Two Good For Words!!!

World Champs!!!

Twice in four years. Can you believe it? No more curse. No more curse! Jon Papelbon for president!!!

Photo courtesy Boston.com (whether they like it or not)

Oh What a Night (live from game 2 of the World Series)

Working on filling in the blanks on the color commentary from last night's game (game 2 of the 2007 World Series) but in the meantime, I have two cool videos and some photos you all might want to check out.

The first is local boy, James Taylor singing the National Anthem



The second is Papelbon striking out Brad Hawpe for the last out of the game -- and the save. Then the crowd -- including moi - goes wild.




Other pics

Cool projection of "2007 World Series" one one of the walls at Fenway

One of Game 2's heros, Mike Lowell (warming up)

Former Red Sox (and now announcer), Dewey Evans

The field during the fifth inning

Post game victory handshakes

Big Papelbon founder, Aaron (right) and his little bro, John (left)

World Series Bound Baby

What a win. How much do you love Dustin Pedroia. And for that matter, Jacoby Ellsbury. Even JD Drew came through with another clutch hit. The piece de resistance? Coco Crisp's phenomenal catch to end the game. WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

Colorado may have taken 2 out of 3 from us back in June but they have just run into a buzz saw called the Boston Red Sox. The playoff Red Sox. Just ask the '04 Yankees, '04 Angels, '04 Cardinals, '07 Angels and '07 Indians how that feels.

The Indians Rock

Cleveland definitely does not rock. But the Indians sure do. I have to say that The Jake is putting Fenway to shame right now. And that team is just clicking on every level.

Also the vibe coming from the Indians right now feels a lot like how it felt with the Sox in the playoffs in '03 (minus the blunder) and '04. They feel destined.

That being said, I hope we come back and kick their asses tonight, and bring it back to Fenway. And hopefully Francona wakes up starts putting Elsbury in the lineup.

Cheers,
-JS

If the Sox give up as a team, is it ok for me to give up as a fan? I feel like I am wasting my energy on this team. I didn't see the patient, work the pitcher Sox last night, it was the impatient, swing at all the bad pitches Sox. Granted, Paul Byrd won 15 or 16 games this year, but the Sox should kill a guy like this. They have given up and thrown their gameplan out the window.

Running Commentary from Last Night's Game

Given the quality of the broadcasting team (or lack thereof) that Fox threw against the game, Jim and I decided to do a little color commentary of our own. These comments have been edited slightly to protect the innocent. Enjoy:


[20:34] Aaron: wait -- one of the announcers just said something funny!
[20:34] Lil' Jim: can someone please kill the guy banging that drum
[20:34] Aaron: paul byrd said "this may be the slowest throwing combo of starters of any game this year"
[20:34] Lil' Jim: ...and his geriatric father sitting next to him
[20:35] Aaron: Tim McCarver is going to tell us EVERYTHING there is to know about batting against a knuckleballer
[20:36] Aaron: but of course none of it will actually be true
[20:36] Lil' Jim: can we ask him to tell us how to hit someone who uses an old school wind-up
[20:36] Aaron: phew
[20:36] Lil' Jim: amen
[20:36] Aaron: I think you're about to find that out
[20:36] Aaron: in spades
[20:36] Lil' Jim: can you give me a moment before you announce what happens
[20:36] Lil' Jim: i'm on HD and about 5 seconds behind you
[20:37] Aaron: aha
[20:37] Aaron: sure thing ;)
[20:37] Lil' Jim: the fact that the guy in this Taco Bell commercial goes 1 - 2 - C has annoyed me since I first say it
[20:38] Lil' Jim: can they f-ing edit it a little better
[20:38] Aaron: sorry -- I'm already back to the game -- Lowell just hit a five run homer
[20:38] Aaron: oh, sox just won
[20:38] Aaron: sorry man, I forgot you were on delay
[20:38] Lil' Jim: lol


[20:41] Lil' Jim: double wind up to manny?
[20:41] Aaron: I wan't manny to hit a 600 foot shot and then just stand there for an hour
[20:41] Aaron: yes! first hit of the game
[20:41] Aaron: go Manny
[20:42] Lil' Jim: huh - i thought big papi was still up
[20:43] Aaron: it's already the fifth inning
[20:43] Aaron: what inning is it on your tv?
[20:43] Lil' Jim: game three - eighth inning
[20:43] Aaron: wow -- you're really behind
[20:44] Aaron: it's game seven on my tv -- sox are up 3 games to 2
[20:45] Aaron: Go JD!!!
[20:46] Lil' Jim: if they have another bases-loaded, no one out situation and don't score... i'm going to do a shot of barenjaegar
[20:46] Aaron: nope -- Coco will save us from that anguish
[20:47] Aaron: why do I smell a 1-0 combined 2 hitter going into the 9th inning in this one with the bad guys on top
[20:47] Lil' Jim: nope
[20:47] Aaron: it's like the reverse reverse lock
[20:50] Lil' Jim: dancing
[20:50] Aaron: knock on wood but it seems like good wakefield may have shown up for this game
[20:50] Lil' Jim: i'm knocking on my wood
[20:51] Aaron: huh, huh, huh, huh, hem, he, heh... you said "wood"
[20:51] Lil' Jim: yep
[20:52] Lil' Jim: wake will be taking questions between innings
[20:53] Aaron: not the way the sox are going -- 5 pitch innings
[20:53] Aaron: um, guys
[20:53] Aaron: there's no time limit on this game
[20:53] Lil' Jim: right
[20:54] Lil' Jim: feel free to take a pitch or two
[20:54] Lil' Jim: especially when you're behind in the count... "Paul Byrd knows how to throw balls for strikes when he's ahead in the count... it's uncanny!"
[20:55] Lil' Jim: thanks Tim
[20:55] Aaron: give Wake a chance to at least take a piss in between innings
[20:55] Aaron: yes - did you know that he's thrown more first pitch strikes than any other pitcher in MLB?
[20:56] Lil' Jim: double wind up coming
[20:57] Aaron: good thing about this game is that it will be over by 9:15
[20:57] Lil' Jim: i'm surprised this ump didn't call that a strike
[20:57] Aaron: the first 3-2 count of the game
[20:57] Lil' Jim: high and tight
[20:58] Aaron: "Tim, did you know that pitchers HAVE to throw strikes in 3-2 counts?"
[20:58] Aaron: "otherwise, the batter walks"
[21:01] Lil' Jim: chin music
[21:01] Lil' Jim: swear to god... i typed that before tim said it
[21:01] Aaron: guess those terrible towels didn't work so good
[21:03] Aaron: a HR here wouldn't suck
[21:03] Lil' Jim: hey big papi - how about a first pitch hack into the right field seats
[21:03] Lil' Jim: bad knee and all
[21:03] Aaron: yes
[21:06] Aaron: and he... ohhhh
[21:08] Lil' Jim: right to the shortstop... playing the the right of 2nd base
[21:09] Aaron: I'm not sure I get all this hype from the announcers and now the ads about Cleveland winning
[21:09] Aaron: they know that NOBODY will watch the world series if it's Colorado and Cleveland
[21:09] Aaron: well, maybe 50K people in Cleveland
[21:09] Aaron: that's it
[21:10] Lil' Jim: cleveland v colorado draws two markets... count 'em... 1...2....
[21:10] Aaron: I'm thinking just 1
[21:10] Aaron: I don't think the people in Colorado actually know there's a team outside the Broncos
[21:14] Lil' Jim: well
[21:14] Lil' Jim: they're in the f-ing world series
[21:14] Lil' Jim: MLB should pull the franchise
[21:14] Aaron: they'll find that out once the Broncos lose in the playoffs
[21:14] Aaron: the fans will be like, "I wonder how them Rockies did this year"
[21:14] Lil' Jim: mirabelli boxed it to look like a ball
[21:14] Aaron: and someone will say, "they f-ing won the world series you a-hole"
[21:15] Aaron: and they'll say, "but the broncos lost"
[21:15] Lil' Jim: tim just said stiff
[21:15] Aaron: huh, huh, huh, huh, hem, he, heh... you said "stiff"
[21:17] Lil' Jim: way to sacrifice the body Youk!

[21:24] Lil' Jim: not hard to get JD on a swinging strike
[21:24] Aaron: nope
[21:25] Aaron: go JD
[21:25] Aaron: who knew
[21:26] Lil' Jim: JD's gonna take second
[21:26] Aaron: fuck
[21:26] Aaron: how many hard hit fly outs are the Sox gonna hit
[21:26] Lil' Jim: yup
[21:26] Lil' Jim: it's killing us
[21:32] Aaron: that was the first hit by the Tribe tonight
[21:32] Aaron: of course it took McCarver 30 seconds more than me to figure that out
[21:32] Aaron: had to wake him up from his nap
[21:33] Lil' Jim: me too
[21:38] Aaron: you know it's a bad night when Doug Mirabelli is the most disciplined hitter on your team
[21:44] Aaron: okay, who called a 1-0 game going into the 9th?
[21:45] Aaron: blake almost fell over hitting that one
[21:47] Lil' Jim: i have Tom H heckling me
[21:47] Lil' Jim: this is bad
[21:48] Lil' Jim: that shouldn't have been called a hit by pitch
[21:48] Lil' Jim: he f-ing leaned into it
[21:52] Aaron: im sure
[21:56] Lil' Jim: we need our bats to come alive
[21:56] Aaron: ya think?
[21:56] Aaron: I told Melanie during that first game
[21:56] Lil' Jim: we can't go meekly
[21:56] Aaron: that I was nervous that the Sox were blowing their entire wad
[21:56] Aaron: and low and behold...
[21:56] Lil' Jim: wake's pitching a good game so far
[21:56] Aaron: yes
[21:56] Aaron: and if you think about it
[21:57] Lil' Jim: shut up joe
[21:57] Aaron: at least 50% of the time he makes that catch on the comebacker
[21:57] Aaron: and it's double play
[21:57] Lil' Jim: uhuh
[21:57] Lil' Jim: they're not gonna win if they don't f-ing score
[21:58] Aaron: that's a good point "Tim"
[21:58] Lil' Jim: "the interesting thing about this game is you just can't win if you don't score any runs"
[21:59] Aaron: you've gotta be kidding me
[21:59] Aaron: still the 5th
[21:59] Aaron: maybe all this waiting around will get to Byrd
[22:00] Lil' Jim: maybe
[22:00] Aaron: do you think Cleveland would notice if the Sox next pitcher warmed up for 45 minutes
[22:00] Aaron: Wake should have pretended he was hurt
[22:00] Lil' Jim: "paul byrd might need to go to the triple wind up to warm up after the layoff he's had between the the fifth and sixth innings"
[22:03] Aaron: game over
[22:03] Aaron: good night
[22:04] Lil' Jim: "manny delcarmen throws the ball a lot harder than Tim Wakefield... watch for clevland hitters to throw some balls over the right field wall...
[22:04] Lil' Jim: so discouraging
[22:04] Aaron: if's f-ing cleveland for god's sake
[22:05] Aaron: they have one good pitcher
[22:05] Aaron: and a bunch of guys named "ass druple"
[22:05] Lil' Jim: delcarmen's arm is dead
[22:05] Lil' Jim: i wish we had a guy like gagne
[22:05] Aaron: get him the freak out of there
[22:05] Aaron: can we trade gagne to them for a bag of sh!t
[22:06] Lil' Jim: tim, you lost me somewhere at leadoff
[22:07] Aaron: maybe the ump could throw us a bone here and call lofton out?
[22:07] Aaron: somewhere, Selig is calling the ump union saying guys
[22:07] Lil' Jim: he was safe
[22:08] Aaron: f-ing Cleveland and Colorado in the world series?
[22:08] Aaron: i don't think so
[22:08] Aaron: FIX THIS SITUATION NOW!!!
[22:08] Aaron: (I know he was safe)
[22:08] Lil' Jim: we're making cleveland looking like the 49 Yankees
[22:08] Lil' Jim: this is f-ing CLEVELAND
[22:09] Aaron: well, we came back from 3-0 in 2004
[22:09] Aaron: you've got to be sh!tting me
[22:09] Aaron: this is getting ridiculous
[22:09] Lil' Jim: holy sh!t
[22:09] Aaron: get him the hell out of the game NOW!!!
[22:09] Lil' Jim: they have a big f-ing horseshoe up their ass
[22:11] Lil' Jim: time for me to cry
[22:11] Aaron: go pats
[22:11] Lil' Jim: yupper
[22:12] Aaron: "Well Tim, something tells me the Sox shouldn't have scored all those runs on their first night"
[22:12] Aaron: oh good, Lester's loosening
[22:12] Aaron: that's almost as comforting as hearing "Gagne's coming in in a tied game in the 11th"
[22:13] Lil' Jim: how do you think byrd's feeling
[22:13] Aaron: right about now, a little stiff
[22:14] Aaron: if they can get three this inning
[22:14] Lil' Jim: they'll give him a really short leash
[22:14] Aaron: two in the seventh and three in the 8th
[22:14] Aaron: we're all set
[22:15] Aaron: that is of course if the sox can ever get a 3rd f-ing out in this inning
[22:15] Aaron: why is Francona not taking him out of the game?
[22:15] Aaron: he hasn't gotten an out yet
[22:15] Aaron: get him OUT
[22:15] Aaron: it's Kelly Shoppach for god's sake
[22:16] Aaron: I think he's batting .045
[22:16] Aaron: throw three pitches right down the plate
[22:16] Aaron: he's only got a 1-20 shot of hitting it
[22:18] Aaron: here we go Red Sox... here we go... here we go Red Sox... here we go
[22:19] Lil' Jim: this is our countrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry
[22:19] Aaron: has john cougar watermellon cougar melloncamp released a new album in the last twenty years?
[22:19] Lil' Jim: yes
[22:20] Aaron: I think he did one in the eighties and it just keeps getting recycled
[22:20] Lil' Jim: this is ooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur countrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry
[22:20] Aaron: for Ford commercials
[22:21] Lil' Jim: have you played with web apps with the iphone?
[22:21] Aaron: nope
[22:21] Lil' Jim: some cool stuff
[22:22] Aaron: I'm sure
[22:22] Aaron: I'll have to check it out
[22:22] Lil' Jim: http://www.apple.com/webapps/
[22:22] Lil' Jim: i was playing with it this weekend
[22:22] Aaron: there's one back
[22:22] Aaron: 1 down, 6 to go
[22:22] Lil' Jim: ok
[22:22] Aaron: and byrd looks rusty
[22:22] Aaron: all of a sudden
[22:22] Lil' Jim: let's hope it's not too little too late
[22:22] Aaron: yes
[22:22] Aaron: if they can get 3-4 this inning
[22:22] Aaron: I think we can pull it off
[22:24] Lil' Jim: paul byrd is out soon
[22:24] Aaron: two down
[22:24] Aaron: five to go
[22:24] Aaron: here we go red sox, here we go
[22:24] Lil' Jim: bingo
[22:26] Aaron: wait, don't you want to leave Byrd in for a few more batters to see if he turns it around?
[22:26] Aaron: you should really save your bullpen for tomorrow night
[22:29] Aaron: you know, I wonder if any team has ever gone "back to back to back" in the ALCS
[22:30] Lil' Jim: shut up joe
[22:30] Lil' Jim: SHUT UP
[22:30] Lil' Jim: SHHHHHHHHUT UP
[22:31] Aaron: I would honestly chip in $50 to NOT hear these guys announce this series
[22:31] Aaron: I'll bet others would to
[22:31] Aaron: maybe that could be a PR stunt/money maker for Fox
[22:31] Lil' Jim: good at bat by manny
[22:31] Aaron: shall we suggest it?
[22:31] Lil' Jim: looking for a pitch to hit
[22:31] Aaron: he is the king of 0-2 to 3-2 counts
[22:31] Aaron: I'll bet he leads the league in that category
[22:32] Lil' Jim: is that his pocket hanging out? only manny
[22:32] Aaron: of course
[22:32] Aaron: so there goes ALCS history
[22:33] Aaron: let's see, what did I say?
[22:33] Lil' Jim: what was tek doing there
[22:33] Aaron: if the sox get 3 in this inning
[22:33] Aaron: 2 in the 7th
[22:33] Aaron: and three in the 8th?
[22:33] Lil' Jim: BACK TO BACK TO BACK
[22:33] Aaron: kind of wishing that delcarmen hadn't given up that 3 run homer right now
[22:34] Lil' Jim: right
[22:34] Lil' Jim: well... would be a great comeback
[22:34] Lil' Jim: speaking of a back breaker
[22:34] Aaron: yes
[22:35] Aaron: i like their referencing of that four consecutive HR game against the Yanks
[22:35] Aaron: Tim and chums must have just received the call from Selig
[22:36] Aaron: "Gents, if Cleveland wins this series, you're all fired"
[22:36] Aaron: Tim - shut the "f" up
[22:36] Lil' Jim: is it just the sixth?
[22:36] Aaron: Varitek is easily twice as good a defensive player as Mirabelli
[22:36] Aaron: yup
[22:36] Lil' Jim: right
[22:37] Lil' Jim: TIM - SHUT UP
[22:40] Lil' Jim: Lester
[22:40] Lil' Jim: heaven help us
[22:40] Aaron: no kidding
[22:40] Aaron: at least it's a clean inning
[22:41] Aaron: he hasn't thrown four straight balls
[22:41] Aaron: that's the upside
[22:43] Aaron: oops, spoke too soon
[22:43] Aaron: wow -- that last sentence had 7 "o's" in it
[22:50] Aaron: okay
[22:50] Aaron: all we need is two here
[22:54] Aaron: here we go!
[22:55] Lil' Jim: ok
[22:55] Aaron: oh good, I thought you had gone to bed
[22:57] Lil' Jim: nice twin killing
[22:58] Aaron: you've got to be kidding me with that catch
[23:07] Aaron: "kenny, when the ball goes down the middle of the plate and you have two strikes on you, it's a good idea to swing"
[23:07] Lil' Jim: lol
[23:08] Aaron: where was lester in the 5th?
[23:08] Lil' Jim: i have to keep you minimized because you're like 15 secs ahead of me
[23:08] Lil' Jim: this guy iritates me
[23:09] Aaron: which guy? remember, you're two games behind me
[23:09] Lil' Jim: the iphone guy
[23:09] Aaron: oh yeah
[23:10] Lil' Jim: " i needed a bag to carry them all around"
[23:10] Lil' Jim: don't be a f-ing loser
[23:10] Aaron: btw, ortiz and manny just went back to back
[23:10] Lil' Jim: get a phone - use it - if you need a new one - get one
[23:10] Lil' Jim: and you are now... minimized
[23:11] Lil' Jim: now or never man
[23:11] Aaron: yup
[23:14] Aaron: do we get points for pop ups?
[23:16] Lil' Jim: yeah
[23:16] Lil' Jim: selig's keeping track
[23:17] Lil' Jim: each one is a bullet in the umps if the sox lose the series
[23:18] Aaron: yup
[23:18] Aaron: the announcers have already started trying way too hard to tempt fate
[23:19] Aaron: they've mentioned 2004 three times
[23:34] Aaron: of course
[23:34] Aaron: how fitting
[23:34] Aaron: good night and good luck
[23:36] Lil' Jim: gnight

Gagne.

Again, he sucks.

Death and Taxes

So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find out that the Sox won in walk off fashion last night to go up 2-0 on the Halos. I stayed up a late as I could (11:40) but decided to record innings 8-9 on my DVR. Of course I was wide awake at 5:45 this morning so I got up to watch the rest of the game. Wow!

This dramatic win (thank you Danny Vinik for taking the ball away from Anaheim catcher, Jeff Mathis) combined with the Yanks equally dramatic -- and buggy -- loss last night, got me to thinking about the big picture. I've always been told that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes. I think we can now add two more:

1. Red Sox always beat the Angels in the ALDS. My buddies (yes, that's you Lil' Jim) keep giving me a hard time about being over confident before the deal is done. I don't care. We've seen enough historical data to make this assertion. Sox will fly home from Anaheim/Los Angeles/Long Beach with the series in hand.
   
   
2. ARod continues to play the role of "cooler" in the playoffs. I don't care that he batted .900 this year, hit 650 HRs and knocked in 2,000 RBI during the regular season - come playoff time, he becomes a different player. So far, he is 0-6 in this year's ALDS, part of a 28 at bat hitless streak in the playoffs.
   
   There was talk earlier about Boston signing him if he opts out of his contract. The Sox under NO circumstances should do this, not even if he agrees to come and play for free.
   

If we had Tim Wakefield or Jon Lester going in game three, I might not be so sure about a Sox sweep. But for all his blow-hardedness, Schilling is a big game pitcher, especially after his boy Beckett pitched lights out in game one. Plus, the Angels have to be feeling a little demoralized after their eighth straight post-season loss to the Sox. It's not like bringing Lackey back on three days rest is going to solve the problem either. For as good as that guy has been this season, he's been horrendous against Boston.

This might be sound like heresy because I dislike the Yanks as much as anyone but I wouldn't mind seeing the Bronx Bombers win a game or two just to make things tense for both teams. Even better would be to have three more extra inning games with the Tribe winning a dramatic game 5 16 inning victory. Ideally, Fausto Carmona will have to come in to pitch 5 of those innings and won't be able to pitch until game four of the ALCS>

Are you ready for some football?

Cahhhhhhhhstanza!

I take it all back.


BTW, some smart guy got quoted in this article.