Sox Recap - game from August 22nd, 2009

OR..... Deviled (goose)Eggs Anyone ????

In a pitching match-up reminiscent to the "Gunfight at the Blue Jay Corral" from last week, the Beantown Bombers showed the Bronx Bummers who the real sheriff in Boston is.


....was on the hill and when the Dust(in) ... and the rest of our boys.... settled, my statement... "What a difference a day makes" ... from yesterday took on a new meaning


Taz wasn't perfect but there is certainly something to be said for "The Japanese Industrial League" .... and HE made a huge statement yesterday... making the Yankers look like amateurs for 6 innings, giving up 8 hits, 2 walks and striking out 2...

Tazawa pitched out of trouble in almost every inning as the Yanks had plenty of opportunities to tally runs... but stood no chance against THIS crafty little devil.

Mound presence came to mind yesterday watching this kid.... I mean, how many pitchers - let ALONE - ROOKIE pitchers... will throw a 3-2 curveball to the "great" A-Rod with 2 runners on?!?!?! At least one that I know of... and it froze A-Rod in his tracks to snuff ANOTHER rally attempt... pick your jock up, man... you been had... Nuf Ced

The only blemish to our boys was on rookie reliever Daniel Bard... ah, the "joys" of adolescence huh, Danny Boy.... I have something "Proactive" to take care of that !!!!

But, mound presence certainly wasn't part of AJ Burnett's repertoire yesterday... summed up publicly after giving up a ANOTHER big fly.... AJ was demonstrative circling the mound.. uttering... uh, SCREAMING.... "WHY !!! WHY !!!! WHY !!! WHY!!!"... I'll tell ya why, tough guy... CUZ THE RED SOX ROCK !!!!!!!!!! Oh, but thanks for the mound "PRESENTS", dude !!! Nuf Ced

Youk Skywalker led the attack on the Evil Empire, tallying 3 direct HITS, including 2 missiles, a double shot and 6 "kills" (rbi) ....oh and, NICE catch on top of the wall Mrs. "Red Sox Nation member" !!!!.... also gathering 3 hits was "Doubles" Pedroia, with TWO more 2-baggers - he has a legitimate chance to bang out 60 doubles this year... did I just make a prediction ?!?!?!? Perhaps I did.... Nuf Ced

Pounding out 2 hits each were VMart (with a walk and an rbi), PAPI (who also went yard and had 3 rbi) and JBay (also with an rbi).... bringing up the rear with 1 hit each were Casey "at the bat" (and an rbi), JD and Gonzo (went yard)... who said this kid can only play defense?!?!?!?

Although not scoring any direct hits, Cpt Tek and Jacoby certainly contributed to the over-taking of the "empire" yesterday.... the Captain guiding the good ship, SS Tazawa, and Jacoby... ah Jacoby... you continue to remind me of the Kid Nation commercial... while leading 100 bazillion to 1, Ellsbury was STILL laying it all out in center field robbing opposing batters of base hits... if he isn't stealing bags, he's stealing hits..... NUF CED

Series finale tonight... Josh Beckett vs CC DeVille... no, no no.... HE plays guitar for Poison... hmmmm, maybe he can give Remdawg some air-guitar lessons... No, Beckett will face SABATHIA .... who will toss (his) cookies [to our boys].... either way, don't be surprised if you see a bit of chin music.... "and gimme something to believe in, yeah yeah" (uh, POISON !!)

ALSO...... yes yes yes... I will make an OFFICIAL prediction..... if you miss tonight's contest on ESPN... you WILL miss a very historic event in Red Sox history (right Jacoby????)..... Nuf Ced

As always... it's been real..... it's been fun..... and it really has been a lot of fun !!!

-Nuf Ced

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Sox Review /Preview......

.... AND...... Beatlemania !!!

I'm sure no one needs to tell any member of Red Sox Nation the importance of the series that commences tonight - a 4-game series against the Bronx Bummers !!!! and A-Roid is back... ok WHATEVER !!!!

With our Bombers 2-1/2 games behind, they MUST win at least 3 out of the 4 games at hand... Obviously ANOTHER sweep would be better than nice !!!!
Unfortunately, I'm feeling pretty unsure that at this point the Sox can sweep the Yanks in New York (or anywhere for that matter !!!) Nuf Ced

The current road trip has gone thus: they lost 2 out of 3 at Oakland..... swept 3 games in Baltimore (oh, if we could only play Baltimore EVERY night right now) - a series in which Josh Beckett won his league leading 13th game (uh, not a bad omen, I HOPE!!!!).... then traveled to the Trop (Tampa) where in game 1 Johnny Lester pitched his [butt] off only to have the bullpen (AND LONGORIA) ruin a nice outing - and stopped Danny Boy Bard's scoreless streak in the process.

In game 2 against the Rays, our boys were Pennyless (again) - certainly adding MORE question marks to Brad's future role with the club as once again Penny couldn't make it to the 7th inning. And our bats and fielding, although showing signs of brilliance at times (YOUK and V-MART!!! - and Josh Reddick before they put him back to work on the farm - GEESH!!!), have, for the MOST part, ALSO been inconsistent..... OK OK OK, they JUST recalled Reddick - WHEW !!!!.... Nuf Ced

Smoltzie toes the rubber tonight in a critical start for HIS very own future with the "big boys". The Sox have lost 5 of Smoltz's 7 starts to date... C'mon John, I stuck up for you when they called you up, don't let me down !!!! Perhaps enough is enough... and tonight may just prove that to be true.... I HOPE NOT !!!

A Byrd in the rotation is worth 2 in the bullpen ??? Deja Vu ??? The Sox have signed Paul Byrd to a minor league deal in an effort to solidify the starting rotation... sounds pretty familiar !!! Maybe they should have just signed him over the winter and not sent him into "temporary" retirement, huh??? A move that certainly has ties to Penny and Smoltz... at least Theo is thinking !!!!!!!!! Nuf Ced

The Sox have OFFICIALLY "removed" Dice-k from the rotation... Uh, didn't you do that when you sent him back to "spring" training... I have to believe that Dice-k's slander against the Sox and their training program have something to do with his "removal" - although he DID "clear" things up recently, somehow learning English over the last month or so... there must be a "Don't 'dis' bosses" clause in his contract !!!!!!! Cut your losses, Theo !!! Nuf Ced

Papi..... oh, Papi..... You're killing me, bro... and I'm sure MANY !!! It's now been almost a week. I still love ya big guy but the longer it takes to "find out the truth", the more it looks like you're trying to run from the truth. Even admitting that you did use PEDs at this point would be anti-climactic.... I'm hoping you host a blockbuster press conference SOON ... at least for your own reputation..... Nuf Ced
THIS JUST IN !!!!!!!!!! A press conference will be held Saturday for a NATIONALLY televised audience - good luck, bro !!!


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... BEATLEMANIA anyone !!!!!!!! I must admit that I was never a Beatles' fan. Certainly I had heard many of their songs many times but would and have never purchased or downloaded any of their music. None the less, the opportunity to go to a Paul McCartney concert at the Fens dropped into my lap - THANK YOU THANK YOU DeCAF's mother's friend !!!!!!!! But, HE"S 67 years old !!!!!!!! Thank God for Geritol !!!!! Nuf Ced

I, being a hearty concert goer, seized the opportunity of a lifetime to see one of the pioneer's of music perform live - and AT THE FENS, NO LESS !!!!!!!!! And, oh so glad am I that I did !!!! The weather was great for an outdoor show... ok, it was humid as [heck] !!! .... we had great seats, opting to NOT upgrade to the field due to the Sam Adams stand that was within spitting distance... and may God strike me down if I wasn't familiar with probably 80% of the songs they played (INCOMING !!!!!!!!!!!!)...

Seriously though, It was a great night !!! ... DESPITE all the traffic woes encountered trying to actually get to the concert.. AND the "nice" Security Guard that kindly informed me that there's "no recording allowed" ... BUT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF "HEY JUDE", dude ?!?!?!? C'mon, give a guy a break !!! Little did he know I already had more than half the set on my Blackberry... Nuf Ced

Sir McCartney was VERY entertaining and pleasantly surprised me.... he obviously did some research as he mentioned the "Green Monster" and Ted Williams' red seat... very impressed - and that's not easy to do... in case you haven't noticed !!!!!!!!! Nuf Ced

The "capper" to the night (uh, or at 2 am!!!) was when I was JUST getting back to my hometown and Bambi (or Donner or Blitzen) decided that it would be "fun" to play chicken (or DEER) with me as I approached the center of town... needless to say, THEY WON !!!!!!!

As always.... it's been real... it's been fun..... And it really has been a lot of fun !!!!

-Nuf Ced

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Sox Recap - game from July 11, 2009

Another pitcher's duel at the Fens !!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOT!

YOUKER !!! YOUKER !!! He must be in the front rooooooooooow !!! Uh, that was Bob Uecker - but I personally have sat in Mr. Uecker's "special" seats - 1 row in front of the Ford sign in right field... check it out next time you visit the Fens - at least 20 rows BEHIND Ted Williams's famous red seat (the one marking the Splendid Splinter's 520 ft dinger) !!! LOL, I have also watched a game from BEHIND the ginormous scoreboard - any seat will do... Nuf Ced

Anyway, so why shout out for Youk twice, you ask???? Simple, once for each time the "Golden Greek" (I KNOW he isn't Greek but that was the big joke when he first came up) went yard in yesterday's slugfest at the Fens.... the second of which ended up where ???? You guessed it - in the FRONT ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW - on top of "Wally", that is - the green MONSTER, not the Green "Monster"... still with me??

So a game that should have been a total annihilation by the Beantown Bombers, turned into a pinball game with balls flying everywhere - the teams combined for 24 runs, 25 hits and FOUR miscues as the Sox bats outlasted the Royals 15-9.

15-9 !!!!! Wait, didn't John Smoltz pitch 5 innings and leave with a 9-1 lead ??? WTF ?!?!?! Can you say BULLPEN ?!?!?!?!? NUF CED !!!!!!

In yet another "fine" outing by the Boston relief crew, that HUUUUGE lead dwindled rapidly, allowing KC to eventually close the gap to 9-7. "Plop Plop, FIZZle, FIZZle"!!! I think Alka Selzter would have provided more relief here. Come to think of it, I believe I ran for the Tums !!!!
Once tauted as "The best bullpen in baseball"(obviously that JINXED them) the Sox "pen" will hopefully take full advantage of the break granted them by the upcoming All Star event - PLEASE?!?!?!? (except Paps of course - see ya in St Louie, Jigman!!!)
Seriously though, I expressed my concerns last week and the Sox "pen" has a 7.05 ERA over the last 7 contests.... giving up 9 hits and 8 runs in 4 innings yesterday alone !!! Hmmmm, perhaps it were I that did the jinxing !!!!

Thank goodness the Sox' bats were on fire (maple burns reeeeaaaallll good) making ANOTHER prediction come true and earning Smoltzie his first Sox VICTORY!!!! I TOLD you not to doubt !!!!! NOW, Smoltz can and will be the Hall of Famer that he is (did that make sense). Nuf Ced

Youk (twice) led the way as he, Captain Tek and Papi went yard - continuing to make predictions come true - maybe I WON'T stop making them !!!!! Also, Dustin had 2 hits including a double, vaulting him to the top of the league in that category (he's BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK !!) Youk had 3 hits, 4 rbi and scored 4 times - he's back too !!!!!!!!! And Jacoby's great work ethic ("whatever THAT is"...STILL love that commercial) continues to show as he nabbed another bag - number 39 !!!!

Once again JD earned his keep, gunning down that runner at home. Whew, I had to look twice thinking that Dewey (Sox right fielder of the past) had made a triumphant return !!!!!! Oh, but they gave Dewey's number to a "relief" pitcher - GIVE IT BACK Takashi !!!! Wait !!!! Takashi ???? Can you say "Revenge Of The Nerds" ?!?!? I love that movie, you can keep the shirt! Nuf Ced

JBay is really concerning me, but wait until after the break, gang (PREDICTION!!!!) See you at the mid-summer classic too !!!!
And whew !!!!!! Daniel Bard really has some gas !!!!!! (Uh, Eckism.... NOT, well you know... never mind) Nuf Ced

Not to be left out is Norman, I MEAN, AARON Bates.... as this "psycho" picked up his first major league hit (AND RBI too) in his only at bat, after replacing Mark Kotsay !!!

While the Beantown Bombers were "handling" the Royals, the Bronx Bummers were busy getting "spanked", giving the Sox a 2-game lead in the AL East, and assuring that our boys will be in first place AFTER the All Star break !!!! (AND at the end of the season !!!)

In closing.... PEDRO to make a return to the majors ?!?!?!?! He SURELY (NO, i didn't just call him Shirley) won't be making a return to the Sox.... SO PEDRO, "Who's your daddy" NOW !!!! Nuf Ced

As always, it's been real, it's been fun and it really has been a LOT of fun !!!!!!

-Nuf Ced

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