not so bad 2 days out

i agree with the globe editorial; it isn't as painful as '03 or even '06. we went deep into the playoffs with beckett, lowell, and ortiz all hurt. we went to game 7 of the alcs. we won an incredible game 5. i have no doubt we would've crushed the phillies, and it still stings a bit though.

listened to bits and pieces of game 7 on the radio driving back from the hudson valley, with reception spotty in parts. watched the end from professor thom's and the 8th was the best shot we had. when drew struck out, i knew it was over. i don't blame francona for game 7; garza was unhittable and lester was worn out from the season. this team showed fight, but the rays outplayed us.

joba the what?

from ny post:

Taunts about his team's lousy season prompted Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain to storm out of a Nebraska strip joint just before he was busted for alleged drunken driving, associates said yesterday.

The pitcher was spotted tossing back at least two Grey Goose vodka drinks at a friend's watering hole before hitting a topless club, where patrons said he had been enjoying the sights and tipping big - before stomping out early Saturday morning after a customer teased him about the Bombers' poor performance.

"Too bad you didn't play for the Red Sox," the customer said, according to another patron at the club. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting here in a strip club in Nebraska."

i feel slightly better now.

the press on last night

in case we didn't know how amazing last night was, check this out.

"a miraculous rally." - jack curry, ny times

"one of the greatest comebacks in postseason history." - tim kurkjian, espn

"the greatest postseason comeback in 79 years to stay alive" - bob ryan, boston globe

"one of the most incredible things these eyes have seen... the 2nd biggest comeback in postseason history." - dan shaughnessy, boston globe

"it still doesn't seem possible." - jim caple, espn.com

"baseball miracle... a magical comeback victory." jerry crasnick, espn.com

YouTube From Fenway

ah, citizen journalism...

Coco Crisp's epic at-bat (10 pitches? or 11?):



Drew's game-winning double (single?):



Another angle on game-winning hit:

wow

more soon. for now, check out dan shaughnessy raving about the comeback last night:

elimination game impressions

after getting very wrapped up in the first few games, i'm feeling oddly serene about the prospect of losing to the rays. i'm glad dice-k's on the mound and the sox have a good shot at fenway. but with papi and beckett not 100%, this may not be our year. we'll always have '04. and '07. and '09! planning to enjoy one last baseball game of the year tonight before it gets cold and dark.

huh?

wha?

pre-game 4 thoughts

* is ortiz a diminished player permanently or just until the wrist heals?
* lester should pitch game 6 instead of beckett. he's be on normal rest.
* which wakefield shows up tonight?
* i heart amalie benjamin.
* ellsbury needs to drop down a bunt one of these days.
* so does papi.
* is varitek's divorce affecting his hitting?
* the noise makers in tampa bay remind me of football fans. so obnoxious.
* we were down 3-1 to cleveland last year. we can come back 2-1 again the rays.
* are lester's innings catching up with him?
* poor derek lowe. can't catch a break in la.

wake up francona

i usually like francona, but he needs to "make adjustments" as the commentators are so fond of saying.

listening to part of game 3, then watched much of it, giving up after the top of the 10th. i really think francona lost this game for the sox. was on the cape for mom's wedding so got the game intermittently.

first of all, beckett had nothing. you've got to pull him after 4 and go to paul byrd. but francona, loyal to a fault, sticks with beckett, who coughs up a 6-5 lead. then, after papelbon pitches, he goes to timlin, who's had nothing all season. now this has a predictable result, with timlin walking the bases loaded and then giving up the fatal sac fly. where was byrd at this point?

or perhaps the rotation should've had lester following beckett directly, which wouldn't have given him such a long layoff before game 3, which the sox have just about lost as a type this.

the sox showed a lot of fight in game 3, but could've put away the rays at several points and didn't.

Elvin Bishop at MLB.com

visited MLB.com with my client, the bluesman Elvin Bishop a while back, and they just put up this awesome streaming video. He's fishing buddies with Dusty Baker!

Bob Ryan's predictions

i think he's pretty right on in this analysis. also, is it coffee that bob ryan is addicted to, or something stronger? he's become more and more of a caricature all time!



espn.com's keith law says rays in 7.

gammons on alcs

espn.com's great sage Peter Gammons writes, "Baseball folks tend to write this series off, but because of Boston's injuries and the unusual nature of the home-field advantage, Tampa Bay probably should be favored." honestly can't disagree.

More from Baseball Prospectus:

STAT OF THE DAY

World Series Odds

Team, Shot at All the Marbles

Red Sox, 32.8%
Rays, 27.9%
Dodgers, 20.2%
Phillies, 19.1%

Game 3

Photos from Game 3.

Game 3

Toby & I went Sunday night to Game 3. We were pretty tired and down by 12:35 am, to say the least. It was sad to watch Lowell barely able to walk around, and poor Beckett, not ready for prime time. 

Monday night made up for all the agony however--what a slide! Magic.  Maybe I'll wear a Red Sox hat at my wedding 10/12! 

of Pedroia and iPods

from espn.com, dustin pedroia flew back from CA and promptly declined to unpack:

"I left all my stuff in the car, because I didn't want to jinx anything," Pedroia said.

just renamed my ipod, previously BellhornPod, now dustin PODroia

bring on the rays

listened to last night's game and was counting down outs. was convinced that papelbon should've pitched the 8th and then masterson the 9th. the 8th, with the heart of that angels order, was obviously the more important inning. guzzling tea w/ a sore throat sitting on my bed so tense during that inning. when lowrie hit the single, i yelled out "yes", even though i have a sore throat and probably couldn't have made that noise 24 hours earlier. it brought me back to being a kid, listening to the radio under the covers, hoping for late-inning heroics in '88 and '90 against the a's, which back then, never came. of '86, '04, '07, and this year, this is the best angel team we've beaten, and if it'd gone back to california, we would've lost.

i truly believe that whoever wins the alcs will win the world series. those rays are a likeable bunch, with heart, fire, punch, and resolve. this is going to be a battle and i predict it goes a full 7 games.

i've been group emailing with a few sox fans, all mutual friends of a friend of mine. my friend just wrote, cc'ing all of us, "Me, I love the conversation going here between a bunch of Sox fans from disparate parts of my life who otherwise (mostly) have no idea who each other actually are... "

exactly.

From Baseball Prospectus:

STAT OF THE DAY

World Series Odds

Team, Shot at All the Marbles

Red Sox, 30.3%
Rays, 24.9%
Dodgers, 16.9%
Phillies, 15.5%
Cubs, 4.8%
Brewers, 3.2%
Angels, 2.5%
White Sox, 1.8%

listening to alds game 2

and wondering how they'll pitch to the angels heart of the order in the 8th. in game 1, they gave those hitters to masterson and then saved pap for some weaker hitters with a bigger lead in the 9th. i'm wondering if they'd go to pap in the 8th, then go to delcarmen for the 9th. the angels 2-5 hitters scare me a lot more than their 6-1 hitters do.

in other news, i just renamed my ipod "dustin PODroia."

wondering if this is going to be a rays vs. sox alcs. would be a fascinating and tough matchup. those rays are 100% for real. given that any american league team is favored in the world series, i think the rays have a solid shot at taking it all.

go sox. we need 6 more outs to take it back to fenway and beckett.