Singapore Sox Fan

Radar gunned

2009-06-19T16:20:00.001+08:00

Losing a game called in the 5th is shite.

MLB At Bat

2009-06-18T17:16:00.003+08:00

MLB At Bat has to be the most awesome app for the iPhone. I mean, even if you're not a huge baseball fan, the ability to stream live audio, watch video highlights etc. for $9.99 - and now they're adding live video streaming? Seriously awesome. (The live audio already has made my morning commutes so much better - MLB.tv is great and all, but I can't watch it on the subway...)

By the way, I'm on Twitter at @dsng. Unlike my blogs, I'm not separating my Twitter personae. Too confusing.

Sox Sweep Toronto

2009-05-22T10:39:00.002+08:00

And there's the sweep. Catching up on Toronto, Ortiz has a homer (bit too early to say he has his groove back... Stella!), and Paps seems to be throwing good heat.

Now if only those Yankees would stop it with the cheap right field homers. Well, and the winning. It's mostly the winning that annoys me.

Sox v Yankees

2009-05-06T21:17:00.003+08:00

Sox sweep Yankees again. That bullpen of the Yankees is quite horrific. And I am pleased as punch.

Meanwhile, Doug Glanville writes about A-Rod and what pitch tipping involves. Glanville really can write. I don't know whether A-Rod really tipped pitches. And that's one huge allegation, perhaps more than the steroids one. But what does seem saddest to me is A-Rod's seeming desire to be liked, to be looked up to.

The solace of baseball

2009-04-23T15:49:00.004+08:00

The last six months have been the most gut-wrenching ones of my life. Watching my mother go in and out of hospital; watching various tubes inserted to help her eat, breathe, all the common functions we take for granted; gaining the false hope of a discharge only to have her return to the hospital; and finally, the traumatic last 2 weeks, where the infection finally got the better of her.

I haven't been able to update Singapore Sox Fan as much as I'd like under the circumstances. Nor was my mother the greatest of baseball fans; indeed, she didn't know much about the game besides the general idea of going around the bases. But baseball and the Sox were a form of solace in a terrible world. The controlled drama of the World Baseball Classic, where agony and suffering were confined to the field. The rhythms of spring training, signifying renewal and hope. The spell of the daily game, and the comfort of a world where the great fear is that David Ortiz has truly lost his bat speed. The passing of time, out by out, hit by hit, following games over the tiny screen of the phone while waiting outside the ICU and praying and hoping for a miracle.

A Bartlett Giamatti's famous quote on baseball reads: "It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." And that is true. But the game can comfort too. It can remind you of times where people have springs in their step, and where people have full control of their faculties. Its highs are true highs, bringing unbridled joy and elation. And yet its lows are manageable. Autumn will pass, and then new players will come in, draft picks will make the majors, there will be renewal. Because in baseball, there's always "Wait till next year!". And what I wouldn't give for a next year with my mother.

World Baseball Classic

2009-03-19T17:24:00.001+08:00

Have been following the WBC, but just too overwhelmed by family issues to comment too much. But baseball - real, competitive baseball - is a lovely distraction. As is Manny trying to play cricket.

Rickey and Rice in the Hall of Fame

2009-01-16T15:35:00.002+08:00

Congrats to Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice for making the Hall of Fame. Was always perplexed by the car the Sox gave him in 2002, but it led to one of many funny Rickey being Rickey stories:

25) In the last week of his lone season with the Red Sox, Chairman Tom Werner asked Henderson what he would like for his ‘going-away’ gift. Henderson said he wasn’t going anywhere, but he would like owner John Henry’s Mercedes. Werner said it would be tough to get the same make and model in less than a week and Henderson said, “No, I want his car.” Turns out the Sox got Henderson a Red Thunderbird and when he saw it on the field before the last game of the season, Rickey said, “Whose ugly car is on the field?” (Link)

Speaking of cars, another one of my favourite Rickey details was the fact that he was born in a '57 Chevy.

As for Jim Rice, what more is there to say? I still remain on the fence about his HoF credentials, but am in no doubt that he was one of a great line of players who patrolled the left field beneath the Monster.

Teixeira's Christmas Bonus

2008-12-24T12:35:00.002+08:00

So Mark Teixeira chose the Yankees at the end, leaving them with the 3 biggest free-agent acquisitions of the offseason. And yet all I'm feeling is equanimity. Peace on earth, goodwill towards men and women, that sort of thing. I guess in the end a whole variety of factors - such as the willingness to offer a no-trade clause - got them Tex. And so the AL East keeps getting more and more interesting. Here we are as in olden days, indeed.

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays one and all! And go Sox!

The Teixeira sweepstakes

2008-12-22T16:10:00.004+08:00

Well, I can't tell if it's a sweepstakes or it's going to be a case of the winner's curse. But the Angels publicly backing out, and John Henry publicly saying that the Sox will not be a factor in the negotiations, is very interesting from both a baseball fan and a game theorist's point of view. What is the value of credible threats? And binding agreements? (In this case the 'binding' is less legal in nature than using the nature of public pronouncements to bind oneself.)

I'm not even sure what I want as the end result - I'd like to see Teixeira on the Sox, but if he goes to the Orioles (or better yet, the Nats), I'm not going to be too upset.

New York, New York

2008-11-16T01:05:00.001+08:00

Am back in the US of A... pity it wasn't in time for baseball or the elections! But oh boy oh boy oh boy.

Obama

2008-11-08T17:00:00.003+08:00

Congratulations to the White Sox's best-known fan. What an inspiring election it was (I admit to jonesin' for my daily 538 fix, but Nate Silver'll do that to you). Now, please, bring baseball back to the Olympics!

End of the Season

2008-10-20T12:10:00.002+08:00

It can't be, but it is. In the end, it seems homefield advantage for Game 7 was a big advantage. And the squander of the 8th inning was oh so painful.

But it was a wonderful season, starting from the craziness of the Japan games to the final out. Game 5 - the epic comeback - was a game for the ages.

Rays-Phillies for the World Series. How much money would you have gotten for that prediction in March? I can't say I dislike either team very much, so I'll have to watch as a neutral observer - lots of players I like to watch on both sides, including Longoria, Hamels, Utley, Rollins.

What could have been. What could have been.

DREW

2008-10-17T12:24:00.001+08:00

And he can keep on running to Tampa. Game 6.... my heart is pounding like crazy.

ALDS

2008-10-07T13:59:00.002+08:00

LOWRIE!!!!

That suicide squeeze at the top of the 9th was over-managing, I think: Aybar is a lightweight with the bat, but still, 1 out, man on 3rd, there were a lot of other options. But what a game. What a game.

ALDS Game 2 - Sox 7, Angels 5

2008-10-04T13:30:00.002+08:00

What a game. Awesome stuff - back and forth all the way. J.D. Drew is really making a post-season reputation in his Boston stint.

What I don't get though is why, for the penultimate out, the fans allowed Youks to make that (awesome) grab. Come on, surely a good fan would've interfered appropriately. Angels fans living up to L.A. laissez-faire stereotypes there...

The Bay State

2008-10-02T18:06:00.002+08:00

Ah, that Jason Bay homer was so good.

Incidentally - Jacoby, Jed Lowrie, Jason Bay, Jason Varitek, J.D. Drew, not to mention Jon Lester to Justin Masterson to Jonathan Papelbon. Is that a record for most number of players in a playoff game whose names start with a J? (And once again, why does "J.D." stand for "David Jonathan"?)

Wild Card

2008-09-28T14:44:00.002+08:00

Seems anticlimactic, the way the AL East was decided, the Rays and the Sox falling ass over teakettle to stumble to the finish. But congrats to the Rays, who're as great a story as any this season - along with Cliff Lee individually. Now for the playoffs. Sox-Dodgers as the World Series would be classic. The 2008 Sox vs the 2003/2004 Sox (Manny, Nomar, Derek Lowe...). It's almost like one of the sim games where you pit historical teams against current ones.

The AL East Race

2008-09-21T01:47:00.002+08:00

Still tight, but it looks like the Rays and Sox will be in the playoffs either way. I'm hoping for a Rays-Sox ALCS. Love the Sox, but I do appreciate what a good baseball story Tampa has been this year. Incidentally, I love Pedroia, but I don't think he's the MVP.

Looking over the NL, I have to say I'm really disappointed by the Brewers. I blame Ned Yost, who made some truly head-scratching decisions.

The Decline and Fall of Jay Mariotti

2008-09-03T23:04:00.002+08:00

Mariotti's always been a blowhard on Around the Horn (which I still find compulsive watching, if only to meet my American sports news jones), but I just thought it was funny how even Roger Ebert slammed him after he quit the newspaper business.

September

2008-09-03T10:51:00.002+08:00

Damn, I typed in September for this post's title, and now the old Earth Wind and Fire song is in my head, replete with falsetto chorus. "Ba de ya... dancing in September".

Back on topic. Dustin Pedroia may be the smallest cleanup hitter in the business, but he's great. 3 for 5 today against the Orioles, including a homer. And he's about my height, too, which makes that excuse of mine for not being a major-leaguer moot... although he does have about 40 pounds on me. Who would have thought, post-Manny, that the best protection for the 3-spot only came up to Ortiz's nipples or thereabouts?

And the Twins and White Sox lost. Which is good. And the Yankees beat the Rays. Which is... I don't know. I suppose I want the Rays to be catchable for the Division title i.e. I want the Rays to lose. But at the same time I can't root for the Yankees too much, and a sweep by them would give me the heebie-jeebies, warranted or not. So I'm rooting for a split.

Aside, since I mentioned the heebie-jeebies, an extract from an IM conversation:

Friend: "Beijing Shougang Group, one of the capital's top polluters, announced it will cut production, and so pollution, by 70% over the next few months. The company is in the process of moving its massive Beijing operation to neighbouring Hebei Province." I can't help wondering what the Hebei province folks think about that

Me: Probably gave them the hebei-jeebies

Sox 19, Rangers 17

2008-08-13T17:11:00.001+08:00

19-17. From 10-0 up to actually being down 15-14, then 16-14. Baseball is a crazy, crazy game.

Oh, and I'm glad to have Paul Byrd. Buchholz needs some time to find his mechanics.

Manny Being Dodger

2008-08-01T15:56:00.004+08:00

And so the carousel went, and Manny got off. Or perhaps 'twas more a 3-ring circus. I think all 3 teams ended up winning somewhat with this trade: the Dodgers haven't had a hitter like Manny for a while, and were criminally undervaluing Andy LaRoche anyway. Jason Bay's a decent hitter, as long as tehre's no expectation that he'll replace Manny's production purely through offense. And I hope LaRoche and Hansen, both full of promise but needing a change of scene, blossom at the Pirates. There's no way of course that was truly fair value for the production of one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time (even if he's not the >1.000 OPS guy he used to be). But I suppose hands were tied.

For two World Series; for the amazing ability to hit any time, anywhere; for all the great Manny Being Manny moments, American flag-waving and all... behind Pedro, Manny will always be one of my favourite Red Sox players. I hope after all the dust subsides that the next time he comes back to Boston he'll get the warm welcome he well and truly deserves. I'll miss Manny. And I'll miss the fear of God he placed into opposing pitchers, and opposing fans - Yankee fans in particular. And I'll miss that sweet swing of the bat, elegant and seemingly effortless, launching balls into orbit.

Manny Being Marlin

2008-08-01T00:34:00.002+08:00

Will they trade him or won't they? I don't believe, what with all the rumours of front office disenchantment, that the Sox will get good value for Manny. And so I hope not. It won't derail the team - think Nomar being traded in 2004 - but still, must all these relationships end this way? Must Boston eat all its baseball superstars?

Buzz Bissinger

2008-07-27T02:54:00.002+08:00

Buzz Bissinger bemoans the escalation of players' salaries in a New York Times op-ed piece, and asks why they should get such salaries in a time when people are struggling to make ends meet. But that seems like the entirely wrong target. Why not go after the billionaires who actually own the teams, if the fact that too much money is sloshing around baseball and other sports gets on one's nerves? Just because the player is the most visible target doesn't mean he's the right person to go after.

Schilling for the Hall of Fame

2008-07-07T23:09:00.002+08:00

Joe Posnanski writes about Curt Schilling's chances for the Hall of Fame, or rather rants about comparisons between Schilling and Jack Morris. I did like the results of the poll that asked "in his prime, who do you have to start Game 7?" - 37% said Pedro, 23% said Koufax, and 21% said Bob Gibson. Which I think reflects accurately who were the best pitchers in their prime - rather than any hoo-ha about "big game" pitchers.

Side question: why does Kansas City produce so many good baseball writers?