Bosox Luncheon 2004

[Steve Reynolds]

a long hard winter for the team, the fans (and me , but alas despite Nomar and Trot going down for a bit, and despite Johnny Damon's unwillingness to seemingly even wash all that hair, the Luncheon is again open with the first moonshot of the year in the 6th by the man who should have won the MVP last year, David "The MOOSE" Ortiz.

look for about 101 wins and the Cy Young for Mr. Schilling


and it will be Yanks-Sox in a 7 gamer in the ALCS for the Pennant

[Chris D]

He back! He back!

[Brian Olewnick]

Normalcy has returned!!!!

Reynolds, Nixon is on my roto team so I need him back as soon as possible.

Stick around, big guy.

[Jon Abbey]

nice to see you back, Steve.

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by Steve Reynolds

look for about 101 wins and the Cy Young for Mr. Schilling

I don't think it's possible for Schilling to win 101 games.




I'm now leaving this thread until September.

[moneyp]

Welcome back, Stevie!

[Enforcer]

101 wins! That will probably be enough to get them home field advantage against the Tigers in the Pennant series.

Getting way ahead of himself,
Larry

[Jon Abbey]

Bobby Jones also welcomes you back, Steve.

[Gordon B]

The Orioles' Javy Lopez is congratulated after scoring the winning run in the 13th inning on a walk to Larry Bigbie. (Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)

[Steve Reynolds]

The MOOSE is LOOSE


front-runner for the MVP 7 games in

look for 40-120 from the big man

[Jon Abbey]

he's a stud, no argument. the jury's certainly out on Francona, though, what the hell did he bring in Bobby Jones for again? and you can't feel good about Williamson's health, something's going on there, he warms, then they use Jones and Malaska (who looked good) over him...

too bad the free trial for the MLB League Pass ends today, the Red Sox are so entertaining to watch, they can't do anything the easy way. I might just have to pull the trigger and get the whole year of games.

meanwhile, the Yankees are lucky to be 4-4, still sleepwalking, Bubba Crosby saved them today with a mammoth HR and a few nice running catches. at least Brown and Vazquez are coming up next...

[Jon Abbey]

Boston rained out for the second straight night, here's the update on their rotation for the weekend series against NY:

BOSTON (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox were rained out Wednesday for the second straight night.

Because of the rain, both teams again juggled their pitching rotations.

Derek Lowe, who had been scheduled to pitch for Boston, was pushed back to the weekend. Sidney Ponson, who had been slated to start for Baltimore, will pitch Thursday against Pedro Martinez.

Tim Wakefield remains scheduled to start Boston's series opener Friday against the New York Yankees' Javier Vazquez.

Curt Schilling pitches Saturday against Mike Mussina, Lowe goes Sunday against Jose Contreras and Bronson Arroyo pitches Monday's 11 a.m. Patriots Day game against Kevin Brown.

[bostontricky]

For some reason, the family friend who had promised to sell me a pair of tickets to Saturday's game has been strangely silent since she was supposed to have dropped off the tickets four days ago. Hmmm.

[GoodSpeak]

Steve?


Is that you?


Uh...well, then. Welcome back

[Jon Abbey]

the Red Sox continue to be the most entertaining team in sports, particularly for those rooting against them. tonight's saga:

having been rained out two nights in a row, Boston's pitching staff is well-rested for their one game series against Baltimore, Pedro against Ponson. both get roughed up early (to say the least), Boston is up 7-4 after 4, and Francona leaves Pedro in, despite the fact he obviously has nothing, evidently to try to get through 5 for the win. Baltimore gets 3 more in the 5th, 7-7 after 5. both starters come out, no one scores again, extra innings. in the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded and two outs, Bill Mueller hits a deep fly ball that the Oriole CF evidently makes a spectacular catch on (I haven't actually seen this yet). in the top of the 11th, having already burned through the whole bullpen (5 relief pitchers after Pedro), Francona brings in Bronson Arroyo, who's scheduled to start the 11 AM Monday Patriot's Day game against NY. first hitter, Tejada, HR. by the time he's gone and Seibel (who?) and Frank Castillo (hehe) have gotten through the inning, Baltimore has scored 5, and they win 12-7.

nice note to go into the NY series on...

[Jon Abbey]

Sons of Sam Horn web site being featured on Outside the Lines on ESPN now. I was all over this last summer, if this Erstwhile thing doesn't work out, maybe I'll get a job as a sportswriter somewhere...

[Gary Sisco]

Reynolds, you fuck! Give me a shout on the phone, man. And don't even think about any excuses for missing my trip to NYC this year, slick. :-)

[Dr Dave]

This was in this morning's New York Times. Cracked me up:

April 16, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Cracking the DiMaggio Code
By HART SEELY

SYRACUSE

In Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, "The Da Vinci Code," the fearless and cerebral Harvard professor Robert Langdon uses his knowledge of ancient religious symbols in a quest for the Holy Grail. His search is often interrupted by questions from his trusted partner, the intrepid and beautiful French cryptologist Sophie Neveu. In his next book, maybe Mr. Brown will take on a real conspiracy — involving an ancient sporting rivalry that resumes tonight.

Sophie: Robert, who are these people chanting, "YANK! KISS! HUG!"?

Robert: Red Sox Nation, Sophie. A radical cult known for intense rites of self-degradation. Stay low, Sophie. It's their vernal resurrection. They're wearing the "Scarlet B," the mark of having betrayed the immortal Babe.

Sophie: The Christ child?

Robert: Worse. The Hall-of-Famer.

Sophie: I do not understand. Who is "The Babe?"

Robert: Every American child hears of how baseball's Babe Ruth, after being banished to the Yankees, vowed that his former Boston masters would never again wear the Crown. Each October, entire cities re-enact the "Curse of the Bambino" fable in huge, open-air pageants, often marked by violence. Last year, the Red Sox turned a late-inning, three-run lead into a miracle defeat. Onlookers wept. Cynics were transformed. The manager was crucified. Mel Gibson plans to do the movie. Now, the Nation is launching its spring Crusade. Once again, they seek to solve the DiMaggio Code.

Sophie: DiMaggio? He is a player, no?

Robert: History knows Joseph Paul DiMaggio as the great Yankee outfielder, yet scholars also know him as a brilliant inventor. To this day, we use his gravity-fed coffee-making machine. You pay homage to him, Sophie, whenever you sip a "cup of Joe." As the fully ordained "Yankee Clipper," DiMaggio became the chief steward of Ruth's vengeful curse. To that end, he recruited an inner circle of presidents, popes and artists, including the actress Marilyn Monroe, who married him. Some Yankeeologists believe DiMaggio encoded the curse, so Red Sox scholars could never decipher it.

Sophie: Did DiMaggio reveal the Code to others?

Robert: Maybe. Yankeeologists believe DiMaggio may have conveyed the Code to Monroe. After their marriage collapsed, it is known that Monroe was approached by John F. Kennedy, a member of a Red Sox secret society called Opus Doubleday. We'll never know what happened. Monroe's 1962 suicide remains shrouded in mystery.

Sophie: So no one has been able to solve the Code?

Robert: Many tried. In the 1980's, a few scholars managed to solve DiMaggio's diabolically complex digital clock instructions, which allowed them to activate his coffee machine automatically. Boston scion Ted Williams grew so despondent over the lack of progress that he opted to have himself, after death, decapitated and frozen in liquid nitrogen, to be revived if the Code is broken.

Sophie: What kind of code could it be?

Robert: Theories abound. For example, nobody has ever explained why DiMaggio halted his record hitting-streak at exactly 56 games. In that time he tallied 56 runs and 56 singles. A tetrahedral number, 56 is the number of "Aubrey holes" carved into the earth around Stonehenge, the contours of which mirror those of Fenway Park.

Sophie: It has to do with Stonehenge?

Robert: Maybe. I subscribe to another idea. After his retirement, DiMaggio's disciples included a young songwriter named Paul Frederic Simon. In 1968, Simon and a fellow believer recorded "Mrs. Robinson." In it, the lyrics ask, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?" Yet DiMaggio had not gone anywhere. It was Babe Ruth who had gone. Most scholars view the song as DiMaggio's coded reference to the sacred Pitcher-Mater.

Sophie: The pitcher-mother?

Robert: Before his Yankee conversion, Babe Ruth was a pitcher, the prime position on a baseball field. The pitcher occupies a fertile mound in the center of the diamond. This Pitcher-Mater seeks to make each batter drop his weapon and stay home. And he is not expected to hit. The mere notion of the Pitcher-Mater holding a bat is so troubling that the American League has gone to extreme lengths to avoid it, creating a controversial rite known as the designated hitter rule. But when Babe Ruth left Boston, he took up the stick. The game changed, Sophie. Everything changed. DiMaggio understood this. Boston didn't.

Sophie: Then how do the Red Sox win?

Robert: Pitching, Sophie. Pitching, pitching, pitching! Good grief, it's 90 percent of the game! For 85 years, they tried to hit their way to the top. Fools. Idiots! All they need to win is pitching.


Hart Seely is the editor of "Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld."

[Jon Abbey]

and for the refreshingly lowbrow take on things, today's front page of the NY Post:

[moneyp]

The moment Manny dropped the ball in the 8th, I turned to Mel and said, "they're gonna blow it now."

walk, wild pitch, wild pitch, full count on Posada....

[moneyp]

...and a walk to Posada. Bases loaded. Ha ha ha. Williamson was out of the inning, now he's being pulled with the tying run at the plate. Wouldn't you just want to punch Manny if you were him? Wouldn't you?

[moneyp]

And they get out of it. Still, you could feel the ballpark taking a collective crap. I think I'd trade twenty runs to get somebody sane in Manny's spot.

[Captain Hate]

You mean that first ballot HOF-er??

[bostontricky]

You guys are killing me. As does Manny's alleged "defense".

I'll be at the game tomorrow, box seats down the first base line just past the groundskeeper's foxhole, fifth row.

[Jon Abbey]

actually it was almost funny to see Embree come in and get Matsui on three pitches, since if Little had made that same move last year, the Red Sox would likely have won the ALCS.

A-Rod's been awful at the plate so far this year. I never fully bought into all the hype about him before, I always thought he was a little bit overrated, not a lot, but a little. I'm sure he'll turn it on soon, and he's looked surprisingly solid in the field so far, but they really could use a few hard-hit balls from him and that attempt to steal third was unbelievably stupid, total brainlock.

interesting stat I wasn't aware of, that Foulke has a career 6.91 ERA against NY in 18 appearances.

could Fox's coverage be more Little League? what the fuck is that talking baseball crap? they missed an AB showing that silliness...

[bostontricky]

That talking baseball has got to get the sack after this game. Almost as annoying as the time Trump and Regis were sitting behind home plate at that playoff game in the Bronx.

- - - -

Nobody seemed to make a real beef about Manny's double-turned-home run back in the first. I'm surprised Sheffield didn't put up more of a fuss, because my initial reaction was, that's not a home run...

[bobetterblues]

Jon,

Was it amusing to see the Sox beat the Yanks 6-2, even after Manny's blunder? Was Mueller and Manny's dongs amusing?

Just checking.

Another dong for my team, courtisy of my man Posada. Manny is also on my team.

How the fuck do you spell Curtisy, curtisey.....damn.

[Dr Dave]

Manny is the same as he was last year.

What's with Damon and his new "Old Testament" look?

[Jon Abbey]

bo, honestly, it's April 16. the more hope that Red Sox fans manage to build up, the funnier it is when they inevitably lose.

and did you see Manny's HR? it was pretty amusing, actually, since it didn't even manage to leave the park. pretty much every game in Fenway is amusing to me, what a joke of a ballpark.

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Jon Abbey

what a joke of a ballpark.

It is remarks like this that gravely hurt your credibility, Jon. It is a great, great place to play and watch baseball.