Category: Baseball

The Red Sox Win Game Three

So the Sox won, but there is controversy… or not. I’m not sure. Traditionally the heartbreaking call goes against us, so I’m not sure what to do.

Top of the 13th, runner on first, bomb hit to right hits the wall on the fly, bounces off, hits the ground, hits the right fielder and lands in the bullpen. That’s clearly a ground rule double. Hitting the fielder is the only thing unusual, but it hit the ground. Had it gone off the wall then off the player then out it would have been a home run, I think, but hitting the ground makes it two bases. Period.

I don’t think that’s the question though. The question is where to place the runner who was on first. At the time the ball left the field, I believe the runner had already reached second base. So does he get two bases from there, or two bases from where he started.

If you had asked me this out of context I would have said he ends up on third. Two bases from the start of the play, but I would have asked if the umpires had any discretion in the matter. If they did then he scores. Fortunately for the Red Sox (or not, as it turned out) the umpires do not have any discretion on the call. Two bases from the start of the play. The runner on first advances to third. Period. End of discussion.

Tampa would have taken a 5-4 lead, the inning still would have ended when the next batter fanned, and the Red Sox would still have had a runner on base when Vasquez hit the walk off home run in the bottom of the 13th. The Sox would have won 6-5, but the runner was placed on third instead of being allowed to score, so the Sox won 6-4.

Either way, holy shit what a game!

Baseball Pain

The Red Sox blew their two run lead in the top of the eighth inning. It was just a matter of time before our shaky bullpen returned to form.

Here’s hoping the offense comes through big in the bottom of the eighth.

Halfway Through

We are at the mid point of game three, heading into the top of the fifth. The Red Sox are holding a 3-2 lead over the Rays.

Am I feeling confident?

Aw, hells no!

It’s nice to have the lead though. I’m taking the good where I can get it. How about we tack on a few insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. What do you say?

Addendum: I wrote the above while waiting for the chicken to finish cooking. I was proof reading when the oven timer went off. In the time it took me to dish out dinner and get back to my phone the Sox scored again. They did in fact tack on insurance in the fifth.

Game Three Underway

Game three of the ALDS between the Red Sox and the Rays is underway at Fenway Park. Eovaldi gave up a two run home run in the top of the first and then Schwarber lead off the bottom of the first with a home run. Is this a sign? Are we in for another wild one today? 2-1 Rays in the top of the second.

Sunday Thoughts

Let’s be clear, this post is procrastination.

It’s Sunday, I have some chores I want to get done. Instead I am sitting at my computer. The Red Sox game is less than four hours away. They are on the MLB network today. I’m trying to find a way to stream the game to my computer so I can watch it while I clean stuff in my room. No dice. I do not think our cable package includes the network so that kills pretty much all of the legit streaming options that I know of. I wonder if youtube is doing anything. Hmmm… Nope. It doesn’t look like it. Unless MLB is going to add something closer to the start of the game.

I try not to talk about blog stats too often as that feels like cork sniffing and maybe pandering for hits or some shit and that’s not what it’s about. I just like stats. Baseball stats, hockey stats, covid stats (though “like” is the wrong word there), and blog stats. I was curious how close last month came to matching the highest month on my old wordpress.com account. I looked that up a few months ago and thought I remembered the ball park figure. I didn’t. The number I remembered was quite a bit higher than the reality. Turns out last month destroyed the old account’s record, and so did the month before. Okay, I guess I never have to go look at the old account again. That’s good.

Speaking of blogging… is it coming up on time for a new theme yet? It could be. We’ll see.

I still haven’t played the guitar. I am 3/4 (approximate) through a four day weekend and I haven’t taken it out of the case. I keep looking at it. I keep saying I’m going to do it. Sigh… soon.

Okay. I need to get my shit together today. Let’s go, fat boy. Let’s get some stuff done, then listen to the game on the radio, then play the guitar, then watch The Walking Dead and World Beyond, then go to sleep. You can do it, fat ass. You can do it.

Two Notes

Two notes as I get ready for bed on a Saturday night.

First, game three of the Red Sox/Rays ALDS series is tomorrow at 4:00. I really thought Tampa Bay was going to sweep us, but last night the offense and the bullpen pulled out an impressive win. We need more of that tomorrow. We have a chance to close out the series without leaving Fenway. Sounds good to me.

Second, one of my neighbors is having a party with insanely loud music that is making my skin crawl. Where is Lizardfish when we need some massive volume to drown out the lame noise?

After Eight Innings

This one turned around nicely. After eight innings the Red Sox are up 11-6. They have hit five home runs. J.D. Martinez managed to not trip over second base when running out his homer. Thank the baseball gods for that.

One inning to go with a five run lead. Am I feeling confident? Good heavens, no! Are you nuts?

Bush League Radio

WEEI… ugh.

I was about to write a post about some bush league coding, but now I know the code is fine. I’m trying to listen to the Red Sox game’s radio feed via the MLB app on iOS. It’s been really crappy for the last couple of innings. Just drop outs and break up and terrible. I assumed it was the app. I was wrong. My sincere apologies to those who work on the app for my cursing you up and down and saying bad things about your mothers as I was getting more and more frustrated. I was wrong. I am sorry.

No, the bush league shit is actually WEEI itself. It was the actual radio feed that was failing. They are currently broadcasting a major league baseball playoff game via a cell phone. I shit you not. Now, I have a teeny tiny mini spec of radio experience and I am willing to accept that this is actually Tropicana Field’s fault. If that is the case then it’s just another in a long line of garbage coming from that stadium. The team is epic. The facility is the shittiest of shit. I will not, however, let WEEI off the hook because they should expect crap like this and have some sort of backup in place for when the shitty stadium goes to shit. Nope. They have a cell phone. Bush. League. Crap.

Anyway, it’s the top of the fourth inning. The Red Sox are down 5-4. The Sox opened the game with two runs in the top of the first and then Sale sucked up a storm and gave up five in the bottom of the first, including a grand fucking slam. Remember when David Price was a post season dog who was guaranteed to choke in the big game? He overcame that eventually and has a ring to show for it. Sale was supposed to be different, and I know he’s coming off a gigantic injury, but he choked in a must win in his last regular season start, and he was god awful tonight. The fuck, dude? Are you a new pre-redemption David Price?

The Sox did manage back to back home runs in the third inning to close the gap, but I didn’t hear it because WEEI was falling apart at the time.

Come on, Red Sox. Let’s get that lead back and let Mr Sale off the hook.

Red Sox: Uh Oh

The Red Sox opened up Game Two with two runs in the top of the first! Yes! Now it’s the bottom of the first… Chris Sale clearly doesn’t have it. It’s 2-1 and the threat continues.

Uh oh…. Shit.