Bye Bye Bay

It finally happened--J-Bay is gone. Going to NY--but the Mets, so it's okay. We like the Mets.

I was kinda mad when I read he took a 4-year deal (when he was so miffed the Sox would only give him 4 years) but there is some option for a 5th year, so we're square again. His offense will be missed, as we don't really have anyone to take his place, but hopefully we won't need as much offense because the pitching will be so great? Hey, I'm trying!

I will miss Bay. He was a solid guy who didn't piss us all off (hrmm...) and tried hard every day. So I'm glad he is going to a team I like. And hey, maybe the Mets will be good again one day. We can dream, right?

Kind of a Big One

THIS is why finals are bad: I miss huge news like this until 6 hours later:

Red Sox, Lackey agree to five-year deal

KINDA big. From mlb.com,

In 2009, Lackey went 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA, making 27 starts. He helped the Angels advance to Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. In fact, Lackey pitched a gem against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Division Series, firing 7 1/3 shutout innings.

Umm...ignore that last sentence.

$85 million. That means...Jason Bay is gone? That money would have been his salary?

Sadness. But hey, pitching is what we need and now--Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey. Sounds good.

Can we add Roy Halladay to that too? Because that would be freaking awesome. Sounds like he's going to the Phillies, though. At least it's not NY, right!

Sounds Like Bay Won't Be Back

Somebody must hate us because Jason Bay appears to be heading out of Boston. From Gordon Edes:
Jason Bay turned down the latest contract offer from the Boston Red Sox and was prepared to "move on. " "We don't agree with their evaluation of the player. Frankly, we have other offers on the table that are of greater interest to Jason," agent Joe Urbon confirmed to ESPNBoston.com on Saturday. The Red Sox have no intention of offering Bay a five-year deal, the source said. If another team -- perhaps the Mets -- elects to do so, the Red Sox assume Bay will leave Boston. "If another club offers him five years, my guess is he'll take it in the next few days,'' the source said.

.....

What?

That WAS what I was Hoping For!

Boston was really pissed yesterday, and they showed it with a frickin awesome 14-1 win over the Yanks. Youkilis, Pedroia, Martinez, Ortiz, Bay--they all had an awesome game and Youk even hit 2 home runs. They scored 13 out of their 14 runs with 2 outs!

And Tazawa? After complaining about Red Sox pitching yesterday, this guy made me unbelievably happy by throwing 6 shutout innings and even though he let some NYers get on, he never let them cross home plate. It was a great outing indeed.

And....this dude is my new favorite Yankee :)

So, let's talk negatives for a moment. The game was on FOX. So Tim McCarver talked (and went on for a good 10 minutes about his poorly hidden Derek Jeter love) nonsense, including these gems: "Tazawa's stuff is nowhere NEAR as good as A.J. Burnett's"--as Boston is up 7-0 against Burnett. He also tried to sound smart by saying the Food and Drug Act was passed in, what, 1906? Umm...I don't know where he was going with that, actually. But my favorite idiot saying came from his partner, Kenny Albert (what, no Joe Buck? What a shame...), when he said this, IN THE FIRST INNING: "Red Sox scoring all three of their runs in this inning."

I hate FOX!

I Love Sweeping NY

Another sweep of the Yankees by the Red Sox? Pretty awesome. I am getting very used to this feeling of domination, and I like it.

Who had a good game? Pedroia, of course (did you catch his interview on E:60 this evening?), and Jason Bay, who hit a 3-run home run in the 1st inning to immediately annoy the Yanks. My favorite part was the Yankees announcer, "He's on the track..leaps...see ya! A 3-run home run for Jason Bay! An awful start for Joba and the Yankees as the Red Sox lead 4 nothing!" He just sounded so into it. He then went on to say what an "outstanding play" Mike Lowell made in the 3rd....this announcer (Michael Kay? I'm so sad I know that) isn't so annoying when you only have to hear clips of him.

So next up is Cleveland, but the series I am really interested is this weekend's against TB. The Red Sox need to get some revenge against them, and since I'll be able to watch 2 of the games, I think it's a good time to do that.

Who Steals Home?

What a series! I have been out of town (but watching the games of course!) and then my Internet was all sorts of messed up when I got back today, but now here I am, in the middle of a new game, to discuss Red Sox v. Yankees Part 1 '09.

What was the highlight of the 3-game series that Boston swept? Was it Jason Bay's 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th on Friday to tie the game (off Mariano Rivera, no less)? Or was it Youkilis' walkoff HR in the bottom of the 11th to win it? How about Jason Varitek's grand slam on Saturday to make it a 6-5 ballgame? Ellsbury's solo shot to tie it at 6 apiece? No, no, it was none of those amazing moments. It was in yesterday's game, when Jacoby Ellsbury STOLE HOME out of nowhere! So awesome. It was, as ESPN pointed out, the first time a Boston player stole home in 10 years. Definitely something you don't see everyday.

So the Red Sox have swept 3 teams in a row, won 10 games in a row, and they're still 1 game out of first place? Hopefully after they sweep Cleveland, first place will be ours.

From Way Down to Feeling Great

Because I can actually watch this game, I might just do a streaming post:

7:12: The TV is on mute (as I am studying, blah) and I look up and see these new sharp red home jerseys. I wonder out loud to myself if these are new (because I am a little slow at times), unmute the TV and the Orioles announcers are discussing the debut of the new red jerseys. I think I am psychic (clearly).

7:14: First Oriole is a strikeout. This is a good sign!

7:15: And the next dude gets a hit. Strike that last comment.

7:27: I just noticed Youkilis's stupid chin-eating beard is back. Yuck.

7:40: Brad Penny just walked the last 2 guys and successfully walked in a run to put the O's up 1-0 WITH NO OUTS. UGH. It is not good when your starting pitcher already sucks in the 2nd inning. At least Mike Lowell can make awesome plays. 1 out. Brian Roberts just got a hit, 2-0. This is Crap. B.P. (interesting initials, considering he is making my BP rise) pitched well last time, what gives.

7:46: Walked in another run! You can hear the Fenway boos from miles away. I feel bad for him, actually, but I am still frustrated nonetheless.

7:47: GRAND SLAM SON OF A BITCH

7:55: Hey, something good! Jason Bay hit a 2-run HR! It's something, people, gotta dig away at this huge lead. 7-2.

8:02. Ellsbury hits a "single" in between 3 Orioles, RBI! 7-3.

8:09: Pedroia hauled ass to get a single, bases loaded with 1 out. Ortiz RBIs, 2 outs though. 7-4.

8:26: HR J.D. Drew! 7-5!

8:53: I left the room to make dinner, somehow the O's have 8. F.

9:06: J.D. Drew hit a triple to center, I love it. What will Jason Bay do? Walk! Mike Lowell? Walk! Jason Varitek? Lucky error for him, run in! Nick Green? Hits one waaaay back, 2 runs in, tie game!! Woo hoo!!!

9:40: Youkilis just got nailed in the head. The pitcher looked very concerned so I can't be mad...and he's up walking to first base. Guess he's okay, but I'm sure we'll hear more about it tomorrow. Maybe it shook Baez (O's pitcher) up because he just walked Drew to load the bases with one out!

9:46: Sac fly! We are winning!

9:48: Lowell-RBI single! 10-8!

10:24: Boston is really having to work the bullpen tonight, but they are doing a great job. We've seen Delcarmen, Lopez (who walked a guy and gave up a single and was promptly yanked, haha. Guess they learned their lesson with him), Ramirez, and Okajima just got the last 2 O's of the 8th inning.

10:45: There's the Papelbon we love! I cannot believe they just came back from 7-0 down to win 10-8. Amazing.

My guess is they won because I wore my Sox visor all day. Just a theory. I'll be wearing it all day tomorrow too, though!

Huh?

Okay, I know the season only started last week, but this:

Toronto 6-2
Baltimore 5-2
TB 4-3
NY 3-4
Boston 2-5

is a little confusing.

As for last night's game....eek. As I often complain, I don't get NESN, so unless they show a game on ESPN, I don't get to watch it. So I end up "watching" games on Gameday. Gameday is great, but when it reads "Jason Giambi doubles to left field. Run scores," it's not really telling the whole truth, is it? Maybe it should read, "Jason Bay attempts a silly dive move and ends up letting Jason Giambi have his RBI, injuring his own wrist in the process." I should ask mlb.com to let me author GameDay, I could make it so much more interesting.

Anyway, Lester is now 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. Youkilis did good last night but no one else did.

It seems that this is Boston's worst start in 13 years. And probably one of Toronto's best--what is up with that?

A Very Entertaining Game!

That was a pretty awesome game....for Jason Bay! Brad Penny did pretty good, he only gave up 3 runs over 6 innings. Papelbon....oh, Papelbon.

Wait, let me start at the beginning-ish.

The Angels scored in the first inning, which is never a good sign. They scored again in the 3rd inning, so Boston is down 2-0. Nothing is happening for Boston until the 5th inning when Mike Lowell hit a 2-run home run to tie the game at 2 apiece. Bottom of the inning=another LA run. Down again.

So, Jason Bay. He was definitely the MVP of the game. He made this amazing catch, bobbling the ball and catching it down near the ground, it was pretty great. I'm sure the video will be on redsox.com soon. He also hit a 2-run home run in the 7th inning to put Boston up 4-3, then he hits ANOTHER home run in the 9th to make it 5-3! And things are looking good.

So in comes Papelbon, ready for his 2nd save of the season, and the man immediately gives up a home run! Not cool. Okay, still up 5-4. That last Bay HR is looking nice. So anyway, this is what Papelbon proceeded to do after the home run:
Double
Out #1
Walk
Out #2
Walk (bases loaded!)
Out #3 after Howie Kendrick fouled off SEVEN pitches in a row.

Way to make us sweat, Paps.

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??

What a Nice Surprise!

I looked away for 5 minutes and Boston went from being down 3-2 to being up 4-3!

If this score stays the same (only one more inning), first place will be ours again.

Jason Bay, you are so awesome!

I Have Accepted It

Okay, how much fun was Jason Bay's first AB yesterday with Boston?

(I've come to see the light with the Manny trade. Bay's performance yesterday helped.)

Everyone was cheering, signs were everywhere (how about that 'Thanks Manny but it's a new Bay' sign?!)....I wonder how Manny took that.

I will always miss Manny, but I guess this is just part of baseball. Like when Bronson Arroyo left, and Mark Bellhorn left, and way back when my former-favorite-Sox Shea Hillenbrand left. Whatever happened to him, by the way?

But anyway, the show must go on. I'm okay with it now. Manny wanted to go and we got a good young guy to take his place. A good young guy that will most likely be holding a nice trophy come October.

P.S. Looks like Youkilis and Bay have become fast friends! Loved Youk's reaction when Bay came home in the 12th.