Last half

Yesterday's game was number 82, meaning it technically kicked off the second half of the season. The first half went well, with the Sox 46-35; on pace for 92 wins, good but not great. (The Other Sox are on pace for 110 wins, and will still get 97 if they play .500 ball the rest of the way.) But you have to wonder how many wins Boston would have if Foulke and Embree had been good. Or even "bad but not terrible". My guess, based on absolutely nothing, is 51 or so. Sox are third-from-last in the AL in team ERA, with 4.84 (beating out KC and TB, by quite a bit). Spot Embree and Foulke ERA's of 5.00, and the team ERA drops to 4.44; it's still high, but such a change makes a huge difference for a team that scores 5.56 runs a game.

But now it's the second half. Foulke is gone for a while, and hopefully when he comes back he'll be either a great setup/mopup man, or better yet, Keith Foulke (2004 edition). I'm not sure we'll ever see Embree pitch for the Sox again (watch him pitch 3 innings tonight). Changes to the bullpen are coming very soon, and so hopefully the second half will be better than the first.

Nice evaluation of the First Half, looking at each player individually, over at Boston Blood Sox.

The First Game of the Rest of the Season was encouraging, with a 7-4 win over the Rangers. Wakefield pitched 8 strong innings; Timlin needed just 6 pitches for the 3-out save (when was the last time we saw something like that?). All 6 pitches were for strikes, and one of the outs was by a nice catch by Damon. Hopefully he's not hurt. All the offense was via the Long Ball, with a 1-run HR by Mueller, a 2-run HR by Ortiz, and a 4-run HR (known to some as a "Grand Slam", after the Denny's breakfast) by Manny. His 20th career GS, putting him just three back of the all-time leader, Lou Gehrig. He watched the ball for a really long time -- Remy thought it was because he didn't think it was going out but I'm not so sure. Grandstanding aside...if it had stayed in the park, but was dropped by Matthews, he would have been held at first. Please, Manny, at least jog!

Tonight is Clement vs. Park. Clement is looking to bounce back from his worst start of the season. A win would be nice...because, you know, wins are better than losses. Also, Sox have dropped the last 2 series against good teams, and let's not make that a 3-series streak.

Vote Posednik 2005.

Last to know

They say the parents are the last to know. Funny how fools like us can obviously see something is wrong with Foulke. Seems clear now - hell if a guy is looking curve and catches a fastball and pounds it, he probably is not tipped - exactly what the Grievster says. You can "catch up" to a change. So the injury is more likely.

And it conitnues a trend. One that pisses me off. Mantei was hiding an ankle injury for a month according to the paper yesterday. Now I know that these guys love to compete and don't want to admit to weakness, etc, etc. But you really have to wonder where do you draw the line.

And I get even more worried thinking about one Curtis Montague Schilling. Hopefully he/we/they have all learned their lessons on not rushing back/pitching through pain. He almost cost us the ALCS last year, before he heroically saved us in the same series.

You know earlier I had posted that the Bombers may make a run at Bret Boone. What about the Sox? Its not like our second baseman is the second coming of Brian Roberts. Sure we poo-pooed the idea of making a run at Biggio (at least Andrew and I did), but that was when we would have had to give up something. But if Boone clears waivers, we would get him for 1/2 the minimum or about $160K. Seems like that might be worth the chance?

Oh, thank Theo

Foulke is going to be out for a while, getting his knees MRI'd. I'm assuming it's a legitimate concern, rather than some Phantom Injury, but at this point...who cares? This from Tito:

"He'll never turn the ball down. He'll take the ball every day. So I need to step in and say, 'No, you won't. We're going to get you looked at.' And I think he's OK with that. I think he actually appreciated it."

I was tempted to quote him a little out of context, to project my (and most of RSN's) feelings:

"He'll take the ball every day. So I need to step in and say, 'No, you won't.'"

I Thought We Had It Tough

In an earlier post I wrote about the Sox tough run in July...Take a look at the Yankees's schedule...

Orioles (1 more game)
Cleveland 4
Boston 4
Texas 3
LAA 4
Min 3
LAA 4

Meanwhile Sox July (remaining)
Texas 2
Balt 4
Yankees 4
TB 3
CWS 4
TB 3
MIN 3 (games at Fenway)

If we can add a few games to our lead during this stretch we should do very well in August with 6 games against KC, 6 against Detroit, and 3 TB.

Hubris

For the USA Day (USA) matchup against the Rangers, the Sox played well enough to win, but got Foulked again; this time he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, getting only one out, and the Sox lost 5-6. Foulke's ERA in save situations is now well above 10, and this must stop. That really ought to be the last save situation we see him in for a long time. I won't say more on this, since I've posted plenty, starting over 2 months ago. Please, Theo, do something.

Eight days ago, June 26: Sox had won 12 of their last 13, catapulting them into first place. The CHB announced "The 2005 Red Sox are going to win the AL East", and even went so far as to say "don't worry about jinxing them".

Well, we all know what happened. Since then they have dropped 5 of 7, six of which were at home. Sox remain in 1st, but only because the Orioles have lost 10 of 14; meanwhile the Yanks and of course Blue Jays have both gained a few games in that time. As fun as it is to blame CHB for everything, it's not just him: all of RSN was feeling pretty great then -- pick any Sox blog to the right and check out what was written on June 26-27 (one exception is GrieveRules, who expressed concerns after just the first loss). Barely one week later, it feels like a different team, or a different season. It's obviously not -- it's just 5 losses, 2 of which made glaringly obvious a problem which is now probably about to be fixed -- but it's crazy what a single rough patch can do to your mind.

...of course, it's only baseball. Hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks. Happy 4th!

...more like PIECE OF CRAP Corral!!!

Another ugly game that I (thankfully) missed. Arroyo pitched very well (3ER in 8IP), but the offense couldn't get the Big Hit when they needed it.

A random note about the bullpen. Timlin, without doubt the anchor of the bullpen so far, has inherited 18 runners; most of them (11 to be exact) scored. Most of those who scored were put on base by Embree.

HBO

I just saw that HBO will be doing a one-hour special on Mickey Mantle. Shocking. Amazing. And even more shocking, it will include commentary by Bob Costas. I'm sure Bill Crystal will be on as well

Costas will spout on and on about how Mickey was the greatest player that ever lived, that no statistic can capture his greatness, a true american icon, the symbol of baseball itself. We will hear the word mythology. And hero and tales of them sneaking radios into their classroom or skipping school to catch a Yankee game. we will also hear "tragic hero." Because the Mick had failings also - and those failings helped Costas/Crystal realize that life can be cruel sometimes. Yeah right.

I can't wait until 2010 and when we have the retrospective to Yankee Stadium as they tear it down to make room for the New (New) Yankee Stadium. All the usual crap will come out once again.

Well mark your calendar for July 13....

Cha-ching!

Despite a shaky start, David Wells pitched pretty well, for his best outing against the Jays this season; he would've closed out the 7th having given up 4ER, had a 3rd strike not been called a ball and a rookie second-base umpire not overstepped his authoritay and tossed him for...um... turning his back from the home plate umpire? I dunno. Anyway, Tito also got tossed, by the first-base umpire. Sox were down by 4, but won by 2, thanks to runs scored in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th; highlights included a bases-loaded smash by Mueller for a (grrr) ground rule double, and a 2-run shot by Manny. Bullpen continued to scare, though no runs were surrendered.

Today the Sox try to improve their record against the BJ's to 4-7. Bronson Arroyo versus Roy Halladay. Media and blogger types like to call him Doc Halladay. Seriously, does anyone in baseball actually call him "Doc"? Does he like the title/nickname? The Original Doc Holiday actually had a doctorate, having graduated from dental school back in 1872. Despite his reputation as a gunslinger, he practiced dentistry throughout the entirety of his short adulthood, dying of TB in 1887, at the age of 36. One of Holiday's "close friends" was a prostitute by the name of "Big Nose Kate". They had a falling out, when she drunkenly signed an affadavit saying he was guilty of stagecoach robbery; this led to the whole OK Corral thing. Maybe this was all in "Tombstone" and so I am the only person not to know any of it.

Anyway, Roy Halladay's real name is "Harry Leroy Halladay". I like that more than "Doc".

Canadia Day!!!

Looking at my calendar, I just learned that yesterday was Canada Day (Canada). I especially like the clarification; presumably this is so us Amuricans don't just all go take the day off in honor of our friendly neighbors to the north.

Strangely, however, yesterday was a work holiday. Since Southern California does not share a border with Canadia, I can only assume the purpose was really to give people a four-day holiday, with U.S.A. Day (U.S.A.) coming up. So I only spent a couple hours at work, to take advantage of Happy Hour(s). The bar we went to did not have a feed of the Sox game, which was good because it would've ruined my nice afternoon.

I have nothing to say about that game. Ugly. Hopefully it was a just a Ted Lilly thing and/or a Canadia Day gift to the Blue Jays, and the Sox aren't going into a funk...like their recent 1-3 record might suggest. Wunderkind Gustavo Chacin vs. Grossermann David Wells tonight.

For more info on Canadia Day, click here.
For more info on Canadia, click here.
For more info on what living in Canadia can do to you, click here.

Why I Hate Deion Sanders

It's not as off-topic as it seems. Last night on Outside the Lines, presumably because of Kenny Rogers's recent act of self-defense from the menacing camera that was trying to hurt him -- they focused on the adversarial relationship between sports stars and the media. They showed all the usual clips -- The Big Unit's inauspicious arrival in New York, Ryan Leaf going berserk as his career is going to the toilet, Bobby Bonilla threatening Bob Klapisch, Barry Bonds just about any day of his life, etc. And then they showed the Braves locker room after the 1992 NLCS. Deion Sanders had gotten word that Tim McCarver had made some on-air comments criticizing his being a two-sport player, and was pissed. I can't remember (nor can I find) exactly what McCarver said, though I am sure it was obnoxious and condescending and all about how the Game of Baseball Should Be Played, because after all, it's friggin' Tim McCarver. What I can't understand is why some athletes get so incredibly pissy, and seem unable to recognize that the media is a big part of the reason they get paid millions of dollars for playing games. Seriously, if someone from the media is being really obnoxious, and it happens all the time, how hard is it to turn the other cheek, or just say "interview over"? Turning back to Kenny Rogers for a moment, they should "Know when to walk away". Anyway, Deion apparently thought the next line in the song was "Know when to dump a cooler full of ice water on Tim McCarver's head" and so did just that. And so you have Tim McCarver, soaking wet and freezing, coming up with a rather lame (though spot-on) comeback, "You're a real man, Deion. A real man!" as Deion bravely storms off. All on live TV. Everyone (including perhaps my least favorite player of all time, David Justice) there is smiling or laughing -- probably at Deion and/or the whole ridiculousness of the thing, but it must've seemed at the time it was at McCarver. Every time I see that, I find myself feeling really bad for McCarver. Not because I like him -- I don't, at all, and actually in theory the whole thing should've been quite funny -- but because Deion acted like such a baby, a spoiled brat, and a coward. He made me feel bad for friggin' Tim McCarver. And that is why I Hate Deion Sanders.

Now, Jim Everett attacking Jim Rome -- now that's awesome. I can watch that over and over again and it doesn't get old.