Deep Thoughts Aboard Boston's Subway

Once again I find myself stuck on Boston's subway coming home from work, and I'm worried about the Sox. You would think that with my wedding coming up on Saturday my mind would be elsewhere, but it's not, it's focused squarely on Brad Penny and Boston's bullpen.

As soon as the Sox went into extras last night the worrying started,not only in regards to the game at hand, but to the repercussions it could have on the bullpen during the most important stretch of the year thus far. Not only did the Sox use up their bullpen arms last night with stressful innings,but Brad Penny takes the mound against a scrappy Rays team that seems to raise their collective games against Boston (see Evan Longoria...he's a great talent and hard to dislike,damn that guy).

I don't think I've ever wanted to see Tim Wakefield take the mound more than tonight. Ol' reliable would go out there and eat innings all night long, Penny on the other hand, while also a veteran, has yet to show the ability to go deep into games. He tends to suffer from the John Smoltz syndrome of one bad inning. Usually it's in the 4th or5th, and that's something Boston's current record and bullpen simply cannot afford. They'll have to bring up an arm from Pawtucket, most likely Hunter Jones (they may have done so already, but I'm underground with no signal to check). Jones may have a great baseball name, but he's not exactly the best person to be sending onto the bump during such a pivotal stretch.

So let's collectively pray Penny gives the Sox what they need tonight;a significant amount of quality innings to keep them in the game and save the bullpen to fight another day. God willing.

Go Sox

Is this guy (and Jon Lester) for real?

I've been to a handful of games already this year, and each time I'm more and more amazed with some of the "fans" out there. Take the guy above for example. My brother and I were literally running down the street to snap a photo of this clown. An unnecessarily tight outfit, pink hat, "dominator" T-shirt....turns out his was foreign, and had "Cricket Rules" on the front of his shirt...which somehow makes total sense.

From that Euro assclown constantly standing up in the bleachers, to Jon Lester getting lit up, it was a tough day at the park. Here are a few of the takeaways my brother and I discussed during and after the game.....

- Rocco Baldelli and Julio Lugo, both in limited time, now have more homeruns than David Ortiz. If you would have told me that three months ago I probably would have either laughed you out of the room, or attempted dropkick you like a Yankee fan...(not sure if you've seen the youtube video of the Yankee fan launching himself down 5 stairs to dropkick another Yankee fan, if not, you really missed out, it was my intention to link to it, but it has since been removed from youtube).

-How are the Red Sox even above five hundred with this pitching staff? Forget Dice-K being hurt, the biggest concern has to be the fact that Tim Wakefield and Brad Penny are far and away out pitching our "double aces" of Beckett and Lester (Wake is our only starting with a sub 5 ERA....that's Yankee-like terrible).

- ITM has said it before, but it's officially confirmed. Evan Longoria is a stud. He's the best young player in baseball, hands down. It feels like he's hit 35 home runs against us already, I nearly expect it every time he comes up. Add his bat to the gold glove caliber third base he plays and you can see why Peter Gammons has called him the best third basemen in the game. Gammons also thinks Longo has the capability to go down as one of the best third basemen ever....and don't forget, it's a trick question, Gammons is god.

-Tampa's lineup is more than solid...in fact, we decided we would take their 2-3-4-5 hitters over ours...which is impressive when you're talking about to two insanely-crazed Sox fans. Anyone else wonder how the Rays are beating the balls out of the Sox and Yanks, but losing to terrible teams (see Baltimore)?

-So far this season, we couldn't have been more wrong about this team's strengths....which we decided is not good for the long haul.

-Why is Julio Lugo our starting shortstop again? and can we can our hands on Jason Bartlett?

-All that and we didn't see one fight....perhaps a sign of the times at friendly Fenway, or because most people starting filing out of the stadium after the Sox went down 78-2 in the 6th.

Overall it was a very disappointing game....throw in the classic Fenway obstructed view seat (which my ticket did not disclose when I purchased it), and you can see why we may have had a few too many beverages.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...Night!

So first off, a confession. After the second inning, I was watching the Sox game somewhat haphazardly. During C's-Bulls commercials, timeouts, and even free-throws, I would flip over quick and resolve to watch an entire at-bat, but invariably I'd get nervous that I was going to miss a Jesus-3 or a Rondo scrape and I'd flip back quick, then realize I overshot the return by about two and a half minutes, flip back to the Sox, then the vicious cycle repeated itself. So that while I think I saw a pretty substantial portion of the Sox 10-6 victory over the Rays, really my impressions can't be trusted. But, here's what I gathered from the onslaught:

---Jacoby and Pedey combined for another big night, looking more and more like the 1-2 combination we're hoping is going to carry us for a long time. And once again, the 3 hole came up empty. (Papi did draw 2 walks, continuing to gradually lower the bar, so that he gets a fist pump from me everytime he watches 4 go by and brings Youk to the plate. Is this really all we need from our 3 hole?)

---Nick Green went 3 for 5, driving in 3 and improving to .304 on the season, with a .371 OBP and .464 SLG. (Uptown got its hustlers, Bowery got its bums, Red Sox got Mean Nick Green, he's a sweet-swinging son of a gun.) Only Jason Bartlett and Yuniesky Betancourt are better on the season from the SS position.

---Tim Wakefield, though he ultimately gave up 5 and got pulled after giving up a single to start the 6th, did what he had to do and held off the Rays until the Sox could build up a sizeable lead. He improved to 3-1 on the year, and is, sadly, the only Sox starter with an ERA under 3. (The closest is Masterson, on a smaller sample, at a nothing to brag about 4.37.

---Now I could be wrong about this game note, but I'm pretty sure Eddie House hit a double in the 6th to drive in Ellsbury and Pedroia. That could have been the still red-hot Youk, but I feel fairly confident this morning that it was Eddie House.

---The Sox pen had another stellar night. Oki and Ramirez combined for another scoreless 3 innings, and while Saito gave up another 9th inning run, it was the result, in part, of a defensive indifference advance. All in all, another strong night for the best pen in baseball.

---A bad sign for the Sox: Pat Burrell looks like he might finally be starting to hit. If he regains form after a slow start, the Rays are going to have a damn lethal lineup.

---Evan Longoria is a beast. I'm not going to say anything more, except that the Upton-Crawford-Longoria opener scares the crap out of me every time.

Altogether a good night for the Sox and a good night for Boston. The Sox have a 1:35 start today, and on a rainy day up and down the East Coast, that dome never looked so good.

(A final aside. Brad Penny's start today is pissing off a lot of Yankees fans. I've had 3 people ask me this week if he was lined up to start the Monday opener in Yankee stadium. I mean, I know he hasn't pitched great this year, but he hasn't been so bad as to explain the kind salivating he inspires in New Yorkers. Do they suspect something I don't?)

Game Three, Much of the Same

(When does this guy hit the free agent market again???)


Stop me if you've heard any of this before......Evan Longoria has a fantastic game against the Red Sox, Dice-K struggles through 5 1/3rd innings, Matt Garza throws a gem in Fenway, and the Sox claw back into the game just enough to keep you focused on ESPN Gamecast instead of real work during an afternoon game.



Don't get me wrong, it's game three of 162, I'm not freaking out, I swear. I'm just saying it feels like we've been here before. The Sox fell to the Rays this afternoon 4-3 at Fenway Park, losing the rubber game of the series. Garza looked to be in the same form as last year's ALCS, going seven strong innings against a lineup that appeared to be a timely hit away from rattling the young pitcher.



One thing is for sure, Evan Longoria is a stud. He's officially gone from star to superstar. Doesn't it just feel like he's going to hit 25 taters against the Red Sox this year? Not sure about you guys, but I'm more concerned with Longoria at the plate than anyone down in pinstripes.



Outside of that, what did we learn today? Not much, like I said, it's game three of 162. One thing is for sure, the WBC MVP continues to frustrate all of Red Sox Nation, let's just hope this frustration translates into an 18-3 season like last year.

Speaking Openly to Rays Fans before Fear and Hatred Overtake Me

There's really not too much to say.

Evan Longoria homered in his first two postseason at-bats and added an rbi single in the 5th. But you already knew that, likely.

All I wanted to say, Rays fans, is enjoy it. I'm not saying "Enjoy it," like I'm giving you the eye and saying you better have a good time now 'cause the Sox are gonna bounce you in the next round. I'm saying "Enjoy it" with all the sincerity I can muster and no condescension because many of you are new to the postseason and new to the moment when one of your players suddenly shows a flash of brilliance that makes you think "Holy s**t this feels good." Then you pause, and you look at your roster and you think, "Holy s**t, it might feel like this for a long time."

It's something special when a player shows that he's ready to step up in October. Not many are. So enjoy it. It's the best part of baseball, in my book. And enjoy the idea that there might be a lot of Octobers for Longoria and the Rays to come.