Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sox 5, Cleveland 3: We Need to Talk About Kevin
That was scary to watch near the end. Papelbon and Okajima might be human after all. I'm not sure I like that that much.
But whoo, that inside-the-parker by Youks - kick save, and a beauty! What's the record for most consecutive multi-hit games? Apparently it's Hornsby with 13, back in 1923. That, plus some schadenfreude at the expense of the Yankees, who've dropped into last place. (Who, I should note, still have a decent run differential, and should be actually playing much better than they are right now.)
One game at a time, but it's good being a Sox fan now.
That was scary to watch near the end. Papelbon and Okajima might be human after all. I'm not sure I like that that much.
But whoo, that inside-the-parker by Youks - kick save, and a beauty! What's the record for most consecutive multi-hit games? Apparently it's Hornsby with 13, back in 1923. That, plus some schadenfreude at the expense of the Yankees, who've dropped into last place. (Who, I should note, still have a decent run differential, and should be actually playing much better than they are right now.)
One game at a time, but it's good being a Sox fan now.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The JT rolls on
Surviving Grady is right about the sheer cult fascination of watching a Tavarez start. Rolling the ball to first - utter brilliance. I can see why he and Manny are such buds - they both very much come out of left field. (Manny literally.)
Surviving Grady is right about the sheer cult fascination of watching a Tavarez start. Rolling the ball to first - utter brilliance. I can see why he and Manny are such buds - they both very much come out of left field. (Manny literally.)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Pedro on Clemens' Return
This, by the way, is an awesome Pedro quote, and shows why I still love the guy even though he's now a Met:
Meanwhile, for some reason, there's a pic on the Aerosmith website of a shirtless Joe Perry with Clemens:
This, by the way, is an awesome Pedro quote, and shows why I still love the guy even though he's now a Met:
The 35-year-old right-hander said he's tossing balls 230 feet and said his comeback compared favorably with the return of another New York pitcher, Roger Clemens, who is in the minor leagues and expects to soon rejoin the Yankees.Anything you can do I can do better... way to undercut Rajah, Petey.
"I saw Roger pitch the other day," Martinez said. "Without a doubt I can do that, and probably even better. At this point I could probably throw as hard or maybe harder. I feel like I'm in better condition. Roger doesn't seem to be like he's supposed to be -- the Roger I'm used to seeing, that's not him. I can respect that, because it's so early." (Link)
Meanwhile, for some reason, there's a pic on the Aerosmith website of a shirtless Joe Perry with Clemens:
Sox 7, Texas 4: Manny's Back
I always like the Sox scoring 7 - they seem to have scored 7 runs in a lot of their victories over the Yankees this season. Omens and all that.
Speaking of which, this was much less painful to watch than poor Dice-K's nausea. Seemed he had an avulsion to the clubhouse spread. (Thank you! I'll be here all week!) I'll take 4 runs from Wakefield at Arlington any day. Manny's over-slid triple was hilarious, and glory be, there's an article in the Globe full of praise for Manny's work ethic:
I always like the Sox scoring 7 - they seem to have scored 7 runs in a lot of their victories over the Yankees this season. Omens and all that.
Speaking of which, this was much less painful to watch than poor Dice-K's nausea. Seemed he had an avulsion to the clubhouse spread. (Thank you! I'll be here all week!) I'll take 4 runs from Wakefield at Arlington any day. Manny's over-slid triple was hilarious, and glory be, there's an article in the Globe full of praise for Manny's work ethic:
The thing is, on most nights, Ramirez's deficiencies don't matter. He is playing hard, hustling on the bases, and his throws? Well, at least he's trying.Well, I'll be. And Manny's hitting is back. If this keeps up, summer will be sweet.Ramirez is not the best left fielder in the game and he likely will never achieve his dream of winning a Gold Glove, but before games he does work on his throwing. He has always had a quick release, getting the ball back to the infield so runners can't take the extra base. As long as he doesn't destroy you in the field -- and he usually doesn't -- his bat is something special when he's hot.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Red Toe Socks
I didn't realise Americans don't have toe socks, until the NY Times article talked about Dice-K and Okajima introducing toe socks to their teammates. Don't fashion developments travel worldwide? Anyone want me to pop into my local department store and send them Stateside?
I didn't realise Americans don't have toe socks, until the NY Times article talked about Dice-K and Okajima introducing toe socks to their teammates. Don't fashion developments travel worldwide? Anyone want me to pop into my local department store and send them Stateside?
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Sox 4, Tigers 2: Sox Sweep the Doubleheader
A truly bizarre game. Schilling was terrible (7 doubles, 1 HR, 4 walks or so - what's that translate to in OPS against?) - and still made a quality start. Hinske looked lost at the start and found himself after getting his face bashed in. Wily Mo Pena walked about as much as he walked all of last season.
Schilling in his blog called it "probably as weird and as frustrating as any game I’ve thrown in the last four years", and I think that just about gets it right as far as his pitching went. Worst. Quality start. Ever. (Okay, maybe that's hyperbole, but it's not far off, and anyway I was just writing about the Simpsons movie so that's a turn of phrase that springs straight to mind.)
If the '04 Sox were the classy pitch-well hit-great team, the '07 Sox are the gut-wrenching "dominant but only when they come from behind"team... I don't know how many games they've won when they've been down for most of the innings. So, even prior to Hinske's great face-plant, I felt quietly confident the Sox would come back. Which is nice - my usual thinking on doubleheaders is that teams tend to split 'em. But all these come-from-behind victories ain't the best for the heart.
A truly bizarre game. Schilling was terrible (7 doubles, 1 HR, 4 walks or so - what's that translate to in OPS against?) - and still made a quality start. Hinske looked lost at the start and found himself after getting his face bashed in. Wily Mo Pena walked about as much as he walked all of last season.
Schilling in his blog called it "probably as weird and as frustrating as any game I’ve thrown in the last four years", and I think that just about gets it right as far as his pitching went. Worst. Quality start. Ever. (Okay, maybe that's hyperbole, but it's not far off, and anyway I was just writing about the Simpsons movie so that's a turn of phrase that springs straight to mind.)
If the '04 Sox were the classy pitch-well hit-great team, the '07 Sox are the gut-wrenching "dominant but only when they come from behind"team... I don't know how many games they've won when they've been down for most of the innings. So, even prior to Hinske's great face-plant, I felt quietly confident the Sox would come back. Which is nice - my usual thinking on doubleheaders is that teams tend to split 'em. But all these come-from-behind victories ain't the best for the heart.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Matsuzaka's first complete game
What a great game by Dice-K - complete game for the 7-1 win, 124 pitches (following his high school championship heroics, I take it that he's a freak of nature with a rubber arm... fingers crossed), no walks. Very nice.
I'm just trying to guess what it was Varitek said (or said by mistake, judging by the sound of it):
Incidentally, in the video of the post-game press conference, Dice-K looks ridiculous in that oversized white sweatshirt he's wearing. Good question on the nature of pitch counts in America vs Japan - I'm glad DM didn't try to extrapolate too much, and just went with the standard athlete's "I just hope I can pitch like I did today".
What a great game by Dice-K - complete game for the 7-1 win, 124 pitches (following his high school championship heroics, I take it that he's a freak of nature with a rubber arm... fingers crossed), no walks. Very nice.
I'm just trying to guess what it was Varitek said (or said by mistake, judging by the sound of it):
What's "we don't throw at .260 hitters" in Japanese?For the first time in the big leagues, Matsuzaka was on the field at game's end to accept the congratulations of his teammates, beginning with catcher Jason Varitek, who said something that caused Matsuzaka to break into a wide smile.
"You know me," Varitek said. "Sometimes I don't say what I said. Maybe it was the little Japanese that I know."
Incidentally, in the video of the post-game press conference, Dice-K looks ridiculous in that oversized white sweatshirt he's wearing. Good question on the nature of pitch counts in America vs Japan - I'm glad DM didn't try to extrapolate too much, and just went with the standard athlete's "I just hope I can pitch like I did today".
Monday, May 14, 2007
The best Hideki in the majors
Back from the US, and sadly am now deprived on late-night Baseball Tonight and other such glories. Okajima's reliability has become so ho-hum that this Globe article on his brilliance thus far is somewhat unremarkable. But at least Francona seems aware of the possibility of overuse, which alleviates one of my biggest worries:
Back from the US, and sadly am now deprived on late-night Baseball Tonight and other such glories. Okajima's reliability has become so ho-hum that this Globe article on his brilliance thus far is somewhat unremarkable. But at least Francona seems aware of the possibility of overuse, which alleviates one of my biggest worries:
The way he's pitched," manager Terry Francona said, "the biggest decision is not overusing him."The Okajima-Papelbon 1-2 punch is great - reminds me of Timlin in the 8th, Foulke in the 9th, except that I love how Tito uses Okajima to put out fires at any time.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Clemens Joins the Yankees
So Roger Clemens joins the Yankees, again. $28m pro-rated - talk about desperation. Although my sense is that it's better to pay $6-10m (or so) extra for a $18m pitcher, than to pay $6-10m extra for a $4-5m pitcher (*cough* Carl Pavano *cough*).
My question is: is it really legit for the Yankees to make such big announcements during the 7th inning stretch? The Yankees already infamously have a really long stretch - what better way to ice the other team's pitcher? Not that it made much difference today, but still...
So Roger Clemens joins the Yankees, again. $28m pro-rated - talk about desperation. Although my sense is that it's better to pay $6-10m (or so) extra for a $18m pitcher, than to pay $6-10m extra for a $4-5m pitcher (*cough* Carl Pavano *cough*).
My question is: is it really legit for the Yankees to make such big announcements during the 7th inning stretch? The Yankees already infamously have a really long stretch - what better way to ice the other team's pitcher? Not that it made much difference today, but still...
Singapore Sox Fan
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