Sports Writing

The Tracy Porter interception, Tecmo Bowl style.

Lackey’s always been a solid starter - nothing fancy, but frankly I think the market undervalues solid starters who can give you 200 innings. So if the rumours are true, I’m happy enough.

Well, a plus defender with reasonable hitting for a shortstop. I’ll take it. At some point, some announcer will call the Scutaro to Youkilis throw this way: “Ground ball to Scutaro. Marco… Polo.”

There are many, many unprintable things I have to say about today’s results. And yet, I find myself in the position of now having to cheer on the Angels. Ugh.

The Yankees can’t keep winning games in the 9th inning, can they? Law of averages and all that.

Ain’t no shame in losing to Greinke. Funny that Paul Byrd himself was KC’s last 15-game winner, way back when.

Loss to the Angels yesterday aside, the Sox are lookin’ good. And fanboy point of view: it’s so great to see Pedro doing so well. But what is up with Charlie Manuel leaving him in for 130 pitches?

Losing a game called in the 5th is shite.

MLB At Bat has to be the most awesome app for the iPhone. I mean, even if you’re not a huge baseball fan, the ability to stream live audio, watch video highlights etc. for $9.99 - and now they’re adding live video streaming? Seriously awesome. (The live audio already has made my morning commutes so much better - MLB.tv is great and all, but I can’t watch it on the subway…)

And there’s the sweep. Catching up on Toronto, Ortiz has a homer (bit too early to say he has his groove back… Stella!), and Paps seems to be throwing good heat.

Sox sweep Yankees again. That bullpen of the Yankees is quite horrific. And I am pleased as punch. Meanwhile, Doug Glanville writes about A-Rod and what pitch tipping involves. Glanville really can write. I don’t know whether A-Rod really tipped pitches. And that’s one huge allegation, perhaps more than the steroids one. But what does seem saddest to me is A-Rod’s seeming desire to be liked, to be looked up to.

The last six months have been the most gut-wrenching ones of my life. Watching my mother go in and out of hospital; watching various tubes inserted to help her eat, breathe, all the common functions we take for granted; gaining the false hope of a discharge only to have her return to the hospital; and finally, the traumatic last 2 weeks, where the infection finally got the better of her.

Have been following the WBC, but just too overwhelmed by family issues to comment too much. But baseball - real, competitive baseball - is a lovely distraction. As is Manny trying to play cricket.

Congrats to Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice for making the Hall of Fame. Was always perplexed by the car the Sox gave him in 2002, but it led to one of many funny Rickey being Rickey stories:

So Mark Teixeira chose the Yankees at the end, leaving them with the 3 biggest free-agent acquisitions of the offseason. And yet all I’m feeling is equanimity. Peace on earth, goodwill towards men and women, that sort of thing. I guess in the end a whole variety of factors - such as the willingness to offer a no-trade clause - got them Tex. And so the AL East keeps getting more and more interesting. Here we are as in olden days, indeed.

Well, I can’t tell if it’s a sweepstakes or it’s going to be a case of the winner’s curse. But the Angels publicly backing out, and John Henry publicly saying that the Sox will not be a factor in the negotiations, is very interesting from both a baseball fan and a game theorist’s point of view. What is the value of credible threats? And binding agreements? (In this case the ‘binding’ is less legal in nature than using the nature of public pronouncements to bind oneself.)

Am back in the US of A… pity it wasn’t in time for baseball or the elections! But oh boy oh boy oh boy.

Congratulations to the White Sox’s best-known fan. What an inspiring election it was (I admit to jonesin’ for my daily 538 fix, but Nate Silver’ll do that to you). Now, please, bring baseball back to the Olympics!

It can’t be, but it is. In the end, it seems homefield advantage for Game 7 was a big advantage. And the squander of the 8th inning was oh so painful.

And he can keep on running to Tampa. Game 6…. my heart is pounding like crazy.