Pretty Cool

The Sox officially announced today that Bartolo Colon (who was saddled with shoulder woes in 2005 and elbow problems last year) has signed a Minor League contract and will report to camp on Tuesday. I think this is a good deal.

Why?

Because I have heard of him! So he must be good!

Then again, I had heard of Eric Gagne before he signed with us, so....maybe not such a good sign after all.

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?!

Oh, Gagne

I am sure Eric Gagne is a very nice man.

I bet he is a lot of things, actually: maybe he can cook, maybe he's a really good dad, maybe he does a lot of charity work..

But I know one thing he can't do: close games. Wait, close games in a GOOD way.

It's a 6-6 game. Each team has played really well, actually, clawing their way back whenever they've been down. Papelbon has pitched more than he's pitched at any one time the whole season. Who is left in the bullpen? Eric Gagne, Javier Lopez, and Jon Lester. Who is the one man you don't pick in a 6-6 game in the 11th inning? Gagne. Who did Francona pick? Gagne.

He got one out, and I was thinking maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him. Then Grady Sizemore swung his bat and from there, everything came crashing down. By the time Lopez came in to relieve Gagne, it was way, WAY too late.

I don't know. I feel bad for him, since he knows that every time the fans see him come in, we know we're gonna lose. He must feel like crap right now, I'm sure it isn't easy being called on in the 11th, knowing you haven't been throwing your best stuff for months now. But something has to happen to make him the way he used to be. He's like the Alex Rodriguez of Boston: get in a must-win situation for a major team in the playoffs and he chokes.

One thing I did NOT like last night: the booing. People, I know he sucked and he blew the game but you must not boo! That is certainly not how fans react to struggling players (and yes, I realize he's been struggling since he came to Boston), and the booing DOES NOT HELP.

By the way, Curt Schilling was so not great last night. A better outing from him would have gone a long way. The 3-run HR, that we could have done without. And I don't want to overlook Ortiz' hustle to get to 1st, followed by a Manny home run and a Lowell home run that without, we wouldn't have even gone to extra innings. So kudos to them, sorry it ended the way it did. And they were all so happy until the end...

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.

WHAT IS GOING ON

What the hell is wrong with our team? ANOTHER 8th inning loss? I need to go over a few things:

Terry Francona, what the hell. PLEASE hire me or somebody else as your pitching consultant, because obviously you and the people around you suck. Gagne should have been taken out after he gave up the single. At that point, he had 2 outs, walked a guy, then the single happened. After that all went down, I would have said to you, "Francona, I think it's time Gagne comes out."
TF: "But I want to show him I have confidence in him."
L: "But it's the 8th inning of a 2-1 game."
TF: "He can do it."
L: "The Yankees already won today."
TF: "I know...but I think he can do it, it's only one more out."
L: "IT'S THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER AND WE ARE ONLY UP 3.5 GAMES YOU DON'T SCREW AROUND!!!"

So, as expected, Gagne walked another man to load the bases. I look away (okay closed my eyes I was tired) and when I look again, it's a 3-0 count! WHY WAS HE STILL IN?? And he walked in a run! And he gave up a 2-run single that ended the inning, but only because Toronto got greedy and stupid and tried to score another run.

Can anyone tell me why he was still in the game after the first single? Goddamn Tavarez would have done a better job!

The E# is still 9. We are only up 2.5 games. Red Sox fans all over are resigning themselves to the fate of another Wild Card year.

And life is bad for us fans.

These Men are Good

Wakefield is so lucky! He gives up 7 earned runs and we're down 8-1, and now?

Up 14-9!

THAT is why they're my favorite team -- they are never out of a game.

Wait...solo shots by Ortiz and Drew to make it 16. Just when you think it can't get any better...

Err...Gagne. 9th inning. You'd think a 7-run lead would be safe...and you'd think right. But if it had been a 1-run game, we'd be in extra innings right now.

P.S. Happy birthday Jacoby (Jacob) Ellsbury...hitting a home run on your birthday is not bad.

Welcome to Boston

Umm...NO. Bases loaded with one out, tie game, 6th inning. Ortiz hits what appears to be a sac fly, but suddenly we see slow Mirabelli out at the plate!

Coco Crisp just made a fantastic catch in center field, holy crap. I just forgot how mad I am at Mirabelli because of how great that catch was.

Okay, Doug, you made up for that prior out. An RBI single to put us back on top works for me! More runs to follow -- courtesy of who? Dustin Pedroia, of course. That man makes me really, really happy.

So today we got the unveiling of our newest player, none other than Eric Gagne. And he started off right: strikeout! Then another strikeout! Then a strange hit, a ground-rule double as Lowell and Cora let the ball bounce in front of them. It was weird, and nothing I got too mad over. But Manny caught the next one and the game ended in Boston's favor. As they all should!