If the Sox Win, Free Furniture For All!!

Things are good right now, very good. The Sox are once again back in the (ONE and ONLY) Fall Classic, and as far as I’ve heard there was not one single arrest, injury, assault, or near paralization (not a real word) due to jumping off a building at UMass after game seven of the LCS.

Before Sunday night was officially done and over everyone was shying away from coming out and saying it, but going into game seven you just had that feeling there was no way the Sox were losing this game. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, about the swagger the Sox had, the not-so-quite confidence they exuded as a team. They had it after they won the East, had it after they handily swept the Angles in three, had it after game one against the Indians, (sorta lost it there for three games against the Indians) and they definitely had it going into game seven of the LCS. You knew a few things going into that seventh game; 1) You knew Diasuke was getting pulled at the first sign of a trouble 2) You knew that our bullpen would be called upon to hold down the fort (related to #1, but still this was big) 3. You knew that guys other than Ortiz and Manny were going to have to come up big if we were going to win and 4) and you knew that Danny Mac was going to write a Running Simmons…errr I mean a Running Diary of the game. For the most part, things happened as planned, and the Sox did what they were supposed to do, they beat the Indians and got back to the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series….I’ve been babbling for 300 something words and have yet to even mention our opponents. That would be the Rockies of Colorado, and I haven’t mentioned them mostly because before last Sunday I could only name four, maybe five of them. This is sad considering I went to a game against Colorado this past June at Fenway, and as far as I remember I was relatively sober. That June series by the way, when the Rockies took two out of three, means NOTHING in this series. Do you think that Beckett will be thinking about his June loss to the Rockies tonight? The guy lives for reasons to get pumped up, after his smoking hot ex girlfriend sang the national anthem at the LCS he went out and destroyed the Indians. Just like our buddy B-rock seems to rise to the occasion and do something to blow us away every time we visit Amherst, Beckett rises to whatever the occasion calls. As good as Beckett has been this post season, the Rockies still have a solid line up (or so I’ve been hearing lately). During a recent conversation with my boy Leps we talked about the hitters on the Rockies, from what I remember he was pretty worried about the power hitters of Colorada, namely Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Larry Walker. I actually think he might have said something about Helton and Holliday, two slugger at different phases of their careers, but both equally capable of doing some serious damage in this series. Really though, without naming a bunch of names you won’t recognize and I can’t spell, let me just say the Sox have the edge in every possible heads up match up I can think of. From hitting to pitching, to team announcers, team mascots (Kevin Millar for Boston), to Ballparks and Cities, the Boston Red Sox have the edge. You can’t win on just edges, though, you need some luck, a few breaks, and big plays from the guys you least expect (witness grand slam: JD Drew).

I still like the Sox to win it in 6. I’m also taking the easy road and saying that Beckett wins two games and wins the MVP. I also have a feeling that behind Lowell, Ortiz, and Youk, JD DREW is going to come up big at one point or another in this series. So those are my picks, and real quick, here are Danny’s: Sox in Three, Trot Nixon as MVP (honorable mention goes to Kevin Millar)

There's Only One...

Game 7 of the ALCS seems like a pretty good time to keep a running diary. Daisuke Matsuzaka has the ball for the Sox tonight. The game is being broadcast in HD so you should be able to physically see the short leash he is on tonight. Beckett has been deemed available tonight. Any chance we could just start him and lower my risk of a heart attack?

Throwing out the first pitch tonight is former Sox first baseman, Mr. Cowboy Up, the man that was Born in the USA, Kevin Millar. He has to be the first guy ever to throw out the first pitch while being an active member of another team in the same division. Rumor is they wanted A-Rod, but he demanded that Jeter be flown in with him so Derek could hold his hand while he threw out the pitch.

Well...there is only one postseason, there is only one OCTOBER! (contrary to popular belief that there is actually 6 October's. Little known fact there.)

It's gametime. Oh, and for the second night in a row Tito has decided to start Jacoby Ellsbury and break up the Rally Killers, that solid part of the order known as Tek, Coco, and Lugo who have combined for 63 strikeouts and 97 double plays this ALCS. Shame to see them go...


8:22 Jensen Lewis gives us the starting lineup for the Indians. According to Lewis, pitching tonight for Cleveland is Jake The Snake Westbrook. Must be awesome to have Jake as a name. Automatically you have the nickname "The Snake." Gotta be pretty psyched to be born into the long line of Jake The Snake's that includes Jake the Snake Plummer, and Jake the Snake Roberts. Definitely naming my first son Jake just so I can call him Jake the Snake McDonnell. It must be awesome to be born with an automatic bad ass nickname like this. You must instantly gain like 10 points in badass-ness with the name Jake the Snake.

8:27 leps11 (8:27:52 PM): the team that breathes the easiest...wins
HeyUmp47 (8:27:29 PM): speechless
HeyUmp47 (8:27:32 PM): i love fox

Thank you Fox Sports. Who knew that breathing was a big part of the game? Sadly, I'll take comments like this over that stupid friggin graphic of Scooter from a few years ago explaining how a curveball works any day of the week.

8:31 Dice-K puts Cleveland down 1-2-3 in the first, closing out the inning by striking out Travis Hafner. A lot of people predict big things from Dice tonight. I won't lie, I am absolutely terrified of him tonight. A 7-run first inning from the Sox is absolutely the only way I end up with full confidence in Dice. He definitely looks on through one inning, but there's always that looming explosion that makes me wanna cry sometimes.

8:34 Joe Buck announces that Jake the Snake has thrown first strikes to 22 of 28 batters this series. Somehow McCarver shuts his mouth and doesn't ruin the comment with one of his typical idiotic statements about how strikes are important. I'm actually a little saddened by this. I was ready for something great there. Meanwhile, Pedroia leads off with a single.

8:38 Youk with a single, Ortiz swings at the first pitch and fouls one off the Cask N Flagon. He's locked in right now. McCarver also explained that in order for a sinker to get groundballs it needs to be low. Who knew? I thought a hanging sinker was the way to go. So glad Timbo is here to explain these things to me. I'd be lost without him.

8:42 Manny hits a 600 mph grounder to shortstop, Peralta shits his pants, makes an error, and the ball ends up in left. 1-0 Sox. Prior to that error, McCarver explains that having 2 strikes on the batter is an advantage for the pitcher. Interesting...I learn so much from McCarver.

8:45 Lowell singles, and they're loaded for JD Drew. Drew had the grand slam in the first inning last night. If he does it again tonight I might lose my mind. It only took JD 6 months to get accustomed to Boston. Hey, better late than never. JD grounds into a DP to end the first. I thought Tek was designated as our guy who grounds into DPs to end rallies like this. Does he pull JD aside before the second inning and explain "yo JD, I'm the Captain, the inning-ending DP to kill a rally is my thing. Don't let it happen again."

8:50 Just noticed Dice-K is sporting some new facial hair. It looks almost as pathetic as when Greech tries to look tough by not shaving for 6 months and has those three little hairs on his chin.

8:54 Another 1-2-3 inning for Dice-K with a little help from Mike Lowell. During the inning, Buck explained that Terry Francona is fully confident that Dice-K will be better next year. Any chance we could focus more on tonight guys? I mean there is only one OCTOBER for Christ's sake.

8:57 Beckett is out in the bullpen. Is there anyone Cleveland would like to see less than Beckett tonight? If it comes down to it, the entire city of Boston would go absolutely insane if Beckett came out of the pen tonight. Oh, Tek just hit a shot off the Monster for a leadoff double. "The Future" Jacoby Ellsbury follows up with a single. 1st and 3rd, no outs for Lugo. Luckily, Lugo would be allowed to bust out the typical double play and it would get the run in. He must have absolutely no idea what to do right now. Does he still hit into the DP but help the team or does he just strike out looking and contribute nothing? Such a dilemma for Julio.

9:01 Lugo does the expected...Double Play...but he does bring in the run so it wasn't all for nothing. Pedroia flies out to left to end the inning. 2-0 Sox. Keep adding the runs boys, I'm still horrified of Dice right now.

9:13 With 2 outs, Casey Blake singles. Cleveland has their first runner, and Dice is finally going to be tested. Dice throws one in the dirt and Blake takes second. Great baserunning there, gotta give Grizzy Blake credit there.

9:18 Dice strikes out Sizemore to end the top of the third. He looks great right now. He's not wasting pitches which is what kills him. I guess Tito said regardless of the inning, Okajima is the first guy out of the pen tonight. I like that move. He's been clutch all year, who would you rather have coming out of the pen to clean up a mess?

Anyway, as I was saying, Dice is hitting his spots. All of his pitches are on tonight. Let's hope he keeps this going. Oh, Dane Cook just explained there was only one World Series...Sorry Dane, you're wrong...World Series of Poker...asshole.

9:21 Youk leads off with a double down the left field line. Papi looks locked in man. No other way to say it. Here comes his revenge for the first inning strikeout. Someone warn the Prudential please? FYI, Youk is hitting .520 this series. That's just insane.

9:23 God our bullpen is weird. What the hell are they doing with the water bottle drum sets?

Actually you know what? As long as they keep pitching like they have been I don't care of Delcarmen starts playing the air guitar while he's out there.

Ortiz just grounded out to first, Youk moves to third with one out. They intentionally walk Manny to face Lowell. Mikey makes them pay here. The guy has been our MVP this year. That has to suck to have to decide between facing Manny who is completely locked in right now, and Lowell who has absolutely killed everyone this year.

9:27 Lowell flies out to right and Youk scores. 3-0 Sox. Thank God he didn't ground into a DP there. Not because it would have killed a rally, but because Tek and Lugo would have been seriously offended by it. The inning-ending, rally-killing DP has been patented by Tek and Lugo. JD already did it tonight and I'm sure Tek is planning on peeing in his cleats to teach him a lesson.

9:29 JD flies out to left to end the inning. 3-0 Sox after 3. Just need Dice to keep it up on the mound.

9:35 Hafner doubled off the Monster with one out. Here's where Dice needs to bear down. If he gets out of this my worries about him tonight go away.

9:40 McCarver tells some story about Joe Torre telling him about not taking pitches on the outside part of the plate with 2 strikes. I don't know, I worked pretty hard to ignore it. I am kinda shocked that it took thing long for McCarver to bring up Joe Torre. I expected his first sentence in the pregame show to be something like "We're here with Game 7 of the ALCS tonight and I love Joe Torre."

9:42 Garko just put a dent in the Green Monster with that one. 3-1 Cleveland. Dice threw an absolute meatball right there. I'm just happy the ball was only hit 20 feet off the ground. Any higher than that and we're looking at 3-2, with an unconscious Sox fan on top of the Monster. That ball was KILLED.

9:45 McCarver was just giggling at the sight of some Red Sox fan. Could his anti-Boston thing be any more obvious?

Johnny Peralta grounds out to short to end the threat. I woulda spelled his name like he does, but my spell check absolutely refuses to switch the O and H in his name as it is absolutely retarded. Seriously, how can you possibly screw up the spelling of the name Johnny?? How did his parents let this happen? The conversation with the hospital when he was born must have been hysterical.

Doc: Umm, Mr. and Mrs. Peralta I'm pretty sure you spelled that wrong.
Mr. P: No we got it, don't worry about it.
Doc: No seriously guys...that's wrong. I'm telling you that's not how you sp...
Mrs. P: You know what Doc YOU'RE WRONG!
Doc: Uhh...OK, do what ya gotta do...(under his breath) effing morons.

That bothers me everytime I see it. I'm convinced this is the main reason no one votes for him for the All-Star game. IT'S JOHNNY DAMNIT.

Anyway, Dice got out of what could have been a really ugly inning. I'm happy with that. The way they made contact that inning, it easily could have turned into a 6-3 game before Tito had time to make the move to Oki. I'll take 3-1 going into the bottom of the 4th, no problem.

9:52 Ellsbury lines to first, slight confusion with the error and Tek gets thrown out at second. I'm more surprised that Tek was on base in the first place than by any of the events of that play.

9:54 For the love of God let Ellsbury steal here. Lugo is in full form with the inning-ending DPs here. He already has 1 tonight. Don't let it happen again please. Let Jacoby steal.

9:55 Ellsbury off on the pitch and Lugo hits one through the hole at second. He did everything in his power to hit into the DP there. Just barely missed it. Great job Julio, way to contribute something other than a rally killing DP.

9:59 With Lugo off on the pitch, Pedroia grounds one right at second base for the DP. Nothing you could do there. Tailor made DP ball. Tek and Lugo are getting really sick of this. They're both gonna call Theo and ask for trades if people keep stealing the DP.

10:02 Lofton leads off by getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Lofton's reaction at second base has to be absolute shock. No doubt he was thinking "wait, Manny knows how to throw?"

10:04 That's back-to-back singles for Cleveland, with the incredible "Manny throwing a guy out" play that saved a run. Oki is up and throwing. Couldn't agree more with this. They're starting to get to Dice right now and I don't want any chances taken. First sign of trouble he needs to be pulled.

10:06 3 straight singles for Cleveland. For the love of everything that is holy pull Dice-K NOW. I don't let him throw another pitch. Of course, Tito is going to wait until the game is actually tied until we go to the pen. Don't make the move now when it makes sense. Wait til Cleveland regains ALL of the momentum before you bring in your 2nd best reliever to get out of the jam. Great move.

10:11 Sizemore with a sac fly to center. 3-2. We're one "Manny blacked out and made a sweet play" away from a tie game here. Did you ever think you'd hear the words "lead-saving defensive play" and "Manny Ramirez" in the same breath? Lofton is still in absolute shock in the dugout right now.

10:15 Dice just got hosed on a called third strike. This one could bite us in the ass in about .2 seconds.

10:16 Strikeout swinging:

leps11 (10:16:58 PM): what the (expletive deleted, we keep it PG here at the Hub) was that pitch
HeyUmp47 (10:16:43 PM): the dirtyball
HeyUmp47 (10:16:47 PM): broke like 6 feet

Yea thats right...I named that pitch the dirtyball. Deal with it. 3-2 heading into the bottom of 5. Dice absolutely needs to be pulled now. He's done. He did his job, got us through 5 with a lead. Don't risk it. They're killing him right now, it was an absolute miracle that he got out of this with only 2 runs. DO NOT PUT HIM BACK IN.

10:22 The Sox have hit into 14 DPs this series, a new postseason record. I'd like to thank the 7-8-9 guys who have been responsible for 11 of them. Way to help the cause guys. It's the little things like this that make me think "how the hell did we get to Game 7 of the ALCS?" I dunno what's more surprising; that we set this new record or that we ONLY have 14 DPs...feels like at least 30 to me. We're averaging 2 DPs per game. Solid.

10:29 Tito thankfully makes the move to Okajima. My confidence level just jumped a few points. And, Beckett is in the pen loosening up. Beckett out of the pen in Game 7...I just...I love him. There I said it.

Buck just told us Papelbon said he's ready from the 7th inning on. I can see Pap coming in throwing about 110 mph for 5 innings tonight if necessary. His adrenaline will be through the roof. It wouldn't surprise me if he threw his first pitch at the head of the first batter he faces and literally kills him just to set the tone.

10:33 lastamericanher0 (10:32:12 PM): (expletive deleted) oki man this guy throws like 85 mph fastballs and somehow has been this good
lastamericanher0 (10:32:13 PM): tricky
HeyUmp47 (10:31:55 PM): deceit man...just great stuff
HeyUmp47 (10:32:00 PM): awesome at changing speeds

lastamericanher0 (10:33:56 PM): Oki is like Chozan from Karate Kid II
HeyUmp47 (10:33:28 PM): hahaha
HeyUmp47 (10:33:39 PM): with mayogi discipline
lastamericanher0 (10:34:14 PM): "Your manager teach you to hit? Maybe he teach you to be coward"

For those keeping track at home, yes, this is the 3rd AIM Convo added to this running diary. Over/under is at 7.5. I think we hit the over with ease.

But going with the Karate Kid reference; can't you see Oki sitting alone trying to catch flies with chopsticks in the bullpen before he pitches? I can see the call to the bullpen being something like:

Tito: Hey get Oki throwing will ya?
Bullpen Phone Guy: Umm...wait...I don't think he's...OK yup, he just caught a fly, I'll have him start throwing.

10:47 The show Manny throwing Lofton out at second again. Lofton still hasn't recovered. Manny still doesn't know it's October.

10:48 Lugo just dropped a pop-up, Lofton is at second. The tying friggin run is 180 feet away with 1 out and I might have just pissed my pants.

10:52 Gutierrez drives one down the third baseline, and somehow Lofton was held at second. Thank God. I am speechless. Need to spin 2 here. I might throw up.

10:53 Oki gets the grounder. 5-4-3, threat ended. 3-2 heading into the bottom of 7. I can't believe that all just happened. Lofton should have scored, and 99 times out of 100 that DP ball is replaced with a 3-run homer. Lugo I hope you're in the dugout bowing at Oki's feet right now because if he doesn't bail you out, you probably get mugged on Yawkey Way tonight.

10:59 Jacoby leads off with a grounder to third that Grizzly Blake booted. Ellsbury on second, no outs, and Lugo should be bunting here. Gets it down and its Jacoby on third with 1 out for Pedroia.

Hey, who was our centerfielder before last night? I already forgot his name. I think he struck out a ton but thats all I remember.

11:02 Dustin Pedroia with a 2-run homer. He absolutely SMOKED that one. Fenway is rockin. I'm vaguely remembering saying stuff like "you're all gonna love Pedroia by the end of the year" and "just watch, he's gonna have one of the biggest hits of the season."

Well there it is folks. That homer could be the final nail in the coffin. Prophecy fulfilled...You're all welcome. 5-2 going into the 8th.

11:05 Commercial break so: If I'm Tito, Delcarmen is pitching the 8th. Guy has been lights out (minus the one homer the other night) for the past couple months. Let's see how Tito plays this one.

11:08 Oki starts the 8th. Sizemore leads off with a bunt single. Not pulling Oki quite yet.

11:11 Single to center, 2 on, 0 out...and here he comes. No doubt Fenway is absolutely going crazy right now. SHIPPIN UP TO BOSTON WOAH WOAH WOAH!!!

Pap should be throwing about 103 mph tonight.

11:14 They just showed the Lofton stopping at third play again. It looks 100 times worse after the 33rd viewing. Lofton shoulda scored there.

11:16 Pronk goes down on 3 straight fastballs. Last one hit 98. No additional comments needed.

11:17 Grounder to 2nd, Pedroia juggled and Lugo juggled so the DP doesn't happen. Really hope that doesn't come back to haunt us. If it was anyone else other than Papelbon on the mound I would be catatonic.

11:20 Ellsbury chases down a fly ball at the warning track that almost made the triangle. End of threat. Pap is absolutely bringing it tonight. 97-98 with the gas, and the slider he threw to Garko looked like it broke 3 feet. Yea, I think its safe to say he's pumped.

11:27 MVP Lowell with a 1-out double to the left-center gap. Wouldn't mind another run here personally. JD Drew singles up the middle and its 6-2. Unreal. As recently as 48 hours ago everyone in Boston wanted Drew dead. Now he's got 6 RBI in 2 nights and he's a hero. Could not be happier for the guy. I mean don't get me wrong, I was one of the ones wanting him dead and all...but this is great. $70 million looks like it might pay off after all.

11:33 McCarver questions Tek attempting to bunt Drew to second with 1 out. He has no idea why Tek did it. He asks "how's that for crack analysis?" then chuckles to himself. Tim, hate to say it but you're going on like 30 years of terrible analysis. At this point, no one expects you to properly explain why something is happening on a baseball field. Don't worry about this one, it's not exactly a career killer. If they haven't fired you yet, they never will.

And to explain...Tek is like 2-for-800 this postseason. Moving a runner into scoring position for Ellsbury, who has been unreal for the Sox since being called up, would be a smart baseball move.

11:36 Peralta and Blake screw up a routine pop-up that ends up in the left field stands for a groundrule double. Ellsbury is being intentionally walked right now so Lugo gets a chance to extend the postseason record of 14 DPs. I'm thrilled. Forget Williams hitting over .400 and DiMaggio's hitting streak. Forget Cy Young's 500+ wins. Forget Nolan Ryan's strikeout record. Forget Ripken's Iron Man streak...14 DPs in a postseason series will never be topped. No way a team can kill that many rallies ever again. It's not possible.

11:42 Lugo strikes out swinging. Tek is disappointed. Come on Julio, this coulda been special. 15 DPs would have just absolutely clinched the all-time record.

11:43 Pedroia with a base-clearing, 3-run double. 9-2 Boston. BALLGAME (unless for some unknown reason Tito decides to go with Gagne in the ninth to save Pap for the World Series)

11:47 Aaaaaaaand Youk just shattered the Coke bottles. Tap the keg boys, Pap is ready to booze it up. I'm not kidding, if I don't see Papelbon forcing Pedroia to do a keg stand during the trophy presentation I will extremely disappointed. I almost expect to see Papelbon with a strikeout to close out the game then pull 2 Bud Lights out of his back pocket, strip down to the Under Armour and jock strap, and pound them with the Stone Cold Steve Austin salute.

Question: Millar gets invited to the postgame booze celebration right? Is he at the packie as we speak picking up the kegs? There's no other reasonable explanation for him to be invited to Boston tonight right?

11:55 Ortiz already has the goggles on. He's ready to go. 2 down.

11:57 Coco chases down a ball in the triangle to clinch the pennant. Looked like he almost died hitting the wall and no one really cares. 11-2 Sox win.


Unbelievable Series and the Sox are back in the World Series. Crazy. Just great baseball from the first pitch of Game 1 right through the last pitch.

They just interviewed Papelbon and asked if he had a new dance planned for tonight:

"Stay tuned, I got something planned for ya kid."

I'm giddy. Bring on the Rockies.

Game Time

Greech

Alright, so I read Danny’s last post, and since the time I started hanging out with him freshman year he has been known to embellish ever story he has ever told. It’s usually after about ten beers, few tequila shots and a jager bomb or two that the slightly over weight girl with a lisp he said hi to becomes some mint Armenian girl that he is now dating; but it’s true, we actually did chill with the Red Sox after we clinched the East. And speaking for the group, we probably all looked like 10 year old school girls they way we were ogling these guys. Unfortunately, since I was up in the VIP section ripping shots with, among others, Varitek, Pedroia, Lowell, Beckett, Paps, Diasuke, Coco, Cora, Gange (he choked on everyone shot he took, weird, huh?), Bukholtz, and Youk, I cant really vouch for Danny being dissed by Coco, but I’m sure it happened exactly as Danny described.

Anyways, I realized something that night as I watched them all toasting each other with shots of budlights, redheaded sluts, kamakazis, and soco lime (about 20 of which I ordered); these guys seemed to genuinely enjoy each others company. It was obvious that night on the field these guys were enjoying the moment, but to continue the party till well after 2 am is something I’m willing to bet isn’t the standard with most professionally teams. But these guys were there, drinking, dancing, laughing, and jokingly punching each other almost in disbelief. When things started to go south for this team, the Yankees were making there push, people were injured, Manny was taking his yearly self mandated injury leave of absence while Ortiz played through shoulder and knee pain, I had a bad feeling. I didn’t jump ship, but at that point, I don’t think you could have found one Red Sox fan that would have said this was our year again. If they did, they would have been lying to themselves.

But down the stretched we didn’t just play good enough to win, we played very good, period. We lined our pitchers up for the playoffs, got healthy and the pieces started to fall into place. Then the Angles showed up in Boston and in three games we showed why we were the best team in baseball for 162 games. Now we wait to see how the Cleveland/New York series finishes up while we rest team and line up our pitching staff.

I left that vip section with a few things that night, first of all I left with 7 cold bud lights, second I feel like I left with some life long friends, and third, I left that section with a feeling that I haven’t had since 2004. I had the feeling these guys were confident again. They no longer had to worry about losing the East to the Yankees again, another historic collapse that every Red Sox fan would be forced to hear about every time the Sox and Yanks played. Tonight all they had to do was sit back, have a few drinks, chill out to whatever jam Papelbon was spinning at the DJ booth and enjoy the moment. And for the next few weeks all they have to do is keep playing like they have been, and like they are capable of. If they can do that, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find all of us at Game On again.

(Few quick side notes, Buckholtz looked like some wasted high school freshman lost at a party. NOONE talked to Cora. Varitek didn’t leave Diasuke’s side the whole night. I’m about 99% confident that Pedroia’s wife is with him either because he’s loaded or he has an 11” penis, because she’s about an 11.9 and he’s about 5’5”. Youk's goatee said “what up” to the girl next to me, true story. And at the end of the night the waitress told me their bill was over $4,500 and they told Diasuke it was 4,500 yen and made him pay for it (that last one is lie))

Chillin with the AL East Champs

So Friday night me and the boys are trying to find something to do. We were playing the waiting game hoping that the Sox would clinch the AL East. The plan was that if they clinched we would hit the Fenway area because obviously that would be the place to be for the night. We even joked around saying hey, wouldn't it be cool if we found out where the Sox were going tonight and ended up there?

Sox win, Orioles beat the Yanks with a suicide squeeze (thank you Melvin Mora) and the Sox are AL East champs for the first time since 1995. As soon as it was official, we jumped in a cab and headed for Game On. Little did we know that we were about to spend the night drinking with the Sox.

We're hanging at the bar and all of a sudden we see Coco Crisp 5 feet away from us. Being the inebriated bastard that I am with absolutely no self-control, I ran over to Coco, shook his hand, and gave him a hug.

Two minutes later, Mike Lowell (Sox 2007 MVP no doubt) and Dustin Pedroia (AL Rookie of the Year or I'm done with MLB) are tending bar. Absolutely hammered with no idea how to make drinks, Lowell and Pedroia basically just poured shots and handed them out to everyone. Then Youk shows up and I gotta say; he is the scariest looking son of a bitch I have ever seen in person. Something about the bald head and goatee that looks like it would shatter your hand if you punched him in the chin just makes him look insane (yea, kinda have a slight man-crush on him and I'm OK with that).

Have to say, Dustin Pedroia is absolutely tiny. Managed to get a picture with him on my cell phone, but the idiot girl that took the picture didn't hit the save button so the damn pic is gone. If I ever see that girl again she's getting the ankle lock. That pic of me and Dustin was gonna be my facebook pic and I was gonna play it off Lepore style and start poking random girls and then tell them I was Pedroia's agent or something.

Papelbon came in absolutely hammered and took over the DJ station for the night. Seeing Pap try to rap was absolutely classic. His attempt at hitting all the lyrics was almost like Greech trying to grow facial hair; just an absolute waste of effort. Have to say, the place went absolutely insane when "Shipping off to Boston" came on the speakers. I half-expected to see Pap pick a fight with half the bar with the intensity that song brings out of him.

And here's my story of the night just for all 3 of our loyal readers:

I'm hanging by the DJ station and Coco is walking towards the VIP area that the Sox had taken over. Some drunk kid bumped into him and I grab the kid (joking around of course, it had nothing to do with the tequila or the mystery shot that Lowell was giving out) and tell him "you don't touch Coco!". Coco loves this, shakes my hand says "you're alright man." I ask him to sneak me up to the VIP area with him and he says yea dude follow me I gotcha. We get to the stairs and I swear to God Coco looks at the security guard and says "hey don't let this kid up here" talking about me. I think I was made for like .8 seconds then was like "Wait, I just got screwed over by Coco, this is AWESOME!"

Not much of a shock here but Tek was like the protective Dad making sure no one did anything stupid. He stayed by Dice-K's side the entire night making sure the little guy was all good.

Gotta say, this was absolutely the highlight of 2007 for me. Me and the boys spent our Friday night hanging out with the AL East champs, getting free mystery shots from Lowell and Pedroia. Absolutely unbelievable.

I know I'm missing something from the story so feel free to add on to this in the comments section or hit us up at thesportshub@gmail.com

Oh, and here's to another ALCS between the Sox and Yanks. I'd love to see it happen again at this point. Let's bring the drama back to Beantown baby.

It's Ranting Time...

Alright I just have to say something: How in the name of everything that is holy did Dane Friggin Cook land the official title of Major League Baseball Postseason Spokesperson??? Is this all a sick joke?

Now I remember when Don Cheadle made a name for himself doing the NFL Playoffs commercials a few years ago. Those were great. Groundbreaking commercials. Undeniably got everyone psyched for the NFL Playoffs AND launched Cheadle's career.

But Dane Cook??? Are you kidding me??? How is anyone supposed to take the drama of the playoffs seriously with Dane Cook as the guy building up October? What, was Pauly Shore busy or something??

Note to MLB: Next year, go with a legitimate actor not an overrated comedian (yes, Dane Cook is overrated. I said it and I stand by it. He's not that funny.) Why not James Earl Jones? Guy's got the best voice ever and his speech in Field of Dreams still brings out the goosebumps nearly 20 years after it first came out. Why not Kevin Costner? His "hey dad...wanna have a catch?" line draws the waterworks everytime. So many other ways to go with this October campaign and MLB goes with Dane Freakin Cook. Please Mr. Selig do NOT allow this to happen ever again. You wanna try and launch a young up and comer's career? Go with John Krasinski, who we all know and love as Jim Halpert from the Scranton Branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Keep Dane Cook the hell away from baseball.


Onto some other stuff:

-Videotaping other teams signals or not, the Pats are unstoppable. Question: How do you beat the Pats with a motivated Moss and a Brady that finally has a top-tier receiver? Answer: That dude from Unsolved Mysteries will still be working on this one in 20 years.

-Right now I hate to say it, but the Sox don't look like a team that's even making it out of the Division Series, let alone the ALCS or World Series. I hope I'm wrong though. And let's hope Tito makes the right choice and keeps Ellsbury on the playoff roster. This kid belongs there. The spark he brings, along with the spark Pedroia has brought all season, could be just enough to get the Sox in gear in October. Oh, and we have some guy named David Ortiz who has a knack for coming through in the clutch and some dude named Manny that's had a month off to rest. Don't forget about two proven dominant October arms (Beckett and Schilling) plus a veteran that's been there before (Wakefield) plus a young, completely insane, fireballing closer (Papelbon) and a guy lined up for what should be a top 5 finish in the AL MVP voting (Lowell).

-House returns to FOX next week. If you're not watching that show, you're a moron. It's the best thing on TV.

-Heads up: Danny Mac makes his debut as a pro wrestling commentator along with his boy Gardner this coming Saturday in Worcester. Oh it's true...it's DAMN true.


Alright that's it for now. I just had to flip out about the Dane Cook thing, and while I was at it figured I'd throw a couple more things atcha.

Preview of coming attractions: A Q&A with Greech coming sometime in the very near future.

Greech

So I figured that after a month long hiatus it was time to dust off the old keyboard and pay a visit to all my loyal readers. Id like to thank Sean for finally hooking my computer back up to the internet, which he did mainly so he could stalk people on Facebook, but whatever, thanks Leps.

This post was pretty much ready to go just before EVERYONE started to freak out about the videotaping incident in the meadowlands. The whole situation makes no sense to me at all; it’s been almost a week since it happened and I still don’t know what to make of it. Why would the best team in the NFL and the hands down favorite to win the Super Bowl need to video tape a team’s like the Jets defensive signals? How could one of the greatest football minds ever be so blatant about breaking a very clear rule, and do it a mere 12 miles from Roger Goodell’s office? There are so many questions and really no decent answers yet from Belichick or anyone from the Patriots (no real surprise there). At this point I’m going on the theory that everyone in the NFL is doing this, and three years ago Mangini was probably the one holding the camera for Belichick. If Mangini learns one thing from this whole ordeal, something he should have learned on his cameo on the Sopranos, it’s going to be that you never rat out the Boss, and when Belichick offers to take him out on his boat after the seasons over….just say “no thanks”.

Anyways, as advertised the Patriots delivered big time against the Jets in week one with an absolute dominating performance. The Patriots always handled their business against the Jets, and week one was certainly no different. After the Colts smacked around the Saints (an NFC favorite this season) in the kick off game, a lot of media fold began to hype up Peyton Manning and the Colts as an unstoppable force. What the Patriots did against the Jets was send a message to the rest of the NFL that they are still The Team to Beat in the AFC and the NFL. The Patriots dominated every part of the game, offense, defense, special teams, the only miscue happened when soon to be new ball boy, Matt Cassell, botched a snap on a kick attempt and was then immediately replaced by the nearest warm body on the next attempt. The defense looked sharp, getting to Pennington for five sacks on the day. The offense looked dominating, Moss looked he took a time machine back to his old Viking days, The Predator looked good when given a chance to run the ball, and Brady got hit less than our old friend “41”.

This week against the Chargers is going to be a different story, though. The Pat’s O –Line gave Brady what seemed like all day against the Jets, because for most of the game they were playing 3 down linemen and never blitzing the safety. This was of course a failed attempt to shut down the Patriots receivers, which didn’t work out quite like Mangini had planned. Actually, that plan worked out about as well as every plan my buddies and I have ever had to steal bottles of booze from a bar; it usually ends with all of us getting kicked out and wondering how our well thought out plan didn’t pan out. So even if Billichick used the same strategy to beat the Jets as the bar used to catch me and my buddies (surveillance cameras) we both still got beat and need to come up with better plans next time out. The Chargers, on the other hand, have one of the most talented defensive units in the NFL, lead by linebackers Shawne “Roid Dancer” Merriman and Shaun Phillips (funny story about these two guys, neither of them know how to spell their first name, true story.) Still, our offense is way to stacked not to drop at least 25 on the Chargers, and the defense will play the “bend don’t break” style against All World running back and All Universe whiny bitch, LaDainian Tomlinson. So Im still picking the Pats, who are favored by 3.5, to cover the spread.

Kind of like the ’86 Celtics who stacked their team and marched towards a championship, it looks like the Pats might have the same idea on their mind. With the additions of Moss, Thomas, Welker and Stallworth the Patriots are thinking Phoenix come February. Even with the NFL coming down hard with fines and draft picks after the camera incident the Patriots do not seem to be letting anything get in their way. Whether it be injuries (Richard Seymore) HGH allegations (Rodney Harrison, Ed Hochuli), holdouts (Samuel), video taping scandals or anything else this team shares one goal. So even after facing plenty of adversity in the first few months of the season, it appears the only thing that might be able to derail this team is if Mike Vick fingers Tom Brady as a major player in the dog fighting under world, but I have a feeling even that might not slow the Pats down. And if this camera ordeal distracts the Pats and their mission to another ring, I’m with Hemi and just going to blame Danny for the title of his last post…idiot.

My pick: Patriots (-3.5) final score 28-24

Parade Scheduled for Feb 5th in Boston

Alright, I'm picking this up a little late, but it's time to get a running diary of the Pats season opener going. With a stacked team like this with the addition of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth to the receiving corps plus Adalius Thomas on D, I just feel obligated.

Quick recap: The Pats shut the Jets down on the opening drive...

1:10 No idea why NE didn't start the season by throwing away the playbook and saying "Hey Randy, go long."

1:12 Quick recap of the pregame show. Forgot that Bill Cowher retired, I like him as the newest member of the CBS broadcast team. In regards to Shannon Sharpe, I'll let my roommate (Dad) handle this one: "I wish he would just die." Couldn't agree more.

1:20 Brady to Welker for a TD. Way to open the season boys. Get used to seeing ol' Wes in the end zone this year. Damnit I wish I didn't make Greech take him 2 rounds early in our fantasy draft. That one's already haunting me as I drew Greech in Week 1. What a kick in the balls. Shoulda kept my mouth shut about my big sleeper. Worst part was I wasn't even talking about Welker I was talking about the Oakland defense who I lost in the last round. Thanks Sean.

1:30 With 2:44 left in the 1st quarter we say "Welcome to New England Donte Stallworth." First catch in a Pats uni for Donte. Lotta big things expected from him. The Pats are looking strong right now. The running game looks great. Brady is getting about 25 seconds in the pocket on every pass. And Welker is looking like a Pro Bowler. 4 catches for Wes this quarter. Of course as I'm saying this he drops one that hit him right in the hands. Sorry Pats fans. Pats punt it away and pin the Jets on their own 1 with a beauty of a boot. Aaaaaand that was called back because of an "illegal touching" penalty. What the hell does that even mean??

1:34 No worries, Marty has the DVR going, we're rewinding to find out. Inconclusive. We're guessing he stepped out of bounds before making the play.

1:40 Another catch from Moss by the sidelines brings up one question. Why the hell haven't they ran a fly pattern to Moss yet??? Just do it once Bill, PLEASE?????

Actually this is probably some mind trick from Belichick. He's tricking the entire AFC into thinking we don't have the confidence to send Moss on a deep route. The whole AFC starts to think he's hurt then BAM. 85-tard TD pass to Moss to beat Peyton and the Colts. You heard it here first folks.

1:46 Quick update: I'm in a Beat the Spread pool with some of my boys. I took Philly to beat Green Bay by 3 and Tennessee to cover a 7-point spread in Jacksonville. Philly is getting smoked. Best part is that they're my fantasy defense too. Thanks for screwing me double time Philly. Luckily Vince Young, my fantasy QB, is keeping the Titans within 4 of Jax.

1:49 Matt Cassel just dropped the snap on a field goal attempt. I say cut him. If we can't kick a goddamn field goal because our holder can't hold the friggin ball I'm gonna lose it.

1:56 McNUGGETS McNUGGETS YEA!! McNUGGETS McNUGGETS YEA!!

You're welcome Greech

1:58 Pennington to Coles for a Jets TD. At the same time, Vince Young threw an INT and the Eagles only mustered a field goal inside the 10 yard line. So basically, I just got completely screwed over. The Eagles couldn't give Brian Westbrook or Reggie Brown a TD to help my fantasy team, they're still down by 7 in GB in a game where I need them to win by 3, Vince Young felt the need to take some points away from me, and the Pats are now tied with the Jets. Not good times in Danny's world right now.

Oh wait, I just got 1 fantasy point from Jets kicker "JD" Mike Nugent. I know Leps love thats reference. Things are looking up.

2:05 With 2:20 left in the half, NE finally realizes "Hey we have Randy Moss! Maybe we should let him try and beat his guy one on one and loft one up to him." Of course, it worked for a first down. Huge shock there.

2:09 Moss with 4 catches for 87 yards, Welker with 4 catches for 39 yards and a TD. Brady must be giddy right now.

2:12 Brady to Watson for a TD. At this point Brady has like 85 receiver options with reliable hands and is getting about 15 seconds in the pocket every dropback. He must be the happiest human being alive right now. (Play reviewed, play stands...Just figured I'd throw that in there for accuracy's sake or something.)

2:20 Pats 14, Jets 7 at the half. NE looks pretty strong in all aspects of the game. I don't want to get too excited yet though.

In other news, Philly has tied it up in GB and Tennessee down by 4 in Jacksonville. This day just might be turning around for me. Now if only we can add some fantasy points to this one.

2:35 While watching the end of the first half of the GB/Philly game, Ellis Hobbs ran one back 108 yards for the score. Awesome way to start the second half. Set the tone baby.

2:39 Phil Simms was just talking about how big the Pats linebackers and defensive lineman are. Who know the LBs and DLs in the NFL were big guys. I was under the assumption they were all like 5'10" 185. This is groundbreaking commentary here.

2:44 DOWN GOES PENNINGTON! DOWN GOES PENNINGTON!

Ok it's not quote Down Goes Frazier, but hey, I was excited. Gotta hate to be Pennington right now hearing the New York crowd cheering as he limped off the field. Great to know the hometown fans are behind you like that.

And in case you were wondering, of course Pennington is my fantasy backup QB. This has to be a joke. I need something positive in fantasy here. Where's Vince Young?? Why doesn't he have like 2 rushing TD's and one throwing??? Ridiculous.

2:49 "The Patriots pass protection is borderline NFL unbelievable." Hey Simms, what the hell does that even mean? Next time just say "The Patriots O-Line is playing great" or "Brady's got plenty of time." Keep it simple.

2:50 Brady to Moss for a TD. For the record, Brady had 10 minutes in the pocket and Moss was triple covered. 51-yard TD pass, no problem. Maybe they're really finally starting to realize "hey, we should throw to Moss more, I heard he's got good hands or something."

And you know Brady just went to the sidelines and hugged Belichick, then pulled out the cell phone and sent Bob Kraft a text like: "Thanks Bobby, <3"

Ok, Brady didn't do that...Sean did. But seriously, you know Brady is in heaven with this receiving corps.

2:55 While I have a minute, a quick update on our Fantasy Baseball League...It never happened. The league doesn't exist and we didn't all lose to a girl. It's on the record now boys, no worries. IT NEVER HAPPENED.

3:20 Ok almost a half hour since I wrote something. Nothing really exciting going on. The Pats are just controlling the ball, letting the clock run, and throwing in the occasional pass to Moss. As explained by my roommate (Dad) "OK, we just ran 8 plays, and Randy hasn't touched the ball. Throw it his way, just keep him happy. Aaaaand now we have 8 more free plays." That one has to be in Moss's contract somewhere. I like that though. Throw it his way once every 8 or 9 plays just to keep him involved and keep him happy.

Plus, you know, he's pretty good.

3:42 Alright Heath Evans just punched one into the end zone. Coulda said this in the 2nd quarter...but...BALLGAME. This one was decisively won by the Pats. They were firing on all cylinders. The offensive line is just outright dominant. The defense looks great. Brady has Pro Bowl caliber options to throw to. Moss is pretty much uncoverable. Welker is poised for a career year.

Bottom line, keep the Tuesday after the Super Bowl open...just in case. I know it's early, and it was only the Jets (not a terrible team, but not an elite team either by any means), but this is going to be one exciting season in New England. I'm advising you all to keep February 5th open. I say we all take that day off now just to be safe. Rumor has it there's going to be a parade in Boston that day. Something about a Lombardi Trophy? Anyways...

As for my fantasy team, I don't see Week 1 going my way. It happens, it's still early.

And as for the Beat the Spread pool, Week 1 is looking good for me. Tennessee is up 3 in Jacksonville at the 2 minute warning, and Philly is tied with GB with 7:30 left. I definitely see them taking that game by more than 3. And if they don't, it's a push and I don't lose or gain anything.

That's all for now. As always, feel free to send along any questions or comments to thesportshub@gmail.com.

LLWS & Some Other Thoughts

WOW! Warner Robins, GA wins the Little League World Series with a walk-off homerun in extra innings. This was probably the best game of baseball at any level I have seen all year long.

I have to say one of the highlights of my summer every year is the Little League World Series. It's just a week of great baseball with no agendas like contracts, endorsement deals, or who's getting the most playing time. It's about baseball and nothing else.

I absolutely love the new 85 pitch count rule which basically says no pitcher can throw more than 85 pitches in any given outing. This is probably the smartest thing the LLWS has done in its existence. So many of these kids, especially the pitchers, are never heard from again because they have completely destroyed their arms by the time they are able to drive a car. Great move by the higher-ups of the LLWS to put a limit on these kids to try and save some arms.

Despite getting sent home relatively early, the boys from Walpole deserve a ton of credit. They had an amazing year. And I can tell you right now, the highlight of the Walpole CF robbing a homerun to end the game will be in LLWS highlight reels for years to come. That kid has become a legend at age 12. Unbelievable.

Garrett Williams from Lubbock, Texas had the most dominant LLWS I have ever seen (well at least most dominant and LEGAL as Danny Almonte was just ridiculous 6 years ago). This kid would have ended up with 2 no-hitters if it wasn't for the new 85-pitch limit. He was throwing in the mid-to-high 70s, which is the MLB equivalent of high 90s. This kid was untouchable throughout the LLWS. He finished with 42 K's, two shy of the LLWS record which was set before the pitch limit was put in place. He gave up 0 earned runs all week. His 17 strikeout performance was undoubtedly the most impressive performance of the entire LLWS. I think it's safe to say that if the limit wasn't set this year, Garrett Williams would have shattered the strikeout record.

One of the biggest things I notice every year during the LLWS is the Japanese teams style of play. If you really sit and watch their mechanics, every hitter models after Ichiro and every pitcher seems to model something similar to Daisuke Matsuzaka. I even noticed this with the Japanese team in the World Baseball Classic last Spring. There must be a Japanese baseball mechanics video set that every Japanese baseball player is shown when they're 8 years old because they all have the exact same mechanics. And I am in no way mocking this or degrading it; Japan is always one of the most fundamentally sound programs in the LLWS. There's a reason that they're always playing on the last weekend of the LLWS. It's definitely not luck.

I think my favorite part of the LLWS has to be just the pure emotion of the games. These guys are all in on every at-bat, every play in the field, every pitch. There's no loafing, there's no complaining, there's no taking it easy. These kids give 110% every second they're on the field. It's just great to watch baseball that has no motive other than playing the game. And I know I already said that, I just felt the need to hammer that point home.

I do quickly have to say, the LLWS isn't quite the same without Harold Reynolds. Any chance we can get ESPN and H.R. to settle their differences every August for just one week?? Please???

Since I know you are all curious, here are Danny Mac's top memories of the LLWS:

5. The pitcher from Texas, Zack Ansell (?) blocking the plate on a passed ball and ending up with a broken ankle. Despite his leg being bent in a way that no leg should bend, the youngster held on to the ball and recorded the out. The epitome of toughness right there.

4. Japan's back-to-back walk-off wins to get to the finals. Not since the Red Sox of 2004 have I seen such drama.

3. Georgia hits a walk-off homerun to win the LLWS. This would be higher, but let me explain. We've all see walk-off homeruns. Hell, David Ortiz made the term "walk-off homerun" part of Boston's everyday vocabulary.

2. Walpole robs what would have been a game-winning homerun in the last inning. Maybe it's because it's a Massachusetts team, I'm not 100% sure. But how many times have you seen a game end on a homerun being pulled back over the fence? That's what I thought.

1. The defining moment of this and every LLWS. After hitting a walk-off homer and celebrating for about 30 seconds, the Warner Robins, GA team re-definited the word sportsmanship by going back onto the field to console the Japanese team. Have you ever seen this anywhere?? Would you ever expect to see a professional team stop postpone their celebration to go out and exchange hugs with the team they just beat? Just an all around class act. Thank you LLWS for reminding us what sports should be about.


Now, some quick thoughts:

-For those keeping track at home, that's now a 7.5 game lead for the Sox in the AL East. And NY has to face Dice-K, Beckett, and Schill in a 3-game set this week. For those that spent the last month having a heart attack, it's time to calm down a little. Worse case scenario, we get swept and STILL have a 4.5 game lead.

-Dustin Pedroia wins the AL Rookie of the Year Award. If this doesn't happen then I lose all faith in MLB. He's earned it. I don't care about Reggie Willits or even Dice-K himself. Give the damn award to Dustin.

-Tim Wakefield, 16-10, 4.16 ERA, 98 K. The 16 wins is tied for best in all of baseball. I vaguely remember...didn't I...yup, here it is.

-So, Wily Mo Pena is tearing it up in Washington. You know, he's finally getting the playing time and he's taking advantage. Still plenty of spots on the WMP 2008 All-Star Bandwagon. I'll still be driving though.

-The Dodgers signed David Wells for the rest of the year. Hate to say it, but it's going to be too little too late for L.A. They're 6.5 out of the NL West, and 4 out of the Wild Card. It would be nice to see Boomer end his career in October though, where he's really defined his career as a big game pitcher.

-JD Drew hit his first homerun since June 20 over the weekend. That brings him to a whopping 7 dingers on the season. And now it looks like he'll be platooning with the newly acquired Bobby Kielty. $14 million a year to do exactly what Trot Nixon has done the last few years only with shittier numbers than Trot. Awesome business decision.

-The Patriots are coming. Should be an unreal fall and winter for Belichick and the boys. I'm ready, how 'bout you?

-Non-sports note here: GO SEE SUPERBAD! Absolutely hilarious.

As always, send along any comments to thesportshub@gmail.com

This and That

Well it's been a while, and I really don't have anything specific to talk about. So it's random thoughts time:

-The Yankees are 5 back in the AL East. FINALLY. I'm actually pretty cool with this. It's time to add a little excitement to baseball. The Sox haven't been that impressive for the last couple of months. I expect them to respond soon. They needed a kick in the ass and hearing the Yanks coming up behind them should get everyone motivated.

-.322 avg, .833 OPS (.397 OBP), 34 RBI, 24 2B, 4 HR, 48 runs, 10 of his last 19 games have been multi-hit performances, .993 fielding % (3 errors)....thats Dustin Pedroia for you. I told you all back in April you'd love him come August (just thought I'd remind you all). And now he has to be considered one of the top contenders for Rookie of the Year along with Okajima and Reggie Willits from Anaheim. I hate to say I told you so...but...actually I love saying it; I TOLD YOU SO.

-Barry Bonds finally broke the all-time homerun record and the entire country is outraged. Where were all the complaints when McGwire and Sosa were chasing Maris back in '98? You're telling me you honestly didn't suspect Big Mac or Slammin' Sammy of being on the juice? If I remember it right, that is considered one of the biggest events (next to Ripken's Iron Man streak) that brought fans back to baseball after the lockout in 1994.

Here's the facts: Bonds has never tested positive for anything, and during his hot years there wasn't even testing or a policy to prevent steroids. How can we even talk about discounting his record without any legitimate evidence of a violation, and by that I mean any true violation of a policy or any negative drug test? I'm not a big fan of Bonds but I give the man his due. 756 is impressive as hell (even though it's only lasting until 2015 at best). Everyone needs to just move on.

-Timlin, Delcarmen, Gagne, Okajima, Papelbon. If Timlin stays healthy, and if Delcarmen has finally "found it," then how the hell do you beat Boston after the 6th inning? Francona is at the point where he can take his 5 starters and say "hey guys, just give us 6 strong and we'll handle the rest." Well, you know, if the offense starts putting up the numbers they're capable of.

-Entourage...absolutely on fire right now.

-Brady throwing to Moss, Stallworth, Welker, Caldwell, and Brown...are you kidding me? I know Super Bowls aren't won on paper in August, but we have the ace up the sleeve. The man. The myth. The legend. The King of the Hoodie. Belichick. That whole debate about who's the best QB in the NFL might see a few more Brady supporters jumping on the wagon this fall.

-If you don't read Barstool Sports make your way over there and click on the latest issue to see the pics of Whitney the Bruins Ice Girl...I love her. On a scale of 1-10 I'm giving her a 16.7.

-David Wells released by the Padres. I hope someone picks him up for one last playoff run. Bottom line is this guy is one of the best pitchers of the past 20 years. There aren't many people better in October than Boomer. If this is the end of his career, and if somehow The Sports Hub manages to get outselves a Hall of Fame vote sometime in the next few years, Boomer gets the nod from Danny Mac.

-Wily Mo cleared waivers and is free to be traded to any team. It's gonna be tough for me to see him go, but it's gonna be sweet as hell when he finally breaks out.

-Bobby Kielty in Boston. Sure, why not?

-Pierce, Garnett, Allen...Miller? Your telling me the Celts might add Reggie Miller to this team? Yea, he's 42. Yea, he's been away from the game for a year. On the other hand; Yea, he's one of the best shooters of the past 15 years. Yea, he has the motivation to win since he finished ring-less. Yea, he's one of the most lights out shooters from behind the arc I've ever seen. Yea, I like this.

And yea, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Greech, set up the ticket package, I'm in.

-That guy who plays center, that forward from Sweden (?), some dude from Canada, the goalie from who knows where...its the '07 Bruins baby!! GET PSYCHED!!!

-Yo Hemi...how's the midwest?? Car bombs a-plenty when you return home brotha. Not enough Irish representation from the boys. And in response to your comment on Fantasy Football; yes my good man, it's gonna be another one for the Mick's baby!


That's it for now. As always, feel free to send something along to thesportshub@blogspot.com. Earn yourselves a mention in TSH. Who knows, maybe we'll load up the inbox and pull a complete Sport's Guy ripoff and bust out a Mailbag? I'll come up with another name for it though so it isn't too blatant. Keep on livin folks...L-I-V-I-N.

Come All Ye Bandwagon Fans

Greech

Attn: All 4 of my Friends who Still Like the NBA

What a great day to be a Boston Sports fan, it really doesn’t get much better than this, does it? The Pats started training camp down in Foxboro last week, the Sox are nearly traded Wily Mo Strikeout, which was one of the top five most exciting moments of the season for most Sox fans but still made a huge move by trading for Cy Young winner Eric Gange, the Bruins…well the Bruins are still allowed to play in the NHL, and if you haven’t heard the Celtics have INSTANTLY become one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.

After the NBA lottery, or as I like to call it, the contest to see who has the most balls, didn’t go the Celtics way you knew that Danny Ainge wasn’t going to sit still, there wasn’t anyway he could sit still. On draft day the Celts ended up trading the number 5 pick to Seattle for veteran shooting guard Ray Allen, which at the time I said I was luke warm about, at best. The other move that caught my eye was drafting Glen Big Baby Davis out of LSU. I liked the pick of Big Baby a lot, and at the time I mentioned that the choice might prelude the end of Big Al Jefferson in Boston.

Well, I wasn’t the only one who thought that Jefferson might be heading out of town, and as it turns out, Ainge thought the same thing. (It’s sorta like when Danny called that Wily Mo Pena was going to be a great player for the Sox, only if the EXACT opposite thing happened.) Yesterday the Celts traded Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, two first round draft choices, Bassy Telfair, and Bassy Telfair’s gun collection (has that one been used before?) for ten time allstar Kevin Garnett.

Doesnt that look promising?

This was really the only logical thing to do after the acquisition of Allen. With Pierce and Allen they were a 6th or 7th seed, but with the trio of The Truth, Jesus, and The Big Tikcet, this is a team that will immediately be a favorite to win the East. I already had to restrain myself from buying a half season ticket package that would have cost me about 1200 dollars, and I’m being dead serious. Last year I went to the Garden ten times to watch a team that one 24 games, I’ll be going to at least 20 games this year, and I might even consider bring some of my bandwagon friends if they considering bring their sisters..

For any Celtics fan, non Celtic fan, sorta Celtic fan, you have to love this trade. As Steven A Smith so articulately points out “I LIKE THIS MOVE BY DANNY AINGE, BUT WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE JV CONFERENCE”. I pretty sure what Steven A. meant was that the Celtics still play in the East, which for the past 10 year has been a far inferior conference compared to the West, but that’s what makes this deal so great. There isn’t a team in the East that will have a better starting five, in fact I’m thinking about convincing Danny to try out for point guard just so I can be in his entourage. And when you look out West, only San Antonio and Phoenix look like teams that are better than us today.

This was a huge price to pay for one guy, but from Ainge’s point of view it had to be done (to save his job) and from owner Wyc Grousbeck point of view it had to be done too (to make the Celtics relevant in a town dominated by the Sox and Pats), and if you are a fan you have to be thrilled (because the Celtics are back, and there will finally be basketball to watch come April and June). Don’t get me wrong, I was a huge Big Al fan (does anyone remember when we used to call Alex, Big Gay Al? BGA? Anyone?), he had a huge season last year and fans in Minnesota will soon realize what a great player they got in exchange for their future Hall of Famer.

Danny, remember to contact your doctor if your erection lasts longer than 4 hours.

In six years, this might look like a foolish and panicked move, but for the next three to five years Celtics fans everywhere are going to be more excited than Danny Mac when Kenny Chesney came on stage with a cut off Sox shirt on. So what if I’ll be paying off my season tickets in monthly payments over the next year or two, at least I’ll finally be getting my moneys worth.

In Case You Missed It...

4-for-5, 2 singles, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 1 dead fan in the bleachers, 1 elated Danny Mac

That was Wily Mo's line against Cleveland Thursday Night.

And while you're here, I might as well point you to an article from the Globe about my boy.

Just a couple little tidbits from the article:

"He can be even better than me," said Ortiz yesterday. "He is one of the strongest people I've ever been around. With Wily Mo it's just playing time. With his hitting it's just timing. That's all it is. People say he can't hit the breaking ball. Well, I couldn't hit the breaking ball either. I learned to hit it. But I learned to hit it because I got the opportunity. Wily Mo hasn't had the opportunity."

And...

"That kid is a star waiting to happen," said (Mike) Easler (WMP's hitting coach in the minors). "When I had him as a kid, he was making great progress. We worked on things every day. Every day. I did endless numbers of drills with him to improve his ability to hit a breaking pitch."

Easler added, "From what I remember of Wily Mo and what I see of him on TV when I watch, this kid can still be pretty special. It would be great to see that happen for him because he's a good kid and he just wants to do well. As a hitting coach he'd be a hitter I'd be excited to work with and I felt that way when I had him."

And one more from Papi...

"Someday, I'm telling you," said Ortiz, "he's gonna change your mind."


Now I don't know who Mike Easler is, and frankly, I don't care. When a guy like David Ortiz is saying someone can potentially be better than him, you have to take notice. It wasn't that long ago Ortiz was cast away from Minnesota as a guy who didn't have the talent to make it in the majors. Now he's one of the biggest stars in the entire league.

Pena is 25 years old right now. Ortiz was 27 when he came to Boston and broke out. Pretty similar career paths. The potential is there. The talent is there. Now it's just a matter of putting Pena in the right environment.

I will accept my "Danny you were right" from everyone sometime on 2009. Look forward to that day.


Disagree? (Which I know EVERYONE does.) Feel free to tear me apart at thesportshub@blogspot.com. I will save every email and comment and will throw every one of them in your face when WMP breaks out.

Looking Back...

Alright so this post isn't happening at the All Star Break like it was promised. And it's not going to be a double post by me and Greech. But if one of us doesn't throw up a First Half Review, our most loyal reader Sean might lose it. And I figure if I get the ball rolling here with the midseason review, maybe Greech can pry himself away from his new-found love and answer the challenge.

It's been a great half year for the Sox filled with surprising performances and some awesome memorable moments. Without further ado...a look back at the first half of the '07 season through the eyes of Danny Mac:

Best Call-Up: You know how every year we read tons of stories about our prospects that are ready to make the jump to the Major Leagues? Before Papelbon made his debut he was already a household name. Before Youkilis joined the big club he was already "The Greek God of Walks."

Well for the last 2 years one name has been thrown into every "Best Prospect" conversation and article that has happened. That man is Jacoby Ellsbury. Now maybe he was only up for a week, but what an awesome week he had. When's the last time you saw someone, at any level of the game including Little League, take home plate from 2nd base on a passed ball?? I've never seen it. We finally got to see what this kid can do. And I'll be the 5000th to say it; I am already PSYCHED for the Ellsbury Era in Boston.

Honorable Mention goes to Manny Delcarmen, who I am predicting to win the Best Call-up award for the season-end review.

Best Arrival: Daisuke Matsuzaka was the big signing of the offseason, hands down. He came in with all the hype in the world. MVP of the WBC. Best Japanese prospect in years. $51.1 million just to negotiate with the guy, plus another $52 to get him signed. And I couldn't be happier about it the guy has been as advertised, and he's only going to get better.

But he didn't have the Best Arrival. Remember that first Yankee game in Fenway? You know where we beat Rivera for the 1034th time in the last few years? Well for me the biggest moment of that game was Hideki Okajima's arrival.

This guy came to the Sox with little-to-no expectations. He was "the other Japanese guy." But then he came in and shut down the Yankees at Fenway Park. This was his make or break moment, and he came out and established himself as "The Man." Now he's Okie, the All-Star, the best set up man in the game. And it all started on that fateful night in Boston when he shut down the big, bad Bronx crew. Welcome to Boston Okie.

Best Moment: So many to choose from. There's "back to back to back to back", which also included Joe Morgan wondering if that has ever happened in the history of the game, when it actually happened last year as well and included J.D. Drew in both instances. Great to know ol' Joe still has a job.

There's the Mother's Day game, where the Sox rallied to come back against the Orioles and won it with Lugo's grounder that he beat out. There's Schilling's near no-no in Oakland. We can even include Okie's arrival that I just talked about. There's Dice-K's debut. We even have Wily Mo's walk-off grandslam off of Chris Ray in Baltimore.

But I'm giving the nod to the nostalgic moment. I'm going with Trot Nixon's return to Fenway. Maybe I'm biased because I was there for it. But that was just an awesome night to be at Fenway. With all the Nixon memories, I have to give this the Best Moment award. It's only right to pay homage to the Original Dirt Dog here.

Rod Beck Memorial: This is the award for the best facial hair. No surprises here, it's Youk. I'm 99% convinced that Youk's goatee could double as a face-mask for Richard Seymour. That thing terrifies me.

Honorable mention to Papi's "WTF beard" and Manny's Patches.

Rookie of the (1st Half of) the Year: We all know Okie is the obvious answer. But Danny Mac likes to go against the grain. I'm giving it to Dustin Pedroia. He's another one of those "guys we've been hearing about for the last few years but have never actually seen him play." Sure he made a couple of appearances last year as a pinch runner, but until this year we only he he was one of our top prospects.

He struggled through April to the point where everyone wanted Alex Cora as our everyday 2nd baseman. But Tito wouldn't quit on DP and now he's become a favorite in Red Sox Nation.

.310 avg, .393 OBP, 21 doubles, 37 runs, 26 RBI. Not to mention near flawless glovework in the field, plus my favorite quote of the season thus far: (concerning A-Rod's cheap shot slide into 2nd) "That's fine if that's how he wants to play I'll just remember that next time he's coming in my arm slot hits the floor."

5'9", 180 lbs., and 0 ounces of fear. Gotta love Pedroia.

The Rem-Dawg Award: Have to recognize Jerry Remy here for his greatest broadcasting moment. I am going with everything involving the taping of "Sox Appeal", the new NESN dating show where people go to dates at Fenway. Basically they show the people on their date while Remy provides great insight like "yea, this girl has no interest in this guy at all, she's totally bored" and "the best way to get a girl is to ask her 'How you doin'". I tried the "how you doin" on a booze cruise a couple months ago. Remy's onto something good there.

Manny being Manny Award: Oh Manny. Is there a more entertaining guy in sports than Manny Ramirez? We could list all of his Manny moments, but I think there's a word limit to this blog space so I'll just let you reminisce on your own.

Surprisingly Manny has only had like 311 Manny moments so far this year. The over/under was 560.5. Maybe Manny is finally learning how to be a normal human being. Well you know, except for the strangely homoerotic relationship with Julian Tavarez that includes head-rubbing in the dugout.

Speaking of Tavarez...

The Tim Wakefield Most Underrated Performer: Named after the most underrated Sox player of my lifetime. Everytime you look at the pitching probables and see Tavarez for the Sox, you kinda think "Son of a %$!&". But Julian has done a hell of a job this year. He's stayed with Halladay twice, and had the Sox in prime position to beat Johan Santana early in the year. For a guy that is basically just holding Jon Lester's spot in the rotation, Tavarez done a damn good job. Because of him there is no reason to rush Lester back up to Boston. Tavarez hasn't received enough credit for the job he's done. Plus, he's kept Manny happy and there's no way in hell to give him enough credit for that. I still say he's packaged with WMP at the deadline for another bullpen arm.

Honorable mention goes to Mike Lowell who isn't talked about nearly enough as he should be.

Biggest Disappointment: No I will not be doing any Lugo bashing. He's going to have a great second half (see predictions below). This space is for J.D. Drew. $14 mil a year. And he sucks. I'm not even bringing up stats because I'll just get upset. Can we PLEASE just turn WMP into the everyday right-fielder??? For the love of GOD please just do me this favor Tito. He's a freakin Monster and there is no way in hell he can do worse than Drew. Just have Coco play like 20 steps over towards rightfield to help protect WMP some. Coco has proven he has the speed to cover all that area. JUST MAKE WMP THE STARTER. DREW IS USELESS!!!

OK I'm done now.

Cy Young: 12-2, 3.44 ERA, 92 K's, and that includes 15 days on the DL. You could easily add 1-2 more wins plus another 10-25 K's if he was healthy all year.

Josh Beckett has finally found his stuff. He became a household name for Sox fans back in 2003 when he shut down the Yanks in the World Series. Then he came to Boston as a known Yankee-killer. Disappointed us all in 2006, but has definitely found his groove in 2007. Does any team really want to see Beckett in October? Didn't think so.

MVP: .323 avg, .911 OPS (.416 OBP), 46 RBI, 51 runs, 1 wicked bad ass goatee. I'm talkin about Wily M...OK fine I mean Youkilis. What can you say about this guy. He's been awesome. Papi and Manny are just now hitting their strides, yet we're sitting 10 games ahead of NY. The bulk of the credit is going to the pitching, which is very well-deserved by all means. But where's Youk's credit? He has been flawless in the field. He's been clutch at the plate. He's been a leader. Congrats Youk, we'll be sending your TSH 1st Half MVP Award ASAP. (Editor's note: The MVP trophy is just an empty box of Keystone with a picture glued to the side of me and Greech holding a sign that says MVP.)

Lifetime Red Sox Nation Member Award: Totally contrived award that I'm making up on the spot. I just feel that this guy needs recognition and here's how I do it. Gotta love that I am my own editor and can make shit up as I go.

At the end of the year, the Sox are going to have a tough choice to make. Do they re-sign Mike Lowell. Personally I say hell yes. But I understand how everything works and there's a 99% chance that he leaves Boston after the season. Well I am offering the Lifetime RSN Member Award to Mike Lowell. He's been the ultimate professional. He has been unreal since coming over with Beckett last year. Excellent defense. Extremely clutch at the plate. Here's to Mike Lowell who will always have a special place in the hearts of Sox fans everywhere. Well unless the Yanks end up signing him and then this award becomes the "Screw You, You Goddamn Sell-Out Award".

2nd Half Predictions: These will be quick.

-Manny and Papi break out. Wicked obvious, and it's already starting to happen. It just feels nice to make an obvious prediction to boost my correct predictions %.

-WMP and Tavarez go in a package deal. With Lester waiting in the wings, and the arrival of Eric Hinske as a great bench option, I say deal these 2 while they're stock is still relatively high. And yea I know Pena has been awful. But he's still 25 and can be dealt on potential alone. You'll see.

-Drew goes down for an extended time period and we bring back Brian Daubach to be the everyday RF. Yea that's not gonna happen, but now you're all thinking, what ever happened to Daubach. He always came through with 2 straight weeks of hitting .800 with 10 homers, then tailed off. I still say Drew goes down though.

-Lugo hits .320 for the second half. He's coming alive as we speak. Just wait. By the end of August we will all have completely forgotten about his .190 first half average. You'll see.

-Boston takes the AL East by 5-7. Yea I know. A little too early to call it, even though it's obvious it's happening. The Yanks don't have enough to take the East (although they will make a late season September run at it), but they will take the Wild Card. We'll be seeing another Boston/NY playoff series come October, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

There's your midseason awards from Danny Mac. Now I just hope Greech can pull himself off the couch away from the "24 Marathons" we've been hearing about.

Feel free to throw in your own Mid Year Awards or 2nd half predictions or Greech-bashing comments at thesportshub@blogspot.com.

Happy now Sean?

TSH All Starz

Greech


Well guys, its official the winner of the American League will now enjoy home field advantage in the 2007 World Series. Which is good news, say, if your favorite team has a huge lead in the division, and are one of the best teams in baseball, and have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, you know, if that happen to be the case….. The game this year was actually pretty entertaining, minus the mindless dribble of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, I can’t stand those guys. Listenting to Joe Buck and TimMcCarver announce an allstar game is sort of like listening to Sean talk about his ex girlfriend, they make absolutely no sense, babble on about nothing, its completely and utterly excruciation, and it always ends with them in the fetal position crying, and for some reason I always end up feeling bad for them. But like I said, other than that it was a great game. Five of the six Red Sox selected to the team got a chance to play, only Oki didn’t get a chance to get in the game, although he looked pretty unhittable while warming up next to Santana, too bad.

And While I agree with Danno about the pre game ceremony honoring Willy Mays, I’m wondering where this is all heading. When Boston brought Ted Williams out on to the field in 1999, I got chills, not so much this past Tuesday. Ted was on his last legs, he could hardly walk or see. People still talk about that night, the way players were huddled around him like they were little leaguers. It just didn’t seem the same to me with Mays, not to mention the seeing Bonds following him a few steps behind seemed to slightly tarnish the moment, at least for me.. Last year it was Willy Stargell in Pittsburgh, next year the games in New York, so they bring out one of there old timers, then say the games in Chicago and they bring out Ernie Banks, then the games in San Diego, so they bring out Tony Gywnn? Maybe I just like to watch baseball games without all the shows and frills, or maybe it was just different in 1999, I was only 15 years old and probably thought McGwire got so big drinking lots of milk…

Anways guys, Danny and I were really putting in a lot of hours trying to put together something for a mid-season baseball report, I swear. If you add up all the hours that we drunkenly talked about actually sitting down for a few hours and doing it, we spent a good chunk of time. Unfortunately, nothing ever got down on paper. Luckily, we aren’t just the two main contributors to TSH, we are the head editors, co-founders and main investors, so we gave ourselves an extension, probably till around the trade deadline, so hold your horses.

Other than that, things here at TSH are going great. We have both been really busy at work the past few weeks (Danny doesn’t do shit), and other obligations (we live at home, we have no obligations),so sorry for the lack of posts. Actually one of my main and only concerns these days is that while I’m busy at work, Danny or Conboy might take it upon themselves to set up a fantasy football league before someone else has the chance to do. I’m sorry, but I just can’t let that happen, not to me, and not to anyone I care about or call a friend. If it does feel free to direct any and all complains towards me…at TheSportsHub@gmail.com We’d love to here from you, guys, I just deleted all of our tens and tens of emails in our mail box, so we should have enough room for a more than a few. As always, thanks for reading guys, keep it real. PEACE.

The "Say Hey" Kid

Wow I never thought I would watch a moment again that could even be mentioned in the same breath as Ted Williams on the field before the 1999 All-Star Game. But MLB managed to pull off something comparable.

If you missed the All-Star Game opening ceremony with Willie Mays, do yourself a favor and find the video online. Amazing. I still have chills. And speaking of Teddy Ballgame, Mays was introduced with a quote from Ted; "The All-Star Game was created for Willie Mays." Doesn't get much cooler than that

It started with Willie coming out of the centerfield gate while a picture of "The Catch" was presented in a wall bigger than a movie screen. Willie walked towards the infield with Barry Bonds right behind him, followed by the rest of the '07 All Stars. They actually did the ceremonial first pitch as a throw from centerfield from Willie Mays. Serious chills. Imagine being Jose Reyes and having the chance to catch that throw. Reyes then had Willie sign the ball for him. What a souvenir that is.

Then they had Willie ride around the field in a pink cadillac tossing balls into the crowd. I'm almost tearing up just re-living this through print. What a moment. Kudos to Bud Selig and MLB.

Back Back Back Back...(25 more times)

And we're LIVE from the Palace of Danny Mac('s Mom and Dad). It's time for the Home Run Derby. I'm picking my boy Prince Fielder to win this just to rub it in that this is the first year I didn't draft him in Fantasy and he's suddenly busted out. 29 HR heading into the break, just 1 behind A-Rod. The last two years while on my Fantasy team I think he combined for 15 HR and 382 strikeouts. No hard feelings though.

Let's get it goin...

8:00 The Derby kicks off with the Counting Crows singing on the field. Apparently I just jumped back about 12 years and I'm at a Middle School dance. Counting Crows? Are you kidding me??

8:06 "From the St. Louis Cardinals...Albert 'Winnie the' Pujols." Thank you Boomer. I forgot how annoying you could be.

8:10 Boomer introduces Willie McCovey. The guy hit 527 HR and was considered one of the most feared hitters of his era. Sadly the only thing people know him for is having a body of water outside of a ballpark named after him. I wonder how long it will be before they rename it Bonds Bay.

8:11 How the hell does Joe Morgan keep getting invited to things?? No one has realized he is absolutely clueless?? I'd love to see Morgan vs. Kruk in a debate just for the sake of curiosity. Kruk would predict Dan Haren to win 47 games in one season and Morgan would just keep repeating that winning is important to a ballclub.

8:13 Kenny Mayne is in a kayak in McCovey Cove with a mic and a helmet cam. This will be hysterical. No doubt this guy is the most entertaining ESPN anchor in history. On a quick side note, I read today that Dan Patrick is leaving ESPN.

8:15 Berman, Dusty Baker, and Joe Morgan are the announcers. I'm speechless...Kenny Mayne needs to save this thing.

ROUND 1:

8:19 "Back back back back back back back back GONE." First one of many tonight. I just had an aneurysm. Morneau just got on the board with one to right-center.

8:23 A weak 4 from Morneau. His night is over.

8:27 Mark it on your calendars folks: David Beckham arrives July 21. I can't even tell you the level of excitement I am at. This may be the most anticipated moment in American sports history. WOOOOOO! Feeling good about that one.

8:29 Karl Ravech: "Let's go back to Chris Berman"

DAMMIT KARL WHY?????

8:32 Matt Holliday put on a show early. Longest bomb was 462. Buuuuut he only finished with 5. He's done too.

8:37 Barry Bonds interview with Peter Gammons. They talk about Hank Aaron and Bud Selig choosing not to attend the game when Bonds will break 755. Bonds says he has no problem with Aaron missing and in so many words tells Selig to screw. You know something I agree with Barry here. This is going to be one of, if not the biggest moments in sports history. Selig absolutely should be there. Good job Barry, way to put the Commish in his place. Meanwhile, Magglio Ordonez just choked and ended with 2. So long Maggs. Looks like Holliday might actually have a shot at round 2 after all. And I'm happy with that, he was putting on a show when he started out.

8:45 "The Bronx is Burning" debuts tonight at 10pm. I might give that a shot. Can't wait til 2027 when they do a mini-series on the 2007 Yankees where Vin Diesel plays A-Rod and Chyna plays his mistress. Pujols is up. This should be a clinic.

8:49 Speaking of A-Rod he's now commentating. Fantastic. I wish Remy was one of the announces for this because you KNOW he would ask A-Rod how it felt to throw a slap at Bronson Arroyo, then 2 years later try to be a tough guy by trying to take out Pedroia, a guy 1/3 his size, with an elbow at 2nd base.

8:50 "Winnie the" Pujols finishes with 4. This has been a pretty lackluster Derby. Someone needs to step up and do some damage. Where's Wily Mo when you need him?

8:58 They just showed Bonds and A-Rod hanging out laughing. That musta been a great conversation. I can hear them trading "no way dude they hate me way more than you" stories. Maybe something like:

Bonds: Dude, come on. Steroids. You're an amateur.
A-Rod: Bro, I ran to first base and slapped a guy on the wrist to knock the ball out of his hand during an ALCS game.
Bonds: Yea, but steroids, man. No contest.
A-Rod: I got caught cheating on my wife with a chick that has the same build as you did at the peak of your 'roids cycle.
Bonds: Touche.

9:02 Wow, I missed most of Rios and he finished tied with Holliday for the lead at 5. This is way too uneventful. Prince is stepping into the box now. Here comes a show. Heads up kayakers, Fielder is on a mission to piss me off more and more for not landing him on my Fantasy team. I know none of these HR's count for anything, but I am fully convinced Prince is out to break my heart every chance he gets.

9:05 This always bothers me. If you were one of the kids in the outfield during the Derby wouldn't you be laying out for everything? This is your one chance to get some serious TV time. I would be going after everything. Put me in the outfield for the 2008 Derby I guarantee I could end up getting signed by the Devil Rays.

9:07 "I really like your friend." It had to be said. Also, just a quick side note. It is after 9pm on a Monday night and I am not even the least bit tempted to turn the channel to Monday Night Raw. 2 weeks and counting with no wrestling. I feel like a new man. And while I was pointing that out, Fielder just put one into the Cove and caused a guy to flip over. I'm remembering a certain Sports Hub author flipping a canoe up in Maine a couple weeks ago. Hint: it wasn't me. No seriously it wasn't.

9:10 Great, Prince continues his mission to screw me over by finishing the 1st round with 3 HR, all but guaranteeing that he's done for the night. I swear to God this guy's sole purpose in life is to make me look like an ass. If I ever see him in person you can bet every dollar you have that I will be throwing him in the Cobra Clutch.

9:12 Vlad is in the box. Please for the love of everything that is holy hit more than 5 HR. This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

9:14 David Ortiz brings Vlad a case with another bat. Is there a cooler guy on the planet than Big Papi?? Vlad finishes with 5. Round 2 as of right now is Vlad, Holliday, and Rios. Ryan Howard steps up next.

9:20 Seems like a good time to bring this up. I read an article at ESPN.com today about how to improve the HR Derby. Let's focus on the aluminum bat idea brought up by David Wright because that is absolutely brilliant. Imagine putting a metal bat in Vlad's hands? I feel like he would rattle of enough HRs to break Bonds' single season record of 73 in one round. His average distance would be about 617 feet. The only drawback is that they Derby would take a lot longer because they would have to bring in paramedics to remove at least 10 dead bodies from the bleachers with cause of death "Vlad Guerrero Liner."

9:29 Howard finishes the 1st round with 3. So long defending champ. Thanks for making the trip. I'm hereby starting a petition to hold the HR Derby at Coors Field next year. I don't care where the All-Star game is, please move the Derby to Coors. If I have to watch a 1st round like this again I might snap. Tie-breaker coming up between Morneau and Pujols for the final spot in the 2nd round. 5 swings each.

9:32 Morneau just almost killed an 8 year old who wasn't paying attention in right field. As sick as this is, that easily would have been the highlight of the night. Morneau finishes with 1. No doubt Pujols beats this.

9:34 2 swings from Albert and Morneau gets sent packing. The last one from "Winnie the" went 469 feet. WMP coulda hit one further than that, no doubt.

9:41 I'd like to re-think something I said earlier. Kenny Mayne is equally as cool as Big Papi. He's the only one though. Round 2 starts with Holliday.

9:44 Holliday just hit one 475 ft. I'll admit it, I thought the only reason people thought he was good was because he played in Colorado at Coors. I was wrong this guy has some serious pop. Also, Dusty Baker just asked Berman why he didn't do the "back back back...(12 more times)" thing for one of Holliday's HRs. Dusty, why the hell would you encourage him?? Aaaaaand Holliday just put one out of the stadium. WOW.

9:48 Holliday puts up 8 in the 2nd round. Finally, someone does something interesting. 5 HR over 450 ft tonight for Holliday. I have to say, he is the last one of this group I would have picked to win this thing, but the way he is swinging he's gonna be tough to beat. Here comes Rios for his 2nd turn.

9:58 I completely stopped paying attention for 10 minutes and missed the most exciting part of the Derby Rios just rattled off 12 HR. Perfect. I space out for 10 minutes and miss the highlight of the Derby so far. Unless Vlad goes crazy it looks like the 2 least likely competitors will be the finalists. Unreal.

10:14 Vlad has been on a roll with 3 outs left. He needs one to force a tie-breaker for the finals. AND VLAD TIES IT UP!!

10:15 Vlad just destroyed one. He almost hit the giant glove in deep left. 503 feet. Unbelievable. So long Matt Holliday. You can't be upset about this. You knew Vlad had to do something special as soon as Papi gave him the special bat. This proves once again. Ortiz is all that is man.

10:22 They check in with Kenny Mayne. He's out of the water. I have to say this is the biggest disappointment of the night. Kenny Mayne in McCovey Cove had potential to be the most entertaining 2+ hours in television history. So in the last 2 years ESPN has blown this night, fired Harold Reynolds and given John Kruk free reign, hired Fernando Vina and Tino Martinez, and allowed Joe Morgan to stay on tv. ESPN needs to hire a new Program Manager. They need to re-do Dream Job and hire a whole new cast, but keep the guy that does the Johnny Drama "VICTORY" chant on walk-off homers.

10:33 Pujols just put on a show. Rattled off 9 HR, not quite enough to advance. Definitely brought the crowd back into it though. Guerrero vs. Rios in the finals. Not exactly Balboa vs. Creed II, but should be interesting. I actually expect this to be like Drago vs. Creed. Guerrero needs to absolutely dominate this thing. If the last 4 Derby winners end up being Garrett Anderson, Bobby Abreu, Ryan Howard (wasn't quite a superstar when he won, but was on the cusp) and Alex Rios they need to seriously look into the metal bats idea.

10:40 That song by Dropkick Murphy's from The Departed is playing in the background. Apparently in the finals you have to face Papelbon. Good luck boys you're not even getting the ball outta the infield if thats the case. (Can someone please tell me the name of that song?)

10:42 Just when you thought this Derby couldn't get any worse, they're doing an interview with Vlad in Spanish with the interviewer acting as translator as well. Guys, either splurge the extra cash for an actual translator or interview someone else. That was ridiculous.

10:45 Rios puts up 2 HR in the finals. Pretty sure Vlad is a lock at this point. Thankfully this year the winner is finally a guy thats one of the 5 best players in the game. If we had a Garrett Anderson repeat with Rios winning I was gonna start looking into MLS. I hear David Beckham arrives July 21. Save the date boys and girls.

10:51 I think they should handicap Vlad to make it interesting. He only gets 5 outs, has to swing with his hands in a reverse grip, and only balls that land in the Cove count.

10:53 Vlad's posse if 8 Dominican teens mob him at the plate when he ties Rios. Here comes a torn bicep for Vlad just to complete the full jinx. Apparently the posse is his brothers.

10:56 Vlad wraps this thing up with a shot to left field. He does the patented Manny "hit the ball, drop the bat, drop your head and walk away" move. Ballgame.


Alright the Derby is out of the way, and the All-Star game is coming Tuesday night. Me and Greech promised a midyear review of the Sox and it WILL happen. It's just a matter of when. Hopefully we'll get together and get this thing done. We had some preliminary discussions about it, it's just a matter of getting it in writing. Stay tuned, and as always feel free to say what up at thesportshub@blogspot.com.