"Waste of a year"

That's what Derek Jeter called 2008. "Waste of a year."

From the Examiner:

With the re-signing of Brian Cashman as Yankee GM for three more years, focus can shift from what went wrong in 2008 to what needs to be done for 2009.

The “waste of a year,” as Derek Jeter put it, is over.

A disastrous season that resulted in a perennial contender going home before October 1st can be boiled down to two major failings – injuries and underperformance.

That's just like the Yankees. Never looking at the good side of anything, they whine and complain and bitch and piss and moan about everything. They can win 95+ games, go deep into the playoffs, but not the World Series, and their fans will cuss them out for losing that last game rather than congratulate them for all the games that they did win. (I'm still a bit surprised that Hank has not yet complained about the Yankees winning more games than the White Sox.)

The Yankees and their fans expect them to win 173 games every year and if they don't, they're a failure. Well I've got news for all those of the Empire: It ain't gonna happen. Even if you still win the last 11, it still ain't gonna happen. Get used to that fact. No team can maintain that level of excellence for such extended periods of time. It is just impossible to win the World Series every year, or make it to the Series, or win the Pennant or even your division! It just ain't gonna happen, and you better get used to it. The Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, and Giants all have had, or are still having their extended Title droughts (50+ years) and the Yankees are now at the beginning of their own curse ridden drought. Their curses now include that of King George, A-Rod, and now, Joe.

The peacock swagger of a benchful of overpaid stars is not what wins titles. Instead of bitching about a star pitcher injuring himself while running the bases in an interleague game, (compare with the Sox's reaction to Colon injuring himself in an interleague game), you should have pulled an up and coming AAA'er whom you should have had ready to go. That is, had you not traded them all away for your peacocks. Had the King savored his World Series wins as if he hadn't been there in a generation instead of dismantling the team and preparing for the next season the next day, the Yankees might not be in this mini-drought. Yes, mini-drought. Eight years without a World Series title is nothing. Ask the Pirates and Royals.

I recently finished reading "The No Asshole Rule" by Robert Sutton, PhD, Stanford University. In it, he examines the various costs of having assholes as coworkers, or bosses, as well as ways to avoid hiring assholes, and what to do if you find yourself with an asshole coworker or boss. (You may draw your own conclusions to the addition of this paragraph.)

No, Mr. Jeter, 2008 was not a waste of a year for the Yankees. Not if you learn from your mistakes and do something about them. (Sometimes it can take many years to learn from your mistakes.) The Evil in George Steinbrenner's Evil Empire has even gotten into your essence if you look at it that way.

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Mike Lowell Wants To Play Tomorrow

Mike Lowell says he wants to play but from the interview you can see he is a team player.

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and the Whining Begins

As Sox fans we are used to the jealousy printed about our team by media outlets of the opposing team. I think this one from the L.A. Times takes the cake.

It is probably somewhat unfair to say that Red Sox fans are the worst sub-species of human in the world. Turbofolk-listening Serb thugs are certainly more violent, though they do radiate more intelligence. Italian soccer fans are probably more racist, though they wouldn't be caught dead wearing a pink cap. But in the world of baseball, I can think of no tribe so dull-witted, so bandwagonesque, so committed to turning what was once a charming underdog/curse story into an act with all the grace and humility of a Zell Miller speech in front of 15,000 fat Republicans howling for blood. They make Yankees fans seem civilized, and Rays fans seem like grizzled students of the game.

I openly take joy in this guy's pain; I hope Tex signs somewhere else, I hope the Angels resign K-Rod so another member of the Sox can hit a game winning homer off of him next year, and I hope the Angels keep the silly rally monkey so their fans can continue to be the laughing stock of the league.

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Rally Monkey Gets Fired

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RALLY MONKEY ETIQUETTE???

Here is the crappy video of that last out.

My boy is holding both the Bay 3 run HR and the Papelbon warm-up ball.

The close-up is the Bay HR.

Did you know there is Rally Monkey Etiquette? I'm not making this up. How embarrassing is that stupid little monkey? Can you picture some PR director at Fenway trying to implement something like that?

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A Typical Angels Fan This Morning

For any of you out there that had to sit next to an annoying Angel fan or thunderstix, here is what they are going through this morning courtesy of halosheaven.com:

And now the pain is here and now the end is near and I am trying to write this as fast and furious as possible to avoid its intensity, the intense pain, I have given up the rah-rah as this is the most painful moment in the history of this franchise as we know we are beat and we know Teixeira is not coming back to a loser club and we know that it will never be this perfect coming into October in two dozen seasons or more and we know the Dodgers are moving on to the NLCS and Boston will have beat us again and we know we have to pretend that there is still hope, hah-hah, rah-rah, I am not giving up oh save it if you cannot admit to the brain-splitting pain I question your fanhood, you have to know the pain, the pain, the pain that is too acute, too intense, to tight in the neck, dry in the throat and sweaty on the wrists as I type this trying to ease the pain, hoping some of this blood-stoping numbness will take the pain with it but it will not and this franchise lost so many fans and so much of its future and i am melting, melting, meltin ... oh the world, the world... the world...

That just made my weekend.

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Shock the Monkey!

Shock, spank, slice, and Dice-K that monkey!

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CAN YOU SAY 11 IN A ROW?

For those of you that don’t know, I’m a bit of a Tito basher. Today is no different. Did we win the game? Yes, was it closer than it should have been? Absolutely.

I start this off with a statement for Julie (my newest SOX friend I met at tonight’s game).
Dice K is so much harder to take in person. WOW, not being able to get up and walk around my living room really made his tightrope act difficult to stomach. Tonight started off great, even though DICE K gave right back 1 of the 4 1st inning runs the SOX scored. He looked great, pitching strikes, almost too many strikes, not walking anyone until the 4th. He gave up more hits than usual, but in the 5th is where Tito left our star from the land of the rising sun in too long. Look, I get that it is the 5th and you want him to get a win, but in the playoffs, it has to be about TEAM wins, not individual stats. When a starting pitcher comes out for the 5th inning with your team up 5-2 and he starts with walk, walk, RBI single, sorry, but it is time for the hook. The problem being, no one was warm because no one was throwing until AFTER the RBI single. By comparison, Scioscia had Oliver up in the 4th, yes the 4th inning after Ellsbury doubled, just so he could face Ortiz if it got that far. Enough of that for now.

The game was electric, the stadium was not to capacity, the two seats next to me (1st row behind the SOX bullpen) were empty. The four runs in the first were huge. The crowd was crushed and quiet for the better part of the night until the HALO’s tied the game. Yuk’s catch was amazing, from our view it didn’t look as if he had a chance to bring it back, but he stayed with it and it was a huge out, at that point, I thought Papelbon could strand Figgins at 3rd. Just as amazing was the play Yuk made on Hunter’s bunt attempt in the bottom of the 9th. Of course player of the game goes to Drew, great catch against the wall and then the big homerun.

I’ve got video of the last out, sorry it’s a bit far away, but my camera sucks.
I would also like to note that my son has in his possession, Bay’s 3 run HR ball AND the ball that Papelbon warmed up with in the bullpen (thank you SOX fan in the green shirt).

Finally, typically I sat next to the two most annoying fans in the stadium. Drunk Yankee fan that apparently didn’t have anything better to do than tell our entire bullpen that they sucked. Not to be out done was drunk, loud Angel fan that all game long was yapping this, yapping that, then told Papelbon that his number 58 was a football number. Wait a minute sir, doesn’t K-ROD were 57? I didn’t get to ask you because you left way too early……

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In the meantime, the Sox set yet *Another* new record

The Red Sox have now taken 11 straight playoff games from the Halo's, setting a new MLB record for most consecutive wins over one team.

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One Picture Says A Thousand Words

K-Rod, post JD Drew dinger.

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Red Sox Put Angels On the Rocks

Jason Bay helped the 2-out rally in the first with his long ball to the rock pile. Dice-K was his normal self; going 5 innings, getting out of jams, but never looking that great. Okajima and Masterson both pitched well but made a few mistakes allowing the Angels to tie the score in the bottom of the 8th. K-Rod came in and was a little too animated after getting the third out in the 8th, he would not look so happy after Drew put the Sox on top for good with a homer in the 9th. Papelbon went two full innings and shut down the Angels to get the win. Youk gets the web gem of the night for his great catch in the camera well. We did see a series of temper tantrums by Angels players throughout the game as they watched their 100 win season disappear right before their eyes.

Red Sox Win 7-5 BOX SCORE

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Angels Replace New Stupid Noisemaker With Old Stupid Noisemaker

You all got to witness the use of the silly red noise makers during game 1 but since that didn't work, the Angels are handing out Thunderstix for game 2. Why not just turn up the speakers and make it seem like the fans are cheering. Some Chinese factory owner has the gravy train rolling with the Angels this year.

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Pregame Notes

There is good news coming from the press conference: Beckett is definitely going to start game 3 and he is near 100%. John Farrell told Tito, “this is not a guy that’s hurt,” after his bullpen session.

Tito said Mike Lowell was not any worse off than yesterday so he is available to pinch hit.

Mike Scioscia showed how important this game is for the Angels when he said, "we need to win tonight, there is no mistake." Not much confidence in his team to come back if they get down 2-0.

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Red Sox Lineup For Game 2 of the ALDS

Mike Lowell is not in there so Youk moves to third and Kotsay will play 1st.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Kevin Youkilis 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Jason Bay LF
Mark Kotsay 1B
Jason Varitek C
Alex Cora SS

Dice-K, SP

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Jerry Remy's 3 Keys to Game 2

Jerry Remy is blogging at NESN.com during the playoffs. Here are his three keys to game two.

1. Draw first blood

2. Make the Angels chase pitches

3. Use every weapon

You can read his blog here. I am not as concerned with who scores first but I do think he is right on with number 2.

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Nomar Doesn't Know What Bush League Is

I can't give a simpler example of bush league than this:

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Mike Lowell's Dad Says His Son Knows How to Play With Pain

It is likely that Mike Lowell will be out of tonight's lineup but not because he can't gut it out. Lowell will play hurt but Tito wants to have him for game 3 at Fenway. Fox Sports caught up with Mike's dad in South Florida to see if he had always been like that.

"He's always been a guy who wants to be the one confronting the enemy on the field of play," Carl Lowell said. "He has never shrunk away from playing injured. Sometimes I think he's his worst enemy because sometimes he demands so much of himself and plays injured longer than he should.

"You can't teach a kid to be tough. You're either tough or you're not tough. What you can teach is to get to the level of skill where he feels he can compete even when he feels he is dying. But either you're tough or your not. Where it came from with Mike? I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't."

He did hit the ball hard a few times in game 1 even though he was 0-4. His defense was good but you could see he was hurting when he tried to get down the line after hitting a grounder.

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Which Dice-K Will We See Tonight?

How do you feel about having Dice-K on the mound tonight? If you are like most Sox fans you probably think he could do well but are not betting your paycheck on the outcome. Matsuzaka has been terrific on the road this year: 9-0 with a 2.37 ERA. However, in his only start against the Angels he only lasted 5 innings and gave up 6 earned runs. You would think this matchup would heavily favor Dice-K since the Angels do not take many pitches and walks have always been a problem when he starts. He has the uncanny abilty to pitch out of jams but he also has trouble going deep into the game.

It is very likely that this game will go down to the bullpen. Masterson did his job in game one but did not look great. Will Oki have the confidence after being passed over by Tito? Delcarmen and Lopez may make their first appearences of the series and there is always the chance we see Byrd coming in for long relief if Dice-K doesn't have it.

My guess is that Dice-K will pitch well but will get a no decision.

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Red Sox ALDS Start Times

Game 2 --Tonight October 3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim 6:30 pm Pacific / 9:30 Eastern

Game 3--Sunday, October 5 at Fenway Park 4:17 pm Pacific /7:17 p.m. EDT

Game 4--Monday, October 6 at Fenway Park (if necessary) 5:37 pm Pacific/ 8:37 p.m. EDT...Will move to 5:07 Pacific /8:07 pm Eastern if Chicago-Tampa Bay series has concluded.

Game 5--Wednesday, October 8 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim (if necessary) 6:37 Pacific /9:37 p.m. EDT...Will move to 5:37 Pacific / 8:37 Eastern if Chicago-Tampa Bay series has concluded.

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Ellsbury Enters the Blogosphere

Jacoby Ellsbury is blogging during the playoffs. He talked about the catch from last night

"Did I think I was going to catch it? To be honest, no. I came in running full speed, and I kind of glanced down at shortstop Jed Lowrie, thinking maybe he had a shot at it, hoping he had a shot at it. I just kind of kept my head down and went for it and felt like I kind of kicked in a different gear midway through that.

You're just hoping to get there. I'm kind of peeking at Lowrie and making sure we don't collide. It's loud out there, it's the playoffs. Even if someone calls for it, you're probably not going to hear him, so you just have to be aware of where he's at. It ended up being a big out.

I really don't get too fired up about diving catches, but I was pretty fired up about that one. Late in the game like that, playoff time. First out of the inning. You kind of want to kill a potential rally. I've made some nice catches this year, but this one was definitely my favorite one of the year.

I was just hoping my arm could reach out long enough. I didn't know if I had enough reach in my glove, but I made it. I looked at it for a second and I had it, so I just made sure to secure it."

His catch really did help Masterson get through the heart of the Angel's order. To follow along with Jacoby's blog click on the link here or on the right side of the page.

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Lowell Could Miss Game 2, Beckett on Track

Tito just spoke with the media and said they may keep Mike Lowell out of the lineup tomorrow to ensure he will be OK for Sunday's game in Boston: “We may have to make some changes as we go in the series.”

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SOX VS ANGELS

Does anyone think the SOX look a lot like the SHAQ-KOBE Lakers? (Please forgive me for this comparison)

The way the team handled the regular season, like it was just a tune-up. Think about the way they handled all of the injuries. Never was anyone rushed back. If anything, people were given more time than they needed. I almost seemed like they knew they would make the post-season, and thought that their team matched up well with anyone. Think about how they “chased” the division. Did it really every seem like they placed any value on winning the division? When you are still able to win a division, you don’t start David Pauley against a full Yankees team. You just don’t. Unless you are more concerned with winning in the post-season. I say, well done.

I know the Halos beat the SOX 8 out of 9 games this year, but looking closer at the stats, does anyone think that because they won 100 games that makes them the best team in the league. They played 35% of their games against 3 teams in their TERRIBLE division that didn’t finish over .500. On the flip side, the SOX played 45% of their games against the AL East (4th place Toronto finished 10 games over .500 and would have won the NL West), a division with 3 of the 5 MLB teams that finished with a run differential of 100 or more. What does all of that mean? Day in, day out the SOX were playing more complete teams.

I thought it was classic that the TBS announcers mentioned the Angels fans heading for the gates early. So much for the rabid squirrel.

On another subject, did anyone think that Lester was getting squeezed on the strike zone? There were a lot of pitches that looked like strikes that weren't getting called. I thought he did a great job of not letting it get into his head.

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Red Sox Blogger Roundtable

This week's topic:. How will Josh Beckett’s move back to Game 3 starter affect the team?

Check out the responses over at Fire Brand of the American League

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Bay vs. Manny: The Story That Won't Go Away

We had a few months off of the Manny vs. Jason Bay news but it is back in your face more than ever. Maybe if the Dodgers had not made the playoffs we would not be hearing much but Manny looms as large as ever in October. I have to say, after Manny went yard at Wrigley and Bay struck out in his first two ABs I was starting to wonder if the Red Sox had made a mistake for the ages. For a brief moment, in Theo I did not trust. Bay quickly erased my fears.

The comparisons between the two will be beaten to death throughout the playoffs; one can only imagine what will happen if they meet in the fall classic. When Bay put the Sox on the board the announcers brought up Manny. As soon as the game was over the first question to Bay was, "how did it feel to have to replace Manny Ramirez?"

Most of Red Sox Nation has moved on from the Manny Ramirez drama of midseason but the drama in now back on the national stage. If either Bay or Ramirez end up on the winning team of the World Series people will claim it was all because of the trade. In reality baseball is a team game and it takes a team to win, Jason Bay knows this. Does Manny?

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F-Bombs Away For John Lackey

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Jason Bay Talks About Game 1

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TBS v. Fox

No contest! Thank Christ Fox is not broadcasting the playoffs! Although I don't particularly care for the sound of Buck Martinez's voice, what he has to say is a helluva lot more interesting than Ken Rosenthal or Jeanie Zelasko and company. I'd still rather be watching NESN, but TBS works just fine for me, (except for the 'shotgun' commercials and that damn fanfare they play too much.)

During the post-game show, they showed the Kirk Gibson walk off HR off of Eck, who is on the TBS panel. They were discussing the origin of the 'walk-off' phrase when Eck said he used that term before that game. He called that Gibson HR a 'Walk-off Johnson'.

And whatever happened to Don Orsillo? Wasn't he supposed to be working this game?

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Masterson: Baptism by Fire

Justin Masterson came in to pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning in the 1st game of the ALDS tonight, the 1st playoff game for the young rookie. In a game in which the Sox were only up by 1 run, he allowed 2 hits, I was starting to think Tito should've called Oki, who had been warming up, instead. Thanks to a tremendous, web-gem worthy sliding catch by Ellsbury, and heads-up thinking by Youk and a stop sign that Vlad blew off, Masterson made it out of the inning unscathed, and gets a Hold in his 1st playoff game. I'm sure he won't ever forget this game!

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Bay Puts the Sox on Top

When Ellsbury ripped a leadoff double it looked like the Sox were going to roll in this one. When they stranded him on third to end the first it looked like runs would be hard to come by. The Angels blew some early opportunites but did take advantage of an error by Lowrie to take the lead. Bay was having problems at the plate with two K's before connecting with a pitch up in the zone to hit a two-run tater (the Greek God of Walks was on first) to give the lead to the Sox. Tito has some choices to make as we reach the later innings. Lester struck out the side in the 6th but is around 100 pitches. Oki is up in the pen, will he get the call?

UPDATE: Masterson gets the call for the 8th, let's see what kind of intestinal fortitude this kid has.

UPDATE II: Thanks Vlad, A-Rod just called and said you are getting dangerously close to his title of being Mr. Choktober. (Maybe next time you can try the limp-wristed swat at Lowell's glove.) A run in the 9th would be nice before Paps tries to close it out.

UPDATE III: Traffic Jam on I-5 as Angels fans all leave the game after 8 1/2 innings.

Red Sox Win 4-1 BOX SCORE

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It Looks Good on You Though...

Did anybody else catch what TBS field announcer Craig Sager was wearing during Game 1 of the ALDS? TBS must not be paying these guys. What do you get a free bowl of soup with that tie?

I haven't seen an orange sports coat since the Wide World of Sports in 1974.

As you can see from the photo on the left, it appears that Mr. Sager does all his shopping at the Salvation Army thrift store.

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Tito Talks With the Media Before Game 1

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Red Sox Lineup For Game 1 of the ALDS

Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew are in there.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH )
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Jason Varitek, C

Jon Lester, SP

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Red Sox ALDS Roster

Here is the Red Sox 2008 ALDS Roster, Mike Timlin will not be active.

Starters
Jon Lester (L)
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Josh Beckett

Bullpen
Tim Wakefield
Paul Byrd
Javier Lopez (L)
Manny Delcarmen
Hideki Okajima (L)
Justin Masterson
Jonathan Papelbon

Position Players

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Jed Lowrie, SS
Mark Kotsay, IF-OF (L)
Coco Crisp, OF (S)
Sean Casey, 1B (L)
Alex Cora, IF (L)
Kevin Cash, C (R)
David Ross, C (R)

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Watching on TBS

The good news is the ALDS will not be on Fox. The bad news is it will be on TBS, but things could be worse; imagine having to listen to Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver for the upcoming games. Chip Caray and Buck Martinez will be in the broadcast booth tonight. These two are not the bottom of the barrel when it comes to announcers but they really don't add much to the game. The thing I hate about playoff coverage is the need for networks to introduce teams to a national audience and fill in the game with repitition of the obvious. With TBS you also get the useless lead distance graphic whenever a runner gets on base and the constant commercials for Frank TV.

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View From the Other Side

We interviewed Chuck Richter, the executive editor of Angelswin.com, for his take on the ALDS.

FW: How confident are you in John Lackey after his last performance?

(Chuck @ Angelswin.com) - I'm cautiously confident. Confident in the sense that he can be dominant at any given time, especially after stinking up the joint in his previous start. On the 16th of September he struggled against the 4-A Athletics, giving up 5 runs in 5.1 innings, but got knocked around at the tune of 9 hits, when even his outs were hit hard. Then in Lackey's next start against the heavy hitting Texas Rangers, he hurled 6 scoreless innings, giving up just 2 hits, while fanning 12 Rangers. This season, Lackey is 2-0 against the Red Sox in 2 starts with a 2.81 ERA. In one of those starts he nearly threw a no no in Boston, but ended up giving up 2 runs on 2 hits in the 9th. Be that as it may, Lackey has not been himself in the 2nd half of the season causing some fans to be concerned.

FW: How much better is this year's Angel's team than last year?

(Chuck @ Angelswin.com) - Much better! Two reasons: Mark Teixeira & Health! The Angels were in bad shape in 2007 against the Red Sox in the ALDS. To sum it up, at one point Reggie Willits was our cleanup hitter as GA was hitting with one eye shut,. Plus, it didn't help that Vladimir Guerrero had no protection and rookies' Casey Kotchman & Howie Kendrick were simply overmatched.

FW: Will fans lose faith in Mike Scioscia if the Angels lose this series?

(Chuck @ Angelswin.com) - No! Mike Scioscia is respected by nearly all of the Angels fans. He is currently in my unbiased opinion one of the best manager's in the game of Baseball. I think the Angels fans will lose faith in the Halos ability to beat the Red Sox in a game that means something more than anything else. The feeling around our community forum and consensus for most Angels fans is, we're really nervous, though hopeful our 8-1 dominance over Boston in the regular season will carry over to post-season play.

FW: How do you think Teixeira will do in his first playoff appearance for the Angels? Will he be back next year?

(Chuck @ Angelswin.com) - I believe he'll do well if he doesn't try to do too much, but with Vladimir Guerrero hitting behind him, he won't have to be the savior so I'm sure he'll be relaxed and thus productive. As far as signing him in the off-season, I think we'd have to be considered Teixeira's #1 choice, especially if we get to the big dance. I believe this Angels ball club has all of the components to not only get there, but to win their 2nd World Series ring in the last 6 years.

FW: Who do you think was the MVP for the Angels this season?

(Chuck @ Angelswin.com) - This is a tough one considering we only had Teixeira since late July, otherwise he'd be the easy choice. I'm going to give this one to both Ervin Santana & Joe Saunders. Without these two dominating early on and solid throughout the season, who knows where the Angels would be at season end? Our starting rotation with Lackey missing the first 6 weeks of the season and not as dominating as he was in '07. Escobar missing the entire season and Jon Garland throwing beach balls for the majority of his starts -this would have been disastrous for a team that was unable to land the "big bat" in the off-season, a team that relied on good pitching and defense entering the 2008 season.

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Destruction By Backhoe

Now for your game one preview:

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ANGEL FAN?

First, I would like to thank Matt for inviting me to post. Thank you.
I will be attending the game on Friday and will post my on site comments/pictures as soon as I get home.

Next, since you brought up Angel fan, I feel like I should chime in because I have been out here in California going to games since 1995. Angel fan didn’t exist until September of 2002 (OK, for those six season ticket holders, I’m sorry if I offended you). I went in July of 2002 to 2 of the 3 games vs the SOX and there were MORE SOX fans than Angels fans. Attendance was 27K-32K of 43K+. They were a game out of first at the time. Are you kidding me? It wasn’t until September that they started selling out games because they were in the lead for the wild card.

Finally, DO NOT GET ME STARTED on the Rally Monkey! HINT: If you put that rabid monkey on the screen EVERY time you are losing in the 7th inning or later, eventually, it will work.

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Tito Speaks to the Media from SoCal

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Drew Says He's Ready to Play, Lowell Not So Much

J.D. Drew said he is ready to play in game one of the ALDS.

Mike Lowell is working out now in Anaheim and is said to be moving gingerly.

Francona will meet with the press shortly to give up his thoughts on the injuries.

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John Lackey Could Have a Quick Exit

John Lackey is 3-6 in his career against the Red Sox with a 5.54 ERA. He did pitch well against them earlier this season but he was tattooed in his last start of the season giving up 10 runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Or you could go by this great bit of insight by Halos Heaven :

One can only assume that Lackey's lackluster Friday night was a straight fastball session meant to delight Texas hitters and just break a sweat.

I'm sure they wanted to have Lackey go out there and throw meatballs to get ready for the playoffs; more great insight from a clueless Angels fan.

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Silly Little Angels Fans

Sometimes it makes me laugh to hear some of the comments coming out of the SoCal these days, take a look a few in this morning's Orange County Register.

“I'm not even worried about the Red Sox. They don't have Manny (Ramirez) anymore,” said Brett Plott, 41, who grew up an Angels fan in Stanton and now lives in Yucaipa. “We own Boston now.”

“We've got the greatest fans in baseball and in a couple of days, everybody will see why,” Willits said.

Maybe its time to revisit why I hate Anaheim and to watch the sad life of Angels fans again.

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Off to La La Land

The Sox are coming out to the West Coast for the first two games of the ALDS. Have no fear, Red Sox Nation will be in the house and Fenway West has added Larry Linscott, who will be at the game and cover things from SoCal.

You would think that a guy with an oblique strain would not have to carry his own luggage.

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Jon Lester Named AL Pitcher of the Month

John Lester was named the AL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA in five starts in September. Lester will be starting game 1 of the ALDS on Wednesday in Anaheim.

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Red Sox Pitchers For Games 1-3 of ALDS

Game 1: Jon Lester

Game 2: Dice-K

Game 3: Josh Beckett

Beckett has a right oblique injury from a side session on Friday. His game 3 start is not a sure thing, he will try a side session on Thursday to see if he can go for game 3. Francona has not said if Wake or Byrd would replace him as needed.

In a short series you need 3 good starters and without Beckett the Red Sox could have a much harder time. The injury also forces Tito to pitch Lester on the road when he would have pitched at Fenway where he has been fantastic this season.

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Red Sox ALDS Start Times

Wednesday, October 1st

Game 1: 7:00 Pacific/ 10:00 p.m. Eastern

Friday, October 3rd

Game 2: 6:30 Pacific/ 9:30 p.m. Eastern

It sucks for people in Boston but sure is nice out here in California.

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Angel's Pitchers For Games 1-3 of ALDS

Here's who the Red Sox will face in the ALDS

Game 1 John Lackey

Game 2 Ervin Santana

Game 3 Joe Saunders

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Not Much To Hang Your Hat On

The game was meaningless and the performance was forgetful in the first game of today's doubleheader. Dice-K only pitched 4 innings giving up 3 earned runs. Lopez, Delcarmen and Oki all pitched well before Papelbon had a rough outing. Paps gave up 3 runs, all earned, in the 9th. The Sox offense could only manage 5 hits but Ellsbury extended his hit streak to 18 games.

Red Sox Lose 6-2 BOX SCORE

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Red Sox Lineup Game 1 vs. Yankees

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Mark Kotsay, 1B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Jason Varitek, C Dice-K, SP

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Congrats To Johnny Pesky

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Stephen King's ESPN Sportscenter Commercial

Red Sox superfan Stephen King is staring in a new commercial for ESPN. Video via Awful Announcing.

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