Lowering the bar

Mike:
[Sings] And they went down, down, down, into a burning ring of fiah.

 

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Susan/Circle:
3rd place is not only a possibility, it's within our very grasp.

 

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Mike:
Meanwhile, you can forget about next because none other than Gerry Callahan tells us all hope is futile because, you know, "all the Yankees’ big guns are back, which means another 19 games against a lineup that devours wild and/or weak-minded pitchers."

 

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Susan/Circle:
Run away! Run away!

 

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Mike:
What's more, if you listen or read the Boston Media, you'll soon realize that Bobby Abreu is not only the second coming of Babe Ruth but also Ty Cobb and Mahatma Ghandi.

 

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Susan/Circle:
Bobby Abreu knows where to find the lost civilization of Atlantis for fuck's sake.

 

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Mike:
And Jimmy Hoffa.

 

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Susan/Circle:
You know, Bud Selig should just cancel the remaining games this season, and the next season, and the one aftah that because the Yankees cannot-be-beaten™.

 

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Mike:
All that "when the going gets tough" bullshit is so antiquated.

 

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Susan/Circle:
Absolutely, if a task seems too challenging and too momentous, well, dude, it probably is. Best thing to do is just give the fuck up.

 

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Mike:
Seriously, these days we're totally trippin' to "retreat with honah."

 

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Susan/Circle:
All that "never say die" stuff is way ovahrated.

 

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Author's Notes:
I rewrote the missing post from memory. It's not exactly the same as the original, but just as good.

Comments

[survived75]

Say what you like - the post-mortems have already started:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/tom_verducci/08/22/sox/index.html?cnn=yes

[h.b.]

FYI: The characters are speaking specifically to giving up on next year and the year after that, as Callahan suggests in his column.

While personally I'm closing to conceeding this year, I'm not going to give up on next at this point, are you?

[Bobby.Abreu]

Anybody up for a little Mideast peace? See what I can do.
Go Yanks!

[Son of Hamulack]

Never surrender... well... not until this road trip turns into another west coast nightmare. If the Phils can have hope to gain 3 games and make the wild card, the Sox can make up 4. And let's not forget the final four in NY as a chance to hold our heads up high. The fact remains that whatever's holding together the bottom half of the Yanks rotation is pretty thin and their bullpen isn't Boston's but its weak in 5th-7th.

Remember last night's exhibition lineup notwithstanding, this is a damn good team in a great league in a tough division with a lot of injuries. If the Sox split the remaining games hey come out 88 & 74 which would be good enough to make the NL wild card. Winning 95 with last night line up though is going to be pretty damn hard.

[son of hamulack]

And i know we're boycotting CHB, but my eye was drawn to the line, "It's always a story when Manny takes a day or two to rest his hammy."... no, YOU always make it a story when Manny takes a day off you self-important self-fulfilling hack fuck. I'm surprised Manny deigns to touching him on the shoulder. He must have been off balance what with the leg and all.

[yazbread]

I watched 'Faith Rewarded' last night for a fix of vintage Sox. What a run. An entire team playing their best all at the same time. Foulke gets a lifetime pass in my book.

Much has been said about a perhaps lack of team chemistry this year. I am going to attribute the downfall that began after 2004 to the dropping of Bill Morgan as the team physician. While not knowing the particulars, it was an odd decision after working miracles with Schilling and represents, in part, the dismantling of a great team. Did Morgan not return the sutures for Lucchino to sell? Was it in fact 'fake blood' and Morgan needed to be removed from the scene of the crime? Did the Sox want the team physician to 'pay to play'? Maybe the Sox switched medical providers. I am not saying that the team needs Morgan, I suspect that team physicians are interchangeable, but it was an odd decision and cast aside someone who had been with the team for many years and had made substantial contributions. I guess I see this as the start of a dismantling process that appears to have no rhyme or reason.

Meanwhile, back at the Globe, CHB rips Manny and basically accuses him of pouting and faking a hamstring injury. No wonder Manny hates Boston. He is putting up Manny numbers and is playing left field better than he ever has, looking at times rather Golden Glovish. Since the Times owns the Globe, is Shaughnessey an imbedded Yankee? Are all the books, etc just part of an elaborate cover scheme?

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

I'm sorry, I stopped reading at the "but also Ty Cobb and Mahatma Ghandi" line. First, I laughed a lot. But now, I'm trying to get my head around the two of them occupying the same body. Non-violent resistance with sharpened spikes?

[louclinton]

I am pretty much done.

lc

[Billy Mahty]

What I'm dying to know is what happened to Bill Callaghan yesterday. Was he just sitting in his office tearing his hair out? Was he at home nursing a severe hangover?

Or was it something more serious -- was he wandering around downtown wearing a discarded blue teal wedding dress? Or was he sidled up next to 'Turo, determined to eat every hot dog in his cart?

I hope this story arc is not left hanging. The suspense is killing me.

[pawsoxpop]

Some joker who has been wearing a Mets hat for the past two years was marching around my part of the office with a broom Monday afternoon. I said "What's that broom for, to brush the dust off your Yankee hat. I haven't seen that on your head since October 2004."
Things do indeed look bleak, but the doomsayers like Shaughnessy and Ryan better not try to jump back on the bandwagon when the Sox turn the ship around, which they will. The biggest problem, I think, is that the young pitchers who were doing so well in the first half (and I include Beckett here) are lost without Varitek. The only guys with the experience to pitch against a star-studded lineup like the MFYs without him behind the plate were Schilling and Wells, who managed to do okay. Meanwhile, the young-uns will hopefully take their lickin's and keep on tickin' and come back better stronger next year. Who predicted that the Detroit Tigets would have such great pitching this year? Not Tom Verducii or any of the Boston pundits, that's for sure. Screw 'em. The Yankees, meanwhile, can beat up on our kiddie corps, but I don't think they'll stand a chance in the playoffs against a team like Detroit or even Minnesota if Liriano can come back. But I guess George can run up his "AL East Champion" banner yet again. Woo woo. Whatever.

[tessie]

Does this bandwagon have an echo?

[haiku]

Bobby Abreu
Philly bum. Yank savior.
(Through Sox colored specs)

[Black Coffee In Bed]

Over a month of baseball left, sportsfans...I'm sure not ready to toss in the towel just yet. What honor or achievement is there in being the first to declare the season over, anyway?

[buckner was framed]

Not to defend CHB, but I have a tough time with Manny asking out of perhaps the biggest game of the year in the 4th inning with a muscle pull. He couldn't have sucked it up for another 90 minutes in a one run game? (that was actually 0-0 at that point, wasn't it?)
psp, I don't know if I've missed some posts, but nice to see you again...

[buckner was framed]

I mean, it's not like he was gonna run out a grounder or anything....

[harwich rich]

This is where we divide the fair weather fans from the real soxaholix.

[harwich rich]

Knights of the keyboard included

[pawoxpop]

Hey Buck, nice to see you too. I've been reading but the dayjob has kept me too busy to post. But I definitely needed to do so today. HB, you are the only member of the Boston sports media to keep it real in these, the dog days of August.

In some ways, I'm glad I'm away from New England this week. I can't imagine what the talk show whackos are saying. A friend of mine said people are starting to call our center fielder "Choke-O Crisp." Ridiculous.

I was on vacation in Rhody last weekend and my beachhouse didn't have cable (small blessings) so I listened to some of the games on radio. I thought we were in trouble when we couldn't handle Tampa Bay or K.C. but I didn't think we'd get swept.

Still, I'm glad they didn't trade any of the youngsters at the trading deadline. I think one or more of those guys are going to be really good pitchers. And unless Bobby Abreu can strike out Jason Giambi, he would not have helped us much this weekend anyway. I wish we hadn't traded Bronson, but who knows? Willie Mo might prove me wrong there. I just think it was wrong in principle to trade somebody right after he gives you a hometown discount. Every agent on earth will remember that and remind their clients about it when free agency comes along.

Manny? CHB can rag on him all he wants, but if he could write a tenth as well as Manny can hit, somebody might actually read his column once in awhile without throwing up.

[son of hamulack]

So, do the Sox pay someone $5 mill to take Choke-O Crisp of our hands like they did Erroria? And what's the over/under on his being an MVP contender in 2007 if they do?

[son of hamulack]

So, do the Sox pay someone $5 mill to take Choke-O Crisp of our hands like they did Erroria? And what's the over/under on his being an MVP contender in 2007 if they do?

[Bob]

Regarding those invincible Yankees; in games in their last four series OTTS (Other Than The Sox), they're 4-7.Even including the Massacre, they're 9-7.
Not exactly an unbeatable juggernaut.

[birthofasoxfan97]

Usually the globe columns aren't worth more than an eye roll, but to address those who aren't jumping on his anti-Manny sentiment as "fanboys and sychophants" is personally insulting. What an ass.