Greatest Commentator Ever

For those of you who haven't checked this out on Mariners Blog yet, it is truly a can't miss. I mean, it's just unbelievable.

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=374&sid=218287

Doing it with Style

So they're in. After 5 straight losses (that last one is on Vicino) and a week of pitching concerns, the Sox clinched a playoff spot after a 5-2 Rangers loss. Which means baseball, truly the sport of averages, of evening out, will once again, as though 162 games were just meaningless forms, pit the Angels against the Sox to kick off October.

And I have to say, I might be going against the tide a bit here, but I like the way the Sox did it. I think the only way to describe them right now is to say they're playing with a sense of aristocratic ease.

Think about it. First, they allow others to do the work. They hardly lifted a finger the last week. I can say that for certain since I was about twenty yards away from them on Sunday, the only really close game of this stretch, and I'll bet you've never seen quite so many yawns out of a professional dugout. They sort of finished off this season like a British lord, stretched on a divan in a silk robe, with a snifter of brandy, watching the servants flit about in anticipation of a fox hunt or something. I liked it.

Second, they still got some style points. Last night in the 8th, they gave you a bit of flash, reminding you what pretty baseball they can play. But they made their point. To have actually won the game would have been ostentatious. It's like Cassius Clay knocking out Sonny Liston. That big bear of a man was swirling down toward the mat and Clay had his fist raised and could have pounded him into oblivion at any moment in that sequence, but it would have been superfluous, and for that reason philistine. He compared brushes to paint strokes. The Sox already had their 2009 masterpiece complete. No need to ruin it with a victory.

So I'm gonna stick with my gut on this one: the Sox are the class of the 2009 season. They do what's necessary, and they do it with a sense of aristocratic ease. And if they don't watch the hell out, they could get smacked with the business side of a proletarian revolution starting real soon.

My Bad

Let it be known throughout Red Sox Nation, tonight's terrible loss is on me, I take complete blame.

I had to do it, had to point out how unhittable Clay Buchholz has been, I believed I even used the phrase "Grienkie-like". I should have known better. Any Red Sox fan knows not to give a player, or their team too much credit, for fear of things getting screwed up...but I must not have listened well enough.

Clay Buchholz got absolutely shelled tonight. I'm pretty sure one of Toronto's taters actually hit my apartment building. Every single out was loud from a Jays team that is bashing the ball like the 2008 ALCS Rays all of sudden. Buchholz's velocity seemed down from the beginning, and all of his breaking stuff was catching too much of the plate. None of that mattered, after reading my previous ITM post calling him the second half team MVP, he never had a chance.

One bad start certainly doesn't label Buchholz as unreliable come playoff time, but it continues a concerning trend surrounding the Sox front line pitchers.

The Sox have now lost 5 straight while defining the term "backing into the playoffs". I almost hope the Rangers win later on tonight, so the Sox can earn it on their home field tomorrow night.

Sleep well Red Sox Nation, sleep well.

Joe Morgan is a Mental Midget...

It's tough to blog about much from this weekend. The Sox didn't put up much of a fight as the Yankees clinched the AL East. In fact, I was somewhat emotionless during the series....that is until I read what Joe Morgan had to say about possible ALDS pitching situations (thanks to JoyofSox for the Morgan quote):


According to Joe.......

"Jon, a lot of mystery surrounds both teams here as we approach the playoffs. ... When we talk about who's going to start the playoffs for these teams. You ask the Yankees, we know Sabathia is going to start the first game; we do not know who's going to start the second game.

And for the Red Sox, we know Beckett will start the first game, but we do not know what's the condition of Jon Lester's knee or who's going to start the second game there, because of -- you know, Tim Wakefield is struggling, you know, with back problems and back issues....

and then you go to the Yankees, you don't know if they want Pettitte out there because of his experience or are they going to go with A.J. Burnett?We don't know if they are going to take the longer series, so they don't need but three starters as opposed to four if you take the short series, so it's amazing what has been decided after this long a season but what hasn't been decided about this pitching."

There are so many things wrong with this I can't, and won't, go into them all, but how do you forget about my main man Buchholz?...you know, the guy that has been comparable to Grienke the last few months? And did he not get the "Lester is starting game one" memo the rest of us received (ITM note: while it's not official yet, it's about the worst kept secret in the Red Sox organization right now). If he read any kind of media....even ITM, he would know that Lester was not hit in the knee and is going to BE FINE. And Tim Wakefield!? Really? The man can hardly walk and needs surgery ASAP.

Can someone at ESPN put us all out of our collective misery and can this guy? Or at least toss him down the stairs to get him on long term disability? Honestly, I could come up with a post like this after every game I hear him call. I get dummer just by listening to him. I'm pretty confident that Keyshawn Johnson, Charles Barkely, and Deon Sanders bring more value to their respective games than Morgan...not an easy thing to accomplish. As fellow ITM writer Joe Murph put it: "I'm pretty sure he stopped watching baseball years ago."

Thank you Joe, for turning an emotionless weekend into a hate-filled rant.

Boston's Second Half MVP

Three months ago, I'm sure Clay Buchholz didn't know which way was up. He had been mowing down minor leaguers while watching John Smoltz and Brad Penny struggle (for the most part) at the major league level. He knew he could be effective in the bigs, and other teams did too, which is why at the trade deadline he was one of the most coveted arms on the board.....

THANK GOD, Theo and company kept the asking price for Buchholz at an unreasonable level. You can point to Theo's failures this year (namely Smoltz and Penny), but you have to look at what a difference his in-season moves have made for this ballclub. V-Mart has lifted the offense out of the doldrums, and Gonzo has solidified the end of the lineup while contributing his masterful defense up the middle. The real prize however, was the deal that Theo didn't make. Keeping Buchholz close to his chest has paid the highest dividends, not only for this season, but perhaps in the long haul as well.

At the end of last year, his confidence had been defeated and character questioned, but Clay Buchholz has shoved it all back in everyone's face. I will freely admit that I was one of the many who was willing to deal Clay back in July. I was ready to accept dealing "potential young talent" for a "proven big league arm" or a "middle of the order bat".....turns out Theo got us both without dealing Clay at all.

The sample size may be somewhat limited, but what this kid has done over the last two months has exceeded every one's expectations. I don't care what you say, you didn't know he was going to be this good. His confidence is through the roof, teams have a limited book on him, and hitters are continually frozen by a change up that comes at you with the same exact motion as his mid 90's fastball. The Sox are 7-0 in his last 7 starts, he has the lowest ERA on the staff (3.21 (1.38 in September)), and if you back out two clunker games that appear to be exceptions to the rule, his numbers would be Grienke-like.

If you think about the second half MVP for this Red Sox team, many would point to J-Bay, V-Mart, or even Ortiz (leading the league in taters since early July), but the right answer is Buchholz. A 25 year old pitcher who has shown the entire league that he is far more than a flash in the pan arm who threw a no hitter only to never recover. Will he keep this up? Tough to tell. Odds are he'll come back to earth a little. Regardless, the consistency he's shown has put the league on notice: right now, the Sox have the best 1-2-3 combination in baseball, and they're ready for October.

Where Credit is Due

Okay, so ITM stalled yesterday, but really it shouldn't go unmentioned, even though we all know it already. The Yankees clinched a playoff appearance Tuesday night with the Texas loss. Hopefully you were aware of the scenario and didn't just wake up this morning to catch a glimpse of that nasty little "z" that sprouted up over night in the standings box like a malignant mole. But there it is nonetheless. So congrats go out from ITM. It was an impressive season for the Pinstripes.

But, that doesn't mean the focus of this post won't be the questions swirling in the Bronx. If I have to spend my week hearing about the Marks (Sanchez and Texeira), I'm allowed to push back a little.


And the big issue is still pitching. Even though the Yanks have held their own in Los Angeles / Anaheim, and although run production and hitting with RISP has been down over the last month, the city is still fretting over the arms. They got some relief the other night when Andy Pettitte came back with a solid performance. But as they get nearer to clinching the league's best record, the focus is more and more on Joba Chamberlain.


After the most recent shallacking, even Joe Girardi is vocally underwhelmed, and sounds like anything but a man prepared to put his playoff success (and therefore his future with the organization) into the kid's hands. The Yankees now look all but certain to take the three-man rotation ALDS series, throwing CC, AJ, and Pettitte. But don't think they're too happy about that second option: Burnett hasn't gotten a win since August 7th in Boston and he seems icnreasingly to buckle with runners on base.


Also, Pettitte isn't the only recent injury concern: David Robertson, the 24 year old righty the Yankees have been using behind Phil Hughes, has been out with stiffness for almost two weeks now. He threw a 20 pitch session yesterday and is reportedly healthy, but the timetable is unclear. The bullpen should be significantly shored with the addition of Joba, but that brings us to the last concern:


Are the Yankees really going to throw Joba in relief in the ALDS, then ask him to start Game 4 of the ALCS? Is this the same guy to whom they were scared to give an extra off day between starts earlier in the season because it threw him out of whack? But he's going to make that seamless transition in October? And when he starts, he's going to go double the innings he's been asked to give since the All-Star break?


Phew, I'm glad I got that off my chest. And now that I did, let's admit that this post was really about three things: 1) a knee-jerk response to a hell of a strong season from the Yankees; 2) somewhat legitimate pitching conerns; and 3) the fact that I'm still scared to death of Daisuke even touching a baseball in October and Josh Beckett's September 2009 Tom Brady impression. And what about Manny Delcarmen? Who's gonna bridge the gap to Wagner? Do you trust Ramirez? Okay, breathe, breathe, it's September. Save some hyperventilating for October.

Jennifer, You Had Me At Jacoby...

We'll give you a pass on mixing up Alex Gonzalez and Victor Martinez a little....especially since you got all of the positions correct.....and because of that dress. Good work Ben.