Jonathan Papelbon: "The Incredible Hulk, But a Little Stronger"

I do love me some Papelbon video, because the guy is probably about as crazy (in that fun way that makes for good TV) as Kevin Millar. Note to the Comcast guys: asking him about safe topics like Mannys is all well and good - MDC has mechanics problems, it's a relief to see Manny Being Manny somewhere else - but that's not why I'm watching. I want to see more of the personally directed questions, because that's where Paps gets to shine. For example: asking him about Chad Johnson contemplating a legal switch to Ocho Cinco and whether or not Paps would do the same was brilliant, because now we know that Cinco Ocho is actually a surpressed personality appears only on the mound and at casino tables. We know the strengths of the talent, people. Let's use them.

Here's To Pie In Your Eye, Jason Bay

Not entirely sure why the clip on this page starts with the Papi pie to the face and concludes with three minutes of Jason Bay wiping off his face instead a bit of a lead up to the pie attack, but that's not what's important: on a scale of one to ten, where one is Manny pushing Youkilis (more sweep under the rug and not fun at all) and ten are the Manny / Papi / Cabrera complicated handshakes of awesomeness from 2004 (or maybe Kevin Millar doing Manny's press conferences), random pies to the face has to be at least a seven. Maybe an eight. It's also the funniest thing this team's done all year, a throwback to the lovable idiots of yesteryear who made that August hot streak a thing of beauty and glory that will live forever in our minds, growing in fondness with time. So yeah: more pies to the face. More random pranks. More Big Papi. Let's make this team of professionals fun on a human level.

In the Midst of Trade Deadline Tension, Kevin Millar Brings Comedy

Goddamn it I love Kevin Millar. Can we find some way of bringing him back without putting him on the roster? Maybe just to do press relations between the players and the media?

Game 43: Manny Ramirez, Fielding Superstar

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 3, Baltimore Orioles 6

Last night, while I was brooding over the results of this ridiculous game and wondering how I was going to write yet another post on how our bullpen is terrible and needs to be beaten with sticks, a sign out of the heavens (or off the TV) appeared: the clip of Manny's ultra rare 9 to 6 to 3 double play showed up on the local ABC news sports recap.

A sign, you say? How so? Remember that I live in Brooklyn, NY, far away from the confines of non-playoff New England sports news, where there are four baseball teams: the Yankees and the Mets and whoever they're playing that night. Showing a clip from a Red Sox game vacillates between the irrelevant and the indignant for most people down here - or so I would think. However, perhaps because he's a native son (of sorts), or because there really are more Red Sox fans down here than one would suspect, or maybe just because the play was so damn spectacular for anyone - let alone a guy whose slugging-first reputation proceeds him - to catch, there it was, in all its glory, on the small screen in New York City, giving me a sign.

If you haven't seen the catch yet, go watch it. Marvel at how the ball left Kevin Millar's bat, how it looked like a sure thing home run until it got to left field. Watch Manny, his dreadlocks flying, tracking that ball at a dead run. Watch him reach out, snag that ball on an exaggerated curve and hold on like it was most natural thing in the world. Then watch him, with the unique flair we've
come to know and love from Manny (particularly in the past two years) take this play from really special to super-freakin'-memorable (and more than worthy of becoming the sole focus of a blog post) by letting him momentum take him to the wall and then up the wall where he high fives a guy in a Red Sox shirt.
Oh, and then he throws the ball back into the infield, where Cora and Youkilis combine to nail Aubrey Huff and end the Orioles' half of the inning. That's a level of cool so unbelievable that the only comparison I can think of is if in one those old Bird versus Jordan commercials, one of them had used a random fan to help ricochet the ball on its way to the net.

So enjoy your day off, fellas (Lord knows you need it); I'll be thinking back to that catch all day and grinning when I think of the sequence: off the bat, in the glove, off the fan, off the shortstop, nothing but out.

2007 ALCS Game 7: Don't Stop Believing!

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 11, Cleveland Indians 2

Working hard to get my fill/Everybody wants a thrill/Payin' anything to roll the dice/Just one more time

This is step two...Sox win the pennant for the 2nd time in 4 years and they did it again with a miraculous comeback. I am too excited to be happy, too happy to be drunk and too drunk to be awake… but somehow I am all of those things. It’s like a euphoric waking coma that I now share with the rest of Red Sox Nation. What a place to be.

Oh man, I need to unwind a second. That was a rough week of baseball, any way you cut it. When I step back and see that the Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 over 3 games I can’t believe it… weren’t these all so close? Game 7 was a game of inches right?

With all of the old mojo the Sox trotted out before the game, I kept checking to make sure I didn’t accidentally go back in time to 2004. Kevin Millar threw out the first pitch and read off the Sox starting lineup. Last time I checked he was on the Baltimore Orioles, one of our division rivals… but who cares! It was just great to see Millar drunk, happy and in Fenway again. Sure he called Ellsbury “Jacob” and Dice-K “Danielle” but it was worth it just to reconnect with a former player that came up big… with a walk… in game 4… of a series that happened 3 years ago. Hmmmm… maybe I am reading too much into this… it was just great to see Millar!

Anyway, Dice-K came out looking like he might be worth SOME of that $51 million, while Westbrook was hankering for one of Paul Byrds HGH shots. Sox put up runs in the first three innings, every little break was falling for Boston, the Indians looked rattled and the road to the Rockies looked a lot shorter. That’s usually when the wheels come off.

Dice-K got hit and hit quick in the 4th and 5th innings. He looked completely gassed, but Francona let him finish the 5th while the rest of Sox Nation tried not to have flashbacks to Grady Little. Lofton pounded a ball off the Monster and Manny gunned him down at second (looked safe). Then it was hit after hit before Dice-K managed to strike out Asdrubal to end the inning. The Tribe only plated two runs, but this happened to coincide with Westbrook suddenly remembering how to pitch. The Sox must have hit into a billion inning ending double plays and I think I was downing a beer after each one. The tension was unbearable.

Some will win, some will lose/Some were born to sing the blues/Oh, the movie never ends/It goes on and on and on and on

The Sox sent out Oki for a two inning hold, and he participated in the one of the scariest sequences of the season. With one out in the 7th, Lofton (why is he ALWAYS involved?) slaps a shallow popup down the leftfield line… and Lugo drops it. The string of obscenities that flowed from my mouth as Lofton reached second would make a sailor blush. And then the momentum shifted again…

For some reason I still don’t understand, Lofton was held at third on a Gutierrez single down the line. He could have walked in and tied the game… but he got the stop sign. So now with runners in first and third, Oki gets Casey “Bad Beard” Blake to ground into a inning ending, rally killing, thought only Sox could do that, double play. Suddenly I could breathe again.

Then it was like someone let the air out of a balloon. The pressure just disappeared. With Jacoby reaching on an error, Pedroia SLAMMED a ball over the Monster for 2 insurance runs. Then in the 8th the Sox took the formally un-hittable Betancourt to school for the tune of 4 runs (Dusty with a bases clearing double) and Youk slammed a 2 run shot off Lewis and the Coke bottles. What the hell happened? No more drama! No more finger chewing! No more doubt! Papelbon came in to clean up the 9th (with a great catch by Coco to end it) and it never looked so routine. The rough and tumble Indians left the ALCS with a whimper. Not their proudest moment.

Un-freaking-real. This series comeback might not be as sweet at it was in 2004 (it’s not the Yankees and it’s not 0-3) but it still tastes mighty good. The bizarre thing about this series is that I never thought it was over and done for the Sox… sure I felt down when they fell into the 1-3 hole… but I never felt like it was over for them. Is that what 2004 did for us as a fan base? Instead of pessimism when the chips are down, is our faith now bolstered by the fact that we KNOW the Sox can comeback from anything? I never stopped believing, never stopped hoping, cause I knew… somehow I just knew… that this was going to go our way. This is the apex of the strange new world of the Red Sox fan. No longer underdogs, now we’re perennial contenders and our belief has never been stronger. Go crazy people… party like it’s 2004 'cause the Sox are going to the World Series.

Don't stop believin'/Hold on to the feelin'

The Rise of Cinco Ocho

Cruising around the Internets yesterday, I came across this article on Red Sox Monster that discusses Jonathan Papelbon's new nickname/on-mound persona, as taken from an interview Paps did with Fox Sports Network's Gary Tanguay. In that interview, Paps says that when he's pitching, a second personality called Cinco Ocho takes over and keeps him just on the edge of sanity so he can pitch with all of the intensity we know and love. It's a little bit crazy (especially coming from a guy with hair that looks like it recently made friends with a light socket), but as I was commenting to some coworkers yesterday after Papi's bat presentation to Vlad during the Home Run Derby, I love it when athletes step out of the public relations mold and show some personality. From (presumed) Cinco Ocho namesake Ocho Cinco (and all of the other characters Chad Johnson has developed) to the hijinks of Kevin Millar, Julian Tavarez's bowling technique and all of the weird things that make Manny be Manny, athletes that move beyond the standard lines ("we played a great game, these are a great bunch of guys, we give it our best every day") and stand above the crowd (without being jerks, anyway) are a lot more fun to watch.

So long live Cinco Ocho, especially if he can keep making hitters look goofy. Maybe he and JT Killer can start a "barely restrained psychopaths" club together. That'd build some team spirit, right?