The pause that refreshes

Al:
Before we get into any meta reflections on the 1st half, can I just bring up one thing?

 

---

Al:
[Mimics announcers voice over PA] Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, now sticking his foot in his mouth, the manager for the Orioles, Buck Showalter-alter-alter-alter...

"That's why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, ‘How the hell are they beating us?’"

 

---

Doug:
Can I get a sad trombone? Wah Wah Wah Waaa...

 

---

Mike:
If revenge is a dish best served cold, then what the Red Sox just put on the table for the Orioles had freezah burn.

 

---

Al:
And as for any lingering aspersions to Theo's "smahts" let's take a moment to bask in what Mr. Epstein got right...

 

---

Mike:
Nevah give up on Jacoby Ellsbury.

 

---

Doug:
Adrian Gonzalez was a phenomenal get and measured up to the preseason hype all the way.

 

---

Al:
Paps really still is an elite closah.

 

---

Mike:
You nevah, evah, not evah, forsake Tim Wakefield.

 

---

Al:
A healthy Youkilis and Pedroia solves many, many ills.

 

---

Mike:
Big Papi! And OPS of 1.042 vs lefties and .934 against RHPWho woulda thunk it? Theo, that's who!

 

---

Doug:
The catching combo? Yeah, thanks to Theo, my glass is Tek-full and the rim is Salty.

 

---

Al:
And so on and so forth with all the other little things that add up to the 2nd best record in all of baseball with 81 in the books.

 

---

Mike:
Righteous.

 

---

Comments

[James]

Huzzah!

[soxinsix]

Welcome back hb.

[Harwich Rich]

I'm still Van Winkling ;O

[louclinton]

tanned, rested and ready to go.

that's hb.

lc

[ponch]

Welcome back. Let's hope we can say that to the rest of the starting rotation soon as well.

[ParkerStPete]

Magnanimity Department: A tip of the cap to Captain Jeter, who hit the 3,000 mark in style. Well done.

[ParkerStPete]

Magnanimity Department: A tip of the cap to Captain Jeter, who hit the 3,000 mark in style. Well done.

[yazbread]

Welcome back. Thankfully we don't live in France else we wouldn't see HB for another month. A shout-out to Derek Jeter. He might be the last Yankee to get 3,000 hits while consistently staying out of the tabloids. He seems to be genuine despite the pinstripes.

[da kine]

Congrats to Jeter for 3K, but more congrats to him for the quality of tail he's been pulling for the past ten years.

[Jeff in NC]

A finefirst half, couldnt be happier with where the sox are right now.

Not a Jeter fan at all, but the last two games watching him play hs been nice. For the first time in a long time he looked like he was intense and trying hard, not just standing there with the damn smirk on his face. The HR3000 was quite perfect.

The Orioles have now become the Urinals for the foreseeable future for me. Their complete see no evil account of how Gregg did not play a part in the fight is as bush league as it gets and Showalter's "it wasnt intentional on their part, but they lead the league in hit batters and I now I have hurt players" rap was pure dickbag posturing. The MASN guys are maybe the worst homers I have ever had to listen to - worked quite hard to convince their viewers that the only reason the Urinals lose is becuase everything is so unfair. 4 days of listening to those guys has me needing a couple day vacation from baseball. Wait! What?!

[pseudosanity78]

Bitterness,I call thee Showalter.
Seriously with the payroll BS? Does he have any words for Tampa who spend far less than the Orioles and are 5-5 on the year with them?
Can we get away from the payroll = wins argument?
How about a good front of house and managerial skills that go beyond playground whingeing when your team is in a slump?
How about players who, instead of slinging mud after a troublesome loss, just get on with it and do their effing job?

Especially since, I don't know, the whole lot can go home and sleep on/burn/wipe their asses with hundred dollar bills and still have some left over to dry their f*cking salty crocodile tears whilst gargling with that 2002 Chateau Petrus and snorting lines off their girlfriends d*icks?

Sorry about that.
/rant.

[pseudosanity78]

And yeah, kudos to Jeter too.
Unfortunately, the only thing I can think of when I hear about Jeter is a silly joke my mum made up a few years back:

Je-eat-er? (as in: you eat her)
Nah, she had a Derek.

Ba-dum-dum.

[h.b.]

Thanks for the welcome back sentiments. Definitely "tanned, rested and ready to go."

Meanwhile, if you ever needed additional proof for how over the top Boston sports teams have gone in global popularity, check out this photo from the Cabo San Lucas airport.

The only thing missing is a pink sombrero.

[Bob]

Yeah, congrats to Jeter. But here's hoping that now he's reached 3K, he'll revert to the Jeter of the past few years (average at best).

Oh, and welcome back H.B. My Monday is already a little brighter.

[Kaz]

Nice pic's, h.b.

It wasn't the same around here without ya.

[Rob in Ct, er, SA]

What Pseudo said...

And welcome back, h.b. Like you, I was on holiday last week, although to a much more mundane destination (Orlando). Pleased to report RSN kicked the Evil Empire (tm) in terms of representing at the Mouse House during my stay. Might I add, and classier and better looking group as well. ;-)

[h.b.]

BTW the eBook "There's No Crying in Pocket Pool" was submitted to the Kindle store last night. It may be ready for purchase by tomorrow.

I'm pricing it at $8.00 which is, last time I checked, the typical MLB park beer price. Seemed fair. The eBook is pretty thin but it's worth at least as much as a cup of beer, especially if you think of it as a "donation" as well.

I'm toying with the idea of going NPR/PBS and not resuming regular strips until some set number of eBooks sell. Bwahahaha.

[h.b.]

Oh, also, you don't need a Kindle to read the eBook. You can get the free Kindle app for you phone (iPhone/Android) or your iPad or your desktop Mac/PC to read it.

[pseudosanity78]

@h.b.
While I don't balk at the idea (or price) of having a nifty little Soxaholix ebook at the tips of my grubby little fingers, I am also decidedly prehistoric when it comes to reading material. Any chance that there might ever be a proper page-type-book in the works? Or even some cave wall scribblings I can take a photo of with my Kodak Instamatic?

[h.b.]

Pseudo,

I'm definitely on the all digital bandwagon, but I could generate a .pdf hardcopy version from the digital file for you.

But there are no plans in the works for an honest to goodness professionally bound sorta print version. At least for this one.

The "best of Soxaholix" one I'm also working on may be a different story though. I hope to make that avail in both forms.

[Natalie]

h.b. if you go the NPR route, then I demand your voice on my home answering machine as reward for my pledge (er, purchase) [Wait Wait Don't Tell Me joke for those as dorky as I].

Have I mentioned yet this year that I hate the ASB? No? Well let me just share: I hate the ASB.

[Kaz]

While I usually read all of my e-books free from restriction (and price), I might make an exception. Just this once...don't think I'm losing my edgey online rebelliousness!

Death to DRM!

[louclinton]

what Kaz said. Nevertheless, we will all be reading it on our gas powered Kindles to assure that each of us has been properly ridiculed and maligned for following this creepy site.

[louclinton]

what Kaz said. Nevertheless, we will all be reading it on our gas powered Kindles to assure that each of us has been properly ridiculed and maligned for following this creepy site.

[Rob in Ct, er, SA]

LOL, lc! My Nook is kerosene-powered.

Looking forward to the link, h.b. Don't suppose you have any arrangement with the devil's spawn at Barnes & Noble? I have a nice credit there that I could use.

[h.b.]

Rob,

Sorry to say, no. I went with the Kindle version since it has the biggest market penetration, especially when you include their Apple/Android apps, and, of course, I'm the kind of guy who believes in max penetration.

[Jim S]

Anyone else and I'd feel very ripped off... not even PICTURES?

However, I've gotten millenia of hours of entertainment out of this site, so 9 bucks is a BAHGIN!!

Great Story... As an aging punk rocker, I adored the ST reference... I got it immediately.

"All I wanted was a PEPSI!"

[h.b.]

Holy crap. Talk about a "soft launch" I didn't even know it was now available on Amazon until I read Jim S's comment above.

There's No Crying in Pocket Pool

Glad you like the ST ref, Jim. And there are 3 illustrations in there! Haha.

[Natalie]

My copy purchased, very excited!

[soxdownunder]

The question is: how long will it take Shaughnessy to bring his defamation suit? And in which jurisdiction will he bring it? Like Pseudo78 I've never brought a kindle book before and, probably, never will again. So thank you for expanding my horizons.

[h.b.]

BTW I bought the URL for standaughnessy.com. You never know where the spinoff of the spinoff will lead... it could be like our very own "Joanie Loves Chachi."

[Rob in Ct, er, SA]

Max penetration, huh? So the book's three inches thick? Undoubtedly a long read... Looking forward to grabbing it tonight. Uh, wait. That didn't come out right...

[cmdrflake]

RE:TIMMY! See southparkstudios.com search: TIMMY! Scroll clips to "Timmy rocks the house!" Then wonder if Tim Wakefield would let the Sox play TIMMY! when he takes the mound. It would be so damn cool!
Buck is Eric Cartman age 70! (Or, what ever age he is?)"Mom, I gotta get that iPad!"and Buck: "I gotta get that new contract for Nick Markakis." Yeah, he is nowhere near where the O's said he was going to be back in 2006!

[Kaz]

Bought the book. Just started reading it.

Be honest...Terry Levasseur is totally based on me, isn't she?

[soxinsix]

Purchased, downloaded the Kindle for PC app (painless) and read. Very entertaining hb, well worth the price; especially considering the free entertainment you've provided us for years on this creepy site. Looking forward to the "Best of" compilation

[Harwich Rich]

Everybody must get pwned ;)

[Primitive Screwhead]

Bought and sent to iPad!

Best of luck with it HB.

[vancouversoxfan]

Piping in late from the left coast...I will download TNCIPP tomorrow after the fog of several Glenmorangies has lifted.
Great strip today, h.b.! Full of schadenfreude for the
Buckorioles.

[nfl]

Good article5688888