Guardedly Optimistic

It takes 11 innings and more David Ortiz heroics, but the Red Sox refuse to let one slip to Toronto …

Bill:
Christ, I'm getting too old for games like last night's.

 

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Mike:
Are you kidding me, every time the bullpen chokes on a sweet lead, I have to go look in the mirror to see if one side of my face has gone all post-stroke droopy.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, everything was supposed to have changed aftah winning the World Series … well, I've got news for the pudnuts, the "the no lead is safe" sentiment is the same as it evah was.

 

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Mike:
And the reliance on the deus ex machina deliverance via a lahjah than life sluggah and the long ball hasn't changed one iota from one season to the next.

 

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Bill:
Not that we'd want it any other way, though. I piss on Joe Morgan and his "small ball" fetish. Give me a Yaz or a Papi any day.

 

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Mike:
Ortiz joins Yaz as the only players in the 105-year history of the Red Sox to hit 40 home runs in consecutive seasons.

 

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Bill:
And what about Papelbon getting his first win in the Majahs? How long before he's notching twenty or more a season?

 

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Mike:
I'll consider his potential to win 20 games when I see him throw a good breaking pitch more than once an inning.

 

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Bill:
Cheer up, dude. Didn't you hear "dead arm" Hansen is hitting 97 on the gun again?

 

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Mike:
Hey, I'm so on board I'm driving the friggin bandwagon, but that's just it: I want to finish out this season before going into the la la land of what might be, you know?

 

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Bill:
Whatev sour puss. I'm just saying we've got some very real potential for a bullpen shot in the arm, the amateur porn gets bettah each day^*, and next week is National Singles Awareness Week, so you need to loosen your tie and relax a bit.

^*(NSFW!)

 

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Mike:
"Singles Awareness Week"? You've got to be shitting me?

 

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Bill:
Tell me you are not questioning the wisdom of your Government and its institutions?

 

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Comments

[birthofasoxfan97]

Joe Morgan drives me nuts - I can't listen to him or any of those other clowns on ESPN or FOX that truly seem to have accepted a payment somewhere along the line. Their incessant collective man crush on the yankers is a joke.

The late night games are exhausting, but really, we wouldn't have it any other way. At this point, I both never feel safe with an 6 run lead in the 9th, nor do I feel despair with a 6 run defecit - anything's possible.

In the city today - and it is gorgeous.

[anon]

Ishotmyself.com (sounds like a steroids website the MFYs would visit, no?) is one of the best amateur porn websites out there. Too bad it's a pay-site but it does give you hope for the women of the western world that they're not heading into puritan frigidity. My only complaint with the website - almost no women of color. In fact, I don't recall seeing any women of color there. Hoepfully that can change soon.

Now on the opposite end of the amateur porn spectrum, suicidegirls.com and rascallettes.com (sp?) - if scrawny, heavily tattooed and pierced girls are your thing, go there.

If any soxaholix readers live near Tampa Bay, please go to the game and cheer on your hometeam to defeat, crush, etc. the MFYs. Thank you.

[h.b.]

My only complaint with the website - almost no women of color.

Interesting observation. Since one would assume the site is open to all and isn't discriminating in any way, can we then ask if this is a cultural thing, i.e., more white chicks are predisposed to this kind of exibitionism?

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

Eh, that was Timlin's biggest gaffe of the year so far, and even that wasn't too bad. I'm with birthofasoxfan, the past two seasons have filled me with a sincere "it ain't over til it's over" point of view when it comes to the Sox. Heck I was getting all tingly with Olerud at the plate, with runners on the corners in a 1-run game, the other day (until he struck out).

[RonF]

So, can I presume that Papelbon will be on the playoff rosters?

[mobosox]

Ortiz=MVP. No Argument for AFraud. Enough said!

[Jason O.]

To the denizens of this site: Congrats on the tough win yesterday. But now I understand how conspiracy theories start, i.e., how much did Lucchino pay that pitcher to tee one up for Ortiz? And you guys are killing me with Orsillo...he's Dwayne Staats in training!!

But enough of that, tonight's a new night, with new possibilities.

To all:
Dum Spiro, Spero (While I breathe, I hope)
-Cicero

[NV in SD]

Got on the plane last night at about 5:30est, and after a delayed takeoff and an extended layover, by the time I arrived back in SD at 11:15pst, i was far too exhausted to hook up the laptop to check the score. That said, there is nothing quite as pleasing as arriving at work and finding out that the MVPapi has done it yet again (though it shouldn't have even been necessary, given the lead that the Sox had in the early innings). There is no extent to the joy that this man brings to my life on a near-daily basis.

The true crime is going to be if he loses out to Slappy McBluelips for the MVP. Understood is the whole "he's only a DH" argument, but gimme a break. If the MVP award truly does mean the player most valuable to his team and them winning, then there is no doubt that there should be a trophy moving Ortiz' ALCS MVP off to the side of the mantle. Slappy is great at driving in six on two homeruns in a blowout, but where is he when the game is on the line? Same place he was ingames 4-7 last October.

[pawsoxpop]

After last year's glorious victory, Chelo's Hometown Restaurants in Pawtucket and various other spots in Rhode Island had a great t-shirt that I got for my son. It features a massive caricature of a smiling David Ortiz with his bat, standing over three crying babies in diapers and Yankee hats who look like A-Rod, Matsui and Jeter (or Rivera, I can't remember), and the caption reads: "Who's the Daddy Now?" After this year, there can be no doubt.

While the 11th-inning heroics were amazing, the even greater feat to me was the first home run, which chased Lilly from the mound. Once that guy was gone I knew we were going to win, even after Timlin had that hiccup. I didn't realize it would take 11 innings, but I just knew it. Papelbon was great holding the lead. I agree with Francona that I'd rather have Timlin give up the homer than Foulke or somebody else in the bullpen, because big Mike will forget it and bounce back.

Nice strip today HB and thanks for the heads up on the NSFW links (and explaining a couple weeks ago what that means).

[pawsoxpop]

Excuse me, Papi's first home run did not chase Lilly from the mound, but it did open the floodgates. I still think getting him out of there was the key to that game, anyway.

[Kaz]

"As he jogged to left field before the first inning, he waved to the crowd and had his arm around 9-year-old Christopher Laub of Tiberon, who was by his side.

Laub, diagnosed with leukemia in December and enduring treatment ever since, had watched Bonds' press conference meltdown in spring training before this third knee surgery and wrote the superstar a letter. He told him that he, too, had had a tough off season but that Bonds needed to be strong.

Bonds said he was inspired by the child's letter and wanted him there for his comeback."

Gag me, roid-boy. You're back because the juice is loose. You want to get your name in the record book for all-time HRs. You sicken me.

[h.b.]

I wish I could hold on the "innocent until proven guilty" vibe with respect to Bonds and Giambi, but it all just seems too convenient.

Giambi, who once felt sure he needed steroids to improve, all of a sudden doesn't? And not only that, he's coming off chemo and a near death experience but, no biggie, he's back to the same bulk and performance as when he was on the steroids?

Jeez. Circumstantial evidence, but WTF?

And now, all of a sudden, Bonds can come back, too?

Given time and money, the users will always be one step ahead of the testers with regard to masking or creating new PEDs that can't be detected.

Are we seeing that now? Sure does seem likely.

And if it's not true, even if both Giambi and Bonds are clean, the simple fact that we, as fans, have serious doubts about that is a real dark cloud for the game of baseball.

[NYSoxfan]

h.b., might I suggest 'lahjah' as the phonetic over 'lahgah' as in lahgah and pilznah... i.e., Papelbon has lahjah nuts than Foulke and Timlin combined... an ugly win but still a win. No wonder Papi's back is hurting -- who's wouldn't be carrying this team around? jeez!

[h.b.]

might I suggest 'lahjah' as the phonetic over 'lahgah' as in lahgah and pilznah

Good call. That works much better. From now on I'll try to remember that spelling for all related words.

[pawsoxpop]

NV, glad you made it back home safe and sound. Re: the Papi vs. ARod MVP debate, I think A-Rod gets it. Here's my reasoning: The sooner the Red Sox wrap up the division, the sooner Papi gets a rest to prepare for October baseball, and the sooner A-Rod will go on a meaningless tear to cement his awesome statistical line. Remember the last time he won AL MVP? His team didn't make the playoffs that year either.

[pawsoxpop]

Of course, if the season comes down to the final weekend, then Papi will get the MVP ... but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, which probably means another Mr. Congeniality -- I mean, MVP -- for Mr. Rod.

[mobosox]

I'm sorry but stats should not equal an mvp award or cy young either. Clemens has pitched his heart out and its not his fault that the astros can't score for him. All the talk is for carpenter of the cards whose team scores almost as much as the sox do. Ortiz has and will carry this team to the playoffs. The guy comes up big more than arod has ever thought about doing. That is the reason Ortiz SHOULD win it. But since the voters love to stroke Bluelip's slapnuts he will get it.

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

every so often the whole "can an MVP play for a losing team" argument comes up, and I wonder why there's even an argument because the answer is YES. It's most valuable player, and I always understood that to mean if there was a draft at the end of the season and everyone did their rankings based solely on the just-concluded season's performance, the MVP would go #1. I certainly think Ortiz is an enormously valuable bat, not simply because he's so clutch, but he gets big hits in non-clutch situations too.

While I'm railing against injustice in baseball, it's also lame that a 20-game winner gets more press (and more Cy Young votes) than the guy with the tiniest ERA (with the inning qualification, of course). The Clemens example is exactly why - the pitcher's win-loss record should be secondary to his era/strikeout-to-walk ratio/OBA. The latter are all stats based solely on the pitcher's performance, while his record may or may not be affected by how his teammates help him out. Wakefield pitched a gem on Sunday but got the loss because the Sox bats couldn't come up with timely hitting. I think its absurd that a pitcher can potentially lose a pitching award based on the (non) performance of his teammates.

And there's no reason baseball doesn't immediately enact the one-year suspension, lifetime ban for steroid use. Aside from a players' union damned effective at stalling it and protected juicers.

AND there ought to be replays of close plays in the ballpark.

[NYSoxfan]

RE: Bonds/Giambi, the Giamboid suffered the hecklers and boo birds all season long while Bonds sat back, biding his time/riding the storm out and waiting for the right moment to come back and pad his resume. Mind you, this fan has to wonder if Giambi not still juicing. And I pity SF fans who defend Bonds, he's a disgrace. And they're super defensive about this assjack too -- as if by criticizing him, you are questioning the integrity of the SF francise. Well, I guess I am... just glad he's not/never was or will be a Red Sox. (p.s. next time any Soxaholix readers are in SF, be sure to check out the Connecticut Yankee on Connecticut St., a fine Sox-friendly establishment where Sox fans usually outnumbah the defenders of Bonds...)

[pawsoxpop]

...outnumbah the defenders of Bonds. Should that be "outnumbah the defendahs of Bawnds..."???

[dunster]

I must say, the NSFW link was well labia'd.

I mean, well labeled.