 Tonight we’re all Rays fans! Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net in May 2009 and used with permission. |
How much did Sunday suck?
Sox lost. Yanks won. Lakers came back to beat the Magic. The PawSox were winning 4-1 in the ninth and lost 5-4. JD Drew had a cortisone injection. Jacoby Ellsbury hurt his shoulder (for nothing, really, given how the game ended up) and might not be available Tuesday. I spent most of Sunday offline so if there was a mass beatdown on puppies and bunnies, I didn’t hear about it but it wouldn’t surprise me. All was wrong in the world on Sunday. The worst part? We get all of Monday to dwell on it. Huzzah. I think today is a good day to ignore most message boards, blogs or other areas where you will be faced with people who are convinced the Red Sox are on a downward spiral that can’t be stopped unless they blow up the team and start from scratch. God, I hate those people.
The Sox are half a game out of first place…what are we to do? Spare me. It was a lousy series (save for Jon Lester and the offense coming through on Saturday). We accept that and we move on.
You know what the pitching match-up is on Tuesday? A.J Burnett versus Josh Beckett. Which opens up the possibility of the pitchers actually throwing at each other. Intensity? You’ll get it on Tuesday. Fastballs? Ditto. I’ll be at the game on Tuesday night (weather permitting. Well, that isn’t accurate. Rain or shine I’ll be there – I just don’t know if there will be a game to see). I want it. I want Beckett pissed about the losses to Texas and wanting to exact revenge on the Yankees. By the end of Tuesday’s game, I want Mark Teixeira in tears. I want Derek Jeter speechless. I want Alex Rodriguez covered in bruises. Baseball-shaped bruises. I want carnage. Bloody, drawn-out, carnage. And I want the Red Sox to come out on top. I want Josh Beckett dropping f-bombs on NESN while he smirks about executing his pitches against the Yankees. Since Beckett has been in Boston he’s seen a rookie throw a no-hitter and a cancer survivor almost throw two (did you know Jon Lester had cancer? It’s amazing that they don’t bring this up every freaking time he pitches. Oh, wait, of course they do…). How do you think this sits with him? Sure, he’s a good teammate and he LOOKED happy for both Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. But he’s also a fierce competitor. Don’t you think the fire is burning? He was thisclose to his own no-hitter last week. How sweet would a no-hitter against the Yankees be? I’m not predicted a no-hitter by any means but I think Josh Beckett is most definitely going to show up for this game looking for blood. And I’m excited that I’m lucky enough to hold a ticket for a close-up view of it.
Because I’m oblivious sometimes, I didn’t realize my iPhone died today (it’s fine now). KellyO was at the game and texted me exasperated that they did up the whole entrance music for Papelbon when he came into the game. Only I didn’t get it when she sent it; I just got it about 10 minutes ago and it was what compelled me to write. I have to agree with Kelly’s questioning of it. We were losing the game. He was only coming in to get some pitches thrown since he didn’t pitch Saturday and won’t be pitching Monday. This was not cause for a celebration of his entrance into the game. Use your common sense, audio folks. I can see playing some of the song, it is his entrance music, but doing the whole rigmarole just seems ridiculous to me.
Sox get a day off before the New York series and the Yankees get one more game against the Rays. Andy Pettitte and Andy Sonnanstine stand between the Red Sox and either a tie for first place or a game behind the Yanks come Tuesday. The Yanks/Rays game is on ESPN in case you aren’t in the New York or Tampa Bay market. Could be a decent way to get your baseball fix tonight.
Folks who were hoping the rivalry would “mean something” again seem to be getting their wish this week.