Singapore Sox Fan

A-Rod Passing Out

2008-05-07T10:53:00.004+08:00

Meanwhile, I thought this quote from Cynthia Rodriguez, on A-Rod passing out when his first child was born, was funny:

“As tough and big as he seems, he is real wimpy around doctors or any type of medical situation,” Cynthia Rodriguez said. “I don’t know why I thought the birth of our child would be different.”

Tough and big? Um, there's a reason A-Rod gets referred to as "Slappy".

Knuckling Down

2008-05-07T10:51:00.001+08:00

That was the best Wakefield start I've seen for a while. Nice for the team to get the shutout on a day that Paps and Okajima weren't available in all likelihood.

On creative baseball usage, and Owings

2008-05-03T17:09:00.003+08:00

The Wall Street Journal (of all papers) explores creative usage in baseball this season - I had noted the game in which Girardi elected not to start Ian Kennedy in case of rain, but missed Chris Resop playing both pitcher and LF in the same game, which sounded like a great move, even if it didn't pan out in this instance.

Now that Micah Owings has a 1.044 career OPS - only around the same level as, oh, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams - it will be really interesting to see what happens in interleague if he's scheduled to pitch. Do they choose to DH for another player? And in his regular NL games, does he stay at the bottom of the lineup?

Slump Busting

2008-05-03T17:04:00.002+08:00

Finally, crooked numbers for the Sox; finally, runs. That Moss homer to straightaway centre was beautiful (I love those homers to dead center). One of my favourite moments in the game, though, was Buchholz's 3 straight Ks to get himself out of that 2-on, no-out jam. That curveball was making some of the Rays hitters look silly.

Pitch Perfect

2008-05-02T17:45:00.003+08:00

I'm loving the starting pitching, but not loving the offense. 5 great starts: Masterson, Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, and Wakefield, and yet the only wins in that span belong to a certain J. Papelbon. Um, the older J. Papelbon, that is. I'm wondering what the Fenway park factor looks like this season - surely it'll look depressed by a woeful offense and masterful starting pitching?

Ways to Make Jays Pay

2008-04-30T17:35:00.002+08:00

What a great win today, following a frustrating series of losses. For once a great pitching performance from a Sox starter wasn't wasted. Amazing work from Lester... sorry, Doc Halladay.

Meanwhile, is it just schadenfreude that makes one happy that the NY Daily News seems to be alleging that Clemens is an ephebophile? Sure, I can't say the Daily News is a paragon of great reporting (when I was in New York in 2001, I met a guy who was a stringer for them, and his job was to camp outside Gracie Mansion trying to see what he could find out about Rudy Giuliani). But still. All that, and I got to actually use the word "ephebophile" in a sentence.

We're No Angels: Sox Hammer Halos

2008-04-23T12:02:00.002+08:00

We're No Angels featured a great director (Neil Jordan), two of the greatest actors around (De Niro and Penn) plus some of the best supporting actors (John C. Reilly, Wallace Shawn), and a great screenwriter (David Mamet). And it still fell flat on its face.

Which is to say, sometimes you don't need to have all your parts being great. Sometimes you look on paper and go, hmm, Beckett's out and Pauley's pitching in his place. The bullpen doesn't have MDC available. Light-hittin' Kevin Cash is the starting catcher. Ortiz is still hitting below the Mendoza line.

And yet... what a game. Ellsbury with 2 homers and scoring from 1st on a hit to left field. Lord that man is fast fast fast. (I suppose since I was referencing random films, I could've gone with this one.) Backup catcher (!) Pedroia is exactly what you don't expect from a guy his size: power and not that much speed. Between his hit today and his hits into the triangle against the Rangers, how can you not like him? Except that as a fellow 5"7' man, it makes me sad because I no longer have the "I was the wrong height to play baseball" thing to go by.

Finish Him - On Whether the Save Rule Contains Redundancies

2008-04-14T16:57:00.002+08:00

Great game, even if Timlin's performance was nailbiting. I must say I can't remember Javier Lopez ever pitching this well.

But anyway, on SoSH there was some discussion about whether Delcarmen would qualify for a save (no), which moved on to discussion over whether parts (a) and (c) of the save rule were redundant:

The official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:
(a) He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
(b) He is not the winning pitcher;
(c) He is credited with at least a third of an inning pitched; and
(d) He satisfies one of the following conditions:
(1) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning;
(2) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat or on deck (that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batters he faces); or
(3) He pitches for at least three innings.

i.e. could someone be the "finishing pitcher in a game won by his team" but not get credit for at least a third of an inning pitched?

My theory is it would be possible for the finishing pitcher to not have 1/3 of an inning is if he comes on with a lead, and the game is called due to rain before anyone is out. Let's say a game is 8-5, Yankees at Sox. Top of 9th inning, bases loaded, no outs. Timlin comes on (this is a hypothetical, after all) and walks in a run. At this point the heavens open and it's impossible to continue, and they call the game. Timlin would be the finishing pitcher in a game won by the Sox (8-6), but have zero innings pitched. I presume the seemingly redundant 1/3 inning clause is what prevents this completely ineffectual outing from counting as a save.

Which led to further discussions on when called games end, since others argued that the game would revert to the 8th inning in this scenario. But rule 4.11(d) states that"A called game ends at the moment the umpire terminates play, unless it becomes a suspended game pursuant to Rule 4.12(a)". (emphasis mine)

Take this Indians-Yankees game from 2001. Cleveland was leading 5-4, scored 2 runs in the top of the 6th; the Yankees managed to get a Posada AB (which led to a Diaz error on a foul fly), and then game was called due to rain. So inning #6 was not finished, and the record stands that Cleveland won 7-4 including Diaz's error in the bottom of the 6th. Interestingly enough, in the game above, Rincon got the save for pitching the top of the 5th inning. My guess is if someone had come out to pitch to Posada in the 6th, Rincon wouldn't have got the save, and neither would the other pitcher.

The rule on reverting to the previous half-inning was apparently changed in 1978 as a result of this Yankees-Orioles game, in which the Yankees scored 5 at the top of 7th that were wiped off the board because the game was called. Presumably the rule change was to prevent teams in the Orioles' position from just stalling until the game was called in their favour (under new rules, the situation would produce a suspended game).

If you look at Retrosheet's list of 'lost homers', i.e. homers that didn't count in the records due to games being called and other reasons, you'll notice that pre-1978 people 'lost' homers in late innings (see the game of 8/25/1975: "Under existing rules, if a lead had changed and an inning was not yet complete, the score reverted back to the last completed inning." - the wording of which seems indicate the rules on reverting were different from now) but after that all 'lost' homers came only in games that were called before the regulation 5 innings were played.

So I would guess my scenario still holds, allowing a pitcher to finish a game in which his team won without 1/3 innings pitched. Which is to say, MLB's save rule is not necessarily the best of stats, but it isn't redundant.

Home Opener

2008-04-09T15:11:00.002+08:00

What an awesome home opener. Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch was a nice touch (1986 was always McNamara's fault), although I did like the poster on Boston Sports Media Watch who suggested that the correct thing to have done was for Buckner to come out and for McNamara to come out and replace him with Dave Stapleton...

As for the game itself... Dice-K looks like he's found his groove - the thought of Dice and Josh Beckett fighting to be #1 excites me no end. I suppose nationalists and xenophobes will call for the Sox to keep playing in America, since all the losses came in Japan and Canada.

The Year of the Rat

2008-02-10T23:23:00.000+08:00

Happy Lunar New Year! So much has happened in the past few months - gutted by the Patriots' loss, somewhat pleased by the Santana talks' outcome, and excited about the Sox coming to this part of the world (even if personal commitments mean I might not be able to see them, sadly). And now Schilling looks like he might be out. What a crazy year it looks ahead to be. The Lunar New Year always seems more in keeping with the rhythms of baseball - shortly after it starts, pitchers and catchers report, and life is whole again...

Pedroia, Rookie of the Year

2007-11-13T19:19:00.000+08:00

Pretty amazing, and certainly repaid Tito's patience with him twice: first in April, after that cold start, and then in the playoffs.

The Other World Series MVP

2007-10-29T13:20:00.000+08:00

Joy.

Lester - World Champions

2007-10-29T13:04:00.000+08:00

It NEVER gets old. Papelbon with 3 crucial saves in the series - I don't think I've ever seen a 4-game sweep so close. Sheer heart attack. And it seemed almost everyone on the 25-man roster contributed, even Bobby Kielty, the ginger ninja, with what proved to be the game-winning homer. (Sorry Kyle Snyder.)

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox. AL East Division winners. Best record in baseball. AL Pennant winners. And of course, 2007 World Champions. How sweet it is.

Schilling - OK Corral

2007-10-27T21:46:00.000+08:00

Schilling gets the win, Papelbon gets the save, but Okajima was the Man. Balls to the wall, flat-out great relief pitching. And huge credit to Francona for bringing him in there. Right time, right man.

Beckett - History

2007-10-25T18:44:00.000+08:00

Featuring the first World Series matchup named after a historian. (Okay, perhaps not: for all I know there was an Arthur-Schlesinger matchup sometime in the early 1900s.)

A record number of extra base hits. Lugo with 3 hits. The Sox were positively steamrolling the Rockies tonight. I only hope the Rockies didn't get out all the rust with this one game. And maybe in a weird way it would've been better to use a pitcher other than Beckett here, since 13 runs gets anyone the win. But who was to know we would light up Francis? (Man, I've been waiting to use that Stripes line.)

Matsuzaka - Diced

2007-10-22T12:47:00.000+08:00

I don't think an 11-2 game has ever felt so close. Sheer heart attack. Dice-K started out looking good but I was getting afraid of that dreaded 4 2/3 inning hump. I'll probably question Tito going to Okajima for the 8th (2+ innings?), but Francona gets the benefit of the doubt. And once again, Kenny Lofton is left grasping at straws. To be on the 2002 Giants, 2003 Cubs, 2004 Yankees, and the 2007 Indians is a pretty sad set of choking teams.

Although I wouldn't say the Indians choked. They gave as good as they got, and it was close all the way. But the Sox had the better set-up men, and we had the superb rookies... All the little kids in the crimson sox go: Cleveland, Rox.

Schilling - Mark

2007-10-21T12:10:00.000+08:00

Since there are no famous authors named Schilling to make inappropriate allusions to, I shall have to reference Teutonic currencies. Which makes sense, since Schilling is money in the playoffs.

And to have: a J.D. Drew 2-out grand slam; a Lugo 2-run RBI; a perfect Eric Gagne inning. Um. I would drink to celebrate, but I'm already blown away.

Beckett - Endgame

2007-10-19T12:53:00.000+08:00

(Because hell, I'm pretentious enough to make Samuel Beckett references.) Josh Beckett should get the keys to the city of Boston when he lands in Logan. Brilliant performance. And despite the continued occasional squander (and the fact that Coco is essentially fried to a crisp), this was lots of fun to watch. And Manny is a bad, bad man. Screw Fox and all the handwringing over him not running out his single.

ALCS Thoughts

2007-10-18T12:24:00.000+08:00

14 outs. 4 2/3 innings. Why can't our starters get into the 5th inning? What's annoying is that in the losses the Sox have made a credible comeback attempt, only to fall short.

And bloody hell. Eric Gagne. Merde!

Oh well, not bridge jumping yet. The Tobin's a bit far to report to, in any case.

ALDS Game 2: Angels and Demons

2007-10-06T23:50:00.000+08:00

What a game. Manny's first walk-off homer since his Cleveland days, apparently, which astounds me for a Hall of Famer. That ball never landed. I think it's in orbit now, blocking my GPS signal. "When you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's how you know you're a bad man" - that's the money quote. Manny is a bad ass. Long may he stay that way.

Meanwhile, bugs jobbed Joba Chamberlain, and helped send the Yankees back to New York down 2-0. Ah, the Biblical plagues have come. I see A-Rod got all prepared for his first-born being taken away by knocking up his wife again.

Unstoppable force, immoveable object, yada yada yada

2007-10-05T00:21:00.000+08:00

A random thought occurred to me: if not for Grady Little's lack of a brain, the offensive machine that was the 2003 Red Sox would have faced Beckett in the World Series. I can't tell if that makes me feel a little better about 2003, since you could argue that Beckett was so dominant that the Marlins would've beat the Sox any way, or worse, since that would have been a great matchup to watch.

ALDS Game 1: Josh Beckett tour de force

2007-10-04T11:03:00.000+08:00

Man. Talk about dealing. The Angels seemed to have only two choices in this game: swing quickly for an out, or wait for a strike for an out. Those pitches were a thing of beauty - Beckett could place them anywhere he wanted, and got such crazy movement on some of them it was this close to being Bugs Bunny, pitching.

The AP report gives a good sense of just how much a throwback Beckett's CG shutout is:

Christy Mathewson is the only pitcher with four postseason shutouts; Beckett tied Whitey Ford and Mordecai Brown with three.

Link

With all the additional postseason games every year, it's pretty amazing that the other people with that many postseason shutouts still precede the division-play era (although obviously the demise of the CG is well documented). And it's a great list for Beckett to join. Although admittedly I can't imagine Beckett getting as great a nickname as "Three Finger".

Tito on the celebrations

2007-10-01T01:16:00.000+08:00

One reason I think Terry Francona is a great manager for Boston is he knows how to work the media and give good quote (and shield his players in the process). I particularly liked his comments on Papelbon's celebrations:

"You mean, 'The Riverdance'?" Francona said. "That's one of the . . . he looked to me . . . I don't want to call him a moron, but the only thing better than that was when he was inside dancing, wearing only a jock. (Link)

Ah, winning always creates levity.

These are your AL East Champions

2007-09-30T11:26:00.000+08:00

You know, from the moment Rivera put Millar on base in the 9th I knew the Orioles would come back. And so we have it folks, wire-to-wire (almost - I think), best team in the American League.

Player of the year: Ortiz, who's having probably the quietest monster season around. And a monstrous September to top it off.

The Clay Buchholz No-Hitter

2007-09-02T10:54:00.000+08:00

I got up this morning and decided to do some ironing while watching the Sox, for the first time ever. At this rate I'll have some really crisp clothes.

I watched two no-hitters (not live, but on TV) this year - the Verlander one in a random pizza parlour in West Yellowstone, where apparently I was the only one paying attention, and this Buchholz one. This was amazing. Remy and Orsillo gave great commentary - skirting the line between calling attention to it without saying what it was (oh look, they got me doing the oblique-reference thing too).

On the pitching itself: that curveball today looked sick. Just dropped in beautifully. And that strike to Markakis to end the game was a thing of beauty.

Josh Beckett screaming out "better than Curt Schilling!" was funny stuff. All in all, just a beautiful Sunday morning, me and my freshly ironed clothes.