If you read this blog regularly or if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I was at game three of the ALCS last night. Here's my postmortem and some observations.
- If anyone finds the bat of David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury or Jason Veritek, please alert the appropriate authorities. There is a reward.
- Is there more pressure of playing at home than on the road? Yes. Case in point Jon Lester's performance.
- Does the media get inside players heads regardless if they say they read the paper or not? Yes. Case in point, Jon Lester's performance.
- When did Fenway turn into a kiddie park with polite vendors, roomy seats, "no smoking?" reminders and people that walk around recycling beer cups? I miss the grungy, f-bomb laced, falling apart Fenway atmosphere. You want me to what? Follow a code of conduct? Huh? WTF?
- What happened to real fans? Yes, while Fenway was packed with faithful last night, the section I was particularly in was filled with those less than excited to be there. Case in point with this pink hat crew. Yes, pink hats. In front of me. How ironic was that?
- Lastly, what happened to the energy that the fans would bring to the team. The crowd was as noisy as the geek squad in a library. The only time we mustered up a Let's Go Red Sox chant was when we actually had guys on case. Oh sorry, the crowd did get excited for Sweet Caroline (probably all pink hats singing anyways).
- My brother and I are 0-2 in playoff baseball this year when either of us are in attendance. I consider this a family curse. The only way to break it is either watch the games at home or go to one together and test out the theory. Maybe we'll have a chance if the boys start hitting and snatch game two and three, stealing game 6 in Tampa. That would really piss Hector off.
I still say Sox in 6, though I desperately wanted them to win it at home.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
My ALCS game three postmortem
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Like baseball stats?
I consider myself a fan of the game of baseball, but this stuff is ridiculous. Talk about having too much time on your hands. However, maybe it's a case of being like Rain Man. 38-34 96 72-24 42-6, 30-18 51-19 18-5, 4-18 38-20 6.00 63-35 22-20 85-57 (Via Extra Bases.)
Red Sox' record within the American League East. They are a major league-best 57-33 in games against other divisions.
Games in which the Red Sox scored first — more than any team except the Mets (100 games).
Red Sox' record in games where they scored first (.750). The Angels have the best record in the major leagues when scoring first (.810).
Red Sox' record when they scored first at home and when they scored first on the road.
Red Sox' major league-best record against teams that finished .500 or below. They were 44-48 (.478) against teams that finished over .500.
Red Sox' record in one-run games at Fenway Park, best in the AL, and record in one-run games on the road, worst in the AL.
Red Sox' record in games decided by between 3 and 5 runs, second only to the Cubs (38-15).
ERA of opposing lefthanded starters at Fenway Park this season (5-12 in 21 starts). The Angels' Joe Saunders was 2-0, 3.75 at Fenway in 2008.
Red Sox' record in games Coco Crisp started. They were 32-32 when he didn't start. The Sox were 40-18 in games where Crisp batted eighth or ninth.
Red Sox' record in games Jason Varitek did not start.
Red Sox' record in games Kevin Youkilis started.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Class-less Yankee Fans, JD Drew and why Tito is a good guy
So the AL won another all-start game last night. That's fantastic and it means that the World Series will once again have to come through Boston.
Some observations from last nights game:
- How about those &#@%$ NY Yankee fans? #&^@% 'em. The NY Daily Post runs a BS story about Johnathan Papelbon saying that he wants to close the game if he has the chance. Yes, he did say it because he's a closer and a competitor for crying out loud. What the Post didn't print was his comments about Mariano Rivera being the God Father of Closers and how the group of closers in the AL has become a tight-bit group. In fact, at last year's all-star game, Johnny Papes sat down privately with Mariano to pick his brain - no cameras, nobody watching, just the two of them talking baseball and life in general. There's no hate there. Just competitiveness. So when Johnny was called from the pen last night, of course, the classless Skankee fans reign boos down on him. Start cheering for Mariano and start calling Johnny over-rated. Hey, morons, don't you know that it's beneficial for the AL to win the game so if in the very rare chance the Skankees get to the World Series this year, they will have home field advantage. But no, let's trash the guy brought in to shut down the NL during a critical time in the game. Paps gave up one run, which tied the game, but he did close out the rest of the inning without an issue. Was he rattled? Maybe? Or maybe he was rattled because his pregnant wife was getting death threats. I've now lost all respect for anyone wearing a Skankees hat - not that I had much respect for them in the first place.
- How about JD Drew? The guy was in the crapper last year and he was the goat of the team. He stunk up the joint. This year, he's on a tear when we needed him the most (Ortiz's injury). He works his way into his first all-star game and hit a tying two-run home run in the seventh, singled, stole a base, walked in the winning rally, amd was named the game's Most Valuable Player in his first All-Star appearance. Not bad for a guy who was on the schneid last year.
- How about the game being competitive? It amazes me how evenly matched both sides are when it comes to the all-star game. There is a ton of talent on the field and very to little x-factors. It went 15 innings. That tells me there was little to no room for errors.
- How about Francona taking out Jeter and Pay-Rod in the middle of an inning so they'd get some home town love? Now that's what I call class.
Overall, it was a mid-summer classic despite the classless Skankee fans.
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Solar energy at Fenway
I must have missed this. There might be more "green" at Fenway than the green monster. Read more!
