Soxwoman Speaks

So. Since David Ortiz was outed as being on "the list", he has hit tow home runs and the Sox have won the last two games. The Yankees, on the other hand, have played two BLEEP games in a row and cut their lead to a game and a half.

Makes me think that maybe someone should have leaked the news a little sooner. Perhaps we could have avoided two months of bonecrushing suckitude from the big guy.

As the dust settles on the past 36 hours, I am less emotional and more resigned. Yes, I had hoped David Ortiz was different, but he wasn't. He caved to the pressures to perform, as did many a ballplayer in many a decade before him (what, do we all think cheating originated with this generation of ballplayers?) It's disappointing, it's nauseating, but it is what it is. I still love David Ortiz, and I still love what he has done for his team and this city.  But the fact is that I will never be able to look at him with the same amount of reverence as I did two days ago. It's strange why this has affected me so much more than the revelations about Manny. I think it is because I saw Papi as the ideal, the great hitter AND sports ambassador-and now I'm learning that at least part of that image was an utter facade. Say what you want about Manny, but he's not a phony. So I am less disappointed in him.

Oh, well. It's plain that if the choice is between rooting for cheaters and giving up baseball, I will root for cheaters. For to paraphrase Samuel Johnson, it is happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust...and Susannah Centlivre, who noted that "every man cheats in his own way, and he is only honest who is not discovered."

Oy vey. Can't let myself become such a cynic, but at the same time, I refuse to bury myself in denial either. I'm not going to be one hiding behind the "bad andro" conspiracy theories.

Thankfully, the Red Sox did not trade for Eric Gagne again yesterday, but Victor Martinez. I like Victor Martinez, mostly because when he took Schilling deep in the '07 ALCS he took a year to run the bases (of course, had the Sox lost that series, I wouldn't've found that so amusing, but since they did, well, I approve). I just wish they had found some way to deal John Smoltz, who has worn out his welcome from me. Wher have you gone, Roy Halladay...held up by a demand for Clay Buchholz, evidently. Theo, I think it's time to let the Buchholz-cum-Clemens fantasy go myself. Kid is 25 years old. He is what he is, and that "is" will likely never be the Doc. 

Last game at Camden Yards before hitting the road to Tampa. If they can scrounge up a win with Smoltz on the mound, they surely ought to be able to get one with Beckett. Go Sox.  

"It's like finding out that Santa Claus, instead of supervising a team of industrious elves in his workshop, actually had a deal with Walmart. It's the same toy. You just feel crummy about how you got it."-Bob Ryan, in the Globe today

Ok, so, I have had a chance to sleep on it...and I still don't really know what to think about it. All I really do know is that as the names slowly drip-drip-drip out, the entire beleaguered fanbase of the San Francisco Giants must be feeling a very hollow victory. You want an asterisk next to the home run record? Fine, as long as you put an asterisk next to every accomplishment since 1990, including the World Series victories of '04 and '07...because people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw syringes. I never believed the '04 Red Sox were clean, but there's a difference between knowing in the abstract some guys were juicing and having it thrown in your face. Although it flickered through my mind-and immediately pushed aside-on occasion that David Ortiz might have been juicing, I really didn't believe Manny was a user back then. Guess I was wrong.  

But what to do with the information? Ahhh, there's the rub. There are going to be a lot of Red Sox fans today saying, "Hey, it was 2003, there's no direct evidence he ever used after that!" Yeah, just like there is no direct evidence that Scott Peterson killed his wife, either, but he still is sitting on death row having been convicted of her murder. There is going to be (already is) a cottage industry of denial cropping up around the veracity of test-sorry, Nomar, but the idea that guys would jeopardize their careers in order to force steroid testing after they had fought it tooth and nail for a decade just doesn't pass the straight face test-and the manner in which it's supposedly anonymous contents were exposed, as if that had anything to do with the actual legitimacy of the test results. While I'm sure there were issues with the test, I'm also sure that a lot of people this morning are medicating themselves with the idea that it was the test that was screwed up, not the players. I am really not trying to be a wet blanket, but there are a lot of people in RSN in serious need of some slap therapy this morning. Finger-pointing and excuse-making is undignified. Ask Roger Clemens. It is what it is. Just suck it up, folks. Our guys are no better than the next ones.

I will, of course, not throw David Ortiz under the bus, although I am afraid I will be skeptical about any way he tries to spin this. It's going to be impossible to take him at face value anymore. After all, I don't believe Andy Pettitte only used twice, or that ARod had no clue as to what he was injecting into his glute, or that Barry Bonds said "whatever" when his trainer gave him "flaxseed oil." Was it just a Dominican protein shake ("accidentally" laced with Winstrol, LOL, way to get ahead of the bad press, Bronson! You guys are unbelievable!) or a comprehensive plan ala Marion Jones and Balco? We will never know, unfortunately, and because of that people will believe what they want to believe. Except for those of us who don't know what to believe. 

One thing I do firmly believe is that everybody associated with baseball in any way-the players who used and the union who defended the practice, the league officials and owners who turned a blind eye for the sake of the money train, and the fans who refused to believe what was happening in their own ballparks as records fell and players grew to the size of sequoias-is at fault for this. It's just like the housing crisis-the money was really easy and people on the street were getting what they wanted. Who cared that it was all built on a house of cards, until that house of cards came crashing down and very abruptly and rudely ended the party for all? There is always a heavy price to be paid for excess, folks-it's fun while it lasts but shameful afterwards. And if the truth be known, the biggest drivers behind all this? The Yankees and Red Sox, setting the bar for exorbitant player salaries, trying to outspend each other to titles. Hell, for $160 million, I might just shoot up myself.

(Just an aside, If you would like vomit with your breakfast, I would suggest checking out Schilling this morning. He's more worried about how the union didn't work harder to skew the test results, and making sure once again that we all think he is Mr. Clean. Not a word of support to Ortiz, either, who made his "bloody sock" moment possible. The lengths this guy will go to burnish himself at the expense of others is unreal. What a sanctomonious jerk.) 

What's done is done. While I will always love David Ortiz, I will always cherish the memory of 2004, I can't do it with a feeling of innocence and wonder anymore.  Like it or not, our favorite team was a full-fledged product of the steroid era, just like every other team out there from the 1990s on...

No, wait. Suddenly I know how I feel about this. I am furious. One of the best days of my life was just yanked from underneath me, and I am royally pissed off about it. Screw you, Bud Selig. Screw, Don Fehr. And screw all of us who knew in 1998 that Mark McGwire was more juiced than an East German swimmer and cheered him on anyway. This never ending comeuppance, this powerful punch to the gut, frankly, is all we deserve for our breathtaking arrogance.

...is no Mariano Rivera. Not even close, folks. You think that garbage happens to Rivera in his prime? Against the worst hitting team in the league? Throw the cutter, hit the corners, whiff, whiff, whiff. Who cares that he only has one pitch-at least he can throw it where he wants to and throw it for strikes when he needs to. And to everybody whining about Nick Green this morning-who deserves to be whined about but is less a central figure in the Red Sox now and going forward than is Papelbon-I say this: if Papelbon does his job and gets Jack Cust (he of the .232 average) then Nick Green doesn't matter. If no hits and no walks, then no errors. See how it works?

If it were just this one game, that would be one thing, but what happened last night was the natural progression of what we have been seeing from Paps all year-he even had to have Carl Crawford bail out his BLEEP in the All Star game a couple weeks ago. Fact is, we've been living on the edge with Papelbon all summer, folks-look no further than his last appearance for confirmation. It's like he is an adrenalin junkie who can't be satisfied with a workaday performance where he just comes in and does what he is supposed to-strike out guys and get the side in order. Because there is no real drama when he comes on-bases empty, Sox have a lead-he has to create drama. He does it all the time off the field, so it only stands to reason that he's compelled to do it while on the field as well. And then he doesn't even have the humility to say, "I stunk" afterwards. "I had good stuff, and they were able to put together some at-bats. I felt like the only at-bat that I didn't really make a good pitch was to [Everidge]" he tells us. Nothing drives me more insane than a pitcher lauding his own stuff after he just got owned. Jonathan, reality check: if you really "had good stuff" then they wouldn't be able to "put together some at-bats" and you would never have had the opportunity to make a bad pitch to Everidge. Good stuff=outs. I am not sure why that doesn't compute with a lot of pitchers. Mike Timlin was a great one for saying that kind of crap after he got knocked off the mound, and it looks like Paps is picking up the torch.

Sheesh. Beaten by a DH with a .230 average and a guy on his 5th ML at-bat. It doesn't get much worse at that. Oh, wait, yes it does. To add insult to injury, Cup Cake Sabathia of Blackwater-er, the Yanks-was getting his butt handed to him in Tampa, and now there is no gloating, dammit.

Trade deadline coming up soon, and I am off Friday. Are big things coming this year? Guess what *I* will be doing all day long...?

Of course, not everything about last night was a bust. Jim Rice Day in the ballpark was 20 years overdue, and yet Mr. Rice was as humble and appreciative as if the Sox had actually treated him respectfully instead of unceremoniously driving him out of town in 1989 (oh, and screw you, Joe Morgan-I notice nobody invited you to the celebration. Wonder where Spike Owen is today...?) Two decades, new ownership and a HOF plaque make up for a lot of bruised feelings, as Rice noted in his acceptance speech. He knows the new and improved Red Sox had a big hand in getting him over that final hump to Hall glory. I mean, how can you deny a guy with Rice's fashion sense, after all? Really, now!

My feelings about Jim Rice are well documented, and so I spent quite a bit of time listening to speeches and enjoying the moments last weekend (all the while noticing that Rickey Henderson did not once mention himself in the third person, or slight Muhammad Ali the way he did Lou Brock. Waaaah! Bring back the old Rickey!) And while last night was great and inspiring and all that, what kept coming back to my head was...Jim Ed and Dewey and Fred, oh, my! The 1975 Red Sox outfield has aged remarkably well, I must say. Evans especially, as I never thought he was a babe during his playing years, but like Sean Connery has grown finer with age (not really an apt comparison, as Connery was probably fine from the womb and is in a class of finery all by himself, but you know what I mean). Lynn with those shades? Cool like the other side of the pillow. Mid seventies outfield glam, folks-this is one area where the Red Sox will beat the Yankees (whose '75 outfield was compromised of such nonlookers as Piniella and Roy White) every single time. 

The one damper on the night was the absence of Jerry Remy. I was wondering about him even before rice gave him a shout out. He must be a lot sicker than the Sox are admitting to have missed this night...

In any event, congratulations to 2009 HOF inductee Jim Rice and the Boston Red Sox. The inexcusably long journey just made the final destination that much more enjoyable.

(pics from redsox.com)

1. I am spending my day doing one of the things that makes me happiest of all-marinating in baseball. Watch the Red Sox win in the early afternoon, listen to the Yankees currently losing in the late afternoon, and tonight I'll watch the Cubs and Cards without having a horse in the race. In between I'll take the pooch for a walk and listen to mindless sports talk. Yes, tomorrow I will probably go straight back to my regular news-obsessed, neocon-hating self, but for just today I am in baseball bliss.

2. Speaking of neocon hating, did you see who is throwing out the first pitch at the All Star Game? None other than President Barack Obama. Did you see who will be catching that ball? Likely 2009 MVP and Triple Crown contender Albert Pujols. You gotta know, the combination of the black president and the Latino first baseman taking center stage at baseball's annual society ball is going to be driving some people insane. Gulp. I just hope they have tons of tight security at Busch Stadium...

3. Watching Tim Wakefield talk about how grateful and humbled he is to be going to the All Star Game makes me realize what complete jerks some of these guys are who are looking for any reason they can to avoid going (yeah, Manny, I'm looking at you, for one). They all should be down on their knees thanking their lucky stars for making them good at swinging a bat or throwing a ball instead of washing dishes, and they should be kissing the fans asses for continuing to support their dirty, drug-addled sport. And that means showing up to the All-Star Game every year you are selected without fail or excuse. Got it? Good. 

4. John Smoltz must be wondering if every night he pitches is going to have to be a complete game in order to keep any semblance of order on the mound. Why does Manny Delcarmen suck all of a sudden? Or Justin Masterson? I am going to just take a breath and hope that there is nothing wrong with either of them that a good four days off won't cure.

5. Two out in the bottom of the ninth at Anaheim, Angels up by one, and who is up to the plate but the Steroid Boy Wonder himself. Walk him. Just walk him, and take your chances with Matsui...(jesus, a four-seamer right across the plate, what are you guys doing to me???) Ball...ball..SWINGING STRIKE!!!! NO HEROICS FOR AROID THIS TIME!!! ANGELS SWEEEEEEP, SOX UP THREE AT THE BREAK!!!! Seriously, between ALDSes and killing the Yankees, the Angels have given me some of the best baseball times of my life the past ten years. Give those men a Klondike bar. 

6. Emotional halfway point of the season has the Sox in really, really good position, second only to the Dodgers in terms of record, Beckett and Lester looking like Spahn and Sain and Big Papi's power back, if not quite the average. Wooo-hoooo!!!! Bring on the second half!!!

(Pres Obama lifted from Rolling Stone)

Or not.

I mean, what the hell kind of crap is that? Shut out, at home, by the As, the worst team in the league? Where Joe Maddon had to play eeney-meeney-miney-mo to come up with one All-Star? These guys are terrible, and yet you would have thought they had Carlton on the mound and Gehrig and Ruth in the lineup last night. Every guy wearing a Red Sox uniform had better be properly contrite this morning, wearing a big scarlet S for suck on his forehead.  There's no excuse for a performance like that. I'm glad I didn't pay StubHub prices for that debacle.

While there's no excuse, there certainly are reasons, and one of them is that Terry Francona decided that the As were so awful they really don't count as a major league team at all, and since we have been playing so well the last few games, and have such a comfortable lead in the division, let's just throw a minor league lineup out there! I mean, who the hell is Aaron Bates? There are other reasons, too, such as...

Kevin Youkilis-.216 over the last 30 days, .091 (!) in July. Sheesh. No wonder Teixiera edged him out. He's been sucking the air right out of the ballpark lately.  

Jason Bay-.221 over the last 30 days, .167 in July. Not quite what we were seeing earlier in the year, and becoming quite a big rally-killer lately. Average down to 260.

Mike Lowell-DL

When your big run producers aren't producing runs, the rest of the lineup is only meh, and your pitching staff has been inconsistent-color me not impressed with the Smoltz experiment thus far, but hey, he was cheap, right?-there's just no way you are going to win a lot of games. If, at home, playing the weak sisters on their schedule until the All Star break, this team loses more ground to the Yanks, there is going to be some serious splainin' to do.

In other news, it was good to see the fans give Nomar an appreciative welcome on his return. He played a lot of good years for them and deserved their thanks for that. There have been essentially two Nomar camps that have evolved over the years-members of the first are of the opinion that he was a wussy crybaby injury faker who couldn't stand the heat and was removed from the kitchen by St. Theo of the Monster, thus paving the way for the 2004 championship.  Members of the second believe the aforementioned sulky, balky Nomar was completely a media creation by the evil Larry Lucchino and his equally evil sidekick Dan Shaughnessy, that he was a Duquette guy, not a NOG favorite at all and thus made a scapegoat for everything that was going wrong in mid-2004. My guess is that the truth lies somewhere in between. It's become clear years later that Nomar was just the first of a group of high-profile fan favorites to exit in a hail of bad press, so I have to believe he was at least somewhat smeared by the POTB while the ground was being paved for his exit. But it's also clear it ended up being a great trade for the Red Sox in the end. In any event, I was glad to see him welcomed warmly, and he clearly was very touched by it. You have to wonder if he wasn't thinking, though, opportunity squandered? Thanks, Nomar, and have a great life. It sure was fun while it lasted.

Josh Beckett tries to turn things around at the Fens at 7:10pm. Which team shows up tonight? The one we were sold with the great starting pitching and awesome lineup, or the one of late which makes us cast our eyes forlornly in the general direction of first base in the new Yankee Stadium...?

(screen grabs from redsox.com)

Reactions are dropping like rain...

"If you love baseball, Manny MUST GO. Until they make a big public example of a destroyed career, steroids are here to stay. As long as you know you get a mulligan for a first offense, it is still worth the risk."-a rather shrill and self-righteous Brian Ross, acting as though this were the first he'd heard about it. 

"Will Ramirez, now busted, act more like his baseball age? Or will he continue to be a hitting savant bucking the trend of baseball skewing younger? We just don't know, in part because even with a failed test, we don't know the extent of Ramirez's PED use. On Friday night, and for the foreseeable future, most people didn't care, either."-Tom Verducci

"Because Ramirez* is more cuddly than Barry Bonds*, or more goofy than Roger Clemens*, or less intimidating than Mark McGwire*, it's as if he's being graded on the curve. And that is disgraceful"-Scott Miller, who is also apparently on the verge of a breakdown 

"Manny Ramirez is yesterday's boos. He's a sure sign of society's steroid fatigue and baggy-pants proof of Karl Marx's postulate that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce."-Tim Sullivan

If Manny's return to cheers and well-wishes drives you stark staring insane, then all I have to say is...find another hobby, dudes. I've been watching this saga unfold for nearly a dozen years now, and the fact of the matter is, the average fan doesn't care. No more than they ever cared about Bill and Monica despite the shrill moralizing and name-calling from others who should've known better. As long as they are being taken care of and their team is winning, they don't care. Sure, it's fun to be able to look at a hated rival and say their team is "tainted" when a big name is caught using, all the while knowing your team is just as bad and maybe worse. And, yeah, it's really fun to watch the house of cards come crashing down around some of the biggest pricks on the planet, guys digging their own graves with their intransigence who just don't get that all would have been forgiven had they just said, ala Andy Pettitte, "ooops, whoopsie, my bad," and moved on. Or cultivated an image of sainthood like Lance Armstrong. It's the arrogance and the insults to our intelligence after you've been caught that pisses us off, not the fact that you've been using.

You know why that is? Because the average fan has a job he is insecure about, two kids that drive him crazy, a boss he hates, a wife who nags and probably twenty years to retirement. He knows the deck is way stacked against him and that many others are playing by unfair rules in games which affect him far more directly than does some juicer's, like the guy who sold him the ARM or drained his pension account. Baseball is an escape; it's secondary.  Yes, he'd prefer a clean game, but it's just not that important in the grand scheme of things. He respects Andy Pettitte and even enjoys watching that goofy Manny Ramirez. He thinks, hey, Manny's right-he didn't rape or murder anybody, and for $25 mil, our average fan might just shoot up, too.

I found this telling statement from a brutally honest blogger that absolutely nails that average fan"s feeling...

All this talk about the sanctity of the game, of the history of the baseball, of the stats - total garbage to me.  I care about watching the game, and seeing amazing things being done that I've never seen done before.  I care about the most incredible season I'll probably ever see, a .370  with 46 HR season in which a man was walked 198 times.  Most on purpose.  This after a 73 home run season.  Two years after that, a 232 BBs season, with a .362 BA and 45 HRs in 373 official ABs.  4 straight MVPs, and only teammate Jeff Kent's MVP in 2000 preventing Bonds from 5 straight. 

He'll never win another award in all likelihood, but his career will go down as the greatest career we've seen since Babe Ruth.  And they might try to add an asterisk to it like they did to Roger Maris, but someday that asterick and those haters will be gone, just like the Maris haters all disappeared, and all that will be left is the amazing numbers.  That's the beauty of the baseball - it's numbers. 

And I'm glad I'll be able to say that I saw it all, instead of say how great he would have been if he didn't get injured.

So, folks, baseball police and purists-if you're waiting for us to turn our backs and force the game into submission through our indignation and wounded sense of fairness, well, it appears you've got a long wait coming. It may not be fair, it may not be right...but it is what it is. In the overall scheme of life, folks just dig the long ball.

This just in:

A federal judge in Texas has reaffirmed his dismissal of most of Clemens' claims in his long-running defamation lawsuit against Brian McNamee, the trainer who accused the Rocket of PED use.

U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison's original opinion and reaffirmation yesterday said that the statements McNamee made about Clemens during the Mitchell Report investigation should be immune from litigation because they were made in conjunction with a government investigation.

That clears the way for McNamee to ramp up his defamation suit against Clemens. His lawyers told the New York Daily News that will happen at the end of this month.

"This is the final nail in Clemens' Texas coffin," McNamee attorney Richard Emery told the Daily News. "We will welcome him to New York to litigate."

I just read American Icon. While Clemens comes out looking exactly as you'd expect-a narcissistic bully-Brian McNamee comes out not looking so much like the drug-dealing scumbag of Dan Burton's wet dreams but as a wussy lovesick teenager, fretting over whether or not Roger Clemens loves him as much as he loves Roger.  Which he didn't, of course.  Roger's first and only love is Roger Clemens, (and especially Roger Clemens' money) for whom he would slander and defame a guy he said was his friend, throw his own wife under a bus, and tamper with a Congressional witness to protect.

Roger Clemens is a liar, a cheat, and an enormous fraud, and now he's also a pathetic loser. To paraphrase his own words, today is the day he truly became a Yankee.

Money quote of the day, from John Harper: They need to win tonight or officially lay down on the couch for some Red Sox therapy.

Hmmm. Wasn't the offseason spending frenzy supposed to deal with that little issue? Or maybe confidence was supposed to come from the overflowing luxury seats, now officially on blue light special?

The Yankees being who they are, I can understand why they emptied the bank for Teixeira and Sabathia (well, there aren't enough years left in the planet's lifespan to empty that bank, but you know what I mean). These are guys in their prime with proven track records of performance and 1/3 of the way into the season have earned their salary as much as anyone in MLB does. Good for them. Keeps the Stadium boobirds at bay for at least a little while...But A.J. Burnett? Eighty-two five for a .500 guy? A guy with the fragility of a China doll, who got kicked off the Florida Marlins, for Christ's sake? A guy with two-count 'em, two-real pitches? Who has been on the DL TEN times? Yes, I know all about his wondrous AL East record-which includes sixteen wins against the pathetic Orioles and formerly pathetic Rays, and six wins vs the team that now employs him (second money quote of the day, from a blog commenter: He was a Yankee killer when he pitched for Toronto and now he is still killing us), and his supposed success against the Red Sox (5-0, ERA under 4.00). But this is one case where I think the statheads are simply overrating a guy based on sheer numbers. For all his "great stuff" and ability to "bring it"...there's just no mound presence, like a Verlander or Beckett have even when they stink. The perception of his peers seem to bear this out-he's never been selected to an All-Star game, never received Cy Young votes. On top of that, he's never pitched an inning in the postseason. If he repeats his best year (2008) for the next five years of his contract, he's still 'way, 'way overpaid-and given his history, there's no reason to think he's going to do that.

Oh, and memo to AJ: If you want to be a part of it in ol' New York, you have got to be able to beat the Red Sox. At least, be able to hang with them.

Last night was a satisfying victory on many levels, not the least of which was wiping away the bad taste left by losing 2/3 to the Rangers at home (one should never lose a series at home, least of all to any team in the AL West). David Ortiz taking the faker deep was just the first of all the happy things to come. Alex Rodriguez spotting the Sox a couple of runs was another-does anyone remember when this guy was good in the field?-and Josh Beckett's performance cemented the notion that he's back. If Pedroia makes what was that admittedly tough play on Cano, is there any doubt that we would have been holding our breath waiting on another potential no-no? In the end, the powerhouse Yankee lineup was held to just two hits, Exhibit A in the argument that superior pitching triumphs over good hitting any day.

Yep. That was sweet. Yeah, the Yanks can roll all over teams like the Orioles and Indians, but against the cream of the crop, they whimper and turn tail like spooked puppies. Haven't beaten the Sox once, should have been swept by the Phils at home if not for the brain death of Charlie Manuel. Harper notwithstanding, there's lots of evidence that tonight will be no different, either. Even when he's performing to capacity, the Sox have had Wang's number, and if Timmy can avoid the big inning monkey I expect he'll perform well (not two hits well, but good enough to win).

Best of all is the creeping feeling that maybe the worst is over for Papi. Don't know that he'll ever be that fearsome force in the center of the lineup again-losing Manny has had more consequences than some would like to admit, and I think it's at least partially responsible for the decline of David Ortiz. But he can still be a potent member of the lineup, a guy with-ahem-plate presence even when he stinks. He also is a powerful reminder of Red Sox dominance every time a guy in pinstripes looks at the opposing dugout, contributing more than a little bit to the head cases Harper thinks they're becoming. In my mind, that alone makes him worth whatever he is being paid.

Repeat performance at 7:05. Be there! 

I think that's going to be my new name for this team. Jon Lester has justifiably borne the brunt of this mantle thus far, but this is something Tim Wakefield has always been prone to, as he reminded us with a five-run meltdown in the fifth last night before being out out of his-and-our-misery with two out. No starter has been immune, although Beckett is showing glimmers of old lately and Brad Penny is becoming a serviceable fifth starter, actually one of the more reliable guys as of late. Of course, it would be more than helpful if the bats could actually produce some runs on the road as well. Drew has yet to be an enormous upgrade over Ortiz in the three-spot, and I don't recall the last solid two-out RBI I saw. The only really bright spot on this trip has been Ellsbury, who snapped a 22-game hit streak Thursday and started another one on Friday. but the boy can't carry the entire offense by himself.

Second place right now, half game behind the Skanks. It's kind of scary to think that a big reason the Sox are even in the position they are is because of Jason Varitek's bat. He can't possibly keep this pace up all season, can he (the past being the best predictor of the future)?  And what about Mike Lowell? Guy's hitting well (well, nobody is hitting well on this road trip, but overall), but he looks like the 2,000-year-old man when he's on the basepaths. I can't imagine he's not going to need some time off when things really start to heat up later on in the summer, which meaqns Youk will have to go to third. Dear sweet Jesus, how many games am I going to have to suffer with Jeff Bailey and his .700 OPS in the lineup? I'd rather see Nick Green at first, and he can't even play a decent shortstop! Oy vey...No depth...while you may not always get what you pay for, it's even more rare that you get something for free. Oh, and by the way, Theo, Jason Bay is not going to be free. And the fact that the Yanks will have glaring outfield holes this off-season should not be a surprise come negotiation time. Prepare for it and budget accordingly.

Oh, well. One thing that really did my heart good this week was the sight of Tom Brady back on the field, looking healthy and ready to go (brace or no brace, in MY mind he is healthy and ready to go!!!) I was cranky and out of sorts all last season, and I know why. No Tom. Matt Cassell performed admirably under difficult circumstances, but it just wasn't the same. With Brady under center, Belichick on the sidelines and Kraft controlling the purse strings, you just get the idea that every season gives the Pats the opportunity to be champions. No, they clearly won't win every year, but all a fan-other than a Yankee fan, that is-asks for is the chance. Welcome back, Tom! We love you!!!!

Tim Wakefield sucked, Papi's average continued it's spiral into Death Valley, it snowed, and Brad Lidge is facing waterboarding when he gets back to Philly-but the Red Sox still ended the day in first place! It's divine intervention, I tell ya! Well, no-to quote our illustrious former criminal-er, commander-in-chief, it was just a good old fashioned thumpin'. J.D. Drew went 4-for-5 (and my vote to replace Papi at the three spot), Kevin Youkilis thumbed his nose at the umping crew that got it wrong the first time, and Mike Lowell is looking more and more every day like a guy who is playing with two hips instead of one.

(Too bad we couldn't say the same for David Ortiz, poor guy. We are all suffering watching him desperately climb out of the deep pit of suck he has dug for himself. It's decision time, Terry. Make one before Theo Epstein makes it for you.)

Events of the recent past have taken a lot of the sting out of 1986, but there's still something very satisfying about taking it to the Amazin's. Friends of mine who are recent (within the past 15 years or so) converts to the cause don't quite understand that I still get a minor case of PTSD looking at those ugly blue and orange uniforms. The only people in the universe who hate the Yankees more than Red Sox fans are Mets fans, they say; we should be allies, not antagonists. Eighty-six was a long time ago to still be holding onto a grudge.  I'm not holding a grudge, folks. But just imagine trying to be good friends with your ex-husband's second wife, with whom he had an affair for two years before he left you. It might have been years ago, you might not wish her any harm at this point, but you are never, ever going to be BFF.

On the road again, to Minny. Maybe the homecoming of sorts will be what Papi needs. Or not. These last few weeks have begun, in an odd type of way, to prepare us for a Papi-less future, one in which the Sox are still in first place. Back in 2005, who would have thought that was ever going to be possible?

(pic from boston.com)

Seriously. Any day the Yanks win and the Sox lose is bad to begin with, but for both teams to do it the way they did? Come on!!!!!

First, the Yankees. Remember the much-derided "closer by committee" idea the Red Sox tried to float a few years ago? While it didn't work out that well for them-the Sox simply didn't have enough good relievers to make it work-the idea in and of itself is not a terrible one, and the reasons why were on full frontal display during the Yanks/Phils game yesterday. So, it's the 9th inning. Yankee bats have been pretty feeble all day, first against J.A. Happ (who?) and then against Chad Durbin and Ryan Madsen. But these are the New York Yankees, folks. They murder mediocre pitching. You can't make the assumption they just aren't on their game today and you've got the W nailed down. We've heard from Buck and McCarver yammer on ALL afternoon about the sparkling Phils' bullpen. So what does Charlie Manuel do? He sends his brain to an early shower and brings out the one guy in the pen who sucks to start an inning that's going to go Damon-Teixeira-Rodriguez...with predictable results.  Three runs later, the Yanks are ticking off another W for a game they should have lost, and which Manuel deserved to lose. I'm sorry, folks, I know it's all about building a player's confidence-these billion-dollar egos!-but there are just times when a manager has got to say, "Sorry, man. These aren't the Washington Nationals. We've got a thin lead, the heart of their lineup coming up, and I need my best guy out there. Right now, you aren't my best guy." End of story.

The other thing on the Yanks is, is there one person outside of NY proper who doesn't think Alex Rodriguez is more juiced than an East German swimmer right now? Miraculous recovery from hip surgery? Nine hits, six of them homers? Sorry, folks. I'd bet the house he's using something new that the testing hasn't caught up to yet. Don't act so indignant, Yank fans. It's not like he has a track record of doing anything else.

As for the Sox, well, it was awesome to see Beckett of old on the mound, but not so awesome to see Papelbon of late. This dude is not as good as he thinks he is right now, or as he's been in the past. For one, he's not throwing strikes as consistently (see: Sheffield, Gary), and when you don't throw strikes you don't get outs as efficiently-as we've seen repeatedly in a lot of nailbiting ninth innings this year. He's been able to get away with it thus far because he only pitches one inning, but it's going to catch up with him more often as the season wears on. He's just got to come up with another pitch. Even bad hitters can eventually hit a fastball, and I'm not seeing a lot of evidence that Paps will survive the long haul with one good pitch the way a guy like Rivera has. I hear he's working on a slider. He'd better speed it up.  

Put it behind us and move on. Sox are currently tied for second place with the Empire, 1/2 game behind the slumping Jays. Wakefield the savior against Tim Redding, last seen at Fenway walking off the mound in shame as a beat-up desperation starter for Joe Torre.

...the first of the year! Thank you sweet Jesus and all the disciples! 







You know, there are good reasons that-in spite of the rabid media, pitiless fans, and fishbowl existence-free agents list Boston as a highly desirable place to play (second only, umm, to NY, which has the same problems) and it's been on evidence the past couple of nights at Fenway. While the faithful can at times be a player's worst thorn, and booing your own in Boston is a cottage industry of sorts, once a guy has been through the fire and come out intact there are no more devoted fans on earth. Our standards may be high, but our loyalty runs just as deep, and I was so proud to be a member of this group I was almost in tears last night. He carrried us in '04, folks. It was nice to be able to return the favor. As Jason Varitek noted, "I think it’s big we had our fans get behind him. It was a pretty electric moment for David.”

AND for us...there's a palpable feeling of relief, that it's all going to be all right now.

 

Congratulations, Papi and Sox, on a VERY satisfying victory! Now let's keep it going!

Peggy Noonan said not too long ago that "some of life has to be mysterious", and she was right, of course. You don't need to know everything. You don't need to know what your parents did in your room while you were off that week at summer camp, for example. Or the ins and outs (literally) of a friend's colonoscopy. Or what your new boyfriend really thinks about your mother. Peggy, of course, is a complete moron who was not talking about minor TMI stuff like this, but near drownings and sleep deprivation. But that doesn't make her general point any less valid.

I mention it because I just read an interview with Keith Foulke over on boston.com. I would like to remember Foulke as nothing more than the guy who had an amazing 2004 season, who was on the mound when that final out was recorded, and who ended 86 long years in loser wilderness for the Red Sox. Do you think he would let me do that? Nah, had to throw it in my face just what a jerk he is. Doesn't care about anything. Rips on the minor league team that was kind enough to let him back into the game. Practically wears his assholeness as a badge of honor (I've never understood why people are proud of being jerks.) "Why do I always get in trouble with the fans for speaking my mind?" he asks. That's an easy one, Keith; it's mostly because you-like Schilling, whom you also take the time to dis-don't have a mind capable of converting to verbiage anything that's particularly pithy or otherwise worth hearing. (I'll never understand why people from whom no one wants to hear think "speaking their mind" is such a virtue.) You have one talent, and it doesn't involve your mind, just your arm. That's all anybody really wants from you. 

In Foulke's defense, he's not a complete snarling brute in this piece-he stands up for Manny Ramirez, which is more than any of the rest of that 2004 team which rode his golden bat to the promised land have done. He reminds us that he didn't take the money when he knew he couldn't play, which is more than a lot of ballplayers (including Curt Schilling) have done. He's a horse's rearend, for sure, but at least he's a principled horse's rearend. And that's gotta count for something.

Bottom line, despite the losing the congeniality crown, he has my everlasting gratitude and I wish him nothing but the best. Because everytime I think of him, I don't think of Johnny form Burger King, I think of this:

Back to Foulke! Red Sox fans have longed to hear it-The Boston Red Sox are World Champions!

Too bad he couldn't be a hero and less of a jerk, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

...was 0-7 with three K's yesterday. Left 12 men on base all by himself, tying a club record. One decent at-bat from him and they probably win the game. I've had hopes here and there that he is breaking out of it, and I've said he deserves the opportunity to work it out in his own time-but yesterday was a powerful bucket of ice cold reality. This is turning into a slump of epic proportions. What to do? I searched the web for some answers...

From TalkSox:

Papi's problems may be deeper than a slump. I admire francona in a way for believing in papi. I believe in him too. But i thought terry should have sat ortiz down for a game or two starting 2 weeks ago. Now we are almost 6 weeks into the season and papi has cost the sox offense some real problems now. Today was embarrasing as ortiz goes 0-7 and 3 k's and a little tapper in the 12th. Our exclusive .200 club, namely ortiz and varitek, managed to end an inning 7 times today between them. Ortiz 5 times and tek 2 times in a 12 inning game. I think we are now past the point of a 1 or 2 game benching. I don't think ortiz confidence can get any lower. Simply put, the sox should have won today. My best guess is ortiz should get a couple days off and maybe look at more film of the good days and maybe some tests and xrays on his wrist might be in order to be sure it is healed properly.
If that doesn't work a trip to pawtucket is in order to iron out his problems. At this rate no way papi makes it to 7/31. He will be replaced in the lineup before then. Anyone for barry bonds?

Ouch. Barry Bonds? Things aren't that bad, are they?

From Sons of Sam Horn:

The problem is, as DH, his entire value is tied up in his hitting, and place in the lineup. You can't just say "oh, he's been flashing the leather and saving us games" - all he is supposed to do is hit - you can't even say "but he is still drawing lots of walks and scoring runs". If he cannot hit (or rather get on base) like he used to, then it I think would behoove Tito to move him down, while continuing to let him hit and try and work his way out of this. You can't yet pull him from the order nor should you - he may get stronger and bounce back in a month or two, but I think the 2 through 6 slots might "flow" for the time being better without him constantly making outs and breaking up a good string of productive hitters. Switching him with Drew in the 5 spot would maintain the LRLR, but might result in Youks getting more walks, so that would be a calculated gamble. Or you could slide everyone up and put him at 6/7? No easy answer, but how much longer do you wait? Another 50 ABs? Another month? How long can an AL East team have a DH with a .600 OPS in the 3 hole? You know you would be probably ridiculing other AL East teams if they had such a player long term with those numbers in the 3 hole....

I'm just not so comfortable with him trying to hit his way out of this in the 3 hole. I know you don't want to bum the dude out an make it like a demotion which won't help his attitude, but at the same time, how much extra pressure is he putting on himself BECAUSE he is hitting 3rd and is supposed to be "the man"?

Good points, all. I've been feeling the same way, that the fact that he does nothing but hit has been a major contributor to the scrutiny and frustration. No real concrete suggestions as to "what to do", but I guess the poster figures that's what we pay Tito for.

From Royal Rooters of Red Sox Nation:

He looked awful in that last AB today when the bases were loaded. He was tentative and aggressive at the same time. He was so eager to jump on a fastball that he swung (and missed) one that was obviously a ball, then on the 3-2 count he does that feeble half swing. He's messed up, the embodiment of someone who is pressing.
I agree he needs time off. They should invent some 'injury' to keep him out of the lineup for a week, like an infected paper cut or a hang nail or something. Let him get his head together without the media being on him every day.

This is the solution I'm leaning to right now, what the Yankees did with Wang. Make up something-anything-to get him out of the lineup. Do an MRI on the wrist and say something face-saving like it shows somethign questionable (maybe it does) and he's going back to Boston to have it looked at. DL him, give him a two-week breather, send him to Pawtucket to work on the swing, whatever. Just get him out of the national media spotlight and in the meantime, get someone who can be at least somewhat productive in the lineup (someone not named Barry Bonds, that is.)

I don't believe David Ortiz as a force is done-although I don't see the '03-'07 guy ever coming back-but he's killing this team right now and he knows it.  Papi, we love you, man, but we all need a break, and I think in the end we'll be a lot better off for it.

More humiliation for the Rocket:

Shortly after their clubhouse conversation that day in June, Clemens summoned McNamee to the apartment, and by the time the trainer arrived, the pitcher had already laid out some clear glass vials containing a cloudy white liquid. The labels identified the substance as Winstrol, an anabolic steroid. There were some large needles, too, and sterilizing alcohol.

There was one problem. McNamee had experience only with the small-bore subcutaneous needles he used to inject his son. He was now looking at wide-bore needles meant to puncture dense muscle and inject a thick fluid deep into tissue. His mind began racing. He had no authority to give injections to players, let alone to the face of the franchise. But Clemens had asked, and McNamee had agreed. There was no turning back. Anyway, McNamee figured, Clemens was more prone to hurt himself if he stuck needles into his own BLEEP.

The pitcher bent over (eeeeewwwwww!!!!). McNamee dabbed Clemens's skin with alcohol so as not to cause an infection. Then he stuck the needle into the pitcher's buttocks and depressed the plunger of the syringe. Now they were accomplices.

Followed by more weak denials as Clemens continues his Cheney-like legacy crusade:

"Everywhere I've gone and gotten the opportunity to speak to young kids or college kids, I take a lot of pride in telling those boys to get after it and do things the right way and take care of your body, because I know how I did it; I know how hard I worked," Clemens said. "For some of that to come in question, of course it's hurtful. But it's not going to break my spirit."

And evidence that he might as well not waste his breath:

While there are evidently a few sycophants hanging on the shred of belief in the integrity of their sociopathic hero, it looks like support for Clemens is less than that of the GOP, and that's saying something.  (Clemens may have cheated and lied to Congress, but at least he was competent at his job.)

While there remains something very grimly satisfying about all of this, the days when I was giddy with schadenfreude are over. I wanted Roger Clemens' exposed for the lying, steroid-fueled scumbag he is. I wanted his reputation in tatters. I wanted his HOF chances DOA. All that has happened, and now it just seems like...piling on. Although it doesn't always shine through, I do have the capacity for empathy, and I feel sorry for him-although it's actually probably more accurate that I feel sorry for the complete annihilation of the brilliant career of a guy who once, long ago. carried the hope and promise of a downtrodden franchise on his golden arm...back in the the real world, though, I hope the miserbale bastard goes to jail ("I'm very thankful and grateful for this day to come. I'm glad for the opportunity finally. And, you know, I hope I get, and I know I will have the opportunity to come here to Washington again under different terms."  We can accommodate, Rog!) forever sharing a cell with some Bush torture apologist.  Despite what he'd have you believe, nobody else-not McNamee, not his wife, not his mother-is to blame for this. If he hadn't been so arrogant and stupid-if he had admitted to use, said he was sorry and thrown himself upon the mercy of the court of public opinion-he probably would have gotten away with it.

Just ask St. Andy Pettitte. You don't see Mr. "Personal Relationship With God and HGH" on the cover of a tell-all now, do you?

(And, yes, I bought the book...although my equally Clemens-hating mother wants it first.)