5/16 A former Red Sox vs. a former Oriole Options

[exCentralSquare]

I guess it was a good day. No helicopter looking for a murder Two in the morning got the fat burger...Even saw the lights of the goodyear blimp...aside from the 2 in the morning bit, such is life here.

I have a feeling tomoree will bring a Sox win and a potential for at least a 7 hour lull in the helicopters that circle over my house incessantly.


Keep it rollin'.
Red Sox Orioles 7:05 p.m. Schilling (5-2) Chen (0-4)


Another Balmer fun fact (aside from the fact that I enjoy calling it Balmer):
What is Baltimore's World Trade Center's claim to fame?
- It is the world's tallest five-sided building.
There you have it.

A sample of the local dialect:
Merlin: Pitcher bane seat owen. Weer goon danny ayshun.
Standard: Put your bathing suit on. We're going down to the ocean.

This post has been edited by exCentralSquare: May 16 2006, 01:16 AM

[AusTexSoxFan]

Lakers beat the Supersonics.... Hells yeah it was a good day.

Win tonight.

[941827]

A sample of the local dialect:
Merlin: Pitcher bane seat owen. Weer goon danny ayshun.
Standard: Put your bathing suit on. We're going down to the ocean.

There is a new late-night ESPNews co-anchor (he was opposite Michelle "sproioioioing" Bonner last night) who I'm pretty sure has a Maryland accent. You have to listen for a bit to catch it, but it's there. Young guy, dark hair.

Oh, and WIN.

This post has been edited by 941827: May 16 2006, 11:22 AM

[Charley Weir]

Here we go! Mike goes for two - tough prediction, eh?

Tek bats right-handed- could be a bomb! (That, and we get to see how far Wily Mo can hit a ball)

[jose melendez]

5/16/06 – Trying to Shorten Jose’s Swing

It’s time for Jose Melendez’s KEYS TO THE GAME.

1. According to Granny Melendez, the KEYS have gotten long. Too long. So long that she often can’t make it all the way through them anymore. This lead is a good example. Jose could have just said “Granny Melendez thinks the KEYS are too long” and left it at that, but he had to say in three times in slightly different ways, different rhythms, different gradations of the same theme. (Note: He’s doing it again.) Jose’s KEYS, apparently, have begun to resemble Mike Lowell’s swing in 2005—too long. Thus for today, Jose will do his best to imitate Mike Lowell of 2006 and shorten his swing. However, lest anyone confuse Jose and the Gold Glove third baseman, remember, Jose is the one with two testicles.

2. Jose’s has been reading David Halberstam’s excellent book on Bill Belichick The Education of a Coach which reviews the Patriots coach’s long education in the craft of coaching from learning at his father’s knee, to playing at Andover, to Wesleyan and finally to working his way through the NFL’s treacherous maze of hirings and firings. Halberstram portrays Belichick as a thinking coach, a learning coach, a studious coach.

KEYS has learned that having had such success with the Belichick book, Halberstam is poised to release a new book that applies the same concept and structure to the game of baseball. The Education of a Manager traces the intellectual and professional development paths that brought Dodgers and former Red Sox manager Grady Little to managerial immortality.

Jose is proud to offer the following excerpt:

While Little’s parents had been concerned about his ability to perform on the test, Little himself suffered from none of their anxiety. Even as he chatted with friends on the dusty walk to school that morning, he chatted away cheerily, however slowly, in his comfortable North Carolina drawl. While his friends had studied frantically the night before, Little had simply gulped down a glass of buttermilk and called it a day, preferring a warm bad and the gentle hum of the old AM radio to the heavy textbooks that he had not even brought home from school.

Little breezed through the first questions, relying on his gut to choose A, B, C or D and not thinking, but knowing that he had chosen correctly. In fact, he flew through the first seven questions and then stood squarely before question eight. Phew… it was an easy one, one that he had seen dozens of times before, one that any idiot could answer correctly. Two plus two. Each and every time he had seen the question before the answer had been four. He lifted his chewed yellow pencil to shade in the circle for answer C, the number four. And then he paused. The answer did not feel right. The gut instinct, the hunches that had doubtless steered him right through the first seven questions suddenly contradicted the plain facts before him. He moved his pencil mere millimeters to the right, and first slowly, the confidently shaded in answer D, five. He knew that two plus two had never equaled five before, but his gut told him he had never seen the question on a test before, and that a test was different, more important, and that somehow the tension, the gravity of the situation would change the facts as the whole world knew them.

But higher stakes do not change reality, they do not warp the shape of the universe such that horses fly, or birds sell real estate, and nor did they make two plus two add up to five. And that was the last day of school Grady Little ever went to. The ridicule of his classmates, of his teachers was too much. And when Little said that in the same situation, he would make the same choice again, the school district proposed to send him to a special school. But Little, would have none if it. He maintained that he could be perfectly happy sitting on the stoop chewing on hay. Besides, who needs more than a third grade education anyway? And who’s ever gonna use this stuff in real life?

3. Bruce Chen is not a very good pitcher. He’s just not. Every one thought the Chinese-Panamanian lefty might be something special when he came up through the Braves system, but it didn’t work out that way. And so he starts tonight’s game against and increasingly effective Red Sox lineup with nothing to rely on, no fastball to speak of really, except his wits. If Chen wants even a shot at success, Jose suggests that he rent the 1982 Johnny Yune film “They Call Me Bruce” this afternoon. The film, about a bumbling Korean could teach the Orioles pitcher a thing or two. The “Bruce” of the film (note: his name was not Bruce) when confronted by danger, takes advantage of the fact that as an Asian he is often mistaken for Bruce Lee, to intimidate his adversaries, though he has no marital arts skills at all. His signature line was something like “With my left hand, I could crush your skull. With my right hand I could tear out your tongue. Look at my face. It’s oriental.” Inevitably the bad guys would go running, terrified of having Bruce Lee karate chop them to death.

Bruce Chen needs to use these sorts of psychological tactics if he is going to have any further success in the major leagues. Of course, the “oriental” line won’t work, because what would be his best case scenario with it? To convince people he’s Chan Ho Park?

No, his intimidation line should be something like “With my fastball, I can blow right by you. With my cutter, I can break your bat. Look at my passport, it’s Panamanian.” Of course, convincing the Red Sox he’s Mariano Rivera wouldn’t intimidate them, but maybe it would work on some other team. (Note: 1030 Words. Nuts. Sorry Granny Melendez, if you’re still reading after all of those words. Jose just can’t shorten up his swing.)

I’m Jose Melendez, and those are my KEYS TO THE GAME.

[Drocca]

Manny's gonna mess around and get a triple double.

[Clemente38]

Come on Curt - don't let these birds even think they might have a chance against you. Get win #6 and keep the O's losing streak against alive and well.

Pitching, defense and timely hitting.

Go get'em G38.

[Angel Santos in ...]

Going to the game tonight, and maybe tomorrow. In DC now, and it's absolutely gorgeous out, although they have have been calling for thunderstorms and chances of showers for throughout the week.



Hey, Chen ... you give Bruce a bad name.

[TheoShmeo]

Just as Josh Beckett put a few crappy outings behind him last Tuesday night at the Toilet, so too will our very own G38 leave his not so pleasant recent past in the rear-view mirror tonight.

This reminds me a little about how I felt with Pedro going against Suppan in Game 3 of the 2004 WS. Yeah, I had some minor doubts about Pedro, inasmuch as he hadn't actually won any of the ALCS games and got lit up for a few batters in game 7 (thereby sending all Sox fans into panic), but HELLO, Pedro was Pedro and there was just no way that Jeff Suppan, the same Jeff Suppan who wasn't good enough to make the Sox 2003 playoff roster, was going to beat that guy. Yeah, Schilling has been a little sketchy since the 133-pitch night, but can a guy who was in the Rudy Seanez category in 2003 for the Sox beat blood and guts Curt Schilling? I don't think so.

Ramdom thought: Inasmuch as Beckett and Schilling are both power pitchers and Beckett throws harder, wouldn't it be better if Beckett followed Schilling in the rotation than vice-versa? Not sure this means anything....

WIN please

This post has been edited by TheoShmeo: May 16 2006, 02:53 PM

[MoVaughnsTruck]

[NU five oh]

*I am unoriginal and unfunny. Please put me out of my misery* - BOS @ BAL - John Travolta Day 2

[SoxFanSince57]

From the Globe

Schilling's ERA is 3.76...[he] has defeated the Orioles twice already this season and is 4-4 lifetime against them with a 3.66 ERA in nine starts.

Heading to the hill tonight for Baltimore will be Panamanian left-hander Bruce Chen, who is 0-4 on the year and will be making his first start since May 4. Chen, who has appeared once out of the bullpen in that time, was saddled with the loss in his last start against Texas, as he surrendered eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in just four innings.

Chen, who has pitched to an 8.42 ERA this season, is 3-3 in his career against the Red Sox with a 4.29 ERA in nine games, five of which have been starts.

boston.com

[SoxScout]

Upset that he was not asked and that anything at all about a supposed blister problem appeared in print today, Beckett vented a couple of times this afternoon at the Boston media. At one point he threatened not to speak with us the rest of the season but after a workout in the weight room he appeared to have calmed down and he aired his thoughts some more.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/redSox/

[TheoShmeo]

Sox line-up:

1. Youks
2. Loretta
3. Tiz
4. Manny
5. Tek
6. Lowell
7. Trot
8. Pena
9. AGon

Very happy it's Trot and not Mohr against a lefty (who the Sox should drive from the game early).

Balt's is same as last night, I think. No Brian Roberts (still presumably on DL) and no Millar.

[SoxScout]

Mohr is in Denver with his wife who gave birth yesterday.

[ragecage]

Chris Snow is reporting on the pre-game that he pulled Beckett aside today and Beckett showed him his finger, and assured him there is no blister problem. He pointed out the callus that he always has, and showed that there was no blister forming. Seems to be good news.

[RedOctober3829]

When is Tito going to put Lowell ahead of 'Tek? Lowell should be 5th vs LHP and 6th vs. RHP.

This post has been edited by RedOctober3829: May 16 2006, 05:25 PM

[SoxFanSince57]

Dustan Mohr's wife gave birth to a girl in Colorado. Mohr, who missed last night's game, is expected to be available today.

The Globe

[Drocca]

So you're telling me WMP is starting.

And we got Dave Coulier on the mound.

Should be a sweet night.

[WayneHousieHOF]

Speaking of the Globe, sending Cafardo to cover Barry chasing Ruth is completely ridiculous. I mean, what can Cafardo offer globe readers that the AP or any other national news service can't regarding Barry passing Ruth? The only reason I can think of as to why the Globe sent him was because it could afford to in more ways than one. When/If Barry passes Ruth, the last thing I'm going to do is burst with fruit flavor to read what Cafardo has to say about it. It's comical and ludicrous.