The Red Sox and Brewers have met twice on June 18th. Once was in 1995 (Sox score three in the 7th for a 4-2 win at Fenway). The other was in 1973. And after looking into that game, wow, the rise and fall of the 1973 Milwaukee Brewers deserves a documentary or something.

On June 18th, 1973, the Brewers came home after an 11-1 road trip that took them from 5th place to 1st. They'd also won 14 of 15. And their fans were over the moon. During that night's game, the crowd was so enthusiastic, they basically caused Red Sox pitcher Don Newhauser to walk in three runs. In a row. Came in with the bases loaded and his team down 4-2, walked three guys, and was removed. George Boomer Scott hit two dongs against his old team (and compared the fire of the fans to Fenway's faithful), and the Brewers won their 10th in a row, 8-3. Jim Colborn got his 9th win on his way to 20. Carlton Fisk hit his 32nd career homer (on his way to 376), and Ray Culp took the loss for Boston.

Milwaukee newspapers were comparing the Brewers' run to old Milwaukee Braves championship seasons. They were on fire and Wisconsin was all on board. But then it all came crashing down. The Red Sox took the next three games of the series, and the Brewers went on to lose 14 of their next 19 games. They were two games under .500, and right back in 5th place.

They still were within 6 games of first, though. And on August 15th, though four teams were still ahead of them, they remained just 6.5 out, with a 59-59 record.

Twelve days later, they were 13.5 games behind. By mid-September they were 20 out. To add insult to injury, the Orioles clinched the division on their field. They finished the season losing 15 of their last 19.

On the last day of the season in Boston, they led the Sox 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the 8th. A Ben Oglivie sacrifice fly tied the game at 2, but Brewers catcher Charlie Moore disagreed with the call at the plate. He fired the ball toward the third-base dugout in disgust, and the Red Sox' Danny Cater came all the way around from first to score the winning run.

And the team with such high hopes in June finished in fifth, ahead of only the Indians, a season-low 23 games out of first place.

Lackey was somethin', eh? We were at dinner for the first few innings, so from what I saw, he pretty much threw a perfect game. Adrian continues to be amazing. I read an article today from the LA TImes saying why Curtis Granderson WILL win the MVP over Adran. Along with "because he has more stolen bases," the author said that Gonzalez' average will come down to earth, and in the end won't have the power numbers Granderson does. The whole article was a case of "I think the past is the future," which you hope is limited to idiot talk show callers. Yes, Grand Arse-NY has more dongs now, but...I just hope Adrian read that article.

We are now 2.5 up on the Yanks.

Saturday night at 7:10 it's Lester against Randy Wolf's son. Wait. Please hold...Oh...that's Randy Wolf himself? Okay, Lester against Randy Wolf.

Yanks lose to the Cubs, so we can go 2.5 up again with a win over Not Harvey's Not Wallbangers tonight.

Great moment today when YES network (MLBN picked up their feed) stayed with it during the 7th inning stretch, to show us Seth Myers singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. As you all know, Seth is the anchor of Weekend Update (and head writer) on SNL, and is a huge Red Sox fan. I met the guy once (oddly at a Beastie Boys movie premiere) and he's a nice dude. Anyway, watch what happens after he finishes the song. Beauty part is, this is shown on YES, who promptly cuts to commercial, and Kay & Co. never bring it up after that. (Though Kay noted beforehand that Myers is a "Red Sock fan"--nonchalantly saying it that demeaning way. Don't ever let Michael Kay fool you into thinking he has any of that "class" that all Yankee people think they have.) Okay, so here it is:



Earlier, Ken Singleton did some Yankee math, making fun of the Cubs for never having won a World Series at Wrigley, while the Yanks have won ten at Yankee Stadium. If you're specifically talking about the actual stadium where the win took place, you better mention that there have been two (some would say three, but definitely two) different Yankee Stadiums.

And look, Steven Wright is in the news! I guess he was there when the Bruins were taking the Stanley Cup around NYC today.

For the last three nights, we got to see this:

So zoomed out, so head on, so high. I think people just overthink this stuff. I used red to show just how little of the screen is being taken up by what the viewer is watching. And the yellow dotted lines show just how much wasted space there is on the sides, and on top. I know you have to leave space on the sides for non-widescreen sets. But I don't get why, when forced to have your camera up high and right behind the pitcher, they don't zoom in a little. A lot! Can't they get it so the top of the bat is at the top of the screen and the pitcher's feet are at the bottom? Look how tiny that batter is! I have a big, hi-def TV that I'm sitting ten feet away from and I feel like I'm watching the batter take practice cuts in his apartment three blocks away through a telescope.

This is all because "people" (?) want to be directly behind the pitcher. Which necessitates the camera being higher (since you can't have the pitcher blocking the entire plate area). You've heard me complain about it at Fenway, too. What kills me is they still use the old camera well (in both The Trop and Fenway), but not for the pitches, just for other things. Last night they showed some zoomed shots of the batter from center field, in the old off-center, low camera position, and it was beautiful. I'm sitting there going, Yes, use THIS cam, just zoom it out a little to show the pitcher, and show us this shot for pitches. Yes, it's a few feet off from being directly in line with the plate, but A. we're all used to that and B. it makes for much better viewing. And in a widescreen world, it makes even more sense to use the width of the screen: pitcher on left, nice and big, batter just to the right, also nice and big. This is what we should be seeing:


Watch highlights from the 80s and 90s and that's what you see. In fact, visitors' cameras at Fenway still use the old well for their every-pitch view. (As do national networks which is the only time we in the Sox' viewing area get to see Fenway games from the "classic" angle.) For some reason I always think of Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter as a great example:

See how much of the screen is taken up by batter/catcher/pitcher, unlike the current Trop's 15%? I'd move that cam a little to the right so the pitcher doesn't block lefties, but other than that, it's perfect, you're down low, and able to zoom in. And you still get a feel like you're behind the pitcher and can tell balls and strikes.

There's also the ridiculous score box they have to consider. Just go back to flashing the count and outs every once in a while. We're following the game, we know the situation.

Anyway, here's a final comparison. Two shots of the same game from the last homestand. First you've got NESN's high, straight-on, zoomed-out crappy robot cam:

Followed by the Oakland feed, from the awesome, classic camera well:

So much better, to me anyway. I'd even zoom closer on this one, but even like this, it's so much better than blimp cam.

Unrelated, I shot this video of my TV screen during the game last night. Why is that boy doing a Hitler salute?

We've played the Brewers (and Seattle Pilots) 400 times, winning 216 and losing 184. That's 116-84 at home, and 100-100 on the road. We've outscored them 1,946 to 1,849. On July 2nd, 1972, we swept a doubleheader to take a 25-24 lead in the all-time series, and have led ever since.

The most runs we've scored against them in a game was two days before I was born, a 20-6 win. We've played them in two series since they switched leagues after the 1997 season, taking two of three in The Good Land in 2003 and sweeping three at Fenway in 2008.

The first Red Sox pitcher to beat the Brewers franchise was Ray Culp, who threw the pitch that my dad caught at Yankee Stadium for his only game-hit foul ball. (The batter was Frank "Homer Run" Baker.)

As for June 17th, we've met them once, at Fenway, in 1995. The Brewers won 9-1 to close to within 12 games of the first-place Sox. It was a 2-0 game when Roger Clemens left in the 6th inning, but the bullpen imploded, giving up 7 runs in the final two frames. Mo Vaughn's homer in the ninth was the only Boston run. Each team had a Vaughn and a Valentin in their starting lineup that sunny Saturday. Three of those four went deep.

Fine, fine job by our Red Sox. 8-1 on the road trip through NY, TOR, and TB. We outscored those dudes 67-25. Huge homer by Adrian with 2 outs in the 9th added a run to our one-run lead. After a leadoff double in the bottom of the 9th, Upton got a rare single that didn't advance the runner. But then Youk made a diving catch on a sac bunt attempt and Pap took care of the last two.

We go home to face the Brew Crew with a 1.5 game lead over the Yanks, 5.5 over Tampa. The Phils and us are the only two .600+ teams in baseball.

Remember my Month-By-Month Outlooks I did before the season? Obviously I effed up April. But my May was stellar. I predicted a 19-11 month, and the Sox went 19-10 with one rainout. Here's my original post, with what ended up really happening in bold brackets:

Win that last one vs. Seattle.[correct] 3 of 4 from LAA.[split 4] 3 of 4 from Twins.[correct] Then on the road to Toronto. We lose both there[correct], then win 2 of 3 in NY.[swept 3] Sweep two vs. Balty[won 1, other rained out], sweep 2 more vs. Det[correct], then take 2 of 3 from the Cubs.[correct] We're on fire! [correct!] Take 2 of 3 in Cleve[correct], then lose 3 of 4 in Detroit[won 3 of 4]. Split those last 2 vs. White Sox.[lost both]

Not doing so hot series-wise in June so far, though I'm only off by 2 wins.

The two teams have never met on this date, either.

In the meantime, please enjoy this overly acted scene:

The Bruins rolling rally will be Saturday at 11 a.m. I wonder if the Red Sox will move the 1:10 game that day. The Fox games that day are 4:10 so if they move it, it would go to 7:10.

[Update: Indeed the Sox are moved to 7:10.]

One little grounder that Youk couldn't quite make a play on. That's all Beckett gave up tonight. Could have easily been a no-hitter. But Youk did knock in the only runs of the game, a late 3-run dong, and we stay 1.5 up in the east.

Hockey newz n notes....How crazy is it that another Boston team wins a championship after either 86 or 39 years of waiting on the night of a lunar eclipse? ... I just read that there are fires being set in Vancouver [Update: watch the fires/rioting live here!]. I hope the roughneck hockey fans don't kill each other.... The Vancouver arena actually played Dirty Water while the Bruins were skating around with the Cup....As you know, I never had any interest in hockey, save for a couple of Olympics back in the day. Never had an NHL team, never had any ties to any Boston teams besides the Red Sox. But I've been waiting for a Boston team ever since jagged-glass fucker Andrew Perloff said something about the "beginning of the end for Boston sports" a few years ago. And I think somebody else (maybe on Yahoo Sports but I can't find it now) said something about some kind of new curse. I'd never try to take credit for a team I don't follow in a sport I don't follow winning, but nice job, Bruins, on proving those dipshits wrong. (Also, nice job making it so the Pats now have the longest championship drought in Boston.) Hopefully the Red Sox will continue the wrong-provin' in '11.

The two teams have never met on June 15th.

So please enjoy this video:

Well ya can't expect to win 10 in a row, I guess. And Mr. Only Dude Who Remembers How to Throw 9 Innings pitched a gem mint 10 against us.

Poor freakin' Youk--strikes out in a key spot, hits into two DPS, then grounds out on a play where Longoria bobbles but somehow still makes the play.

And too bad we couldn't score for Wake, who takes the L.

The Trop camera well is all high and shit, the way the kids like it, and of course I prefer the old way, but why is it that NESN has to be so zoomed out? I have a bigger, higher def TV this year and it still looks like we're seeing the batter through a telescope. Zoom in a little! Almost the entire top half of the screen ins the wall and the crowd and the turf behind the plate. It wouldn't even hurt non widescreen viewers if they zoomed in, as they'd lose nothing right-left.

Yanks scored 6 in the 2nd and lead 9-4. I'm not giving up on that one yet. [Update, 11:11: Fuckwads win. We're 1.5 up.]

So Jeter went to the DP. It's like getting your dentist appointment delayed. You're glad you get to relax a little, but you know eventually you're gonna have to see that 3,000 drill go right into your mouth. But wouldn't it be hilarious if he just never recovers from his injury and ends his career just shy of 3,000? That would be one of the best things ever in baseball history. But, again, that's like hoping the dentist's office blows up. What are the odds?

That guy who won the Monster SRO ticket never contacted me. First person to comment below gets the ticket. It's for this Sunday's game.

Edit: Ticket now spoken for.

The Tampa Bay Rays are way younger than me or you. We've only played them 225 times, winning 135 and losing 90. On the road we're 58-54. We've outscored them 1,241 to 961. The Rays have never led in the all-time series, though they did pull to within one game in the 37th match-up. They've never beaten us more than four times in a row.

As for June 14th, we've played them once on that date, in 1998. It was the second-ever meeting between the Red Sox and Tampa Bay. We won 3-2 in 10 innings. Troy O'Leary got the game-winning hit against Jim Mecir. The loss put the Rays 22.5 games out of first.

The headline writer for Meriden, CT's Record-Journal the next day, after seeing this second line to their game story:

Troy O'Leary, facing a right-handed reliever[...]

decided to title the article "O'Leary laces lefty for game-winner." Come on!

Cleveland wins, 1-0, and we're up 2.5 games.

Jeter got a hit to start the game, but then left with an injury. At first I was glad because it probably means he won't get 6 hits in the final 3 games of the homestand. Then I realize he could milk this injury long enough to get 3,000 on the next homestand. But we'll see. This asshole seems to think he should get it at home, and that somehow getting it at Wrigley would be wrong. He even acts like this is the subjective view, that any of us would want this. Wait, not want it to happen, but think that it should happen that way. Just some extremely backwards thinking going on in that guy's brain. If he'd said "I want Jeter to get it at home," I'd still be pissed, but, fine, you want that, and I want him to never get it, but if he does, I'd want it to happen definitely on the road, and hopefully with as little fanfare as possible. But to act like that's how history should play out, simply because you want it to, that's just LeBronnian.

Remember I showed you that tree down in my driveway? I went into nearby Roger Williams Park a few days later, and was shocked at the destruction over there. It's as if a hurrinado blazed right through, uprooting and splitting massive trees. Here's a video I shot driving around in there, with some still shots mixed in:

All this double-digit scoring got me wondering, what's the longest streak of double-digit games in Red Sox history?

Turns out it's 4 games, which we've done three times--1912, 1950, and 2007.

In 1912, the Red Sox beat the Yankees (Highlanders) in New York by the scores of 15-8, 11-3, 13-2, and 10-3 in four consecutive games from June 20th to 22nd. By the end of this domination--part of a five-game sweep--New York was twenty games behind first place Boston. (They'd end the season in last place, 55 games behind the eventual world champs.)

In the Red Sox' incredible month of June 1950, they beat Cleveland and Chicago by the scores of 11-5, 11-9, 17-7, and 12-0 in four straight games from June 2nd to June 5th. (Two days later they'd score 20 runs in a game. The day after that, 29 runs.)

In 2007, the Red Sox went into Chicago and swept a four-game series on August 24-26 by the scores of 11-3, 10-1, 14-2, and 11-1.

Suggested reading: The New York Times article from June 23rd, 1912, describing the Red Sox' doubleheader sweep of the Yanks (the last two games of the first streak above). Hilarious. If the link doesn't work, do a news search for that date.

The game's over, but it's still June 12th, so...

Three match-ups, all in Toronto, 2 wins and a loss.

6/12/1988: Oil Can Boyd throws eight strong innings and the Gator goes yard in a five-run first. Sox 8, Jays 2.

6/12/1992: Boggs hits a grand slam and Viola beats Stieb 5-0.

6/12/1995: The first-place Sox lose their third in a row in 12 innings at Skydome, 4-3. Mike Timlin gets the win for Toronto. The "other" Alex Gonzalez made a run-saving catch in the 11th, then won it with a two-out, bases loaded single in the 12th.

Nobody has a bigger division lead than the Red Sox, and we're only a half-game behind the Phils for best record in baseball after another thump-tastic thumping of the Blue Jays.

Lester gave up a run on two hits. And little jerry was the closest to his pitch count of 102, so he wins the contest. Also, no one else entered. But still, nice job coming within four pitches! He probably would have won anyway.

Since only one person entered the contest, we have a winner before the game starts. "Little Jerry" predicted today's starter will throw 106 pitches, but he'll be the closest regardless. Send me your mailing address, LJ, and I'll send you your Green Monster ticket. Thanks to everyone, meaning Little Jerry, for playing!