Communication is the name of the game

How bitter, sad and lonely some people really are. Amongst all the drama last night and early this morning, I received three angry, ugly ‘comments’ on this blog. Purportedly from three different sources. Each of them was anonymous, full of hate, anger and acerbic rhetoric. Each of them mixed their hate for the Red Sox and, in particular, David Ortiz, with stinging personal attacks at your author. As they were anonymous I have no intent to publish them (I won’t publish anything where the author was too cowardly to stand over his or indeed her comments) but I was naturally curious as to why someone would go to the bother of such an angry written attack.

When researching the comments, some really interesting facts arose. Putting the time of the comment together with a statistics log and matching visitor entries to the time the comments were written it was easy to see exactly who ‘dropped by’ for a visit.

First of all, of the three, two of the comments were from Ireland. Because of the content of the comments it is reasonable to assume both of the posters know me. This begs the question, what the fuck? What exactly is the point of taking the time and making the effort to write an anonymous posting that will never see the light of day to get a point across?

The third comment was written by someone who spent a few weeks sending in angry comments a year ago. They started their comment ‘Remember me?’ and then launched into a massive tirade the like of which is normally reserved for Chinese leaders rebuking Western Europe.

Two parts to this section. First of all, this individual has visited ‘Boston Irish’ a total of 98 times. That is an awful amount of visits for someone who allegedly doesn’t enjoy reading the material therein. 98 times? How unusual. You would think after their thirtieth visit they would have had enough. 98 times, how do you spell ‘a little obsessive’?

Second part to this, the one interesting point they raised amongst the barbs was why do I not slate David Ortiz in the manner with which I have slated A-Rod.

Well that’s simple enough.

David Ortiz doesn’t slyly try to slap the ball out of a pitchers hand while running down the first base line.



David Ortiz doesn’t allow photographers to take pictures of himself kissing himself in a mirror.

David Ortiz doesn’t shout ‘I got it!’ at third baseman as he approaches the bag, in a pathetic attempt to distract them.

David Ortiz has never been photographed heading into a hotel room with a buxom blonde who he isn’t married to by the New York media.

David Ortiz has never in his career been labeled ‘The cooler’ or ‘Bitch tits’ by his own team mates.

With all of the above in mind, I will choose to take a ‘wait and see’ approach before I write David off, he has earned that from me, and I would venture all Red Sox fans, because of his incredibly congenial, gentlemanly behaviour in his last few years service to the team and the Boston community also.

A-Rod never came close to sniffing being anywhere near that level of benefit of the doubt.

Back to the original point, I am left mystified (although not surprised) as to why people would take the time to go out of their way to attack someone else anonymously after revelations such as came out yesterday evening. How does that improve anything about your day? How does that leave you with any sense of satisfaction? What is the point in doing it anonymously, are you basically trying to hurt someone, regardless of how cowardly doing it anonymously is? Having been through pretty much everything life can throw at an individual in the last few years, a few semi retarded comments from some cowardly idiots aren’t going to have any great effect on me, or any person who tries to write as a pastime or for a profession.

If anything, it merely jolts the imagination a little, and hence leads to a more prolific output of material.

So, I suppose a thank you is in order?




.

In running: Oakland @ Boston 30th July Thursday night

The night it all went wrong

And so it begins. MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT of the New York Times explodes into the headlines with a piece that absolutely reeks of Schadenfreude, declaring that both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are on that infamous 'Positives' list from 2003.



Of course, as he blares his trumpets loudly, kind of conveniently forgets that a reasonably prominent player on the current New York Yankee squad is absolutely knee deep in Roid allegations.



Crazy times.

Seems like a good opportunity to do a running commentary on tonight's Red Sox game, nay?

Top of the first
Oakland 0 Boston 0
Steroid references: 0
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 64%
I can't go higher than 64% as we start proceedings. Just doesn't feel right. Maybe a little Johnny Lester can boost that as the evening progresses.

The O-Dog (Cabrera) and Nomah' batting 2/3 against the Sox. Just to add to the general carnival atmosphere for this evening's show. Could this get any more bizzaro?

Strike one and we're instantly up to 65%.
When Lester throws strikes the Sox are pretty much unbeatable, when he is on the mound.

Something tells me we will not see a five run first tonight. At least not for Oakland anyway.

As Kennedy grounds out, I wonder, is this the single most important game of the Red Sox season so far? With the journalistic vultures circling, will the Sox come together and get a big win, or will they fall apart a little bit more?

Commentary team hasn't said a single word about today's allegations as yet. Is the Internet turned on in Boston?

Nomah, ah yes, Nomah. Just looks so odd. Lazy liner to Dusty P and the half inning is over.

Bottom of the first
Oakland 0 Boston 0
Steroid references: 0
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 67%
So how about that, not ONE steroid reference in the top half. Will there be an audible gasp when the commentary booth finds out what's going on? Or are they deliberately ignoring it?

Gonzalez going for the A's tonight, last time out the kid beat the Yankees. I see.

Jacoby lines out to start Boston off. Gonzalez pumps strike one in on Dusty P and he hasn't thrown a ball as yet.

Throw strikes, young pitchers!

Dusty P grounds out and still, still, the young A's starter has yet to throw a ball.

First ball doesn't come to half way through Youk's AB, who consequently grounds out. ugly bottom half of the inning. This will be reflected in my running happiness with season percentage, don't you worry.


Top of the second
Oakland 0 Boston 0
Steroid references: 0
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 61%

We're into the second and not one 'roid reference yet! Who'da thunk it?

Jack Cust batting .091 against Lester. In a considerable amount of at bats it should be noted. Make that .090. Why would you even put him in the lineup?

Actually, bad sign for Boston that the A's are wheeling out stacks of rookies and Boston still can't beat them. Happiness percentage will indeed reflect this next half inning.

A 1-2-3 top of the second for Johnny L. This game has a snappy feel about it. Snappy, snappy.


Bottom of the second
Oakland 0 Boston 0
Steroid references: 0
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 60%

I have a sneaky feeling they are going to completely ignore the whole 'roids thing, just seems like the boys in the commentary booth are going out of their way to talk about anything but.

Ball four, Jason Bay makes his way down to first.

Uh oh, uh oh, here we go!! Monsignor Orsillo comes right out and says it. Dishes it like it's the nine O'Clock news. Big Papi does NOT look too upset about this, as he slaps a wall ball double to right. The Fenway crowd let him know how they feel about the Yankees leaning New York Times reporting. Huge ovation for the double.

Orsillo comes right out and asks why are we only getting these names one at a time?

Pretty decent question.

Lowell strikes out. One way, runners on second and third.

You have to really watch JD Drew work an at bat to appreciate his value. He works a really nice walk, nice as he laid off a couple of tough pitches. Bases loaded one away. Up comes the Captain, Mr Varitek. Personally I like Tek from the right side, I would need to see the stats but my gut feeling is his numbers certainly 'feel' better from the right side of the dish.

As if on cue, Tek slaps the ball to right, and Bay scores, Sox one up.

This Gonzalez guy does not look super sharp. His curve isn't really biting. He only throws 90 and seems to only have two pitches. Meanwhile Nick Green looks like he is facing Nolan Ryan, as he strikes out on a poor pitch in the dirt. Green is so all or nothing. In this case, nothing.

Bottom of the second and the Sox are already back to the top of the order. Jacoby strikes out, and the inning is over. One run is not a fantastic return for all that effort. No Sir.


Top of the third
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 64%

Man I could murder a Pizza.

Oh boy, beautiful catch by Jacoby in centre. Montgomery describes the Sox outfielder as 'diseased with speed'. Nice work. Great catch anyway for the first out.

Lester is abusing the strike zone, two quick outs. He is such a different pitcher when he just attacks the zone.

Powell, the A's catcher hits what should have been an easy double, but is so slow the Sox nearly get him at second. I would even fancy my own chances racing that guy. Not Chris Foy though. He would lose. Yes, even to the A's portly catcher.

Single to right, the catcher only makes it to third, so the Sox kinda sorta catch something approaching a break. Lester needs to bear down and get this out.

Phew. Beautiful play by Pedroia off the bat of the O-Dog Cabrera to get the final out. Phew.


Bottom of the third
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 67%

Pedroia's play looks even better on replay. And guess who is up first? That's right, Dusty P. He, however, strikes out. That's four little Red Sox with 'K's attached to their name so far on the scorecard. To a guy with two pitches. Who can't break 91 on the radar gun. I shall now inflict pain on myself.

Youk singles up the middle, under the glove of the O-Dog. Bay strikes out on a pitch in the dirt, that's 5 Red Sox K's. Just ugly. The guy only has two pitches! You have a, wait for it, eh, 50% chance of guessing right!

Ortiz grounds out and we go to the fourth.

Top of the fourth
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: Jammed stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 66%

Oh Nomah. Wherefore art thou Nomah. You know what, he really hasn't change much. That stance is the exact same.

Nomah reaches on an infield single and it is brought to our attention that Lester has, to this point, not had a 'K', a strikeout.

That's pretty odd alright in fairness.

Funnily enough he then gets Cust swinging for K numero uno.

Beautiful double play and Boston sneak out of the inning after the lead off single by the Prodigal Son.

Bottom of the fourth
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: Jammed, tight, stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 69%

We might break 70% on the Happiness scale with the way Lester is pitching. Maybe. We'll see.

JD Drew singles with one away. I think you can say the slump is over. We can, right? He is slapping the ball around like a crazy guy.

V-Tek drives one to left that just kind of, well, dies, and ends up being a fly out. Up comes the over matched Tricky Nicky Green. This half inning is not going to end well.

Watch, watch....watch....

There it is. Ugly, ugly strikeout and the half inning is very, very predictably over.

Paging Mr Lowrie...

Top of the fifth
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: Wedged in, Jammed-tight, stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 65%

Lester is not getting much run support lately now is he? He is pitching better than his record shows.


Two super quick outs, Lester is pitching economically, followed by a cheeky two out double by Ryan Sweeney that Bay played horribly, he looked liked Manny Ramirez out there. Minus the dreads.

Lester picks up the corner of the plate for his second strikeout of the game and the half inning is over. Time to wake those freakin bats up, fellas!

Bottom of the fifth
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: Wedged in, glued, Jammed-tight, stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 68%

This guy any good?

Beautiful day in Boston by the looks of it. We are actually not getting a summer at all in Dublin. Apparently we do not deserve one. It's just grey day after grey day in repetition. Nice lead off walk worked by Jacoby. If he can add 15-20 walks a season to his repertoire he will be one of the premiere lead off guys in Major League Ball.

Of course Jacoby then gets picked off. The bright start to the inning erased like so many Death Stars. Dusty-P flies out to centre and there is two away faster than you can say 'Release all those 100 names and lets get it done and dusted!' Youk strikes out before I can even finish typing this. That was one quick half inning.

Top of the sixth
Oakland 0 Boston 1
Steroid references: Wedged in, glued, Jammed-tight, stalled, stuck at 3
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 62%

6% drop there down to the horrifically fast half inning.

The first out of the inning on the first pitch. Very quick game so far. Just when I say that Lester walks the O-Dog for his first free pass of the afternoon, or, if you are in Ireland, evening.

Nomah does some damage to his old team with a slap single to right, the O-Dog makes it to third on the play.

Lester up to 80 pitches in the sixth. He seems to have Cust struck out on a heater inside but the blue rewards Cust for putting his bat on his shoulder and he walks on the next pitch. Bases loaded. Fly ball to right, two away but the O-Dog scores the game tying run.

See guys, one run is not going to do it.

Lowell chases after a pop up over by the third base wall, and looks about as agile as a disabled Elephant.

This comes back to haunt the Sox as Bobby Crosby slaps a crappy little seeing-eye single and Nomah scores from third, the A's are now 2-1 up and looking at a series win against the home town Sox.

Essential, completely essential, Lester gets out of this little spell.

Question, do the two runs get attributed to the umpire, seeing as he chose to reward the A's batter for leaving his bat on his shoulder a few batters earlier? Do I sound bitter?

Unbelievably bush league cheap little bloop rubbish single to centre and Oakland are now 4-1 up. Thanks blue. All these runs can be directly attributed to the umpire. Every single one of them. They should actually showed up as unearned in the score card, that was such a horrible call on the non-strikeout call earlier in the inning. Nice job, blue.

Obviously, this is the kind of thing that happens when things are going bad. You don't get the calls and the little Texas Leaguers fall in. Of course, it is true, you make your own luck. Still though, thanks Blue!

Lester looks absolutely axhausted at this stage. Many Sox fans are starting to say that Sox manager Tito Francona is leaving his starters in too long, for example, 72 year old John Smoltz. Not this time, Tito pops out of the dugout after Lester's third walk of the inning, calling on Manny Delcarmen. Pitching change from Fenway Park. Brought to you by 'For God sake, the A's, really?'

Delcarmen's first pitch is completely down the pipe, and the blue flinches but won't call it. Good stuff. Apparently the 38,000 odd that entered Fenway Park today did so entirely to see his fat ignorant ass working the plate. That's why they forked out the $60.

Delcarmen does eventually right the ship. However, the damage, as they say, has already been done.

Bottom of the sixth
Oakland 4 Boston 1
Steroid references: Still completely Wedged in, glued, Jammed-tight, stalled, stuck at 3. No mention at all lately.
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 54%

You know what, I can't take this all night, so, I will tell you what, if the Sox don't score here, as Cartman would say, screw you guys, I'm going home!

Low pitch for strike three, the blue has no problem calling Bay out on a borderline pitch. No flinching there, calls it right away. Call it both ways, douche bag. I tell ya', this little game we like so much can certainly infuriate a guy in a hurry, no?

Ortiz walks. Runner on. Is Green up soon? If so, inning over double play on the way. Lowell is in actual fact the next batter. Wild pitch and Big Papi is down to second base. Green, when he gets up, will have to settle for striking out. Unless he finds a way to line into an inning ending double play, perhaps?

Well how about that. I guess we are in business for another inning. Lowell drops a soft double to right and Ortiz wobbles home to make it 2-4. Oakland do not hang around, going straight to the 'pen.

On a side note, Boston were 1-4 to win this game. The bookies do not seem to have adjusted for the Sox poor play as of late. If you are a Yankee fan who frequently backs against Boston, well, you are making up some money right at this juncture.

JD hits a deep fly ball to right centre, too high, however, two away. Then the Captain strikes. V-Tek knocks a nice hard single to right and suddenly it is 3-4. Tito is completely on to the whole Nick Green thing and pinch hits for him, with Mr Adam La Roche.

La Roche pops up, Green would have struck out, same difference in the end though.


Top o' seven
Oakland 4 Boston 3
Steroid references: Still completely Wedged in, glued, Jammed-tight, stalled, stuck at 3. No mention at all lately. Nada. Zip.
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 53%

A deal is a deal is a deal, I'll stay and see if the Sox can get one in the seventh. This game just slowed right on down. It was on a pace to be a speedy little nifty affair, and has now ground down to a painfully slow event.

Delcarmen against Nomah to start things off in seventh. Nomah wins, and its a three hit night for him. One out single. The A's bring in a pinch runner, and Nomah gets a nice little ovation as he trots away.

The pinch runner comes home on a two out single. I start warming up my Cartman impression. You are going to hear it if the Sox don't get one in the bottom of the inning. Ground ball. Half inning over.

Bottom o' seven
Oakland 5 Boston 3
Steroid references: Still completely Wedged in, glued, Jammed-tight, stalled, stuck at 3. No mention at all lately. Nada. Zip.
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 49%

Lead off walk to Jacoby. You may have to read a little longer yet. Or maybe not. Pedroia into a double play. Or maybe still, Youk bloop single to right. Maybe yet, Bay walk. Ortiz up, two on, two out. Didn't he used to pop the ball out of the yard in this situation?

Woah.

The big man strikes. There we go. Three run jack, Sox suddenly take the lead 6-5 just like that.

Now that was enjoyable to watch. 6-5 Sox at the end of seven.

Top o' 8
Oakland 5 Boston 6
Steroid references: We're up to 4, kind of. It is 'hinted' at.
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 72% (Is that the turn-around?)

Phew. That was some jack. Now the Sox 'pen has to do its job.


Danny Bard, in the game, him and his triple figure fast ball. Easy cheese they call it.

Check out the radar. Half inning over before I could even finish making that picture.

Bottom o' 8
Oakland 5 Boston 6
Steroid references: We're up to 4, kind of. It is 'hinted' at.
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 74% (Is that the turn-around?)

That Danny Bard would make you feel good about the Sox 'pen. Yikes. Hey, I am no longer as mad at the blue, that's good news, right? JD Drew line drive double to right. Runner on second nobody outski. Godo start to the seond part of this late inning. The Captain strikes, third hit of the day, 7-5 Red Sox. This has the makings of a season changing come back. Great job by Jed Lowrie moving V-Tek over to third base while grounding out. Once Lowrie is fully fit we could see a newly energized Red Stockings lineup. The young man can swing the maple. Jacoby makes it all worthwile by skying a sacrifice fly to right, Lowrie can get a half assist there, 8-5 Sox.

Top o' 9
Oakland 5 Boston 8
Steroid references: Sticking at a very low 4. The over/under was 9.5
Extent to which I am content with the Red Sox 2009 season expressed as a percentage; 82% (Is this the turn-around?)

Okay now a nice easy inning for Papelboner and we're laughin'. With one away the former Red Sox short-stop the O-Dog slaps a single to right. Here's hoping Papelboner manages to slam the door. Some radar gun readings. 99. 98. 94. 99. Papelboner is lively tonight.



Two away. 99mph. Gosh. His arm looks crazy active. Throwing easy cheese. Inning over. So there it is. Thrilling game in the end. Will this be the one that spins the Sox season back on its axis? We shall see. In the meantime...

Screw you guys, I'm going home!


.

Bombs away

Perhaps this will be self therapeutic. The memories contained below were jogged by a conversation with the greatest pitcher to ever throw for the Dublin Hurricanes, Joe Miklich. We were talking, pitcher to pitcher, about the biggest home runs we had ever given up. For a pitcher, giving up a home run is the worst of the worst. It’s a brutal feeling. Personally, I actually feel flush in the face immediately after the jack, the bomb, the moon shot.

There is nothing worse than having to wait while the batter rounds the bases

Just a home run? It is much more than that. When someone goes big fly on you, your entire world crashes in around you for a few seconds. You become the loneliest person on the planet as you stand on the mound, completely helpless to do anything about what just happened.

How are you supposed to act? Personally I look for the ball straight away. Practically demand it off the umpire. A new ball, of course. The old one would be navigating its way towards Peru at that stage.

Thankfully, as a pitcher, I am blessed playing in the Irish Baseball League. There simply are not many home runs hit. The Dublin Hurricanes, by way of example, are one of the better hitting squads and so far this season have two bombs. Tom Kelley, the all time home run leader in the Irish Baseball League with 9, hit a big fly in Prague and last Sunday Captain Steve Divito hit a big blast up in Belfast in the Hurricanes double header sweep over the Northstars.

There are a number of factors that keep the home run numbers down in the Irish Baseball League. First of all, the beautiful O’Malley fields are the epitome of a ‘Pitchers ball park’. The dimensions are enormous, the centre point of the centre field fence is rumoured to be 420 feet from home plate. Plus, slightly uphill. There is often a heavy wind blowing in on the batter too. The field is beautiful, and a real God-Send to Irish baseball, but my word is it a pitchers ball park.

Secondly, Irish baseball made a curious decision to switch to wood bats recently. Wonderful for the pitchers in the league, not so much for the treasurer. Baseball Ireland spent six thousand euros on wood bats prior to the ’08 season. The wood bats have definitely shaved a few points of the ERAs of the pitchers in the league.

Simply put, home runs are a rarity in the Irish Baseball League, The all time leader, who has played in the league since 1997, has 9! Also, the all time innings pitched leader has given up 9, that in itself speaks volumes for how hard it is to go yard in Corcaigh Park.

And yet still, when they go out, goodness gracious does it feel like an irate mule kicked you in the stomach!



My top four (Bottom four, maybe?!) were all suitably painful.

4. Against England U21 in 1999
3. Baseball Ireland Spring Blitz 2005
2. Against Finland in 2000
1. Against Croatia in 2006

Against England U21 in 1999
This took place at the annual Croydon Invitational tournament in Croydon, London. The Irish National Baseball team attended several of these, often as a tune up before a European Championships. In '99 we were preparing for the tournament in Croatia to be held in 2000. For one of the Saturday games we took on the England U21 team, who had a Major League Baseball envoy on their coaching staff. MLBI rules state clearly no MLBI coach can actually play for the team he is assigned to. Naturally, the UK U21 coach ignored this and played first base and batted third. He was in his thirties at the time and clearly had excellent skills.

I retired the first two batters of the game. Up he stepped. Sean Mitchell, our catcher, wandered out to the mound to me. The conversation went something like this;

Sean; ''Two outs, no need to get fancy, base open, this guy can swing, let's not chance anything.''
Cormac; ''Okay.''

First pitch, down the pipe, big swing, big home run. It was a moon shot to right field that cleared the outfield hedge fence by about twenty feet. It had to travel about 450 feet, and that's a relatively conservative estimate.

Our coach was furious. Words were exchanged. I don't remember my physical reaction, I imagine I froze, probably looked very stunned. I do remember thinking, 'Wow, he hit that a long way.' And, he did.

Baseball Ireland Spring Blitz 2005
This one came in the opening blitz of the season, a season where the Hurricanes eventually came out on top, winning the Irish Baseball League for the second time. The blitz was a busy affair, so much so that we had to use make shift fields for some of the games. We took on our great rivals the Spartans on one of those. The ground rules were completely asinine, including one where anything hit over a foot path about 220 feet to the right was a home run. During the game John Dillon of the Spartans hit a routine pop fly to right with two runners on. Our right fielder camped under it, caught it, and threw it back in, the runners didn't even bother trying to advance it was so shallow. Yet still, the Umpire called, 'Home Run!' The ball had gone just over that foot path. Cheapest, ugliest and most annoying home run, ever. A three run 'shot' to boot.

Against Finland in 2000
Maybe I should pay more attention to Sean Mitchell. That's probably the message of this piece. If there is an underlying message. This one came in the heat of the European Championships in Croatia. It was a steamy hot day, and this was my first ever start for the Irish National Baseball Team. The game was going okay, we were only down 0-2 when the big, young Finnish first base man stepped to the plate. I knew from our scouting that he was a semi professional hockey player, a real athlete. Our catcher, Sean Mitchell, ambled out to me, sweat dripping from his brow. The conversation went a little like this.

Sean; 'Good hitter'
Cormac; 'Yeah i'll be careful'

The young Finnish kid didn't hang around. First pitch, bang, gone, and not just gone, really g-o-n-e. This was easily the biggest home run I have ever given up. Scratch that, it was the longest home run I have ever seen in person, including Major League games I have been at. Just so happens I had one of the best seats in the house for this one. It left his bat like an Exocet Missile, piercing through the hot summer sky, rising all the time as it left the yard. It flew over the fence, clearing it by a good twenty five feet, and came to rest in some random Croatian back garden.

My head started spinning, I felt weak at the knees and I could feel my face go flush. It was humiliating. I felt like the smallest person in the world. Only when the umpire tossed me a new ball did I start to feel human again. All you can do is throw another pitch, try and get back into a rhythm.

After the game we debated long and hard as to how far the ball travelled, we finally decided about 450 feet. Of course, no one actually retrieved it, so, it could still be going for all we know. He certainly hit it hard enough.



Against Croatia in 2006
This one was just no fun at all. In no way shape or form was this enjoyable. Ireland made the final of the 2006 European Championships, against Croatia. We played hard but perhaps ran out of steam after shocking the host Belgians 4-1 just days before. Croatia beat us up. They knocked out our valiant starter (Chris Gannon who was speechless after the game he was so tired) and Coach Houston went to me in the bullpen.

First batter up, Jason Hoyte, our talented catcher, called for a fastball inside. I left it over the plate, he jacked it 350 to left, but just foul.

I tried something offspeed, and missed the plate badly. Next pitch, he connected. He blasted the ball to deep left, it cleared the fence with ease. What happened was ugly as the ignorant Croatians crowded home plate waiting to congratulate their slugger. In doing this several of them jostled with Jason. No class whatsoever.

So there they are. The three most painful jacks I have given up. If you are a pitcher, you know how empty and painful it feels. Sometimes the situation can be funny, in a self depreciating way, but you are always guaranteed those few moments of stomach-punch uneasiness.

This much is true, there's nothing in life like giving up that big fly.




.

Where the streets have no name

U2 at the Superbowl 2002
In honour of U2 weekend here in Dublin

Let's face it - there will never be another Superbowl half time show as good as U2 in 2001. Ever. There simply isn't anything that can top it.

From the choice of songs (two absolute classics), to the incredible reaction from the crowd, the classy sans-politicking memorial to Bono's enjoyably over the top showmanship. There isn't even any point in holding up other half time show as comparison as it would be like comparing The Tulsa Dirt Dogs Sunday slow pitch softball team to The Boston Red Sox.


Why am I bringing this up now? No reason other than I have searched high and wide for footage of the show and have only now stumbled on it after literally years of searching. Where did I find it? Where else, good old youtube.

First up, U2 come on stage to 'Beautiful Day'



At the time this was one of those pinnacle life moments for me. The new England Patriots had miraculously made it to the Superbowl against all the odds and were not only competing they were actually leading. The defence was playing out of it's skin and Tom Brady looked like a veteran and not the rough-around-the-edges rookie he actually was.




I was home watching with my Dad, my brother and my friend Paul and I didn't even know U2 were going to be the half time entertainment. When they came on stage I thought to myself 'This really can't get any better'.

It was indeed a beautiful day Bono, touché


The opening song was a great way to kick things off but I don't think anyone was prepared for what followed. Bono and the Edge singing softly together as the massive September 11th memorial unveiled behind them was to date the most simple yet moving and caring memorial to that terrible day I have seen. The mesmeric guitar opening to 'Where the streets..' started up in the background and the Louisiana crowd was ready to explode long before Bono offered 'I want to dance, in the Louisiana rain'

Here is 'Where the streets have no name' in all it's glory.




If this doesn't make your heart beat just a little bit stronger, well then, you are already dead inside.

This little trip down memory lane actually adds another name to my list of things to do before it's too late. Item A) on that agenda is 'See Pedro pitch live one more time before he retures', and to that I now add B) See U2 live one more time before they retire.

Better get cracking!

Hanging with Ron Wotus

Hanging with Ron Wotus
The weekend Baseball Ireland drank from the knowledge cup of the Giants bench coach and he drank from the dirty glasses of the bars in Temple Bar, Dublin



In January 2000 Baseball Ireland held a 'winter clinic' in Dublin designed to help new players learn the game, and to help get established players ready for the 2000 season, which was to include the 2000 European Championships in Croatia.

The clinic was conducted by Rick Stein of Major League Baseball International and then Irish National Team coach, and Ron Wotus, both then and now the bench coach of the San Francisco Giants. The sessions started Friday evening in a class room environment in Trinity College Dublin, and then went on all day Saturday and Sunday in the gym.

Down the years we have had all manner of coaches from the States, and Rick Stein was something of a permanent (and valuable) feature at the time, but Ron Wotus was a whole new ball game. He spent every day of his working life alongside the best of the best, major league ballplayers.

Ron Wotus - Recovering from his time in Ireland with a game of golf

The Friday evening session was basically 'baseball theory', but in a testament to Ron and Rick's ability to get points across, I still remember it like it was yesterday. Ron spoke about 'doing your job' as a baseball player. Rick spoke about playing without fear, playing every play at 100% and if you make an error, so be it, move on to the next play.

Ron was an extremely friendly and approachable guy. He struck up immediate and easy going friendships with several of the players at the clinic, including Garret Pearse and Gordon Ireland. Gordy had been having problems with his first base mans mitt and he was completely stunned when Ron presented him with one of his players used gloves, the player in question was Charlie Hayes, San Francisco's charismatic utility infielder.

What set Ron apart as a coach was that he seemed to know absolutely everything, and was able to give different levels of coaching to different levels of players. Obviously the game of baseball is new to Ireland, and was even newer back then. Ron and Rick were dealing with players of relatively high levels to players with zero baseball experience and nothing but a passion to learn the game.

He was an interesting character with bundles of confidence and yet a very approachable demeanour.

In all my time in Irish Baseball I thought he was the one guy who was able to really help with pitching mechanics. He spent a good bit of time in the Trinity College gym with myself, Garret Pearse, Ken Murphy and other pitchers helping us refine our deliveries. He picked a couple of items each of us could work on in future.

It was a long way from the pitching coaching we received in 1996 when perspective pitchers lined up and threw one pitch to our battered, beleaguered catcher Sean Mitchell, before joining the back of the line again. That's how we rolled.

After the sessions I spoke to my good friend Garret about it and he agreed, Ron was far and away the best pitching coach we ever had, and he wasn't even a pitching coach back home with the Giants. That's how it worked for us in Irish Baseball. You gobbled up what you could, because top class tuition like that provided by Rick Stein and Ron Wotus was infrequent and short lived. We got two days with them and that was it.

Sunday night was Superbowl Sunday. In one of the more enjoyable social events in my time in Irish Baseball we took the two Coaches, Rick and Ron, to a Dublin Sports bar which was hosting a small superbowl party.

There were dozens of people who had attended the weekend clinics plus several other Baseball Ireland personalities there, and it all took place against the backdrop of one of the most exciting Superbowls ever, Super Bowl XXXIV, Tennessee against St Louis.

It was a raucous, well lubricated party. Although we were baseball players and coaches, most of us had an interest in the NFL game too. Bill Beglane was rooting for St Louis, because he is a Cardinals fan. Mike Kindle was excited about the half time show, Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton. He kept saying it was Ms Aguilera's appearance that he was waiting for but we all knew it was Enrique he was looking forward to.

People had money on the two teams. I had backed the underdog Titans, underdogs by 7 points. At one stage I took out my betting slip to have a look at it, and Ron Wotus asked me what it was. He was totally stunned that in Ireland you can walk into a bookies shop and legally place a bet on a sporting event like the Superbowl. By the time the conversation had taken place we had all had a couple of beers so I asked him bravely 'Is there honestly no betting in baseball?' and he replied, passionately, that had never himself seen an instance of it. I guess the 1919 Blacksox took care of that.

As the night wore on the conversations became more comedic, Ron began ranting about the Aneheim Angels fans use of those 'thundersticks', plastic clappers they used to make a huge 'thunderous' noise during games. He hated them, despised them. Ron was old school, and that kind of new-age fan participation was horrible, to him.

When you look at Irish Baseball, and try to understand how the team has won such big games against more fancied opposition, one thing that jumps out over and over is the camaraderie amongst the team. From 1996 until now this was and is one tight bunch. Its nights like January 30th 2000 that built the team.

It's not one thing it's a combination of things that 'make' those nights what they are. It's the irrepressible Mike Kindle, the Mayor of Irish Baseball, clowning around. It was the backdrop of the dramatic Superbowl on screen. It was the smooth, easy conversations flowing like the beer. It was Chris Foy being approached by a middle aged 'swinging couple' in a bathroom and coming back to the table pale as a ghost to relay the story of them inviting him home. It was the coaches Ron and Rick clearly enjoying letting their hair down in this very Irish painting with the American 'frame' around it.

The drink flowed and the game became more and more exciting. The final drive was sensational, and as St Louis stopped Tennessee at the one yard line, the whole bar erupted with the drama showing on screen.

So close, and yet, so far....

The ironic aspect of it all is, Ron probably barely remembers his weekend in Ireland (and that's not a alcohol related joke!). He is an important part of the Giants organisation and obviously has much bigger fish to fry than a weekend coaching baseball to a bunch of clowns in Dublin. Here's the irony, he, along with Rick Stein, left a huge mark on us that weekend. They brought our baseball development to a new level, brought both our execution and thinking up to a new level. Rick had been doing so for a long time, and would go on to do so, as will be documented throughout this book, but that weekend Ron really added a whole new dimension to the games of dozens of Irish baseball players.



To this day I remember the tips he gave me for pitching, Garrett Pearse remembers the friendly conversations they had about baseball and Gordon Ireland still shows all visitors to his house that Charlie Hayes glove.

Hopefully we gave him something to remember other than a tremendous hangover on the Monday morning!

Mr Papelbon would like to talk to Red Sox Nation about the word 'Panic'

It is both recurrent and amazing. Year after year, the same thing, over and over. Two, three, four game losing streaks and the denizens of Red Sox Nation race each other to slam their sweaty palms down hard on the Panic Button.


Why does this have to happen? Other teams go through losing streaks, often much longer than anything Red Sox fans (since 2003) have had to go through. Why does it have to be so much more painful when Boston hits a losing streak? The answer is obvious, and the answer is not pretty.

A certain element of Boston's fans have become so self aggrandized that losing streaks are nothing short of unacceptable. These fans have lost sight of the fact that baseball is in effect a game where you try to manage failure. If you bat ten times, three successful trips is deemed a good days work. Losing a few games in a row isn't just a part of the game, it is entirely inevitable.

The sad part if the Boston sporting media plays into the hands of these blow in, bandwagon fans, by producing polls after a four game losing streak screaming 'IS IT TIME TO PANIC?!'. Pathetic. In short, pathetic.



You can excuse a fan in some ways for diving for the panic button, but how can you excuse the Globe or the Herald, who have seen it all before, for validating and indeed encouraging said panic levels? You have to think that they may view losing streaks and panic as good copy. If that's the case, how far down the abyss has sports journalism in New England fallen?

A four game losing streak, heck, a seven game losing streak, is not the end of the world. How a team copes with adversity like this defines said team. If anything, now is the time to hit a bit of a wall, make adjustments and then move on. A losing streak in July means very little, a losing streak in September can be fatal.

We will leave the final words to Boston's closer. Over to you Mr Papelbon.

''What, me, Panic?''

.

Slugfest 2; Should Favre retire?

The words 'Brett Favre' are like red to a bull right now where some people are concerned. Tired and bored of constant media speculation on his future, some are going as far as wishing he would just retire already, get it over with.

Nice little animated debate brewing on the Boston Globe website between myself and some other Internet Chug Monkey as to whether the legend should indeed retire. I am arguing against that simply because it is not Favre's fault that the US Sporting media, bereft of any decent ideas, are flogging the story to death.

Check out how it develops here, and vote too, if you are so moved, you don't have to sign in or anything just vote. My opponent is DrGonzoEsquire whilst I am posting under PappaCSkillz. Totally unclear who won the 'worst name' part of the debate...




.

Villarreal edge 27-goal thriller

Ouch. Now that's a hammering. Top Spanish club Villareal took on 'Navata' a tiny regional Spanish club, in a pre season friendly, and stuck 27 goals past them. That's actually physically hard to do! The 'Yellow Submarine', Villareal's nickname, had to have scored roughly every three minutes for this to happen.

Still, 27-0, that wasn't very nice, was it?

The scoreline has caused outrage on some Internet forums with fans arguing that humiliating a group of part-timers was not really beneficial to anyone. The suggestion is that perhaps Villarreal would have been better displaying their ability to keep the ball and play possession football once the score reached about 9-0. Clearly, the Yellow Submarine cares not for your suggestions!

Forward Jonathan Pereira netted seven goals, Joseba Llorente and Marco Ruben scored four each while former Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires scored twice.


For you US readers, here's a little helpful chart to assist you in making sense of this 27-0 scoreline

27-0 equates to roughly the following imaginary scorelines in the respective sports
Imagine how shocked you would be if you saw the following scores..

• Baseball - Boston 22 New York Yankees 0
• Football - New England Patriots 72 New York Jets 0
• Basketball - Boston Celtics 182 New York Knicks 48
• Hockey - Bruins 12 Rangers 0
• MLS - New England Revolution 27 Some New York Red Bulls 0

.

The time I met Don Gordon

The time I met Don Gordon


Don Gordon - he was a Major League Baseball Player, dontcha know..

Since Baseball Ireland began in 1996, we have had the pleasure of hosting dozens of coaches who have all increased our baseball know how 110%. The list is pretty impressive. None more so than former Major League pitcher Don Gordon, who came to our shores in 1996 through 'Score International'.

Score International is a religious 'charity' organisation that sends former athletes around the world to 'spread the good word' while showing them how to play whatever sport they specialise in. This from the 'SCORE' website: ''hundreds of athletes have traveled with SCORE International to 15 countries and have preached the Gospel to thousands of spectators at halftime. The purpose of SCORE is evangelism, encouraging missionaries, and equipping participants to do the work of foreign missions.''

I remember at the time asking Mick Manning in a pub one night before he came if we should be worried about this guy going over the top preaching to us, and Mick said we would probably have to sit through a few minutes of religious salesmanship in between what would hopefully be some solid baseball tuition.

So Don Gordon kindly came to Ireland and hosted a weekend, Saturday and Sunday, of baseball drills at the Aer Lingus sports grounds out near the airport. The Saturday morning a motley crew of baseball players, young and old, from North and South, gathered together, around 20 players in all.

Don spent a few minutes telling us he was a 'Major League Ball Player', and telling us about his career. That Saturday session began with Don leading us through drills, pretty basic in level, but the kind of fundamentals we did not have a good grasp on in those days. Don was a pitcher with The Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, but he obviously had a good grounding in the basic fundamentals of baseball, not just pitching. We would split into small groups and he would go round each one telling us how it was done.

It's important you can picture the scene before I go on. Imagine a gloomy Dublin afternoon, a huge, expansive sports grounds with no one around bar some fools on a makeshift baseball field made with softball drop down bases, huge jets roaring over head every 30 seconds as they flew into Dublin airport. Picture the participants. About ten of 'Ireland's best' were present, players like Darran O'Connor, Brian Connolly, Sean Mitchell and Brian Nolan. On top of that there were about ten people who hadn't played before but wanted to learn. Players were using kids mitts, soccer cleats and we had about twelve baseballs, maybe four or five that were dry. Think about that for a second, we had a dozen baseballs to use. If someone threw one into the bushes, they had to go get it.

So Don Gordon was giving us various drills to try, and as the afternoon wore on his patience wore down. 'You know son, I was a Major League Ball Player and that's not how we fielded a ball'. Or, 'When I was a Major League Ball Player we took our throwing sessions seriously!'. I was in a relatively inexperienced group, flipping the ball to each other in a way to learn how to 'turn the right way; when throwing ('Follow your glove!'). One young player who shall remain anonymous was having a hard time grasping the concept. He would turn the wrong way every time, and obviously didn't get the idea at all, just needed it explained a little.

Enter Don. The young player did it wrong yet again, and Don walked up behind him, grabbed his left and right arms and moved him in the right motion and direction. The young played blushed as he was walked through the drill. 'Now you do it.' Don said, and yet again, the young player turned the wrong way. A couple of people giggled. Don just lowered his voice and said 'See, you are really not doing it right at all' and tried to show the young player again. After one more incorrect walkthrough Don stood back and said 'Well, I guess the lord just doesn't want you playing the game of baseball!' and laughed. A couple of us giggled nervously.

The Sunday session was attended by pretty much the same group, and our low level of quality as a group was really working Don's patience hard. During a throwing drill Don implored us to have a 'mission' on each throw, and not to throw like 'slackers and losers'. I'll always remember that one in particular. For years following that, we would tease each other 'You throw like a slacker'. Then we scrimmaged. We split into two groups and Don pitched against us. In those days we were pretty raw and the hits were few and far between against Don. He was throwing probably 3/4 strength and no one could catch up with his 80+ mph fastball.

The first several batters all struck out. We would walk up, maybe swing, maybe not, but everyone eventually turned around and headed back to watch Don strike out the next batter with his major league stuff. Don would add to each individual batters misery by 'coaching' them after each strike out. 'Hey choke up on the bat a little more' or 'Hey maybe start your swing earlier'. Not sure what we were learning at that stage, was Don just tired of us and had he decided to have a little fun? Whatever was going on no one could get a piece of him.

No one except Sean Mitchell that is.

Sean stepped into the box and blasted a huge power alley double to deep left centre, players on both sides cheered as Sean rounded first. It was a really nice piece of hitting. Everyones spirits lifted. Instead of striking out Sean had ripped a blast into the outfield so maybe we could all do it. I was actually next to bat and stepped in, still grinning from Sean's blast, took a few dry swings and waited for the pitch. As he wound up I could see Sean on second base hands on his hips grinning like a crazy man.

The pitch came in, and rammed hard into my left side, at the back, near my kidney. I crumpled over in pain and found it hard to breathe. It had to have been around 85mph and had caught me right in the back. A couple of people came up to me to check on me. I glanced over at Don, still on the mound, his hands on his hips, he said 'Hey so make sure you don't dig in too close to the plate!' and then 'Who's up next?'

I guess I was paying for Sean's hit.

The session wore down, and I actually joked to Mick Manning, as we gathered our old, battered equipment, 'Hey I guess we got away without a lecture!'. Just as I said it Don told us all to form a circle and take a knee. People wandered over, not really sure what to expect. Someone sat down and Don chastised them, 'Hey son, in baseball we take a knee, so, are you a ball player?!' The embarrassed novice took a knee.

Don summarised the two day session as a challenge adding 'You will eventually get better if you apply what I have shown you and work closely with the Lord'. Apply what we learned eh? So, as a pitcher, every time I give up a hit I should nail the next guy in the chops with a fastball? Nice!

Don started to wind the weekend session down. 'You know, I was a Major League Ball Player' he said (Wow, really?), while I glanced to my left seeing the heart and soul of Irish Baseball Brian Nolan, examining his palm, bored. Don continued 'I was a Major League Ball Player and I loved the lifestyle, I loved it'. I noticed Brian look up, his interest piqued. Were we about to learn how cool it was to be a major league player? Brian glanced back at me grinning. Don went on 'I loved the lifestyle, and I threw myself into the lifestyle. I'll tell you, I loved the women', Brian nodded like a man nodding in approval at a good sermon in a Church on a Sunday. 'Yes, I loved the women, and ill tell you, they loved me too!' Don said, as Brian nodded more vehemently.

'I loved the women, and you know what? I loved the booze. Oh yeah' Don continued, starting to come across as Tom Cruise in Magnolia.

..testify!!

Brian was ready to testify at this stage, and ready to play baseball until his knees fell off if it meant he would make the majors. 'I loved the booze, the women, the adulation..' You could tell he would have loved to have added '...the fornication.' but he stopped himself. He might deny that but we knew.

Brian resembled a bobble head doll at this stage. Don wound us (mostly Brian) up into a furious frenzy, 'On the road, one night, I had been enjoying all those perks, and I sat in my hotel room and I looked at myself in the mirror..' I glanced at Brian, he was ready, ready to jump up and give praise, but Don dropped a bombshell.

'..I looked at myself in the mirror, and I cried!'

I turned to Brian, who looked like most people when they talk to a crazy person, confused. Say what now? Brian turned to me and shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'What's he on about, what was the problem?'

Don finally knuckled down and delivered the 'Good word', about how Jesus stopped him and his fast living, and put him on the path to redemption. We knelt listening for a while as he told us we could all choose this path and avoid things like booze, women and adulation, presumably so we could get into heaven in the next life, he didn't really clarify that one.

So that was the weekend Baseball Ireland met Don Gordon. We learnt allot, got a few bruises in the process, and figured out some cool ways to strike out on against Major League pitching.

I wonder what he would have made of the time we drank a bar dry in Stockerau, Austria? But hey, that's another story!

Coming soon: The weekend Baseball Ireland corrupted Ron Wotus!


.

The Top Ten Games in Baseball Ireland history 1996-2006

The Top Ten Games in Baseball Ireland history 1996-2006

1. Ireland v Belgium: European Pool B Championships 2006
2. Ireland v Austria: European Pool B Championships 2004
3. Ireland v Hungary: European Pool B Championships 2000
4. Ireland v Yugoslavia: European Pool B Championships 1996
5. Ireland v Serbia Montenegro European Championships 2004
6. Ireland v Slocum Fenway Park 2001 (pictures here)
7. Ireland v Finland European Championships 2004
8. Ireland v Slocum RI tour 2001
9. Ireland v Lithuania Sweden 2002
10. Ireland v Serbia Montenegro European Championships 2004

Those scary LA Ultras

LA soccer fans need to work on their banners.

A little bit of advice, basically, 'less is more' when it comes to derogatory football banners. The one on the far right, too much, just too much.

Beckham himself was suitably bemused by the banners.

''The apparent snub has angered some Galaxy fans, notably a hardcore that sit in the so-called LA Riot Squad section. Throughout the first half of the game he was subjected to jeers and obscene chants.''

I would imagine Beckham has heard worse in his time in England and Europe, but Kudos to the 'LA Riot Squad' for trying. Dear oh dear. The ‘LA Riot squad’, eh? Was ‘Mickey Mouse’s good time gang’ already taken or something?

It would be fun to place a couple of the ‘LA Riot Squad’ between Leeds and Millwall supporters at Elland road on a Saturday afternoon, and see if they still want to play ‘football hooligan’. Perhaps a little trip to Galatassary or Fenherbache for a Champions League showdown might be in order to the LA crew! That would be something of an eye opener undoubtedly.

Turkish football banners; simple yet effective

.

In running diary: Lester v Halladay. Boston @ Toronto Sunday night

What a treat, right after the All Star break, a little 'welcome back to MLB' peach. John Lester v Doc Halladay, an AL East showdown with a hint of playoff scent about it.

So many great side stories to this show down between two of the top starting pitchers in the game. Many would have Halladay top five and many more would have Lester banging on the door of the top ten starters in MLB.


Interesting that the Sox chose to start Clay Bulletholes on Friday, under the auspices of rewarding the talented, hard working kid for his AAA service, however doing so in Toronto, where Doc Halladay is the big catch of the day. The Jays would have to have been seriously impressed with Clay's stifling performance and maybe the Sox would pull the trigger on a move involving a few other minor league pieces for Halladay.

Enough with the chit chat. Let's get it on.

Top of the first inning
How on earth is the stadium not full? Seriously? Two huge Al East powers with two superb pitchers on the hill. It will be interesting to see the figures but not enough bums in seats, if you ask me. Ball one and here we go.

JD Drew batting leadoff, not entirely sure how I feel about that. Particularly so after Drew stands and stares at strike three. Lame JD, lame. Meanwhile Pedroia reaches on an infield single. Pedroia is really the anti-Drew in a lot of ways.

Up comes Youkilis, line drive left field and Pedroia is on third, pow, just like that. Three batters in and the price for Halladay is now down to three top tier prospects. Hard line drive to right, nice catch by the right fielder however Pedroia tags alertly and scores, picking up an RBI for Big Papi. Guess how many he has so far? 50! Bet you didn't see that figure coming?

Long fly ball off the bat of Bay to deep, deep center field, too high however, as we say in the Irish League, too high, three outs, Sox have to settle for just the one.

Bet you didn't know this guy already has 50 RBIs?

Bottom of one
Sox 1 Jays 0
Lester to the hill. Averaging just over 10 Ks a game, third best in the Majors. Not too shabby, right? Two quick outs, Lester throwing some soft stuff, not shaking V-Tek off so this has to be part of the game plan for the Sox. With Lind up, Lester breaks off a couple of 94mph heaters and strikes him out with a beautiful, sweeping curve. Nice start all round.

Top of two
Sox 1 Jays 0
What age is Scott Rolen? Five billion years old? He makes a nice play on a Jacoby grounder, one more pitch later and V-Tek is out too, two quick outs for Doc Halladay on very few pitches. Kotsay complicates things slightly by rolling a hard hit single into center field. Up comes Tricky Little Nicky Green, and Kotsay steals second to get into scoring position. Halladay sppeared to completely forget the runner. Sadly, for the Sox anyway, the number nine hitter, Green, strikes out feebly to end the top of the first. Halladay throwing pretty hard.


Bottom of two
Sox 1 Jays 0
Lester really seems to be throwing a lot of offspeed pitches. Again, assuming this is the plan of attack. Lester uses his curve to set Rolen up then blows him away with a high fastball. The blue appears to have a reasonably big zone for both starters, meaning this could lead to a pretty snappy little game of baseball. Personally, I love that. That's baseball.

Lyle Overbay has the 'Mission Impossible' theme as his walk up music, what exactly is he trying to convey by using that?! Worryingly Lester starts to nibble a little, walking Overbay and going to 3-0 against Rios, the third pitch the Blue flinches but won't give him the call. Must have heard me saying he has a wide zone tonight.

Ball four. Two men on, both free passes. No matter what level you are at, that's going to come back to haunt you eventually. Hey, old friend Kevin Millar. I wonder is he drunk? Or, at the very least, tippsy?

Millar batting .127 over his last 30 games, pops up to V-Tek, two down, much more like it from Lester who gets back to pounding the zone.

Just when Lester appears to have gotten back on track, Rod Barajas slices a ball to right, and both runners score, remember both go on through free passes. Those damn walks, they gonna getcha, every time. 2-1 Jays just like that. All this from the lower half of the Jays order.

The Canadian crowd gets all excited about a fly ball however it is too high, and the inning is over, 2-1 Jays after two.

Top of three
Sox 1 Jays 2
Happened to notice the over/under for this one was a very low 7.5. You have to feel we are going to top that, with 3 in the run column already. Drew goes after the first pitch and grounds out, Halladay has probably only thrown about 20 pitches, at most. Hard line drive single by the dirt dog that is Pedroia, who leads the Majors in '3 hit games', is that a stat now?

Cheeky little base hit to right off the bat of Youk and there is two on, one away. Difference here is Halladay hasn't walked anyone, so the Sox are just a ground ball double play away from blowing this.

Ortiz tries his best to do just that by hitting into the shift, however, credit to the big fella, hustling down the line he just beats the relay throw. Runners at the corners, two down, Halladay a lazy fly away from getting out of a jam.

And there it is, Jason Bay flies out to center. Too easy really, too easy an escape anyway for Halladay. He just threw strikes and his 'D' got him out of it. Hopefully Lester is at least paying attention on the bench.

Bottom of three
Sox 1 Jays 2
Once again Lester is nibbling, trying to pick up the outside corner but not finding it. He walks the leadoff batter, apparently he was not paying attention to Halladay throwing all those strikes.

Five straight balls to start the bottom of three. Ugly.

Ground ball out. Lester appears pretty up and down so far tonight, as if he is having a hard time finding his release point. Basically, he doesn't look entirely comfortable.

Aaron Hill steals second, from a minuscule lead. Lester only has himself to blame, horribly slow leg kick and Hill has time to make a cup of coffee, read the paper and still steal second. Lester helps his own cause though by striking out Lynd on a sweeping curve.

Fly ball off the bat of Rolen and Lester is out of the inning. After three it's 2-1 Jays

Top of four
Sox 1 Jays 2
Nice speedy little number we have going here. Ellsbury is out on a ground ball before we even blink. Halladay reminds me, and yes, I am going to go there, of Pedro in his '99-'02 glory days, he only throws strikes! He just pounds the zone, with good movement. V-Tek strikes out on a nasty, dirty, filthy fastball down and away, and the price for Halladay is definitely back up to four top tier prospects. Ten pitches, Kotsay out on a weak grounder, half inning over. Stifling.

Bottom of four
Sox 1 Jays 2
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects
Lester seems to be finding his release point, two quick outs, beautiful painted fastball outside corner to pick up strike three for the second out. Millar beats out, wait for it, a cheap infield single. Ortiz and Millar should be forced to race each other after the game, you know, for the laugh. Ridiculous scoring decision on the Millar single, they are calling it an error on the throw, even though Lester really had zero chance to throw Millar out, because of how high the ball bounced at the plate. Lester has given up just the one hit so far, if that erroneous decision stands.

Rod Barajas owns Jon Lester, apparently, slapping an inside fastball, clearing it out for a single to right field. Runners on first and second two away, Lester needs to end this little threat right now or this game could be over, the way Doc Halladay is pitching. All the damage tonight is coming from the lower half of the Jays order.

Four straight balls to Bautista and Farrell, the pitching coach, ambles out to the mound. With the sacks full of Jays and two down, this really could turn out to be the game right here. Lester v Scuttaro. Marco is, ouch, 6/12 with the bases loaded. Dangerous, I dub thee Scuttaro. lester works hard and gets a ground ball back to the mound to scrape his way out of trouble, inning over. Tense stuff, but Lester gets the job done.

Top of five
Sox 1 Jays 2
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects
If the Sox don't start lengthening their half innings, this is going to be a Halladay complete game. Strike one, well, he only throws strikes, I guess. Strike two. Halladay absolutely abusing Nick Green, who strikes out on a ball in the dirt. Completely over matched. Two at bats, two K's. Bring back Julio Lugo. Only kidding.

Up comes Drew, strike one. Right down the pipe. Strike two and Halladay is starting to toy with the Red Sox batters. Having said that, Drew does put up a fight, working to a full count. He then promptly grounds out. They haven't shown how many pitches Halladay is at as yet, we're guessing 67. Wild guess. Pedroia up, strike one. Of course.

Pedroia flies out to center. Half inning over.

Bottom of five
Sox 1 Jays 2
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects plus a case of beer
Very important for Lester to match Halladay for zeroes here, if the Sox want anything at all from this AL East show down.

Barring a crazy inning, it would also appear the bookies got it right again, with the over/under at 7.5. Lester goes right after Aaron Hill and strikes him out to start the bottom of the fifth. That big sweeping curve and Lind strikes out, two down in a hurry. That's Lester's sixth K so far.

KKKKKK

Top of six
Sox 1 Jays 2
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects plus a case of beer
Typical start to the inning, one pitch, strike, one out, as Youk grounds to third, too easy for Halladay. The Sox chasing those pitches early in the count has just given Halladay a ticket to pitch into the late part of this encounter.

Half inning is over before it even starts really.

Bottom of six
Sox 1 Jays 2
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer and some quality snacks.
Trouble to start the sixth. Overbay slices a double into the power alley in left. Runner on second no outs. This could be tricky.

Rios wastes no time slapping a single and the Jays have first and third no outs. Not good. Old friend Kevin Millar up to bat. Stolen base, runners at second and third, nobody out, nobody at all. But wait, what's this, apparently time was called, so the runner has to go back to first. Let's see if they try that again.

Lester helps himself a little by getting Millar to pop up. One away, runners on first and third. Up comes Lester-killer, Rod Barajas. Key show down. I think we can safely say this is the game right here.

Delcarmen up in the pen. Pow. Nice pop off that fastball.

Barajas gets the job done, fly ball to center, 3-1 Jays. The way Halladay is slicing batters up that could be enough. Interestingly Lester escapes the inning without further damage. However, is it too little too late?

Top of seven
Sox 1 Jays 3
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer, some quality snacks and a jar of pickles.
Goodness gracious, V-Tek pops up the first pitch, are the Sox in a hurry to do something tonight? Have they got plans outside of this game? Still no word on Doc's pitch count however it can't be too high. Kotsay gets called out on a horrible third 'strike', up high out of the zone, even the Canuck commentary team agree it was a horrible call. Nick Green up, so you know the half inning is effectively over. Hey, Green is a nice little utility player, but is not in the same league as Halladay.

As if on cue, strike three. The half empty stadium 'goes nuts'. I wonder will this be Halladay's last start in Toronto?

Bottom of seven
Sox 1 Jays 3
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer, some quality snacks, a jar of pickles and a free subscription to MLB TV.
Hard to see how the Sox are going to get anything from this game the way it is going, they need a major momentum shift of some sort or another. It would be nice to be able to say Lester was free of blame however when you are in a big game like this you can not walk so many batters. Lester has however battled, and has at least kept the Sox within striking distance, just about.

Lind knocks a double to left but not before Lester gets the first two outs. Farrell to the mound, you have to think if this runner scores the young lefty's night is out. Wow they play really, really bad music on the Toronto stadium PA. Simply awful.

111 pitches for Lester thus far. Key at bat against Rolen. Lester does the job getting Rolen to fly out to left. Inning over.

Top of eight
Sox 1 Jays 3
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer, some quality snacks, a jar of pickles, a free subscription to MLB TV and a Blue Jays jersey with 'Halladay' on the back.
Stupid MLB TV is a little shaky tonight. Keeps stop/starting as we get into the late innings. Shocking start to the inning, Drew pops up the first pitch. What is it about Boston and the first pitch to start the inning tonight? They did not have a good strategy and you have to think it's going to cost them.


Drew, Pedroia and Youkilis are all out before we even blink.

Bottom of eight
Sox 1 Jays 3
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer, some quality snacks, a jar of pickles, a free subscription to MLB TV , a Blue Jays jersey with 'Halladay' on the back and dinner with Katherine Heigl.
Hyde Park native Manny Delcarmen is up for the Sox. Bulletholes, Bowden, Delcarmen plus one other, would that tempt the Jays? May not be enough, although that would completely revamp the Jays pitching, plus bring their overall salary down dramatically.

With one down Millar is up with Rios on first. Millar batting a feeble .230 on the season. It's feeble when you only attach 4 home runs to that.

Theo Epstein in the house, apparently, by the way. Interesting.

Millar ends the inning by drooping into a double play. Nice work by Delcarmen. We go to the ninth for all the marbles.

Top of nine
Sox 1 Jays 3
Halladay price; Four top tier prospects, a case of beer, some quality snacks, a jar of pickles, a free subscription to MLB TV , a Blue Jays jersey with 'Halladay' on the back, dinner with Katherine Heigl and the complete box set of 'The Wire', seasons one through five.

I think it is safe to say there has to be a super duper wild change of momentum here or the Sox are going to end up losing here. For my money the first batter has to reach, or Halladay will just stay in cruise control.

Ortiz instead flies out. One down. Whatever. Bay, gone, two away. Double whatever. High five to MLB TV for completely ruining the end of the game with technical difficulties by the way. Nice work.

Game over.

Hey, you can't win 'em all I guess. Goodnight, and good luck.


.