Deja Vu all over again

I cannot believe that I have had almost ZERO to say about the last few weeks of the season and now the playoffs.

And I still don't have time to do it...

But at least you all know I'm thinking about it...

Go Sox!!!

Game 7 tomorrow... what a spot for Dice-K. And I got my T-shirt just in time!!

I'm A Member of Red Sox Nation

2004 BOSTON RED SOX

Matt Damon on Letterman 06/05/07 RED SOX!!!!!

Oh this is just priceless

So much baseball - so little time... and some playoff potpourri

First of all, let me admit that I find it hard to believe that I am using the word "potpourri" in a sentence, never mind in a post title. Of course, I find it hard to believe that the highest-payrolled, hottest-playing, highest-payrolled team in baseball is eliminated in the division series after having lost 3 out of 4 games exactly twice in the almost 3 month period after the All-Star break... hmmmm.

In nearly every one of my growing-up years, I could count on setting my watch by the annual event that was the "first day of hunting season." Not for myself, mind you, but for my Uncle George. "So much hunting, but so little time" was what he'd sometimes say, although you could depend on at least Day 1 being a day that he took for vacation time to get his first crack of the year at the elusive Vermont deer population. The only leisure activity that comes close to his passion for hunting is his passion for the Bronx Bombers - and he is still the only person I can find that is anywhere close to being as pathologically attached to his team as I am to mine.

But I digress...

Unfortunately I do not presently have a TV that is hooked up to any sort of cable, dish, or directTV receiver so watching our nation's favorite pasttime is not possible - yet still I say, "So much baseball, so little time." I love baseball, especially October baseball. As a Red Sox fan, October has been much friendlier of late and harkens back to the mid-80's when I had a Red Sox T-shirt that read - "The Hunt for Red October."

I know and have met MANY people who only watch the World Series as if it were ONLY the Super Bowl or some other one-game championship. Sheesh... tape the whole season on TiVo and I'm there! Sure I've got the whole 2004 World Series on DVD, but I've also got the special edition that includes that incredible ALCS too.

Playoff baseball is an odd duck though - rarely does it shake out like you expect and rarely is it as competitive as the regular season. We all expect the level of play to be raised but unfortunately that usually only happens for one or two of the 8 teams involved at the outset. A few sweeps later and you've got the two HOTTEST teams in baseball that aren't necessarily the two overall BEST teams - but that's the beauty of baseball: if the World Series contained who everyone THOUGHT was going to be there then we'd have the Mets and, er, the Red Sox... doesn't THAT ring an ironic bell?

So, you've got 162 games to develop team chemistry, groom the best starting rotation, and warm the offensive juices up - whoever boils at OctoberFest wins!!

Rah Rah Midges!! Go Sox!!

A beautiful night at The Ballpark

After having attended both games of a double-header last August during the Boston Massacre, I was absolutely itching to get back to Fenway Park to see my Sox in action. So my friend Steve Daniels and I got some tickets to Tuesday night's game versus Oakland and drove down to Boston to catch some of the last regular season action at Fenway this season.

I've actually only been to Fenway 6 times now, but it will never get old. The weather was ungodly good - gametime temps at 7:10pm were over 80F and when the game finished just short of 11pm it was still over 70F. Not a cloud in the sky and a gentle warm breeze blowing out to centerfield.

Upon entering the ballpark, I was hoping for a couple of specific things during the matchup with the Oakland Athletics, apart from us winning the game:

1. I wanted to see David Ortiz hit a home run
2. I wanted to see JD Drew continue his recent hot hitting - just so Red Sox Nation could get off his case and he could smoke right into the ALDS
3. I wanted to see Jonathan Papelbon pitch
4. I did NOT want to see Eric Gagne pitch
5. I wanted either Manny Ramirez or Kevin Youkilis to play at least a little - both had been out for significant time (Manny for about a month, Youk for almost 2 weeks)

Well - I got almost all my wishes. Ortiz hit a 2-run HR in the 8th inning, JD Drew had 3 hits, Pap pitched (1 pitch - 1 out in the 8th with the tying run at the plate), and BOTH Manny and Youk played siginificant time in the game despite Tito saying Youk was likely a scratch and giving ZERO indication in regards to Manny's status.

Unfortunately - Eric Gagne also pitched and despite his shaky performance he did not have a meltdown and in fact, during his stint on the mound the AL scoreboard flashed up that the Tampa Bay Ray had scored 6 runs in the 6th inning of their ballgame versus the yankees to take a 6-5 lead - The Park erupted and I think Gagne almost fainted as he'd never heard that kind of applause during his stay in Boston.

Fortunately, the best laugh of the day came before we even got to the ballpark and also came at the expense of Monseuir Gagne - the guys selling the unofficial Red Sox programs outside the ballpark were giving away free bumper stickers with each program that read,

"Gagne is a yankee spy"

Too funny...

Curt Schilling started and despite a solo home run given up to the #2 hitter of the game, he was brilliant over 6 innings - 6H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 6K, 6.0IP. Brian Corey pitched a shaky 9th inning giving up his first 2 runs of the year since his late summer call-up but likely AL Rookie of the Year 2B Dustin Pedroia made a great over-the-shoulder catch and doubled a man off second to end the ballgame.

And just to top things off, I find out from another fan while in the MBTA (subway) station that the Red Sox's magic number had dropped to 3 when New York lost in extra innings when ex-yankee Dioner Navarro homered leading off the 10th in Tampa Bay.

Aaahhh...

This is getting ridiculous...

I know I have snidely remarking that it appears that MLB is doing whatever it can to hand the yankees a playoof spot, but this is kind of getting ridiculous now.

Due to an unexplained "family matter" the Toronto Blue Jays excused #2 starter AJ Burnett (who has been SMOKIN hot lately and mowed right through the Red Sox last week) and replaced him with fill-in rookie starter Jesse Litsch - record of 6-9 with an ERA over 4.00.

Fortunately, the Blue Jays lineup which is an absolute shell of the one that faced the Red Sox is not rolling over against Andy Pettite.

So we'll see. But don't put your money on the rookie in the Bronx if you know what's good for ya. Hopefully Litsch will have a chip on his shoulder.

Unless Bud Selig had it surgically removed in the dark of night last evening... but then maybe the Sox would get this sort of treatment if THEY had won 25+ titles too. Of course if they HAD, we'd have a salary cap by now.

Ridiculous...