singapore sox fan: the red sox from half the world away

Sox 5, Jays 4: MVP

David Ortiz makes grown men cry. If this isn't the face (and the pointing finger) of an MVP then I don't know what is.

Ortiz

2 out of 3 against the Yankees wins it now. 2 out of 3 at Fenway. It was always going to be close, but this - this is the best pennant race I've seen since I actively followed baseball. 2004 ALCS stuff.

It was ever so. Say a prayer, cross your hearts, whatever rituals it takes you: this will be one hell of a series.

Splitting the doubleheader

It was so close - the Sox could have inched ahead! But instead, here they stand: three teams at 92-65, Sox, Yankees, and the Indians. Looks like it will have to come down to that last series. Do they always have to make Sox-Yankees so bloody dramatic?

Jeter and racist mail

I'm no fan of Derek Jeter (IMO a great offensive shortstop, mediocre defensive shortstop), largely due to the hagiography he gets - well, that, and he's the face of the Yankees and all that. But this news about him getting racist hate mail is disgusting:

New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the latest athlete to receive a threatening letter warning him to stop dating white women.

The letter was mailed to Jeter at Yankee Stadium and called him a “traitor to his race,” according to a story in Monday’s editions of the Daily News. It warned him to “stop or he’ll be shot or set on fire,” said a law enforcement source who the newspaper did not identify

Given that Jeter himself is the product of an interracial relationship, I'm not sure how dating a woman of the same ethnicity as his mother constitutes dating 'outside' his race - not that it should even matter in the first place. But then I don't presume hate speech writers are very logical.

Come to think of it, I once made a short post on my main blog about Tiger Woods getting married, and I ended up getting a comment complaining that Tiger failed to "perpetuate the black family".

Sox 9, Orioles 3: Down to the Wire

I'm not sure I can stop holding my breath long enough to describe the games fully, although it was good to see a proper win, not something eked out. But the Yankees won, and now it's all square with about a week to play. Down to the wire. The Sox have the home advantage. Sheer heart attack.

Sox 4, Orioles 3: Back in Front

What a way to get back to first place (a share of first, but first nonetheless): 2 runs off B.J. Ryan in the top of the 9th, after Erik Bedard settled in. Edgah continues to make some steps towards rehabbing his rep in Boston. And for a change it was the Orioles who suffered from the left-on-base syndrome. This pennant race is the most exciting one I can remember in ages.

Amazingly, the two-run homer by Mora constituted the first runs Craig Hansen had ever let as a professional ballplayer. What a ride it must be for him - a couple of months ago he was just a college ballplayer.

Day off

I don't want to talk about the Sox at the moment. Instead, I shall pass the time by looking at pictures of my dog Coconut, who's pictured here enjoying the day off.

Sox 15, Rays 2: Four by four

Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Ortiz ties Jim Rice for 2nd most homers in a Boston season, the Sox unload a whole stretch of frustration and anger in the form of 4 4-hit games (Manny, Ortiz, Trot, Tek), and for a day, the Sox stem the pinstriped tide. Whew.

A quick word on the AL Central

I don't think the White Sox are collapsing, even if ESPN refers to the Great Collapse... I think Cleveland has just pulled together an awe-inspiring run.

Pap smeared

More on the game: I actually had a post ready all excited about how Craig Hansen and Hanley Ramirez got called up, and how it's nice to see our hyped prospects come up, instead of seeing players like Chad Harville, and in fact Hansen's performance seemed to prove my point, when the other hyped prospect of the season Papelbon proceeded to give up that 2-run homer that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor. Groan.

Braves rookie hazing pics

ARGH!!! MY EYES!

Okay, fans of non-NL East-dominating teams: name the rookies (cos Yahoo News wasn't nice enough to incriminate people)

Braves Rookies

Sox 7, Rays 8: Vanishing point

Everytime the Sox clawed a little bit back, the Rays pulled a little further ahead.

Rage rising... rising... Must. Throw. Furniture.

Greatest Show on Turf

I don't know, much as I love baseball, getting married in a mass wedding at a ballpark seems to take being a fan to another level:

Before the Twins met the White Sox in an early 11:10 a.m. CT game at the Metrodome, the club held a "Multiple Matrimony Ceremony" for 83 couples.

Approximately 50 of the couples had their wedding on the field, with the rest on hand to renew their vows. Anyone that wished to be part of the ceremony had to write a letter saying why they wanted to be married or renew their vows on the field.

Maybe it's just that I don't think turf is a very romantic sort of surface...

Sox 2, As 1: Nip/Tuck

What a tight day of games - 7 games ending in a 1-run margin. And Manny Aristides Ramirez with another game-winning RBI - well, this time an actual hit, and a bomb at that, rather than getting hit.

Sox 3, As 2: One small step for Manny

Ortiz launches another

It all looks the same, doesn't it? That familiar Big Papi pose as he knows he's launched another ball into orbit. And yet familiarity in this case breeds awe, not contempt. #43 with a bullet.

So the Sox finally won it in this rain-stained evening. Not as sterling a performance by Wakefield as the last game, but a very good one still. He's been great lately. And this isn't pretty baseball: scoring on a strikeout-passed ball, winning on a HBP... but it's solid baseball. And it showed the perennial dilemma: you can't pitch to Ortiz... but you can't walk him either. Ken Macha's five-infielder strategy was very intriguing, but what kind of strategy is intentionally walking Ortiz to get to Manny anyway?

A thought from early in the game - Damon dropping the ball was kind of a clunker of a moment - still, good to see him back. He really seems to have been banged up in this long stretch of games, and the Sox need him to help to cling on to the AL East.

It's time to be home and dry.

Sox 5, Jays 3: Kapler's Achilles Heel

Gabe Kapler injured. I can't say that I've ever seen someone injured on a home run trot. Achilles tendon, OUCH. Again going to show that whether a player looks fit may not relate to his tendency for injury. Or sheer bad luck. Next time I'd prefer a home run trot rather than running hard around the bases. Screw appearing bush league.

Kevin Millar now becomes Trot Nixon's regular platoon partner? Boy the number of twists and turns this season's taken is strange.

Otherwise, this is one of those nice Sox wins that you just take for granted. Offense from Ortiz, natch. Was there any doubt that he would one day set the home run record for DHs? Well, there you go.

In my current MVP Baseball game, David Wells is pitching for the Sox with a .500 record even though he has a sub-1.00 ERA. In real life, he's had a lot more wins for the Sox without pitching for the Cy, and I'll take that, thanks. That curveball motion of his has such an easy motion when it's working.

Rookie hazing

Man, I always knew Barry Zito had a rep for being a huge prankster, but he really went all out in organising the Oakland As rookie hazing - getting everyone costumes and all:

The A's annual hazing tradition of making rookies don outlandish outfits for a day continued Sunday, bringing a literal application to one of the players' most frequently used sayings: "Wear it."

...

"We're having the bus stop five blocks away from the hotel, too," Zito said. "So they'll be walking the streets of Cleveland all pimped out."

That's Keiichi Yabu and Ron Flores all dressed up. (Via Blue Cats and Red Sox)

A post I made last year on rookie hazing

Shaq the cop

Since the game itself was not fun to watch, here's a random piece of sports-related news - Shaq's in police training? Seeing Shaq chase after you on the street might be pretty scary.

Miami Heat giant centre Shaquille O'Neal put his police training to good use when he helped nab a suspect who allegedly assaulted a gay couple.

O'Neal, who is working towards a career as a policeman once his basketball playing days are over, witnessed a man yell anti-gay remarks and throw a bottle at a couple walking along a Miami beach early Sunday morning, Miami police said.

O'Neal followed the suspect's vehicle and alerted a police officer who made an arrest, the Miami Herald reported.

(Link, pic above taken from the Phoenix Reserve Bureau)

Stoping gay-bashing, training as a reserve cop - boy, Shaq's really quite likeable, even for an ex-Laker.

Sox 3, Jays 9: Nowt as Queer as Foulke

Okay, I'm an eternal optimist, but a 5-run 2nd inning by the Jays was just too much too much to overcome. This was the bad, wild Clement (although And the only funny part about Keith Foulke's outing is that apparently he gave Hinske a purple nurple:

''No," Hinske said. ''I got hit right in the nipple. Not fun. He said on the mound he didn't mean to hit me. He just pulled a four-seam fastball. He said, 'My bad.' He said he was sorry."

(Link)

Foulkie, Schilling, that 2004 postseason really exerted a toil...

Meanwhile, there is consternation in the Sox bullpen about Tito's decision to bring in Timlin in the 7th in the previous game, so it's good to know I'm not the only one.

Sox 6, Jays 5: Papel Bull (the Sep 12 game)

Ah - the beauty of this year's team is that even when the other side ties the game, it's possible to remain calm. After all, someone's going to step up. Often David Ortiz. (That's part of why Ortiz has "only" 9 walkoff hits, which I know some people said seemed small: there's no way to hit a walkoff hit in an away game...)

So how come Tito Francona doesn't seem to know that Mike Timlin tends to let inherited runners on base come home? Ugh. (I say that, of course, not just as a Sox fan but as a person who's had Timlin do very nicely for my fantasy baseball team.) Yeah, technically he let in only 1 earned run, but that was the Vernon Wells 3-run homer...

Meanwhile, Jon Papelbon was great. How good is it to see the revitalised Sox farm system produce?

Sox 0, Yankees 1: Close, but no cigar (the Sep 11 game)

A good old-fashioned pitchers' duel, and it was a pity to see Wakefield lose despite perhaps the best-pitched game by a Sox starter this season, no thanks to Giambi's short-porch pop-fly homer. But from a pure baseball fan's point of view, I love pitching duels. I just hope it isn't a sign that Randy Johnson is learning how to be good again.

And since this was the Sep 11 game - here's a link to my post in memoriam. While I can't stand the Yankees, I do heart New York.

Sox 9, Yankees 2: Counterpunch

Wow, work has been crazily hectic! So I will have to slowly recap and catch up based on my scribbled notes. I actually watched the whole Sox-Yankees series, and even though the Sox went 1-2 it made for some pretty great baseball. First, Game 2: it was really good to see Schilling back in form. The splitter actually split enough to get the good ol' swing and miss, and - best of all - that barehanded grab seemed to show he's progressed to the point where his instinct is to grab the ball, and not worry about landing on the ankle. I'll need another start to believe it, but there it was.

What was up with the Yankee Stadium crowd though? From the sounds of the game on TV it sounded like there was a sizeable Sox fan contingent. Even after Manny's homer I could have sworn I heard lots of cheers, only intermittently broken up by the expected boo-birds.

Sox 4, Yankees 8: Error of their ways

What a frustrating game to watch. Never any sense of the Sox gaining momentum after that 2nd inning - lots of people on base, noone bringing them home. And then the usually dependable front end of the bullpen, Bradford and Myers, crapping it up in that messy, messy 6th inning.

AL pitching survey

Random stat: the Sox have 4 of the 22 AL pitchers with more than 12 wins (Wakefield with 15, Clement with 13, Wells and Bronson with 12). Not that wins count for much - in this case, I would say it's more testament to the bonecrushing power of the Sox offense - but the fact that very few starting pitchers seem to have lots of wins this year sort of hints at the fact that the AL hasn't had anyone who's truly dominant this year, not like Clemens or Carpenter in the NL.

Roy Halladay went on the DL, Johan Santana has been good but not sizzling like last year. So right now for me the AL Cy is Mark Buehrle's, or maybe Jon Garland's, but really there's any number of pitchers who can step it up and stake a claim. While over in the other league, Pedro, Dontrelle, and Roy Oswalt have had good, solid seasons that have been overshadowed by the sheer quality of Clemens and Carpenter.

Sox 0, Angels 3: You gotta bring them home

This had the feel of a Matt Clement 2004 game, when he was pitching decently and the Cubs gave him no run support at all. Stupid LOB tendencies.

And yes, I'm excited about Wells - the antithesis of small - going up against Small.

Said he loved you - but he lied

Michael Bolton and Barry Bonds at Bonds' 40th birthday party. I'd say the only time I actually expected to see Bolton next to Bonds was in some alphabetical listing of celebrities. Worlds colliding! (Via Deadspin, that new tentacle of the Gawker Media empire)

Sox 6, Angels 3: The Rotation Settles In

So Guitar Boy took on Santana and lived to tell the tale. 8 innings, 3 earned runs, after a very shaky beginning. This is probably the best stretch of starting pitching I've seen from the Sox all season - 8 innings from Bronson and Clement, CGs from Wells and Wakefield. Even Schilling going 6 1/3 was encouraging.

And Kevin Millar seems to have rediscovered his power. Even his fly outs looked like they had decent distance on them. Things chugging along nicely. Fenway Park is good to the Sox.

On David Ortiz and that clutch hitting award

So David Ortiz received a plaque that said "David Ortiz #34 The Greatest Clutch Hitter in the History of the Boston Red Sox" yesterday.

Now, I'm of the camp that doesn't believe that there is much difference in clutch hitting ability among major league players, at least compared to regular hitting ability. But I do believe clutch hits (as in, hits during supposedly "key" situations) exist. So as a record of past achievement - rather than of predictive ability - that award is correct in that, yes, Ortiz has had many clutch hits. I mean, the 2004 postseason alone will tell you that.

And Ortiz will have many more. Partly because he's a great, great hitter. But also partly because of the way the Sox lineup is currently constructed. With 1) the Sox team's awesome ability to get on base and 2) Manny behind Ortiz not allowing the pitcher to just pitch around Ortiz, Papi will naturally have more chances to be up there to make a difference "when it counts".

Heck, in perhaps the greatest display clutch hitting within 24 hours, the 2004 ALCS, Ortiz had chances for clutch hits much earlier. In Game 4, obscured by the famous "Millar walks, Roberts steals, Mueller singles" sequence, Ortiz popped out with the bases loaded to make the last out of the bottom of the 9th. I remember thinking that we had our hand on the throat and we only made a small incision there. In Game 5, Ortiz had chances for walkoffs in the 10th (struck out) and 12th (walked, caught stealing), before that wonderful game-ending "and [Johnny Damon] can run all the way to New York" single.

So for me clutch hits are kind of like RBIs - not a very good record if you want to guess what's going to happen in the future, but not a bad record if you want to know how much you've affected the results of games already played.

Sox 3 Angels 2: The Big O

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth the fifth
The minor fall

The major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah.

Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Wow, I was crushed when Kelvim Escobar shut the door on Papi and Manny after the 2nd-and-3rd, no-out situation in the 8th. But then, give Papi a second chance, and he doesn't give a sucker an even break.

Question: how the hell does Manny even get these many RBIs batting behind hammerin' Ortiz?

Memento Mori

So sculptor Daniel Edwards made a fake "death mask" of Ted Williams, in an artistic reference to Williams' body being beheaded after being frozen, and Alcor had this response:

In its own statement, Alcor said it was a travesty that some might seek to "exploit Ted Williams and his family for monetary gain." (Link)

Hmm. Yes, it IS bad to exploit Williams and his family for monetary gain.

Good Sox 5, Bad Sox 3: Makeup to Breakup

Here's hoping all y'all enjoyed the long weekend. The Sox continued to wear white beyond Labour Day on the makeup of the rained out game against the White Sox, but what the hey, any team with Kevin Millar isn't going to be very fashion conscious. Anyway, it looks like Curt Schilling's splitter is somewhat back. He definitely didn't seem to be in pain pushing off. And nice pickoff of Podsednik. Unfortunately, his command left something to be desired.

The more I look back at it the more it seems like a miracle that the 2004 Sox rotation made it through the entire season basically injury-free. Pedro, Schilling, Wakefield, Lowe, Arroyo.

Nice comeback against Bobby Jenks, he of the 100mph pitch, even if it fell short. Speed ain't everything.

Sigh. It's days like this I miss Pedro. But then, this was alreadya a game I had wiped out as a loss (Clement's bad start prior to the rain out all but ensured that), plus there was the usual Sox-against-rookies thing going on.

It's September and the Sox are 3 games up. And Foulke is back and seemingly fine. So, loss or no loss, I shall bask in that thought.

Trading places

Meanwhile, just as 2004 Yankee John Olerud homered for the Sox, 2004 Red Sock Mark Bellhorn homered for the Yankees. It just seems so strange to see so much of the 2004 Sox team on the Yankees, especially integral postseason performers such as Bellhorn and Embree. I just don't remember so much back-and-forth between the two teams in the past (yes, I know they were picked up after being DFA'd, not traded, but still...).

I really like Bellhorn for what he did in the 2004 postseason - so even on the Yankees, I wish him all the best. Funny that he had two walks, a homer, and a strikeout - that's pretty much what you expect from Bellhorn, that he never has to run the bases.

Sox 5, Orioles 1: Supersize him

David Wells beat the Orioles with the 54th complete game of his career. Which all goes to show, it isn't whether you look fit, it's pitching mechanics. Otherwise Mark Prior and Kerry Wood wouldn't be injury basket cases

On the other side, Rodrigo Lopez was cruising, then lost it all suddenly in the 5th inning. Which is nice, because I normally think of Lopez as one of the pesky pitchers the Sox just have problems with. Suddenly the Sox first basemen have all learnt how to homer. Nice work by John Olderdude.

The Sox are REALLY built for Fenway. It's scary, but I love it. I would love to see them get home field advantage...

Sox 7, Rays 6: twice

Kevin Millar with a multihomer game. Doug Mirabelli with a steal. What is the world coming to? Fortunately, the Tampa bullpen remains shite, so it's not all chaos. And Terry Francona keeps lighting 'em up with the quotes, this one on Mirabelli's stolen base:

"I don't know how they didn't see him. I felt him."

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