Sunday, June 22, 2003
THIRD BLOWN SAVE MEANS SOX ON VERGE OF THIRD PLACE
Boston RS 5
Philly 6 / 13 Inn.
STORY
BOX SCORE
AP RECAP
Imagine the pressure on a hitter as he steps up to the plate against one of the Red Sox illustrious bullpeners. The absolute fear knowing that if you don't make him blow a save, you'll be among the few who haven't made them blow a save. Mike "Timid" Timlin, Jason Shiell, and Rudy "Rutiger" Seanez each had a Blown Save last night as the Phillies downed the Sox like a cheese steak sub. Sorry, but I had to stick in the gratuitous reference to Philadelphia's claim to fame. This is the city in which the Declaration of Independance was signed and the Liberty Bell is and a whole mess of historical stuff happened and we know it as the birth place of the cheese steak.
This was probably the most dissapointing loss of the season. We had the lead three times in a very low scoring game and the bullpen managed to blow it on three occassions with the last blast being the Death Blow. (remember that episode of "Seinfeld"? "Oh man, we're missin the death blow")
My man Ben from the NVA (Northern Virginia, not the North Vietnamese Army) stated that the offense had slowed down. This is true. But why? Let's look at the possible reasons:
1. Lack of DH in interleague play. Not only does the pitcher bat 2 to 3 times a game, but Pinch-Hitters bat after that. Pinch-Hitters, by definition, are lesser hitters than regular hitters.
2. Slumpers: Manny "The Clown" Ramirez, Jason "The Count" Varitek, and "Big" Bill Mueller have all been on slumps recently.
3. Psychological exhaustion. Next year I'm hoping to at least minor in psychology so here's my psychoanalysis of the Sox offense. Imagine scoring 10 runs and then sitting back and watching the pitching blow it. Imagine coming back from a 7 run deficit and watching the pen blow it. Imagine showing up to the ballpark knowing that if you don't score 9 runs, you have less than a 50/50 chance at winning. All this can lead to a sense of despair which leads to apathy (which leads to the dark side, hehe). That apathy leads to a slow bat, a not-so sharp batting eye, and an udnerlying lack of effort because the hitters realize that there's no point in scoring runs cuz the pen will probably blow it. Think of it as offensive suicide.
I actually thought about the Man of the Game award several times during the game. Had the pen held the lead for Pedro (who pitched VERY well) he would have won it. Todd Walker had it until Nomar doubled to knock Walker in. Todd Pratt definately deserves some consideration for his Pinch-Hit homerun in the 13th, but it was against Rudy Seanez so that doesn't really count as a homerun. So Nomar wins his third coveted MOTG award. He went 6 for 6 tying Jimmy Piersall (watch the movie Fear Strikes Out) and Jerry Remy for the most hits for a Red Soxer in a game. Here are the standings after 13 MOTGs awarded:
1. Nomar - 3
2. Millar -2
3. Burkett, F. Sanchez, Nixon, JD Drew, Rupe, Joe Crede, Lyon, E. Loiza - 1
And now for the introduction of a new award. An anti-award. The Goat-Bitch award. This goes to the player who absolutely sucked and contributed the absolute least to his team. Unlike the MOTG, this award can be split up amongst two or more players. Today, four players will receive a part of the very first GB. Manny "The Clown" Ramirez will get 0.7 of the award. He went 0 for 7 and made some big outs including a first-pitch GIDP. He also looked like a clown in the field, hence the new nickname. Each 0.1 is for each time he was retired. Seanez, Timlin, and Shiell get 0.1 of the GB each. All three of them had Blown Saves. Here are the standings after 1 GB decided (not awarded):
1. Ramirez - 0.7
2. Seanez, Timlin, Shiell - 0.1
I've added another Sox blog to the links list. I'll add more links gradually post by post. It's called sox nation and the template is the EXACT same as mine (which is a new template for me, thanks for noticing!) Here's the link.
sox nation
Big surprise, MLB backs the Y*nkees decision to post-pone their game against Tampa Bay on Thursday. Here's the story.
Jose Conseco arrested for testing positive for roids.
Y*nks and Mets were rained out at Shea Stadium. Blue Jays lost to Montreal. We're tied with Toronto 2 games behind the scum.
Finally, Brazil beat the US 1-0 (0 is pronounced "nil" in soccer) in the Confederations Cup yesterday in France. The US have to beat Cameroon and I think Turkey has to lose to Brazil for us to advance to the elimination stage. Brazil are still #1 in world soccer in my book. Without Ronaldo, they're #2 behind Deutschland (Germany). I mean Germany has Oliver Kahn, Miroslav Klose, Jens Jeremeis, Nueville, Ballack, Jancker, and a cast of stars. DEUTSCHLAND IST NUMMER EINS IM EURO 2004!
Boston RS 5
Philly 6 / 13 Inn.
STORY
BOX SCORE
AP RECAP
Imagine the pressure on a hitter as he steps up to the plate against one of the Red Sox illustrious bullpeners. The absolute fear knowing that if you don't make him blow a save, you'll be among the few who haven't made them blow a save. Mike "Timid" Timlin, Jason Shiell, and Rudy "Rutiger" Seanez each had a Blown Save last night as the Phillies downed the Sox like a cheese steak sub. Sorry, but I had to stick in the gratuitous reference to Philadelphia's claim to fame. This is the city in which the Declaration of Independance was signed and the Liberty Bell is and a whole mess of historical stuff happened and we know it as the birth place of the cheese steak.
This was probably the most dissapointing loss of the season. We had the lead three times in a very low scoring game and the bullpen managed to blow it on three occassions with the last blast being the Death Blow. (remember that episode of "Seinfeld"? "Oh man, we're missin the death blow")
My man Ben from the NVA (Northern Virginia, not the North Vietnamese Army) stated that the offense had slowed down. This is true. But why? Let's look at the possible reasons:
1. Lack of DH in interleague play. Not only does the pitcher bat 2 to 3 times a game, but Pinch-Hitters bat after that. Pinch-Hitters, by definition, are lesser hitters than regular hitters.
2. Slumpers: Manny "The Clown" Ramirez, Jason "The Count" Varitek, and "Big" Bill Mueller have all been on slumps recently.
3. Psychological exhaustion. Next year I'm hoping to at least minor in psychology so here's my psychoanalysis of the Sox offense. Imagine scoring 10 runs and then sitting back and watching the pitching blow it. Imagine coming back from a 7 run deficit and watching the pen blow it. Imagine showing up to the ballpark knowing that if you don't score 9 runs, you have less than a 50/50 chance at winning. All this can lead to a sense of despair which leads to apathy (which leads to the dark side, hehe). That apathy leads to a slow bat, a not-so sharp batting eye, and an udnerlying lack of effort because the hitters realize that there's no point in scoring runs cuz the pen will probably blow it. Think of it as offensive suicide.
I actually thought about the Man of the Game award several times during the game. Had the pen held the lead for Pedro (who pitched VERY well) he would have won it. Todd Walker had it until Nomar doubled to knock Walker in. Todd Pratt definately deserves some consideration for his Pinch-Hit homerun in the 13th, but it was against Rudy Seanez so that doesn't really count as a homerun. So Nomar wins his third coveted MOTG award. He went 6 for 6 tying Jimmy Piersall (watch the movie Fear Strikes Out) and Jerry Remy for the most hits for a Red Soxer in a game. Here are the standings after 13 MOTGs awarded:
1. Nomar - 3
2. Millar -2
3. Burkett, F. Sanchez, Nixon, JD Drew, Rupe, Joe Crede, Lyon, E. Loiza - 1
And now for the introduction of a new award. An anti-award. The Goat-Bitch award. This goes to the player who absolutely sucked and contributed the absolute least to his team. Unlike the MOTG, this award can be split up amongst two or more players. Today, four players will receive a part of the very first GB. Manny "The Clown" Ramirez will get 0.7 of the award. He went 0 for 7 and made some big outs including a first-pitch GIDP. He also looked like a clown in the field, hence the new nickname. Each 0.1 is for each time he was retired. Seanez, Timlin, and Shiell get 0.1 of the GB each. All three of them had Blown Saves. Here are the standings after 1 GB decided (not awarded):
1. Ramirez - 0.7
2. Seanez, Timlin, Shiell - 0.1
I've added another Sox blog to the links list. I'll add more links gradually post by post. It's called sox nation and the template is the EXACT same as mine (which is a new template for me, thanks for noticing!) Here's the link.
sox nation
Big surprise, MLB backs the Y*nkees decision to post-pone their game against Tampa Bay on Thursday. Here's the story.
Jose Conseco arrested for testing positive for roids.
Y*nks and Mets were rained out at Shea Stadium. Blue Jays lost to Montreal. We're tied with Toronto 2 games behind the scum.
Finally, Brazil beat the US 1-0 (0 is pronounced "nil" in soccer) in the Confederations Cup yesterday in France. The US have to beat Cameroon and I think Turkey has to lose to Brazil for us to advance to the elimination stage. Brazil are still #1 in world soccer in my book. Without Ronaldo, they're #2 behind Deutschland (Germany). I mean Germany has Oliver Kahn, Miroslav Klose, Jens Jeremeis, Nueville, Ballack, Jancker, and a cast of stars. DEUTSCHLAND IST NUMMER EINS IM EURO 2004!
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