Posts Tagged ‘Brad Penny’
Artsy version of a favorite picture of mine that I took in 2006
If I learned anything from last night’s game and live blog chat it’s that the fans who I tend to surround myself with (whether my friends or fans of this blog) are made of better stuff than the bandwagoners and the sports writers. (Thanks to all of you who stopped by and made last night much more bearable than it would have been had we not done the live chat!)
There is no way – absolutely no way – to spin anything positive about a 20-11 loss. Sure the team came back and scored 11 runs (actually, that is a positive…the Yankees hammered away last night but the Sox didn’t give up, not even in the ninth inning) but the loss was still tough. But the comments last night and emails I’ve received since seem to reflect similar attitudes. No one is happy with Brad Penny. Most feel sorry for Michael Bowden getting thrown into that situation and just about everyone thinks that a team giving up all those hits and runs is more fluky than anything else. The Yankees are a good team, no doubt, but so are the Red Sox. Of course, Nick Cafardo writes that last night shows that the Yankees are a championship -caliber team. Now, they very well might be but I don’t think a 20-11 blowout is an indication of that. Games like this, in my mind, are an aberration. The Yankees exploited the suckitude of Brad Penny but the Red Sox also got 11 runs on 12 hits. There was some bad pitching going on with the Yankees as well, the Red Sox just took longer to capitalize on it. So you’ll pardon me if I don’t look at a game like last night’s and automatically crown the Yankees the World Champions of 2009.
Today’s game is on Fox so it doesn’t start until 4:10pm EST. Since I’ll be at Fenway I will, thankfully, be spared the ramblings of the ballwashing McCarver and Buck but I’ll still be in the middle of drunken Sox and Yankees fans so it’s a bit of a wash. I don’t usually go to a game thinking “PLEASE let them win” it’s always usually “I HOPE they win” but today I’m going to ask the baseball gods to please let them win. I’m not sure I can deal with Yankee fan jerkiness or the fights started by drunken and annoyed Red Sox fans if they don’t.
Junichi Tazawa doesn’t automatically instill a sense of calm when pitted against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees but I’m still going into this game hopeful. Why not? I’m a baseball fan. I’m a Red Sox fan. Today I get to sit in the park and enjoy a baseball game. There’s no reason to feel down about that.
Hey, look at that! A handsome man who also plays well. (And, apparently, can dance too!) Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
I wrote almost an entire entry about how sick and tired I am of trolls coming here just to get personal digs in that have nothing to do with baseball or anything I write about and then I thought “Why? Why bother validating anything those schmucks write?”. So, instead, I’ll write about how damn happy I am that JD Drew went 4 for 4 with 3 RBI and two home runs on Thursday night. Does that show the “Nancy Drew” asses that he has “heart” or “passion” or whatever the hell it is they’re looking for him to have? Probably not. But I enjoy JD giving a giant middle finger to all the jerks who want to point to him as the reason this team struggles.
Sweeping the Blue Jays wasn’t totally unexpected (although many had written off the Buchholz/Halladay game, I’m sure) but it was exactly what they needed to do. Just keep winning games and everything else will fall into place.
So Friday begins the Yanks series. I’m not overjoyed with the pitching match-ups but, then again, I’m a big believer in “anything can happen” so I’m not worrying about any of the games this weekend. (Also a tip of the hat and thanks to Jon Lester for going 8 innings, thus saving the bullpen for the Yankees.) Brad Penny might be the first on the mound but the main focus for me during the first game is the return of Jerry Remy. I know a lot of people are fans of Dennis Eckersley (and in the context of baseball, I am as well) but he got to the point where if I heard him say “cheese” or “salad” one more time I was going to poke out my eardrums with an ice pick. So I’m pleased to be getting the Rem Dawg back. And it’ll be sweet to be live blogging not only the game but Jerry’s return. It’s just a good thing you all won’t be able to see how dusty it gets at my place when the game starts. Welcome back, Jerry!
Based on some comments I received this week, I think there are a few things I need to make clear about posting comments just so there are no surprises for first-time commenters. Now is as good a time as any to cover them.
He just doesn't care, the bastard! (Is this where I should write "kidding"?) Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
I have to give a shout-out to my friend Beth, who not only trekked 140 miles (each way) this weekend to see Tim Wakefield pitch with the PawSox but who also clued me in to this article in today’s Pawtucket Times. Terry Nau the “Sports Editor” over there entitled the piece “Red Sox should shut up and play baseball”. Now you may ask yourself, “Are the Red Sox doing a lot of jawing and not much playing lately?” And I hope you will tell yourself, “No, that’s pretty ridiculous.” if you’ve been paying attention.
Here’s how the piece begins:
When Kevin Youkilis returns from suspension and rejoins Boston’s lineup in Toronto on Tuesday night, his teammates ought to follow his example and play the game like they really care.
On Friday night, the Red Sox were down to their last out in the ninth inning and the Nation was ready to chalk up an L for the night. The team had other ideas and mounted a comeback that resulted in their winning the game. Granted, it was the only game they won in Texas this weekend but there wasn’t a player in the bunch who was playing like he didn’t care. The above quote is the writing of someone lazy who wants to jump on the media panic-bandwagon just to rile up the fans. “Your players don’t care! Why should you?”
Then there’s this gem:
The first incident came in the eighth inning of Friday night’s game as Boston trailed 4-2. J.D. Drew sidled over to manager Terry Francona and told him he wouldn’t be able to play the field in the bottom of the inning because his groin pull was hurting him. “Tito” went ballistic, asking Drew in colorful language who he expected him to put in right field. So the laconic Drew strapped it up, went back in the field, and finished off Boston’s amazing comeback with a ninth-inning homer that provided insurance in an 8-4 victory.
Now, according to the Boston Globe’s Adam Kilgore:
“I said, ‘Look at the the scorecard. You have to,’ ” Francona said. “We already put a pitcher into run. That’s all we got to do, put somebody out in [expletive] right. It would have been like a circus.”
I don’t doubt for a moment that Tito wasn’t happy. But Nau makes the exchange seem like he dressed Drew down where Kilgore’s account makes it seem like Francona acted like a manager and basically said “Do what I say”. It might be nitpicking, but Nau’s version is written specifically to get the “Nancy Drew” crowd all up in arms about how Drew doesn’t care, has no passion, blah blah blah. In the line following the above quote, Nau goes on to write that Drew’s injury is “obviously real”. Yeah, imagine that. Someone who was hurt thought maybe he wouldn’t be able to play. The nerve of some people.
Wake and Kottaras this past week at Fenway. Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
So an amazing win on Friday that I didn’t have time to write about gets followed up by a terrible loss on Saturday. Wee.
But before I get into Saturday with the Sox, a mention about Tim Wakefield on Saturday with the PawSox. According to Dan Hoard:
“My good friend Chris Scott at the Capital Grille in Boston made some arrangements for the Capital Grille of Atlanta to come up here,” Wakefield said. “It took them 45 minutes to an hour to get up here, but it’s nice to treat the guys to a nice spread from the Capital Grille – filet mignon and some lobster mac-and-cheese.”
Now THAT is the way to treat the minor league guys! Wake also went 3.2 innings and gave up 2 runs but out of 63 pitches 40 were strikes and he seemingly had no trouble being out on the field (fielding his position has been the biggest concern right now). Expect Wake to pitch at Fenway on Friday night against the Yankees. (Figures I’d have the Saturday game – I really enjoy the Wake games!)
But back to Texas. For me the loss was “terrible” because of all the stolen bases. Hell a loss is a loss but the Rangers went one step ahead and embarrassed Jason Varitek (Frank Viola wants to blame Brad Penny but Penny wasn’t the only pitcher last night who was run on). According to a tweet by Amalie Benjamin last night, Tek has allowed 91.1 percent of runners stealing to reach safely – which is , obviously, the worst in the majors. I was genuinely embarrassed not by the loss but by all those stolen bases. Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury were the only bright spots for me last night – and Ian Kinsler being hit in the head was the darkest.
I have a hard time believing that Fernando Cabrera meant to hit him and Tito was quick to defend by saying that the way Kinsler covers the plate you have to pitch inside, but the kid went 2-3 last night (with a walk, strike out and home run mixed in before he was hit). While I’d hope that, at the very least, Cabrera wasn’t aiming for his head, the timing of it all felt somewhat intentional to me. I choose to believe Cabrera, though, when he says it wasn’t.
David Wright was hit by a 94-mph Matt Cain fastball yesterday and taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion. Ironically, the Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda was also hit in the head on Saturday by a line drive off of the Diamondbacks’ Rusty Ryal. Both Wright and Kuroda stayed in the hospital overnight for observation. Scary stuff happening in what is supposed to be just a game.
Michael Silverman wrote that as he got up and made his way to first, Kinsler said something that upset the Red Sox and then called back down to Tek to apologize for it. Now this I find interesting. What could he have said that was so bad that he felt like he had to apologize after HE was the one hit in the head? I probably don’t want to know.
Interesting moment (maybe only to me!) during the post-game interview of Brad Penny. Heidi Watney started to ask him about all the stolen bases and he responded with:
“…I answered that earlier, so…”
and then he turned away.
I’m sure I read too much into this, but he was only slightly less insulting to her than his pal Josh Beckett was earlier in the year. Aside from the buddy connection, there’s something else. Both moments happened on the road. I wonder if it just takes Heidi longer to get from the field where she does her work, including the post game interview on the field to the clubhouse where the rest of the interviews are being held than it does in Boston? Then again, Penny was dressed. I suppose that alone should have given her enough time to get there. Maybe she just likes to say “so and so told me” so she asks the same questions. Maybe she just doesn’t have that many questions to ask? Maybe Beckett and Penny need etiquette lessons? Or maybe none of this means anything except Heidi’s questions annoy people? I’d say that last one is a fair bet!
Junichi Tazawa on the mound at 2:05pm (Boston time!) today for the rubber match. It’ll be interesting to see him in another start. I like the offense’s chances against Dustin Nippert.
Monday is a day off for the Sox and then they head to Toronto for three games before the Yankees series back home. More wins, fellas, more wins.
Junichi Tazawa courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstilll.net and used with permission
Well that was nice, huh? Sox win and both the Yankees and the Rays lose. THIS is the way to start a home stand.
Brad Penny pitched as well as we could expect him to (and as Texy points out, we might need to pay someone to make him throw up the day of his starts) and the offense took off. Detroit isn’t an easy team to beat – and they didn’t make it easy last night – but I’m happy with the result. Here’s hoping this starts a nice string of wins for the guys.
I don’t have tickets to a Sox game now until Saturday, August 22nd. Yes, the Saturday game against the Yankees. As much as being at a Sox/Yanks game wears on my nerves, the upside is that it’s a Fox game so I get to avoid Buck/McCarver. I’ve definitely come out on top with this one. (That Sunday game is an ESPN game just like this past weekend. No wonder all the other fan bases hate the Yanks and Sox. Two weekends in August where they are the Fox AND ESPN games? I’m a Sox fan and it annoys me.)
Junichi Tazawa gets his first major-league start tonight. After giving up that bomb to Slappy on Friday, the kid is going to need some love. I hope the Fenway Faithful give it to him tonight.
Wednesday live blogging is back! (I know I said it wouldn’t be this week but that’s only because I need to learn how to read a calendar! NEXT Wednesday we won’t be having the live blog/chat. THIS Wednesday it’s totally on!) 13-4 Josh Beckett (ERA = 3.12) is pitching tomorrow night against 6-10 Armando Galarraga (ERA = 5.23). I like our chances for a good, fun, live blog!
Even I have to admit that the day after a win (coupled with that Yankees’ loss) is a ton better than the day after a loss.
