Jon Lester: Now Can Beat Kansas City In His Sleep

Alright, Jon. We get it. You obviously have something very personal against Kansas City. Whenever he faces them, he puts on his beatdown boots and... well, delivers a beat down. I don't know what it is. Maybe he had some bad barbecue there once. Maybe a road map of downtown got him severely lost, causing him to miss a flight. I could literally sit and speculate all day about why hearing "Kansas City" gets Jon into terminator mode, but it really doesn't matter. I'm glad he enjoys beating them so heartlessly. We've seen the no-hitter, and now we've seen the complete game shutout. It was not a no-hitter, nor was it a 1-hitter. It actually ended up being a 4 hitter. I've said it before, and I will undoubtedly continue to say it in the future... I don't care how many hits they're giving up as long as they don't give up runs. Jon's pitching made me very happy.

On a similar note, Brian Bannister's pitching surprised me. We actually got out-hit during this game. Bannister held us to 3 hits, and 1 run (even though it should have been 2... more on that in a minute). It's got to be absolutely unbearable to pitch that well and still lose. It would drive me crazy. And if he were facing any other team, I would really have hoped that he won the game. But he didn't, because Jon was just a little tiny bit better than him.

Very confusing game. We had fewer hits, more baserunners, and more runs. KC had more hits but only walked twice, giving them 6 baserunners to our 7. There was one error and one stolen base on each side. Jacoby Ellsbury got thrown out trying to score in the 5th inning. He got thrown out for bouncing his helmet when he was called out. After watching the replays, he was clearly (to me) not out. Yes, I was furious at the time because it was a scoreless game, and I had no idea how much longer Jon could hold out with no run support (I'll explain in a second), so I really wanted him to not be out. I swore and pounded my fists and was overall livid. CRW did not deserve his first major league ejection, but there it was. But do I want replays of plays at the plate, knowing full well that they can make or break a game? No. Honestly. I agree with the home run replays, but I just don't think that we should replay everything. It's the charm of the game.

I wanted Lester to get this win. After the first four innings, he was pitching just so damn well that I wanted it for him. He earned it. Bannister earned it, also, but alas you cannot have two W's handed out in one game. My adoration of Jon is well documented. He is, right now, three wins behind Joshua and Timothy. He's pitched just as well as the both of them, so he deserves to have a comparable record. 8-6 is ok. It's a little bit better than average, but the ERA is now under 4! 3.87 to be exact. After May, did it ever seem like we'd have two starters with ERA's under 4? It seemed like an overly ambitious hope. I'm glad they're pitching well, but because they're pitching well, I expect Jon's stats to start evening out. They're starting, but they wouldn''t look as nice as they do now without that W. He needed it. I wanted it. Munchkin assured it for him, and Pap saved it for him with the cleanest inning I've seen him have in a while.

Good game. Period.

Paps: Blaming Things on Rain, Taking Credit from the Wind

I am a shameless fan of the Paps/MDC version of "Blame It On Rain." It's the only thing I like about rain delays at the park. Why am I even bringing this up, you ask? For this reason... I'm starting to think that the weather and Paps aren't on the best terms.

First, he goes ahead and blames the rain. For what? Not sure, I never actually read/remembered the lyrics to that song. I like the chorus, and I enjoy the silly wigs and the dancing. I am easily amused. But Paps, regardless of his true feelings for the rain, looks like he's sided against it.

Then last night, when the save looked all but blown, the go-ahead HR was blown... right back onto the field. It was by the grace of something far more powerful that Scott Boras (and much more benevolent) that the ball hit by Hairston was not a home run. Paps was lucky. So what does he do? He takes credit for the save! Preposterous. Ok, so he didn't take it himself. The save was automatically assigned to him by official scorers and what have you, but we all know he didn't earn it last night. He hasn't been himself this year, and it's a tad bit scary. He does only have something like one blown save, but the close calls are piling up. Hopefully, he'll pull himself back together the way the majority of our starting pitchers have.

Wakefield. Win number 11. Did you think Tim would be leading the league in wins? No? Neither did I, but I'm sure happy for him. How many wins now does he need to become the all-time Red Sox wins leader? I'll look it up.... He's at 175, and he needs to get to 193. 18 wins shy! 18! Assuming he can win another 6-8 this year, he'll only need to have an average season next year. He only needs to play in 116 more games to pass Bob Stanley for all-time games played. Only 116... listen to me and my crazy talk. The man is almost 43 years old. Assuming that he pitches in 33 games, he'd have to pitch three and a half more seasons. What are the odds of keeping Wake in the rotation until he's 47? No clue.

So Pedie has been thinking about skipping the All-Star game to be with his wife. I say do it. It's an honor to be voted in, but family definitely comes first.

Lastly... my favorite AAA outfielder, Jonathan "Vantastic" Van Every was DFA'ed to make room on the 40-man roster for Lowrider, who will be in AA to finish his rehab. I hope than Vantastic clears waivers so we can keep him in AAA till we need him (especially since he is out for the rest of the year with an injury)... but if not, I wish him a speedy recovery and the best of luck whereever he ends up.

Starting four against the Royals, but there will be no Coco sightings, because he is also done for the year with an injury. I feel bad about that and hope that his recovery also goes well. Best of luck, Coco!

Josh Beckett: Destroyer of Souls

Truth be told, I'm not sure I've ever seen Joshua actually destroy a soul. I wouldn't even know how he'd begin to do that. I think the closest he ever came was during the 2007 ALCS against the Indians. I felt that he completely shattered their souls in game 5. You, of course, remember game 5. He was definitely a destroyer of souls on that night. So maybe last night he didn't destroy them. Maybe he just bruised them. It definitely was not his best game of the year, with only 4 K's, but it was really good. His super awesome ERA is down to 3.62. May 5th, just a little more than two months ago, it was 6.75. There's just no way you aren't impressed with the way he's flipped this season around.

Yes. I admit it. I love ERA. I'm not a big stat person. Numbers generally confuse me, but man, can I get behind something as simple as ERA. Don't judge me.

Was it just my imagination, or did Beckett seem mad last night? I am not complaining, not at ALL, because I enjoy Josh when he's angry. I think he's a better pitcher when he pitches a little bit mad. However, he's been very good this year about keeping his emotions under control, moreso than in previous years, and to see him swearing on the mound last night after not really making many mistakes was surprising. When he's pitching well, which he was last night, and he's still angry? Well, that's when I love him the most.

On a completely unrelated matter, it was nice to see Munchkin in the lineup last night, because that means that his wife is doing better.

The key to our series is All-Star Tim Wakefield. Awesome, huh?

Tim Wakefield: How Dare I Let Him Slip My Mind

I've been meaning to write this post for three days. Since I have not gotten around to it yet, I guess now's as good a time as any.

I want to congratulate Tim Wakefield for his selection to the All-Star Game. I hoped for weeks that it would happen. I really, really wanted this. Tim, I think, deserves it more than anyone else on our team. Yeah, Josh Beckett has been showstopping for the last few months. Sure, Paps set a new Red Sox saves record, and as of right now has not demanded a trade anywhere. Sure, Munchkin and Youk deserve to go, and even Jason Bay makes a strong case for himself.

But it's Wakefield who deserves it most. The same Tim Wakefield who has been on the Sox for as long as I can remember. The Wakefield who humbly suffers indignities such as being left off the playoff roster. The same guy who took himself off a playoff roster because he knew it was the best thing for the team. The guy who was willing to lose out on millions of dollars of extra money by agreeing to a lifetime contract with the Red Sox for cheap money, because he knew he wanted to stay here. This is the same guy that people have been saying should retire for the last howevermany seasons. The same guy who was given the affectionate nickname Shakey Wakey by many I know. This is the guy who made people groan when they saw his name as the starting pitcher because you just didn't KNOW what you were going to get out of him that night.

No one knows where that knuckler is going to go. Or at least they didn't. Now, I can say with certainty that I know. It's going to the All Star Game where it belongs.

Anyone who can look out into the thousands of rabid, baseball hungry fans in Fenway and say that they love it there, and truly mean it, is OK in my book. Tim has suffered and sacrificed more for this team than anyone else in my memory (which is admittedly not super great). Anything for the team. THAT is the definition of an All Star. I've never been happier for someone to go to the silly exhibition game.

I generally don't want to see Sox players go. I know it's an honor, or whatever. Most of the time I prefer that they get their three days off and put them to good use. Wakefield is the exception, because you KNOW this means a lot to him. No one can tell me that an all-star selection means the same to Paps as it does to Wake. Paps has been going to the midsummer classic since he joined the team full time. He likes to be selected because it's one more bright, shiny mark on the resume that he plans on using to get a giant contract out of an unsuspecting team. For Tim, it really does seem to be more about the fact that he's appreciated.

Well Tim, I appreciate you, and I know a ton of other people who appreciate you, too. I couldn't be happier about an All-Star selection if I tried. Congratulations Tim Wakefield. You've earned this!

John Smoltz: Wasn't Gonna Win No Matter What

When your offense musters up two hits (HITS, not RUNS), you're not going to win a game. My thought in these situations is that I don't care how many runs we give up. Honestly, I don't. Yeah, during the game I was annoyed that the A's kept piling on and we weren't getting anything back, but once the horrorshow is over and I can look back on it as a whole, I find myself caring less and less about the five they put up and more about the zero we put up.

Smoltz was a little flat, but it doesn't matter. He wasn't going to win. You can't win if your team scores no runs. He'll get them next time. Though he does seem to be running into some pretty crappy luck lately...

This team looks tired. It really does. The All-Star break can't come soon enough, apparently. Or maybe they're just not used to playing on Mondays any more. We had a bunch of off-days on Mondays in June. Could be that it's just too hard to get out of off day mode now.

My first thought about Munchkin not being in the lineup last night for family reasons was that his wife had gone into labor. The last time she was on TV, she was looking a little pregnant. My super sincere apologies to Kelli Pedroia if she was in fact NOT pregnant, but she looked it. So, I hope that the family leave was for good news and not bad news. It's kind of weird to even think about the fact that Munchkin could realistically be a dad. He's a little kid in my mind.

I'm not about to get worked up over this game. No point. I guess I'll just chalk it up to an understaffed, tired team that ran into a pretty good pitcher during one of their collective bad days. That's gotta be it.

UPDATE: Seems I was correct about Mrs. Pedroia getting ready for diaper duty. However, with around a month left to her due date, she was taken to the hospital yesterday, according to this piece by ProJo. Wishing the Pedroias well, and hoping that all is OK with Kelli and the baby. Don't worry about the Sox, Dustin. They'll be ok. Just be with your wife right now.

Last Night's Game: Bleurgh!

Pardon me while I vomit for a few seconds. Man.... that was just flat out awful. It was disgusting, and...

GAG!

OK. I think I got it out of my system for a while. It is no longer Tuesday. It is Wednesday. Do you know what happens on Wednesday if the weather behaves? That's right. We get Beckett. Being the gamer that Beckett is, don't think for a second that he has any intention of trusting our bullpen with any kind of lead. He's going nine today. Because unlike Fetus, Oki, Saito, and Paps, Beckett knows that we're facing the Orioles, and they ARE NOT A GOOD TEAM!

Not a good goddamned team at all! They're what, 12 games out of the division with four of the best teams in baseball in front of them?! That should have never happened. Unfortunately it did, and I am ultra-annoyed... especially because it was the Orioles. Wow, ok, I guess it wasn't completely out of my system yet. Deep breath... we're ok. It was a blip. You're not going to see our awesome bullpen give up ten runs every night.

But, because that was such a horrendous game that we need some kind of sugar coating to make it easier to swallow.... some positives from last night! Check me out, I'm gonna give you reasons to not be angry.

Positive number ONE! Did you see Smoltz? Did you see him?! He was great. I know, it was the Orioles, and I can't emphasize enough how bad of a team I think they are (because they're a bad team... who just happened to kick some serious Sox butt last night), but he was fantastic. He's going to get better as he gets stronger and more comfortable on a big league mound again. This, above all else should be a big smile-inducing point for everyone except Clay Buchholz. Don't worry, Clay, there's always next year to make the big club.

Positive number TWO! Our offense scored ten runs. We were having some issues with scoring runs in the last couple of games, in case you weren't aware, but they pulled their act together and managed to string together hits and home runs and general awesomeness. Who doesn't like to see that?

Positive number THREE! Manny Delcarmen didn't give up a run. He even got more outs than baserunners (2 outs, 1 baserunner)... whereas the same cannot be said for some of our other relievers. So MDC was the shining star of the black-hole of a bullpen we had last night. Way to go, Manny!

Positive number FOUR! Did you know 'Tek is now batting .238 with 11 home runs? Did you expect even this from Tek this year? Neither did I, and I love the guy. So take that however you want it, because I am happy with Tek.

Positive number FIVE! We have two players batting over .300 and Jacoby Ellsbury is one of them! No way, right? Really. He's at .303. Color me impressed.... actually now that I think about it, I don't really understand that saying. What color is 'impressed' anyway? How will I even know the color of impressed will match my outfit. Let's just leave me the color I am, and say that I'm happy with Jacoby.

Positive number SIX! Munchkin stole a base! Actually, for the season, he's stolen 14. Dig it, Munchkin can run. Is there anything he can't do? I don't know... he might not be able to reach the high shelves, but that's why we have Fetus. That's why we have him, right? Cause he's tall?

Obviously I'm kidding. I love Fetus. Which leads me to positive number SEVEN! Fetus' 5th and 6th innings were terrific. I guess we have learned that he is a two inning sort of guy, right? Since the 7th inning last night was by far as bad as I've ever seen from him, we can believe that there's no where for him to go but up, right? Right.

Speaking of going up... positive number EIGHT! Jeff Bailey. Making good use of his time in the big leagues. Way to go, Bails.

Positive number NINE!.... uh.... hmm. No one got hurt? This is starting to get difficult.

So, I'm going to end it with this... positive number TEN! We're still in first place in our division. Beat that, everyone else in the AL East.

Lester: A Return to the Awesome

Yes, I'll slap myself the hardest if this post proves to jinx Jon, but damn if I'm not impressed. All those issues between Joshua and Jonathan early in the year? Do you remember them? They seem so far away these days. I can't even think of a phrase disgustingly sweet and mushy enough to describe my love for these two.

Back when Johnny was just a rookie and he routinely loaded the bases and worked his way out of it (who remembers that?), I would tell people that he's a good pitcher and that we shouldn't trade him. Most people thought I was retarded. Well, I can honestly say that I feel vindicated now. In your FACE everyone who doubted me and/or Jon!

I may be one of five people in existence who wasn't surprised or saddended by John Smoltz's not-so-stellar performance last week. I wrote it myself - I have no expectations for the guy. I don't care what team he was facing. In case people didn't know, the Nats actually have some good hitters. It's generally their pitching that lets them down, so maybe we should rag on our hitters instead of our future Hall of Fame super amazing starter/closer who was just returning from a year's worth of arm trouble. Or we can all just chalk it up to a bad game and be genuinely excited for his start tonight!

That's right. They're gonna let him pitch again. And why not? He's bound to be better than Dice-K, yes?

However, I do want to give a shout-out to our resident dyslexic, David Jonathan "JD" Drew for his near-cycle feat last night. I don't even remember if I've ever watched anyone hit for the cycle... I'm sure that's the kind of thing I'd remember, so I guess I haven't... but it seems like it would be awfully fun.

I was so ambitious at the beginning of June to get a lot of entries written. Oh well, I guess I failed. Maybe July will be better but I wouldn't count on it.