So Friday night I missed the game and kept getting updates, but got the sweetest update when I went in to check the score myself. Boston's favorite whipping boy, Julio Lugo, was attempting to leg out a single (which he did) and tore his left quadriceps.

On the DL for 15 days. Every angry Boston's fan wish was granted. Jed Lowrie was called up from Pawtucket and started Saturday. He proceeded to go 0-4 in his first start since May. I'm not worried.

Francona said that he'll alternate Cora and Lowrie at shortstop till Lugo comes back. Great news on the defensive front for the Sox and honestly the lineup can't be any worse than with Lugo.

Hopefully (and I emphasize hopefully) Lowrie, or Cora but I'm really pulling for Lowrie, can catch fire in his starts and earn the spot away from Lugo and Cora. Brady took Bledsoe's job when he got hurt and I think we all like how that worked out, so don't give me the "you shouldn't lose your job because your hurt" bullshit.

After the loss Friday the Sox bounced back behind great pitching Saturday and Sunday by Wakefield and Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-1, 2.65 ERA and not an All-Star?) respectively. The bats were alive and well on Saturday in a 12-1 drubbing. And sure Papelbon made us a little nervous in the 9th on Sunday, but the Sox got the win 2-1.

So where does this weekend's two of three from the O's leave the Sox? Right where you'd expect them to be, in first place. Sure it's a half game lead over the surprising Rays and 6 ahead of New York, but this division is decent this year. Even the last place O's are only 3 games below .500.

Finally there was much rejoicing in Lowell when Da Guy got the news that Ortiz is scheduled to return on 7/25. How great is that? I surmise that it is incredibly great, not for our fantasy league, but for the solidification of the Red Sox lineup.

Back tomorrow with my first half recap. Enjoy the Home Run Derby, anything is better than the WNBA.

As Drew has cooled off during these 11 July games, others have stepped up. The team doesn't boast a great record once again, 6-5, but individuals are starting heat up. Dustin Pedroia has been a hitting machine over the past month and a half, hitting at a .364 clip over that time; Kevin Youkilis, fresh off a grand slam, and a career-high six runs driven in, has been on a tear as well, batting .339 since the first of June, helping the Red Sox offense survive without Ortiz.

Without Ortiz in the lineup, the Red Sox became more of a running team. That means putting on more hit and runs, and attempting to steal more bases. The team, surprisingly enough, has averaged more runs per game (5.2 to 5.1) without Ortiz. They have done so by manufacturing runs, made possible by the brilliant offensive play by Drew, Pedroia and Youkilis.

It hasn't been all fun and games, but their record is still very good (56-40 overall; 24-18 since Ortiz's injury) Despite the teams respectable record, sometimes the teams' play has been downright unbearable. Though individual players have been solid, the Red Sox have many holes on their team. Jacoby Ellsbury, the teams' rookie lead-off hitter, has had his talent showcased in spurts this season (35 stolen bases, 60 runs scored), but has not produce with the consistency (.273 BA, .348 On-Base-Percentage, batted .245 in June) that a team needs from someone in the top spot in the line-up. I like the way that Terry Francona, the teams' manager, has dealt with Ellsbury though. He allows him to work out his problems, whether it be mechanical or mental, without dropping him in the line-up or showing frustration in his play to the media. He did the same last season with Dustin Pedroia, who was struggling during the first couple months, before finishing the year strong, winning rookie of the year. Ellsbury has been on Pedroia's track so far as he has come around of late, hitting at a .300 clip for this months' play. If he can get on base with regularity, and the rest of the hitters keep playing solidly, the Red Sox will be a force to be reckoned with.

The offense is only half of the puzzle. I have heard the saying "they can hit their way to the promise land" for years, but it never seems to work. if you don't have good pitching, then you'll do what the New York Yankees have done in recent seasons: barely make it to the playoffs, and get eliminated in the first round. The Red Sox World Series campaign of last season was because, yes good hitting, but more importantly, even better pitching. They had one of the best rotations in the game, anchored by Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsusaka. This year however has been a totally different story, however. Josh Beckett has been up and down, by his standards (9-5, 3.94 ERA). He has a good record, but an ERA around four for a pitcher of his quality is most unusual (considering he almost won the CY Young last year, and was dominant in the playoffs). He has had some brilliant starts, but also some bad ones, partly resulting in the teams inconsistent play.

As for Curt Schilling, his career is presumptively over after suffering a shoulder injury that cost him the season. The team loses his veteran leadership, but the rotation has gotten a lot younger because of it. Who knew what Schilling had left in the tank. He is a pitcher who has scared me at times throughout his tenure in Boston, mainly because if he isn't sharp, he gets hit hard.

Daisuke Matsuzaka has been superb this season (9-1, 2.48 ERA), helping guide the Red Sox staff. Jon Lester has been impressive, boasting a 7-3 record and a 3.38 ERA, while, like Dice-K, being a pitcher that can be counted on every fifth day. Tim Wakefield, the ageless knuckle-baller, has been very solid as well. He has lasted 7 or more innings in eight of his past nine starts, giving Boston some dependability at the back end of the rotation. The 5th spot in the rotation has been an uncertainty since Clay Buchholz was sent down to the minors to work on his mechanics. The primary pitcher who had taken over that role (before Buchholz's recent call-up) has been Justin Masterson, who has done very pretty good in his stead, (4-3, 3.67 ERA) but has struggled at times.

Though the hitting and starting pitching seem to be whipping into shape, possibly the most important part of the team, the relief pitching, has struggled mightily. Set-up men such as Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, and Mike Timin have all had a rough go of it s far this season. Each posses huge ERA's (4.70 for Delcarmen, 5.47 for Hansen, and 6.31 for Timlin) and have blown countless close games. The road to Jonathan Papelbon never has been this unusually hard, but Papelbon has made the most of his opportunities, as he sports 27 saves and a 2.27 ERA.

The team has been erratic at times, but even with all of the inconsistencies they're only 1/2 game out of first place. If everything gets on the right track, Boston could once again have a dangerous team come October.

Oh, look at their idential numbers:

D.Cabrera 69K 51BB 1.37WHIP
Dice-K 70K 52BB 1.37WHIP

And their disparate numbers:

D.Cabrera 6-4 4.40ERA 124.2IP
Dice-K 9-1 2.84ERA 82.1IP

Funny aren't they?

There are some interesting comparisons here:

• Identical K, BB, and WHIP numbers despite Cabrera pitching 50% more innings than Dice-K.
• Obviously luck and run support is playing a huge part in Matsuzaka's 9-1 record.
• Dice-K's FIP is 4.10 and Cabrera's is 4.95, so there's definitely a gap their in their true performance, but it's nowhere as wide as their W-L records and ERA indicate (thanks to diverging luck and run support their experiencing and receiving so far this season).

Boston, as a team, needed this victory to get back on track after settling for a split in the Yankees series. The Red Sox again struggled to score runs, but again the team's offense was bailed out by another great pitching performance.

Dustin Pedroia started the eighth inning with a double, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. J.D. Drew moved him over with a sacrifice fly before Manny's single through the drawn-in infield. Boston's hitters were baffled by Scott Baker before they tagged him in that inning.

Though Baker is a talented pitcher, Boston's offense continued to have a tough time scoring runs. The Red Sox have scored a total of 6 runs in their past three games. I think that what is at fault for this is how long David Ortiz has been out. The offense held their own for a while during his absence behind the hot hitting of J.D. Drew, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis, but the lack of hitting by the other hitters has doomed them of late . The teams' record since Ortiz's injury on May 31st is 19-14. Respectable, but unacceptable, considering the team started that stretch 16-8. Ortiz has been a remarkable player during his tenure with the team, but one player of his stature shouldn't have this much of an impact when out of the lineup. The team has plenty of stars on their current team without Ortiz, and should be able to score enough runs to win more games than 19 of 33. In other words, the plethora of talented hitters that are struggling, like Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek, need to get going. Especially Varitek, who is marred in a horrible slump. He anchors a bottom of an order that recently has been easy outs, putting more pressure on other six players to hit with some regularity.

Since the Red Sox pitching staff has been good throughout the year, if the hitting could just come alive the team would be able to be patient for the return of Ortiz.

The Red Sox won a one run game? Manny came through in the clutch? Dice-K pitched into the 8th? The bullpen didn't allow inherited runners to score?

Am I in the Twilight Zone?

After this past week and a half, including a tragic 3-7 road trip, home cooking was exactly what the Red Sox needed. Any fan had to figure that with the Twinkies coming to town, the bats would wake up and the Sox would start hitting again.

In fact the Little Second Baseman That Could, Dustin Pedroia, has been the only thing that you could call consistent in the lineup. Little Dusty extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a HUGE double in the 8th which led to the only run in the game. Your boy Manny came through in the clutch driving in the only run of the game for his 54th RBI.

The real shock was Francona going to Okie-Dokey with runners on first and second. He's had problem with inherited runners and promptly walked the first guy he faced. That's about when I was going to shut off the TV sensing the impending doom, but I stuck with it and he got out of the inning.

Papelmania came out for the ninth and did what he's supposed to, retiring the side in order. Sox win 1-0 and are now just 4 games behind the Rays. That still feels funny to write, but I like the Rays becoming a good team. Sure they have no real fans but I like the small payroll clubs sticking it to the high payrolls.

Just a reminder that today's the last day of extra voting for the All Star game. Rays rookie Evan Longoria is leading the early vote for the final AL roster spot, followed by Jermaine Dye, Jason Giambi, Brian Roberts and Jose Guillen. Let's make sure that Giambi and his porn-stache don't make the team. Vote for Longoria, he deserves it.

To go along with the naming of Portland, Oregon, there is a more recent link between the two cities. Kevin Pritchard, the Portland Trail Blazers General Manager since the start of the 2007 season, has been very aggressive during his tenure as the leader of the team. His aggressiveness started even as a interim manager of the team in 2005, when he took over of a bad team after the firing of Maurice Cheeks. He spent the remainder of the season as manager evaluating talent, and in that off-season advised then-GM John Nash to select Chris Paul with the 3rd overall selection in that particular upcoming draft, but was overruled by Nash and his partners, as the team eventually traded the pick to the Utah Jazz (which they used to take Deron Williams). In the 2006 off-season, Nash was fired (probably after the team saw Paul win rookie of the year), allowing Pritchard to move on up the ladder. The team not only promoted him to the Assistant GM position, but gave him full control to orchestrate their 2006 draft, a draft in which he was very busy. He traded the teams' fourth overall selection, Tyrus Thomas, along with Victor Khryapa to the Bulls for the 2nd overall pick, LaMarcus Aldridge, who is now a prominent part of the current team. Pritchard wasn't done though, as he then traded the 7th overall pick (they traded Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff to Boston for the pick prior to the draft) which they used on Randy Foye to the Timberwolves for Brandon Roy (who won rookie of the year that upcoming season). Both Aldridge and Roy are currently center-pieces for the teams future, and have already gained a lot of notoriety around the league for their outstanding play in their two years in the NBA. In 2007 Steve Patterson was fired, allowing the Blazers to give the reigns to the GM position to Pritchard. He didn't stop his aggressive play, as he not only picked Greg Oden with the top pick in the 2007 draft, but made two more significant deals. He traded Zach Randolph, who had overstayed his welcome with the team, to the Knicks and acquired James Jones, and the 24th pick in the draft, Rudy Fernandez (who is now going to be another big part of the teams' future) for cash in a separate deal with the Suns. Every one of these moves have been very good decisions by Pritchard thanks to his aggressiveness and determination to make this team better.

Now the Blazers are the youngest team in the league, and even though their players are immensely talented, that could be a bad thing if the team wants to go deep in the playoffs as soon as next season. The good thing about the lack of experience is that from here on the players will only gain experience with every game they play, especially incoming players like Oden, Jerryd Bayless and Fernandez.

The sports are different, but MLB's General Managers have the same task: improve the team the way you see fit, and build towards the future. This is where the Portland-Boston connection comes in with Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein. He, like Pritchard, is very aggressive when it comes to making the team better. In the 2003 off-season Boston made a huge run at one of the games best players, Alex Rodriguez. Major League Baseball wouldn't allow the trade to be completed, but it was his aggressive mindset allowed the trade to be a possibility. His determination to get the players he saw fit continued in 2006 off-season when he spent an obscene amount of money 52 million dollars just to talk to Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom they eventually signed for 50+ more million dollars. This is how Pritchard and Epstein are connected. They have the ability to look at every possibility to make their respective teams better whether it be by trade or free agency.

What allows Epstein to be aggressive is the amount of money at is disposal. The Blazers payroll for this past season was $57.6 million dollars compared to $133 million dollars for the Red Sox. The payrolls are drastically different, but so are the yearly salaries for the players in the two sports. Though the roster size is in baseball's favor, 40-15, the teams go about making moves in similar ways, because of the amount of money each team has available. In spite of the difference in salaries and roster size, both the Blazers and Red Sox have the same opportunities to trade for high paid players, and be aggressive in their own ways, primarily because of the difference between yearly player salaries between sports.

One thing that helps Epstein is that he has a farm system, something Pritchard and the NBA do not. Though having a farm system for the Red Sox is a luxury, it is also tough to maintain.It has produced players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson, Clay Buccholz, Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, all of whom have played critical roles towards the teams' success. A farm system for Epstein is the equivilant to draft picks for Pritchard. Some successful players in the minor leagues are trading chips for big name players in baseball, just like some draft picks are trading chips for big name players in basketball. Though Pritchard doesn't have the advantage of having a minor league team, nonetheless four like Boston, he, and his team, still find a way to make bold trades, like the one recently to acquire Jerryd Bayless.

Pritchard's agressiveness is shown in the trading of draft picks (they traded all five in this years' draft) to get the right players for his team while Epstein's aggressiveness is shown by paying high dollar for players that fit. Though the way they go by being aggressive is different, their primary goal is making their teams better not only for the present, but for the future as well.

The connection between the two cities started with Pettigrove and Lovejoy, but because of the aggressive style of Kevin Pritchard and Theo Epstein in modern time, the link continues.

David Ortiz, rehab assignment, Pawtucket

big news 'round these parts (particularly on sports radio) had been manny manny manny.  dude apparently has lost his mind.  his numbers are good, i mean, he's manny so they're actually not great (has a team leading 18 homers and 60 rbi's w/ a .293 average).  but from pushing the 60 year old traveling secretary to going back into the monster to chat on his cell to whining about being treated unfair by the management (dude, you make the most money on the team, shuttit!), manny is wearing thin on the fans it seems.  i don't see the extension at the end of the year happening.  and it's too bad, b/c i have LOVED watching this guy play.  and they'd not have won 2 world series without him.  but, i think he really needs meds.  for serious.

and i almost forgot, bitch slapping youk!  yes, manny and youkalis got into a tiff in the dugout.  no one knew why at first, but it turns out that manny - of all people - was pissed at how youk handles his K's, and that is very badly.  youk might need anger management.  but, he's leading the team with 63 rbi's, tied with pedroia for 1st on the team with a .314 average.  and this gold glove candidate first baseman made it to his 1st all-star game, and it was very well deserved.

another well deserving first time all-star was second baseman dustin pedroia, and there's no doubt this kid has been the 1st half mvp.  check it out - 1st in the team in games (95), at bats (395), runs (67), hits (124), doubles (28), and as stated is tied with youk with a .314 batting average.  dude.  friggin' incredible!  now, yankees fans, pay attention - this is how you win!  bringing great young players up through the farm system!  you know, like the yanks used to do!  pedroia is a destroy-ah :)

now, one all-star selection that confused a lot of people was that of captain v-tek.  sports radio has been inundated with people complaining about tek.  you'd think he was the worst catcher in the game!  but, he was selected by the PLAYERS.  they know he's the anchor of the reigning champs, and that he calls as good a game as anyone.  yes, his plate performance has been awful, but he's a catcher.  it's not the end of the world.  the real concern is no young prospects (ironic that i just talked about how great the farm system is!) coming up.  but that's a phenomenon throughout the league.  great catchers are probably the hardest thing to come by in baseball right now.  so, relax all you tek haters.  the man is the captain.  and his tree trunk thighs will crush you!

now, as we speak there is a traffic jam just north of me in pawtucket.  why?  b/c big papi is @ mccoy w/ the paw sox!  all 4 games are sold out, so that sucks for me, but it'll be good to see papi getting back into the swing of things.  oddly, he's going to AA portland after those games instead of before.  and then it's back to boston!  and to top it off, he became an american citizen!

now, one guy whose been a bit of a disappointment has been jacoby ellsbury.  i think after the end of last season and how impressive he was, we got a little too high on hopes for him being a star from the git-go.  but, he is great on the base path, and his team leading 35 steals is very impressive.  his hitting needs work, but he is a rookie.  probably not rookie of the year (which i thought would be a lock), but the point is he's young and has a lot more upside then down.

oh coco, you throw a mighty swing!  crisp had a bit of a tussle with the rays back in june, in case you forgot.  it was good times.  but, he's still in town (notice i say that every month).  and he's played in 71 games (that's 9th on the team).  so, he's on the field more often than not.  i guess it's good they kept him around this long.  his speed has been handy, and obviously his fists, too :)

mike lowell has been, well, mike lowell at 3rd.  solid on both sides of the game, lowell seems to be back in top form, batting just under .300 and hitting well.

friggin' julio lugo.  this is the stuff that makes me say "no, theo epstein is NOT a boy genius!"  this guy sucks.  but, you can't have a great player at every position, and i'd say that the other 8 all have good players filling in.  that being said, having the worst defensive shortstop in baseball can be a HUGE liability.  i've said it a million times, but why they chose to give this numbnuts the money and years instead of orlando cabrera or the defensively amazing alex gonzalez is completely beyond me.  he does offer some speed on the bases, but that aint gonna cut it.  i want him gone ASAP.

and filling in nicely have been guys like sean casey (43 games, 126 at bats and a .373 average!), brandon moss, alex cora, jed lowrie and catching for wakefield, kevin cash (no relation to johnny).  onto the pitching.

the only sox pitcher to play in this years all-star game (and get booed by a bunch of NY guido dumb dumbs!  HE WAS ON YOUR SIDE YOU FRIGGIN' FOOLS!) was jonathan papelbon.  paps has 28 saves and all of ny/nj can kiss his bud light box wearin', irish jig dancin' backside!

the starting pitching has been good.  a bit dinged up, and at times inconsistent, but overall has been good - must be, considering the sox record!  the best pitcher has been, without a doubt, dice-k.  matsuzaka was out for a bit with injury, but still is tops on the team with a 10-1 record.  dice-k's 2.65 era is also the lowest of all sox starters.  it's nice to have the k man back.

now i don't know what's going on with josh beckett.  he's got a team leading 107 k's, but his 9-5 record and 3.94 era are not very, well, josh beckett-like.  this season has reminded me of his first season in boston.  it's been kind of a game to game thing.  maybe the 2nd half can be a turn-around for him.  hope so.

jon lester is great.  definately runner-up to dice-k as the sox best pitcher this year.  his no-no was fantastic, and he's continued on leading the team in games & innings pitched, and has a 7-3 record, 3.38 era, 82 k's and 2 complete games (both shutouts, one being the no-hitter).

timmy wakefield is a dynamo.  now, i realize he pitches a knuckleball, and therefore has much longer staying power, but to be turning 42 in a few weeks and still be 2nd on the team in games & innings pitched is impressive.  and, his pitching has been a great asset to the team in that it also gives varitek a needed break every 5 games.  wake has 3.60 era with a 6-6 record (he's usually right around .500, with the exception of last years 17-12 record) and suprisingly is 2nd on the team with 84 k's.  and he's pitched a complete game.  i still have a very hard time watching him, though.  the knuckleball is boring, sorry.

justin masterson was a nice addition to the team while dice-k was out.  and he is currently in the process of being turned into a bullpen pitcher in pawtucket.  Lord knows the sox need help in the 'pen, and this kid probably has the goods.  and he has a great attitude, which helps.  while starting, he went 4-3 with a 3.67 era, and had 39 k's in the 9 games he pitched.

another 9 games pitched guy is clay buchholz.  though, this kid has been disappointing thusfar.  like ellsbury, i think we all expected too much too soon based on that no-hitter at the end of last season.  clay maybe spending too much time with penthouse pets and not enough time pitching.  i dunno.  but his 2-4 record & 5.70 era aint gonna' cut it.

bartolo colon has been a great help with his 6 starts.  i'm not sure what the sox have in store for him, if he'll be the 5th starter or not, but i'll take the colon over the clay.

and on a final note, it's basically been determined that curt schilling's career is over.  and what a career it has been.  now, he doesn't cut it in regard to the "traditional" stats that make a hall of fame career, but this guys performance in the post season is easily all-time top 5 stuff.  he's been simply amazing in the playoffs.  and he deserves to be in cooperstown.  God bless you, curt.  instead of 2 world series championships in 4 years, we'd be looking at 89 years without 1.  so, let me just say, thank you.

my 2nd half prediction:  sox win the AL east, sox win the AL and sox win the world series!  of course, i don't base this on anything aside from my hopes :)  GO SOX!

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]]> http://iuajenniferbogart.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/9999-and-mum-comprising/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:18:05 +0000 iuajenniferbogart http://iuajenniferbogart.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/9999-and-mum-comprising/ Seeing as how like so covey persevere versus issue a statement over and above joyfulness, the Philadelphia Phillies are the losing-est double harness on Big-time Baseball, this stage hovering at 9,999 spriteliness losses whereas the yeas and nays. Added to their endwise squandering, yourself moral courage happen to be the fore regiment so as to have enough 10,000 matching, a non-phenomenon life set in preparation for in addition to 10,000 charcoal balloons and 10,000 birds friendly whereas give the ax, mid unrelated Attic twists whereat the craft 10,000.

Everyman seemed good enough that puttering a tug of war straddle-legged Friday the 13th quasi the grouch. Yours truly wasn't. The at worst speciality that got kicked erst was plurative St. Louis Vital knuckle, herein a 13-3 defeasance that featured 23 Phillies hits and 3 Prevailing errors, along with a blocking back who dropped a regurgitate upon the false teeth from a total instead in re an heretical. (Second so Mr. Molina: call on account of the lieu relating to"center" is in all conscience venenate the gathering.)

The press association till now sports that world-shaking Bolshevist numeral"1" anent the sports convoke; the countdown so as to 10,000, and myself counsel abide there additionally tomorrow.

Our times alter unrepeatable Alexandrine the Cards 10-4, in there with a gross 14 hits.

Highly maybe tomorrow will and bequeath be met with the sunburst. Bearings maybe not.

How 'upbeat superego Phils!

The only run was produced when Manny Ramirez drove home second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka went seven and a third innings not letting up a run and striking out five batters. Setup man Hideki Okajima picked up his second win of the season while Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 26th after blowing one last night.

Scott Baker pitched a great game going seven strong letting up five hits and striking out seven of his own. The Twins could not give him run support though. Nick Punto tried to manufacture some sort of run when he hit a triple. The Twins left nine men on base in total.

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]]> http://3menandablindguy.wordpress.com/?p=92 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:35:32 +0000 tarheelmike82 http://3menandablindguy.wordpress.com/?p=92 Ah... that's better.  The "paste special" option is the trick to getting this thing to work right... I see.

6:00 LIVE from Tropicana Dump… er, Field, we've got one of the bigger pre-All-Star Break games you'll see this season, the FIRST PLACE Tampa Bay rays hosting the defending World Series Champs, the hated Boston Red Sox, with the Rays looking to sweep Boston in St. Pete for the second time this season. On the intro, we see FOUR Red Sox shirts in line coming into the stadium. ZERO Rays shirts. Vomit-inducing. But there DOES appear to be a good number of TB fans in the house, and they are armed with signs and cowbells.

6:02 Dave O'Brien and the Bulldog on the call, and OMG~ERIN ANDREWS is in the house!! She talks about Evan Longoria as they show B.J. Upton bebopping to the music in his head in the dugout, and manager Joe Maddon and the Wild Thing Vaughn glasses.

6:04 Oh, and by the way, the pitching matchup tonight? Scott Kazmir vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Not too shabby.

6:05 And I get a call from my buddy Eric - and I get suckered into going to the Biscuits game tonight. So… I am DVR'ing the game, and will return tonight to do this plausibly live. It'll be like I never left. Trust me.

6:06 And I'm back. See? Like I never left… except for the ever slight hangover I now have, the swollen index fingers I have from playing Rock Band for the first time last night, and the knowledge of the final score to the game. Yes, they announced it over the PA at the game last night which pissed me off. Oh, and the Biscuits lost in spectacular fashion, blowing a two run lead in the 9th - highlighted by a Buckner-esque fielding error by Montgomery second baseman Josh Asanovich with the bases loaded and TWO OUTS, just minutes after he hit the home run to tie the game and spark an 8th inning Biscuit rally. But hey, the fireworks are still better than Selma's 4th of July. Oh, and I got another foul ball, too.

6:08 J.D. Drew is AL player of the month for June. I call shenanigans.

6:09 And they drool all over Longoria when they show the Tampa defense, citing the incredible defensive play he made Tuesday night as proof. Fair enough.

6:10 FOURTH sellout of the year at the Trop! Let's celebrate!! Coco Crisp is serving the last game of his five game suspension stemming from the Fenway brawl bewteen the two clubs last month in which Coco came off like a total punk.

6:11 Before we go further… why isn't Hershiser doing the color for the marquee Sunday night games? Bulldog is EXCELLENT.

6:13 And dammit! Pedroia turns on one and lines it straight over the left field wall to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead. He's hitting .579 against Kazmir in his career?? Good god.

6:14 Our AL Player of the Month flies out harmlessly to center, and Manny gets BOOED as he comes up!!! There are more Rays fans in the house than Boston fans!! This is a watershed moment!!

6:15 Interesting item I just noticed: they have Manny's stats given a particular count and update it after every pitch. Very nice.

6:16 And Kazmir blows two past Manny to strike him out and get out of the inning with only the solo homer.

6:18 Fireworks commercials… gotta love the Fourth of July. I just wanna know what happened to the cheap Fireworks City ads with Jery "The King" Lawler sitting on a rocket as it flies thru space.

6:19 Iwamura hacks at the first pitch and grounds out. Way to work the count, Frenchy.

6:21 Crawford battles back from an 0-2 count to get a walk. O'Brien and Hershiser are so competent, they make this blog a little difficult, since I get no softballs from them.

6:22 Awkward fielder's choice does in Crawford, but Upton's now at first with two down for Pena.

6:23 B.J. takes second and O'Brien says that "this team runs and runs and runs." As in stealing bases, that's a good thing. If it were an intestinal issue, it would not.

6:26 Pena walks, and my boy Longoria steps up with two on. I'll relate this story now: Eric was telling me about how a girl he works with at Bonefish claims that Longoria was trying to pick her up one night when he was here with the Biscuits. Eric says it's bullshit, that he was just trying to get a free drink. I concurred, and added that Evan could get any piece of ass he wanted. Even mine. Yes, I was drunk.

6:28 And on cue, Longoria goes opposite field to tie the game. Hershiser and O'Brien put him over as a kid who plays like a veteran. Agreed there. Francoeur needs to watch some Longoria tapes to learn plate discipline.

6:29 And hey, it's former Met Cliff Floyd. 0-19 with runners in scoring position. Glad to see things haven't changed since his days in New York.

6:30 Floyd watches four pitches and Dice loads 'em up. Matsuzaka looks bad tonight, and you have to wonder if the shoulder is still bothering him.

6:33 Navarro gets good wood to right center, but it hangs in the air too long, and Drew runs it down, and Tampa leaves them loaded. 1-1 after 1.

6:35 Sox/Yanks on Sunday night. Shocker. Actually, it's sorta of refreshing to see Boston and New York there. At least it's not the Cubs and White Sox for the 7th straight week.

6:36 Kazmir walks Lowell on four pitches

6:39 Pena makes a nice stab on Youkilis and gets the force at second. Oh, and Brett Favre says the return rumors are just that. Sure, Brett.

6:41 Varitek's 36?? Damn, I didn't know he'd been around that long. Maybe if he were 26, he coulda caught up with Kazmir there. Too bad…. Well, not really.

6:43 The Coke I'm drinking this morning still tastes like the Nasty Light I was drinking while playing Rock Band. Moss rips one at Pena, who makes a diving stop that pops out of his glove, and Iwamura throws it away. Just a bad break there.

6:46 A base hit by Lugo here would give Boston the lead, and he keeps fouling pitches off. Chopper toward third, and Longoria charges and makes the play to end the threat.

6:50 Twins/Sox on Monday. Another shocker. That makes THREE Boston appearances on ESPN in six days.

6:51 O'Brien reminds us that the Rays have the best record in baseball. On July 2. Incredible.

6:52 Dickie V is in the house!! Hershiser comments that he's in the front row along the third base line with a lefty at the plate, and he's not watching the action. O'Brien says, "His lovely wife Lorraine's job is to protect Dick." Funny.

6:57 Iwamura apparently uses an alligator skin fielding glove. I smell a new Crocodile Dundee movie - hey, it can't be any worse than the last one.

7:00 Crawford pulls one thru the hole and we got first and third with two down as B.J. steps in.

7:03 Crawford steals second without a throw, and Varitek wants time to get signs straight with Dice. Upton ropes one, but it's right at Pedroia, and each team sees a rally go up in smoke in the second.

7:04 So, we've played two innings in an hour. God love AL baseball.

7:08 Pedroia now triples to left center. Kaz needs to either walk him next time up or pitch him low and away…. Or in his ear.

7:10 Now a walk to Drew, and Navarro has to make a stop in the dirt to keep Pedroia from scoring.

7:13 One of the great hitters of our generation - Manny - is at the plate, and I'm more concerned with the hot blonde getting out of her seat behind him.

7:14 Ramirez with a bouncer to third, and Longoria stops it with his chest and throws him out. Pedroia scores however, and it's 2-1.

7:15 Lowell flies out to end the inning, stranding Drew at second.

7:19 Can't tell if Matsuzaka's little shimmy he does during his windup is more Jack Parkman from Major League II or Joe Kingman from The Game Plan. It drives the women in Boston crazy.

7:21 Holy shit… Hershiser says he sees "a little Alex Rodriguez" in Longoria. That's high praise. Evan grounds to Lugo, and ALMOST beats the throw. If Larry jones hustled like that, he'd blow a quad. Hell, he's capable of blowing a quad at half-speed, what am I saying?

7:25 Floyd wth a hard chopper back at Dice, who reaches up and snags it nonchalantly for the 1-2-3 inning. Bout time.

7:27 Cool item of interest: they have a petting tank of rays there at the park. They have something similar at the Georgia Aquarium, and little one liked it.

7:29 6 Sox or Yanks leading the AL All-Star voting right now. The other three? Ichiro, Hamilton, Mauer. Love the popular vote, but it makes me roll my eyes sometimes.

7:30 Vartiek flies into foul ground, and Navarro and Pena make a charge for it at the dugout, and it goes off Navarro's glove as they nearly collide right at the rail. Could've been worse.

7:31 Tek and Moss both single to right and it's first and second with one down. Kazmir's not pitching bad, but nothing's coming easy tonight.

7:34 Lugo loops one to left center, and Varitek throws on the brakes, and it's Ellsbury "with a Red Sox on every base," says O'Brien. Is that proper grammar?

7:37 Kazmir gets the ground ball for the double play, but Ellsbury's WAY too fast down the line, so they only get one and Varitek scores. BUT WAIT! We get baserunner interference on Lugo and the inning's over!! Crap call on one hand because they weren't getting Ellsbury anyway, but Lugo's a moron for sliding at Bartlett five feet wide of the bag anyway with his arms flailing. If this were Coco Crisp, a fight would've broken out. So the Sox screw themselves because they are undisciplined and stupid. It's the LITTLE THINGS, people.

7:43 Not much doing here, so we talk about Coco being a jerk and the bench clearing brawl. Coco crawling out of the bottom of a pile like a cockroach sums it up for me.

7:46 Another 1-2-3 inning for Dice as he strikes out the side, and he's obviously settling down. Good for my fantasy team. Bad for the Rays.

7:50 Oh boy, Pedroia to lead off. He works the count to 2-2, and then laces one down the first base line for a double. Kaz got the away part right, but this one was up, and Pedroia's a single shy of the cycle.

7:53 Now Drew ropes one to a huge gap in left center, and it's an RBI triple for the AL Player of the Month. Credit where it's due, good piece of hitting and he busted has ass to make third.

7:55 Big pitch by Kazmir that totally fools Manny for the backwards K.

7:56 Lowell grounds out to Longoria, and they can't get the runner in. If Kazmir gets out of this only giving up the one run, it will be a moral victory and perhaps give the Rays a boost.

7:57 And they decide to walk Youk and deal with Varitek.

8:00 1-2 count to Varitek and Kazmir's almost out of it, but THROWS A WILD PITCH and Drew rushes in to score. 4-1 Boston. AWFUL sequence.

8:04 Halfway home as the Rays come up for the bottom of the 5th.

8:06 Erin tells us the story about somebody with cancer meeting Joe Maddon and dropping a "Devil Rays" in the conversation, and thus getting fined a dollar. Erin holds the dollar up on camera… and I contemplate the thought of Erin Andrews and a bunch of singles.

8:09 After a 2-0 count, B.J. Upton is hitting .182. How in the world does THAT happen? He hits .350 on a full count, and draws a walk here.

8:12 They have the shift on for Pena, and Upton takes second as Lowell has to come all the way over to field the throw. The Rays run and run and run.

8:13 And Pena strikes out to end the inning and leave Upton at second. Lovely.

8:16 Trevor Miller is in for Kazmir and Moss fouls out on the first pitch.

8:20 I'm momentarily distracted by idiots, and Miller's got two down, and then plunks Ellsbury on a 1-2 pitch. Now it's Pedroia looking for his cycle.

8:23 And Pedroia loops the first pitch to center…. But it's got too much air on it and B.J. runs it down. End of the inning.

8:25 Okajima's in to relieve Dice, who had settled in after the pitch count passed 75. Longoria leading off, and Papelbon's warming up in the 6th?

8:27 Broken bat single for the golden boy and that's a promising start to the inning.

8:28 Aybar pinch hits for Floyd. Willie Randolph does NOT agree with this decision.

8:29 I don't either, as he harmlessly fouls out. And Erin talks to Vitale… her shirt isn't quite low cut enough at the angle she's sitting. But it's close. Dickie V puts over David Price, who was MONEY in Montgomery on Tuesday night. Vitale says Tampa should grab an OF at the trade deadline, and openly wonders what would be if it was Crawford, Upton, and Hamilton in the outfield. Then he says Baldelli needs to get healthy. Like THAT will ever happen. Vitale is absolutely crazy and he's nowhere near the color commentator he once was, but he is a treasure. Even if he has an unhealthy infatuation with Mike Krzyzewski and Duke basketball.

8:33 Gomes breaks a bat on a foul ball, and this leads to another discussion of maple bats in the big leagues, which is about the 5th time I've heard that topic come up.

8:34 Goofy play in which Gomes towers one down the left field line, and it hits the catwalk and lands in fair territory. Momentarily ruled fair, but then overruled, so Gomes goes back to the plate and Longoria back to first.

8:36 Gomes strikes out to end the inning.

8:40 I go grab a drink and by the time I get back, there's a man on first and the Rays are going to the pen to deal with Ramirez.

8:42 And it's Gary Glover's job to get Manny out.

8:43 And to NOT throw wild pitches like the one he just threw that allows Drew to advance 90 feet to second base.

8:44 Very nice "Enjoy Second Place Now…. And the rest of the season" sign by a clever Rays fan.

8:45 Manny takes a 3-2 pitch to deep right, but it's caught by Gomes shy of the track, and Drew moves up another base.

8:47 Glover gets Lowell to chase a bad pitch and foul out for the second out. Very big play there.

8:49 And they decide to walk Youk and deal with Varitek. Yes, I wrote the same thing an hour ago.

8:50 And Glover strikes out Tek to end the inning and strand Drew at third!! Very nice!

8:52 Wakefield vs. Chamberlain on Sunday Night Baseball!! A washed up old knuckleballer against a fat retarded looking guy! Be there or be square!!

8:54 Bartlett with a leadoff double - just what the doctor ordered. Aki - sans alligator glove - steps in as the crowd is beginning to stir again.

8:56 And Bartlett steals third for the second time in two nights!! CLOSE play.

8:59 Iwamura pulls one to first, and Youk makes a diving stop. But Aki beats everyone down the line!! Bartlett scores and it's 4-2, and the crowd's back into it.

9:01 Crawford rips one into right, and it's first and third with nobody out!! The cowbells are going and the Trop is suddenly LOUD! Probably the loudest it's ever been in the month of July during a baseball game.

9:02 Delcarmen out. Hansen in.

9:05 Hansen goes to 3-0 on Upton, and after taking a strike, Upton walks on five pitches. And they're loaded for Pena.

9:08 2-0 to Pena, and Hansen's thrown one strike in seven pitches. And ANOTHER ball.

9:10 Hansen evokes the spirit of Kenny Rogers and walks Pena, and Iwamura trots in to make it 4-3. And Longoria's coming to the plate.

9:12 And it's a DOUBLE TO THE GAP!! Crawford in! Upton in!! It's 5-4 Tampa, baby!!!! Longoria is THE MAN!!! I may take back by drunk caveat from my story earlier.

9:13 Needless to say, that's the hook for Hansen. He did NOTHING.

9:16 Aybar grounds out to first on a near-error by Youkilis, and the runners hold. Hey, that's an out. Only took them 24 minutes to get one this inning.

9:18 Navarro walks and we're loaded again. Gabe Gross to pinch hit here, and here comes Javy Lopez out of the Boston pen. He can catch, he can pitch, just call him Jose Oquendo. Wait, that's a different Javy Lopez. Never mind.

9:20 By the way, the VISA commerical narrated by Morgan Freeman with Derek Redmond is really good. I've always wanted to see someone make a movie out of that moment where his dad comes out of the crowd and helps him to the finish line. I know if this movie is ever made, I will cry like a baby while watching that scene. Not that it takes much for me to cry at a movie. Hell, I cried at the end of Cool Runnings with the similar finish.

9:24 Gross strikes out, and Boston looks like they might be able to get out of this jam with no further damage.

9:25 Bartlett singles up the middle! Pena scores! Longoria scores!! It's 7-4!! (And suddenly, I DON'T know the final score, because I swore it was announced at Riverwalk as a 6-4 final.)

9:28 The Bottom Line says Larry Jones homered. But did he have the fortitude to trot the bases like Kirk Gibson? Like it matters, because the Braves are the Phillies' bitches this season anyway.

9:29 Iwamura strikes out to end the inning, the Rays having batted around. A 35 minute inning. Glad I set the DVR to run two hours long.

9:32 Glover mows down Moss on three pitches to open the eighth. And the rumor was that Favre "had the itch" to come back and play. Maybe it was some other kind of itch… ya know, something they make ointments and stuff for.

9:33 Love the fat girl behind the Rays pen barely shaking her cowbell while everybody else is just clanging them. Lugo walks and it's back to the top of the order.

9:36 Good play by Iwamura going back and to his left to scoop up Ellbury's hard grounder and throw him out. Lugo moves up on the play and Pedroia's back up. I will now go hide under my bed.

9:39 Pedroia to the left center field gap and Lugo comes around to score. And rather than pull an Anthony Bowie and hold up at first base for the cycle, he puts the team ahead of his personal stats and takes second for the double. What an ingrate.

9:41 Dan Wheeler's coming in and this game is taking FOREVER.

9:43 Drew flies out to end the inning. Nothing else of note going on.

9:47 I look away for a minute and Upton grounds into a double play. If Pena can get on, my boy Longoria will get one more AB.

9:50 No dice, as Pena grounds out.

9:53 First pitch of the 9th is high, and Manny hits the deck, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd. No shenanigans here, and Manny winds up on base after Bartlett airmails a throw from short.

9:57 Lowell with a good AB and he fights one to right field. First and third with no down here.

9:58 No action in the pen as it's gonna be all on Wheeler to get out of this one.

9:59 Youk is really scary in this spot here. And as soon as I type that, Youk DRILLS one to deep center, but B.J. is able to chase it down at the track in the deepest part of the park. And Youk drops about 5 different four letter words upon seeing Upton come down with it.

10:02 Varitek turns on one, but pulls it foul. That would've tied the game as Lowell was running.

10:03 And Lowell runs again on a hit and run… but Tek whiffs and they NAIL Lowell at second by about five feet. Excellent!!

10:04 And Wheeler gets Varitek LOOKING!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! THAT'S A SWEEP OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!! Oh, and they lead the division by 3.5 games with Toronto, Cleveland, and KC forthcoming on the schedule.

It's like 16 hours late, and even more to format, but that's it, that's the ballgame.  And it was a dandy.

I saw the craziest thing today when I was driving to work: some guy driving a pickup truck had headphones on. Headphones! While he was driving! Just boggles the mind that we have people that stupid living and doing federally-approved activities in this country.

In other news, the Sox won tonight. They beat the Astros 6-1. Drew had a real nice shot at a crucial point. Dice looked good even he only went five. Then Hansen, Delcarmen, Oki, and Papelbon came in and shut the door. I realized tonight it just really isn't fair when you can essentially end a baseball game in the fifth inning if you have a lead.

Tonight was also the second time in a row that Papelbon saved a game with a five run lead. The rule regarding saves is that there must be at most a three run lead or the tying run must be on deck. Last game, the bases were loaded and, therefore, the guy in the on-deck circle was the difference maker. But Papelbon did his job. Tonight he entered with a three run lead and two outs in the eighth. We scored two in the top of the ninth to make it a five run margin but Papelbon entered while it was still a save.

In other news, the NBA Draft proved again that drafts are interesting but obsessively over-covered. Hearing Andy Katz (or one of the other planks up there) declare that, "Derrick Rose is going. To. Chicago." made me wonderwhat talking to him about taxes must be like. I mean, he's supposed to love basketball.

Brooke Lopez was also in free-fall mode. Russel Westbrook made out like a bandit. And Portland is looking like a dynasty in the making.

And I'll predict it now: Beasley will win Rookie of the Year solely because of his offensive stats and Miami's turnaround next year while playing near-league-worst defense in the weaker conference. And he'll get arrested at least three times before his first contract is up.

Either that or he'll get traded to Seattle (because evidently Durant <3's him) or Portland (just because nothing can go wrong there).