"Surprise Inside"

Mike:
"From Kevin Kennedy to Terry Francona, five Red Sox managers have known just whom they could count on in times of emergency in the pitching department."

 

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Mike:
But there will be no Timmah in the World Series.

 

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Al:
And possibly no Timmah evah again.

 

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Mike:
The tone of Wake's voice during the pressah was wrenching.

 

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Doug:
Sad as it is, I'm shamefully happy to know we won't evah have a chance to find out how Wake's knucklah does in the thin air of Coors.

 

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Al:
Some are wondering how Matsuzaka's pitches are going to behave at a mile high.

 

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Doug:
All the presumption that any of us fans or pundits truly understand fluid dynamics enough to make such wild ass predictions aside, something tells me that Dice-K could pitch in La Paz, Bolivia at 13000 ft or in Death Valley -282ft and the results would be the same.

 

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Mike:
Yeah, 4-5 innings with flashes of brilliance but an overall mediocre performance.

 

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Doug:
Meanwhile, ovah in Denvah, I'm happy to see that the local media is full of respect for Boston calling it "the best baseball town in America"

 

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Al:
Yeah, but you know that comes at a price, right? While we are all fawning over the Red Sox, teachers, social workers, pediatric nurses, community organizers etc etc are dying of starvation in the friggin streets you hahtless bastids!

 

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Doug:
Heh. If they have no bread, then let them eat Cracker Jack.

 

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Comments

[louclinton]

Well, a few things:

1. Game On.
2. Rocktober sux
3. Why can't I remember the names of any Rockies pitchers?
4. Wake rox, but still we have l'homme chubby.
5. It's still not tribe time.
6. I can't wait.

See you in the Series

[COD]

Is it 8:30 PM yet?

[Youk Rules]

Look, Tim has been a great member of the Sox for over ten years. Hell, his image is even on the redsox.com home page.

He has (or had) a reputation to "give the team innings" although this has been in great doubt lately.

That said, however, I'm glad he's not on the WS roster.

Wake, you're a fighter, but I won't miss you.

[buckner was framed]

Youk, that's unduly harsh. You'd rather have Snyder than Wake? Sure, it's debatable how he would've fared in CO, but he's a competitor who never says no to the manager if needed and has always been a stand-up guy and a true pro. And he pitched a gem vs the Rox this year already. Hell, he could even have pinch hit if needed to. Sorry- it's a better team this Series with Wake on it.
That being said- Sox in Six. Marty's worst Halloween nightmare evah

[Rock]

On Dice-K: "Mike:
Yeah, 4-5 innings with flashes of brilliance but an overall mediocre performance."

I'm glad I'm not the only one underwhelmed by his performance, especially for the amount of money paid for the guy.

[buckner was framed]

tip o' the cap to Kaz for the find of the Bostonians with No Balls blog linked above... nice of her to share her self-righteousness with those us among the great unwashed outside of Cambridge and Brookline

[Scott]

Why isn't Batshit on the roster? Doesn't the guy deserve to pitch in the WS? He who will not be named makes it but BS does not? WTF?

We will be at Blake Street for the game tonite. Any Denver Sox fans are welcome to join us.

Go Sox!

[vasoxfan]

Hey not all Cantabridgians are like that. Rememba
eastie and Cambridgeport and not to mention the Rindge Towers. Not all are gentrified.

[Bob]

And so it begins.

As Bob Ryan is so fond of pointing out, these are indeed The Good Old Days.

If my liver should survive a few more decades, these are the times I'll regale (and bore) my grandchildren with.

Enjoy our Red Sox. And our Patriots. And our Celtics. And our Eagles, And maybe even our Bruins.

Because if time has taught me one thing (other than the best hangover cures), it's this:

The worm always turns.

[Youk Rules]

Buckner,

I already gave Wake props for being a gamer, stand-up guy, etc.

But I'd rather have Kyle Snyder in a bullpen role which the Sox may never use than Wakefield starting any game.

Yup, that was pretty easy.

[Jim in Denver]

Scott:

Wish I could join you at Blake Street. I'm stuck in Salt Lake City on business today, and the flight home doesn't land 'til 9p MDT. Drove by Coors Field about 3 hours ago on the way to the airport. Felt like I was viewing a homicide scene before the crime takes place.

[miketc]

I think it's fantastic that for the second day now, there's a link to that ridiculous sport-hating shut in, who tells us, "I don't care sooo much that I'm going to tell everyone about how much I don't care."

And we've seen how much she doesn't care, and we've given her a sum total of zero comments in response.

We've all now voted on her irrelevance, and it's unanimous.

[vasoxfan]

Thats what you get with cracker jacks!!

[Kaz]

Thanks, buckner. Today's post seems to be exactly what I was thinking on both issues (on Wakefield and on that knuckleball's opinion).

On Wakefield, yesterday I went back to his largely unvisited website and posted this little letter to him. Man I could watch a loop of that opening Flash animation all day. I hope he does come back next year. Make that his swan song, announce early in the season that he's leaving to take full rein on his philanthropic efforts in the city at the end of October 2008. Teach some young kids like Pap's younger brother(s) how to throw the Lost Art. And eventually join the team in a perpetual Pesky-esque consulting position on the team.

I don't want "well, you weren't healthy enough to make the WS roster" to be his last news. It's not fitting. It's not fair to the fans who will want to congratulate him in earnest for 13 great years. They'll want to see him off, out on the field, every week, for an entire season, 35,000 en masse cheering and applauding...and watching him get another 15 wins "just helping the team",
the way he's always done.

[tessie]

'We feel that teachers, social workers, pediatric nurses, community organizers and first responders should be the ones being paid millions.'

If they let me get drunk and second guess their every mood, I'm all for it!

Let's go Sox! May we go gracefully in the wake of Wake.

[Jason O.]

Not that you should give a fuck, but I'm sorry I've been absent, I just recovered from the hangover incurred after the men of Vanderbilt's ass-whipping of then #6 South Carolina, at South Carolina no less.

So bring on the most creative insults re: the Yankees, my resilience is unmatched at this point.

Yes, full credit to your team for winning three straight...re: game 7-- Dale Sveum looks like a genius compared to that Cleveland idiot, eh?

[Griffin]

Fun fact of the day (courtesy Mike Lupica):

"In two innings of Game 7 and two at-bats against the Indians, Dustin Pedroia knocked in more postseason runs for his team than Alex Rodriguez has in three years for the Yankees."

//I'm glad I'm not the only one underwhelmed by his performance, especially for the amount of money paid for the guy.//

Beckett 2006, anyone?

[buckner was framed]

/Hey not all Cantabridgians are like that/
Sorry, if you refer to yourself as a 'Cantabridgian', you're a little suspect ;-)
And, fortunately for Ms. Davidson, she has her own personal World Series tonight: Chris Matthews is speaking at Coolidge Corner Theatre. Bet the scalpers are lining up for that

[CuracaoSox]

It's too bad that Wakefield can't go, but I'm so glad that this limits Mirabelli's playing time to the absolute minimum

[professional hitter]

I too love Wake, but it's terrifying to watch him pitch in the postseason. He's either throwing seven innings of unhittable ball or BP. That's how furniture gets broken.

[David Pinto]

As always, thanks for the link. I think Susie Davidson has never heard of supply and demand.

[Sox Fan in VA]

Jason,

In an instant, Vanderbilt went from a team I could sort of have pleasant hopes for to a team that I'm going to have to hate for a while I had hoped to go watch a highly-ranked Carolina slaughter the Vols this weekend. Now, I get to cut my ticket budget.

Hooray?

[yazbread]

Anyone else feeling like Judas going into the WS? My doubts about the team in the second half has turned into a case of self-loathing. I feel so guilty for not keeping the faith.

[jamesfrmmaine]

'We've all now voted on her irrelevance, and it's unanimous.'

Thats hilarious...

As for Wake... Its fucking awful hes not on the lineup. If we had to go to fucking kyle snyder for an inning I would rather see wake out there for an inning. The guy has been in a sox uniform forever, he won fucking 17 games this season and he is THE MAN. He threw a fucking knucklball to 17 wins this season in the motherfucking ALEast. What the fuck. This kind of shit is why I cant stop drinking.

Sorry for the rant, but that was my intial reaction when I heard the news. that and the garbage skanks fan in my office gloating because he knows Timmah is awesome but its all boone this boone that.

Piiiissss. Asssssss.

[Kaz]

Ooof...I went searching and got what was coming to me, I guess.

I wanted to see if Susie Davidson had other forays into web publishing of her sports opinions. I found a picture of her attached to an opinion piece for the Jewish Advocate (her day job is writing and she has a few books on Holocaust survivors and other topics of Jewish interest).

Judging from her picture, I think her problem with baseball stems from an unfortunate childhood accident with a baseball bat. Woof.

Ok, that was low. My apologies to baseball bats.

[teeheejimmy]

That is one ugly broad.

[buckner was framed]

wow. I'm glad I haven't had lunch yet- nothing to lose. She certainly has a face for literature

[yazbread]

Kaz - I think a 'NSFW' was in order for that picture.

[vasoxfan]

/Hey not all Cantabridgians are like that/
Sorry, if you refer to yourself as a 'Cantabridgian', you're a little suspect ;-)

Yeah your right Buck but the engineer in me was too lazy at the time to type out "those who are from Cambridge" :)

[Natalie]

Wow, that chick is unhinged. Seriously. First of all, it's called multi-tasking. It may sound CRAZY, but I for one am actually capable of loving the Red Sox and doing my job and giving back to the community, in both time and money. I am sure I am a wild aberration...

And the whole money canard, Christ, don't get me started. First off, she acts as though Lucchino has reached into the wallets of teachers and welfare mothers and, while backhanding the kids, stolen their last $5. I wonder if she is aware how much money both Red Sox players AND the organization pump into the community? Far more than if the Red Sox were to *poof* disappear and folks were given their ticket/memorabilia money back. I don't think the Red Sox not existing would cause Joe Fan to all of a sudden go, you know what, I'm going to give that money I would have spent on a jersey to the Spina Bifida foundation. More than likely, Joe Fan'd go, hey, what are the Celts up to? Or how about that online poker? Or are those "Real Sex Dolls" any good? But I digress...

Sorry for the rant, enough of that poor homely woman (my father's phrase would involve comparison to a chewed boot)... I am sad about Wake but concur the thought of knuckleballs in Coors gave me severe agita. Is it 8:30 yet?????

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

Kaz! A little warning that something like that would be leaping off my monitor at me! Yow. Face for literature is right.

My heart goes out to Timmah, nearby neighbor of my parents during the season and class act all around. How can you not be impressed by anyone who sports a 15 year career winning record and sub-4.50 ERA when throwing less than 85 on all his pitches? Starting, spot starts, middle relief, end of the bullpen work, he was up for it. Still, I'd much rather see Timmy go out on his own terms than like this - but if anyone deserves to go out as a champion, it's Timmy. Like Ray Bourque, he's too classy to do it any other way.

[Kaz]

If I knew I'd get a response, I'd ask her what she thinks about people who waste time registering blogs, repost the same stuff at the boston.com boards, continue to tilt at windmills on other web-news blogs, and generally complain about the situation...rather than actually going out and doing anything about global inequities with all that spare time.

It looks like she's actually gotten around to okaying some responses to her blog and "Bryan M" said about as much. I wonder if she's going to respond...and yet I loathe giving her any more attention. Sigh, such is the conundrums of life that she's incapable of fathoming.

[Bob]

Jeez, she looks like she got hit in the face with a sock full of nickels.

[h.b.]

OK. Here's a heartwarming story to put a smile on your face:

"Young transplant patient, his surgeon love Boston baseball, can't wait for trip to Fenway."

[Bob]

Master Andrew is the perfect Red Sox fan; he takes nothing for granted.

[professional hitter]

Throwing gas on poor Susie's fire with my personal favorite: She looks like she did a 40-yard dash in a 30-yard gym.

[Rooster]

Late post on my part - but did anyone catch the ESPN "best of web gems" show last night? I was appalled that Coco Crisp's name never even got mentioned even once (that I saw). How can that be? He was in more highlights than any recent Sox player in memory this year. I don't mind he does not win, but not even mentioning a single Crisp highlight at all? That Sux!

[louclinton]

As if I didn't feel good enough already, I went back and took a look at this creepy strip's panels for 10/24/06 and 10/24/05.

Last year Lisa was talking about motivational posters and somebody had already mentioned Truck Day [104 days away, by my count].

In '05 the characters and commenters were discussing the merits of "Fever Pitch".

I guess we have it pretty good in '07 don't we?

See you in the Series...

lc

[Bob]

I hear that in real life, Jimmy Fallon is surly and unlovable.

[Scott]

Hate to pee in everyone's Cheerios but the Sox are doomed...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3076538

Manny playing outfield at Coors does scare me though.

[yazbread]

My favorite - she looks like a rabbit that ran through a keg of nails.

[Youk Rules]

OK, Scott. I'll see your Stark and raise you a Bryant.

Just shows how meaningless all the media speculation really is.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=3076566

[vermonter]

Lambs led to slaughter.

[Rooster]

Regarding Jason Stark's article...

I just read it, and he's got valid point. But, did you notice his point on pitching? He dedicates the bulk of his paragraph discussing how knuckleballers fare so poorly in Coors Stadium, AFTER he already reported Wake is not pitching there. If you take those points out, all you are left with is that Schilling has had mediocre success there, and Dice-K might possibly not do well. Weak!

[Rooster]

I also like the quote "if the Rockies split the first two in Boston, they're in good shape". Didn't we hear that last series too?

[Follower of Tito]

Too right, greenmountainboy! I will believe it when I see it. The media has to hype Colorado...got to get the rest o' country interested...the whole "the outcome is unknown" stuff.

Julius Caesar had his 10th legion - we've got the '07 Red Sox.(Sorry, signs of a misspent Jesuit education), Colorado has a bunch of kids (with a few vets) who have been on an emotional high...fun thing about those highs; you fall pretty fast.

[buckner was framed]

are my "Rock 'em, Sock 'em robots" worth more now?

[Jason O.]

One prediction: Red Sox in 5 games. (6 maximum)

Second prediction: By this time next year, the GOP presidential candidate will be using the defeat of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the significant progress of the Iraqi government to his advantage in the closing months/weeks of the election.

[Kaz]

Yeah, good luck with that, J.O. I don't think Turkey is ready and willing to go along with that whole "significant progress of the Iraqi government" thing yet...

[soxdownunder]

Wake is the ONLY 'Sox pitcher to have beaten the Rockies this year. They smashed Josh and (I think) the tubby neo-con as well. Anyway, I'm sad Timmy's out of the lineup. I hope I'm wrong but I think Snyder is a catastrophe, wrapped in a disaster, inside an accident waiting to happen. As said, I hope I'm wrong.

Go 'Sox.

[Natalie]

Speaking of politics and baseball in the same breath, apparently Rudy Giuliani has sold out: he told a Boston crowd that he is rooting for the Sox.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/24/rudy-giuliani-flips-on-the-yankees-and-roots-for-the-boston-red-sox-to-win-the-series/

Oooooookay.

[Devine]

WHO CARES if they bashed Beckett once and Timmy beat them once? That's the definition of small sample size, though yes, I am said that Mr. Wakefield shan't be able to help us the rest of this postseason. His 17 wins certainly helped on the way, though.

[soxdownunder]

Sorry, devine, I'll crawl back into my box. I'm sure you know best.

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

Frankly, I take heart in Jayson Stark's prediction of a Red Sox failure. I don't think there's been an ESPN columnist worse at picking winners than Stark has been over the years. Just three weeks ago he picked the Cubs to win it all, and then after that the D'Backs. Last year, according to him, was the year "when Boss Steinbrenner will finally get his money's worth."." So you'll excuse me if I don't exactly take his crack analysis at face value.

Still at least four games to play, as of right now.

[Devine]

It's not you, soxdownunder...it's everyone! Why is everyone of the opinion that one start defines their success or failure? I just don't see it as rational.

Now watch Beckett get pounded for 8 runs in 5 innings.

[Devine]

Defines *their chances* of success or failure, that is.

[Devine]

Sorry for the triple post...but this is also coming after seeing a few Rockies fans be all, "Oh, we got to Beckett earlier this year...this thing's in the bag."

Gentlemen, have you met postseason-Beckett?

[kjc]

Well here we go gang. Not sure I'm ready for my buddy Tim McCarver but at least I care about the game on October 24th.

[Billy Mahty]

Ooh, one of my favorite Seinfeld reruns is on, sweet!

[Aaron]

Only the second inning, and we've already had our first classic McCarverism of the night:

"When that runner rounds third, the next stop is home."

Wow, nothing gets past him! Thanks for clearing that up.

[Follower of Tito]

Jason Staryk - the oracle of ESPN - what a tool!

[bamasoxfan]

Not so fast, Aaron.

The first McCarverism came in the first:

"If Hurdle had the infield play back, Tulowitsky would have been deeper."

You are correct, sir!

Good grief . . .

[pinstripe thunder]

I think it's fair to say that the Rockies' flirtation with mystique and aura has officially ended after less than a month. Cinderella will be heading back to Denver as a Halloween pumpkin.

If the Red Sox era as the perennial underdog is over, what are they now -- the ovahdawg?

Watch for Susie in Saw 4.

OK, Nat, I'll bite -- ARE those Real Sex Dolls any good?

[kjc]

Hell bamasoxfan, he was a dipshit before the game opened when he said, the lay off wouldn't hurt the Rockies. I know he played the game but did he pay attention to it, at all?!?! Timing matters and timing only comes with ABs and repetition.

How many times did he get hit in the noggin'? I know he played before helmets were mandatory. What a stool!

[chris]

maybe mccarver and susie should get together and have a battle of wits...

[soxdownunder]

3

[Susan Davidson]

I have read the comments about my photo on the JA piece. I'm glad you took some of your free time away from the Red Sox to google me (an equal waste of time, unless you actually read some of my anti-genocide work). I don't look like that, I have a boyfriend and a life, and always have. As for that pic, it was taken by someone at close range and I certainly did not pose for it. Everyone has a bad pic of them out in the press from time to time. But as far as your rude and juvenile, not to mention cruel and inhuman comments on it, this now solidifies my previous opinion of Red Sox fans.

[Devine]

What a douche.

[Devine]

PS I told you so.