12/21/24
October 23, 2004
Get Your Series On!: Both the Globe and St. Louis Post Dispatch offer extensive coverage. The Globe has a Tale of the Tape and the Dispatch offers an NL scout's opinion of both teams. Amazingly, the home papers each love their team's chances. [+]
Now these are scouting reports: Boston / St. Louis
posted by yerfatma at 09:39 AM on October 23, 2004
Looks like the Boston Herald's server has recovered from the fan overload that happened after Game 7 (it was inaccessible all day for me) in time to put up a preview. Interesting the Herald's favicon is now the default Apache logo.
posted by yerfatma at 09:49 AM on October 23, 2004
I Have seen worse players than Ortiz at 1st base. Boston has been playing the majority of the time with their best 1st baseman on the bench up unitll now. Soooo, playing Papi there aint going to make that much difference.. Anyway, his bat is too valuable to leave out of the line up in St Louis!
posted by daddisamm at 11:48 AM on October 23, 2004
John Kruk on ESPN actually got into an argument with Harold Reynolds over whether to catch Varitek or Mirabelli for Wake. Kruk thinks Tek shoudl catch. He must have been had been preoccupied -- more than likely something to do with food -- when those knuckleballs went whizzing by Varitek in game 5...
posted by DirkDiggler at 03:53 PM on October 23, 2004
I think Mirabelli should catch Wake, but I think Tek's performance was misleading. That was Wakefield's best knuckler of the year. Tek might have been aided by a bigger mitt, but Mirabelli would have had trouble with those passed balls as well. Wakefield said words to that effect on Friday. As for Kruk, Glenn Ordway on WEEI espied Kruk at the sausage stand during today's broadcast.
posted by yerfatma at 05:24 PM on October 23, 2004
Jesus, Jenny Craig him before I have to buy widescreen...
posted by DirkDiggler at 05:35 PM on October 23, 2004
Fuck, why do they hire that asshat Tyler for the national anthem? Prior to that though, classy move to show their respect for the fan who was killed by police on Wednesday.
posted by Drood at 07:08 PM on October 23, 2004
Hey, I'd rather have Steven Tyler over the frigging Cowsills. Damn hippies.
posted by jerseygirl at 07:27 PM on October 23, 2004
Well. This is going pretty well. If you happen to be rooting for the Sox, that is.
posted by rocketman at 07:49 PM on October 23, 2004
Four walks in an inning is monumentally inexcusable.
posted by Mayor Curley at 09:27 PM on October 23, 2004
Lots and lots of stranded runners. That will come back to bite us. And Wake's last inning didn't win him any new friends... :/
posted by tieguy at 09:27 PM on October 23, 2004
Wake's last inning didn't win him any new friends I've disliked him for about three seasons now. Granted, there's a subset of Boston sports fans who would make excuses for Tim Wakefield if he stabbed a guy in Copley Square in front of a TV camera.
posted by Mayor Curley at 09:51 PM on October 23, 2004
You bitch.
posted by yerfatma at 11:45 PM on October 23, 2004
He was my neighbor in Waltham. He's cool. I'll make excuses for him forever for the 2003 ALCS. Now if the Gods could just shift the wind a little McGarver won't ride his ass either.
posted by DirkDiggler at 11:46 PM on October 23, 2004
Four walks in an inning is monumentally inexcusable. Such is a knuckle ball. They have no control over the pitch when they're throwing strikes. Being patient is a key to getting a knuckler out of the game. Most teams can't do it. Granted, there's a subset of Boston sports fans who would make excuses for Tim Wakefield if he stabbed a guy That's not boston fans, that's sports fans period. Kobe? Boston is lucky to come out with a win. I don't mind the walks as much as I would if it were a normal pitcher, but the errors almost killed us. One of the big differences against the yankees from past boston teams was the defense, especially at short and first (please tell me there's no one who still thinks nomar was a bad trade, and even more that defense isn't important). Hopefully, this was just a bad night in the field.
posted by justgary at 11:46 PM on October 23, 2004
The Red Sox tried as hard as they could to lose that game. Four errors, 12 men left on base, but they still won. The Cardinals never gave up and came close to winning with Pujouls being ineffective. Should be a good series.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:48 PM on October 23, 2004
Still the same as 22-0 in the WS. Three more to go.
posted by DirkDiggler at 12:00 AM on October 24, 2004
Switch-hitter Mark Bellhorn is stiff defensively with little range. Yeah, especially in the 8th inning tonight. Bellhorn deserves a little respect - he's twice saved the club in the last week.
posted by Joey Michaels at 03:51 AM on October 24, 2004
Weather looks like it's going to be windy again on Sunday. Look for another soppy game.
posted by Dick Paris at 07:36 AM on October 24, 2004
If we can't beat Tim Fricking Wakefield on a night when he struggles and the Red Sox give us four extra outs, I don't think we have much of a chance against Schilling and Pedro.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:42 AM on October 24, 2004
Tim Wakefield is the main reason the Sox were on the verge of beating the Yankees last season. He's eaten a lot of innings over the past decade for the team, as a good knuckleballer can do, saving the other arms a lot of wear and tear. Sox fans should freaking love the guy.
posted by rcade at 10:02 AM on October 24, 2004
Sox fans should freaking love the guy. Abso-fucking-lutely. And he'll come out of the pen tonight if Schill needs long relief. He's an Ironman. Knuckleballers never get the respect they deserve. They are to baseball what kickers are to football.
posted by DirkDiggler at 10:14 AM on October 24, 2004
Bellhorn's dinger was important for two reasons. One; the obvious, two; Tavares gave up another important HR. Getting into this kids head in game one should ruin him for the series. In the words of the great Crash Davis: "10 million dollar arm with a 10 cent head..."
posted by DirkDiggler at 10:21 AM on October 24, 2004
If we can't beat Tim Fricking Wakefield on a night when he struggles and the Red Sox give us four extra outs, I don't think we have much of a chance against Schilling and Pedro. That's sort of what I've been thinking from the opposite side, yeah. Of course, that changes a lot if Schilling's ankle gives way. I would pay serious money to be a fly on the wall while Varitek and Schilling discuss bunt strategies today.
posted by Bryant at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2004
Tim Wakefield is the main reason the Sox were on the verge of beating the Yankees last season. Tim Wakefield was also 12-10 this season with an ERA approaching 5 (and I happen to be a big Wakefield fan). If you can't beat that guy on a night when the Sox are handing out extra outs at the same rate Boston overspends on highway projects, you're most likely going to have some serious problems with Schilling and Martinez. I'd think you have to knock off the other team's "inning-eater" to have a chance to win a seven-game series.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:56 AM on October 24, 2004
"In the words of the great Crash Davis: '10 million dollar arm with a 10 cent head...'" Ahem. It's "Come on, rook, show us that million-dollar arm. 'Cause I...oh, I got a good idea 'bout that five-cent head o'yours."
posted by mr_crash_davis at 01:55 PM on October 24, 2004
My bad. My long term memory is about as long as my...
posted by DirkDiggler at 02:03 PM on October 24, 2004
So, when was the last time Pedro had to bat for himself?
posted by etagloh at 03:51 PM on October 24, 2004
Last time he pitched in Interleague at an NL stadium. Probably this year. Lowe is completely useless at the plate.
posted by yerfatma at 04:20 PM on October 24, 2004
Getting into this kids head in game one should ruin him for the series. I dunno. He did really well in Game 6 of the NLCS after his meltdown in Game 4.
posted by mannocchio at 05:52 PM on October 24, 2004
Well, I certainly bungled the "More Inside" link. Ah, me. Am I being a complete homer (A: Yes) or does the St. Louis preview of the Sox seem a little off, a little over-wrought: