It's been a busy couple months to say the least. No time left to recap recent goings on before first pitch.
For the record, I am keeping an eye on flights to LA and trying to figure out how to score a couple tickets to Game 3 on Sunday.
Why do I keep having visions of JD Drew being interviewed after the series and congratulated on being the ALDS MVP? And am I jinxing any chance of that by putting that vision our there in the blogosphere? He's been hitting much better as of late and something tells me that's going to continue through the post-season.I can't wait to see Beckett pitch.
I have complete faith that Manny will make a head scratching play in the outfield and follow it up with a 450 foot home run.
I fully trust that Matsuzaka understands pressure situations, given that he pitched brilliantly in the global summit thingie during the pre-season last year and in his time while pitching in Japan. My only concern is how he's looked fatigued down the stretch. And no, I have no idea why Francona had him pitch eight full innings and throw 119 pitches the other night. A friend of mine had stopped by for a drink and was asking similar questions when Dice K came out to start the eighth when my phone rang. Of course, it's my Dad asking the same thing. I think I actually answered the phone with "Why the hell is Dice K still on the mound?"
Okajima is the player I'm most anxious about. If he's close to the same pitcher he was in the first half of the year, I'll be a lot more relaxed about our chances.
At the All Star break, I was definitely concerned about Drew, Lugo and Crisp's hitting and had hoped that at least two of the three would hit above .280 the rest of the way. I checked some post-All Star break stats the other day and found the following:
- Drew: .286
- Lugo: .280
- Crisp: .272
Not bad at all. I'm still nervous about Varitek's hitting (.225 since the All Star break) but he had a few big hits down the stretch.
Speaking of catchers, I'm not sure why we have both Mirabelli and Cash on the ALDS roster, especially where Wakefield isn't on the roster. If we're that worried about Mirabelli getting re-injured, would it make more sense to drop him (sorry, Mom) and add Brandon Moss just in case Crisp is still battling dizziness? On second thought, I'm really nervous that without Wake, Tavarez or Snyder we don't have a long reliever on the roster.
Speaking of Tavarez, I loved his line about being OK with not being on the ALDS roster so long as he gets a ring and a big check. I'm not sure why it's easy to laugh at that comment and think it's being supportive of the team rather than selfish, but I guess we just trust that's just Tavarez. (I will not write "Julian being Julian"...um...damnit.)
The postseason pictures of Hinske chomping on a cigar, Pedroia howling at the moon to no one in particular, Papelbon (and again and again) celebrating like a madman were just priceless. Let's hope we get to see what they do for an encore.
