Hate to Say I Told You So But.......

BOSTON 1 (25-21) LOST 3
TORONTO 8 (26-21)
I think if you look back a few posts when the Yankess where sucking the big one you will see that I was talking about how I wish the Sox were winning more games and building a bigger lead on the damn Yankees. Now it's few week later. The Yankees can't seem to lose and the Sox have a pretty hard time winning. After hanging out in second place for almost the whole season we are no in 4th place with only the damn Devil Rays behind us. What the hell is going on?
Last nights game was yet another pitching stinker. Wade Miller got rocked for 6 runs in the first inning and only lasted until the Second. When your down 6-0 after the bottom of the first it is hard to come back. We had little to no offense and the game was never in doubt for the Jays. The only time we threatened was when we loaded the bases in the 6th with one out. Take a wild guess what happened next? You guessed it, Payton hit into a double play. Rally/Game Over.
We got swept in Toronto.
We are in fourth place for the first time at this point in the season since 1997.
Schilling sounds like he won't be back until after the All Star Break.
Foulke is making mysterious trips to Alabama that may or may not involve having his shoulder looked at.
Manny is cold.
The pitching that was serving us so well a week ago has fallen apart.
The boys just look lethargic and crappy. There doesn't really seem to be much of a spark.
To top it all off we are headed into a three game series with the RED HOT Yankees in the Bronx. To say my hopes aren't high for the weekend would be an understatement.
Wakefield takes the mound for us tonight. He usually has his best stuff against the Yankees but he has definitely not looked all that hot in his recent days. We'll see.
We need some good wins, that's for sure. The media in Boston is definitely circling.
After a three week stint in the Bronx we go home to face the league leading Orioles for 4 game set.
If we aren't careful a week from now we could easily be ten games back from the Orioles and 4 games behind the Yankees. Of course if things go well we could be back in second place and nipping at the O's heals. Only time will tell. The road has not been good to us at all this year so getting back to Fenway will be a very good thing.
I am getting a little nervous. Have I metioned how stressful this whole following the whole season is?
I would like to post a picture but I can't seem to make this Hello thing work. Bummer.
God I hope the Red Sox can get it together for this weekend.
GO RED SOX!!!!

Don't Look Now

BOSTON-1 (25-20) LOST 2

TORONTO-6 (25-21)

Don't look now but the Yankees are a half game behind us after we had another pretty crappy ass game last night. We were never really in it after Brosno hit the first batter of the game. We looked like crap.
If we lose tonight we will go into the weekend series with the Yankees in 4th place with only Tampa Bay in our rear view mirror. That is not ok in my book.
Someone has finally stepped up and said the boys need to get their act together. Johnny Damon had some good things to say.

"We need to win [Thursday]," Damon said about the series finale against the Blue Jays, who have taken the first two games of this three-game set. "It's a must-win. We need to get back to that stage where every game is a must-win instead of saying, 'Oh, we'll be OK,' because it's a different year. We need to start looking at every game like we have to win."
FROM MLB.COM

I don't like the mediocre Red Sox. I like the good Red Sox. It will be very good for the team to get back to Fenway next week.
Hey it could be worse. We could be the Astros (Trisha's Favorite Team). They really suck.
I like Canada. I just wish the Red Sox would play better there then they have this year.
GO RED SOX!!!!!

OH CANADA

BOSTON-6 (25-19) LOST 1

TORONTO-9 (24-21)

I hate losing. It stinks. A lot.

Wells didn’t do so hot, the bullpen did even worse.

We are starting to have the look of a team who likes to play mediocre baseball. ICK.
LOB-4 Not so bad.

GO RED SOX!

The Tomahawk Chop Should Be Banned

ATLANTA 3 (23-18)

BOSTON 4 (24-17) WON 1

The first venture of the season into inter-leauge play was a very good one for the Sox. Wade Miller pitched a great game and got the win. Foulke tried his hardest to give it away but managed to get the save. I like winning so much better then losing. Have I mentioned that?

New state line to watch for the season-Men Left on Base-8.

ATLANTA 7 (24-18)

BOSTON 5 (24-18) LOST 1

I like winning, I don’t like losing. Tim Wakefiled just didn’t really have it tonight and the Braves just kept building a bigger and bigger lead. We made a good effort of it towards the end and even had the game tieing run at the plat in the ninth but it didn’t work out and we got the loss. The same problem we have been having recently was in full force tonight. We put lots of men on base but didn’t really seem to want them to score.

LOB-10

ATLANTA 2 (24-19)

BOSTON 5 (25-18) WON 1

Matt Clement was bloody great today as he pitched the first complete game for the Sox all season. Except for a little hiccup in the 4^th inning he really pitched a gem. Seven strikeouts, 4 hits, and 2 runs. A very nice outing to say the least. In the early part of the game it really seemed like we were in for the same old same old. We put lots of people on base but couldn’t seem to get them to score. Edgar “I really suck balls” Renteria struck out with bases loaded and two outs in the 2^nd. The Braves where able to get there first and second guys they put on base to score. If only we could do that sometimes. Then the offensese got it in gear. Youk started it all off with a clutch RBI. Manny had a nice two run shot later in the game which was good seeing as he has been struggling quite a bit here recently. It was an all around good game. We wore the Sunday afternoon Red home jerseys, which were very cool. They are very bright though.

Today was an off day then it is off to Toronto for a three game set. This weekend the boys are playing here in NYC. Would love to go to a game but it is not really an option.

The LCT softball team had to forfeit last week cause we couldn’t scrounge together enough folks to play. I was sad.

The 2005 X-Box team continues to play well. I think they are like 52-21 or something like that. Not a ton of offense but enough to get by and a bunch of really great pitching.

GO RED SOX!!!!!

Wells Throws a Piece of Crap

BOSTON 6 (23-17) LOST 1
OAKLAND 13 (16-24)

No your eyes are not tricking you. After two innings it was 9-0. That is fing awful. David Wells came off the DL and lasted a whole 1 1/3 inning giving up 7 earned runs on 9 hits. He looked awful. It was a dismal game.

That’s really all I have to say about that. It was pathetic.

GO RED SOX!!

Did I mention that the west coast is far away?

BOSTON 7 (23-16) WON 1

OAKLAND 5 (15-24)

I like winning much better then losing. Thanks to the much mocked Edgar Renteria we won last night. For a while it really looked like it was going to be another one of those nights of missed oppurtunites. People left on base and just not scoring runs when we had the chance. Then in the 8^th that all change. Renteria came in with the bases loaded and hit a single to the outfield. It looked like a single that would score a run or two but there was an error on the play and three runs scored. He got a triple on the play. He ended up scoring as well to give us the final tally. A win is good, especially since those damn Yankees keep winning. Damn them.

I got to tell you, the NESN guys make me laugh. They are funny. When things get slow they just start talking about random stuff left and right. Last night Extra Innings cut away for a commercial but we stayed with the game and the guys. They were making jokes about how good they both smelled and how good they looked. It was very funny. They have there little wally doll who is there mascot. Early in the year there was a whole big thing about how they needed to get him a ring. So they did. Then one night it fell out of the booth into the netting below. They were able to fish it out with a stick but it was a pretty fun little scene.

Guess that’s all I have to say for now. The boys are getting spanked something fierce this afternoon. Looks like a 2-4 road trip. No good.

GO RED SOX!

The West Coast is Far Away

This whole following the Red Sox on a daily basis could get VERY VERY frustrating. You only need to read the first line of that last entry then see the box scores I am about to put in. Dammit all. This has not been a good start to this west coast trip at all. When we started the series against the Mariners they had lost something like 8 in a row and the same with the A’s. We managed to fix that for them.

BOSTON 7 (21-14) LOST 1

SEATTLE 14 (14-21)

The boys got there first major ass kicking of the year on this Friday night event. The young inexperienced pitching staff came back and bit us in the ass. Gonzalez, Halama, and Meredith all got rocked. We lost by a touchdown. Losing by a touchdown in baseball is not good. Not good at all.

BOSTON 6 (22-14) WON 1

SEATTLE 3 (14-22)

God Bless Trot Nixon, God Bless him. With the sox down 3-1 in the 7^th the bases were loaded. Manny came up and struck out. Two outs, bases loaded and here comes Trot Nixon. One Grand Slam latter and the boys are on top and manage to hang on for the win. Foulke even came on and got the save. These late night games really suck. I managed to watch most of this game online while playing poker. I like the fact that Trot also wears one dirty ass hat, just like me! He never cleans that thing. I remember last year in the World Series when everyone else was wearing there shiny new hats with the World Series patches and he had the patch sewn on to his dirty ass hat. It was funny. He also has the most pine tar on his helmet, well maybe he is tied with Manny for that one. Renteria continues to be one big ass disappointment. SI listed him as one of the free agent duds of the last offseason.

BOSTON 4 (22-15) LOST 1

SEATTLE 5 (15-22)

And we lose again. I thought for sure we would sweep this series or at least win in 2-1 but instead we lost the series. God Dammit. It was a history making day as Manny hit his 400^th homer with a three run shot in the 5^th. But that was the only real highlight of the day. The boys once again had chances to get the win but just couldn’t come through. Wakefield had a pretty mediocre day. He seems to struggle with the Mariners. I tried to watch part of the game because it was a nice Sunday afternoon tilt. The problem was the Seattle TV guys were the most boring I have ever heard. There would be these long moments of just silence. Then they would say a few words follwed by more silence. It was very boring and very conducive to a nice nap. This F’ed up west coast trip has made it hard for me to watch a game all the way through. I don’t like it when the sox lose. I am a much bigger fan of winning.

BOSTON 4 (22-16) LOST 2

OAKLAND 6 (15-23)

The flipping A’s, we lost to the flippin A’s. Not only did we lose to the A’s but we left 13 MEN ON BASE. Included in that was having the bases loaded with NO outs in the 4^th inning. Bellhorn stuck out, Damon struck out. And Edgar “I really suck balls” Renteria hit a harmless pop fly to center. At that point we had a two run lead but I turned to the game off because I could just tell that it was going to be one of those nights where we don’t convert on our chances. Low and behold that’s what happened. Ortiz managed to tie the game up in the 7^th only to have the bullpen blow it. One of the sad parts of the game was the winning single was by a guy who was called up from the minors on Saturday. Argggggghhhhhhh. I really don’t understand why we have Mike Myers in the bullpen. I feel like that is a position that could be better used. He is a left handed side arm pitcher who really only pitches against left handed batters. Last night he faced two batters which is the most I have seen him face all year. Usually he comes in for just one batter. I really don’t get that. Don’t get it at all. It really irks me when he comes in to face two batters and gives up two hits. No good.

So we swept the A’s at home and they had lost 8 in a row and they beat us. Not only did they beat us but they beat us in a game we should have won.

Don’t look now but the crappy ass Yankees are on a tear and have won 9 in a row. They are winning the games they should be winning and we aren’t. We should have won Sunday afternoon and last night and we lost both. That sucks.

We are still hanging out in second place and losing ground to the O’s and the Yankees are creeping up. Look at our road record, that sucks. It doesn’t suck as bad as the D-Rays though!

Word on the street in that Wells might come back and pitch on Wednesday. Here’s to hoping.

GO RED SOX!

Walk off Homer #2

OAKLAND 5 (14-20)

BOSTON 6 (21-13) WON 3

Yes sir, the Sox are looking good these days. For the second day in a row the boys won with a walk off two run homerun in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Clement pitched a good game only to get screwed over by Keith Foulke who gave up 4 RUNS in the top of the ninth. That was topped off by a two out, two strike home run that drove in the go ahead run. Things didn’t look good for the sox but then Varitek came through with the clutch home run that sent Fenway into yet another tizzie. Manny also had a two run home run on the day and Damon continues to have the hot bat.

It’s just great that they are able to come back from such a crappy ass top of the ninth to win the game. The team’s got spirit and they don’t give up. If we can keep playing like this it could be a damn good year.

The team is off to the west coast for two series, one with the Mariners and one with the A’s. It is like a repeat of this last week except it is on the west coast. That makes the games really hard to watch which is very unfortunate.

We had another softball game yesterday, not our finest outing to say the least. We played the producers who are loaded with people who can play really good softball. It was a little ridclious. I had an OK day at first base. Missed two grounders that I could have had. Most of the time I wasn’t really getting to do anything though cause they would hit the balls eight miles away. We had a lot of error’s. Ick. I was 1-3 at the plate with one nice single into the outfield. I struck out once which was no good. Batting is hard.

Sadly the Yankees have put together a five game win streak. On Thursday they were down 5-0 after the top of the first and managed to come back and time the game at 5 in the bottom of the first. How can you do that? Then they won 13-9. Damn Yankees. We play them again in a couple of weeks.

GO RED SOX!

Walk Off Homer #1

OAKLAND 2 (14-19)

BOSTON 3 (20-13) WON 2

A very exciting game last night, very exciting. For the most part the Red Sox were baffled by the A’s pitching. Until the ninth inning Damon had three hits and Renteria one. Kevin Millar was playing pretty sloppy at first base. He had two errors that both led to runs. But he made up for it in the ninth. With the Sox down 2-1 Manny struck out looking and Big Pappi walked. Millar steps to the plate and hits the fourth pitch over the Green Monster for the win. The first walk off win of the year for the Sox. Fenway was jumping to say the least. Things just seem to be going the Sox ways these days. Bronson pitched another good game only giving up three hits. He hasn’t lost a start since sometime last July or something like that. He didn’t get the win last night but still pitched great. Damon is on some kinda tear having hit in 16 straight games and getting many multiple hit games. Manny and Papi didn’t look so great but hey these things happen. Papi hit into two really ending double plays. You can’t hit big every day.

We’re gaining ground on the O’s. 1.5 games back. The Yankees have won a few in a row. Damn. The great thing is how well the pitching staff is doing when the first two pitchers of our lineup are out. I wish we had a few less errors in the games but hopefully that will improve. Today we go for the sweep with a nice afternoon matinee. That means I get to watch it at work! Yeah.

GO RED SOX!

Seattle and Oakland come to Fenway

Missed a few games cause it was the weekend. Yesterday I should have updated but I was so focused on going to the DMB concert that I just forgot. Got to see DMB at Roseland, which was very very cool. It rocked. They released a new album today which is very neat. It is different then there old stuff and I like it. It is all new which is another plus.

So here’s what’s going on in Red Sox land.

SEATTLE 2 (12-17)

BOSTON 7 (17-12) WON 4

Another win, the fourth one on a row! Didn’t get to see this game as I was on a little journey to DC. Big Pappi had a another big night and Matt Clement got the win. I like this winning stuff, it is great.

The Yankees blew it again tonight. They were in the 10^th when Tino Martinez had two errors in the same play giving Oakland the lead.

Saturday’s game was rained out so Sunday was a double header.

SEATTLE 3 (12-18)

BOSTON 6 (18-12) WON 5

Another day another win. The wind was blowing something fierce at Fenway today and there were three different shots that would have been homerun’s on any other day but that got batted down by the wind. Gonzalez had another solid outing for the Sox. These guys filling in while Schilling and Wells are gone are doing a great job.

SEATTLE 6 (13-18)

BOSTON 4 (18-13) LOST 1

We lost the second part of the double header. Wade Miller made his debut as a Red Sox and pitched pretty well. He got hosed when he was replaced by a rookie name Meredith Clae who loaded the bases on walks then gave up a grand slam. It was a very nasty day at Fenway. The grand slam got blown around like crazy in the wind and it kept the ball in play. These things happen.

OAKLAND 5 (14-18)

BOSTON 13 (19-13) WON 1

Well the first game in the series with the A’s was another win for the Sox. They got A LOT of help from the A’s as nine of the runs were unearned. The A’s had a lot of errors. Wakefield got another win. Manny got beaned in the head in the first inning and had to leave the game. He got hit by a pitch on Sunday too. Poor guy. Thankfully he had his big ass nappy dreads to pad the blow from the ball last night.

The Sox have looked pretty good the last week. We are six games over .500 which is nice. The pitching has gotten better and we are definitely not having any problems hitting the ball. We should be able to keep the winning up. After this series with the A’s we go out west to play the Mariners again and then Oakland again. Hopefully we can keep winning these series and maybe even sweep one or two. Those games out west are going to drive me crazy because they will be so late.

GO RED SOX!

Yanks get pounded by D-Rays

The Yankees lost again to the D-Rays. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. The fans are getting pissed. Yesterday was Cinco De Mayo. The headline in the past today was Stinko-De-Mayo. Funny. I like it when the Yankees suck. Could this really be the year when the Yankees suck for the whole year and don’t make the playoffs? Now that would be priceless.

GO RED SOX!

Two More Wins

BOSTON 4 (15-12) WON 2

DETROIT 3 (12-4)

Another win for the Sox. I like it, I like it a lot. Tim Wakefield gets the win and Keith Foulke had a nice performance for the save. Manny made a great through that ended up getting the go ahead run out in the 6^th or 7^th inning. The Kevin Youkalis hit the go ahead RBI in the 8^th. Good Stuff boys, keep it up. Meanwhile the Yankees continue to look like chumps dropping another one to the D-Rays. In the words of that bully guy from the Simpsons (Nelson I think?), HA-HA!

The boys played a nice Thursday afternoon game today. Always a bonus cause it makes the time go by at work as I watch the game online.

BOSTON 2 (16-12) WON 3

DETROIT 1 (12-15)

What do ya know? Another win! Yeah! Hooray! Bronson Arroyo pitched a great game. He had a no hitter through the middle of the 6^th. The only run he gave up was on a homerun. Then in the top of the ninth Big Papi hit a double to center that scored Trot Nixon from first. Keith Foulke came in for the bottom of the ninth and got the Tigers to go down 1-2-3, all on pop-ups. Would have like a few more runs off 12 hits but hey, you can’t get everything you want. A good all around outing for the Sox, most importantly our third win in a row. Four games over .500 is nice too. Did I mention that the Yankees are sucking big time? They are.

The LCT softball team started the regular season today with a win over Rent. We lost all three pre-season games so this was our first win. We needed extra innings to get the win but hey it still counts. We got screwed by the ump several times which was not very cool. He said I bobbled a ball that would have been the third out which was not the case. They went on two get two more runs that inning. I was a little annoyed. Not my best day at the plate. I went 1-3 with a walk. I was up with runners on second and third and nobody out in extra innings. I hit a hard line drive to the third baseman. Bummer. Next time. I really should hit the batting cage sometime and work on my hitting. Had a pretty good day at first base making a couple of good grabs. I like our little softball outings. They are fun. I just wish I could so more with the bat.

Back to Fenway for the Sox and a weekend series with Seatlle.

GO RED SOX!

Texas Series and Part of the Detroit Series

I had to spend a day at home with the cat and then I went to Virginia for a while. So I missed a few games in the old diary.

BOSTON 2 (11-11)

TEXAS 7 (12-12)

No offense=No win. Three hits for the game, not good. Wakefield did not look so hot either. .500 ball club, bummer.

BOSTON 9 (12-11)

TEXAS 2 (12-13)

Look MA, offense. 3 HR’s in the game including back to back by Damon and Nixon. Winning is much more fun then losing. Arroyo looked good again. Was able to catch pieces of this game. I like offense.

BOSTON 6 (13-11)

TEXAS 5 (12-14)

We won 2 in a row! Although Foulke tried his hardest to give this one away in the ninth we still managed to pull it out. Double digit hits for the second night in a row and Clement gets the win.

BOSTON 3 (13-12)

DETROIT 8 (12-12)

We left 13 men on base in this one, yes that’s right 13. We were something like 2 for a zillion with runners in scoring position. No good, no good at all. Jermi Gonzalez came up from Pawtucket to fill a hole in our pitching rotation and did pretty well. It was tied at 3 when he left the game. Then the bullpen had another fantastic evening and we lost again. I guess we don’t want to stray to far away from the .500 mark, that might scare too many folks. This is a game we should have definitely won and did not. Left way too many men on base, way to many. The crowds at Detroit suck. This was the smallest crowd to see the Sox play all season.

BOSTON 5 (14-12)

DETROIT (12-13)

Last night we were able to convert with the bases loaded, something we lacked the night before. Doug Mirrabelli was DH’ing and he hit a nice grand slam in the 5^th. That pretty much put the game out of reach. John Halama got his first start for the Sox and did his job. Timlin did great coming out of the bullpen which was very nice. This one looked like it was going to be a blow out as we came out swinging in the first inning but we only managed to get one run. Their pitcher was actually able to pitch out of quite a few jams. Foulke came in and gave up a HR to his first batter but was able to settle down after that and get the save. Renteria had the two errors for the Sox, both of which were just botched plays. It was a good win.

In other league news the O’s and the Jays are beating each other up this week. The O’s had won 7 in a row coming into the series but dropped the first two. They are the two teams that are ahead of us in the division. The Yankees continue to look like piles of shit as they got pummeled by the D-Rays last night. They gave up 6 runs in the first inning. Ha Ha. To make it even better I guess this weekend was supposed to be free hat day but someone stole most of their hats, like 50,000 of them. Ha ha. I just wish that we could win some more of the games that we should be winning and build more of a lead on them. With the Yankees no lead in the division is safe. I’m sure they will come around at some point.

Two more games with Detroit, then back to Fenway. GO RED SOX!!!

On a side note I had a very nice trip back to VA. I always forget how pretty it is down there and I miss seeing that every day. I gotta get out of NYC

I hate losing

BALTIMORE 11 (14-7) WP JULIO
BOSTON 8 (11-10) LP/BS FOULKE

We gave up 20 hits last night, yes 20. And we lost again. The saddest part about it is that we had an 8-3 lead. Usually with the Sox and a 5 run lead I feel pretty good about our chances. Not so this year though. Foulke came on in the 8^th with an 8-7 Sox lead. First batter got a single. Next batter hit a HR and the Sox were down 9-8. A couple batters later it was 11-8 after he gave up ANOTHER 2 Run HR. TWO-TWO RUN HR’S IN ONE INNNING WHEN YOU ARE THE CLOSER IS NOT OK! Matt Clement didn’t really look so hot as the starter either giving up a bunch of hits and runs.

I missed the first 5 innings of the game last night as Trisha and I were at the vet visiting Taba. She is doing much better; she even rolled around a bit so we could rub her on her belly. We will be picking her up to bring her home tonight at 5pm. Very exciting. So when we left the vet it was 8-6 (I had Trisha call her sister to get the score) and when I got home it was 8-7. Watched the last few innings, which was not fun.

Manny had another good game with a big 3 run HR and Damon continues to hit well. I was also not too please with out two errors. We seem to be getting a lot of those this year.

I don’t like losing. I know it’s early and all that stuff but I am not to thrilled about the last few games. Sure the Sunday Devil Rays game was good but we lost two to them before that. Then we lost two to the Orioles. All the while looking like a very mediocre baseball team at the same time. We are only one game over .500 which is not so hot either. The O’s have a 3 game lead on us and the Yankees are now only a game and a half behind us. They smoked the Angels last night 12-4 and fag-rod had a 10 RBI game. This is all starting to look very familiar.

The O’s should be a team that contends this year. They are pretty damn good.

Couple other off the field things going on that make me nervous. Wells is on the 15day DL but is probably out at least a month. They bought up Lenny DiNardo from the minors to cover for him. They moved Halama into the starting rotation and DiNardo is another reliever. Today we hear that Schilling is also going to go onto the 15day DL.

That puts our two “aces” out of the starting lineup. No good. No good at all. We’ll see tomorrow what kind of shuffling goes on now.

We are supposed to play the O’s in the last game of the series today. It was a 1:05 start but it has been delayed because of the rain. I am not very optimistic that they will get it in at all. Getting swept would not be good. It is also been blacked out on MLB.TV because it is on ESPN. That is a bummer. Now I’ll have to go backstage or something if I want to watch it and that sucks.

We need some pitching help in a major way. This is our slowest start since 1999. Boo Sad.

LET’S GO RED SOX!

UPDATE-Sadly today’s game was rained out. It looks flat out nasty in Boston. I thought maybe they would try and play it tonight or maybe tomorrow (since both teams are off) but that doesn’t seem to be the case. So now the next game is on Friday at Texas. That seems very far away. Two full days without some Sox baseball. Bummer. Maybe they’ll figure out what to do with the pitching situation on the two days off.

The Begining

So I’m reading the book that Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan wrote about the 2004 Red Sox season so I decided to do my own little version. Ya see, I never really liked baseball until this year. But then all the hockey players decided that they didn’t make enough money so there was no hockey. Usually about this time of the year I am completely engrossed by the NHL playoffs and it’s all I ever watch or follow. I am also usually gearing up to go to Williamstown (where I would spend the summers working as the PM) and I don’t really have the time to follow baseball.
There is also the fact that I never really found baseball all that exciting, in fact I used to think it was pretty damn boring. I would show some interest in September then watch the playoffs but I was nowhere near what you would call and every day fan. I’m not really sure what happened to change my mind about that but all of the sudden I am kinda a complete freak about it. I think that part of it is that my work at the moment is not exactly crazy busy. I am used to being so busy it ain’t even funny at this time of the year. When I was doing WTF I would be busy all the damn time. Now I have a “real” job at LCT and I sit in my little cubicle 8 hours a day. Sadly there is really not a lot going on at the moment so the Red Sox have become my way of passing the time.
DISCLAIMER-I just want to point out that I am not a bandwagon Sox fan. There are many fans out there who have liked and followed the Sox for much longer then I have but I have been following them for a couple of years. I started to follow the Sox after I spent three years in Boston going to school (1999-2001). I loved Boston and had a great time there. In fact I often wish I could go back there. Sadly enough I am living in NYC at the moment and see those damn Yankee fans all the time. In a bit of irony I moved to a new apartment in December and I can now walk to Yankee stadium. I actually went to a game with Trisha and Carny, but I’ll tell you about that some other day.
So that’s how I became a Sox fan. Sadly I never went to a game when I was there for various reasons. I did get to go to Fenway last summer. It was a grand time. We had cool seats on the right field roof and got the see Schilling pitch.
I think my addiction to EA MVP Baseball 2006 on X-Box has added to my freakish addiction at the moment. To help with my addiction I have a subscription to MLB.TV and I also just got Extra Innings. So now I can watch almost every Red Sox game! Very exciting stuff, especially since I live in NYC. I’m hoping to have a nice long weekend and get up to Boston for a game or two this summer. Ohh, and I am playing Fantasy Baseball as well. My team, Frank and His Tanks, are doing ok. We had a slow start as I tried to figure out what the hell I was doing. Wakefield and Manny are my big point getters. I tried to have an all Red Sox team but I couldn’t afford it. Damn Salary Caps.
So I have a very long and slow summer at work ahead of me so I am going to do this little thing to keep me entertained. Maybe I’ll even do that whole Blog thing, we’ll see.
Hopefully the Sox can win the whole thing again. That would be cool. Then maybe someone will want to publish this, and I’ll be rich! YIPEEEEEEE! Keep dreaming there Chris.

Let’s see what I can do to make this a cool little thing.

And away we go………………………………

A Recap of the early season

The Sox opened up in the Bronx for three games. The lost the first two then won the last. The last game was exciting. The rest were not so much. I wish the Sox could win every game. The first game was also the first game of the season for MLB. There was lot’s of hoopla about the first Sox trip to Yankee Stadium after last years choke of epic proportions by the Yankees. The first team ever to go up in a series 3-0 then lose in 7 games. HA. I like it when the Yankees get beat/choke/suck/ do anything bad. I don’t like it when the Yankees win.

After that was a three game set in Toronto. The Sox again lost two of three. I think the boys just wanted to get home. The last game featured a nice ninth inning rally but it just wasn’t enough.

2-4 after the road trip, not the best start ever.

Then it was time for the first game of the year at Fenway, and it was against the Yankees. This was the day the Sox got their rings and there was a big hour-long ceremony to celebrate winning the series. Then the Sox won the game. It was a good day. They took 2 out of three from the Yankees in the series. That puts the season series at 3-3 for the year.

After that the Devil Rays came to town and we swept them. That was exciting. Also the first weekend I had Extra Innings at home. Wicked exciting stuff. Then we hosted Toronto for a short two game set. The first game was the Patriots day game played at 11am. It was a good offensive showing by the Sox and an ok game for Schilling in his second game back. Good thing we had a lot of runs cause he gave up quite a few. Manny had two home runs, which was sweet. We lost the second game after the bullpen blew a great game played by Arroyo. The bullpen has been suspect for most of the early part of the season. Even Foulke hasn’t looked that good.

After that it was off to Baltimore for another two game set. Coming into the series the Orioles where on fire. They had swept the Yankees the weekend before and were putting up crazy offensive numbers. The Sox got great pitching performances from Clement and Wells and won both games. They didn’t allow the Orioles to score any runs either.

The last part of the road trip was a trip to Tamap Bay. How does the scheduling get done that we end up playing the same teams over and over in the first few weeks? Very weird. Anyway. We went down to Tampa Bay and didn’t look to hot. The first game was tied in the Top of the ninth when Embree got rocked on his first pitch for a walk off home run. Saturday night Schilling looked like crap and we lost again. The highlight(s) of the game as two homeruns by Ortiz that he hit like 53 miles. Losing two the Devil Rays is not ok in my book. Sunday we got on the winning track with the help of a big grand slam from Jay Payton. Manny also hit a monster shot. There was also two bench clearing brawls. Fun stuff.

So as I start this little thing the Sox are 11-8. Looking ok at times and kinda mediocre at others. The bullpen doesn’t make me feel so great but our starting pitching has been pretty good. I like watching the Sox play baseball this year. It is fun.

LAST NIGHTS GAME

BALTIMORE 8 (17-7) WP-CHEN

BOSTON 4 (13-11) LP-WELLS

Sadly for various reasons I haven’t really been able to watch most of the games since last Friday. Trisha’s kitty cat Taba (aka the princess) had to go to the kitty ER early on Friday with some complications relating to her diabetes. She was in pretty bad shape. So we have spent most of the evenings since then at the hospital visiting her. So I’ve missed watching a few games. Here’s an interesting little tidbit though. Since we got Extra Innings every game that I have watched the Sox have won, everything that I missed they have lost. I think I need to watch more games.

I missed most of last night’s game while I was at the hospital. Wells did not pitch very well (he got the loss and is now 2-3) and had to leave the game after he hurt his foot. This was the first time we have given up a run in the first inning all year. The bullpen did a pretty good job holding things at bay after Wells left but there just wasn’t a lot of offense for the Sox. It was a weird lineup as well. Manny was the DH so he could rest a sore quad. Big Pappi played first and Kevin Millar played LF. Nixon was out because of the left-handed pitcher (Chen) for the Orioles. Bill Mueller is still out with the flu so Vasquez played third again. The Orioles offense that I was worried about last week showed up this week and hit the ball all over the place. Damon had another good night going 3-3 and getting on base every time he came to the plate. Tek hit another home run.

Wells injury doesn’t seem to bad and hopefully he’ll be ready for his next start. Mantei (one of the relief pitchers) also twisted his ankle but it doesn’t seem to be serious. The two errors are not good but I didn’t see the game so I’m not sure what happened. I think one was Ortiz’s fault. This was his first time at 1B all year.

The O’s are in first place and we are in second 2 games back. We play them again tonight and hopefully the outcome will be in our favor. Clement is pitching for us. Looks like I’ll be journeying to the kitty hospital again tonight so hopefully the jinx of the Sox losing games that I don’t watch will not continue.

The Yankees are not playing all that great this season. Sadly we can’t seem to build a big lead on them. When they lose we lose and when they win we win. I wish we had won some of the close games that we lost so that we could be building a bigger lead. Ohh well.

In other news my first year dynasty of the Sox on X-Box is going very well. After a mixed start the Sox have been on fire for the month of May. We won 15 in a row and something like 21 of the last 23. I had to make a few moves after injuries hurt the team. Bill Mueller is out for the year and I sadly released Youkalis and can’t seem to get him back. So Vasquez is my third baseman. I picked up Tony Womack from the Yankees and he and Bellhorn rotate at second. Womack is also pretty fast and is a good pinch runner late in the game. My offense struggle at times (I wish I could get extra points for hitting the ball right where the defenders are…over and over and over again) but that’s ok because my pitching it top notch. Through 50 something games we have allowed only 70 something runs. Tek is my HR leader.

Even after winning all 21 of the last 23 I am only 4 games ahead of the Yankees. Bummer. Would really like to pick up another third baseman (or find Youkalis) but everything is going well. Hitting is hard, but that’s life I guess. X-Box is fun.

Until tomorrow, LET”S GO RED SOX!