He that has a good harvest must be content with a few thistles

Bill:
Hey, has losing 2 of 3 in New York evah left you feeling so … well, I'm leery to say it for fear of latah being boned by karma, but you know …

 

---

Doug:
Yeah, "good;" is probably too strong a word, but let's just say I feel "not-panicked" … And why not? Schilling is back. Wakefield is as hot as evah …

 

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Bill:
An Octobah stahting rotation of Schilling, Wakefield, Wells, and Clement with Papelbon and Arroyo working in front of Timlin? Sign me up for that mojo.

 

---

Doug:
Baseball Prospectus now puts the odds of the Red Sox playing in the postseason at 90%.

 

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Bill:
And the ubah stathead Eric Van floats a notion that things could even go bettah than 'at.

 

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Doug:
Man, is there anything bettah than a Septembah in Boston during a pennant race?

 

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Bill:
It's like a fahmah planting with his crops in the spring, watching the tiny shoots emerge and grow, weathering the drought, the downpours, the locusts, to find himself all of a sudden ready to reap the bountiful hahvest.

 

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Doug:
Anyone who can watch a pennant race gem like yestahday's game without tears in their eyes, without being moved in the same way as they are by a work of art is a fucking philistine — there's no othah word for them.

 

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Author's Notes

Doug's final "philistine" speech is taken from Geoff Dyer's wonderful first novel, The Colour of Memory, though Dyer's character, Steranko, was speaking of World Cup Soccer and not baseball, still the sentiment holds.

The title of today's post is from a Spanish proverb found on ThinkExist.com

Comments

[Ric]

3rd frame error.. how can clement start and have someone set up for him?

[buckner was framed]

not to nitpick, but I think you mean 'leery' in frame 1, and Timlin in #3 instead of Clement twice (somehow the thought of Clement as closer is worse than bein boned by kahma!)

[h.b.]

Typos fixed, thanks. Had to piss like a racehorse and then get a double espresso, in that order. Didn't proof at all. Priorities and shit...

[buckner was framed]

Thanks for the bonus strip yesterday too! just noticed it.... nothin like a 'big fish pitchin a wicked stunnah' to start the week off...

[Bob]

Every time that known juicer Giambi hits a home run, an angel gets its wings ripped off.

[RonF]

Hm. I'll hold off on "Schilling is back" until I see his next start. But God knows I thought Schilling was thrilling on Saturday. Who'd have thought that he'd be the only winner in a 1-2 series? I think the pitching is a legitimate silver lining in the weekend's cloud.

[Jason O.]

A fun weekend: The Sox giftwrapped one on Friday, the Yanks returned the favor on Saturday, and Sunday was the best regular season game in my memory.

OK, Bob, that's one interpretation, Here's another. If the grand jury leak is to be believed, Giambi is the ONLY player to have told the truth about his behavior.

Last year he has an abysmal season, then discovers he has a tumor at the base of his brain. Everyone writes him off. This season he is almost DFA'd before roaring back.

Giambi created his own problems: He dug himself a giant hole and the dirt was starting to fall in, but he climbed out of it.

Remember Fred Thompson's line in Hunt for Red October?: "Now, it's up to you Charlie, but you might consider cuttin' the kid a little slack."

[rafuzo]

h.b., the first '"' in panel 2 looks busted.

I love how the soxaholix capture my sentiments so well, so often. I must say I was a little anxious yesterday, only because I wanted to see the Sox go up 5 games and close the door on the spanks' AL East hopes. One of those "would've been nice" things, but oh well. Being up 3 games in the division with 20 to play is a good spot. Wake was largely unhittable yesterday, and they were lucky Jason "undetectable substance" Giambi managed to turn his bloated carcass around on that pitch low and away. I was reading Bill Simmons' mailbag the other day and someone asked "How long will it be before Joe Torre pulls Giambi aside after another home run and just stares straight into his eyes, just like James Caan did to Lattimer in 'The Program', and then we will see Giambi hysterically crying in the dugout?" And I was amazed someone read my mind.

[Bob]

Jason, while I admire honesty and hard work, I'm not going to cut ANY juicer any slack. If a Red Sox player was ever shown to use the junk, I'd rip him just as much (if not more). It is, or at least was, blatant cheating on Giambi's part. An attempt to give himself an unfair advantage, and an offense just as disgraceful as gambling on the game. Pete Rose eventually told the truth, too, and I don't see him getting cut any slack.

[Jason O.]

Bob, I understand your point.

Vitiis nemo sine nascitur (No one is born without faults)
-Horace

[SawxSince67]

2003 ALCS Game 7. J Giambi. 2 solo HR.

Red Sox lose series by one run.

A break?

Giambi does seem like a decent guy -- but for the chemical enhancements he utilized to augment an already MLB quality eye and swing, which, in turn, he parlayed into an MVP season. As a result, he managed to grift the NYY into paying him Paraguay's GDP over a period of time.

That Giambi admitted an active role in creating an unhealthy advantage for himself that others may not feel compelled to match, does not make him, in general, special.

Just special in the context of...well...cheaters.

[Kaz]

Jason, Jason, Jason...you seemed to be the most level-headed Yankee fan to visit here. I can't believe you'd favor your team over the health of the game. Sunday's game was so great because the final score was 1* - 0. The game was great..but when a guy puts back on 100 lbs of muscle weight only months after chemo? He's juicing. He then goes on to flip a 60 mph knuckleball down and way away 320 feet with little to no effort? He's juicing. The man can't play the game reliably without his juice (i.e. post-op). It's like watching Raffy's numbers jump once he meets Canseco. You can obviously tell when Giambi's pumped up on the stuff or not.

It's about time people started getting outted by the fans because it's clear that either MLB can't detect it or won't try. If it meant lost revenue or televised boos whenever he came to the plate...the clubhouse would clean up its act from within. If a Sox was on the juice, I'd be ready to turn my back on that player.

[pawsoxpop]

Great strip today, HB, and I loved fatha's serman yesterday. I want to go to that church.
Hopefully, Juicin' Giambi is just an annoying part of life that we have to put up with this year like traffic jams or seaweed at the beach and won't ruin everyone's summer like he did in 2003. But to continue the farmer-harvest metaphor, HB, Terry has some weeding to do and it's in the third-base coach's box.
Maybe they would have lost anyway on Friday night without Varitek getting thrown out at the plate, and maybe they would have lost that last time against the Yanks when Sveum FAILED to send the runner home even as Bernie Williams was throwing the ball to second base. But man, how can you continue to have a third-base coach who makes it 10 times harder to win a game? I mean, Francona should at least have to offer an explanation about why the guy is there. If he's a great b.p. pitcher, then let him do that; if he's a great strategist, then make him bench coach or assistant bench coach; if he's really good at working with the infielders or the hitters, then create a job title and role that utilizes those strengths. But please get us a third-base coach who can digest our baserunning strengths and weaknesses, study the opposing team's tendencies and flaws, and make decent decisions on the fly during a game. I mean, it's hard to believe that they could have found anyone as bad as Wendell Kim, but they did. If they had a decent third-base coach this year, they would have at least three more wins.

[h.b.]

The Soxaholix' feeling regarding one Dale Sveum have not changed in the slightest since last year:

Send Sveum to the showers

[SawxSince67]

Sveum sending Tek home:

As you all realize; it's a multi-faceted deal.

OF fields ball cleanly, successfully throws ball to infield, IF/Cut-off fields ball cleanly, successfully throws to C.

That all of those aspects of the play have to go without a hitch is a strong indicator to send a runner home when he's about to or making the turn at 3rd.

Jeter did actually have to jump to pull down the relay.

However, I don't think Varitek had completed the turn at that point.

Good Lord, was 'Tek out.

I was disgusted.

"...an annoying part of life that like traffic jams or seaweed at the beach..."

Nice job, PSP.

[Jason O.]

Kaz,

The guy had a tumor on his brain that was affecting his vision and other motor skills. Whether or not steroids cause tumors is an open debate and another issue, but I find it almost impossible to believe that Giambi would use after that episode.

On the remote probability that he is using...he should be sent to the remote island where McGwire is.

If he has conquered the problems of his own creation, then that is honorable. (But who knows? The Feds still could indict him.)

[SawxSince67]

Oh, and while Posada made the tag, certainly 'Tek laid the harder tag on Jorge.

[Jason O.]

Right, Sawx, I'm proud of Varitek that he was able to initiate contact without his mask and equipment on. Bravo.

[pawsoxpop]

Jeter would have had to miss the ball altogether for Varitek to have a chance, and even then someone else might have picked it up and thrown him out -- he was that far away. It was not even close.

And the last time at the Stadium, Bernie "I throw like Johnny Damon" Williams HAD CONCEDED THE RUN and was making a lazy throw to second when Sveum held the runner up!!!

It's tough enough to beat the Yankees without having a third-base coach who sleeps on the job. I guess we should count our blessings though; if Dale was an air traffic controller or a railyard worker, thousands would be dead.

[SawxSince67]

That's funny, J.

I've seen Captain Mask commentary on NYYFans.com, so I understand the thought process. Well, "thought process" may be too aggressive...

Unfortunately, only the NHL penalizes those who instigate fights while maintaining a faceshield on the helmet.

Oh yeah, 'Tek didn't instigate.

I guess when you're about to get into a fight, you have the presence of mind to remove your watch, stash your cufflinks and fold your coat and whatnot. Good for you.

Like Slappy would punch anyone in the face anyway. (That could be bad, though--admittedly, he's a fucking giant.)

Funny stuff, though.

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

The "he kept his mask on" argument is the baseball-argument-equivalent of the Hitler reference. Once someone trots it out, their credibility drops to zero.

As for Jason O. and the juicer, I don't know how a tumor from out of the blue is "digging his own hole" - but I do know that if the guy was clean, he'd have no problem saying it -- heck, even Raffy had no problem saying it. Instead, he sat in a press conference for 45 minutes apologizing - for what? bad play? - "nothing". The silence is deafening.

[Devine]

The good: the Yankees are about to face Tampa Bay and have 13 of their last 20 games on the road (as opposed to the Red Sox who have 9 games on the road and 11 at home). Both the Yankees and the Red Sox are two games below .500 on the road.

The bad: the Red Sox are about to face Toronto on the road and have to face them 7 more times this season (the majority at home, though...not that that's helped much this season). And it's Lilly tonight. I don't know why that garbage team has owned us this year (or why TB has laid the smack down on NY...guess statistical oddities in small sample sizes just happen), but I hope our luck changes or it's going to be a nerve-wracking last few weeks. At least there's no Halladay.

[NYSoxfan]

J, very funny... considering Posada was reduced to a non-factor in the series after that collision. Indeed, the MFYs' taking 2 of 3 seems like a pyrrhic victory indeed. But if I'm Francoma, I sit Damon & Papi tonight and get some of the bench into the game. They obviously banged up and with Lilly the lefty going, a no brainah. Also gotta get the bench into some games down the stretch. Poor Petagine has all but disappeared...

[buckner was framed]

was it just me, or was anyone else out there secretly hoping for a Fisk/Munson redux when 'Tek went in hard to Posada? To both their credits, they got up, dusted off, and when right back at it. The way it should be played..... but Sawx has it right though- the refugees/deportees/survivors/child molestors made it from LA here faster than Tek would've made it home....

[pawsoxpop]

I for one was not secretly hoping for a Fisk-Munson style dustup because at the time we had the Yankees down with a chance to push them down further and THAT STUPID @#$%&*(! SVEUM had to send the runner. I remember back in '78, when they were losing all those games and destroying Butch Hobson's right arm and putting great players like Bernie Carbo in the doghouse, I concluded that Zimmer was secretly on the Yankees payroll -- a theory which seemed to show more credence as the years went on and the Gerbil was hired by the Yankees to sit around and spit.
I suspect that Sveum may be simply incompetent and not truly an "American Taliban" like Zimmer was. But it's still infuriating. Varitek could easily have been hurt on a play that he had ZERO percent chance of scoring. Which would have made it even more infuriating than the play when he held up Millar and hung Mirabelli out to dry. Instead of 6-3 with a runner on third and one out and a real shot at knocking Johnson out of the box, it was 6-2 with a runner on third and two out, and a second chance for a Hall of Fame pitcher. That's TWO games against the Yankees that he may have cost us, which is way too much for one coach.
I'm sure Dale is a decent guy and probably has some useful baseball knowledge; somebody should give him a job where he has a chance to HELP the team instead of destroy it. We have a legitimate shot to win it all this year, and we can't afford any more bad decisions at crucial moments.