Epoch of belief, epoch of incredulity

Doug:
I'm so friggin angry right now that if I was in a bah fight I'd probably inadvertently cut off my own nutsack from the sheeah blindness of my rage.

 

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Mike:
Hey, at least you've still got nuts to sack … aftah watching the estrogen fest that is the Septembah 07 Red Sox, my testes have shrunk up and withdrawn into my abdomen like a pair of wannabe ovaries.

 

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Al:
So neithah of you is takes any consolation from the notion that the Red Sox just care about the postseason, not the division win, and are resting and preparing for when the games really count?

 

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Doug:
Nope.

 

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Mike:
No because you don't prepare for winning by losing.

 

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Al:
Agree. But what if this is anothah case of the fans thinking they're smahtah than the front office?

 

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Doug:
You know the problem with that is that half the time lately the fans are actually smahtah. Look at the case of Okajima.

 

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Doug:
I mean way back in early Septembah every fan from Bangor to Braintree could clearly see that Okajima was outta gas and needed a rest.

 

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Doug:
But despite the overwhelming evidence Francona stuck with the pahty line that Oki wasn't tiahd at all. Oh, but, lo and effin behold, turns out he is tiahd and needs to be shut down.

 

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Doug:
So instead of resting him when we have a nice 6½ game lead, they wear him down some moah until now they have no choice but to sit him with a mere 1½ game lead.

 

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Mike:
And then there's the case of J.D. Drew. Every fan from Woodstock to Woonsocket figured Drew would be about as useful to the Red Sox as tits on a bull, but His Royal Highness Theo just had to, had to have Drew.

 

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Doug:
And Lugo, Gagne, Renteria … What the frig?

 

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Al:
The 2005 late season fade was bad. 2006 was worse, and now, 2007, is trending to be the worst fade into oblivion yet.

 

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Doug:
If this team doesn't go deep into the playoffs, I expect to see severed heads rolling down Yawkey Way come Novembah.

 

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Mike:
Seriously. The Red Sox monarchy needs to understand we peasants are sick of eating this cake they've been feeding us since the World Series win.

 

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Comments

[benschon]

A shout out to my home town, Bangor, Maine! That's some bedrock Red Sox Nation up they-ah. Let's see, from northern Maine to southern Connecticut. . .

From Eastport to Westport
From Fort Kent to Kent
From Old Town to New Haven
From Fairfield to Fairfield

[vasoxfan]

Damn you Red Sox!!
Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap

[Jason O.]

It's not pity...it's a realization that with a 99%+ probability of making the playoffs, NYY should start managing lineups that way, the Red Sox already are.

BTW, an absolutely tremendous book you should read: American Spy by E. Howard Hunt...most people remember him from watergate, but his CIA career pre-watergate is amazing.

[Follower of Tito]

Benschon...you forgot about that dividing line in Connecticut (usually the Connecticut River) that separates the CT Red Sox fans from the MFY fans...as the saying goes, NY should just take Fairfield county. (I have consulted for firms in Stamford...loaded with MFY fans)

[Scott]

Wow, what great comments today.

Calm down. Put down the gun. The Sox are still in first place. They don't need to win the division by 14 games. 1 game will do just fine.

Seriously thank goodness for the Pats. I am not worried about the Sox one bit.

Manny will be back to save the day. You wait and see.

[Billy Mahty]

Jason O., I usually agree with you, but not on this one. I think Joe is always very conservative with his staff -- he's not prone to putting them under too much physical pressure. And the emotional lift the team would get from fighting their way back to win the division would be enormous. I don't worry that they'd fold after this achievement.

The Sox, on the other hand, might feel somewhat like they did last year after the Massacre, unable to even conceive of coming back.

[yazbread]

Mr. MFY never hangs around,
when he hears this Mighty sound,

Here I come to save the day!
That means that Manny Mouse is on the way!

[h.b.]

//The Sox, on the other hand, might feel somewhat like they did last year after the Massacre, unable to even conceive of coming back.//

Right, because the Red Sox have never come back against the Yankees when they are not just down but down and beaten to a bloody pulp and only a hair from total elimination like, say, down 0-3 in an ALCS and, say, getting whooped 19-8 in that 3rd game...

Nah, never ever happens...

[Billy Mahty]

I said "might"... chill bro.

[Billy Mahty]

And.. you have to admit that last year the Sox did seem to give up on August 21. They were only 6.5 games back at the time, with lots of time left.

By comparison, where were the Yankees on 8/21 this season? 6.0 games behind.

[Steve in MD]

Does anybody know how many times we have left the bases loaded this year? It has to be a major league record.

Here's a prediction, for good or ill: if the yankees pass the Red Sox and win the AL East title and the Sox don't win the World Series, then A-Rod will be wearing a Boston uniform next year. Otherwise, he is a yankee. My reasoning is that if A-Rod ops out of his contract, then he and yanks are at least $11 million apart (what the Rangers will pay the yanks if he doesn't op out, but not if he ops out and resigns). No other team would be desperate enough to pay that freight, unless it's us after loing both the AL East and the playoffs.

[Billy Mahty]

That's an interesting theory about A-Rod Steve.

As for the bases loaded stat, I don't know, but I can tell you this. The Red Sox have had more bases loaded at bats than any other team this season, 177. Colorado is next at 155. Detroit and NYY are in the 140s. In terms of batting average, Detroit is tops at .402. Yanks are .371 and Boston is ranked 7th at .326. Pretty respectable.

The Red Sox also have scored .99 RBI per bases loaded situation. Yanks have scored 1.09 RBI per.

Based on the batting average and the number of bases loaded situations, the Sox probably have left runners on a fair amount, but I'd be surprised if it's a record.

[Billy Mahty]

My stats are all f'd up today. The Sox have had 178 at bats this season with the bases loaded, as many as they had over the entire season last year. Yankees have 132 so far, and had 201 over the full season last year.

[benschon]

Right--I forget there are traitors who live in New England and think of the Yankees as the home team. Westport, Stamford and so on. Ick.

In Maine they use the phrase "up north" (pronounced "nawth") with a grudging respect for a land that's even further out into the woods than where they are at the time. Does the reverse hold true in Connecticut?

[Evan]

Lets cut down the references to the ripping of the balls of UT fans, yes? My nether regions hurt just thinkin about it.

[h.b.]

//By comparison, where were the Yankees on 8/21 this season? 6.0 games behind.//

But the Yankees have been getting healthier and stronger all season while the 06 Red Sox (and the 07 RS) have been just the opposite.

If you recall the final 2 mos of 2006:
1) Lester has cancer. Fucking cancer. Not sure the guy will live, let alone pitch again. (Any Yankee been diagnosed with cancer this season? Just asking...)

2) Paps injured from overuse in relief role. Questions about whether he'll recover.

3) Manny out.

4) Schilling hurt.

5) Beckett blistered and unable to adapt to AL hitters.

6) Front office makes no trades at July 31 deadline signaling they see the writing on the wall about team's prospects even before the Yankees 5-game sweep in mid August.

I could go on...

Maybe the did quit, but I quit on them too. There's a difference between being hopeful and being an idiot.