In honor of No-mah's 30th birthday (which was actually yesterday) I'm starting an all-purpose Red Sox thread. Anyone with any random observations, stories, questions etc. about the Sox feel free to join in.

No-mah was hitless on his birthday, for what it's worth.

Red Sox v. Devil Rays

Call me crazy, but I've developed a strange, almost blasphemous affection for the Red Sox. They've got some pretty charismatic (and hot) players on the field. I mean, who could dislike Nomar, Varitek, Damon or Ramirez?

Of course, this feeling will probably change after this weekend...

[ July 24, 2003, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: FeverDog ]

End of five-game winning streak. The Red Sox lost to Tampa Bay 15-9 Thursday afternoon, thanks mostly to starter Ramiro Mendoza and three relievers allowing a total of 21 hits, while the offense only produced 9. (Lou Piniella piled on the runs, boo-hoo! He owes us an apology!)

Friday the Yankees come to town for a three-game series. Scheduled pitchers for the weekend are Martinez-Wells (Wells has a 6.20 ERA in his last three starts, Martinez 0.86 eek! ), Burkett-Mussina (Burkett is 0-6 with a 9.66 ERA in his career against the Yankees) and Lowe-Weaver (Lowe is 7-1 at Fenway).*

Other than Thursday's fiasco, things have actually been looking kind of groovy in the bullpen. Brandon Lyon, who has been "inconsistent" lately (actually, he's sucked), was traded to Pittsburgh for veteran lefty Scott Sauerbeck, who worked one scoreless inning against the D-Rays Wednesday night. Todd Jones has been pitching surprisingly well, considering his recent lack of performance with the Rockies. And BH Kim has been doing a fine job as closer, seems to be exactly the role for him, at least for now.

(Thanks for starting this thread, William. )

[ July 25, 2003, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Although this is more a response to Cattledog's comments in another thread, I refuse to comment under the banner "Yankees seem to be back on track", so I write here...

RED SOX WIN! RED SOX WIN!

And this win was about much more than just pulling within a game and a half. It was VERY big for Byung Yung Kim who finally comes away from a Yankee game with a win. It shows a Red Sox team that doesn't let a tough loss get to them, and battles even in the late innings.

We'll see what happens to the Sox in August. That's usually when they self detruct. And they have a tough schedule: Seven against Seattle, Seven against Oakland. If they can get through that, I think it will be tight with the Yankees going down the stretch.

I just hope they don't make some desperation trade in the next week and give up Trot or Freddy Sanchez.

This weekend was spectacular, though unfortunately I fell asleep during last night's game and missed the excitement. The Sox were down when I went to bed. I'm begging my company's vendors for tickets to the Sox-Os games in August. (I think Christopher Cross is one of the post-game concerts at Camden Yards during the Sox visit!)

Great game last night; great, well-played series.

Saturday was the scariest... Burkett (!) pitched 5 2/3 innings with three hits and no runs, then every single one of his four relievers gave up at least one hit, the Yankees tying it 4-4 in the eighth. David Ortiz saved the game with a single after two outs in the ninth, Jeremy Giambi scoring. Good one!

[ July 28, 2003, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Yes... Great game last night!

Can't wait to catch them here at Camden Yards!

Not to mention the once "rumored" Bill Mueller (when he was in SF). Have those rumors followed him to Boston or did he marry his girlfriend?

Mueller would be a perfect poster boy, for sure.

I never figured the "rumors" about him and Shawn Estes were serious (if that's what you're referring to), haven't heard anything one way or the other since he joined the Red Sox. Any of you guys who may be more plugged in than I?

I'm planning on being in Bah-stan the second week in October. IF, and that's a huge if, the Red Sox are at home for a playoff game, how much would scalper tickets go for?

Can't the Red Sox philosophy be summed up as: "We win today because losing tomorrow will hurt more."

~Adam

My Former Favorite Giant Bill Mueller married his girlfriend during his tenure with the Cubs. They got a St. Bernard puppy. Why, no, I'm not a stalker, why do you ask? And while I may have a very active and vivid fantasy life, I never once believed the "rumors" about Mueller and Shawn Estes. I met them both briefly and got no vibe whatsoever. I'm sure they were just good friends. ("Sigh...", said My Very Active and Vivid Fantasy Life.)

Sorry to hear that.

Who knows, maybe there aren't any gay major leaguers...

Speaking of Mueller...as far as I'm concerned, he can have three or four wives as long as he keeps hitting like he did last night. Awesome stuff.

Oddly enough, I think something like four of the guys in MLB history who have hit two grand slams in a game have been Red Sox.

Sox got another relief pitcher, too. Bring 'em on.

From each side of the plate. Unbelievable.

The new guy is RHP Scott Williamson from the Reds, in exchange for two minor leaguers and some cash. He's a hot-shot closer, has saved 21 of 26 opportunities this season. Should take some pressure off Kim.

I have been in this country for 4 years now and so far have only followed college sports. however, the last two weeks, I was able to see 3 games in three different cities. I started in Baltimore, went to Toronto, and then ended up in Boston for Game 3 last sunday. I always liked the idea of the green monster, however, after this weekend it was pretty clear to me that I would be a Red Sox fan. (come to think of it, they have some similarities with my favourite school, South Carolina )
I'll be in Baltimore tomorrow. If anybody could help me out with 1, maybe even 3 tickets, I would greatly appreciate it.

Go Sox, Go Cocks, and even if he plays for the other team: Go Brian Roberts

I look at the patchwork Red Sox line-up and I think: Grady Little is a genius. Maybe the best manager in the American League. How the hell is winning with that team?

Apparently, and I hope the New England audience will correct me, the attitude in Boston is that Grady Little is on the hot seat because Boy Genius Theo Epstein has given him all he needs to win. Huh? Is this true?

I personally don't think much of the Boy Wonder's recent acquisitions.

ESPN's Jayson Stark made the unbelievably stupid statement that the Red SOx picked up the three best relief pitchers on the trading block this season when they got Byung Hyun Kim, Scott Williamson, and, yes, Scott Sauerbeck. The best three? Did the guy ever hear of Ugueth Urbina (Texas to Florida)? How about Armando Benitez (to the Yankees)? Benitez has his troubles, but he's still more valuable than Scott Sauerbeck. Scott Williamson is a very good relief pitcher. When healthy. And he's not healthy often.

And Byung Hyun Kim? The greatest relief pitcher choke of the 21st Century is now wearing a Red Sox uniform. Anyone else see an epic disaster in the making? Something that will make Calvin Schiraldi's meltdown look like a clambake?

And Epstein's being lauded for acquiring ... Jeff Suppan? This is supposed to be a trade for the pennant? Suppan is 28, career ERA of nearly 5.00 (4.87 to be exact) and he's never been on a winner. Wonder how he'll handle the pressure from the Red Sox Nation media.

I'm not buying into this Theo Epstein cult of personality thing that's developing. Grady Little is the AL Manager of the Year runner-up (Tony Pena in K.C. already has it cinched.) Little's getting a lot of mileage out of a pretty bad lineup (Todd Walker at second? Kevin Millar at first?) Yet Epstein's the genius and Little's on the hot seat? I don't understand Red Sock Nation and I never will.

I think calling Grady Little a genius might be an overstatement. Early in the season the Red Sox won because of the offense. The guys you deride (Walker and Millar) contributed to this offense in ways that were unexpected. Mueller was acquired to shore up the defense, but ended up being an offensive asset as well. I'm not sure if you can peg any of this to performances to genius on the part of the manager. I think it is just lucky. And the Red Sox were living on offensive production.

On the pitching side, the Red Sox were hurting. When they won, it was because the offense put up a ridiculously high number of runs. This is why the trades make Red Sox fans drool. Throughout the first half, it was all "If we just had the pitching." So they got some pitchers. You can argue the absolute merits of each acquired pitcher, but comparing what was to what is... the general consensus is the pitching is better than it was.

So that's it. Here we had a team that was being dragged down by its pitching, but kept afloat by the offense. When they get better pitching is the conclusion really that strange?

Personally, I believe in the Red Sox Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. You cannot have pitching and offensive on a Red Sox team at the same time and place.

LOL Orsino, but they did pull it off yesterday with another come-from-behind win over Oakland. Manny Ramirez tied the game 2-2 with a HR in the top of the ninth, but I'll give the W to G*** K*****, who made a sensational right field catch of Eric Chavez's almost-home-run in the bottom of the ninth, then scored the winning run in the tenth on Bill Meuller's sac fly. The newly-configured bullpen did a great job, Alan Embree shutting down three straight with two men on base in the eighth, and BH Kim ending the game with two perfect innings.

It was also interesting to note that on TV the fan noise for the Red Sox sounded just as loud as that for the A's. Lots of Boston-to-the-Bay émigrés, I guess? Anyway, the game ended what could have been an ugly series by splitting it 2-2 and keeping the Sox one game ahead of the A's in the AL wild card standings. On to Seattle, wish I were there!

[ August 15, 2003, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

I'd hop into bed with Theo Epstein in a New York, umm Boston, minute! He is so fine! wink

Karmic Retribution Report: Red Sox reliever Todd Jones threw only two pitches last night before he was hit by a line drive off Toronto's Vernon Wells. He's on the DL with a bruised pitching arm.

Jones is the guy who said that if he faced an openly gay batter, he'd aim to hit him in the head.

Exhibit A as to the dire state of MLB pitching: Todd Jones still has a job.

Maybe Wells didn't like the homophobic comments by Jones to the point that he decided to take action and aim for his head, perhaps to knock some tolerance into that small mind of his!
(Not a likely story though)

Losing two of three to the archrival Yankees ... in Fenway ... and now they have Manny Ramirez problems to boot ... is this finally the beginning of the end of the Red Sox?

The Yankees have a 5 1/2 game over the Red Sox in the AL East. That's way too big of a lead for the Yankees to blow with four weeks to go.

The Mariners have pulled a game and a half ahead in the Wild Card and appear to be over what is becoming a traditional late August funk. The Mariners 2003 season seems to be a complete repeat of 2002, and last year, after a late August swoon that allowed the A's and Angels to get ahead of them in the standings, the M's played fairly well over the last few weeks of September, if I remember correctly. They just couldn't make up any ground. While they may have fallen hopelessly behind the A's again this year, they aren't behind the Red Sox.

The Red Sox seemed to be doing it with smoke, mirrors and Pedro. Bill Mueller's impression of Mike Schmidt has to end sometime ... doesn't it? ... as does the heretofore convincing impersonations of major league regulars by Kevin Millar and Todd Walker.

It's clear that the Yankees, Red Sox, A's and M's will get three playoff spots between them. The Red Sox are finally looking like they'll be the odd team out.

Well, the Red Sox gained a game today. Of course, it helped that they were given 14 walks by Phils' pitching, and that after Brett Myers was lifted after 4 in a lousy start, instead of going for a couple of innings of long relief Carlos Silva was lifted after just 3 batters, followed by a parade of relievers ending up with Jose Mesa and Turk Wendell allowing 6 ninth-inning runs...and that, while the game was still 6-5 in the seventh the Phils loaded the bases with no outs and didn't score. Sheesh.

Philadelphia used seven pitchers altogether. Wendell walked in a run, then gave up a grand slam to Trot Nixon. Ugly.

I wonder what Bowa had to say this evening?

And a grand total of EIGHT pitches! This was an astonishingly dumb move.

I agree that Red Sox pitching does not look like they can compete with the rest of the AL hopefuls, but there is one fact in our favor - Seattle and Oakland have to play each other 6 times in September. Someone has to lose those games. If the BoSox can get past the ChiSox, I think they're in the playoffs, as the bulk of their games are against the Orioles and Tampa Bay.

Keep the Faith! This is the Year !

BostonFan, I wouldn't get too confident just yet. The Red Sox have a very tough schedule coming up, and have to face some teams that crave the post-season as much as anyone else, as well as the spoiler teams who want revenge. The BoSox offense is probably better than both Seattle and Oakland, but that'll only get you so far, just look at the Texas Rangers. If you don't have excellent pitching, You're Out!

Do any of you Red Sox fans know what happened in Red Sox Nation today. It involved Manny, the man one of my brothers refers to as the "idiot sevant." I'm 44 years of age and have been a Sox fan for as long as I can recollect and every September they do this shit to me. They will do it to me again next year. Oh, woe is me!!!! The horror.

He sat out the weekend series with the Yankees as he was sick...but not too sick to be found in the hotel/condo complex where he lives in Boston, socializing with one of the Yanks (with an unconfirmed report that he was in the bar). Then he missed his doctor's appointment Sunday and sat out again Monday, saying he was too weak to even pinch-hit. So tonight, according to this article, he's been benched even though he's apparently ready to play. But it's not a punishment, says the manager. Hmmmmmm....

Johnny Damon's fan club

I thought all Nancy cartoons had been drawn back in 1951 and they were still making their way through the backlog. Maybe the original strip said Johnny Pesky (who was kinda cute back then - whether or not he was holding balls) and they just overwrote "Pesky" with another five-letter last name

[ September 06, 2003, 09:25 PM: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

I went to the game last night at Camden Yards. The good news - No-mah hit a homer. Bad news for the Sox - everything else. The last thing I heard over the PA as we were leaving the stadium in the 8th -"And the Red Sox and coming apart at the seams..."

What is it with the Sox and the Orioles?

Anyway...gorgeous night for a ball game. And I got home in time (11:30pm) to see the end of the Eaglets-Bucs game. Nice.

Sat, Sep 20:


Pitiful!

Bye bye, Sauerbeck! Hello Seattle? eek!

[ September 21, 2003, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Disregard previous post... wink With the exception of Saturday's fiasco, the Red Sox have been on a roll, culminating in last night's AWESOME ten-inning comeback win over Baltimore. I was fortunate to have snagged a very good seat for what turned out to be a magical Fenway experience.

The A's pounded Seattle again today, so One more Boston win will clench the wild card. May as well be tonight...

I'm cheerin for the Red Sox ...C/mon Boston -its about time! (I always go for the underdog.)

In what sort of parallel universe does the second highest payroll in the history of baseball qualify someone as an "underdog," especially in a series against the no-budget Oakland A's? The real underdogs play in an air-supported dome with a roof the same color as the baseball.

Dear "Cowboys" ... please beat the most overhyped, wallet-stuffed franchise in the history of pro sports tonight. Then please lose to the Marlins, you whiny, crop-headed fundamentalist biker knuckleheads.

Wow. And *I* get accused of spewing bile on this board!

Please, Bill W, enough. Please. Because THE YANKEES WON!!!! THE YANKEES WON!!!!

One of these days the evil hex will lift from Boston. It could start if they dropped that "cowboy" crap and go back to their roots...the Puritans. Atone for thy sins, Boston Red Pox. And while you're at it, CHEER ON THE YANKEES AGAINST THE FISH!!!

Why? The country's tired of them.

BTW, I'm willing to bet the World Series ratings will this year be in the toilet, which is too bad after a wonderful postseason so far. Had the Cubs and/or the Red Sox made it, more people would be interested.

I was going to post this regardless of how this game ended...

Boston OutSports guys, I know you are hurting. Most of you (The actual Red Sox fans, not the other people that are simply bitter non-Red Sox, non-Yankee fans) have been actual gentlemen this whole season. Most of you guys never posted any crap on the Yankee thread, and most of us tried not to post any crap on the Red Sox thread. Of course, the ALCS thread was pretty vicious on both sides! wink Great series, guys. I think the ALCS was the TRUE World Series between the two best teams!

Let me 'second' Cattledog's gesture of goodwill towards the Red Sox fans. Although I had to give it some serious thought, I would be cheering for the Sox if they were going to the World Series instead of the Yankees. The ALCS was great, and I agree it really was the true World Series.

Well, I'm a die-hard Angels fan--always will be--but after spending the weekend in Boston recently, I kind of "adopted" the Red Sox. When it was 5-3 Sox, I had a feeling of doom, oh-so-familiar from all these years of being an Angels fan. It seemed almost inevitible that the Yankees would win.

*SIGH*

"It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, you rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then, just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops."

-A. Bartlett Giamatti


And *he* never even lived to see f**king Grady (Knows) Little manage.

On a less elegiac note:

"If the Red Sox were a girl, you would probably just break up with them... But sports aren't like that. You're stuck with your teams from childhood. It's like being trapped in a bad Irish-Catholic marriage. You can't get out...

"'I finally understand why you're so crazy about this team," [my wife] kept saying. 'I can't imagine going through this for my entire life. This is horrible.'"
-Bill Simmons, espn.com

How do you know what the "country's" tired of? Did you run a poll or something? I hate when people generalize about America based on their own fixations. This country loves WINNERS, baby! It curses, spits and tramples on the underdogs, time and time again, unfortunately--this ain't Canada or the Netherlands or Sweden. (Cf. the politics section of this board.)

Let the ratings be in the toilet--when was that the arbiter of anything? Is a book good just because it sells well? Is that the measure of quality?

I do wish the Cubs had made it. But they have people like "Goatboy" hovering about to throw things out of whack. Hey, what if next year, when the Cubs go all the way, they mandate that dumb fans be nowhere near the foul lines?

Like I said on another thread, expunge the Red Sox of that Yawkey aura, and I'm telling you, they'll win their division AND the Series. Even the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson will give them the thumbs up.

[ October 17, 2003, 11:30 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Uh, hello? The Angels last year? I seem to remember a swell of support for them, the "underdogs", that wasn't confined to OC bandwagon hoppers.

The TV ratings will be the poll. The ratings for the AL/NLCS were the highest in ages because of the Cubs and the Red Sox, period. I know I'm not alone in not caring about the World Series.

And *I'm* tired of people in the New York metro area, even if they only live there part-time, thinking that people outside that area give a damn about what happens there or to the fate of the sports teams there. You're just as guilty of myopia as those you decry.

[ October 18, 2003, 10:55 AM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

I don't think its just a NY thing. I think people got just as tired of the Lakers and, to a lesser extent, the Bulls winning title after title. Same goes for the Celtics of the 60s and the UCLA basketball of the Wooden era. Notre Dame football. Duke hoops. People are tired of the Braves winning division after division. Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf winning all the time grew pretty tiresome. Bottom line is we love an underdog.

Not so much an issue in the NFL as repeat champs aren't nearly as common. Even the Niners five titles were spread out over a long period. Other than fans of the specific teams I mentioned (and some I undoubtedly forgot), I can't imagine anyone not tiring of those teams winning all the time.

Sorry, should have clarified. For this series, the national appeal has been limited by the NY v. FLA series; a Cubs vs. Sox would have had more interest for a casual/only-watches-baseball-twice-a-year fan. Obviously, popularity doesn't = quality, but, as in my case, I've been out doing errands rather than watching the game. That wouldn't have been the case with other matchups.

I, for one, have no problem with the Lakers winning 17 titles in a row! But seriously, it's like two seasons ago, when they played the Kings in the WC final and then faced a hopelessly overmatched, Todd MacCulloch-led Nets team. The "real" final was the Lakers v. Kings; the final was just a coronation.

[ October 18, 2003, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]