As Planned???

The Sox complete the sweep of the Angels and looked to be firing on all cylinders. They pitched extremely well, they had very good at-bats, and their fielding was flawless *(with the exception of Manny overrunning a line drive).

Now, they sit and wait until Friday when they will play Cleveland or NY. With the way that series is shaping up, one might think it will go five. Wang pitches for the Yankees tonight on three-days rest. Where is Mussina? Then, my guess, Pettitte in Game 5, if necessary.

What does that mean? Probably Phillip Hughes against Beckett in Game 1 (if the Yankees prevail) or Carmona against Beckett in Game 1.

Either way, let's hope this series goes 5...Although, with the way the Sox are playing, it might not matter who is pitching.

Would you have believed me if I told you in April.....

That we would watch a game in October, being called by Don Orsillo, in which JC Romero was the losing pitcher, and it eliminated Romero's team from the playoffs. We you have believed that none of us would have really cared that much?

HOLY CRAP WE ALMOST FORGOT

Today's the big day. Congrats Ben, wherever you may be.

Manny.

Sometimes I find myself wondering what things would be like had the big trade pre-2004 happened. We'd have A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez - this year's likely MVP and MVP runner up - in addition to David Ortiz. That would go down as one of the scariest lineups in history. And it'd probably also avoid some of the ridiculous soap opera BS (fueled by media and fans) we've endured much of for the last 3 seasons.

But I like this better:













Meanwhile, in New York, maybe Joel Sherman was right: Joba is a key player in this series.

At least the New York tabloid writers had a field day:
DOOM BUGGY...STUNG!...Tribe, bugs put bite on Yanks...Yanks victim of insecticide...Bombers in 0-2 hole after bugging out ... "termites in the bat rack, not Lake Erie midges" ... Joba Buggin' ... "here is a new Joba Rule: He is not lord of the flies" ... Now they're in a swarm of trouble ...
..."the eighth inning was a giant Midge-Stake by the Lake for the rookie right-hander"...SWAT'S UP...BUGGIN' OUT...could be zapped tomorrow...Reality Bites for Yanks..."they have a Perfect Swarm to thank"...Andy Pettitte's gem gets lost in the buzz...and the best/worst:

"A-Rod's October Gnat Happening"

Tension at the office

I'll take this break from the playoffs to note that in yesterday's ESPN Keith Law chat he made this comment on a potential Johan for Jose Reyes trade.


"That wasn't a rumor - it was something a writer made up and claimed made sense for both sides, which is true if you assume Omar has an IQ of 12. "

Interesting because that was from Buster Olney's blog only a few days earlier. I wonder what Keith and Buster will talk about the next time they run into each other at the water cooler in Bristol.

New thread

Given it's the playoffs, and the Red Sox are in said playoffs, we should probably be posting more. I'm of course the worst offender, as I seem to never have anything interesting to say (other than
"I'm going to the game!!!!! :) :) :) !!1!!" or "Josh Beckett is awesome!!!!"). X, the smart one, has a bad habit of introducing new interesting topics in the comments. So, here's a new thread, focusing on two burning questions I have:

1) What's the best first name in the playoffs - Ubaldo or Asdrubal?
2) Any predictions for tonight?

(My answers, in no particular order, are "5-4 Sox" and "Asdrubal".)

So, uh...

...I just found out I'm going to the game tonight. My work has season tickets that we share; I won the Game 1 lottery. Which is weird because I never win anything.

Holy crap. Hopefully tonight will extend my Sox-Angels playoff game record to 2-0.

Update: In comments, GR correctly pointed out the obnoxiousness of this post. Sorry about that - I was a bit in shock. If it helps, I'll be traveling for work outside the US for every other playoff game, so will only read about the results.

Greatest Game Ever

I know the memory is so fresh and it will take some time to see where this one falls out.....

But I am really going to have to think about this game last night and where it ranks. Seriously top 5. Game 7 2001, Game 6 1975. I think the Mazeroski game might make the list, but I didn't see that one obviously. Game 7 of the 91 series (Morris shutout). Both game 6s in the LCS of 1986 - the Hendersen HR and the Mets 16 inning game (after tying in the 9th).

This was even better than the Dave Roberts game since the Sox were down 3-0. If they win that game and then lose game 5 or even game 6, that steal/game is really just a footnote. Should the Rockies win the WS or even just get there, I think this game will grow in "importance."

Rotation is Set

Beckett in Game 1, Daisuke in Game 2, and Schill in Game 3. Wake in the pen...

That means Schilling will have a ton of time in between starts.

Also, Lester had two solid innings in relief yesterday...I wonder if that is in the plans?

Not to Scream Over Small Things, but...

Tom Singer of MLB.com wrote the following about the Red Sox and Angels:

"Both teams may regard this as the biggest obstacle to the World Series: The Red Sox went 5-2 against Cleveland and see so much of the Yankees, they're always willing to take their chances with them; and the Angels held their own while splitting 10 games with the Indians, and always like their karma against the Bombers."

A couple of small points to make here. One, both teams are whole-heartedly focused on this series because it doesn't matter if you don't make it out. Two, the Indians are playing much better ball than the Angels right now, and probably the Sox. Three, I am not sure the Angels or the Sox don't view the Yankees as the biggest hurdle, especially the Sox (losing a large portion of the last 10 games against them). The Sox are "always willing to take their chances with" the Yankees? I don't think they're scared, but my guess is they'd rather go LAA, Cleveland on the road to the Series than have to play the Yankees...

I know it is Tom's job to drum up interest in this post-season matchup. The rest of his article is interesting, but just took it a little too far...