Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 10/12/08 - 10/19/08

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Red Sox Step Up in a Big Way

Even though they did not have to stage a big comeback, the Red Sox did have their share of heroes tonight. Youk and Tek each had big home runs, and Papi had a big 2 out base hit. Josh Beckett pitched well enough to keep it close and get it to the pen. You can't say enough about how well the bullpen was tonight; Okajima, Masterson, and Papelbon pitched 4 no-hit innings giving up just 1 walk. All of the momentum is now with Boston in the final game of the ALCS tomorrow night.

Red Sox Win 4-2 BOX SCORE

WTF TBS????

Why is there a blooper show on???? Where are the playoffs???? are you f'n kidding me???

UPDATE: Here is what the vidiots at TBS had to say about their national disaster tonight:

Two circuit breakers in our Atlanta transmission operations tripped causing the master router and its backup – which are necessary to transmit any incoming feed outbound – to shut down. This impacted our live feed from being distributed to any of the other networks in the Turner portfolio and caused the delay in our coverage. Both our primary and backup routers were impacted by this problem. We apologize to baseball fans for this mishap that caused a delay in our coverage.

Yankee Auction = Fail

So much for being Yankee Universe, nobody wants this crap. Everybody must be at home watching the Sox.

More Reasons To Win

We might get to watch more videos like this:

I love the panic in their faces. We will also get to see less of this loser:

Rays Lineup for Game 6 of the ALCS

1. Akinori Iwamura, 2B
2. B.J. Upton, CF
3. Carlos Pena, 1B
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Carl Crawford, LF
6. Cliff Floyd, DH
7. Dioner Navarro, C
8. Gabe Gross, RF
9. Jason Bartlett, SS

James Shields, SP

Time to Tase the Cowbells

Extra Bases notes that when the Sox are down 2-3 in a series they have always won Game 6. Here are the years when that has happened: 1903, 1967, 1975, 1986, 2003, 2004, 2007.

The cowbells will be out in full force since they have added over 5,000 seats for tonight's game and with those new seats come more tasers. The cowbells can quickly be silenced if Josh Beckett returns to his traditional October form, but I'm not so sure about the tasers.

The RemDawg breaks down Game 6. Watch Below:

Red Sox Lineup for Game 6 of the ALCS

Ellsbury sits, Coco gets the nod at the top of the ordah.

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mark Kotsay, 1B
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Jason Varitek, C

Josh Beckett, SP

Joe Maddon is Still in Shock

In yesterday's press conference Joe Maddon made some comments that showed the shock of game 5 has not worn off:

"Everyone's glomming onto the fact that we lost that game (Thursday) night and how we did, which we shouldn't have," manager Joe Maddon said Friday during some bleary-eyed media availability. "It should not have happened that way. But we still won two out of three and maintained homecourt advantage.
"It's working out in a sense the way we had planned it. Now we just have to go out and execute it."

Homecourt advantage???? Last time I checked the game is played on a field, even in that dump called the Trop. So the Rays planned to lose game 5, earlier he said he was playing Kazmir because he is better at Fenway, which is it?

Friday, October 17, 2008

"Yankes" Fans Display Their Intellect

Sean Bunn is the Red Sox Nation governor from North Carolina. He had organized a viewing party in Raleigh the night the Sox lost to Tampa Bay by the score of 13-4. Adding insult to injury, upon returning home after the game that night, he discovered that his condo had been vandalized by "Yankes" fans. Vandals broke into his house and spray painted the NY logo, pinstripes (jail bars?), and other vulgarisms all over his home, including Jeter and A-Rod's uniform numbers on the back of his dress shirts. (He may donate the shirts to The Jimmy Fund to be auctioned off.)

Read the full story here.

Big Papi Crushes a Ball into the Ray Tank During BP

The Boston Red Sox held a workout today at the Trop while the Rays took the day off. During the BP portion of the workout Big Papi sent a message to his opponents:

"While he was taking batting practice, he crushed a ball to deep right-center field, some 430 feet from home plate and deposited a ball into the fish tank with live Rays in it.
He put his arms in the air and screamed "I just killed a Ray."

Last week people at the Trop were feeding the rays little Red Sox snacks, Big Papi thought they might want a bigger treat.

Josh Beckett's Friday Press Conference -Video

Beckett says he does not have to make any adjustments because of the oblique injury.

I'll See Your Fisk and Raise You a Dave Roberts

The Rays Index thinks they have found a clever little way to blow some sunshine up the arses of their remaining fans that have not fallen off of the bandwagon:

Friday, October 17, 2008

[SOX ON LIFE-SUPPORT]
Boston Writer Summons Ghost Of Carlton Fisk, Renders Death Inevitable For Red Sox

OK, we have one link to help RAYSHEADS put everything back into perspective...

Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox were dead and came back to life and compares last night's Red Sox win to game 6 of the 1975 World Series by summoning the ghost of Carlton Fisk.
Yet the fact remains: The Red Sox were dead, and dead teams are not supposed to wake up. It is scientifically impossible. You’re dead, you’re dead. Then again, if dead teams did not awaken, we would not have Bobby Thomson and Carlton Fisk and all that.
Somebody needs to remind Buckley that the Red Sox lost game 7 of the 1975 World Series.

Teams can come back to life. It is a thing we like to call "life-support". But eventually the plug must be pulled.

Apparently the folks at Rays Index seem to be forgetting about 2004. The Red Sox did win the next night, and the 3 after that, and then the next four to win the World Series. Before they start thinking that Beckett is done they need to remember how bad Schilling pitched in his first start of the 2004 ALCS. Also know that in 3 innings last night, Papi, Crisp, and Drew all broke out of their slumps. The monstah is alive and cannot be stopped.

Lucky 7s

The Red Sox were in the 7th inning

7 outs away from elimination

Down by 7 runs.

Who had the game winning hit?

#7 J.D. Drew

In case you missed it watch below:

Thursday, October 16, 2008

This just goes to show you....

You NEVER leave a Sox game before it’s over! And the game is never over until it’s over!

To those ‘ f a n s ’ (and I use that word EXTREMELY loosely) who left early: SUCKAS!!!!!

Holy shizzit, I am still stunned!

ONE FOR THE AGES

I am still in shock. The Red Sox were done, the season was over, with 2 outs in the 7th inning they trailed by 7 runs. When Kazmir left the game the bats came alive. Pedroia got it started, they Big Papi 2004 made an encore appearance at the Fens putting the Sox within 3. In the 8th Bay walked and Drew hit a two run tater...Sox were one away. Kotsay then doubled and Crisp had his longest AB of the season before driving in the winning run. Masterson got a double play to end the top of the 9th setting up the scene for the miracle at Fenway. With 2 outs Youk grounded to third but reached second on a throwing error. Bay was walked and J.D. Drew had a walk off hit to force a game 6. Tito made a great move by bringing Papelbon in early and the Red Sox bats came alive at the last possible moment. I admit I had given up hope but stayed with the game.

Red Sox Win!!!! 8-7 BOX SCORE

Rays Lineup for Game 5 of the ALCS

Iwamura, 2B
Upton, CF
Pena, 1B
Longoria, 3B
Crawford, LF
Floyd, DH
Navarro, C
Gross, RF
Bartlett, SS

Kazmir, SP

Some A-Rod Humor While Your Waiting for Game 5

A-Rod has gone back to trying to steal the Red Sox thunder, this time he may announce he is dating Madonna right before the Sox win game 7 of the ALCS:

Madonna’s plans with A-Rod extend beyond the concert: the singer is reportedly planning a trip to Malawi when her "Sticky & Sweet" tour ends, and A-Rod is said to be joining her. The trip is meant to be a fact-finding mission to raise awareness for Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity (a rep for Raising Malawi didn’t comment by deadline).
A source from the Kabbalah Centre in New York City says that before that trip, “expect them to make a public appearance together at the Kabbalah Centre here.”

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup Game 5 ALCS

Here it is, Ellsbury is out, Coco is at the top of the ordah

Coco Crisp, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Jed Lowrie, SS
Jason Varitek, C
Mark Kotsay, 1B

Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP

Keys to the Comeback

If the Red Sox are going to comeback in this series they have a tough road ahead but here are some things that can help it can happen:

The RemDawg breaks down the keys.

Tek knows what to tell his team.

Maybe the Sox could clone Caballito

or maybe all we need to do is Reverse the Hawk

If For Nothing Else

The Sox need to win to make this meth-head go back to his trailer park in shame.

Hey Cowbell kid, nice wood paneling. Did you ask your mom if it was OK to take the plastic covering off of the chair before you did your video?

Manny Flakes on Wanting to Finish His Career in LA

In what should be a surprise to nobody Manny is no longer sticking to what he told ESPN earlier this season:

"I like this city, the environment, the energy in the fans. I think that I'll play here for the remainder of my career,"

Hear what Manny says about the future now:

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

27 Outs

Could it be? After the long season that started in the Land of the Rising Sun, the Red Sox are just 27 outs away from the end of their 2008 season.

27 outs away from the possible end of Mark Kotsay, Sean Casey and Coco Crisp's time in Boston

27 outs away from possible end of Mike Timlin's career

27 outs away from the possible end of Tim Wakefield's career

27 outs away from the possible end of the Red Sox Capitain, Jason Varitek's time in Boston.

This is a prospect no true fan wants to face. The long winter is fast approaching but we can have a few more weeks of summer if we:

Rays Fans Should Study History

It might be a little early for this post from Tom Korun of ABC Sports in Tampa:

Sorry Red Sox fans............IT'S OVER!!!!!!
I'm an optomistic guy by nature, but those Red Sox fans who think their boys will win the ALCS are drinking the ice tea, imported from Long Island!
I know the history with Boston. They have come back from situations like this before. However, they are minus Man-Ram, and his absence has affected Big Papi bigtime. Without David Ortiz's bat, they're sunk.

Moreover, we haven't even attacked Boston's achilles heal in this blog, pitching. I will grant you, I along with every sane sports fan thought Jon Lester would not be beaten at Fenway. He was smoked at Fenway!

I would love to see him eat his words over the next few days.

Ortiz Struggles in Optional Practice

Big Papi came to Fenway today to get some work on his swing but according to Extra Bases he did not do very well:

David Ortiz did not look great, grounding a lot of balls the other way and at one point getting jammed so badly he shook his hands and yelled. At least he didn't break any bats, like he did the other day.

Citgo Sign Damaged By Fire

The historic Citgo sign was damaged by a small electrical fire. Both the Globe and the ProJo think this could be some kind of omen.

Off Day News Roundup

Scott Kazmir will start Game 5 for the Rays....maybe there is a chance to get back in the series.

Jacoby Ellsbury's blog goes as quiet as his bat.

Mike Lowell goes under the knife next week.

The Tampa media thinks its over:

The Rays are sprinting around the bases, making it look oh so easy. Upset? This is no upset. At this point, the only upset would be if the ALCS requires a Game 6 on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

and so do some in the New England media:

The Red Sox season is just about over....Game 5 is Thursday, and this does not appear to be the year for any big comebacks.

Big Papi Goes All Rickey Henderson in the Locker Room

According to Big Papi, Papi isn't the problem.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

More General Suckiness

Here's the rundown: Wake sucked, Tito's new lineup sucked, the bullpen sucked, the crowd sucked, and TBS sucked.

Red Sox Lose 13-4 BOX SCORE

Live Blog During Game 4

I'll be chatting on WEEI's live game blog during game four. Throughout the last 3 games Sox beat writers Rob Bradford and Alex Speier from WEEI participated as well as Jeff Goldberg from the Hartford Currant, Ian Browne from Red Sox.com and Joe Haggerty from Hacks with Haggs.

Tito Discusses The New Lineup - Video

Rays Lineup For Game 4 of the ALCS

Akinori Iwamura, 2B
B.J. Upton, 8
Carlos Pena, 1B
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carl Crawford, LF
Willy Aybar, DH
Dioner Navarro, C
Fernando Perez, RF
Jason Bartlett, SS

Andy Sonnanstine, SP

Red Sox Lineup for Game 4 of the ALCS

Ellsbury is out, Drew leads off

J.D. Drew, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youklis, 3B
Jason Bay, LF
Mark Kotsay, 1B
Coco Crisp, CF
Kevin Cash, C
Jed Lowrie, SS

Tim Wakefield, SP

Rosenthal Plays the Race Card

Fox's vertically challenged sideline reporter Ken Rosenthal wrote a piece today saying free agents might avoid the Red Sox because they look like a bunch of whiteys:

"The question is whether the Red Sox will lose players they want because of the makeup of their club, the perception of the city or both. Players generally seek comfort as well as money when they make career decisions."

Is Rosenthal suggesting that players can't get play with people that are not in their own race? It sure looks like that to me. He also added the Manny trade to his argument:

"Yet, fairly or not, Ramirez's messy divorce with the Red Sox could raise suspicions that the team prefers a certain type of player — unassuming, conformist, white. The current makeup of the team's roster might create similar notions, even as the Red Sox say that nothing could be further from the truth."

Rosenthal tries to ride the fence in his article by saying race is an issue and it is not an issue. Yes the Sox have a lot of white players, yes the Sox had a history of racial problems during the Yawkey years but I don't know anyone other than Ken Rosenthal that thinks the Red Sox are trying to be a "white" team. If he really thinks that is the case he should come out and say it fully and if a player won't come to Boston because of this issue let them say it out in the open.

Time To Get The Red Sox Shrines Going Again

Admit it, you thought the Red Sox would cruise last night. You were almost relieved when the sac fly ended game 2 so you could go to bed knowing that the cowbells would be gone and all things good would prevail at Fenway. Lester's crash and the silence from the bats may have you second guessing the old town team. Now is the time to revive the voodoo, mojo, and various superstitions that propelled the Sox to victory in 2004 and in 2007. Wear your lucky hat, eat your special meal and sit in the right spot; the team needs your help.

Can Wake Save the Red Sox?

Once again the season is in the hands of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Wake had some good outings against the Yanks in the '03 ALCS before...well you know what happened. Wake has had some bad playoff games since then; his ERA in the ALCS last year: 9.64. He needs to get through at least 5 or Tito will be forced to go with Byrd again and with the amount he threw yesterday it could get ugly fast. I have faith that Wake can turn things around and bring the mojo back, if he is on he could screw up some of the timing of Rays hitters and we all know their timing is pretty good right now.

Red Sox are Staying in Ft. Myers

Don't buy that condo in Sarasota because the Red Sox are not moving up the coast. The city of Sarasota ended talks with the Red Sox after an agreement could not be reached on the financing of a new stadium complex.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Tito Faces the Music - Video

The Hypnotizing Power of Craig Sager's Suit

The only thing that can break the spell is the soda guy hitting you in the face. Watch Below:

Game 3 Did Not Go As Planned

Just in case Beckett had a problem (which he did) the Red Sox would have Lester to stop the bleeding and be back for game 7 if needed. To quote the movie Stripes- Custer had a plan, too. -- Russell Ziskey. Jon Lester lost his first game at Fenway since the spring and in a big way. He gave up 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings including two gopher balls. Byrd came in to take one for the team and he also was victim to the longball giving up 2 of his own. Boston's offense was lackluster at best and there are some serious slumps going on. Ellsbury is now 0-14 in the ALCS, although he did get the Sox only RBI in the game. Papi went 0-4 and Tek continued to struggle going 0-3. Sox fans booed Tek and many left very early today, two things you do not usually see. It is not time to hit the panic button but todays game was not what the nation had expected. The Red Sox need Wake to step up in a big way tomorrow and maybe Kevin Cash can provide some kind of a spark to the offense.

Red Sox Lose 9-1 BOX SCORE

Trigger Happy at the Trop

Tampa Bay security tasered a Red Sox fan this weekend. Busted Coverage provides these two videos, but no mention is made of what the fan did that caused the Trop security to respond with tasers, but I do notice that 1, possibly 2 of the security guards (law enforcement wannabes) are the same ones who nearly tasered Sciesinski last month.

red sox fan tasered

Rays Lineup For Game 3 of the ALCS

2B Iwamura
CF Upton
1B Pena
3B Longoria
LF Crawford
DH Aybar
C Navarro
RF Baldelli
SS Bartlett

P Garza

Dewey Will Throw Out First Pitch Today

Dwight Evans will have the honor of throwing out the first pitch before Game 3 of the ALCS at Fenway today.

Red Sox Lineup for Game 3 of the ALCS

Cora is in for Lowrie at short and J.D. returns to the lineup.

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

Jon Lester, SP

Fenway Gets Ready For Game 3

Jon Lester is Ready To Put the Sox Back On Top

Tito did not look like a genius on Saturday but having Jon Lester start today may make people get back in his corner. Lester is 11-1 at Fenway this season with an ERA of 2.49. In his last start at Fenway he went 7 innings and only gave up 4 hits. The start before that he wen 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits. (I was lucky enough to be at that game) The only variable is that this is a day game where his ERA is higher than it is for night. The home crowd and the absense of cowbells should be a welcome respit for the next few days and with some breaks going the right way, a trip back to the Trop may not be necessary.

Batting Stance Guy - 2008 Playoff Edition

The Batting Stance Guy is back with an updated playoff version. Watch below:

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Will the Shadow Be a Factor?

Tomorrow's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies early. If the clouds clear before game-time the shadow between the mound and the batter's box could be a big factor in the early going. Lester could benefit greatly from this but even if there are overcast skies he will be lights out at Fenway. (no pun intended)

Wheeler Should Be Able to Pitch Tomorrow

Even though Dan Wheeler went for three innings last night he should be able to go tomorrow if needed. From ProJo:

JIM HICKEY: We had a conversation last night prior to sending him out there for, I believe, part of the third inning and even the fourth inning. I had seen him do it before in Houston where he would pitch two-plus innings, three-plus innings, parts of four innings, extra-inning games where it was do-or-die, winner-go-home type of a thing, and I told Joe he would be fine, and I knew he would be fine, and I've seen him also rebound from that well.

I would anticipate that he would be able to pitch Monday, but I would also agree with what Joe said, just wait until the emotion type of stuff goes away and then see where we are. But I would be surprised if he wasn't available.

Denial Is Not A River in Africa

Jacoby's once again glosses over his o-fer on his postseason blog. After last night he is 0-11 in the ALCS. What did he say about it?

It was nice to get on Scott Kazmir early, but it was just one of those games. It just didn't quite go our way. We'll be ready to get the win on Monday night.
I had that one at-bat earlier in the game where I tried to bunt the ball and it slammed me in the helmet. That could have been bad if you wear it in the face or the nose or the eye. It gave me a headache, but it could have been worse. I'm fine now.

How about that one at bat where you had the go-ahead run on second and you made an out for the 6th time in the game? Ellsbury needs to start setting the table for the Red Sox to win this series.

As If the Night Was Not Bad Enough

Those of you who threw a brick at your TV after Drew's throw missed the mark did not get to see sing along time for the TBS crew. The video from Sox and Dawgs below shows that Craig Sager is not the only disaster at TBS.

by beisbolct

Beckett Says He is Healthy

Josh Beckett says he is healthy and that location was the only problem last night. This is going to give the Red Sox a dilema for Game 6; do you start him after his last two awful performances, or do you go with Byrd. If Beckett does get the start he has to have a Buchholz type leash from Francona. I think Beckett had only 2 swinging Ks in last night's game.

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