"Never Mind"

So after all the latest contretemps (look it up, Yankee fans & rumormongers) about Schilling and 2004, I imagine that Emily Litella would say something like "What's all this about muddy sex?" or "What's all this about buddy clocks?"

You get the picture, I hope. Or maybe you've never heard of the late great Gilda Radner. If so, my condolences.

I can't even summon outrage at what Gary Thorne said on TV last night. After all, this is a man who has been named Hockey's "Worst Play-by-Play Announcer" multiple times & once wrote an article that described the NBA as "quickly becoming the country's most expensive gang, if not the most dangerous." So he's racist as well as stupid and incompetent.

To me, the most distressing part of the incident is that Doug Mirabelli's name got dragged into it. It's bad enough when the CHBs of the world attempt to shit-stir by citing "anonymous clubhouse sources." But to drag an unprepossessing individual like Mirabelli into this little firestorm? It would be laughably pathetic if I didn't wonder what drove Thorne to make an assertion like this. I don't buy his disingenuous comment that he "didn't think it would be a big story even in Boston."

If you believe that statement, then you might have just fallen off the turnip truck as Mrs Couch Potato would say. Thorne has been a member of the sports media for over 30 years. The 2004 ALCS series was historic - it would have been without the sock. No team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win. The Sox went on to end an 86 year drought and win the World Series. Schilling's hosiery is a major part of the lore. Of course it remains a story and Thorne knows this which makes his comments last night and since just the rankest form of bullshit.

Oh yes, there was baseball, too...

The Red Sox defeated the Orioles by a score of 5-2 behind another strong performance by Josh Beckett and Wily Mo Pena's 8th inning grand salami. Until Pena's blast, the Sox had played from behind the entire game Stats for the night:

Beckett: 8 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 3 SO, 0 BB (5-0 record, 2.48 ERA). He becomes only the third Sox pitcher to win 5 games in April and is in pretty exalted company: Babe Ruth and Pedro Martinez.

Jonathan Papelbon: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 SO, 1 BB (7 SV for 7 SVO, 0.00 ERA)

Pena: 2 for 4, 1 R, 4 RBI

Mike Lowell: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Tomorrow night, Kaibutsu meets Godzilla in Gotham. Holy gyroball, Batman!

Same As It Ever Was (Maybe)

Some of what I was writing during the first few games of this season sounded vaguely familiar, so I went back to read blog posts from this time last year. It took me about an hour - and I read fast - so that tells me that I should probably rein in my longwindedness.

As for the Sox: at this time last year, Manny was just hitting his stride in the box, after a month or so of "What's wrong with Ramirez?"-type chat on talk radio. Ortiz was hitting into the shift - although he had more homeruns - and the murmurs were starting that he was selfish and obstinate for refusing to bunt or hit to the opposite field. (Shamefacedly raising my hand.) Tim Wakefield was getting no run support and pitching in general was a trick or treat proposition with the exception of Jonathan Papelbon.

I found several posts where I gloated over the Sox defeating the Yankees. True, it was great to watch them sweep this past weekend but the hallmark of last year's team was its inconsistency and that, unfortunately, has not changed significantly. I don't think I need to remind citizens of Planet Red Sox how last season ended. The bus didn't just lose its wheels, the engine quit.

Like last year, the Yankees have been decimated by injuries early, particularly in their pitching staff. Yet, the Sox needed to come from behind in all 3 games this year. They followed that by showing up against the Blue Jays flatter than the chest of a Romanian female gymnast and head into Baltimore tonight riding a two-game losing streak.

There's a big difference between good teams & great teams. Good teams win more than they lose, period. Great teams find a way to consistent performance, beat the teams they "should", and win more than they lose against comparable opponents. Even in the giddy, pre-All Star Break days of last season, the team was very up and down and I have to admit, the lop-sided interleague record fooled me into believing that the Sox would be playing until the first snowfall. Of course, winter didn't really make an appearance here until late January, so I was wrong about that, too.

This is not a doom-and-gloom post however. Probably more like a cautionary tale that I will blithely ignore if the Red Sox manage to hold onto first place into June or July. (Sort of like my previous admonition against wordiness... ahem.)

Here's what I like so far: 1) Sox pitching managed to hold the Yankees to under their runs per game average; 2) The pitching staff is already stronger than last year with the addition of Matsuzaka, Okajima, and Donnelly; 3) The bottom third of the order is starting to produce; 4) Julio Lugo has been a very pleasant surprise in the field (as well as Dustin Pedroia); 5) I think we're starting to see the "real" Coco Crisp and 6) this team is starting to gel in that goofy way it did in 2004. Watch the bench shots during the games & you'll see what I mean.

The Sox go into Baltimore tonight and face the Orioles, who are 1.5 games back in second place. Curt Schilling takes the mound against Daniel Cabrera. After a two-game set, the team heads to Babylon for Armageddon, Part 2.

Beckett Overcomes Early Troubles, Sox Win

Josh Beckett struggled early but the Sox righthander bore down in later innings and Boston beat New York 7-5. The two teams matched runs over the first two frames and the score was knotted at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth. Beckett had retired the Yankees on 8 pitches in their half of the inning and the Red Sox offense went to work.

With Coco Crisp on third (single, stolen base, Cora sac bunt), Julio Lugo grounded out to the right side and the Sox centerfielder easily scored the go-ahead run. David Ortiz widened the gap by wrapping a Jeff Karstens pitch around Pesky's Pole for a two run dinger. Big Papi had also driven in 2 runs in the Sox half of the first to tie the game and ended the day at 2 for 5, 1 R, 4 RBI.

Beckett bore down in the middle innings but tired in the seventh and gave up the last Yankee run. Hideki Okajima finished the seventh by striking out an overmatched Jason Giambi with the tying runs on base. Okajima opened the eighth by getting Robinson Cano to ground out and Mike Timlin retired Josh Phelps and Kevin Thompson in 6 pitches.

Jonathan Papelbon came on in the ninth. He retired Johnny Damon on a grounder to short but walked Melky Cabrera on four straight. Pap appeared wild at times, with his fastball running high and outside but held on to strike out Derek Jeter and get Bobby Abreu to fly out to center.

*******
What else is there to say about Papi?

At least in the early going, it looks like the best offseason pick-up was Hideki Okajima. He has now held opponents scoreless over his last 8 innings of work and is rapidly becoming one of the most reliable bullpen arms.

Will someone please wake Manny up & tell him the season's started? Speaking of the Dreaded One, check out this article from The New Yorker. It's a pretty fascinating read. Nice to see some fairly objective reporting about him.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-2) takes the mound tomorrow in the final game of the series. I think Nuke LaLoosh is starting for New York.

BOSTON 7 - YANKEES 6

I gave up. I admit it. When the Yankees had a 4 run lead in the bottom of the 8th, I wrote this game off. In fact, I had already started a post entitled "Schilling Struggles, Yankees Win." If I had published it, I would've had my own Thomas E. Dewey moment. And then the roof fell in for the visitors, courtesy of the much-maligned bottom of the lineup no less.

David Ortiz doubled off of of lefty Mike Myers, who was promptly lifted for the righthander Luis Vizcaino to face Manny Ramirez. Despite falling behind 0-2 in the count, Ramirez was able to work a walk. J.D. Drew grounded out to Cano at second and advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd.

Mike Lowell singled, scoring Ortiz and moving Ramirez to third, and Jason Varitek came to the plate. The captain had already had a great night at the dish, having sent a Pettitte offering into the bullpen for a two-run homer that tied the score at 2-all. However, his heroics weren't done. The Yankees countered by bringing in Mariano Rivera, forcing Tek to hit from the left side. Rivera got ahead of Varitek in the count at 1-2 but the Boston catcher fouled off three straight before sending a line single into right field, bringing Ramirez home and pulling the Sox to within two at 6-4.

Coco Crisp came up to hit with men on first and second and only one out. He jumped all over Rivera's first offering and sent a liner screaming down the first base line into the right field corner. When the dust settled, the score was tied and Crisp was on third with his first triple of the season. Super-sub Alex Cora softly lined into left to score the go-ahead run. Cora would be thrown out while inexplicably trying to steal second and Julio Lugo struck out to end the inning.

It was still nail-biting time as the Yankees had Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, and Alex Rodriguez due up in the ninth and Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon not available to pitch tonight. In a surprising move, Francona pulled righthander Kyle Snyder (in for Romero in the eighth) and brought in lefty reliever Hideki Okajima. The newcomer displayed command & poise, sandwiching a walk to Abreu between a Jeter ground-out and a Rodriguez liner to second. He tied up Kevin Thompson on a nasty splitter to strike him out and end the game.

The late inning drama overshadowed a mediocre performance by Curt Schilling, who surrendered two homeruns to A-Rod. Schilling's line: 7.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 5 SO, 1 BB. He actually never appeared very comfortable until the sixth and seventh innings when he retired the Yankees on seven and ten pitches respectively. By that time, though, Schilling was up over 100 pitches and JC Romero came in at the top of eighth. Romero would cough up another run to New York on an A-Rod double and Jason Giambi single. Yankees catcher, Wil Nieves, grounded into a force-out but Romero was pulled for Kyle Snyder after Robinson Cano singled. Snyder walked Doug Mientkievicz but struck out Melky Cabrera and induced a ground-out from Johnny Damon to end the threat.

Oh Captain, My Captain
Varitek: 3-4, 3 RBI, 2 R

Favorite Ballplayer Named Like a Breakfast Cereal:
Crisp: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 R .... and all 10s from the judges for the back pike with a twist into the bullpen

Can I have a side of fries and a Coke with that sub?
Cora: 1-1, 1 RBI (GW) This was the second game in a row that Cora delivered the game-winning runs. Mini-Papi? Papi-ette?

Armageddon, Part 1

They're baaaaaaaaaaa-ack!

Schill vs Pettitte. At Fenway. Yankees one game back.

Let the real season begin.

The Red Sox throw Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka at the Yankees in the first meeting of the regular season. Toss in the bullpen and Boston would seem to have the edge. However, New York's offense has been relentless, led by Alex Rodriguez' torrid April (.351, 10 HR, 26 RBI).

Just for s*** and giggles, I'm predicting that Boston takes 2 of 3, with New York beating the crap out of us in their only win of the series.

Just Thinking....

Finally. Order is partially restored to the universe.

**********************************

Just my .02: all of the second guessing regarding the VT gunman infuriates me. I've been a mental health professional for over 20 years - ten of those as a psychiatric crisis clinician - and I can tell you that it is NOT as easy to involuntarily commit someone as the media would have you believe. For example, here in Massachusetts, the cynical phrase is "You have the right to be as crazy as you want to be as long as you're not imminent risk of harming yourself or others."

Note the use of the word "imminent". It's key here. You cannot legally hospitalize someone involuntarily because you think they might, at some future point, do something heinous. There has to be some sort of incontrovertible proof to support this action. Examples of this would be specific suicidal or homicidal threats and overtly bizarre and threatening behavior. The fact that he was a "strange kid" is not enough. (Does anyone realize how many psych units this country would need to contain all the weird people in it?) On the strength of the stalking and the suicide threat, he was committed for an evaluation period in November 2005 but was released. Here in Massachusetts, the law specifies that you can only keep someone for four days on an involuntary committal. It used to be ten, which was often enough time to accurately determine someone's risk of harm to self or others. It's almost impossible to do it in three or four.

I'm not underestimating how intimidating and disturbing Cho's behavior was to his professors and fellow students. It is troublesome that he stalked at least 3 women and photographed others without their consent. It is disturbing to hear all the facts come out but I think we all must remember that these facts are not untainted by hindsight. Should he have been kicked out of school? I'm not sure that that would have prevented this; if anything, I would hypothesize that the massacre would have occurred sooner had he been expelled.

The sad & horrifying aspect is that there is almost nothing that could have been done to prevent this. The rule of thumb in psychiatry is that most individuals who are truly at risk of suicide or homicide go to great lengths to conceal this, even to the extent of denying the need for help. Unfortunately, psychiatry cannot be in the business of predicting the vagaries of human behavior. We can only intervene as the situation demands and we can only treat those who wish to be treated.

Sorrow

I don't have any words this morning. I'd love to ramble on & on about Josh Beckett's stellar performance yesterday but that pales with the news from Blacksburg, Virginia. All I can say is that my heart goes out to all those associated with Virginia Tech. This is an incalculable loss for their community on so many levels that all I can do is offer my prayers for their healing.

Peace.

Red Sox 10 - Angels 1

Tim Wakefield scattered 5 hits and 1 run across 7 innings of work and catcher Doug Mirabelli sparked the offense with a solo homer in the 5th inning and an RBI single in the sixth as the Red Sox spanked the Angels to the tune of 10-1. However, the game was not as one-sided as the final score would indicate.

Angels' starter, John Lackey, had held the Sox to two runs through five and had largely stymied the heart of the Sox lineup. In the bottom of the sixth, the Sox were hanging onto a 2-1 lead with 2 outs and a runner on third when Lackey gave up the Mirabelli single and another to Dustin Pedroia. Los Angeles reliever Chris Bootcheck came on and retired Julio Lugo on a fly to right field.

The Sox offense would scratch out another run in the seventh, with Wakefield's knuckleball still baffling the Angels' hitters. In the top of the eighth, Wakefield gave up a lead-off single to Maicer Izturis, who advanced to second on the throwing error by Mike Lowell. Despite having only thrown 82 pitches, Wakefield was lifted for Brendan Donnelly. The hard-throwing righthander induced a ground-out from Gary Matthews, Jr but ran into trouble facing old friend, Orlando Cabrera.

Donnelly appeared to have control problems and ran the count to 3-1 before hitting Cabrera with a pitch. With runners on first and third and Vladimir Guerrero at bat, Terry Francona elected to lift Donnelly for closer Jonathan Papelbon. The armchair managers at home were probably screaming at this but Francona's "hunch" (d'ya think we can give the guy some credit?) proved correct. Papelbon threw hard, harder, and hardest and struck out Guerrero on 4 pitches (3 fouls and a missed swing). Garret Anderson lined out to Manny Ramirez to end the inning.

The Red Sox offense really came to life in the bottom of the eighth, plating 6 runs as Boston batted around. With the game now securely in hand, Mike Timlin got the call to close it out and he retired the Angels in order.

Baseball Geek Stuff:
Wakefield's final line: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB. His ERA is 1.38
Papelbon has now struck out 6 of the 10 batters he's faced.
Julio Lugo: 3 for 5, 2 R, BA .324
Kevin Youkilis: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 HBP
David Ortiz: 2 for 5, 1 R, 3 RBI
J.D. Drew: 2 for 3, 2 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, BA .419
Mike Lowell: 2 for 4, 3 RBI
Doug Mirabelli: 2 for 5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR

Next Up:
Curt Schilling faces Hector Carrasco on Saturday. Game time - 3:55pm

Around the Horn:
Angels' starter Kelvim Escobar has been placed on the 15 day DL with ongoing problems with his shoulder
Yankees' pitcher Carl Pavano will miss his scheduled start on Saturday with tightness in his forearm. Fellow starter Mike Mussina is also expected to miss his next start because of a left hamstring strain and Chien-Ming Wang remains on the DL. Rumor has it that Ron Guidry will rejoin the rotation.

Food for Thought

Yes, but can I get it Extra Crispy?

Mixed Grill

Eight games into the season, the Red Sox record stands at 4-4 - a pretty accurate indicator of the team's performance so far. As The Tuna would say "You are what your record says you are." The only consistency has come from Josh Beckett, who is 2-0 with an ERA of 1.5, and J.D. Drew, who has hit safely in all 8 games.

The opening road trip ended on a high note with Schilling dominating the Rangers and bringing the team's record to .500. The Fenway opener featured some nasty stuff from Josh Beckett (1 H, 8 K, 1 ER, 0 BB) and a Boston hit parade (14 R, 14 H), and I think it was natural to believe that the "real" season was now beginning.

However, the Red Sox offense ran into a an immoveable object named Felix Hernandez last night and laid a goose egg. The youngster (hey, he just turned 21 and in my world, that's a toddler) showed impeccable command and poise in pitching a complete game one-hitter as Seattle won, 3-0. Hernandez' no-no bid was broken up by a J.D. Drew single in the 8th inning. He was ably assisted in his efforts by some sparkling Seattle defense, most notably by the middle infielders Lopez and Betancourt.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a decent game but did not show the same crispness that he displayed in his first start. He may have been affected by all the mishegoss surrounding his first Fenway appearance as he seemed to overthrow and that pinpoint location was missing. He left a number of pitches out over the plate and a better-hitting lineup would probably have sent him to the showers by the 5th inning. His final line: 8 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP.

The bottom third of the lineup is once again becoming a wasteland of guaranteed outs. Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp hit in the home opener but largely have been ineffective. Dustin Pedroia started off strong but has now tailed off. Varitek is going nowhere, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Crisp will be dangled as trade bait, with the likes of Wily Mo Pena and Eric Hinske needing at-bats and Jacoby Ellsbury moving up through the system. Pedroia is a work-in-progress and the Sox brass is likely to be more patient with the rookie.

Tim Wakefield is scheduled to face the Mariners today at 4 pm but the game may be rained out. At least the weather pattern shifted - the original forecast was for snow.

Blanked

Bad news, worse news. The bad news is that I missed most of the game. The worse news is that I caught the last 3 innings. Tim Wakefield pitched well, only giving up one earned run, but the offense again was nonexistent. Seems like I wrote this a lot last April, too, so I don't need to call this number just yet.

Sox lost 2-0 as the Texas Rangers' Robinson Tejada pitched a gem of a two-hitter. Basically, Texas won on an error, an excuse-me bloop single, and two "genuine" singles. A solid first outing by Wakefield, who held the Rangers to three hits over seven innings of work. He walked two and struck out four. Hideki Okajima and Kyle Snyder provided serviceable mop-up duty.

Julian Tavarez takes the mound tomorrow. Will the Rangers bring the Rangers for back-up?

*****
On the ice - Boston College spanked North Dakota in the NCAA Frozen Four and advance to the title game. Fly high, Eagles!!

Dice Rolls, Sox Win

Two of three from Kansas City, with Matsuzaka punching out ten to put the exclamation point on the rubber game. Perfect hold by Romero and equally perfect close-out by Jonathan Papelbon. And I know it's a small sample size, but I'm already preparing to eat my cynical words about Dustin Pedroia.

This game left me giddy and giggling like a schoolgirl meeting Justin Timberlake. So uncool, I know, but I don't care.

Tim Wakefield takes the mound tonight against the Texas Rangers. Long live the knuckler!

A Moment to Reflect

I was planning to write my own haiku about Dice-K's great debut today. In fact, the Sox are now leading, 4-1, with the Royals about to bat in the bottom of the ninth. But I just heard some sad news and the game is trivial in comparison.

Darryl Stingley, former wide receiver for the Patriots, died earlier today at the too-young age of 55. The cause of death was pneumonia, complicated by his quadriplegia.

August 12, 1978. Any long-time Patriots fan remembers where they were when they heard that wide receiver Darryl Stingley had been left paralyzed by a hit from the Oakland Raiders' Jack Tatum during a preseason game. A meaningless contest that had life-altering consequences for the budding star. John Madden was then the head coach of the Raiders and he was the only one from the Raiders' organization who visited Stingley when he was in the hospital. I remember reading that Madden cried at Stingley's bedside. No matter how annoying Madden is as a football analyst, I've always given him a pass because of that gesture of kindness & compassion. Some years later, Tatum finally offered to meet with Stingley for a "reconciliation". It turned out that it was supposed to be a televised event to boost sales of his memoir.

What really matters, though, is how Stingley dealt with his situation. Think of this: he was 26 years old when he was left a quadriplegic. He spent more of his life in a wheelchair than not. But he never succumbed to bitterness. Instead, he raised a family, worked with troubled youth and other paralyzed athletes, and found forgiveness, peace, and a strong faith in God.

I'm not a skilled enough writer to truly give tribute to this exceptional human being, so I dug up this article by the Boston Globe's Ron Borges. It was written on the 25th anniversary of Stingley's injury. It's a long read but a worthy one. I hope you are as moved and inspired as I was.

Red Sox 7 - Royals 1

Last night's game was more in keeping with my expectations. The Sox pounded the Royals in front of a half-empty Kauffman Stadium. Boston pitching, while not great, stifled the KC batters long enough for the win. No baserunning perils, either although the game featured uncharacteristic errors by Mike Lowell on two consecutive plays. He was picked up by Josh Beckett and a great running grab by J.D. Drew to end the Royals' threat. Lowell also brought two runs in during the Sox half of the first when he scorched a double down the left field line.

I like the "new" Josh Beckett. Patient & crafty, Beckett did not have his best stuff last night but persevered. He stayed with his off-speed stuff even when he had difficulty finding the strike zone with it. I don't believe I saw one shake-off, either. Not a bad first start at all.

Sox move to 1-1 on the young season and Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound today for his first start in a Boston uniform. Speaking of Dice-K, check out this entry in the Boston.com haiku competition - personally, I thought it was better than any of the finalists but I may be biased. My girlfriend wrote it.

Stinker

There really is no other word to describe today's Opening Day 7-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Well, there are other words but they're not nice.

Curt Schilling was pulled from the game after a 4 inning stint in which he gave up 8 hits and 5 runs. It was his shortest outing in about 8 years. Although Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy referenced Schill's changeup, the fact is that the big righthander looked tired and was up in the zone through much of the game. His splitter was as hard hit as the change.

The news on the Boston bullpen was mixed. Javier Lopez, Brendan Donnelly, and J.C. Romero held the Royals to two hits and no runs. Hideki Okajima pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a homer to KC catcher John Buck. Joel Pineiro struggled in his one-third of an inning as he surrendered 2 hits and 1 run to round out the scoring for the Royals.

Royals starter Gil Meche gave his team the boost they needed. He overcame a rough first inning (27 pitches, 1 run) to hold the Sox offense scoreless until he turned the ball over to Joel Peralta in the seventh inning. With the Sox threatening (two on, one out), Peralta struck out Youkilis and Ortiz to end the inning. He began the ninth with decisive "Ks" of Manny Ramirez and pinch-hitter Wily Mo Pena.

The Red Sox offense mailed in an appearance, with three 0-fers (Ramirez, Varitek, Crisp) and two egregious baserunning blunders. It's quite possible that Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia are two of the slower members of the club, and yet both attempted to stretch singles into doubles and were thrown out easily.

Why?

There wasn't much to commend this game but fortunately, there are 161 left. Josh Beckett will face the Royals on Thursday night.