Opening Day 2012

Random thoughts while taking the day off to watch Opening Day

I'll really miss Terry Francona and Theo Epstein. It's a shame the 2011 season ended the way it did. Maybe it was time for a change, but they each deserve a lot of credit for 2004 and 2007. It's so rare that someone leaves on great terms, like Dave Roberts. All too often, players and management who should be revered eventually move on with ill feelings, like Keith Foulke.

Nice to see Ortiz go the other way for a double in the second. Much as I like Jon Lester, he's not close to being as effective as Justin Verlander. It's the fifth inning and the Tigers have put the lead off hitter on base in each inning so far. That's not a recipe for success. I'm very impressed that he's put up zeros so far given that every inning has started with the first batter reaching base. Lester continues to show that he's a very good pitcher but whether or not he is a true ace is still open to debate.

When there were rumors about the Red Sox hiring Bobby Valentine, I got nervous. Valentine has always struck me as someone who wants (and possibly needs) to be the center of attention and for everyone to know how right he is. Some of his assessments of players' strengths and weaknesses during Spring Training made me cringe. I believe it was Doubront who struggled in one start and did well in his following start. Valentine's comments following Doubront's improvement sounded like "He did really well because he listened to my advice. So long as he listens to me and does what I say, he'll do well." While I love Valentine's focus on fundamentals, I expect Valentine's general attitude will become a major problem this season.

Schilling is a complete hypocrite for claiming he knows what's going on in the Red Sox clubhouse and that the players already dislike Valentine, since this is the type of media opinion that he claimed had no merit when he was a player, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

What different feel the Red Sox have this spring, completely ignoring the managerial change. It's not just that many experts pick them to finish behind the Rays and Yankees. There are major questions about the corner outfield spots, shortstop, the rotation and the bullpen. The Red Sox' opening day DL probably has a higher salary than some second division teams.

The Scutaro trade still feels odd. Aviles may be adequate in the field and a possible upgrade at the plate, but I'll be very surprised if he's the starting shortstop in September. My hope is that the Scutaro and Lowrie trades weren't just small market salary dumps but a sign that Iglesias will be ready for the majors soon, that Aviles is a stopgap in the meantime and that Scutaro's salary could be used more effectively elsewhere. I'm OK with not knowing the true story. While it's confusing, it's still much better for the team than Lou Gorman announcing in advance who he intended to trade and then being surprised at his lack of negotiating leverage.

Can Bard pitch effectively for six plus innings at a time? If he and Doubront are effective as starters in the first few months of the season, what's their innings ceiling for the season? 170? I'm OK with the Sox giving both of them a shot, with Cook waiting in Pawtucket, a Dice K as a possible option around mid-season and Oswalt as a possibility.

I remember being surprised when the Yankees cut ties with Aceves and excited when the Red Sox signed him. It seemed like a good, inexpensive signing at the time. Who knew he'd be so valuable to the team in '11, let alone the opening day closer in '12? Best of all, he seems like a great mix of intelligence and Tavarez-esque bat shit crazy. The Globe had an article last year that mentioned him wearing #91 because Dennis Rodman was his favorite basketball player. He wanted to start, they let him try, told him "You didn't make the cut, but might need to take Beckett's start unless...wait...never mind, you're the closer." I'd bet if he had the option to personalize his uniform, a la the XFL, he'd change it to "Uh. Save Us."

I wish Varitek and Wakefield well. I'll miss watching bullpen catchers try to corral Wakefield's knuckler during pre-game warm ups. The pitch really did seem to move like he'd coated it with the wood repellant from It Happens Every Spring. The Red Sox should remember to send Dan Duquette a thank you note to commemorate their retirements. I really did get excited when the Red Sox signed Wake. I loved reading about him when he came up with the Pirates and about getting help from the Niekros. I love weird, underdog baseball stories like his - signed as a first baseman, wasn't going to make it, decided to give it a shot as a knuckleballer. Utility guys with five different gloves (Randy Kutcher), ambidextrous pitchers (Greg Harris), large, lovable and effective relievers (Rich Garces), pitchers who hit in a pinch outside of inter league games ( Dick Drago), utility players who pitch in a pinch (David McCarty), switch-hitting relievers (JC Romero), catchers who yell at their pitchers in effective but unintelligible Spanglish (Tony Pena), journeyman minor leaguers who eventually get their chance (Chris Coste), chronologically challenged players (Jamie Moyer and Julio Franco) and guys who reinvent themselves to keep playing (Wake, Ron Mahay and Rick Ankiel) always make me smile.

On to other sports...

Kudos to the Celtics for not going quietly. They've beaten the bad teams and lost to the good ones. I don't expect them to goo too deep in the playoffs, but they're battling hard and that's good enough for me.

I love seeing that there's still fire in Garnett. Ainge deserves a ton of credit for picking up Bass (for Big Baby) and Pietrus. Their lack of big men may or may not be exposed in the playoffs. They get killed on the boards by teams with a big front line, like the Lakers, but it's possible that won't do them in. They still struggle mightily in the fourth quarter if the other team plays good defense because their half court offense boils down to a contested outside shot by Pierce. Speaking of their offense...

Despite how Rondo racks up numbers, I still think he hurts the team a lot more than he helps in close games. The Celtics don't need him to score a ton in the fourth quarter. They just need him to be more effective in the half court set.

I watched the fourth quarter of the overtime game against the Knicks where Rondo put up ridiculous numbers but (at least while I was watching) Jeremy Lin was a catalyst in the Knicks' offense, causing havoc with his penetration that led to double teams and guys cutting into space and being open because of Lin, while Rondo looked like a spectator. Rondo's contributions to the half court offense involved giving up the ball at the top of the key and disappearing apart from an occasional offensive rebound or letting his defender play way off him and forcing a pass to Pierce, who is double-covered sometimes before he even receives the ball.

I love what Rondo does bring to the table but find it maddening that he's been in the league this long but still hasn't improved on his two most glaring late game weaknesses - the inability to keep the defense honest by hitting an uncontested outside shot, and the fear to go to the free throw line. I wish he'd fix at least one of those two gaping holes. I really hope I'm wrong.

The Celtics play the Bulls tonight. I may be able to watch. Rose may play. An ESPN article talked about him practicing. The link to the article actually said "Bulls Rose (groin) takes contact, to face Celts?" Comedy.

The Bruins have done well this season, despite battling some level of Lord Stanley's Hangover. At times they've looked unstoppable. Other times, bored. Last year's run was unbelievable. It's odd to think about how close they came to getting beaten in the first round by the Habs. Had Chara's skate been turned slightly, there would have been one less duck parade.

Speaking of coming so close, I loved the Patriots season. The Giants were the only team I worried about them facing in the playoffs. Scary flashbacks. And yet, had Brady connected with Welker late in the fourth or if the Pats recovered any of those fumbles... So close.

I still laugh when I see comments about the Patriots record against "winning" teams since they didn't beat a team in the regular season that finished above .500. Of course, the Pats really only had one opportunity to do so - against the Steelers. Had the Pats beaten the Giants in the regular season, that wouldn't have "counted" since the Giants would have then finished the season at 8-8. That's like comparing an 8th inning reliever's "save percentage" against a closer's. It's not really a save opportunity for the set up man since he's not going to be allowed to finish the game. Technically, had the Pats lost one of their games against the Jets, the Jets would have finished above .500, thereby making the other Pats win against the Jets a "quality" win. Absurd, but so is the entire argument about the Pats' record and their schedule.

The Pats received the standard divisional champ schedule - playing the other divisional winners in their conference. That two of the other three prior division winners finished at or well well below .500 (hello, Indianapolis!) should just make people more impressed by the Patriots' amazing run since the 2001 season. Even the season there the Patriots lost Brady in the first game, they went 11-5 and nearly made the playoffs rather than tank the season to get the #1 pick in the draft.

So what was the Patriots' record against teams that went above .500 against the rest of the league? 7-2. The Steelers, for comparison, were 5-4 against teams that were over .500 against the rest of the league.

I also had a good laugh when I heard one NFL fan on a local radio show say he was rooting for the quarterback who was a humble underdog coming out of college who had nothing handed to him, no one believed in him but he just worked hard to beat the odds and turned himself into a star. It took me a while to realize that this guy wasn't talking about the sixth round draft choice who was a backup in college and spent his rookie season as the fourth string quarterback. No, he was talking about the guy who was the #1 pick in the draft who, despite being guaranteed an enormous contract before ever taking a snap, said he'd never play for the team that wanted to draft him, instead forcing a trade to a big market in the Northeast. What an unassuming kid. What an underdog. What a feel good story. There's the guy to root for.

I love the Pats offseason moves - nothing overly big in terms of cost but nice pickups for depth. Let's see if they can find an improved pass rush in the draft and if Gronk can return to full Gronk-ness next season. Good luck to Law Firm.

The Jets pick up of Tebow may be a great move, especially since the Jets' offensive coordinator installed the wildcat under the Dolphins. It could also become a slow motion train wreck. Memo to Sanchez: If your teammates anonymously question your leadership and your response is to challenge them to say that publicly...you're actually helping to make their point.

MLB has an ad for its Extra Innings package where they show highlights from the end of the 2011 season, including Longoria's home run to send the Rays to the postseason. The funny part is that the voice over says "If a playoff clinching miracle falls into the stands and no one is there to watch, did it really happen?" They probably weren't trying to make fun of the Tampa Bay fans, but I'm surprised no one thought to alter the language slightly just to be on the safe side, given their attendance problems despite the team's success.

Lester pitched well, Verlander pitched better, the Sox rallied to tie it up in the ninth, and Melancon and Aceves combined to give up a run in the ninth. Get well soon, Andrew Bailey.

An Abrupt End To A Surprising Season

It was certainly an exciting Patriots season.  The Patriots fared much better in the regular season than anyone had expected.  A couple friends asked me about the season just as it was getting started.  I remember saying that I was already more excited about the 2011 season because of all the early round picks the Patriots held and that making the playoffs this year would be quite an accomplishment.  It was great seeing so many of the young players play well.  Then factor in the unheralded players who took advantage of opportunities due to injuries - Woodhead, Cunningham, Gerald Warren, Ninkovich, Graham, Fletcher, Moore and Deaderick all played well.  The Patriots weren't the only team to deal with a lot of injuries, but I don't remember a season where so many players picked up in the middle of the season were asked to play key roles on defense.  So while it's disappointing to see the team not advance further, it's hard to consider the season itself to be a disappointment.

The highlights for me were watching Gronkowski (I love my new shirt, Dad!), Hernandez and Woodhead this season.  Gronkowski is just a beast and I really look forward to both he and Hernandez contributing even more next year.  Maybe there really is something about Woodhead's height (or lack thereof) that makes him more of a threat on plays where he seemed to hide behind blockers and wait for something to open up.  I'd love to know if defensive lineman had any idea where he was.  Green-Ellis also deserves a lot of credit, along with the offensive line, for racking up over a thousand yards while getting very little attention.  Brady had a spectacular season.  I loved reading about Zoltan Mesko in the Globe.  He also made a tackle (I wish I could who he tackled and when) where the punt returner had picked up about thirty five yards before Mesko took him down hard along the sidelines.  The punt returner popped up and celebrated a little, then saw he'd been drilled by the punter and decided that celebrating might not be appropriate.

Through much of the season, it felt like the Patriots were winning with smoke and mirrors.  While their record was 14-2, they never really felt like a dominant team, even if they stood atop most late season rankings, power polls, etc.  The Patriots were more than happy to take advantage of other teams miscues, while trying to minimize their own mistakes.  Looking back, the Patriots wins against the Ravens, Chargers, Colts and Packers stood out more to me than blowout wins.  I still can't believe how many dumb mistakes the Chargers made (Goodman celebrating a reception by putting the live ball on the ground still cracks me up) and the Patriots still just barely escaped with a victory.  If the Patriots could jump out to a lead and force the other team to play catch up (and the other team didn't have Payton Manning behind center) then there was a relaxed feel to the game.  Otherwise, the games were tense, leaving us to wonder if the defense would be able to come through with a key stop or turnover despite generating minimal pressure on the quarterback and little experience in the secondary.  Plus, despite the fact that this has been a weakness in the Patriots offense for years, the Patriots running game really struggles to pick yards in key situations when everyone in the stadium knows they're about to run.  I love Green-Ellis but I think a major reason he's successful is that the defense generally has to respect the Patriots passing game.  When the Patriots go with a power running formation late in the game to try to run out the clock and the defense expects it, they rarely pick up the first down.

After the Browns game, the Patriots offense played magnificently from that point, but there was a recurring question before many games of "Will the opposing team be able to frustrate the Patriots offense the way the Browns did?"  That question ran through my mind before the games against the Steelers, Jets and Packers in November and December.  We kept hearing that those teams had strong defenses and might be able to slow down the Patriots offense.  While I still have no idea what the Jets coaching staff was thinking when game planning for their December matchup, they had a much better plan for their playoff game and the players played extremely well.

Speaking of the Jets, congratulations to the Jets on a great game.  Their defense did a great job against the Patriots offense.  I don't know much about defensive schemes, but it sure looked like their secondary had the Patriots confused.  The Jets defensive did a great job putting pressure on Brady, though a lot of the hits came from Brady being unable to find someone open.  All the yapping the Jets did after the playoff game, before the playoff game...hell, all season long makes the team look silly, but they played a whale of a game and deserve to have their season continue.

Looking ahead to next year (assuming the labor situation is resolved) I can't wait to see what the Patriots do in the draft and other offseason moves.  I hope they find a pass rusher or two and pick up an effective running back.  Will Fred Taylor or Sammy Morris be back?  Will the Patriots carry Faulk and Woodhead since they both seem to play similar roles?  Will McCourty, Chung, and Mayo get better?  Will Butler recover and contribute?  Will Meriweather ever manage to be half the player Pro Bowl voters think he is?  Will Ty Warren, Bodden, McGowan, Gostkowski and Brady come back strong from their injuries?  Will Alge Crumpler be back?  (I hope so.  I loved seeing Gronkowski and Hernandez celebrate Crumpler's touchdowns.)  Is there a better name for a blocking tight end than Crumpler?  Is there a stat to keep track of the percentage of time a defender has a clear shot at the quarterback and comes up with a sack?  If so, is Banta-Cain ranked last or slightly further back?  Do opposing running backs' eyes light up when he's in the game, knowing he's gunning for a sack on every play?  Do they laugh when they turn the corner to easily pick up 5+ yards because Banta-Cain (unsurprisingly) decided to go wide around the blocker?  Will Randy Moss still be in the league?

With a little re-tooling and a good draft, next season should be even more fun than this past one.  In the meantime, I already know I'm cheering for the NFC in the Super Bowl this year.

Game Time - Pats vs. Jets

I'm excited but nervous about the game. I don't know what Rex Ryan was thinking about for the last game between these teams. Their game plan, coming out in the shotgun and focusing on the passing game, was absurd. If I'm the Jets, I focus on running the ball, especially in multiple receiver formations. Force the Patriots to stop the run from passing formations and pass just enough to keep the Patriots defense from keying solely on the run. It doesn't seem like a difficult game plan to come up with.

For the Pats, contain the Jets running game and force Sanchez to throw on third down. On offense, give Brady time to read and dissect the Jets defense. Use Woodhead and the tight ends and score early to force the Jets to play catch up.

For the record, there are almost a hundred Pats fans in the back room at Spitfire here in Seattle.

Go, Pats!

Johnny Drama

Since everyone else has a take on the Johnny Damon drama, here's mine.

Now that he's left the Bronx, the first image that comes to mind when I think of Damon is his grand slam in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees. I still say that Ortiz' home run in the first inning was a bigger moment. Damon had just been thrown out at home prior to that home run and Yankee Stadium and Tim McCarver were going nuts. Mental images of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown were still bouncing in my head when Ortiz connected. My thoughts immediately went from "Not again. Not again. I still haven't recovered from 2003. Oh, please, not again." to "Holy crap! We might actually win this." I remember screaming triumphantly when Damon went deep. Don't believe any Red Sox fan who *knew* at that moment they were going to win. Damon's grand slam helped us all breathe easier but like in any horror movie, we knew the villain wasn't completely dead and that ghosts of Grady Little precented overly premature celebrations.

My point is that images of Damon in pinstripes don't come to mind first since he left the pinstripes behind. Sure, I think of him crashing into the left field wall in Yankee Stadium and lying prone while Melky Cabrera scurries over to get to the ball and chuckle at the image, but I still think of his moments with the Red Sox first.

Would Damon have helped the Red Sox over the final few weeks? Sure. He likely would have been a marginal upgrade over Nava or McDonald in left field, and an insurance policy to help keep Bill Hall out of the outfield. He could bat at or near the top of the lineup, allowing Francona to move JD Drew back down in the lineup. He wears down pitchers and is still a threat to go deep now and then. But we're not talking about Albert Pujols here.

Personally, I'm not disappointed to see Damon invoke his no trade clause and stay in Detroit. I'm amused by how he did it.

His first priority was to make sure he'd have significant playing time wherever he spent the rest of the season, and that he wanted to play the outfield. Chalk that up to his competitive behavior? Sure. But he'll also be a free agent at the end of the year, so getting as much playing time as possible down the stretch is important in terms of getting a contract for next year. I love that playing time was the biggest factor. He publicly said that if the Tigers weren't going to play him, then he'd accept the trade to Boston. Only when the Tigers said that he'd see significant time did the fact that it was the Red Sox who had claimed him become a factor in the decision making process.

Damon felt slighted because he didn't think the Red Sox pursued him hard enough after the 2005 season ended. The Yankees offered him 30% more than the Red Sox and he took the money. That's a significant chunk of change and an obvious factor in his decision. But the Red Sox were the only other major offer he received, so obviously they felt he was pretty valuable. Plus, keep in mind that the Yankees offer was a "sign now or it's off the table" offer. The Red Sox probably wouldn't have countered the offer, but it's not like the Red Sox made no attempt to sign him. They figured what he was worth to the ballclub and were ready to go in another direction if he wanted more. At the time of the discussions, I cringed at the thought of a four year offer for Damon since I didn't think he'd be an effective center fielder by the end of that contract. The Red Sox, at the time, were already set in left field and designated hitter. I just envisioned that the last two years would be a challenge to find him playing time without being detrimental to the ballclub. I would have been happy to see the Red Sox offer a shorter contract for more money per year, but four years was too much. At the same time, I really felt that if the Red Sox didn't sign Damon that the Yankees would and I didn't want to see Damon in pinstripes.

Earlier in the 2005 season, Damon talked publicly about his impending free agency and said that he could never imagine himself in pinstripes, even though the Yankees might make it tough for him to say no. He'd been in Boston for four years. He understood the fan base well enough to know that if he left the Red Sox, he would get a standing ovation upon returning to Fenway in any uniform other than that of the Yankees. But I don't think he understood that all of his public discussion of his contract negotiations, all of his complaints about the Red Sox disrespect by offering him only forty million dollars, and all of his immediate sucking up to the Yankees fan base would result in the level of venom he received when he returned to Fenway as a Yankee.

I would have loved to see Damon get the warm welcome he deserved. The kind of reaction that Dave Roberts, Kevin Millar, Orlando Cabrera or Derek Lowe received as a visitor. But those reactions are reserved for non-Yankees.

What made the outrage that much stronger in the Red Sox fan base was that this was possibly the player who most typified the Red Sox from 2002-2005, the changing of the guard from Dirt Dogs to Idiots. I'm not sure if people remember how many Sox fans had Damon jerseys and t-shirts, but to fans who saw Damon as they're favorite player talking about how much he loved the Yankees organization and how he was happy to ditch the Idiot look and go for the clean cut Steinbrenner look, this was a betrayal. The t-shirts saying "Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary" shirts made me chuckle. But the one that really laugh was one fan finding another use for his road Damon jersey, replacing the A in his name with a Sharpied E, removing the 1 and altering the 8 until it looked like a dollar sign.

Had Damon played in Fenway when the Tigers were in town, he would have gotten a warmer reception than he did in 2006. New York didn't initially embrace him, still seeing him as one of the Idiots. He was booed at a Rangers hockey game in New York shortly after signing his contract there. (Tip of the cap to Eric Wilbur on that.) But by handling the waiver wire situation the way he did, that reception will not be as warm in 2011 if he's still playing then. It won't be as bad as it was in 2006, but his statements and actions over the past couple days haven't exactly endeared him to Red Sox fans who booed him when he left.

Damon also loses some credit, in my eyes, for being a suck up. (Again thanks to Eric Wilbur's blog for this tidbit, link below.) As of this morning, his web site talked about his time with Boston and Detroit, but not his time in New York. Then, magically, it was updated later in the day to include his time in New York. He uses the media to try to endear himself to one fan base then another but doesn't seem to get that handling himself that way and then complaining about how one fan base sees him makes him look like a phony. Maybe he picked up tips on managing his image from A-Rod. Who knows.
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2010/08/last_rites.html

I wish Damon well, hope that he gets a contract somewhere other than with the Yankees, stops whining about how the Red Sox fan base and management hurt and disrespected him and enjoys the rest of his career. If I ever get the chance to meet him, I'll thank him for 2004 and would love to have him autograph a picture of his grand slam. In the meantime, I'm hoping guys like Nava and Kalish can help the Red Sox get to the postseason.

Go, Sox!

Leading Up To Game 7

I've been having running mails back and forth with a good buddy and huge Lakers fan. For some reason, I wanted to post my pre-game thoughts. Yeah, I'm insane. Anyway, here goes.

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I hate to sound like a pessimist or front-runner, but the only way I see the Celtics winning is if both Gasol and Odom have bad games. Short of that, I expect the Lakers to win going away tonight. I'm still hopeful and trying to stay positive, but the Game 6 blowout with Perkins going down feels like a punch to the gut and I'm waiting for the uppercut to the chin.

Let's hope for a good game and that the focus after the game is on the players of the winning team. If the Lakers win, congrats to them and the Celtics have every right to hold their heads up. A lot of people expected them to lose in the first round, including myself. If the Celtics win, congrats to them for running the D-Wade, LeBron, Dwight Howard, Kobe gauntlet and the Lakers have every right to hold their heads up. I hope there's minimal talk about either team or its players being labelled chokers, not showing up, not being able to win the big one, etc.

Biggest question for the Lakers: How will Bynum's knee hold up? If he can play effectively, that's a huge plus for the Lakers, especially with Perkins out. None of the Celtics bigs can match his athleticism. Even if he can't jump, he can outrebound any big the Celtics put on him. If he can play reasonably effectively, that makes things much easier for Gasol.

Biggest key for the Lakers: A big game from Gasol. If Gasol can score at least reasonably effectively and put Wallace and/or Garnett in foul trouble, this might be a blowout for the Lakers. A smart game from Artest on both ends of the floor would also go a long way toward helping the Lakers repeat.

X-factor 1 for the Lakers: Lamar Odom. If Bynum can't play effectively, it's up to Odom to help the Lakers take advantage of Perkins' absence. If Bynum can play, an even mildly effective Odom could still cause major headaches for the Celtics from a match-up perspective. I'd at least try putting Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum on the floor at the same time and force the Celtics to either play Davis, Wallace and Garnett at the same time or put Pierce on Odom. Going big like that seems like a no brainer to me. If the Celtics go big, they have to sit Rondo, Pierce or Allen. That's one less scorer unless they sit Rondo. If they sit Rondo, the Celtics can't run in transition as effectively and there's more work for Pierce or Allen bringing up the ball, especially if Fisher and/or Kobe pressure the ball. Plus, no matter what the Lakers decide, the Celtics can't use Tony Allen on Kobe unless they're willing to make things tougher on their other offensive players.

X-factor 2 for the Lakers: Kobe. I see Kobe as the second X-factor since he may see an absolutely dominating performance in a Game 7 against the Celtics as a way to cement his legacy. Simply winning should be enough for him but it may not be. The smart play is to try see if the Lakers can use the matchups to their advantage, racking up points and/or fouls, and having having the offense revolve around Kobe a little less. I may be way off base but I think there's at least a decent chance that he'll try to do more than he needs to. Then again, he's Kobe Bryant, and if he's on then that might work just as well for the Lakers as exploiting matchups.

Biggest question for Celtics: How will they defend the Lakers bigs? If they can't do a decent job against the Lakers bigs, they're looking at a less than jovial flight home.

Biggest keys for the Celtics: A big game from either Pierce or Ray Allen and a smarter game from Rondo. The Celtics need one of their scorers to step up and they need Rondo to do a much better job running the offense. He made too many lazy and/or ill-advised passes on drives and attempted too many wild shots on drives, trying to get enough English on the ball to use the glass from bad angles.

X-factor 1 for the Celtics: Rasheed Wallace. This is exactly the type of situation they signed him for, looking for him to help out when they need him in a big game. Can he play solid defense, rebound and help a little on offense for thirty five minutes?

X-factor 2 for the Celtics: Scalabrine. And yes, I'm completely serious. I don't think the Celtics can expect to go with just Garnett, Wallace and Davis as their bigs. Shelden Williams was absolutely atrocious in Game 6. I have more faith in Scalabrine than Williams. He's not as athletic as any of the Lakers bigs and couldn't shut any one of them down if they're on their game, but he plays smarter defense than he's usually given credit for and might be effective for a small stretch here or there, especially if Kobe's in hero mode. Scalabrine must be beyond rusty, but he also has more offensive upside than Williams if he can knock down a three. Frightening thought, Scalabrine being a potential X-factor for the Celtics.

Deja Vu All Over Again?

Wow.

A lot of the Sox fans out here in Seattle took over the Owl & Thistle last night for Game 6. We couldn't get the back room at our usual haunt (Spitfire) and the owner of the Owl & Thistle is a Sox fan, so it was the best available fallback option. It was a better backup option than TBS'. We turned on TBS expecting to see the pregame, only to find Bloopers and Practical Jokes, followed by the Steve Harvey Show. I had to call my Dad to make sure we were on the right channel. Then Mom called to keep me up to date with Crisp reaching and then getting picked off. Thankfully, a few people had their internet-enabled cell phones pointing at the mlb.com web site so we knew about Upton's home run before the TBS broadcast resumed.

My biggest hope for the game was to see Beckett channel Pedro back in Game 5 of the '99 ALDS, to just gut and guile it out without his best stuff. I figured if he could just keep the Rays at bay for five innings or so...maybe we could force a Game 7. I smiled as the TBS announcers made a comment about Pedro's performance in that playoff game later in the inning.

What the hell is going on with the TBS announcers, by the way? I know they're not technically Rays announcers, but it sure seems like it. Even the on screen graphics seem a bit slanted. When the Rays have a runner on first, we're treated to tidbits about the number of stolen bases by the Rays or that player. When the Red Sox have a runner on first, the graphics point out how many double plays the batter has hit into. When Beckett took the mound for the bottom of the third after Youuuuuuk's second RBI, TBS showed a graphic saying that Beckett had been given four leads so far in the playoffs and had given the lead back in the next half inning each time. I was half expecting a graphic when Francona was on camera saying that he didn't support the troops.

The only pitcher to cough up a lead last night was "Big Game" James Shields, and on the very first batter. I'm at a complete loss as to how he got his nickname. I even looked up Shields' stats, figuring that maybe he'd pitched with another team and had won a big game. Nope. He's now 0-2 in his the two biggest games of his career. Maybe someone with the Rays was a Lakers fan back in the 80's and tried to re-use James Worthy's nickname to build up Shields' confidence. That's the only possible explanation.

Speaking of someone who needed a confidence builder, how about 'Tek? I hope the Sox brass re-signs him for two years, that he gets his batting average back up over .260 and that the Sox manage to come up with a prospect to try to fill his shoes once he's ready to hang them up.

The Sox bullpen did quite the job, not giving up a hit for the next four innings. I'm still having trouble believing that Okajima got through two innings. I really expected Tito to go with Delcarmen for the seventh, especially the bottom of the Rays' lineup was due up that inning. Masterson looks great when he remembers to slow down, breathe and throw strikes. Papelbon sounds exhausted according to quotes in the Globe sports page, but the Rays' batters looked like the ones who were exhausted in the ninth.

And the Sox have forced another Game 7. Mercy.

Game 5 - Live From Imperial Lanes in Seattle

One thing you can say about the Sox - they're rarely boring.

I watched the early innings of Game 5 at an Irish pub before heading out to my bowling night. No, I hadn't given up when it was 5-0. Hell no. I got to bowling a little early, talked to the folks in charge and got them to put TBS on the monitors over a couple empty lanes. Then I bribed three teams to make sure my team was next to those monitors.

People kept coming over to check on the score. A couple of those people had Red Sox gear on. Other people near my lane asked how many of them were bandwagoners and drew some icy stares in return. Right after Paps gave up the double to make it 7-0, a bowler on one of the other teams (who had just helped finish off a pitcher of beer I'd provided as part of the lane shift) started flipping me shit about the game. "It's early yet" was all I said.

I'd love to say I *knew* the Sox would come back and win the game when it was 7-0. All I could do was hope. "If Pedroia can just knock in a run, maybe that'll start something..." "If Papi can take Balfour deep, then it's a three run game..."

After Papi's home run, I walked past the other lanes, finding the Sox fans and giving a couple quick updates. More and more people came over to check the monitors, heading back to their lanes only when it was their turn to bowl. Gimme spares were missed. Drew homered to make it a one run game. Crisp knocked in the tying run but ended the inning trying to take second. My cell phone buzzed again. Dad. We were both a little shocked, a little giddy and a little angry by Crisp's aggressiveness on the basepaths, but we figured you cut a guy a little slack for coming through with the hit there.

By the time Masterson got Pena to ground into a double play and the Sox ninth was kept alive by a bad throw by Longoria, most of the teams had finished bowling for the night. The Sox fans headed to the bar area where we watched JD Drew's game ending ground rule single. The bar area erupted. My cell phone buzzed and my Dad and I celebrated together despite the distance. I headed back to my lane, finished my string and let my thoughts drift to something I hadn't expected. Game 6.

The Texas Con Man

The Clemens / Mitchell report brouhaha fascinates me.

My initial reaction to the Mitchell report was skeptical. Although I'll admit that I enjoyed seeing a lot of Yankees players listed in the report, it also bugged me that someone affiliated with the Red Sox was in charge of the report. I didn't want the perception that specific teams were singled out while others were protected. The night before the Mitchell report came out, I remember dreading the thought of seeing Big Papi listed in the report. No one wants something like that to taint happy memories.

I believe that a good percentage of players have been using steroids and/or HGH. I'm no Mitchell report expert. I've read articles and summaries but haven't tried to wade my way through the actual report. What really surprised me was that a lot of what was in the report was such hearsay and could really affect how players were perceived. The link to Brian Roberts was the one that seemed most tenuous. Did anyone really believe that Brian Roberts (Brian Roberts?!?) had used steroids? Whoops! Apparently, he has. Roberts admitted that he'd used steroids once.

Personally, I think that players who used them should (and likely will) have a tougher time getting into the Hall of Fame. I don't care that they were competing against other players using performance enhancing drugs. Does anyone look back at Shoeless Joe and the Black Sox and say "Gambling was rampant and a lot of players probably fixed games at some point. What if we just look at their careers prior to the 1919 World Series?" The tough part can be determining where to draw the line. Do you think that the player's performance was affected by the drugs and/or did the player's decision to use the drugs affect the integrity of the game?

I have less of an issue with players that used steroids or HGH to recover from an injury. Yes, it's against the rules. Players who get caught doing this should receive an appropriate suspension. Yes, Rodney Harrison comes to mind. Andy Pettitte comes to mind, too, but we'll get back to him in a bit. I don't think that simply having used steroids and/or HGH to recover from an injury warrants keeping a player out of the Hall of Fame. It's still a gray area for me, but I don't lump "one time" offenders in with players who have been on doping schedules for years.

When Clemens' name appeared in the Mitchell report, I was surprised. Long before the Mitchell report, a good friend of mine sent me a link to an article that talked about steroid rumors and wondered why Clemens had gotten a free pass since much of the suspicion around Bonds stemmed from the dramatic improvement late in his career. The article pointed to Clemens' last four years with the Red Sox and then the resurgence with the Blue Jays and Yankees in the "twilight of his career" and wondered why Clemens' performance wasn't treated with more of a skeptical eye.

Admittedly, I have my own biases as a Red Sox fan. Most Red Sox fans' recollection of Clemens during those last four years was that he simply wasn't in shape. He perceived the Red Sox' contract offer as a slight, took the biggest offer he received in that offseason (despite repeatedly saying he could only imagine himself pitching for a team from his home state of Texas and could never pitch against the Red Sox, so he was pretty sure if he left that he'd go to Houston), worked out like a madman and was dominant once again. I'm guessing that, like most Red Sox fans, I watched him pitch in Toronto and said "This is how he should have been pitching with the Sox". In my mind, Clemens was simply back. All it took was some extra cash and extra motivation.

When Clemens first pitched against the Sox in Fenway and stared up at Duquette's seats after pitching a masterpiece, I was actually pleased for him. In his second season in Toronto, my opinion started to shift. Where had this guy been for the last few years? Of course, when he demanded a trade to the Yankees, all bets were off. Wiping his sweat onto Babe Ruth's monument at Yankee Stadium, his constant announcements about how retired/unretired he is on any given day, announcing his nth comeback over the Jumbotron from George Steinbrenner's private box, etc. all affected my opinion of him.

With all that said, I was still surprised to see Clemens not just listed on the Mitchell report, but as one of the second most frequently referenced player in the report behind Barry Bonds. The information in the report seemed a little iffy until Pettitte admitted that McNamee had injected him with HGH in 2002. Combine this startling announcement with the fact that McNamee can go to jail if he lied and the questions in my mind went from "What is McNamee's motivation to point the finger at Clemens?" to "Why would McNamee tell the truth about Pettitte's use of HGH but lie about Clemens?"

All of Clemens' bluster in the past couple weeks has only made him look more guilty. It's all so staged. Put out a press release about how upset you are and how you've hired OJ Simpson's private investigators to uncover the truth. Do an emotional nationally aired interview with your favorite reporter lobbing you softball questions. (Given how crying seemed to change New Hampshire's opinion of Hilary Clinton, maybe Roger should have chosen Barbara Walters to handle the interview so she could get him to cry.) Record conversations with your "friend" and try to get him to slip up. Play the recording to the press and make believe it helps prove your point. Get visibly upset when talking to reporters, wonder why no one gives you the benefit of the doubt given how true you've always been to your word and claim you don't care about the Hall of Fame. File a lawsuit. Stay on the offensive.

I'm really looking forward to the Senate hearings. Actually, it's not so much the hearings themselves I'm interested. It's the aftermath. I fully expect Clemens and McNamee will each tell their side of the story. He said / she said. They'll each look bad but neither will say they've lied. Which means that at least one of them is lying under oath. We know how well that's received. The Senate will release the hounds on both of them until they uncover something that proves that one of them is lying. That's no skin off McNamee's nose since he already goes to jail if he lied.

It's Clemens who is upping the stakes now, but only for himself. It's all he can do to try to salvage his image. But maybe while Congress is rescheduling hearings, Clemens should ask Bonds how much he's been enjoying the investigation that followed his denials before Congress and whether trying to salvage his image was worth it.

Catching Up On The Boston Sports Scene

The Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots are riding a collective twenty two game win streak. As Ned Martin would say, "Mercy".


The Red Sox:

I was impressed by how many people turned out for the World Series parade given the timing (twenty four hours notice for a Tuesday noon parade) and I was thrilled to be able to fly home and attend the parade with my Mom. We even stopped at Taco Bell for our free Tacos on the way home afterwards. Thanks, Jacoby!

There was a woman just in front of us in line who, after standing in line for about ten minutes, turned and asked me what a taco was. I explained the general concept to her - crunchy vs. soft, etc. My Mom and I stayed an extra couple minutes to witness this woman take a bite from her first before leaving. In case any Taco Bell executives are reading this blog (Are there actual readers?) the woman opted for the soft taco and seemed to enjoy it. It's safe to say Taco Bell now has some new loyal customers in the Boston area as a result of the marketing campaign. There was even a television crew that set up shop for a good thirty seconds to get footage of the people in line.

I love the Schilling signing, an obvious win-win for both the Red Sox and for Schilling.

I try to remember to trust in Theo, since he made the right call by not matching bad contract offers to Pedro or Damon, but I dread the thought of Cashman talking to Mike Lowell and his agent, quietly nodding his head and saying "Sounds great. In fact, we'll even give you an extra $1M per year. I won't keep you long. The offer's good for the next five minutes. Sure, I think I have a pen around here somewhere. What? Oh. Today's the 19th." I believe Lowell when he says he wants to stay with the Sox but if the Yankees guarantee a fourth year and offer more per year than the Sox (and if I were Cashman, that's exactly what I'd do) then for Lowell to re-sign with the Sox would involve leaving $15-$20M on the table. It's tough to imagine he'd turn that down. I don't believe the reports from New York where Cashman has said he assumes Lowell will re-sign with the Sox. In fact, I expect to keep checking ESPN's site on a semi-regular basis with some dread until Lowell eventually signs a contract with someone. If that surprises you, you don't understand Red Sox fans.


The Celtics:

I was able to catch the second half of the Celtics v. Nets game recently. It's fun to watch the Celtics moving the ball around. Plus it's amazing to watch Garnett's infectious intensity and passion for the game. He was one of my favorite players to watch when he was with the Timberwolves and I'm still amazed that he's playing for the Celtics.

The team is just so much more fun to watch now, and not just because they're winning. When the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference finals a few years ago, I paid attention but wasn't able to enjoy watching the team play. Jim O'Brien got the most out of that team and got them to fight hard, but watching the team on offense was generally painful with far too many isolations and ball hogging. I still have flashbacks of Antoine Walker, who was a great passer when he remembered to pass, deciding that he was going to score in a way that was obvious to everyone in the building, including the defense, eventually going one-on-four before coughing the ball up or putting up an ugly shot.

This team is a lot more fun to watch because they're taking pride in distributing the ball. I believe Paul Pierce is a great player and that winning is more important to him than points, but he's never struck me as being a vocal leader. He's more likely to lead by example. To have Garnett on the team wanting to win, constantly preaching "team", backing it up with his passion, his general approach and helping the team win makes an enormous difference. I'm excited to try to catch a game while I'm home for Christmas. In fact, I'm going to try to change my flight back to Seattle so I can get back in time to see the game in Seattle. I haven't seen a Celtics game in Seattle since the days of Dino Radja, back in that one season that the Sonics played in the fabulous Tacoma Dome.


The Patriots:

It's fun watching the Patriots these days. The Patriots' brass deserves a lot of credit for upgrading (egregious understatement) the wide receivers and rightly so, but I would have expected that it would take a while for the passing game to gel because of the complete turnover at the position. Granted, that's based on my vast experience playing Nerf football at recess, so there's a chance I'm off a bit here. However, it is nice to see that Brady is now getting credit for more than just being a quarterback who "operates well in the system". In the Patriots first Super Bowl run, Brady seemed better known for throwing screen passes and not making mistakes rather than being a "great quarterback". It's nice to see him get credit for more than just being the quarterback on a winning team.

The Patriots hate also fascinates me. Simply put, I think that football fans had already had enough of the Patriots winning before this year started. I think that we (collectively) get tired of anyone winning constantly. Toss in the Red Sox' recent success and the Celtics sudden re-entrance into the NBA elite and there are a lot of people tired of happy Boston sports fans. I was tired of watching Jordan win NBA titles and kept hoping someone else would beat the Bulls back when they were on top. Much as I appreciated Jordan, seeing him win was getting old. I wanted to see Barkley or Malone finally get a ring instead of seeing Jordan win his sixth. I'm assuming most people who aren't Patriots fans were happy to see Manning finally win a Super Bowl. The Colts were now the top dog in the AFC and the Patriots run was over.

Except that it wasn't. And not only was the Patriots run not over, they'd addressed one of their biggest weaknesses by picking up a player who has a bad image in a deal that felt like the Yankees overpaying for the most expensive free agent in a way that no other team could. Add to that the videotaping scandal and the odd way the NFL handled it by asking for more evidence after issuing the initial punishment and then destroying that evidence while being rather evasive about what they found. Add to that mix Harrison testing positive for HGH and Belichick's general pleasant nature and snappy dressing and penchant for running up the score and kicking puppies and... We have ourselves the first "villain" team since the "glory" days of Al Davis' Raiders.

Except that they're not. The Patriots could not go simply outspend small market teams like the Yankees, Knicks, New York Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, or (tough as it is to admit) Red Sox could to acquire a player Moss because of the NFL's hard salary cap. In fact, they underpaid for him since Moss restructured his contract and took a pay cut to get out of Oakland. Feel free to hate Moss if you think he wasn't playing his hardest in Oakland, but the Patriots aren't to "blame" for picking him up. Brett Favre lobbied hard for Green Bay to get Moss and if Brett Favre had his way, Moss would be a Packer right now. Had that happened, I think the Packers would be getting some "win one more for Favre before he retires" love instead of the reaction the Patriots have gotten for the signing.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the sideline camera videotaping the opposing defense's signals leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I don't want to think teams I support need to resort to shenanigans like that. But I think it's a little much to imply that the Patriots videotaping the Jets defensive signals in the first half of the first game gave them a competitive advantage in that or any other game this year. The Patriots were penalized a first round draft pick based on the actions in that game alone. The NFL asked for other material gained by videotaping after issuing that punishment and decided no additional punishment was necessary. So, according to the NFL, the Patriots did nothing outside of that game that warranted punishment.

Seeing a player on the Steelers (was it Hines Ward?) say that now that he thinks about it...it was a little odd that the Patriots seemed to know what the Steelers offense was going to do in a playoff game five years ago is silly when you consider that the Patriots were recording defensive signals. Hearing Shula say that the Patriots legacy is tainted because they were penalized for an act so serious that they're losing a first round pick is comical when you consider that Shula's Dolphins were forced to forfeit a first round draft pick by breaking NFL rules by negotiating to hire Shula while he was still under contract with the Colts. Classic.

Harrison tested positive for HGH and was suspended according to the league rules. No Patriots fan I know thinks it was OK for Harrison to take HGH, but you don't see constant backlash against the Chargers organization because of Shawn Merriman using HGH. Treat Harrison the same way all other offenders have been treated. Except, unlike Merriman, don't vote him to the Pro Bowl.

The real focus of hate for the Patriots, beyond people simply being tired of them winning, is Belichick. He's far from the only non-likable coach around. The videotaping scandal didn't help his general image, but I think the bigger issue people have with them is how the Patriots have closed out games this year. They're winning big, scoring a lot of points and may set some records along the way, but the bigger concern seems to be the Patriots running up the score when the game is already decided.

Thinking purely of the scores of the Patriots games this year, I'll been a little embarrassed, at least initially. In fact, while watching the Cowboys game, I wanted the Patriots to take a knee or settle for a field goal late in the game rather than trying to run for a touchdown. The intense hate the Patriots have gotten as a result, especially when voiced by a couple close friends, made me think about the situation more closely. I've read articles and blogs on both sides - some logical, some passionate. I wasn't surprised to read that there were a number of parallels to recent teams (including the classy Colts a couple years) that had blown out teams in stretches like the Patriots had, but without the intense hate, but that's beside the point. In my mind, the point is more Machiavellian. The more I see out of the Patriots, the more I feel I understand Belichick's motivation in those situations, and I don't mean that in the sense that his motivation is to tell the rest of the league "screw you" or to try to consistently beat the spread. Here's what I see better now in hindsight.

The Patriots have brought their backup QB into games early in the fourth quarter when the games looked well in hand. That could be a sign of respect (i.e. not further running up the score) a way to get Cassel some reps or simply a way to rest Brady. In the Miami game, the Pats defense struggled and Cassel gave up a pick returned for a touchdown and suddenly the game wasn't so much in hand with 10+ minutes to go, especially given the fact that the Patriots couldn't run the ball. Brady came back in, threw a quick touchdown and things were back "in control". I couldn't find a game log to confirm this, but I seem to remember Cassel coming back in to finish that game. I'm sure Belichick would like to get Cassel some more reps before next year's pre-season, but Cassel has proven he can get the other team back into the game in a flash, which may make Belichick think twice (or more) before inserting him into a game that early again.

The Patriots don't have the running game they had in previous years. Even before Morris got hurt, this team struggled to run the ball. In traditional running situations, the Patriots pass the ball out of necessity, not disdain. Last year the Patriots could grind out first downs late in the game by having Corey Dillon bowl people over, especially in situations where they needed a yard or two to keep the drive and the clock moving. Regardless of whether Maroney isn't that type of runner or the offensive line isn't as effective, the Patriots don't have the ability to overpower the defense and pick up the two or three yards they need. When they're faced with a third and two and they need a first down, you don't typically see them running the ball even if they're trying to close out a game.

I mentioned earlier that I was a little embarrassed to see the Patriots giving the ball to Eckel for the touchdown late in the Cowboys game. I expected the Pats to bring out the field goal unit on fourth down or just take a knee at that point to hand the ball back to the Cowboys. But now that Morris is done for the year, the Patriots are probably one running back injury away from having to rely on Eckel in a close game which is even more important when you remember that Maroney has had problems staying healthy. Maybe getting Eckel a couple touches in a safe situation is something that means he'll be more in synch with the offensive line when the Pats need him to pick up a couple yards in the red zone or on a key third down late in the game. Or maybe the Pats coaches have a better sense for what plays put Eckel in the best position to pick up those yards.

The Patriots defense is strong, but it may not be as strong as it has been in previous years. Given how Addai seemed to tear holes through the Patriots' defensive line in the first three quarters of the Colts game, I was shocked that the Colts didn't go to him more often in the fourth quarter, especially since I thought Addai's running was the biggest reason the Colts beat the Pats in the AFC title game last year. The Patriots' cornerbacks still make me nervous and I still think Asante Samuel is terribly overrated. When the Colts got the ball back after the Patriots took the lead, I had awful mental images of Manning torching the Patriots' secondary right up until he coughed up the ball to seal the game. As last year's AFC game showed, this defense can give up a big lead if they have to stay on the field for a prolonged period of time, which is more likely to happen when you can't run the ball effectively. That's especially true when the defense is missing key players like Harrison and Seymour, guys they were missing for the first six games of the year.

Prior to the Colts game, the Patriots had not had to play hard in the fourth quarter. We've all seen teams, usually at the college level, who are untested since they've played a creampuff schedule suddenly look out of sorts in their first close contest of the year. Is there a chance that the Patriots playing hard late in other games enabled them to be less winded in the fourth quarter of the Colts game when they needed a comeback?

So, you have a team with and minimal ability to pick up a first down on the ground in situations where that's what everyone expects them to do and a less-than-elite defense. Obvious solution: Throw the ball and score a lot of points.

The more I see who the Patriots are, the less of a problem I have with them throwing the ball or in getting a backup running back touches in the red zone when some might say they already have "enough points". Are there limits to this view? Of course. I don't want to see the Patriots going for an onside kick while up twenty-some-odd points like an NCAA team did recently. But if the Patriots are up seventeen with the ball at the start of the fourth quarter, I don't expect to see them effectively ensure a three and out by trying to run Maroney three straight times.

I don't blame other fans for seeing things differently, since I'm sure I would if the situations were reversed. I also don't blame other coaches for complaining, especially when coaches look for any "us against the world" motivational edge. In fact, I fully expect Belichick is using all the Patriots hate to further motivate the team.

But getting back to the whole running up the score issue... Maybe, just maybe, this is a situation where a coach who knows what it takes to win a Super Bowl (something you don't have the opportunity to do in most seasons) knows that playing hard in the fourth quarter in a game whose outcome already appears decided isn't about making a statement in that game but is more about making sure the team is prepared to win in games later in the season.

Or maybe as a Pats fan, that's just how I choose to perceive the situation.

I love a parade

I've said it before but...wow.

Tessie has been running through my head for the past twenty four hours. I'm overtired but smiling constantly and every once in a while wonder how everything fell into place. Then I picture Varitek leaping into Papelbon's arms and Tessie starts playing again.

It was great watching the games at a local bar here in Seattle that the Boston fans have taken over. The back room had about thirty or forty Red Sox fans by first pitch and there were about seventy in the room when the game ended. People even brought iPod/Zune/whatevers and plugged them into the sound system to play Take Me Out To The Ballgame and Sweet Caroline between innings of the game. After the game, we were treated to Dirty Water and Tessie.

A couple minutes after the game ended, I sat in one of the comfy couch seats, watching the players celebrate on the field while people who may or may not have met before high fived each other and bought celebratory champagne and shots.

I still wonder how the ball Jamey Carroll hit stayed in the park, or how Timlin continues to get people out or how the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch of the last two games continued to give the Colorado fans hope but Papelbon simply would not let the Rockies come back all the way. I sent countless text messages to a friend believing that Francona was overusing Okajima and Papelbon in the last two games, actually expecting those home runs before they happened, that Timlin was running on fumes and should not be allowed to come out to start the seventh inning in Game 3. I had conversations with other people near me at the bar between innings where we threw out ideas as to who should pitch which inning. Forgive me, but after Game 3, I even started thinking the Red Sox should bolster their bullpen like the Yankees did in the ALDS by putting Dice-K on the DL and replacing him with Tavarez just to have another reliever available.

And yet...the bullpen held on when it had to. We got an insurance run here or there. If Kielty isn't the only player to homer on the only pitch he's seen in the World Series, he's at the very least in select company. One pitch. 5.000 OPS. Nicely done. Papelbon started looking a little gassed, especially on Carroll's deep drive, but he held on.

Speaking of Papelbon, it's time for me to wrap up this post. I need to finish packing and head to the airport to get back to Boston in time for the parade. I'm taking United red eye with a connection in Chicago, just like I did in 2004. I remember having a two and a half hour layover, and getting to the terminal in Chicago two hours before the flight. Two other fans wearing Sox hats and/or shirts there already. Every few minutes, more people, some individuals, some couples, some families. We all had that "I still can't believe it" look in our eyes. By the time they started boarding, it was obvious that more than half the people on the plane were headed for the parade.

Of course it's different this time. This isn't as cathartic. There's no "They finally won in my lifetime. All this devotion wasn't simply a waste." But it's fresh enough that winning in 2007 stirs a lot of the emotions from 2004. And more importantly...

I keep remembering how it felt to sit in that comfy leather chair, watch the celebration on the field and the celebration around me, smile and think to myself "This never gets old."

Thoughts leading up to Game 3

We're up 2-0 in the series, but as a true Red Sox fan, I'm worried leading up to Game 3.

Playing Ortiz at first base worries me. If I were the Rockies, I'd drop a few bunts up the first base line to test him. Even if Ortiz handles them well, I worry about the wear and tear at first on his bad knee. I'd much rather have Papi pinch hit for the pitcher (or Lugo) in the late innings. The situation isn't a surprise to Fancona. Hopefully, he's talked to Ortiz, worked him out at first and has figured out that this is the right move for the ballclub.

Has someone been working with Dice-K to help him (and Varitek) understand how the thin air affects his breaking pitches? Does he get to use the special Coors Field humidor balls when he's warming up? Have they used the special Coors technology to apply an indicator to the balls that turns blue when they've reached the correct weight?

I'm hoping Schilling's thrown his last pitches of the season (for obvious reasons) and it was great to see him hold the Rockies down for five and a third. Schilling's no longer the pitcher he was, but I hope Theo has a talk with him after the season and makes an offer for an incentive laden contract. I think he's making the right adjustments at this point in his career and has another one or two 12W 8L 4.25ERA seasons left in him.

I'm not sure who deserves the credit for giving Okajima a breather down the stretch (Theo, Francona, Farrell, Timlin) but I'm convinced that rest was exactly what he needed in order to be dominant once more in the postseason.

Yes, it's goofy, but I'm glad that "Tacoby Bellsbury" is responsible for the free tacos for everyone.

It was great to see Game 2 be a tight game from the first pitch to the last. Of course, it was even better to see the Sox prevail. Truth be told, I didn't see the top of the ninth. I know, I know. Blasphemy. My bowling team was in the playoffs and I was worried that if I stayed 'til the end of the game, I would have gotten to bowling late. I'm OK with missing out on things like that unless it affects friends of mine. I even volunteered to drive one of the people on the team who doesn't have a car to force my own hand a bit. I did get back to the car before Papelbon threw the first pitch in the ninth and listened to the rest of the game on the drive to the bowling alley.

A group of fifty or sixty Red Sox fans have been watching the playoffs at a bar in Seattle. We take over the entire back room and the staff generally closes the doors between the back room and the rest of the place because, apparently, we're rather vocal. For Game 2, there was a private party in the back room so we had to find space in the main section, which was awful. No couches, it took forever to get a drink, etc.

I'm not sure if it was the change in the atmosphere at the bar or the other fans' attitudes about the series with the Rockies, but there was a lot less life in the fans. That's not quite right. Focus. That's it. There was much less focus on the game. Even late in the game when Okajima was working out of the jam in the sixth inning, it didn't feel like the Sox fans were hanging on every pitch. That actually bothered me. I was tempted to head home and watch the game there. I stayed because watching the game with other fans felt more social and because my place is further away from the bowling alley. Let's hope there's a little more passion at Game 3 tonight.

Speaking of which, time for me to publish this post, grab my BP jersey (older blue one, never liked the red ones) and get going.

And the hits just keep on coming

Wow. I was surprised to see that the Red Sox scored more runs in the first four innings than the Rockies had allowed to the Diamondbacks in the entire NLCS.

Actually, there's still a part of me that's surprised to see the Sox are still playing at all. I believed that they could come back from the 3-1 deficit to the Indians, but I'm not so cocky as to say I expected it would happen. Despite what many people believe about Red Sox fans, we're still not terribly accustomed to this whole winning thing.

Beckett looked great (yes, again) but I cringed at the sight of him taking the mound in the seventh inning. I don't care if his pitch count was low, I want him as rested as possible for Game 5. For anyone who occasionally looks at Lugo and wishes the Sox had kept Hanley Ramirez, there is nothing more valuable to a team looking to win the World Series than a pitcher who can dominate in the postseason.

How great was it to see Pedroia go deep in his first at bat? Unbelievable. How could anyone not like this guy?

I'm more and more impressed with Ortiz the more I watch him in the playoffs. He's making amazing adjustments given the problem with his knee by coming out of his standard crouch while still smacking singles and doubles. Even though he's far from a speedster, he's been going full throttle on the basepaths, almost to the point where people I was watching the game with were begging him to coast a little bit. With that said, I still loved seeing him score from first base on Manny's "single" the other night. And speaking of that play...

Why can't science produce a remote that would allow us all to mute Tim McCarver? I think that every Red Sox fan would agree that Manny should run hard and should have legged out a double. The outrage from McCarver makes it sound like Manny dug up Abner Doubleday's grave and shat on his remains. It's so much fun watching the games in a room with fifty or sixty other Red Sox fans where you can barely hear the announcers, but you can always hear people say things like "Did McCarver just say that last pitch was a gyroball?!? Seriously?!?" or "Shut the <expletive_deleted> up, McCarver". It's nice to know I'm not the only person who feels this way about his broadcasting ... er ... tendencies.

It was really sad to hear that Wakefield is still having problems and won't pitch in the World Series. I enjoyed Bob Ryan's piece in today's Globe about Wakefield and what he's given to the team this year and in his time with the Red Sox. The article sort of hints at the fact that Wake may have thrown his last pitch. Let's all hope that's not the case and that he's back on the mound next year.

Right now I hope the Red Sox get a good night's sleep, get back to the ballpark tomorrow and get back to business. A good friend was worried during the game that the players and the fans might get a little too cocky given that the game was a blowout. Fox showed a stat about the biggest wins in Game 1 of the World Series (I think) and showed that both times a team had won Game 1 by 11 runs that the team that won Game 1 had ultimately lost the series. I don't want this to turn into the 1985 NBA Finals where the Celtics obliterated the Lakers in Game 1, but then lost four of the next five.

What's the baseball saying about momentum again? Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher. Let's hope Schilling continues to add to his postseason resume.

And there will be a Game 7...

Wow.

So I was a little early in my visions of JD Drew's postgame interview. It was great to see Drew come up big in the first inning after a rough season. Here's hoping he gets a Drewwwww serenade from the Fenway crowd tomorrow. I really believe that a lot of his problems on the field this year have been due to adjustments between the leagues and issues off the field and that he's going to be just fine next year.

I have the same belief about Dice-K. He'll make adjustments and 'Tek will get a better sense for what he's comfortable with / capable of on a given night and he'll be just fine. Didn't we have similar concerns about Beckett last year?

Speaking of Beckett, it's a shame that the postseason isn't supposed to count in the Cy Young voting.

Watching Game 6, I couldn't help but notice how breaks that had gone the Indians' way earlier in the series seemed to go the Sox' way tonight. So many "ground balls with eyes" that I can't remember them all. The one that sticks out most in my mind was Youkilis' ground ball in the hole at short in the first that caught the lip of the infield grass and took an odd hop.

It was good to see Schilling come through and pitch seven strong innings. I trust that he knows that with that type of lead to pitch to contact and keep his pitch count low to keep the bullpen fresh for tomorrow. Francona managed to give me fits when Fox showed Okajima and Papelbon warming up in the seventh inning. My Dad and I had a quick conversation over the phone where I lobbied for two innings out of Lopez. I nearly got my wish. The bar where I was watching the game nearly erupted when Gagné trotted in from the bullpen. Don't get me wrong. I want to see the guy succeed and the lead was safe, but I didn't believe he'd get through the inning. I was fearful that two things would happen.

1. The Indians' bats would wake up. No Sox fan wants to see that the night before Game 7.
2. Francona would have to bring in another reliever to finish the ninth.

Thankfully, neither of those things happened and the game ended well for the Sox.

Now we move on to Game 7, which makes me think back to previous Game 7's.

I went to Games 6 and 7 of the '86 ALCS at Fenway. (Thanks again, Mom, for getting those tickets.) In those games, the stadium was full of positive energy. We'd staved off elimination at the hands of the Angels and broken their backs. It seemed like everyone at Fenway knew both games were foregone conclusions, especially Game 7.

I wish I could remember how I felt during Game 7 of the '86 World Series. I remember being crushed by Game 6, but I don't remember being pessimistic about Game 7.

I remember having trouble sleeping before Game 7 of the '03 ALCS. I remember "Please. Just this once. I can't take constantly losing to the Yankees much longer. Please let this be the year." running through my head from the last out of Game 6 until Aaron Boone connected. I remember not being able to focus at work the day of Game 7, wondering if I was going to a party or an execution.

I remember the same thoughts running through my head before Game 7 of the '04 ALCS. "Please. Just this once. No more heartbreak. Please not again. We were so down after Game 3. Please don't get our hopes up only to crush us again. Please. Just this once." I remember being in a daze at work before Game 7, not wanting to talk to anyone about how anxious I was.

This is different. I'm not sure if the rest of Red Sox Nation feels the way I do. I'm pretty mellow. It's not cockiness or overconfidence or a belief that the Red Sox are destined to prevail. The best way I could describe it is...hope but with the complete and surprising absence of dread.

Would beating the Yankees in the ALCS after we've already won the division be more satisfying than beating the Indians? Probably, but there would be more of a risk involved. If the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in this year's ALCS, there'd be dread and anxiousness. We finally won a World Series thanks to an epic comeback against the Yankees. I had thought we had exorcised so many demons. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but losing the division to the Yankees given the lead we'd had all season or losing the ALCS to the Yankees would have taken some of the shine off of the 2004 season.

When the Indians beat the Yankees in the ALDS, every Red Sox fan I know breathed a sigh of relief. We were now playing with house money. Winning the World Series would still be sweet, but there was no worry of landing flat on our backs after swinging at the air just after Lucy pulled the football away at the last possible moment.

This is different. Tonight I'm excited but mellow and looking forward to whatever tomorrow brings.

Now, onto other thoughts that have been running through my head since my last long-winded post...

The Joba Chamberlain suspension still bugs me. Everyone on the planet could read the Joba Rules posted in the Yankees bullpen that clearly stated that since Joba had pitched one and two-thirds innings that he would not pitch for the next two games. Then, Bob Watson hands down a two game suspension hours later. The length of the suspension seemed about right, but I can't remember any other situation in which MLB handed down a suspension so quickly in a situation like that. There was another suspension (the specific players and game escapes me) a week or so later, but it took two or three days for Watson to make his ruling. Am I the only person who found the timing and length of the Chamberlain suspension a bit odd?

The Mariners' collapse was almost as epic as the Mets'. Thankfully for the Mariners, their swoon came sooner and won't be as memorable as a result.

The end of the Rockies / Padres tiebreaker was the most thrilling non-Red Sox playoff-* finish I've watched since Sid Bream lumbered home to beat the Pirates in the '92 NLCS. Sorry, Mariners fans, but I was still too bummed about losing to the Indians in the '95 ALDS to get amped about Griffey's mad dash to beat the Yankees.

How about them Pats? I was at the game last week in Dallas with a good friend of mine who is a huge Cowboys fan. (Thanks again, Pete. Great seats.)

I bought a Randy Moss jersey just before hopping the plane to Dallas. My buddy laughed when I told him I was buying one because it didn't seem like me. I expected to catch more flack from Cowboys fans in the parking lot, but only one group said anything.

Cowboys Fan: "Is that a new <expletive_deleted> jersey?"
Me: "No, I've had this for about three years."
Cowboys Fan: "Oh."

Disappointing and yet amusing all at once.

It's still odd to see Randy Moss in a Pats uniform. It still feels like we're watching Belichick's version of a Madden game where made some pre-season trades that you wouldn't expect the game to allow.

Speaking of Belichick, I have a hunch that somewhere up there, Red Auerbach is watching and laughing, nodding with approval. Honestly? The videotaping does bug me. I'd like to think the Patriots don't (and didn't) need to resort to that. It doesn't taint their recent success to the extent that knowing that Bobby Thompson knew what Ralph Branca was going to throw taints the Shot Heard Round the World in '51, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The television broadcast may have missed these two fourth quarter events.

1. There was a loud spontaneous cheer midway through the fourth quarter. The Patriots players seemed surprised and looked up into the stands to see that the vast majority of remaining fans were Pats fans and were giving the team a standing ovation.
2. There was a "Let's go, Red Sox!" chant at Texas Stadium.

The Cowboys looked like a team to be reckoned with, especially given how wide open the NFC is this season. I remember the Rams playing the Patriots in 2000 and saying "We may see those guys again later this year." I left Texas Stadium thinking the same thing about the Cowboys.

* - Yeah, yeah, tiebreakers aren't officially playoff games. So what?

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*