May 14, 2006

G35: Rangers 6, Red Sox 0 (6 inn.)

0514, 5:00 PM -- Another one-game series.

Saturday's rain-out game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader during the weekend of June 9-11. Now, Sunday's game may mean five games in three days. (Both teams do have an off day July 20.)

The postponements will play havoc with the Sox pitching staff in early June, but it's good news for me. It's two games I didn't miss. And as I check the starters for the Orioles series, I know that I will be home in my chair with a clean scoresheet and a glass(es) of cold wine for the final game of the series.

Jeff Horrigan looks past Baltimore to the pitching assignments against the Phillies and Yankees. (New York placed Tanyon Sturtze (18 games, 7.59 ERA) on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his pitching shoulder.)

Good news for Dave Wallace. He will receive a new left hip on June 1. ... Karen Guregian takes a quick look at how Abe Alvarez, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen and Jon Lester are pitching in Pawtucket. ... Out in Los Angeles, Bill Mueller will have arthroscopic knee surgery today.

Books: Bob Hohler gives a solid endorsement of my friend Tom Adelman's book Black and Blue: The Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys, and the 1966 World Series That Stunned America.

Bob Ryan looks at the latest from Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Between The Numbers: Why Everything You Know About The Game Is Wrong. Ryan: Forget "feel." Forget "anecdotal evidence." Just put the numbers in there, crunch 'em, and accept the verdict, whatever it may be. ... The depth of their knowledge is not merely formidable or impressive. It is downright frightening." One of Ryan's favourite sentences: "In 2004, no visiting team ever found itself in a tie game with no one out in the fourth inning with men on second and third."

Eric Wilbur is sick of the Clemens Saga (and is certain the TCM will stay in Houston). The Houston Chronicle reports that Clemens has a $20 million offer for five months from another team, in addition to the Astros' offer (a prorated version of Clemens's 2005 $18 million deal).

The Onion reports Clemens's family has offered him a one-year, $10 million deal "with a family option for a second year should Clemens perform well in his new role as husband and father." According to his wife, Debbie
It's hard to put a dollar amount on what Roger has historically meant to this family. Many of the younger members of this organization really look up to Roger—growing up, he was their hero. Now Roger has the chance to be a kind of mentor to guys like Kacy and Kody. They have really been lacking the strong veteran presence that's so crucial at this point in their careers. We need you, Roger. Please come home.


0513, 7:45 PM -- Tonight's game was rained out and Friday's rain-shortened contest was called during David Ortiz's at-bat leading off the bottom of the sixth. ... The weather was terrible.

Jeff Goldberg, Courant:
When the game began, a fog blanketed Fenway. By the fourth inning, the fog lifted, but the rain, which began falling in the third inning, intensified. After a 48-minute delay, the game was called (at) 9:16 p.m. (as) large pools of water were forming on the warning track and in front of both dugouts.
Joe McDonald, ProJo:
The final box scores were handed out in the press box 16 minutes after the rain delay began, when the rule states clubs have to wait 30 minutes to make an official decision.
Jeff Horrigan, Herald:
A member of director of grounds Dave Mellor’s 25-man crew estimated that between 60-100 bags of Turface, or de facto kitty litter, was spread on the soggy mound, batter’s boxes and infield ...
Jonathan Papelbon has been grinding his teeth while sleeping this season, but he says he began doing it before the season began. Steve Buckley reports that he was applying a hot pack to both sides of his face during the recent Yankees series.
I think it's more just a self-conscious thing where I'm not really able to quit doing it. I'm doing it self-consciously and I think it's a little bit stress-related, maybe. But it's getting better and better. Obviously, as time goes on, I'm starting to learn how to cope with it and lessen the pain. ... I started doing it before spring training, at home during the offseason. ... Some days are worse than others. A lot of times I'm not able to sleep at night. I'm still thinking about baseball. I'm not letting everything go during the day.

Texas at Fenway.
May 12: Rangers 6, Red Sox 0 (6 inn.)
May 13: Postponed, rain
May 14: Postponed, rain

11 comments:

Zeke Hunkaburning said...

“He is a snarling outsider who came for the money.”

- Jon Heyman, Newsday

My favorite quote from NY!


Hey, what a treat it was to read all those clips from New York based print media after the 13 – 3 debacle on Monday. It's good to know that not only are the Yankees capable of melting down, the entire New York based media can melt down over a simply ugly drubbing by the Sox. Something must have gotten under their skin.

Yes, that was some ugly incident in the Yankee Stadium bleachers that was described in the LiveJournal account I mentioned.

It got me thinking about how far away from the sheer love of the game fans have gotten. If that was an alcohol free section, I would bet there were numerous flasks being passed around. That sounds like alcohol fueled behavior to me. I love my drink, I really do, but I hate it when it makes me behave like an A-person, and I try real hard to avoid behaving like that.

I think of baseball as a national treasure, an integral part of our culture, something to be cherished and protected, and maybe that thinking makes me less partisan than some other fans. I don’t hate any team or any other fans. I was probably more rabid in my youth, though. I don’t want to be out of touch with reality either; I just have problems with fan behavior on both sides of this rivalry.

I guess the term “rabid fan” has been taken to new levels lately by the Yankee/Sox rivalry. In monitoring some Sox blogs this week I can’t believe the heightened vitriol, though some of it is pure hyperbole, some of it is ugly/sincere and true as the account from the NY bleachers.

Once Soxaholic got mentioned in New York media a few days ago NY fans began posting there in earnest and the fight was on. Ugly.


Wish I Said That Department.

I’m quoting below a couple of posts, about the fans and the rivalry, that I admire and don’t exactly disagree with the sentiments expressed -- from soxaholic comments, yesterday.


“DenverSoxFan: That story was horrible and made me so upset, not only for the fans' actions but for the pigs (both cops and other yankee fans) who did nothing and went out of their way to make the Sox fans' experience even worse. But considering the brutatlity of NY's finest - shit, look at the caliber of Yanks fans that post here or Survivng Grady (Jason O excepted - though he has been a little nastier than usual in yesterday's posts).
Perhaps, it's just the general feeling of the world now - everyone hates everyone and we are in a state orf permanent war so why not just carry the bad vibes everywhere, even to a freakin' baseball rivalry than now looks like it'll become the new "100 Years War" with blood being spilled (eventually someone's gonna get killed - as in dead - wearing a Sox shirt in MFY stadium).
I'd like to see cooler heads prevail but based on that article, I'm not holding my breath.
That article was one of the main reasons you could never drag me back to NYC, baseball-related or not.
Or as Fear said, "New York's Alright If You Like Saxaphones."

Posted by: scott12xu”


And.


“Yankee fan here...and you're damn right I'm here at Soxaholix. No jealousy, just appreciation. And yes...Sox fans infiltrate Yankee blogs all the time. I recommend it, if you haven't. It's fun.

A little quibble on the Johnny thing...someone suggested before that he "turned it down for a marginal dollar-value increase from the Yankees" Since when is $12 million marginal? First words out of Epstein's mouth when they got Crisp were that he'd been hoping to get him for a long time. As in, he was happy to see Damon go. Damon got the same treatment Pedro got last offseason...just enough interest to pay lip service to the Sox fan base and misdirect your anger.

There really isn't any comparison with Wells, either. David Wells jerked the Yanks around plenty. His 2003 WS was a total fiasco, and he talked crap like no tomorrow about the team throughout.

Anyway, though, it isn't about class. It's about being a fan...Sox boo Damon because they love what he did, and now he's with the Yankees, the team they hate as much as they love the Sox...sometimes more. Anyone Yankee fan who has a problem with Sox fans booing Damon needs his head examined. Sox and Yankee fans both are mostly jackasses, given to total rabid, non-rational rantings and ravings spawned by both. Any Sox or Yankee fan who talks about how much classier one side is than the other is like the guy with the Yosemite Sam mudflaps giving it to the guy with the Naked Lady mudflaps. That would be the pot calling the kettle black. There is no class among either Sox or Yankee fans.

Posted by: Dave S”


Well spoken and worth reading, both.



CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!


Are you dreaming????????????

Or are you just delusional?????????



Go Timmy Wake, my sentimental favorite.

Zeke Hunkaburning said...

Youk of the nation:

Our best insurance.

- - - - - - - - -

Get back Loretta;

Back to where you once belonged.

- - - - - - - - - -

NOW THAT WAS A BASEBALL GAME!!!!!



Let us sing.


Watched the taillights fading, there ain't a dry eye in the house
They're laughing and singing
Started dancing and drinking as I left town.

Gonna find my way to heaven, `cause I did my time in hell
I wasn't looking too good but I was feeling real well.

After all is said and done,
I gotta move, I had my fun,
Let us walk before they make me run.

After all is said and done,
I did alright, I had my fun,
I will walk before they make me run.

thatdietcokegirl said...

great sox bullpen + lethal loretta - matsui - sheffield + solid wake outing + bloop gonzo ground rule double + ball doing the right thing and falling out of cairo's glove to allow two runs to score + papelbon-bon papelbon-bon =

sox lead season series against yankees 3-1.

thatdietcokegirl said...

on a semi-related note:
incase you're wondering..it's called 'collective karma'. to you from me johnny d!

thatdietcokegirl said...

^^that's what the weei guys were saying about yankee stadium in the 70s. i believe it.

allan said...

hey -- why are the yankee game comments here? you're throwing off my nice, neat series threads!!

zeke said
It got me thinking about how far away from the sheer love of the game fans have gotten.

i didn't read about the incident in question, but ... i don't know how old you are zeke, but if you read any history of baseball, you will find that (although bad things happen) fans today are the best behaved in history. the tales of fan behaviour from just about any era will surrpise you.

jack said
...is there ANYTHING some people won't blame on Bush?

no. and when they do, it is usually with very good reason.

Anonymous said...

After last night's indifferent effort by Clement and Co. in the slop against the Rangers, I find more interesting the lingering commentary on the BOS-NYY rivalry.

Having grown up in MA as a child of the Impossible Dream (read Simmons' book if you want a reference), I must say that the rivalry has taken on a decidedly darker tone over the years. While the on-field intensity seems to remain every bit as unbridled as in days of yore (i.e., V-Tek feeding Slappy his mitt in 04), the stuff off the field and in the stands has come to resemble the type of behavior seen in Europe among the soccer hooligan sect.

Until both clubs are prepared to take full accountability to reign in the behavior of their fans, this type of behavior will continue to rear its ugly head in Boston and New York.

Where do you start? Here's a suggested five-point plan that any of you with your very own Bat Phone to John Henry can feel free to forward:

1. Ban admission to fans wearing profane, inflammatory t-shirts, and have the stones to eject those who shed layers of clothing upon entry to put their sycophantic slogans on display. If you want examples that clearly demonstrate the The Decline of Western Civilization, check out some of these beauties the next time you're hoofing it with the masses on game day/night, and thank your lucky stars your mother, sister, wife, or daughter isn't walking with you.

Can you imagine a sepia-toned photo of the stands in Fenway in 1977, with people wearing such smart slogans as MUNSON SUCKS; CHAMBLISS SWALLOWS? Quite simply, it would not have been allowed then - why should it be allowed now?

2. Start printing disclaimer language on the back of tickets that provide the club the ability to deny admission to fans who arrive at the park in a state of clear intoxication (with a Breathalyzer testing station manned by Boston's finest for those who want to contest the appraisal). Doing so would keep the drunken rabble out of the park that are often there for no other reason that to instigate fights with the NYY fans in the bleachers.

3. For the drunks denied entry, walk their confiscated tickets down the hall to the Game Day sales window so the single Mom from Woburn can then take her 10 year-old son to see a Sox-Yankees game (an experience that both will actually remember and cherish). HEY, JOHN HENRY! How about selling these confiscated ducats at half-off? You'd make 150% on the sale of said seats and generate incalculably greater goodwill among your current and future fan base by sending a clear message that you're committed to making sure that the Fenway experience is a positive one (especially with what you're charging for tickets).

4. Refuse to sell alcohol to clearly intoxicated fans. I've seen guys under the stands cheerfully sold beer after beer even though they were so loaded they thought they were at a Bruins game. Where is the outcry against the hypocrisy of a team policy that limits sales to two at a time (how many can you carry anyway when you're loaded?) or cutting sales off after a certain inning if you show up hammered before the first pitch is thrown?

5. Give a quick, unequivocal ejection to profane, abusive, and drunken fans. If you've seen it happen in other parks, you'll note how everyone in that section (especially parents with small kids) will fall all over themselves thanking the security personnel for tossing out the trash and allowing them to enjoy the game.

Yes, we'll need lawyers to put teeth and protections in place to shield the club's legal interests for these new policies, but I'm confident they have more than a few white shoe types on retainer that can help dot the necessary I's and cross the obligatory T's.

As ugly as the hooligan sect can be at a NYY-BOS game at Fenway, I never fully appreciated how much worse it is in NY until I made my first trip to Yankee Stadium for Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, watching the magic and subsequent misery unfold from the right field stands.

I felt like I was among the same class of people who were in the front row at Altamont that fateful night. Listen to AC/DC's "I Feel Safe in New York City" and you'll get the picture.

There's a pony hidden in the pile here for Henry, Werner, and Lucchino. Namely, by doing what Steinbrenner will not, they can step up and put a set of policies in place that will send a strong message to the fans of all stripes, namely that they will not tolerate conduct that in any way will denegrate or lessen "The Fenway Experience" for fans of all ages and allegiances.

It's going to take a little courage on the part of the Trio to get this done, along with lawyers, guns, and money (ode to Zevon) to put the plan in motion. Last time I checked, they had plenty of at least two out of three....

Zeke Hunkaburning said...

Well said, Yaz-tex. I agree with the spirt, if not every little detail, of what you said and what you suggest.

What are we, dreamers?

I especially liked the mention of soccer hooliganism (which is quite scary to those who have read about the most horrific incidents and the numerous deaths it has caused). I understand the English are the worst among the Euro-trash offenders. Didn't they used to send their lower class undesirable elements to the colonies?

I guess we shouldn't forget that the word fan maybe comes from "Fanatic".

Like the guy, denversoxfan, said in his post:

. . . a freakin' baseball rivalry than now looks like it'll become the new "100 Years War" with blood being spilled

(eventually someone's gonna get killed - as in dead - wearing a Sox shirt in MFY stadium).



Let's not forget that the BPD already killed one innocent fan by "accident" during a celebration at Fenway that the City mishandled by poor planning and crowd control preparation.

I'm of the opinion that behavoir in general has taken a turn for the worst and that "wrong turn" is simply being reflected in the baseball world.

Sure, it's always been a tough world, and there have always been a-persons acting out, but I think a sea-change took place, near recently, when no one was looking.

well, Y-T, I'm sure you will be corrected and vehmentaly disagreed with, but I want you to know that I appreciate you ideas. I hope others do, and that we're not just spitting into the wind.

Hey, brain-trust-trifecta?

allan said...

FYI: Shirt worn in the Bronx during the late 1970s:

Fisk Eats Rice

It was ever thus.

Zeke Hunkaburning said...

Man, RS, you said a mouthful!!!

A good way to pass the time during rainouts is to exchange "cool tee-shirts I have seen stories".

I haven't see too many this year but the cleverest one I've heard about is the one with a picture of the long-haired, bearded Johnny Damon, that read something like:

LOOKS LIKE JESUS, ACTS LIKE JUDAS, THROWS LIKE MARY

There must be a bunch of JD tees out there as well as some about the Hated Yanks.

I hate to knock a nice, god fearing fellow like Matt Clemnt, but that starting spot in the rotation worries me to no end.

How about this tee shirt:

Matt Clement

In Clement weather comming.

A good chance it will be raining runs.

Kind of weak, but telling.

Zeke Hunkaburning said...

Jack,

Asking me if I'm Al Sharpton is like calling the kettle black or something!

Did the policeman pull the trigger "accidently"?

No, he pulled the trigger intentionally, I believe.

Did he pull the trigger intending to kill someone?

No. I believe the killing was an accident.

Thus the quotes around "accident", because if he had not pulled the trigger "intentionally", then the girl would not have been "accidently" killed.

He had no busisness pulling the trigger: that is why the City paid out big time: they were at fault.

Any more questions?