ALCS Game 5: Rays @ BoSox
By
The term “must-win” gets thrown around a lot in sports these days. Your team loses five of six in May and falls to three games back in the division? The next game is a must win. Your team just lost three in a row and has their ace going tomorrow? That’s a must win. It’s much like the term “ace pitcher,” it’s been thrown around so much that it’s lost its meaning.
But tonight represents the true meaning of a must-win for the Sox: they lose, they go home. Period, end of story. They’re sending Dice-K to the mound, the only starter that managed not to get his brains beat in by the Rays’ lineup this series. Tampa’s outscored the Sawx 31-13 over the last three games, and their bats are so hot they set the Citgo sign on fire.
Joe Maddon switched up their rotation and is sending Victor Zambrano Scott Kazmir to the bump instead of Jamie Shields. The move partly has to do with each pitcher’s career performancea at the Fens (Kaz has a 3.02 ERA in Fenway; Shields 10.12) , but mostly has to do with Kazmir’s issues with scheduled Game 6 ump Derryl Cousins. Bottom line is that it would behoove the Rays’ to wrap this series up tonight, because having to face Josh Beckett and Lester The Invincible in Games 6 & 7 is not a situation they want to be in, regardless of how those guys pitched earlier in the series.
The weather’s not going to be great, with about a 50% chance of rain up until 10pm or so. This one looks to have marathon written all over it. TBS has the game, what will Craig Sager wear tonight?
Tampa Bay
1. Akinori Iwamure, 2B
2. BJ Upton, CF
3. Carlos Pena, 1B
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Carl Crawford, LF
6. Cliff Floyd, DH
7. Dioner Navarro, C
8. Gabe Gross, RF
9. Jason Bartlett, SS
- Scott Kazmir, P (12-8, 3.49)
Boston
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. JD Drew, RF
7. Jed Lowrie, SS
8. All-Star Catcher Jason Varitek, C
9. Mark Kotsay, 1B
- Daisuke Matsuzaka, P (18-3, 2.90)
The World Series isn’t starting until next Wednesday regardless of when the ALCS ends, so we could be looking at nearly a week of no baseball. Yikes.
430 Comments
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The Mason Williams Watch
Lol @ the Craig Sager pic, thats really funny. Nice pic too… Kaz goes 6 tonight with 1 ER with 5 ks
Check this out (re Sager). It’s awesome and gross rolled into one.
http://deadspin.com/5035502/cr.....dance-team
Lol weird shit
Isn’t Sager a baskeball dude? wow…
you didn’t know that? He’s been doing side comentary for basketball games on TNT for years.
Nothing will bring a smile to my face than to see this fradulent 18-3 pitcher get his ass whip all over fenway.
It is amazing how much my Spanish has improved just by listening to these games in Spanish.
I can almost have a conversation in Spanish about baseball now.
Youth Gone Wild, Skid Row. I love it. I’m now a TBS fan (for the next 2 minutes). The Rays should adopt that song as their theme song.
Upton!!!!
BJ gone wild.
Tampa wants to go to the Series
Yeah I best Dice-K would rather just go home.
/kidding
Boss Man Jr in the mothafuckin house bitches.
I passed Matsui on the street today in midtown. Nobody was bothering him. I doubt most people knew who he was. Knee looked good
lol ? really
and we could have traded IPK and melky for b.j. upton!
BJ Upton is ridiculous right now. 6 homers in the post season so far and he only had 9 in the regular season.
I guess John Henry lost so much money from his hedge fund he decided to cut back on advance scouting.
fun player to watch hit, run, field, and throw
how did upton play a whole season and only hit 9 home runs?
Because, according to Stephen A. Smith, he’s lazy, and that’s why he’s popular.
Stephen A. Smith is yet another example of why ESPN clearly has the most knowledgable baseball analysts in the world.
And the social commentary is top=notch, too.
You should hear him talk about astrophysics and sub-atomic particles. He can break down String Theory into language so simple a 5 year old could understand it. The man is a genius.
That’s Easterbrook.
scoop jackson…
Yikes, my bad. Apologies to Stephen A. Everything he says is important!
(Thanks for the correction.)
Quite frankly, that mistake was disgraceful.
Francona is a moron, he benches the best CFer in baseball again. Doesn’t he understand that Ellsbury is the best at his position. He really wants to get fired.
True or False —- Ellisbury pulls a Francoeur and spends some time in the minors next year ?
False, he’s overrated but he’s a solid player and at least has a idea at the plate.
If he was on the royals or some small market team he would just be a regulat CF with abover average speed
Kazmir’s going to shit the bed tonight.
Pedroia is 16-28! against a pitcher who led the AL in strikeouts last year. Got to give him credit.
i am so sick of dustin pedroia. please send this little man home tonight
Couldnt agree more
“Red Sox Nation” neglected to mention Ortiz struck out after that meaningless triple.
I love Kazmirs stuff
Anyone see Hamels’ interview last night ? I thought it was great, in my opinion hes such a classy guy
Loved the pic of his wife on here last night. Ohmahdamn.
Ya shes real fly
So much for Peter Gammons comment about Kazmir throwing 87 MPH fastballs.
Consistently 90+, touching 95.
Is Dice-K or is Dice-K not the most overrated pitcher in baseball… or one of them at least?
He was this year.
What bout Beckett ? Up until last year most thought he was the most overrated in baseball
Well if that was the case, I think he’s proven most doubters wrong no? I mean, when healthy, he’s one of the best around.
Top 10 ?
He is, though if Josh Beckett had never made the postseason, he wouldn’t be considered an ace. He’s only had 1 great regular season, and without the Postseasons he’s had, could only be graded by his ok regular seasons. In the same token, if Wang had never made the playoffs and had two straight 19 win seasons and the most wins in baseball over a 2 year period, he’d probably be considered an ace. It’s a fine line. Who knows, maybe someday Halladay will make the playoffs and bomb (highly doubt it) and not be considered an ace anymore.
Understand your point but Halladay is an ace no matter what lol.. Dude is an absolute beast when healthy
I think Beckett’s struggles can be attributed to health issues rather than just being plain overrated.
Wasnt he healthy his first yr with boston when he had a 5.01 ERa
fingernail probs I believe
NO!
Its entirely possible to have over 5+ walks per 9 IP and sustain success on the major league level and everybody knows it.
But I’m not even talking about his numbers (Dice-K). I don’t think his stuff is anything exceptional. Other than his fastball and changeup perhaps grading as plus. His slider looks average, his control is what it is…
Not that he’s not a good pitcher. I really don’t understand his level of success.
He’s been very lucky this year, and I think its unsustainable. I think we’ll be comparing him to Hideo Nomo in a few years. Another Japanese pitcher who had some early success, got bat shy and was never much good after that. Always missed bats, and always walked way too many guys. You cant get away with that, because your mistakes will catch up with you.
I’ll never forget what Bobby V said about him when he came over. He said that one thing he’s going to have to learn how to deal with is “The crack of the bat” in the states, meaning that the players here are bigger and stronger and when you make a mistake the ball goes a loooong way. A mistake in Japan is usually a double, here its a HR. Pitchers have to stay aggressive, if for no other reason to minimize the damage. Solo shots wont kill you, 3 run jacks will.
I’m going to have to turn the volume down on this game with all the Dice-K asslicking going on. It’s one rim job after another.
correction. it’s a Pacific Rim Job
http://instantrimshot.com/
Oh, I love the ole’ interweb.
If we signed Dice K we’d all love em
I can’t stand that shimmy he does. Reminds me of what’s his face from Major League 2. Parkman!
While there may be a good line or 2 from that movie, I refuse to acknowledge it was ever made. Never mind the 3rd installment
LOL. Was there seriously a third? Honestly I had no idea.
I like the first 2 but thats becuz im a Charlie Sheen guy lol..it was funny, the 3rd one i liked becuz of Downtown !!
The sequels are total crap, but I have to admit I loved Rube, the catcher.
Rube: Hey. Ya know Ricky, breaking up with a girlfriend can be a very painful thing. But it don’t have to keep ya down for long. I mean, let me tell ya something from my own personal experience. I’ve never had a regular girlfriend like you, but I did get kicked in the balls once by a mule. Now, I thought I would be hurting for the rest of my life. But you know what happened the very next week?
Rick Vaughn: What?
Rube Baker: My momma died. Hell, after that, I didn’t care no more about my balls hurtin’. You see what I’m gettin’ at?
Or Cerrano wanting to sacrifice a live chicken and they get him a bucket of KFC lmao that was great man
That was in the original, not the sequels.
ya i know it was great tho
Anyone else think Phil Hughes looks just like Rube!
Varitek can’t throw for shit.
ATTN:Joe P
I tried posting this 5 times in the Arby thread, and its still not there. So here it is-
You wrote-”Ivan Rodriguez: Offer. It’s unknown whether he’ll be a Type A or Type B, though it might be better if he’s a B. ”
According to DTT, Pudge is a Type A. Just barely.
Jason Varitek A 76.037
Ivan Rodriguez A 72.350
Ramon Hernandez B 71.889
http://tigers-thoughts.blogspo.....ue_14.html
You gotta offer him Arb man, even if he wont get that much money per year on the open market he wants the chance to start and he wants a multi year deal
Does All Star appearances count in the arby calculation??? How the hell does Varitek qualify as type A? I know it looks back a few years, but in the last 3 he’s hit .238/.255/.220!!! Does Gammons have something to do with it?
Gammons always has something to do with it
The link is probably getting caught up in the spam filter, it happens. If you keep resending it over and over, it’ll only look more and more like spam to filter.
Gotcha. That explains why its been happening a lot to me lately.
I always try to link to stuff I post, so if I make an assertion it doesn’t seem like I’m blowing smoke out of my ass. And I’ve had this happen a bunch of times. Now if it happens I’ll just delete the link and I should be fine.
Tek is a beast man 0-10 the way he calls a game is why hes the best tho
And he knows how to handle young pitchers. You see how Lester and Masterson turned out; all because of Varitek.
Sox are letting Kazmir off the hook.
Take that back.
Gritty, clutch players never choke and never feel any pressure.
Guys, I haven’t been watching, but any word on any of these?
1. How gritty Pedroia is?
2. Curt Schilling’s bloody sock?
3. Did Jon Lester beat cancer?
4. (just because) Tedy Bruschi?
5. They rallied from 3-0 against the Yanks in 2004?
6. Their farm system is without fail the best in baseball due to the genius of Epstein?
Just curious.
Here’s the real question: if Kazmir goes on to beat the Sox tonight, will everyone call it a gritty performance? Something’s obviously wrong with him, whether it be injury or mechanical, but if he beats them anyway wouldn’t it classify as gritty? Or is that term reserved for Sox pitchers only?
Mike, I’ve gotta think it’s only reserved for Red Sox players. I totally realize it’s not on ESPN tonight (or Fox) but that shouldn’t stop other stations from realizing the Red Sox are without fail the greatest organization in sports.
Seriously though, I bet you won’t find “gritty” and “Kazmir” on ESPN tomorrow if the Rays win. Even from the guys who just cue up articles based on which ever team wins (i.e. Wojoweski and Howard Bryant).
“Gritty, gamer, gutsy”
That, plus $2 gets you on a NYC Subway.
I have to see some blood before I’ll grant a label like that. Standards, Mike, we have to cling to our standards.
That and more
i know ellsbury is slumping, but do you really want coco crisp leading off in an elimination game?
With all do respect to Old Man Upton, it’s time to drop the Junior. This performance is worthy of the nickname “Bossman.”
I swear to God the TBS announcers called that Kotsay grab a great play by Matsuzaka….did anyone else catch that?
I’m convinced they had an agenda to put him on a pedastal tonight no matter how he pitched.
FUCK and YES. Go Rays.
The Rays own the Sox man for real, we handle the Rays better than the Sox have
Damn, Pena turned on that fastball.
so i can prepare my argument that the 2004-2008 red sox were not a “dynasty”, approximately how many teams have won 2 ws in 5 years?
No argument required.
I believe the Yanks have accomplished that feat a mere six times?
20′s, 30′s-40′s, 40′s-50′s, early 60′s, 70′s, 90′s
WOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4-0!!!!!!!!
NO WORLD SERIES FOR YOU!!!!!
Come Back. 86 Years!!!!
94 on the inner half and yanked the shit out of it. Wow.
LMAO, BEEE-uuuuuu-teeeee-ful!
FUCK and YES. Go Rays.
(Keep pounding the ball and keep me saying that line, please, Tampa.)
Hahahahahh!
BACK TO BACK AND A BELLY TO BELLY!
Oh this is getting brutal.
Longoria is now one HR shy of A-Rod’s postseason number…
Man o Man and to think I got to see that kid up close a few times couple years back when he played for the Hudson Valley Renegades, man Evan was hitting home runs over the trees outside of the stadium
Safe to say the scouts were correct in their assessment of E-Long… that’s right E-Long.
“ITs an E-Bomb from E-Long” ? does that sound good or no ?
“A looooooong homerun from Evan Looooongoria!”
I should be in the biz.
One other question – what if Michael Kay had to call tonight’s game and it was on YES? Would his head explode? Or would he find ways to just make his calling of the game that much more over the top?
when does a red sox pitcher hit one of these guys?
spring training 09?
Ya and another fight breaks out thus breaking Tek’s hand
Which means Lester or another Red Sox pitcher wont be able to throw a no no till later in the season becuz Tek wont be available till then
WOW just wow….I mean they are just kicking the sox ass. I mean they are just bitch slapping the shit out of the sox.
Outplaying them in every aspect of the game. Pitching, hitting, defense, baserunning, gritting … you name it, they did it better.
But haven’t you heard all of their excuses?!?!
You do not outgrit the Boston Red Sox.
have you ever seen anything like this?
incredible display
Fianlly somebody beat the shit out of Dice-K finally.
wowsa Big Papi is getting the A-Rod treatment
I mean the Rays have hit more Homers in Fenway than in the 99 Home run derby.
Can’t wait for the Yanks to be playing in these games again, right? Exactly 5 years ago tonight, my (and I’m sure a lot of RAB commenters’) favorite game ever: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....8;c_id=nyy
one of my favorite post-game quotes ever is giambi on mo: “he’s cartoon-like”
Even Longoria – 6 postseason HR in 34 AB
Alex Rodriguez – 7 postseason HR in 147 AB
Got to LOVE that!
No, you got to be scared of that
Jesus Christ, the guy is not even in the damn playoffs, give it a rest.
I love A-Rod. Just an amazing statistical comparison.
Oh, my bad. It’s just that you’re not the first guy to be comparing Evan Longoria’s postseason performance to A-Rod’s. Just so happens you’re the first non-asshole to do so.
Relax. Nobody’s given you a reason for you to call them an asshole tonight.
What? No, nobody here. I was talking about the media.
I feel truly sorry for the team that A-Rod wakes and explodes in the postseason. You know it’s gonna eventually happen.
Rays next year ALDS you heard it here first !!
Unfortunately, that’s impossible.
Meant to put CS
Yeah, my comment was jerky, it was a simple mistake. My bad.
Lol…. lay off u freaken jerk
So Longoria’s on a 105 HR pace, I’m not going to hold it against A-Rod if he can’t keep up.
This kid can DO IT !!!
Because….his name sounds like Eva Longoria… Yeah!
That’s my kind of logic.
E-Longs contract is gonna go down as one of the best in history
Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice-K
Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice-K
Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice-K
Hickory dickory dock, The Rays are cleaning my clock!
Ohhhhhhhh!!!!
Where are the guys who said that the yanks should of had Dice-K and say the yanks did a poor job of not getting him. Where are ya?
If he was on the yanks, he would be the 4th best pitcher in the rotation at best 3.
Just behind Ponson….
I remember last year after the first couple Dice K starts, a baseball analyst (i forget who, dont think it was gammons) was saying Dice K had the 2nd best stuff in the AL just behing teh Johan
Had to be Steve Phillips. That Gyroball is DEADLY.
I heard it comes back to him like a boomerang.
idk about that, we certainly had a zillion injuries to our rotation and could ahve used all the help we could get.
But do I think he was worth 100 mil/20 mil per year? Nope, didn’t at the time and haven’t changed my mind.
But he has worked out for the Sox so far, helped win them a series, won 18 this year, so far looks like a good move by Theo
Just to play devil’s advocate here… You don’t think Dice-K would have helped the Yanks this season?
See I don’t like questions like that cuz hey of course he could of help. It’s not like he’s Ponson or Rasner, but when you put things in perspective, he’s not that great of a pitcher and is overrated this season. Perpherials were bad and lucked into a good W-L record.
You may not like the question, but it’s a perfectly fair question and response to your statement.
I agree, but it’s all a matter of perspective. I’m not motivated enough to delve into his stats or relative value this season, but I do not think it’s unreasonable for anyone to think that the Yankees should have signed (won the posting auction for) Dice-K when they had the chance. He was going into his age-26 season and would have cost nothing but money.
I’m not arguing with your opinion of Dice-K. I just don’t think you need to take unprovoked shots at people who think the Yanks should have signed the guy. If you agree he could have helped the Yankees this season, then maybe you shouldn’t be so harsh on people who think the Yankees should have signed him. That’s all I’m really saying.
Yea but you what, those are knee jerk reactions by people who just saw that one start in game 1 of the ALCS. You just can’t say shit like that without thinking or just being fair. I seriously don’t like when fans do that.
But if someone were to say “I wish the Yanks had won the bidding and signed Dice-K because he was a young pitcher who cost nothing but money,” that wouldn’t be a “knee-jerk reaction” made “without thinking” or “being fair.” I just think you’re assuming a lot about people who may hold that opinion. You may not agree with that opinion, but it’s not so unreasonable as to be worthy of ridicule (unprovoked ridicule, at that).
Whatever, it’s a moot point, nobody’s here bitching and moaning about the Yanks not getting Dice-K anyway. I’m out, take it easy.
5 spot here and its over
Per PeteAbe:
I know Brian Cashman confirmed it during his media roundabouts after he signed his new deal, but it’s still nice to see it absolutely cemented, so assholes like Mike Francessa can’t be all smug and say things like “Well, we’ll see.”
Mike Francessa is a moron. Just to show you, he’s a moron, forget about sports, he admitted that he voted for George Bush twice. Why I have no idea. So your gonna listen to a guy who despite the record and stuff says that Joba should be reliever or advocating trading players like Wright or Reyes who are 25 year old superstars.
Wow, I didnt know that he felt that way about Joba and voted for Bush twice. I guess you listen to his show a lot.
He wins.
Not really, it’s just that on that day I was hearing it and he admitted he voted for the guy twice.
The same guy who won’t admit that Joba is more valuable in the rotation and prove he was as well and advocated to trade Wright or Reyes.
I love how things that were pretty much decided last year are still making headlines. Hopefully people will shut up about this now.
Seriously.
I know, but who’s making these dopey headlines?
Its not even Hank, he’s just answering a simple question. Its the dopes at the newspapers and LoHud who are still asking this question and blowing the answer out of proportion.
consummately professional strikeout by captain varitek
that strikeout had many intangible qualities
Maddon sure looks foolish starting Kazmir.
Dear Victor Zambrano-
Hope your TJ rehab is going well. Thank you for all you have done for our franchise, and God bless the day you (and Jim Duquette) were born.
Love-The Rays.
Hey Jamal, why are you a Blazers fan?
I was a bandwagon fan during the 2000 Western Conference playoffs, and I never jumped off. Basically what it comes down to.
Heh, remember when the names Damon Stoudamire and Bonzi Wells meant something?
Stouadamire I loved when he was a Raptor, but Scottie Pippen and Ardvyas Sobonis on that squad right ? Sabonis lol that dude was funny to watch
Well at least wells is still an okay player. Damon is shot. He couldn’t even take away minutes from Jauque Vaugh.
Yo that was an amazing series and that Portland team was loaded, unfortunately they had the worst 4th quarter in the franchise history in Game 7.
The Sox are going out like wimps.
And I love every…single….second of it.
Dear Peter Gammons-
My elbow feels great, I’m throwing the ball 95 MPH and have a shutout going into the 5th inning.
Suck it.
Sincerely,
Scott Kazmir
PS
You spit when you talk.
thats kinda fucked up lol
God Francona pist me off when he was saying the mood was awesome and they were real confident wishing they were playing in 10 minutes, hows the mood in the clubhouse now jerk
just curious, what is longoria’s contract?
Evan Longoria inf
6 years/$17.5M (2008-13), plus 2014-16 club options
* signed extension 4/18/08
* 08:$0.5M, 09:$0.55M, 10:$0.95M, 11:$2M, 12:$4.5M, 13:$6M, 14:$7.5M club option ($3M buyout), 15:$11M club option, 16:$11.5M club option
* if Longoria otherwise would be arbitration-eligible
o after 2010, 2011 salary increases to $2.5M
o after 2011, buyout for 2014 option increases to $4M
* club must decide by 11/2014 whether to exercise 2015-16 options
* 2016 option may increase to $14M based on rankings in MVP vote
* contract purchased 4/12/08
* drafted 2006 (1-3) (Long Beach St.), $3M signing bonus
* agent: Paul Cohen
* ML service: 0.000
best contract in baseball
Sizemore’s is pretty good too, but not as good as E-Long’s.
Ya man thats how contracts should be
CLE’s been doing the extensions for years. Its only recently everyone else has followed suit.
When do Yanks lock up Joba or Hughes ?
Locking up pitchers are bad practice. Risk of injury is too high.
Ok I was just wondering
Pitchers usually dont get locked up. Too injury prone.
Hopefully not for a few years. Pitchers tend to get hurt, and the Yanks can afford to go year-to-year with them and pay out whatever arbitration raised they’re due. No pointing in giving one of those guys a 4-5 yr deal and taking an unnecessary risk.
However the Rays did lock Shields up long term, and that’s got the potential to be another steal.
James Shields rhp
4 years/$11.25M (2008-11), plus 2012-14 club options
* signed extension 1/23/08
* 08:$1M, 09:$1.5M, 10:$2.5M, 11:$4.25M, 12:$7M club option ($2M buyout), 13:$9M club option ($1.5M buyout), 14:$12M club option ($1M buyout)
* value of 2012-14 club options may increase package to $38M
* performance bonuses based on innings pitched, starts, and Cy Young voting may increase package to $44M
* 1 year/$0.3949M (2007), re-signed 3/07
* 1 year (2006), contract purchased 11/05
* ML service: 1.125
Thats the one bad thing bout being so good every year, we cant get an elite bat like that of Longoria’s, thats why we have to get the big bats of the International Free Agents ya know. We can obviously find studs late in the draft but no sure things like Longoria or Bruce.
I think Kazmir was locked up as well.
He was but hes been around for a lil longer right ?
good gracious.
thanks…
nice contract for him after just one week in the majors. what does
o after 2010, 2011 salary increases to $2.5M
o after 2011, buyout for 2014 option increases to $4M
that part mean? the “o” doesn’t make sense.
also, what do you mean if Longoria otherwise would be arbitration-eligible
The “o” is just a bullet point.
I think the “if Longoria otherwise would be arbitration-eligible” means that he would still be arb eligible if they decline the 2012 option.
Signed through 2016 if all options are picked up which barring a career ending injury I am sure they will. It will be a well below market deal when the options kick in
That’s it. It’s over. The bullpen is the white flag.
Hit or not, that’s a dumb play by Carlos Pena.
love that pena isn’t too proud to bunt against the shift
You ready for some more kick-ass news? Redman and Method Man are working on How High 2!
Awesomeness abound (BTW, I didn’t post a link because I’m not sure if it would go through or not. Google it.).
That’s good to hear cuz the first movie was just funny as fuck.
“I got two inches of hard dick” lol.
rays making the red sox look very….old
They look like they got to confident and cocky, like they had this series in the bag before it even started. Beckett, Lester, Ortiz, Ellsbury … all of ‘em fell flat on their faces.
best thing for the rays was losing game one and being declared “not ready”
Lol and than Upton and Longoria were like what ? Not ready ? Lets show em how we do it in the south
To be fair, they did look very tight. Big Papi said so, and Maddon agreed with him and let his team know about it.
That’s the new thing in Baseball, letting the world know you’re choking and getting it out into the open and dealing with it. Manuel took the same approach with the Mets this year. Willie never wanted to talk about September of 2007
In Maddon’s case, it worked. With Manuel, it didnt, although nothing could have saved the Mets with that hideous bullpen of theirs. Thats on the GM, not Manuel.
We could trade an extra bullpen arm to the Mets if they had something a team would want. They just don’t have trade chips or decent prospectes.
no, i agree. that’s why it was good they lost and had the whole conversation. now, if the sox win game 5 they won’t crumble
Dude, this game is over. 5 run lead in the 6th, with the Rays bullpen and the pressure the Sox are under to hit, you can put this one away.
Rays-Philly WS.
Yup Phils in 6
“They lead the league in what is generally considered to be a horrible idea, stealing 3b”
And the sox called themselves a Dynasty.
Anybody think the Red Sox might do something drastic is David Ortiz gets off to a slow start in 2009? I wonder how the fans will react.
Like run him out of town ?
we’ll take him
how many DH’s are we going to play with?
we’ll stick him in right. can’t be worse that bobby a
he wouldn’t even be able to jog to right
we’ll give a little papi-scooter
And he can catch the ball in the little basket in the front.
Lol
really?
How drastic were talking?
Yeah, that was a bit vague, sorry. How about benching him? Maybe whispers will start to come out that he’s available.
NTC.
I’ve often wondered, how often does a NTC nix potential deals? If a team is at a point where they are requesting the player to drop his NTC, would a player be so stubborn as to say “No” (even if compensated for waiving said NTC)?
Giles nixed the deal to the Sox in August.
I bet it happens more than we think. Teams will go to a player before hand and say “hey, we might explore a trade for you, would you be open to a move,” and I’m sure plenty say no.
then completely trash him on his way out of town. it’s the way they do it, just the sox being the sox.
Let me guess.
Kid toucher.
they haven’t used that one yet, you might be onto something
Clemens.
She was like 15 at the time.
Ya he took advantage of Pedroia or Ellisbury in the clubhouse during after game showers, Youkilis wasnt sure which one it was becuz he couldnt see clearly through the steam
Took advantage? Please.
That RedSox shower has been like a Greek bathhouse since the 70′s. That 1978 team had Carlton Fisk, and about 15 other “catchers” if you know what I mean.
Maybe he’ll fake a knee injury too.
. . . actually, the wrist thing was all just a scheme he came up with to help Manny get traded.
His wrist was fine, at one point he even forget which one was hurt.
. . .or maybe the red dress he wears to parties will give it away.
They will put him on irrevocable waivers and whichever team signs Manny will pick him up real quick … lol yaa right
Ortiz is done, plain and simple. Just like every big overweight slugger with a wrist injury.
That’s a lil rough no?
There’s nothing better than going to sleep with a headache and waking up with it completely gone.
Joe Maddon’s so stupid, why would he start Kazmir over Shields?
Did he get that advice from Francona ?
Next thing you know Jack McKeon will pitch Josh Beckett on 3 days rest.
Mets’ fans must be having a pretty lousy 48-hours. Their most hated rivals are World Series bound, and their former #1 prospect is pitching his team into a World Series (at $15.215M less than teh Johan made this season).
You who has a rough 48 hours? Pete Abe. His beloved Torre is gone and his sox is gettin raped at Fenwat by the rays.
And Omar Minaya just got a 3yr extension.
As soon as he sign on the dotted line, he said this to himself, “suckers”
Lol hes like “is this the 2nd or 3rd time i fucked an organization over”
6 innings of 2 hit ball in Fenway out of Kazmir? Are you KIDDING ME???
That’s as good as it gets right there. That kid’s got a pair.
Now who’s playing tight?
That would be the gutty, gritty, playoff tested Red Sox.
Kazmir’s performance reminds me of something. I can’t quite put my finger on the word I’m looking for…. it rhymes with shitty. But it’s obviously not shitty. I just can’t think of it…
Rays make the playoffs next year or do they vastly underachieve ? Maybe Yanks will be too good and bring the Rays down
I know I’m in the minority here, but I think The Rays will take a step back next year. I’ve seen way too many of these young teams that look like they’re going to dominate Baseball for the next 5 years go nowhere the next year, for a zillion reasons.
Teams usually have a letdown the year after going to the World Series, so I can see it. However they won’t be down long. I believe the term is “juggernaut.”
“juggernaut”
Really? This lineup? If/when this bullpen reverts to its career averages? An injury here or there and no means to plug the hole?
I don’t doubt for a second that they will pitch, but so did the Blue Jays this year. And TOR had a far better bullpen. I just don’t see it, for them or the Angels. I think both teams played a lot of close games, didn’t hit much and the Baseball Gods will catch up with them next year. In the case of the Angels they will lose some key parts (Tex/K-Rod) that will be interesting to see how/if they are replaced.
Really? This lineup?
Are we watching the same games? They just put up 29 runs (and counting) against some pretty good pitchers in Fenway.
Hello sample size.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....38;group=9
13th in runs scored this year.
Beckett is obviously not 100% and Dice-K has been a high wire act all year. Wakefield . . . . I mean, please. Lester was the only surprise for me there, so I give them total credit for that.
I agree with you man. Imagine if premier free agents wanted to go there and take a discount to be there just becuz of how their future looks. They could have the mindset like mad rings ya know….. thats something I would do lol
It would be tough for a young team to repeat this kind of performance. But they are “for real” now I think.
Papelbon on with no outs in the 7th! Panic much, Terry?
I trust you saw that ray of dope headline in the globe today?
Nah. 5-0, 2 runners on base, this is probably the highest leverage spot he’ll have for the rest of the night.
Good move IMO.
nah it was the boston globe trying to call out joe maddon for starting kazmir today instead of shields
Not just winning the ALCS, but sweeping IN BOSTON.
Papelblown? Really?
Oh well, they still have the Pats . . . . . oh, that’s right.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3647779
Interesting if they can actually prove collusion on Bonds
I really hope B.J. Upton takes like three minutes to make it around the bases if he jacks another one right here.
Remember Papeldick after the ALDS “you cant stop us baby ! You cant stop us !” Well Papeldick the Rays just did
Speaking of “dynasty”, haven’t you all heard the 96-01 teams referred to as a “mini-dynasty” ???
That’s where I practically choke hearing the Red Sox referred to as a “dynasty”. There’s no way the last five years of Boston baseball are better than 96-01, or even 96-03 for that matter.
Someone please tell me I’m not losing my mind recalling “mini-dynasty” for the Yanks.
So happy to see Boston losing …
PREDICTION-All tonight and all day tomorrow, WEEI will be filled with callers thanking Terry Francona for another great year of Baseball, praising the Rays for being the better team, and nobody wanting to change this team one bit.
Oooof.
BJ Upton=MVP
Bj is mr postseason lol
If Upton isn’t the ALCS MVP then they should just throw the award in the garbage.
this is deeply deeply satisfying
The only thing that could have made tonight better, just happened; Jonathan Papelbon getting hit.
PAPELBUM!
Bossman Jr. is a beast.
EGREGIOUS!!!
Anyone think the RS will upgrade SP in the offseason?
They will be in on Burnett
so the obvious question: Was this RS team better than the Yanks?
3 run shot come on !!!
Papelbon hasn’t allowed a run in his postseason career. I guess Francona wants to get that out of the way too.
Hahahahah!
That cracked me up.
I love the fact that Papelbon can’t get his heater past these hitters. Useless prick.
Come on, you know you don’t have any secondary offerings, Papelbon. Stop throwing that bitch-ass Splitter.
Speaking of that, what ever happened to the splitter? About 10 years ago everyone was throwing it, now you just dont see it as a out pitch nearly as much. Did it get a bad rep for being tough on the pitcher’s arm? Did hitters just catch up?
20 pitches for Papelbon already. So who pitches the 8th?
I don’t think it matters at this point.
God I hate papelbon and youkilis
Thank God we dont have to see the Papelbon jig again this year.
i’m happy for crawford. he spent a lot of time getting his butt kicked by the yanks and sox…
Anyone ready for this ? The curse of the longoria and upton lol gonna be another 80 yrs !!!
“I got these tickets for my ex-wife. Best trade I ever made.”
Fucking awesome.
Is Rocco Baldelli a FA after this season? If so, shouldn’t we go after him to play CF? I thought I heard something about the Rays declining options on his contract or something like that.
He is a free agent, but he can’t play the field every day because his mitochondria is fucked up.
his mitochondria is fucked up.
There’s something you don’t hear everyday.
Is there a cure to that mitochondrial disease? If not, then yeah, just sign him to split time with Gardner.
Yeah, they declined his 2009 option earlier this year. I, along with a few here on this blog, have advocated his signing to split time with Brett Gardner as a CF/DH (to keep him fresh).
its a shame if he’s got to accept a part-time assignment like that. he was a really top-notch athlete, and his bat is solid all-around. what a shame.
Its pretty sad because there’s a guy who had all the talent in the world, and then that happened. He doesn’t want people to refer to it as ‘Muscular Dystrophy’, but from what I understand what he has is a form of it. A mild one.
Here comes the comeback. Get ready to start waving some towels.
Jason Varitek against Grant Balfour? Oh, this should be comical.
They should bring Price in next inning, just to embarrass Ortiz.
Hey, Buck Martinez, I think the Red Sox have to worry about their health at Third Base (or First Base if Youkilis has to play for Mike Lowell), their health in Right Field and their bullpen.
Which player comes back to earth more at least most likey: Youkilis or Pedroia.
Damn that Pedroia. He is gooooooood.
Hey look, the Sox scored some late, garbage time runs. They’re guaranteed to win tomorrow.
Well, I guess they won’t quit.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
This just got slightly interesting.
A homerun in a 7-1 game. Aren’t those the kind of non-clutch HR’s A-Rod gets killed for?
Balfour is just a Papelbon jr. All fastball and no secondary pitches.
Grant Balfour, #1 candidate to revert to his formerly sucky self next year.
uh, oh
The only that really accomplished was keeping the PAPI IS TEH CLUTCH!!11! crowd going a little bit longer.
Can someone tell me WTF is going on.. Why take out Kaz
111 pitches.
ooo ok
Clearly he should have thrown 200 pitches.
Joba’s here?
Dan Wheeler doing his best Joba impersonation.
Who pitches 8th for Rays Price/Shields/Jackson?
Probably Wheeler the rest of the way. Any trouble and Howell comes in.
Is EVERY sports announcer a Red Sox fan? You would never know the Rays were even playing this game… let along about to go to the World Series.
C’mon Ray … SIX OUTS. Thats all you need.
O shit interesting right here Peavy going to the Braves ?
http://rotoworld.com/content/H.....;hl=251259
MLBtraderumors says that the Pads will go for a ready ML centerfielder and 2 pitchers. Sounds like Shaffer would be in that deal. Not Heyward. But one of those pitchers could be Tommy Hansen, and that might be a deal breaker.
Everyone believes (and rightly so) that Jayson Heyward or Tommy Hanson has to be included in a package from the Braves, but not both.
The Braves and Dodgers seem to be the most talked about suitors. According to Buster Olney, the Friars want “two young pitchers and a near MLB-ready center fielder in return”. My question is with the “two young pitchers”, do they have to be Major League-ready, near MLB-ready? Can they be a dynamic prospect in the lower levels (think Madison Bumgarner)?
I cant beleive how quick this might happen
It’ll be quick or not at all. They don’t want to end up turning down better packages early, ala Johan, then settling. Where he’s locked up, they don’t have to rush it either though, they won’t have to settle.
They don’t have to deal him now either. Not like he’s a FA any time soon.
I would assume close to ML ready for a guy like Peavy. At least AA. I’ve been trying to thing of packages.
Ellsbury, Buchholz, Bowden?
Young, Scherzer … uh?
F-Mart, Niese, Parnell?
Pie, Hill, Samardzija?
Young Scherzer Parker?
Parker’s too far away.
that ellisbury buchholz bowden looks the best,, no way that cubs package is good but good ideas
Where is David Price? He’s got the best stuff on the team, and the Sox haven’t seen him? WTF?
this is where the yankees would go down 1-2-3 on about 6 pitches. A good team like the rays will probably tack a few more on to really crush the hopes of sox fans everywhere
says the guy who thinks Cole Hamels’ wife looks like a gremlin with a shaved head.
DUDE SHE LOOKED WEIRD IN THAT PICTURE! it looked like she had short slicked back hair , she looked like that bridgitte wilson chick who used to do flava flave.
Ok, stop looking at her head, what about the rest of her???
haha sparing the details, an emphatic yes and my compliments to her selection of undies
ok, but google her for better face (and much more!!) pics.
I cant see how Pads would deal him to the Dodgers .. Dodgers would be foolish to give up both Kemp and Kershaw right ?
Yes. Towers would drive Peavy to LA homself even if the 2nd pitcher is Tanyon Sturtze.
Hughes Kennedy Ajax plus what gets it done ? I dont really want him im just wondering what it would take
probably more.
Some Peavey chatter just went up on MLBTR
“9:53pm: More from Olney. The Padres are aggressively shopping Peavy, with the Braves and Dodgers two possible suitors. Olney’s sources believe Peavy will be dealt “in the weeks ahead.” The Padres want two young pitchers and a near MLB-ready center fielder in return. The Braves and Dodgers could both meet that demand.”
Im bout to puke dude omg
oo snap
You cant be serious.
Oh well, nothing should ever surprise me at Fenway.
Ortiz and Drew homer without facing a lefty. Terrible.
Joe Maddon greatest manager ever!!
Are you serious??!!! Where is Price?
This is scary.
Are you fuckin kidding me.
Get Shields up right now
holy fuck
Honestly this cant be happening for real this is not happening
An All-Star being pinch-hit for with his team down a run in the eight inning of an elimination game? Oy vey.
Captain no less.
and a Type A free agent
If the Sox win this game, that will probably be the biggest comeback since Jim Leyritz.
. . . and we all know what happened next in that case.
omg no no no no no
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Even if Wheeler gets out of this, I just don’t understand this kind of managing. This is why you have lefties in the pen, no? A manager has to understand the difference between a closer and a Closer. Wheeler’s just a guy who has the job, little c.
Imagine how hard life would be without Mo. Not having to worry about closing games is great.
Mo is an entirely different entity. He’s a CLOSER!!!!!
i’m having flashbacks. bad bad flashbacks
D-Price needs to shut up these fans. Bring him in Maddon.
This is the reason why experience should not be valued more than talent. If Dan Wheeler was not perceived to have “guts”, he’d be gone by now.
Ok, Maddon is a mental midget. With all of these left handed hitters, why not have them face a left handed pitcher? You have three at your disposal. All those damn rocks in his head.
Mental midget? No! Have you seen those glasses! And how he misinterprets Camus?
I dig the Barry Goldwater glasses.
Groovy, man.
The one problem the rays have is that they don’t have a closer who obviously separate himself from the bunch even though the BP is deep.
It’s more that they don’t seem to have a strike-thrower.
They don’t need Mo…they needed Dan Giese two innings ago.
david price has no business being on the bench. he’s by far their best arm out of the pen, has the best stuff on the team, and is probably (for the time being) their 2nd best pitcher overall behind shields. put him in the fucking game already.
If this dirtbag walks Coco Crisp…
LOL, ladies and gentlemen, Maddon FINALLY has a lefty up in the ‘pen. Genius!
Cash should lend them Mo. He could wear Edwin Jackson’s jersey.
Whho pitches 9th ? Would it be the man himself Price ?
JP Howell.
Fuckin bitches.
I guess after all this time, the Rays are still the Rays.
If you mean Young than yes, they are still young.
No, it’s just Dan Wheeler and his 4.49-FIP and 1.36-HR/9, this season.
You are the stat king. Seriously, what site do you get your stats from, you are always right on top of the stats, especially the non-traditional (ie important) ones.
TheHardballTimes.com; Fangraphs.com; Baseball-Reference.com; TheBaseballCube.com; BaseballProspectus.com.
I was going to go to bed after the 7th inning. You know, when it was 7-0. Great.
You gotta get crips out here.
It would be bad if he walks Crisp, but it would be mighty fine if Pedroia kills this rally with a weak popup.
This is the sickest thing i have ever watched
Maddon!!! Nuff said.
Maddon for manager of the year right? Great throw by the RF by the way.
Tie game!??!?! You fucking serious?
Cmon Rays score some here plz Sox cant win this shit
If the Rays lose this game, they better kill Maddon before they get anywhere near Wheeler. Wheeler is what he is, its his manager’s job to know that.
Coco Crisp? Really?
Well, Joe Maddon isn’t the smartest guy in the room, is he?
I dont think you’ll see Balfour throw another pitch this season, unless its garbage time. That’s twice now with him in the post season.
this will make it all the more sweet for them to have come back down 7 only to lose in xtras
This is hard to beleive it really is
Iight just calm down. Rays can still win this game.
Seriously. And they’re still up big in the series.
Somehow, someway, this will all be A-Rod’s fault.
That rich bastard he did it again
How could you NOT blame this on Arod. Fucking Madonna.
literally
The Red Sox are winning the World Series.
Mr. Caliendo, your Peter Gammons impersonation needs work.
ha
Shoulda pinch hit Baldelli
take that back
Rays need Mark Melancon
Ray of Dope didn’t exactly apply to the starting pitcher decision, however now it’s perfect.
Dear Grant Balfour,
Remember when you told me that you’ve always wanted to take a trip to Italy? I have two plane tickets in your locker for tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about the team, we’ll be fine. Enjoy the trip.
Sincerely,
Joe Maddon
No bunting here? Gutsy..
why not bunt here?
With Upton, Pena and Longoria due up, I’d be OK with a sac-bunt. Iwamura doesn’t have the speed that would make a double-play all that improbable.
I had to come here and just say, This Shit is Fuckin Insane!!!!!!!!
Finish this BJ
Ha.
She taking too long?
Total waste of an out. You gotta make Aki bunt there. Just Brutal.
do not understand not bunting
Its funny how I have this intense hatred for all the Red Sox kids. There’s no reason for me to hate Masterson, but listening to Chairman Gammons and his comrades spew the propaganda machine about how every Boston rookie is a future HOFer I just end up having this intense desire to see every Boston prospect fail.
Melancon + Edwar for Crawford.
Id do it if that matters
Hey Mike, can ya start a new thread? In here, Im slowing down.
Done.
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/.....read-5195/
I’m closing this thread.
Masterson gonna choke right here.. Maddon better bring in Price come on now
If it were ever possible for a manager to “choke”, Joe Maddon is doing so.
he really is. he’s just frozen. ned yost would be better
I just noticed the upgrade at catcher.
Oh man. I miss Michael Kay and his Bunting arguments.