Sully Baseball Salutes... Jed Lowrie

The Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland to the Astros for reliever Mark Melancon.

It's a smart trade. The Red Sox need to rebuild their bullpen and Jed Lowrie is not a long term answer for the infield. Melancon is talented, piled up saves for an awful Astros team and has a good ERA+. And he's only 26 years old.

But before we bid good bye to Jed Lowrie, let's salute him.
He was part of that 2005 First Round crop that supposedly was going to replenish the Red Sox.

Jacoby Ellsbury has held up his end of the bargain.
When healthy Clay Buchholz has been a stud.
Craig Hansen was supposed to be a the next bullpen ace. It didn't work out that way.
And Jed Lowrie was going to provide depth SOMEWHERE in the infield.

The Sox got the Lowrie pick as a result of losing Orlando Cabrera to the Angels.

And it was against the Angels that he had his greatest moment.

In 2008 Division Series, the Red Sox were the defending World Champions but the Angels were the best team in the American League. If any team looked like they were in a position to unseat the World Champs, it was this Angels team. But the Sox took the first two games in Anaheim and then lost an extra inning thriller in Game 3.

Game 4 was a back and forth affair with the Angels tying the game in the 8th. In the 9th, Jason Bay dropped a bloop double in front of Reggie Willits. With 1 out, Mark Kotsay hit a linedrive that looked like it was going to clinch the series but Mark Teixeira made a diving catch at first base.

Up stepped Jed Lowrie who swung at Scot Shields' first pitch and smacked it into right field. Bay came around to score and the Red Sox were off to the ALCS.

It was the 16th post season series won by the Red Sox.
(7 World Series, 4 ALCS and 5 Division Series).

And as of this writing, it was the last playoff series won by Boston.

In those 16 post season series victories, only 3 ended with a walk off hit.
The 1912 World Series ended when Larry Gardner hit a 10th inning sacrifice fly.
The 2004 Division Series ended with a David Ortiz home run.
And the 2008 Division Series ended with Jed Lowrie's single.

We all jumped up and celebrated that night.

So before you head off to Houston, let's salute Jed Lowrie and say thank you.

And hopefully the number of Red Sox who ended a post season series with a walk off hit will increase before long.

Red Sox fans should salute J. D. Drew... yeah you read that right

When Sully Baseball was in its infancy, I got into an internet argument with several Red Sox fans.

They all wanted J. D. Drew.
I didn't want the Sox to touch him with a cattle prod.

The J. D. Drew crew were all stat heads who were screaming about his OPS, his power, his ability to get on base and thought I was some stuck up fool for not seeing it.

I kept saying "He plays well when he has a contract on the line and is hurt all the other years."
I pointed out that he wore out his welcome in St. Louis, jumped ship in both Atlanta and Los Angeles following his only 2 seasons of note.

I was practically holding candlelight vigils to keep Drew from signing with the Sox.
And when he did, I wrote an early post explaining how the Sox should compensate a player who I thought was going to be a flop.

I felt that signing Drew for 5 years was going to be a disaster and there is no way he will live up to it and he will be on the DL for long stretches and not put up the numbers.

The contract is over. Let's review.
So let's review...

He gave the Red Sox 140 games once, his first year. That was also the only year he made 550 plate appearances.
He never hit 25 homers.
He never got more than 126 hits.
He never drove in 70 runs.
He never walked 85 times.
He struck out 100 or more times three times.
His average peaked at .280.
He cracked the top 10 of OPS once.

He was mediocre and injury plagued.
And his $14 million a year salary is coming off the books.

That's a good thing.
And I turned out to be right about J. D. Drew.

Except I am saluting him and I believe all Red Sox fans should do the same.

Lest we forget some of the great memories that J. D. Drew gave Sox fans.

In Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS, after Beckett and company forced the series back to Fenway, Cleveland still had the advantage.

And when the Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the first, it looked like they were going to squander the opportunity to draw first blood. Drew came up with 2 outs and the bases still juiced and still no score. Fausto Carmona was going to get out of it when he went 3-1 on Drew. Every Sox fan (including one that Fox cut to) thought "Just walk J. D. Get a run on the board."

He drove one deep to center... maybe an out.
Sizemore went back... maybe a double.
And it cleared the wall. NOBODY was thinking grand slam. Even Carmona's reaction was "Are you F---ing Kidding Me?"

Bill Simmons called it the $70 million homer. The Red Sox took control and Game 7 was inevitable. Drew drove in another run for good measure.

In Game 7, he drove in a key insurance run in the 8th as the Red Sox won the pennant.

In the World Series against Colorado, he drove in 2 runs in the opener and got 2 hits in Game 2 as the Red Sox rolled.

But his greatest moments came in 2008, his lone All Star year for the Sox.
His home run in Yankee Stadium earned him All Star MVP honors.

Then in the Division Series he clubbed a go ahead homer off of Francisco Rodriguez to win Game 2 on the road.

In the ALCS against the Rays, he hit a home run to pull the Sox to within in and clubbed the walk off 9th inning hit giving the Red Sox the mindboggling 7 run deficit erasing victory in Game 5.

The Sox lost that series, but that Game 5 victory is still one of the great moments in recent Red Sox history.

So no, Drew wasn't worth the 5 years. He was never an elite player. I was right that he would spend a lot of time hurt and not living up to the potential.

But my goodness... he contributed big time to winning a World Series title and the next year gave us all thrills and the wonderful image of a Red Sox player being honored in Yankee Stadium.

That's got to be worth something.
So salute him, Red Sox fans and NOT with the middle finger.

He's got a World Series ring on his finger and he earned it.
That's got to be worth SOME love still.

Jason Bay... we hardly knew ye

So it is official... Jason Bay is a Met and his days as a Red Sox left fielder are over.

And even though the signing was announced less than 24 hours ago, it has already been declared a bust by SI.com, Yahoo Sports, The Post, and many bloggers.

Tough crowd.

And while as a Red Sox fan I would rather see him break down on someone else's dime (and pick up a few draft picks from the Mets) I think Bay is worth a nice salute before he leaves.

He played well for the Sox (with a few slumps here and there) over a year and a half.
And to the morons who say that the Red Sox lost the 2008 pennant because they had Bay instead of Ramirez, please do a little homework.

Bay would have been the MVP of the Division Series in 2008 if they gave out that award. (I do.)

He batted .412 in the (and a 1.356 OPS) in the Division Series, including a key home run in Game 1 amd doubling in the 9th inning of Game 4 and scoring the series ending run.

And the Red Sox didn't lose the ALCS to the Rays because of Bay (and his .927 OPS.) They lost because Beckett got crushed in Game 2, Lester got crushed in Game 3, Wakefield got crushed in Game 4 and the Red Sox couldn't hit Garza nor Price in Game 7.

It's always about pitching.

Oh and lest we forget Bay's home run against Mariano Rivera last spring. (Doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?)

So the Sox aren't being sentimental... they are piling up draft picks and hoping to make the next big smash.

But Bay, while still ringless (and will probably remain that in Flushing) he is still worth a Red Sox fan salute.

Are you kidding me?

When I saw the Late Daisuke Matsusaka, who passed away shortly after the moronic World Baseball Classic, was pitching tonight... I thought "3 innings max."

He hadn't pitched since getting torched on June 19th against Atlanta. His longest outing was 5 2/3 innings against Texas and he STILL got lit up in that game.

So you will forgive me that I wasn't brimming with optimism.

Before the game I was thinking "Hmm... the Sox had yesterday off. Plus since Thursday the Red Sox bullpen had thrown a grand total of three innings. So they were rested."

And knowing it was Dice-K I caught myself thinking

Bowden can throw the 3rd
Bard can throw the 4th
Ramirez can throw the 5th
Okajima can throw the 6th
Delcarmen can throw the 7th
Wagner can throw the 8th
Papelbon can throw the 9th...

And I was still nervous because I wasn't sure if Dice-K could give the Sox two innings!

I would feel like if I asked a Genie for 6 shut out innings, I would be overreaching.

Man, can you imagine if Dice K is pitching well...
And Beckett is pitching well...
And Lester is throwing like an ace...
And Buchholz has turned a corner...

LET'S GET OCTOBER STARTED ALREADY!!!

Requiem for an away jersey

I like the Red Sox new away jerseys. I like the simple black letters on the front but I also like it isn't the block "BOSTON" letters that the Red Sox had from 1979 to 1989.

For those of you unfamiliar with that particular road uni, please watch any clip of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

And watch those clips at your own peril.

While I like the new unis (and I like them a Hell of a lot more than those new hideous caps) I felt that the old road uniforms shouldn't just be tossed into the closet without a proper farewell.

Before the 1990 season, the Red Sox introduced new road uniforms.

They had red letters on the front in the Red Sox font.

And, breaking from tradition they also had names on the back.

It's a shame that Carl Yastrzemski never had his name go from one arm pit to the other...

But Red Sox fans did see Garciaparra, VanLandingham and Matsuzaka crowd the back of the uni.

And as silly as it may sound to salute a uniform, we Red Sox fans should never forget the number of franchise changing moments (both good and bad) took place with players wearing this specific uniform.

I am willing to bet almost every Red Sox fan has had a screen saver with a player wearing these uniforms.

Let's count down the 20 Best Red Sox Moments in the Red lettered Road Jerseys.

20. Sox win a 1990 thriller in Toronto and spark a 10 game winning streak

On August 24th, 1990, the Blue Jays and Red Sox faced off a day after a thrilling bottom of the 9th Toronto win. The Jays had pulled to within a single game. Rookie Dana Kiecker and Jimmy Key exchanged zeroes throughout the game. In the 9th, the Red Sox got back to back RBI singles from mid season acquisitions Mike Marshall and Tom Brunansky.

Jeff Gray (appropriately in his road grays) got the Blue Jays in order for the save. This would start a 10 game winning streak for the Sox... and they would need every win as they clinched on the final day of the season.

19. Mo Vaughn and Donnie Sadler (!!!) power the Sox past O's

On September 17, 1998, the Red Sox were closing in on a Wild Card berth, but faced Mike Mussina in Camden Yards.

Mussina was throwing a shutout with 2 outs in the 7th inning when reserve infielder Donnie Sadler hit a game tying two run homer.

Mussina pitched 9 innings but the Sox kept the Orioles off the board as well. Armando Benitez came in and did what he does best... blow games in the fall. He let two on and Arthur Rhodes came in to face Mo Vaughn, who drove in Darren Lewis.

The Red Sox won, giving Dennis Eckersley his 197th and final victory.

18. Hideo Nomo's unbelievable Sox debut

On the second game of the 2001 season, the Red Sox were trying to rebound from an extra inning loss in the opener.

Hideo Nomo took the hill for his Red Sox debut wearing his road grays in Baltimore. Nobody could have prayed for a better start.

He let up a walk in the first but settled down. And when Brian Daubach homered in the 3rd and again in the 8th, he had a 3-0 lead to work with.

In the 9th inning, Nomo retired Brady Anderson, Mike Bordick and Delino Deshields in order for his second career no hitter. Quite a debut!

It was also the first no hitter caught by Jason Varitek. He would catch three more.

17. Wakes throws a gem... three days after throwing a gem

The 1995 Red Sox needed reinforcements in the rotation in late May. Manager Kevin Kennedy turned to knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who hadn't pitched a big league game since 1993.

In his first game on May 27th in Anaheim, he pitched 7 innings letting up 1 run as the Red Sox cruised to a 12-1 win.

Three days later, again on the road, Kennedy had to turn to Wakefield again. He let up a first inning single to Geronimo Berroa, but kept the A's hitless for the next 6 innings. The Red Sox gave him only a 1-0 lead, but there was no reason to take him out.

Finally in the 8th, the A's got on base and the bullpen preserved the 1-0 win. Wakefield would throw a complete game 4 days later at Fenway and the eventual '95 Division Champs had stumbled upon a work horse!

16. Pedro Martinez versus Gerald Williams

Pedro Martinez plunked Devil Rays lead off hitter Gerald Williams to start the game on August 29th, 2000 in the Trop.

Williams paused a moment and then charged the mound. Punches were thrown. Benches were cleared and when the dust settled, Williams was ejected and Pedro was still on the mound.

He retired the next three hitters in the first. Then he threw a 1-2-3 second... and third... and fourth... and fifth... and sixth... and seventh... and eighth.

He let up a lead off single in the 9th to John Flaherty but finished the shutout with 1 hit, no walks, 13 strikeouts... and one ticked off Gerald Williams.

15. A sweep in the Bronx hints that 2004 might be different

The Red Sox, retooled after the Aaron Boone debacle, wore their road grays into Yankee Stadium in late April of 2004. 

The first game was an 11-2 Red Sox blow out. The second game was a 12 inning thriller squeaked out by the Sox.

In the finale, Pedro Martinez and Javy Vasquez locked up in a pitchers duel. Manny Ramirez homered in the 4th inning to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Pedro and Scott Williamson (remember him?) made it stick. The Red Sox left town in first place and while they didn't win the Division, they didn't seem intimidated by Yankee Stadium. They certainly weren't in October!

14. The Red Sox begin their World Series defense a lonnnnng way from home!

What better venue to begin the 2008 season than The Tokyo Dome? Such tradition for an A's/Red Sox match up.

Daisuke Matsuzaka wasn't sharp early as the Sox fell behind 2-0 but Manny Ramirez and Brandon Moss (remember him?) each drove in a run in the 6th to tie the game. 

Hideki Okajima wiggled out of trouble in the 9th and in the top of the 10th, Manny drove in another run to give the Sox the lead. As Red Sox nation slept, the title defense began with a win. 

Why the A's were the home team is anyone's guess!

13. Josh Beckett calmly begins the comeback.

There was no one dramatic moment to signal the great comeback for the 2007 Red Sox. There was no Dave Henderson homer... no Trot Nixon walk off blast... no Dave Roberts stolen base...

Just the prescience of Josh Beckett.

I remember my friend Kevin Hench predicting doom and gloom as the Sox fell 3-1 in the 2007 ALCS and faced C. C. Sabathia in Cleveland.

I said "Beckett is going to win and the Sox will win the next two in Fenway." He thought I was a Pollyanna. When Grady Sizemore hit a bloop double and scored in the first, Hench was predicting an ending that made Revelations seem like a trip to the spa.

Beckett was calm, worked out of trouble, and wasn't even fazed when Kenny Lofton tried to charge the mound. 

He didn't even care that his ex girlfriend sang God Bless America.

Beckett pitched 8 solid innings, giving up only the first inning run, walking 1 and striking out 11. The American Bad Ass would win the series MVP, mainly on the strength of his calm season series win in his road grays.

12. Manny and Mueller deliver in Oakland.

In a critical late season showdown for the 2003 Wild Card, the Red Sox and A's met in Oakland on August 14th.

Ted Lilly had out pitched Tim Wakefield and the A's handed the ball over to Keith Foulke to close the game.

Manny led off the 10th, fouled off 4 two strike pitches and smacked a game tying homer.

Bill Mueller drove in the go ahead run in the 10th and the Sox tacked on an insurance run for good measure. The Red Sox were off and running and would meet the A's again in the Division Series.

11. Schilling's near no hitter.

On June 7, 2007 the Red Sox were playing in Oakland. I was living across the Bay in Mountain View... and the game wasn't on TV and I could barely find it on the radio.

I expressed my frustration with this last year.

And what I barely heard crackling on my radio was 40 year old Curt Schilling mowing down the A's and come within 2 outs of a no hitter before allowing a Shannon Stewart single in the 9th.

He completed the game (in those road grays) which was a 1-0 Sox win.

You wouldn't want THAT shown on TV, would you A's?

10. Pedro dominates the Yankees...

You read that right. The Yankees weren't always Pedro's daddy. On September 10th, 1999, the Red Sox still had some hope they might catch the Yankees for the Division.

Pedro and Andy Pettitte locked up in a great pitchers duel. Chili Davis homered in the second inning. AND THAT WAS IT for the Yankees.

No other hits. No other walks. The other 27 at bats were outs. 17 of those were strikeouts thrown by Pedro... clad in his beautiful road grays.

9. It's the Same Old Song in Anaheim

2008 was supposed to be different in the playoffs. Sure the Red Sox and Angels were squaring off for the third time in five seasons...

But the Angels were retooled, healthy, fresh off of 100 wins and were the class of the American League.

But 2008 seemed a lot like 2004 and 2007 when the Red Sox came to town in the their gray unis. Lester and Bay beat the Angels in Game 1 and J.D. Drew stunned K-Rod with a 9th inning homer to give the Red Sox a 2-0 series lead which they would ultimately clinch in Boston.

8. Pedro and Roger duel in one of the greatest regular season games of all time

I will never forget watching the Red Sox and Yankees square off on May 28, 2000. I watched the game with my dad and with Ritchie Duncan... and it couldn't have been more riveting if it were a playoff game.

Clemens had a 3 hit shutout and 13 strikeouts with two outs in the top of the 9th.

Pedro matched him zero for zero with 8 shutout innings.

Jeff Frye singled with two outs and nobody on off of Clemens and Trot Nixon hit a two run homer to give the Sox the lead.

Pedro came out to pitch the 9th. He let up two quick base runners and let up a deep fly ball to Bernie Williams that looked like a walk off three run jack. Instead Nixon caught it.

Pedro got Tino Martinez out to end the game and get the complete game shutout. To this day, I think it is the greatest pitched regular season game by two pitchers I have ever seen.

The guy in the road jersey won it!

7. Give Clemens some love...

There was a time when Roger Clemens looked like a Hall of Famer and the following words weren't associated with him:

Mysteriously bulky, Brian McNamee, underaged country singers, steroids, appearing in George Steinbrenner's box to the amazement of Suzyn Waldman, throwing a bat at Mike Piazza.

Back then he was a hot headed but brilliantly talented (and trim) pitcher for the Red Sox whose crowning achievement (along with three Cy Young Awards) was a 20 strikeout masterpiece in 1986.

As the 1996 season was winding down and an ugly contract dispute was brewing, Clemens amazingly reached back and matched it. He struck out 20 Tigers on September 19, 1996 and walked none. When he returned to Boston, the Red Sox put a replica of the two uniforms Clemens wore in his 20 strikeout games on the centerfield wall.

One was a home jersey... the other was a road gray.

6. Pedro cements his legend... out of the bullpen

With Game 5 of the Division Series getting out of hand into a wild slug fest, Pedro came out of the bullpen to establish order.

He did so with 6 innings out of the pen... 6 innings of no hit baseball.

If his marvelous 1999 season wasn't enough to make him a Boston legend, his carrying the Sox into the ALCS by sheer will clinched it... literally... in the road unis.

5. Pedro, Manny, Lowe and company win the most underrated clinching game of the decade

The 2003 Division Series with Oakland was a jaw droppingly tense and competitive series. A 12 inning come from behind Game 1 win for the A's. The Red Sox winning in 11 (during my wedding) to stay alive in game 4. The Red Sox came back with 2 in the 8th to win game 4. But the Game 5 finale was sublime.

Pedro pitched into the 8th, Varitek hit a game tying homer. Manny styled at home with his go ahead bomb and Grady Little had to bring in Derek Lowe to get out of a "two on, nobody out, series on the line jam."

He struck out Terrence Long with the bags full and did an innnnteresting hand gesture to the A's dugout.

Another away jersey memory!

4. We get to see TWO World Championships in our lifetime!

In case anyone wondered if 2004 was a once in a lifetime fluke... we get to see another World Series celebration!

Now we can be greedy. Now we can say "Hey, I want to see maybe a few more!"

Red Sox fans dared not even THINK of more than one World Series title before 2004. Thanks to 2007 we can now say "Hey. We can get used to this."

As with 2004... the celebration was done in the road unis.

But wait a minute. How can this be only #4? How can three other games trump a World Series title?

Remember we are Red Sox fans...

We are a petty petty lot. It's not just that we win. Our enemies must lose... which brings us to #3...

3. GAME SIX!!!!

No not the Fisk one...

No not the Buckner one...

The NEW Game Six!

When Schilling bled through his sock... he was wearing the red lettered road uni.

When A-Rod slapped the ball out of Arroyo's glove, guess which uniform Bronson was wearing.

When Foulke struck out Clark to force Game 7... you get the picture.

2. Toppling the 2004 Yankees.

Usually the phrase "beyond my wildest dreams" is bogus. People dream wild things and as a Red Sox fan living in New York during the Torre years, I had many wild dreams of how the Red Sox could beat the Yankees.

And I can honestly say I never imagined being down 3-0 in the series with Rivera on the mound in the 9th of Game 4... and making the Yankees the first baseball team to ever cough up a 3-0 lead.

Game 7 was basically a blowout (save for the bizarre relief appearance by Pedro) but perhaps that's what made it so sweet. The Yankees didn't even show up. And the Yankees haven't won a post season series since... and Red Sox fans have something we never thought we'd have:

Ammo against Yankee fans!

Petty? Sure. But so so fun. And they were wearing the red lettered road jerseys!

1. Winning the 2004 World Series.

The grand daddy moment. The event we thought we'd never see happen. The event that we made bargains with the devil to see.

We finally saw that moment... and they were wearing the road uniforms.

Admit it... you still think about that Game. And if you do admit that... then you must also admit that you will always be imagining those road uniforms.

That reason above all makes me believe the old road uniforms deserve a proper farewell.

Jerry Seinfeld once said that sports fans root for laundry.

I'll take it one better... I will HONOR laundry!

Thanks for all of the gifts!

Is it just me or have the Red Sox been the recipient of a lot of help from the opposing teams this post season?

In other words, haven't the Angels and Rays gift wrapped some of these wins for us?

Between the Angels base running blunders (Guerrero going to third in game 1, Hunter trying to stretch out a single in game 3) overly aggressive strategies (the squeeze play in game 4) and wreckless hustle (Willits ill advised dive on Jason Bay's double in game 4) they may have played themselves out of the ALCS.

And tonight... with Dice-K knocked out and Okajima throwing his first 3 pitches out of the strike zone... Carlos Pena represented the go ahead run.

A walk would have put the tying run into scoring position... with power hitting Evan Longoria coming up.

It had all the ear marks of a disastrous inning for the Red Sox.
What does he do?
He swings at the 3-0 pitch and pops up.
Longoria grounds into a double play and they leave the inning scoreless.

Seriously, what was he doing swinging away?
Don't get me wrong! I accept their gift... I'm just sure we can count on other team's generosity to win this pennant.

Buyer beware of K-Rod

The Angels are a big spending team and they'll want to retain their All Star closer Francisco Rodriguez.

The Mets are a free spending club with a Shea Stadium sized hole in the bullpen and they'll probably go after him as well.
It's an agent's dream!

An All Star coming off of a record breaking season being coveted by two of the big spenders in the game.

And I am telling you right here and now the winner will be the one who DOESN'T sign him.

"But Sully!" you say, "How could you not want one of the elite closers in the game? The guy who broke the single season save record!"

Since when has the single season saves record been the bench mark of one of the elite closers?
He broke Bobby Thigpen's save record... who in turn broke Dave Righetti's.

Neither Thigpen nor Righetti were considered to be the best reliever of that season...

Save compiling isn't a bench mark of quality.
Armando Benitez piled up saves... you want him?
You want him in his PRIME?
Didn't think so.

And look at the two biggest save compilers of all time... Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman.
Both have failed miserably in their post season career... both let their teams down in the biggest moment.

But that's not the point.
The point is that Rodriguez has the reputation of a big time closer and dominator based on his compiled saves and the aura he has from his post season record.

And that aura is a total fraud.
It came about when Aaron Sele was injured and the Angels put K-Rod on their 2002 playoff roster with only 5 2/3 innings of big league experience.

He pitched a couple of games against Oakland, a couple of games against Seattle and one against Texas... all mop up appearances in losses.

So the Yankees had never seen him before when he struck out 8 hitters in 5 2/3 innings going 2-0 in the Division Series.
The Twins hadn't seen him either when he went 2-0 in the ALCS, striking out 7 in 4 1/3 innings.
And the Giants were also newbies when he won game 2 of the World Series.

But lo and behold they caught up with him and beat him in game 4. And Bonds clocked a massive homer off of him in game 6.

His next foray into the post season, he went 0-2 in a 3 game sweep by Boston.
Read that sentence again.

He lost 2 games and they only played 3!
His great highlight of 2007 was serving up Manny Ramirez's shot in the ALDS which hasn't landed yet.
His big highlight of 2008 was serving up a game winning homer to a hobbled J. D. Drew in game 2.

He was one pitch away from losing game 3 of the 2008 Division Series... which would have been two 0-2 records in a three game sweep in 4 years.

His post season failures are becoming positively Trevor Hoffman-esque.

It's bad enough he does it in Anaheim... sorry... Los Angeles of Anaheim.

Can you imagine him pulling those post season performances in Queens?
They'd burn him in effigy!

The Angels are better off handing the reigns to Scot Shields or Jose Arredondo and picking up the two draft picks and spending that money elsewhere.

Either way... beware of big regular season closers who get hit when the teams scout them!
How many of his 62 saves do Angels think of now?

OK, show of hands

Hands up if you muttered an F bomb when Torii Hunter tied the game with 2 outs in the 10th.

OK...
Hands up if when Ortiz struck out in the 8th you thought "Crap. We're not going to win this, are we?"

Next question...
Hands up if you thought there was no way in Heaven or in Hell that the Red Sox were going to prevent Willits from scoring in the 8th.

Hands up if when Teixiera caught Kotsay's line drive you thought "Damn, we're not going to score are we?"

Hands up if in that little span between Kotsay's at bat you thought "We should have started Wakefield or Byrd and save Lester for a do or die game 5."


I expect to see a lot of raised hands!

Let's all exhale.
That was a truly great series...
clutch hitting... odd plays on the basepaths... 1 extra inning game and 2 more decided in the 9th inning.

I've had my excitement for October.
I'd love for Lucifer to come back and put the Devil back in Devil Rays.

But for now, you can put your hands down.

How happy is Torii Hunter?

When that ball dropped in in the 2nd inning scoring all three runs, my wife saw the replay and asked me "Why didn't he just catch it?"

That would have been the question people asked for a long time if the Angels lost this game and were swept.

Compound that play, that should have been caught by Torii Hunter, with the base running blunder of trying to stretch the single into a double in the 9th, and Hunter was on tap for being on the all time Angels goats.

Don't screw up in game 4, Torii.
There's already a montage of your blunders in this series.

I hate my remote control

My stupid and overly complicated remote control impeded on my enjoyment of game 3 of the 2008 American League Division Series.

Let me explain.

The days of parking my ass down and watching 4 straight baseball games in one October day are pretty much gone. I have duties as a husband, a father of 2 and the reality of being closer to 40 than to 30.

So while I wanted to sit on my new couch and watch all of game 3, I had dinner to feed to my guys, a bath to give them and I had to read them Where The Wild Things Are a few times.

All the while a great games was unfolding.

But I didn't sweat it.
I simply hit pause on my remote control.
I wasn't recording it, but you can pause and rewind live TV.

Recording the game would mean erasing some of my kids shows...
and YOU explain to my guys that there is no Thomas and Friends or The Upside Down Show in the morning.

So the game was paused and I did my fatherly duties, with some help from my dad who was in town.

Dinner was eaten, baths were given and books were read and before long, boys were asleep.

I scampered downstairs and unpaused the game. I was watching events that were an hour and a half old as if they were live.

And the game unspooled... and it was intense... it was surreal (a three run bloop single? Beckett and Varitek not on the same page?)... and it reached out to those heart wrenching 9th and 10th inning where a basehit would have won the series... a wild pitch or a 4th ball would have sent the Red Sox to the ALCS.

And I was still and hour and a half behind real time.
Each inning I was expecting to jump from the couch screaming.
Each inning I was left squirming.

And I could fast forward through the commercials as my dad and I couldn't afford to wait.

Of course I could have called a friend or check on line... but I wanted to experience the game as if it were live.

Going into the 11th, I fast forwarded and then when I got past the commericals, I hit play.

Or at least I meant to.
Instead I hit the button right above it... a button that to the thumb feels identical to the play button...

It's a button that is called "list" and what it does is it plays what shows have been recorded on the DVR.

In other words I changed the channel to the shows I tape for my kids.
So instead of watching Papelbon stare down the heart of the Angels order... I saw Moose and Zee from Noggin singing "Everywhere I Go."
And I realized that because I was trying to preserve my kids shows by not recording the game, if I flipped back to TBS, I would no longer be 1 hour and a half back but rather in real time.

I flipped back and lo and behold the TBS post game show was analyzing the Angels victory.

I missed the ending of the game because of the stupidity of the remote design.
Why put that button there?
Don't they realize it can destroy a fan's enjoyment of a game?

It's like a self destruct button.
Or like having a small vent that if hit with a torpedo could destroy the Death Star... and not putting a screen over that dent.

Just imagine being wound tight watching your favorite team and suddenly you hear this song...

I don't think this song is supposed to inspire F Bombs.

The J. D. Drew Fan Club should be gaining members

And to think I used to hate this guy.

After he hit the grand slam off of Carmona last October, I declared myself the President of the J. D. Drew Fan Club.


And I was one of the people who agreed with Bill Simmons that if J. D. Drew only hit that grand slam in game 6 and then did nothing else for the Red Sox, then the contract was worth it.

Well let me just say that if he hits a major, jump off your seat, didn't expect it, take the other team out at the knees home run (like the one against K-Rod tonight) then the contract has been worth it ten times over.

Hell, just sit out next year J. D.... you've earned it.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was going to happen

I usually hate that expression.

I always think that when people say that they are admitting they have really lame dreams.

I've had dreams where I can shoot lasers from my eyes, that Liv Tyler is in love with me and I was hanging out with the cast of M*A*S*H while naked walking to the SATs.

Those are wild dreams.

But never in my thinking about the Red Sox/Angels series did I think they'd take both games.
Never.
It was always "steal one in Anaheim and then try to win in Boston."

This is just nuts!
Now Beckett is rested, the Angels are on their heels and this series could be over before I go to work on Monday.

That would give me more time to shoot lasers from my eyes while talking to Radar O'Reilly about Liv.

An exchange between me and my dad

My dad is a big Giants fan. I am obviously a big Red Sox fan.

My dad pulls for the Red Sox in the playoffs and I return the favor with the Giants.

Last night my dad called me.

DAD: You guys looked good last night.

ME: I jumped off of the couch when Bay hit that homer.

DAD: He's good. You guys look good. You might win it again.

ME: I hope so, but the Angels are tough.

DAD: I hope you beat them. I don't like them, I don't know why.

ME: You don't know why? Maybe it had something to do with them beating the Giants in the 2002 World Series.

DAD: Maybe.

ME: Perhaps it had to do with a certain blown lead in game 6.

DAD: That might have something to do with it.


Wounds take a while to heal.

Try your best

Daisuke, do your best.
Just try... give it your all.

I don't want to put any pressure on you because, well... it's a game and it should be fun.

If everyone on the team just remembers to sit back, have fun and do their job... then we can all hold our heads up high.

So come on! Let's go and play!

(The last few times I've tried to give a rah rah pep talk to the Red Sox, they've lost. So I'm trying a new tactic.)

Hey! If we win, we get to go to Papa Gino's!

Sir... you crashed your rental

I guess if you run a pitcher for 50 innings over 7 starts in 30 days... including his last 5 starts on 3 days rest... eventually he'll crash and burn.

He was a rental after all.

Of course with Sabathia picking the worst time for his most disastrous start in a Brewers uniform, it pretty much looks like a Phillies win. Possibly a sweep.

The Brewers only plan for winning the series was to have Sabathia win his two starts and then sneak a win in Miller Park.

But take heart, Brewers fans.
It looks bad.
It looks Hindenberg bad.

But the Brewers actually held then scoreless in all but 2 innings.
If Cameron makes that catch in game 1 and Sabathia didn't walk Myers after he fouled off 291 pitches, those games might have had much different outcomes.

OK OK... that's not much consolation.

But I remember the 1999 Red Sox.
They opened in Cleveland and the only hope for the Sox was to win the opener with Pedro, win game 5 with Pedro.

Well guess what?
Pedro got hurt in game 1.
Sox lose.
Sox get clubbed 11-1 in game 2.

And find out that they wouldn't have Nomar available for game 3.

It was a disaster.
Made worse when John Valentin made an error that blew an unlikely lead in game 3.

Guess what happened?
They scored 6 runs to win game 3.

Then they scored

I guess it is a rivalry...

At work today I checked the score of the White Sox/Rays series.

You would think this would be one of those series that I would say "I just want to see a good series."

Besides you have one of the most unlikely playoff teams in history with the Rays versus the White Sox, a team that has always had a soft spot in my heart and has Ken Griffey Jr, one of my favorite players of all time.

I saw the White Sox were up 3-1 and I found myself doing a fist pump.

And later I saw the Rays took the lead and I dropped an F bomb.

And I realized that the Red Sox and Rays have indeed become rivals.
I don't want a good series.
I want the Rays to get trounced.

I wanted a rivalry and I got it.
So tomorrow there will be a familiar refrain for all the games:

LET'S GO SOX!!!
(All colors apply)

I can't help but feel a little responsible for the Cubs loss

I want to humbly apologize to Cubs fans every where, especially my boss... the prolific and award winning TV producer Frank Sinton.

I was walking back from an edit bay to my computer when I walked past Frank's office.
To paint the picture a little bit, Frank is a HUGE Cubs fan.

He has an Ernie Banks uniform hanging in his office.

I poked my head into his office on the pretense of saying hello and updating him on the show we are working on. But in reality I wanted to catch part of the game that was playing in his office.

At the time the Cubs were up 2-0, there were 2 outs, 1 on and 2 strikes to Manny Ramirez.

The Cubs were rolling. Wrigley was rocking. Ryan Dempster was dealing.
And Frank had an expression on his face that can only be described as "cautiously pumped."

Suddenly Dempster lost his control... he started nibbling to Ramirez (understandable) and walked him.
Then he nibbled when pitching to Ethier... and Dempster had loaded the bases.

I turned to Frank and said "This all started when I walked in. Maybe I should go."

Frank said "no it's alright."

James Loney was next up. Frank turned to Mark Mayer, the other executive producer (and a very happy Phillies fan), and said "I can't believe the Daily News gave the first base edge to Loney over Lee."

Dempster got 2 quick strikes on Loney.
And then it happened.

A swing... a miss... strike three... end of the inning...

And Frank stood up pumping his fist with a loud "YES!"

One problem: Loney foul tipped it into the dirt.
New life.

And he hit a pop up to centerfield... that just kept going...
I thought it was going to the edge of the warning track... but it kept going.

And into the seats for a go ahead grand slam.
And Frank just said softly "Oh no."

It wasn't an "Oh no" of shock or an "Oh no" of being blind sided.

It was that "oh no" I used to give when I didn't do my homework and was asked to hand it in.
It was that "oh no" a wife would say when she caught her husband with another woman... again.
It was that "oh no" I am guessing Sarah Palin felt when Katie Couric asked her, well, anything.

It was the "oh no" I said when Aaron Boone hit that home run.

It was the "oh no" that basically said "why did I think this wasn't going to happen?"
It was the "oh no" that expressed the disgust that you convinced yourself that this was going to be different and realized that it's the same old song.

I looked over at Mark and we shared an expression that clearly meant "I guess maybe the Daily News was right to give the Dodgers the edge at first."

I walked towards the door and said "maybe I should go."
Frank said "maybe you should."

So if I had ANYTHING to do with that loss, let me apologize to Cubs fans everywhere...

Especially the one who is employing me!

This changes everything!

I kind of thought the best shot the Red Sox had to win was game 1...

But man, an entire October was changed in the course of 2 innings.

In the 6th with the Sox down 1-0... and I thought to myself "Man, I just don't feel it this year."

Then Jason Bay hit his homer and I thought "Holy Cats... we might win this game."

And then Ellsbury made that diving catch and I thought "They've got the swagger."

And then it happened...

Vlady Guererro turns a potential post season defining moment for the Angels into the leap off the couch moment for me.

Seriously... what the hell was he thinking? A shallow fly ball... the baseball gods let it drop and Vlady thought third?
That was a slow motion, end of a Die Hard movie moment where you can't believe the bad guy made such a fatal mistake.

First to third on a shallow pop... by a guy who has been hurt!

I went from conceding the playoffs to thinking about how the Sox can line up the rotation for the LCS.

I was so tense in that 8th inning that I walked down my street in South Pasadena and went to my gym where I watched the 9th inning running on a treadmill at 5 MPH.

It was either that or have me shove a bag of chips down my throat.

But suddenly winning the Wild Card works in our favor!
By playing the Angels, we get the schedule that allows them an extra day of rest.

Guess what?
It gives US an extra day too!

Suddenly the Sox have Papelbon with an extra day of rest with a day after that off!
So asking Paps for 5 outs in game 2 isn't outlandish.

Get 6 or 7 from Dice-K, mix and match with Delcarmen, Okajima and Masterson...

And suddenly the best team in baseball is on its heels.

And suddenly what looked like a short October... suddenly looks like I'll be promising lots of good things to my wife and kids in November... once the games are over.

Gallardo is on a pitch count?

The announcers on TBS keep talking about how Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo is on a strict pitch count in game 1 of the Division Series.

Um... WHAT?

A pitch count?

In the PLAYOFFS????

Look I know he is coming off of an injury, but isn't this where you throw that crap out the window and say "Hey! Pitch him until he's no longer effective?"

If you pull a good pitcher early now, he could have 5 plus months of rest.

Let's Help New York Fans Pick A Team To Root For This October

So for the first time since the playoffs expanded to 3 rounds, the road to the World Series won't go through New York.

Using my theory that you don't really follow pennant races day in and day out until you are 7 years old... then there are 22 year old Yankee fans who have no concrete memories of an October without Yankees baseball.

Imagine that... you've graduated from college and not understood how to watch the post season without a direct rooting interest.

Mets fans are more used to it, but are no less shellshocked from wetting the bed two straight Septembers that maybe watching the post season isn't something they are interested in doing.

But rest assured, it is fun to pick a team to root for in the playoffs.
You get to have all the fun of having a rooting interest without that pesky loyalty nor riding the ups and downs of a team.
So you can root for say, the Rays, without having to follow the team in the regular season.
Ergo you can be EXACTLY like a Rays fan.

Now one way to adopt a team in October is to think of a friend or relative you have that roots for a team in the post season.

PROS OF ROOTING FOR YOUR FRIENDS TEAM:
1. At least your friend will be happy.
2. You remember when YOUR team won and now you have a common ground with your friend.

CONS OF ROOTING FOR YOUR FRIENDS TEAM:
1. If your friend's team wins the World Series, no doubt they will rub your nose in it.
2. If you can't be happy, why should your friend be happy?
3. You can write a nasty e mail to your friend when they lose and then act cold when they respond "At least my team played in October."
4. Chances are that other friend is a Red Sox fan.

And that brings up a critical point...
Picking a team to root for often has little to do with who you want to see happy but rather whose misery will make you grin a little bit.
October is a harsh month, so why not be petty and mean too?

If you don't want to root for your friend's team, then pick another team.

So let's look at the pros and cons of rooting for each team.





ROOT FOR THE CHICAGO CUBS

PROS FOR A METS FAN:
- Anyone with a soul would like to see a World Series celebration in Wrigley Field... save for fans of the team that lost... or a White Sox fan... and that doesn't include YOU!

- There would be no 1969 without a Cubs collapse, so this could be a way to thank them.

- They suffered enough.

CONS FOR METS FAN:
- "No they haven't suffered enough! As long as I am suffering I want to know someone is suffering more!"


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN:

- Sweet Lou was a great Yankee... and a World Series title with the Cubs would put him into the Hall of Fame. Give Lou some love.

- Alfonso Soriano was going to be the next big Yankee star before George fell in love with the idea of A-Rod. Plus remember his walk off homer against Seattle in the 2001 ALCS and hitting the home run that nearly won the 2001 World Series?

- Wouldn't you love to hear Ron Santo's call of the Cubs winning the World Series? His head might explode that that dude from Scanners.

- Be happy for Cubs fans. They aren't greedy. They just want one.

CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN:

- Are you ready to live in a world where the Red Sox, White Sox and Cubs have won a World Series more recently than the Yankees?

- Cubs fans seem nice now... but give them a World Series title and some beer and they will gleefully rub your nose in it. You'll see.





ROOT FOR THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS

PROS FOR A METS FAN:
- The Mets lost the Wild Card to the Brewers. Seeing them win the World Series might make it less humiliating.

- Bob Uecker is the voice of the Brewers. A happy Bob Uecker is good for America.

CONS FOR A METS FAN:
- It's too soon. A 2 1/2 game lead with a week to play and the Brewers drowning... and the Mets couldn't put them away. Just... too... soon.


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN:
- First the Giants eliminate the Packers and then the Jets pick up Brett Favre. New York owes the state of Wisconsin an olive branch.

CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN:
- They are wearing down Sabathia's arm. James Woods gave Louis Gossett Jr more rest in Diggstown. Sabathia is the prize of the free agency class... don't break him!

- If the Brewers win the World Series after firing Ned Yost with less than 2 weeks to go, it might give Hank the idea that that is a smart thing to do. Girardi and co. don't want Hank getting any ideas.



ROOT FOR THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

PROS FOR A METS FAN

- In the spirit of good sportsman ship, go ahead and cheer the team just to the South and let their fans know "You know, I'd rather see the Mets win... but I'm happy for you, Chum!"

CONS FOR A METS FAN

- Are you out of your mind?

- Seriously... the Mets and Phillies are developing into the new Red Sox/Yankees except neither one of them can win the big game. You want to give the PHILLIES the edge?


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- It would make Mets fans so angry... and aren't Met fans funny when they are angry?


CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- You thought us Boston fans were obnoxious post Championship? Picture Phillies fans getting their first title of any kind since 1983. They'll make Red Sox fans look like the cast of a Merchant Ivory film.







ROOT FOR THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS


PROS FOR A METS FAN

- Pure anti Yankee venom. The ability to come up to that Yankee fan and say "Hey nice job firing Torre. Seriously the team is heading in the right direction... DOWN!"

CONS FOR A METS FAN

- I bet you have an uncle or an aunt whose heart was broken 50 years ago when the Dodgers left Brooklyn. Are you REALLY going to cheer for the Dodgers after they caused so much heart ache.


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- Don Mattingly would finally get a World Series ring.

- Manny Ramirez winning while bad mouthing Boston would really make Red Sox Nation's blood boil.

- Joe Torre gave so much to the team. Seeing him win would shut up that guy you know that kept calling for Joe to be fired.


CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- You ARE that guy that kept calling for Joe to be fired.

- Mattingly getting his ring in Dodger blue just seems wrong.

- Torre winning would cause Hank to act like his dad circa 1982-1990.

- Are you REALLY going to root for Derek Lowe?

- Are you REALLY going to root for Nomar?

- Are you REALLY going to root for MANNY??





ROOT FOR THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX

PROS FOR A METS FAN

- Like the Mets, the White Sox are the second team in Chicago and never seems to get the love they deserve. White Sox fans are to Cubs fans what Mets fans are to Yankees fans.

CONS FOR A METS FAN

- The same White Sox swiped Tom Seaver after the 1983 season. So instead of being part of the great Mets revival of the 1980s, Tom Terrific had to wear those awful pajama uniforms on the South Side


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- They play in those pinstripe uniforms and the stadium is big with blue outfield walls... if you squint it looks like the Yankees won the World Series and not the White Sox


CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- They stole the Yankees look

- Javier Vasquez let up those two home runs to Johnny Damon that sunk the Yankees in 2004. I have a feeling not many Yankee fans forgot that.




ROOT FOR THE TAMPA BAY RAYS


PROS FOR A METS FAN

- The comparisons to 1969 will mean lots of clips of the 1969 World Series.

- Chances are you have an Uncle or Aunt near Tampa and you might be able to snag some tickets.

CONS FOR A METS FAN

- The sight of Scott Kazmir clinching a World Series is enough to get a posse of Mets fans to chase Victor Zambrano with pitch forks and torches.


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- You can rationalize not winning the AL East by saying "Hey the Rays were a team possessed!"

- Chances are you have an Uncle or Aunt near Tampa and you might be able to snag some tickets.



CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN

- There's enough tension with the Yankee offices in Tampa... you don't need to have them have the World Champions in their back yard. That might literally kill George.




LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

PROS FOR A METS FAN:- The Angels are always beating the Yankees... and that always put a smile on your face.

- It would be funny to see a player who is already IN Anaheim declare "I'm going to Disneyland!" That's like a New York player saying "I'm going to Ray's Pizza!"

CONS FOR METS FAN:
- Mike Scioscia is the manager. He hit the home run that helped sink the Mets in 1988. Old wounds heal slowly.

- Speaking of old wounds, you are still mad at that whole Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi deal.


PROS FOR A YANKEES FAN:
- The Yankees keep losing to the Angels and seeing other teams lose to them can take the sting out of it.

CONS FOR A YANKEES FAN:
- It's a team that can't decide where they are (Los Angeles! California! Anaheim! Los Angeles OF Anaheim!)

- Those stupid Thundersticks

- A freaking Rally Monkey!

- The team of the 2000s can NOT have a freaking Rally Monkey!

- 2002 and 2005 still hurt.



ROOT FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX


PROS FOR THE METS FAN

- Now THAT would tick off Yankee fans.

- It's been months since Boston has celebrated a title. They need a break.


CONS FOR THE METS FAN

- The more World Series the Red Sox win, the harder it is to make fun of Sox fans for 1986.

- The lesser of two evils is still evil.



PROS FOR THE YANKEES FAN

- You can remind Red Sox fans that if they continue to win 3 World Series every 5 years that they will match the Yankees World Series total in 2042. Math insults are fun.

- You can have that Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump moment where you stare up to the baseball Gods and yell "IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO???"


CONS FOR THE YANKEES FAN

- If you thought us Red Sox fans were obnoxious NOW? Just wait until we crow about a dynasty.

- The realization that there are 9 more years of A-Rod in a Yankees uniform.




So hopefully this was helpful and you can enjoy October even without your team here.
And if all else fails, there's a can't miss solution:

JUST ROOT AGAINST THE RED SOX!


Come on... I used to just root against the Yankees.
Trust me, you do NOT want to sit through another Red Sox World Series parade.