As promised, here is an actual post here at the House that Dewey Built. The format is going to be in the “expanded nugget” format. Generally, it’s a modified steal of the “Ramblings” columns you can get anywhere else, but they are bigger and more dynamic. I like to think of it as Draino for the soul. At least my soul.
*Some of the things I love about going to school in a Red Sox/Yankees border area. I was in my Management class and my professor mentioned the game last night (it was a fun one). He called the Red Sox bums, and said how they need to get rid of Pedro, since he isn’t durable and isn’t likely to get better (fair point), and Manny, since he’s a “good enough hitter, but his attitude needs work. He needs to go, and now!”
No, my professor isn’t Sean McAdam, or Gerry Callahan, I think he just might be bitter. Anyway, right after bitching about the team, he asked if anyone in the class was a Yankee fan. Five (out of about 25) raised their hands. He asked them their names, and wrote something down. He made the obligatory joke about failing them. I thought it ended at that, until I went to the front of the room to ask him about a case study, and I found that he actually wrote “fucking Yankee fan” next to their names.
*What happend to Bill Simmons? He went from being one of the best sports writers I’ve ever read, due to his wit, and biting but always thought provoking comentary, to a self parody. If you read his column on Page 2 that was posted yesterday, you know what I mean. Really, he’s fallen to depths unknown now. Don’t worry Bill, I’ll still remember the “Rating the Wimbleton Babes” as you slip into the Rocky V of your career.
*About last night…
I generally don’t like to blame the umpires for a loss, since I know it’s a tough job. I am always critical if they try to be a sideshow to the game. The umpires played a part in the outcome last night. And, not surprisingly, they put themselves firmly in the spot light.
In the 7th inning with the bases loaded and one out, a ball was ripped down the third line by Deivi Cruz. From the angles they showed on TV, and in all the replay angles, the ball landed about a foot foul. However, third base umpire Larry Poncino was standing right in front of it and decided to point to left field, signifying a fair ball. Three runs scored and the Red Sox lead was no more. Normally, I would give the umpire the benefit of the doubt, but not on this play for one reason. Normally reserved (my professor called him a “field mouse”) catcher Jason Varitek flipped out in a way I’ve never seen him do before. Of course to maintain order, Home plate umpire Jerry Crawford ejected Varitek, instead of Poncino rather then have Poncino have to answer for his call. Maybe they knew that they wouldn’t have to listen to an argument (more on this later) from the manager? The reason why the ejection rubbed me the wrong was simple. The inning before, there was an overthrow that bounced back in the field and the end result was Jay Gibbons being caught in a run down and tagged out. Orioles 3rd base coach, not the manager, but the 3rd base coach was hollerin’ to holy hell about the non-call. He stayed in the game, despite doing his best Earl Weaver impression. Good job, Poncino.
After the next pitch, second base umpire Phil Cuzzi ejected Derek Lowe from the bench. Appearently, Lowe was yelling things from the dugout. It’s good to know that Cuzzi, who wasn’t at all involved with the play, and being farther away then Poncino and crew chief Jerry Crawford (who admittedly is a very good umpire), felt the need to make his presence felt. If the name Cuzzi rings a bell at all, it’s because he was in the middle of another Red Sox fire storm this year. On May 1st against Kansas City, he ejected Casey Fossum and Grady Little in the first, after Fossum threw behind Raul Ibanez after a home run by Mike Sweeney. Cuzzi then ejected Royals’ catcher Mike DiFelice for comments he made during a meeting on the mound. I wish someone kept track of umpire ejections so I could find out if that is all a coincidence, or if Cuzzi is just a hot head.
As for blown call two, with Jerry Hairston on first, Luis Matos laid down a beautiful bunt. Byung-Hyun Kim, who must have chased a black cat under a latter, fielded it, checked Hairston and threw to Todd Walker covering first. The ball hit Matos in the shoulder, and bounced into foul ground where Hairston scampered to second. I was ready to curse the Sox closer until I saw the replay. Matos ran to first on the grass. For the uninitiated, that means that he was out of the base paths and therefore, he is out and Hairston needs to return back to first. The call never came from Brian Onora. After that, the Red Sox bullpen and defense took over and the end result was a 13-10 Boston loss.
Now, about the ejections and the “more on this later” comment I made. Through all that, Grady Little didn’t argue once. When Varitek was ejected, he jogged out for a few seconds and jogged back. When Cuzzi decided to show the Red Sox how big his penis was, Little jogged out talked to Poncino, and then jogged back. When Matos interfered with the Kim through, Grady didn’t even move out of the dugout. To me, that is almost as inexcusable as his bullpen usage (which sucked again last night. I don’t have the energy to get into it). Now, I’m not saying that he needs to be the second coming of Billy Martin, or Lou Pinella, but the team’s manager needs to fight for his team. Overly fiery managers can be a determent, like Larry Bowa is in Philadelphia and Dallas Green was in New York, but you have got to fight the umpires when they make a bad call. Even if you concede the Cruz double, and the Varitek/Lowe (Heathcliff Slocum wouldn’t have been tossed there) ejections, there is absolutely no excuse to let the umpire blow an interference call, especially since Crawford has overruled umpires before in order to enforce the rules. Grady Little, you are fighting for your job. You could at least pretend like you care if you have it or not.
One last aside, Nomar Garciaparra was called out for running out of the baseline on a bunt attempt earlier this year.
*In June, if you asked a Yankee fan who they were more afraid of in the division, a good amount of them would probably say “Toronto, because the Red Sox always collapse.” It’s good to see that 3 months ago, the Yankee fans were at the pulse of the baseball universe. By the way, the Blue Jays laid down and got a belly scratch from the Yankees yesterday afternoon, New York 9, Toronto 3.
*My comments tag hasn’t gotten any play yet. I feel like I’m in high school again. Give the comments some love.
*Detroit needs to go 3-15 to tie the 1962 New York Mets, 4-14 to beat them. It’s been along time since the Tigers have played for something in September.
*The new fashion trend here at URI is to wear a cap at a jaunty angle, but not break the brim. That means there are people walking around with hats that are straight across. Jimy Williams is a fashion genius.
*Pitching matchups for the contenders today:
Boston (Lowe) @ Baltimore (Moss)
Detroit (Robertson) @ New York (Contreras)
Chicago Cubs (Zambrano) @ Montreal (Day)
Florida (Pavano) @ New York (Glavine)
Philadelphia (Wolf) @ Atlanta (Reynolds)
Minnesota (Pulido) @ Chicago (Buehrle)
Cleveland (Davis) @ Kansas City (Gobble)
Houston (Redding) @ Milwaukee (Obermueller)
Colorado (Jennings) @ St Louis (Haren)
Los Angeles (Jackson) @ Arizona (Johnson)
Anaheim (Bootcheck) @ Oakland (Duchsherer)
Texas (Mounce) @ Seattle (Franklin)
San Francisco (Correia) @ San Diego (Howard)
The point is that is a lot of teams still in the hunt for playoff spots. Maybe Bud Selig has gotten one thing right.
As an aside, I had to look up the following pitchers: Robertson, Pulido, Jackson, and Correia. I love random unknowns starting in September.
*Is there any better feeling then picking up some pants to do laundry and finding a $20 in the pocket? I honestly don’t think so. It prevented me from selling blood to get some chicken fingers at Casey’s last night.
*You know, even after the 31-0 loss the Patriots suffered on Sunday, they are still the greatest Super Bowl champs in the world. I’m still swimming in that win over the Rams. I think back, and I really can’t believe it ever happened, it’s like the Patsies winning the Super Bowl was won huge dream. Thinking about that makes me wonder what will happen when the Red Sox finally win again. It will happen, my brothers. It will happen.
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