Red Sox at Angels, Game 2 ALDS thread (plus more Kerouackian pregame rambling)
October 3, 2008“My position in the current American literary scene is simply that I got sick and tired of the conventional English sentence which seemed to me so ironbound in its rules, so inadmissable with reference to the actual format of my mind as I had learned to probe it in the modern spirit of Freud and Jung, that I couldn’t express myself through that form anymore.” – Jack Kerouac, 1959
After his first novel, The Town and the City, a conventional family saga, Jack Kerouac tried and failed for years to find a way to tell the next story he wanted to tell. Finally, all the stops and starts got to him and he had to go away to the loony bin for a little while. This seems to have been the turning point for him. If he kept trying to follow the rules of writing not only was his novel doomed but he was doomed, too, so into the typewriter went his teletype scroll and for three weeks in 1951 he let the sentences come out long and gasping and searching and ragged and real, until he had something brand new, so new, in fact, that it would be six years before anyone would be willing to publish it, six years to roam the land with On the Road unpublished, but our October hero though deeply disappointed and hurting in the end didn’t care because he had found the answer, sing your song and rules be damned, and into the hopelessness of the rule-bound world he flung creation after creation, Visions of Cody, Doctor Sax, Maggie Cassidy, Mexico City Blues, The Subterraneans, Tristessa, all unpublished until the calamitous “overnight success” of On the Road in 1957, the author in those wandering years a nobody for real, but one who knew joy because he’d found a way to love the world and sing that love in sentences that tumbled and wheezed and collapsed and somehow rose from collapse to stand unsteady but with eyes agleam, like a drunk nobody noticing the tender ache of the soft violet sunset as the railroad cops advance to drag him to the hoosegow, where he’ll weep with thanks for what he’s been lucky enough to see.
Yes, Jack Kerouac loved long unruly sentences. Maybe this love can shed some light on why the author, an avid sports fan, seems to have loved baseball above all other sports, even though one of those other sports, football, had given him renown as a hometown hero and a scholarship to play big-time college football for the famous coach Lou Little at Columbia University. Football, if translated directly into sentences, would be short, blunt declaratives. Baseball into sentences? Something else altogether. . .
If Jack Kerouac were alive today—and he could have been alive today maybe if he’d lived a healthier life, if he had, as aging legendary Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki suggested when Kerouac and Ginsberg came to meet him, laid off the booze and instead went with green tea, he’d be a strong thin old cuss of 86, still a decade shy of D.T. Suzuki’s lifespan of 96 years, but he didn’t heed the advice from Japan which will relate (Japan I mean) in a moment, and so Jack Kerouac has been dead almost as long as I’ve been alive—he’d be watching the playoffs and the Red Sox in particular though I guess it’s possible if he was still living in Florida where he did kick the bucket maybe he’d have migrated to the Rays but I hope not and anyway maybe the green tea would have cured him of his need to lay around Florida waiting to die and he would be living in a monastery in northern California and would have left the monastery to venture down to Anaheim for prime literary lion seats near maybe a vacationing Stephen King and the two could compare notes on weirdo literary groupies while adjusting their scorecards between innings after confusing double-switches, and in this scenario, Jack Kerouac alive, I’d have to think his favorite Red Sox player would be Daisuke Matsuzaka, tonight’s starter, and not just because he was Japanese, like D.T. Suzuki who saved (in this reimagining of reality) Jack Kerouac’s life all those years ago but also because Jack Kerouac loved long ridiculous sentences and Dice-K, if he were not a baseball player but that structural unit of prose called a sentence, would be the longest, strangest sentence in the 2008 Red Sox novel, digressions and misdirections and ballooning parenthetical flowers of ideas within things within ideas within things within ideas until the whole dream of existence is revealed as an infinite loom of wanting and mercy and lightning and gloom interwoven and unraveling all at once and you the reader the solitary lonely alive fanny in the stands begin to wonder if there is even a purpose anymore and all there is left to rely on is the rhythm below the endless looping expansions toward mu (the Japanese word meaning nothing), the sentence possibly doomed, who knows and after all can’t it only ever end in a question? In a jam, bases loaded, full count?
Into the pretzeling contortion the trouble-master goes slow and calm as ever, implacable, and out of his hand comes an unpredictable pitch, impossible to know what will come, same as life, so hang on and rejoice: it’s Dice-K’s turn.
Red Sox at Angels, 6:37 PT, 9:37 ET
Lineups (tonight sadly lacking an echo of Kerouac’s hometown), courtesy of the Boston Globe:
Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mark Kotsay, 1B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Alex Cora, SS
SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Angels
1. Chone Figgins, 3B
2. Garret Anderson, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, IB
4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH
5. Torii Hunter, CF
6. Juan Rivera, RF
7. Howie Kendrick, 2B
8. Jeff Mathis, C
9. Erick Aybar, SS
SP: Ervin Santana
Cardboard Gods 
1. The man was an Artist. So was Neal Cassady. What can I say? That particular brand of living — and writing — was so profound and influential. Without them I would not be the person I am now. Cowboy Neal Cassady was a guru, and Black Jack was there to record it.
They are both sorely missed.
2. If the game is as good as that kickass foreword we are in for a ride tonight.
3. Second verse, same as the first.
4. oh c’mon Santana
5. Oh well done.
I’m tempted to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: “I’ve replaced teletype rolls. Teletype rolls were the tools of my trade. Jack, you don’t know teletype rolls.”
6. Well…
Be interesting if all the series ended in sweeps.
7. this is absurd.
8. Jason Bay might be a good player.
9. Why is Kotsay hitting so high in the order?
10. The count so far:
Manny: 2 HR
Bay: 2 HR
11. Nm, Jason Bay does not hit as high as I expected.
12. Is the crowd in Anaheim, pro Angels, or pro Red Sox? Because that stadium seemed to have been cheering for Jason Bay’s homer.
13. 9 : Because Varitek can’t hit and Cora (tho I like him) is your prototypical 9th hitter.
14. 12
Pro-Angels, just Red Sox fans show up everywhere.
15. It’s a pro Angels crowd, but there is a significant group of Red Sox fans.
16. 10 Manny who?
17. 16
The guy that helped the Red Sox win two World Series.
18. 17 : As a Red Sox fan, I’d change that “helped” to a “led”.
19. JD Drew is a good player, but it’s a shame he has no soul
20. ok Vlad, cut the lead in half.
21. Texiera loves those singles.
22. Man, those upgraded thunder sticks sounds horrible.
23. well, could be worse.
24. “buckle down” that’s got to be a magic word in a Chip Carey drinking game.
25. Sloppy fielding by the Red Sox.
26. This is going to be a long night.
27. 26 – a very long night.
28. “There are universal ground rules that cover unique situations.”
What the ????
29. Wow, both teams can not field today.
30. 28 – I’m beginning to think turning TBS baseball broadcasts into drinking games may not be the best of ideas.
31. I am also getting creeped out by the guy with the big red umbrella for Travellers.
My mother told me never to accept a ride from a strange man carrying an outsized umbrella with a faint English accent.
She was quite specific.
32. 31 : I agree. That guy gives me the willies.
33. Torii Hunter must have forgotten about 2002 because he’s gotten out of the ALDS before.
34. 33
Don’t remind me.
35. 32 The intro was magical tonight, Josh.
36. At least Hunter did not have a Milton Bradley moment.
37. 35 : Thanks! I forgot to work in (speaking of magical) that the Boston Globe online for the last couple days has had the first name of tonight’s Angels starter listed as “Earvin” (the Globe typist still shell-shocked by Earvin Johnson’s baby skyhook in ’87, I guess).
38. Alex Cora is making a mockery of the game.
39. I’m just checking in, obviously-is Lowell sitting for strategic reasons or medical?
40. Lowell is sitting out for strategic medical reasons. Francona wants to give him two days in a row off to rest his hip.
41. ok, lead off man on, time to turn things around.
42. 40 : Also, he has struggled against Santana, and Francona wants to be sure he’s ready to go against the lefty Saunders in game 3. Apparently Lowell really wanted to play tonight.
43. 40 42 Thanks.
“Selectively aggressive”, Buck? Is that like “bunting for power”?
44. 43 – I think it means going after pitches on hitter’s counts. but yeah, in baseball, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
45. How did they come to the conclusion that this was the lead announce team?
46. 45 – Joe Buck was busy?
47. You mean Dick Stockton isn’t the best announcer for TBS? I’m shocked.
48. 46 Joe Buck works for FOX.
49. well, there’s that too
50. Figgy with the rbi
The Angels manager is relentless
51. Chone Figgings first hit of the series. Fairly big one too.
52. Tough to make the old vet chase
53. .296/.327/.469 – good enough for the Hall of Fame over 14 full seasons? I’m actually surprised by how good Anderson’s numbers actually are, never thought of him as that good
54. 44 It’s one of those things about postseason baseball that is so irritating. If you think about it for a minute, obviously “aggressive” doesn’t mean “swing at the first pitch, even though it is 3 feet above your head”. A certain amount of selectivity is implied.
It’s like that passage (from Ball Four, I think) about the second guessing pitching coach who is chattering about throwing strikes, and then, as soon as one goes over the fence, changing to, “well, you can’t make them TOO good.”
55. 53 Not unless Garrent Anderson was a superb defensive fielder too.
56. Bay is playing like Eric Byrnes, sliding all over the place.
57. Nepotism is a big deal in broadcasting now a days. Marty Brennaman’s son is Fox’s leading college football announcer and the voice of the Big 10 network. Jack Buck’s son is all over fox. Skip Caray’s son is the lead voice for TBS. Even Ernie Johnson in the studio is the son of another broadcaster.
Don Sutton’s son is the homer announcer for the DBacks. Harry Kalas’ son, Todd, is the play by play guy for the Rays.
I really hope Ted Leitner doesn’t have a son.
58. 53 Remember when every other word about Anderson was “underrated”?
Maybe he actually is now.
59. 53 Remember when every other word about Anderson was “underrated”?
Maybe he actually is now.
60. Remember when people used to post comments only once?
61. 54 – yeah, I know what you’re talking about. you actually hear a lot of the same talk in the regular season. baseball is really a thinking game: strategy, opportunity, execution. you know, fun.
62. 57 – i’ve noticed that too. i’m not sure i like it all that much. there’s got to be someone out there, not related to an announcer, that could do the job better.
63. that would have been a home run during a day game.
64. Does JD remind anyone else of Rich Gedman when he swings and misses?
65. Two other TBS announcers are pretty good: Don Orsillo and Brian Anderson.
Although Anderson works for the Brewers, he was assigned to the Brewers-Phillies series. Orsillo wasn’t assigned to the Red Sox.
I suppose Orsillo is considered too closely identified with the Red Sox for a national gig, while Caray just works in relative obscurity for the Braves, whose games aren’t on a superstation anymore.
66. 63
It has significantly cooled down out here from Wednesday to today. It should be even cooler in Southern California tomorrow night. Rain, albeit light, is in the forecast.
67. 64 : But Gedman, after a while, always swung and missed.
68. it was still pretty warm in Orange County today. Not quite like Wednesday when it was 95, but still, warmer than it should be in October
69. Is there a reason why TBS decided to stop broadcasting Braves games nationally? Well, other than that they’re not very good anymore?
70. i think it’s because they’re not both owned by Turner anymore
71. Vlad is not the guy you want to go 3-0 on
72. Another Bouton joke:
How do you pitch to Vlad Guerrero?
Reluctantly.
73. Vlad taking 5 pitches in a row is… disconcerting
74. Dice-K with 85 pitches in 4 innings. Yikes.
75. So are the words “Manny Delcarmen getting loose”
76. I was just thinking, “Geez, for a Dice K game, this is going pretty quick.”
77. Guerrerro’s propensity to swing at everything was defeated by Dice-K’s propensity to throw a billion pitches by the sixth inning.
78. Torii Hunter. Not intending to walk at all.. and singles!
79. Now a national audience is seeing how an 18-3 record with a sub-3.00 ERA can be misleading.
80. I keep looking for people I know during the crowd shots. Thankfully, I’ve yet to see anyone I know.
81. I bet Manny would have made that throw.
82. “He can dot an i with his fastball.”
Just not necessarily the i in this sentence. Sometimes it’s a j. Sometimes he manages to dot a q as well.
83. actually, the problem is when he dots an eye with his fastball
84. Vlad needs the old designated runner these days.
85. Man, Vlad has bad wheels.
86. I don’t get this move. Napoli scares me more than Morales.
87. Does that high fastball ever work?
88. I really hope Ned and Frank don’t decide to sign Veritek this off season.
89. Jeepers, what an inning.
90. 86 Mike Scioscia has fallen in love with Mathis, the other Angels catcher. Its odd since Napoli is clearly the better player.
91. Never was a big Kerouac fan. I wanted to be Ken Kesey though if that counts for anything. I still like to re-visit Sometimes a Great Notion every year or so.
92. 88 No way that happens, Martin too good a player to move off of the catcher’s spot.
93. huh, Christian Kane got a new show. I liked him on Angel.
94. 92 – I want to believe that too, Tripon, but I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.
you know, some of what he’s saying about developing pitchers, isn’t so crazy. but i can’t imagine going back to 4 man rotations.
95. The Angels are trying to make a mockery of BP’s secret sauce stat.
96. The Angels are trying to make a mockery of BP’s secret sauce stat.
97. How would Hunter have been helped by using two hands to try to catch that ball?
98. First error all year for Hunter.
99. 94 Veritek would be the wrong player to target even if you wanted to move Martin off to another position, or trade him. At least with Nomar, or Schimdt, or hell Andruw Jones you could have argued they still have had some sort of value as players. No offense to Veritek, but even despite his single right now, he’s just lost it offensively, and he’s not going to be a defensive upgrade over Martin. The whole thing is just silly.
100. 99 He has been going through a divorce. You could be right, certainly-but he doesn’t look like anything’s physically wrong, to me. I would not be shocked to see him return to adequacy next season.
101. I don’t get to see the coat tonight? C’mon, guys!
102. I believe Andruw Jones got married this year, so I don’t know if domestic bliss is the key.
103. I wonder how many guys get converted, one way or the other, that would have made the show if not for the conversion
104. 99 And Jones? OMG. What the hell happened to that guy?
105. 100 That might be true, but I don’t see how replacing Martin with Veritek helps the Dodgers. While the inverse would make the Red Sox a better team, replacing Veritek with Martin. And that’s a big reason why I wouldn’t do anything like that.
106. again, i wouldn’t do it, you wouldn’t do it. but Frank McCourt and Ned Colletti? I just don’t trust ’em
107. 104
It’s pretty much been identified as a pact with the devil gone wrong.
108. Nice pitch by Arredondo there.
109. Are there actually rumors about the Dodgers getting Varitek?
110. it was floated mid-season as an off season acquisition.
111. 109 Gammons kept on harping on it for a couple of weeks. I didn’t hear it from anyone else(nobody local, or any other online writer) so I figured it was at best a disgruntled Dodgers exec who doesn’t like Martin’s play for whatever reason.
112. the idea was Varitek behind the plate and Martin at third. DT was on melt down alert for about two weeks.
113. Gammons believes that the Dodgers need a “pitcher first” catcher in Varitek and thinks the Dodger pitchers need a catcher who works better with the pitchers.
Instead of a catcher who does things like produce runs. Gammons seemed to forget about this as the Dodgers played better in September.
114. I’m torn about losing Varitek. Obviously, he is an offensive sinkhole-and I think, even if you’re Johnny Bench, you can’t carry, in 2008, a position player hitting .210. But it seems clear that his pitch calling/clubhouse presence/general awesomeicity is worth something.
But .210? .245, sure. But not .210.
115. Gammons wrote about it during the beginning of Sept.
Russell Martin may have slid backward, and had his attention to the defensive preparation called into question, but he remains a tremendous talent who wants to play every day, and his workload may have impacted his attention to game preparation. There has been some talk that the Dodgers may go after a Varitek or a pitcher-oriented catcher, which would free Martin from behind the plate and take his athleticism to third base, where the coaches feel he could also be an All-Star, a move Torre, Todd Zeile and Craig Biggio all made successfully.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=gammons_peter&month=9&year=2008
116. 111 : Hm. Can team captains leave their teams? I know they can, but I don’t recall it ever happening. Red Sox captains have all retired as Red Sox (at least as far back as I can remember). I certainly would hate to see Varitek anywhere else and was hoping he’d phase out slowly, tutoring some younger, better hitter (like Saltalamachia) to play the position.
117. 116 And that’s what bothers me. You want him to stay, but at what cost? Can you pay a guy $8 million to play 65 games a year?
118. Davey Lopes was the last Dodgers captain and he was traded, but he stepped down as captain a couple seasons earlier.
119. I don’t know how Okajima gets anyone out with the garbage he throws.
120. why do baseball teams need captains?
121. Kind of a funhouse mirror of what the Yankees are having to decide about Jeter. He’s nowhere near the waste of space Varitek is, but he’s not himself, either.
122. Wow, that’s soul crushing. Totally thought that was out.
123. 120 They don’t. Isn’t it a rule in hockey or soccer that only captains can speak to officials or something, though?
124. Baseball teams need captains so someone can talk to the referees about who has to go to the penalty box.
125. I would have to think that guys like Varitek and Jeter have close to a full extra season in post-season games played by now. that’s got to weigh on a guy’s abilities.
126. 122 I thought that too.
127. You know, the Angels have Vlad and Tex, but then the rest of their line-up just doesn’t strike me as all that scary. I don’t know why this is just occurring to me now. Some other very solid players of course.
And Garrett Anderson, who used to be very good, almost hits one out there. Okajima is a bit lucky.
128. wasn’t a-rod named team captain for the rangers like 3 days before they traded him to the yanks? i know it doesn’t really count since he never actually played a game for texas as team captain, but technically speaking…
129. 123
Actually, I was kidding. But in hockey and soccer, the captains are supposed to be the only players to address the referees. They don’t, but it works that way. And football captains have to call the coin toss and decide whether or not to accept penalties.
Basketball has captains, but they do very, very little except have a brief discussion with the refs before the game.
130. 127 okajima is lucky. but how ’bout dice-k mats-whoodini?!
131. 127 – some would say the same thing about the team 31 miles to the north.
132. 127 I feel the same way. I breath a little sigh of relief right after Vlad gets his hit.
133. 127 Angels need to bench Figgins or Aybar and just go with Richard Brandon Wood.
134. Alex Rodriguez’s tenure as Texas Rangers captain lasted from 1/25/2004 to 2/15/2004.
135. 127 if the halos were playing the pinstripes, the entire LA lineup would turn into murderer’s row. : /
136. “How about the Cubs?”
How about the team that has outscored them by 12 runs in two games?
137. 134 ah, 3 weeks! i thought it was 3 days. : ~
138. well, i’m heading out for the evening, y’all have fun, see you at DT tomorrow night.
139. If the Halos were playing their older cousins up the freeway, they would also turn into Murderers Row.
And the Dodgers would make six errors in each game.
That would be followed by a Bill Plaschke column blaming the Dodgers loss to the Angels on Barry Bonds hitting a home run against the Dodgers in 1997.
140. 131 What, you’re not scared of Blake DeWitt? The Cubs are so scared of him, that Derek Lee intentionally blocked him trying to turn a Double Play. ~_~
141. Buck Martinez is on his game tonight. Thank you for telling Chip the obvious:
That the Derek Jeter “flip” play in the ’01 ALDS was in Oakland, not “the Bronx.”
142. 139
Angels Murderers Row? That is a lot of singles.
143. jason being manny
144. 142 Like drowning in a pile of leaves.
145. they really need to stop with this “nation” garbage… : /
146. 131 Many would, but right now I’d take the Dodgers line-up over the Angels’. Not gonna feel too cocky, I know they could all suddenly evaporate when back in LA this weekend, but just from top to bottom right at this moment… The Angels’ have such a great team overall though. They’re just facing another equally great team.
147. He goes to Masterson here? Yes?
148. Sigh, as soon as this game is over I have to go back and watch the undoubtedly pointless last half of Speed Racer.
149. I still don’t get why a guy like Wood isn’t playing. You need power, and Figgins hasn’t done much leading off.
150. 148 HAVE to? Is this a hostage situation?
151. Angels OPS against Boston in the regular season: 901
Angels OPS against the Yankees in the regular season: 864
The Angels hit 15 home runs against the Red Sox in the regular season, the most of any team outside of the AL West.
152. There we go-a nice pistachio coat.
153. I’m not sure if Craig Sager’s pocket square goes with his tie.
154. 115
Navarro
Paging Mr. Navarro
Oh wait – Navarro’s on the Rays
155. Oh god, the monkey.
156. did anybody just catch who they said was wearing a penn state jersey???
157. I believe Mike Scioscia was wearing the Penn State jersey.
158. As Lucas McCain would say at a time like this
MARK!
159. ah, it was indeed scioscia. i had no idea he was a penn stater. damnit, now i kinda have to like him. : /
160. Why don’t you want Masterson working to the middle of the order?
161. Texiera starts the rally. No way! A single? I never thought that would happen.
162. 157 thanks, bob! i thought so too, but was confused by it. just looked it up and see he’s from PA and went to penn state, my alma mater…
163. Scioscia didn’t go to Penn State. He’s just from Pennsylvania.
164. now would be a good time for vlad to be the impaler and hit one out…
165. This is one of those moments-if it works, hes a genius.
166. ….Guess not.
167. Vlad the Rakeer
168. 163 his player page at espn says: College – Penn State. then again, it also has him on the San Diego Padres page, so who knows!
169. I thought Scioscia was drafted out of high school by the Dodgers. He might have gone back to Penn State later.
170. The Angels… staging a rally David Eckstein could only dream of!
171. And there’s Vlad and Tex for ya. Let’s see if Hunter can do any damage. Still no XBH for the Angels yet this series, right?
172. Scioscia was born in 1958 and his first year in pro ball was 1976.
173. Wow, the Rally Monkey is making me cheer against the Angels.
174. Scioscia’s son Matt goes to Notre Dame.
Boooooo
175. 170 It’s scraptacular!
176. 150 Almost a hostage situation, or at least I may take one after finishing it. I was supposed to review it for my work web site. But now it’s starting to feel pointless. If nothing else, I’ll get decent trade-in value for it!
177. Time for Justin Masterson, Ruff Ruffman’s favorite player.
178. 169 his wikipedia page says he attended the main campus of PSU, but doesn’t say when. it seems as though it was directly after he went to high school in Springfield, Pa…
179. 176 It was awful, wasn’t it? I told my wife it’s what taking drugs must feel like.
180. And the bases are loaded for Howie
181. 179 It looks great, it looks better than taking mushrooms! But it also makes even less sense, and makes one feel equally sad and empty inside after it wears off.
Why would I not have much faith in Kendrick here if I were an Angels fan?
182. No doubt Scioscia’s attendance at Springfield High got him his gig on “The Simpsons.”
183. 181 That’s why.
184. what a horrible pitch at which to swing. : /
185. I guess Kendrick’s career line of 163 Ks and 30 BBs is catching up to him.
186. now would be a good time for a typical halo single…
187. That is indeed why.
Is it too late to send Howie back to the minors for a few days? Or years?
188. kendrick acting like the west coast cano…
189. If you look at the Angels team batting splits page on B-R for this year, they actually have a line for how the Angels have fared with a 4-2 count.
190. 1.000 OBP?
191. Actually the Angels are 0-1 with a 4-2 count. Sean Rodriguez struck out.
192. they oughtta just show that blonde by the dugout for the rest of the game! ; )
193. The Angels: One Base at a Time, One Inning at a Time. The water dripping on a rock method of winning baseball.
194. Angels are just waiting for that lead. That lead’s that will never come because Shields not a good reliever.
195. Jesus, we’re not getting any more runs tonight. Holy cow. I hate K Rod.
196. The Angels only have four players from their 2002 World Series roster still on the team: Anderson, Shields, Figgins, and Rodriguez.
Guys I forgot played for the Angels in 2002: Clay Bellinger, Sal Fasano, and Donne Wall.
197. everybody outside the Big A hates K-Rod, methinks. well, and venezuela and his family…
198. I dont hate him personally-I’m sure he’s a great guy. I just hate when he comes in, because it means my team is behind, usually.
199. One thing I do like about Caray is that he asks questions-acknowledging that Martinez is the expert here.
200. Two more chances for the Angels. What will it be? A series of walks, or perhaps the ol’ walks + singles combo platter?
201. nice play! a tough 9th awaits vs. purced lips…
202. 196
Wher’d Lackey fall in?
203. papelbon should just do the dancing Paps routine after every save just to one up K-Rod’s dumb antics.
204. oh, my bad. it’s only the 8th! oopsie…
198 oh, of course, not personally! now, what’s been going on w/ ambiorix burgos – i guess we can kinda hate him personally! the “amburglar,” has not been a decent citizen of late…
205. Whoa! Chone Figgins showing some power!
206. Oh it’s getting good now.
207. Triple was not on the menu.
The Cycle Alert People have not been busy in this series.
208. Speed kills, my brother.
209. nice job shawn. i mean, sean. uh…shaun. ah, whatever…nice hit!
210. Just call him Desmond.
211. Figgy
Gamer
Winner
212. 209 Chone Figgins. Yes, I know. How the heck do you get decide on Chone for a name, I have no idea.
213. I still think if Masterson starts the seventh, that rally dies aborning.
214. So as it gets later in the day, do we get more “Leverage” commercials instead of “Frank TV” commercials?
215. Craig Sagar has a rally monkey in his hands.
You have been warned.
216. I just call him Chone(sp)
217. 210 desmond DeChone! i wonder how far leary, GA is from atlanta…
218. Desmond DeChone Figgins can go by Chone as long as David Jonathan Drew can go by J.D.
219. 214 And is that a good thing?
220. 219
You’re risking a patient’s life!
221. Six out save?
222. 212 apparently, his full name is Desmond DeChone Figgins. maybe his middle name was a family name? it doesn’t list him as a Jr or II or anything like that. yeah, weird name. i say it phonetically and call him CH-own, also…
223. Garret’s not doing my high school alma mater proud.
224. That will help.
225. that was absolutely useless…
226. how ’bout a….single?!
227. Bread and butter….and cheese? Who wants a grilled cheese sandwich?
228. tied game.
229. good job, tex! tie game!!!
230. That is Papelbon’s first postseason blown save.
231. Can Papelbon be credited with a really cheap blown save?
He had one of the hardest possible saves.
232. 227 damnit, i do! but i just had soup (i’m home sick). maybe tomorrow… : )
233. that last AB, had 2 former GA Tech stars at the plate – varitek & tex…
234. Those damn dirty apes.
235. If Vlad hits a HR here, Paps will earn that blown save.
236. This game is going until 3am, isn’t it?
237. 236
Not from my perspective.
238. 20-20 hindsight, but if Francona was willing to let Papelbon go six outs, why not start the inning with him?
239. I keep on forgetting how late these games are for east coast people.
240. K-Rod looks shocked.
241. 235 it’s the postseason, no angel is allowed to homer! (though hopefully one will in the bottom of the 9th!)
242. 240 i’m not shocked in the slightest. it was an easy call. i’m only shocked the ball didn’t clear the fence…
243. But Kevin Youkilis is the prototype of the guy who should “come up with a nice bit of hitting.”
244. Oh, he was out!
245. I was surprised at how close Willits was to catching Ortiz’s drive.
246. Oh wow, that wasn’t even close!
247. He was out.
248. what a terrible, horrible, very bad, no good call!!! did espn hire these umpires?! absolutely ridiculous. angels better win this game!!!
249. Coco Crisp = Phil Masi?
250. NOW he loooks like Gedman.
251. Like I said.
252. Now K-Rod looks shocked, okay he’s not shocked at all.
253. J.D Drew with another huge postseason HR for the Red Sox.
254. complete and utter bullshit. crisp was out at 2nd. total bollocks.
255. No fist pump tonight.
256. That was a “good piece of hitting” by Drew.
257. Of all people to hit that homer…J.D. Drew. Yech.
258. The souless man gives the Sox the lead. Nice going J.D.
259. Paging Mr. Moore. Will Donnie Moore please pick up the white courtesy phone?
260. Wow.
261. I love that robotic man. Biggest hit of ’07 (grand slam vs Indians) and so far the biggest hit of ’08.
262. well, most likely the LCS will look like this:
LAD-PHI
TBR-BOS
263. 254 that still puts the red sox up by one with the J.D. Drew homer.
264. 263 i know, i know. was just thinkin’ that. btw, mark kotsay has THE hottest baseball wife of all time! : )
265. Yeah, K-Rod’s not helping his contract negotiations with this.
266. I guess Scioscia’s sxxx also doesn’t work in the playoffs.
Not as close a follower of the Angels as the Dodgers, but I’ve seen enough games this year to say this is not how the team played most of the season.
267. 261 I was thinking that too.
To go back to the pickoff, though-you’re not allowed to block a base. I mean, they let them do it all the time, I grant you. BUT YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO IT. The rules say that.
268. I will never get tired of watching Francisco Rodriguez fail. Never.
269. 263 but then again, momentum shift and all that. you never know. maybe k-rod pitches him differently w/out a man in scoring postion and 2 out…
270. Good news for Angels fans. Reggie Willits bats in the 9th!
271. Hope 2 runs is enough.
272. drew also had that big hit in the AS-Game. might help his team after the next round…
his brother was hitting homers in bunches toward the end of the season, helping to keep the snakes in the race for a minute…
273. I was thinking about Manny getting K Rod last year, and wishing we had him back again. I guess I shouldnt have worried.
274. Verdict for O.J is in for those who care.
275. 274 What was it?
276. 271 it’s plenty, don’t you worry. these halos can’t score more than 1 run per inning… : /
277. What jury deliberates on a Friday night at 9?
278. Not a good idea there, Torii. You need to be able to run for that to work.
279. 277 : There are no clocks anywhere in Vegas. Plus they pump oxygen in in the wee hours.
280. 275 – It should be read any minute.
281. The OJ verdict coming down now makes a nice sporting bookend with his first burst into lawlessness, which occured (the chase) during the ’94 NBA Finals.
282. 281 Good point.
283. Oh wow.
284. WOW!!!!!!!
Kevin Youkilis, you’re my hero!
285. Youkilis saves the cameras! He’s a hero in my eyes!
286. Interesting thought-an Angel fan could have reached over and knocked it away, I assume, because that’s technically still out of play?
287. Youk. In most of Lowell’s late-season absence, Francona’s been inserting Lowrie at 3rd and moving Youk to first. Good thing he chose not to do that tonight.
288. 286
If one of the photographers had been an Angels fan.
289. Wow.
290. Wow. Quite a game. Incredible last couple of innings.
I’m sorry for the Angels, their fans and the Real Housewives who have to go home sad from that game. But it was worth avoiding Speed Racer for.
291. Great win. A “cool your jets” thought: last time the Angels came to Fenway, earlier this year, they swept the Red Sox.
292. That’s one hell of a coat. The tie is mighty choice, too.
293. What a game. Thanks for the company, gents.
294. Oh, and that seemed a bad call at 2nd in the previous inning. But K-Rod looked unusually bad that inning, too.
295. Third Star: Papelbon
Second Star: Bay
First Star: JD Motherf’in Drew!
296. Dodgers fans are stilled steamed that J.D. Drew opted out, but is also glad that he did. Guess you guys are enjoying him. Still, that homer, arrrrrrgh.
297. When was the last time a team took off Sept, and actually played well in the playoffs?
298. For those wondering O.J was found guilty several times.
299. Usually I think, “Okay, it’s the Toaster, better keep it smart, succinct, and sophisticated.” But tonight,
YYYEEEAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
300. NOT Just Another Halo Victory.
Hehe.