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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Ian Kennedy or Hank Steinbrenner, Who's Smarter?

There may be someone associated with the Yankees that can give Hank a run for his money in the brains department, and his name is Ian Kennedy. After Friday's loss Kennedy had the following to say:

"The singles were ground balls, which isn't a big deal," Kennedy said Friday night. "I gave up a couple doubles, but I felt like I made some good pitches. I competed, which is all that really matters.
"I'm just not real upset about it," he later added. "I'm just going to move on. I've already done that."

Since he only "gave up a couple doubles" and "competed" and is judging his performance on T-Ball starndards, maybe Hank will take the whole team to Friendly's for a Fribble to celebrate a job well done.

Sox Take Advantage of Ozzie Being Grady

Boston and Chicago were locked at one apiece until the the 7th inning when Boone Logan gave up a singles to Ellsbury and Tek and then walked J.D. Drew. Ozzie came out to the mound but kept the left-handed pitcher in to face right handed hitting Pedroia. Dustin hit a single and drove in a run. Ozzie kept Logan in the game and Big Papi came up and proceeded to hit one off of the wall, clearing the bases. Guillen had finally seen enough but the damage was done. Dice-K pitched very well giving up just 1 run on 4 hits in 8 innings. Timlin came in for the 9th and gave up a 2-out gopher ball to Thome. On a side note, the White Sox lost pitcher Jose Contreras for the season after he ruptured a tendon during tonight's game.

Sox Win 6-2 BOX SCORE

Maybe Jim Rice Sould Be Batting Coach

On his blog ask14.com Jim Rice noticed a problem with Jacoby's swing and the adjustment he has made. Since that point Ellsbury has hit 2 homers in 2 games.

This is sweet!

Despite pounding out 11 hits today at LA or Anaheim, the Yankees were only able to score 4 runs, while limiting the Halos to 11 (eleven) runs. Giese gave up 3 hits and 1 run in 6 innings, but the NY bullpen (Veras, Ramirez, Robertson) then imploded: 2 IP, 8 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 HR.

While I'm enjoying seeing the hankees on the south side of a score like this, it only means the Angels are for real. Although they lost 2 out of 3 to the yanks last week at NY, they have pounded them twice in 2 days: 10-5 yesterday, and 11-4 today.

Beware the Angels come October.

Tonight's Lineup 8/9 in Chicago

J.D. Drew, RF

Dustin Pedroia, 2B

David Ortiz, DH

Kevin Youkilis, 1B

Mike Lowell, 3B

Jason Bay, LF

Jed Lowrie, SS

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Jason Varitek, C

Dice-K, SP

I Don't Care If Manny Goes To The Yanks

In the NY Post today they cited several of Manny's friends saying he wanted to play for the Yankees next season to "get back at the Red Sox." Get back for what? Paying you huge amounts of money, having great fan support and granting your trade wishes? Last week Manny said he wanted to retire with the Dodgers. If he wants to go play for the Yankees he can and join Damon, Boggs, and Clemens in the chase the money club. Of course this report only cites Manny's friends and not Manny himself and even if Manny said it we still don't know what he means. If the Yanks want to pay crazy amounts of money to deal with a Manny headache that would be fine by me. The New York media is going to be just as critical of him as the Boston media was and he will become a distraction for the team in a matter of weeks. You want him New York? You can have him.

Ozzie Being Ozzie

Could you imagine Ozzie managing in Boston? The media would have a field day because he would create a firestorm with every post-game press conference. Last week he was suspended by MLB for saying he had his pitcher purposely throw a bean ball. When he got back to the team he did not shy away from the microphone and immediately chimed in about the Manny situation with:

“I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but believe me, I never think Manny’s a quitter and he never will be,” Guillen said. “That’s the way he played the game, but they created their own monster. They created Manny. Manny was Manny, and now all of a sudden Manny’s not Manny.

While I think Ozzie is an a-hole most of the time, he is entertaining because he has no filter and says what's on his mind no matter the consequence.

Friday, August 8, 2008

In case anyone is interested.....(yawn)

#99 for the LA Dodgers went 0-5 tonight and still hasn't cut his hair.

Pedroia's Blast Is Not Enough For Red Sox

Jon Lester and Mark Buehrle were locked in a pitcher's duel for the early innings but Chicago had a 1 run lead after 3. In the 5th the ChiSox were able to get to Lester a bit and added 2 more. The White Sox added one more in the 7th when Boston allowed a runner to score while they were involved in a rundown for the third out. The Red Sox entered the 8th down by 4 but Dustin Pedrioa hit a 3-run homer to put them back in it. Youk got on and Lowell looked like he was going to walk and bring up Bay with the tying run in scoring position but he swung at ball four and popped it up to the catcher. Chicago added another run with a homer in the bottom of the inning and Boston would need to get two against to tie against Jenks. Casey came to the plate with 2 outs and a runner on in the 9th but grounded out to end the game. The Red Sox offense was held to 5 hits by superb pitching by Chicago (aside from Dotel). Lester looked good for most of the game but was not the 'ace' we have seen lately.

Sox Lose 5-3 BOX SCORE

After You Watch the Sox, Root For Seattle So Guys Like This Go Away

The longer we go into the season with the Rays in the mix the worse it will become. Make it stop...please.

David Aardsma Activated

Relief pitcher David Aardsma has been activated from the DL and is with the team in Chicago. Yesterday the Red Sox optioned pitcher Chris Smith to the PawSox to make room for Aardsma's return.

Tonight's Lineup 8/8 on the South Side of Chicago

Coco gets the start over red hot Jacoby, Drew is still in the lead-off spot.

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

Around the Horn

News you may have missed:

Derek Jeter is having the worst year of his career.

Starting in the 11th inning teams would get runners on first and second base to speed up Olympic Baseball.

Contrary to what Dan Shaughnessy reported yesterday, MLB is not investigating the Manny trade.

Giles Will Veto Trade and Stay in S.D.

Brian Giles has a no trade clause in his contract and according to ESPN will veto a trade to the Red Sox.

What Would the Sox Do With Giles?

Brian Giles is a good hitter but what could the Sox do with him? You can't play him ahead of Bay, Ellsbury, or Drew and the Sox have Coco to fill in the outfield. Buster Olney thinks it is just for insurance if Lowell stays hurt and Ortiz has more wrist issues. He is a nice bat to have on the bench for when rosters are expanded and could give some players a rest down the stretch to get ready for the post-season. The Sox have until the end of the day to finish a deal with San Diego and get Giles to agree to the trade.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Joe Torre: New Team, Still A Tool

No, this story does not have anything to do with Manny on the Dodgers or haircuts. The LA Times ran a story today about the possibility of the Yankees not making the playoffs this year. They interviewed Joe Torre about the topic and he told them: "It's going to be horrible if the Red Sox make it." Joe, for a while I almost felt sorry for you after the way you were dumped by the Yankees. I even found a slight bit of humor in your silly State Farm commercials, but those days are over, you go back to being Yankee scum and part of the Evil Empire. By the way, how does it feel to hold the record for grounding into the most DP's in one game?

Forbes Ranks Sox Fans the Second Most Loyal

Forbes compiled a list of the most loyal fans in baseball based on attendance and winning percentage. The Sox came in second behind Ranger fans. I don't know about that, but at least they got one thing right and put Yankee fans among the least loyal with:

"New Yorkers aren't used to losing, and they don't like it. This isn't to say Yankees fans are rowdy and passionate, but if the club loses, as it did in the early '90s, attendance drops. Back in 1991, it cost less to go to a Yankees game than to a game for the now-defunct Montreal Expos, and even so, only 23,009 people came to each Yankee home game. When they were winning in the early 2000s, attendance doubled."

Bad Juju For the Yankees

After last night's game a small statue of a baseball player was knocked off of Joe Girardi's desk causing the leg to break off. Sounds like more injuries are on the way for the evil empire.

Now We Have to Root For The Canadian Softball Team?

When you are looking for teams to root for in the upcoming Olympics you might want to consider the Canadian softball team who's pitcher is none other than Jason Bay's sister: Lauren Bay Regula.
Regula talked to MLB.com about her brother's experience in Boston, "He's great. He said the guys have been unbelievable to him there," she said. "Jason is a chameleon. He adapts to any surrounding. At first I was worried and I tried to protect him, but I know he's going to be just fine."

Not much Yankin' on the tube either

As posted previously, there's not much Sox on West Coast tube this month, so I decided to take a look to see how much air time our second favorite team is getting this month. That team being whomever the Yankees are playing and again we come up a little short:

Sat 9 Aug, NYY @ LAA on Fox @ 1:00 pm

Mon 1 Sept, NYY @ DET on TBS @ 10:00 am

Are the networks purposely avoiding the throwdown in the Bronx on the 26th, 27th, & 28th just to whet our appetities for the September finale at Fenway?

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