Take My Picture Off The Milk Carton

I'm still here - just recovering from my swoon since the Garnett-for-half-the-team swap the Celtics pulled off in July. I was semi-hoping for a Reggie Miller comeback but I'm still not sure that won't happen, especially if the C's start strong.

Meanwhile, I'm watching Hooooooooooo-lian Tavarez stifle the White Sox but panicking about the Red Sox lack of offense. They've only knocked in 7 runs today, fuhcrissake.

/rant
I never thought it was possible, but I longed for Tim McCarver during yesterday's game. I truly felt bad for Joe Girardi, stuck with a partner like Matt VASSgersian. Girardi attempted to provide insightful analysis of the game but found himself continually stymied by this blithering idiot. Bad enough that he said Jermaine Dye's double off of Wakefield was a "knuckleball left over the plate" when the replay clearly showed it was an overhand curve. Worse still when he said that a foul tip struck A.J. Pierzynski while it never touched the catcher & in fact, struck the umpire on the throat protector.

But the worst yet was Vasgersian's unprovoked ten minute tirade about Manny Ramirez, after the Sox leftfielder cut off a ball to the outfield and held a White Sox runner at third base. Somehow, Manny's hat falling off during the play was an unpardonable sin in Vasgersian's moral code and led to a description of Ramirez' hairstyle that bordered on racist, e.g. "this dreadlocked, Rastafarian thing he's got going on." Ignorant, uninformed, and inept. I hope Fox partners Girardi with someone more worthy of him in the future.

/end rant

I feel better now.

Well, the game is now over and the Sox scored 4 more runs, tying a team record for consecutive 10+ run-games. My panic attack is over. The offensive output was heartening, although the Chicago White Sox pitching staff is hardly reminiscent of, say, the Atlanta Braves of the 90's. This series was a first-class mugging, though, with everyone contributing, including PawSox call-up Kevin Cash and recent acquisition, Bobby Kielty.

The sweep, combined with the Yankees' 2 losses against Detroit, now open up the Red Sox lead to 7.5 games - pretty sweet as Boston heads to the Bronx for 3 games beginning Tuesday night. Andy Pettite matches up with Daisuke Matsuzaka in the opener, with Clemens vs Beckett in Game 2 and Chien-Ming Wang facing Curt Schilling in the final game of the series. The games will probably all boil down to a contest of bullpens, as both teams' offenses are clicking on all cylinders.