Lipstick on a blown save

Doug:
Ah, we're gonna need a *smallah* bandwagon.

 

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Al:
Yeah, saw off the back and recycle the resulting lumbah to build, oh I dunno, a coffin!

 

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Doug:
"Beneath the sod you tread upon,
Lies the splittah of
Jonathan Papelbon"

 

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Al:
"They said the blown saves
were killing him,
and they were right."

 

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Mike:
Hey, now, if you look a Pap's career numbahs, he still compares favorably with Rivera.

 

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Doug:
Dude, are you shitting me? Don't even go there this morning.

 

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Al:
Seriously, Mike. Despite good intentions, sometimes you just can't dress things up.

 

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Comments

[Harwich Rich]

I knew Mr.Tinkles,and Paps you are no Mr. Tinkles.

[da kine]

The first fucking game I get to watch this season, and this is how it ends? Eff me.

[ponch]

Balls, meet punch. I was at work and had forgotten the game was on, so I turned on gameday just in time for the start of the bottom of the 9th. Ugh.

Still - while the loss su-su-su-sucked, sweeping a team at their home right after they took 2 of 3 from the MFY in the Bronx Mall might have been too much to hope for. .667 ball would probably be good enough.

[Bob]

I go into a dark, soundproofed editing suite with the Sox ahead 4-1. What the hell happened out there?

[Tom from GA]

ponch:
They split with the MFY ,2-2.

[Rob in CT, er, AL]

That dark, soundproofed editing suite was probably a good place to be after the loss, Bob.

[louclinton]

hb, thanks for reminding me that Chita Rivera has pretty good numbers, too. I feel much better.

gayly,

lc

[anonymous coward]

Maybe Paps watched that video from the playoffs too many times and blowing saves got burned into his subconscious?

[Scott]

#11 looked pretty damn good last night.

[LarryE]

Only the Marlins and the Orioles (Ugh) have more blown saves than us this year. We have 17.

However, if the Rays continue to struggle, we may still have a chance. Forget the MFYs. They WIN when they're behind by 5 runs in the 7th and one run in the ninth.

And anon. coward -- I think you're onto something with Paps watching the video. lol.

[buckner was framed]

It's pretty simple- Pap said "It was kind of a groggy day for me", referring to how he felt BEFORE the game, in the pen, and obviously the game itself. Gary Tuck and Tito have to share some of the blame here. He never should have been brought in at all, if he was feeling that way

[fernsco]

When Papel-blow does not have the opportunity to mentally adjust for a save opportunity he really seems to struggle. He was complacent going into the 9th with Lackey pitching so well and then BAM!
Hope no one has blown off Jed Lowrie. He could still be a factor for us of the bench in the future.

[LarryE]

I agree, buckner, if it was obvious that Paps was not himself and/or he said he felt groggy or not right. Usually, I am a huge Francona supporter, but his statement that he brought in Paps, despite Lackey's low pitch count because "that's what we do" suggests that he didn't think about the particulars in this case. Lackey had only thrown 98 pitches and Paps has pitched quite a bit lately and he is NEVER as effective if he's worked a lot in the past few days.

P.S. While we can HOPE that we sweep the Rangers, the pitching match-up tonight is not instilling confidence. I'll be very happy with 2 out of 3.

[pseudosanity78]

This scenario was all too familliar. The Seattle game I was at was much the same. While Lackey had pitched well over 100 he was still cruising. And even though it was Delcarmen who shot us in the foot, Paps didn't do much to stop the bleeding (giving up the tying run). Three pitchers and four innings later we actually managed to pull a win out of our asses, but my confidence just wasn't where it used to be when he's on the mound. If we're at 17 blown saves right now roughly a third belong to Paps. I haz a sad.

[A-RodSlapsBalls]

On a glass-half-full note, Lackey rose from the grave yesterday.

[Harwich Rich]

...a la Joan Crawford??

[Kaz]

A la peanut butter sandwiches!!

*POOF*

[Jeff in NC]

More of a hardass attitude from me on Paps and Francona using him. Yea, Tito maybe should turn off the autopilot, but god fucking dammit - if you want to be the closer, much less compare yourself to Rivera, then get your fucking shit together and be ready to pitch no matter fucking what the score is at the start of the 9th. You're only human? Bullshit - humans make wages that are not part of fantasy sports land to do our jobs. You, Papsmear, you fuckhead douchenose, are being paid inhuman wages to do a job and you're shittin' the bed. BADLY. When the boss says get in the game, then GET THE FUCK IN THE GAME - Jesus H, if my kid acted like him I'd kick his ass (verbally of course, no need for protective services calls!). Then to come out and say, man I wasn't really up to it today - are you shitting me? throw the manager under the bus? Is there a way to get him to beat his girlfriend's dad's ass and get him tossed in the clink? I've heard that helps get a shitball off the team.

Good lord - look at the size of that hairball that just found its way onto my lap.

[LarryE]

But Jeff, don't equivocate. Tell us how you REALLY feel about Paps :-)

And FWIW, I completely agree with you. If Papsmear (the [BS] arist FKA Jonathan Papelbon) is groggy because he's coming down with the flu, then tell Farrell and Francona. If he's groggy because he forgot to have his Dunkin Donuts coffee (of which he probably has a free lifetime supply in his pantry), then that's inexcusable. Inexcusable because if he can't shake off being groggy in the middle of a penant race when the starting pitcher has thrown a great game and has handed over a 2-run lead to you, then he shouldn't be the f'ing closer.

[Bob]

Beer cart and time to think about the weekend. I will definitely eat, I might pray, and hopefully I'll love. But there's no way in f-ing hell I'm going to eat pray love.

Anyhoo, have a great weekend all. Hopefully we'll have something fun to yak about on Monday.

[Bob]

Oh, here's a great start to the weekend: Ty Warren is out for the season. Hip injury.

[pseudosanity78]

Hey y'alls remember back in the day when JPaps was going to be a starter and got this closing gig cause of a funny thing with the starting rotation?

I huff cinnamon oil to make me feel good, what do you do?

[Jeff in NC]

I have a whole big list of things I do to make me feel good.

!!

[Harwich Rich]

REALLY???

[Jeff in NC]

but watching hte Redsox play baseball is having a hard time staying on the list lately. The odds of staying on were about 8-2, now they are about 10-9 against.

[pseudosanity78]

the hallucinations make everything better

[rolo]

This Sox team seems to be calculated to give me a heart attack by the middle of September. 17 blown saves sounds almost low. Is there a statistic for "Cruising and looking good and then the wheels come off in the fifth inning" or "Rallies that end in a third called strike with the winning run on base"?

Sometimes I envy Pittsburgh, at least they know their team is terrible and they can leave whenever they want. This years Sox are never out of it, but no game is ever safe ...