12:42 At least they didn't lose 1-0.
12:40 From a Yankee fan:
| WHEN THE FUCK ARE BASEBALL TEAMS GOING TO START READING SABR AND STOP SACRIFICING. Oh, and Damon is now 0-7 with 2 k's and 1 blown sacrifice....you can have him back. |
12:37 Thank You For Bunting
12:36 Lead runners on are not good.
12:35 Ask the blog readers, and you shall receive:
| During the 13th inning, YES mentioned a 14 inning 1-0 game from 1969 (Sox won, they only used 2 pitchers!). |
12:34 Not quite was I was looking for, but Rivera: 16 pitches in 1 inning, Aceves averaged 12 pitches over 3, Bruney 14 pitches over 2, and Coke 12 pitches in 1.
MIDDLE 15: 0 - 0
12:32 Okay, I gotta look up pitches by inning here for the Sox, they have sucked in extras...
12:29 I like how the Sox have two guys who were in AAA a week ago batting in the 15th inning of a seemingly-important game. Super duper.
12:27 I'm pretty sure Tazawa is in until this ends, as he's normally a starter, and the Sox have no one left in the pen. Phil Coke in for the Yankees, while Chronicles of Reddick leads off for the Sox. Damn, he just looked at his pitch. NESN still hasn't told me the last time a Sox-Yanks game went this long scoreless.
END 14: 0 - 0
12:23 Looked foul to me. I have -10.50 vision.
12:22 Apparently the Yankees have one of the 17 Molina brothers as a backup catcher
12:21 From email:
| Well, if this game goes 27 innings, we now have our Sportscenter "wow" highlight from the middle 9 frames... |
12:20 JD DREW, THIS IS NOW THE SECOND TIME I WILL REMEMBER YOU! (unless there's a bleeding single to this next batter...)
12:19 2-2 on Hinske. Does Tazawa have an out pitch? We'll find out...
12:17 Pinch runner for Posada. I assume this guy is the backup catcher, or that there is a backup catcher on the bench. Otherwise, that is really ballsy by Girardi. Jeez, this strike zone is tiny.
12:16 1st and 2nd, one down. One hit was hard, one a bloop...
12:11 Hey kid, welcome to the big leagues from Japan's Industrial League (wtf?). Does this possibly end well? Eleanor? His curve ball... WRONG! Jack? Well he commands... WRONG! NEXT ISSUE!
MIDDLE 14: 0 - 0
12:08 In the last two minutes I learned that it is "Yankee" (no S) stadium, and that striking out 4 times in a game is a golden sombrero, 5 times is an "Olympic Rings" (I call bullshit on that one) and 6 times, rarely accomplished, is a "Horn of Plenty" named after Sam Horn, one of the few to ever accomplish it.
12:04 Ortiz swings at ball 4, grounding out. Dave Roberts calls it a good at bat.
12:02 "Ortiz is getting his swagger back" according to Dave Roberts
12:00am This will probably only inspire Youks and Ortiz to swing for the fences. At about the 5 hour mark here... Youk gets on, is there a chance Big Popup doesn't GIDP? (I mean, I suppose he could just, you know, pop up)
11:59 Cameraman, you suck. I didn't think that was gone until you panned into Brooklyn off the bat. You j-hole.
11:57 Victor, on 0-2 in the 14th, take it in the upper thigh, would ya?
11:56 The sclerotic heart of the Red Sox lineup this inning
END 13: 0 - 0
11:53 This game is making my postdoc seem brief
11:51 The blind squirrel that is Dave Roberts has found his nut: the strike zone has gotten smaller, at least for Saito
11:50 Okay, he walked Ta-share-uh. Now A-rod...
11:46 Please walk Teixeira. Please.
11:44 I'm not the only one who hates Dave Roberts:
| What is that blissful peace I hear? Is that.. Dave Roberts not having said anything for like three innings? Does NESN only pay their color commentator for regulation innings? |
11:42 Remaining in the Red Sox pen is Oil Can Boyd, the corpse of Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, and some AT&T Rollover Minutes, brought to you by AT&T
11:41 Bold prediction - this game doesn't see the 15th inning. Given who the Sox have left to get 6 outs, I think that's a pretty safe assumption, actually.
MIDDLE 13: 0 - 0
11:40 Pedroia whiffs. Just shoot me.
11:38 Human White Flag, Takaishi Saito warming in the pen....
11:37 Oh my, we've worked him up to 7 pitches this inning! Will MVP make him pitch any more than that? Whoa, #8 now, for ball 1! I am bitter and tired.
11:35 This is atrocious
11:32 An email:
| I bet you didn't do the math on the time commitment when you decided to live-blog this one. |
END 12: 0 - 0
11:31 Melky bailed out Delcarmen. He couldn't have thrown two strikes before a ball.
11:29 Do you recall any time in extras where we've had men on base and were, you know, pressuring the pitcher? Me neither.
11:25 Nice catch Youk. Fundamentals. How many times we going to pass the ball? FOUR TIMES!
11:21 Yup, Astros scored a run in the bottom of the 24th in 1968. Wow.
11:20 Thank you Don, Mets-Astros, 24 innings of 0 run ball (1968 I think he said?)
11:18 Low-lev Delcarmen into the game. This is, um, not good. When he's off, he is upper-deck-home-run off. Nice that the Sox are into their 6th pitcher while the Yanks are on their 3rd, because Aceves was an ace for 3 frickin' innings...
MIDDLE 12: 0 - 0
11:14 No stats info from NESN yet, just that 'tek is 1 for his last 20, with 3 Ks tonight. Oh captain my captain!
11:11 I'm sorry, but if you can't score a run off a reliever wearing number 91 in three innings... do they even have a hit? (maybe one, no more)
END 11: 0 - 0
11:09 I'm sure NESN will provide the info, but when was the last Sox-Yanks game to go to the 12th scoreless? Had MLB integrated yet?
11:07 To add to my previous comment, an email:
| I was at a double-A game in New Haven in 2002, Binghamton Mets in town to play the New Haven Cardinals. Game is in the 14th or 15th inning, and me and my buddy have moved down to the seats right next to the on-deck circle. There are almost no fans left. So the Mets are coming up in the top of the inning, and their big slugger is warming up in the circle, Bobby something, can't remember his name, never made the majors. And my buddy says, "Hey Bobby, could you end this thing, I want to go home." And Bobby says, "Dude, I'm going to either end it or strike out quickly. We don't get paid for extra innings." He struck out on three massive cuts in four pitches. |
11:06 A fine comment from SOSH: "Johnny Damon used to look like Jesus, and now he looks like a chimp. Is that Creationism in reverse?"
11:04 Well, at least now we're past the MLB-mandated 4 hour mark for a Sox-Yanks game. And the New York crowd again shows their lack of depth perception.
MID 11: 0 - 0
10:58 Was that 8 pitches that inning? I don't know if this is something that happens to every visiting team, or just the Sox, but it seems like patience goes out the window once extra innings arrive
10:56 "Baffled" is a good word to describe Vmart this series so far. Clueless.
END 10: 0 - 0
10:53 HAAAAA!
10:52 Jeebus, there's not a Yankee that scares me more than Jeter ('cept Sheffield, he was downright petrifying). Every time he swings I think the game is over.
10:50 The silver lining is that Papelbon has been good when he's been motivated.
10:44 After bouncing one in the grass exactly halfway between the mound and home, Ramirez bounces another one. I didn't use to give much creedence to the idea that a closer need something, but R. Ramirez makes me believe it.
10:40 Great, Hinske. I didn't even like him when he was with us.
10:35 Three hits. Three hits. Three hits.
END 9: 0 - 0
10:33 That was Ellsbury's power stroke. Pedroia has had more than enough opps tonight, all we need is a single...
10:31 Actually, wouldn't mind seeing Jacoby go for the HR here, it is short enough...
10:31 Walking Woodward: horrible. Will Jacoby make them pay: um, no
10:28 C'mon Reddick, um, chronicle this!
10:27 Someone I've never heard of now in for the Yankeess. But it is against Varitek, so he could have just come from Williamsport
END 9: 0 - 0
10:23 WHOOOOOOO!
10:22 Balk? Yeah, so composed. I think I control the universe
10:20 Oh great, Posada... I'm going to close my eyes for this...
10:18 Regardless of what happens, Bard at least looks composed
10:13 What do I know.
10:12 Odd that Tito would bring him in to face Texeira, who bats lefty, which is by far the preferable side to bat from in this stadium.
10:10 Oki gets 1 out, Bard now on. I guess Tito trusts him. I think I do.
10:06 No Paps. I'd say this is strategy, but I think Tito just doesn't trust him. I sure don't.
MIDDLE 9: 0 - 0
10:02 Nope, forgotten. In under a minute.
10:02 Hey Drew, now would be a good time to make me remember an at bat of yours...
10:01 Three years ago I'd be surprised if he didn't hit a homerun. Right now, I'd be surprised if Papi didn't GIDP (with no one on). Hey, a single!
10:00 Don't complain, that was right there.
9:59 Lean in youk, lean in!!!!
9:58 There's no excuse for swinging at an outside pitch at eyeball level, Vmart
9:55 Surprised to see Rivera in a non-save situation. Then again, the Sox did make the Yankees use a decent chunk of the bullpen last night (somehow)
9:53 From a managing standpoint, I have nothing to put on Tito tonight. We just can't hit, simple as that. We now have the "heart" of the lineup due, and that does nothing for me. That says something.
END 8: 0 - 0
9:52 All of Yankee(s) Stadium has depth perception issues, they get to their feet on a semi-shallow pop up to right center.
9:50 Why don't you see more pitchers who can throw a functional change-up? Of all the non-fastball pitches to learn, it is the easiest on the arm. And probably the most effective. If I ran the world...
9:45 Entering this inning, according to fangraphs, we have a 39% chance of winning this game.
9:44 Mr. OkiDoki comes on. OkeyDokey. Those were both strikes...
MIDDLE 8: 0 - 0
9:42 Mr. MVP flies out. I feel like one criterion of being MVP is that the voter can imagine that it is remotely possible that this person wins the award again sometime in his life.
9:40 From the pirate with webbed feet: "I will also point out that you & Joe Girardi have the same pirate name." Damn you Gideon!
9:39 I think he was out, although I also like ham, so I guess I'm living a lie. C'mon... get him in, Dustin!
9:38 Considering that Dreamboat led off the game with a hit, and it is now the 8th inning and we have but one hit, um, that means we haven't gotten a hit in a long time...
9:36 From the inbox:
| Dear Pirate Who Doesn't Like Ham, He was out by about a step (The Sexy-Voiced Pirate can run the DVR). ps - I'm evidently the Pirate With Webbed Feet. |
9:34 Is it possible, short of the left and center fielder being struck by lightening, to hit an inside-the-park homerun in this park? I wonder if there are parks that have never had an inside-the-park homerun. A walk to Ellsbury removes Burnett...
9:33 Casey Kotchman is like a Little Leaguer who hits a homerun on his first pitch of the season and Ks every single other at bat, swinging for the fences.
9:31 My inability to function my DVR remote leaves me believing that Reddick was safe
9:30 I think he was safe. Replay time...
9:28 Damn you foul! So, um, foul! BTW, apparently the pirate with the sexy voice agrees with my bullpen based logic. Google "Defoe pirate name generator" if you want your own pirate-based pseudonym.
9:25 Am I nuts to think that if the Sox score this inning, a reliever comes in, but if they don't, then Beckett comes back out? There's absolutely no logic behind that thinking, but I do think that is what's going through Tito's head.
END 7: 0 - 0
9:24 Whoa! Strike 'em out, throw 'em out! Woo hoo!
9:21 Yes, my son/daughter/cloned iPS cell, this is how I spent my Friday night's before I was wiping your ass. So no, you can't get a hologramtoo on your forehead.*
* A hologramtoo is my made up on the spot vision of what parents will not like their children to have in the future.
9:20 Big K! An email: "Did Dave Roberts just talk about Matsui's "happy zone"? Dude, I don't even want to know how you pitch there."
9:19 Here's the tough part of being manager: Beckett is looking close to done (inability to put away Matsui, loss of command). But is he the better option right now? Relievers, as a group, seem to have trouble with coming into a game with runners on base... whaddya do?
9:18 There's no Yankee I loathe more than Posada. He drives me nuts, I don't really know why. I can't stand him. C'mon DP!
9:17 Well, he swung at ball 4 anyway...
9:16 Matsui is taking too long... I fear a battle of the bullpens in my heart, even thought my mind says ours is better...
MIDDLE 7: 0 - 0
9:07 Presumably in response to the doorstop job posting, an email: "I think if you put [the pirate with the sexy voice] & me together, I bet we could fill that job description. How's the pay?" Unfortunately, the pay isn't even close to $15 million a year, so you'll have to turn it down. Rickey doesn't like being disrespected.
9:05 The middle of our lineup, um, sucks. Personally, I blame Tiffany.
9:04 WANTED: 300 lb doorstop to hold a bat and shake its head. Ability to spit into hands and clap them a plus.
9:00 Clarification: my wife bought a bed frame but didn't take into account that we have a split boxspring for our queen sized mattress, i.e. there is no cross beam for the new frame. BTW, my journalistic integrity has been compromised, there were 4 previous versions of this sentence that have been deleted. Will Ortiz do anything here? no.
END 6: 0 - 0
8:58 Now, there's gotta be something to the fact that both Beckett and Burnett are on their A game tonight, and they are former teammates who are facing each other. My wife is correcting my syntax as I type, and she just spent $450 in cash on a bed frame that won't even fit our current bed. And I'm the moron. No dear, it is not wrong, and I won't stop it. Get your own blog. ... :)
8:57 It could be worse, I tell myself. My cousin Timmy (age 10) is a Mets fan. What a guy.
8:54 From the inbox: "I think Youk's batting average would be higher if he didn't sweat so much." He needs to get laid. Where's Heidi Whatney?
MIDDLE 6: 0 - 0
8:52 Erk blorg asflkjas;flkj;fjkl! That's 2, 3, 4 in our lineup, doing nothing. Super.
8:50 C'mon Youk, 0-2, this is your count...
8:49 Jeebus, that's a second 1st and 2nd, no one out that we're -- wait for it -- about to squander
8:48 That first pitch to Vmart should have ended up in the right field stands. Weak breaking pitch...
8:47 My beer is empty and I'm still sitting here. THAT's how into this game I am. Pedroia, you suck. Beer time.
8:46 Right call on that, I swear as I saw it I thought, that looks funny. Good call.
8:45 Dreamboat Ellsbury, disappointment or not? Good question. Then again, he has the only (bloop) hit of the night. But he also grounds in to double plays an awful lot, which is saying something, considering how fast he is. I think he is a victim of hype.
8:44 Nick Green, offensive catalyst, at the plate... 4 pitch walk
END 5: 0 - 0
8:40 YEAH!!! or, as Beckett mouthed, "YEAH MOTHER FUCKER!"
8:39 Shit, bases loaded, Jeter up. This is when he either leans into a pitch, or broken-bat bloop down the RF line...
8:36 Of course Yankees Stadium (or is it Yankee Stadium? just like Boston Common v. Commons, I never remember) plays some idiotic music when Varitek goes out to the mound. Could we just eliminate that? I never remember sitting at Fenway going, jeez, I love this 18 seconds of music!
8:34 Big K by Beckett. He didn't "out-think himself" according to Dave Roberts.
8:33 Batting Average on Balls In Play (if you were wondering)
8:32 Um, Drew caught that? This stadium is soooo tiny in RF...
8:31 Blogging is taking up drinking time.
8:30 F'ing seeing eye single... damn you BABIP overlords!!!
8:29 Shut up Dave Roberts, shut up. Just, stop talking. You're an idiot, shut up shut up shut up.
MIDDLE 5: 0 - 0
8:24 From Bill Maher: "Sarah Palin says she would never apologize for America. Even though a Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. No, they're not stupid. They're interplanetary mavericks. A third of Republicans believe Obama is not a citizen, and a third of Democrats believe that George Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, which is an absurd sentence because it contains the words "Bush" and "knowledge.""
END 4: 0 - 0
8:18 Back to politics... can you imagine if John Edwards (i.e. losing VP candidate) said anything this stupid in 2005? I mean, if he just outright made crap up that is totally inflammatory? Beckett through 4...
8:16 Okay, sorry to bring politics into this, but this is what Sarah Palin just posted on her Facebook page (not a direct source for me, obviously): "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." Death panel? Meanwhile, Damon Ks looking.
MIDDLE 4: 0 - 0
8:12 Does anyone remember that stretch from mid-'04 through '06 where Ortiz was the best best best hitter in baseball (most feared, anyway). That seems forever ago. All things must pass. But damn, that was a helluva ride.
8:11 Youks is now at the point in his career -- maybe it was that Onion headline -- where he now gets the benefit of the doubt from the ump. He's seen strike 3 twice in this at bat... and now draws the walk.
8:08 Lucchino is stoned or drunk or both in the booth
8:05 Sorry, didn't finish my thought... Rivera will get a standing O at Fenway... Jeter will get applause, but more out of politeness than anything else.
END 3: 0 - 0
8:03 When Rivera retires, he'll get a standing O. Jeter, not so much. Beckett with a nice play at 1B on that.
8:02 I wonder if anyone has ever looked at time between pitches and batter's average on the subsequent pitch.
8:00 HUGE double play! I love Beckett. Right now.
7:58 - I'm not sure about stats on doubles followed by walks, though. Where's John Valentin, we need a triple play!
7:52 - Well, at least Cano didn't have a lead-off walk, as they score more often than lead-off doubles...
MIDDLE 3: 0 - 0
7:48 - Wait, what, catchers are allowed to throw runners out? I thought that was just ceremonial! As NESN goes into commercial, BMW is advertising a car that alerts to you when you are drifting. Yes, that's exactly what we need, drivers to develop an even more falser sense of security in their car...
7:45 - By the way, can we just replace umpires calling balls and strikes? Burnett just threw a pitch over the middle middle of the plate, and it was called a ball because Posada was set up outside. That offends me.
7:44 - The wife just said Jason Varitek was cute in the way that I was cute... what, in a slow, halting conversation sort of way? No, kinda hairy, leaderish type. I don't know what that means, and I need to have more than half a G&T if this night is going to end well (just deconstruct that sentence and know everything about me...) Six in a row retired by A.J.
END 2: 0 - 0
7:39 - As the wife just noted, that Josh Beckett is easy to watch. I don't think she was commenting on his looks, but rather on how easy he makes it all seem.
7:34 - Wow, great K of ARod there. Working back from a 3-0 count... He's bringing it tonight...
MIDDLE 2: 0 - 0
7:28 - It is often said, and I believe it, that you need to get to some pitchers "early on" in the game lest they "settle down" and mow you down. I totally believe this. But I wonder if it is true. It probably isn't true across baseball, but it certainly could be true for certain pitchers. I have no idea how you'd measure that. But Burnett seems to be doing it right now. Now that I think about it, though, I'd have a 50/50 shot of getting out Drew, Tek, and Reddick 1-2-3, so maybe it is all a matter of lineup construction
7:26 - Don notes that Drew is hitting .394 since some point in the past (probably a very recent point). This guy has been on the team for 3 years now, and I remember exactly one big at-bat by him (Gave 7 ALCS v. Cleveland, '07). On the plus side, Heidi Whatney got her hair done today at some fancy pants salon, and is lookin' good.
END 1: 0 - 0
7:23 - Easy 1-2-3 for Mr. Beckett. He's gonna need 8 more of them.
7:19 - Speaking of Remy, a guy I know saw him at the Waltham Appleby's, eating alone. Not really sure what that means, but the phrase "spiraling out of control" springs to mind.
MIDDLE 1: 0 - 0
7:17 - If Big Popup is running hard the whole time, he's probably safe. BTW, I'm not sure who YES currently has in the booth, but in an attempt to find a replacement for Jerry Remy, the Red Sox have paired Don O. with Dave Roberts (yes, of the 2004 stolen base). He's horribly vanilla. Did the execs at NESN think we wouldn't notice that he's horrible, or that we wouldn't care, because he's Dave Roberts? They're wrong either way. It can't be hard to find a good color guy, although if you limit yourself to "people who played for this team" then you're wading in a pretty shallow talent pool.
7:15 - Four pitch walk, as expected. WTF is that tattoo on Burnett's arm? Chains? Chromatin? 13 pitches, 10 for balls, and there are two outs... c'mon, corpse of Papi...
7:14 - I wouldn't give Youks anything to hit here, he's the last (currently) decent hitter in the lineup.
7:12 - Good start. This is where things seem to fizzle in general, although V-mart has been stellar... As for the HBP thing, for a long time the Red Sox hit way more Yankees than the other way around (mostly Pedro). Wow, as I type that, DP. Super.
6:59pm - Okay, live-blogging tonight's game, because, um, I think I'm losing my mind. So Smoltz is gone, DFA'd (designated for assignment). Beckett starts tonight, so we might actually win. If he throws a complete game shutout. Otherwise, I'll hold my breath. The offense was horrible last night (as it has been for awhile), at one point having drawn 7 walks but not plating any of them. That's anti-timely-hitting. We'll see how this goes...
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