Poking the embers

Bill:
Well, I'll be damned, there's some fun left in this season aftah all.

 

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Mike:
Yeah, what an unexpected Labah Day treat.

 

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Bill:
No kidding, when I saw Bat Shit Tavarez scheduled to staht, (to staht?!) I was like, 'Fuck, this is going to go about as well as Mel Gibson showing up at Shabbat carrying two bottles of Cuervo and one's already half empty.'

 

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Mike:
Good to hear that Papelbon isn't ready to toss in the towel.

 

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Bill:
Ah, the wine of youth.

 

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Mike:
Hey, with Manny, Trot and V-Tek back and Ortiz on the cusp, it's not crazy to hope.

 

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Bill:
Well, A drunk in bed with a cigarette might cause 5 fiah engines and 33 men, so, yeah, anything can happen I suppose.

 

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Mike:
Jeez, guy, that's the spirit.

 

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Author's Notes:
Bill's "drunk in bed" bit is inspired by a line from the Charles Bukowski poem "mama" from the collection Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame

Comments

[jar in chicago]

Just when I thought I was out, they just pull me back in. I just keep wanting to write off the season but I just can't. O the joy of RSN.

[louclinton]

I'm not buying it. The numbers are daunting. But, I'll keep listening.

lc

[Natalie]

I am happy to have the hope. My brief hiatus last week from following baseball left me with far too much time on my hands. Until I find a new hobby, welcome back Tek, Trot and Manny! Give me something fun to watch... for the next 3 weeks at least :)

[soxdownunder]

I really don't understand how the front office gave this (wc) race away a week or so ago when we were still distinctly mathematical possibilities. Now we just 'keep listening' and live in vain hope.

Nevertheless, 'this is going to go about as well as Mel Gibson showing up at Shabbat carrying two bottles of Cuervo and one's already half empty' is an excellent line.

By the way, the notorious CHB had a pretty touching article in the Globe the other day about the Lester family. Can I say that on this site?

[h.b.]

Great point about the superb Shaughnessy story on Lester. One of his finest in years.

And, really, speaking for myself, what makes me especially critical of the CHB is that he really has so much talent. When he decided to show up and put that talent to work, he's one of the best in the biz.

But, typically, he prefers to mail it in and rewrite the same negative, agitprop, over and over and over.

It's a waste, really, when we know he's capable of so much more.

[louclinton]

In re: PHB. hb is spot on.
I first read his baseball stuff in the Washington Star, when he was a columnist there. Tough to write about beisbol in a town with no team, but he did it well, as did Bosworth accross town. There is a rumor that PHB retunrns to the Hawk & Dove ( a dive on Capitol Hill) every year to fill out his HOF ballot. (ps: since this season is done, maybe we can all spend the winter months in agitprop for Jim Rice to get in this year).

[another ps Kaz got the tickets from the weekend post. have an overpriced beer for me, Kaz]

lc

[Rob in CT]

Aussie Fan - Thanks for the pointer to CHB's article. I just took a read through it, and you are right - a truly good column from the man.

Once again, h.b., you nailed it. Shaughnessy can write when he chooses to. It's a shame he doesn't get the job done the way he did with this weekend's article more often. I was touched by his perspective on Kid Lester.

Holding a prayer in my heart along with the rest of RSN for Jon and his family during this difficult time.

[LOL Internet]

HB -

I think the second-to-last panel is unfinished. Dude's not making a whole lot of sense there (plus he said "in" twice, back to back)

[Bob]

Never thought I'd say this, but Bat Shit did real good yesterday. Except for his post-game remarks that he'll never tip his hat to the Fenway crowd.

Who the hell does he think he is? Ted Williams?

[RonF]

When that HR went out in the 10th you'd have thought Hawk had gotten kicked right in the nuts.

"It's a high fly ball ... and it's in the seats. And the Red Sox win."

Dead silence. Then,

"We'll be back."

And off to commercial. Bobby Jenks has been money all year when he starts the 9th with a lead, but not this time. And it wasn't the big names that beat him, either (except for Trot). My wife pointed out that Jenks' heater was at 93 mph, not the usual 99 or 100 that he starts out with. I wonder what's up there, other than this is his first full ML season.

[ygbluig]

So Tavarez said he'll never tip his cap to the Fenway Crowd. That's rich.
That's like me saying when I hit powerball, I'll never invest in the up and down real estate market.

[Jason O.]

Yesterday at the TPC of Boston, a friend and I followed Tiger and Vijay.

I stood next to Woods on the 2nd tee as he hit a 325 yard cut on a dogleg par-5. Wow.

Wore my NYY hat and enjoyed several "Yankees suck" comments. A drunk guy lowered his shoulder into me and was ready for a fight...I told him: "That's the spirit!!"

[dirtdoginny]

Batshit starting and pitching well, who'da thunk? Stranger things have happened. Loved it when Remdawg was cracking on him for pointing out where the play should be made, especially with no one on base and he points to first. What a game!

[Aaron]

If the Sox somehow haul themseleves back into the playoff race, and end up missing the wild card by a game or so, a lot of people are going to come down on Theo like a bag of rocks for trading Fat Boy. While I am loathe to defend Theo after his unbroken series of fuckups dating back to the Renteria signing, you can't really blame him for the Wells trade. If he was fooled into thinking the team was dead and the season over, hey, we all were. A few days ago, it didn't look like this team would ever win another game.

[Bob]

In memory of the Crocodile Hunter, a bit of commercial foreshadowing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Okp5FTKOB4

[Kaz]

You want creepier foreshadowing than that, Bob?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1goVQy5mlE

It's "Steve Irwin vs ???" in Celebrity Deathmatch. They end up fighting him vs. Medusa...and her first move is to tail whip him across the chest so hard that she tears it open...and he then comments that he can see/feel his beating heart!

Now, THAT is just out'n'out creepy/scary considering he was killed by the tail of a stingray piercing him through the chest into/near his heart.

[Kaz]

As for Tavarez starting, I'm liking it. I'll tell you what I told some friends of mine after watching Tavarez pitch relief all season so far...

It seems like he's overpitching when he already knows he's going to be out there for only 3 batters. He doesn't hold onto his command and it ends up giving hitters a ton of easy shots to the outfield. When he knows he's going to be in for multiple innings, he's under control and reserving his full power so that he can paint the areas and get movement on his pitches. This start just proves that there might be something to this when you also look at a few of his long relief situations (including the 3 scoreless innings he gave in that super-extended extra innings affair).

[Bob]

Crikey, Kaz. After he reaches into his chest to feel his heart, he actually says, "What a stinger!"

[Kaz]

Yeah, I found that whole thing oddly and prophetically disturbing.