A few thoughts as Major League Baseball’s regular season heads into its final week:
Sunday night’s heartbreaking and infuriating loss to the Yankees was a microcosm of the entire 2010 Red Sox season. Bad enough they wasted an unusually excellent (and efficient!) outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka, but from the beginning of the season, for reasons I can’t fathom, the Sox have been terrible at defending the bunt, and last night was no exception. Of course, another meltdown by closer Jonathan Papelbon and some typically questionable use of the bullpen by Terry Francona (Hideki Okajima, who’s been awful pretty much the entire year pitching the 10th?) didn’t help, but why this team seems inept whenever the opposing team bunts (they lead the majors in combined pitcher and catcher errors) is beyond me.
Watching rookie first baseman Lars Anderson being showcased makes you wonder how on earth he was ever rated as a can’t miss prospect in the Red Sox minor league system. He’s awful, and looks completely overmatched at the big-league level.
I’m looking forward to watching Ken Burns’ sequel to his marvelous series “Baseball”, called “Baseball: The Tenth Inning”. I’ll only say this: if he was was truly savvy, he’d simulcast it on both PBS and the MLB Network. PBS is so outdated as an organ for vehicles like Burns’. I’m sure he’s doing it out of allegiance to Public Television, but that’s so yesterday.
Sure, the Red Sox are going home and the evil bastards otherwise known as the New York Yankees are heading to the playoffs, but we’ll always have 2004. Me? I got chills just watching the trailer. Has it already been six years?
The Cubs’ Tyler Colvin was lucky. Here’s hoping that Major League Baseball will give up the use of maple bats and return to the use of ash wood before someone – a player or a fan gets killed. Every game you see these maple bats splintering into jagged projectiles and flying everywhere; it’s only time before someone gets killed.
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Pool temp: 81 degrees
Shank:
I’m done with the Red Sox. I’m looking forward to the Bruins & Celtics. I met Shaquille O’neil
at an ice cream shop last saturday in Peabody.
Yeh, the guy was just sitting on the bench having an ice cream with his kid.
Hope all is well…Cubby,
Comment by Ron Cubby Myerow — September 29, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
Speaking of Cubs. I just got back from Chicago. I went to a day game vs. Cards. there were a lot of cards fans there but the cubbies fans were quite exuberant for a team that was out of it. That was the game when Hawksworth got nailed with the line drive. Good peanuts, however it was freakin cold!
Comment by Jerry Palma — September 29, 2010 @ 6:53 pm
I’ve been to Wrigley Field, about twenty years ago. The environment was fantastic for watching a game. Would love to go there again.
Comment by The Great White Shank — September 29, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
Big fan of Burns Civil War series. Not so much his baseball series, though. Caught a bit of The Tenth Inning last night. Still way too many of baseball’s sanctimonious, purist snobs featured to suit me but it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be.
The whole Barry Bonds thing just breaks my heart. I cannot bring myself to taint his entire career or his records over Balco. He was a great player by any standard. The Dodgers were so afraid of him that they walked him five times in one game. I remember thinking about the Dodgers the next day … man, if you don’t want to play, stay home.
Comment by Rob — September 30, 2010 @ 7:21 am
I think ultimately they all get in – Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens. The HOF will create a wing dedicated to the “steroids era” and put them all in. How much steroids impacts a person is debateable anyways. You still have to have the inate talent, and all these guys had it. They deserve to get in, as does Pete Rose.
Comment by The Great White Shank — September 30, 2010 @ 10:05 pm
We’ll never agree on Pete Rose. He’s where he belongs. Outside looking in.
Comment by Rob — October 1, 2010 @ 8:52 am