Posts Tagged ‘Tim Wakefield’
"Knuckled Under" - "Each numbered limited edition is personally signed by Tim Wakefield, custom framed and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity."
As real life continues to get in the way of my blogging, it took me a while to realize I was heading toward two days in a row without a blog entry. I needed little time to figure out what I wanted to write about when I logged on to begin to write something and was greeted with an email that read, in part:
I work with Tim Wakefield and his charity Pitching in for Kids in Boston. We have recently partnered with Warner Bros. and Looney Tunes to honor Tim and his longevity with the team and all the success he has accomplished to create limited edition autographed lithographs and hand painted cels for distribution. This past week we went on field pregame at Fenway to officially release this special artwork to the world and Red Sox Nation! We have been working hard with the Red Sox front office, Red Sox Foundation, and Warner Bros to reach as many people as possible to reveal these limited edition pieces. I encourage you to visit our organization’s website, our facebook page, and the “Knuckled Under by Wakefield” site.
Before people call me a hypocrite, I know that I’ve complained about the Red Sox Foundation pricing their events in such a way that even though they are advertised to attract the average fan, the average fan certainly couldn’t afford to attend. So while I will admit that the pricing on these items might be high for many, if you’re into collecting this type of thing, the pricing isn’t totally unrealistic. I have a Friz Freleng autographed Daffy Duck cel that was given to me years ago that fell into the price range here, so I actually think, again if you’re into this type of collecting, the pricing isn’t all that outrageous for this unique item.
Also, and, if I’m being honest, more importantly, Tim Wakefield could ask me to punch orphans and I’d most likely do it (although, aside from the pleasure of writing again about Wake, I get nothing from this endorsement. I just feel it’s a cause worthy of a few hundred words on my blog.)
Wake is the first Major League pitcher to be featured in a Warner Brothers limited edition…so it’s quite an honor and just another reason to be proud that this guy is on our side. All the proceeds of the sales will go to the “Pitching in for Kids” charity. So if you’re looking for a one of a kind gift for that Tim Wakefield and/or Looney Tunes fan in your life, this is a great investment.
One programming note: Once again, I have to cancel the Tuesday Live Chat. It’s been so long since we’ve had one that I suppose it is hardly “canceling” it by now. My hope is to be able to start them up again in a week or two. Thanks to all the folks who keep asking when we’re having the next one!
The presentation at Fenway Park on August 2nd
Really????? (Photo taken in 2008 and lifted from JeffC5000 on Flickr)
So guess who slept through almost the entire game last night? :waves hand:
I did stay up long enough to see the score change from 1-0 A’s to 2-1 Sox…and then I gave in to the force that was sleep trying to work its way into my evening but I’ll embarrassingly admit that I fell asleep thinking that Daisuke was going to give up the lead at some point. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I awoke to find the final score was the same as it had been when I fell asleep. The Sox took on a team on a hot streak (five consecutive wins before last night) and beat them by one run…this makes me happy.
I don’t mind missing most of the game but because I did, I was left with one unanswered question: Did that kid behind home plate wear that stupid foam cowboy hat through the entire game?
I’ll go out on a limb and guess that the seats behind home plate in Oakland, as they are everywhere else, are pretty damned expensive. So I’m an Oakland fan, or even a Boston one, and I save my pennies until I can afford a couple of seats behind the catcher. I’m living the dream! I’m going to be seen on local tv or even national tv if one of the pitchers does something fantastic! Hey, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game, why not Ben Sheets, right? So I settle into my seats, giddy with excitement and full of cheap beer, and I sit behind some doofus wearing a giant, foam cowboy hat. Are you kidding me? I watched the game through the fourth inning and hat dude (kid? Please tell me it was a kid!) was there the whole time. Did he make it through the entire game without someone getting him to take it off? The only thing Fenway Park has that is close to this is those stupid balloon hats. If you wear this in front of me, I promise you will either take it off or lose it. (I’ve taken to bringing a pin with me to games in the event a beach ball hits my lap. This pin would work wonderfully on balloons.)
No one wants to look like this.
Unless you’re in Texas, wearing a cowboy hat at a baseball game is like bringing a penguin to a pig roast. It just makes no sense. Making that cowboy hat a GIANT FOAM one just ups your obnoxiousness to an even higher level.
I’m not against fun at a baseball game nor am I against headgear that will help block out the sun. What I am against is doing or wearing things to not only try and make yourself stand out in the crowd (I am not watching a baseball game to look at YOU) but doing or wearing things that make the baseball game less enjoyable to ME. So cut the crap.
Did anyone make it all nine innings? Was that eyesore behind the plate for the entire game?
No live chat tonight or next Tuesday but tomorrow I’m considering an actual live blog given I don’t think many folks would be around for a chat since the game is in the afternoon and I could use the live blogging practice. We’ll see how that goes.
The good news for folks who struggle with the West Coast games is that Tim Wakefield is on the mound tonight. The game could very well be finished before 1am ET!!!
Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
I’m not particularly high-strung (especially for a Red Sox fan) but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that the Thursday night news of Jason Varitek going on the disabled list didn’t set me off just a bit. I didn’t expect the Sox to fold and from Friday out lose every game they played but it just felt like the universe was telling Red Sox fans to sit tight and enjoy the season without getting any high expectations. Of course, Friday night the universe poked us in the ribs and said “See? This is still going to be fun!”.
Thanks to the quick pace of both Tim Wakefield and Baltimore’s Brad Bergesen, the game clocked in at two hours and seven minutes. If you watched the game on NESN Friday night, by 9:20pm you could have found something else to do. Bergesen gave the Sox a run for their money but Wakefield did just a bit better, going eight innings and not touching 100 pitches. Two home runs by JD Drew, a pinch hit, RBI single from Daniel Nava and Papelbon in acting like the Papelbon we love and. poof, game over. Thanks, in part, to Joba Chamberlain choking up a lead in the 8th yesterday afternoon at Yankee Stadium (our former, beloved Alex Gonzalez hit the single that put the go-ahead run on the board in the 11th inning!) and the Red Sox now sit a half a game out of first place (and a Tampa Bay loss puts them two games out of first).
Congratulations to Tim Wakefield on his MLB-leading 201st start at Fenway last night. So happy he got a win out of it!
In spite of (or, hey, maybe because of) all the injuries that have attacked the team, last night’s win was doubly exciting. It might not always be easy but it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission
Long, tiring day yesterday. I made it wide-awake through five complete innings last night which means the score was 6-2 Red Sox when I fell asleep. When I woke up again, Daniel Nava was at bat in the 7th inning and the Rockies were up 8-6. I tried, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I, once again, woke up, this time around 4am. I had shut the television off in my sleep so I grabbed my Droid and tapped on the ‘At-Bat’ app to see the score. At first glance, forgetting the Sox were on the road, I read it as 13-11 Rockies. Then I focused my brain and realized that not only were the Sox the winning team but Papelbon the winning pitcher…in 10 innings.
In my early morning fog, my first clear thought was “Papelbon blew ANOTHER save?”. (I then became happy for the win, especially since I had friends who traveled many miles to watch those games in person and the idea of their having to leave the park in the midst of Rockies fans chanting “sweep” was heart breaking.)
Here is, to my mind, an unbelievable number: three. Jonathan Papelbon only has three blown saves this season with 19 save opportunities. Good lord, it feels like 10. Just more proof that we all seem to react much more harshly to these types of situations than maybe they deserve, eh? He’s also only blown back to back saves two other times in his career (one being in his rookie year) but neither of those came in back to back games (they were consecutive appearances for Paps but not games for the team).
As I write this, I’m watching “Breakfast with the Sox” on NESN (the one-hour recap of the previous game) and they skipped over showing the entire game and started up in the 8th inning. I just watched Papelbon give up the game-tying hit. I know it ended well (Papelbon so owes both Darnell McDonald AND Dustin Pedroia something shiny and new) but I will say this: never have I been so happy to have fallen asleep and missed a game where the Sox ended up winning as I am this morning. Holy cow.
Dustin Pedroia went 5-5 with a walk which included a mind-boggling 3 home runs last night. His home runs weren’t meaningless home runs in the midst of blow outs either. His first was in the fourth inning when the score was 2-0 and it started the 4 run rally that was the fourth inning. His second came in the 8th, a two-run homer that turned the Sox’ one run lead into a three run lead. Both would be important (as would his walk given he scored a run because of it) but none more important than the last homer he hit…with two outs in the 10th and Marco Scutaro on first, Pedroia hit the second pitch he saw from Huston Street into the stands to give the Sox the 13-11 lead which, thanks to Papelbon pitching a perfect 10th inning, they didn’t relinquish. Sweep averted, on to San Francisco.
Incidentally, Pedroia waving “Hi!” to the NESN camera following him in the dugout after the homer was priceless and worth staying up for!
Back in June 2007, the Colorado Rockies came to Boston for a three-game series. It was a midweek, Tuesday through Thursday series leading into the Sox playing the Giants over the weekend. I was at two of those games, pitched by Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, and both were miserable losses. The Sox only beat the Rockies in the game that Tim Wakefield pitched (and for the sake of context, the June 14th loss was Beckett’s first of that season) to begin the series. All I’m saying is, if 2010 ends the way 2007 did – I’ll be quite all right with this particular series loss.
Wake is on the mound at 10:15 ET tonight. I’m going to have to stock up on the Red Bull for this one (although I really can’t complain…three 8:40pm games instead of 10pm with the Rockies and only one 10pm game with the Giants…I think we can make it!).
*How Don Orsillo followed up the Pedroia homer in the 10th…Pedie would be proud!
Josh Reddick...just because. Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
So once again the sporting fates give me a bummer of a Red Sox loss and a fabulous Celtics win. I guess I’ll have to take it. 
The next time both the Celtics and Red Sox are playing is tomorrow night. Being a Tuesday chat night, the Red Sox need to get their butts in gear and win on the same night the Celts win. There will definitely be a live chat tomorrow and since Tim Wakefield won’t be pitching, it’s sure to go well past 9pm ET so we’ll have in-game scoring updates for folks who want to follow both games.
Disappointing to see Wake have only the one bad inning and still lose the game but, as always, I’ll take the series win.
I dislike days off in sports but one after a loss is particularly annoying. At least we get the day to recharge our batteries in anticipation of keeping the magic alive at chat!
Have some champagne, Timmy, you deserve it! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
Tim Wakefield, man.
In discussing his achievement of pitching the most innings of any pitcher in Red Sox history, he praised Roger Clemens and credited both John Farrell and Victor Martinez for assisting him in getting to his goals. The man can’t even just sit happily and let folks heap praise upon him and bask in the moment – he has to continue giving back.
Over the course of the various incarnations of this blog, I’ve written about my feelings for Wake. They’re the feelings I think most Red Sox fans have – the guy busts his tail for the team, does more charity work than maybe any Sox player since Ted Williams, seems to be a fabulous teammate and just comes across as an all-around good guy. The fact that he’s more often than not a good and effective pitcher almost seems like gravy. I don’t want to think of a time when Wake won’t be with the team. For all the comings and goings of players I like, his departure just might be the most difficult one I’ll have to face. For now, I’m just going to enjoy the fact that he’s still with the team and he can still pitch like he means it. Thanks for all of it, Tim!
Another victory on a live chat night puts us at 8 for 8. If you’re planning on going to a Sox game, you might want to try and schedule it for a Tuesday…s’all I’m saying. Special thanks, as always, to everyone who stopped by. Next week we get an interleague live chat when the Diamondbacks come to town!
Tonight is a game I’m glad isn’t being played in Boston because I’d definitely find a way to be there and then be mildly conflicted all night. Justin Masterson is pitching against Clay Buchholz. There aren’t enough ways to describe how fond of Justin I (and so many Sox fans) am. I was crushed when he was traded and my heart ached for every loss he’s taken since being in Cleveland. So as much as I want to see him succeed, and as much as seeing him struggle will be painful, I want Clay to have this win. It’ll give him an American League leading 9 wins and it’ll ensure the Sox win the series…these things I want. So I hope the Red Sox don’t bang Justin around TOO much but, still, I sadly have to write these words: I want him to lose tonight. (Man, that feels wrong!)
Because it got to the point where I was going to start unfollowing all those bringing him up yesterday, I will only say is this: Have Stephen Strasburg put up the pitching line he did last night against the Tampa Bay Rays and then maybe I won’t get pissed when you start calling him Walter Johnson or Roger Clemens. He was definitely impressive. That should stand alone without hyperbole.
At 33-26, the American League East fourth place Toronto Blue Jays are tied with National League Central leaders – the Cincinnati Reds. With their record of 35-25, the Red Sox would be leading every division in MLB right now, except the AL East where they are currently in third place. Just thought putting the standings in perspective would be helpful!
