Friday, March 16, 2007

All They Needed Was Some Rain...

DC IMed me on Wednesday, wondering whether or not we should be concerned that the Sox seemed to have lost the ability to score runs. He had a good point. Ever since the game on Monday where the Sox blew their load surmounting a five run Yankee lead, Boston scored 3 runs over three games, losing all three contests despite quality pitching from Beckett, Gabbard and Snyder. A mini-slump seemed to be rearing its ugly head as the weather up in the Northeast grew warmer and warmer...and then something weird happened: the wind shifted.

Temperatures dropped in the Northeast and right now it's sleeting something fierce here in New York City. Meanwhile, at the Dodgers/Sox game today in Florida, the skies opened up and poured rain on Holman Stadium. Eventually the weather postponed the game, but not before Wily Mo, Tek and Hinske all pounded in long home runs, scoring more runs (five) in two innings than they had all week. To top it off, Francona ordered Dice-K not to swing at any pitches today (probably with Mike Hampton well in mind) so when Matsuzaka came up he watched as
Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo worked the count to 0 and 2 before walking him on four straight balls, thereby assuring Kuo an almost guaranteed spot as the Dodger's sixth starter.

Nice interview on Yanksfan vs Soxfan with journalist Rob Bradford, where Bradford discusses the problems inherent with being a journalist and a fan of the same team. Rob doesn't out-and-out say so, but it sounds like getting a pass to go beyond the lines that exist between fans (including most bloggers ) and players as a member of the press is a bit like biting the apple of the Tree of Knowledge: your priorities change and you can't really go back to the way you were. The interview also links to Rob's blog, Bradford on Baseball, which is an excellent read.