If you want to see just how far on edge we've gotten, read Al Chase's account of the multi-inning confrontation he had with a couple of guys at last night's Sox game because of the book he'd been reading on the T ride over:
Seth Mnookin transcribes the Mel Gibson rant.
Alternet posts the actual video (yes, the one NESN got removed from YouTube, so hurry over before NESN finds out). Audio-only MP3 version (from Webloggin).
The Couch Potato: I am disgusted with [Beckett] because a pitcher with his talent has no business sucking this bad:
... Perhaps the Sox should start fining Beckett for every trip to the mound his catcher has to make to "get on the same page" with him. If Beckett thinks he can call a better game than his veteran catchers, maybe he should consider becoming one himself. Someone who throws a fastball that hard with no movement could probably really gun 'em down at second.
Dave Copeland sat in the bleachers near the Sox bullpen today. He reports that when Francona put Tavarez in, one guy started bellowing how much Tavarez sucked:
... Timlin immediately jumped off the bench and started yelling back at the guy – it was along the lines of "He's on our team" and "He's trying his hardest."
"I like you," the guy sheepishly said to Timlin.
"You should like him, too," Timlin said.
Sully exhales:
So I try and stand strong and put on a happy face but I would be lying if I didn’t concede that sometimes I have serious doubts about this team. The same irrational panic mode that others tend to enter into can afflict me as well. So yes, I was one of the few million or so New Enlanders you could hear simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief last night. ...
Jon Duke just doesn't get all the scorn in Red Sox Nation about basketball being named the official state sport. Sure, you expect that from certain curly-haired clowns, he writes, but come on:
On Basegirl, Kristin reports she can't get back to sleep, not after that sweep:
... 3:34am, people. This is not sane. I am not well. I blame Curt Schilling. Or Jonathan Papelbon. Or Javy Lopez. I do not, however, blame Wily Mo Pena. Or David Ortiz. And for once, I don't blame Bombay Sapphire. For once, she done me no wrong.
Sapphire is a pretty color. A lovely blue shade. Know what else is a pretty shade of blue? Royal. Argh. This way, lies madness. ...
That's how Beth on Cursed to First sums up last night's 5-4 loss.
Red on Surviving Grady: Send lawyers, guns and money.
Evan Brunell: Words fail me.
Touch My Left One: To write about this team at this point will only serve to infuriate me...
The Sox are to say the least, returning to the not so glory days of the Sux. The amazing ability to walk into a major league park and completely forget what the heck they do for a living. To swing the bat as if Pitchers are throwing golf ball. I would say they are fielding with all the prowess of me, but I have caught a baseball once.
At the same time, I am watching my friends and neighbors, get bored with the Sox. People who in years past i.e. pre 2004 could not find Fenway Park on a map. Who became fans somewhere in the middle of the Dave Roberts run from first to second on October 17th, 2004 and Opening Day of 2005. These fans do not keep up with the players, or know who the team is playing until they turn on NESN. But what they lack in knowledge, they make up for in enthusiasm, and noise.
Beth tries hard to be philosophical:
... So I don't know where it's going, this season, and I don't know sometimes how to manage my frustration from game to game, since it's clear frustration in a year like this is counterproductive, at least with regard to my own mental state. ...
The Couch Potato: I'm not giving up on this team by a long shot:
Kristen takes Josh Beckett aside:
... I don't know if they taught you this in pitching school, but if you're gonna give up a grand slam in addition to two other home runs, you're probably not going to win the game. Just a refresher. I'm just sayin', maybe in the future, LESS time snorting MetRx protein powder off BU undergrads, MORE time working with the catchers on scouting reports. ...
On the plus side, she says All Your Javy Lopez Are Belong to Us.
Dave Copeland stops just short of calling for an Affleck ban at Sox home games:
... I was just wondering: Has anyone figured out the Red Sox won-loss record when Ben Affleck is at Fenway? I know I've been to two games in the past six or seven years when he's been in attendance, and the Sox lost both of those games. ...
It'll just confuse the customers, Dave Copeland reports:
... [I]t was just as "Boston Red Sox, 2003 American League Champions" was being flashed across the bottom of the screen. The team was celebrating on the field and shots of teary-eyed Yankee fans were mixed into the reel. Needless to say, it caused quite a bit of confusion in the bar, with the belligerent guy who was plainly into his fifth or sixth Mai Tai spitting "That shit ain't right....this is some sort of mistake." ...
NESN tonight starts that "What If" series, in which the network will use fancy computer simulations to answer such questions as "What if Grady Little had taken Pedro Martinez out in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS?"
Yeah, yeah, fine, but on Surviving Grady (one guess why it's called that), Red ponders true Red-Sox what-if scenarios for NESN to explore:
Sure, it's no Matt Amorello crack, but one of our channel-4-watching correspondents couldn't believe her ears last night while watching Bob Lobel do the sports:
He ended his story on last night's game saying "Lester The Molester is now 5-0 with tonight's win." I actually rewound the DVR to ensure I heard it correctly.
Kristen is forced to admit that Mirabelli is a stud, but she is worried this morning:
... In fact, I would rather be packed into a crowded T in 98 degree weather with eight thousand drunk Yankee fans on "Don't Shower For Luck Day" then deal with so much uncertainty in the Wakefield-occupied part of our pitching rotation. ...
Jennifer Garrett, however, is loving the thought of Big Papi stealing second.
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