Gimme more

Doug:
Look, all I'm sayin' is The Pats would nevah get shut out in their own house by the worst team in the division on the eve of the postseason. Just wouldn't happen.

 

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Al:
It's just not a fair comparison, Doug.

 

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Doug:
Fair? Life isn't fair, dude. Get ovah it.

 

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Al:
C'mon, best record in baseball? Quit your bitchin'. The Sox are good.

 

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Mike:
Al's right. They are good, but still … There are times, like last night, when it seems there's something missing.

 

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Doug:
Seriously. Every 4 or 5 games they come out totally flat and makes me wondah — Are these guys going to be prepared for the postseason the same way Britney Spears was prepared for her VMA "comeback"?

 

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Al:
Hey, all you people want is more, more, more!

 

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Comments

[Youk Rules]

Oh, well...

Quit your bitchin'.

[Youk Rules]

That is also the team that took 2 of 3 from the Yanks last week, um, "on the eve of the postseason."

Don't worry: they'll be OK.

[vermonter]

No problem. Not worried.

Facing kazmir. Just got done spanking the O's. I think the bats will be back tonight.

Bummer for Schill to give up one run and lose, though. Ouch.

[Natalie]

Can we just find some way to sign Kazmir, even if it's only to trade him out of the damn league?????

I totally share Doug's sentiment about feeling maybe this team lacks something (fire? duende? cowboy up?)... but then I look at the record. Could it be that our only other model for success were the underdog idiots of '04 who surged late or the hopelessly collapsing August swooning teams of yesteryear. When have we ever experienced such slow and steady competence overall? It's wicked disconcerting.

[COD]

Is that a dude or a girl in the link in the last panel? I thought it was a girl originally, but that "girl" has a bit of beard and mustache growing in.

[Jason O.]

True youk, but NYY just swept a Royals team that took 2 of 3 at Fenway.

Past performance does not guarantee future outcomes...

[buckner was framed]

So what you're saying Jason is basically 'mystique and aura' don't mean shit, right?

[h.b.]

According to his myspace, he's a dude.

He also has a YouTube called "Pubic Hair" that, frankly, I've been scared to watch.

[Bob]

Sorry for the paraphrased repost from yesterday's column, but there was no new strip when I visited this morning.

//Kaz, did you make the game last night? I was in my seat in the top of the second, which was somewhat miraculous. Even if the game somewhat wasn't.

Anybody going to the Skanks game on Saturday? If so, let me know, and we can meet up.

[Youk Rules]

JO, we agree: teams that look great on paper still aren't going to win every game against the underdog. And teams that come in first will not have had unblemished records: they are going to have some slips and blips along the way.

Does it "make sense" that the Yanks beat the Sox three games in a row and then choked against the O's and the Rays? Hell's no!

I'm just demonstrating a perspective that says you can't live and die with every game. We have an entire season to determine who's the best.

[Jason O.]

buckner, it helps insofar as every new player/rookie I've ever seen interviewed reports that they become 13 years old when they hit the field in Yankee Stadium, hear Bob Sheppard announce their name, see monument park, etc.

Also when Francona says things like: When they were 21-29 I knew they were going to come back...at least part of this is an understanding that the current NYY team has pride relating to a tradition of excellence.

[louclinton]

so anyway, six years ago today.

Fuck OBL in his fuckhole

sincerely,

lc

[h.b.]

Thanks for the 9/11 reminder lc. I wanted to somehow work that into the strip but everything I tried came off as trite/phoney to me. So much easier to just go with easy Britney Spears stuff.

[jamesfrmmaine]

Where is that OBL guy anyways?

Why hasn't he been apprehended?

Why isn't he in the FBI top ten for 9/11? Thats weird...

[Jason O.]

Of course this is not to say that the RS lack tradition, relax soxaholix.

With the decades long traditions of both teams and the current rivalry that began in the 70's and has become an inferno in this decade, there is a significant relationship between the 2 teams.

It goes to hb's recent point that all players should want to play for either the RS or NYY at their career goal...to be part of something much larger than, say, a dodgers/giants or Braves/Mets or cubs/chisox, which are dwarfed by the RS/NYY.

There is no other rivalry in NA pro sports that even comes close, I think the last one was probably bruins/montreal in the 70's, or perhaps red wings/avalanche of a few years ago...

...and there it is right there, one would not normally compare a visceral, violent sport like hockey to MLB, but the RS/NYY even surpasses those rivalries.

[louclinton]

happy to help hb. It's a little crude, but it's heartfelt.

It was such a kick in the nuts, that I can't get past it, even now.

Too bad George W. Fucktard chose to metabolize it into a trough of plenty for his Republic friends.

Good thing I'm not bitter.

lc

[Joe in Philly]

Look at the line-up for last night.
I think Theo saw Kazmir, the best record in baseball, Ortiz's knee, and a long three weeks to the inevitable post season and wrote that game off.

The players probably did, too.

A six game lead would be nice going into the Yankees series to minimize the ESPN/Fox NY-lovefest. But the season is quickly coming down to Ellsbury putting up such insane numbers that JD Drew never sees the light of day when Manny returns.

[h.b.]

Yeah, LC, that "trough of plenty" sure is helping out the GOP these days isn't it?

No wonder BushChimpHitler did that as it has been so wildly successful a decision for his presidency and the party.

(Of course, the smartest thing he ever did was plan 9/11. It's true. I heard Rosie and Sean Penn say so.)

[yazbread]

I think the team will manage to hang on and win the division. But I can easily see a first round loss against the Angels or Indians. The bats have just not fired on all cylinders this year. Maybe the team turns it on in the playoffs, stranger things have happened.

[Kaz]

Hey, Bob. I didn't have tickets to last night's game. Not sure how I accidentally gave that impression. I have tickets to tomorrow's game and then Sunday's game against the Yankees. I want to see 2 wins with an ass-kicking on Sunday (literal and/or figurative) to help the Yankees keep the division outcome in perspective.

Britney was appalling and you should never point me to another Crocker video...that's now the second one I've seen (the one where he rolls through his Britney collection from all of her tabloid shots all over the walls and floor and then ends the video laying in his "Britney pool" just screams *Silence of the Lambs* to me). This guy has no perspective.

When we have Pedroia batting in the 3 spot and Kazmir is on the mound, we're officially "phoning it in". Don't get me wrong, Dustin is a great hitter but he's not even our backup #3's backup. Each game's lineup needs to keep expectations in perspective.

Finally, as for 9-11. It was 6 years ago today. I remember sitting in my French hotel room having just woken from jet lag like it was yesterday. But as for a continuing remembrance, I just can't muster the energy. Not to turn to one of the big "never with acquaintances" topic taboos, but...the President and his crappy war against Saddam and Neverending Story cleaning up his messy creation has taken more lives than OBL did...and yet we already hanged Saddam and OBL is still publishing manifestos at will. Unfortunately, the President's war didn't get them all killed on the same date so we can't contritely rally around a flag pole and mourn together for the lost men and women once a year...oh, that and it's still an ongoing tally. Observing the two situations keeps me from being very solemn today in remembrance because I try to keep it all in perspective.

[h.b.]

Don't worry, Nancy Pelosi will fix it all up. She promised.

[h.b.]

Back to baseball: Gut says Sox will go down with a whimper, 3 and out, in the playoffs.

Yeah, I'm feeling cynical today. What the fuck of it? You wanna go?

[Bob]

One of my childhood favs died yesterday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?ex=1346904000&en=132247b4c2924c00&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Oh, and J.O.: every new player/rookie who joins the frigging Tampa Bay Devil Rays or Peoria Shit Stompers says they love the team and the history, and the blah-blah-blah.

My guess is players coming to the Skankees love the Toilet Bowl because it flushes them with cash.

[JAy]

Can't wait...flying from KC to BOS Friday to sit on the right field roof on Sunday....been looking forward to this for months! hoping for maybe a Clemens/Schilling matchup, would be nice

[Kaz]

Did anyone else see the upcoming pitching probables?

Please tell me nobody in the Red Sox has been consulted for Friday's starting pitcher announcement...Pettitte vs Matsuzaka?? What in the hell happened to "we're probably overworking him"?? Why don't we put a Buchholz or Hansack out there to give the Yankees something new to look at?? Damnit...this team is capable of just completely blowing up my perspective!

PS - h.b., Pelosi is a douche.

[h.b.]

I was taken aback, too, when I saw Matsuzaka for Friday. I though for sure they were going to skip him.

Are they thinking that skipping him would be a worse situation in the long run because of the mental/self-esteem kind of issues than would tiring him out and/or losing to the Yankees as they hammer Matsuzaka around?

[Harwich Rich]

"I've got a bad feeling about this"-Han Solo

[Colin]

Yep got the Spider Sense tingling on that little match-up. I know we've only seen Buchholz prove an effective anti-Oriole pitcher, but I don't how comfortable I'd be seeing how he could be as an anti-Yankee pitcher so late in the season.

Then again, I worry incessantly about another Matsu Meltdown, given he has already had troubles with the Yanks. And Boston's putt-putt offense against effective pitching is all the more reason to grow worrisome.

Oh to be Terry Francona now...what a mindfuck.

[Devine]

I think the Sox have knocked Halladay around a couple times and got him pretty good another time...that's not really putt-putt against effective pitching.

[Colin]

True...there are exceptions, but in this case I'm aiming more towards the frustration we've had with Detroit, Oakland, Kazmir/Sonnastine (sp?), and the MFY sum'bitches Pettite and Wang.

[Devine]

The thing I'm annoyed by is the starters' inability to have a good start against New York. Number of "quality starts" this year by a Sox starter against the Yankees: 1 (the last game against them, by Schilling). Matsuzaka and Beckett have repeatedly failed there.

PS If Detroit loses the first game (10-0 Texas in the 5th) of their doubleheader today, then Boston's postseason magic number will go down to 9 (New York's to 15).

[Aaron]

Is it just me, or does it seem like we've faced Kazmir fifteen times this year? Granted, he's Tampa's only effective starter, and one who'd be a #1 or #2 on practically any staff in the majors (including ours) so I can't blame them if they were trying to jerry-rig the rotation to have him pitch against us as much as possible.

As for 9/11: At the risk of stirring up the pot again, I don't think pointing out that Bush has royally screwed the pooch for the six years since the attack puts one in the same boat with the dingbat conspiracy theorists who think he planned the whole thing.

If anything, the monumental fuckups of his administration are the best argument against the Tin Foil Hat crowd. Planning and carrying out a terrorist attack the size and scope of 9/11 requires a certain level of competence that they've since proven is completely beyond them.

[h.b.]

Same old story, different decade.

[Devine]

Ha. Personally, I'm not down about yesterday's game. I was bitter, but not unhappy. Just kept telling Youk (though the TV) how much he sucked yesterday (he really did, too, he had no right to miss some of those fastballs--it was hideous).

[Bob]

You know what's really good? Nacho Cheese Doritos.

I also like Cool Ranch, but not as much.

Tabasco Sauce is excellent, too.

But not as much as Sriracha.

-Wordsworth

P.S. Isn't anybody going to Saturday's game? Jeez, leprosy isn't contagious you know. We can still hang out.

[Evan]

Holy crap h.b., that Chris Crocker kid scares the shit outta me. I was just introduced to him the other day... god I wish I wasnt. Please dont tell me this is going to be a reoccuring theme.

[Bob]

Leave Chris Crocker ALONE!

[Kaz]

Bob = Chris Crocker's Chris Crocker.

[NYSoxfan]

can I just rant about MLB for a post? The Sox are big in Japan, but I'm increasingly disliking this 2008 Opening Day in Tokyo. MLB has been grubbing the $$ for a long time now. Hell, Red Sox Nation is run from 9th Avenue in Noo Yawk fer crissakes. But if I'm the Sox, I politely decline the invite. The jet lag, then popping to rude Oaktown -- just don't make sense. The Sox will still be big in Japan regardless. You wanna get international? Let's open the season in the Dominican. Same time zone homage to Manny & Papi. And the DR is as key to the future of the franchise as any other country. Otherwise, fuq it -- open 2008 in Havana. That would be sweet...