Sports Writing

More on the game: I actually had a post ready all excited about how Craig Hansen and Hanley Ramirez got called up, and how it’s nice to see our hyped prospects come up, instead of seeing players like Chad Harville, and in fact Hansen’s performance seemed to prove my point, when the other hyped prospect of the season Papelbon proceeded to give up that 2-run homer that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor. Groan.

ARGH!!! MY EYES! Okay, fans of non-NL East-dominating teams: name the rookies (cos Yahoo News wasn’t nice enough to incriminate people)

Everytime the Sox clawed a little bit back, the Rays pulled a little further ahead. Rage rising… rising… Must. Throw. Furniture.

I don’t know, much as I love baseball, getting married in a mass wedding at a ballpark seems to take being a fan to another level: Before the Twins met the White Sox in an early 11:10 a.m. CT game at the Metrodome, the club held a “Multiple Matrimony Ceremony” for 83 couples.

What a tight day of games - 7 games ending in a 1-run margin. And Manny Aristides Ramirez with another game-winning RBI - well, this time an actual hit, and a bomb at that, rather than getting hit.

It all looks the same, doesn’t it? That familiar Big Papi pose as he knows he’s launched another ball into orbit. And yet familiarity in this case breeds awe, not contempt. #43 with a bullet.

Gabe Kapler injured. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen someone injured on a home run trot. Achilles tendon, OUCH. Again going to show that whether a player looks fit may not relate to his tendency for injury. Or sheer bad luck. Next time I’d prefer a home run trot rather than running hard around the bases. Screw appearing bush league.

Man, I always knew Barry Zito had a rep for being a huge prankster, but he really went all out in organising the Oakland As rookie hazing - getting everyone costumes and all:

Since the game itself was not fun to watch, here’s a random piece of sports-related news - Shaq’s in police training? Seeing Shaq chase after you on the street might be pretty scary.

Okay, I’m an eternal optimist, but a 5-run 2nd inning by the Jays was just too much too much to overcome. This was the bad, wild Clement (although And the only funny part about Keith Foulke’s outing is that apparently he gave Hinske a purple nurple:

Ah - the beauty of this year’s team is that even when the other side ties the game, it’s possible to remain calm. After all, someone’s going to step up. Often David Ortiz. (That’s part of why Ortiz has “only” 9 walkoff hits, which I know some people said seemed small: there’s no way to hit a walkoff hit in an away game…)

A good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel, and it was a pity to see Wakefield lose despite perhaps the best-pitched game by a Sox starter this season, no thanks to Giambi’s short-porch pop-fly homer. But from a pure baseball fan’s point of view, I love pitching duels. I just hope it isn’t a sign that Randy Johnson is learning how to be good again.

Wow, work has been crazily hectic! So I will have to slowly recap and catch up based on my scribbled notes. I actually watched the whole Sox-Yankees series, and even though the Sox went 1-2 it made for some pretty great baseball. First, Game 2: it was really good to see Schilling back in form. The splitter actually split enough to get the good ol’ swing and miss, and - best of all - that barehanded grab seemed to show he’s progressed to the point where his instinct is to grab the ball, and not worry about landing on the ankle. I’ll need another start to believe it, but there it was.

What a frustrating game to watch. Never any sense of the Sox gaining momentum after that 2nd inning - lots of people on base, noone bringing them home. And then the usually dependable front end of the bullpen, Bradford and Myers, crapping it up in that messy, messy 6th inning.

Random stat: the Sox have 4 of the 22 AL pitchers with more than 12 wins (Wakefield with 15, Clement with 13, Wells and Bronson with 12). Not that wins count for much - in this case, I would say it’s more testament to the bonecrushing power of the Sox offense - but the fact that very few starting pitchers seem to have lots of wins this year sort of hints at the fact that the AL hasn’t had anyone who’s truly dominant this year, not like Clemens or Carpenter in the NL.

This had the feel of a Matt Clement 2004 game, when he was pitching decently and the Cubs gave him no run support at all. Stupid LOB tendencies. And yes, I’m excited about Wells - the antithesis of small - going up against Small.

Michael Bolton and Barry Bonds at Bonds’ 40th birthday party. I’d say the only time I actually expected to see Bolton next to Bonds was in some alphabetical listing of celebrities. Worlds colliding! (Via Deadspin, that new tentacle of the Gawker Media empire)

So Guitar Boy took on Santana and lived to tell the tale. 8 innings, 3 earned runs, after a very shaky beginning. This is probably the best stretch of starting pitching I’ve seen from the Sox all season - 8 innings from Bronson and Clement, CGs from Wells and Wakefield. Even Schilling going 6 1/3 was encouraging.

So David Ortiz received a plaque that said “David Ortiz #34 The Greatest Clutch Hitter in the History of the Boston Red Sox” yesterday. Now, I’m of the camp that doesn’t believe that there is much difference in clutch hitting ability among major league players, at least compared to regular hitting ability. But I do believe clutch hits (as in, hits during supposedly “key” situations) exist. So as a record of past achievement - rather than of predictive ability - that award is correct in that, yes, Ortiz has had many clutch hits. I mean, the 2004 postseason alone will tell you that.

Well I heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth the fifth The minor fall