Congratulations, Clay! We're so very lucky to have you.

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels 8-4 August 17, 2007 - 1:05pm CDT Fenway Park - Boston, MA W: Buchholz / L: Lackey / S: Papelbon PHOTO GALLERY

Since Clay Buchholz just made his second major league start- oh, and happened to THROW A NO HITTER along the way- I thought it was an excellent time to share my photos from his major league debut two weeks ago at Fenway. Hope you enjoy!

Based solely on my referrer logs, there are a lot of people out there who come to Center Field in search of answers... because I get some visitors who arrive here after searching for the weirdest things. So I'm going to try and answer some queries for those out there who need a little help.

Search Request: "papelbon enter music"
For now, Jonathan Papelbon exits the pen to "Wild Thing", and then warms up to "Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys out on the mound.

Search Request: "joba chamberlain throws at red sox head" / "josh beckett joba video"
I love the simple elegance of that first search request phrasing. In any event, if you're here looking for video of Joba Chamberlain throwing fastballs at the head of Kevin Youkilis (and of Josh Beckett sharing his thoughts on the situation with Joba) look no further.

Search Request: "joba the hutt" shirt buy
Amazingly, it doesn't seem like any enterprising Yanks fan has capitalized on their rookie reliever's built-in awesome nickname with a Joba The Hutt tshirt yet (that I can find)- but you can always get the standard MLB.com player number shirt, or this shirt, which I would totally find cute if I was a Yankees fan. Thank goodness I am not.

Search Request: "how old is dustin pedroia?"
24 years old, as of August 17th.

Search Request: "dustin pedroia balding"
HEY NOW! Sure, his college coach may have called him balding a bunch of times, but I prefer to think of him as having a very close buzz that fades away into awesomeness.

Search Request: "brandon moss tattoo"
Here's a picture- you can see it peeking out. According to SoxNest, "Nobody seems quite sure what it is, but it has five segmented ovals along the bottom of his jersey sleeve, showing just enough ink to prove he's a badass." Rowr.

Search Request: "manny delcarmen tattoo"
I know nothing about this- and the only thing I could find about Manny Delcarmen having a tattoo was here- indicating that he was wearing a temporary ribbon tattoo on his neck for Father's Day to promote cancer awareness. Anyone got the scoop?

Search Request: "milwaukee brewers racing mini-sausages"
I took a picture of the mini-sausages they had racing around with the normal racing sausages at the Milwaukee Brewers game, and posted it here. Are they not the CUTEST THINGS EVER?!?!

Search Request: "josh beckett's girlfriend" / "josh beckett rumors" / "what did leann tweeden say about josh beckett"
I do not know about Josh Beckett's girlfriend. I am not going to repeat any rumors about Josh Beckett's personal life. And I never read the Maxim interview with Leeann Tweeden about Josh Beckett, so I'm not sure what exactly she said. She sure is purty, though.

Search Request: "josh beckett swearing" / "josh throw a fucking pitch beckett"
Now this I can tell you something about. See: Exhibit A and Exhibit B- but the quintessential Josh Beckett cussfest is Exhibit C. And I think I will refer to him as Josh "Throw A Fucking Strike" Beckett from now on.

Search Request: "josh beckett is a dick"
HEY NOW! I don't know about that- but I do know what he said about his own assets.

Search Request: "jonathan papelbon slutter video"
I got your slutter right here. Oh, and right here.

Search Request: "clay buchholz good luck ritual"
This one actually has me intrigued- because I've never written about it, and I'm curious now. Anyone know what kind of superstitions or rituals Clay does before or during pitching?

Search Request: "paul mccartney at yankee stadium"
Paul was sitting front row behind home plate, next to Lorne Michaels (who was in turn sitting next to Alec Baldwin), when I was at Yankee Stadium on August 29th to watch Josh Beckett and Roger Clemens duel it out. They played several Beatles/Wings songs on the PA and then would put him up on the Jumbotron... and without fail, he'd smile and wave or dance around a little for the crowd. He was sitting the next section over from me, so I got a few pictures- you can see one here and one with he and Lorne here.

Search Request: "pictures of kevin youkilis with his girlfriend"
Another stumper. I know nothing about Kevin Youkilis's girlfriend (or whether or not he even has one), and I don't have any pictures of her. But if anyone has any scoop they can share, feel free!

Search Request: "josh beckett sunglasses"

Best. Beckett-in-sunglasses. Photo. Ever. courtesy of sittingstill

Search Request: "canada sucks"
Indeed.

A little lethargic after the holiday weekend? A little slow finding that get-up-and-go after a long weekend of baseball, college football, booze, and more baseball? I think I've found the ticket to sit you right up and get your blood boiling, to make you good and pissed first thing in the morning: Eric Wilbur goes pee-pee in your Red Sox Cheerios. It's a blog entry from Friday, but I just saw it, and my blood pressure went right through the roof.

But wait- don't even bother reading that drivel, because Fire Joe Morgan rips apart the shoddy journalism six ways to Sunday. Some highlights from FJM:

[It's] the little-known MLB loophole (Rule 35.17 in the rulebook): "Performance in the last series of August shall be used to determine World Series championship eligibility, pursuant to Fieriness Clause in Rule 42.9." Red Sox got swept by the Yankees, as you recall, so they are ineligible for the World Series this year. Too bad, fans.

It's not enough to have the best record in baseball. It's not enough to have the best pitching staff. They're not special enough. Not special like the turd of a team the St. Louis Cardinals were last year. Not fire-breathing passionate personality monsters like the dynastic San Antonio Spurs are in basketball. Not emotional, constantly weeping, frighteningly volatile like Bill Belichick and the Patriots.

Gagne (facial hair! curses in French!)
Crisp (diving catches! leaps into walls!)
Buchholz (hugged a lot of people last night!)
Tavarez (once murdered a drifter with a mini-screwdriver!)

Hey Eric Wilbur, indolent means "slothful, lazy, idle." You really think a large percentage of Red Sox players are slothful, lazy, and idle? Okay, dude. Have fun telling them that.

Plus, nondescript? Tell me: which team, other than the Yankees, has more descript players than the fucking Boston fucking Red Sox? We're talking descript as hell here. Ortiz, Schilling, Manny, Dice-K, Papelbon, Beckett. These guys are unique, superfamous uberstars. Even the role players are descript: Youkilis is Moneyball-famous, Pedroia is three feet tall, Coco Crisp has a funny name, Wakefield throws a knuckler, Varitek is supposedly a god of intangibles. I'll tell you who's nondescript: the Pittsburgh Pirates.

And my personal favorite:

Unless you scream and curse and cry and pump your fist and chop your groin all at the same time, you will never be good at sports.

I hope our guys get to work on that! It sounds like it's gonna take some practice- you need particularly nimble use of both hands at the same time in order to achieve the required simultaneous fist-pumping and groin-chopping. I kind of think Josh Beckett does all of this already- maybe he can give lessons.

I'm having withdrawal pangs. This is the first time Josh Beckett has pitched since the beginning of August that I haven't been there to see him in person (although, it's not like he's done particularly well during that time period- so maybe I'm bad luck). What am I going to do with myself?

I know- I'm going to have a Josh Beckett extravaganza!

OK, I may have done this before- but that was almost 2 months ago. That's entirely too long.

credit: Kerry Brett Hurley

So allow me to quote what I wrote before:

En route to the American League's 10th straight victory over the NL in last night's the 2007 All-Star Game, Red Sox ace pitcher -- and smokin' hottie-- Josh Beckett picked up the win. If you like the quiet, humble, shy, retiring types, who relax by reading poetry and watching Masterpiece Theatre and drinking a nice merlot, Josh Beckett is not for you. On the other hand, if you (like me) like your men tall (6'5") and strong and brash and fiery, with a heap of cockiness and a whole hell of a lot of redneck, then Texas boy Josh is a man you'll love.

This is the part where I tell you that Josh grew up the next neighborhood over from me in the far northwest reaches of Houston, Texas. In the boonies of hick country, y'all- I can vouch for that. And that he idolized Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. And that he wears wranglers and boots on occasion. And has a lovely Texas drawl. And owns his own deer hunting ranch (he once won the award for the largest deer shot during the TX hunting season, a 14-point, 245-pound buck). And always has a dip can in his back pocket. And that he's known to be rowdy with guys from opposing teams. And that he won the MVP of the World Series in 2003, and owns one of them shiny World Series Champ-eens rings from his days as a Marlin. And that he is leading MLB with 12 16 17 wins this year. Oh, yeah- and that he is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD LOOKING.

Yee-haw, baby. Because when Todd Helton, the self-described redneck of the Rockies, says Josh is a bigger redneck than he is, that's a mighty big neck o' red.

And now I think I'll post some of my favorite Josh pictures after the jump...

Continue reading »

Josh Beckett? Pitches 8 full innings, notching up only 3 earned runs and getting 7 K's en route to becoming the first pitcher in all of major league baseball to get 17 wins. Best part, though, was Joshie whizzing a 96mph fastball right past Alex Rios with his last pitch to end the 8th. He was still throwing hard heat well past 115 pitches on the night.

Jacoby Ellsbury? Went 3-for-3, including a triple and his 2nd MLB homerun, and knocked in two runs. And did anyone else catch that giant gleeful grin on Jacoby after popping the triple? Or the teeny-tiny little "YES!" air fistbump as he watched his tater clear the fence? I think he's settled in just fine, thank you very much.

Jonathan Papelbon? After "begging, begging, begging" (his words) Tito to let him pitch for the third night in a row, Papyboo goes 3 up, 3 down in the 9th and notches his 33rd save of the season. We also got a classic gigantic Papyboo celebration off the mound after that 3rd out in the 9th- always love to see that. His splitter was a thing of majesty tonight.

My three favorites (sorry, Brandon, Dusty P, Tek & Mikey!) rocked it out tonight- and for that, I'm giving away a three-way Baseball Boyfriend of the Day to all three J-Boys.

Post-game press conference with Josh was GENIUS. We get the rare treat of Beckett talking about Papelbon (rather than the other way around)- and Josh states the obvious with a tiny grin "He's pretty good, idn't he?". And then, a bigger shit-eating grin when he says "Who'da thought a little dumb redneck from Mississippi would be that good?"

I find it charming that when talking about Papelbon, Josh's southern accent gets thicker and thicker- I do the same thing when I'm talking to or about other Southerners as well (or when I've had a beer or three).

They also asked Josh about his particular fondness for fellow East Texan Clay Buchholz, and asked what is it about Texas pitchers (ANSWER: TEXAS RULES, Y'ALL)- and Josh actually kind of downplayed the Texas thing, and mentioned that he's the same with Lester as with Clay, a kind of mentor.

And how about that postgame Papelbon interview with Tina Cervasio?

From Boston Herald:

"He's a competitor with a capital 'C.' That's what I love about Josh. He'll get his butt handed to him, but four days later he's back out there."
-- Brad Arnsberg, current Toronto pitching coach and former Marlins pitching coach

and:

"[Josh] was such a perfectionist and didn't realize that sometimes you were going to have a bad day, because he came out of high school and had so much success in the minor leagues he didn't know what failure was all about. He didn't deal with it really well. He would show up umpires at the time, staring in. There were things he could control at the time that he wasn't controlling. Now I watch him across the field and you see where he backs off a little bit. He'll stick a pitch on the edge of the plate, not get the call, and it's no big deal. He's come a long way."
-- Brad Arnsberg

From Waltham Daily News Tribune:

"Josh Beckett sat alone on the clubhouse couch intently watching TV yesterday, two hours before punching in at work. His job was to handle the Toronto Blue Jays.

Beckett was watching "Field of Dreams." Maybe he was looking for inspiration. Maybe he just liked the movie. But his eyes were riveted on the screen. Nobody said a word to him. And he had nothing to say."

I love the image of Joshie sitting by himself in the clubhouse, cramming by studying up on Field of Dreams. It looks like it worked like a charm.

There's been a whole lot of hoopla recently about your favorite Yankee reliever and mine, Joba Chamberlain. And one of the biography points that gets discussed the most in articles about Joba's hard luck story is his Native American heritage- his dad is full-blood Winnebago Indian. What's more, the New York Daily News, CBS Sportsline, Baseball Reference, HuskerExtra and MiLB.com have all stated that Joba is the highest-drafted Native American in history.

Problem is: that's not true. Jacoby Ellsbury is.

Jacoby Ellsbury is Navajo- he was actually born on a reservation and lived there for six years, and is the first Navajo to play in the major leagues. Here's a great story on his Native American heritage from the Boston Globe and another from the New York Times. (side note: someone - I'm looking at you, NESN- needs to ask Jacoby to sing a Navajo song on camera, because I would love to see that.)

Jacoby Ellsbury was drafted #23 overall in the 2005 draft.
Joba Chamberlain was drafted #41 overall in the 2006 draft.

Jacoby, not Joba, is the highest-drafted Native American baseball player ever.

As best I can tell, Baseball America noted in a pre-draft piece in 2006 that Joba would be the highest-drafted Native American when he was taken with one of the first ten picks... but he wasn't taken in the Top 10 -- he wasn't drafted until the Yankees selected him at #41 with a sandwich pick in compensation for Tom Gordon. Somehow, the prospective statement based on a future event that never happened turned into a statement of fact- and then the rest of those writers linked above just ran with the statement without bothering to check their facts.

The Sports Column has an interesting piece on Native American players in the majors (along with Jacoby and Joba, there are only two more around- Kyle Lohse, Phillies pitcher, and Bobby Madritsch, who isn't currently active).

The throwaway moments in NESN's game broadcasts often contain some of the best gems-- the candid moments when their lenses capture the big, bad Red Sox players and coaches in candid moments and we see them as regular guys (rather than multi-millionaire superstars).

The NESN cameras at tonight's game kept catching Julian Tavarez goofing off, horsing around like a little kid who ate too many Pixi Sticks and can't find a friend to join him in playing pranks and pulling faces and generally being hyper. Normally, Manny would fill that role perfectly- but he wasn't around to participate in Julian's ADDfest... so Julian just had to create fun where he could find it.

So, Julian first finds a buddy in... Daisuke Matsuzaka? The cameras cut to Dice-K playfully releasing Julian from a headlock, and then the two of them exchange a few words and then a very cute fistbump. Two questions about that: (1) there was no interpreter, so were they speaking in English, Spanish or Japanese? and (2) what in the world were they talking about?

Later, out in the bullpen, Julian mugs around for the camera, waving and grinning. It's like he just realized that the giant black box with the glass circle on it that's been in the bullpen since, oh, forever is a video camera. Look at the pretty shiny object! HI MOM!

After picking up his 17th W on Tuesday, Josh Beckett said to reporters about his closer Jonathan Papelbon that, "Who'da thought a little dumb redneck from Mississippi would be that good?".

Now Papelbon has fired back.

On Wednesday's Friendly's Scoop segment, Papelbon was asked about Beckett calling him a dumb Mississippi redneck- and Papelbon responded, "Well, I didn't think a dumb Texas redneck could be that good. He's always surprising me." Point to Team Papyboo. (see the full video here) Also note: he takes no issue with being labeled as a Mississippi boy (rather than Louisiana).

Other items of note from the segment:

* Cinco Ocho is back and ready for the playoff run.

* He likes getting to pitch multiple days in a row so he can get ready to do that in the postseason. And if three days in a row wasn't enough, he offhandedly refers to pitching FOUR days in a row.

* He thinks Clay Buchholz's stuff should translate well to the bullpen and be fine. And he agrees with the careful handling of Clay, since it worked great for him.

* Jacoby Ellsbury is electric- he hits a single, it's an automatic double; he hits a double, it's a possible triple.

* On the report that he and Big Papi were driving yellow Lamborghinis on Newbury Street, he said that he gets a fancy sports car to drive around when he's in Boston for home games from a car club (and apparently other players do as well, since Papi had one, too). Right now he's driving a Ferrari 430 in candy apple red, Cinco Ocho's favorite color (of course).

* "What can I say? I'm big pimpin' now."

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Orioles Insider: beautiful design, concise and informative commentary with a sense of humor Roar From 34: irreverent and timely thoughts on the team and the latest O's developments Camden Chat: SBN site with daily open game threads and up-to-date news The Wayward Oriole: another humorous gem, where no Orioles cow is sacred

Everyone's used to the two Red Sox unis we see every week- the home whites, with "RED SOX" across the chest in red letters, and the road greys, with "BOSTON" across the chest in red letters. But on very rare occasions, the Sox have broken out a third home alternate uni, a red jersey with "RED SOX" across the chest in navy letters. Those red jerseys are rarer than the fabled Notre Dame green jerseys- and I've been curious why we never see them dress out in red.

Larry Lucchino, President & CEO of the Sox, says it's the decision of the starting pitcher (not the front office or the manager) whether or not the team will don the alternate red jerseys for a game. Lucchino says that if the starting pitcher feels like wearing the red, he just informs the manager and the team dresses out in the red. Lucchino indicated there may be some superstition about wearing the red jerseys coming from the Sox players, which could explain why we hardly ever see them on the field.

So when have the jerseys been worn this year? As far as I can tell, just twice: once on May 20th, when Kason Gabbard was the SP (and he got the W), and then again on August 19th, when Julian Tavarez was the SP (and he got the loss). So, it's a .500 record for the year when the Sox are in red.

Verdict on the reds? I like them- I think they look sharp. But I do like that they're used on rare occasions- makes 'em more special. And the fact that it's the SP's decision is cool... but with Beckett, Dice-K, Wake and Schilling, I doubt we'll ever see one of those four pick to wear them.

It's no surprise that the latest subject of fascination in Red Sox Nation is Clay Buchholz, a/k/a "Stickbug" (nickname coined, I believe, by Beth- and which I have adopted, because I cannot conceive of a more accurate moniker). He's just so darned earnest and shy and hard-working and slight and precious and Texan. No one can get enough of hearing about him, watching him, reading about him or seeing him pitch-- and I'm just as guilty.

Stickbug didn't disappoint last night in his first outing working from the bullpen. After getting himself into an early jam out of the gate in the 6th inning, he methodically worked his way out, and then retired the side 3 up, 3 down in the 7th and again in the 8th. He downplayed the weirdness of his new bullpen role in his postgame comments from the lockerroom, but it can't have been easy to switch hats when he's been a starter all year.

Here's his post-game interview:

But the best Clay-related part of the broadcast wasn't his pitching (beautiful) or his post-game interview (awww!) but a throwaway moment when the cameras caught him fooling around with a baseball in the dugout. I don't know why, but I just found this so charming- lil' Stickbug!

A big question on the minds of Sox fans is: will the Sox resign Mike Lowell? We've heard the price tag may be too high and that Mike has been thinking about life playing in other stadiums. But could he end up in... Philadelphia?!?

From Jayson Stark:

If the Red Sox don't bring back Mike Lowell, the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Astros and Yankees (if they lose A-Rod) would all be major bidders. But Lowell has sent signals to his friends on the Phillies that, in the words of one of them: "He would love to play in Philadelphia." And why not? Lowell is a .353 lifetime hitter in 70 career plate appearances in Citizens Bank Park, with seven homers, six doubles and a .750 slugging percentage. The Phillies could have about $27 million coming off the books this winter, depending on whether Aaron Rowand departs. And a year from now, Pat Burrell's $14 million will also disappear. So the Phillies should have money to spend to address their third-base and bullpen issues.

Listen, I'm a Phillies fan and even I can see that Mike in red pinstripes is just WRONG. Not saying the Phils couldn't use his help in the hot corner, but he needs to stay in Boston. Maybe he's just hedging his bets, or maybe this is a plant from an agent trying to secure a nice pricetag for his client... but I don't like it one bit.

Join the Normally Discerning, Rational and Pragmatic Red Sox Fans for the Emotionally Motivated Re-Signing of Mike Lowell TODAY!

A quick admin announcement: I've replaced the atom and rss feeds by consolidating them into a feedburner feed- which should work and look beautiful in any newsreader. Any problems with it, just holler- otherwise, if you're viewing this in a newsreader, you should update to the new feed url.

Thank you. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming already in progress...

So I was watching a brawl, and a baseball game broke out.

The post's title is courtesy of Dave McCarty, who was describing the enigma that is Daniel Cabrera. I watched the fracas on both the MASN and NESN feeds, and as best as I can tell, here's a breakdown...

Daniel "Danny Boy" Cabrera didn't seem to enjoy Coco Crisp's bunt attempt in the fourth, as I deduced from the glare he shot at Coco. He definitely didn't enjoy Coco dancing and darting around behind him on third, as I deduced from his balky movements on the mound. And he most definitely did not enjoy the balk the home plate ump issued him, or having to watch Coco cross home plate for a score. So, angered at his own pitching performance and his own drawing a balk, he naturally... buzzed Dustin Pedroia's head. Of course he did!

But why do opposing pitchers always need to take their anger out on lil' Dusty P?

Oh, right, it's because Pedro is about waist-high. But we've all seen Mighty Mouse get scrappy. We also know he is fighting way above his weight class. And he's demonstrated that he's not afraid to risk his life. I'm not sure that anyone should be buzzing Scrappy Doo. I think it's only a matter of time before that ticking time bomb explodes on some random Devil Ray or Mariner... and it ain't gonna be pretty. I have full confidence Dusty P can handle himself in a fight.

But back to the events of this evening. In quick summary: Coco tries to bunt. Danny Boy glares. Coco gets on. Coco gets to third. Danny Boy balks. Coco trots home. Danny Boy pitches BEHIND DUSTY P'S HEAD. Tito leads the charge of the Sox bench clearing. O's bench follows. Ump issues a warning (!) to Danny Boy and benches. Danny Boy is held back. Some wiseacre on Sox bench* compliments Danny Boy on his pitch selection**. O's catcher Hernandez goes ballistic and starts pinwheeling directionless haymaker arms. Danny Boy shoves his way out of the ump's grasp, untucks his jersey and politely requests that someone spar with him.*** Benches empty in full force. Bullpen guys jump the outfield wall (!) when they can't find the exit door. Julian Tavarez plays peacemaker (?). Danny Boy gets the boot. Kevin Cash (??) gets the boot****. Orioles get shut out and go home losers all around.*****

* My money was on Beckett, but inside sources tell me it was Papelbon.
** And by that I mean, cusses him out Beckett-Joba style.
*** And by that I mean, tells the Sox players to bring it on MF.
**** Does this mean Kevin Cash has a filthy mouth? Color me intrigued.
***** Except Kevin Millar, of course.

The NESN postgame video of the fracas:

Let's not forget:

* Jacoby Ellsbury has a gorgeous face-smashing catch up against the outfield wall in left. It's awesome stuff... just please don't break your pretty face, darlin'.

* Kevin Youkilis broke the AL record with 179 consecutive appearances playing first base without an error (thank goodness the official scorer didn't rule that Lester-Youk mixup as an E against Youk).

* Former Sock Kevin Millar made his 475th plate appearance on the year, thus guaranteeing a contract with the Orioles for next season.

* Roger Clemens next start could come as soon as September 16th... in Fenway Park against the Red Sox. Things could get interesting.

I'm off for Baltimore to catch the Sox-O's games today and tomorrow- I missed one Beckett start, I can't miss another. It should be rowdy after last night's fracas... I'll be sure to bring back pictures.

JOSH WON. PAPYBOO SAVED. Oh, and Josh drilled Hernandez just like I predicted he would. He really rocks my world.

Much, much more from the games (last night's heartbreaking blowout and today's Beckett beauty), including my notes on Joshie and lovely photos, when I'm back in Chicago.

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Rays Index: tons of news and info in a beautifully designed format Rays of Light: covering all the DRays bases- news and game threads DRays Bay: SBN site with daily open game threads and up-to-date news The Heater: insider's blog by sportswriter from the St. Pete Times

This past weekend was my first time at Camden Yards- and I was able to take in both Saturday's 11-5 beating and Sunday's 3-2 Beckett gem. Camden is a beautiful ballpark- with the Fenway-esque Eutaw Street along outside right field, and the restored warehouse, and the yard out behind the tiered bullpens. And the Oriole bird- come on, he's cute.

I don't remember much about Saturday's game- thanks to the unlimited free beer before the game started- which is probably for the best. I do remember that during the seventh inning stretch, they started playing out our favorite "Sweet Caroline" over the park's PA... and then there was a horrific sound of a needle scratching across a record as the song came to a halt. Then they launched into their regular "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" song (which, I don't get at all- what does John Denver or "country" have to do with Baltimore?). Openly taunting the opposing team's fans? Cruel.

And then came Sunday.

I was lucky enough to be down right behind the Orioles' batter's circle, so I had a great view of Josh at work, and into the Sox dugout.

Josh was his normal methodical, measured self- well, at least, the self he's put on display recently. He doesn't really do funny pitching routines, odd windup mechanics, or ritualistic superstititions that I can see, other than: (1) raising his arms over his head before the pitch, to get his jersey to settle down on his body so it's comfortable the way he likes, (2) his chewing, which gets more furious and jaw-clenching at times, and (3) when exiting the dugout and walking to the mound, he never steps on the baseline- he always takes a little leaping hop over the chalk. I find that so endearing, because he shuts himself down to an almost blank slate of all-business when he's on the mound- but he looks like a little kid playing jackrabbit when he bounds over the line.

This is the same Josh I saw in Boston against the Angels, and the same Josh I saw for 80% of the time here in Chicago against the White Sox -- the Josh I saw in New York against the Yankees was nowhere around. There were no displays of emotion on the mound- just that patented Beckett casual stance and insouciant stare (you know, the one that's a cross between a smirk and a yawn), which totally screams, "I almost can't be bothered to strike you out. Give me a reason why I should even waste my time, you chump. I'm just gonna go ahead and strike you out just so I don't have to look at you anymore."

The most emotion I saw from Josh on the diamond was him slowly but deliberately pounding the ball repeatedly into his glove as he stared down at the mound in the 7th-- and, once, a kick to the dirt on the mound that raised up a small cloud of dirt and dust. There was also a dugout flare-up after he gave up the second homerun in the 6th: he slammed his hat onto the back wall behind the bench and yelled out something that looked an awful lot like, "Goddamned motherfucking pitch!" He did, however, get a tiny grin on his face after Varitek caught Hernandez stealing in the 5th, and he pointed to Tek and gave him an actual thumbs up. Battery love!

And, of course, the best part of the Josh's game- drilling the O's catcher Hernandez in the 7th. I knew that would happen- and bet my friends 20 bucks before the game ever even started that Beckett would drill someone in the 6th or 7th, and I bet an additional 10 bucks on top of that that he would drill Hernandez. That was payback for Friday, beotch. And since Cabrera wasn't coming up to the plate anytime soon, Hernandez was the next best thing. Don't mouth off to our dugout, and you won't get smacked around.

Papelbon coming in the ninth was absolutely electric- and I don't throw around that description lightly. As soon as the bullpen wall door opened out in center field, the entire crowd (minus the 10 or 12 Orioles fans) stood up and gave him a standing O, cheering and screaming like there was no tomorrow. And he went right to work, a popup to short, and then... a basehit by Mora. Papyboo looked almost as taken aback as the Sox fans were- probably because he hadn't had a hit off of him for weeks. He brushed off that tiny bump in the road right quick, and got down to dirty business- striking out the next two batters in short order and notching up the S. He was NASTY, in all the right ways.

More thoughts- and photos!- after the jump.

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From a seemingly hopeless 8-1 deficit to a 16-10 victory, the Red Sox offense was in explosive mode tonight. All but one batter in the starting lineup had 2 or more hits- including J.D. Drew who had a homer (!!)- and the only one who didn't was Kevin Cash, who made a number of sacrifice hits to notch up 3 RBI. Four homeruns on the night, and 20 hits for 16 runs. What a difference a day makes from yesterday's 1-0 contest.

But my Baseball Boyfriend of the Day honors have to go to Jacoby Ellsbury, who celebrated his 24th birthday today by going yard with his third major league homer, and knocking in 2 RBI. He's on an 11-game hitting streak, his average is now .373 (!!), and he flings his body around with abandon in pursuit of balls in the outfield. He's a monster. And even though it's his birthday, he gave the birthday present to us when he did this shirtless (!) lockerroom interview snippet with NESN yesterday (EDIT: plus I added the postgame lockerroom interview from tonight as well):

And the best throwaway moments from tonight's broadcast, together in one little clip.

1. Dougie Fresh snuggling up with Beckett on the rail of the dugout in the 6th, while Josh cradles a baseball in his paws. I have a feeling he holds a baseball in his hands during most hours of the day.

2. After J.D. hit his homer, the camera focused on the DRays dugout, and there was a random little kid in Red Sox gear in the background over manager Joe Maddon's shoulder TOTALLY mocking him. Awesome.

I'm also including the J.D. homer in this clip because it's like a precious rarity.

EDIT: 3. Drew and Papi do a weird shimmy-shake dance in the dugout.

EDIT: Reader mouse mused on what Dougie Fresh could have been talking about that necessitated him draping himself on Josh's shoulders. Here is my transcript of their (imagined) conversation:

DOUGIE FRESH: Man, you're not gonna believe the chicken parm recipe I just put together.

JOSH: Great, dude- can you tell me about it without molesting me?

DF: No, man- I'm too excited! I need to hug to express how awesome this fuckin' chicken parm is, man.

J: *stares at baseball nervously*

DF: This chicken parm is gonna ROCK YOUR WORLD, man. You are gonna need medical attention from a doctor or some shit. Or maybe a really hot nurse, like that one nurse I met in Minneapolis that one time who...

J: Hey, Mirabelli- why don't you just email the recipe to me. Oh, and look over there, Tito is calling me... gotta run!

DF: *thinks*

DF: *aloud, to no one in particular* - what is email?

Time for a charitable event break: you can go bowling with Josh Beckett (and a whole host of other random celebrities) tomorrow night, and help out sick little kids at the same time. Josh has picked up the banner previously carried by Nomar with the Nomar Bowl, and has turned it into the first ever Beckett Bowl, which will benefit the Josh Beckett Foundation for the children's hospital in Boston.

For a mere $10,000 donation, you can get your group of friends a lane at the event. Easy enough! And if that price tag is too steep, there's always the afterparty at Rain- which can be yours for the low-low price of $50 a person. Adrian Grenier's band the Honey Brothers will be playing at the afterparty- surely getting to witness that is worth the price of admission alone, right? Or, if partying at a bowling alley isn't your thing, you can always donate directly to Josh's foundation.

As Red Sox Monster noted back in July, Josh really loves him some celebrity bowling tournaments. I'm guessing this is because the Sox front office already turned down his request for a celebrity hunting tourney. ("Josh, just like we told Wakefield and Timlin, you can't kill animals for charity. Sorry.")

Josh talked with Hazel Mae about the even back in August- here's video of that:

Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles 3-2 September 9, 2007 - 1:05pm EST Camden Yards - Baltimore, Maryland W: Beckett / L: Bradford / S: Papelbon PHOTO GALLERY

For my thoughts and notes on the game, and some running commentary on the photos, go here.

I'm about to wax poetic for a teensy bit, so please avert your eyes if you are allergic to sappy emotion.

This 2007 Red Sox team is magic.

I know the 2004 team is the benchmark by which everyone measures this year's group, and all other groups that will likely come after, but I'm telling you... this team is magic.

It's no coincidence that we've witnessed so much special awesomeness surrounding the club all year: the Dice-K hoopla, the Mother's Day Miracle, the Lester comeback, Beckett establishing himself as the #1 ace, the Coco outfield gymnastics, the rookie surge from Pedroia and Ellsbury, the Papelbon mastery, the out-of-nowhere Okey, the Papi clutchness in spite of injuries, the Lowell slugging, the Youk defense, the Clay no-hitter, and now these back-to-back from-behind victories. These things are not just happening all at the same time, in the same season, to the same team at random.

I'm telling you- this is BIG STUFF. 40 years later... maybe it's the scales righting themselves.

I'll say it again: this 2007 Red Sox team is magic.

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Was Watching: premier Yanks blog with all the latest info, rumors and breaking news Yankee Roundtable: beautiful blog with a sense of humor and great analysis Scott Proctor's Arm: coolest blog name ever- constantly updated with news & stats Yanksfan vs. Soxfan: blow-by-blow news and analysis on the greatest rivalry in sports

Implosion in the eighth. Who was that impersonating Papelbon? He looked as surprised as everyone else at those hits off of him. (and I notice he's polite enough to cover his face with his glove when he screams, "FUCK! GODDAMNIT!" when leaving the field) Okey was serving those high fastballs up like Thanksgiving turkey. And for the first time in, oh, EVER, I was happy to see Gagne out there.

I need a stiff drink. Or twelve.

I have never had less fun watching the Red Sox dismantle the Yankees than I did today. The FOX team, how do I put this politely, SUCKED DONKEY BALLS. Josh Lewin, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal: you are dead to me. I hope to god I never have to suffer through one of your broadcasts again, because that one damn near killed me. AND WE WON. I can only imagine how painful it would have been if we lost.

Biggest sin (other than flat out not knowing what they were talking about): repetitiveness.

# of times Joba's name mispronounced: 3
# of times said if Yanks go to playoffs and get short schedule, Wang will pitch 3rd game: 3
# of times called Jacoby "good-looking" player: 5
# of times referred to "Joba Rules": 6

After Josh pitched a classic 88mph changeup, insinuated the changeup could just have been a fucked up fastball he missed on. I... just.... SPITTING MAD.

About the Yanks hitting the Sox four times this year: "so what, that's just baseball!" Yes, it's just baseball- but just like people get hit, the team that gets pegged gets mad and retaliates. That's also part of baseball. Idiots.

JD Drew is exactly like Trot Nixon. They're basically identical. I don't even know how to respond to that.

After the replay (important to note they had seen the original play AND SEEN THE SLOW-MO REPLAY) of the Ellsbury-Posada collision: "I don't know about that play, Ellsbury might have been out!" How in the hell could he have been out when Posada never tagged him? Please explain that to me. Posada thought Ellsbury was gonna come at him Hinske/linebacker-style, and stayed high on the plate, Ellsbury slid low around him. Posada never even touched Ellsbury with his glove. Even POSADA didn't argue the safe call. Only after a commercial break, when presumably someone with some actual eyeballs in their skull told them to PAY ATTENTION TO THE BALL, were they able to concede that he was safe.

Sox fans overreacted to Youk getting hit. No explanation of what they did that was "overreacting" or reason why what they did is "overreacting"

Started making up conversations between Hinske and Posada during Hinske's next at-bat after his collision with Posada. "It looks like he said are you OK, and Jorge said yes I am. I mean, I don't know what they said or anything." EXACTLY. You don't know what they said. Hinske could have said, "I did that on purpose, bitch." and Posada could have said, "I'm going to kill you in your sleep." They're basically writing Hinske-Posada fanfic in the booth.

And when Hinske was standing on third, "I imagine Posada is thinking about the last time and wondering if there's going to be a repeat of the collision." I can guarantee you Posada isn't sitting behind the plate wondering if Hinske's gonna run into him again. He's concentrating on the batter and running the signs and getting an out. Posada could give fuck all about the baserunner, until it's time to try and tag/throw him out.

Throughout the game, they talked about Pedroia this and Pedroia that. ROTY and everything. And then this statement: "Both teams have done a great job developing talent to pull up and play this year- the Yankees with Kennedy & Joba, and the Red Sox with... Ellsbury." What about the kid that is the odds-on favorite to win ROTY that you went on and on about ad nauseum just a few innings ago? What about the kid that just threw a no-hitter? What about Moss? Lester? It's like they're given an index card with a talking point on it one inning, and then the info flies out of their heads after that. There is no excuse for a national baseball broadcaster to not mention Pedroia and Buchholz when discussing the Sox rookie talent. None.

"Okajima's gotta be a concern." Oh really? Thank you, Captain Obvious. Next you're going to tell me the Yankees fans hope Roger pitches well tomorrow. OH WAIT. YOU DID THAT.

How about this gem: "The Red Sox covered up the center field seats because of the rain. They sure lost a lot of money!" Jesus. Even if they didn't know about the daygame CF blackout at Fenway (which they should know about), they seriously believe a ballpark would cover up some SEATS because of RAIN? Seats that had been bought and paid for? REALLY?

"One of my teammates had a saying, 'Never judge a player by the spring and the fall.' But the Yankees and the Red Sox are doing just that with Joba and Jacoby, judging them by August and September. They're sure going to have bright futures!" WTF?!?! How does the last sentence follow from the first? If the first sentence is what your theory is, then how the hell do you arrive at the third? My brain hurts.

And I'd also like to compliment them on their fine microphone placement, which allowed us to hear that one Yankee woman's piercing shriek multiple times before every Yankee at-bat. That was glorious to listen to for for 9 innings. Why wasn't that mic moved after two innings of eardrum-murdering squeals?

I'm sure there's tons more I missed. These were the ones I noticed. I'm betting Yankees fans probably noticed as many holes in their knowledge on the pinstripes, too.

HOW IN THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS NATIONAL BASEBALL BROADCASTERS? Granted, most of the inane comments were made by Tim, but Josh is just as much to blame because he should jump in and correct misstatements of fact and stupidity.

Now I'm going to post another post on top of this with a happy shiny picture of Josh, to push the insanity of Fox off the top of my page.

I'm also formally registering myself as a Joba hater. What kind of major league douchebag reaches up into the stands to try and steal away a homerun ball from a fan? What a little fucker.

10-1.
19W. 7K's.
Over the Yankees.
Drilled your first baseman.
Embarrassed your Wang.
FUCK YEAH!

I know I've been MIA for awhile- and it's not by choice, believe me! Turns out I'm crazy sick, and as soon as my crack medical team sorts me out, I'll be back. Hopefully, in the next couple of days. For now, I'm officially on the DL.

To everyone that I owe a return email or a comment response or anything else, I'll get caught up as soon as I return. See y'all soon!

It's a whole new day.
The sun is shining.
The birds are singing.
The Sox didn't lose yesterday.

It seems the Sox decided to tank a few (ok, five of six) games while I was horrifically sick. Which is convenient for a couple of reasons- either (a) I was way too ill to even watch the games, much less be conscious enough to agonize over the scores (never thought that would be possible, but I was just that bad), or (b) I was already sick anyway, so the losses couldn't really make me much sicker. Silver linings, people!

Thursday will hopefully have been a recharge day, when zip was restored to our step, when strike zone control was restored to our bullpen, when pop was restored to our bats, when Cinco Ocho was found passed out in the penthouse of the Palms in Vegas and sobered up and put back where he belongs, when Gagne was tied up and hidden inside an equipment locker, when magic fairy dust was sprinkled on Manny to make him good as new.

Friday brings all kinds of great things. A new chance with a new team in a new series. Bonus points because that team is Tampa Bay and the series will be in the Trop. But more importantly, Friday means that it's time for this:

If he has to, Josh will start, relieve and close. He will catch and call the game. He will play 1st base, he will cover the hot corner. He will patrol the outfield. He will manage the team, he will ump the game, he will clip on a tie and giggle with Remy about stupid shit in the NESN booth, he will put on the mascot costume and do a stupid dance, HE WILL SELL THE BEER, PEOPLE. He will make shit happen. Let's just not force him to do everything, Red Sox- let's everyone get back to the business of rulin' the hell out of the AL and let Josh concentrate on working people over at the plate.

With nods to i can has cheezburger, loljocks and clare and me...

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