Hello. Wage the Intern here. I am in charge today while the Bleachers do a so called "team building activity" at Hales Brewery. A couple of weeks ago they watched a documentary called American Beer and since then it has become a habit for them to leave the office under the guise of "research" or "brainstorming" but I know where they are. They are trying to mimic the movie and drink at every microbrewery in existence.
I am left to figure out why the Red Sox got shelled 15-3 by the Indians on Thursday. The truth is that I can't do much analysis. After Josh Beckett gave up is ninth earned run I changed the channel and watched the NHL playoffs. Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov are skating pretty darn well for San Jose and Edmonton. I wish the Bruins could get players like that.
Anyway, I hope the phone doesn't ring much today because I TiVo the Martha Stewart Showand watch a week's worth of episodes as a marathon every Friday. I heard that Johnny Damon was Martha's guest on Wednesday.He "helped" cook up Linguine with Clams. Do you think that Johnny is getting mixed up with the "wrong crowd" in New York? I'm just peeved that he ruined a perfectly good episode of Martha for a little orange creature like me. I plan to do the right thing and boo on Monday.
Enjoy this video of A-Rod's new at bat ritual. Apparently it is acceptable to hump a bat in public. This could be the funniest thing I've seen all day. ARod Humping (You Tube)
Even though the Sox are batting .256 as a team (only the Mariners, Royals and A's have worse team batting averages in the American League at this point), we shouldn't be concerned about the strength of the every day lineup. When Coco Crisp returns from the DL, his presence leading off will make a huge difference and Youkilis will move down and strengthen the bottom of the lineup. I am concerned with Terry Francona's lineups that end with Snow, Mohr, Cora, and Bard. Let's make a deal Terry, no more than one "regular" gets a day off at once, okay?
Mike Lowell can really flash some leather at third base.
ThePepsi commercialfeaturing Jimmy Fallon and Parker Posey is second only to the Coors Light "love train" campaign in annoying factor and both must be stopped. http://www.drunkenbleachers.com
I've been ponderingthis blog postfromMariner Housewifeabout the end of her "goodwill" towards the Red Sox. Here is a snippet:
"Well, the end has finally come- all the goodwill I once felt towards the Red Sox is officially gone...I'm just sick of them. I'm sick of their stupid good pitching. I'm sick of their enthusiastic fans. I'm sick of their dumb hairdos...It's not just because they've shut down our offense, either. It's deeper than being mad at them for beating us. They've shed the "loser" tag, but they lost the "lovable" part too. The "idiot" swagger is cute when it's coming from the underdog, but just annoying when it's coming from a guy who's already won..."
What does this all mean? After winning once in 86 years are the Sox becoming the "New Yankees"? It had never really occurred to me that anyone besides the New York fan base would bother to hate the Red Sox. In the pre-2004 era, being a "Sox Hater" would be the equivalent of hating small furry animals, but now it's different...? I don't get it.
Thanks to the early Patriots Day start, transplanted West Coast Red Sox fans -- like myself -- were treated to baseball at 8:05 this morning. Let me tell you, there is nothing like a cup of Columbian coffee, two eggs sunny side up, three slices of peppered bacon and aRed Sox walk-off winbefore noon.
Below is an excerpt of user comments posted during the bottom of the ninth inning on a fantastic Seattle Mariners blog, theU.S.S. Mariner(read DMZ'sexplanation of Patriots Daytoo):
In anticipation of the weekend's four game series with the Mariners, here are four things I have learned since I moved from Boston, MA to Seattle, WA two years ago:
1) Jamie Moyer and his 80mph fastball vs Curt Schilling tonight will be the perfect cure for the Red Sox two game losing streak.
2) The Seattle Mariners have thebest commercialsin Major League Baseball. It's an event worthy of celebration in Seattle when the commercials are officially released each spring. My favorite of the 2006 batch is "Epidemic" which shows "ordinary Northwest citizens go about their daily tasks in the style of Ichiro." Good stuff.
3) Kenji Johjima is the Japanese equivalent of Jason Varitek.
4) Red Sox games are only televised in bars in Seattle when the Sox play the Mariners so we'll be leaving work early today to find a Happy Hour and a HDTV.
What better way to celebrate the home opener than with acontract extension for Big Papi. We get to watch this guy hit monster home runslike thisuntil at least 2010, maybe 2011.
I love this Theo Epstein quote from the news conference Monday at Fenway:
"This is a very important day for the Red Sox. This is one of those contracts where it all came together because we had a player who means so much to the organization, who's done so much for the organization and he wanted to stay in Boston. David really said that early on, and he meant it. It came together with tremendous commitment from ownership and David and his representatives to get this done in a timely fashion..."
Could this be a subtle shot from Theo at Pedro and Johnny Damon?
Perhaps Terry Francona read the mind of every Sox fan from coast to coast when he made the decision to call on Jonathan Papelbon to close out last night's 2-1 Red Sox wininstead of Keith Foulke. I personally repeated the phrase "please don't bring in Keith Foulke" at least eight times between the top and bottom of the ninth inning.
Seriously, it would be great for Foulke to make a comeback and have the type of season that he had in 2004, but if Papelbon is going to pitch "lights out" as he did last night, he should be the closer.
--------------------
Has anyone been following thesilly feud between Mets and Yankees fansover the fact that the Mets new closer, Billy Wagner, enters the game to the same song (Metallica's "Sandman") as Mariano Rivera? According to the NY Daily News:
"A day after Wagner closed the Mets' 3-2 Opening Day victory...sports-talk radio erupted, with Yankee fans railing at Wagner's entry music - the same song used by Mariano Rivera in the Bronx. For the record, Wagner used the song first, even if it's synonymous in baseball circles with Rivera's entrance."
Interesting.
--------------------
Photo from cincinnati.com
I have a running bet going with fellow Bleacher, Boston Dan, regarding the Wily-Mo Pena to the Sox for Bronson Arroyo trade. I believe it was a good trade, Dan hates it. Here's the lopsided tally so far:
Homeruns hit by Wily Mo Pena since the trade: 0 Homeruns hit by Bronson Arroyo since the trade: 1
I lost two meatballs out of my meatball sub yesterday when Coco Crisp madethis spectacular catch. I think I jumped into the air with sub in hand. I'm not exactly sure. What I do know is that after Game 1, I have a really good feeling about the 2006 Sox.
For example: Big Papi knocked the seams off the ballas usual,Schillingpitched better yesterday than he did at any point in 2005 and even two of the major "question marks", Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzales, both came up with big hits.
Dial up your boss to say that you won't be at work --- you've been struck with a rare case of contagious gout. Get yourself on a barstool, write a quick haiku and order up a pint of Sam Adams and a plate of rockin'rally nachos. It's Opening Day!
1 run lead going into bottom of the 9th with the bottom half of the Sox lineup coming up! let's finish this one up!
Eddie strikes out Willy Mo, gettin fired up!!! I love this guy.
WILY MO K-NA!
Sounds like Eddie is on his game today
wow sucks
Oh man..what a let down.
You've got to be effing kidding me.
Well, that was a punch in the gut.
This is frustrating.
Well, is it about time to make Soriano our closer?
What a gutwrenching game that was.
Sigh. Well, I guess I should actually get back to my job.
It's so painful being a Mariners fan