Tag: alcs

Losing After One Inning

For the third start in a row it looks like Chris Sale just doesn’t have it. He threw about 300 pitches in the bottom of the first. I don’t think it was as bad as the last couple of outings, but it was rough.

The Red Sox are down 1-0 after one inning, though they did get a couple of hits and leave the bases loaded in the top of the first.

Let’s get that run back.

I promise I am not going to sit here at my desk and live blog the entire game tonight. Really, I promise I won’t do that. I’m just a little hyped up right now. Please forgive me if I over do it, m’kay? Thanks.

Fox Stream

So I guess you can stream Fox on your computer if you have a cable subscription you can sign into. That’s good to know. I brought it up in my browser and watched three minutes of pre-game coverage before they went to commercials for the first time. Three minutes of Joe Buck is enough to make me want to gouge my eyes out with rusty nails.

Maybe I’ll switch back to radio.

Also, is Fox using a drone on the field during the warm up? I’ll pay any player up to $1.00 to smash it. You can use a ball, or a bat, or your fist, or you could karate roundhouse kick it. However you want to kill that stupid thing, you could earn yourself a crisp new $1.00 bill.

Oh yeah… game on.

Let’s go Red Sox.

Game Day – Get Hyped

Hello and welcome to the first game day for the 2021 American League Championship Series. Are you psyched? Are you feeling the hype?

If you’re outside of Boston or Houston do you care?

I just tried to read an article about what a slap in the face it is to have the two teams wrapped up in the sign stealing scandal playing each other (again) for a shot at the World Series. I say I tried reading it because I couldn’t get passed the avalanche of video adds playing on the page that would not stop running even when I manually stopped them. I closed the page and I’m annoyed enough to not even link the article at all. Screw your shitty web development. Speaking of shitty, I am using a shitty browser right now… I wonder if I can get an add blocker extension? Probably not.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the trash cans.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the rest of the country flushes this series down the toilet and gives it the worst ratings in ratings history. I actually kinda hope that happens. I am a Red Sox fan and always will be. It’s DNA. I am physically incapable of anything else. Having said that. My team cheated. My team cheated and won a World Series. Houston did it too. Houston developed the trash can banging sign stealing system so I could say that I put most of the blame for the fiasco on them, except that the ringleader was Alex Cora who is our manager.

The fact that the players were not punished is both laughable and insulting. The fact that both managers involved are back in the league is ridiculous. The fact that Alex Cora was fired by the Red Sox when the suspension was handed down, and then rehired when the suspension was up is… I don’t have the words to describe how terrible that is. How disgusting. How offensive. How… evil.

So the whole thing is just gross. If you’re not an Astros or Red Sox fan, please do your best to remind everyone of how awful this is for the league. Don’t hold back. Also, don’t watch. For those of us who are Astros or Red Sox fans. Go ahead and continue to be fans. Root for your favorite team. Rah Rah Rah and all that. Just don’t be one of those assholes who denies the scandal or defends their actions. What they did was shit. Defending it makes you shitty by association. They did it. They suck. We as fans have to take the abuse that entails. Just take it.

Alex Cora is a cheater and so are many of the players who played for him three years ago, some of whom are still playing for him now. I am still rooting for the Red Sox.

Six hours (approximately) to game time.

Red Sox vs Tigers Game Six

It’s the bottom of the seventh inning. The Tigers lead 2-1. The Sox have two on and one out with Ellsbury coming to the plate, and Jim Leyland just came to pull Scherzer from the game. If the Tigers have a weakness, it’s their bullpen.

Now is the time, Red Sox. Now is the time.

Seriously, because I am totally going to have a heart attack. This is so damn stressful!

The Fourth Win is the Hardest

Last night’s game was incredibly stressful. Nothing new in this series, but this time the stress involved holding onto a lead. The Red Sox came out strong and took an early 4-0 lead. The Tigers spent the rest of the game inching their way back, but it wasn’t enough. The Sox won 4-3 and took a three games to two lead in the American League Championship Series.

Game six is Saturday at Fenway, but don’t ask me when. You see the television networks are more important than the 30-40 thousand paying customers, so the game doesn’t have a start time yet. We’ll find out after tonight’s NLCS game. If the Cardinals win, the series is over and the Red Sox and Tigers play in prime time (or post prime time for a sporting event) at 8:00. If the Dodgers win tonight, game seven of the NLCS will be Saturday at 8:00 and the Red Sox and Tigers will play at 4:00 and Red Sox and Tigers fans will actually get to watch the whole game. To hell with the tens of thousands of fans who actually paid for tickets and need to actually get to the stadium. They are irrelevant when the question of television coverage comes up.

It’s Buchholz against Scherzer. If nothing else, it’s two last names that I probably misspell every time I try to write about them. Scherzer pitched like a god in game two and the Sox still beat him. Buchholz pitched like a chump in game two and the Sox still managed to win. The offense we saw last night needs to continue against this great Tigers pitcher, if it can. Buchholz needs to be better. A lot better. Game six is the biggest game of the year thus far, and it is an absolute must win. The Red Sox cannot give the Tigers life. They cannot let this series go to game seven. Beat them now while you can, Boston. Finish them.

One win away from the World Series. You can do it, Red Sox. Even if your fans are having heart attacks left and right due to the stress of it all. Win game six!

ALCS Game Four – What Happened?

When your starting pitcher is a former Cy Young award winner, and he walks in a run in the biggest game of the year… you can pretty much rest assured that the outcome is not going to go your way.

That was painful for Red Sox nation to witness. Now we’ve got to put it behind us (yeah, right) and look to tonight’s game five. The series is tied at two games each. We’ve got Lester going tonight. The offense, while unable to come up with the big hits when they needed them, did show some signs of life last night. We’ll just retake the lead in the series tonight, right? Right.

That’s how a rational fan would think. Unfortunately, Red Sox fans are generally far from rational. After a 1-0 win in game three in which the team was barely able to put the ball in play, we were convinced that the World Series was ours for the taking. Then last night after getting beaten up badly, we’re balling our eyes out into our coffee today trying to decide if we want the Cardinals or the Dodgers to be the ones to knock off the Tigers.

We’re kind of a mood swingie bunch, you know?

Tonight. Game five. Let’s take back the series, Red Sox!

Napoli

http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=31144743&topic_id=8878860

Lackey and Verlander were pretty much pitching gods last night. They both ate the other team’s lineups for breakfast. Most hitters were unable to make contact. Mike Napoli failed to put the ball in play in his first two at bats. I guess third time was the charm for him. Watch the video linked above (I was hoping it would embed, but I guess not).

In one swing, Napoli put the Red Sox ahead in the series two games to one. The Red Sox beat the Tigers 1-0 last night in one of the best, most intense pitching duels I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch.

Game four is tonight. As much fun as last night was, I could really go for a nice blow out tonight. How about the Red Sox score 10 or 15 times in the first inning. That would make a nice stress-free change of pace.

Stress, Baseball Style

I have been listening to game three of the ALCS between my heroic Red Sox and the dasterdly Tiggers. Boston has a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Verlander and Lackey have been magic today. This is one of the best pitchers duels… EVER.

I’m home now and the game is on the tube. I am stressing like crazy. The Red Sox have to hold on. They have to win this game. They have to hold on for Lackey, who was lifted in the seventh inning.

What a game!

ALCS Game Two – Magic

A day after getting no hit into the 9th, the Red Sox were getting no hit into the 6th. How can we ever beat this Detroit team if we can’t even get a single base hit? Not to bitch about the disgustingly late start time again, but I was toast after the 5th inning. I closed my eyes for a second and next thing I knew it was the top of the 8th and the Red Sox were down 5-1. I turned off the radio and went to sleep.

Dumb ass.

David Ortiz hits a grand slam to tie the game in the 8th inning. Jarrod Saltalamacchia drives in Johnny Gomes with a single in the 9th for a walk off win.

Game three is tomorrow at 4:00 Eastern time so I will get to listen to the beginning and watch the end.

Go Red Sox!

ALCS Game One – Panic Time

Who the hell is Anibal Sanchez? Here I am getting all freaked out over Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and then the Red Sox go and get one hit by Anibal Sanchez and a smattering of bullpen guys. We’ve been lead to believe that the bullpen is Detroit’s big weakness, and then they go and shut us down in three innings giving up one hit.

Oh Crap!

Of course, I didn’t get to watch most of the game. The 8:00pm start time for a game on the East coast saw to that. Thanks, Fox. Why don’t you go and kiss my ass. I lay down my head after the fourth inning and that’s all she wrote. I missed most of what sounds like a phenomenal pitchers duel for the ages. A 1-0 final. Thanks a pant load, Fox.

Game two is tonight. Maybe I’ll actually be able to stay up late enough to watch half of the game this time. I mean, it’s not like I am a 42 year old lifelong Red Sox fanatic or anything silly like that, right Fox? Why would I want to actually be able to watch a whole American League Championship game? How silly of me to even consider it. I mean, it’s not like it was Saturday and most folks have Saturday off from work, right? I mean, right?

Assholes.

We need some offense for tonight’s 8:00pm game, my Red Sox. Let’s show Scherzer who is boss, just like the last time you faced him.