Jonathan Papelbon

It was a rough series. I was in San Francisco and missed most of it. Jonathan Papelbon is a turkey, Daniel Bard is the second coming of Rod Beck (‘90s Rod Beck, minus the mullet and a metric ton, give or take). Lets can Pap, keep Bard and save everyone from another year of Pap’s guido shenanigans…. The Celtics won a pre-season game against Toronto the other night and Tommy Heinsohn almost invited an unknown rookie named Lester Hudson to the altar. Should be another interesting season for the C’s, provided Tommy is allowed to pursue his increasingly befuddling tangents, wherever they may take him… I’m mildly afraid for the Patriots this week. The Titans are not a 0-5 team, regardless of what their record might indicate. This is the exact same team (minus Albert “Stomp-On-Your-Face” Haynesworth) that went 10-0 to begin the season last year. And they have Jeff Fisher patrolling the sidelines, who, aside from looking like a 70’s highway cop, also happens to be a damn fine coach.   

Continue reading "Late Night Rant"

As I watched Jacoby Ellsbury steal home against the Yankees Sunday night, I thought to myself: "This pretty much sums it up." An aging Andy Pettitte forgets to deliver from the stretch, letting a youthful Ellsbury elude another future Bingo regular, Jorge Posada's, tag at the plate. Would Justin Masterson have made the same error? The two ballclubs could not be headed in more opposite directions. Every year, the Red Sox seem to call up another hyped prospect, while the Yanks continue to overpay for limited talent, and shun their farm system.

Continue reading "Red Sox continue to steal away Yanks' future"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

on through a jam in the eighth and shut the Angels out in the ninth behind the smoking fastballs of Jonathan Papelbon.  It seemed as though every pitch call was the right one, and the Angels hitters that weren’t simply overpowered were often downright fooled (good show, chap!). 

Continue reading "Same as it Ever Was"

Lost in the shuffle of Matt Cassel beating Brett Favre in the most hyped Week 2 game in years around these parts on Sunday afternoon, Jon Lester continued his march toward becoming a truly elite pitcher by outdueling a man largely respected as perhaps the best hurler in the AL, in a game the Sox needed to have. Any question marks that surrounded Lester at the All-Star break have been officially converted into exclamation points. In fact, pencil him in for Game 2 right now - it doesn't matter who we are playing or what Daisuke's record ends up being ... Lester's earned the spot right behind Beckett in the playoff rotation.

Continue reading "Q & A ... well, at least some Qs"

nd not "purchased" by the Red Sox - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester (and you could throw in Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson) - a list, by the way, that includes two MVP candidates (Youk and Pedroia), the best closer in baseball (sorry Mariano "Skeleton Face" Rivera) and a potential future Cy Young winner (Lester).

Continue reading "The Tables Have Turned"

Last night's ninth inning was almost an afterthought, what with the ejection of both Dustin Pedroia and an irate Orioles fan within about 10 minutes of each other. In fact, the eighth featured the home plate umpire barking into the Sox dugout, Pedroia chirping at both the first base and home umpire, Pedroia getting tossed and the Orioles fan jabbing back and forth with Coco Crisp before battles with two ushers and a pair of Red Sox fans on the way out of the stadium.

Continue reading "The Manny we still have"

Well, basketball is over and Major League Baseball is heading into the All Star break, which means that the real baseball season is about to begin.  I know, I am waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy overdue for this year's first rabid Red Sox post, but honestly I've been a little bit preoccupied with the WORLD CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS and basketball in general (it has overtaken baseball as my favorite sport, though the Red Sox are and always will be my first love) to really dive into the first three meaningless months of the grueling and arduous MLB season.

Continue reading "Just Hit"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

Continue reading "Now playing first base for the New ..."