Posts Tagged ‘MFY’
Bring it, Crabby. Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
There is no getting past this. There’s a reason that the tagline of my original blog was “Because life is too short to be a Yankees Chick”. That reason is, no matter how hard I try to be indifferent I absolutely can’t stand the Yankees. Seeing the Yankees lose is number 2 on my list of favorite things about baseball (Seeing the Red Sox win being number one). I try to deny that part of myself but it’s impossible for me. It’s there and it’s real and while I don’t need to flaunt it I certainly feel the need to embrace it sometimes.
So this is me, embracing my Yankee hate. I stayed up until just past 1am today to watch the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees out in Arizona. I especially took joy in AJ Burnett struggling. Hey, the Sox weren’t playing last night so I got my entertainment where I could.
Ultimately, the most important aspect of last night’s Yankees loss is that it put the Sox a half a game out of first place. I saw Mitch Williams on MLB Network last night and he, predictably, hasn’t mentioned his contention (in May) that the Red Sox lost the division in April. Fortunately for him he said it to Dan Patrick for print and not on the MLBN so he can’t be taunted with the video.
Don’t get me wrong, I get that you also don’t win the division in June, but Williams had the Sox completely written off (as did so many others) and a win by the Sox tonight coupled with another Yankees loss and you can’t really blame April for what happens to the Sox from here on out can you?
I find it fascinating that no writers except Peter Gammons, really, have brought up the injuries the Sox are working through as a reason for their struggles. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury…all starters for the team who have been unhealthy this year more than they have healthy. Or, as Gammons put it:
Does it make sense that on the morning of June 21, the Red Sox had two starting pitchers and two outfielders on the disabled list, had used five left fielders, six center fielders and five right fielders and were leading the Major Leagues in runs, slugging and OPS? And were a game out, with the third-best record in baseball, the best since April 20?
A Yankees fan who reads my blog and often contacts me during the season sent me an email yesterday (prior to the D’Backs putting the beatdown on AJ Burnett) asking me if I was disappointed that this is the last week of interleague play since, come Friday, the Red Sox will soon have to face American League teams again “and that’s where they have trouble“. In May the Sox were 16-10 against AL teams and in June they are 6-4 against the AL. The Yanks? Against the American League: 16-11 in May and 6-3 in June. Those numbers don’t scream “trouble” to me. Going 13-7 in the last 20 games, as the Yankees have, while your rival goes 15-5 and closes the 2.5 game gap between you to a half a game…well, that to me is “trouble”.
And, yes, that email is what triggered my decision to write this entry today.
As I mentioned yesterday, MLB is being kind to us, for the first 3 games of this trip anyway, and starting the games in Colorado at 8:40pm instead of 10:05pm…and that ensures that the live chat will be happening tonight. Jon Lester goes up against Jhoulys Chacin in Lester’s first appearance in Colorado since he started game 4 of the 2007 World Series. I’m full of hope for this series and this road trip (even if the Sox do have to go up against Ubaldo Jimenez and Tim Lincecum) and the road to a sweep begins tonight.
(Note from Cyn: Prior to my brief time at WEEI.com, my good friend “Tru” would contribute random entries to the blog – usually on days when he knew I was too wiped to get up early and post! It’s been a while but I’m happy to say that Tru is back with some kind words for the Sox and the Live Chat Crew!)
Fenway from The Monster (taken by Cyn during a Fenway tour this year)
So I was thinking last night and early this morning about the Red Sox, life and all kinds of nonsense things.
On a lousy weather night in the Bronx, the Red Sox squeaked out a win. Yes, squeaked out a win is the appropriate interpretation for last night. It reminded me too much of season’s past. The Red Sox would always seem to invent ways to lose a game, as if they spent the better part of practice and locker room pre-game meetings discussing how to be creative in arriving at a heart wrenching loss. That was what last night made me think about. It was almost a repeat performance of the prior night. A couple of fielding misplays, then a few meatballs later and the Sox walk off the field with their heads down. But that did not happen last night, although they did their level best to cause myocardial infarctions across much of the fan base along the way to a very emotionally draining win.
Because, ultimately, that's all that matters, right?
How is it possible that it seemed almost more painful to watch them win last night than it was watching them lose the night before?
The game started late and ran four hours (four hours and nine minutes to be exact). Jonathan Papelbon through 28…TWENTY EIGHT pitches in the ninth inning and still got the save. On the post-game show on NESN, Dennis Eckersley made the remark that he was surprised Papelbon didn’t celebrate that swinging strike out to end the game (Eck said he would have) but, really, at that point I’m guessing Paps just wanted to go pass out…although my adrenaline was so high that I was up until around 3am.
(As an aside, as I write this I just turned on “Breakfast with the Sox’ and it’s the 6th inning and Youk just hit his home run to make it 5-1…Don’t be too sad, CC, none of the rest of the game will really be your fault.)
Photo I took of Josh Beckett on Opening Day this year.
Okay so here’s the deal: The next entry to go up will be the weekly live chat entry. I’ve received more than a couple of email messages today asking if we were still live chatting and the answer, unless something totally unexpected comes up, is absolutely yes.
I wasn’t sure how folks would react. Watching Yankees/Sox games on any day can be painful but it usually is so after a loss like last night’s. But people specifically asking if we were doing it tells me that it’s a good idea.
So, yet again, I lay down guidelines for those who don’t often stop by:
The way it is set up is that you have to be approved to comment without being moderated – you make your first comment, I approve it and you’re good. We’ve had much luck, so far, without the invasion of trolls but a Yankees game, after last night’s debacle and with Josh Beckett on the mound, will most likely bring out some asses, so if I think you aren’t legit you won’t get approved until you can prove you are (in most cases I’ll probably approve you and then immediately ban you if you turn out to be trolling).
Venting is always welcome and some times even encouraged but I will not put up with personal attacks on the players (or other members of chat). Jonathan Papelbon is not a “dick” because he blew a save. JD Drew is not an “asshole” because you think he isn’t passionate enough about the game. You don’t have to be all rah-rahing, I get that these games can be like hitting your head against a brick wall, but the tone of the live chats has been about supporting not only the team, but the fans who still root for them even when it looks bad. There are plenty of places to piss and moan about the current state of the Sox. We try (and I say try because it isn’t always easy) to accentuate the positive around here. If you start bitching just to bring everyone else down (a great example is someone asking me how I could be happy with all the home runs last night when they “lost the damn game so they are meaningless”) you won’t find yourself here long. We find the positives where we can. Most of the people in the live chats are very realistic about the game and the team they just choose to not dwell. Again, a certain amount of venting is acceptable and even expected. Nastiness and negativity is not. If you feel like being with a group of people online where you can complain about every move Terry Francona makes, every pitch David Ortiz misses or every bad pitch the bullpen throws, you might want to reconsider joining us tonight.
My promise for the regulars is it will be a chat where we can vent our frustrations, engage in some fun conversation and cheer on our team without concern for being ridiculed or annoyed (hopefully!).
The Sox are four for four when we live chat. Josh Beckett wouldn’t dare mess up our record. I hope folks decide to join us tonight – we’re a great little support group!
This photo was sent to me in 2007. Someone lifted it from Flickr and a quick search has user "StarrGazr" as the photographer. I put it up because it brings a smile to my face and I need that right now.
In a fit of frustration, I wrote this 1000 word entry about how frustrating watching Jonathan Papelbon blow the Red Sox lead and lose the game in the ninth was for me and for everyone. I pounded the keyboard until my fingers were sore and even considered writing the whole thing in red just to get the point across. But something odd happened as I finished typing. I had a fleeting thought.
What if Papelbon read my blog?
Now, I don’t believe for a minute he does, or would. That really isn’t the point. The point is, why make him feel worse, even if it’s just virtually? He just did something lousy. Really bad. Gut-wrenchingly terrible. Do I think he doesn’t know this? Do I think that by ranting it’ll make any difference? Do I believe that he left Yankee Stadium and went out and got happily drunk just because he’s in New York?
There is no sugar coating how upsetting the loss is. While I went into the game expecting them to struggle and then was greeted with the five run first inning everything else that happened in the game gave me hope that they could pull it out. So watching Papelbon hand the Yankees the win really hurt. Writing about it made me feel better. Got all the bad emotions out of my body and into the entry. But that was energy I didn’t want hanging around this blog. I’m not going to pretend that it’s all puppies and ice cream and everything is great…Sox lost, Yanks won (and the Rays won too). Things absolutely suck right about now. But to rant about one player having one bad inning and putting the blame for all of the woes of the team (lest we forget the pitcher who gave up the first six runs of the game) is ridiculous and flat-out unfair. Yes, had Papelbon done his job the Sox hit the showers with a “W” tonight. But if Daisuke Matsuzaka did his job, Papelbon probably wouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place. You can find blame anywhere you choose to look for it.
No one said being a fan of ANY team would be easy. Just because we choose to be fans doesn’t mean we should find it so easy to make others feel awful. If there is anyone who thinks Paps doesn’t feel awful about this game, I have nothing to say to you. Slamming him in the face with what he did tonight won’t accomplish anything but making you feel better about your small life.
It sucks. It happens. And it’s done.
I’ve unfollowed quite a few people on Twitter tonight. I’ve decided there is no reason to keep people in my timeline who relish in Red Sox losses or who want to get hoards of Red Sox fans on board with all of the team bashing. Life is too short to surround yourself with miserable people. I’m not going to be miserable. I’ll be nursing the wounds of this one for a while but I’ll be back again Tuesday night. I’m a fan. It’s what I do.
Mike Cameron - coming soon to an outfield near you! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
Weekend is over, no sense dwelling on it. Now we are witness to one of the oddest things in MLB scheduling: The two-day series. Not only do the Sox play one in New York but then they play another one in Boston against the Twins. I don’t normally like the two-day series but anything that gets the Sox out of the Bronx sooner rather than later is all right with me.
Daisuke Matsuzaka goes up against Phil Hughes tonight. Hughes is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.38. Would be nice if tonight they got his ERA up past four. Daisuke is coming off a tremendous start and though having to follow it up against the Yankees doesn’t give me all kinds of warm feelings, at least I don’t feel the impending doom that I once might have felt. Anything could happen tonight so I’m staying positive!
Genuine good news is that Mike Cameron will most likely be activated for the Yankees series either today or tomorrow and Jacoby Ellsbury is starting his rehab assignments this week – this afternoon at Pawtucket and starting tomorrow (because the PawSox go on the road) in Portland. I’m looking forward to the team getting all of it’s pieces back together (not that Darnell McDonald hasn’t been a little slice of heaven because he has) and making that big run. The Sox are 5-5 in their last ten games. Not stellar (they were 6-4 in the ten games previous) but also not as horrible as it feels.
So the fun begins at 7:05 tonight (on both NESN and ESPN). Could be fun.
Tomorrow the Sox are, as of right now, putting TBA up against CC Sabathia for first Yankees live chat of the year. The Sox are four for four when we live chat so join us! Would be nice if we were live chatting a two game sweep!
Enjoy the day folks! For, regardless of which way the score goes, the night will most likely be filled with much cursing and the reaching of the Tums.
