Monday, April 27, 2009
The Show Must Go On
It's tough to be sitting in late April and believing in the core of your gut that the Red Sox remain clearly better than the Yankees. In addition to that, there is little hope that if this listless, aging ballclub does happen to find its way into October, its visit to post-season will be anything but short-lived. Those are my thoughts now, but there are games to be played now and the season must roll on.
The three plays of the weekend series at Fenway, their impact clear and convincing like a lightning strike on an otherwise perfect summer night: the Bay home run on Friday night in the 9th; the Varitek grand slam off Burnett on Saturday; and the steal of home last night. And though none of these three plays technically won any of the games for the Red Sox, at the very least they crystallized key factors that have contributed, or are contributing to, the aforementioned gap between these two franchises. The Bay home run: Boston's continued relative success against Mariano. The Varitek grand slam: symbolic both of the Yankees' inability to keep the Red Sox down (They hadn't blown 6-run lead or greater since Boston since '68), and the elusive chase of finding a consistently effective FA starting pitcher in recent years. The steal of home: Boston's mental edge over New York.
Time to take my mind off that debilitating series and move on.
Last week I made such a big deal about Florida's fast start, and they turn around and lose six in a row to the Pennsylvania teams. Getting swept by the pitching-hot Pirates, while ugly, was somewhat understandable: the Marlins were due for some letdown. But they were dismantled by the defending champs this weekend at home, outscored 26-9 over three games and done in by their unreliable bullpen. Where Florida goes from here is anyone's guess, but they still maintain a 1.5 game lead in the division, so once they get their equilibrium back they should be fine.
They head into New York for a three-game series starting tonight. They've had success against the Mets in the recent past, and the pressure is certainly on the Metropolitans to follow-up their ho-hum 2-1 weekend series victory over the Nats with some substantial victories in the division. Another series loss to Florida, and I think the Mets will be close to marking themselves as "also-rans."
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If the Celtics-Bulls game yesterday in Chicago had ended with a buzzer beater, it would've taken its place among the top handful of NBA playoff games I've ever seen. It didn't, but the double-OT contest was basketball at its finest, and sets the stage for a must-watch Game 5 in Boston on Tuesday night.
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As Rob Neyer put it, "You stay classy, Randy Levine." What a joke.
----
I read the first sentence and I'm thinking how bad a bad Brian Wilson concert would have to be at this point in his career, especially if it was obvious that he'd been "partying" the night before. And then I realized it was a different Brian Wilson. My musically-inclined mind got the best of me.
----
Alright Torse, what do you think?
----
Album of the moment. My initial reaction was one of indifference, and I barely listened to it that entire summer after it was released. Then it was like a pot on the stove in which you raise the temperature one notch every three or four months. It's reached a full boil now, and it takes its place alongside any other Wilco album you deem as transcendent. It took a long time for its textures and nuances to reveal themselves to me fully, but I'm now finding it inexhaustible. And kudos to Jeff Tweedy for making opening lines like "The band marched on in formation" feel like they're holding the secrets of the universe, just because of the way they're being sung.
----
At a certain point, I'm going to have to take a closer look at what exactly is up with the Toronto Blue Jays (14-6, +1 A.L. East). They've been equally good at home (7-3) and on the road (7-3), and currently lead the majors in the runs scored. They were written off heading into this season after supposedly going for broke last year and again being left out of the post-season fray. They're currently tied for sixth in runs allowed in the A.L., and have already been dealt their share of injuries. I think they have better staying power than early surprises like the Pirates or Padres, but I have to believe all the division games to come are going to start catching up with them. To their credit however, they've already played well in a couple of trick spots on the road: 3-1 at Minny, and 2-1 at Chicago. They have four on the road this week against Kansas City, and then return home for two vs. Baltimore and two vs. Cleveland. That +8 over .500 could get into double digits within the week.
It's tough to be sitting in late April and believing in the core of your gut that the Red Sox remain clearly better than the Yankees. In addition to that, there is little hope that if this listless, aging ballclub does happen to find its way into October, its visit to post-season will be anything but short-lived. Those are my thoughts now, but there are games to be played now and the season must roll on.
The three plays of the weekend series at Fenway, their impact clear and convincing like a lightning strike on an otherwise perfect summer night: the Bay home run on Friday night in the 9th; the Varitek grand slam off Burnett on Saturday; and the steal of home last night. And though none of these three plays technically won any of the games for the Red Sox, at the very least they crystallized key factors that have contributed, or are contributing to, the aforementioned gap between these two franchises. The Bay home run: Boston's continued relative success against Mariano. The Varitek grand slam: symbolic both of the Yankees' inability to keep the Red Sox down (They hadn't blown 6-run lead or greater since Boston since '68), and the elusive chase of finding a consistently effective FA starting pitcher in recent years. The steal of home: Boston's mental edge over New York.
Time to take my mind off that debilitating series and move on.
Last week I made such a big deal about Florida's fast start, and they turn around and lose six in a row to the Pennsylvania teams. Getting swept by the pitching-hot Pirates, while ugly, was somewhat understandable: the Marlins were due for some letdown. But they were dismantled by the defending champs this weekend at home, outscored 26-9 over three games and done in by their unreliable bullpen. Where Florida goes from here is anyone's guess, but they still maintain a 1.5 game lead in the division, so once they get their equilibrium back they should be fine.
They head into New York for a three-game series starting tonight. They've had success against the Mets in the recent past, and the pressure is certainly on the Metropolitans to follow-up their ho-hum 2-1 weekend series victory over the Nats with some substantial victories in the division. Another series loss to Florida, and I think the Mets will be close to marking themselves as "also-rans."
----
If the Celtics-Bulls game yesterday in Chicago had ended with a buzzer beater, it would've taken its place among the top handful of NBA playoff games I've ever seen. It didn't, but the double-OT contest was basketball at its finest, and sets the stage for a must-watch Game 5 in Boston on Tuesday night.
----
As Rob Neyer put it, "You stay classy, Randy Levine." What a joke.
----
I read the first sentence and I'm thinking how bad a bad Brian Wilson concert would have to be at this point in his career, especially if it was obvious that he'd been "partying" the night before. And then I realized it was a different Brian Wilson. My musically-inclined mind got the best of me.
----
Alright Torse, what do you think?
----
Album of the moment. My initial reaction was one of indifference, and I barely listened to it that entire summer after it was released. Then it was like a pot on the stove in which you raise the temperature one notch every three or four months. It's reached a full boil now, and it takes its place alongside any other Wilco album you deem as transcendent. It took a long time for its textures and nuances to reveal themselves to me fully, but I'm now finding it inexhaustible. And kudos to Jeff Tweedy for making opening lines like "The band marched on in formation" feel like they're holding the secrets of the universe, just because of the way they're being sung.
----
At a certain point, I'm going to have to take a closer look at what exactly is up with the Toronto Blue Jays (14-6, +1 A.L. East). They've been equally good at home (7-3) and on the road (7-3), and currently lead the majors in the runs scored. They were written off heading into this season after supposedly going for broke last year and again being left out of the post-season fray. They're currently tied for sixth in runs allowed in the A.L., and have already been dealt their share of injuries. I think they have better staying power than early surprises like the Pirates or Padres, but I have to believe all the division games to come are going to start catching up with them. To their credit however, they've already played well in a couple of trick spots on the road: 3-1 at Minny, and 2-1 at Chicago. They have four on the road this week against Kansas City, and then return home for two vs. Baltimore and two vs. Cleveland. That +8 over .500 could get into double digits within the week.
