Burning Money: Bad Moves By The Sox

Call it morbid curiosity or just plain old self torture, but I was again listening to the local sports radio station the other day. They came up with the idea to make a list of all the wasted contracts in the last ten years. Is this an exercise in negativity? Sure...  but the part of me that loves lists loves the idea.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to see if we can make a full 25-man roster with all the bad signings or trades over the last ten years, and then I'm going to list the amount of money we set aside for these guys. For the record, no - Crawford will not be on my list. I happen to like Crawford, thank you very much.
Unfortunately, my definition of 'bad signing' is completely arbitrary and heavily biased, so if you've got something you'd like to debate, go ahead! I may just be swayed, you know.

I think for today, I'll stick with position players. I need time to build up my venom for tomorrow's pitchers list. Believe me, guys, we've had a LOT of really bad pitching.... as if you didn't know. Anyway... ONWARD!

Catcher: 2006's trade for Javy Lopez. The Sox traded Adam Stern to Baltimore in August of 2006 for Javy. He played in 18 games, collected twelve hits and four RBIs. He was released on September 8th after failing to live up to expectations. Though I think the O's sent the Sox money for him, I don't think he was worth the gas it took to drive from Camden Yards to Fenway.

I could try to make a case for Josh Bard or Kelly Shoppach, but Bard wasn't so bad, and I'm trying to give Shoppy a chance. It's hard, but I'm trying. So Kevin Cash, you're my (terrible) guy! I liked nothing about Kevin Cash the first time, and I liked him even less the second time. In total, I think he made $400,000 from the Sox, and every dollar of that brought resentment from me.

Total Damage: $400,000 and Adam Stern.

First Baseman: 2001's waiver signing of Tony Clark. When the Tigers were done with him, they threw Clark on waivers. The Sox were on the hook for 1 year at $5M. For that $5M, he played in 90 games and only collected 57 hits. That means he received almost $88,000 per hit during that year. His .202 batting average inspired the Sox to let him walk as a free agent at the end of the season.

The runner up is JT Snow. JT signed a 1 year, $2M contract with the Sox in January of '06. He was released on June 19th of the same year after  recording only nine hits in 38 games.

Total Damage: $7M

Second Baseman: I truly and honestly cannot find a second baseman in the last ten years that was undeniably horrible.  Rey Sanchez in 2002, Todd Walker in 2003, Mark Bellhorn in 2004 and part of 2005, Tony Graffanino in 2005, Mark Loretta in 2006, and Pedroia since then. No, I have no complaints. Good job on the second base choices, Sox.

Total Damage: None.

Shortstop: Julio "POS" Lugo. There is no question, no debate, no DOUBT in my mind that Lugo was probably the worst signing I've ever seen. Theo lusted after him and that misguided lust stuck us with a four year, $36M albatross. He was terrible in every sense of the word. In July of 2009, Theo finally put us out of our misery and traded him to St. Louis, where he would never be heard from again.

Very close runner up: Edgar Rentaria. In December of '04, after letting OCab walk, Theo made the brilliant decision to sign Rentaripoff to a four year, $40M contract. He lasted exactly one season. Though he hit a respectable .276, he made 30 errors and whined about the infield grass at Fenway. He was traded to Atlanta in December of 2005, and the Sox partially rectified their mistakes by giving me Alex Gonzalez.

Total Damage: $76M and lots and lots of hair clumps.

Third Baseman: Nope, sorry. I've got nothing. As much as I dislike Youk and Beltre, neither deserves to make the list. And if you think I'm putting Billy Mueller or Mike Lowell on the list, you're crazy.

Total Damage: Slight heartbreak at the retirement of Mikey Lowell.

Outfielders: To make my life easier, I'm going to group all the little outfielders together. Your candidates for the worst outfielders in the last ten years are JD Drew, Wily Mo Pena, and Mike Cameron.

JD Drew... I sort of don't want to put him on the list. He was a good little player... a little fragile, but really not terrible. He wasn't fantastic, though, and for $70M over five years, you want better than 'not terrible.' I'm sorry, JD, but you make the list.

Wily Mo Pena... we lost Bronson Arroyo because of him! I don't care what the justification was, I will never forgive him for being a major league player that Theo wanted. He spent half of 2006 and half of 2007 with the team before the Sox realized that he was not going to live up to his potential. Not for us, anyway. In the month after the trade, Arroyo actually had more home runs for the Reds than Pena did for us. Between '06 and '07, we paid him $3M. We paid cash to Cincinnati to get him, and we paid the Nationals to take him from us. Talk about a terrible ROI.

Mike Cameron. We all sort of knew this wasn't going to be a worthwhile investment. As nice of a guy as Cameron seemed to be, he just was not impressive in the field or at bat. Two year, $15.5M contract for a 38 year old outfielder? That was doomed from the start. Mike played in 81 games between 2010 and 2011, collecting 56 hits in 256 AB's. He ended up getting traded to the Marlins half way through 2011, and we paid them to take him. Wise business decision, I'm sure.

Total Damage: $88.5M and Bronson Arroyo.

Overall, I'm seeing a cumulative waste of $171,900,000, Adam Stern, Bronson Arroyo, and large clumps of hair (not to mention slight heartbreak over Mikey Lowell). Just wait. Seriously, the pitchers? So much worse.

I wonder how many of the hundreds of dollars I've spent on tickets went to Wily Mo's contract?

Ho Hum: Rain Takes Away My Baseball

Not much to report, actually, since the game was postponed last night. We're supposed to be getting a double header today, but if it keeps raining the way it was when I drove into work about a half an hour ago, then I don't think we'll get any games in. The rain stopping would be pretty fantastic. It's only Wednesday, and due to my automatic grogginess whenever it rains, I feel like this week has been 12 days long so far and I've had no motivation to do any of my homework. Oh well. I think a good nap may help that. Or not.

I'm not upset that he-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken turned down the trade to Boston. Not even the tiniest bit. When the decision leaked, I'm pretty sure I did a little happy dance. That's the last I'm going to say about it.

The other bit of news is that Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been released from the hospital, seemingly over the strange leg infection that put him in there to begin with. You know it's a troublesome season when the guys are getting afflicted with infections and broken bones left and right. Hopefully he's fully recovered and can work his way back to the team really soon, because I swear to God if I have to watch Kevin Cash for an extended period of time I may have to gouge my own eyes out.

Oh yeah, Kevin Cash is being activated. I forgot to mention that... mostly because it makes me sad. So, come back soon Tek and Salty! No. Really. Soon. Like today. Please?

Better yet, make sure you're properly healed first. I guess I can sacrifice my own happiness for the long-term well being of the team. At least for a little while.

Not Worth The Money: Paps Blows It Again

I can't help it. I know there are plenty of other people out there who can't help it either. Every time I watch Papelbon completely and utterly suck, the first thing that comes to mind is him complaining that he wants to set the standards for closers getting big paydays. You know you do, too. It's inevitable. And every time he blows it, and I think of that quote, I feel like I wouldn't mind if we didn't have him on the team any more, which makes me feel sort of bad. He was absolute nails when we needed him over the last five seasons. This season, not so much. Even last season, he was beginning to sputter a little. I don't mind the players claiming that the world owes them more money when they deliver, but when they don't, then I get annoyed. I've found myself annoyed with him far too much this year. Even when he doesn't blow the game, I just don't feel comfortable with him on the mound. It's sad to see how this has turned out. I remember when Paps came into a game, it was over. We win. No doubt about it. Now, I see him come into a game with a one run lead and I assume it's a loss. It shouldn't be like this, but it is. It's just sad. And unbelievably aggravating.

I won't blame Bard for that disaster. Bringing him in the way they did wasn't fair to him. Granted, he could have gotten out of it, but he's still a rookie, and hasn't been all that good with RISP this year. You just don't do that to him.

I had this whole big post written out in my mind yesterday about how Lackey finally pitched a game I could be proud of, and how maybe he's ready for the stretch run, blah blah blah. I mean, he still pitched a good game. He probably shouldn't have started the ninth, and if he was going to start the ninth, Tito should have probably let him get an out or two. To me, giving up a home run to Bautista doesn't show me that a guy's got nothing left. Doesn't Bautista lead the league in home runs? If not, he's mighty close. I don't know. I just don't know. I'm glad Beckett is on the mound tonight. At the very least, I have the opposite reaction to Josh than I do with Lackey or Paps. Even though for the majority of the year, Josh has been ridiculously bad, I still always feel like we're going to get a win with him on the mound. I don't try to understand why I think the way I do.

All I know is that I hate to be so negative in a post without pointing out some positives. Saltalamacchia (sp?) made his debut yesterday and in one game was 100% more useful than Kevin Cash has ever been. In his entire career. I can't stand Kevin Cash. So, Salty did good with two doubles and a thrown-out base runner.

Ronald hit another triple. I do believe that makes two days in a row that he's hit triples. I sort of wonder if there's a record for most consecutive games with triples. I know there is, but I don't want to look it up right now, so I'm going to pretend that I don't know and just leave myself to wondering.

Oh, and Lowrider hit his first home run of the season yesterday! Pretty good for a guy who, I was pretty sure became a distant figment of everyone's imaginations. But hell, even if he's not real, that home run really counted.

Despite how well our replacement infielders are, I still can't wait to get Munchkin back. To me, it sort of feels like a tag team match where one guy (the entire Red Sox team) has been in the ring for far too long and he's really dragging and getting beat up. Sure, once in a while, he'll get that burst of adrenaline and fight back, but for the most part, it's just the opponent kicking them when they're down. Pedroia is the tag team partner waiting in the corner, itching to get into the game. You know once he gets in, he's going to be kicking some ass. They may not win the match, but Pedroia, as well all know, is going to do his damndest to make a show of it. So, can we please tag him in now?

I Just... I Don't Get It.

I completely lack any form of comprehension about what they're doing. Honestly. I'm not trying to be funny or amusing in any way, I really, truly do not understand this team. How do we go from the grit and fire of Tuesday's game to laying down like little whipped puppies at the hands of Fetus? Sure, you don't want to beat up on a former team mate, but could they not have gone 0-9 with runners in scoring position? Fetus has not been a good pitcher since he left this team, and he's exactly the type of pitcher the Sox need to beat up on.... and he's exactly the kind of pitcher we've been consistently losing to all year and I just don't know what to make of it. They're supposed to be too good to get beaten like this.

Watching this team this season has been like shooting off fireworks and staring at the sky waiting for the explosion, but the explosion never comes. We have everything we should need, but for some reason, it's just not happening.

After games like this, I always look for someone to blame. It's my natural reaction to a painful, soul-crushing loss that should have never happened. My instant reaction is Cash, because, all joking aside, I think he's a pitiful excuse for a catcher and he has no business being on a major league team. He is inept at game calling, and can't seem to catch anything with runners in scoring position. Offensively, he can't hit his own weight, and there's no power there. So he's my first candidate.

My second candidate is Beltre. I know Lester wasn't pitching well, and he certainly didn't help himself by throwing that bunt away, but it seemed like all night that Beltre was diving to his right to try to make plays and the ball just rolled by him. I feel like there was no effort out of him defensively last night. He wasn't making plays that I KNOW he can make, and more importantly, that Mike Lowell can make.

But, really, I blame Tito. I get that he doesn't want to exhaust Victor as a catcher, and I get that Fetus is tough on righties, but didn't he learn from the last time that his approach against our former pitcher wasn't working? You have Mikey on the bench, with all the motivation in the world to do well, even after Fetus came out of the game. I mean, I guess you shouldn't have to play your very best lineup against the Indians, especially when you have Lester on the mound, but I feel like there was a lot of poor managing in this game. I wonder though, if it was more Tito or Theo. Maybe I should just blame Theo.

I don't know. I want to have faith, but my faith is wavering. I feel like there just might not be enough time left for them to put it all together. I'm not going to give up on them, per se. I'll still be watching and cheering and going to Fenway as often as I can justify, but I'm really starting to feel like it's over. The weekend series with the Yankees will seal it for me one way or another. They don't have to win all the games, I just want to see that there's still fire on the team and I'll be able to believe. When they lay down for the Indians, I really question if they've got anything left.... even though only 24 hours prior to that, it looked like they were ready to demolish anything in their paths (I know, it was mostly Beckett, but still). I'm sure you can tell I'm feeling pretty negative today. I feel like I'm allowed to have my few moments of negativity over the course of a very long season. It's just that I can't think of a single positive from last night's game, and I am disappointed. I think all the fans are bummed out after a loss like this, and a lot of people are questioning if the team has it, if we're ever going to get the explosion that we're waiting for, or if we'll all just be left staring at the sky come October, wondering where it all went wrong.

All I need to see is a spark and I'll believe. Just one spark, guys. I'm begging you. Don't go out with a whimper, make a show out of it.

Today: I Am A Zombie

Never mind the fact that I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep for a full week before the start of this west coast trip, and I've been doing nothing but schoolwork and resurfacing a concrete floor and no you don't need to know why... today I am a zombie, and an unhappy zombie at that. I'm gonna eat your damn brains and there's not a thing you can do about it. And no, I'm not one of those slowpoke zombies who shuffles along with no purpose. The only reason I'm moving so slowly is because I'm wearing heels and I miss my sneakers and.... getting off track. As usual.

We went from second place and one game out of first to third place and six games out of first before I even got to blink. I have no idea what happened. All I remember is bases loaded, and then it all goes black and somehow we lose. How do we keep losing? Yeah, I know. Kevin Cash. Adrian Beltre is officially not my most hated current Sox player. Congratulations, Adrian! I don't care how many ribs you broke, I can now actually say I don't dislike you the most. Cash... my mortal enemy (well, one of them) has returned. And he sucks. I know I'm the last person on Earth to suggest this, but Doug Mirabelli is literally just sitting around some office in Michigan. He'd look mighty good in some catchers' gear right now... and maybe a crisp white uniform? Wait, we're on the road, so.... grey? I can't even remember what color the uniforms are, I am so tired. But perhaps just the catchers' gear will do and I am moving on to a new topic before I start having to delete sentences.

I hate Kevin Cash. Wakefield does, too.

And who the hell is this "Lowrie" fellow. Name sounds vaguely familiar, but it's been such a long time. I thought he retired or something. But he's our shortstop for tonight, and for some reason he reminds me of CRW. This whole crazy team just fell apart, but we'll always have '04 and '07, and, well, now I want to watch Casablanca. And I'm absolutely confused as to how my mind got me here. Anyway. Who's pitching tonight? Dahmer? I sure hope so. Not that I'll remember the game tomorrow anyway.

Four Days Off: Killing All Momentum

Welcome back from the hideously long and stupid All Star Break, everyone! What a way to completely zap the momentum we had going. We roar into the break, building up a three game lead in our division and winning our final series with one hell of a badass performance by our ace, and then we whimper our way out of Toronto, losing only our third series since, what, May? I can't be too annoyed about it. Jon Lester may not have been sharp, but he was good. Roy Halladay, well, he was just better. It didn't hurt that our guys looked like they had left their bats at home somewhere. Maybe the equipment manager will find them before the game tonight. Wait... is there a game tonight?! Oh my God, I forgot the schedule!

Yeah. There's a game tonight. Smoltz vs. Millwood. This makes me sad, because our guys have tremendous trouble with Millwood. Well, the former Red Sox did. I don't know how this specific collection of ballplayers will do against him. Hopefully better than they did against Halladay, which shouldn't be too hard because Millwood is not Halladay.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the game on Friday, and I didn't see the game on Saturday. I didn't enjoy the game yesterday, and I won't be seeing the game tonight. It's essentially eight days without any good, meaningful baseball. It's killing me. But I'll be seeing Green Day tonight, and well, sometimes you HAVE to prioritize other things over baseball or you spend your entire summer on the couch. Lucky for me, after July, 90% of my summer vacations will revolve around baseball. It'll be nice to get away for a while to see some good old baseball. Yay baseball!

I'm assuming Smoltz will do well, because I want him to. Isn't that enough incentive for these guys? Making ME happy? No? Hmm... that seems like a big problem for me.

I'm sure I could find positives out of last night's game if I wanted to, I just don't feel that it went so bad as to need the positive reinforcement. Though I am annoyed that we're only a game ahead of the Yankees again. That irks me. Stop giving them hope!

Theo Epstein: Master of... Thriftiness?

Ok. It's January 6th. Enough with the foolishness, Theo. Stop collecting other teams' garbage and focus, will you?

It's not that I don't think Virgil Vasquez, Dewon Day, Ramon Ramirez, Wes Littleton, Miguel Gonzalez, Junichi Tazawa, Josh Bard, Brad Penny, and Nick Green (along with a plethora of minor league players that probably won't see a major league game all year unless they watch one on TV) can be great impact players.... I mean, I don't think they can be, but that's irrelevant. We have a giant problem named Julio Lugo that needs to be removed. We have one major league ready catcher who actually had a WORSE batting average than Tek last year. Who, exactly, is our fourth outfielder? Does anyone feel comfortable will the bullpen we have? Utility infielder, anyone?

Listen, I know most of these are questions that will be answered in spring training, when baseball season blooms again and everything seems wonderful and new. Great. I still want a catcher. Be it Tek, or Teagarden, or Saltalamacchia.... one way or another, we need someone who can handle our pitchers. Better yet, if Josh Bard is set to be our every day catcher.... who is catching for Wake now that evil, horrible, stupid Kevin Cash is gone? Who? WHO?!

Theo does not make the off-season easy for me. I mean, one day we have meaningful baseball games, and the next day it's over, and nothing remotely interesting happens with the Red Sox for months? I'm dying here, Theo. Planning my different baseball related trips for the year does nothing to quench my thirst. Toss me a catcher, will you? Better yet, toss out our old shortstop! Do SOMETHING.

On a side note, I enjoy that Andy Pettitte turned down the Yankees' offer. I still think it's inevitable that he'll rejoin them, but I enjoy that he turned down their 1-year, $10 million offer. Hell, if they can shell out hundreds and thousands of dollars to a guy with an ERA over 7 in playoff games, why are they lowballing Pettitte? He's helped them win big before, hasn't he? Not the time to get cheap now, Hanky!

Jonathan Papelbon: Forgetting the "He just do" part of his quote

Yes, I was ticked off at Paps for blowing the save before even getting the first out. I was peeved when he gave up a double that almost left the park, and I was downright furious when he gave up the NEXT double to give the lead right back to the Rays. Gave it right back, I say. "Cinco Ocho" didn't know how he do, and he didn't do last night. Usually I'd be downright ticked off this morning, but extenuating circumstances have prevented me from being mad at Paps, and have instead directed my anger towards the city of Boston.... and baseballs.

Just a quick aside to explain that last part... I know I don't usually tell personal stories on this blog, but I felt the need to share. I have a fat lip this morning. It's actually pretty uncomfortable. I got this fat lip by dropping a baseball... on my face. To steal Papelbon's quote, "Jup don't know how she do, she just do." So a baseball fell on my face and that is why I do not like baseballs this morning. Ok, so that wasn't exactly "quick"

Papelbon had a bad night. He had a good one the night before, so this bad night should be voided out, but it's not. The fact of the matter is, Kazerud had JUST hit the home run to give us the lead. He JUST became the hero when Paps fell apart. It's okay though, because we know Paps will bounce back, and we'll win the series. Beckett knows when he's pitching in a big game. And damnit if I don't think he'll be ready for this.

I sometimes find it hard to remember that this is a team game, and a loss isn't an individual player loss, it's a team loss. The bats kind of sucked last night, but you know what? They'll snap out of it. I know they will.

Because if we lose tonight, I'm blaming Papelbon regardless of the events. Oh, and Kevin Cash. Damn you, Kevin Cash!

PS - Good, happy thoughts to my friend Megan and her family. Hopefully everything is going to be just fine! =)

Dougie Mirabelli: He Wins Games For Us

Oh my, Dougie was in the house last night... not the House that Ruth built, that place isn't good enough for him. Nor was he in MY house, because, well, God just doesn't grant those kinds of wishes (yet). No, Dougie, our BELOVED Dougie, was at the Fens. There is no way anyone could convince me that he's not the reason we won the game. I think it was all the more justifying having him there and watching Cash almost blow the game. If Dougie were catching, Lester wouldn't have given up five runs. That's bad game-calling, Cash. And it's because you suck. Dougie, on the other hand, does not suck. He fills our lives with love and happiness and knuckleball catching to a degree that you will NEVER understand. At times, he filled our lives with magnificent home runs, and snazzy pin-striped suits. What does Cash fill our lives with? Nothing, really. Nothing but disappointment. So, there's my obligatory Douglas Anthony Mirabelli praising. It will never be enough, but at least it's something, right?

Kurt Wagner actually won a game for us last night. Way to go, Kurt! Honestly, I was starting to wonder if the kid had it in him. The answer: sure, why not. We needed a win, Kurt got us a win (with help, of course, from the aforementioned Dougie).

Just in general, seeing the guys get timely hits makes me feel good. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, kind of the way you feel on Christmas morning when you realize that yes, you do have the day off from work, and the Monopoly board is coming out of retirement! That can't be only me, can it? Everyone loves Monopoly.

Manny hitting that 2-run home run came exactly thirty seconds after I mumbled the phrase "Geez, when's the last time this team hit a home run." It was nice timing, and it made my pseudo-bitterness disappear completely.

Top that with (I can't believe I'm even going to write this) a Yankee win, and I'm feeling pretty good about the baseball activities of yester-night. Even if Papelbon did allow a baserunner. It's all good, folks. May Doug be with you. (and also with me!)*

Disclaimer: No, I do not think Dougie is God, or god-like. But I'm sure God does LIKE Dougie. How can he not? Doug was made in his image.

Yankee Series: Annoying? Oh Yeah.

I hate picking in Tito. It hurts me emotionally, and lately I've found myself doing it more and more. Trust me, I hate it. I want to not have any bad thing to say about Tito! I am just so frustrated with the last two games of this series that I have no one else to blame... except Kevin Cash. It's all Tito and Cash's fault. Damn you, Kevin Cash!

I was pissed that Wakey was taken out of the game in the 7th inning yesterday with one out. Knowing how absolutely terribly our bullpen has been lately, why would you ever take out a starter who was pitching well just for the sake of getting Javier Lopez work? I'm sure Tito had his reason, but come on! Really? Javier Lopez? Why didn't you just ask Luis Alicea to pitch? Better yet, why not leave in the starter?

I'm one of those people who subscribe to the theory that starters are babied. I know that you'd rather have your starter pitch 200 innings and pitch incredibly well in the playoffs than pitch 240 innings and be unable to win a game in, for a completely random example, the 2007 ALCS... But that doesn't sway my opinion that starters should go seven innings or more, unless they truly do not have it, or look like they're wearing out fast. Wake was not wearing out. When Dice-K was taken out after the 5th inning, he was just hitting his stride. Let them pitch. That's what they're paying them for. Stop babying the damn millionaires.

I love Jason Varitek, and will never EVER say anything bad about him, but... Tek, darling, with a 2-1 count, you don't swing. Ever. There's no excuse for swinging at that pitch. Make him throw strikes! Of course, I'm talking about the 9th inning of Saturday's game... and hell, it might have even been a 2-0 count. I was at work, listening on the radio, and I feel like I never know what's going on when I have to listen to Castiglione.... I know that it was a 2-something count, definitely not 2-2 though. Jason is foresaking all the laws of hitting, and I'm not sure why. Because he's better than that and he knows it. I know it, too, that's why I'm keeping the so-called faith. The hits will come, when he stops acting so awkward at the plate.

Lugo is the great end-all. Bite the bullet, Theo, and dump his ass like we did with Rentaripoff. At least Edgar could hit.

I maintain that if Papelbon spent less time bitching about his salary, and complaining that he's the next Mariano Rivera, and making stupid music videos, and promoting everything for sale in the known universe, he wouldn't be hitting this rough patch.

Hey Paps, when you can pitch like Rivera (see: 2 IP no runs), maybe we'll consider you the next Rivera. For now, work on getting your ego in check, and keeping the base runners (by the way, why are you allowing so many baserunners) out of scoring position. Thanks.

See you all at Fenway tonight, hopefully while the Sox aren't getting their collective ass handed to them by Minny.

PS - Ortiz, we miss you. Please come back to us!

Our entire offense: Seriously, WTF?

To say that I'm annoyed and pretty disappointed in the last four games is pretty accurate. I'm really trying not to let it get to me too much, because we're only 2.5 games out, and we've got half a season left to remedy that. I understand that. Really, I do. But it doesn't make the losses sting any less.

This makes the losses sting a little less. And stuff like this makes me ignore the losses all together. (Ps... that last one was borrowed from lizwatson.com. There are some good pics of the 2004 parade there)

It's Manny month on my calendar, so that means it's time to start busting out of this I-don't-care-about-playing mode. I love Manny, I do. Usually I'll even downplay his stupid antics. I'll tell you, though, after his last little spectacle of shoving down poor Jack, I kind of want him disciplined. Something. Anything. I hope it happens even if I don't hear about it. Because Manny's been getting on my nerves a bit. And that makes me sad. Especially when I see him standing at the plate with an unusally bothered look on his face, sort of like he'd rather be getting a root canal than batting. I'm used to Manny's aloofness, but he's taking it to a whole new level when we really need for him to carry the team for a while. Drew did his part (so of course, now he's back to staring at strike 3's to kill rallies), and now it's Manny's turn. Time to wake up, Ramirez.

From now on, I'm blaming Kevin Cash for everything. I wholeheartedly blame him for the loss last night, and now he gets the distinction of being this year's Wily Mo Peña. As much as I loathe POS, I'm going to blame Cash for everything, including Varitek's slump. Damn you, Kevin Cash!

New game tonight. New pitchers. Hopefully an offense that's awake. I'd really hate to get swept at the Trop again to those stupid (Devil) Rays. Somehow, the players must channel the Big Papi of 2006. That Big Papi was incredible, and he knew how to win a game in his last AB (not that 2007 Big Papi was bad, I just think the earlier version was better.) Maybe later if I get bored, I'll post my favorite versions of the players from our two championship teams that I actually care about. Then again, maybe I won't. I don't know!

Again, I urge you all... stop voting for Red Sox players to be in the ASG. Can't you see how badly they ALL need a few days off? And Manny probably wouldn't show up anyway!