Oh Captain, My Captain

Matt Stone, Boston Herald
Jason Varitek hits a solo home run in the sixth inning.

One more game. One more win.

Last night was a great win for the Red Sox, but it was not fun. It was tense. And it started out with a cable disaster, as TBS didn't have the game on. They were showing a rerun of some not-funny show. We were in full panic mode. Checked Fox, the nets, ESPN, no game. Ran to computer, no video. My friend is on the floor trying to find a radio station -- we are lost in the wilds of Central Mass., lousy radio. Then after about 10 minutes TBS finally runs the technical difficulties crawl. Finally find the game at 1280 AM and THEY STARTED WITHOUT US! They couldn't postpone the game until the fans could see it? We hear that Upton has hit a home run, but don't know if anyone was on and the score.

Finally, picture and we learn that it is only 1-0. Much cursing of TBS. If our curses work, Ted Turner is going to hell. Go and take your lousy announcers with you. (OK, you can leave Ron Darling behind.)

The game itself was tight. We were tight. Beckett was pitching like a pitcher, not a young fireball, not trying (probably unable) to blow by hitters with his diminished fastball. Most of the scoring came from one run homers that landed in the front row. We kept leaving men on base, 12 in total, which made everything all the more ominous. Wasted opportunities, leaving the door open for the Rays.

When Varitek got up with two outs in the 6th I (dramatically) announced, oh, just call the inning and take the field; the guy's 0-for-the-series. And Varitek promptly hit the homer! I took full credit. And Crisp gets on, Bartlett commits an error (which ends up wiping out his HR) and The Large Father singles in an insurance rune. But even with a lead we were still quiet. Could this really be happening? Yes, it is. Okajima looked like 2007 Okajima. Masterson put on one runner but settled down after John Farrell came out to the mound and talked to him. And Pap was Pap, Mr. I Do Not Give Up Postseason Runs. Ever. shut down the Rays and lifted his index finger as Youkilis caught the final out. One more win. One more game.

The Red Sox are 9-1 in elimination games, including 9-0 in ALCS elimination games, with Terry Francona as manager. Let's make it 10-1 tonight.

Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Game 6 ALCS

Boston Globe Photo Gallery: The scene in St. Pete

Boston Herald Photo Gallery: Game 6 ALCS

Boston Globe: For Varitek, 'C' stands for clutch
Captain hits crucial blow

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: Captain deserves a big salute

Boston Herald: Homer is good sign for Sox
’Tek adds to crazy run

But on those occasions when Varitek produced anything even remotely above average on offense, the Red Sox were nearly unbeatable. They went 9-0 when he recorded a two-out RBI with runners in scoring position, 11-0 when he recorded a two-out RBI of any kind, and 29-5 (.853) when he drove in a run, period.

Boston Herald: Storybook ending
Time to write off the Rays

Nancy Lane, Boston Herald
Jonathan Papelbon celebrates the Red Sox win.

One more game for all the marbles, baby. One more game.

Video Lasts Forever

Comcast New England: Jonathan Papelbon: The High School Years

Click on the link to see three videos of Jonathan Papelbon, the intimidating closer of the Red Sox, dancing in a high school talent show. (He's actually quite good!) The videos were supplied by his mother to the Red Sox, so the first video is of the Red Sox team showing them in the lockerroom before last night's game. Hilarious.

Red Sox Notes

flickr: citadelgrad's photostream
July 2008 Red Sox at Angels
hat tip to Red Sox Monster

Wouldn't I like to be wearing this "My Other Shirt Is Buried Under Yankee Stadium" shirt to Yankee Stadium on August 28th when Coach Mom & I go to see the last Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium? Tee hee. I'm planning to wear my Ellsbury t.

Did you see Peter Gammons piece on Dustin Pedroia before the Sunday night game of the week on ESPN? He started it out by saying "Dustin Pedroia looks like a little stuffed toy at FAO Schwartz". It's linked here on Centerfield; also check out Centerfield's collection of baby/youth pictures of the Red Sox.

Jonathan Papelbon was all out of shape over being heckled in the All-Star parade in New York City, but maybe, maybe, showing off his World Series ring to the crowd wasn't the best decision.

MBM in Seattle: Manny gets lectured by a traffic cop for crossing the street the cop was blocking. The cop apparently had no idea who he was.

Rain Delay

Check out this 'Milli Vanilli' video played during the rain delay at the Red Sox game last night;

Time to Retire, Methinks

Timlin after winning the 2007 World Series
wikipedia: Mike Timlin
A great way to be remembered.

It's gotten to the point where I hate seeing Mike Timlin coming in to close games for the Red Sawx. He's like gasoline on a fire most of the time these days. Tuesday night he came into the 3-3 game in the 9th and promptly gave up two hits and the walk, and got the loss.

Francona had been tossed. So who decided not to use Papelbon? 9th inning, a game to steal on the road, why not use the ace? These are the things that mystify fans.

I love this post from The House That Dewey Built. Coach Mom will too; Stan Musial was/is her favorite player.

The House That Dewey Built: Mike Timlin’s Obsolescence (2008 Edition)

In what has become an annual rite of spring, I have once again become categorically convinced that Mike Timlin should no longer be pitching for this team.

In years past, I have made similar assessments, typically before he strings together a handful of decent outings in low leverage situations, boosting his numbers and making my claims seem excessive.

.333/.382/.540

This is what hitters have done against Timlin thus far in 2008. He’s essentially turning every batter he faces into Stan Musial.

Red Sox Notes

Boston Herald: Photo by Matt Stone
Josh Beckett not looking like a lean, mean pitching machine that he reportedly is at Spring Training in Florida yesterday.

I always feel like this when I put on my bathing suit on the first beach day of the year.

Spring training has begun! Well, at least pitchers & catchers and a few other early birds (click on this link & watch the video on the right for a hilarious interview with Jonathon Papelbon) have reported. Time to begin reading Joy of Sox and The Soxaholix daily again.

We are having one brutal winter, which I hate, but do you realize that the last terrible winter we had followed our last World Series triumph (2004). So now we know: When the Red Sox win the World Series, we spend the winter digging out. Good trade; let it snow, let snow, let it snow.

Great long piece on Dustin Pedroia from Sunday's Boston Globe.

Clay Buchholtz (Mr. Rookie No-No) spent the offseason working out & putting on 10 much-needed pounds.

Dice-K's got a mullet.

Okajima, on the other hand, tells the media that he's got a new secret pitch. Ooooh!

Didja know that Jacoby Ellsbury is a Mormon? So is Dennis Eckersley. This blogger put both on his her All-Mormon team.

Our happy warrior.Boston Globe:
Papelbon addressed the media, saying, "Just on the way down here, you know, driving and stuff, you think about what happened last year, going out there and doing it again. You turn the radio up loud. You cruise. It's always a fun time of the year for me."
(AP Photo)

Papelbon on Letterman, Updated

For those of you who, like me, fell asleep on the couch waiting for Papelbon's appearance on Letterman. Transcript; video:



hat tip on the video to Cursed to First

Update: Centerfield has Papelbon's appearance on QVC hawking World Series gear. The guy who interviews him is a total QVC tool; see if you make it any farther through the video than I did (about 2 minutes!)

Wait 'Til Next Year

Listen to the Captain - Re-Sign Lowell. (Actually the sign says "RESIGN LOWELL", kind of like "SURRENDER DOROTHY", but I know what it means.)
Boston Globe
The baseball season is officially over. The rallying cry in Red Sox Nation used to be "Wait 'Til Next Year". Doesn't really seem appropriate any more. How 'bout "Let's Go 3 For 5!" It's so....positive...and so unlike the old Red Sox mentality.

Some final Red Sox goodness:

Tom Verducci's great article summarizing the Sox season, with this prize nugget:

Or maybe, just maybe, they won it when a very large, angry man cleared the clubhouse of everybody but Red Sox players after Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in Cleveland, which Boston had lost to the Indians to go down 2-1.

"Listen," designated hitter David Ortiz began, "we're not just a good team. We're a great team. And don't you f------ forget that. And let's go play one at a time and go prove that. Because let me tell you something...."

Ortiz pulled on the sides of his gray road jersey. "There's a reason why you wear this Red Sox uniform...."

Ortiz paused for a beat, letting the suspenseful silence fill the rapt room.

"Because you're a bad mother------."

Now I ask you, who among us does not love Big Papi?

Boston Globe photo galleries:

Papelbon (that boy is crazy); Rolling Rally; the plane ride home.

Nice piece from Basegirl about the joys of watching the Sox win it all, with family; and another one from Sawxblog about taking his dad to Game 1 of the World Series.

World Series Heroes

After several signature moments in the World Series, Jacoby Ellsbury took time out to have his teammates sign his jersey.

(Globe Staff Photo / Stan Grossfeld)


Hope he is enjoying the parade today. Every local TV station is showing it live. Papelbon is dancing up a storm. Varitek is holding a "Sign Lowell" sign that must have been passed to him from the crowd. Boston loves their Red Sox.

I went to the Celtics championship celebrations in 1984 and 1986 and those were pretty special, but I bet there were 1/20th there compared to the huge crowd of people at this rally. Maybe 1/100th. This is a one team town. We love the other teams when they're successful. but everyone is a Red Sox fan, no matter whether they're world champs or 86-76 (that would be last year, folks).

Sox Sweep 2007 World Series 4-0

Again, I am exhausted by another exciting, nail-biter of a game. Congratulations to the Red Sox and their organization. I was also really impressed by the Rockies fans who never gave up on their team. They were still cheering lustily with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.

Mike Lowell wins a well-deserved post-season MVP. Perfect. He was the regular season MVP, and he did everything right, especially in those two close games. You'd think he was fast from the way he ran the bases. But he was better than fast -- he was fundamentally sound and he took every inch the Rockies gave. Please God let the Sox resign him. At least don't sign the odious A-Fraud. Please, please, I'm begging you, don't sign him. Just step away.

Reason 728 why I love Jerry Remy: On the postgame show on NESN he is asked about Alex Rodriguez's agent announcing during the 7th inning of the World Series that Rodriguez is opting out. Remy spits out: "It's disgusting....disgusting and despicable." And of course the dopes at Fox were happy to hijack the attention from the Sox to the attention whore Rodriguez.

Like most of Red Sox Nation, I would be physically sick if the Sox signed the pretty loser, PayFraud. Although it would be fun to see how he gets along with Mike Timlin. I can see Timlin impaling him with the bullpen rake if they really got into it. Why would the Red Sox, a team that prides itself on character, associate the franchise with the hooker-patronizing StrayRod? And it's not like you'd be getting him for post-season production, 'cause he disappears when the stakes are high. Do you need to know more? That's why fans last night were chanting two things: "Re-sign Mike Lowell" and "Don't Sign A-Rod." Good advice, Theo. Take it.

Oh god, I'm pulling a Fox and getting distracted by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Done with that.

Didn't you love Timlin's Ode to Wake, while standing right next to him, making them both cry? That was awesome.

Speaking of MVP performances, while I agreed that Lowell was the man, it was close. Coach Mom thought it would be Ellsbury. He did hit a scorching .438 in his first World Series, with an OBP of .500 and a SLG of .688. Those are just phenomenal numbers for our phenom. And he fielded every position they put him in like a pro, and his speed terrorized the Rockies pitchers and fielders. I wanted him to get MVP just so he could win the Rookie of the Year award next year after winning World Series MVP.

My friend G wanted Pedroia to get the award, but I think that was sentimental as much as anything. DP had a better shot at MVP of the ALCS. My favorite quote of the postseason by far is Julio Lugo in the clubhouse after the ALCS clinching game, speaking of Pedroia: "That little midget is THE MAN!"

The third player who should have gotten serious MVP consideration has to be Papelbon. Nails didn't give up a run, only 2 hits in 4.1 innings, with three consecutive saves to close out the four game sweep. He did get a lot of help from one Jacoby Ellsbury catch in the 9th inning last night at the wall. Can't wait to see Pap dancing on the duck boat tomorrow!

Final thought: People who weren't here for the entire season who deserve a full World Series share: Kason Gabbard -- his four wins while Schilling was out were huge, and Bobby Kielty -- the guy had one chance in the World Series and really had that one shining moment, a one-pitch home run that was the winning run of the clinching game. Seven years in the majors, four different teams, one pitch to win the World Series. Priceless.

Cloud Nine

Papelbon flies in triumph after closing out Game 4 for the World Champion Boston Red Sox.
(Getty Images Photo / Jeff Gross)

WaPo: Red Sox Have the World at Their Feet
Four-Game Sweep Clinches Second Crown in Four Seasons: Red Sox 4, Rockies 3

Random Red Sawx Notes

Boston Globe
- I just drove by two girls, maybe 10 years old, in a park on the edge of Main St., holding up a sign that said "Honk if you Love the Red Sox", both outfitted in Sox shirts and sunglasses, screamingly gleefully at each car that honked as it went by. Pure joy.

- What's with Clint Hurdle and the bobbing cap? I've never seen anyone chew their gum so intensely that those little muscles on the side of your temples could move your baseball cap. It's really weird to watch.

- Someone please give Tim McCarver and Joe Buck a big cup of STFU. I would pay extra for a TV that let me mute announcers and listen to nothing but the crowd noise.

- What's with all the limp dick ads during the World Series? Pee medicine, erection medicine, ewwwwwwww. Last night I noticed that the first one came on at 10:00 p.m. Luckily the two kids in the room were already asleep, so I didn't have to explain weak stream or four hour erections to teenagers. Are baseball fans the target audience? Is there a high percentage of men with defective equipment watching the Series? Personally, I'm sick of hearing about it.

- Jonathon Papelbon is married. Can you imagine living with him? Does he make that face at home? Is it his Baby let's do it face? (That question is definitely influenced by all those limp dick ads I've been forced to watch for the last two weeks.) Dance? Talk crazy? I'd imagine that he is exhilarating, infuriating and exhausting, all in the same day.

- Did anyone else feel kind of icky hearing the bullpen band banging out the Atlanta Braves Indian tom-tom rhythm while Jacoby Ellsbury was batting? And a couple of them were doing the tomahawk chop. To me, that's racist and not cool. John Henry: a little education is in order here.

- Ellsbury a/k/a Tacoby Bellsbury wins America a free taco with an uncontested steal. Appropriate as he is the fastest guy on the field. This NYTimes writer is offended by the taped conversations in the dugout about the Taco Bell challenge; to me they make sense. These guys didn't come from money. They probably still go to Taco Bell while making their million dollar salaries.

- I love love love Pedroia the Destroia. Especially since I'm convinced I can look him in the eye. He's listed at 5'9", but Francona says he's 5'7", and on ESPN the other night Peter Gammons said what I believe to be true: He's 5'5". He's the Muggsy Bogues of baseball! Some other guy on ESPN said Pedroia has the smallest hands he's ever seen on a major league baseball player. They don't look freakishly small to me, but the camera does put on 10 lbs.

Feel the Pedroia love: Arizona Republic, USAToady, Boston Globe, The Republican, Braves.scout.com, East Valley (AZ) Tribune, Boston Herald (his mom), Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union Tribune.

- Best sign of the night had to be the giant dancing Papelbon puppet. The swinging legs! The compression shorts! Two-dimensional Cinco Ocho.

- Hope the Sox resign Mike Lowell, if just to save me from the horror of having to watch Alex Rodriguez, the pretty loser. I just can't cheer for the guy. Let the Cubs have him; let the Cubs prolong their agony.

Boston Globe: Photoshopping the Sox

Sweet

boston.com:
ALCS celebration
Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon celebrated on the field after the Red Sox won the AL pennant.
(Getty Images Photo / Al Bello)

Sawx Fans Mawk A-Rawd

Fans at Fenway Park in Boston wear blonde masks as New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez goes to bat in the first inning of their baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston Friday, June 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

A-Rod getting caught with a stripper (not his wife) by the tabloids brought out the blonde ambitious at Fenway for their three-game series this weekend. A-Rod had the last laugh when he hit a home run off Papelbon to win the third game Sunday night, but the Yankees are still 12 1/2 games back and going nowhere.

NYPost:
A-ROD'S A YANKEE DOODLE RANDY
HITS A STRIP JOINT WITH TORONTO BABE

For more photos of the blonde bombshells at Fenway, check out this Boston.com photo gallery.

Sweep

Boston Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, left, celebrates as New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez (13) grounds to third base to end the baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston Sunday, April 22, 2007. The Sox won 7-6. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Didn't you just love A-Fraud weakly grounding out to end the game? Papelbon rules.

SI.com: Friendly Fenway
Red Sox cap sweep of Yankees by playing long ball

Boston Globe: Game photos

Nails

Nails is my pet name for Papelbon, because it's lights out when he comes in. Has made me put away my 'Get Foulked' t-shirt.

Jonathan Papelbon has allowed only three runs in 45 appearances this season. (Michael Dwyer - AP)
WaPo: Papelbon Makes a Speedy Arrival
Red Sox Rookie Nearly Unhittable

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A beautiful gift fell from the sky this spring and landed at the feet of the Boston Red Sox. It was so radiant, they didn't know what to do with it at first. So precious, they have come to treat it with exceptional care. So powerful, the mind races at what the future could hold. For now, however, it is simply a gift that should be shared with and enjoyed by the world. All behold, Jonathan Papelbon.

It is not every year -- or every decade, or even every generation -- that produces a pitcher such as Papelbon, the Red Sox' rookie closer. Since a serendipitous chain of events thrust him into that demanding role in April, Papelbon has been almost untouchable, allowing only three runs in 45 appearances this season (a 0.53 ERA) while helping keep the Red Sox in first place in the American League East, barely ahead of the arch-rival New York Yankees.