Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Pedro returns
Pedro's return - what can I say? I watched the NESN press conference where he talked about the Sox being family... man, no one 'got' playing for Boston like Pedro did.
Pedro's return - what can I say? I watched the NESN press conference where he talked about the Sox being family... man, no one 'got' playing for Boston like Pedro did.
And yeah, he may be a Met now, but I'm hoping one day #45 joins 941827..."I'll say the atmosphere on the field will be my biggest legacy," Martínez said. ``It was not just the mix of the players, but of the fans. It's like a good bar. When it opens, it's more fun than any other place. That was the atmosphere in Boston.
"In the seven years I was here the ballpark took on a different spin. The Dominican flags. The K crews. It was so much fun. The music. The people. The hype. The interest. I feel the atmosphere changed a lot. Numbers-wise, I don't have to talk about that. I didn't have to do anything extra." (Link)
Sox-Phillies Review
It was a long break from posting here, I admit: I was away on my army reserve commitments (mandatory military service for all males here in Singapore) so I've only just caught up. But David Ortiz's walk-off hits are going beyond ridiculous. It's reached the point that I realised the Sox message boards weren't even fully gushing - of course he hit a walkoff, that's what he does. Or is that 'He' with the capital, deity-indicating H?
It was a long break from posting here, I admit: I was away on my army reserve commitments (mandatory military service for all males here in Singapore) so I've only just caught up. But David Ortiz's walk-off hits are going beyond ridiculous. It's reached the point that I realised the Sox message boards weren't even fully gushing - of course he hit a walkoff, that's what he does. Or is that 'He' with the capital, deity-indicating H?
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Ludicrous stat of the day
Papelbon's ERA+ now stands at 1889. 4 digits. 4 freakin' digits. 1889 isn't an ERA+, it's the year the Meiji Constitution was adopted and the year the Eiffel Tower went up.
Papelbon's ERA+ now stands at 1889. 4 digits. 4 freakin' digits. 1889 isn't an ERA+, it's the year the Meiji Constitution was adopted and the year the Eiffel Tower went up.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Sox-Braves Series Review
Yeah, I still try to watch part of all the games, it's just hard to do game-by-game reviews. So I'm doing series reviews. Great sweep of the Braves, made sweeter by the Yankee bullpen implosion of the last couple of games.
On the last game - that 6-run inning was sweet - Tito had perfect PH matchups, going for the jugular by using Lowell for A-Gon, instead of waiting for the pitcher's spot. And Youkilis' positional flexibility is especially great in an NL interleague game - two pinchhitters and in the end the effect was like a triple switch. Meanwhile, although Manny made 2 outs in the same inning, his homer was a sweet drive.
Jonathan Papelbon is a Papal Bull. 1 earned run all season thus far? Good gravy.
Aside: my recent time spent thinking way too much about kidneys and diabetes (my mum got diabetes as a result of her transplant) makes me think of the Islets of Langerhans whenever Langerhans comes to bat
And finally, thoughts on the bullpen: Tavarez and Seanez - pick your poison. Javier Lopez didn't seem much better. I mean, you read a stat like the Sox now have 22 come-from-behind wins, second most in baseball (Brewers lead with 24), and it sounds good, until you realise quite some of those come-from-behind wins are wins in games where the Sox shouldn't have been behind anyway, except that the Ezes coughed up the lead. I think let's forget complicated analysis. Middle relief is such a crapshoot anyway. I submit the following analysis: Pitchers whose last names end with "n" (Delcarmen, Timlin, Papelbon) - great. Pitchers whose last names end with "z" (Tavarez, Seanez, Lopez) - heart attack waiting to happen.
Yeah, I still try to watch part of all the games, it's just hard to do game-by-game reviews. So I'm doing series reviews. Great sweep of the Braves, made sweeter by the Yankee bullpen implosion of the last couple of games.
On the last game - that 6-run inning was sweet - Tito had perfect PH matchups, going for the jugular by using Lowell for A-Gon, instead of waiting for the pitcher's spot. And Youkilis' positional flexibility is especially great in an NL interleague game - two pinchhitters and in the end the effect was like a triple switch. Meanwhile, although Manny made 2 outs in the same inning, his homer was a sweet drive.
Jonathan Papelbon is a Papal Bull. 1 earned run all season thus far? Good gravy.
Aside: my recent time spent thinking way too much about kidneys and diabetes (my mum got diabetes as a result of her transplant) makes me think of the Islets of Langerhans whenever Langerhans comes to bat
And finally, thoughts on the bullpen: Tavarez and Seanez - pick your poison. Javier Lopez didn't seem much better. I mean, you read a stat like the Sox now have 22 come-from-behind wins, second most in baseball (Brewers lead with 24), and it sounds good, until you realise quite some of those come-from-behind wins are wins in games where the Sox shouldn't have been behind anyway, except that the Ezes coughed up the lead. I think let's forget complicated analysis. Middle relief is such a crapshoot anyway. I submit the following analysis: Pitchers whose last names end with "n" (Delcarmen, Timlin, Papelbon) - great. Pitchers whose last names end with "z" (Tavarez, Seanez, Lopez) - heart attack waiting to happen.
The em ell bee dot tee vee experience
Speaking of TV feeds, the funniest moment this season for me was watching NESN on MLB.tv and them leaving the mikes on between innings instead of cutting to commercial - suddenly you heard Jerry Remy going "Wanna be an ice girl Ash? Skate around in your big white skates and your little short dress?"
Speaking of TV feeds, the funniest moment this season for me was watching NESN on MLB.tv and them leaving the mikes on between innings instead of cutting to commercial - suddenly you heard Jerry Remy going "Wanna be an ice girl Ash? Skate around in your big white skates and your little short dress?"
Four-channel games
Someone on SoSH was complaining that in soccer (I still can't quite say "soccer" - it has that whiff of upper-class boarding school about it) that the TV doesn't show you the strategy (of where the other players are in relation to the ball), and I was thinking, that's not true of the coverage I'm seeing - which is a British feed. If done right, you definitely should be able to get a sense of strategy.
So maybe it's just the direction American sports coverage has moved, with ESPN et al being overly obsessed with the closeup in soccer in the same way that they are obsessed with the closeup in baseball.
Here in Singapore we have four channels of each of the World Cup games: the same commentary runs on all four channels, but one channel shows the "normal" TV view (following the action), one shows the view from the top so you can see the tactics and strategy, and there're two channels focusing on each team specifically. And then you can choose to see all four views at the same time if you want to seriously go nuts. And I really like those options.
Frankly, now that I've seen this, I'm beginning to wish baseball had the equivalent - beyond the normal view, they should let you view a camera focused on the defense, one on the basepaths, one on the batter, one on the pitcher, and one exclusively on Kelly Barons or something like that. There's a reason digital cable has 1000 channels - it can't be that hard to put a different feed into different channels.
Someone on SoSH was complaining that in soccer (I still can't quite say "soccer" - it has that whiff of upper-class boarding school about it) that the TV doesn't show you the strategy (of where the other players are in relation to the ball), and I was thinking, that's not true of the coverage I'm seeing - which is a British feed. If done right, you definitely should be able to get a sense of strategy.
So maybe it's just the direction American sports coverage has moved, with ESPN et al being overly obsessed with the closeup in soccer in the same way that they are obsessed with the closeup in baseball.
Here in Singapore we have four channels of each of the World Cup games: the same commentary runs on all four channels, but one channel shows the "normal" TV view (following the action), one shows the view from the top so you can see the tactics and strategy, and there're two channels focusing on each team specifically. And then you can choose to see all four views at the same time if you want to seriously go nuts. And I really like those options.
Frankly, now that I've seen this, I'm beginning to wish baseball had the equivalent - beyond the normal view, they should let you view a camera focused on the defense, one on the basepaths, one on the batter, one on the pitcher, and one exclusively on Kelly Barons or something like that. There's a reason digital cable has 1000 channels - it can't be that hard to put a different feed into different channels.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Sox-Twins Series Review
Um: Sox got swept. So badly that Theo did what seems like a hasty move and got Javier Lopez (the pitcher - Javy Lopez the catcher would've been great) for David Riske. Mirabelli for Bard redux? I hope not. Plus a no-name like Jason Kubel got key homers. And two weird incidents involving the Metrodome - the 'ghost ball' that Coco Crisp hit foul that never came back, and Ortiz's speaker home-run-turned-single. Crap on a stick.
Meanwhile, condolences go out to Red of Surviving Grady, whose father just passed away.
Um: Sox got swept. So badly that Theo did what seems like a hasty move and got Javier Lopez (the pitcher - Javy Lopez the catcher would've been great) for David Riske. Mirabelli for Bard redux? I hope not. Plus a no-name like Jason Kubel got key homers. And two weird incidents involving the Metrodome - the 'ghost ball' that Coco Crisp hit foul that never came back, and Ortiz's speaker home-run-turned-single. Crap on a stick.
Meanwhile, condolences go out to Red of Surviving Grady, whose father just passed away.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Get you love drunk off my hump
Meanwhile, as Jere points out, that Melky Cabrera catch off that Manny almost-homer might have been the best thing possible - it made the Yankees trot out Melky even though he hasn't done squat since, except collide with Johnny Damon to let Nick Swisher get an inside the parker and miss the Dan Johnson game-winning homer.
The most annoying thing about Melky, actually, is that his name reminds me of one of the worst lines in possibly the worst song lyrics ever written:
What u gon' do with all that ass?
All that ass inside them jeans?
I'm a make, make, make, make you scream
Make you scream, make you scream.
Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps.
...
Let's spend time not money.
And mix your milk wit my cocoa puff.
Milky, milky cocoa,
Mix your milk with my cocoa puff, milky, milky riiiiiiight.
Okay, so I'm missing the Photoshop speech bubbles to create the mashup effect.
Meanwhile, as Jere points out, that Melky Cabrera catch off that Manny almost-homer might have been the best thing possible - it made the Yankees trot out Melky even though he hasn't done squat since, except collide with Johnny Damon to let Nick Swisher get an inside the parker and miss the Dan Johnson game-winning homer.
The most annoying thing about Melky, actually, is that his name reminds me of one of the worst lines in possibly the worst song lyrics ever written:
What u gon' do with all that ass?
All that ass inside them jeans?
I'm a make, make, make, make you scream
Make you scream, make you scream.
Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps.
...
Let's spend time not money.
And mix your milk wit my cocoa puff.
Milky, milky cocoa,
Mix your milk with my cocoa puff, milky, milky riiiiiiight.
Okay, so I'm missing the Photoshop speech bubbles to create the mashup effect.
KC and the Triple Play
On completely unrelated news, KC turned a triple-play. I like rare baseball occurences... like the triple play. (If you catch this one, it's a doozy - if I'm scoring right, it's sort of an 8-1-6-5 play)
Of course, rare plays make me think of the hidden ball trick. Come on, the Sox have the last 2 players to turn a hidden-ball trick (Mike Lowell - twice! - and J.T. Snow), I'd like to see it once.
On completely unrelated news, KC turned a triple-play. I like rare baseball occurences... like the triple play. (If you catch this one, it's a doozy - if I'm scoring right, it's sort of an 8-1-6-5 play)
Of course, rare plays make me think of the hidden ball trick. Come on, the Sox have the last 2 players to turn a hidden-ball trick (Mike Lowell - twice! - and J.T. Snow), I'd like to see it once.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Out of position
Another random link: Hot Sox Chick, a T-shirt-hawkin' site. Now, I won't pass any judgements of the hotness of said "chicks". But surely if you claim to be a Sox fan you don't say your position is "4B".
Another random link: Hot Sox Chick, a T-shirt-hawkin' site. Now, I won't pass any judgements of the hotness of said "chicks". But surely if you claim to be a Sox fan you don't say your position is "4B".
Sox 6, Rangers 13: Death and Texas
Meanwhile, I hate it when you get all pumped up from the first game of a doubleheader, and then the second one lets all the air out. Reminds me of that day in 2002 when the Sox won the first 22-4 (Nomar: 8 RBIs on his birthday; Willie Banks: cheapest save of the year) and then collapsed in the second.
Pauley needs to field his position if he's going to be a groundball pitcher. And was anyone else just as frustrated when Tito didn't pinch-hit for Mirabelli with two on two outs in the 7th? Stud Who Hits Bombs? This year, it's pretty much "shit, where's his bat?"...
Meanwhile, I hate it when you get all pumped up from the first game of a doubleheader, and then the second one lets all the air out. Reminds me of that day in 2002 when the Sox won the first 22-4 (Nomar: 8 RBIs on his birthday; Willie Banks: cheapest save of the year) and then collapsed in the second.
Pauley needs to field his position if he's going to be a groundball pitcher. And was anyone else just as frustrated when Tito didn't pinch-hit for Mirabelli with two on two outs in the 7th? Stud Who Hits Bombs? This year, it's pretty much "shit, where's his bat?"...
Sox 5, Rangers 4: It Goes Like This
Sometimes, I think when we call him Papi it is not the familiar 'father', but Father, capital F, deity-like. Statistical interlude:
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?
Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Sometimes, I think when we call him Papi it is not the familiar 'father', but Father, capital F, deity-like. Statistical interlude:
Ortiz has at least one game-ending home run in each of the last five seasons (2002-2006), the longest streak for any player since Fred McGriff hit walkoff homers in each of five straight years from 1993-97 (for the Padres and Braves). [Link]Time to break out the words of Prince Charles' favourite. It never gets old. Never.
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?
Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Sox 4, Rangers 7: Raining On My Parade
Hey, "You're With Me, Leather" has a Wikipedia page all to itself. Ah, Chris Berman's penchant for catchphrases comes back to bite him.
Oh, I'm supposed to talk about the game now? Frankly, in between working the weekend and watching England-Paraguay in football and trying to figure out when in the world ANY game would get in, I'm surprised I even caught the last few innings. So - Lester's outing - okay, not a hotshot debut, but control's always been one of his issues.
And the game notes said it was "Free Dog Night". Is that a reference to Three Dog Night?
Manny Ramirez with home run #450. I was looking at the 1991 draft - oh for a year where the Yankees drafted first! - and the 12 players selected before him were such a parade of mediocrity - Brien Taylor, of course, was one of the two #1 draft picks never to reach the majors ("One... is the loneliest number"), and then Mike Kelly and Dave McCarty at #2 and #3... man.
Hey, "You're With Me, Leather" has a Wikipedia page all to itself. Ah, Chris Berman's penchant for catchphrases comes back to bite him.
Oh, I'm supposed to talk about the game now? Frankly, in between working the weekend and watching England-Paraguay in football and trying to figure out when in the world ANY game would get in, I'm surprised I even caught the last few innings. So - Lester's outing - okay, not a hotshot debut, but control's always been one of his issues.
And the game notes said it was "Free Dog Night". Is that a reference to Three Dog Night?
Manny Ramirez with home run #450. I was looking at the 1991 draft - oh for a year where the Yankees drafted first! - and the 12 players selected before him were such a parade of mediocrity - Brien Taylor, of course, was one of the two #1 draft picks never to reach the majors ("One... is the loneliest number"), and then Mike Kelly and Dave McCarty at #2 and #3... man.
Budweiser sued for using Dirty Water
"Dirty Water" the song, that is - the product, while tasting like water, tastes like clean water:
"Dirty Water" the song, that is - the product, while tasting like water, tastes like clean water:
The song "Dirty Water" blares at Fenway Park after every Red Sox victory and has become part of the winning soundtrack of baseball-crazy Massachusetts. The band that wrote the 1966 hit says it is used in Budweiser commercials, and the rock 'n' rollers are none too happy.Link
The Standells filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming that Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. used "Dirty Water" without permission in commercials to try to tap into the song's connection to the team.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Red Sox dating
Hey, there's a Red Sox dating site. (Found via Obstructed Seats.) Although it makes me think of that bit in Fever Pitch (the book) where Nick Hornby gets all angsty about his girlfriend/wife becoming an avid Arsenal fan because then who takes care of the kid when they go to the games?
Hey, there's a Red Sox dating site. (Found via Obstructed Seats.) Although it makes me think of that bit in Fever Pitch (the book) where Nick Hornby gets all angsty about his girlfriend/wife becoming an avid Arsenal fan because then who takes care of the kid when they go to the games?
Sox 4, Rangers 3: Papel Infallibility
Talk about Papel infallibility - Jonathan P. comes in and blows his first save, recovers his cool, and Ks the side next inning to get the win. Sweet work by Trotman this game, although I still don't see why Youks is 7th in the order.
And Wakefield got shafted for a good outing, as always.
Funniest moment was watching the game on MLB.tv where they kept the studio mikes on instead of showing the regular NESN commercials - Remy went "Wanna be an ice girl Ash? Skate around in your big white skates and your little short dress?"
Talk about Papel infallibility - Jonathan P. comes in and blows his first save, recovers his cool, and Ks the side next inning to get the win. Sweet work by Trotman this game, although I still don't see why Youks is 7th in the order.
And Wakefield got shafted for a good outing, as always.
Funniest moment was watching the game on MLB.tv where they kept the studio mikes on instead of showing the regular NESN commercials - Remy went "Wanna be an ice girl Ash? Skate around in your big white skates and your little short dress?"
Friday, June 09, 2006
Sox 9, Yankees 3: Tek Three Hits and Call Me in the Morning
Watched this game on quasi-YES on MLB.tv, which featured some scintillating shots of the game from behind a cage. Woo. After Schilling gave up the Cano home run, the YES announcers were going on about how he was really struggling, and while I know he wasn't the greatest it was still 5 innings pitched, 3 ER (and only 4 hits), which was hardly atrocious.
Anyway, al-Yankeezera got a nice taste of 'umble pie when Jaret Wright imploded. My only worry is that the big Tek hits cements him into the 6-spot in the lineup, and then he proceeds to GIDP as per the first at-bat (and indeed, if not for A-Rod being slow to get the ball out of the glove for his second AB it would've been 2 up, 4 down). Even so, when Tek came up against Scott Proctor I was pretty sure a run or two would score. Why, I can't say. Except that Proctor's arm is probably held together by two rubber bands by now.
World Cup starts tonight. Sport is life. Have to say though, I'm quite impressed by the event being carbon-neutral.
Watched this game on quasi-YES on MLB.tv, which featured some scintillating shots of the game from behind a cage. Woo. After Schilling gave up the Cano home run, the YES announcers were going on about how he was really struggling, and while I know he wasn't the greatest it was still 5 innings pitched, 3 ER (and only 4 hits), which was hardly atrocious.
Anyway, al-Yankeezera got a nice taste of 'umble pie when Jaret Wright imploded. My only worry is that the big Tek hits cements him into the 6-spot in the lineup, and then he proceeds to GIDP as per the first at-bat (and indeed, if not for A-Rod being slow to get the ball out of the glove for his second AB it would've been 2 up, 4 down). Even so, when Tek came up against Scott Proctor I was pretty sure a run or two would score. Why, I can't say. Except that Proctor's arm is probably held together by two rubber bands by now.
World Cup starts tonight. Sport is life. Have to say though, I'm quite impressed by the event being carbon-neutral.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
On the draft
I can't do deep analysis or add much insight on the upcoming draft, unfortunately - the draft more than anything else requires some sense of scouting, and all I've seen is some standard video footage of Andrew Miller, Hochevar... But I have to say, Evan Longoria is some kind of name. Not Lance Broadway or Chuck Tiffany porn-name great, but still... pity there's no relation to Eva "Let's hide the fact that Tony is black from my grandma" Longoria.
Eva vs Evan
I can't do deep analysis or add much insight on the upcoming draft, unfortunately - the draft more than anything else requires some sense of scouting, and all I've seen is some standard video footage of Andrew Miller, Hochevar... But I have to say, Evan Longoria is some kind of name. Not Lance Broadway or Chuck Tiffany porn-name great, but still... pity there's no relation to Eva "Let's hide the fact that Tony is black from my grandma" Longoria.
Eva vs Evan
Sox 5, Yankees 13: Murder in the Cathedral
Okay, so it was Josh Beckett and not Thomas à Becket, and Yankee Stadium is hardly a cathedral, but still a murder was going on. From that errant Varitek throw after the Giambi shift it seemed like everything was unraveling.
Speaking of Varitek, what is up with him this season? It's gotten to the point where I wish he would just take pitches if anyone's on base - otherwise he's a double play waiting to happen. Batting him 8th was a great move, though - unfortunately I doubt it'd stick. And I'm beginning to tire of seeing him get out of the crouch and move around behind the plate - surely that gives away some sense of location even if the batter isn't deliberately peeking at the catcher? And I can't say it seems to lead to better pitches.
Jermaine Van Buren actually pitched decently, I thought. Tomorrow we see Pauley "Walnuts" go up against Wang. Nuts vs Wang. Heh. Yay for juvenile humour.
Okay, so it was Josh Beckett and not Thomas à Becket, and Yankee Stadium is hardly a cathedral, but still a murder was going on. From that errant Varitek throw after the Giambi shift it seemed like everything was unraveling.
Speaking of Varitek, what is up with him this season? It's gotten to the point where I wish he would just take pitches if anyone's on base - otherwise he's a double play waiting to happen. Batting him 8th was a great move, though - unfortunately I doubt it'd stick. And I'm beginning to tire of seeing him get out of the crouch and move around behind the plate - surely that gives away some sense of location even if the batter isn't deliberately peeking at the catcher? And I can't say it seems to lead to better pitches.
Jermaine Van Buren actually pitched decently, I thought. Tomorrow we see Pauley "Walnuts" go up against Wang. Nuts vs Wang. Heh. Yay for juvenile humour.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Sox 2, Tigers 6: Does That Make Me Crazy
Gah! So long first place. As usual, Wakefield gets no love from his teammates. At present he's got more support from those Bernie and Phyl mattresses he's hawking than from the Sox batters. I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind...
And what is up with Sox pitchers and line drives? Manny Delcarmen today. Can pitchers wear shin guards and body armour?
Oh well, time to console myself with about a million versions of "Hallelujah".
Gah! So long first place. As usual, Wakefield gets no love from his teammates. At present he's got more support from those Bernie and Phyl mattresses he's hawking than from the Sox batters. I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind...
And what is up with Sox pitchers and line drives? Manny Delcarmen today. Can pitchers wear shin guards and body armour?
Oh well, time to console myself with about a million versions of "Hallelujah".
Singapore Sox Fan
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