PortlandSoxFan

I wanted to title this \"Catch 22\" but rich deserved my personal award.
I don\’t really know if the following is worth to be on the first page (psf to approve it, talking of which I always seem to post just after you have written the words of a song…)
I have never enjoyed a backchat as much as the one that developed during the 14-9 game vs the San Francisco Giants. Of course the whole thing is four hours long so I edited and reduced it to one page.

Still sorry for the length and yes! it is the turnaround game of our WS winning season.

22:03:51 [dannycater] francona\’s job depends on his lineup tongiht
22:03:57 [dannycater] as far as i\’m concerned
22:04:20 [dannycater] if he screws the pooch, he must go
22:04:30 [dannycater] this is not rocket science
22:04:40 [dannycater] 8 guys are not hard to pick from
22:04:59 [dannycater] especially when the guys who aren\’t supposed to be in the lineup are painfully obvious
22:05:12 [dannycater] nixon creates a never-millar scenario in my opinion
22:05:20 [rich] exactly
22:05:20 [dannycater] millar becomes a pinch hitter

23:30:06 [dannycater] now, we\’re going to see how wakes is jockeyed back to pen, and he will go shit fit
23:30:28 [dannycater] THANKS A LOT FRANCONA..THANKS FOR FU**ING WITH A GOOD WHO HAD NO REASON TO BE FU**ED WITH
23:30:43 [dannycater] FU**ITY FU**
23:30:58 [dannycater] HE\’S A MENTAL CASE NOW…HE\’S DONE

23:32:37 [rich] in the 1st, there were wps, pbs, and sbs.
23:33:05 [rich] It was like seeing a cloud formation in the sky spelling \’666\’.
23:33:36 [JerseyKid] 23:14:18 [JerseyKid] this looks like a 11-2 type game …

23:34:04 [rich] what would be funny is if you see lowe in the dugout- trying to settle wakes.
{post of the year! IMHO}

23:37:39 [Rock] Spanks still up 3-0 but Dodgers have the bases loaded.

23:38:14 [Pudge] too bad they killed that al-Qaida guy..
we could of pay-per-viewed his beheading and giving proceeds to family of victim
23:38:44 [bosoxfan] jesus pudge
23:38:49 [bosoxfan] that is bad
23:38:55 [dannycater] well, that\’s about as low as anyone has gotten in here, pudge…
23:39:45 [Pudge] Sorry Bo I feel strongly, I will sit and simmer and be quiet

23:40:59 [dannycater] oh darn, i have to go and this game was really making me wax the nostalgic…
for whatever reason i don\’t feel like defending wakes from a lynch mob tonight….
good to see you dewey, later guys, girls, shemales, and teens

23:42:50 [rich] ORTIZ A MISSILE TO RT CENTER…BELTED….OH JEEZ A ROCJET!
23:44:30 [rich] MANNY A BOMB…THIS ONES EVEN WORSE…LOOK ATER SAIL!
23:50:15 [rich] BONDS CANT MOVE AT ALL!
23:51:49 [rich] ANOTHER BOTCH!
23:51:59 [rich] TUCKER LOAFED IT!
23:52:26 [rich] THIS IS FANTASTIC. SF GIVING SOX A HUGE! VORTEX.
23:52:34 [rich] i cant believe this.
23:56:57 [rich] MILLAR A SMASH TO DEEP KLEFT!….BONDS BAK JUMPS…HITS HIS GLOVE AND GORES OUTTA HERE@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
23:57:06 [rich] I CANT BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to cut a few more cracking comments and sorry for those puritans ** too.
Tonight I won\’t be around, it\’s my boss\’ leaving do (do you call it like this over there, too?) so I will miss the Pedro-Bonds duel but I will have a few.
Bless you all!

Come on aboard, I promise you you won’t hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well.
There’s lots of room for you on the bandwagon,
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won’t we all parade around and sing our songs,
a magic kingdom, open-armed

With a side of humble pie…

Lowe looked very good yesterday; that’s 3 good outings in a row. Only one flyball out in 7 innings. Ortiz with a career high 5 RBI, Nomar with a nice day with the bat…all in all, a well rounded win.

I’m confused regarding Schilling…I read in the paper this morning that he was having the MRI today, but I just saw on NESN Sportsdesk that he had the MRI and it looked good. Guess we’ll have to find other confirmation.

BostonDirtDogs has the following headline:

Curt to Skip Tuesday Start

Schilling responds on SoSH:

Bad source, bad info unless someone told someone other than me that I am not pitching Tuesday

Wakefield pitching to Bonds tonight. Oh, boy. I don’t understand Francona’s hesitation…close game, walk him. Period. And Wakes shouldn’t throw any of his not-so-fast balls!

Here’s Bonds lobbing softballs at those who might argue that he is a moron and a jerk:

“Boston is too racist for me,” he said. “I couldn’t play there.”

Edes

“Think about what I’ve done. What would you rather have: eight great years and one bad month or eight bad months and one good year? I think those eight years count – they will somewhere, to somebody. “

Excuse me; but wasn’t this guy cheered for virtually every at bat in Fenway last week by a Nation elated to see his return? Yet Nomar seems to be focusing on the unfair media treatment. And maybe I’m wrong here, but didn’t it seem that there was ONE reporter and a few sites on the internet that were questioning Nomar’s resolve? Granted, I don’t listen to much Boston sports radio, but it seems to me that Nomar is just a tad obsessed with the media perception of him.

Grow that skin a little thicker, will you, pal?

So as of tomorrow, the Sox are essentially at full strength. Mueller is still
out, but Youklis has been a more than able replacement…and Kim finally returned
from his vacation home to Korea. Also tomorrow, Schilling tests the ankle, and
we find out if the Sox lose him for a period of time or not. Altering the rotation
to keep Wakes from getting shelled doesn’t look like the smartest idea in the
world, as he couldn’t get much more shelled in thin air than he did last Saturday.

So with no Sox game on last night, I decided to peruse what was available on
Comcast’s OnDemand. I ended up watching a movie on the Sundance channel that
was a pretty good flick. Scotland,
PA is a quirky, entertaining movie with the story of MacBeth played
out in 1970′s Pennsylvania. Worth watching.

So does the thin air of Coors Field pad the Sox offensive stats? Tune in tonight
to find out!

No, not yesterday’s laugher. And for the record, that is NOT what I meant.

In my morning web-surfing, I decided to check a couple of the Boston columns,
which I honestly do not do much anymore. Next to the dictionary definition of
‘mailing it in’, you’ll find a copy of today’s Curly
column. You’ll find a puff piece on Tek that Boras obviously subcontraced Edes
to write. Some serious ball-washing there, and I am not talking about baseballs.
I didn’t bother to check the Herald.

So Wednesday night my streak ended…or did it? I went to the game with psf.commers
dannycater and fanatic, along with the wife and dannycater’s wife. We also went
with a large contingent from the redsoxnation.net messageboard. Nomar’s return,
good times, live all caps rages, many beers, long rain delay. My wife and I
left about 10 minutes before they pulled the tarp, thinking that there was no
way they would continue. My compadres moved to the front row on the first base
side. Evidently, I didn’t miss much.

Is my streak over, or is it intact because I left early??

Wednesday may have been Nomar’s night back, but Thursday seemed to be his return.
I was engaged in my weekly poker game, and we had a memorable moment. Playing
outside, nice weather, sun was setting, we were smoking cigars and drinking
beers…and Nomar came up with the bases loaded. Based on the radio call, we
though that it was a grand slam…but a 2 run double would suffice. Good times.

Last night, the much maligned Derek Lowe showcased his 2002 form. If not for
that bum in left field, he would have had a win. I’m kidding, of course, with
the bum comment. I did crack up this morning when in the paper I read that Manny
said “There goes my gold glove…”. All’s well that ends well, right?

And today, the former Bronx Bonger returns to Fenway. Nomar has some pretty
good numbers against him, as do a few of the other Sox. I could go for a laugher
today, as I probably won’t have time to watch much of the game.

Right!

Nothing like a great start to make you forget about the ups and downs of the
season so far for Pedro. Sure, his next start may suck, but as long as we know
he has THAT in him….

That should also shut the people up who were worried about the wrist brace.

By the way, nice work the past few days with the submissions. Keep it up; it
seems that when other people write for the front page, it generates a lot more
discussion then when I do. Nice to have some good old fashioned back and forth
in the comments section.

I’d compose more, but I’m only in for half a day today, so I need to do some
real work. There will be a pregame pow-wow at An Tua Nua (map
here ) with myself, dannycater, and possibly rich, dewey, and fanatic. Stop
on down and pour one back with us. I’ll be the guy in the Sox cap. Or you could
txt/email, here Lucky us, we get to see wonder boy Arroyo!

I guess this the equivalent of the minority response to Cater article on the state of the Sox at 1/3 pole.

First off, I must admit that I do not have the same negative viewpoint that some members of the Red Sox nation have. I refuse to become panicked at every loss, and years have taught me donG??t print World Series tickets after every win either. I do however believe that every game that goes by canG??t be made up and we have to accept what transpired and move on. This is how you create a winner you get everyone to believe a simple fact that a loss is just that one loss, nothing more nothing less. Never accept the loss and never let it destroy you. For what does not destroy you, makes you stronger. I ask for everyone to be honest after the Pats dumped Lawyer Milloy and proceeded to get routed by the Bills 38-0 on opening day last season, how many made travel plans for Houston and Super Bowl XXVIII?

Secondly, my thought as this season started was that the Sox needed to stay close to Yanks and hold on while they got healthy. Now admittedly I did not think it would take this long for this to happen. But as we cross the 1/3 post we are G?in touchG? with the Yanks and have a slight lead in Wild Card standings. Not too bad when you consider the offense that has been IrG??ed all season (Trot and Nomar) and the recent losses of Williamson and BK. Nomar comes back this week and everything points to Trot and Willy shortly thereafter. So while everyone takes shots at the team and tries to help sink the boat let me ask you this, if in April you were told Sox would be without Nomar, Trot, and Willy and that BK, Lowe, and Petey would be struggling but we would be only 2.5 out of first you wouldnG??t say G?IG??ll take thatG? ? I know I would have asked for it in writing and fast forwarded to this point in the season.

Finally, IMO for the Red Sox to win it all and put our pain to rest G?The NationG? needs to stand together. It is time to stop the march to Fenway with burning torches and chanting G?Trade G??em allG?. Instead take each game as it comes enjoy the thrill of the chase and keep the faith, we have been only at minimum strength for the first 1/3 of the schedule. We get one piece back this week (Nomar) and another piece starts rehabbing this week and should be back soon. Things are not that bad we have hung in tough with the Yankees and even hold an edge in Wild Card standings. The course is set for October Clash III, and I am with the Sox all the way. As always Stay Safe!

I\’m not going to go into an ACR rage over this, but i\’m very displeased with the current management actions regarding pitching rotation, nomar\’s rehab, and even the kim nonsense.

Nomar\’s rehab?? Yes, this is something that the sox are not addressing well. They have basically allowed for nomar to monitor every aspect of his rehab and the length of time he needs to rehab. He decides when he plays, how he plays and where he plays, and he picks his own time table. Now, nomar-ly this wouldn\’t be a big deal. But, the team needs this important player back in the lineup and now. He has rehabbed an achilles heel that was supposed to be day-to-day into a 60-day DL experience. This is ridiculous. He is obviously being way over cautious. If he can range two balls near second and throw out runners in an exhibition, i\’m guessing he\’s ready. He is simply playing the fans, organization and his teammates for fools. I\’m sorry, he has stretched his rehab to absurdity. No one has taken so much time for such an injury to heel that didn\’t require surgery.

The Kim nonsense. Here\’s what i mean by nonsense. We all make jokes about kim (hell, how can we not?). But, he remains to be a possible solution to some of the bullpen woes in terms of a long reliever. The sox have no link to their short guys from the starters who have made a habit of being done by the 5th. Kim was examined and then the sox tell him to \"wait\" until they pore over his rehab? What the hell is that? Kim should have began rehab immediately. You don\’t wait 2 weeks to allow a player to start a rehab program. It\’s complete micro-managing baloney. Now, how bout this. Kim\’s rehab is monitored and controlled by sox. Nomar\’s rehab is not. See my problem here? It stinks.

Now, lastly, we turn to the rotation. Yes, that fun rotation that has gone from the best in baseball (ok, throwing the best for a while, still 1-2-3-4 should be among the top 3) to batting practice for opponents. The pitchers are all having mechanical problems..all at once..nice…ugh. Pedro-mechanical, wakefield-mechanical, Lowe-head case, Arroyo-rookie slump. Schilling, the one to hold the fort i guess for now.

But, wakefield hasn\’t exactly been bad, and he\’s certainly been throwing a lot better than lowe and arroyo. Frankly, why he is being passed over in the rotation based on stat history of knuckleballers in Colorado is mystiying. He has never pitched there, so how is there a history for him? Well, that\’s how i look at it. Wakefield, of course, feels insulted by this and i have to agree. He should back up inconsistent starters like lowe and arroyo? Does anyone in Sox Nation really want to watch Lowe in Colorado? I don\’t. I don\’t want to see him in the Polo Grounds right now. He can go to extended spring training and work with guru Tony Cloninger. If Arroyo is anything close to his two most recent starts, wakefield will be throwing by the 6th. Except, i\’d rather wakefield throw against the padres as a starter–you know–maybe to actually try to win that game, instead of statistical analysis forcing moves on francona. You throw a pitcher to win, not to backup someone who\’s not throwing as well. It\’s nonsense.

Francona, the puppet manager or team guy he is, has picked the wrong time to screw with wakefield of all people. This is insanity. Lowe and Arroyo are not pitching well. Simple as that. Wakefield is still keeping his team in games. It just happens that yesterday his team gave him 2 runs. I\’m not even attempting to analyze pedro\’s meltdown in anaheim. Pedro did work with his pitching coach, as I asked in a previous story, and hopefully he feels he will right his ship.

The manager once again chose to sit varitek at catcher, but not use him at DH. You have to had your best hitters in the lineup right now in this waiting for nomar-trot times. Especially during a 4-game losing streak. And varitek had a 3-hit, 2-walk game on tuesday. And this happens after a day off? Varitek is in the lineup, you can put ortiz at 1st. Believe me, he isn\’t going to kill you at 1st. Management/manager need to understand this.

McCarty has played well defensively, but is not an everyday player, nor is Daubach. Mirabelli maybe a part-time player, but he hits and he hits for power. I can actually live with him Dh-ing a game one time while ortiz is at 1st if it means a possible extra basehit to help the offense. Does this thought ever cross francona\’s mind? No. He has a set plan with daubach, mccarty. As he has a set plan with millar in right. If you can jockey with guys during a season, you can use mirabelli more than once in a Blue Moon Odom.

I think the Sox are sending the fans different messages with bizarro actions. This part of Sox Nation is disturbed by these recent developments.

signed,
fred from medford