshots of A-Rod rounding third (JUST KIDDING!!!)
Damn, should have done better fielding that. We can’t afford too many of those mistakes.
I lost my ticket. Lost it. Came to work with it, it was in my front shirt pocket all day. Now it’s gone. I just spent the last two hours tearing apart my entire office and retracing my steps of the day, nothing.
Unreal.
I’m losing it.
Everyone I know is at the game.
Luckily, I have you guys.
Unreal.
Michael Kay is already driving me nuts 2 batters in.
Ok Youk now we are even. Let’s play.
Joe hits and runs with Damon and Jeter, Jeter flies out to Ellsbury.
Just you and me Trisk?
Does Daisuke always nibble this much, I can’t remember. Anyone?
Looks that way Lockland, sorry about the ticket brother, that sucks!
Dice throwing a lot of pitches this inning.
I think he does John.
Pedroia should not have flipped that to 2nd. It did not appear that he was going to get Damon at 2nd.
Hit and run, Damon safe at 2nd, Abreu on 1st. Alex is up, 2 men on, 1 out.
Should have taken the sure out Pedroia. Error on Lugo.
Lugo’s 19th E.
Dice plunks ARod. I believe that he did that the first time he faced ARod in NY.
Bases loaded. Daisuke hits Alex with breaking ball. Definitely not intentional.
Error charged to Lugo is bull crap. That was Pedroia’s error if there even was one.
Ground ball to 1st, Youk goes home to Tek. 2 outs.
Odd choice by Youkilis, double play gets you out of the inning. Alex is the lead runner, but Posada is running to 1st. Hey inning is kept alive, nice.
I thought this guy threw 250 pitches in a high school game? Why is his arm “fatigued”? And what the hell happened to the gyroball?
Dusty says “a hitter’s delight”.
Daisuke breaks the bat of Matsui, ground ball to Lugo on to Youk, inning over.
SF: phew
YF: ugh
Great – 27 pitches in the first inning. Who’s down with the Diced Buck tagteam?
Of course my Yank friends started calling as soon as the bases loaded up.
looks like we’re in store for a dicey notsuzaka performance.
1. Gyroball is mostly a myth. I really hope you’re kidding there…
2. He’s thrown more pitches already this season then in any he threw in Japan, besides 2001 (or something like that). And his velocity is in the 93-94 range; I’ve never really bought the fatigue thing, personally.
Good news is that inning could have been over two or three batters earlier, what with Pedroia’s ill-advised flip to second and Damon’s lucky leadoff basehit. Bad news is he threw 27 pitches in one inning. Next inning will be interesting; the Yanks loaded the bases with an infield single, an error, and a HBP. He wasn’t really throwing that badly, and there wasn’t any solid contact. Which makes me very curious about what happens next…
All about some Buchholz tonight.
Trisk:
Youk had no shot at two, too far to cover first, Mats not over quick enough. Tough, risky, good play.
SF
Ground ball to jeter, error on Giambi. Uggh.
Giambi playing Ole!
Namesakes –
What’s the stadium energy like?
SF: Gold Glove!
SF – they only showed the play from one angle, you guys are right there so I will take your word. Sorry Youk, didn’t mean to criticize unfairly.
And Giambi doing his part to make sure Jeter doesn’t win another undeserved Gold Glove…
Are you guys (SF and YF) wearing the YFSF T-Shirts?
Trisk: In New England, NESN stil has the game with Orsillo and Remy. They showed an overhead and SF/YF are definitely right. ESPN sucks…
Pettitte is very concerned with Lugo…
Pettite throwing to 1st a lot.
Pete:
Good, seems like nervous energy, but enthusiastic. Big ovation on the third out, and on thr Jeter E
During the replay Singleton brings up how Jeter says this is his least favorite infield…He made a bad throw, it wasn’t the dirts fault.
Flyball to Leche, 1 Out. Big Papi at the plate.
Jeter bobbles Papi’s grounder. Pedroia safe at 2nd. Papi out at 1st.
Good lord Derek! Ground ball off AP’s glove deflected to Jeter, Jeter bobbles gets Ortiz at 1st.
Is it just me, or are these Y/S games very often characterized by terrible defense on both sides? Maybe it’s rivalry jitters. ;) Or, you know, selective memory. But I can’t think of another team we play where both sides look so anxious in the field.
Lowell strikes out swinging at an ugly pitch. Sox strand Pedroia at 2nd.
Seems that way Jackie.
Big strikeout for AP. Lowell chases a breaking ball nearly in the dirt.
Good guys coming to bat. Top 2. 0-0.
Pettitte throws a slider that ends up landing in Lowell’s batting box but he swings anyway. Ugly…
Glad to see you are here Jackie, you were the Yankees good luck charm last time ;)
so here’s my delima, YES HD vs. ESPN HD vs. NESN NO-DEF. i’ve opted for the YES broadcast thus far, but can no longer take it.
SF YF, As you know, I had a ticket and lost it today. It’s nice to have you guys there. I’m still really pissed.
I thought Matsuzaka actually had a good inning there. Definitely had to get an extra out — either Lugo staying in the play or pedroia just throwing to first. Still, the HBP to A-Rod and the 3-0 to Matsui are troublesome. Glad he got out of it.
Really thought Lowell was gonna do something there.
I’m commenting in between innings, as the office TV is too far from my desk…
Walk issued to Giambi.
Giambi walks to leadoff.
Right now, Giambi’s the worst hitter in that lineup. Something like 3 for his last 35 or something like that. And Matsuzaka pitches him like he’s Barry Bonds. Ugh.
LOL, Trisk… I didn’t post at all in one of the games and the Sox lost anyway, so I determined it wasn’t my being here that was the problem. But it was important to have a negative control in that little experiment. :)
RING HIM UP!!!!!
Cano called out on a check swing. Looked like the right call.
Nice splitter to get Cano. Why is he complaining? That couldn’t be an easier call for the umpire…
Cano takes half a hack at a breaking ball in the dirt. 1 out. Leche is up.
posting a pic up top from our seats momentarily, the photo actually makes it look further away than we are.
Sutcliff with good point on Haladay = CY; He has to pitch against the Sox AND Yanks and still shows great numbers. The #1 and #5 offenses in baseball.
It’s no wonder he throws so many pitches, nibble, nibble, nibble…The infielders need to bring a book out there with them.
Fly ball to Lugo. 2 away.
They keep saying that most of Daisuke’s troubles are related to pitch selection. But it looks to me that he just isn’t as accurate with most of his offspeed stuff as he used to be…that said, I do think selection is part of it. Which makes me wonder what role Varitek has in all this.
Damon rung up looking to end the inning.
Much better-looking inning from Dice there. Big props to Robi cano who has yet to see a pitch he hasn’t thought he could hit a home run on.
Watch the damn game!
Dice got da ‘shit’ tonight
Exactly Josh. He’s all over with everything. There isn’t a pitch where he’s completely hitting his spot. He’s burning his pitches – 44 – but maybe he’s finding himself?
d1- you’re a little tense tonite. you can tell the players are wound tight tonite too. sit back, this is going to be a fun game.
Josh, I remember the game he pitched against King Felix where he looked lights out and he was pitching backwards, like he is tonight. Difference is he was getting those breaking balls and offspeed stuff over for strikes. If he is going to work this way, he must throw early strikes. Nearly 50 pitches through 2 innings helps nobody.
That last pitch to Damon looked great to me. When he’s got his stuff, he’s got good stuff.
“But it looks to me that he just isn’t as accurate with most of his offspeed stuff as he used to be”
BINGO! That’s the ball issue, I think the different ball is killing him more than other Nippon pitchers to come over.
Yeah, he’s definitely not all there, but this inning his breaking stuff looked a lot better than last inning, and last inning looked a lot better than the last time he faced the Yankees.
That curve/change/splitter/whatever it was that Damon laid off was very good.
I don’t think his “Stuff” is the issue. The issue is he has nearly 50 pitches through 2 innings AND he is constantly working deep counts. Tough to keep that up for 200 innings.
Youk with the leadoff single.
Base hit by Paul O’Neill, I mean Youk, sorry.
The Yanks are off balance. He’s doing fine.
Heh, I’m not tense…I don’t think. That was just an observation; I’m wondering why most in the media have attributed A: Fatigue, and B: Pitch selection to his problems, when it looks like a lack of command is at least a big part of it. That’s all…
That;s what Youk was doing when he was going good earlier this year, slapping everything on the outer half of the plate into Right-center field. Would love for him to get that swing going again down the stretch…
Drew’s been hot. But he looks overmatched against Pettitte…
Drew swinging away on the 1st pitch.
Yeah good thing he will be out of the game by the 5th inning.
Ahh, that should have said “attributed his problems to A: etc. etc.” What I said didn’t make much sense…
Drew looked super lost that AB.
That doesn’t sound like the standing ovation Tek asked for. Drew strikes out swinging. 1 Out.
dusty doesn’t hold his booze well.
Tek is going to launch one. I feel it.
I don’t know if it’s the same this late in the season, but I definitely noticed that Matsuzaka has better command of his pitches toward the end of outings sometimes… throwing better in 90-110 pitch territory than in 10-20 pitch territory.
I think that’s one place where the transition from Japan to the US has been tough, he’s used to throwing lots of pitches/working deep counts, which you can’t do on a five man rotation and expect to not be dead at the end of the season.
Josh – lack of command could be due to fatigue, no?
Does Pettitte always throw his breaking stuff into the dirt? Like is that part of the gameplan? Cuz it seems like there will come a time during the game when the hitters start laying off…
Walks Tek, looks real close on that pitch.
Tek works a nice ab and earns the walk. Twice, possibly, depending on whether you agreed with strike 2.
Bobby Kielty’s only job is to hit lefties. He did at first…be real nice for him to bloop a single or something…
k-zone doesn’t hold it’s booze well.
Kielty gets a little screwed for strike 2…then a makeup call on strike 3. I guess that evens it out?
Who is behind the plate tonight? This strike zone is all over the place and tiny, is that possible to be both?
Tries to pull an outside curveball. Up to Ellsbury…I’m not optimistic…
Ground ball (Slow) to DJ, tosses to Cano, on to Giambi but Kielty beats it out.
uh oh… what a conflict of interest. ellsbury’s 1st AB vs. the yankees.
First time seeing Jacoby, boy he likes young up there, WOW.
HP Ump is Jim Reynolds. I don’t remember anything specific, but for some reason I don’t think I like him much.
Sox up 1-0 on the Energizer Bunny Single.
Sweeeeet
Ok I hate him, it only took one hit.
ESPN: the Yankees 2nd half success is due to Roger Clemens. The mere presence of Clemens is, apparently, responsible for doubling the team’s OPS, and possibly also curing cancer.
My brain hurts.
Big hit on a good pitch from the kid.
When can we stop saying it’s just a fluke and all admit, this kid is sick?
okay, i’m a bit angry now. i guess that tells me where my loyalties are, yeah?
Wow. My instincts suck, thankfully. Ellsbury reaches out and rips a slider up the middle, just out of Cano’s reach. Hit it pretty hard, and it looked like a good pitch, too.
no luck with the pic yet, sorry. Will keep trying.
46 pitches and there are bullpen restrictions tonight, FANTASTIC!
Man, I know that Ellsbury will hit a rough patch at some point, and maybe he could benefit from more time at AAA. But it’s getting so, so hard to argue that he shouldn’t be somewhere in our OF next year.
Pettitte at 48 pitches.
Thank god that inning’s over. Let’s get that run back.
Good job Nyara!
Lugo should not be the leadoff hitter on this team.
JELLS is very good, very very good. I just made that up. So I get the copyright, JELLS!!!!!!!!
The only thing I think has been a fluke from Ellsbury has been the power; 3 homers in 59 ab’s coming into tonight when he only had 2 all year in the minors. No disrespect intended, he’s just not really that kind of player…
Lugo pops out. He’s now 11 for 59 against New York this year…
Every big hit Jacoby makes, Coco Crisp dies a little inside.
There are a lot of players that perform better at MLB than they did in the MiLB. It’s is not that uncommon.
JELLS WITH THE CATCH!!!!!!!!!!
Jells made that one interesting. Fly ball to center for DJ. One out.
Aww man, Jeter flies out to the Jellsbury Doughboy.
Now he’s hitting his spots.
Ground ball to Pedroia by Abreu. 2 outs.
Jeter hits one pretty hard to CF, and Ellsbury runs it down. That’s really the first well-struck ball of the night for the Yanks.
I know that Lockland, but power doesn’t usually just…appear. At least, not very often.
Dice doing his job, brilliantly. Get the lead, keep the lead.
Arod.. down on strikes (oh, why am I not surprised)
ARod K’s to end the inning.
NICE!! Ks ARod swinging on the full count!
Oh, It’s on. It is so fu#king on.
3-1 to A-Rod: Awful. PLEASE don’t do that again…
3-2, however, very nice. Off the plate a bit, but clearly what he wanted to do.
12 pitch inning. At 56 through 3; not great, but good enough, given how the game started.
Yeah, his power numbers will probably come down in the future. It’s just surprising that he hasn’t had any sort of difficulty in the transition to a new level (a la Pedroia).
I’m not sure he’ll ever really be a HR hitter (although who knows?), but with that speed he can compensate in his SLG with some triples.
Yankee fans…anyone? anyone?
Hey, BostonRAW, do the rest of us Red Sox fans here a favor and don’t be a dick all night. Seriously man, this is a non-douche zone, so hang here and enjoy the game, but don’t bring any douchebaggery to make us look bad. Ok?
I think it’s a combination. Ellsbury is getting more good pitches to hit because pitchers have better control here and they don’t really respect him yet, so they’ll challenge him more. Anyone who can hit doubles can hit home runs on dead-red fastballs. It’s the power on off-speed and non-perfect, non-drivable pitches that separate the power hitters from the slap-double guys.
Ells is benefiting from being new. I imagine he’ll hit for more power than in the minors, but not his current rate, by any means.
Way to recover Alex.
Amen Lockland. Thanks.
Does Arod ever field a ball cleanly?
Just curious
Ditto Lockland’s sentiments, B-Raw. No trolling, please.
Agreed, Jackie. Definitely has gap power, I think he’s more Lofton then Pierre.
Funny thing about Pedroia is he did the exact same thing at each level of the minors. Started off slow, then adjusted and began hitting.
Not a good game for him so far tonight…two weak outs and a bad defensive play.
Papi with a double.
Papi should not have been sent home on that play.
ALSDKJHFAJHGDF DO NOT SEND PAPI JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU [3rd base coach whose name is escaping me]
Why send him with one out? Just keep him at third.
Christ.
That is Melky in CF, not Damon.
Oh, and nice analysis of Ellsbury, Paul. Very thoughtful.
Ok, friends felt bad that I lost my ticket, two guys coming to watch the game with me, so I may be gone for a while. Go Sox!!!!!
GOT HIM!!
THE MELK CANNON STRIKES AGAINNNN
Papi misses a homer by about two feet, hitting the top of the Monster. Instead, he slides into second with a 1-out double.
Need Lowell to do something good here…and he does! And Hale f*cks it up again, sending Ortiz into yet another out at the plate.
So now a promising inning is over because Hale sends Ortiz EVERY single time he’s on second and a ball is hit to shallow left or CF.
Aw, Lockland, that’s too bad. My sister called me a couple hours ago – her friends had been standing in line for day-of tickets since 4am, and they’re in the CF bleachers, a few rows form the field. I am unbelievably jealous. (Obviously.)
Youk walks. Pettite having trouble this inning.
Drew with a single down to 1st with an error on Giambi. Lowell scores. Youk to third.
Youk walks, which should have loaded the bases…
AP now at 63 pitches through 2.2 innings. Good stuff; be real nice for Drew to remember how to hit a lefty once in a while…
The Giambi-at-first arrangement paying immediate dividends. For Boston. Drew hit that thing real hard, but Giambi gets the error. I’m still going to give kudos to JD.
More excellent play in the field. Guess this makes up for Giambi’s last series with the Sox – I seem to recall thinking he’d sold his soul to make some of those plays.
OH COME ON.
Seriously, Giambi. WTF.
ugh. i got home JUST in time to hear giambi’s boot. ugh.
alright…. settle in.
that’s better.
Did DeMarlo Hale forget Johnny Damon isn’t playing center anymore? Awful call the moment he made it, just made worse by Giambi’s error — should be 3-0 right now.
Tek K’s. Seems that we let them off the hook without doing more damage. The Papi throwout at home really hurt us there.
BLAM BLAM!
Pettitte with a much-needed K. Come on Yankees, it’s time to do some damage.
just a brutal send by Hale there, he was miles away when he hit third. And Tek looks as brutal in person as he does on the tube. His bat is so slow, visibly.
Yeah so…good job Demarlo. Tek blows an opportunity to put the screws to Pettitte, swinging through another breaking ball in the dirt. But whatever, at least they scored…
And Andy’s at 71 through 3 innings. Bring on Sean Henn!
Gotta agree with Josh. After that miserable first at-bat by Drew, he really adjusted, laid off some pitches and lined that ball. Had Giambi played it cleanly, it would have been one of those where when you’re slumping, nothing goes right.
“Bring on Sean Henn?” Oh you. Why not Kei Igawa or DeSalvo? Or any of those guys the Yankees just called up from AAA?
Try again.
Crisp would have had it.
Jacoby spinning around trying to track down that shot. Posada gets in to 2nd.
Jellsbury Doughboy has trouble fielding the ball, HIP HIP JORGE with a double.
pinball
…what?
Ellsbury lucky Posada’s a catcher, because a fleet-footed runner probably stretches that bobble into a triple. Matsui’s 0-for-a-lot against Matsui, but of course he smacks a first-pitch triple. And hte game will at least be tied momentarily. I hate Demarlo Hale.
GOJIRA MATSUI~!!!! A monstrous warning track shot! 2-1!
Jesus, the outfield looks like the keystone cops this inning. Drew cannot make the play on the Matsui’s fly to right.
2-1
Matsui on third.
Oh lord, is anyone else watching ESPN? “Posada is a man, with man’s muscles.” F*ck the heck?
Two crappy reads in the OF in a row, now it’s 2-1. Blah.
ahhhh…
Ugh; 0-for-a-lot against Matsuzaka. I’m tired…
nice reference, jackie. love it.
Meh, those balls were scorched. Only way either of them are caught is with a web-gem collision into the wall; Coco MIGHT have got the one in CF, but it would have been tough.
he didn’t clownboy-up, b-raw
Giambi walks. Nobody out, still.
And here it is, that typical Matsuzaka-collapse-inning. Any guess on the score when the carnage is over?
I’m going with 3-2, Matsuzaka up to around 80 pitches.
Here’s to Cano putting up another one of those tremendous AB’s.
really, josh? i’m not getting my hopes up.
Important K of Cano.
Oh please, YFB. Pessimism is one of the trademark qualities of a Red Sox fan. (Paranoia is another but let’s not get into that right now.)
c’mon, melky… do something good.
let’s go melkman, keep the inning alive
let’s go melkman, keep the inning alive
This is why I don’t like Cano as a player. His boom-or-bust ab’s just grate on me; I’m sure some people find it exciting, but I just…don’t.
Umm…I’m also a firm believer of the Reverse Jinx. I’ll say negative things I don’t really believe on a fairly regular basis…heh.
Bang-Bang double play to get out of the inning.
Haha it worked!
Though Cabrera sure looked safe to me…that slide probably wasn’t a good idea. I’m anxious to see the replay.
Good call!
First off. Melky is safe by alot. Second…what the hell is he sliding into the base for?
that isn’t fair, josh. you did that. now how do i score that?
Dice-K throwing some serious heat. He just overpowered Cano and Cabrera there. Great turn by Lugo and Pedroia, as well.
Crap, for a second I thought Melky was safe on that slide. Yankees are keeping it close, though. Daisuke’s getting beat up in the pitch count as well. It’s a ballgame.
he SLID again?!?
again?
jeezum…
Cabrera IS safe. It’s a terrible call.
Of course, ESPN won’t replay it now. Awful.
Kielty with a leadoff double.
Kielty with the first-pitch double down the LF line. Still no replay on the DP to end the other inning…really want to see that.
…but if he would have just run… he would have most likely been there sooner… grr…
YES showed Melky would have been safe if he hadn’t slid … and Peña chewing him out afterwards.
Go Kielty with the double.
Ellsbury with a shallow fly to move Kielty to third.
Time for Ellsbury to steal.
The YES replay showed that the call could go either way — not at all definitively safe.
Amazing that Hale decided to hold up a runner.
He was out. Quit yer whining
Thanks YFiB… I love FJM with a passion.
I’m not 100% clear on that last play – was Melky out because he came off the bag a bit after his initial slide? It seemed like he beat the ball but then hopped up off the bag for a second.
Nice hit by Kielty, followed by an Ellsbury bloop (I guess that would be a ‘young man’s hit’, versus Posada’s ‘manly man line drive’?). Good to see them putting some pressure on Pettitte.
Haha Ellsbury with the bloop single. Still no replay on NESN, either, of the DP that ended the top of the inning. Irritating.
Braw: oh u~
Pettitte has a great move but Jacoby has great speed. Tito’s probably paranoid about running into more outs.
walein, ESPN replayed it before the end of the inning.
Melky was out because the umpire made a bad call. Melky was an idiot for sliding but he still should have been called safe.
And he was safe as they went to the commercial, by alot Jackie
Lugo K’s, what a shocker.
Jeetah missed the tag.
ELLSBURY!!! Holy CHRIST he is fast! And yes, he was safe; that was one hell of a slide.
wow. jacoby steals, gets picked off, but makes it to second anyway. jeter got very close with the tag.
Random, but: are we still thinking up nicknames for Ellsbury? I keep wanting to call him Jacob-ish (since Jacoby sounds like it could be an adjective). I know it’s sorta pointless to have a nickname that’s longer than the actual name, but…
YES! SAFE!
out…umpiring sucks this year…esp. for the yanks…
ugh. at least that steal helps me in the yfsf fantasy league…
Looked very close, I can’t tell. Maybe a better angle?
Jellsbury Doughboy was so out.
Of course, I’m biased.
ESPN shows two completely useless replays…one from the upper deck, the other from behind the sliding Ellsbury. Maybe safe? Why not.
“…very close with the tag…”
uh huh, ellsbury will have a bruise on his ass tomorrow…
ellsbury is faster than ortiz
PED!
Yeah, that play was unbelievably close. The angle ESPN had wasn’t particularly helpful, Ellsbury’s body pretty much obscured the view of his hand and the bag.
Pedroia with a shallow shot to center, Both runs score, Pedroia in to 2nd.
4-1!!!!
Replays on NESN made him look safe by half a second; the tag lands on his hammy just after the hand touches the bag. Still not sure about that DP call, but Ellsbury was safe.
PEDROIA!! F*CK YEAH! Great baserunning to get to second on that, too!
Kinda dumb for them to throw home – no way were they getting Ellsbury. Should’ve held Pedroia to first.
Right, the YES guys also ended up concluding that Ellsbury got the hand in before Jeter’s tag.
Hale is getting downright conservative now.
Papi with a single to left, Pedroia to third.
I heart Ellsbury and Pedroia. Young future champions.
Papi rips one into RF, but it’s hit too hard for Pedroia to try and score. AP now up to 83 pitches, 1 out, runners at the corners.
Jose Veras warming.
My bad, single was to right.
Lowell with a wierd single. Pedroia scores.
5-1
This is amusing.
Just one of those nights. Good gosh.
Wow. When it’s going bad, it’s going bad; AP lets that through it’s probably a DP. But it glances off Andy’s glove and dies in no-man’s land between the mound and the 2B bag. Run comes in, runners at first and second.
i simultaneously absolutely love and utterly hate these games.
i love baseball.
Pettite has gotten pinched on some pitches tonight according to K-Zone.
This is probably AP’s last batter. Dice-K is hardly lights out either, but the Sox bullpen is in better order.
“…safe by half a second…”
you can see that?…sheesh
i’ll say it again…the umps are having an off night…pettite’s even getting pinched on the strike zone…
i think this party’s over…hopefully detroit loses…
Youk flies out.
Too passive. His game plan for tonight was awful. Too many breaking balls, not aggressive enough. That’s not AP’s style.
…no joba tonight…
…ulcers forming…
PB that allows runners to advance.
Time for JD to crank one out.
can jd drew hit into a double play when there are already 2 outs?
…let’s watch…
on YES, Flaherty is also complaining about the balls and strikes … no consistency
Youk mad at himself for getting under a hittable fastball. Oh well, still a good AB.
dc, bud…both NESN and the YES crews agreed he was safe. Not a bad call; NESN showed the replay four or five times and it wasn’t really that tough to see. I’m not some partisan hack about stuff like that, either, as I fully concede the possibility/probability that the DP call was blown.
Stephen’s brother looks lost up there.
drew trying to work the walk…the ump is trying to make it up to andy
The magical strike zone this inning.
detroit 1
minnesota 0
top 4
Well thank God for Stephen’s big brother. 3 outs, let’s hit this one isn’t over yet.
This is the first half, the Yankees can score 6 in 3 no problem. This isn’t over.
Agreed about the HP ump; he’s awful. I don’t think Matsuzaka is having the same problems quite yet, mostly because his pitches seem to be either way out of the zone or obvious strikes.
Drew’s pissed, and I don’t blame him; he earned the walk once, possibly twice there but the ump didn’t give it to him. That said, he’s getting squeezed sometimes, too, so I can’t complain much.
They keep showing shots of Beantown, what a great town. It really is an absolute shame that it’s filled with Sox fans. Otherwise I would be packing the boxes ASAP.
drew!!!! blame it on the ump
“…I’m not some partisan hack…”
with all due respect josh, yes you are, and so am i…we have an inherent bias….that doesn’t mean we can’t be objective from time to time…it was a close play…we saw it differently…i don’t care what the boobs in our respective booths think…they aren’t any smarter than we are…
and actually, i thought dp was “more safe”…is that proper english?
This is why we need robot umpires.
And now Jeter is complaining to the umpire after watching strike 3.
Was Rick Sutcliff an alcoholic baseball player or an alcoholic boxer? MY GOD MAN you are brutalizing the broadcast!
This umpire is awful. Awful for both sides, but still awful.
Twins 2 Tigers 1
At this rate, the Twins/Tigers game will get done before we do.
john-
it is a great place. even with the misguided fanbase. i’m here for the long term, and i am not upset about that. if you visit, let me know. i’ll buy the first round.
This on-going angle that they’ve taken with Dice-K and “fatigue” has been defunct since the first inning when they said he’s pitching at the same high-velocity he has all year. I’m no Sox fan but pitchers go through rough patches, even when they’re young.
My theory is that these dodo-heads have this vision that Japanese baseball is what they see during the little league world series. 6 innings, little people, crying, aluminum bats…
95 mph…better watch out for fatigue.
I’m supposed to be going out to dinner tonight so I’d really love if we could maybe speed this game up a bit. At this rate it won’t be over until 8:30 or so (PST).
Good defensive swings both times by A Rod. He was fooled by the breaking ball, it wasn’t a hanger.
This game (series) was over before it even started. SOX sweep.
..yawn..
better things to do than to watch this masacre.
Damn. That was nasty.
94, 95 on the fastball. What fatigue?
you guys still want arod to replace lowell next year?…
YFIB, it really is one of my favorite places on earth. I went to school in CT with a ton of Boston kids so we made a lot of road trips. Last time I was there was ’03, we went to some bar…it had a New Orleans name…it was like in an Alley…club downstairs, club upstairs..Big Easy, something like that…
I’d be beyond happy to have Lowell next year… it’s his 2009 season that I’m worried about.
2010, I meant to say. Third year of the three year contract that he wants.
john-
we call it the big sleazy. yeah… right off of the common.
heh.
i recommend doyle’s in the jamaica plain neighborhood or the eire pub in dorchester, but i like bars a little grittier, myself.
Ugly ugly ugly. Pettitte said the last game he pitched was the first in which he hit a wall. It has looked form the start tonight like he is still at that wall.
Impressive play from some of the young kids – Melky, Ellsbury, Pedroia. And some really poor Yankee fielding. Bleh.
Yeah not my choice bud, that was a choice made by my Boston friends. I am a pub guy myself.
Michael Kay just said the Red Sox are only allowing Buchholz to pitch 13 more innings this season? Is this true?
lowell is no rodriguez. you aren’t serious, are you? i like lowell a lot. don’t get me wrong, but rodriguez is a first ballot HOFer. that is like comparing manny ramirez to… i don’t know… luis polonia?
That’s gotta be crap, Trisk. Francona and Epstein made it pretty clear they’re not divulging that info, for obvious reasons…
(not luis polonia…. pooor choice, but i couldn’t come up with another, better name.)
YFIB – I think Matsui would be a fair comparison.
Yeah his exact words were the Sox only want him to pitch 13 more innings this season. At 13 he reaches his limit for the season. But he will be on the postseason roster…
He’s a dope.
Drew looked like he really did not try to get that deep fly by Posada.
Why is Daisuke still pitching?
Timlin and Lopez warming up.
thank you, josh.
yeah… matsui.
Dice is in trouble here.
Oop, misread the comment. I feel like the whole “A-Rod for Lowell” thing is silly, because I do not think the Yankees are letting him get away, but obviously A-Rod is a superior player. And yet… I know it’s not rational, but I don’t know how I’d feel about having him on the Sox. I’d be very happy if he was no longer a Yankee, but I would feel dirty rooting for him.
I also think Lowell brings some talents that A-Rod does not, in terms of clubhouse leadership and generally not being a douchebag. Which of course is probably not worth 3-4 extra wins each year, but it does matter.
1st and 2nd, no outs. Giambi up.
Timlin and Lopez warming. Daisuke almost finished, 103 pitches.
dusty baker with a matt clement sighting. said he looked good. but….dustys been drinking again.
his exact words were the Sox only want him to pitch 13 more innings this season.
Any way he was being facetious?
Get ’em a map, he’s lost.
Get ’em a bucket, he’s throwin up.
Nope, after this inning I will rewind and provide an exact quote. He also said that Francona was pulling Clay at 120 pitches in the no hitter, he finished at 110.
89 MPH fastball right down the pipe and Giambi makes it look like 100.
jackie, i detested rodriguez for years. however, when a guy hits 21 HRs to tie a game or give your team a lead in one season, in addition to 31 more, you adjust your stance a bit.
the guy is a baseball god.
they can’t let him get away.
that said, i completely understand your dirty feeling thing.
Francona had better be really fast with the hook here, with Yankee runners on 1st and 2nd, and only one out… Don’t want DiceK having one of “those” innings and spoiling an outing that so far has gone very well.
daisuke is at 110 pitches.
Whoo, that was lucky. Cano shoulda had that one off the wall at least.
Phew, DiceK gets Cano to fly out to left-center near the wall. 2 gone.
Get OUT of this.
melky needs to do something here.
ESPN just finally showed a good replay of the Melky slide/double play and even though he was safe by about a foot, they didn’t make any objection to him being called out.
Strike 2 was half a foot out of the strikezone.
Strike 1 was very lucky.
That outside edge to lefties tonight is not getting called very well.
Three straight balls to MCab, oy.
Josh in NY…the same bad calls were made on the Drew AB.
That ump is having serious vision problems on the outside edge to lefties.
Timlin on with the tying run none other than Johnny Damon. I don’t like this one bit.
Timlin coning in
Why doesn’t Francona bring in Lopez with Cabrera up and Damon on deck? How does leaving Matsuzaka in make any sense? Cano looked awful in his first two ab’s, so I sort of understand that…but c’mon…
I’m glad Tito’s pulling Matsuzaka before he has the chance to have a complete meltdown, but I feel like bringing
Timlina new pitcher in with the bases loaded doesn’t always go well. Who’s coming in?Ugh, it is Timlin. I have such a bad feeling about this.
Oh jeez, bases loaded for Judas Demon.
DM coming out, Timlin coming in.
Black Betty is an awesome song, however.
DiceK was at 120 pitches, so I think he was bound to come out.
J.D. has had bad luck against Timlin in the past, WRKO says. We’ll see.
This is one of those situations where as a manager I would be tempted to break the closer rules and bring your best guy in for four outs, even though it’s the sixth — as this could well be the Yankees best chance to get back in the game.
let’s make something happen, johnny…
Damon with a lucky infield hit … high bouncer. Tough luck.
i’ll take that.
So Damon looks awful in every ab tonight, yet he has two hits. Baseball is f*cking hilarous.
Timlin gets two quick strikes on the ex-Caveman… … then a foul… … … … … … Ball well inside… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Another foul… … … … DAMMIT, high bouncer over the mound, stays in the infield but no play, run comes in, 5-2.
velveeta.
Derek “I believe in ghosts” Jeter at the plate. Arguably one of the bigger at-bats of the year here…
Manny D and Lopez warming. Interesting that they aren’t using Buchholz. Anyone else wondering if the Sox are holding him back so that fewer teams (especially potential post-season rivals) get a good look at his stuff?
damon’s swing has never looked pretty, josh. i never understood how that worked.
3-2 count, you gotta be kidding me.
Thank god.
Why is this game taking so damn long?!
MIKE!!!! HUGE K!
Jeter K’s. Thankfully Timmlin gets us out of the jam.
you aren’t making it to dinner, jackie. not on time anyway.
All told, a good game from Matsuzaka. He battled a tough lineup every step of the way and got some big strikeouts. He looked much better tonight than he did last month.
Well, we don’t have reservations so… maybe the good restaurants will have more room for us at 9. Heh.
The Tigers/Twins started an hour later and are already ahead. Looks like Detroit has opened it up, 4-2.
Nice line-drive hit for Lugo up the middle.
IBB to Papi
(Heart stopped there for a minute, now thumping again.)
Wow, Giambi is just killing the Yanks tonight with poor defense.
what the hell was ortiz doing so far off the plate???
errrr, i meant first base. not plate.
Close call, Ortiz almost doubled off but Giambi couldn’t get the throw.
Lugo steals 3rd, for what that’s worth with two outs…
That’s not bad. It is EMBARASSING. What the hell is up with Giambi?!?! Yankees have left a small village on the bases, but the bigger issue is this defense…they are lucky they’re not losing by more.
Ortiz just told Jason: that’s why I don’t play D man…
3-1 to Youks.
YOOOUUUUUU
Single makes it 6-2.
i really like youkilis.
why does he go out of his way to hurt me like this?
Base hit scores Lugo and knocks Ramirez out.
I wonder if Lugo scores from second on that play, considering how shallow Youk’s hit was and the arm Cabrera has. SB might have paid off there.
Y’know, Ortiz always gets knocked for his defense, but I can’t recall a single time he flubbed a play on the rare occasion he does flash leather for the Sox.
I always go back to him nailing that Cards pitcher with a laser beam throw across the infield in the World Series.
i’m going to bed. i have been sipping booze since i showed up here and forgot to eat dinner.
(sigh)
enjoy yours, jackie.
have a good one, everyone.
go yankees. let me wake up to a pleasant surprise.
‘night.
J.D. DREW, ladies and gentlemen!
7-2 Sox on the single.
Youks squeezes in to 3rd.
Tek walks. Bases loaded for Kielty.
(Manny, you SURE you can’t pinch hit?)
16 Full counts 5 pitchers, going on 6…already 3 hours plus in and we are losing 7-2.
Hudson, everytime someone knocks Papi’s defense, I think about that throw to get Suppan. That was THE moment I knew the Sox were not going to break our hearts.
Kielty: Better than .300 BA with the Sox. I’d rather him than Hinske or any other Manny replacement.
Sadly, he betrays my trust.
Kielty Ks, leaving ’em loaded, but those two runs make me feel a whole lot bettah.
Lopez in.
Hmm, one downside to the expanded lead… does it open up the possibility of seeing Gagne?
Goodnight fellas. This game has lost me. Too many full counts and too little defense. To be continued…
Why is Francona pitching Okajima now? Why did he have Dice-K come out for that last inning? Is there any concern about fatigue here? Precautionary? Couldn’t Snyder pitch and only bring in Okajima if there is a problem?
MVP for Boston tonight: Jason Giambi.
How many runs has he accounted for now tih the missed scoop of Jeter’s throw (not a great throw but should have been scooped) and the Buckner impersonation? I think the tally is 3.
Igawa warming.
The Japanese invasion is amazing – Okie, Zilla, Dice-K, and Isucka.
Hey, Giambi brings his total for the night down to only 2 runs for the Red Sox. Good for him.
Giambi solo shot off Oki. 7-3.
(Gotta agree with the post above, why use Oki unless you have to?)
Bombers are waking up…is it too little too late????
Uhh, Cano solo shot.
WTF. 7-4.
Uhh, Cano solo shot.
WTF. 7-4.
You’re kidding me! Back to back homers?! Why does this suddenly feel like its slipping . . .
Okajima is channeling Igawa…
Anyone got the game on TV? What is Francona doing?
Papelbon for 6 outs. Wow. Has he done that this year?
Aaaaand he walks Cabrera.
Earth to Tito.
Tito is on the mound. But leaves Oki in.
Francona is warming your closer (not yet bringing him in – my false alarm – sorry). Gagne is sitting comfortably in a warm-up suit. Damn!
Me likey Melky
Damon doubles. Tying run on the plate. Argh! Please . . . Tito on the mound. Papelbon might be coming in for 6 outs.
AND DAMON DOUBLES.
Give me a freakin’ break. No outs. Two in scoring position, tying run at the plate in the person of Derek Jeter.
Here comes Papelbon.
The YES announcers are convinced that this is a 6 inning save.
Do we know that? We’ve heard managers say before that sometimes the 9th inning isn’t the most important inning to be “saved” …
God forbid it should just be easy and simple once. I’m starting to think god likes exciting Red Sox v. Yankees games.
Tito at *least* one batter late with the hook.
A 6 inning save by Paps would be quite something.
I am totally biased of course as a yf, but I am just happy to have something to be excited about right now. This game has been PAINFUL – crapola D, pitchers taking half an hour to throw a pitch (both Dice and Andy), terrible umping all around. All over the course of 4 painful hours. Let’s go Jeter!!!!
Jeter does not disappoint.
Me hate Jeter. Outright hate hate hate . . .
Shyte.
I smell drama with A-Rod at the plate – let’s see what Bobby’s got first.
Send Jeter.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Exactly. Fer-chis-ake.
Oh, so that’s what being kicked in the balls feels like.
Seriously, the next time anyone chides a Sox fan for “still” having a fatalistic attitude post-2004, I’m citing this game.
Bobby is sick every August and September.
Jesus ‘effing Christ. This bullpen meltdown is almost as bad that Baltimore game.
Holy shit! I admit I gave up on this game after Sean Henn came in, but god. These Red Sox Yankee games are never, ever, typical. Un-frickin-real.
Yup, either god likes exciting Sox-Yankee games, or maybe god has just taken a liking to the Yankees . . .
8-7 Yankees on ARod single.
Papelblown?
My problem: Why use Okajima, who has given up hits to the Yankees with alarming frequency the more they’ve faced him? Delcarmen’s not good enough? Freakin’ Eric Gagne with a five-run lead? Bryan Corey as a lefty with a 0.00 ERA? Whyyyyy use Okajima?
Nice A-Rod.
Sox fans, two innings left for you – I for one am not at all comfortable with one run lead. But in all seriousness (and honestly not in a mean way at all, has Papelbon ever looked this bad? I have never seen or heard of him being hit around as easy as these first three batters.
Kielty leaving three on in the 6th looms large now.
The Red Sox bullpen has now turned into the Devil Ray bullpen.
(Hell, Timlin only threw 13 pitches…)
Matsui just looked completely overmatched there.
Ks Matsui for out #2.
I agree with the YES announcers for once. SFs here wanted Papelbon in earlier I know but a 6-out save when you have two more games (and really only need to win one, if that) suprised me at the time. This is just not a must win for Boston. It is moreso for NY.
I’ve always hate watching the late innings against the Yankees. Never fails to be a pain in the esophagus when it matters.
Okajima may have to be rested for the remainder of the year if the Sox hope to get anything out of him in the postseason. He’s clearly been gassed for a while.
I have a very strong feeling the Yankees will need more than 8 runs to win this game.
I’m going to vomit.
JGia Ks. Carnage over.
Horrible, horrible, horrible inning.
Vizcaino’s shoulder is hurting but he is coming in because Brian Cashman told Torre not to burn out Joba. Now Joba was gassed after two innings but that was a couple nights ago. I just don’t know. Vizc has gotta feel that Joba-Rules = Vizcaino-shortened-career.
I guess getting involved so much that it hurts is what being a fan is about. Wife will never understand why I do this to myself.
Papelbon strikes out Giambi after being down 3-0 though we’re down now.
8-7 Yankees, going into the bottom of the 8th.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH HO!
All we need is two.
If there was ever a really justified defensive replacement at first, this is it.
C’mon Papi – I’m only across the river from the stadium, hit it to me!
Hell, Brookyln, I’d take *one* right now.
Ortiz gives me indigestion. I hate seeing him at the plate with a one run deficit.
Andrew: ABSOULTELY. Where is Meintkeiwicz?
Shift gets Ortiz.
IH: At first.
I’m not very happy right now.
A lucky boo-boo! :D
Terrible way for Lowell to get on. Typical for this damn game.
Andrew: THanks – I will lower my caffeine in-take tomorrow.
Yankee defense has been HORRENDOUS today. Not what I like to see, even if they did make up for it in the 8th.
Lowell reaches on a strikeout/passed ball… unless the umps take it back.
Coco pinchrunning for Lowell? Taking our #1/#2 hitter out of a game we hope to get to extras?
Ohhh, I don’t like that move, much as I understand the rationale.
Youks promptly flies out.
hey, the second base ump got one right!
YES! nice Jorge.
Po-Po!!
Alright! The Coco move backfires. And I was JUST going to write that I wouldn’t have made the move in the first place. Who is going to play third now? Eric Hinske?
Crisp CS, so Lowell’s been yanked (so to speak) for no good purpose.
drew!!! com’on
Youks will play third, Hinske first.
hmm never mind
That half of the inning is perfectly appropriate: Vizcaino together with Posada are the two most unsung heros for the Yankees this season. Overshadowed by Joba and A-Rod respectively, they have been consistently excellent (Vizc took a several weeks to get into his groove but has been excellent since early June).
I hope to God not to see David Ortiz near a bat again tonight.
Oh, and here’s some more staggering news, Gagne is pitching the 9th.
Oh, Royce Clayton. Not really much of a difference.
Instead, Tito puts Clayton at 3rd rather than the Youks/Hinske combo.
Drew-Tek-Kielty are slated to bat for the Sox in the 9th, presumably against the Fruitbat. Sigh.
Gagne moving and shaking his shoulder a lot. Does not look comfortable…unless he does this all the time??
What time did this start, 7:05? Four-and-a-half-hour game now.
Fruitbat???? Did I miss something Hudson? I laughed but I am not even sure why (…and am still smiling).
Uh oh. Cano better not be hurt. Alberto Gonzalez is not an acceptable replacement.
Looks like he’s got gamekeeper’s thumb, pulling it against the bat. That stuff is painful, and doesn’t really go away.
If it goes to 11:57 it will break the record these two teams set last year for longest 9-inning game. Seriously.
Haha, the Yankees are warming up Matt DeSalvo, maybe to guard against the very real possibility of a blowout? I love it.
C’mon jeter – just a single to right…
Well, nursing the one-run lead…please Mo…be Mo…
Bottom of the 9th. Well Yankee fans, if you wanted me and all the Sox fans to cry and feel like sh*t- it looks like tonight you’ll get your wish.
Remarkably, after the Damon double, Gagne actually manages to get Jeter to retire the side.
Do the Sox have anyone worth pinchhitting here? I don’t think so.
Y’know, J.D. Drew could erase a whole lot of fan hostility here with one swing of the bat.
Not bloody likely, but…
Only two needed. Cake.
I’m going to cry . . .
can manny pitch hit?
JD DREW GETS A SINGLE!!!
drew is pretty hot this month
Drew singles. We’re being teased, right?
Error on Cano?
Yanks defense continues to be less than stellar. Jeez.
Varitek strikes out. Phew. I don’t know why, but I was really worried there.
Tek:
– Ball
– High called strike
– Ball
– Swinging strike, high fastball
– Swinging strike
I hate the smell of toast.
Tek… eek.
Up to Kielty now, no DPs here.
Oh god, no, an ex-Athletic.
A crushing loss is two outs away, and we have no one to bat for Bobby Kielty.
Jacoby Ellsbury with one out left.
Paging clown-boy, paging clown-boy:
Please return to eat the following (this jibe not meant for any SF here – a classy crowd – but is lovingly served up to clown-boy – not the first or last time methinkgs…I love how he disappears every time he is proven wrong):
“This game (series) was over before it even started. SOX sweep.
..yawn..
better things to do than to watch this masacre.
Posted by: BostonRAW | Friday, September 14, 2007 at 09:29 PM”
Jacoby, first at-bat against Rivera:
– Foul
– Foul
– Swinging K
You know, this is the fourth decade I’ve been watching the Red Sox, and this game easily goes into my Top 10 Most Horrendous Regular Season Losses category.
JESUS.
I LIVE for this shit!!
HYOOGE win tonight. Fantastic comeback. Let’s go get this thing, Yanks.
*whew!*
that was BRUtal!
Wow. That game did not go as expected one bit. Absolutely incredible. Loved the shots of the Boston fans at the end ;)
After a season of being a victim of schadenfreude, I get to enjoy a bit of it myself. I think this makes up for that Rivera blown game back in April.
No more Sox-Yanks for me (yeah right), the stress isn’t good. There’s always football . . . even without the cameras.
Great win – with TERRIBLE D. I don’t knwo where that D came from. They have not been that bad all year. But anyway, we can enjoy this one.
Next up: huge match-ups of the Cy(s).
By the way clownboy, massacre is spelled with two s’s…you know, as in ASS.
What the hell was that? The Yank offense is just otherworldly.
Yeah – best offense in baseball as far as the stats reflect. This is what the Yanks of the 20s and 30s called 5 o’clock lightning – since Ruth, Gehring, Lazzeri, etc, would stage dramatic comebacks regularly. This gang currently playing for the Yankees is doing their best to continue the tradition.
Ha! love it :)
i gave up too soon…shame on me…glad to see arod, jeter, and mo come up big “in the clutch”…among other yanks of course…sorry sox fan friends…that had to hurt as much as it did me seeing the yanks fall behind by 7-2…
old clownboy took a hiatus IH…don’t expect to see him again unless wang stumbles tomorrow…then he’ll crawl back out from under his rock to heckle…
Oooh, Wow, Jeez, damn. Yeah, that hurts…
“By the way clownboy, massacre is spelled with two s’s…you know, as in ASS.”
IH, that’s like the third time in 2 days you’ve had me laughing hysterically… Thanks.
Thanks Andrews – I aim to please.
I’m so wired I’m going to have trouble falling asleep. And it doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things all that much (i.e. ALEast race) but I’m still wired. The games between these two are always so dramatic. Great stuff.
Oh and Cleveland has pulled even with LA for the best record in the AL, which is great. If Yanks don’t get the division, which I don’t think they will, they might end up facing Cleveland if they can keep playing well enough to outdo the Angels.
On the other hand, if the Yanks romp – and are able to sweep Boston (still a big if of course) – things will be suddenly pretty tight between all 4 teams for the best record. Boston is currently 2.5 games up on LAA and Cleveland.
I don’t feel comfortable at all playing Cleveland in a 5-game series. The Yankees are 6-0 against them, true, but they haven’t faced the Cy Young version of C.C. Sabathia yet. Recall how they fared against Erik Bedard, take away any runs they got against him, and you get a good view of how the Yankees would do against a pitcher like that.
Call me crazy – but give me the Angels over C.C. Sabathia. Either way, as the wildcard, the Yankees will have to face a *good team* to advance. I guess it’s just the nature of the playoffs.
OK, fantastic comeback! But let’s keep it all in perspective. The Sox are still a terrific team; they’ve got their best pitcher going tomorrow (so do we); they’re still 4 1/2 ahead of us; and it ain’t gonna be easy. Yanks need to win tomorrow, and then win again, and again, and again — right through to the final game of the season, and then we can start thinking about the playoffs.
Yankees baseball: it keeps me sane (sort of) between ski seasons.
Agreed Jim (are you really in Tokyo? And is that, like, Tokyo, Montana, or is is Tokyo, the pearl of the orient?), however, Sox bullpen is shaky and they have to be nervous and I like that. That’s all. Even if Yankees sweep, I wouldn’t be dumb enough to predict they take the division, but at least they’d make it very interesting.
I could care less about the AL East. Either way if Yanks don’t spit the bit; they’re in the play-offs. The most important thing to take from tonite, is that those 6 runs came off the two best of the Sox bullpen. It would be the the equivalent of the Sox coming back to win after a 5 run defecit off of Mo and Joba in the 8th. A knife to the gut.
Tokyo is coolest city I’ve ever been to. (4 day liberty while in the Marines, it was unreal)
Agreed bloody (on significance of inflicting late bullpen pain).
Though with your tag-line and now “knife to the gut” comment, I am starting to get nervous…
IronHorse,
My handle is meant to mean Yankfan by blood; 3rd generation. Both my grandfathers lived and breathed Yankees. New Rochelle and Queens.
PS- Ironhorse: Your comments here are excellent keep’em coming. You never can have enough knowledgeable Yannkfans on this site.
You have to be friggin kidding me. I left for dinner (which was delicious, by the way). I should have known better…
*facepalms*
Oh, and not to be all Mary Sunshine – because I do feel like punching someone in the testicles – but I expected to lose this game coming in. I think we have a good chance tomorrow and Sunday. It sucks unbelievably hard to have lost in excruciating fashion when the game looked well in hand… but at least it’s only one game.
I just hope the team takes the correct message from this loss and brutalizes every team they meet from here on out. Especially over the next two days. No offense, YFs.
by78: Thanks for the compliment…now I get the tag – I thought it was “bloody yank” combined. Love the generational fandom.
Jackie: I’m glad I didn’t run into you around 2:39 am…yeesh. We’ve all been there of course – but just think “tomorrow (tonight) is a new game” (and spare any testicles in the vicinity…)
Hey, this is a polite site. That was a tough loss for the Sox, a game they should have won. Let’s acknowledge that, and the fact that we need Giambi DH-ing.
So tonight I went clubbing with the score at 7-2… when I get to the club there are 5 TVs with the game on. Yankees up 8-7. These comebacks are what it means to be a Yankee fan, the greatest franchise in the history of American professional sports. This is what we live for.
You know that loss back when Mo blew the save? You know those 4 consecutive HRs off of Chase Wright? None of that matters at all now – theeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!!
let’s just make this thread a round 500 posts, on that note.
where’s clownboy?
Quit taunting BostonRAW – he is still busy eating that crow. But it ain’t over till it’s over! Besides, like I’ve been telling Yank fans in my family ever since ‘the COMEBACK’ in 2004, the Yankees are so last century (remember this century started 2001, not 2000 – kinda like there is no 0 AD, only 1 AD).
-Sore Sox fan. Mighty sore.
Ironhorse: yeah, the real Tokyo, by way of Brooklyn (where my remaining relatives love me despite my rooting for the Yankees)
BloodYank: that’s what I thought from the very first day…so I stayed. But it’s good to get back to NY every now and then.
What crow?
My contention that the SOX are the better team is based on the pitching staff’s of the two. Yea, their bullpen had a thrice a year horrible performance and lost the game, but Dice thouroughly outpitched Pettite, one of only two playoff starters the Yanks can bring (unless you consider Clemens, who had his arm sewed back on last week).
The result of last night’s game was an anomoly – we will probably never see the SOX top two relief options hit that badly again, in succession, and the rest of the game was the real deal. Poor pitching and defense on the Yanks part is why they are 4.5 games behind the SOX.
Clownboy!!!! Honk honk wizzz wizzzz heeeehawww heee haawwww!!!!
Keep it coming!!!
Your opinions are worth so much!!!!
Honk honk!!!
Went to Mets game last night, left early while score was Sox 5, Yanks 1. Came home, turned on TV to 7-4. Watched it unravel, kicked things, punched things, ALMOST (but not quite) cried for just a second, turned it off. Turned it back on in top of 9th, watched to end. The unraveling was worse than the ending. Then woke up feeling that ugly baseball hangover, first thought in my mind when my eyes opened.
Well, hopefully if they lose again, it won’t be in quite as spectacular a fashion, and hey, maybe they’ll win a game against the Yankees again someday.