Countdown to the playoffs

When last we left our heroes...

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.

A Sox Fan In Seattle

I grew up just outside of Boston and have been living in Seattle since '94. I haven't missed a Red Sox game here since '95, when I was back in Boston visiting family while the Sox were playing here. I've always enjoyed watching Sox games in Seattle because the Sox are playing (obviously) plus the fact that there has always been a large contingent of Sox fans at the games. The only member of the Red Sox organization who has attended more Sox games in Seattle than I have is Johnny Pesky.

It's fun to check the schedule and see when the Sox will be in town. I enjoy wearing my Sox cap while waiting in line a couple hours before single game seats go on sale. It's also fun to buy great seats from Mariners fans later just before the Sox come to town. I've even had a chance to sit in the front row along the third base line a couple times in the past year or two*. Sometimes they sell the tickets because the Mariners are out of contention, sometimes I think they sell the tickets because Sox fans will pay good money for them and help defray the overall cost of the ticket package. A lot of Mariners fans where I work sell exceptional seats (at face value) to anyone who'll take them if the Mariners don't look playoff bound. I love seeing that the tickets to Sox games are marked "Sold" in a heartbeat, even when the Sox aren't headed to the playoffs.

A number of good friends of mine are Mariners fans and it's an interesting fan base. Seattle has a large number of transplants. So few people who live here actually grew up out here, which is a shame. I trust that the chances of a child rooting for a particular team are much greater if at least one parent roots for that team. It's kinda like religion in that way. For many, it wasn't a conscious choice. It was just how they were raised.

It's easy to be a little spoiled as a Sox fan. I don't tend to like pictures of myself, but one of my favorites is a picture my father took of me with my grandfather at a game at Fenway when I must have been about five years old. I don't know if my grandfather was a Red Sox fan, but I know my Dad's been a Sox fan since he was a kid. Mariners fans my age don't have that. Thankfully, the next generation of Mariners fans might.

The franchise is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this season. Think about that. The franchise has finally been around long enough where the kids going to the games have parents who grew up with the franchise. That's huge. The parents of my Mariners friends don't have the same attachment to the team. They vaguely remember that there was baseball in Seattle one year, but that the team started playing before the city was ready and left the following year. Even into the early '90's, it seemed like there were annual rumors that the Mariners would move to San Jose or Tampa Bay. I think rumors like these had more of a negative impact on the fan base than the fact that the Mariners didn't have a winning record until 1991.

Safeco Field is beautiful. The retractable roof is a must in the area, not so much because it ensures that the game will be played, but because it prevents fans from thinking "I know we have tickets, but the weather looks gloomy. Maybe we should just stay home. If they play, we can probably catch the game on TV." The only thing I'd change is the ballpark's name. A good friend who grew up in the area was hoping a local coffee chain would win the naming rights and give a nod to the New York Giants' old stadium by naming the new ballpark "Seattle's Best Coffee Grounds".

Consider the Mariners home region. The Mariners are obviously home team for the greater Seattle area, but they also draw fans from Eastern Washington, the greater Portland area and the greater Vancouver area. This is a huge potential fan base.

The team has been going through a rough stretch, but they're a good team who has a legitimate chance to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

So why do the Mariners have so much trouble drawing fans? It's sad to see a good team with a huge potential fan base and a beautiful ballpark struggle to draw 25,000 fans for mid week games. It was even more disappointing to hear that when the Red Sox fans were in town, there was apparently a pre-game segment on the Mariners cable broadcast wondering what percentage of the pro-Red Sox crowd were just bandwagon jumpers.

OK, so I admit to being a bit annoyed to hear from friends that I was part of the group of fans that the segment showed when wondering how many of the people in Red Sox gear were "true" Red Sox fans. I briefly chatted up a reported for the station prior to the third game of the series.

Me: "So I hear you guys did a segment last night wondering if the people wearing Red Sox gear were 'true' Red Sox fans."

Reporter: "I wasn't involved with that segment. Sorry."

Me: "I just think it's a shame that you worry about whether people rooting for the Red Sox are 'true' fans when you should be asking why you don't have many fans rooting for the Mariners."

Now-mildly-irate Reporter: "Fans?!? We have fans!!! We had forty five thousand fans at each game last weekend!!!"

Me: "Actually, you had forty five thousand people come to the game to cheer for a player who demanded to be traded away from the Mariners. You have a cute team and a nice ballpark. I just think it would be nice if you had people who showed up to actually cheer for the Mariners. Hey! You could use that as an idea for a segment. 'Come support the team.'"

The reporter made an odd noise and stormed off but I felt better.

I love attending Sox games in Seattle. While it's been a little while since I've seen the Sox win here, it's always fun to see the Sox score and take a quick scan of the stands and see how many people are cheering for the Sox. It's also fun to have people sitting near me wondering why I keep making odd marks inside my program if I'm keeping score, especially when someone starts with snide remarks and later asks "Ummm, dude? How many strikeouts does <PitcherX> have?"

Here are my favorite Sox games in Seattle:

• 8/25/1997 - The first Red Sox / Mariners game after the Slocumb / Lowe and Varitek trade. Bonus points awarded since I attended this game with my Dad. At the time, the Red Sox fans had no idea what they were really getting in the trade. All we knew was that we had gotten rid of Slocumb and had gotten something back. When Slocumb came in from the bullpen in the eighth inning in a save situation, the Red Sox fans immediately rose in unison. We all smiled and nodded to each other, knowing the outcome had been decided. Slocumb predictably blew the lead and took the loss.


• 9/2/1996 - Mike Greenwell single-handedly outscoring the Mariners 9-8, prompting one fan to bring a sign to the next game saying "Walk Greenwell".


• 8/02/2000 - The Mariners beat the Red Sox in 19 innings. A college buddy who grew up in the Seattle area and I attended this game, among others. The game featured a "14th inning stretch". At one point, my buddy and I were annoyed that the vendors had stopped serving alcohol six or seven innings ago. Two large Pepsis and the airline bottle of bourbon that was in the bottom of my backpack helped take the edge off. Both the Red Sox and Mariners fans still in attendance in the 19th inning sensed the inevitable about to happen as Fassero trotted in from the bullpen, and he didn't disappoint, giving up a walkoff homer to the first batter he faced.


• 5/13/2005 - The Red Sox play their first game in Seattle as the reigning World Series Champions.

There have been some lowlights, too. The most memorable lowlight was last year and it had nothing to do with the outcome of the game. The Sox were reeling with injuries by the time they played in Seattle late last year and Kevin Youkilis played a bit of left field down the stretch. The last game was a day game and the conditions were unkind, even for seasoned outfielders. Ichiro lost a ball in the sun early in the game. It was a terrible time to put Youkilis in the outfield and I remember being livid with Francona as soon as Youk trotted out to left. Youk lost two balls in left field over the course of the game. My seats were pretty close to the left field line and I cringed when I heard fans behind me getting on Youk's case, saying typical stuff like "You suck". When I heard people giving him a hard time and saying things like "Why don't you learn to catch, you overpaid slob?", I turned around as if there was something I could say to get these guys to lighten up, that he's an infielder and he's actually making damn near the league minimum. What shocked me was that these were Red Sox fans.

I don't mind the fact that more people are wearing Red Sox hats when the Sox are winning. That happens everywhere. Fans came out of nowhere for the Mariners run in 1995. Safeco field was rocking back in 2001 when the Mariners were a playoff team. After a few years finishing out of the playoffs, you could hear crickets chirping unless the scoreboard was informing fans that it was time to cheer. It happens. If the Red Sox fall apart and miss the playoffs for five straight years, I trust that there would be fewer people at road games wearing Red Sox gear. I'm sure that observant fans noticed more White Sox caps at their road games during the 2006 season. This year? Not so much.

So-called bandwagon fans are fine. You're allowed to cheer even if you couldn't pick JD Drew out of a lineup. Boo now and then if you want to, especially when the umpire blew a call or for lackadaisacal play that costs the team. But there's a line there somewhere. If you want to boo someone in a slump, go ahead but keep in mind that the chances of that booing helping are pretty slim. (In fact, I'm still impressed by whoever started the "Let's go, Lugo" chant just before he broke out of his horrific 0-33 slump.) A "Yankees Suck" chant? I'd like to think that Red Sox fans should be above that now, but I'll admit that I laugh when that chant brings together fans of various teams.

But there was something about the jeering of Youk that really made me cringe. The season was slipping away, but that shouldn't be as heartbreaking after 2004. I think it was the combination of their volume (these guys were loud), their proximity to Youk (I was close enough to see him scowl and mutter at the time) and their sheer ignorance that bothered me. I was embarrassed that people might lump me in with these "fans", not to mention that mean spirited taunting like that for one of your own players could make players want to play for less passionate fan bases.

I still can't believe how Keith Foulke and Mark Bellhorn were treated by fans as their time in Boston came to a close. While I think that Keith Foulke's "Johnny from Burger King" and "I'd be happy to be a normal reliever so long as I can still get paid like a closer" comments didn't enamor him to the Red Sox fan base at a time when he was struggling, I think it's awful that many fans remember him more for those comments than for his heroics in 2004. Bellhorn struggled mightily in 2005. While I had no problem with the Red Sox releasing him, I thought it was sad to see him getting booed at home games less than a year after he played such a key role in the Sox' playoff run.

Remember when Foulke was considering signing with the Sox and somehow the Sox got Bobby Orr to call Foulke and tell him that if he ever helped the Sox win a World Series, he'd be treated like royalty? I don't think Orr was talking about Johnny from Burger King. It bugs me that these guys (and Mirabelli) have taken so much heat from the fans. I don't like the thought of ex-players having such a negative impresssion of the Red Sox fan base. Ex-players don't deserve such venom. Plus, I don't want those players passing those impressions on to potential free agents. For my part, I'll cringe if Pena butchers balls in the outfield but will try not to boo.

Note: I have no problem with Johnny Damon getting booed for signing with the Yankees. It's part of the territory, regardless of whether or not you win a World Series. The booing is louder if you immediately start singing the praises of "the Yankee way" as soon as you sign. It's probably a good way to endear yourself to your new teammates and fans, but expect a tad more heat when you return to Fenway.

The Sox are coming back to town next weekend. I trust the Sox fans will again outnumber and be louder than the M's fans, unless the M's fans try to boo down a "Let's go, Red Sox!" chant. Of course, I'm hoping that the Sox win, but I'm also hoping for less venom from Sox fans directed at the players if they lose. If you're a new fan, it's OK to let others know that you're new. The rest of us will explain that we're not booing the first baseman with the odd facial hair. And if you ask nicely, someone might even explain the heiroglyphic-like markings they're making inside their program.

* - If you ever have the chance to sit in the front row, take a minute or two to notice whether or not your seat is above the playing surface. I reached over to field a foul ball gently rolling directly to me at a game last year, but didn't realize my seat was a foot or so above the field. I never thought that I might have to lean forward and reach past where my feet were in order to touch the playing surface. The ball bounced off the wall and rolled away. *Sniff*

A-Rod's Contract

The Alex Rodriguez contact situation fascinates me. I'm sure I'll screw up some of the numbers, but it's the almost political posing back and forth in the press and the Rangers' indirect involvement that I find so interesting.

Let's take a step back and give Scott Boras some credit here. Forget about the fact that he got Tom Hicks and the Rangers to bid against themselves. He was able to get A-Rod the richest contract in the history of baseball, but also had the foresight to add an out clause so that A-Rod could become a free agent again at the end of the 2007 season in case he felt A-Rod could sign an even *more* lucrative contract at that point in his career.

A-Rod is due to earn $25M/yr for the next three years, but Boras has been suggesting that A-Rod could sign a contract for about $30M/yr for about six years if he were to become a free agent again. At the very least, it's not difficult to imagine that Boras could find someone to pay A-Rod more than he would be getting over the next three years. Plus, hitting the free agent market at thirty two sounds a lot better than hitting the free agent market at thirty five. That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that A-Rod may be sick of New York. You never know, he may be willing to take a pay cut just to get out of New York. So, we can see why A-Rod might want to opt out of his contract at the end of the season.

The Yankees recently announced (officially or otherwise) that they would like to talk to A-Rod about a contract extension but that they will not attempt to re-sign him if he opts out of his current contract to become a free agent. Remember that as part of the trade that brought A-Rod to New York, the Rangers are paying about $8M/yr of A-Rod's contract. So the Yankees are currently paying A-Rod "only" $17M/yr. If they extend A-Rod's contract, the Rangers continue to chip in towards A-Rod's salary. If A-Rod opts out, the Rangers are off the hook. It's pretty safe to say that the Rangers are silently rooting for A-Rod to opt out.

Of course, the Yankees have the financial resources necessary to pay A-Rod without the help of larger market teams like the Rangers. They could re-sign A-Rod if he decides to become a free agent and afford to pay him $30M/yr, but it makes sense that they'd prefer to have the Rangers continue to chip in. Plus, the Yankees may believe that A-Rod is worth $17M/yr to them over the next three years, but not $30M/yr. Actually, the numbers are even higher after you take the luxury tax into consideration. Regardless, I don't think the Yankees want to say that A-Rod is worth $30M/yr as they negotiate with Posada to deal with the fact that A-Rod would be earning almost twice as much as Jeter.

So the Yankees make the public threat that if A-Rod opts out that they won't re-sign him. Maybe that lowers A-Rod's market value. If A-Rod becomes a free agent and a team like the Angels or Cubs decide that they're interested, maybe they won't be as worried about the Yankees trumping their offers and won't make outrageous Tom Hicks bidding against himself offers of $180M over six years. Maybe A-Rod and/or Boras worry about that and decide to negotiate with the Yankees now. Maybe the Yankees are bluffing and would still be interested, but they hope/expect public threat will make A-Rod more affordable to them. Maybe the Yankees made the threat as a challenge in an attempt to get A-Rod to tear up the rest of his contract and end his time in the Bronx.

Here's the part that really shocked me. When asked about his contract status and the Yankees offer/threat, A-Rod said he won't discuss his contract during the season. The shocking part? It was the right thing to say and it got the issue out of the press fairly quickly. While I think that was the pretty obvious way to handle the situation, it still surprised me because I half expected A-Rod to say something calculated but ill advised. Maybe he'd talk about his favorite ballparks, the desire to raise his kids in an area of the country. Maybe a reporter would successfully bait him on whether he's considered playing for Lou Piniella again or the fact that a team that signed him to an eight year contract would likely receive the priveledge of having him setting the all time home run record in their uniform. A-Rod made the wise choice and kept his mouth shut.

Needless to say, I'm really curious to see what happens at the end of the season.

If A-Rod does opt out, I don't want to see the Red Sox sign him. While I'll admit I was bitter when the Yankees made the trade to get A-Rod, I was relieved when the Sox/Rangers trade talks over A-Rod broke down. As a friend at the time said, it seemed like the Red Sox were trying to out-Yankee the Yankees. He's exceptionally talented and one of the best players in baseball, but I just don't want him on my team. I don't think the Mariners or Rangers missed his leadership when he left.

For lack of a better explanation, I don't think he plays the game the right way, either on or off the field.

Years ago, a reporter asked A-Rod years ago about how he felt about comparisons to Jeter, his close friend at the time. A-Rod pointed out that Jeter had it easier than he did because opposing teams didn't consider "shutting down Jeter" as the top priority to winning the game. Was that an accurate statement? Absolutely. Jeter was still a very good hitter at the time, but Jeter was probably the fourth or fifth most feared hitter in the Yankees lineup at the time. Even now, Jeter gets praised for playing sound baseball by bunting runners over in the eighth or ninth inning with the Yankees down a run. How many other superstars aren't asked to swing away in that type of situation? Very few. I felt the same way about Jeter / Nomar comparisons when the Red Sox offense relied on Mo Vaughn and Nomar, and not always in that order. But no matter how accurate and heartfelt A-Rod's comment was, it was also ill advised and really damaged his relationship with Jeter. A-Rod would have been better off keeping his mouth shut, changing the subject, or flat out lying. Actually, that's a big reason I was surprised and pleased to see A-Rod shut down the contract talk by simply saying it wasn't something he would address during the regular season.

On the field, the lasting images I have of A-Rod are him celebrating after a walkoff home run in April as if he was a reserve infielder just called up from AAA but choking in the clutch when it matters. The other memorable A-Rod moments are him slapping the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove in the 2004 ALCS and then proclaiming his innocence, shouting "Mine", "Got it", or "Hah" (depending on who you believe) to successfully cause a backup third baseman to think his shortstop was going to catch the ball, and popping up awkwardly out of a slide into second to elbow Dustin Pedroia in the groin. To call these types of plays bush league or even little league might be giving A-Rod too much credit.

In fact, when I saw this item at The Onion's on line store, I immediately thought of A-Rod. Sure, there are people who say "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" or who consider everything from the hidden ball trick to deking a runner to be cheating. Maybe cheating isn't even the right term, maybe "bush league play that is likely to get you drilled in your next at bat" is, though it's a bit verbose. Had A-Rod had another at bat in that Blue Jays game or series, I would have expected the first pitch to be at his backside and I would have been surprised to see his teammates rush to his aid. The "Mine" play is my personal favorite because not even Joe Torre came to his defense after the game.

I didn't want to see A-Rod wearing a Red Sox uniform in 2004 and I feel more strongly about that now. The only real question is, as a Red Sox fan, do I want to see him still wearing pinstripes in 2008?

Yes, the Yankees still scare me

It's mid-July, they Yankees are in third place, ten back and a game below .500. And yet they still scare me.

Simply put, they have resources like no other team in baseball. They can afford to pick up guys who are underperforming and have huge contracts even if those guys make only minimal contributions over their current players. If they have someone who is overpaid and is underperforming, they can ship the player out to another team while still paying most of his contract. As a Red Sox fan, I'm aware that the Red Sox have the ability to do this on occasion (how much are we paying Renteria this year and next to man short for the Braves again?) but not to the extent that the Yankees can. And if you think their resources are impressive now, keep in mind that they'll be playing in a new ballpark in 2009.

In other words, they have the means to address many weaknesses, which makes it tough to look at the standings and say "Ten back in the division, eight back in the wildcard, it's mid July and they're still below .500? Stick a fork in them!" They also have so many players on the team who are capable of putting together hot stretches that you almost expect the team to go through a couple stretches where they win eight in a row, sixteen out of twenty, etc.

I'm just not used to the Yankees struggling at this point in the season. It feels like being in a cheesey horror movie where you know the quasi-human villain isn't really dead, but one where your character is at least smart enough to observe the body from a distance rather than being the fool who stands over the body and says "I'm pretty sure he's dead."

It's so unnerving that back on May 30th, I sent the following mail to a friend who is a huge Yankees fan. (For those playing at home, the Yankees were thirteen and a half games back, and seven games below .500 and tied with the Devil Rays for last place at the time.)

What in the name of Billy Martin is going on in New York?

I was watching part of a Yankees game on YES over the weekend and I couldn't believe my ears. The announcers were talking about how the Yankees had gotten jobbed on two blown calls on stolen bases and a questionable strike call to end the game. No problem, it happens. (Especially since Jeter has all but patented the short-armed phantom tag on stolen base attempts.) What struck me was that the announcers said the Yankees were having a special meeting with MLB to discuss the calls. Ten minutes later, Michael Kay was talking about how the Yankees had just had a grueling stretch, facing three straight division leaders, and had acquitted themselves well by winning three out of eight games. He explained his logic in more depth by saying that if you combined those three teams' wins and losses, the rest of MLB had an average winning percentage of .350 against them, whereas the Yankees had just compiled a winning percentage of .375. The YES gang spent the rest of the evening talking about how Guidry led the team in '78 and how when one team faces more injuries than another team in the first half of the year, the commissioner's office instructs the injury fairy (who is apparently second cousin to the Aflac duck) to even things out after the all star break.

There are people pointing out that the Yankees flat out suck right now, right? No more "when you look at runs scored vs. runs allowed, we should be at least two games ahead of the Devil Rays" little victories or "if we sweep the next series, we'll be within eight games of the playoffs if the season were to end today" crap. I mean, there are actually sane Yankees fans on this planet who can look at what's going on intelligently, right?

I don't consider the season over by any stretch. I qualified "suck" with "right now". The Yankees still scare me. I'm assuming they won't stay in last place in the division for long. The Yankees have four pitchers on pace to pitch in over 80 games, but I trust Cashman will pick up additional serviceable relievers when Proctor, Myers and Vizcaino's arms all fall off. While I don't expect Posada will continue to hit over .350, I also don't expect Cano and Abreu to continue to hit below .250. I expect Cashman to fleece teams into somehow giving up Todd Helton, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana for Phelps, Pavano, some overhyped prospects who will completely wash out, a bag of balls and a blank check and go on an absolute tear in the not too distant future. I expect Jeter, Damon, Posada, Giambi, Cano and Matsui to take turns putting the team on their backs to eek out close games while A-Rod hits .800 with a 2.500 slugging percentage when the Yankees in games where either team is leading by at least four runs. I expect that at some point, there'll be at least a 50/50 chance that a Yankee starter can get through six innings and give up three runs or less. That, or Steinbrenner will actually name Costanza as the new GM.

Please tell me that there are Yankees fans who have some sense for what's going on with the team right now and that Michael Kay and Suzyn "That's the Most Dramatic Sandwich I've Ever Eaten" Waldman are just morons. I don't know why I need to know this, but I do. You're my only hope.

Thankfully, my friend has a sense of humor and didn't reply with something like "We so own you that even when we're fourteen games back you're scared."

Since that time, the Yankees have played better. They had a nine game win streak and are just a game below .500 at the time of this writing. (Although that does mean that apart from that stretch of games, they were still below .500.) If memory serves, their first twenty three games after the All Star break come against teams that are below .500, so they definitely have opportunities to get back on another hot streak.

Matsui and Cano have hit better. Jeter and Posada have cooled off a little but are still hitting well. Giambi's on the DL, though I've heard a few Yankees fans say that getting him out of the lineup is a huge plus for the team. Damon's struggled with injuries, has been in and out of the lineup and has even seen some time at first base. (Who had 1.5 seasons on the over/under for when the Yankees would start trying to move Damon? I thought he'd have an off year, but that Yankees fans would still be happy with the contract until the end of this year.)

I don't know what to make of A-Rod. His month-by-month OPS: 1.297 in April, .782 in May, 1.281 in June, .835 in July so far. He's having an incredible (contract) year, but he still doesn't scare me as much as guys like Jeter, Posada and Matsui if the game's on the line. A-Rod's contract situation and the Yankees' current stance fascinate me, but that's a topic for another post.

Clemens has not pitched well enough to justify his contract, but he has a lower ERA than Pettite, Mussina or Igawa and pitched better than you might expect from a soon-to-be forty five year old with a tired groin. Mussina has pitched better over the past six weeks. The Yankees haven't lost a starting pitcher in the past month or two and should have Hughes back in their rotation soon. The bullpen's still very much overworked. Farnsworth, Bruney, Myers, Vizcaino and Proctor are on pace to pitch in between 68 and 81 games each over the course of the season. I can't imagine their current non-Rivera relievers will be terribly dependable at the end of the season, but I still expect that the Yankees will pick up more serviceable relievers prior to the trade deadline. Otsuka and Gagne are the two names most commonly thrown out there in connection with the Yankees.

So what does this all mean? I keep telling myself that if the Red Sox play well that they make the playoffs and that's all that matters. And yet, I still peek at the Yankees' score while I'm watching or listening to the Sox. I check the box scores and laugh when I see Vizcaino and Proctor pitching in their third straight games. I cringe when I hear about MLB trade rumors that involve players who could help the Yankees (Teixeira and Helton come quickly to mind). I think about how the Yankees have yet to play their best ball.

I think about how the Red Sox have struggled over the past six weeks. Then I take a deep breath and exhale. I watch Papi put a ball into the right field seats at Fenway for the first time since April. I watch Crisp driving the ball to leg out a stand up triple. I watch Varitek put one into the center field bleachers. I watch Lugo place after a perfect bunt down the third base line. I watch Pedroia battle and battle and finally lift a ball over the second baseman to knock in a run. I see Crisp and Pedroia pull off a double steal. I watch Timlin run his scoreless innings streak into double digits. I watch Delcarmen start to trust his stuff. I see Drew looking comfortable in the leadoff role. I watch Hinske homer when he gets a start because Drew's hamstring is acting up. I remember that the Red Sox have yet to play their best ball either, but they have a ten game lead in the division.

Then I wonder what my father's friend, a die hard Yankees fan, will say during the Red Sox / Mariners games early next month and smile. As the t-shirts say, life is good.

At The Break

A ton of thoughts about what's happened so far and the rest of the season have been running through my head for weeks. I figured that creating a blog (like the other cool kids) would help me get the thoughts down on paper...er...HTML would help clear my head.

The All Star Break is winding down. I'm excited and anxious about the second half. I keep checking the standings to make sure they're right. Ten games up? That's real, right? I read all sorts of articles saying that if the Red Sox continue to play at least .500 ball the Yankees (or Blue Jays...hey, it could happen) would need to blah, blah, blah in order to catch them. We'll get to the Yankees in another post, but first let's take a closer look at the Sox.

The standings haven't changed much in the past month and a half, but that's part of what worries me. If my math is correct, the Sox have been playing .500 ball since June 1st. If you've been watching Manny, Big Papi, Drew, Lugo and Crisp hit over the past six weeks, this probably isn't much of a shock. What in the name of Papa Jack is going on here? There are too many nights where there's a single and/or a walk here or there, but if the wind's not blowing out, nothing's happening with the offense. I was at the extra inning loss in Seattle and watched the thirteen inning loss in Detroit and it feels like they haven't had a clutch hit since May. After two straight innings of missed opportunities, you could almost sense the fly balls, strikeouts and double plays coming. Tie game, top of the twelfth, bases loaded and one out? Sounds like a 5-4-3 ending to the inning.

Before I wonder about the team's hitting woes, let's hear it for Youk, Pedroia, Lowell and Varitek. You have to love the way Youk grinds out at bats and how both he and Pedroia always seem to be in the middle of any Sox rally. Hearing the fans cheer Yoooooouk at road games is always a treat. Pedroia is hitting as well as everyone expected. Yes, I'm kidding. Say what you will about Francona's stubbornness by continuing to stick by Timlin, but he's often made the right call when sticking with someone, like Pedroia this year and Bellhorn in 2004. Lowell and Varitek have been dependable (who expected Lowell to be tied for the team lead in homers at the break?) but you don't want to have to depend on those guys in the second half of the season.

Lugo, Drew and Crisp have strugged in the first half, but will we see more of the same for the rest of the season? Here's hoping the All Star break is exactly what Lugo needs to get out of his funk. Maybe Papi can help him change his last name since we saw that simply changing your number didn't help a former Red Sox shortstop. Crisp has been hitting the ball with more authority and has looked like the player he was prior to the injury early last year. I don't know what to make of Drew. He's looked completely lost so often this year, swinging and missing at pitches where he's badly fooled or making contact on weak swings. Given my vast experience playing the game (a year of T-ball and the following year where the fathers pitched the first half of the season) I have no idea how to tell when a player's problems are physical or mental, but it seemed like Drew was more confident and comfortable in the brief period where he hit leadoff. I'd love to see if he can find his groove again back in the leadoff spot with Youk hitting behind Papi.

Speaking of Papi, let's hope that he and Manny can get and stay healthy so they can get and stay hot. Ortiz has the highest OPS of the Sox regulars, but his power numbers and Manny's are way down from recent years and neither player has carried the offense this year for any stretch. Looking back at the extra inning game in Detroit, I'm still blown away that the Tigers intentionally walked Ortiz three times and Manny was unable to come through each time. Apparently, Papi's going in for an MRI. If he needs to go on the DL, waste no time. Let Manny DH, bring Ellsbury back up and get Ortiz healthy. As to Manny's struggles? Maybe he just needs to rub Tavarez' head more often.

I have to mention Mirabelli, partially because he's my Mother's favorite player. She and I were at a couple Sox/Braves games back in 2001, just after the Sox had picked up Mirabelli in a trade with Texas after Varitek had gone down with an injury. We had great seats for the Saturday and Sunday games and had a great view of Mirabelli spending most of those two games leaning over the dugout railing, talking non-stop to anyone and everyone who leaned over the railing. My mother has a signed Doug Mirabelli jersey and a Globe picture or three of him smiling held to the refrigerator by various magnets. I was at the game in San Diego where he was booed mercilessly by the Padres fans and was disappointed to read a Globe article that claimed that "Red Sox and Padres fans who were united only in booing Doug Mirabelli". I understand the Padres fans dislike him, but he never asked to be traded to the Padres and was told they'd traded for him so he could be their starting catcher...and then they signed Piazza. Both Towers and Mirabelli said things publicly that they shouldn't. The Padres fans side with Towers, and I'm sure I would too if I were a Padres fan, but I don't understand why so many people with Red Sox ties have taken shots at Mirabelli. If he can hit over .250 the rest of the way and catch Wakefield reliably, then leave Kotteras in Pawtucket. On a lighter note, he is remembered fondly (if comically) in San Francisco as I read one or two articles that referred to an area in the outfield as Mirabelli's Alley because he hit two triples to that area, including the first triple in the park's history.

The starting pitching hasn't been as dominant as some fans would hope, but they've been about what you'd expect. Beckett has been the pitcher most Sox fans expected he would be last year. I'll be honest and admit that I thought he'd struggle after coming back from the avulsion. Back when they traded for Beckett, I was hoping the Sox would also pick up Moises Alou to help toughen Beckett's skin. Dice-K has had flashes of brilliance, outings where he can't fool anyone, and the occasional inning where he can't find the plate. Prior to the last outing in Detroit, he had been pretty dominant. Is he making adjustments to pitching in the States and/or getting a better feel for which pitches of his will work on a given night? Or was the game in Detroit evidence that batters are more likely to adjust to him? Hmmm. Schilling has had great outings and awful outings and, as many would expect from a forty-something, is now on the DL. As with Ortiz, let's hope Schilling doesn't rush and comes back when he's healthy, preferably after an outing or two in the minors. Wakefield and Tavarez have had their moments and their struggles. You have to expect more of the same. Gabbard has been servicable and it will be interesting to see what happens when/if Lester is promoted. As everyone has been saying since April, if Lester can come back and pitch like he did while he was with the Sox last year, the starting pitching will be in great shape for the stretch.

The bullpen has been phenomenal. Okajima may well be the team MVP for the first half and Papelbon has been all but lights out. Delcarmen has looks great as of late. Lopez has done better than anyone could have expected. Donnelly pitched well while he was healthy, which is more than I expected. Snyder has been reliable. Timlin's recent outings may be proof that rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated. I'd still rather not see him in his old setup role until we've seen more, but I don't mind seeing him get an inning or two here and there when we're up or down three or more runs. If he can get close to his old form, he's a big help down the stretch on the mound. Plus, I just assume he's a positive influence on guys like Papelbon and Delcarmen. Pineiro has had his moments (a couple of them actually good) but he scares me. He lasted two batters longer than I thought he would in that extra inning game in Seattle. I was at that game and seeing him come in from the bullpen made me think of two things.

1. Shouldn't the Mariners bunt against the pitcher with the bum ankle?
2. The last Sox/M's game I'd attended that lasted this long was back in 2000. It lasted nineteen innings (eighteen and a half, really) and ended seconds after the Sox brought in an old Mariners castoff, Jeff Fassero, when Fassero gave up a home run to the first batter he faced.

Surprisingly, Pineiro lasted two batters and a third of an inning longer than Fassero did.

I thought Romero looked terrible and that releasing him was the right call. I remember hoping the Sox would pick him up in a trade in 2005, but from the moment they signed him I thought the move was a mistake. The sight of him coming in from the bullpen filled me with dread. I was shocked when I looked at Romero's stats just now. He had a sub-3 ERA in May and early June before the Sox cut him loose?!? Maybe I was too hard on the guy. He's yet to give up a run with the Phillies. His unique talents as a switch hitting reliever (seriously) are probably better served in the National League anyway.

So, here's my wish list for the second half of the season

• Papi, Schilling and Donnelly get healthy for the stretch run
• Manny goes back to being Manny and starts mashing the ball
• Youk continues to be Youk, ugly facial hair included
• Out of Lugo, Drew and Crisp, at least two of the three hit .280 the rest of the way
  
• Lowell avoids last year's second half swoon and gives Renteria back his glove
• Pena, who reminds me of Pedro Cerrano, butchers fly balls in a different uniform
• Varitek stays healthy and continues to hit the way he has - that .279 looks a lot better than last year's .238
• Pedroia continues to hit and manages his own inside the park home run to fuel the fire in the "Who's faster?" debate with Youkilis
• Ellsbury can bring back a little more life to the team if Papi needs to go on the DL
• Mirabelli goes back to being the happy chatty guy my Mom loves, who also catches Wake well and hits .250 or so
• Beckett continues to roll and doesn't need a trip to the DL, the doctor, or to Moises Alou
• Dice-K continues to adjust, rather than having the hitters adjust to him
• Wakefield finds his form once more
• Gabbard continues to be a serviceable option to pitch until Schilling returns
• Tavarez reminds his infielders where to throw the ball, acts as Manny's scratching post and pitches well, whether that's as a starter or a reliever
• Timlin finds his old form
• Delcarmen continues to shine
• Hansen finds his stuff and makes his way back to the majors
• Okajima continues to be the silent hero he hoped he'd be
• Papelbon stays healthy and continues to dominate
• The Sox play deep into October
  
• I get to fly home for another parade

That's not too much to ask, is it?