John McCauley of Deer Tick shows his colors

New (To Me) Sox Bar In Manhattan, Yanks vs. Sox

Watched the game with Toby at the Hairy Monk, a new-to-me Red Sox pub around 25th & 3rd. Was a good game for a while until the Sox broke it open with a pair of runs late. John Lackey hung in well against the Yankees. Happily surprised to see the Sox hit CC Sabathia hard. Jacoby Ellsbury, particularly, is on a roll. I'll be back at the Hairy Monk for the postseason.

Me on MLB.com

In the ego-boost category, MLB.com interviews me, as head of the band Leland Sundries, on music and baseball.



We start our first national tour on Monday.

Sox Hitters Destroying The Ball in May

Admittedly, this is a little bit lopsided after those two blowouts this week but check out the batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS for all Sox hitters in May. Wowza!: .298 / .360 / .481 / .841.

Run Differential Finally Positive

Sox have now scored 4 more runs than they've allowed on the season. They must've passed the zero mark over the weekend.

Masterson Faces Sox in Possible Breakout Year

Justin Masterson, whom the Sox traded for Victor Martinez and who faces his old team tonight, is having what might be a breakout year for him. He's 5-2 with a 1.22 WHIP and a 2.52 ERA. Opposing players are hitting .249 / .318 / .321 off of him, with that last number being most impressive of all. He has given up just one home run in 60+ innings over 9 starts this year. I wonder if Theo wishes we still had him.

Hysterical Commercial With Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski

I love that Alec Baldwin gets away with appearing in a commercial for sports caps and doesn't even wear one himself in the commercial.



The follow up isn't nearly as good.

Impressions from Sox vs. Yankees May 14

1. Don't look now but Josh Beckett has a streak of 17 1/3 innings without being scored upon. He's pitching about as well as I've ever seen him.

2. So glad we got Matt Albers. He looked great tonight and pitched two scoreless innings, sparing Papelbon and Bard from being overworked in the bullpen. Great fastball and curve.

3. Youkilis is swinging at bad pitches. It's the first time that I've seen that. He seems like he's chasing pitches out of the strike zone. Seems like he's now seeing the ball well right now.

4. Cano is definitely the Yankee hitter who scares me the most at the plate at the moment.

5. Reports of Jeter's demise are vastly overstated. He's still an opposite field double waiting to happen.

6. Adrian Gonzales makes it look effortless.

7. Lots of empty seats in the 9th at Yankee Stadium. Sox fans would not leave early.

8. Really enjoyed Sarah Silverman's appearance. Was fun to watch the smug Fox announcers squirm a little bit, especially when she brought up Doc Ellis' no hitter on LSD.

9. This team inspires a lot more confidence than they did a few weeks ago. Since starting 2-10, Sox are 16-10 since then to be at 18-20 on the season. In that 16-10 stretch, their winning percentage is .615. At that pace, counting the bad start, the Sox finish the year with 94 wins.

10. The Yankees have had an easy schedule thus far, with lots of home games, and have not excelled. They seemed a bit tired in this game. They will definitely start to hit as it gets warmer but I wonder if they have enough pitching, as they're constituted right now.

11. If Posada is not their DH, do they have a rotating DH or do they acquire another bat? I bet on the latter. Very curious to hear what happens with him. Since the end of last year, the Yankees have had lots of controversy; usually it's us.

12. Intriguing question about the ethics of Bartolo Colon and his stem cell treatment. Can't believe he's throwing 98 mph at 37 years old. Most pitchers are out of the game by that age.

ESPN on contender bullpens

From ESPN:

"Two awesome bullpens if you only need two guys

2. Boston. Daniel Bard’s raw numbers are great (well, except that 0-3 record, not exactly a non-important notation). Jonathan Papelbon is back with an 18/2 strikeout/walk ratio. But new acquisitions Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler have been disastrous, leaving a gaping hole after the top two."

I'm not worried. I think Jenks will turn it around then we just need one more person to step forward. Bullpen roles usually take a month or two to solidify. The sleeper: Aceves. Full stats on the Sox' pen here.

Pedroia Humor

Edes reports:

Dustin Pedroia, like so many millions, dreads flying. And maybe this is even greater testament to his will, that as much as he hates it, he finds a way.

"Yeah, I don't like flying,'' he said the other day, "but I deal with it. I have to. Otherwise, I have to pick a new job.''

. . .

The Red Sox fly on charters, which spares them from having to endure some of the indignities of the typical air traveler. That does not make them immune, however, from turbulence, bad weather or aborted landings. Yes, Pedroia said, there have been some close calls. He describes them as only Pedroia can.

"We had one in New York two years ago,'' he said. "They swept us, man, and we took off in a thunderstorm, and I'm going like, 'Man, this is a bad way to die. We just got swept, swept by the Yankees, and then we're going down for the count.' ''

Papi Humor

From the Globe's Notebook:

During a pregame discussion about the NBA playoffs, Ortiz referred to Lakers star Kobe Bryant as the “Black Mambo.’’ Teammate Darnell McDonald corrected him, saying the nickname is “Black Mamba.’’ But Ortiz was not deterred. “I’ll call him what I want,’’ he said. “I like the mambo.’’

Pedroia laser show

Paul Simon on Kevin Youkilis

From Vanity Fair:

Are you one of those Yankees fans who feels like they have to win every year or they’ve utterly failed?

No, I don’t feel that way. In fact, I like the Red Sox.

Really?

I mean, I like the Yankees to beat them, but I like the Red Sox. I do. I think they have a great team. I like their general manager. He seems really smart. I like the ownership. It seems smart. I like the manager, [Terry] Francona. He seems like a really good manager. I have nothing against that team at all. I mean, I’m rooting against them if they’re playing the Yankees, but otherwise I don’t feel anything, really.

I have a physical aversion to [Boston slugger] Kevin Youkilis, personally.

A lot of people do, but I find him very interesting. What a strange stance. And the guy’s a really good first baseman, a really good third baseman. Everyone’s really good at their job.

That’s true.

I sort of admire it. He probably could shave that beard, come up with a better look, but I’m certainly not going to eliminate somebody based on their looks.