An Outlander at Gwinnett Stadium

When it was announced in the middle of last week that Tim Wakefield would be making a rehab start for the Pawtucket Red Sox Saturday night at the Gwinnett Braves, I somehow knew I would find myself making the drive down. And, sure enough, there I was Saturday afternoon on my way to the Atlanta area. It was actually a lot farther than I thought - nearly 140 miles each way, because you have to go almost to Atlanta, and then east on 285 and another 20 miles north on 85. Phew.

Gwinnett Stadium was just opened in April, and it's the home of the Atlanta Braves' AAA team. It's a nice park - very open, which allows you to catch a rare August breeze. There are some similarities to the Ted: plenty of the Tomahawk chop, "everybody clap their hands" (aargh), and a nice selection of local drafts (including my favorite from the Ted, Tomahawk Ale). In addition, there was one concession that had all fried things: funnel cakes, fried pickles, fried twinkies, and fried Oreos! Yes, I had to try the oreos. They were covered in funnel cake batter and then deep fried. It made the cookie kind of soft - but, really, you mostly tasted the funnel cake.

I got there in time for batting practice, which was fun. I recognized most of the PawSox guys either from their time with the big club, or from Kelly's photos. There was a great moment, when a young fan who had been soliciting autographs from everyone got manager Ron Johnson's attention. RJ came over, and the boy handed him a baseball card. RJ looked at it, chuckled, and I heard him say, "No that's not me. That's that guy over there" - and he pointed at another coach. Then he stuck out his hand to the boy and said, "Hi, I'm Ron Johnson and I'm the manager." Very cute.

Wake pitched three and 2/3 innings, with 2 runs, 3 hits and 3 Ks. Today's reports say that he was still limping as he left the mound - but I didn't notice it. He had one fielding opportunity, in the 3rd when Timmons hit a comebacker at him. Wake grabbed it and got the runner at 1st - part of a 1-2-3, 10 pitch inning. He finished his day with a strikeout.

From my vantage point, it didn't seem like he threw a lot of knuckleballs - or it wasn't "dancing." Instead he seemed to be tossing fastballs - which would make sense. If they are concerned about his leg/calf, they would certainly want him to test it as much as possible.

I stayed until the bottom of the 6th, when the PawSox defense imploded. In the blink of an eye, the Braves had scored 6 runs! I had already decided to leave by 9pm, so I didn't have to witness that in person. And I was glad I left when I did for other reasons: it was raining heavily and thundering as I hit 285 and 75. Luckily, I drove through it quickly, and made it home in good time. (I can't believe those Atlanta drivers: going 75-80mph in the freakin' rain??)

So, it was a fun little lark. A lot of fellow Red Sox fans in attendance! There were two guys behind me who had some pretty imaginative chants. Like, every time Chris Duncan came up, they cheered for "Donuts." (as in Dunkin...). And of course, for Aaron Bates, "Go Master"!

And here are a few photos:

Tim Wakefield, All Star

'Nuff said. Yeah Wake!

The nicest man in baseball

Tim Wakefield has to be one of the nicest guys in the game. Today, a baseball field was named in his honor for his charity work with Franciscan Hospital in Boston. The Tim Wake Field - aw!

I read not long ago about how Wake goes to visit kids in the hospital very quietly - no media accompanying him. Just trying to brighten the days of sick children. Awesome.

This man needs to be on the All-Star Team! Are you listening Joe Maddon??

Time to Wake things up!

Tonight we see the pitcher who is fast becoming our "stopper" - Tim Wakefield. He's really picked up the team in his last two outings - even pitching a near no-hitter in one game. We need him to hold down the Tampa offense tonight - they've been pounding our pitching the last two nights. But we also need OUR offense to click - and particularly David Ortiz. Big Papi has started slow this year - I'm not really worried yet, but it is cause for concern. He just looks lost at the plate. And this is not something we're used to seeing from him. This is not our Big Papi - we're used to seeing the big smile and the effortless swings. It's early yet in the season, but....

This is a great video from the ProJo. Fishing for autographs at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. What a great tradition!

I ♥ Wake

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images (I love when a photographer captures how Wakefield holds the knuckler)

Every day, I've thought about posting. And every day, I've found a reason (work, tired, RS losing) to put it off. But today it's easy to write - especially about my favorite knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield.

Timmeh did it all for us yesterday. After Daisuke only went one inning on Tuesday night and the Sox had to use six pitchers during a 12 inning game, it looked like yesterday afternoon's game would be a disaster. But Wakefield stepped in. According to the Globe, he stepped into Terry Francona's office before the game. "I told him, I said, 'Listen, I understand the circumstances of the day, and I just want you to know whatever happens - don't take me out. Let me keep going,' said Wakefield."

And that's what he did. Not only eating up innings, but pitching a no-hitter into the 8th inning! After giving up a hit to Suzuki, Wake kept going, for a complete game victory, 8-2.

More importantly, our offense finally recovered from it's jet lag. This was the first game of the season where they scored more than 5 runs. Ortiz had a double - his first extra base hit of the season. Lowell and Drew both homered. Yeah!

So, they came home happy. As happy as you can be when you're record is 3-6. On the upside, they haven't been swept in a series yet. Friday night begins a 9 game home stand, including the Patriot's Day game on Monday at 11am.

In the meantime, an off-day today means an extra 24 hours to luxuriate in Wakefield's performance yesterday. If any member of Red Sox Nation had forgotten how valuable he is to our team, yesterday was a fantastic reminder.

Keep the Faith!

GO RED SOX!

Step 1 Achieved

Screen cap from Surviving Grady

Giddy Wake says it all! The Red Sox secured a playoff berth last night with their victory over likely Cy Young winner Cliff Lee.

On to the ALDS!

Wakefield

Tonight, our Tim Wakefield hits a milestone: his 500th game for the Red Sox. From the ProJo:

Tim Wakefield will be making his 500th appearance on the mound for the Red Sox tonight when he starts in the middle game of the three-game series against the Rangers.

That will make Wakefield only the 23rd pitcher in major-league history to have 500 games and 350 starts with the same team. There are only two other active players who have reached those milestones, though each of them — Tom Glavine and John Smoltz — happens to be on the disabled list right now.

Wakefield is the 46th pitcher in major-league history to appear in at least 500 games for one team, and he is only the second Sox pitcher to work in 500 games. Bob Stanley (637) was the other.

What a fantastic milestone for Timmeh - and the team. He's been the one consistent element in our pitching staff for all these years. We can always count on him to eat up innings when he hits the mound, and he's proven time and again that he'll do whatever the team asks. Whether it's starting a game, or going out to the bullpen. He gave up that game-winning home run to Aaron (censored) Boone in 2003 - and then stood on that same mound in Yankee Stadium a year later and reveled in the Sox' improbably victory in the ALCS. His salute to Johnny Pesky that year brought tears to my eye - as did Mike Timlin's tribute to him during the 2007 celebration.

And he does it all while looking like everybody's dad. To watch him on the field during batting practice - even on the day he's pitching - he's so relaxed. Some of that ease comes from the fact that a knuckleballer can pitch forever! And we hope that's the case.

Here's a great shot of Wake during pre-game stretches in Baltimore, enjoying a little Sinatra music that was playing in the stadium:

I choose to ignore

Photo by Jim McIsaac (whose work I am loving of late!)
Today's Red Sox-Yankees game was carried nationally by the despised Fox Network. They have increased my hatred by deciding folks in my area would rather watch the Cubs-Cardinals game. So I had to resort to my backup: MLB Game Day Audio. (The only reason I pony up the money to be a member of "Red Sox Nation" is to get free access to this service). Now, I am a visual learner - I do much better if I can read or watch rather than hear something. So, normally I would also follow along on the SG chat and GameDay Live on mlb.com.

However, Comcast has decided they don't want me to have fast access. For the second day in a row, I have experienced extreme slowdowns in access. Yesterday, after an hour of no access, I called Comcast; after screwing around on their end, they decided they needed to send a technician. When? Sometime between 8 and 5 today. Aaargh. Miraculously, by 6pm, I was back at full function - and was whizzing around the net this morning. So I cancelled. But, between this same time frame today - 2pm and 6pm - I again experienced problems. Aaargh.

In order to preserve my audio connection, I had to shut down everything else. Talk about frustrating!! So, since I was not able to actually see the game, nor participate in any discussions of it, I choose to ignore that the game ever happened. I will pretend we are going for a sweep tomorrow.

Seriously, I'm bummed we lost - but not in despair. It was a very close game - it was within our grasp to win it several times - and it's made us doubt that the Yanks will be a contender this year. I never count them out - but comparing what I saw in Tampa


with what I've seen in the Bronx of late - I think we all should be much more worried about the Rays.

In the meantime, here's Tim Wakefield playing some air trumpet to a Sinatra tune:


Now, don't you feel better?!

File photo
When Tim Wakefield has his knuckleball going, it is an awesome sight. Just look at how delicately he holds that ball - like he's just pushing it toward the plate. And last night, he definitely had it going on! At one point, he retired 17 batters in a row. He didn't issue a single walk, and had 6 strikeouts. He only threw 98 pitches in 8 innings of shutout pitching. Wow. He probably could have pitched a complete game, but I guess Timlin needed some work - he finished up the shutout in the 9th. This interesting tidbit from Gordon Edes:

Research by the Elias Sports Bureau indicates that last night marked the first time since 1900 a team pitched a shutout using multiple pitchers all over the age of 40.

[Does the Elias Sports Bureau just sit around waiting for these calls? Do they have these stats just readily available?]

Oh, and Manny hit #497! Yeah!

AP Photo - Paul Sancya

Tonight it's the third game of this four game series. Buchholz is "on the bump" - and the Tigers have Galarraga going. We haven't had much luck against him, but...

Take me out...

As a warm-up for tonight's Eastern Time Zone Opener (also known as the Red Sox' THIRD opening day of 2008!), I watched one of my favorite old-timey movies. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Esther Williams. It's a classic 1949 MGM musical, one of many that the studio cranked out and the public ate up.

This one uses baseball as its basis. Sinatra and Kelly are 2/3 of a double play combo for the "Wolves," and in the off-season are a vaudeville team. They come into Spring Training and find distressing news: the owner has died and a distant realtive, KC Higgins, has inherited the team and will be an involved owner. Of course, KC turns out to be Esther Williams. Romantic complications ensue, with a happy ending.

There are a few great production numbers. But my favorite is the number which celebrates the double play combo, "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg." It's so easy to picture OUR favorite dp combo. Pedroia as the skinny, underweight Frank Sinatra - our Jew (Youk) as Goldberg. Although I'm not sure I picture Lugo as Gene Kelly.

ETA this Youtube clip

Anyway - a guilty pleasure for baseball fans....

And tonight!

Our favorite knuckleballer starts tonight in the East Coast Home Opener for the Red Sox! The Red Sox are in Toronto - and Tim Wakefield is on the mound. How will he perform without his binky, Doug Mirabelli? The Sox have given the vote of confidence to Kevin Cash - and he did well in his first start with Wakey. I really HOPE he does well - because I don't think the Sox will be flying Dougie back in from somewhere a second time.

Go Sox!

They've arrived!

(Getty Images Photo / Toshifumi Kitamura)
So, the boys have arrived in Japan! Looks like the 19 hour flight didn't take much out of Mr. Wakefield!

Wednesday at the White House

The Red Sox are headed tomorrow to Washington. They've got a 2:30 meeting with President Bush in the Rose Garden when, according to ESPN, they'll present him with a special RS jersey:

The white Red Sox jersey with the name "Bush" and the number "07" on the back traveled around the clubhouse. One by one, the World Series champions signed it with a blue Sharpie.

It's a gift from Boston's players to President Bush, who will preside at the annual White House ceremony honoring baseball's best on Wednesday.

Following the ceremony, they'll go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and visit with injured vets. I remember seeing pictures from a similar visit they made after the '04 series, and read some of the moving accounts from the players. According to that article, said Francona:

"You're looking at kids that have lost limbs but it was humbling. It was an honor to be there.

"Everybody wanted to stay and talk. I've heard a lot of the veteran guys telling the younger guys, this is what you'll remember about this trip," he said.

What a fantastic experience for them all.

Oh, and fantastic article in today's Globe by Gordon Edes. He follows Tim Wakefield's recent flight with the Blue Angels, and the parallel story of one of the Angels who got to see the Sox clinch the '04 championship. A beautifully written story, one that could have been maudlin or manipulative. It's neither. Have a kleenex handy.

ALCS Games 3 & 4

SHAUN BEST/REUTERS photo

This scene of the RS dugout during last night's Game 4 of the ALCS just about sums up how things have gone in Cleveland. It hasn't been pretty, to the point that I'd already repressed all memories of Monday night's game, and had to go back and re-read the recap on redsox.com Not fun.

Monday, Daisuke Matsuzaka could only go 4.2 innings, and the Sox bats were basically dead. The highlight offensively for the Sox was Jason Varitek's two run homer in the 7th, but it was not enough. The Sox lost 4-2 The dead bats have lead to too many double plays, and on Monday one of those DPs came with the bases loaded. Crushing.

So, with the Indians leading the series 2-1, last night's game was big. Okay, not a do-or-die game (that will happen tomorrow night :( ) , but it would have tied the series and ensured a return trip to Fenway. Instead, the pitching and offense again proved mediocre. Actually, after a 16 day rest, Tim Wakefield gave us some pretty good innings. He had a no-hitter going until the 4th, and the knuckleball really seemed to be fluttering and confusing the young Indians batters. But then came the bottom of the 5th - and inning that seems to sum up the series. A lead-off homer to Casey Blake (who has the best beard in baseball, IMHO). Some defensive boo-boos, including a wild stab by Wake that bounced off his glove and killed what looked to be a sure double play. Suddenly, the knuckleballer had crossed over into ineffectiveness. I give Francona credit for the quick hook - and in came the usually reliable Manny Del Carmen. Unfortunately, not so reliable. He gave up a 3 run homer to the man with the horribly spelled name, Jhonny Peralta - and suddenly it was 7-0. Ugly.

The bright spot was the first signs of life for our bats in the top of the 6th. Back-to-back-to-back homeruns by Youkilis, Ortiz and Ramirez seemed to signal a momentum shift in our favor - but it was not to be. That was it, and the Sox went down 7-3.

There was lots of talk yesterday about whether Francona should have skipped Wake and gone straight to the ace, Beckett - have him pitch on short rest. But Tito opted for Wake - and that decision seemed the right one for the first four innings. But...there will a lot of second-guessing and armchair managing going on today in RS Nation.

But now we do have a fully rested Beckett on the mound tomorrow night for the pivotal game. We lose, we go home...We win, WE GO HOME! Fenway hasn't been kind to our opponents in the post-season. I said a week ago that Joshua Patrick would get us to the promised land of the World Series, so let's hope he gets something started for us Thursday night.

Keep the faith! Go Sox!

Righting the ship

So, Wake is on the mound tonight for the Sox as they begin the last road trip of the season. Three games in Toronto, three in Tampa Bay with an off day in the middle. Then it's back to Fenway for the final 6 games.

The magic number is still 9, after the Sox lost to the Yankees last night. A very frustrating game - they were down by one run in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and the man you'd want to see at the plate is there. But David Ortiz popped out, and the Yankees squeaked out another victory.

But being a glass-half-full kind of girl, I see some good. We definitely lost those games - the Yankees didn't beat us. We lost due to some poor bullpen management, and to some dead bats. The game we won - Saturday's 10-1 victory - made a huge statement. When our pitchers are at their best - and Josh Beckett has been at that point all season - and when they're backed up by some good offense, we are unbeatable. We dominated the Yankees Saturday - and that bodes well for the post-season.

Manny is still out, although I think he's close to coming back. I'd rather he not rush - we want him at 100% come October 1st. Youkilis is also out - he got hit by a pitch Saturday, and has a bad bruise. We need him, too!

And my pop culture note for the weekend. They showed "Highlander: The Source" on the SciFi Channel Saturday night. Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the series - have most of the episodes on tape! - but this was a bloody mess. The plot made absolutely no sense, the special effects made me dizzy. The only bright spots were the smoking hot Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield. That's two hours of my life I'm not getting back.


And in the random photo of the day:Photo by AP
Apparently, Russell Crowe and Michigan coach Lloyd Carr have gotten to be great mates. They became acquainted when Crowe heard that Carr was using his film "Cinderella Man" to inspire his team. Saturday, Crowe gave a pre-game pep talk to the Michigan squad, and it seems to have been very effective. Michigan beat Notre Dame 38-0. Go Blue!

The brooms are out

What a fantastic three game series in Toronto - especially if you're a Sox fan! The pitching has been absolutely lights out - the offense has come to life in a major way - and it looks like we're going to leave Toronto seven (7!) games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East. (BTW - Yanks lost today 14-2)

Wake looked really good tonight. There had been discussion about the dome being open - the Toronto GM said it was staying open no matter what because Wake pitches so much better inside. The knuckleball floats so much better in a climate controlled situation. But even with it open and after a shaky first, he bore down and started mowing down the opposition. And he finally got some run support - something usually sadly lacking in his outings.

We've also been homer happy for all three games. We had four homers in each of the first two games - and that was what made the difference. Mike Lowell is hot (in so many ways!) - he hit a homer in each of the three games. Youks also hitting well. And Manny hit his 475th career home run last night. Pedrioa showed us his bat, too - much to Remy's surprise.

And speaking of Remy, several classic moments in this series. Especially loved Orsillo's paper airplane - and the Matsuzaka sweatbands! Classic.

Finally, I don't get why Eric Hinske gets booed at Rogers Centre. He played well for Toronto - was Rookie of the Year - and he was traded. It's not like he went free agent and followed a cash trail. He had no choice! Oh, well.

Home to Fenway now for ten games. Old friend Kevin Millar will be in town starting tomorrow!

Random Wednesday Thoughts

AP Photo by Adrian Wyld
Mid-week greetings!
1) The second tough game for Daisuke in a row. The Blue Jays - and Gustavo Chacin - beat the Red Sox last night in Toronto, 2-1. It was a strange game, in that it felt like a much bigger lead. I was taken aback when I considered wearily turning off the tv in the 8th, and realizing that we were still only one run down. But we just couldn't seem to muster the offense to bail out Matsuzaka. (all except Wily Mo Pena, who sent one 500 yards!) Which leads me to...

2) Matsuzaka. Yeah, I know he's 1-2 now on the year. But I am still really encouraged by what I'm seeing. Granted, he seemed to have a total meltdown during the fourth inning last night - walking in Greg Zaun to put the Jays ahead. But he somehow regrouped and struck out the side in the 5th. He ended with a total of 10 strikeouts (the last rookie pitcher to have two 10-strikeout games this early in the season was Fernando Valanzuela!). I think he's still adjusting to America, to the Majors, and to his new team. Heck, it took Beckett nearly a year to find himself after just switching to the American League! So, I'm not out on any ledges yet. And his next two starts will be intense - Sunday night vs. the Yankees, and then Friday night at Yankee Stadium. If he thinks he heard some taunts from the crowd last night...

3) Great stuff from Edes today:

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was astounded yesterday to learn of a common practice in Japanese baseball known as "kantoku show," in which a manager doles out cash to players he considers deserving of a little bonus after a victory. Something extra in the envelope, for example, for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

"You're kidding me," Francona said when told of the "manager prize," as it is translated, according to an article in yesterday's New York Times. "That's not happening here, with what he gets."

"It should be the other way around," he said with a laugh. "If I manage a good game, he should give me something."

Plus think about the salary disparity between Matsu and Tito!

4) Also some interesting things on the NESN broadcast last night, talking about how different the relationship is between player and manager in Japan vs. the US. I guess Matsu is having to learn different interpersonal skills - is even having a hard time calling the manager "Tito."

5) Tonight it's Wakefield on the mound for the Sox. I love this shot of him from the "Fever Pitch" premiere...
I hope those bats have been drinking coffee today and are alert!

RS v.s Angels 4/13/07

AP Photo by Winslow Townson
Last night's game was so satisfying on so many levels. I'm so glad that Wake finally got some run support - the Red Sox exploded for 6 runs in the 8th, sealing the victory. I always feel so frustrated for Tim - he's such a good reliable pitcher, always willing to do whatever has to be done for his team. Who can forget his long walk off the mound after Aaron F*(&(*&ing Boone hit that home run in 2003 - or even better, him standing on the mound in 2004, enjoying the World Series victory?

Also of note last night was the re-awakening of Doug Mirabelli's bat. We all know the story of the BFFs - Doug and Wake. After Doug got traded to the Padres last year, his heart clearly still was in Boston. And Wake couldn't find another catcher who could corral that knuckleball. I'm still convinced Doug's return was orchestrated by Wake. Just put it to the Front Office that he wanted Doug back... And he's made some comments recently that leads you to believe that if Doug goes, Wake will retire.

So it was really great to see Doug have an outstanding game at the plate. A home run, three RBIs. It was like he said, hey, if no one is going to give my BFF any run support, I will. And they were both so cute in their post-game interviews - praising their bud's performance.

And speaking of BFFs, somehow the sight of Julian Tavarez and his new best friend, Daisuke Matsuzaka, fills me with both glee and fear. There were lots of shots of them in the dugout last night - Julian animatedly telling him some story and laughing crazily. As Don Orsillo said, do you think Matsuzaka actually understands anything Tavarez is saying? Remy: Not a word! In a game last week, there was a great shot of Tavarez standing with Matsu, with a Japanese phrase book clutched in his hand. Who could have predicted that crazy Julian would be taking Millar's place as class clown?

Also satisfying last night was Papelbon's appearance in the 8th. Once again bailing out the team, pitching out of a jam in the RS 8th. 6 pitches, two outs. He is awesome!

And it was great to see the offense come to life in the 8th. Just yesterday I had been telling someone that I didn't see our offense doing what they did in 2004 so often - come on strong at the end of the game. How many times in the past years have we seen the bats come to life in the 8th or 9th, saving or winning a game? I hadn't seen signs of this yet this year - until last night.

How to celebrate the victory? How about with a glass of....
I simply MUST have a few bottles of this!

And - warning - gratuitous shot of Mike Lowell in action....

AP Photo by Winslow Townson