Beckett Ruled

Tonight, Josh Beckett was awesome. And he was slightly more awesome than Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey. Beckett gave up 1 run in the first and then none over 8 innings, and Pelfrey gave up 2 runs in the first and then none over 7. Definitely a pitchers' duel, and man, Beckett just had a great night. Loved it.

So, Papelbon came in to secure the game, and he first walked a guy, SO, SO #2, then he let a dude hit a home run and take the lead. Instant replay sucks when it goes against us. So Beckett was awesome for nothing. F. He was looking like, "You have GOT to be kidding me." Poor guy.


P.S. Go Denver and Cleveland! Somebody that I like needs to win tonight, so it's up to the Nuggets.

A Very Good Way to Start '09

Things did not work out as planned for me yesterday. The game was supposed to be Monday at 2:00, I didn't have class, I was going to watch it. Of course it was postponed till Tuesday at 4, when I had class from 3:30-8. Not exactly how I wanted the first game of the season to go, but hey, they won.

Apparently Josh Beckett was pretty awesome, as the stats tell me so: he went 7 innings, only allowed 2 hits (wowza), 1 run, and threw 10 strikeouts. That is how you start a season, people.

Reigning MVP Pedroia started the day off with a home run, Varitek also contributed one later in the game. Looking over the box, it actually looks like everyone had a pretty good start to 2009 (well, except Ellsbury, but it's only the first game).

Baseball is back! Ahhh....it's such a great feeling!

P.S. How great is it to see Mike Lowell playing?

So Many Things to Touch On

I have a list in my head of so many things I want to say! Let's see if I remember them all (disclaimer: it's the 8th inning now and I clearly do not know the outcome of the game):

1) Dustin Pedroia, my love for this man knows no limits. Two home runs in a row, a walk, a single, and that is through the 8th. MVP, come on!!!

2) Jason Bay, how awesome are you? REALLY awesome. He's got 4 RBIs in this game alone, has hit a HR, and just generally seems to come through in the big moments. I cannot express how much I thank whoever got us this man (okay Theo).

3) My mind is filled with cell biology so I may be incorrect here, but remember back in the '04 ALCS when Johnny Damon could not get a hit, and then he hit the grand slam in Game 7? I feel like that is Jacoby Ellsbury right now. The poor kid is like 0-for-8 or some awful number, he is also the leadoff hitter, and he kind of looks like Damon (a very little, okay). I am waiting for him to do something huge like Damon of the Good Ol' Days. Waiting. Patiently. Unlike some people I know!

4) That's all for now. Except I hate the Rays. And where was 2003 Beckett tonight?!?? Yuck.

5) Oh, wait, one more thing. Can we NOT play Javier Lopez anymore?! PRETTY PLEASE. He threw one pitch, gave up a run, and was promptly taken out. Smart. But why was he in in the first place? Remember the Angels game??

As Expected!

As I expected, it was a very close game last night between the Sox and Rays. What was not expected was just how many times Matsuzaka scared the crap out of me! He got himself into a bunch of tight places and yet, as you know, he worked out of every one. He even had a no-hitter going throughout most of the game (which my mother jinxed!). Boston won the game 2-0 and that puts us up 1-0 in the ALCS.

If I could, for a brief moment, discuss the NLCS (I know, who cares). Philadelphia is up 2-0 over the Dodgers. This is good news and also bad news.
Good: Don't really want to see Manny do well. SORRY I am....bitter? That's not the right word but the very season he leaves Boston he cannot win the World Series!!
Bad: I want Joe Torre to do well now that he isn't with the Yankees. Not because I like him but because I want NYY to see the mistake they made (like they don't already, right!)

So I don't know about that one.

But the ALCS is going according to plan. They play again tonight, with Beckett going against Kazmir. Kazmir went 12-8 this season (3.49 ERA), which doesn't sound too great but then again, Beckett was 12-10 (4.03 ERA). So who knows. Be there and find out!!

The Goodness Lives On

Pretty much everyone was awesome today. After a 9-0 win, how could they not be? Homeruns coming from Ellsbury, Pedroia, Drew, and Crisp + fantastic pitching from Beckett and the bullpen = another win.

Potentially Good News (But Let's Not Get Our Hopes Up): David Ortiz is making progress as he heals the torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, and the hard cast, running from elbow to hand, could come off his left arm as soon as this week. "The pain is actually gone, which is good news," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
I miss Ortiz but I am pretty amazed by everyone (especially Mr. Drew) playing so great in his absence. What a team we have here!

Funny Quote of the Day: "Who cares about Beckett? Let's talk about me." -- Coco Crisp (joked!)

Beckett's Hot

Josh Beckett pitched 8 excellent innings last night, Manny hit 2 home runs, and Mussina only lasted 3 innings. It was a fantastic game!

Except for that whole Farnsworth-almost-took-out-Manny incident (though we did hit A-Rod the other night, after all), everything went well. Even Papelbon giving up 2 runs was acceptable, with a 7-3 lead you are allowed. Ortiz still has an unexpectedly low average at .111, but remember how Pedroia started last year and he ended up Rookie of the Year. No worries yet about The Man.

What's up with Ellsbury getting HBP twice? He must never be injured, we need him too much. Mussina must have something against him..

Potentially Huge

ESPN.com reported on Thursday that the Red Sox and Twins have discussed a potential deal in which center fielder Coco Crisp, left-hander Jon Lester and promising Minor League shortstop Jed Lowrie would head to Minnesota along with one other prospect in exchange for Santana.

Can you imagine the Beckett-Santana KO? I am all for this man coming to Boston, as long as Pedroia and Ellsbury don't leave because of it. Coco, man, I love him and I think he is underrated (well, defensively anyway!) but Santana would be a really huge get.

Adding more intrigue to the story is the fact that the Yankees -- the Red Sox's chief rivals -- are also in hot pursuit of Santana. The Angels are another team to have expressed interest.

Another plus to getting him--our rivals won't.

Also in the news: There are some procedural matters to take care of, such as deciding whether to offer salary arbitration to six free agents from the 2007 team.
The Red Sox have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday to make that decision on Mike Timlin, Eric Gagne, Matt Clement, Bobby Kielty, Eric Hinske and Doug Mirabelli.

Surely we will be hearing about that soon enough. What to do about Gagne? Hope this season was a fluke, I guess?!

Wrong Choice

Sabathia was listed first on 19 of 28 ballots cast by two writers in each AL city and totaled 119 voting points. Beckett received eight first-place votes and the Angels' John Lackey received one.

Beckett losing the Cy Young to Sabathia is the most perfect example I can think of as to why postseason performances NEED to be taken into consideration when deciding on these end-of-season awards. Because seriously...

Beckett owned Sabathia in the ALCS. TWICE.

And A-Rod will "most likely" get the MVP over Lowell. A man who contributed nothing to his team in the postseason vs. a man who won the WS MVP. And that first guy is picked to win?

How good can you be if your team doesn't make it to the postseason, or if you lose in the LDS?

I question how these things are decided. I am still really thrilled about Pedroia, but I am seriously disappointed that Beckett, who should have won, didn't.

--------------------------

P.S. FINALLY! Youkilis shaved that horrible beard off (for charity of course)! You cannot tell me he doesn't look a million times better now:

Schilling's Back

Curt Schilling signed a one-year deal worth $8 million that could be worth as much as $14 million should he reach all the incentives in the package. That's good, hopefully he will have another good year...but maybe with a better win-loss record.

In other news, Kevin Youkilis won a Gold Glove for his awesomeness at first base. It was expected and totally deserved. He only had like 429088 consecutive error-free games...or something like that. Where is Lowell's, though?

Days I'm looking forward to:
11/12: Pedroia wins AL Rookie of the Year
11/13: Beckett wins the AL Cy Young
11/14: Lowell wins AL MVP

Yes, they will all win. Well, they SHOULD.

Can They All Be Like This?

Game's not over yet, but the current score of 13-1 tells me we won it.

Yo. Beckett is just incredible. The entire lineup is swinging the bat amazingly well. There is not a single flaw amongst them all!

Colorado was losing with the first pitch of the night, when Pedroia sent the ball over the Monster (well, on top of it, but at Fenway that's a HR). When stuff like that happens...you know it's gonna be a good game.

DP's leadoff home run. Chants of "DP! DP! DP!" were heard 'round the house.

"The Man"

I kind of feel bad for the pitchers. Not bad enough to want to see them pitch well, but bad nonetheless. I mean, look at Francis' face! I kind of want to hug him. Then thank him for doing such a mediocre job.

This one is just a cool picture.

Gagne can't believe he got through a whole inning without allowing a run. Neither can we.

The AL Pennant is Back Home

Five minutes ago, the only thing I remembered about winning the AL pennant last night was I was sick for the majority of the game.

With a little prodding though, I now recall Pedroia being incredibly awesome; Beckett getting the most deserved MVP award ever; 3 people holding up MVP signs when Lowell was up, thus proving I am not the only one who thinks Lowell is the AL MVP; Papelbon's excited/exuberant/a little scary face when Crisp caught that last ball; Matsuzaka doing better than I'd expected/hoped.

What a night.

That game literally had me ill for the most part, even though we always had the lead and I felt the whole day that we would win, it was still very uncomfortable to watch. Anything can happen in baseball. And when Okajima stayed in 2 batters longer than I wanted, I started feeling the sickness hard...and then Papelbon came in and I was 100% better. Where would we be without him?!

Actually, where would we be without everyone on this team? Ortiz and Manny were hot the first few games and when their production decreased a bit, the bottom half stepped it up and played great. This is a well-rounded team that totally deserves to be where they are now.

Next up, a World Series win. I don't think those Rockies stand a chance.

Now for the pictures!

Oh yeah, Millar was there in the beginning! What a great way to start the game.

I'm so glad to have this picture--we saw this sign last night and thought it was great. So many clever Boston fans!

A great one for those dumb towel-waving Cleveland people. The man holding the sign had a great line: "We're not a bunch of towel waving geeks..Don't wave a white towel unless you are surrendering."

I'm throwing this one in here just because Harold Reynolds is in it and I miss him!!

What the hell kind of Red Sox wife doesn't wear a Red Sox shirt?


See ya Wednesday!!

Josh Rules

If it wasn't official before, it is now: The Only hope we have left is Josh Beckett.

He pitched 8 wonderful innings last night to get us a win and put the series at 3 games to 2. Unfortunately, what that means is Beckett's game is over, and we have Schilling up next. Who was NOT that good during his last start. We really need him to pitch a good one to get us to Game 7, so if need be, Josh can come out of the bullpen.

But that bottom of the order? You all cannot get away with 0 or 1 hits all night! They need to improve the most, because we can't win without them coming through.

Boyfriend #3 had a good game last night (might I add, finally), with 2 hits, one of which was a double. It gets hard when your favorite player is not playing well...last night was a pleasant surprise.

And where were Boyfriends #1 and 2 yesterday? Playing each other! Boyfriend #2 beat #1, which I was not too happy about. But it was really close, and it was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC to watch them!!

P.S. In case it is not readily apparent, #1 is Juan Carlos Ferrero, #2 is Novak Djokovic, and #3 is Dustin Pedroia (if you didn't get #3, you should reconsider your fandom). Word to #2--lose the facial hair! PLEASE!

SO Impressive

Josh Beckett is the new MVP of the world.

He retired 19 batters in a row, only allowed 4 hits over 9 innings, threw 83 strikes in 108 pitches, and most important of all: the bullpen was not used.

He was just great. Impeccable. Amazing. Exactly what we needed. I cannot stress enough how awesome he was!

Offense was very helpful, with David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis contributing home runs and Lowell RBI-ing Manny Ramirez.

If this is how they play over the next month....watch out.

It's That Time of Year

Well, here we are. Regular season is over (except for those 2 suckers the Padres and Rockies) and we have the postseason to look forward to.

A List of Things:

1. Beckett is pitching Game 1. Which is fantastic and really important. I'd love a 3 game series and Beckett is the man to get us off to a winning start. Matsuzaka will pitch Game 2, hopefully he will do well and if not, Schilling can pick things up in Game 3. They'll all be fine, though.

2. I am somewhat depressed that we have to play the Angels. I LOVE Vlad Guerrero, but not as much as any Boston player! It will still suck to have to play against my second favorite team. But I will get over it :)

3. It's officially October! It's going to start getting cold (okay, maybe not where I live but definitely in Boston) and it's really going to start feeling like World Series time soon. I wish I was up in New England, because it's just not the same when you're hundreds of miles away!

Beckett's 20th Win

May I start off by asking what the hell the Sox did to make opposing pitchers want to hit them so much? We all know about Youkilis (and the Yankees) but tonight Hinske and Varitek got hit in the same inning! Then Ellsbury almost got hit in the 9th, and Pedroia did get hit! This is getting suspicious. We don't need anymore Youk-type injuries.

So Jacoby Ellsbury is definitely a new favorite. He ran into Boston's bullpen and over a chair, all to make a catch in foul territory that yes, he held on to. The Toronto commentators even said it was impressive, one of the best they've seen! Ellsbury and Pedroia, my two favorite players (remember the last 4 players I said that about were Bronson Arroyo, Mark Bellhorn, Alex Gonzalez aka The Gonz, and Trot Nixon...hopefully DP and JE will break the curse).

This is going to sound strange, but...the bullpen held a lead! Josh Beckett left after 6 fantastic innings, then Manny Delcarmen came in and pitched a 1-2-3 7th (2 strikeouts even).

Okay. 8th inning. Our new nemesis. A good start though, a solo Jason Varitek homer. But nothing else good for us. So who would guide us through the potential disaster known as the 8th inning? Delcarmen actually stayed in this time, unlike last time when he came out and Gagne killed it (in a bad, bad way). He got his first out, then as I'm witnessing Toronto's meltdown, they take him out! UHH, okay. Not what I would have done, but okay. Javier Lopez came in, got the second out, got the third out. Nice pitching, actually. You went against me, Francona, and it worked this time. Hopefully it will continue working.

3-run shot in the 9th from David Ortiz! He is "more dangerous than dynamite," said the Tampa Bay guy. Follow that up with a Lowell solo shot, 8-1, this one was over (even with Gagne pitching the 9th). Ortiz and Lugo gave Mike an excited hug in the dugout, how nice :) Brandon Moss hit the first triple of his career, which is very awesome.

And yeah, Toronto? I HATE YOU. Up 4-0 going into the 9th against the Yankees and the next thing I see, it's 4-4. HATE HATE HATE. It was single after single after single, and those add up. It wasn't bad enough you swept Boston, NOOO, you had to blow a 4-run lead against NY in the bottom of the 9th! Extra innings--at least they won. Took 'em 14 freaking innings and a large percentage of my sanity though!

Rant of the Day:
Many fans are saying "as long as we get the Wild Card..." To them, I say: Not good enough! Had we been in second place all year, yes, the WC would be fine. But getting it now, after we've basically been in first place all season...hell no, I do not accept the WC. Plus, the Wild Card is just not as legitimate, really. I want to win. I want first place in the AL East, and settling for the Wild Card is not in the gameplan.

A Fine Performance

Ooh, I sense another player to add to the favorites list. Ellsbury, in spite of his crazy first name (I know none of you agree with me on that one though), was pretty awesome today, and the only reason he was in the game was to replace Youkilis after he got hit. That kid is FAST, too.

So the game started off pretty dumb, with a Jeter home run in the first. However, we also scored in the first and it stayed 1-1 for a while. Until the 5th, when we grabbed a run, and in the 6th we got 3 more...

A beautiful 7th inning for the Sox, 5 walks and some RBIs for Coco, Ellsbury, and Lowell. We went from 5-1 to 9-1 and then...

the 8th inning.

We all remember what happened last night during the 8th inning?

This one was much better. Damon grounded out, (Jeter singled) Abreu struck out, A-Rod struck out. And Timlin was pitching! Our 8th was really nice, courtesy of an Eric Hinske HR.

And because it needs to be said, Josh Beckett was great tonight. Just great. A fantastic effort today, only gave up that one run, and is now 19-6. He is so our #1 guy.

I Approve of that Game

Today was a much, much better performance by our team. Beckett almost went all the way, he just couldn't get the last out. So instead of 6-0 it was 6-2 but a win is a win. The offense was pretty good, I remember a lot of doubles specifically from Lugo, Lowell (of course!), and Drew. I also remember David Ortiz striking out 3 times, but that is something I'd rather forget.

So Beckett went 8 and 2/3 innings, and Delcarmen came in to get the final out but he ended up walking the guy. So Papelbon had to come in and save the day, as usual. Again I ask, where would we be without him?

The Yanks are up 10-2, looks like we will stay 5 games up.

And Djokovic just took the first set from Nadal (well, on the tape he did anyway). Go Joky!!!! Juan Carlos Ferrero better start winning because he is facing some serious competition from Novak for the title of my favorite player!

A Loss is Never Good

Another loss. After the extra innings mess that went down yesterday, a win would have been nice -- but now they all have a few days to recover, as they don't play again until Thursday to start a series against Toronto. But not everyone...

"Following the game, Ramirez boarded principal owner John W. Henry's private plane, along with David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, on a flight to the West Coast."

Look at all those Sox players! Doing us proud.

P.S. My other tennis team won today and we are going to the playoffs. So at least one good thing happened today (in addition to Federer beating Nadal, of course. Too bad about that Djokovic kid, I really wanted to see him in the finals!).

The Right Way

Things are looking right again. Boston's winning, NY's losing, just how it's supposed to be. Beckett is leading the Majors with 11 wins, Ortiz and Manny are producing RBIs, and Papelbon is saving games. Oh, and Wakefield is being bad, but that just means things are normal (kidding -- he does sometimes throw good games. And of course, we know that when he's good, he's very good, and when he's bad...6-1 losses happen).

And here come the trade rumors: The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday that the Red Sox have become the front-runner in the crowded derby of teams trying to acquire left-handed starter Mark Buehrle.

The newspaper also reported that Allard Baird, who is assistant to the general manager for the Red Sox, was on hand for Buehrle's most recent start.

The White Sox have reportedly targeted Red Sox prospects Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie.

The past couple of years, Epstein has been reluctant to trade top prospects. However, as deep as Boston's farm system has become, there's a chance the Red Sox might be more open to dealing a highly rated Minor Leaguer this year.

That would be a great pick up, but there's so much talk about how good the prospects are, it makes me pretty hesitant; we may just be dealing 'em out only to watch 'em get really good.

Beckett Can Hit

The Red Sox are actually winning, but it's only the 7th inning so you know they can still blow it. Josh Beckett had an RBI double. Yes, I said Beckett. I wish I could WATCH THE GAMES and see stuff like this!!!

And Curt Schilling is apparently back in Boston to run some tests.. Oh no. Red Sox manager Terry Francona indicated that Schilling's right shoulder was the cause for concern. HEY that's the same thing that's wrong with me. Perhaps he has some impingement as well?

And just because he needs some positive press: Coco went 4-for-4 and belted two homers in Monday night's loss - the loss sucks but maybe Crisp is ready to break out.

I'm very uncomfortable with this 8 game lead. I want a 28 game lead. Tonight has to be the start of something good, because I feel an implosion coming on if it isn't.

That's What I Like

J.D. Drew just hit his second three-run home run of the game. PLEASE keep it up Mr. Drew!

Scary moment: Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitch on the wrist and was down for a while. He got up though and took his base, then Drew retaliated with his second HR. Nice team spirit!

9-1 lead, looks like Josh Beckett will be 9-0 after tonight. Niiice.

P.S. What the hell South Carolina baseball team? You all had a 6-0 lead with a grand slam in there and you lost 9-6? WHAT is that?!?

Never Leave a Red Sox Game Early

..because if you do, they will score 5 runs in the 8th inning. All on singles, too.

Something about Schilling I've noticed: he gets a little complacent when he's up in the score. He gives up runs when he's in the lead - Boston scores 1, he gives up 1 the next inning; Boston scores 3, he gives up 3 the next inning (which, okay, he didn't exactly do since he was replaced, but he had 3 earned runs there nonetheless). It is weird, but at least he never blew the lead.

Today's Game:
A not-so-great outing by Beckett, who left in the 5th due to a "finger contusion." Not this again! We do not need anymore blisters on this guy, as you all remember how many he had last year.

Some 9th inning excitement: Started out losing 5-0, got a run in (Coco reached then scored on an Ortiz double), then the bases were loaded with only one out (Ortiz at 3rd, Pena at 2nd after he singled, Drew at 1st after he was walked) - then our friend Chris Ray walked Youkilis for a run! And Varitek made it even better by RBI-doubling TWO runs! Ray intentionally walked Hinske to try for the double play, so Cora was up. I won't lie, I was nervous. So he hits it to Roberts, who throws home, and the umpire called Youkilis out but even the MASN guys said he was safe!

CONSPIRACY.

However, Julio Lugo (who made the first out of the inning) hit a crappy one that the pitcher managed to misplay that made Lugo safe and 2 runs were in and WE WON THE GAME!! And that means Beckett won't get a loss :)

6 runs in the bottom of the 9th to win 6-5. THAT is how we do!

What Got Into Them?

And they're back on track.

After what was apparently a very restful off day, the bats were HUGE tonight. Youkilis, Pedroia, Lowell, and Varitek each came through with home runs, and Lugo hit a double to grab an RBI. Final score? 9-2. Not to mention Beckett pitched 7 solid innings and only gave up one run. That makes him 7-0, which is just AWESOME.

And this Clemens business? That is why I never got excited about the possibility he'd come to Boston - because deep down, we all knew there was NO chance. I'm sure he thinks he can swoop into NY and be their pitching savior. Which...we'll see. But I'm thinking no.

A Good Win

Well, I guess they're all good wins. But this one was especially good after the late-inning mess that ruined last night's game.

Beckett is now 6-0 (thanks in large part to Boston's offense) as he only gave up 3 runs over 7 innings. It was a nice outing for him. Six and zero, people. This will be a good year.

Okajima was deservedly named AL Rookie of the Month. I keep thinking how strange it is that he is the big star to come out of Japan, but you know what? I think he is more important to have around than a guy who can only help out once every 5 days. I'm very happy that he is having success and definitely hope it continues in the future.

And now it is time to fall asleep to SportsCenter. Goodnight!

Yes Sir

Damn. Josh Beckett is ON.

Of course, he had a lot of help from his seriously Hot offense, who scored SIX runs in the first inning alone!

Getting back to Beckett, he allowed one earned run over 6 innings, which is fantastic. He has been really, really good thus far.

Ortiz hit a HR, his 4th of the year. Wily Mo Pena got in there today (he was 0-for-3, but had an outfield assist), Cora had a hit, and a lot of folks had RBI.

And on a more personal note.... I was trying to find the game on the radio at work this afternoon and came across the Virginia Tech tragedy. Almost all of the people that live where I live have Tech signs, flags, shirts, bumper stickers....I am incredibly saddened by this news and my thoughts are with everyone who has been affected, in any way. Very sad day.