I was at the game last night. Scoring those 5 runs was probably the most exciting moment in my life. Seeing Wily Mo Pena actually hit a breaking ball was like seeing Jesus walk on water. Thinking back on it, any game where Wily Mo is the hero can't be a good sign. Lugo's bunt was amazing. I don't think I've ever loved that guy more than that one moment, and that's saying a lot because I put him on my list of bums who can't hack it in Boston a while ago. I'm also starting to think that Gagne is damaged goods. He's pitched horribly everytime we've brought him in. J.D. Drew is a bum, too, because he should have given up his body to block that ball. The pretty boy didnt want to hurt his fragile body, I guess. But the real idiot award goes to Francona. Why bring in a righty to face lefties, a lefty to face righties, and leave your best arm sitting in the pen? I'm so demoralized right now.
Go Sox.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
755*
Barry finally hit it. The all-time home run record is one of the most important records in all of sports. As a fan, I felt that I had to witness that piece of history being made, and to tell the truth, I smiled when I saw the ball go out of the park. But when I think back on it, I wasn't happy that Barry was breaking the record; I was happy that I was watching the record being broken. It's true that without steroids Barry would never have been able to do what he's done, but it's also true that without steroids he still would have been a lock for the Hall of Fame. The very fact that we have to wonder and question if his pursuit was fair tarnishes the glory of the moment. Yes, I was happy as I watched Bonds round the bases, but all I could think was how I wished he had done it like Hank had. I liken the ceremony to what's said about the loser in a Presidential race. The comment is often made that if the losing candidate had carried himself the way he did in his concession speech, he would have won the race by a landslide. If Barry Bonds had let us into his life, had showed he was a real, emotional person like he did after breaking the record, I think people would have gotten behind him. Even with the allegations of steroids if Barry Bonds had been a guy you could root for, a bit more of the glory would be restored to his achievement.
Not only has Bonds tarnished one of the greatest records of all time, but he's tarnished the pursuit of it. Alex Rodriguez has the best shot of any player to break whatever record Bonds sets, and now he's going to have to answer the same questions that Bonds is being asked. Jose Canseco has already hinted at allegations he may throw at A-Rod that perhaps he isn't as natural as we all seem. Whether this is just a ploy to make more money or not will remain to be seen, but it is sad for baseball that it's greatest players will have this monkey on their backs for the foreseeable future. I think a lot of things about A-Rod and many of them aren't nice, but you can't deny he's one of the best in the game and no matter what anyone says, I have a real hard time believing that he's a juicer. So questions aside, I hope in 10 years or so I'm watching this record breaking achievement one more time.
Now onto the regular stuff...
I've come to the conclusion that no matter how good or how bad the season begins, I'm always going to be worried by August. I'm still confidant that we're going to win the division, but I'm still worried. The Yankees are now only six games back, thanks to a brilliant comeback last night, and this time of year the Yankees always scare me. They really might find a way into the playoffs this year, and once you're in October you might as well forget the regular season even happened, because it's literally a whole new ballgame.
But just for a second let's talk about that comeback. I kind of see the Angels series as a spiderweb that you walk into in the woods. It sticks you and holds you down for a while, and even though you get out of it, it took a hard fight and you feel tired and disgusted afterwards. We blew so many chances to make a statement against the team that we're going to end up facing in October. Last night when I went to bed, the Angels had just gone up 6-5 and they still had two men on with only 1 out. I was disgusted. I hate going to bed with that feeling, but I couldn't bare to stay awake, lose more sleep, and only perpetuate that horrible feeling in my belly. When I woke up and checked the score, I really had a hard time believing it for a second. We really had some tremendous plays from the usual cast: Petey, Youk, and Lowell. We really should start calling Pedroia "Little Papi" with how clutch some of his play has been this season. That tie-breaking solo shot was HUGE! But then again, so was the fact that Garrett Anderson was playing left. With Vlady getting the night to rest his legs at DH, Reggie Willits was put into right. That kid is a gamer and I'm sure he would have found a way to get two inches higher and rob Petey of that home run. Anyway, I think last night was the perfect example of how good the trade for Frenchy really was. Having him at the back end of the pen allowed Okie to come in and hold down the fort. There were seven important outs we had to get before even getting to Pap, and I don't know if we could have done it without Gagne. Now if we can get Manny and Papi to start hitting with the rest of the team? Say hello to the World Series.
*Without steroids
Not only has Bonds tarnished one of the greatest records of all time, but he's tarnished the pursuit of it. Alex Rodriguez has the best shot of any player to break whatever record Bonds sets, and now he's going to have to answer the same questions that Bonds is being asked. Jose Canseco has already hinted at allegations he may throw at A-Rod that perhaps he isn't as natural as we all seem. Whether this is just a ploy to make more money or not will remain to be seen, but it is sad for baseball that it's greatest players will have this monkey on their backs for the foreseeable future. I think a lot of things about A-Rod and many of them aren't nice, but you can't deny he's one of the best in the game and no matter what anyone says, I have a real hard time believing that he's a juicer. So questions aside, I hope in 10 years or so I'm watching this record breaking achievement one more time.
Now onto the regular stuff...
I've come to the conclusion that no matter how good or how bad the season begins, I'm always going to be worried by August. I'm still confidant that we're going to win the division, but I'm still worried. The Yankees are now only six games back, thanks to a brilliant comeback last night, and this time of year the Yankees always scare me. They really might find a way into the playoffs this year, and once you're in October you might as well forget the regular season even happened, because it's literally a whole new ballgame.
But just for a second let's talk about that comeback. I kind of see the Angels series as a spiderweb that you walk into in the woods. It sticks you and holds you down for a while, and even though you get out of it, it took a hard fight and you feel tired and disgusted afterwards. We blew so many chances to make a statement against the team that we're going to end up facing in October. Last night when I went to bed, the Angels had just gone up 6-5 and they still had two men on with only 1 out. I was disgusted. I hate going to bed with that feeling, but I couldn't bare to stay awake, lose more sleep, and only perpetuate that horrible feeling in my belly. When I woke up and checked the score, I really had a hard time believing it for a second. We really had some tremendous plays from the usual cast: Petey, Youk, and Lowell. We really should start calling Pedroia "Little Papi" with how clutch some of his play has been this season. That tie-breaking solo shot was HUGE! But then again, so was the fact that Garrett Anderson was playing left. With Vlady getting the night to rest his legs at DH, Reggie Willits was put into right. That kid is a gamer and I'm sure he would have found a way to get two inches higher and rob Petey of that home run. Anyway, I think last night was the perfect example of how good the trade for Frenchy really was. Having him at the back end of the pen allowed Okie to come in and hold down the fort. There were seven important outs we had to get before even getting to Pap, and I don't know if we could have done it without Gagne. Now if we can get Manny and Papi to start hitting with the rest of the team? Say hello to the World Series.
*Without steroids
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Bonjour, Monsieur Gagne
This was quite possibly one of the most boring trade deadlines ever. There was so much hype for so long, and now that it's over there were really only four teams that did anything significant. While some of you may accuse me as being a "homer" I'm crediting the Red Sox with the best move the trade deadline, although Atlanta comes in at a close second. We didn't really lose too much in this trade. As much as I love Kason Gabbard and as sad as it made me to see him go, I realize that it was a great move. This guy already has four elbow surgeries under his belt and only projects to be a back end of the rotation kind of pitcher. With several great pitching prospects in the pipeline (Bucholz, Bowden, and Masterson), losing Gabbard is definitely not a long term problem. David Murphy, while good defensively, may never play better than your average major-leaguer, and it's not like the Sox are short on outfield prospects with Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Moss only a year or so away from the bigs. The real piece in this deal for Texas was Engel Beltre, who scouts have compared to Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Bonds. Although, he's four or five years away from the majors so there's plenty of time for his stock to plummet. But now that we've talked about what the Rangers got, let's salivate over the fact that we now have three of the best bullpen arms in the majors in our bullpen. It really sounds like some sort of bad, baseball comedy with a Deep South Redneck being setup by an uber-cool, yet French-Canadian hurler and a ninja-like Japanese lefty. The unintentional comedy that these three guys bring to the fold is surely too much to bare, but what really counts is that all three are lights out, and the Red Sox have now made every game a six inning contest. Even Julian Tavarez might be able to thrive in this starting rotation, not that we need him, because the second biggest trade we made this summer was a Mr. Curt Schilling traded from the Disabled List for Lefty Lopez (sent to the minors), who will surely be back at some point with the alternately lights out and decrepit Mike Timlin still trolling around the Boston bullpen. Seriously, I dare someone to try and beat us. We have the best rotation in baseball, especially now with Schilling coming back. We have the best bullpen in baseball. We have one of the best lineups in baseball, because even now when not all our cylinders are firing, we're still sitting pretty atop the AL East. We've also proven we're better than all the other post-season bound AL teams. Detroit doesn't have the bullpen to get us, the Angels don't have the hitters to get by our rotation, and Cleveland doesn't have enough pitching, either in their bullpen or their rotation, to hold us down. The only team that scares me is the Yankees, and it's not because of the surge they're in right now, it's just because I'm a Red Sox fan and they're the Yankees and no matter our records, lineups, pitchers, or circumstances, those games are never predictable.
The team I award second place in the deadline deals to is Atlanta. They really earn a close second, because they failed to improve their rotation which will be the reason they don't make it to the end of October, unless they get performances not seen since Jeff Weaver forgot he was Jeff Weaver and thought he was Jered Weaver. There were some starters that were available, or at least one that was but I'll get to that eventually. Adding Dotel and Tex were huge moves. Atlanta now has arguably the best lineup in the NL East (reason to argue, the Mets if they're all every healthy at the same time), and one of the best bullpens in the entire National League, but I don't know if anyone is getting past the Padres starters. The NL will be very interesting to watch come October. I think the Padres are guaranteed a spot in the NLCS, with the other going to either the Cubbies or Atlanta. I think I like Chicago a little better than Atlanta in that matchup, since they seem like a more complete team (i.e. they're afraid of Lou Piniella like Whiffy Mo Pena is afraid of hitting singles), but San Diego's rotation really does scare me, from the standpoint of any NL lineup.
The third place award, which I'm renaming the "Oh Shit!" award goes to the Philadelphia Phillies. The perennial stretch run failures seemed to take a huge loss when Utley went down with a broken hand. In a very un-Pat Gillick move, the Phillie's GM traded for Tad Iguchi to replace Utley. Tad isn't the player that Utley is, but he's a clear step above any bench player that KFC Charlie could have thrown in there for the month, or so, that Chase will be out. Surprisingly, and I swear I'm not making this up, Manuel speaks Japanese, and it is hoped that will help Tad's transition onto the team. Stop laughing, and keep reading. I swear it, he really does speak Japanese. Add to the Tad trade the acquisition of Kyle Lohse. This is the pitcher I was hinting at with Atlanta, but I am glad to see the Phillies make a move to bolster the real part of their team that was in need of help: the starting rotation. They have offense, a good enough bullpen, but the Phillies rotation was holding them back all season. This isn't to say it still won't hold them back, but despite the lack of virtually any starters at the deadline, at least they didn't just stand pat. Sadly, the injury bug has been all over the Phillies like Manuel is all over a bucket of Original Recipe as the Flyin' Hawaiin Shane Victorino and speedy Michael Bourn have both gone down. I really think the Phillies season is over. I mean, even without all the injuries, any team that relies on Pat Burrel to carry them for a month is not a team I would ever put an ounce of faith in.
But I'm not quite done analyzing the Phillies just yet. If we look back on some of Pat Gillick's trades over the past few years, we see an interesting trend. Aaron Rowand, Tad Iguchi, and Freddy Garcia, all mediocre players, were all traded for by the Phillies. What else do these players have in common? That's right, they all won the 2005 World Series. Perhaps Gillick thinks that by adding World Series winners to his team, he can win one too. If I read in Truth and Rumors that Gillick has been showing interest in So Taguchi, Preston Wilson, Aaron Miles, or any other such players, I promise you I will find Pat Gillick and fire him. I'm not sure if he'll listen, but I think if I sound official enough and yell loud enough, he'll do anything I say. I'll just wear a White Sox 2005 World Series Champions t-shirt.
The team I award second place in the deadline deals to is Atlanta. They really earn a close second, because they failed to improve their rotation which will be the reason they don't make it to the end of October, unless they get performances not seen since Jeff Weaver forgot he was Jeff Weaver and thought he was Jered Weaver. There were some starters that were available, or at least one that was but I'll get to that eventually. Adding Dotel and Tex were huge moves. Atlanta now has arguably the best lineup in the NL East (reason to argue, the Mets if they're all every healthy at the same time), and one of the best bullpens in the entire National League, but I don't know if anyone is getting past the Padres starters. The NL will be very interesting to watch come October. I think the Padres are guaranteed a spot in the NLCS, with the other going to either the Cubbies or Atlanta. I think I like Chicago a little better than Atlanta in that matchup, since they seem like a more complete team (i.e. they're afraid of Lou Piniella like Whiffy Mo Pena is afraid of hitting singles), but San Diego's rotation really does scare me, from the standpoint of any NL lineup.
The third place award, which I'm renaming the "Oh Shit!" award goes to the Philadelphia Phillies. The perennial stretch run failures seemed to take a huge loss when Utley went down with a broken hand. In a very un-Pat Gillick move, the Phillie's GM traded for Tad Iguchi to replace Utley. Tad isn't the player that Utley is, but he's a clear step above any bench player that KFC Charlie could have thrown in there for the month, or so, that Chase will be out. Surprisingly, and I swear I'm not making this up, Manuel speaks Japanese, and it is hoped that will help Tad's transition onto the team. Stop laughing, and keep reading. I swear it, he really does speak Japanese. Add to the Tad trade the acquisition of Kyle Lohse. This is the pitcher I was hinting at with Atlanta, but I am glad to see the Phillies make a move to bolster the real part of their team that was in need of help: the starting rotation. They have offense, a good enough bullpen, but the Phillies rotation was holding them back all season. This isn't to say it still won't hold them back, but despite the lack of virtually any starters at the deadline, at least they didn't just stand pat. Sadly, the injury bug has been all over the Phillies like Manuel is all over a bucket of Original Recipe as the Flyin' Hawaiin Shane Victorino and speedy Michael Bourn have both gone down. I really think the Phillies season is over. I mean, even without all the injuries, any team that relies on Pat Burrel to carry them for a month is not a team I would ever put an ounce of faith in.
But I'm not quite done analyzing the Phillies just yet. If we look back on some of Pat Gillick's trades over the past few years, we see an interesting trend. Aaron Rowand, Tad Iguchi, and Freddy Garcia, all mediocre players, were all traded for by the Phillies. What else do these players have in common? That's right, they all won the 2005 World Series. Perhaps Gillick thinks that by adding World Series winners to his team, he can win one too. If I read in Truth and Rumors that Gillick has been showing interest in So Taguchi, Preston Wilson, Aaron Miles, or any other such players, I promise you I will find Pat Gillick and fire him. I'm not sure if he'll listen, but I think if I sound official enough and yell loud enough, he'll do anything I say. I'll just wear a White Sox 2005 World Series Champions t-shirt.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
A Few Thoughts
We've run into good pitching like Wily Mo runs into strikeouts. Seriously, I'm writing this in the top of the eighth in our second of 1-0 games in consecutive days. My nerves can't take this. Speaking of nerves, who wouldn't give a huge shout out to Jon Lester. Welcome back to the bigs, Jon. We missed you and we're all glad to see you back on the mound.
Another thing we're all glad to see is that the offense still works without Ortiz in it. It's always nice to see the wheels turning without all the spokes. That makes no sense, but I think you know what I mean.
As we're approaching the trade deadline, the latest rumors I've heard is that we're out of the running for Tex but that we're close to getting Bobby Kielty. Apparently, the Rangers asked for some big prospects (Bucholz and Ellsbury). We laughed at them, hung up the phone, and then laughed some more. Kielty, on the other hand, is reportedly only a matter of time. Our highly touted Spring Training closer was finally designated for assignment (another blessing related to Jon Lester's cancer comeback), but the A's aren't interested in pine-riding Pineiro. But I'm sure there's plenty of Little League teams looking for another arm in the pen with the stretch run to Williamsport coming up. Hopefully they could find some room for Joel. Maybe even the outfield?
But seriously, Kielty seems to be a better fit than Wily Mo. Which is to say that even though he doesn't hit much better, at least he actually has baseball instincts and can play defense, run the bases, and other baseball activites. You know, all that stuff that whenever the coach in Little League starting talking about, Wily Mo started giving a wet willy to the kid next to him.
The way I see it, Theo will find a way to make this Kielty move and maybe even add another arm to the pen without changing the face of the team too dramatically. It'll be a big move, but not a monster move on the scale of the Nomar trade. We're in great shape and could just use a little more depth to make sure we have enough stamina to make it all the way to the end of October.
While these words have been written, AC singled, Lugo was put in as a pinch runner and got caught stealing. Beckett is back out on the mound going strong. Take one pitch away and this is an even more nerve killing score of 0-0. Trot (or as he's known in some circles: the guy who is playing just as badly as J.D. Drew, but would have been cheaper and adored by fans) just singled so hopefully that's a setup to a nice double-play and not an RBI chance. This coffin needs no more nails. No DP but a K and a flyout to Mr. Overpaid will do. Seriously, Drew is a bum. Andrew, I've reached that point and he didn't even have to go on the DL. I officially hate J.D. Drew. Give me some batteries. If somehow we could trade him, you would not be able to pry the smile off my face ever again. Ever.
And, sadly, Joe Borowski closes the door for the Tribe. I really feel bad for Beckett, because he doesn't deserve the loss. He didn't lose this game, the offense did. They couldn't get one single run. Back to back 1-0 games are hard on me as a fan so I really hope this doesn't kill our momentum. We've got Gabby going tomorrow against Cliff Lee, which should rejuvenate even the quietest of bats. And then it's off to every batting average's favorite place: Tampa Bay. May the spirit of the Splendid Splinter be with us all tonight.
And not that I'm saying anything, but in case you were wondering Andrew is still alive and well, with lots of time on his hands too.
Another thing we're all glad to see is that the offense still works without Ortiz in it. It's always nice to see the wheels turning without all the spokes. That makes no sense, but I think you know what I mean.
As we're approaching the trade deadline, the latest rumors I've heard is that we're out of the running for Tex but that we're close to getting Bobby Kielty. Apparently, the Rangers asked for some big prospects (Bucholz and Ellsbury). We laughed at them, hung up the phone, and then laughed some more. Kielty, on the other hand, is reportedly only a matter of time. Our highly touted Spring Training closer was finally designated for assignment (another blessing related to Jon Lester's cancer comeback), but the A's aren't interested in pine-riding Pineiro. But I'm sure there's plenty of Little League teams looking for another arm in the pen with the stretch run to Williamsport coming up. Hopefully they could find some room for Joel. Maybe even the outfield?
But seriously, Kielty seems to be a better fit than Wily Mo. Which is to say that even though he doesn't hit much better, at least he actually has baseball instincts and can play defense, run the bases, and other baseball activites. You know, all that stuff that whenever the coach in Little League starting talking about, Wily Mo started giving a wet willy to the kid next to him.
The way I see it, Theo will find a way to make this Kielty move and maybe even add another arm to the pen without changing the face of the team too dramatically. It'll be a big move, but not a monster move on the scale of the Nomar trade. We're in great shape and could just use a little more depth to make sure we have enough stamina to make it all the way to the end of October.
While these words have been written, AC singled, Lugo was put in as a pinch runner and got caught stealing. Beckett is back out on the mound going strong. Take one pitch away and this is an even more nerve killing score of 0-0. Trot (or as he's known in some circles: the guy who is playing just as badly as J.D. Drew, but would have been cheaper and adored by fans) just singled so hopefully that's a setup to a nice double-play and not an RBI chance. This coffin needs no more nails. No DP but a K and a flyout to Mr. Overpaid will do. Seriously, Drew is a bum. Andrew, I've reached that point and he didn't even have to go on the DL. I officially hate J.D. Drew. Give me some batteries. If somehow we could trade him, you would not be able to pry the smile off my face ever again. Ever.
And, sadly, Joe Borowski closes the door for the Tribe. I really feel bad for Beckett, because he doesn't deserve the loss. He didn't lose this game, the offense did. They couldn't get one single run. Back to back 1-0 games are hard on me as a fan so I really hope this doesn't kill our momentum. We've got Gabby going tomorrow against Cliff Lee, which should rejuvenate even the quietest of bats. And then it's off to every batting average's favorite place: Tampa Bay. May the spirit of the Splendid Splinter be with us all tonight.
And not that I'm saying anything, but in case you were wondering Andrew is still alive and well, with lots of time on his hands too.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Baseball Hall of Fame
This blog is coming to you from the surprisingly sleepy town of Cooperstown, New York. This town is home to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and a friendly, small town America atmosphere. It is also home to probably the most moving baseball experience I've ever had. With my ever economical Dad learning that a ticket purchased after 7 p.m. could be used the next day, we of course took advantage of this opportunity to take just a quick peak at the museum and the Hall. It was the first place I wanted to go, and I can safely say my mind is still there wandering the walls, looking at each of the plaques, and absorbing the indescribable and overwhelming feeling that the Hall of Fame breathes into its visitors. I guess I never really understood what the Hall meant until actually setting foot in it. From a numbers perspective, only about a single percent of all who ever played the game ever made it into the Hall of Fame. Think of all the names of players you've rooted for in your lifetime, think of how great they may have been, and think of how many are in the Hall. In my young life I've rooted for Nomar, Trot, Papi and Manny, Youk, Pedro, Schill, Tek, and Cal. From that list, only one has made it into the Hall, and maybe only two or three more ever will. I never understood how truly special of a player a man had to be to actually achieve immortality. The players, coaches, umps, and baseball executives dominated their sport in every sense of the word. I can't possibly imagine how it must feel to achieve this greatness. From the perspective of a fan, I can think of no other honor greater to a player than this Hall. I hope it is as great an experience as the one I had walking through those alcoves looking at the names and faces you only hear about in old highlight reels. There are not enough words to describe the magnitude of this place, and I strongly believe that every baseball fan must see it to truly appreciate the game we all love.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
eh.............
I apologize for not posting in a while but hey what can I say I didn’t feel like it. One the heels of the impending milestone for the phillies I thought I would post but don’t have really anything to say. The phillies need pitching and have no way of acquiring it. The only thing I can hope for is Burrell has the most amazing 10 days of his life and hits like .900 in the next ten games with like 15 homeruns so we can trade his ass. I just hope someone finds Pat Gillick and tells him that he should try to make a trade.
I think we need to trade Rowand. Burrell isn’t going anywhere unfortunately and the only thing people would want is Rowand. I think it is easier for the Phillies to replace Rowand in the farm system then you can use young pitching. Just give me something Gillick please I beg of you….I will blog more later when I can actually think of something.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Sorry For The Delay
Let me begin this blog by apologizing for the delay. From June 23rd to this past Monday, I had been house sitting for my boss. It was an amazing time and I'd do anything to do it again, although it would be nice to at least have internet and a suite of ESPN channels. Sans those requests, it was still great. Andrew, on the other hand, has absolutely no excuse for not posting anything. Shame on you, Andrew! Shame!
Speaking of Andrew, I can't make fun of the guy too much because he did take me to the Phillies game last night. We had awesome seats. The guy walked us to them and wiped them down. Apparently you're supposed to tip him a dollar for doing so, but I wasn't familiar with this "rich seat" tradition so to him I owe an apology as well. Ironically enough, Tarc was at the game too and offered to take me along, but I had already been asked by Andrew. His seats were just two sections over so all I missed was a long car ride without a radio.
I wanted to see at least one of two things going into this game. The first was that I wanted to see Albert Pujols hit a home run. It's not often that a Heclanian gets the chance to see one of the premier players in baseball up close, so I definitely wanted to see him jack one. The second thing I wouldn't mind seeing, although I don't think many in the stadium would agree with me, is the inevitable 10,000th loss of the Phillies. I would consider myself lucky to be in attendance the night the franchise finally reaches this mark. I mean, who doesn't want to see an already depressed fan base celebrate the one thing their city's sports teams truly excel at: losses. Bars beware: you're taps will be flowing full bore whenever this mark is reached.
I only got to see one of those things, and I guess it's the better of the two. Pujols really did whack the ball far. It was estimated at 470 feet, and he hit it off none other than J.C. Romero. I didn't realize who had come into the game until Andrew started getting all excited. J.C. was doing his finest impression of himself, by walking a batter and then giving up the Pujols bomb. This signaled our time to depart, since even the Phillies bullpen couldn't give up the lead the team had at this point. Perhaps the happiest people in the stadium to see us leave were the two older women sitting in front of us. Andrew and I are what you could call bleacher-seat fans. We like to yell and cheer on our team, boo the opponents (and Pat Burrell), and make sure the umps understand that they are completely and totally incapable of doing their jobs. The ladies in front of us did not appreciate the experience of sitting in front of true baseball fans. Thankfully, some of those around us understood who and what we were: true fans of America's past time. My favorite thing to do all night was wait for the older lady to take her fingers our of her ears (because she put them in when the PA announcer said each players name, which was consistently followed by Andrew and I giving them an appropriate welcome) to start cheering again. This is the only bad thing about sitting in the good seats: the people there just don't know how to be fans. Maybe it's better in Fenway. If I ever find a couple thousand bucks in the street, I'll buy myself some good tickets at the Fens and see if the same stuck up, snotty rich folk migrate there as well.
With all this talk of migrating stuck up, snotty rich folk, I can't help but think of A-Rod. The most recent updates of Truth and Rumors have him coming to the Sox. (PREDICTION: If A-Rod is not playing for the Yankees next year, he will be in Boston or San Francisco. You read it here first, folks.) My dad and I just had this conversation about A-Rod.
Dad: Would I root for A-Rod if he played shortstop for the Red Sox? You bet!
Me: So would you move Lugo to third, then?
Dad: We can move him to Tampa Bay.
That doesn't sound like such a bad idea, Dad. And actually, the more I think about it, it does make some sense. Let me put aside how much I hate A-Rod (even though I root for him in the deep dark recesses of my mind, because I know he has to catch Bonds and eclipse whatever home run mark he reaches) and consider this move. Add to it the resigning of Mike Lowell, and this could work out very well. Drew will continue to leadoff, which he's done very well lately at a clip of .346 in his last 52 AB's. Pedroia hits second, followed by A-Rod in the three-hole. This pushes Papi down to fourth, and Manny at fifth, since the guy we hired to bat fifth has now (in a move straight out of the twilight zone) become our leadoff man, that is, when he decides he's healthy enough to play. We can follow this with Youkilis, Lowell, and Varitek in really any order and Crisp batting ninth or leadoff, depending on whichever gods control the health of J.D. Drew.
But thinking about A-Rod in a Sox uniform is even more painful than watching Drew leadoff, so we'll just end this speculation here. You are, however, allowed to dream of Julio Lugo playing in some city far away from Boston.
Speaking of Andrew, I can't make fun of the guy too much because he did take me to the Phillies game last night. We had awesome seats. The guy walked us to them and wiped them down. Apparently you're supposed to tip him a dollar for doing so, but I wasn't familiar with this "rich seat" tradition so to him I owe an apology as well. Ironically enough, Tarc was at the game too and offered to take me along, but I had already been asked by Andrew. His seats were just two sections over so all I missed was a long car ride without a radio.
I wanted to see at least one of two things going into this game. The first was that I wanted to see Albert Pujols hit a home run. It's not often that a Heclanian gets the chance to see one of the premier players in baseball up close, so I definitely wanted to see him jack one. The second thing I wouldn't mind seeing, although I don't think many in the stadium would agree with me, is the inevitable 10,000th loss of the Phillies. I would consider myself lucky to be in attendance the night the franchise finally reaches this mark. I mean, who doesn't want to see an already depressed fan base celebrate the one thing their city's sports teams truly excel at: losses. Bars beware: you're taps will be flowing full bore whenever this mark is reached.
I only got to see one of those things, and I guess it's the better of the two. Pujols really did whack the ball far. It was estimated at 470 feet, and he hit it off none other than J.C. Romero. I didn't realize who had come into the game until Andrew started getting all excited. J.C. was doing his finest impression of himself, by walking a batter and then giving up the Pujols bomb. This signaled our time to depart, since even the Phillies bullpen couldn't give up the lead the team had at this point. Perhaps the happiest people in the stadium to see us leave were the two older women sitting in front of us. Andrew and I are what you could call bleacher-seat fans. We like to yell and cheer on our team, boo the opponents (and Pat Burrell), and make sure the umps understand that they are completely and totally incapable of doing their jobs. The ladies in front of us did not appreciate the experience of sitting in front of true baseball fans. Thankfully, some of those around us understood who and what we were: true fans of America's past time. My favorite thing to do all night was wait for the older lady to take her fingers our of her ears (because she put them in when the PA announcer said each players name, which was consistently followed by Andrew and I giving them an appropriate welcome) to start cheering again. This is the only bad thing about sitting in the good seats: the people there just don't know how to be fans. Maybe it's better in Fenway. If I ever find a couple thousand bucks in the street, I'll buy myself some good tickets at the Fens and see if the same stuck up, snotty rich folk migrate there as well.
With all this talk of migrating stuck up, snotty rich folk, I can't help but think of A-Rod. The most recent updates of Truth and Rumors have him coming to the Sox. (PREDICTION: If A-Rod is not playing for the Yankees next year, he will be in Boston or San Francisco. You read it here first, folks.) My dad and I just had this conversation about A-Rod.
Dad: Would I root for A-Rod if he played shortstop for the Red Sox? You bet!
Me: So would you move Lugo to third, then?
Dad: We can move him to Tampa Bay.
That doesn't sound like such a bad idea, Dad. And actually, the more I think about it, it does make some sense. Let me put aside how much I hate A-Rod (even though I root for him in the deep dark recesses of my mind, because I know he has to catch Bonds and eclipse whatever home run mark he reaches) and consider this move. Add to it the resigning of Mike Lowell, and this could work out very well. Drew will continue to leadoff, which he's done very well lately at a clip of .346 in his last 52 AB's. Pedroia hits second, followed by A-Rod in the three-hole. This pushes Papi down to fourth, and Manny at fifth, since the guy we hired to bat fifth has now (in a move straight out of the twilight zone) become our leadoff man, that is, when he decides he's healthy enough to play. We can follow this with Youkilis, Lowell, and Varitek in really any order and Crisp batting ninth or leadoff, depending on whichever gods control the health of J.D. Drew.
But thinking about A-Rod in a Sox uniform is even more painful than watching Drew leadoff, so we'll just end this speculation here. You are, however, allowed to dream of Julio Lugo playing in some city far away from Boston.
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