Blog Archives
The #RedSox Are Back in 1st Place After A Wild Walk-Off Win
Whenever I tell people how often I watch baseball on TV, they all say the same thing: it’s so boring. To me, baseball isn’t boring and I could watch every Red Sox game with a smile on my face. I can certainly see why people think it’s boring though, especially with this year’s Red Sox team who seem to go out of their way to play an extra inning game at least once a week. Last night’s game, featuring a Christian Vasquez walk-off bomb, was the opposite of boring.
Any time you can win a game in August with a walk-off homer that puts you back into first place you’ll take it, but last night’s game was extra special. Let’s take a look at some of the craziness, which is a good look at why these types of games don’t happen more often. A LOT of insane stuff has to happen to create one of these magical games.
Heading into last night’s game, Chris Sale hadn’t given up a run since 7/6 against Tampa (20 2/3 innings). Sale proceeded to give up 5 runs in the first two innings last night, and 7 overall in his 5 innings of work.
The Red Sox scored 12 runs last night, but only scored in 3 of 9 innings. Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco entered the game with a respectable 3.58 ERA and hadn’t gone less than 6 innings since a 6/26 start against Texas. He gave up 5 runs in the second inning and was bounced after 1 2/3 innings.
After a two run home run by Edwin Encarnacion in the top of 5th, Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the inning with what looked like a home run into the Sox bullpen. Austin Jackson had other ideas.
Newly acquired setup man Addison Reed had allowed only 4 earned runs in his last 22 appearances, but gave up a home run to the first batter he faced as a member of the Red Sox. Craig Kimbrel blew only his fourth save as a member of the Red Sox, and last night was the first time this season he gave up more than 1 earned run in an appearance.
By now you know that Vasquez won it with a walk-off homer, but the only reason he batted was because of a wild pitch strikeout of Mitch Moreland with two outs in the inning. If Cody Allen doesn’t throw a wild pitch on the strikeout, the game is over. The wild pitch gave the Sox one last shot, and Vasquez capitalized. Baseball can be a beautiful thing.
-Ryan
Cincinnati Reds Second Baseman Scooter Gennett Had An All Time Game Last Night #MLB
Going into last night’s game, Scooter Gennett had 3 home runs and 20 RBI’s on the season. After last night’s game, he has 7 home runs and 30 RBI’s. That’s what you call a nice night at the ballpark. Gennett became only the 17th player in MLB history to hit 4 homers in a game, and only the second player to hit four homers including a grand slam. While this was certainly an impressive feat, my favorite fact about Gennett came later in the night on Twitter:
Meet Scooter Gennett. pic.twitter.com/Hvg1VD3rW7
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) June 7, 2017
Four home runs in a game is rare, but going through life with the nickname Scooter to avoid a childhood arrest is on another level. Scooter Gennett might be my new favorite baseball player.
-Ryan
Mr. Met Somehow Gave Mets Fans The Bird Even Though He Only Has Four Fingers
The New York Mets apologized Wednesday night after their mascot, Mr. Met, made an obscene gesture at fans at Citi Field during the team’s 7-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Video on social media showed Mr. Met walking down a tunnel at the ballpark, turning around and giving the middle finger to the fans. It was unclear what, if anything, the fans said to the mascot before he made the gesture. – ESPN
Poor Mr. Met. The Mets are not great this year, dropping to 23-28 after last night’s loss. The only thing worse than being a mascot is being a mascot for a shitty team, and Mr. Met finally had enough last night. I have to imagine that Mr. Met has done this countless times over the years when fans got a little too aggressive, but rule number one of existing in today’s society is to remember that EVERYONE has a camera phone. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was video of this two second incident from every angle imaginable. Left, right, center; there’s probably a bird’s eye view from someone 100 yards away. Mr. Met really should’ve just stuck up his middle of the three fingers he has instead of doing the entire gesture. That way you can get away with the excuse that you were just saying hi.
-Ryan
P.S. Now that Mr. Met is in the spotlight, how long until we get an article complaining that there’s no Ms. Met? I’m going to say 3 hours.
Manny Machado Is Mad The Red Sox Keep Throwing At Him
If you don’t feel like watching the video, I can sum up Machado’s interview in a GIF:
Look, I’m a Red Sox fan so I’m obviously going to side with them in this situation, but Machado just comes off as a whiner, especially when you look at the big picture. Manny Machado slid late and injured Dustin Pedroia a few weeks ago. I won’t call it a dirty play because that implies that Machado was trying to hurt Pedroia intentionally and I don’t think that was the case. Pedroia did end up getting hurt and missing some games though, and Pedroia is the longest tenured Red Sox on the roster. The unwritten rules of baseball state that if you injure one of my guys, intentionally or not, I’m going to throw some heat at you. While I don’t like that Matt Barnes threw at Machado’s head, I do agree that he should’ve been thrown at. The Orioles felt compelled to respond and over the last two games have thrown at Andrew Benetendi’s head and hit Mookie Betts in the thigh. The Betts pitch was inarguably intentional and while some say the Benetendi pitch was an accident, it was still a fastball up near the head.
If I’m Manny Machado, I’m expecting something coming at me very fast, and that’s exactly what Chris Sale did last night. For Machado to react the way he did in the post game interview is childish, and if he wasn’t expecting to be thrown at again then he needs to wake the hell up. If he really wants to place the blame somewhere for the ‘rivalry’ between the Sox and O’s, maybe he should have a talk with his manager who has consistently whined about the Red Sox for the past 6 years. If it’s not the Red Sox high salary (which is a laughable argument, considering the O’s have a salary north of $150 million) it’s that the Sox get too much sympathy for player’s who were battling the flu. Showalter is an instigator, and whether he does it because he actually hates the Red Sox or because of his own glaring shortcomings as a Major League manager is besides the point. Baseball is a reactionary sport, and if Manny Machado doesn’t want to get thrown at anymore, he should sit his ass on the bench, because the Sox aren’t going to stop coming for him.
-Ryan
Pablo Sandoval Showed Up To Spring Training In Whatever The Opposite Of Tip Top Shape Is #RedSox
Welp. Here it is. Via the @BostonGlobe, the picture that everyone’s going to be talking about tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/FbWPrm8DfH
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) February 21, 2016
There were reports that Pablo Sandoval had dropped some pounds this offseason, but unless he gained 100 pounds before he dropped the 20, that can’t be true. Look, I’m not saying the guy has to be carved out of marble. If you’re going to be out of shape, baseball is the one sport you can still play. But when you’re making almost $20 million a year and you come off a horrible year like Sandoval did last year, you can’t come into camp looking like that. It’s just not going to work. With Sandoval at third and now Hanley at first, I couldn’t have less confidence in our corner infielders if they were blind with no limbs. Maybe Pablo will hit .300 and play a decent third base, or maybe he’ll sweat his way to becoming a $20 million a year bench player.
-Ryan
T-Pain Singing Without Auto-Tune is Remarkably Good
Why use auto-tune all the time if you got pipes like this?! I don’t really get that move. All along people tearing T down for being a product of a computer program when all along he’s a sweet scoop of brown sugar with a voice like an angel. I have two requests T-Pain. 1. please keep singing without auto-tune and 2. please go back towearing top hats.
Don Orsillo Will Reportedly Not Be The Red Sox Play By Play Guy Next Year Because The Red Sox Hate Their Fans
NO – We knew there would be plenty of changes for the Red Sox heading into 2016, but few anticipated that a major change would be coming to the television broadcast booth.
According to a report from WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan Morning Show,” this will be Don Orsillo’s final season as the play-by-play man for NESN’s Red Sox broadcasts.
Orsillo—currently in his 15th season calling Red Sox games on NESN—is a longtime fan favorite since moving up to the major league broadcasts in 2001 after serving five years as the play-by-play man for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Orsillo became the full-time Red Sox voice in 2005 when NESN took over airing all Red Sox local telecasts.
First off, that boob grab video is one of the greatest videos of all time. Second off, what in the actual hell NESN. How’re you not going to bring back the only good thing about this and every other bad Red Sox season? Don Orsillo is, inarguably, the best play by play announcer in baseball. This isn’t a regional/Red Sox bias, either. My guy is better than your guy, and there is no argument to be made. There’s a reason he’s been doing playoff baseball for almost a decade, and there’s a reason he and Jerry Remy are the funniest announcer tandem in sports. He’s incredibly good at his job but performs it in such a way that it’s really a joy to listen to and watch. ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is probably the best phrase that I can use to sum up my thoughts on this. The 2015 Red Sox are broken, so they should be fixed. Don Orsillo is not broken, so why bring in anyone else? In a year full of bonehead and asinine moves, this one might take the cake. As a side note, I’m just going to let Michael Scott express my feelings from now on:
-Ryan
Pedro Martinez Took His Rightful Place in the Baseball Hall Of Fame Yesterday
Pedro Martinez, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, is finally a hall of famer. In his first year of eligibility, Pedro was selected as a member of the 2015 hall of fame class with 91% of the vote. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, watching Pedro pitch in his prime was nothing short of amazing. He’s the only pitcher I can remember getting EXCITED about. During that era, when guys like Bonds, Sosa and McGwire were hitting 60-70 home runs a year, it was Pedro who routinely stole the show. There’s the 17 strikeout, one hit performance in Yankee Stadium. There’s the 1999 All Star game, where he struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in succession to start the game at Fenway. There’s game 5 of the ALDS in Cleveland, where he pitched 6 no hit innings in relief to get the Red Sox to the ALCS. He was so great, and he did with an extra sense of flair that made everything he did, whether it was on the mound, in the dugout cheering on his teammates or taking on the media. He’ll get his #45 retired by the Red Sox tomorrow night, and I’ll be there to witness. One last chance to see the great Pedro Martinez at Fenway.
– Ryan
