Friday, April 30, 2004
Talking Heads
Watched the Manny Ramirez / Gordon Edes interview at Boston.com last night. Great stuff - Manny is really likeable. I love the way he says "Thanks God" for "Thank God", both in the interview and on his website. Overall he strikes me as really sincere. And yeah, it's sad that the journos are now falling at his feet just because he's decided to give good quote, but on the other hand, who isn't inclined to be nicer to someone who makes your job easier?
And someone at the New York Times website doesn't like the Yankees: "Jeter Improves to 1 for 33". Talk about damning with faint praise. (Actually, he's 1 for 36 now.) The full article has the headline as "Jeter, Anemic at 0 for 32, Is a Crusher at 1 for 33" - not sure if that's meant to be ironic.
Amazing how the Sox can sell out Fenway for an afternoon game with the D-Rays. True, it's a rainout makeup, but all these people had spare time on a Thursday afternoon?? Saw Conig's Corner bedecked in a sea of green T-shirts. Tremendous.
Watched the Manny Ramirez / Gordon Edes interview at Boston.com last night. Great stuff - Manny is really likeable. I love the way he says "Thanks God" for "Thank God", both in the interview and on his website. Overall he strikes me as really sincere. And yeah, it's sad that the journos are now falling at his feet just because he's decided to give good quote, but on the other hand, who isn't inclined to be nicer to someone who makes your job easier?
And someone at the New York Times website doesn't like the Yankees: "Jeter Improves to 1 for 33". Talk about damning with faint praise. (Actually, he's 1 for 36 now.) The full article has the headline as "Jeter, Anemic at 0 for 32, Is a Crusher at 1 for 33" - not sure if that's meant to be ironic.
Amazing how the Sox can sell out Fenway for an afternoon game with the D-Rays. True, it's a rainout makeup, but all these people had spare time on a Thursday afternoon?? Saw Conig's Corner bedecked in a sea of green T-shirts. Tremendous.
D-Lowe gets D-Rays...
Oh, dear. Derek Lowe, performing way below expectations for a Sox pitcher - one earned run. Tsk tsk. Whatever shall we do? :) Good to see Kim back and in form, although the ESPN headline is really quite a sad reflection on how people perceive Kim (or rather, how people perceive the Fenway crowd perceives Kim): "Crowd cheers Kim". Lots of second-guessing on Sons of Sam Horn on Francona's choice of relievers, but I quite like how they're being used... Embree for Timlin in Game 1 was somewhat odd, but it also had the nice ring of "whatever, I could close my eyes and point to someone random in the bullpen, and they'll still no-hit you". At this point, the bullpen has so much confidence even the guy who was attacked by Karim Garcia could probably come out and pitch 2 innings.
In other AL news, Barry Zito seemed to have arrived for Give a Struggling Yankee Self-Esteem Day, what with homers served up to Jeter, Williams, Cairo, and even A-Rod... not that A-Rod needs any more self esteem.
Oh, dear. Derek Lowe, performing way below expectations for a Sox pitcher - one earned run. Tsk tsk. Whatever shall we do? :) Good to see Kim back and in form, although the ESPN headline is really quite a sad reflection on how people perceive Kim (or rather, how people perceive the Fenway crowd perceives Kim): "Crowd cheers Kim". Lots of second-guessing on Sons of Sam Horn on Francona's choice of relievers, but I quite like how they're being used... Embree for Timlin in Game 1 was somewhat odd, but it also had the nice ring of "whatever, I could close my eyes and point to someone random in the bullpen, and they'll still no-hit you". At this point, the bullpen has so much confidence even the guy who was attacked by Karim Garcia could probably come out and pitch 2 innings.
In other AL news, Barry Zito seemed to have arrived for Give a Struggling Yankee Self-Esteem Day, what with homers served up to Jeter, Williams, Cairo, and even A-Rod... not that A-Rod needs any more self esteem.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Put up? No, shut out
So, Schilling was wicked awesome, and Tek and Bellhorn were great too. So now the Sox haven't surrendered a run since Saturday afternoon, and the bullpen is on some sick number of not just shutout but no-hit innings. 11 or so?
So, Schilling was wicked awesome, and Tek and Bellhorn were great too. So now the Sox haven't surrendered a run since Saturday afternoon, and the bullpen is on some sick number of not just shutout but no-hit innings. 11 or so?
Somebody saaaaave meeeeeeeeee.......
Watching Sox-DRays right now... thought it was funny when they played Remy Zero's "Save Me" when Sweet Lou went to the bullpen for the second time. Bellhorn is really a human Questec. And who knew Rey Sanchez, of all people, would have the nicest car when he was with the Sox? Ah, NESN, how I love thee.
Those "Cesar's Senate" fans in togas that NESN featured were quite funny. Man, idolising Cesar Crespo? I'm all for rendering unto when rendering unto is called for, but this one I'm dubious about...
Watching Sox-DRays right now... thought it was funny when they played Remy Zero's "Save Me" when Sweet Lou went to the bullpen for the second time. Bellhorn is really a human Questec. And who knew Rey Sanchez, of all people, would have the nicest car when he was with the Sox? Ah, NESN, how I love thee.
Those "Cesar's Senate" fans in togas that NESN featured were quite funny. Man, idolising Cesar Crespo? I'm all for rendering unto when rendering unto is called for, but this one I'm dubious about...
Spirited Away
Visited the Beer and Whiskey site today, and atop he has the reason for his site's name - the NL banned alcohol in 1881, and tried to insult the AL by calling it the Beer and Whiskey League. Just thinking how funny this is given that the NL now has 1) the Brewers (admittedly an AL transplant), 2) Coors Field, 3) Busch Stadium, and 4) Miller Park. I can't think of an AL franchise/ballpark that has associations with alcohol in its name. C'est la vie, said the old folks, goes to show you never can tell...
Visited the Beer and Whiskey site today, and atop he has the reason for his site's name - the NL banned alcohol in 1881, and tried to insult the AL by calling it the Beer and Whiskey League. Just thinking how funny this is given that the NL now has 1) the Brewers (admittedly an AL transplant), 2) Coors Field, 3) Busch Stadium, and 4) Miller Park. I can't think of an AL franchise/ballpark that has associations with alcohol in its name. C'est la vie, said the old folks, goes to show you never can tell...
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
The news that Dauber's back makes me happy.
Oh yes, as someone pointed out, the timestamp of my posts shows Singapore time. To convert to EST, just change the "AM"s to "PM"s and vice versa. Or would people like to know the future...? I once took a flight from Singapore to Boston on New Year's Eve, going via Europe. Celebrated the New Year about six times or so! Mmm, champagne. Or "sham-pug-nay", a la Christopher Walken.
The news that Dauber's back makes me happy.
Oh yes, as someone pointed out, the timestamp of my posts shows Singapore time. To convert to EST, just change the "AM"s to "PM"s and vice versa. Or would people like to know the future...? I once took a flight from Singapore to Boston on New Year's Eve, going via Europe. Celebrated the New Year about six times or so! Mmm, champagne. Or "sham-pug-nay", a la Christopher Walken.
Kim ups Wake
Kim's back, and because of last night's rainout they're putting in Kim to start for a few innings then Wakefield as the long reliever. (Of course, Kim could pitch a 75-pitch complete game, heh.) When I first heard this I thought, man, they're abusing Wakefield's versatility again, but then apparently Wake was the one who volunteered. What a guy.
So for that game we'll have a sidearmer followed by a knuckleball pitcher in the day game - how rare is that?? And following up with a sinkerballer in the night. Man, that must really put the D-Rays' timing off. (Pardon me while I pull an Eddie Floyd and knock on all the wood in my house.) Anyway, might as well get the makeup game while we have 12 pitchers...
I'm already wondering what the knuckler will do during the interleague game at Coors Field... effects of thin air on that weird pitch? Anyone?
Kim's back, and because of last night's rainout they're putting in Kim to start for a few innings then Wakefield as the long reliever. (Of course, Kim could pitch a 75-pitch complete game, heh.) When I first heard this I thought, man, they're abusing Wakefield's versatility again, but then apparently Wake was the one who volunteered. What a guy.
So for that game we'll have a sidearmer followed by a knuckleball pitcher in the day game - how rare is that?? And following up with a sinkerballer in the night. Man, that must really put the D-Rays' timing off. (Pardon me while I pull an Eddie Floyd and knock on all the wood in my house.) Anyway, might as well get the makeup game while we have 12 pitchers...
I'm already wondering what the knuckler will do during the interleague game at Coors Field... effects of thin air on that weird pitch? Anyone?
The Water Torture Inning
No game today so I watched bits of the Oakland - Y*nk**s game. Man, that 8th inning was brutal to Oakland. Pitching seems so ephemeral sometimes: one day you have it, your pitch is called one of the top 10 in baseball (hello, Jim Mecir!), and the next day it all ends in tears. It was one of those death-by-a-thousand-cuts innings: mucho scoring on singles, walks, ground-outs, with the lone extra-base hit a Ruben Sierra double. Schadenfreude update: Yankee defence still is awful though, and Bernie Williams really has lost speed in centre. (Actually, this isn't really just gloating... it's quite sad to see a player in decline. Like watching Rickey with the Sox.) Plus, Jeter is still hitless. (Okay, that was gloating.)
Meanwhile, the rainout means Sox players get another day of rest, which is probably a good thing for Bill Mueller and not necessarily a good thing for D-Lowe. Sometimes when the team is on a hot streak you wish you could postpone the off-days. Not that I believe in mojo. Fingers crossed.
No game today so I watched bits of the Oakland - Y*nk**s game. Man, that 8th inning was brutal to Oakland. Pitching seems so ephemeral sometimes: one day you have it, your pitch is called one of the top 10 in baseball (hello, Jim Mecir!), and the next day it all ends in tears. It was one of those death-by-a-thousand-cuts innings: mucho scoring on singles, walks, ground-outs, with the lone extra-base hit a Ruben Sierra double. Schadenfreude update: Yankee defence still is awful though, and Bernie Williams really has lost speed in centre. (Actually, this isn't really just gloating... it's quite sad to see a player in decline. Like watching Rickey with the Sox.) Plus, Jeter is still hitless. (Okay, that was gloating.)
Meanwhile, the rainout means Sox players get another day of rest, which is probably a good thing for Bill Mueller and not necessarily a good thing for D-Lowe. Sometimes when the team is on a hot streak you wish you could postpone the off-days. Not that I believe in mojo. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Hoot for Manny
Baseball sometimes seems like one of those Zen things... today's Globe has two articles, one on Manny's relaxed state and one on how Foulke really doesn't watch baseball. Gotta be relaxed.
It's amazing how much media-love Manny's gotten lately. He deserves it too. He's mashing the ball, running his heart out on the bases. Meanwhile, as someone on Sons of Sam Horn pointed out, Manny Ramirez's awesome home page refers to Kevin Millar as Kevin Millard. Geez, if you think your teammate's pudgy you could say it to his face... :)
Baseball sometimes seems like one of those Zen things... today's Globe has two articles, one on Manny's relaxed state and one on how Foulke really doesn't watch baseball. Gotta be relaxed.
It's amazing how much media-love Manny's gotten lately. He deserves it too. He's mashing the ball, running his heart out on the bases. Meanwhile, as someone on Sons of Sam Horn pointed out, Manny Ramirez's awesome home page refers to Kevin Millar as Kevin Millard. Geez, if you think your teammate's pudgy you could say it to his face... :)
Memory and desire, stirring
I know they say April is the cruelest month (why does everyone know this Eliot line? why is it scorched indelibly in the collective unconscious?), but I would really love this month to be the start of inflicting further cruelty on the AL...
I know they say April is the cruelest month (why does everyone know this Eliot line? why is it scorched indelibly in the collective unconscious?), but I would really love this month to be the start of inflicting further cruelty on the AL...
A Day at the Races
It's the off-day, but what a lovely off-day - time to sit back and soak in the sweep's warm glowing warming glow (to paraphrase the Simpsons - I wonder how much of my life was spent in front of those Fox 25 reruns?). When Dan Shaughnessy sounds positively happy and when the Noo Yawk Post starts to sound alarmed, it's a beautiful Tuesday morning. I know, it's only April, the Yankees will eventually hit and Contreras will eventually pitch against impatient opponents who don't frighten him. (There, there. They're gone now.) But I'll savour the moment while it lasts.
My one hope is that this stretch sends Steinbrenner apoplectic and creates bad, bad decisions. Costanza!! Either that or all the Balco rumours prove true, and Sheffield and Giambi become pokey little infield-single hitters. (Actually, I'm agnostic on the steroids question. Homers and runs are up this year, for one, despite tougher steroid testing; then there's the plain ol' innocent-until-proven-guilty thing.)
Random thought: was Pokey named for his batting style?
As for that Tuesday morning bit - while some things are universal in Sox fandom, others, like the extreme time zone differences, aren't... the Sox may be evening entertainment for most, but they're my morning cup of Joe.
It's the off-day, but what a lovely off-day - time to sit back and soak in the sweep's warm glowing warming glow (to paraphrase the Simpsons - I wonder how much of my life was spent in front of those Fox 25 reruns?). When Dan Shaughnessy sounds positively happy and when the Noo Yawk Post starts to sound alarmed, it's a beautiful Tuesday morning. I know, it's only April, the Yankees will eventually hit and Contreras will eventually pitch against impatient opponents who don't frighten him. (There, there. They're gone now.) But I'll savour the moment while it lasts.
My one hope is that this stretch sends Steinbrenner apoplectic and creates bad, bad decisions. Costanza!! Either that or all the Balco rumours prove true, and Sheffield and Giambi become pokey little infield-single hitters. (Actually, I'm agnostic on the steroids question. Homers and runs are up this year, for one, despite tougher steroid testing; then there's the plain ol' innocent-until-proven-guilty thing.)
Random thought: was Pokey named for his batting style?
As for that Tuesday morning bit - while some things are universal in Sox fandom, others, like the extreme time zone differences, aren't... the Sox may be evening entertainment for most, but they're my morning cup of Joe.
Broom Room
I've concluded I'll keep doing this "watch a few innings then go to sleep thinking of a score". Last night I caught the first inning, saw that Pedro looked fine (admittedly, no one seemed to be chasing balls outside the strike zone - was that because Tek was so obviously setting up outside?), and went to sleep thinking 2-0, Pedro goes 6. Almost right - who knew Pedro would throw a 7-pitch 7th? Got the right score 2 days in a row, so this superstition stays.
Meanwhile, I really like the Sox's 2-inning relievers: Williamson today, Foulke & Embree yesterday. And these are the setup men / closers, not our long relievers. Seems like Theo learnt from his past, not just theorises. Bullpen construction has been so strong. Okay, so the Yankees right now have the worst-hitting lineup that money can buy, but still 9 no-hit innings is pretty goshdarn impressive. And it's great how the last 3 saves against the Yankees have been from 3 different people even though Foulke is the closer - a truly Jamesian view of bullpen use?
Foulke and Rivera going head-to-head (or perhaps more accurately, mano a mano, hand-to-hand) was one of the great sights of the series, and it's nice to have someone who can match up to the Panamanian one. Incidentally, live closed captioning is quite funny to read, I guess since they can't really type that fast even with the CC shorthand system - they once had Rivera down as "Marijuana Rivera".
Speaking of bullpens, any word on how El Guapo is faring?
I've concluded I'll keep doing this "watch a few innings then go to sleep thinking of a score". Last night I caught the first inning, saw that Pedro looked fine (admittedly, no one seemed to be chasing balls outside the strike zone - was that because Tek was so obviously setting up outside?), and went to sleep thinking 2-0, Pedro goes 6. Almost right - who knew Pedro would throw a 7-pitch 7th? Got the right score 2 days in a row, so this superstition stays.
Meanwhile, I really like the Sox's 2-inning relievers: Williamson today, Foulke & Embree yesterday. And these are the setup men / closers, not our long relievers. Seems like Theo learnt from his past, not just theorises. Bullpen construction has been so strong. Okay, so the Yankees right now have the worst-hitting lineup that money can buy, but still 9 no-hit innings is pretty goshdarn impressive. And it's great how the last 3 saves against the Yankees have been from 3 different people even though Foulke is the closer - a truly Jamesian view of bullpen use?
Foulke and Rivera going head-to-head (or perhaps more accurately, mano a mano, hand-to-hand) was one of the great sights of the series, and it's nice to have someone who can match up to the Panamanian one. Incidentally, live closed captioning is quite funny to read, I guess since they can't really type that fast even with the CC shorthand system - they once had Rivera down as "Marijuana Rivera".
Speaking of bullpens, any word on how El Guapo is faring?
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Men on Base
The Sox are really profligate about leaving men on base this season. Maybe the OBP emphasis leads the team to forget that the point of OBP is to bring those on base home? :) The 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position was pretty pitiful, as was the box score at ESPN.com showing a total of 31 left on base. (Granted, some of those 31 is double-counting, but still...)
The Sox are really profligate about leaving men on base this season. Maybe the OBP emphasis leads the team to forget that the point of OBP is to bring those on base home? :) The 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position was pretty pitiful, as was the box score at ESPN.com showing a total of 31 left on base. (Granted, some of those 31 is double-counting, but still...)
Sox 3 Y*nk**s 2 (12 innings)
Classic problem of watching day games for me: 1.05pm EST is 1.05am over here in Singapore. So I only caught the first two innings, happily noted Kevin Brown's struggles and Arroyo's willingness to challenge hitters inside, was quite pleased, but forced myself to go sleep. Woke up to use the bathroom and saw the game was in the 7th inning, tied 2-2, with Williamson coming in to take Arroyo's place. Saw Torre pinch-run for Giambi and was very pleased - as long as Williamson got out of the inning I figured the game would hit extra innings and it'd be nice to have Giambi's bat taken away. My heart was pounding like crazy, 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out, but I saw Bernie come to the plate and I figured Williamson would either strike him out or induce a weak grounder. Weak grounder, double play, end of inning. Brilliant. Pumped my fist and almost let out a shout before realising that my housemates wouldn't take kindly to me screaming at 4am. I went back to sleep, thinking, 3-2 in extra innings, 3-2 in extra innings - and what do you know, when I get up, a lovely 3-2 score awaited me. Nice to know the bullpen this year lets me get a good night's rest.
Classic problem of watching day games for me: 1.05pm EST is 1.05am over here in Singapore. So I only caught the first two innings, happily noted Kevin Brown's struggles and Arroyo's willingness to challenge hitters inside, was quite pleased, but forced myself to go sleep. Woke up to use the bathroom and saw the game was in the 7th inning, tied 2-2, with Williamson coming in to take Arroyo's place. Saw Torre pinch-run for Giambi and was very pleased - as long as Williamson got out of the inning I figured the game would hit extra innings and it'd be nice to have Giambi's bat taken away. My heart was pounding like crazy, 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out, but I saw Bernie come to the plate and I figured Williamson would either strike him out or induce a weak grounder. Weak grounder, double play, end of inning. Brilliant. Pumped my fist and almost let out a shout before realising that my housemates wouldn't take kindly to me screaming at 4am. I went back to sleep, thinking, 3-2 in extra innings, 3-2 in extra innings - and what do you know, when I get up, a lovely 3-2 score awaited me. Nice to know the bullpen this year lets me get a good night's rest.
The Singapore Sox Fan
I figured there wasn't much overlap between those interested in my reportage of life in Singaporeand the other miscellany of my blog and my ardent following of all things Sox, so I started a separate blog to capture my thoughts on the Sox. So, here goes.
PS: it's the Red Sox this site refers to, not those Sox over in the Windy City.
I figured there wasn't much overlap between those interested in my reportage of life in Singaporeand the other miscellany of my blog and my ardent following of all things Sox, so I started a separate blog to capture my thoughts on the Sox. So, here goes.
PS: it's the Red Sox this site refers to, not those Sox over in the Windy City.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Juiced ball era
Talk about small sample sizes... you can start voting for the baseball All-Star Game now! So now Manny has one vote, at least... the game's at Minute Maid Park. Why is the brand Minute Maid called thus? I like to think of it as "minute", pronounced "MAI-nyute", and visualise a diminutive domestic helper, bearing glasses of OJ.
Talk about small sample sizes... you can start voting for the baseball All-Star Game now! So now Manny has one vote, at least... the game's at Minute Maid Park. Why is the brand Minute Maid called thus? I like to think of it as "minute", pronounced "MAI-nyute", and visualise a diminutive domestic helper, bearing glasses of OJ.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Wishful Thinking
Some hopeful Yankee fan at ESPN has the Yankees leading the AL East, and indeed seems to have been watching a different set of April games from everyone else. This is ESPN's version of April:
2004 American League Standings
E A S T W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
NY Yankees 8 5 .571 - 3-2 5-3 56 61 Won 1 5-5
Boston 7 5 .500 .5 5-3 2-2 59 56 Won 1 6-4
Tampa Bay 6 5 .500 1 5-5 1-0 42 51 Lost 2 4-6
Baltimore 4 7 .308 3 2-2 2-5 64 47 Lost 4 6-4
Toronto 3 9 .250 4.5 0-6 3-3 47 68 Lost 4 3-7
CENTRAL W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
Kansas City 10 2 .833 - 4-2 6-0 61 80 Won 9 3-7
Minnesota 8 4 .667 2 5-1 3-3 80 68 Won 3 6-4
Chicago Sox 7 5 .583 3 3-0 4-5 69 49 Lost 2 7-3
Cleveland 8 6 .571 3 3-4 5-2 73 76 Lost 1 6-4
Detroit 5 8 .385 5.5 3-3 2-5 77 72 Lost 1 5-5
W E S T W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
Texas 8 5 .615 - 4-3 4-2 68 61 Won 2 5-5
Oakland 6 6 .500 1.5 4-2 2-4 57 50 Lost 1 6-4
Seattle 6 6 .500 1.5 2-4 4-2 53 62 Won 2 4-6
Anaheim 6 7 .462 2 3-3 3-4 70 75 Lost 1 4-6
And here's the real order (from Boston.com):
East W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Baltimore 7 4 .636 --- 2-2 5-2 7-4 Won 4
Boston 7 5 .583 1/2 5-3 2-2 7-5 Won 1
NY Yankees 6 7 .462 2 3-2 3-5 4-5 Lost 1
Tampa Bay 5 6 .455 2 5-5 0-1 4-4 Lost 2
Toronto 3 9 .250 4 1/2 0-6 3-3 1-5 Lost 3
Central W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Chicago WSox 8 4 .667 --- 3-0 5-4 4-1 Won 2
Minnesota 8 4 .667 0 5-1 3-3 8-4 Won 5
Detroit 8 5 .615 1/2 3-3 5-2 4-3 Won 1
Cleveland 5 9 .357 4 3-4 2-5 5-9 Lost 1
Kansas City 4 8 .333 4 4-2 0-6 4-8 Lost 6
West W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Oakland 8 5 .615 --- 4-2 4-3 8-5 Lost 1
Anaheim 7 6 .538 1 3-3 4-3 7-6 Lost 1
Texas 6 7 .462 2 4-3 2-4 6-7 Lost 2
Seattle 5 8 .385 3 3-4 2-4 5-8 Won 3
Some hopeful Yankee fan at ESPN has the Yankees leading the AL East, and indeed seems to have been watching a different set of April games from everyone else. This is ESPN's version of April:
2004 American League Standings
E A S T W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
NY Yankees 8 5 .571 - 3-2 5-3 56 61 Won 1 5-5
Boston 7 5 .500 .5 5-3 2-2 59 56 Won 1 6-4
Tampa Bay 6 5 .500 1 5-5 1-0 42 51 Lost 2 4-6
Baltimore 4 7 .308 3 2-2 2-5 64 47 Lost 4 6-4
Toronto 3 9 .250 4.5 0-6 3-3 47 68 Lost 4 3-7
CENTRAL W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
Kansas City 10 2 .833 - 4-2 6-0 61 80 Won 9 3-7
Minnesota 8 4 .667 2 5-1 3-3 80 68 Won 3 6-4
Chicago Sox 7 5 .583 3 3-0 4-5 69 49 Lost 2 7-3
Cleveland 8 6 .571 3 3-4 5-2 73 76 Lost 1 6-4
Detroit 5 8 .385 5.5 3-3 2-5 77 72 Lost 1 5-5
W E S T W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA STRK L10
Texas 8 5 .615 - 4-3 4-2 68 61 Won 2 5-5
Oakland 6 6 .500 1.5 4-2 2-4 57 50 Lost 1 6-4
Seattle 6 6 .500 1.5 2-4 4-2 53 62 Won 2 4-6
Anaheim 6 7 .462 2 3-3 3-4 70 75 Lost 1 4-6
And here's the real order (from Boston.com):
East W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Baltimore 7 4 .636 --- 2-2 5-2 7-4 Won 4
Boston 7 5 .583 1/2 5-3 2-2 7-5 Won 1
NY Yankees 6 7 .462 2 3-2 3-5 4-5 Lost 1
Tampa Bay 5 6 .455 2 5-5 0-1 4-4 Lost 2
Toronto 3 9 .250 4 1/2 0-6 3-3 1-5 Lost 3
Central W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Chicago WSox 8 4 .667 --- 3-0 5-4 4-1 Won 2
Minnesota 8 4 .667 0 5-1 3-3 8-4 Won 5
Detroit 8 5 .615 1/2 3-3 5-2 4-3 Won 1
Cleveland 5 9 .357 4 3-4 2-5 5-9 Lost 1
Kansas City 4 8 .333 4 4-2 0-6 4-8 Lost 6
West W L PCT GB Home Away DIV Streak
Oakland 8 5 .615 --- 4-2 4-3 8-5 Lost 1
Anaheim 7 6 .538 1 3-3 4-3 7-6 Lost 1
Texas 6 7 .462 2 4-3 2-4 6-7 Lost 2
Seattle 5 8 .385 3 3-4 2-4 5-8 Won 3
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Notes from an international baseball fan
Signed up with MLB.tv to watch the baseball games. The connection's good with my cable connection, not as good with my DSL one, but hell - the ability to watch my beloved Sox destroy the Yankees, even when I'm 12 time zones ahead is amazing. That's literally half the world away...
The only drawback is that I had to watch that stupid Scooter thing that Fox dreamt up. It's supposed to explain baseball terms to kids. The blogosphere has rightly been on Fox's ass for dreaming up this idea, particularly for explaining a fastball at 10.45pm EST, where kids are usually off to bed. Let me tell you, I watched it at 11.45am and it was still the most annoying thing. And this is from someone who reveres Spongebob Squarepants. And Tim Wakefield's fastball is really not the fastball you want to show kids... his fastball's slower than Pedro's changeup.
Oh, about MLB.tv - their tech support is good, but I hated the fact that I had to call the US to get a cookie to verify my geographical location because their address verification program wouldn't recognise that my Singaporean credit card was, well, Singaporean. Annoying.
Signed up with MLB.tv to watch the baseball games. The connection's good with my cable connection, not as good with my DSL one, but hell - the ability to watch my beloved Sox destroy the Yankees, even when I'm 12 time zones ahead is amazing. That's literally half the world away...
The only drawback is that I had to watch that stupid Scooter thing that Fox dreamt up. It's supposed to explain baseball terms to kids. The blogosphere has rightly been on Fox's ass for dreaming up this idea, particularly for explaining a fastball at 10.45pm EST, where kids are usually off to bed. Let me tell you, I watched it at 11.45am and it was still the most annoying thing. And this is from someone who reveres Spongebob Squarepants. And Tim Wakefield's fastball is really not the fastball you want to show kids... his fastball's slower than Pedro's changeup.
Oh, about MLB.tv - their tech support is good, but I hated the fact that I had to call the US to get a cookie to verify my geographical location because their address verification program wouldn't recognise that my Singaporean credit card was, well, Singaporean. Annoying.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Small sample sizes
So, a day in baseball arrived when the Tigers, the D-Rays, the Mets, and the Brewers were all in first place. Ah, the joys of small sample sizes.
So, a day in baseball arrived when the Tigers, the D-Rays, the Mets, and the Brewers were all in first place. Ah, the joys of small sample sizes.
Singapore Sox Fan
![[Powered by Blogger]](/images/bloggeredbutton.gif){kind=small}
