Opening Day At Fenway....in London

As if things weren't bad enough (and I won't go into the specifics that we all already know), today is Opening Day at Fenway Park.....a day that is recognized as an official religious holiday in my family...a day where the focus of all of New England and Red Sox Nation is on Fenway Park....a day where regardless of current record, for a brief moment, all feels right the world.

Not in London.

Most people here don't even know what Fenway Park is, forget opening day for a Red Sox team that is off to its worst start since FDR was in the White House.

I will do the obligatory "cell phone 500" to family and friends back home in the Boston area to build the excitement and discuss the day, but it's simply not the same an ocean away.  First the first time, I won't be in the metro Boston area for Opening Day at Fenway.  I may have just shed a tear.

The good news?  It's Friday, a day game back home, and another sunny day in London with temperatures again approaching 70 degrees (I know, weird right?).

What does that mean?  It means lots of outdoor drinking throughout the city, and with the help of some Londoners who have stumbled onto ITM, we FOUND A BAR THAT IS PLAYING THE GAME ON TV.  (shout out to Theresa here in London who dropped that knowledge into the ITM mailbox)

The Sports Cafe.  I've been doing my best to rally a few people to go there for the game in hopes of attracting a decent enough crowd to convince the owners to broadcast more Sox games. 

In the end, there may only be a few Red Sox fans, but you better believe the owners will hear us screaming....while everyone else stares at us trying to figure out what kind of funny game we're watching (yeah, because cricket and professional dart throwing is real normal).

So we'll see how this goes.  It certainly won't be the same as being back home, but for no reason at all, I'm holding onto a hint optimism.

Go Sox.  Pick it up!


The Sports Cafe....

Meet the Man Who is Going to Save the Yankees...

In a move that has shaken the rest of the AL East to its core, the Yankees have solidified all of their starting pitching need by shelling out 900k to a 37 year old 5 foot 2 inch, 379 pound pitcher who didn't pitch in the majors last year.

Agon and Carl Crawford?  The Yanks have officially evened the playing field in the toughest division in baseball.  See how much they poured?

After getting douched on by the media, Cashman has gotta feel good about himself on this low risk high reward transaction.  He really pulled the shade over on Theo with this one.

...In all seriousness, I think regardless of who signed Bartolo I'd be writing this post.  Seriously though, how does this mass of a man continue to find work?  900k?  Not bad for a guy who has no business playing baseball anymore, nonetheless on the Yankees.

And now that I've typed this, he'll throw on the pinstripes, lose 200 pounds, and go 17-4 for the Yankees.

PS:  My condolences go out to Patrick Murray and all of Rhode Island.  Rocco Baldelli has officially retired at the age of 63...or 47...or 29, whatever he is.  Regardless, safe to say flags will be at half staff in Cumberland, RI tomorrow.

Cashman Sees the Writing on the Wall, Says the Sox are Better Than the Yanks

WEEI.com:  "During a question and answer session with fans in New York on Tuesday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman indicated that at the moment, he feels the Red Sox have a better roster than the Yankees.

 With the Yankees still looking to solidify their starting rotation, Cashman was asked by a local radio host who had the better squad without the Yanks adding another starter. The general manager replied, "Red Sox," and later in the conversation added, "they’ve got guys they can run one through six and I’m looking for a fourth.”


“The biggest problem we have right now is I need a starting pitcher,” Cashman added. "Everybody knows that. I’m going to work on trying to get that. It might come from someone who has decided right now they don’t want to play, it might come from a trade, it might come from within. Time will tell.”


It's about time Cashman came around and saw the writing on the wall.  The crap show that is the New York sports world continues and I couldn't be happier. 

Cashman confirmed that he wasn't involved in the Soriano deal, and now comes out and admits during a candid interview that their arch nemisis is a better team?  What's going on in NYC?  Right now, it seems incredibily unlikely that he'll resign with the Yanks.....disarray in NYC, I love it.

I tell you what, if I'm a Yankee fan, I'm pissed right now.  Do you think Theo would ever come out and say the Yankees were a better team than the Red Sox?  Shit no, he'd make up some random stat that indicated the Sox play better than the Yanks on the road against a right handed pitcher under the age of thirty on cloudy days south of the Mason-Dixon line......and just like that, we'd irrationally buy in.

Mike Lowell, The Bigger Man

The Yankees and Red Sox played 8 hours of baseball yesterday, but in the end, it was all put into perspective for the people of Boston.

Mike Lowell retired from the game of baseball, fittingly ending his career with a wall-ball single.

It wasn't his play that spoke the loudest yesterday, it was his continued class. ITM wrote a while back that Mikey Lowell owes Boston and it management nothing. He had every right to throw around some four letter words and walk off the field to Stone Cold Steve Austin music while sinking beers and giving everyone the finger.

Of course, he didn't. With his kids by his side he threw out the first pitch and spoke with true passion and emotion about a game, and a city he loved:

“First of all, I’d like to thank the Red Sox organization for this great ceremony and a very generous check, I really appreciate it, that’s really unbelievable. I’d also like to thank my family, friends, teammates, ex-teammates, my minor league coaches, believe it or not over there , and hopefully the silver place winners today for the game. They’ve come a long way, a lot of people and you guys have meant so much to me over my career. I really don’t know where to go from there. I just want to say thank you for that. You know, I’m kind of at a loss for words to kind of explain the emotions I’ve felt over the last five years with respect to the support and the positive responses I’ve gotten from Red Sox fans. I think it’s your passion and your knowledge for baseball that I’ll truly miss, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget. So I just want to thank God for allowing me the privilege and the opportunity to wear this jersey, to play in this ballpark, to represent the city of boston and to share so many memories with all of you. Thanks you very much.”


Of course, Papelpon managed to blow it for Mikey's farewell....par for the course this season.

PS: I gotta give the Yankees props for their actions during the Lowell ceremony, nothing but attention, respect and class (granted, he was drafted by the Yanks). If that were the old days of Damon and Manny, most of the Sox would have been playing tag in dugout.

It's Just God Keeping Mike Lowell On His Toes

He's beat cancer twice, rejuvenated his career when everyone said he was done, and was the 2007 AL MVP for the Sox. Mike Lowell has nearly been to hell and back, but god seems to keep reminding him to stay in line.

Mikey took a wicked hop to the face on Friday night as the Red Sox continue to try to put a little scare into the Bronx.

It looked bad, real bad, I nearly spit my beer all over the entire bar at the BBC in Falmouth....but in typical Lowell fashion, he picked himself up, didn't rub it, and pushed on.

When Granderson got to first base and asked Lowell if he was ok, Mikey responded: "As long as they don’t rule it an error, I’m good."

That's a man.

Also, Mikey, it could have been way worse.....

PS: I've gotta think more people will be watching the Jets/Miami game tonight than the Sox/Yanks. Continued examples of our sad reality.

Yankee Stadium, on second thought

I don't know why I would be in a gracious mood after we stumbled out of the weekend no better off than we were against the Yanks, one game better against the Rays (against whom, according to my calculations, Vicino would have, were he to throw against them in five games, a 47.5% chance of completing a no-hitter), and with the Twins nipping at our second-place-in-the-Wild-Card heels, but I am.

And so, I just wanted to issue a quick apology to Yankee Stadium. ITM dumped on it a little bit last year, but I will admit that upon the weekend's reexamination, it's a pretty decent place. They've managed to get a strange mix of big city elegance - the overwhelming whiteness of the old style bunting grates on the uppermost rim, the amazing lighting - and urban claustrophobia. Despite the roominess of most seats and the general cleanliness, the angles of the park give the impression that you and everyone else are hanging directly over the field, so that when the action starts revving up, there's a real cage-match mentality in the stands.

And, frankly, I don't miss sitting in the bleachers in the old Stadium where if you got a beer dumped on you, it didn't matter, since you already reeked of beer and who knows what else soon as you stepped into the place.

So, in short, I will always, always prefer Fenway, "a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark," as Updike put it. It makes you feel the way you should when baseball is being played. But, if I'm going to watch a live game in an over-sanitized, overpriced airport terminal of a ballpark filled with "New Yorkers" just off the train from Jersey, I don't mind it being in the new Yankee Stadium.

Sorry, that's as gracious as I can be. Oh and it's nice that they still have Jeter come to bat to the Bob Shepherd announcement. There, I'm all out of grace for the day.

Morning Brew - The Headlines in New York

Yeah, I know we tend to do this bit more when the Sox have won. Oh well, I'm still feeling pessimistic for this series, so I'm going to get this out of my system while I can still enjoy it.

NY Daily News: Javier Vazquez Regresses When Yankees Need Him Most (This one is a bit precise for a headline, frankly, but they jam a lot of disappointment and humanity into it, so I'll give them points for that.)

NY Daily News: Hurry Back, Andy Pettitte (This was a common sentiment this morning. For every story about the game, there were two about Pettitte's successful bullpen session. For the last few months after all, it's been Sabathia and Vazquez carrying the 1-2 load, with Burnett uneven.)

NY Daily News: He's Back?!? Isiah Returns to Knicks (This I just had to include because it announces what I hope will be the return of New York sport's bonkers bad heyday. Can you believe that the Knicks have done this? (I don't know what's crazier, the fact that the Knicks have rehired Isiah, or the fact that this program's spell check has trouble with that name until I give it Thomas's messed-up spelling - 'Who is that you say? The prophet? Never heard of him. Oh, Isiah, the nutjob ballplayer - gotcha, we'll get rid of that squiggly red line right away, Mr. Murphy.') Vacarro in the Post had the best take on it, essentially spending a whole column challenging the Knicks ownership to a fight: "If someone walked up to you in a bar and treated you with the kind of disdain, the kind of naked contempt, that James Dolan showed you yesterday, there are just two ways you would possibly have reacted. If you are a woman, you would have thrown a drink in his face. If you are a man, you would have asked him to step outside.")

NY Post: Yankees Burned By Three Unearned Runs. (Rhyming's all right, I guess.)

NY Post: Err Ball (with picture of Cervelli drop) (Way too much thought involved here. I had to speak it aloud five different ways, like I was learning to read with phonetics, before I got the joke.

NY Post: Cervelli Wears Goat Horns Following Costly Drop (Oof, the Post is vicious, not only are they saying he ruined the game, but they have to go with a double-entendre suggesting he's been cuckolded? It's a rough town.)

NY Times: With Yanks' Help, Red Sox Inch Closer (I just put this one in because it was so hard to find. Had to dig through a story about cricket, Dutch league soccer, rugby, and three stories about how vuvuzelas will be banned at the US-Brazil friendly in the Meadowlands next week (ITM will be there, hopefully in the middle of one of the samba dance troupes.) The Times just hates America's pasttime, I think.)

Stuck on the Green Line, So I'll Blog....

Major issues on the Green Line this morning. Couple that with the cold wind-driven rain and you've got one hell of a hump day. Although, it could've been a lot worse......

My father used to say that you can't truly judge a baseball team until they're 40 games into the season. Well, at 20 and 20 there is plenty to be worried about with this Red Sox team, we've been complaining about them for weeks and at this point, there simply are too many concerns to list.

Between the Celtics and the Sox, Joe Murph and I must of called each other 9 times last night to scream at our phones. I swear that a few of the phone calls were not conversations at all, just noise until we hung up as the next inning started or the Magic came out of a timeout.

One thing we know for sure is, before the season starts, we really don't know a thing. We shouldn't even try to predict what will happen.

This team has been ass backwards through the first 40 games. The hitting on the whole has been a pleasant surprise, while the pitching and defense rivals that of my West Wareham little league team....and even I knew I had to mix up my pitches and keep everything down in the zone.

Last night's comeback win over the Yankees was the 40th game of the season, at times, especially when Papelbon came in, I wanted to just shut it off and go to bed. I've come to expect the worst. "Just be happy that the C's won" I was thinking. A helluva shaky 9th inning somehow turned into a Sox victory, and Papelpon might not be "available" again until June.

Perhaps this is the tipping point game the Sox have been waiting for.

Or maybe it's the classic sign of a team that is just good enough to keep your irrational interest and optimism up, only to get raked by the Twins, Phillies and Rays in their upcoming match ups. Either way, it's the Sox, and it's in my/our blood to be senselessly hooked on this team.

PS: The Yanks are "protesting" the game? What are we seven years old? Bush league Girardi. Bush league.

PPS: I can't wait to read the Yankee media's comments are back to back blown saves by their god Mo Rivera.

Crushing Loss

Not much to say tonight, outside of listing the people I want to punch in the throat right now:

-Every Yankee fan out there

-Karl Malone

-Dice-K (he gets a karate chop)

-Papelbon (he gets two punches)

I'm sure we'll hear how Pap's "long outing" of 2 and a third innings impacted tonight's performance. You're an elite major league ballplayer, essentially demanding to be the highest paid closer in the league, suck it up.

Hands down the worst loss for the Sox all year (among the many terrible losses). And with that, I'm going to flip my kitchen table over.

Games like this make me want to shut the blog down and buy a pink hat.

It's the Sox vs the Yanks. Get Excited Like This Guy...

Ran across this video on Barstool Sports earlier today. It's simply too good to pass up given the circumstances. The Sox need to go into the Bronx and show the Yanks they're still a factor in the AL East, and this is just the guy to get us excited.

ITM note: Is this guy a dead ringer for Dennis Eckersley or what? Long lost brother maybe? This also could be what T Murph will look like 20 years from now in the bleachers.

The Sox continue on their road of mediocrity while the Yanks have lost 5 of 8 (yet remain 5.5 games ahead of the Sox). Boston is sending Dice-K to the mound to try to set things right, while the Yanks run out their best arm in Phil Hughes....yes, Phil Hughes. Studly numbers right now.

Regardless of records, implications and general significance, it's the Sox vs the Yanks in the Bronx. Let's fight.

(yes, this is ITM being somewhat optimistic, we're going to give it a few more tries before throwing our hands up and ordering shots at the bar).

WSJ: Yankee Fans Are Hardly Fans At All

The Red Sox are on a roll. Turns out, they may just be what we originally thought they were.......or they may take two steps backwards this weekend. With the Yanks coming to the Fens in what can already be called a "big series" for the Red Sox (not so big for the Yankees), I offer this recent article and analysis from the Wall Street Journal:


The Wall Street Journal surveyed 650 fans across all five boroughs and determined:“There are as many Mets fans as there are Yankees fans in Manhattan, but, overall, the Yankees have twice as many fans. Mets fans own more guns, are more likely to bet on games and follow their team more closely… On the other hand, Yankees fans tend to be more metrosexual, they drink more Starbucks coffee, they’re more likely to own a Mac than a PC, and tend to be single and skinnier. Mets fans drink far more beer… They also drink more in general… Mets fans monitor their team’s progress, and they listen to substantially more sports radio.”


This likely surprises no one, and in no way am I clapping for the Mets here, but ITM has been tied up lately and I needed a quick post.


To quote Joe Murph: "so...yankees fans aren't fans basically. I'm sorry, but skinny single people hanging out in starbucks on their macs and not "following" their team are not fans."


Totally agree. Bring on those metrosexual, latte drinking, mannie-peddie getting, fake tanning, full of themselves, know nothing Yankee fans. Go Sox.

Well At Least Jerry Remy's Sports Bar is Awesome

Pretty depressing loss for the Sox tonight. Lackey was studly, the Yanks did what they could to increase his pitch count, but he deserved to get the W in his first Boston start.

I've promised myself not to freak out as much this year when it comes to the Sox. With that in mind, I'll turn towards a great night at Jerry Remy's Sports Bar. For those of you who don't know where it is, it's behind Fenway Park at 1265 Bolyston street. It has a great beer selection, more TV's than you can look at, an open air feel with a commanding view of Fenway Park, decent food options, and great service. The opinion was shared by all of my buddies in attendance. It's safe to say we'll be headed back there multiple times this season.

Other quick takeaways before I crash....

-Lackey has never been a strike out pitcher, but, in my opinion, he could stand to attack the strike zone a bit more (this after one start's worth of review...)

-No matter what he says, it's likely that Lackey will never come off as an intelligent person (see George Bush's Southern Syndrome).

-I still don't understand how Andy Pettitte's arm is still attached to his shoulder, especially when you consider the amount of HGH he was using (people like to forget that fact...much like Ortiz).

-Ortiz got a RBI single tonight....in his mind, I'm sure that buys him 3 more weeks of mediocre stats.

-I hate that Curtis Granderson is on my fantasy team right now.

-I'm not worried about Papelbon. I swear.

....I think.

-Anyone else think that timely hitting is going to be more important than ever this year?

-Did Chan Ho Park really just limit the Sox to one hit over three innings? Chan Ho Park? Too bad we didn't have Cal Ripken Jr at the plate tonight.

-D Bard is filthy..how long before the nut bags start calling for him to close games?

-The Sox may be 1-2 after starts by Beckett, Lester and Lackey, but I somehow feel better about them now than I did at the beginning of the season.

Another off day tomorrow? What's this about?? Don't they know I need consistency in my life?

Happy Opening Day....Night...Whatever, Get Pumped

It's Opening Day (night), at Fenway.....against the Yankees....and 70 degrees out. Get pumped.

We considered doing a live blog for tonight's game, but in the end figured we all need to really let this sink in.

So finish up your Easter celebrations, run around in circles outside to shake off the butterflies, grab a beer, your Red Sox shirt and hat.....and settle in for a 4 hour season opener.

Go Sox!

Is This Sox/Yanks Commercial Funny? Or Just Terrible?

I know I linked to this a few days back....I'm just a little confused by this, I mean, I want it to be funny, I do, but it just doesn't do it for me. I have a hard time getting over how awkward Buchholz looks.

ESPN could have gone so many ways with an opening day Sox vs Yanks skit. Apparently, a number of players must have passed. Think about how good a Dusty and Jeter commercial could have been? Pap and Mo? V-Mart and Posada screaming at each other in Spanish? Ortiz and CC in a cheeseburger eating contest? The possibilities are endless.

Like I said, I want to like this commercial, but it doesn't do much to raise my excitement for opening day. It might also have something to do with the fact that opening day is on Easter Sunday night at 8pm. Not only do I have to listen to the horrible ESPN announcers but we can't even use it as an excuse to call in sick to work or school.

We got the short end of the stick in so many ways on this one.

BoSox Bandit Blackguards Big Apple

All right, this one was too good not to share. There was a strange thing happening this weekend in New York. I didn't bring it up sooner because it didn't seem right to take the focus off the baseball. But while the Sox and the Yanks were clashing in Boston, back in New York, the rivalry was reaching new heights. This was Friday morning's cover headline in the NY Post: "BoSox Bandit!"

That's right. New York City has a BoSox Bandit, "a knife-wielding mugger wearing a Boston Red Sox cap." This year, the Bandit has already committed 13 stickups in the New York subways. In addition to the Red Sox cap, he is described as being between six foot and six foot two, age somewhere between 20 and 25, operating primarily uptown on the A train line. This has not made your intrepid ITM correspondent's commute any easier. But what's a six foot one, 26 year old supposed to do? Not wear his Sox cap when the Yanks are in the Fens? 'Tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, I say. Brave it. The result? Stares. Some sliding down on the benches, giving room for the Holy Ghost of the MTA, so to speak. A couple wise cracks. One threatened arrest at the federal courthouse. In jest. I think.

My own petty complaints aside, the fact remains that some Red Sox nation ne'er do well is in my adopted home giving us all a bad name. He's throwing blades around in broad daylight and targeting primarily young women. Unacceptable. If he doesn't get caught soon, it might be time for the BLOHARDS to put together a posse. (BLOHARD = Benevolent and Loyal Order of Honorable and Ancient Red Sox Diehard Sufferers of New York. I'm not making that up, either. They've been around since the Impossible Dream season of '67. Look 'em up. There's all sorts of great Red Sox stuff happening here in the belly of the beast.) Red Sox Nation cleans up its own messes. So spread the word. This is the type of unsportsmanlike crap up with which we will not put!

Pregame Around the Horn

It's a battle of aces tonight. A rubber game match up on national TV with the Sox in need of a win to not only take the series, but to keep pace with the Rangers who beat the Rays earlier today. The first two games have been lopsided affairs, but tonight's match up should be a good one....should be (and now that I've typed that, both aces will be out of the game by the fourth inning). It doesn't get much better than this. So with that, let's quickly go around the horn:

-Both Ortiz and JD are out of the lineup tonight. I understand the difficult lefty match ups, but Ortiz is hitting absolutely everything right now, and actually has good numbers against fat boy CC. I guess it's just Tito being Tito....at least I can scream ROCCO! tonight.

-Tito said that Lowrie will begin his rehab with Triple A Pawtucket on Monday. I'm still not sure what the heck is wrong with this guy's wrist, but I don't think it really matters anymore. If Tito tries to start him over Gonzo I'll walk down to Fenway and make a scene.

-Tito also mentioned that Dice-K will start Monday for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox...which I'm pretty sure is a made up team. Dice-K is probably somewhere in Japan throwing 180 pitches to loosen up. Either way, per Tito... "He is significantly stronger in his shoulder," and "He is significantly leaner in his body. He is significantly stronger in his body." There was no word if he used the word significantly in the next sentence, which would have gotten him bonus points.

- John Smoltz started for the Cardinals today...and of course went 5 fantastic innings, striking out 9, surrendering only 3 hits, and not giving up a single run....now that he's away from Boston I'm sure he'll blow up like Eric Hinske or Tony Clark when they went to the Yankees.

- Brad Penny is headed to the bullpen (thank god), but apparently his days in the rotation may not be over....according to Tito "We don't just want to turn him into a reliever. That's not in anyone's best interest." Sure sounds like it would be in the best interest of my health Tito...not quite picking up what you're putting down.

I'm not truly upset with Tito, he's had an extremely trying season full of injuries, steroids, and drama (what else is new)....but a little healthy criticism can't hurt.

So here we go, it's time for the ESPN announcers to drive us crazy, I just hope the Sox can help me keep it together with a win.

Go Sox.

A Complete 180

It's simply too late at night for me to go into great detail in regards to tonight's debacle of a performance by the Sox. One thing is for sure, the so-called "mental advantage" the Sox supposedly had over the Yanks this season is long, gone, and hard to find.

Instead, despite it being only one game, the momentum and mental advantage seems to have clearly moved 300 miles south of Beantown. All the local sportswriters in both cities have been calling for the Yankees to roll over the Sox in this series, with the only win expected for Boston coming in tomorrow's game solely because of their ace Josh Beckett....but with the offensive inconsistency, a full four game sweep is expected by some.

Since these two teams last met they have been heading in completely opposite directions. What's funny is that you can almost tie the Sox performance to the hot and cold nature of J-Bay's season. They were an unbeatable monster until early June, when both Bay, and the rest of the team fell into a slump of mediocrity. ITM note: the 2004 Boston Red Sox played like crap (around .500) for 3 months in what will always be the greatest season ever.

The blame for the turn of events can be shared by nearly everyone, but tonight it was undoubtedly John Smoltz failing to come through. Going into the game I said to Joe Murph, "this is why we got Smoltz in the first place, for big games like this, on the big stage, when the Sox are in need of some pitching help."......well Samsonite, I was way off. Once again a big inning sunk his battleship and he was unable to make it through 4. A pitiful showing on the biggest stage in baseball while taking part in the greatest rivarliy in all of sports. Nothing about tonight's performance (or anything thus far this season for that matter) indicates to me that Smoltz is a value-added addition to this team. Stick a fork in him, he's done. Just consider his last four starts:

W-L: 1-3
IP: 20
Hits: 35
ER: 24
HR: 8

You guys don't need me to do the math...those numbers just suck. T Murph could take Smoltz yard, and he gets thrown through tables at bachelor parties for fun.

Looking for Beckett to bail us out tomorrow....

Going Around the Horn

If you're not excited for this upcoming week of Red Sox baseball you don't have a soul. A quick two game series with the Rays in the foreclosure capital of the world, and then a big 4 game set against the Yanks in the big apple. The pitching matchups are listed below, and there is a lot to look forward to.

• Lester vs Garza- Probably the best pitching matchup of the week. Should be a great leadoff game tomorrow.



• Penny vs Price



• Smoltz vs Joba



• Beckett vs Burnett- The media will hype this one up, and somehow both pitchers will probably be out of the game by the 4th.



• Buchholz vs CC



• Lester vs Pettitte

~The series in NY has all the makings of a classic. The outcome of each game could determine who has the AL East lead that night. There will surely be steroid chants, there is that eight straight victories over the Yankees thing, and Clay Buchholz will likely become a hero or a goat in his start against CC.

~The Sox have seemingly found their offensive stroke with the addition of V-Mart. I'm pretty sure T Murph would already have a V-Mart jersey if he didn't spend money on a LaRoche one. I can't wait for the newest addition to come to Fenway and rake. Between his versatility and hitting style, it's like adding another Youkilous to the lineup.

~The longer it takes for Ortiz to come out and explain himself....the harder it'll be to believe anything he says. Ortiz should hold a press conference today, get it out of the way. Tell the truth and get it over with before the big games start up.

~Since June 1st, Ortiz is leading the majors in taters....PED's or not.....check the eye drops?

~Anyone else think the steroid story with Jerry Remy's son is hilarious? Have you seen the pictures? Priceless.

Morning Brew, NY House Blend

Morning wrap up from New York, New York, the town so nice we beat it twice.

NY Post - This Sox! (I like this headline, but it kind of takes a second right? You understand right away that there's a wordplay, and it's not even like you have to think about it really, there's just a bit of a pause.)

NY Post - Youkilis, Bay Spark BoSox. "In many ways Bay is the opposite of Alex Rodriguez. He's certainly the less controversial of cleanup hitters. No one wants to do a book on Bay. Just write his name in the lineup and watch him produce." Note this, though - sales of the A-Rod book have been woefully disappointing. Apparently the first edition was about 160,000 copies, and so far they've sold only 15,000. That's a pretty crazy overestimation on an edition.)

NY Post - Boston's Pen Edge is No Bull.

NY Post - Eight Men Out Sequel Keeps Bombers Scoreless vs. Rivals. (Okay, this headline is just terrible. You can't make a baseball reference (the 1988 Black Sox flick) that has nothing to do with what you mean to signify here. It would be fine if Eight Men Out were just a common saying with no baseball significance. But as is, this thing is all messed up.) "Ten minutes after the latest loss to the Red Sox, Joe Girardi said he needed a night's sleep to decide if Chien-Ming Wang will start Tuesday. After watching Wang pitch with the command of a 4-year-old playing pin the tale on the donkey, Girardi likely tossed and turned into the small hours of this morning."

NY Post - Chien Ming Wang Must be Purged from Rotation. ('Purged?' Really? You really wanna bring up the Steinbrenner - Stalin analogy?) "[Y]esterday they tempted fate by sending out the man who can't win against the team they can't beat. The end result, therefore, was as big a surprise as the sun rising this morning."

NY Daily News - Wang Shouldn't be Sunk. "Still, once the emotion wears off Girardi needs to do the right thing and give Wang another chance. It was the Yankees who panicked and rushed him back to the majors when they were worried about Joba Chamberlain taking a ball off the knee, and if they give up on him now, well, what was the point? And it was Girardi who re-configured his starting rotation to put Wang into a spot where he had to face the Sox here at Fenway Park in his second start back from oblivion - not the ideal path to renewed success." (This is my favorite article of the day. Thoughtful and realistic. You just can't give up on a 19 game winner, especially when you just rushed him back from his minor-league starts and had him on strict pitch counts. That is not the time you throw him overboard.)

NY Daily News - Woe for Seven, Yanks can't solve Sox. (Nice job. Daily News wins the day's headlines.)

NY Daily News - Papelbon Heats Up, but Pedroia Saves Sox. (Yes, it was a nice, play, and yes the situation is different if there's a runner on third with one out, but the play was directly followed by a strike out and a pop out.)

NY Times - Wakefield Takes Aim at All-Star Game. (Kind of interesting. Well done, Times. I hadn't really heard much buzz about this, but Wakefield is up there with Halladay and Greinke, I guess, when you look at the win totals. ERA isn't great, but not too bad. Is this really possible? Apparently Wake is thinking about it.) "It would be huge,” Wakefield said. “It’s one thing that you want in a career is to make an All-Star team. We’ve won two World Series. Just add it to the list of things that you say you’ve accomplished in your career. Obviously, it would be nice to make a team, and, hopefully, I can continue to pitch the way I’ve been pitching and finally make one after 14, 15 years."

Morning Brew, NY House Blend

Here's the scuttlebut from the city that never sleeps. (Yeah, I saw Guys and Dolls before it closed. So what? No dizzy dame is gonna tell me how to write a blog post. This is New York. I'll say scuttlebutt all I want.)

NY Post, AJ Awful. This article has an interesting bend, focusing on Girardi's taking the blame for Burnett's disasterous performance. "Girardi said his re-arranging of the Yankees' rotation to get Chien-Ming Wang a start last week, and a rainout Friday resulted in Burnett having to work on six days' rest. 'I tried to change the rotation,' Girardi said after the Red Sox pounded Burnett on the way to a 7-0 win in front of 37,883 at Fenway Park. 'I will take the blame for that.'" If I were Girardi right now, I'd be wary of getting into the habit of pointing out my flaws. They have been numerous so far this season. He shouldn't let himself get lulled to sleep on this winning streak. Despite the record, I know many loyal and informed Yankees fans who are getting real fed up with Girardi's gametime decision-making.

NY Post, Vintage Beckett Sox it to Yanks.

NY Post, Would-be Sox killer A.J. Burnett has pie on his face. This sounds like a turn of the century rag paper headline, doesn't it? Extrey extrey, read all about it, Yanks get pie on face. Big Willie Bryant tells Congress Gold Standard or Bust! Extrey extrey.

NY Daily News, A.J. gets pie in the face. Okay, seriously, New York? What's with the pies?

NY Daily News, Deep-Sixed, Bombers fall to Bosox again

NY Daily News, Yanks struggles with Sox may be mental. Good article to read if you're in the mood to pile it on the Yankees this morning. "It had the feel of one giant shoulder shrug meant as a compliment toward Beckett. Their recent hot streak buys them a night like this, at least everyone except Burnett, but not another one. They need to win tonight or officially lay down on the couch for some Red Sox therapy." Also gives the impression that if the Yanks re-jiggering of the rotation to get Wang a start doesn't go well tonight, there's going to be hell to pay tomorrow.

Pinstripe Alley, Around the Yankee Universe, paging the AJ we paid for edition

AM New York, Shorter Walls to blame for Yankee Stadium home run derby, report. This is seriously headline news in every New York paper today. I just liked the AM New York headline in particular since it so clearly states the obviousness of the conclusion. Some engineer-consulting firm got paid a lot of money to tell the Yankees that the reason more home runs are being hit in their new park is that the walls are shorter. Read that again. Man, I'm in the wrong racket.

And, always my favorite, the Old Grey Lady, who never disappoints...

NY Times, Teixeira Altered Dynamics of Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry. The New York Times, always with its finger on the baseball world's pulse, published a bizarrely-timed article this morning. The gist of it you can get from the headline - with Teixeira, the Yanks have a real edge over the Sox. Typical quotes from the story: "If the Red Sox had increased their offer, perhaps Teixeira would be doing that damage for them." Or how about this one: “'Mark Teixeira is our machine.' [said Nick Swisher.] Now that machine looms as a repetitive headache for the Red Sox." (And just to confirm, the article does include the numbers from last night's game. This was not published in the lead-up to this series.) The Yanks are now 0-6 against the Sox since the Teixeira signing. Teixeira is 5 for 21 against the Sox. I'm not saying he isn't having an excellent year. I'm not saying he's not going to do damage to the Sox. I'm just saying that the New York Times sports section is the most oblivious operation in the industry.