I'm still high about the whole situation. I was sad when I (was traded). I was afraid I'd never see Fenway Park again. I'm just elated to be back. ... For a backup catcher to get that kind of applause (a standing ovation when he was announced on Monday), I'll never forget it.
Once I heard (the Red Sox) were interested, the one thing I made clear was 'Please, don't trade me to the Yankees.' Kevin Towers told me, 'I granted your wishes. I'm going to make you a Red Sox again.'Jonathan Papelbon was named AL Rookie of the Month for April. He was 10-for-10 in save chances and finished four other games without allowing a run. He's struck out 16 batters in 15.1 innings and opposing hitters are batting a mere .137. ... "I haven't thought about starting since the season started. I don't know what the future holds. ... I may have been quoted before saying I wanted to start, but I'm feeling pretty good about this closing deal."
Mariano Rivera, after seeing Paplebon on Monday:
He has a lot of abilities. He proves he can throw strikes. That's the key. What I saw from him is he threw strikes and he challenged hitters. If you do that, you go far. That's my approach, always. It always has been. No matter who it is, you have to go for it. ... There's still a lot of road in front of him and a lot still to prove, but so far, he's doing good.Josh Beckett has not been inside Yankee Stadium since Game 6 of the 2003 World Series. He will likely open the Red Sox's series there next week. Boston will pitch Beckett, Matt Clement and Curt Schilling.
0503, 1:00 PM -- Great bit Amalie Benjamin's story on the cross-country trip of the Stud Who Hits Bombs:
"I was excited," said Mirabelli, who, against some people's advice to "cut the cord," had watched every Red Sox game this season. "I was hoping it was going to get done. I was worried the Yankees would step in and do that. I'm glad it worked out the way it did. I knew, since they were flying me across country, that they wanted me here as fast as possible. I told Theo [Epstein] after I got traded, 'If I can make it on time, I'll play.'"
Up next:
May 3 - Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6
May 4 - Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 4
y-t, i made the pitching correction. thanks.
ReplyDeleteUntil the equipment manager takes the #21 jersey out of mothballs,
ReplyDeleteYes, he´d help, but please, please, please, don´t force me to root for that asshole.
i think he'll stay in houston. aren't they gonna offer him like 18 million + the right to sit on his ass at home while the rest of the team are on the road or something?
ReplyDeletemehh...what's up with beckett?
ReplyDeletewhoa, we just roughed up halladay a little. too bad we couldn't have blown it open, got him outta there (gd loretta hitting into the double play!!@)
maybe the texas con man will end up in toronto!
ReplyDeletei don't think having mohr pinch hit for nixon was such a wise idea. i pretty much feel better with nixon at the plate any old day of the week than mohr, nevermind what the numbers say.
ReplyDeleteGeez!!!! Now that Papelbon has been scored on, I hope Theo doesn't trade him for some sub .200 hitter.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, what a great month the kid had. Another winnable game, lost, though. And just when I was begining to think good thoughts about Foulke, he was looking good, then -BAM - it was gone, his stuff, gonzo! I knew it was a mistake to think good thoughts.
But we can take some positives from the game, which was played in some pretty tough conditions for both teams.
The good news: again no errors, Manny is getting hot, Lowell continues to hit and drive in runs, Willie Mo, must be listening to Papa Jack cause he's looking good up at the plate. I hope this game makes his confidence soar.
I think the bloom is off the rose now for Beckett. It was wrong to annoint him the second comming of The Rocket. He's most like Rocket when he says stupid things. I was surprised to see his line tonight, only gave up 5 hits but threw 101 pitches, they were timely hits though comming after he gave up freebie baserunners. I hear you can't do that and still win games.
Hmmn, hitting has been a problem and now it seems that pitching might be a problem too. Clement needs to step up and have a good outing and if Lenny D. wants to be a big leaguer, well, now is the time. Anyone have any confidence in either of those two?
I see Jack has covered alla the bases as far as where Rodger Clemens will go. No matter which of the three teams in contention he goes to, Jack can say, I told you so. But do you really think the Rocket can make a decision based on what most of us might call logic?
I get a sense some here dislike the Rocket. Is there anecdotal evidence around the league that other baseball people share that opinion, or is that just a local prejudice?
I got the Sox at 15 - 12, now for a winning percentage of .555, which projected over 162 games would give them 89.99 wins for the season -- aw shucks, let's just call it 90.
zeke hunkaburning:
ReplyDeleteI have to say, your attempt to impersonate a Red Sox fan is quite weak.
Besides your first posts in the Yankees series thread -- which sound exactly like they were ghost-written by Michael Kay -- when you write this about Clemens
I get a sense some here dislike the Rocket. Is there anecdotal evidence around the league that other baseball people share that opinion, or is that just a local prejudice?
your flimsy cover is blown to bits.
The "love him or hate him" debate is the biggest hot button topic among Sox fans in (at least) the last 30 years. For someone who calls hmself a Sox fan not to know that, well ... you must have been born yesterday. Literally.
I truly do not care which team any poster here roots for, as long as they are civil. But, please, be honest about your affiliation.
Let the big bats relax and take their walks as all our so-called question marks - Loretta, Varitek, Lowell, and Pena - smack the ball around en route to a five-run first.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the Sock that there is something weird about Zeke's meandering.
I am convinced, but we should wait until "The Supreme Adjudicator Of The Behaviours Of Red Sox And Yankees Fans" weighs in.
ReplyDeleteZeke hunkaburning, I thank you for taking a look at my blog, and for any nice things you said about my travel diary.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the truth must bow to no man.
My credentials:
I lived in Yankeeland for 28 years. I lived and breathed pinstripes. The voices of Jon Sterling and Michael Kay were as familiar to me as my own mother´s, and the numbers on the backs of those jerseys (no name... of course) embedded in my brain more deeply than my social security number.
All my baseball friends, with the exception of my best friend in the world (the owner of this blog), were Yankees fans.
However, since 1987, I have lived with Red Sox Nation and had an intimate view of its psyche.
In August 2003 I experienced a religious conversion. I am now a loyal citizen of Red Sox Nation. No matter how it happened, suffice to say my first experience with the Sox was total heartbreak, and here I am.
I have read all your posts and the posts in response to them.
My decision:
Zeke hunkaburning, you could not sound more like a Yankees fan if you were Michael Kay himself.
You sound less like a Red Sox fan than Mariano Rivera.
Your disguise is as transparent as George Steinbrenner´s tears.
You, sir, are a Yankees fan.
Signed,
The Supreme Adjudicator of the Behaviours of Red Sox and Yankee Fans
Don't try to deke the zeke!
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect Supreme Adjudicator, you are quite wrong. In fact I don't know who those guys are having never lived in New York. I am willing to swear on a HUGE stack of bibles that I am a Sox fan, not a Yankees fan.
I know all about clemens and Sox fans differing opinion about him, but Sock called him an A-person right here in this blog, which I think is harsh, and I wonder exactly what traits and behavoir engendered such a harsh judgement.
I know he speaks of himself in the third person, which is embarrasing, and demands special treatment, but does that really make him a bad person. I was fishing for some real evidence that he is such a bad character and not just another overpaid egotistical professional athelete.
Get them bibles ready, Baby, Zeke wants to speak in tongues. But this ain't aboput Zeke, let's focus on the Red Sox.
Fair enough. I have been listening to Redsock´s hatred of Where Is Roger for a very long time, and I´ve never fully agreed with it. I only wonder how anyone claiming to be a Red Sox fan could be surprised by it, or not understand it.
ReplyDeleteAdjudicators have been known to be wrong, of course. But I´ll be keeping my eye on you. :-)
Fair enough. & nuff said.
ReplyDeleteI remember Rodg complaining about having to carry his own suitcases and about accomodations, and about the way his wife was treated, and about the 21 playas, 21 cabs era.
That's One Big reason I'm upset about teo blowing up a team that was a team and was a team because of the character of the men who made up that team. There are no stats to measure character.
I don't agree with the Patriot approach, which I do believe, in many ways, teo is trying to emulate. Replaceable parts, plug 'em, pull 'em out, don't pay 'em: if they have any individualism or personality, ship 'em out.
Mark my words, Trot will be the next to fall victim to teo's vision. His contract will not be renewed. He will be viewed as just another expendable part and not as a player deserving of any loyalty by Sox management.
Oh yeah, I'm a Sox fan alright, a pissed off Sox fan.
I don't disagree with you Jack, though your little tirade was tantamount to a tantrum, complete with name calling (silly, loser -- Hey Jack, watch that stuff), because you are right about Youk, and of course Crisp is a fine player who has his best years ahead of him while JD is on the back side of his best years.
ReplyDeleteBut once again, if the point was on top of your head, I'm afraid you would still miss it.
Management vs players:
Management = good ?
Players = bad ?
Theo = businessman
Damon = traitor ?
So if Theo opts out on Trot dispite Trot being a loyal soldier who wants to retire as a Red Sox and would give the requisite hometown discount (like Bronson), and Trot then becomes a free agent and he signs with the Yankees, should we all boo him when he comes to Fenway, and sould we all call him a traitor?
Ethics is not just a six letter word, and the Baseball bizness does not exist in a moral and ethical vacum.
Let's not dam the atheletes and elevate these bloodless exectuives to godlike status.
These are the issues I'm trying to address and not only which player is better than the other at the moment, but the fan's irrational reaction to Johnny Damon and their behavoir at games.
That reaction and fan behavoir is fodder for thought and cannot be so easily dismissed by simply voicing opinions.