Good point on Moss & Brady. I have a hunch Moss will give a hometown discount and re-sign.
One nice thing about living elsewhere is that it's easy to avoid the Sox at times like this and just wait for the playoffs. If history has taught us anything, it's that a team can be TOTALLY beaten and end up Champs--going away (I remember regretting the start of Series game 4 b/c I realized it was the last time I'd get to watch them). And that you can whack Hyman Roth at the airport.
Dungy is grungy? That's unfortunate. After the game last year, I was effusive in my praise for Manning and the Colts. But OTOH, what kind of schlubs fall behind 21-3 to an exhausted team with decidedly inferior talent?
"But I take comfort in the fact that there's roughly a 100 percent chance they will spell that last word wrong."
Very funny.
Tonight Beckett wins or loses the Cy Young. The list of Beckett wins after Sox loses in the Globe is calming and troubling. Only 3 teams are good and of them, the Rockies won, Padres have no bats and he split 1-1 with the Yankees.
The Sox have played Tampa, what, 15 times this year, and I swear Scott Kazmir has pitched at least 11 of those games. I just hate to see his name in the "probables" column.
I have a hard time disputing Sox management strategery. It's not that Tito is dying to see more of Eric Hinske -- it's that everyone seems to be exhausted or hurt at the same time. They DO need to rest Okajima, Schilling, Dice-K, and Papi, and they DO need to find out what they can expect out of Gagne. If Gagne's right, he's an 8th-inning force. If he's not, we have to make do with Delcarmen, Timlin, and (maybe) Oki. (And I guess we shouldn't use Papelbon in the eighth, either. His mind ain't right when it's not the ninth.) It's unfortunate that their stumble coincides with the Yankees' hot streak, but I don't see what Tito or Theo could be doing much differently.
The ONLY thing that matters right now is that Josh Beckett will be pitching in Game 1 of the ALDS.
As for your new Yankee friends....you really have to wonder about people whose identity is somehow tied up in the successes of their favriote baseball team. This goes for Sox fans, too. The most ridiculous thing I hear is "I want the Sox to win the Division so I dont have to hear '1978.'" I can understand living and dying with the outcome of the games. But worrying about fans of other teams say about those games?
For positivity, Ken Rosenthal seems to have himself a bit of a positive mind here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/sto...40813162&
ATT=49
And when you think about it, it is kind of smart that they're doing this now. Sure it may suck to lose the division, but just getting there is the big thing right now.
Also I remember in 2000 when a certain team in New York was faltering down the stretch in September and Boston was making a push for the division and in the end New York found their way into the postseason and won it all. I mean regardless both teams will be in it this year, but you never really know. But also, the Yankees are below .500 away from Yankee Stadium and the Red Sox have one of the best home records in baseball at Fenway. And those last six games may be the make or break(speaking of which, why is Wednesday's game beginning at 5pm?!)
Oh and about your Yankee fan friends, I think you're about in a dead heat with Dustin Pedroia in the rankings between Schilling and deodorant. They really seem to hate him(though I do admit he is rather mouthy)
Chaddie, you don't fall between Shilling and deodor . . .
(Edited because the commenter forgot to put his safety helmet on before attempting to write.)
Edited By Siteowner
In defense of my now edited comment in the Yankee section, it was meant to fall in the "tounge and cheek" to "ironic" range. I said it was bad that people are hurling anonymous insults at large groups of people then proceeded to do so myself in the next paragraph. Then again, maybe using a literary device in a conversation with Yankee fans is like filling up a gas-tank on the way to the scrap yard: completely pointless.
26 Reasons why I am amused by the RSN and it's object of affection:
1. They think Jim Rice will eventually get into the HOF. Sorry Chowder-Heads, he won't be alphabetically listed by Sam Rice (a real outfielder) anytime soon.
2. You'd think everyone got news that they were going to get a year of no traffic on the mass pike by the way they celebrated their WS in 04. Ho Hum - we're used to it.
3. Wade Boggs got his ring with the Yanks infuriating the 'Nation', when in reality all the 'Nation' did was make the MFY Fan's smile more broadly.
4. You guys gave Bucky a most classless middle name. Kindly look in that reaility in it's eyes.
5. Mike Torrez.
6. Mike Stanley.
7. Nomar Garciaparra, remember him? 'Bostons Derek Jeter'. Sorry, there's one and we have him, his name is Derek. Kapish?
8. Never accepting you are a suburb of New York amuses all people outside of Boston more than you can imagine.
9. The Red Sox Nation is led by Ted Kennedy. Just an FYI.
10. The fact that in the past 24 hours, more articles featuring the RSSF (red sox suck factor) have been written than were about the OMGDKWSUF (OMG Dice K Will Save Us Factor) in the preceeding 9 months. A considerable feat.
11. We like watching you panic, reminds us of ants running around.
12. Go Ahead - name your last good Manager.
13. The Smell in the bathrooms at Fenway is medival.
14. The Beer in the kegs at Fenway are also medival.
15. Fenways seats all face the wrong way if your anywhere other than behind home or on a roof.
16. Theo Epstien, boy genius. LOL.
17. Can someone please explain 'Yankme'? I don't get it.
18. WEEI is funnier than anything else in the world. Hours of RSN agony. I'm taping this for future generations.
19. The trading deadline blather about Gagne - this should go in a case at the Smithsonion.
20. The fact that you will spell check me.
21. The coke bottle. In NY we have a big ole Louisville Slugger!
22. Ketchup-sox Schilling, better resign him fast!
23. Manny's expense paid fall vacation!
24. "If a frog had wings..." Nice.
25. You had the other DiMag.. Copycats.
26. Frank Tanana 
Have a great weekend of baseball. Try to smile at least 1x.
22.
OMG The RSN must've infiltrated my PC... I call Biased Truncation!
22. Frank Tanana.
23. B U C K N E R - beat by the Mets. Of all things you screwed up - this one is the worst.
24. Did I mention Theo Epstien?
25. The Yawkey Trust.. Splain Lucy!
26. Most MFY Fans are quite happy and would like to send you this warm embrace in hopes of seeing you in the ALCS. We need a bit more entertainment this year as the G-Men and J-E-T-S aren't looking to sweet.
Yankees' fans skulls are plenty utilized. It's their contents that are atrophied.
Surprise! A member of the RSN complaining about something.
Surprise! A Yankee fan be condescending.
See, it works both ways.
Geez Chad - I just sifted through the comments on the 'Yankee hate' post. Apparently, I am seriously missing out by following this blog in a RSS reader.
I fear I'll reveal my racist bigotry in saying this, but I sure thought the list was well-written and pretty funny.
Is it safe to say that Bill Belichick has surpassed Dan Duquette as the Boston Sports Media's most hated management figure of the last 25 years? They really were dying to rake him over the coals for this. Belichick's overwhelming success with the Pats seems to have only fueled the hatred further, and it's 100% personal; he's never even inflicted anything like the equivalent of Dante Bichette or Mike Lansing on Pats fans.
I agree with you completely on Manny. I love the guy, hate the bashing he's taken over the years and appreciate how hard he works at his craft. But I don't understand why he's not playing at all right now, even as a PH. Last night's combined Sox win/Yanks loss calmed me down a little, though.
JD Drew has put up a .294/.424/.490 line in September. As frustrating as Drew's been for most of the season, and as solid a start as Ellbury has had, it was really not debatable whether Ellsbury should take over his job...both at the plate, and in the field, since Ellsbury doesn't have the arm for RF (nor does Crisp if you put Ellbury in CF and moved Coco over to right). I've yelled at the tv at several horrible Drew ab's over the past several weeks (mostly against the Yanks), but rationally I know he has to start.
It's pretty funny to hear a Yankee fan say that they are used to the Yankees winning the world series. They haven't won one this decade (or century) and managed to choke their way into the biggest collapse in professional sports history three years ago. By that brilliant logic, Democrats must be quite used to having their party in the white house too.
I have four kids. None has been alive for a Yankees world series victory. I'm happy for them that they're not Yankee fans. The two oldest would already be wondering if their team will win a championship in their lifetimes. As Sox fans they have no such problem.
"But I don't understand why [Manny's] not playing at all right now, even as a PH."
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Maybe its because his injury hasn't completely healed yet, and aggravation can lead to a setback that would be far worse than whatever is happening right now with him out of the lineup.
Amazing how people have internalized the media's lens for viewing Manny injuries. There is NO OTHER player about whom a Sox fans would say "I dont understand why he isn't even PHing" when the manager is reporting daily that the player hasn't yet recovered from the injury.
"Maybe its because his injury hasn't completely healed yet, and aggravation can lead to a setback that would be far worse than whatever is happening right now with him out of the lineup"
Gee, ya' think, Cap'n Obvious? In a million years it never would have occured to me that they're worried about re-injury right before the postseason.
"Amazing how people have internalized the media's lens for viewing Manny injuries."
Amazing how people made unfounded assumptions about what others internalize. Contrary to your incorrect belief, I pay no attention to what the Boston media says about Manny. I was merely agreeing with Chad about the frustration in hearing that he's pounding the ball in batting practice with no pain, but still completely unavailable even for a single AB. I fully admit that the Sox FO has a vastly better informed opinion about when he'll be ready. On the other hand, I'm not willing to accept everything that's said on Yawkey Way as absolute truth.
Perhaps yankee fans have a hard time spelling but at least we know the difference between a Baseball Card and a Football Card Stupid!!
As for today's Completely Random Baseball Card:
Tim Fox of the Patriots???
Speaking of the roughly 100 percent chance that Yankee fans don't know how to spell, I'm going to have to give "Micah" and his cute little list a big fat F (unless he is actually in the fourth grade, in which case his list might merit a passing grade). Nevertheless, we can thank him for graciously demonstrating the ignorance of the Yankee fan with his complete befuddlement over the proper use of the apostrophe. And as much as Micah may be "amused by the RSN and it's [sic] object of affection", we are still more amused by the fact that he evidently knows as much about baseball as he does about English grammar (actually, probably less, which is to say, next to nothing). As for Italian, it's not spelled "Kapish" - there is actually no letter "K" in Italian - it's Sicilian dialect for "capisci". Go back to digging ditches, and leave the baseball discussion to those who know baseball.
"Gee, ya' think, Cap'n Obvious? In a million years it never would have occured to me that they're worried about re-injury right before the postseason."
*************************************
I was responding to the "I don't understand why he isn't playing or PHing" question.
And since you agree that they're worried about re-injury, what is it about his not playing that you don't understand?
I agree that it's the probable explanation for why he's not playing at all; based on what they've publically disclosed about his physical status, I don't think that explanation holds a lot of water. They've said that he's hitting the ball well in bp without pain, and only feeling some discomfort when he runs, it sounds like he's still a little shy of 100%, but certainly could be at least pinch-hitting or DHing; a few other guys in the lineup (most notably Ortiz) are playing through some pain right now. And no, I didn't doubt that his knees were hurting last year, and didn't see any point in him playing hurt last September for a team that had far greater problems.
The Sox now have 6 games left, which means that if Manny starts playing tomorrow night, he may be able to get 24-28 ABs before the ALDS. Even if you argue that the risk/reward of having him play to try to win the division (and finish with the best record) isn't worth it, that still seems like a pretty short tune-up for a guy who hasn't played in nearly a month to get his timing back against live hitting. At some point you need to accept the risk of reinjury in order to get him ready for the playoffs. Hard to argue that we haven't reached that point yet.
I think the likely explanation is:
1. BP is far different from game conditions. (Swings n' misses, checked swings, and getting otu of the way of pitches for example).
2. He's not healed, pain when running.
Hitting in game conditions runs a too-strong risk of re-injury, as opposed to giving it more time.
Who knows, the choice may end up between being 100% healed with no AB's before Game 1, or risking injury by getting 10ABs this weekend.
I have no idea which is the better approach, and I don think anyoen else outside the team does either.
He does look like your Dad.....
Well, Manny is playing tonight and batting second. Guess the Sox agree that they want him to get as many ABs as possible this week.
The reason Manny couldn't play but could take BP was because it was running, not batting, that was preventing his return. That's also why Manny couldn't just DH because he'd still have to run the basepaths.
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