Wednesday, May 07, 2008
World Totally NOT Shocked By Joba Blowing Game
I had seen that the Yanks were up 3-2 in the seventh. Wasn't really paying attention to them tonight as we watched the second half of the Celts after the Red Sox ended. Later I checked the final: 5-3 Indians. I thought, Ooh, this could be a Joba bed-shitting deal. I clicked for the story, and sure enough, I was delighted to see Terrible Joba's name right there in the headline. He'd given up a two-out, three-run dong to David Dellucci in the eighth.
Of course, the first line of the article said that the Yanks were "shocked." Why? Because a guy who's pitched 37 innings in his career didn't get everybody out? Oh, but he's hyped and we hear his name a lot, okay, I see. I'll give him this: He really is Cy Young...when you compare him to Hughes and Kennedy!
But the fact that I'm not shocked with his not succeeding doesn't make me any less ecstatic about it.
First place Red Sox win 5-0 in Detroit. Amazing job by Wake, going eight shutout innings. Papi and Manny went back-to-back, dong-wise. Manny's 497th came on Freddy Dolsi's first major league pitch. Ow.
Terrible job by a Celtics fan tonight. Guy was holding a big sign of Garnett's face. At the bottom you could see little triangles on his collar--a telltale sign of his old Timberwolves jersey.
Check out Michael Leggett's writing for Fenway Nation. I've grown quite fond of his unique writing style that we all have come to know through his comments and his own blog.
Oh, and my hometown is in the news, as a kid who lives there finally took off the Favre jersey he'd been wearing for five years. Thanks to Chan for the heads-up.
Of course, the first line of the article said that the Yanks were "shocked." Why? Because a guy who's pitched 37 innings in his career didn't get everybody out? Oh, but he's hyped and we hear his name a lot, okay, I see. I'll give him this: He really is Cy Young...when you compare him to Hughes and Kennedy!
But the fact that I'm not shocked with his not succeeding doesn't make me any less ecstatic about it.
First place Red Sox win 5-0 in Detroit. Amazing job by Wake, going eight shutout innings. Papi and Manny went back-to-back, dong-wise. Manny's 497th came on Freddy Dolsi's first major league pitch. Ow.
Terrible job by a Celtics fan tonight. Guy was holding a big sign of Garnett's face. At the bottom you could see little triangles on his collar--a telltale sign of his old Timberwolves jersey.
Check out Michael Leggett's writing for Fenway Nation. I've grown quite fond of his unique writing style that we all have come to know through his comments and his own blog.
Oh, and my hometown is in the news, as a kid who lives there finally took off the Favre jersey he'd been wearing for five years. Thanks to Chan for the heads-up.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
The First '04 Boston-New York AL Championship Battle
Do you know about the 1904 Red Sox? We all know that they won the American League, but weren't given a shot to play the New York Giants in the World Series. The Giants' owner, John T. Brush (from the staircase!), didn't want to risk losing to the champs of the "inferior" league, especially if that champ was his crosstown rival, the New York Highlanders, who were later renamed the Yankees.
But have you ever heard the story of how the Red Sox (who weren't called the Red Sox yet) ended up beating New York for that year's AL title? For some reason, it's hardly ever talked about. But it fits right in alongside all the other famous Red Sox accomplishments and Yankee failures over the years, haha.
The Yankees started as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, and moved to Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, for the 1903 season. That year the Boston team ran away with the American League, with New York finishing in fourth place, 17 games behind. Boston topped the Pirates, five games to three (winning the last four), to become baseball's first "world champions."
The defending champs started the 1904 season with a three-game series at New York. Opening Day saw a snowstorm, but 15,000 still turned out, and Boston lost, 8 to 2, with Cy Young getting touched for five runs in the first inning of the season. (Young finished the year 26-16 with a 1.97 ERA, with a league-leading 10 of his 40 complete games being shutouts.) Boston would win the next two, and go on to win 26 of their first 36 games.
By the 4th of July, though, the Highlanders were within a game and half of the first-place future-Sox. But Boston won three in a row in New York a few days later, with Cy Young outdueling Jack Chesbro--their third match-up of the season--in the third game. Boston scored in the ninth to win, 2-1. New York salvaged game four, but Boston left with a three-and-a-half game lead.
The two teams were a half-game apart going into a series in Boston in mid-September. Three doubleheaders would be played. The New York Times' story of day one of the series starts
In classic Yankee style, their boast would be immediately foiled. The Sox had lost and tied in the first doubleheader in a downpour, but won and tied on day two, to get the lead right back again. "Until the end" would mean "one day." On day three, New York took game one, but Cy "Farmer" Young beat them on a day where Boston saw its biggest baseball crowd ever to that point, nearly 23,000 people.
On September 26th, Boston swept a doubleheader at Detroit, while New York was swept in Cleveland, giving Boston a two-game lead for the pennant. But Boston would lose its next four in a row, and the two teams were again tied at the top as the calendar moved to October.
The two clubss would play a five-game series to wrap up the season starting on October 7th. Boston won each of its October games up to that point, while New York won all but one of theirs, meaning the Highlanders would be a half-game behind going into the final five versus Boston. This was it. Essentially a best-of-five series for the American League--which, in 1904, was as far as you could go. This would be the closest thing we'd ever have to a Red Sox-Yankees World Series.
Game one was in New York. The later-Yanks won, 3-2, with fans rushing the field and carrying "Happy Jack" Chesbro off the field. The "Greater New Yorks" had just gotten off the train from St. Louis and had to play the home game in their road uniforms. New York was back in first by a half-game with four to play.
The next day, Saturday, games two and three would be played in Boston. We kicked Happy Jack's ass in game one, and took a shortened game two behind Cy Young when darkness fell. About the day, the Times wrote:
Boston victories of 13-2 and 1-0, and now, with two games left, the New Yorks needed to sweep a doubleheader back in Manhattan on Monday to take the pennant. One Boston win, and the champs would successfully defend their title.
The Times, October 11th, 1904:
The Boston fans were outnumbered, considering 28,000 people were there, but the rooting must have worked. After New York had scored two in the fifth, Boston tied it at two in seventh when New York second baseman Jimmy Williams, after missing a grounder earlier in the inning, threw wildly to home allowing two runs to score.
Boston had the go-ahead run thrown out at the plate in the eighth, and the two teams, with the pennant on the line, went to the ninth, tied 2-2.
Lou Criger started the ninth for Boston with a base hit. Pitcher Bill Dinneen (who completed all 37 games he pitched in 1904) bunted Criger to second. Kip Selbach moved him to third with the second out. Jack Chesbro (he started 51 games that year, completing 48) then threw a wild pitch, scoring Criger. 3-2 Boston going to the bottom of the ninth.
New York got two walks in the ninth, but stranded the pennant-tying and -winning runs when Dinneen struck out Patsy Dougherty. The Bostons were champs again. (The Yanks won the second game of the doubleheader in 10 innings to officially end the season 1.5 games back.)
That sounded like a great pennant race. Too bad it's rarely ever mentioned. And look at the interest in these teams--the Red Sox were only in their fourth year in existence. So were the Yanks, and they were only in their second year in New York. But people were nuts about their teams. Kind of like now. I wish they'd let us carry players off the field, though.
And, of course, the writing in those articles is so amazing. I recommend going to the NYT site and just searching through that stuff. The really old ones are free. Check out the April 15th, 1906 article--another Cy Young/Jack Chesbro battle. It's like reading Greek mythology. You'll also notice the Yankees are called the Yankees in that article. That's 1906. In the next few years, the Times was regularly calling them that, but the "official" records say 1913 was when they went from Highlanders to Yankees.
I also found a great obit for Bill Dinneen in the 1/26/55 issue of The Sporting News, which can be found at Paper of Record.
But have you ever heard the story of how the Red Sox (who weren't called the Red Sox yet) ended up beating New York for that year's AL title? For some reason, it's hardly ever talked about. But it fits right in alongside all the other famous Red Sox accomplishments and Yankee failures over the years, haha.
The Yankees started as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, and moved to Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, for the 1903 season. That year the Boston team ran away with the American League, with New York finishing in fourth place, 17 games behind. Boston topped the Pirates, five games to three (winning the last four), to become baseball's first "world champions."
The defending champs started the 1904 season with a three-game series at New York. Opening Day saw a snowstorm, but 15,000 still turned out, and Boston lost, 8 to 2, with Cy Young getting touched for five runs in the first inning of the season. (Young finished the year 26-16 with a 1.97 ERA, with a league-leading 10 of his 40 complete games being shutouts.) Boston would win the next two, and go on to win 26 of their first 36 games.
By the 4th of July, though, the Highlanders were within a game and half of the first-place future-Sox. But Boston won three in a row in New York a few days later, with Cy Young outdueling Jack Chesbro--their third match-up of the season--in the third game. Boston scored in the ninth to win, 2-1. New York salvaged game four, but Boston left with a three-and-a-half game lead.
The two teams were a half-game apart going into a series in Boston in mid-September. Three doubleheaders would be played. The New York Times' story of day one of the series starts
Manager Clark Griffith and his Greater New York team lead for the American League championship, and Griffith says he will hold the lead until the end.
In classic Yankee style, their boast would be immediately foiled. The Sox had lost and tied in the first doubleheader in a downpour, but won and tied on day two, to get the lead right back again. "Until the end" would mean "one day." On day three, New York took game one, but Cy "Farmer" Young beat them on a day where Boston saw its biggest baseball crowd ever to that point, nearly 23,000 people.
On September 26th, Boston swept a doubleheader at Detroit, while New York was swept in Cleveland, giving Boston a two-game lead for the pennant. But Boston would lose its next four in a row, and the two teams were again tied at the top as the calendar moved to October.
The two clubss would play a five-game series to wrap up the season starting on October 7th. Boston won each of its October games up to that point, while New York won all but one of theirs, meaning the Highlanders would be a half-game behind going into the final five versus Boston. This was it. Essentially a best-of-five series for the American League--which, in 1904, was as far as you could go. This would be the closest thing we'd ever have to a Red Sox-Yankees World Series.
Game one was in New York. The later-Yanks won, 3-2, with fans rushing the field and carrying "Happy Jack" Chesbro off the field. The "Greater New Yorks" had just gotten off the train from St. Louis and had to play the home game in their road uniforms. New York was back in first by a half-game with four to play.
The next day, Saturday, games two and three would be played in Boston. We kicked Happy Jack's ass in game one, and took a shortened game two behind Cy Young when darkness fell. About the day, the Times wrote:
Baseball "rooters" are beside themselves with delight to-night because of Boston's double victory over New York, which may mean retention of the American League pennant another year. Nearly 30,000 people tried to get into the ball grounds, and 10,000 more gathered about the newspaper bulletins down town, watching for the returns. Every reserved seat was sold a week ago, and the bleachers were filled an hour and a half before play began. Temporary seats had been placed in front of the grand stand, accommodating several hundred. The outfield was black with crowded humanity. Every inch of standing room was taken, hundreds lining the fences. So dense was the crowd on the field that it was agreed before the game that a hit into the spectators should be counted a two-baser.
Boston victories of 13-2 and 1-0, and now, with two games left, the New Yorks needed to sweep a doubleheader back in Manhattan on Monday to take the pennant. One Boston win, and the champs would successfully defend their title.
The Times, October 11th, 1904:
Probably no such interest ever was taken in a baseball event in this city as was manifested in the double-header of yesterday. Some 200 Boston "rooters," accompanied by Dockstader's Band of this city, had the extreme left end of the grand stand to themselves, and with the aid of the band, megaphones, and tin horns kept a constant din throughout the nine innings.
The Boston fans were outnumbered, considering 28,000 people were there, but the rooting must have worked. After New York had scored two in the fifth, Boston tied it at two in seventh when New York second baseman Jimmy Williams, after missing a grounder earlier in the inning, threw wildly to home allowing two runs to score.
Boston had the go-ahead run thrown out at the plate in the eighth, and the two teams, with the pennant on the line, went to the ninth, tied 2-2.
Lou Criger started the ninth for Boston with a base hit. Pitcher Bill Dinneen (who completed all 37 games he pitched in 1904) bunted Criger to second. Kip Selbach moved him to third with the second out. Jack Chesbro (he started 51 games that year, completing 48) then threw a wild pitch, scoring Criger. 3-2 Boston going to the bottom of the ninth.
New York got two walks in the ninth, but stranded the pennant-tying and -winning runs when Dinneen struck out Patsy Dougherty. The Bostons were champs again. (The Yanks won the second game of the doubleheader in 10 innings to officially end the season 1.5 games back.)
That sounded like a great pennant race. Too bad it's rarely ever mentioned. And look at the interest in these teams--the Red Sox were only in their fourth year in existence. So were the Yanks, and they were only in their second year in New York. But people were nuts about their teams. Kind of like now. I wish they'd let us carry players off the field, though.
And, of course, the writing in those articles is so amazing. I recommend going to the NYT site and just searching through that stuff. The really old ones are free. Check out the April 15th, 1906 article--another Cy Young/Jack Chesbro battle. It's like reading Greek mythology. You'll also notice the Yankees are called the Yankees in that article. That's 1906. In the next few years, the Times was regularly calling them that, but the "official" records say 1913 was when they went from Highlanders to Yankees.
I also found a great obit for Bill Dinneen in the 1/26/55 issue of The Sporting News, which can be found at Paper of Record.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Three Dong Night
Red Sox win 6-3 with homers by Lowell, Youk, and Papi. Always good to beat that bully Bonderman. I say "bully" because he reminds me of the kid in first grade who pushes you and has snot running down his face and looks like Kid Rock only the mustache is made of chocolate milk. Scary.
Dice-K walked every batter nine times but gave up negative one runs. They finally replaced Tina. And it was lefty night in Detroit, as Bill Lee, Allan Wood, and Laura Kaminker were in the crowd.
Eck on Rocket: "I don't believe anything he says." Nice.
Dice-K walked every batter nine times but gave up negative one runs. They finally replaced Tina. And it was lefty night in Detroit, as Bill Lee, Allan Wood, and Laura Kaminker were in the crowd.
Eck on Rocket: "I don't believe anything he says." Nice.
Giving Soccer Fans A Run For Their Money
She "doesn't brake for Red Sox fans."
In less "murderous Yankee fan"-y news, if Manny gets three dongs this week, he'll be one away from 500 going into the weekend. Friday we've got I'm a Sox Girl, Saturday, it's Novy, and Sunday, Nick. Come on, Manny, let's crown a champion.
In less "murderous Yankee fan"-y news, if Manny gets three dongs this week, he'll be one away from 500 going into the weekend. Friday we've got I'm a Sox Girl, Saturday, it's Novy, and Sunday, Nick. Come on, Manny, let's crown a champion.
Kwiz Hyzdu
In 1997, Pedro Martinez became the first player in Major League Baseball history to do what? (As per ususal, it's gotta be "what I'm thinking of...")
I Forgive You, Paul
I'm a regular UniWatch reader. You know I love that site. But sometimes somebody says something and you just cringe. Today, after a full year of the Red Sox bullpen doing the pirate thing, Paul asks, "does anyone know why the Red Sox have a Jolly Roger hanging in their bullpen?" Ouch. To me that's like asking "does anyone know what the B on the Red Sox hat stands for?" But then I realize, Hey, I guess if you're not a Sox fan and you don't obsess over this stuff on a daily basis year round, you're gonna miss some stuff...
Staat Head
Open Studios was fun. It's just great to meet other artists, and watch people react to the work you created. (I can't see your faces when you look at my pics online...) If you met me this weekend and are now checking out this site and saying, What the hell is this?, well, if you want to see more pics, check out the Photo Galleries section down on the right side. And if you want to buy one of the framed shots you saw, send me an email. Thanks. And thanks to everyone who came out.
I heard DeWayne Staats, announcer of the Devil Rays, in an interview with Joe and Dave before Friday night's game. He was going on and on about how the win over the Red Sox the previous Friday was one of the best in team history. And that their three-game sweep of us was the most important series they've ever played. I'm sure Rays fans are excited, but come on, those games happened in April. You're making an absolute fool of your self, D-Staat. O'Brien made a point to bring up what Staats had said today as the Sox were on the verge of sweeping the Rays. The funny thing is, Staats used to be a Yankee announcer in the MSG Network days, and he was one of my least-hated Yankee announcers.
Red Sox lead the division by three games. Second-biggest lead in baseball. Tied for third best record in baseball. Again, with the Japan trip, this is all excellent news.
We're about a month into the season, so let's take a look at the two completely inexperienced and unproven starters they started the year with: 1. 9.00 ERA, currently on the DL. 2. 8.37 ERA, currently in triple-A. I hate, no, love to say I told the Yanks so.
And yes, as an ad-saturation hating vegetarian, I'm doubly offended by the Houston ballpark's obnoxious Chik-Fil-A sign that runs all the way down the foul pole.
I heard DeWayne Staats, announcer of the Devil Rays, in an interview with Joe and Dave before Friday night's game. He was going on and on about how the win over the Red Sox the previous Friday was one of the best in team history. And that their three-game sweep of us was the most important series they've ever played. I'm sure Rays fans are excited, but come on, those games happened in April. You're making an absolute fool of your self, D-Staat. O'Brien made a point to bring up what Staats had said today as the Sox were on the verge of sweeping the Rays. The funny thing is, Staats used to be a Yankee announcer in the MSG Network days, and he was one of my least-hated Yankee announcers.
Red Sox lead the division by three games. Second-biggest lead in baseball. Tied for third best record in baseball. Again, with the Japan trip, this is all excellent news.
We're about a month into the season, so let's take a look at the two completely inexperienced and unproven starters they started the year with: 1. 9.00 ERA, currently on the DL. 2. 8.37 ERA, currently in triple-A. I hate, no, love to say I told the Yanks so.
And yes, as an ad-saturation hating vegetarian, I'm doubly offended by the Houston ballpark's obnoxious Chik-Fil-A sign that runs all the way down the foul pole.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Two Manny Things
One. Tonight, Manny threw out a runner at the plate, and as he was running to the dugout, did the "windmill" arm motion. Remy referred to this as "Manny loosening up the arm." But I've been watching Manny, and he's been doing this a lot, either when a runner doesn't attempt to score on a ball hit to him, or when he throws a guy out at a base. I think he's mocking the third base coach "waving him in" sign. But I could be wrong.
[One-A. (added 11:12 PM) During post-game, TC watches the replay of the above play, and shows he's been influenced by Remy's call: "Manny loosening up the gun," TC said, quite sure of himself. I still say Manny's gotta be mocking the waving in of the runner! Who's with me on this one? My further proof--they showed Manny actually loosening up his arm during tonight's game, and he does it clockwise (if you look at your right arm while winding it). But when he does this mocking motion, he goes counterclockwise--which is the same direction the coaches arm would be going from Manny's perspective in the outfield.]
Two. A Ray of Devil hit a dong right off the "496" above the Monster. And it made made me realize that, terribly, I hadn't to that point visualized Manny hitting a homer (preferably his 500th) off off those numbers! So that's what I'm rooting for now. Specifically, a ball that hits the numbers and makes the 499 fall on its own, revealing the 500. Though it would be crappy if, say, only the middle number fell off, sending Manny back to 409.
But he needs four dongs tomorrow if he wants to get 500 on this homestand. After tomorrow, we hit the road for 10 days.
With our win tonight, we're 2 games up in the east.
[One-A. (added 11:12 PM) During post-game, TC watches the replay of the above play, and shows he's been influenced by Remy's call: "Manny loosening up the gun," TC said, quite sure of himself. I still say Manny's gotta be mocking the waving in of the runner! Who's with me on this one? My further proof--they showed Manny actually loosening up his arm during tonight's game, and he does it clockwise (if you look at your right arm while winding it). But when he does this mocking motion, he goes counterclockwise--which is the same direction the coaches arm would be going from Manny's perspective in the outfield.]
Two. A Ray of Devil hit a dong right off the "496" above the Monster. And it made made me realize that, terribly, I hadn't to that point visualized Manny hitting a homer (preferably his 500th) off off those numbers! So that's what I'm rooting for now. Specifically, a ball that hits the numbers and makes the 499 fall on its own, revealing the 500. Though it would be crappy if, say, only the middle number fell off, sending Manny back to 409.
But he needs four dongs tomorrow if he wants to get 500 on this homestand. After tomorrow, we hit the road for 10 days.
With our win tonight, we're 2 games up in the east.
Home West Coast Game
A 7:05 game that starts after 9:30. Fun. I should've gone over to Fenway and got a really good seat. But we had a pizza coming...so I stayed home and ate it. Red Sox win, 7-3. I predicted 11-1. But I meant 7-3, so...
Sked ad update: They have fixed the home/road thing, so now Indy sits in a red square, and is sized to fit the square much better. So they "fixed" one part of this, but the key is, the ad is still there. Terrible job.
Tomorrow is the first day of Open Studios. Tonight I went to the space and set up my stuff. It was cool framing some of my Fenway pics. Some of them came out really nice. Others, I didn't account for the shot to get its edges cut off upon printing, and then for the new edges to get cut off by the matting within the frame. So, some shots didn't get used. Others, I winged it. Wang it? It should be fun. 50 Thurston St., Somerville, if you're in the area. 12-5 Saturday and Sunday. It's free to get in by the way, and there are 15 other artists in the space I'll be in. You can also take the little trolley all over town and see all the other artists' work.
I was really looking forward to this "Red Sox Memories" show. I missed the first one, but the second one--it seemed like a show I'd seen already. And it spoke to me like I knew nothing about the history of the team. But, hey, there are a lot of people in that category who need to learn.... Oh, and there was one scene where they're showing Fisk up in Game 6 of the '75 series. Or Carbo, really doesn't matter. The point is, they cut to a shot of Zimmer clapping encouragement from the third base coaches box. Only Zimmer was clearly IN Cincinnati, not Fenway Park. (If the background didn't give him away, the road uniform sure did.) Do they think we don't notice this stuff? The next episode is about rookies, hopefully it will be better. Speaking of editing, there's a shot in the Spaceman doc of Bill Lee walking off the mound in the '75 Series, and then they cut to a close-up, and suddenly it's clearly a regular season game. Funny thing is, in the commentary, Lee spots it and points it out to the co-commentator--the guy who made the movie.
Oh, and the new camera angle! NESN is suddenly going with the "pretty much directly behind the pitcher" view* on pitches. The stubborn side of me is saying, "Gimme that classic angle." But the (oppressed) sensible side is saying, Hey, you can really see pitches breaking, and you have a better view of balls and strikes. It takes getting used to for certain things. I'm still having trouble judging how far balls are going off the bat, and whether they'll be fair or foul on balls down the lines. I'm also wondering--since they still use the old shot occasionally, what is the cameraperson in the traditional camera-well doing the whole time? Is he just filming every pitch, knowing his shot goes unused forever? Also, you know who really gets the shaft on this angle? Drinkwater and Kapstein....
*This was tried by ESPN a few years ago--I think the Mussina broken-up-by-Crazy-Carl perfect game was shown from that angle. But when they did it, it felt like you were watching from the blimp. NESN's view is higher than the old angle, but not as high as ESPN's. So the pitcher's head isn't high enough on the screen to block the view of the pitch crossing the plate, yet he doesn't appear to be way below the plate, like on ESPN.
Sked ad update: They have fixed the home/road thing, so now Indy sits in a red square, and is sized to fit the square much better. So they "fixed" one part of this, but the key is, the ad is still there. Terrible job.
Tomorrow is the first day of Open Studios. Tonight I went to the space and set up my stuff. It was cool framing some of my Fenway pics. Some of them came out really nice. Others, I didn't account for the shot to get its edges cut off upon printing, and then for the new edges to get cut off by the matting within the frame. So, some shots didn't get used. Others, I winged it. Wang it? It should be fun. 50 Thurston St., Somerville, if you're in the area. 12-5 Saturday and Sunday. It's free to get in by the way, and there are 15 other artists in the space I'll be in. You can also take the little trolley all over town and see all the other artists' work.
I was really looking forward to this "Red Sox Memories" show. I missed the first one, but the second one--it seemed like a show I'd seen already. And it spoke to me like I knew nothing about the history of the team. But, hey, there are a lot of people in that category who need to learn.... Oh, and there was one scene where they're showing Fisk up in Game 6 of the '75 series. Or Carbo, really doesn't matter. The point is, they cut to a shot of Zimmer clapping encouragement from the third base coaches box. Only Zimmer was clearly IN Cincinnati, not Fenway Park. (If the background didn't give him away, the road uniform sure did.) Do they think we don't notice this stuff? The next episode is about rookies, hopefully it will be better. Speaking of editing, there's a shot in the Spaceman doc of Bill Lee walking off the mound in the '75 Series, and then they cut to a close-up, and suddenly it's clearly a regular season game. Funny thing is, in the commentary, Lee spots it and points it out to the co-commentator--the guy who made the movie.
Oh, and the new camera angle! NESN is suddenly going with the "pretty much directly behind the pitcher" view* on pitches. The stubborn side of me is saying, "Gimme that classic angle." But the (oppressed) sensible side is saying, Hey, you can really see pitches breaking, and you have a better view of balls and strikes. It takes getting used to for certain things. I'm still having trouble judging how far balls are going off the bat, and whether they'll be fair or foul on balls down the lines. I'm also wondering--since they still use the old shot occasionally, what is the cameraperson in the traditional camera-well doing the whole time? Is he just filming every pitch, knowing his shot goes unused forever? Also, you know who really gets the shaft on this angle? Drinkwater and Kapstein....
*This was tried by ESPN a few years ago--I think the Mussina broken-up-by-Crazy-Carl perfect game was shown from that angle. But when they did it, it felt like you were watching from the blimp. NESN's view is higher than the old angle, but not as high as ESPN's. So the pitcher's head isn't high enough on the screen to block the view of the pitch crossing the plate, yet he doesn't appear to be way below the plate, like on ESPN.
Friday, May 02, 2008
And A Free Keychain!
Battle for first tonight. DEVIL Rays at Red Sox, 7:05. I'll miss a little of this one as I'll be setting up for open studios this weekend.
Are you looking to buy tickets to the Yankees-Orioles game on May 22nd in either Baltimore or New York? Need to fly there and stay in a hotel? Need to know what time the game is and how to see it on TV or the internet, so it won't conflict with the new Indiana Jones movie you'll be seeing on the same day? And what trinket you'll get at the game? Well you're in luck! This square's got everything you need:
Are you looking to buy tickets to the Yankees-Orioles game on May 22nd in either Baltimore or New York? Need to fly there and stay in a hotel? Need to know what time the game is and how to see it on TV or the internet, so it won't conflict with the new Indiana Jones movie you'll be seeing on the same day? And what trinket you'll get at the game? Well you're in luck! This square's got everything you need:
500 Update
Dori looked like a lock on her Manny prediction, but he's been stalled at 496 for some time now. If Manny gets four dongs in the next two nights, doublenicks will win with his May 3rd guess. May 4th was my predicted (yet unwanted, since I had a ticket to that game but won't be able to make it) date, which is looking worse and worse (or, better and better--see previous parenthetical note). But Monday through Wednesday are taken by vineyard vacationer, Mike, and Boston Fan in Wichita. All three of them have a shot, though they'd look better if, say, Manny dongs twice tonight! Most May dates are taken, so this should be fun! (full list here)
Stop! Stop!!!!!!!!!!
This is bullshit:
I never realized how sacred the baseball schedule was until I saw an ad for a movie literally on one of the calendar days. They'd infiltrated it to the point of advertising on the spaces before the 1st or after the 31st on the grid, but now they've taken the final step.
I don't own a calendar. Every year, the Red Sox schedule IS my calendar. And now, they've shit all over it, squeezing in a picture of ol' Indy right on one of the game days. The schedule is supposed to be an informational tool. Yes, the pocket schedules have always been covered with ads. But the little calendar squares--those are supposed to tell me who we're playing, where, and at what time. And look at that--the "Indy" day is a home game. It's supposed to be in red as per their key. But they've changed it to white (which signals an away game), JUST SO THE AD WILL SHOW UP BETTER. They care more about making money than they do about telling you the key piece of information about one of the games.
And yes, this ad is on all the MLB schedules.
I'm moving to Cuba.
I never realized how sacred the baseball schedule was until I saw an ad for a movie literally on one of the calendar days. They'd infiltrated it to the point of advertising on the spaces before the 1st or after the 31st on the grid, but now they've taken the final step.
I don't own a calendar. Every year, the Red Sox schedule IS my calendar. And now, they've shit all over it, squeezing in a picture of ol' Indy right on one of the game days. The schedule is supposed to be an informational tool. Yes, the pocket schedules have always been covered with ads. But the little calendar squares--those are supposed to tell me who we're playing, where, and at what time. And look at that--the "Indy" day is a home game. It's supposed to be in red as per their key. But they've changed it to white (which signals an away game), JUST SO THE AD WILL SHOW UP BETTER. They care more about making money than they do about telling you the key piece of information about one of the games.
And yes, this ad is on all the MLB schedules.
I'm moving to Cuba.
Almost
September 18th, 1993. I've just turned 18, and I've been at college in Nebraska for less than a month. I'm on the phone with my parents back in Connecticut on a Saturday afternoon. One of my Yankee fan friends is visiting my parents. They're all watching the Red Sox-Yankees game, giving me updates. It's the ninth inning. My mom is announcing what sounds like the final out. The Red Sox have won--or have they? I hear my friend in the background happily yelling. I hear my dad UNhappily yelling. The final out is negated as time had been called when some Yankee fan ran on the field just before the pitch. The ambidextrous Greg Harris then gives up a few hits, and the Yanks win the game in the classy way only they know how to. Story here. (And Allan was at the game!)
In tonight's Red Sox game, Coco Crisp made was appeared to be the last out. The non-Dirty Water music even started to play. But apparently a balk had been called. Coco got a hit, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Jed Lowrie was called out on strikes to end it. I guess we'll have to save our "appear to lose but then win" for some future game. Against the Yanks. Oh, wait, we did it in 2004. Without the aid of a fan. Nice. The Yanks have not won a playoff series since....
Speaking of America's most despised franchise, Johan San--oh, no, that's right, they didn't get that guy...it was Phil Hughes, yeah, he's out till, like, July now. Too bad. I liked seeing him in there. I like seeing Ian Kennedy in there, too. He pitched tonight and they lost, 8-4. They're 14-16 now, 5th-worst record in the league.
Have you seen the commercial for "VitaPacks"? Doesn't it look like a fake commercial for some kind of "food of the future"? Like, "mmm, I love my pill meal! All I need is this handy bag o' pills and I'm set for the day." If the people in that ad were wearing silver suits it would be perfect.
I'm adding a clue to the recent kwiz, which no one has taken a shot at yet....
Also, have you noticed there are two different movies out now with a "pee in the sink" scene in the trailer?
In tonight's Red Sox game, Coco Crisp made was appeared to be the last out. The non-Dirty Water music even started to play. But apparently a balk had been called. Coco got a hit, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Jed Lowrie was called out on strikes to end it. I guess we'll have to save our "appear to lose but then win" for some future game. Against the Yanks. Oh, wait, we did it in 2004. Without the aid of a fan. Nice. The Yanks have not won a playoff series since....
Speaking of America's most despised franchise, Johan San--oh, no, that's right, they didn't get that guy...it was Phil Hughes, yeah, he's out till, like, July now. Too bad. I liked seeing him in there. I like seeing Ian Kennedy in there, too. He pitched tonight and they lost, 8-4. They're 14-16 now, 5th-worst record in the league.
Have you seen the commercial for "VitaPacks"? Doesn't it look like a fake commercial for some kind of "food of the future"? Like, "mmm, I love my pill meal! All I need is this handy bag o' pills and I'm set for the day." If the people in that ad were wearing silver suits it would be perfect.
I'm adding a clue to the recent kwiz, which no one has taken a shot at yet....
Also, have you noticed there are two different movies out now with a "pee in the sink" scene in the trailer?
Thursday, May 01, 2008
More Artsy, Less Fartsy
If you're lookin' for something to do this weekend and you're somewhere near Somerville, Mass, come see my photography at Somerville Open Studios.
It's noon - 5 PM on both Saturday and Sunday, and I will be showing a bunch of Fenway-related shots. Which, as a reader of this blog, you've probably seen already. But here's your chance to see them framed and matted, and to be able to tell me directly how awesome/shitty you think they are!
I'll be at 50 Thurston Street, in the gymnasium of St. Ann's church. (That's just where they put me, people.) And the prices, if you want to buy, will be totally affordable, as opposed to most "art," which seems to cost, like, $6,000. For a splotch of red paint on a canvas.
For all the details, click here. Hope to see you in the real world this weekend.
It's noon - 5 PM on both Saturday and Sunday, and I will be showing a bunch of Fenway-related shots. Which, as a reader of this blog, you've probably seen already. But here's your chance to see them framed and matted, and to be able to tell me directly how awesome/shitty you think they are!
I'll be at 50 Thurston Street, in the gymnasium of St. Ann's church. (That's just where they put me, people.) And the prices, if you want to buy, will be totally affordable, as opposed to most "art," which seems to cost, like, $6,000. For a splotch of red paint on a canvas.
For all the details, click here. Hope to see you in the real world this weekend.
Kwiz Butland
Red Sox, White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Cubs.
These teams can say something that no other teams can say. What is it?
Update, 5/2/08, 12:55 AM: Here's a new wording of the question: These franchises can say something no other teams can say.
These teams can say something that no other teams can say. What is it?
Update, 5/2/08, 12:55 AM: Here's a new wording of the question: These franchises can say something no other teams can say.
Defending Aprils
Here's how the 12 American League champion Boston clubs have done through April 30th in their title-defending season, ranked from best to worst:
1904: 10-2
1919: 4-1
1917: 9-4
1916: 9-6
2008: 17-12
2005: 12-11
1968: 8-8
1947: 6-6-1
1976: 6-7
1913: 6-8
1987: 9-13
1905: 3-10
The first World Champions came out strong in 1904, still with the best April 30th record of any Boston defending AL champs. The next year, possibly still pissed about not getting a chance to play a World Series, the '05 squad had a 3-10 record on 4/30, still the worst of any Boston defending AL champs. This year's team comes in fifth of 12, even if you don't count the two March games.
1904: 10-2
1919: 4-1
1917: 9-4
1916: 9-6
2008: 17-12
2005: 12-11
1968: 8-8
1947: 6-6-1
1976: 6-7
1913: 6-8
1987: 9-13
1905: 3-10
The first World Champions came out strong in 1904, still with the best April 30th record of any Boston defending AL champs. The next year, possibly still pissed about not getting a chance to play a World Series, the '05 squad had a 3-10 record on 4/30, still the worst of any Boston defending AL champs. This year's team comes in fifth of 12, even if you don't count the two March games.
