Posts Tagged ‘Clay Buchholz’
Highlight of the game? Kalish's catch was fantastic! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com and used with permission.
I didn’t purposely skip over posting yesterday but I can only imagine the emails I would have received had I written something.
Because, had I written an entry on Saturday, it would have been about how good Friday night felt. The Sox beating the Rays, the Yankees losing to the White Sox, the Red Sox gaining a game all around. It was a great feeling and a wonderful way to end the night.
As good as Friday felt is as bad as Saturday felt. But, really, Saturday doesn’t change Friday. Friday was still great and the Red Sox are still in the position they were in before the game Friday night. And while I get people being upset – hell the word to describe how I felt after the game was and still is “sad” – based on emails I’ve received today without having posted yesterday, I can only imagine how much worse they would have been had I shared in full-length format how happy Friday night made me.
I received a handful of emails from different folks regarding this weekend’s games thus far. Here’s an excerpt from one:
You were so excited on Twitter Friday night and now you look stupid. Why bother getting excited about the Red Sox when you know they’re going to lose just like they did tonight? They suck and you’re wasting your time with them.
The kicker? This came from a Red Sox fan who follows me on Twitter. Seriously? I’m wasting my time?
Here’s the thing. Last night was a tremendous kick in the ass. Until Clay starting reverting to his old self by throwing over to first a million times, he was sailing. After that errant throw that allowed Pena to take third from first and eventually score, the wheels came off. We all saw it, we all felt it, we all new what was coming and couldn’t stop it. I was upset in the moment but after sleeping on it I have one question for folks:
How is what happened last night any different than what’s been happening all season???
The entire season has been a flurry of great games, sucky games, great news, sucky news, lather, rinse, repeat. If you’ve stuck it out this long…if you’ve decided that this team has enough guts and heart and energy that you want to watch every night to see what happens…if you don’t think 5.5 games out of first place at the end of August is the worst place they can be…then why the hell would one God-awful, gut punching game make you throw in the towel now?
I get the knee-jerk reaction stuff. Hell, sometimes I think I’m QUEEN of the knee-jerk reactions when it comes to the actions going on during the game. But, honestly, it didn’t even take me sleeping on it for me to remember that this seasons seems to be some sort of test by the Baseball Gods and last night’s game might have been one of the hardest parts of that test but it doesn’t mean you tear up your paper and storm out of the room.
In the American League, the Orioles, the Tigers, the Royals, the Indians, the Angels and the Mariners all are playing under .500 right now, yet they still have fans who go to the games and who try to enjoy the season for what it’s worth. One game at a time, one play at a time, one amazing win or devastating loss at a time. The Red Sox are 18 games over .500. They’re 5.5 games out of first place and, really, still in the middle of a pennant race whether folks think it’s an impossible goal or not. They’re still in it.
It sucks that they lost. It especially sucks how they lost. But don’t be sending me (or anyone else) messages telling me I’m stupid for getting excited about the wins because they turn around and have the nerve to lose as well. I’m a fan. This is my team whether they suck or they excel. Now is the time for people to step back and figure out what they want from their team and what they realistically expect from the men who take that field.
I want them to win more than they lose and I want them to entertain me. I want them to help make my summer and early fall interesting and exciting. So far they’ve done all of that, so you bet your ass I’m going to be here and on Twitter proclaiming my happiness for and about them. I invite you to do the same because it beats the heck out of the alternative.
This just looks so wrong. So very wrong. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images and used without permission)
The only part of this upcoming series that bothers me is all the talk of how this will “make or break” the Red Sox. The Red Sox can barely “break” any more than they already have. I’ve not given up on this season. Never do until the numbers tell me I HAVE to. BUT I will admit to feeling less of an urgency for this team to get into the playoffs. My concern is mostly if they can actually claw their way to the post-season, how will they perform and whose limbs will end up being sacrificed? So I’m excited for the rest of the season but I’m not ready to freak out over the Yankees series. If the Sox can come out on top after this series is over, I’ll be absolutely delighted. If not, I won’t be devastated. Does that make sense?
It’s interesting to note that while Lance Berkman hasn’t really done much since he donned the pinstripes (a sight that really does give me the heebie jeebies), he has excellent stats against the Sox. So things could be exciting this weekend. Oddly enough, I’m digging most of the pitching matchups. Buchholz v Vazquez tonight doesn’t freak me out (as an aside, congrats to Clay and the missus on the addition of their little girl. With the Buchholz’ and Lester’s now ending the “when will their babies be born and will it mean they miss a start” speculation, we only have John Lackey to wonder about) and Lackey v Sabathia really could go either way on Saturday. Then we have Becket v Burnett and Lester v TBA. I write this without any sarcasm: I actually like the chances of our Sox this weekend.
Thanks to another solid pitching outing by Daisuke Matsuzaka and an Adrian Beltre grand slam, the Red Sox gained the series split last night. There’s still some life in this broken team, folks!
Classic Pedro/Nomar photo by Kuni Takahashi
So I wrote this as one of the two pieces I needed to write for the WEEI blogger contest (I was looking for the original piece I wrote that got me into the contest and can’t find it. It’s floating around here somewhere!). My final entry had photos for each item but I’m not posting them this time. I enjoy these kinds of entries and need to get back to writing more of them! (And, once again, a long entry awaits you. It seems MY personal favorite entries are usually of the long-winded kind!)
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An off night is a great time to reflect on the sports moments of the past. So, because I’m nothing if not specific, I give you five favorite moments and five least favorite moments in New England sports history and how they affected me. Moments that I was alive (and old enough) to witness (not necessarily in person). What this means is no Fisk’s home run (which I was alive for but, alas, have no memory of), no Impossible Dream team of 1967 (predates me), no Ted Williams. You get the point.
Also, I’m purposely leaving out the 2004 and 2007 post-seasons of the Red Sox. Because, truly, I could write a book about them both and we really don’t have that kind of space right now.
Let’s start with the good and countdown since that’s so darned popular these days:
He IS terribly pretty but I still hope he gives up six runs in the first.
I figured as a way to jumpstart my brain as well as celebrate my five years blogging I’d spend this week posting entries from 2005-2009. My original plan was to go back each year and re-post the entry from this day in that year. Apparently, though, this is the time of year when I get my writer’s block because last year on this date my post was nothing more than a picture of Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson and underneath it I wrote: “Congratulations, Jim Ed (hell and Rickey too!)…long overdue!”.
Hoo-boy, that’s good writing there, folks.
So I changed my mind and decided to celebrate the anniversary by posting my favorite entries from over the years. Starting today and going through the end of the week, it’ll be flashback week at Toeing the Rubber. This allows me to be both nostalgic and lazy!!! It will also give newer folks a taste of what’s kept this blog going and my long-time readers will remember what drew them to me in the first place. 
Disappointing last couple of days in Seattle but all I’ll say is this: If Hideki Okajima doesn’t want to give the Boston sports media an opportunity to pile on with the “why did you stink” questions right after a game in which he did, in fact, stink, I’m really quite all right with that. I understand why they want to ask but I also understand why he doesn’t want to deal with them. As an annoying man once said, “The negativity in this town sucks”. Find a real story and stop trying to create drama, people who get paid to write.
Clay Buchholz against old friend Joel Pineiro (or as Kyle Snyder dubbed him, “The Sexiest Man” in the 2007 Red Sox bullpen and a “Good-looking cat”) at 10:05pm ET. Let’s hope Clay makes staying up for the game well worth it!
Remember Jed? He's back! (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission)
Well I made it through six innings last night – that’s progress!
More interesting progress is that we are supposed to be getting Clay Buchholz and Jed Lowrie back today and Josh Beckett back at some point this weekend. Yanks and Rays both lost last night as well so while the Sox didn’t gain ground, they at least didn’t lose any and maybe the bringing back of more pitchers who can pitch will help kickstart this second half.
Bummed that I won’t be able to live blog or chat the game today as I had hoped but real life calls. I’ll hopefully be able to catch a few innings, though. Hoping Clay’s return is the beginning of a good run for the team.
If the 10pm games are too hard for you to stay up for this weekend, there are always the PawSox and SeaDogs to take in. There’s a 12pm PawSox game today in Pawtucket and a 7pm SeaDogs game in New Hampshire. Both teams are home on Thursday for 7pm games with the SeaDogs hosting “Adrian Gonzalez Bobblehead Night” and Mike Lowell rehabbing at Pawtucket. There’s enough local baseball to keep you happy if you miss the Red Sox.
Also today is the “Football at Fenway” soccer game which annoys me on many levels. First off, Fenway is in America and in America football is not what’s being played at Fenway today. What genuinely pisses me off about the soccer game is the destruction to the field. This isn’t January. Unlike when they had hockey at Fenway, the team wasn’t going to be playing any time soon. The Sox will be back in Boston a week from Friday and I can only imagine how terrible the field will look. For the record, I’m against concerts messing with the field during the season as well. Who decided it was a good idea to screw with the field IN season? If you’re so inclined, you can catch said soccer game on NESN tonight. I’ll stick with the SeaDogs on the radio, thanks.
