Patrick Sbordone's Boston Celtics friend's fan blogs

I very fortunate to be at last night’s game.  I say fortunate because there were some special moments last night.  That being said, it was one of the most frustrating Red Sox games I’ve ever been to. 

But I’m not gonna talk about that.

I’m not gonna talk about how much I anticipated eating a Fenway Frank and how disappointed I was with the new brand they use.  I’m not gonna talk about how there was a pole in my way so that third base was completely blocked and it was very difficult to see the pitcher’s mound.  And I’m certainly not going to talk about how frustrating it was to watch our offense last night. 

What I do wanna talk about is how emotional it was in the ballpark when Nomar Garciaparra came to bat for the first time at Fenway Park since 2004.  As he was lead off the second inning, fans were already getting out of their seats to cheer for him as he was walking towards the plate.  He was clearly very touched by the reception he got, which seemed as if it would never end.  I knew I didn’t want to stop clapping for him.  It was the first time I got to in years and now I realized how much I missed it.   What a great moment at Fenway Park.  I’m glad that I was there for it.  It’ll be hard to forget.  

Continue reading "Being at Last Night’s Game - Welcome Back, Nomar"

I’ve said this many times, but today I need to say it again: What a time to be a Sox fan!  The Sox played a great game of baseball yesterday, beating Seattle 8-4.  Although Lester had a rough fourth inning, the Sox bounced back scoring five runs in the seventh inning which gave us the lead for good. 

But that’s not all that happened yesterday.  Tim Wakefield was named an All Star for the first time in his 17th year as a major league baseball player.  Sure, we’re still happy for Bay, Pedroia, Youkilis, Beckett, and Papelbon.  But it was Wakefield we were all praying for to make the team.  And he did it.  Congrats, Wake!

Good thing the excitement doesn’t end there.  Tonight John Smoltz will be pitching at Fenway for the first time as member of the Boston Red Sox.  I’m sure he will get a hearty hand as his name gets announced at the ballgame tonight.  Maybe tonight we’ll see the Smoltz that we’re hoping to see for the rest of the season. 

Continue reading "Monday Night Baseball at Fenway: Very Exciting"

Ever since I was little, I remember going to Fenway Park and seeing Wakefield pitch.  About five or six years ago, I remember complaining to my friends in high school about how as much as we loved the guy, it felt like he was the pitcher we always saw on the mound.  I haven’t made it to Fenway yet this year, but when I do I personally can’t wait to see him pitch. 

I remember being in elementary schooll watching him warm up in the bullpen.  He was always my favorite to watch warm up because it was so cool to see his knuckleball move.  Sure it’s neat to see it on TV, but it’s awesome standing in the bleachers by the fence and seeing the knuckleball drop the way it does. 

Tonight Wakefield will be starting for the 383rd time in a Red Sox uniform, setting an all time Red Sox record.  He’ll be passing none other than the Rocket himself, Roger Clemens.   Although I never got to see Clemens pitch (except in a Yanks uniform), I know I’m not the only one who’s happy to see such a nice guy setting this record for the Sox.  Years from now, when Wake returns to Fenway Park after being retired for however many years, we’ll be giving him loud standing ovations.  He’s a great team player and a friendly person who is more than modest.  And I couldn’t ask for anything more than to see him pitching in the All Star Game next week.  Best of luck, Timmy, and congratulations.

Continue reading "Growing Up With Wakefield"

I’ll tell you right now that it’s not better than viewing it as any other person. 

I’ll also tell you that even though it’s the summer, we still maintain some of the college atmosphere here in Salem.  A lot of us Salem Staters have off campus apartments so we get to see each other even when school is not in session. 

Personally I was looking forward to watching an entire game on Tuesday night, which is hard to do between multiple jobs and summer classes.  However, I got a text last night before the game started saying that there were going to be some cool people meeting up at Salem Beer Works that night.  I figured I’d go after the game.  So I sat in my room watching the Sox dominate the Os for the first 4 innings.  Thanks to some great offense and a much better start for Smoltz, things seemed to be going our way. 

Continue reading "A College Student’s Perspective of Tuesday’s 11-10 Loss"

Last I updated, I mentioned Lowrie had to exit a rehab game early.  Fortunately for Lowrie, this wasn’t a setback.  However, yesterday word came out that Dice-K was going to be on the DL for longer than 15 days.  While we may have already known that, I don’t think any of us were expecting him to be on there for as long September 1st. 

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Sox are looking as far as that for the Japanese pitcher to return.  Cafardo also mentioned that a source said Dice-K insisted that he did not need to the same strengthening program that the Red Sox pitchers were required to perform in the offseason.  There doesn’t seem to be much evidence of whether or not this is true, but I hope it’s not.  After all, RSN seems to be upset enough about Dice-K right now.  That sure won’t help plead his case.  Here’s the article written by Cafarado.  It’s mainly about Alex Cora (and also an interview with Julian Tavarez) but gives tidbits of information after.  One of these tidbits is where I got the info on Dice-K:

Continue reading "Lowell Goes on the DL – Dice-K Might Be There ‘til September"

I was just looking up news trying to find out if anyone knew how Lowrie was doing and this is what I found out.  Apparently Lowrie had to leave in the fifth inning due to soreness in his knee.   This scared me a bit until I remembered that Lowrie is on the DL for a wrist injury – not a knee injury.  What happened was on Tuesday Lowrie was hit by a pitch in the knee.  It seems as if the eager shortstop might have been pushing a little too hard on the knee, which forced him to leave the game early.  Poor guy.  Hope he gets better soon.  I’m sure he was more than frustrated after leaving the game, but at least the soreness has nothing to do with his wrist. 

In the same article I learned that Jonathan Van Every will be out for the remainder of the Paw Sox season after injuring his left knee as well (that’s ironic).  As much as I feel bad for Lowrie, I feel more bad for Van Every right now.  This guy is 29 years old and still has yet to play more than seven games in the big leagues.  Any injury that keeps you off the field for a year is frustrating, but when you’re fighting to make it to the big leagues and you have to stop because of an injury – well that’s more frustrating.  I’m sure Lowrie feels his frustration, however, seeing as Lowrie has yet to play a full season in the big leagues himself.  It just sucks that Van Every has to be even more patient than he’s already been. 

Continue reading "NESN.com Reports Jed Lowrie Exits Rehab Game With Soreness"

I already knew that the Red Sox were in first, and that the Yanks were in second.  I also knew that whenever I looked at the standings, Toronto was not far behind New York.  What I didn’t know was that Tampa Bay is currently only a game behind Toronto. 

Everyone once in a while I hear a player say on TV that their division is the toughest in baseball.  I never really know who to believe because it seems to change every year.  Right now in 2009, I’m picking AL East as the toughest division in baseball.  Take a look:

AL East                  W           L              Games behind

Continue reading "Take a Look at the Standings"

Last night I saw a funny production of Neil Simon’s play “Rumors” at Salem State College.  When I got out, I was hoping to catch the end of the game.  As it turned out, the game was over, and it was no laughing matter.  Smoltz had given up four runs alone in the first inning.  The Red Sox bullpen was very shaky.  And Jordan Zimmermann from the Nationals absolutely dominated the Red Sox through seven innings of work. 

In those seven innings, Zimmermann gave up only 5 hits, a run, a walk, and 6 strikeouts.  This guy is only 23 years old.  I’m impressed and plan on following up on this guy, I hope he keeps doing this well (just not against the Sox). 

Meanwhile, Red Sox pitching was just the opposite.  After Smoltz was taken out of the game, Bard came in for an inning and gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, and a walk.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Bard should go back down to AAA for a month or two.  I want to see him back in Boston in September, but right now I don’t think he’s ready.  Following Bard was Saito, who also gave up 2 runs and 2 hits, one of which was a homer.  But before any of this happened, Smoltz had gone 5 innings while allowing 7 hits, 5 runs, a walk, and striking out 5.   

Continue reading "Don’t Worry About Smoltz….Yet"

The Red Sox played a great game of baseball Wednesday night, as those of us in the Boston area were able to watch on NESN.  However, there was another fun game of baseball on ESPN 2 for their usual Wednesday Night Baseball game against the Braves and Yankees who were playing at the same time.  I found myself flipping between channels during commercial breaks for the Sox and caught some cool moments.  Meanwhile, the College World Series’ final game was on ESPN between Texas and LSU.  There was an awful lot of baseball on last night. 

I’ve never paid much attention to the College World Series in the past, but I found myself flipping to it a couple of times during Sox commercials this past week.  It’s a lot of fun being a student myself, seeing other students compete for a championship.  That being said, it also makes me jealous that Salem State doesn’t have much of a sports program, not to mention the fact that I don’t play baseball anymore.  But it’s still a lot of fun to watch student athletes compete.   So after the Sox game ended, I switched to ESPN and saw the last two innings of the College World Series.  Congrats to LSU for winning their 6th World Series title.  I’m sure the players and students are proud. 

Continue reading "Wednesday Night Baseball – Not Just About the Sox"

Brad Penny took the No Decision on Tuesday night after going 5.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts.  Had he been able to retire Willie Harris in the 6th, he would have been eligible for the win. 

Tony Massarotti from the Boston Globe mentioned on the NESN postgame show how it’s possible that Penny was more relaxed than he had been his previous two starts, where his spot in the rotation was on the line.  This maybe so, but I’m also sure he’s aware that Clay Buchholz is still waiting eagerly in Pawtucket to return to the big leagues.  That being said, last night’s start was not a bad one.  He might not have dominated like he’s done in his last couple starts, but it was a very good outing.  Massarotti also mentioned in the pregame show on NESN that considering Penny is our number five starter, it’s not a bad thing that he usually doesn’t pitch past the 6th inning.  I agree. 

Continue reading "Penny Not Perfect, But Not Bad Either"