It Took 13

It took 13 innings and a lucky error to beat the Orioles last night, and I of course fell asleep during the bottom of the 12th inning. It never fails.

What was I lucky enough to catch? Timlin loading the bases. Good thing he got out of that, because I was beginning to think they had resigned themselves to a loss by putting him in there.

Falling asleep also meant I missed that awesome barehanded catch/throw from Mike Lowell, meaning he really was the man of the hour. Though our bullpen did put on a great show as well! It was a good night all around for the city of Boston, with the Celtics pulling out a win to move to the Finals to (hopefully, please!) destroy the Lakers. Man, I hate those Lakers.

And hey, Ellsbury stole 3 bases last night! That is quite impressive.

Bad news is Matsuzaka is on the DL now. Made even worse when you look at his 8-0 record. We need that dude. No structural damage, thankfully!

French Open Update: Jelena Jankovic is safely through to the 4th round, as is Novak Djokovic. My main man Juan Carlos Ferrero exited early due to leg pain, I suppose. That is too bad, because he is one of like 2 men who beat Nadal this year on clay. Now it all hinges on Novak to win his second Major in a row...

Oops

Apparently we are still in preseason mode. Clearly I don't know what the hell is going on. :)

Next week?! I think I am correct in saying the next real game is April 1st. For the Sox, anyway--I think other teams play real games 3/30 and 3/31. But who cares about other teams?

Timlin is already on the disabled list and we are 2 games into the season. Of course.

On an unrelated note, all of my NCAA teams are losing. In the order of who I like the most, let's see:
1. Georgetown (lost in the 2nd round after they were winning)
2. Villanova (went out last night in bad form)
3. Texas A&M (out in round 2, lost to UCLA by 2 MF points)
4. West Virginia (lost by FOUR points)
5. Georgia (the little team that could, but really couldn't)
6. Texas (hey, one of my teams won!)
7. Oklahoma (again, 2nd round and out)
8. Tennessee (they made it to the Sweet 16, at least)

And Syracuse didn't even make it, but they blew a 22 point lead (NIT).
If I pick you, you will lose. My apologies.

A Sad Day for Me

News: Timlin will be back for another year, and Gagne declined the club's offer of salary arbitration. Aww.

But more importantly, this is one of the worst days ever. It's been 27 years since John Lennon died, and every year I think about how much better the world would be if he was still here. The ritual: mourn the pointlessness of his murder, cry for a while, think about what he would be doing if he was alive to witness...the state of this country and its leaders. He would not be silent. He would be making a difference.

So many people miss him. Wishing he is happy wherever he is...

World Series Game 3 (Emotional Rollercoaster)

12:56 am: Let me preface this by saying the following paragraphs were written at exactly the times/innings listed. So what I'm really saying is, I'm kind of psychic...

Pre-game: Jacoby Ellsbury (see, now that he has proven himself, I will bestow upon him the honor of calling him by his real name instead of Jacob) does the cutest starting lineup ever. Had to say that, because it's the truth. I think I've mentioned that I've decided he will be my second favorite player on the team, behind Pedroia of course. Love those rookies!

8:30 pm: Josh Fogg, in the regular season, was 10-9 with a 4.94 ERA. This should be good.

3rd inning: Same thing as the first: Ellsbury and Pedroia got on (JE with a double and DP with a bunt). In the 1st, the next 3 batters were out. This time, Ortiz hit an RBI double, Manny was IBB'd, Lowell hit a 2-RBI single, Drew was out, & Varitek hit a single that Manny tried to score on, but was called out at the plate. Boo. Anyway, Lugo walked and then Matsuzaka got a hit! Scored Lowell and Varitek to put us up 5-0. Ellsbury got ANOTHER double and that made it 6-0!

6th inning: Not so great. After 5 good innings, Matsuzaka got the boot after allowing 2 walks, then Javier Lopez came in and gave up an RBI single. He then proceeded to give up another RBI single. Lopez=not good. Timlin came in and Spilborghs hit one that Ellsbury caught at the very, very end of the field. So close and so good for us. Then Lugo caught a ball at the very top of his jump, it was pretty. Kept the lead safe.

11:40 pm: Timlin has started to suck. 2 batters faced, 2 men on. Perhaps it is time for him to make his exit? Yes! Okajima is coming in to stop the pain. FOX tried to jinx it by saying Okajima has allowed 0 runs in 9 2/3 innings and Papelbon has also allowed 0 runs in 7 2/3. Would it work? AHH YES IT WORKED HE GAVE UP A 3-RUN HR ON THE FIRST PITCH DAMN YOU FOX!!

12:12 am: ELLSBURY YOU WONDERFUL MAN! 4th hit of the night=another run to put it at 7-5! Pedroia!! Another hit for him to make it 9-5! Man, can I pick 'em or can I pick 'em?

9th inning: Lowell just stole 3rd base. How awesomely unexpected.
Bottom of 9th: 3 outs to go for a 3-0 lead..a deficit I don't think Colorado has a chance at overcoming. Easy out, easy out, triple (which one doesn't belong), easy out. So funny to see the depressed Rockies fans after they were cheering like crazy when it was 6-5.

12:58 am: So what did I mean by the psychic thing? Ellsbury and Pedroia had amazing games, Ellsbury especially, and I'm pretty sure I had everything to do with that by calling them out in the pre-game :)

LOVED the post-game interviews with JE and DP!

Let us all remember this day for what it really is: in 2004, Boston won the World Series on this day. So it was fantastic 3 years ago and pretty damn good in '07.

See you all tomorrow, on a night that could hold a World Series championship for the Sox..

This is Tim Wakefield

Sometimes you see the fake Wakefield, the one who pitches well.

Tonight, right now, I see the Real Wakefield....4 runs in the 2nd inning, with, most likely, more to come as the game goes on.

Don't be deceived...

Wakefield, like Timlin, has screwed up more often than I can forgive. They are going to have to have a pretty amazing final month if I am to ever have faith in them again...and Wakefield is off to a bad start with this game, and the one last Thursday.

Many Men Were Good

We sorely needed a win tonight and barring any crazy stupid hijinx, it looks like we will get one! Actually, Boston is one out away from a win, and after those two one-run losses, it is nice to get a big win.

Kason Gabbard started this evening, and yes I have my eye on that one. He is only 2.5 yrs older than me, after all. I might as well like him, he is wearing Bronson's number (but that golfing, fishing, and hunting thing might be a problem). And he just officially got the win. Timlin, Snyder, Lopez, and Okajima followed. You never know what you're gonna get when Mike is in the mix, but it ended well tonight.

Best moment of the night came from Eric Hinske -- a bases loaded triple will always win. Unless the game had a grand slam in it, then the triple has to take the backseat. Luckily for Hinske, he was the star for me tonight.

Keep it up now!

5 Out of 6

MAN David Ortiz can hit the ball! He killed one in the first inning to give us an early lead. Then that lead increased when Coco Crisp tripled and went home on a Cora RBI.

Then a 3-run Yankee HR, blah.

But then Alex Cora came through with a two-run shot! He sent Coco home in the process, he was on base because he got hit by a pitch :( Cora showed his skills again later in the 7th with a triple, and he did score on a sac fly to make it 5-3.

But that wasn't all the offense Boston had in store. Manny hit his 3rd home run of the year to put the Sox up 7-3 (Ortiz had singled earlier). So at this point I was relieved that despite NY's win yesterday, we would still win the series.

But Mike Timlin would not feel right if he didn't give up some runs. Jeter hit a solo HR off him, and really, who didn't know that was coming? He even let ABREU get a hit, who was 0-for-19 up until he faced Old Reliable. Of course, then the other Old Reliable grounded into a double play (who? A-Rod of course).

Papelbon came in to pitch the 9th and protect a 7-4 lead. Giambi led off with a double, which was most shocking. In more normal fashion, Matsui struck out, Posada grounded out, and Cano ended the game with another ground out. THAT is how Papelbon works. Minor mistake to Steroidface.

Another day, another beat-the-Yankees-fiesta. Tomorrow is an off day, and a series against Oakland begins Tuesday.

Now That's a Beating

The Boston Red Sox put on QUITE a show today.

14-3!

Pitching: Beckett pitched SEVEN innings and gave up ONE run. Could this be his year??

(Who gave up the other 2 runs? None other than Timlin. How many guesses did you need?)

Offense: RBI leaders for the day: Drew and Varitek, each with 3. You'd think with 14 runs there would have been a lot of home runs, but there was only 1, by Mr. Drew, and it came early (2nd inning). Youkilis was 3-for-5, Lugo was 2-for-2, and Pena came in late and got hit by a pitch. Bad luck for him, but I want more Wily Mo! I like that guy.

Here's the man of the day, J.D. Yes, he's wearing #7, yes, I wish it was still Trot Nixon's number, but yes, I am happy he is on the team and doing well.

Who Had a Good Night?

All the Red Sox players did! Schilling, Ortiz, Papelbon...they all had great nights. Ortiz had a 2-home run evening (contributing all 3 RBI), Schilling gave up one earned run in 7 strong innings, and Papelbon got the final 5 outs in dominant fashion.

Who had a bad night? The Rangers. Too bad.
The Yankees had a bad day courtesy of Baltimore, which was cool with me.

Timlin also had a good day, since he might be ready to pitch by Tuesday. What that means for us is yet to be determined, because who knows what kind of outings he will have.

Off day tomorrow, with Opening Day on Tuesday. Beckett vs. Seattle. Be there or be square. I, of course, will be working till forever, so I am very, very square.

Oh yeah, and congrats to Zach Johnson for winning the golf thing. I was watching it while I was cleaning, and while I wanted Rory Sabbatini to win, I was happy for Johnson. I kind of like watching golf. But only like 2 or 3 times a year, any more than that I can't do.