2008 MLB PLAYOFF EDITION

Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted on this thing. I barely remember all the stuff that’s happened since I took a break.

It’s all about the second half now, where the Sox will pick it back up against the Angels leading the AL East by .5 a game. It’s not much, but with the way the Rays were playing into the break, I would have rather skipped the All-Star Game and gone right to the second half to watch them crumble.

We have some really interesting things to watch on the sidelines for the second half of the season, including:

Papi

When will he return? Is he okay and ready to go? What will it be like for him to get back into his rythm? If he goes to both Portland and Pawtucket, and the Sox are losing groud, will they forgo any of the rehab assignments and just call his butt back up to the Bigs asap?

J.D. Drew

Wow, this kid spends 11 years being “promising”, then has a career year (so far). Not only that, but he picks up some MVP hardware at the All-Star Game to boot (sorry, Dan Uggla, I know that word isn’t too good for you right now… *cough error cough*). Unfortunately, when Papi does return, Drew will slide out of that powerful 3 spot in the order… then it’s anyone’s guess as to his “back problems” or his “hammy issues”.

Varitek

Is it time to get ‘Tek to pull 75% duty? Will he last the rest of the year, regardless of how horrible a hitter Cash is? The guy is in tremendous shape, and I’d love for him to be productive for the next six years, but I don’t see it. He’s losing his offense at a dizzying pace and his arm is showing fatigue.

Trade Deadline

What the hell will Theo do? Aside from bringing up Masterson to be a long-relief guy, what can they do to shore up the team? Is Lugo going to have 12 errors in the second half? Will they put up with his incredible missing offense? Is it time for Lowrie to hit the bench and be ready to play for a few days in a row?

I’m happy we still have half a season. I’ve been to busy to truly enjoy the first half.

Hey everyone! I’ll be back and forth for the next two weeks without a ton of posts. I’m working on the build for a new industry-specific site (UX Professionals) and I need all the spare time I can grab.

Until then… Enjoy the game!

• Schilling will not pitch again. He’ll try, and even sign a deal with someone this off-season for incentives, but he’ll fall short and retire.
• Manny needs to get his groove back. He’s not hitting long balls this year like he used to.
• David Ortiz is irreplaceable in the lineup; J. D. Drew is rocking it, but they need both.
• The Rays are still there… 1.5 games back… and, oh, the Yankees are doing their thing too (5 games behind).
• This series against the Cardinals has a huge impact on the season.
• All the changes in MLB coaching lately is totally fine with the exception of firing someone at 3 o’clock in the morning…

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, winners of the 2008 NBA Finals!

When I was a teen I was lucky to watch the great teams of the 80s.
Since then? The teams have had a couple of okay years, but mostly really bad franchise records and I just simply lost all interest. Like many fans, I fell off the team bandwagon and thought they’d never climb out of the cellar.

Like a Yankees GM, Danny Boy pulled some money out of the ownership group and “went for it”, bringing in some otherwise selfish-ish talent to try and bring the Celtics back to NBA dominance. Boy, did that work or what?!

I don’t have a clue if I’ll follow anything other than a few game highlights on ESPN next year, but I’m happy for the team and for all the fans who went through 22 years of dismal returns.

Fill the Garden.

It’s happening already: the talk about the Sox taking on the Cubs in the World Series.

Right now? I’m not sure anyone wants to face the Cubs. They seem to be on a holy war effort to claim a post season spot, and even with Soriano taking a six week break, the Cubbies are on pace to keep the best record in baseball by the All-Star break.

Papelbon bailed out…

It took back-t0-back home runs by Youk and Crisp (you may want to cut and paste or bookmark this page since I believe it’ll be the last time that happens in Boston) to save Paps from a loss. He blew the save (his first blown save since May 9), and it looked like Hanson was going to cough it up again in the 10th, but the Sox stuck it to them and Youk can have his ALMOST cycle day in Cinci’ (he was just missing a triple).