Even Steven

Doug:
David Ortiz.

 

---

Mike:
He was already a legend with the bat in the clutch, and now he goes and becomes a legend with a talk in the clutch. Unbelievable.

 

---

Al:
They should just go ahead and rename the 6-state region known as New England to "Papiland."

 

---

Mike:
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Lackey and the Bearded Batsman.

 

---

Al:
♫ We're off to see El Papi, El Papi David Ortiz ♪

 

---

Doug:
You know if Dorothy had landed in Ortiz, she wouldn't have needed to kill the wicked witch because Papi wouldn't send a little girl to do a man's job.

 

---

Mike:
Besides, Papi makes witches his bitches.

 

---

Doug:
St Louis has a team of Clydesdales. We have a team with Papi. Advantage us.

 

---

Al:
Let's win two.

 

---

Comments

[ParkerStPete]

Er... New England has six states. Or at least 5 1/2 if you exclude the MFY portion of Connecticut.

[Chip]

"Mr Breslow, Dr Papi wants to see you in his office"....

[h.b.]

I think I mentally discount Conn.

[Ghengis Ortiz]

If I lip-read correctly, Papi said something like “Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! ”...with a couple f-words mixed in for emphasis.

[LarryE]

In the WS, Papi's batting .727, the rest of the team .138. Papi has 8 of the team's 16 hits, 2 of the 3 HRs, 4 of the 9 walks and none of the 38 strikeouts.

'nuff said.

[soxinsix]

How many more chances does Farrell give Breslow to give a game away? WTF happened to him between the ALCS and WS? Need another vintage Lestah performance tonight to things up good.

[Bob]

In Papiland, Kolten Wong is asking Ortiz for a brain.

[LarryE]

Sorry. Papi has 8 of the team's 24 hits. It's still unbelievable. Where would we be without him?

[Harwich Rich]

Release the Flying Butler Monkeys!! Bwahahaha

[Colin]

What the hell happened to Craig Breslow?

[Cmdrflake]

What the fuck happened to the Sox I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you, Papi, we might get in trouble". Well, jus' kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this.

[Kaz]

The best tweet I saw last night after yet another stunning and unique end to a game:

Game 5 is going to end with the "hidden ball in the beard" trick.

[yazbread]

Hard to believe that a team can mentally will their way to a World Series title, but it appears to be happening right before our eyes.

[fdubois]

Can someone please tell me WTF is up with all the erectile dysfunction commercials? I've got my 11-year-old asking me some very uncomfortable questions...

[h.b.]

Re E.D. commercials, I think I heard that the median age of the avg World Series viewer is 54.3. That means in another 10 years all the ads will be for Depends and in another 10 all the ads will be for Crematoriums.

Hah.

[urm t m in J]

It's not like they're unaware of Ortiz; they are being careful, trying to pitch around him when they can; and these games in St L, he's doing it without Napoli's protecting him. Pa-Pi!

[Colin]

I'm incredibly happy to see the mental willpower behind the Red Sox but seriously, I'm very friggin' concerned with the state of pitching going on. I mean when Peavy actually gets himself in good shape and Breslow came in and fucked it all up. He nearly did the same thing last night and he was a wreck in Game 2 as well. Buchholz looks like he's about to shit a brick. Tazawa when not left in an awful situation is iffy. And to make matters worse, Farrell had made a huge mistake leaving Salty in for three games already. I'm optimistic but also very worried that Boston's tendency for mistakes since Game 2 will come to a head unless something is done to solidify their momentum and confidence.

[h.b.]

On a brighter note, as least the 54.3 aged male baseball fans are still wanting to become the beast with two backs.

[yazbread]

ED commercials? I assume that market research shows they are hitting the right audience. My gripe? Typical ED patient probably has underlying medical condition - overweight, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc. Typical male in ED commercial is quite fit and trim and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

[louclinton]

If the average viewer is 54.3, I am skewing this bitch badly. Not to mention the the average 54.3 year old male seldom stays awake until midnight, let alone 3 nights in a row.

Anyway, we must think positively and be glad that the Old Ballyard, warts and all, will get another shitton of beer sold on Wednesday. Nice to see that seats (forget SR) are going for 3500 plus on stubhub.

Will accept charity.

lc

[yazbread]

Buchholz did a great Willis Reed impersonation last night. Four innings on an empty tank. The Post Dispatch suggested that the Cards watched tape of Clay throwing heat and could not adjust accordingly.

[Ghengis Ortiz]

Did Nava look over-matched on that fly by Craig in the ninth? It was nearly identical to Freese' triple in '11 to tie the game, it seemed catchable. I respect Nava, if not for him we'd have a post-season no-hitter on the resume. But that was kinda fugly.

[ponch]

Nava might have been able to try to make a play, but with a slow runner and a 2 run lead I think he made the right decision. Because yay, win.

[Paul in DC]

the "bearded batsman" link of the gomes home run is a most worthy addition to the collection from the past couple weeks, but also check out http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=31189779&topic_id=6479266 the link of the final pickoff, and the st louis radio announcer at the 2-min mark laughing and saying, "why would they hold him on, it's silly," hah hah...
yes, in fact we've all been quite silly for a long while now...

[Kaz]

I think the mental game is starting to show itself in both the batter's box (SO MANY STRIKEOUTS!) as well as the field (SO MANY ERRORS!).

It doesn't help that Farrell keeps trying to use Breslow to respark his kindling and playing games like bringing in Lackey.

A win is a win and they willed themselves to win...but I'd also like to see them will themselves to playing just slightly better ball and letting the win come naturally from that.

The pitchers (Where did this version of Doubront come back from? About time!) have been the only ones that seem to be with it for nearly all 9 innings. Time for the dugout to find the love again before it's too late.

[Colin]

"It doesn't help that Farrell keeps trying to use Breslow to respark his kindling and playing games like bringing in Lackey."

Thank you Kaz for addressing this. It's absolutely not a help and I don't know if Farrell is simply weak towards the sentiments of pitchers or what. He pulled this crap with Franklin Morales in the ALCS and it was disastrous. You CANNOT fix someone so ill at ease when you've already failed at it twice. You simply adapt. It's like how Ross replaced Salty and we got zero bullshit from him. Screw the players sometimes...this is the WORLD SERIES. Know the greater goal.

[NolaSox]

Let's get the next 2 - if this goes to 7, I am imagining lots of unattended candy on porches in New England on All Hallow's Eve or kids trick or treating as soon as school is out. I myself am contemplating wearing my Papi jersey and a beard, but don't think the football focussed population here in not Papiland will get it.

[Rob in CT]

"I think I mentally discount Conn."

What the fuck, H.B.? Where's the love? :)

[NolaSox]

Perhaps today's title should be "Even Stephen" since he hit the sacrifice fly to tie the game.

[h.b.]

Sorry, Rob. I wish I had a better reasoning than "always felt more like part of NY to me." I know that's not really fair.

[Cmdrflake]

Connecticut is, largely contested, to use a political operative's term. the closer one gets to the City That Never Sleeps (Because They Are All Paranoid About Being Attacked) the more MFY and Amazin's fans one finds. Stamford was and still is solid MFY territory. But in Putnam, it is SAWX Turf! There are MFY fans worldwide, it just depends on how thickly impacted they are.

[Colin]

CT, where I was born and raised, is the proverbial Poland of sports teams. With the exception of Fairfield County, to which anyone near Hartford simply calls "New York Light" or the New York Annexation, it's essentially split down the middle. You'll see Giants fans who are Red Sox fans. You'll see Yanks fans who are Pats fans. Other times it's strictly Boston with pure New England loyalty and others have sold their souls to Satan to ally with NY.

[yazbread]

Well the phrase 'Red Sox Nation' has its origins in Nathan Cobb's article about baseball allegiances in Connecticut. So at least the state has served some useful purpose.

[SAC]

Just turned 54 this weekend. I cannot wait for the broadcast tonight. Sitting here with pencil, paper, ready to take down 800 numbers and dot com addresses. Papi just called and told me I BETTER EFFING BAT .727, too.

[HunterStars]

The wife is from CT- her family goes for the Sox and Pats but plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins go Giants and Yankees. (Funny, now that I think about it, no one roots for the Jets or Mets...) Makes holiday's fun. I remember that I was down visiting in 2004 when her giddy MFY fan uncle told me that Nomar was traded- although that worked out okay in the end.

No Bruins fans, though, they all pine for the days of the Whale. Cue up Brass Bonanza!

[Cmdrflake]

Ah, yes the hockey team that played in a shopping mall. Or was it a shopping mall that had a hockey team? Time for another Beer!

[Chairman Meow]

Egads! My idiot butler is revved up like my daughter and he's 9 in true years. I suspect he'll be either in a euphoric state or his more normal angry at the world self. I need another nap. Ah! Fresh fancy feast. The nap can wait a bit.

[RonF]

Big Papi goes into the game with a .727 batting average - and raises it to .733. While playing 1st base which supposedly was going to be a problem for him. I think Babe Ruth's best average in a Series was .625. I wonder if they'll put this on Big Papi's HoF plaque?

[rm]

SWEEET! Lester was outstanding, some timely hitting and a game finished under 3 hr. The latter was the game 5 oddity/weird thing. The sox almost never have a game under 3 hr.

[RonF]

The next best hitter on either team is hitting .364. I'm listening to his interview right now. "I don't know, they throw the ball, I hit it." Now he's talking about how tough they're pitching him. This guy has decided he wants another ring and is pulling this whole team with him at the plate and in the dugout.

[Lc]

1

Magic.

numbah.

Lc

[Cmdrflake]

Three down one to get.
Not easily done.
Now, let's do this.
Stay focused on the task at hand.

[Ghengis Ortiz]

Lestah is money. Grind one more win out for us, fellas...

[Kaz]

RELEASE THE LACKEN!!!

[Ghengis Ortiz]

I catch some of the Cardinals announcers calls on MLB.com...these guys sound f-ing dull. I wouldn't have them call a tractor pull.

[Steve in MD]

Sunday night Cardinals announcers, in a completely deadpan voice: "I can't understand why their holding Wong on first. I makes no sense. And he's picked off to end the game. I guess that's why they held him on."

[Steve in MD]

Oh, and thanks Fox for initially missing the pick off move.

[Ghengis Ortiz]

That's the same clip I caught. If it was Castiglione, his legendary staccato would have blown the speakers out of my 8-track player. These KMOX farts sound like they're already halfway through IV drip. They gotta recruit some of these methed-up stormchasers to call games rather than Granpa Jeb. Even Colonel Sanders would make a better call (like 'the young Hawaiian was just struck in the medulla ob-lon-GATA')...

[LarryE]

If TV wasn't on a 5-second delay, we could turn down Buck and McCarver and listed to Castiglione. I tried it for a couple innings on Sunday, but it's just too mucch of a disconnect to know how the play ends on radio before it begins on TV.

A Red Sox post-season game in 2 hours, 52 minutes. That's almost as sweet as the result.

[Paul in DC]

or, lc, is the magic number 2, since we need a boston win and a st louis loss... in the absence of another inane geico commercial, that will have to serve as the meaningless deep thought for a game-free tuesday...

[Harwich Rich]

One is the lonliest number ;D