Breslow called up

Just saw this and wondered if Foulkie is pissed. Pretty much tells you what you need to know about the Sox confidence in Foulke. I'm sure they will spin it as "wanting a lefty" in the pen, blah blah blah.

The Challenge?

Ok, so I may ruffle a few feathers, but stick with me here. I am not accusing anyone of anything, I just want to do some research...and I am looking for some help.

The Sox only have 3 hitters who are over the .270 on the road. Most are well below that mark. Manny, Ortiz, and Lowell are the three.

At home, the only 2 regulars NOT over .270 are Varitek and Lowell. In fact, Youkilis (.324), Loretta (.339), Pena (.363), Manny (.356), Gonzalez (.338), Nixon (.338), Crisp (.315), and Cora (.339) are all over .300!!!

Now I know that there is a home-field advantage thing. But how is this really possible for everyone? It's not like they are all pounding the green monster enough to have averages 60-70 (and sometimes more) higher.

Mike Lowell, by the way, is the only hitter on the Sox OVER .300 on the road and does not do well (.254) at Fenway.

So, why did I call this post "The Challenge"? The challenge is to come up with viable reasons for an entire team crushing at home, and being generally below average on the road, at the plate.

For the life of me, I can only think of one or two possible reasons for some improvement, but not improvement at this level...Sleeping at home and not in a hotel room. Having extended series at home without traveling. The monster (may help a little...certainly Lowell's grand slam yesterday is not a home run in most parks, rather a fly ball). But what else? What are some other theories? Of course, other teams have claimed the Sox have a camera somewhere, but I think that is weak...For the most part, once pitchers decide on what pitch to throw, even if the dugout can whistle or clap or yell or whatever, the pitch is being thrown and there isn't enough time to adjust.

Carl Pavano meet Ozzie Guillen

Looks like some "sensitivity training" is in store for Mr. Pavano:

"Carl Pavano was involved in a verbal dispute with a fan at his rehab outing in Tampa on Thursday night, during which he made an off-color remark alluding to the fan's sexual orientation, according to sources."

Piling on......

While waiting for baseball season to resume.

As far as anybody can ascertain — and the records go back to 1900, considered the start of the modern era of baseball — Arroyo is the first pitcher in major-league history to win nine games in a season and then make 10 straight starts without winning a 10th game.

Monkey Woman

Well, since there's no baseball on tonight, and none on all weekend for that matter, I think it's time to start profiling some of the superhero wannabes. Just eliminated last night was Monkey Woman, who uses high-tech gadgets which are shaped like bananas (too easy); also, she lets out a high-pitched monkey-scream (ditto). She was eliminated because she revealed she was an actress when earlier she had said she was an investor - since truthfulness is an important part of being a superhero, she was kicked off. Seems sort of bogus to me - they all seem to be actors of some sort (I'll discuss that later). This particular actress is named Mary Votova; she has an official site, with about seven thousand headshots. (Featuring: the hot bookworm! The hippie! The adventurer! The dork! The chain-smoking slut!)

As should be the case for any respectable superhero, there is an Official Monkey Woman Website. Click here for the detailed, illustrated story of her origin. Apparently, in Episode 2 (which I missed - I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD set "Who Wants to be a Superhero: the Complete Series") she endured 2 wild dogs biting her for like 3 hours or something, which is awesome.

I miss you, Monkey Woman!

Holy. Fucking, Shit.

WOW. That was...bad. I imagine everyone's going to go apeshit over why Francona didn't pull Schilling earlier. Note to anyone who does: it's pretty fucking obvious. Start paying more attention. (Oops, there I go again, misdirecting my anger at stupid fans, when it really should be directed at the pathetic level of play on the field.)

Anyway, that's enough Red Sox for a while. For the next several weeks I think I'm going to focus on something much more exciting, and something I can actually root for: this.

...I, for one, cannot believe that Monkey Woman and Ty'veculus got eliminated on the same episode. I really mean it when I say: Holy Fucking Shit.

Low(ell) expectations

Seeing Mike Lowell hit the first half of this season was a pleasant surprise to all of us - it really seemed he was back to his pre-2005 form. But after a hot 1st half (BA/OBP/SLG: .307/.359/.516), he's seriously cooled down (.200/.258/.350). Now everyone's saying he's reverting to "2005 form".

Not quite true. He's still pretty much in his pre-2005 form. Problem is, his pre-2005 form consistently involved massive slumps after the All-Star break:

2004: pre-ASB .305/.384/.571; post-ASB .277/.341/.423
2003: pre-ASB .275/.351/.586; post-ASB .281/.348/.388
2002: pre-ASB .311/.374/.527; post-ASB .232/.308/.398
2001: pre-ASB .285/.350/.480; post-ASB .281/.330/.415

Sometimes (but not always) a drop in hitting and ability to get on base; always a huge drop in power. His career OPS is 100 points lower after the ASB than it was before (it would be much higher if his first half of 2005 wasn't so pathetic). Probably best not to count on this particular hitter coming out of his funk the rest of this season.

What are the odds...

...that someone, somewhere, complains that Francona should've taken Papelbon out after he gave up the double? I honestly think it's going to happen.

Painful stretch

Not too long ago we were delighting in the fact that the White Sox were no longer leaders for the Wild Card. Well, they are now, and the Red Sox aren't; in fact, Boston is in 3rd place for the WC, behind the Twins. They're 19 games above .500; worse than they were at the ASB, despite playing four against Kansas City. Hell, ack on May 28, they were 12 games above .500. So in 2 1/2 months they've been only 7 games above .500 - and that's with a 14-1 stretch against the NL East.

I'm not into despairing after a 3-game losing streak. But that's not what we're facing here. Against AL teams, Boston is 49-44. Against AL teams that aren't the Baltimore Orioles, Boston is 41-43. That is...not good.

Root For???

Tonight the Yankees and White Sox square off...

So, as Sox fans, which team are we rooting for? Certainly the division is well within reach, but we are tied for the Wild Card. Do we root for the relative safety of the Wild Card and then go for the division?

These are the questions that must be asked.

The answer?

We must root for the Red Sox to start winning. No amount of teams beating up on each other will solve the problems the Red Sox are facing right now.

For the most part they are putting people behind the plate that can catch the ball, but not hit. They have young guys on the mound (including Papelbon) that are obviously missing the pitch calling from Varitek. Yet, they are still in it. Where are the articles on the Sox resilience?

Anyway, the idea is don't worry about the other teams. If this Sox team doesn't right its own ship, it isn't going anywhere anyway.