Posts Tagged ‘George Kottaras’

Happy birthday to the Large Father! (Photo taken by Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission)

Okay so I suck at this and I’m so sorry!  I really thought the quiz was only moderately hard – and I thought by putting a 5 minute time limit on it I was making it fair for folks.   Instead I got a lot of “Are you shitting me?” emails and a few offers to create quizzes for other blogs. 

At times like this I realize what a geek I am and forget that the world isn’t necessarily made up of geeks like me.  (And it seems five minutes isn’t long enough for 10 questions…live and learn.  Next time I’ll make it longer, I promise!)

I was going to make up a new quiz but then I thought that was unfair to the gang of you who attempted this one.   So after thinking about the different ways I could choose a winner, I’ve decided to keep the quiz as is and let it run through Thursday (tomorrow) at 5pm.   At that time, I’m going to take the top two scores and they will be the winners of the books. In an effort to make it truly fair, if you’ve taken the test already and then go back to take it again, your first score will be the score I go by to determine the winner.

In true baseball-related news:  Zack Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award this week.  When you look at the voting it seems so silly that so many of us (myself included) were concerned that the writers were going to piss us all off and give it to Sabathia.  Word is that Greinke is getting married to his high school sweetheart this weekend – so it’s a good week for him.  (Which leads me to congratulate Clay Buchholz and Lindsay Clubine on their marriage this past weekend.    Good luck, kids!)

Sadly, this week we say goodbye to George Kottaras who was released by the Red Sox on Monday.  I’ll miss George.  He was fun to watch in both Pawtucket and Boston and he wasn’t too hard on the eyes either.  Here’s hoping he finally lands a full-time gig in the majors in 2010.

And, finally, on this day in 1975:  David Americo Ortiz Arias was born.  I’d like to thank Enrique and Angela Rosa for bringing Big Papi into the world.  Today should be a National Holiday in Red Sox Nation.    Happy birthday, Papi!

Beefcake photo for a Friday! George Kottaras got the best outfit of the night. I'm digging the sailor look - especially with the shoulder cleavage. Special thanks to Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net for allowing me to post this photo. The permission is exclusive so any re-publishing of this photo without Kelly O'Connor's approval is a copyright violation.

Well that stunk. But, really, the Sox just won seven out of their last eight games on this home stand, I can’t begrudge the Angels one win here – regardless of how damn whiny the bunch of them seem to be.   A sweep (both of the Angels and the home stand) would have been nice but I’ll take what wins they got.

More important than a sweep is how the team is coming together.  The pitching seems to be on and the bats are heating up at exactly the right time. While looking at the rest of their schedule I was a little taken back by fact that there are only five series left in the regular season.

3 games at Baltimore, 4 at Kansas City, 3 at New York and then 3 at home against the Blue Jays and 4, for the final home stand of the season, against the Indians.  17 games left before the playoffs begin.  It doesn’t seem possible.  Realizing this was the case and remembering that I didn’t have tickets for any other games this year, I went online to RedSox.com to see if I could pick up a ticket for the last game of the season (at 9am today they still had single seats – but they’re obstructed view).  As I was about to purchase one, something told me to check my email because I had a feeling I DID have a ticket for that final game and I just hadn’t printed it up.  I was right, I did.  And I bought it back in February so it’s actually a good seat!  Regardless of what games I get to see during the year, more than any of them, I like being at the last game of the season.  It’s my way of saying “goodbye” to Fenway, as silly as that sounds, and I like getting that closure.  I have the “end of the season” blues coming on (and, yes, I believe the Sox are going to the post-season but the end of the regular season still gives us much less baseball and THAT bums me out) so I’m trying to work through them by enjoying this month as much as I can!

As you can see from today’s photo, last night was the annual rookie hazing.  Joe Giza of WBZ has some wonderful photos from it here.  If you dig baseball player biceps, check them out! (Personally, I’d also like to see photos from the Sox arriving in Baltimore.  The fans in Boston expect the rooks to be dressed like this but the reactions of the unsuspecting folks at the airport would be priceless!)

This weekend, Buchholz, Lester and Matsuzaka will bring it to the Orioles and maybe the Nation will stop trying to nail Jason Varitek to a cross.

Victor Martinez behind the screen. Even Orioles fans were impressed by him!

We headed back to the hotel on Saturday after the game and began our party for Susan’s birthday. We were in the back room of the lounge and when we got there another group was already seated next to where we were going. They were a party celebrating an engagement. The bride-to-be was there, decked out in feathers, with her intended along with about 8 other family members. They were Red Sox fans who, like us, had just come from the game (the bride-to-be was even wearing a Beckett t-shirt under the feathers). As we settled in, we noticed in the same spot we had seen Clay Buchholz on Friday night (which was directly across from the bar) Josh Beckett and George Kottaras were sitting. Well, truthfully, at the time we weren’t sure who was there we just knew it had to be players because the ropes went up and security was standing guard. Feathers went over and told Josh he pitched a great game (yelling over security folks who wouldn’t really let her near him) and a couple of us from my group went to the bar to see what we could see.

In an effort to just figure out who was over there, we took many trips to the bar and/or ladies room. We had no intentions of approaching the players, we just were checking things out. Both George and Josh seemed to be in great spirits (and why not?) and, eventually, Victor Martinez joined them. To avoid the risk of giving anything away that might be personal, I’ll just say George was, essentially, by himself all night (well, he did have the security dudes) and Victor seemed to have a mini-posse of guy friends with him. It was interesting to witness them, even if for only a few moments, in that setting. But, I’ll say it again, regardless of how much of a charge as it was (and, really, these guys knew the hotel was full of Sox fans and they knew if they showed up at the lounge they would be gawked at all night) I’m not comfortable being one of the looky-loos. Both Josh and Victor bolted early while George and the security dudes stayed until closing.

When my friend booked the hotel she wasn’t aware of it being the hotel the team stayed at. Truth be told, it was a wonderful hotel regardless of whether the players were there – and with many of us sharing a room we got a lot of bang for our buck. So I’m torn. I think I’d like to stay there again. It was convenient and fun and with us all sharing expenses actually cost-efficient. But I think I’d go out of my way to avoid the players. It was just a little too weird for me.

George Kottaras is random since I don’t mention him in today’s entry! Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net in June 2009 and used with permission.

Randomness on this rainy day:

* I’ll say it right now…Jon Lester is going to throw a no-hitter tonight. Everything is lining up for it. They’re playing the Marlins, the weather will be miserable and I’m going to be there. Instant classic! (I should point out that I’m at tonight’s game with KellyO. We go to a lot of games together but we don’t usually sit together since we both usually buy singles. Tonight we’ll be sitting together. This bodes well for Crabby’s outing as we sat together for Clay’s no-hitter. The mojo is there the few times we actually get to watch a game next to each other!)

Okay, maybe he won’t throw a no-hitter but as long as the game gets played he’ll come damn close.

* While getting ready for work today, I spent the better part of the morning watched the Red Sox On Demand on Comcast. This has probably sealed, for me, the notion that I will NEVER get rid of Comcast no matter how many hundreds of dollars they charge me for their services.

* According to the Wall Street Journal’s research, only 26 currently active major leaguers (including managers) have graduated from college. They also ranked each team on how smart they were collectively and Boston tied for second place (with Arizona and Tampa Bay – Oakland ranked first). The way they decided the rankings:

The Count ranked every ballclub by its education. Players who earned college degrees got twice the points as players who just attended. Starting players were weighted more heavily, as were players who attended elite schools. Managers were also included in the formula.

Boston would have taken first had Craig Breslow still been on the team!

* I’m not sure if it was the liveliness of the live blog, the joy of the Yankees losing to the Nats and knowing a win would give the Sox another game up, or a combination of many things, but last night’s Sox game felt intense to me. Like it was a must-win. Which, of course, it wasn’t. Penny seeming to struggle (at least if we’re going by pitch count) early made me think it would be another long night. Watching Penny get his 100th win (along with a welt that Terry Francona likened to a pacemaker when he touched hit) in the middle of the “Do we trade him or go with the 8-man rotation?” questions was sweet. I want Penny to do well while he’s in Boston. And if he’s still our number 5 guy come July, I think I could be all right with that. This goes against my whole “Bring Clay Up!” mantra but I’m good with having Clay cool his heels in Pawtucket if it’s because everything is going so well in Boston.

* Speaking of Pawtucket and our pitching: Last night seemed like the night of a thousand pitches all around. John Smoltz’ pitching line at McCoy? 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 (earned) run, 1 walk and 2 strike outs on 61 pitches. Buchholz’? (I don’t think we have enough players on the team whose name ends in “z”, do you?) 4 innings, 2 hits, 2 (earned) runs, 2 walks and 6 strike outs on 80 pitches and both gave up a home run. PawSox won and neither Smoltz nor Buchholz hurt anything…so it was a good night.

* I can’t be the only person who has noticed that Jason Bay seems as humorless as people accuse JD Drew of being. KellyO’s description of his reaction to Bobby Orr coming out of the Green Monster last night nails it:

…picture Orr beaming and laughing and Jay Bay looking like someone told him his dry cleaning was ready.

I have no problem with it. I actually like it. Everyone has their own personality. I just find it interesting that people love to call Drew a “robot” or worse when Jay Bay could be his double. (And I’ve seen them both get hot and loosen up while at Fenway so I don’t think either one is robot-like.)

* There’s a Yankees game at 1:05pm EST today – which means I can listen to Joba throwing at Ryan Zimmerman before I head out to Fenway tonight. I’m in Schadenfreude mode today – especially after hearing the Yankees fans booing Alex Rodriguez as he made an out last night. The Yankees losing a series to the Nats would melt the rain away.

* Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and contributed (or lurked) to the live blog! I have to go back and check but I think we only have one loss in the live blogs. Not too shabby. The plan is to live blog again next Wednesday when the Red Sox are playing the Nationals.

And congratulations to Red Sox Nation for selling out Fenway Park 500 games in a row. Bandwagoners my behind…this streak started in May of 2003. 2003 and 2004 (although the Sox went quite far in the post-season of both years) weren’t the BEST of regular seasons yet folks kept showing up, didn’t they? We were selling that place out before the 2003 ALCS and before the 2004 World Series. That isn’t bandwagoning. Well done, fans!

Clay in Pawtucket earlier this season. Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

The streak began with JPB and it ended with JPB. I think that’s somewhat fitting.

Josh was just on NESN telling a reporter who asked if the “problem” today was George Kottaras catching. UPDATED FOR CLARITY: The question was actually: “Was it an adjustment at all to switch catchers?” Is this a dig toward Beckett for not being flexible or Kottaras for not being a good enough catcher? Beckett said he doesn’t believe in putting the blame on catchers because pitchers still have to make their pitches. I was impressed with the professional manner Beckett handled himself after the game. I think I might have taken that guy’s recorder and stomped it into the ground. A special tip of the cap to JPB for helping his own cause with yet ANOTHER home run in Philadelphia. And while I’m giving away cap-tips, George Kottaras deserves a big one. He and Rocco Baldelli certainly gave me the finger today!

It’s never fun to watch the team lose but I’m honestly okay with it. Sox won the series. Took two out of three against the World Champion, first-place Phillies. They also swept the, at the time, first place Yankees. Prior to that they lost the series to the first-place Rangers (winning only one) and before THAT they swept the first-place Tigers. So in 12 games against first-place teams, the Red Sox lost 3. That is what I consider to be impressive, no? They’re 13 games over .500. I don’t see the point in getting worked up about one loss.

Quick trip home for the Sox and then a day off before the Florida Marlins show up to face Tim Wakefield on Tuesday. This gives all of us a day to rest up for the continued excitement of interleague baseball. Unless, of course, you’d like to see how Clay Buchholz is doing. NESN will be showing the PawSox game live on Monday at 7pm and Clay is the scheduled starter. If you’re around to watch it, I suggest you do. Watching Clay pitch this season has been quite the treat.

As a follow-up to my post about the whining of the Yankees, apparently K-Rod put his money where his mouth was and approached Brian Bruney on the field before today’s Mets/Yanks game.

“It was cool,” [Mets] outfielder Ryan Church said. “Frankie walked right up to him and got right in his face. And the kid didn’t say a thing.”

I always say, if you can’t win the game at least win the fight.

Brad Penny, tonight’s starting pitcher, and George Kottaras, last night’s only Sox player with more than one hit. Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net in April 2009 and used with permission.

It’s just so very nice to wake up and think “Hey, if the Sox don’t beat the Yankees today I’m really okay with that!”.

I want the sweep. I’m hungry for the sweep. I want Joe Girardi and Company to leave Fenway with their heads hanging and giant tears of inadequacy rolling down their faces. I want the two-game lead in the East. I want a lot but I’ll be satisfied with the series win.

Regardless of what I try to convince myself of during any given Red Sox/Yankees series, the hype that the media and fans stir up does start to get to me. The anxiety kicked in last night (although it didn’t Tuesday!) and the adrenaline rush after the win left me hyped up for a long while after (only to crash from the exhaustion about two hours after the game ended – these games kill me).

(Neil Everett on Sports Center just called Mike Lowell’s home run off of Wang “Wang, dang doodle”. Oh man.)

Any game where the Yankees go back to back off of one of the better guys in the bullpen and the Sox still win…this qualifies as a good game.

Everyone in the Sox lineup ended up on base last night. All but Papi with hits (Papi walked twice). Meanwhile, the great Alex Rodriguez struck out twice and is 0-7 in this series. The Captain of the Yankees? 0-5 last night and 0-8 in the series. Hell, even Johnny Damon is 1-9 (the “1″ being one of the back to back homers last night). Both Burnett on Tuesday and Wang last night went 2.2 innings. I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again: One of these teams showed up to play…and win…and the other didn’t.

The Sox are 7-0 against the Yankees this season. Before you tell me it really doesn’t matter, remember 2005. Remember the Yankees celebrating on the Fenway mound because winning the season series gave them the crown in the AL East even though the Sox had the exact w/l record as the Yanks. Three more wins against the Yankees and the season series is won. I want this as well.

Kudos to Tim Wakefield. Many Yankees fans pointed out to me his losing record against the Yankees and even though he wasn’t technically “on” he certainly pitched well enough to win! Also, a shout-out to everyone who reminded me that “This isn’t the Yankees team the Red Sox saw in April”. Thank you for pointing out that, even with A*Rod back, they still have trouble beating the Red Sox.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by (and commented or lurked) the live blog last night. We’ve watched some good games via live blog and I appreciate the company!

Tonight at 7:10 we throw Brad Penny while the Yanks bring out CC Sabathia. I have an oddly calm feeling about this game. It’s a nice, stress-free feeling. It would be fabulous to see Penny pitch like Cy Young against this Yankee team and I’d love to see Sabathia pitch like it’s the playoffs. I’ll be satisfied with an exciting game, though.

Aw, who am I kidding?

Win, Brad. Just win. (And some runs would be nice too, fellas!) <– 3 for 3?