Results tagged ‘ Going Home ’
A case of just not enough
What a rally tonight.. although just short. Those are the good but difficult games to watch.
My pessimistic Mum is throwing blame left and right and I’ve just reached the point of impatience where it’s not even fun watching with her. On Mother’s Day, of all days.
Observations:
- I rather liked the pink bats. Quite a charming touch. Gestures like this really endear me even more to MLB.
- The pink armbands, though, eh, jury is still out on that one.
- I’m dying to find a Youtube clip of Dice-K’s out-of-hand wild pitch that landed two feet in front of the mound. It still makes me chuckle. Anyone have any luck?
- Watching moments of brilliance by Crisp reminds me why he’s a Golden Glove and why the Red Sox would want to hang onto him.
- Cora I missed. With the team weak on shortstop players so far, he’s looking quite fresh and superb.’
- I’m not sure I like Tina’s replacement.. Heidi. Seriously…
Sorry, team
I have a confession. I dozed off in the 8th inning. Even with my family’s loud exclamations to punctuate that was going on in the game, I flat out fell asleep in the 8th inning. Just as well. I fell asleep thinking the Red Sox was going to will. How better way to be knocked out?
What can I say? I was dead exhausted. So much so that, for the first time in over fifteen years, I woke up not knowing where I last placed my glasses.
When the game ended, Dad shook me awake ever so gently. But it was the words he spoke into my ear that really roused me. “Go to bed, sweetie. Game’s over. Papelbon blew another save.” So that was what all that commotion that I was vaguely aware of was all about.
*sigh* well, trudge off the bed anyway. The Sox isn’t going to help me catch up on rest.
Home, again
.. watching the Red Sox on HD. And, traitorously wondering if I could pull off sneaking a peak to watch my usual Friday evening show of Num3ers.
Observations:
- Really really rooting for a demotion of Lugo
- Lester doesn’t seem to be varying his pitches.
- Youkilis doesn’t look natural stealing, but good for him!
Six win streak and counting
Red Sox: 7, Angels: 6
What an exciting game. Start ahead, fall behind, tie, get ahead, tie, break ahead. I felt like my mind was volleying back and forth like a tennis ball in a court.
Observations:
- NESN called the play of the day Youk’s homerun. While he tied the game after a four run deficit, I feel like the honors really belong to Ellsbury, closely followed by his partnership with Pedroia. Two homeruns, and the winning score. That’s almost half the Red Sox score.
- Lugo’s hitting is hot. I’m still holding his defensive weakness against him.
- Timlin didn’t really earn the win… no more than Oliver deserved the loss.
- Best facial expression: Weaver’s open-mouthed gape at Youkilis’ homerun.
- Oki wasn’t so hot tonight. I hope that’s a temporary thing.
- Would kinda have liked to see Pedroia holding a catcher’s mitt, just for schitz and giggles.
- Wished my parents’ ginormous plasma HDTV had captioning.
- It’s good to be able to watch a Sox game, though.
Happy Birthday, Tito.
Beckett scratched
… and Pedroia volunteered to be secondary catcher. I almost want to see that.
In the meantime, I’m wondering how bad shape Beckett is in terms of health. It hasn’t been a good start for him this season.
Another aside: On my drive back north yesterday, I stopped by NYC to have dinner with a high school classmate and his wife. I miraculously found street parking in the Village, ignored a brief thought about a possible break in with my car bulging at the seams with personal belongings for my move. But I circled and backtracked my steps back to my car… just to take the Red Sox magnet of the side of my car in hide it in the trunk to avoid attracting any attention. Just. In. Case.
Laughing all the way up I-95
while listening into the game against the Rangers… especially during the fourth inning.
Final score: 8-3, Red Sox.
What I loved best about this game was the fact that the Red Sox shows its brilliance not through the big named players but through its depth of experienced, its investment in the farm system, and, finally, its demonstration of a cohesive team.
The commentators kept saying how Nippert was “taking one for the team” and deliberately left hanging out to dry because the Gabbard had an unexpectedly short outing. I didn’t like this implication. The way I see it- if the commentators are right, then it’s poor coaching, leadership, management, and whatever other word you want to insert in there. It’s saying that the team and coach made the conscious decision to call the game a wash and designate Nippert as the scapegoat. That’s poor sportsmanship. That’s poor teamwork.
So I’m going to assume the commentators are dead wrong and doing a poor job of the primary role as a narrator. My next question is: why did Washington leave Nippert out that long? Yes, they lost their starter earlier. So what? Stuff like this happens all the time and they should have, in the process of building their roster, planned for this possibility. The only reasoning I can come up with is that they have exhausted all available relief pitchers in the earlier games of the series, leaving precious few in the right physical condition to carry on. Since I did not follow any of the other games live, I don’t know if it’s true or not.
Don’t get me wrong. I was cheering every step of the game for the Sox. I just, as a baseball fan, have to sympathize with that it going through the Rangers’ fans’ minds at the moment. It seems to me that they have the right to be frustrated.
Count down
| Overnight bag | check |
| Case of Virginia wine for Dad | check |
| Bag of spices for Mum | check |
| XM radio in car for the drive | check |
| Munchies for the the drive | check |
| Wallet | check |
| Full tank of gas | check |
I’m set, and ready for the drive home! The thing of it is… being able to watch the Sox games on tv is such a treat for me. I’m going to lose XM access once I move so I *might* subscribe to MLB.com but at this point I have yet to decide if it’s worth the time. Until then, going home is a treat not only because it’s home but also I get to follow the Sox. Trips like this offer me opportunities to see the team’s brilliance on screen… such as Buchholz’s no-hitter last summer.
Oh yeah… it’ll be good to see you, too, Mum and Dad. 
Miscellany
It’s called jetlag. It’s almost midnight and not only am I wide awake… my belly keeps willing me to raid my rather sparse and unhealthy pantry.
Link Lists
One of the sorest points for this transition of MLBlogs is losing links and the ability to maneuver them. If you’re still wrangling with them or seething about not being able to work them, try creating new lists. I still can’t edit most of my pre-existing lists and how some can be editted and some can’t is beyond me. I’m pretty much decided to plurge all but one. The creating a new list seems to be fixed so I had to recreate my lists. The new lists, I seem to be able to access again. Fingers crossed.
If anyone has any idea how to do any of the following, advice would be greatly appreciated:
- Order link lists and how they appear on my blog
- Reorder the links within thier respective lists, short or re-doing the whole damn thing
- Access pre-existing link list items where the list shows up under “Manage Link Lists” but comes up blank when you click on it.
Homeward Bound
I’m going back to my folks’ next week. Dad had surgery and is in recovery. While all seems to be well, I’m going to give Mum a hand… and kept a whining invalid off her hands for a bit. Dad even quipped “at least there’s a Red Sox game every day for the next two weeks so I’ll be preoccupied four hours every day.” Yep, Dad, you do that. And I’m going to join you in watching.
Baseball Movies
I’m enjoying my Netflix perks. I suscribed in a spur of the moment when I found myself stuck in bed with a miserable cold several months ago. Now that I can catch up with movies, what are some good baseball movies you baseball fans would recommend?
Town loyalty
During a drive home from the airport, Mum and I engaged in a rather lively discourse over Lowell. By this point, we knew he had a deal and was, well, pretty much a done deal for staying in Boston another three years.
A player like Lowell had a couple of fantastic years, especially once he was traded into Boston. One has to remember, though, that he had been considered by many as a “throw in” in the deal for Beckett. While a great gain it turned out to be, it hadn’t been Lowell’s reputation at the time. He doesn’t have a long streak of being the best of the best, as some of the “older” players like ARod, Schilling, which, while he is hot at the moment, make not make his as valuable in the free agent market as he’d like. Or as many of us like to think of him.
At this point and age, moving from team can be detrimental. He’s a valuable player at the moment, but he may not remain so for long. When how much of a career he has left, is anyone’s guess. For a player like him, a move can potentially lead to the difference between mediocracy and a homebase star. I thought of how staying in one city provides a player some stability. What I overlooked was how creating a home fan base can boost a player’s popularity and branding.
Compare the case of (*gulp*) Johnny Damon. He was a popular Red Sox player for the fans. He was a terrific player with a huge fan base. Looking past his betrayal to the fans, where is he now? With the Yankees, and not with as much fanfare, popularity, or playtime as he may have been able to secure if he had stayed on with the Red Sox, especially immediately after being a member of the core team of a World Series win.
A new team means being given a different role. I don’t mean role as in defense position. I mean a dynamic of being a newcomer in a completely different team that has a completely different style, pattern, and history. Lowell, Damon were key members of a core team that won the World Series. Imagine if the Red Sox were to bring in a new player to the team now. Even if this hypothetical he is replacing a major gap, he has to work with who and what are the status quos, Francona’s existing perspectives and biases of existing players, and just the face that most of the players have a strong bond already, as a well-oiled team that won. It would be the same for a player leaving this team for another.
tessa was right. Boston has been good to Lowell. And his decision to stay highlights his appreciation of that. To quote him on his interveiew: “I have financial security so I’d like to believe I’m not all about money. I feel like I’m more of a baseball player than a businessman. I kind of weighed where I felt comfortable, where I thought I could produce the best with the team that has a chance to win a world championship, and it was Boston. On top of that, we just won and I think I played with a set of teammates that are unparalleled and with a manager the same way and with a fan base that’s unbelievable.”
Welcome home, Lowell. It good to have you here.
… tomorrow. A post on Thanksgiving, homecoming, and giving.
News, at last
Lowell may take the three-year deal after all. I’m curious to see the dollar value, to see how much the Sox thinks he is worth, and how much he agrees that he is worth. It is good news, indeed. Not only has he played well, he seemed to exhibit a quiet leadership for the team, a complement and addition to Variteck.
Yes, great news indeed. I shall enjoy my Thanksgiving by going back to a very happy Red Sox Nation.
mlblogssoxangst
Recent Comments