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Bill:
Ah, yes, waking up the Tuesday aftah Memorial Day weekend in first place in the AL East.

 

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Bill:
This is surely what Robert Browning had in mind when he wrote, "God's in His Heaven; All's right with the world."

 

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Mike:
Yep, it's a literal heaven on earth …

 

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Mike:
Er, provided of course that you're willing to overlook the 4 Horsemen of Pestilence, Famine, Julio Lugo and the .195 BA Ortiz.

 

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Bill:
Ah, you know, the omnipotent work in mysterious ways.

 

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Mike:
There's no mystery to Lugo. In terms of leaving you barren, little dude makes a swarm of locusts seem trivial.

 

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Bill:
But at least the Sox are exerting some free will and moving Ortiz down in the ordah.

 

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Mike:
Yeah, well, I'm going agnostic on this one — I'll believe it when I see it. It's just rumor for now.

 

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Bill:
Then let us pray …

 

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Comments

[Harwich Rich]

Thanks for the back-up Kaz. Enjoy the Fiddleheads :)

[Bob]

Hated, HATED losing that 9th inning game to the NY Metrodouchnossles.

WEEI said this morning that Papi may be suffering from "personal problems" much like Tek did last year.

Going to see my fav band ever, X, tonight at the Paradise. Anybody else?

[Soulie]

Papi concerns me less than Papelbon. You can work around a weak spot in the lineup. A closer who makes you grab the Pepcid and Dewars? Not fun.

[Bob]

Well, as Pepcid goes, Paps is still no Healthcliff Slocumb.

[Scott]

Can Bard close?! Papelbon might be done as well. He essentially blew two games this weekend. What can the Sox get for Papelbon, Ortiz and Buckholz?

[Billy Mahty]

Harwich and Kaz - Can't let you have the last word on this one -- you seem to have missed two of my posts. Response in yesterday's thread.

[Billy Mahty]

"Papelbon might be done as well." Are you serious? I hate to say it, but Papelbon is one of the best closers out there. Am I missing something?

[Devine]

The worry about Pap confuses me, too. The dude has been a little walk-happy this year, sure, that's a bit concerning, but in terms of overall effectiveness...I dunno, two bad outings (one of them giving up a bomb to possibly the best hitter in the AL) just don't worry me very much. He's had bad stretches before. So has Rivera.

[ponch in jerz]

Paps was weird Saturday night - he's been so effective with the slider lately, but it was all fastballs and he got caught. Meh. It happens. Still, 5-2 over the last 7, which included 6 games against 1st place teams. Not too shabby for a team with a DH under the Mendoza Line and a, a, uhm, Lugo.

[Kaz]

Anyways, I'd be more concerned with the fact that Texas is not likely to give up another 11-1 game like they did yesterday. I expect the Yankees to lose the next two (Joba is Texas' bitch and Holland is a rookie who smokes righty lineups)...whereas I don't expect the same from Boston over Minnesota (it's Minnesota and it's Minnesota).

[Kaz]

Hmm, TypePad really chewed up and spit out that post. Was getting "Sorry we can't accept that data" pop-up errors and then when I copied it to a refreshed version of the page, it dropped my first paragraph where I totally destroyed Billy (but now I can't remember exactly how I said it).

Oh well.

[Colin]

Yanks are still on a torrid pace sadly. I wonder how long it'll take for them to eventually slow down...

[Rob in CT]

"Yanks are still on a torrid pace sadly. I wonder how long it'll take for them to eventually slow down..."

As long as it takes until they play a team that's above .500, Colin. Beating up on the Baltimores and Rangers of the league doesn't much impress.

(Still, to be fair, it's been a nice run for them lately and Marky-Mark T. does seem to be heating up now that A-Roid's back in the lineup.)

[h.b.]

I think the Yankees will be right there until the end.

But so what?

[Colin]

I guess h.b. I feel that I'd rather have the Blue Jays or the Rays as our close competitors rather than the franchise that throws money at problems. Of course with that wind tunnel stadium of theirs, no wonder they're so hot.

[Jeff in NC]

From lineup to defense to pitching to DH to injury, the yankees have a similar tale of glory and woe to the sox and lo, here we all are 1/2 game away from each other in May.

Difference I think is depth. Come September, I see the yankees on fumes and the sox in relative health and still with a decent bench.

The "grand story arc of a full season" will end with us dancing on the grave of the yankees season on a late september day. I get happy feet just thinking about it.

[Pandyora]

Paps is tied for the AL lead in saves and has a lower ERA than Rivera. He's blown one save all year, and people are writing his requiem? Its not like he's gone Brad Lidge for goodness sake...

[Pandyora]

Paps is tied for the AL lead in saves and has a lower ERA than Rivera. He's blown one save all year, and people are writing his requiem? Its not like he's gone Brad Lidge for goodness sake...

[SAC]

hb - who knew your poetry class could be so educational? Naughty, naughty.

[Kaz]

"Brady Passes"

The year's at the spring;
Pats camp's at the start;
The Sox game's at seven;
The base-path's chalked up;
His knee's out of sling;
The infection's depart;
Tom's return is like Heaven -
And Gisele's all knocked up!

[Rob in CT]

From the Wiki entry:

"Then, owls and bats, cowls and twats,
Monks and nuns, in a cloister’s moods,
Adjourn to the oak-stump pantry!

"Twat" both then and now is vulgar slang for a woman's external genitals. When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary inquired decades later where Browning had picked up the word, he directed them to a rhyme from 1660 that went thus: "They talk’t of his having a Cardinall’s Hat/They’d send him as soon an Old Nun’s Twat." Browning apparently missed the vulgar joke and took "twat" to mean part of a nun's habit, pairing it in his poem with a priest's cowl.
"

Kaz, you are f-ing brilliant. I'd pay good money to attend a poetry slam between you, SDU and H.B. The mere thought of that competition brings a big smile to my face.

[Soulie]

I don't think Paps is done, I think he's not as good as he's been. Question, when Paps comes on, do you feel that game is over? I don't think year. I don't know if it's his control, if he's putting more runners on, or that his "stuff" isn't what it is. He's still young. Might be technique. Might be a nagging injury he's working through. All I know is that I never paced when he used to come on. Now, I'm at least fidgety, and occasionally pacing. It's my own personal barometer.

Oddly enough, I don't drop f bombs when MDC comes in. This is a big step for me.

[soxdownunder]

For the burghers of Connecticut:

A designated hitter called Papi
Was day to day looking less happy,
He was piling up stike outs
Making pitchers look lights out
But at least he's not Blue-lips McSlappy!

[Rob in CT]

SDU's limmerick brought to you by Guinness Beer:

"Brilliant!"

[Harwich Rich]

Make mine a Coopers Best :)

[RedStripe Nan]

honest to goodness
the bars weren't open this morning
they must have been votin' for
the president or somethin'

go Bob!

[h.b.]

Awesome, SDU!