Great series. All three games were intense, hard-fought and exciting. Even the Saturday blowout was hotly contested until the Turd Brigade came in from the Yankee bullpen.
Dropping two of three at home to the Yankees is normally a big problem, but not so much this time. The Sox got the one win needed to render the entire series moot. As a result, the uncharacteristic bullpen meltdown on Friday and the characteristic clutch hit from Derek Jeter last night give me no reason to bemoan the state of the team, the likelihood of holding on for the division title, or their chances come October. The race is now over, barring a slew of catastrophic injuries. Everything's cool.
In fact, even in defeat there are a couple bright spots:
Look how well they did without Manny, and without any David Ortiz heroics.
Losing a pair of one-run games without much help from either of their big guns has to be heartening, if only because we know the team is so close to total domination. If Manny's rested, and Ortiz gets some time to rest up next week, there's plenty of reason to believe they'll be healthier and more effective come the playoffs.
Eric Gagne looked pretty good.
Did he not? Two innings in tight games, and he brought the smoke. Give him some regular, non-strenuous work over the next two weeks, and hope he can work back to a setup role. Okajima-san is looking tired, and Gagne will be absolutely crucial for a playoff push.
So did Curt Schilling.
Someone looks ready for October. He screwed up against Jeter, but better to get a catastrophe like that out of the system now, instead of a month from now.
Not Mariano Rivera, though.
I'm actually concerned for his health. It's just that you hear all kinds of stories about old men dying from the winter cold, and I'd hate for anything to happen to him. In the post-2004 world, I can allow myself to worry about Mo's well-being and treat him like any other person.
Jacoby Friggin Ellsbury.
If Bronson Arroyo had nuts the size of Saturn, Ellsbury's are the size of Jupiter. If he's not on the playoff roster, Tito can eat a dick.
Fatty gave up a run!
Joba coughed up a HR to Lowell. He must've been distracted somehow. Did somebody order a stack of bacon cheeseburgers in the Yankee bullpen? If so, Joba will gladly pay you Tuesday.
Oh my God, that's... that's J.D. Drew's music!!!
He drove in critical runs on both Friday and Saturday. And last night he managed to not hit into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, fighting his typical modus operandi. So while he's still not really doing his job, he's not an absolute zero at the moment. There may be hope for him after all. Something as simple as avoiding the GIDP... being ineffective, as opposed to destructive... is all we really need to see.
I'd also like to partially retract my venomous rage against Drew. Knowing more about his infant son's surgery makes me feel, as I did with Matt Clement, like a heel for attacking Drew so viciously. Not that I've changed my position; I reiterate that if he's unable play above replacement-level, then he should be replaced, as the stat suggests, and given indefinite leave to deal with the home front. It's far from unfair at this point, especially given young master Jacoby's hey-look-at-me act the last few weeks. But he seems to be [knock wood] showing signs of life.
No sweep = no title for you.
It's just not happening. This is me, Red Sox fan, coming out and saying it. Goodnight, Gracie. Have a nice trip to California.
Dropping two of three at home to the Yankees is normally a big problem, but not so much this time. The Sox got the one win needed to render the entire series moot. As a result, the uncharacteristic bullpen meltdown on Friday and the characteristic clutch hit from Derek Jeter last night give me no reason to bemoan the state of the team, the likelihood of holding on for the division title, or their chances come October. The race is now over, barring a slew of catastrophic injuries. Everything's cool.
In fact, even in defeat there are a couple bright spots:
Look how well they did without Manny, and without any David Ortiz heroics.
Losing a pair of one-run games without much help from either of their big guns has to be heartening, if only because we know the team is so close to total domination. If Manny's rested, and Ortiz gets some time to rest up next week, there's plenty of reason to believe they'll be healthier and more effective come the playoffs.
Eric Gagne looked pretty good.
Did he not? Two innings in tight games, and he brought the smoke. Give him some regular, non-strenuous work over the next two weeks, and hope he can work back to a setup role. Okajima-san is looking tired, and Gagne will be absolutely crucial for a playoff push.
So did Curt Schilling.
Someone looks ready for October. He screwed up against Jeter, but better to get a catastrophe like that out of the system now, instead of a month from now.
Not Mariano Rivera, though.
I'm actually concerned for his health. It's just that you hear all kinds of stories about old men dying from the winter cold, and I'd hate for anything to happen to him. In the post-2004 world, I can allow myself to worry about Mo's well-being and treat him like any other person.
Jacoby Friggin Ellsbury.
If Bronson Arroyo had nuts the size of Saturn, Ellsbury's are the size of Jupiter. If he's not on the playoff roster, Tito can eat a dick.
Fatty gave up a run!
Joba coughed up a HR to Lowell. He must've been distracted somehow. Did somebody order a stack of bacon cheeseburgers in the Yankee bullpen? If so, Joba will gladly pay you Tuesday.
Oh my God, that's... that's J.D. Drew's music!!!
He drove in critical runs on both Friday and Saturday. And last night he managed to not hit into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, fighting his typical modus operandi. So while he's still not really doing his job, he's not an absolute zero at the moment. There may be hope for him after all. Something as simple as avoiding the GIDP... being ineffective, as opposed to destructive... is all we really need to see.
I'd also like to partially retract my venomous rage against Drew. Knowing more about his infant son's surgery makes me feel, as I did with Matt Clement, like a heel for attacking Drew so viciously. Not that I've changed my position; I reiterate that if he's unable play above replacement-level, then he should be replaced, as the stat suggests, and given indefinite leave to deal with the home front. It's far from unfair at this point, especially given young master Jacoby's hey-look-at-me act the last few weeks. But he seems to be [knock wood] showing signs of life.
No sweep = no title for you.
It's just not happening. This is me, Red Sox fan, coming out and saying it. Goodnight, Gracie. Have a nice trip to California.
posted by Jeff at
6:14 PM
2 Comments:
Are you finished? Then allow me to retort.
On your Manny/Ortiz analysis - agree that resting them up is good. Disagree with the entire world believing Ortiz is master of clutch. Master of the popup w/ a man on 3rd and less than two outs is more like it.
On your Gagne analysis - agreed. His early troubles were WAY overblown - relievers suffer from sample size issues in grading their performance, and I am confident that Gagne will be fine, if not dominant.
On your Rivera analysis - go fuck yourself with a rusty lawnmower, you nappy cootered chickenhead.
On Joba - I'm glad he finally got hit - didn't want him to go into the postseason (if we get there) without experiencing failure. Plus, he flashed is curveball for the first time last night, to strike out your boy Ellsbury, and it looked pretty fucking great to me. Couple that with his decent slider and 100 MPH fastball and you've got all the makings for one hell of a starting pitcher, which is where he'll be next year. And while he may be a marshmallow, dammit, he's OUR marshmallow.
On Drew - So Sox nation has gone from believing he'd steal 20+ bases this year to high fiving each others beanbags whenever he doesn't GIDP? Fantastic. It's like being glad that your drunken deadbeat uncle no longer pisses himself before thanksgiving dinner, but rather waits until dessert, so you don't have to smell it for as much of the the meal.
He was who we thought he was. Crown his ass.
Final thought - if the season ended today, Yanks play the Cleveland Racists, rather than the Los BGALAheim Angels, and that suits me just fine (1997 was a long time ago). Even though Cleveland is ridiculously good at home, and Fausto gives them the power of Satan on their side, the simple truth is that the Angels have KILLED the Yankees worse than any team in the past five years.
By
Alex, at 9:24 AM
My first comment got eaten by a Firefox goblin...
Ortiz
God will make you pay for saying that. Cory Lidle said the same thing, and look what happened to him.
Chubba Hamberlain
How's he gonna throw 100 MPH once he discovers the Sid Fernandez Diet? The man's been hangin' with Roger for three months.
Drew
That was Boras. And you KNOW this... MANNNNNN! (Sssssssss!)
By
Jeff, at 3:04 PM
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