Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 28, 2013

I dedicate today's episode The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast to my brother, the amazingly talented Ted Sullivan. I talk a little bit about us growing up, the different ways we celebrated baseball and how we shared a baseball moment as recently as 2008.

Travis Hafner, Bryce Harper, Travis Woodand Matt Moore  owned baseball on April 27, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?", click HERE.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 28, 2013

I'm With Coco!

I always liked Coco Crisp. He never quite was Johnny Damon's replacement but he was an exciting and fun player with an awesome name. And lest we forget his pennant winning catch in 2007, his epic ALCS extending RBI in 2008 and being a World Champion Red Sox player?

Well today he gave his old friends a little help.

2, count em, TWO home runs including one off of Sabathia and one to win the game in the 10th.

Mix that with the Red Sox drubbing of Texas and a wonderful scenario has transpired.

The Red Sox, who went on the road against the defending AL Champs and current AL West leaders, and the worst they can do is split 4.

And the A's went into Yankee Stadium and won the series.

Thanks for the help Coco!

And the Magic Number?

33!

Coco Crisp always rocks

This picture is special.

The awesome yellow uniforms.
The amazing hair.
The cool nickname.

It's feeling like the 1970s in Oakland again.

Now let's see if it is the "Winning World Series" 1970s or "Losing in an empty stadium" 1970s.

Burnt to a Coco Crisp

Our old friend Coco Crisp did us in tonight.

Going 3 for 3 and stealing a homer?
How could you Coco?
Don't you have any sentimentality?

The Sox were done early tonight and the people of Alderaan put up more of a fight than my boys did.

And Trevor Cahill moved closer to 20 wins as Clay Buchholz stays stuck on 15.

Cahill will probably start 4 more times in the A's final 22 games this year. If he goes 4-0, then he'll be a 20 game winner and probably get some Cy Young Votes.

While the A's climbed back to .500, the Sox are now 10 games out of first place with 21 left to play. And 8 games back in the loss column with 21 left to play for the Wild Card thanks to the Rays bizarre blown lead yet still winning the game victory in Toronto.

I'm not saying they are dead, but let's just say their kids are making arrangements.

Cleveland Wild Life

First you have the Midges swarming Joba Chamberlain, costing the Yankees game 2 of the 2007 Division Series.

Then you have the Indians winning a game last night with a ball deflecting off of a gull.

With all the help from the animal kingdom, you'd think the Indians would have a little better karma.


Oh well... I can't believe I am the only one who saw that highlight last night and wasn't humming this song.

The Coco Crisp Era... A Look Back

Coco Crisp was sent to baseball purgatory (a.k.a. Kansas City) ending his 3 year tenure with the Red Sox.

He never became the star we had all imagined when he was picked up from Cleveland to fill in Johnny Damon's shoes...
But along the way he picked up a World Series ring and more than a few memorable moments.

Let's stroll down memory lane and remember THE COCO CRISP YEARS.


-1. Red Sox Nation was still stunned that Johnny Damon was shaving his beared and cutting his hair for Yankee dollars. We all thought “Are we ever going to have a centerfielder that makes us smile again?” Then we found out that the Sox had acquired Coco Crisp… and admit it, you smiled again.







- 2. He broke his finger and never got his bat going, but his glove didn’t seem affected. He was frequently featured on Sports Center including this gem against the Mets on June 29th.









- 3. Coco fell over the right field wall trying to catch Alex Rodriguez’s homer on April 20th, 2007. He didn’t get it, but that effort was the moment I realized there might be something special about the 2007 squad.










- 4. In that same game Coco hit a game tying triple off of Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning… all while wearing horrific green uniforms in honor of Red Auerbach.





- 5. Coco’s career was endangered in an August game in Seattle… by the Mariner Moose! The mascot nearly hit Coco while driving his ATV around the park. While in the end Coco wasn’t hurt, it brought about a healthy debate: Whose name is stupider? Mariner Moose or Coco Crisp?


- 6. Made a diving into the bullpen wall catch to clinch the 2007 pennant against the Indians. At that point the score was 11-2 and you’d think he’d not sacrifice his body as it wasn’t a game saving situation. But he did anyway… and you’ve got to love that about him.

A side note... Andy Marte, the stud prospect the Red Sox gave up for Coco Crisp, wasn't even on the Indians 25 man roster for the 2007 playoffs. Crisp might not have been a star in Boston, but at least he stayed on the big league roster!!!




- 7. In a World Series that featured only one dramatic game (game 2) the highlight could have been Coco Crisp’s conversation with Royce Clayton about Taco Bell’s Stolen Base Promotion. Granted, Coco is the straight man in the exchange, but he’s a good straight man setting up all of the information for Clayton’s bewildered response.





- 8. Coco is as responsible as anyone for making the Red Sox/Rays rivalry a heated one. On June 4, Crisp slid in hard to Akinori Iwamura. The next day James Shields plunk Crisp starting a bench clearing ball… all the while your friend Sully was live Blogging on Rays Index. You’ve got to love a guy willing to avoid a punch and then throw one in honor of the Sox.




- 9. Coco came up big in Game 5 of the 2008 ALCS after he was given the starting assignment by Francona. His 2 out single prolonged the 7th inning. At the time it seemed harmless. The Sox were down 7-0 and he was prolonging the agony. But Pedroia singled home a run the next at bat… and Big Papi homered to make it 7-4, starting the biggest come back… but it was set up by Coco’s single.






- 10. Trailing by a run with the Red Sox 4 outs from elimination and Lowrie on second, Crisp fouled off what seemed like 600 pitches before singling to right field to tie the game. He was tagged out trying to reach second, but by then the game was tied 7-7… the biggest comeback was almost complete.



Did Coco put up All Star numbers?
Nope.

But he gave us some good memories and let's hope he gets a standing ovation everytime he comes back.
Just don't make too many great catches against the Sox, Coco.
And I hope you got your Taco.

RAMIREZ IS COMING BACK TO THE RED SOX!!!!!

OK, so its Ramon Ramirez... not Manny... nor Hanley.

But hey!
It's not a bad deal for the Sox.

They deal Coco Crisp, who is basically a 4th outfielder for an OK middle reliever.
I said that getting the bullpen stronger should be top priority for the Red Sox, and you can't argue that a young reliever with decent stats is an improvement from an aging Mike Timlin.

OK, back to the hot stove.

7 outs away... sure but also 4 outs away

Everyone keeps saying the Rays were 7 outs from the pennant...

Folks, they were also FOUR outs away...
with Coco Crisp, a guy not in the starting line up for game 1 at the place, with two strikes.

Just saying

ALIVE!

I'll admit it... I gave up.

I listened to the score run up to 5-0 and I waved the white flag in my head.
I rationalized that it was better to have your brains beaten in than to have a Wild Pitch/Bill Buckner/Grady Little/Aaron Boone moment frozen in time.

I ate a nice meal with my brother and my wife and tucked my kids into bed...
But I guess there was one tiny part of me holding out because I hit record on the DVR when I took my boys upstairs.

Maybe it was a small part of me that remembered Dave Roberts and thought "Maybe... just maybe."

When I finished Where The Wild Things Are, I flipped the tivo and saw Ortiz's homer.

I thought "too little too late... but at least they aren't going to let themselves be embarassed."

Fast forwarding through the Rays at bats and careful not to hit the wrong button again on my remote I got to the Drew homer... and then some part of me clicked.

It was that new strand in my DNA, call it the 2004 helix, that has changed my perspective on the world.

Any knucklehead who thinks that Red Sox fans long for the Curse and their old identity of losing doesn't understand that we Sox fans are now different animals on the sub-atomic level.

That sense of doom that used to come about when the Red Sox were doing well has been replaced with a feeling of confidence that even a 7-0 lead isn't enough to stop us.

And when Coco fouled off 9,921 pitches... I didn't have a sense of dread.
Rather I kept picturing something wonderful.

And it happened.


And I got a great experience of watching it with my brother.
Ted has moved away from baseball but watching him get excited with me made me feel like we were 6 and 7 years old again in Weston Massachusetts.

The biggest difference was we were watching the Red Sox WIN!

Everything clicked... Pena hitting into a double play, Longoria throwing that ball into the stands...and finally Drew.

When that ball bounced into the bullpen, is there a Red Sox fan alive who didn't suddenly think "We're going to win this series"?

And now Terry Francona is adding to his legend and possibly a Hall of Fame resume.

The man is 8-1 in post season elimination games as a manager.
And he is two wins in Tampa Bay... two games started by Josh Beckett and Jon Lester... from pulling off his third come back from a 3-1 hole in five seasons.

I like this change in my DNA

I'm sorry everyone who hates us Red Sox fans...
WE'RE ALIVE!

Seriously Varitek and Coco...

All we needed was a fly ball and Rivera would have blown a save... the Yankees would be on the ropes... and the series would be won with a game to go.

Look, Mussina was awesome and the bats were dead... but when Rivera was all but handing the game over for a gut punch and possible season destroying win, you've GOT to take advantage of it.

Remember 2006?
Remember how the Yankees took those 5 games in Boston that August and essentially sunk the season?

I do.
They went from 2 games out to 6 1/2 back.

Well I know this isn't the exact same situation... but the chance to take 4 straight could put the Yankees down for the count before the All Star break.

You can NOT let this team believe in itself.
This was a potential season crippler.

Just hit a fly ball!

WHAT A NIGHT!

Coco homers again!
Lester throws 7 shut out innings!
Okajima throws a shut out 8th.
Papelbon nails the 9th

The Defending World Champions defeat the first place Phillies!

It was a picture perfect game for the Red Sox.
I wonder if anyone in Boston watched the game.

(Crickets)

Just your typical day at Fenway

Ho hum...
Nothing special about last night's game

The standard script...
Manny homers (OK, that IS standard)
Coco charges the mound
Shields swinging and missing
TWO piles of players punching
Manny and Youk fighting in the dugout
Ellsbury hurt and the entire outfield having to shift
Chris Carter scores a run before he takes the field or hits in a major league
game... then smacks 2 hits on his own
And Coco basically calling out Carl Crawford for fighting like a girl

If I had to live blog a 7-1 game, that's the one!

Oh yeah, the Red Sox completed a sweep of the team they were chasing, outscoring
them 12-2 in the last two games.

Folks, this looks like a rivalry.
Circle June 30 on your calendar!

TAMPA AND BOSTON... things are heating up!

GAME 3 THOUGHTS

- Well we all wanted Dice-K to come through... but who would have guessed he'd be as damaging with the bat as with his arm?

You could almost feel Coors Field's collective shoulders slump when that single drove in two.
"Oh I get it... we're like those poor AFC teams from 1982 to 1997 that got their asses kicked every year in the Super Bowl."

Keep in mind these Denver fans are familiar with those routs with the Broncos getting killed in the Super Bowl 3 times in 4 years.


- When Okajima came in to relieve Timlin, I was thinking "If Okie gets out of this inning, he's the World Series MVP." JUST as I thought that, Holliday homered to make it a one run game.


- Maybe this is one of the liberations of 2004... or maybe this is the confidence (cockiness?) of knowing you are rooting for the better team... but that was the least stressfull 3 run home run to turn a blow out into a 1 run game I have ever experienced.

The home run left the park and I literally thought "No worries... we've got this."
No wonder the rest of the baseball world hates us.



- Hey Francona... I might be crazy for thinking this... but stick with this line up.
I think Ellsbury and Pedroia 1 and 2 is working. Call it a hunch. Call it going a combined 7 for 10 with 3 runs scored, 4 RBIs and most importantly making sure the tight 1 run game was a "getting out of hand" 4 run lead.



- It was a strange final score... because you are supposed to say "It was a 10-5 game but the game was closer than that."
But was it? It was a 1 run game for about a minute then it was a blow out again.

Again... solid confidence in a post 2004 world.
Pre Dave Roberts' steal and Fox would bust out the clips of the Babe, Enos Slaughter, Bucky Dent, Poor Buckner and Aaron Boone the second the ball cleared the fence.

Tonight?
Eh... we'll get those runs back.

Do you have ANY CLUE how nice it is to watch a sporting event where the supernatural isn't brought up?


- My co worker Kevin Hench has called this post season "Theo and Tito's vindication."

Theo's off season moves have come through...
J. D. Drew's slam.
Coco's defense (especially at the end of game 7)
Eric Gagne, save for his game 2 ALCS meltdown, has been the "save the bullpen" guy and it's worked out.
Dice-K winning game 7 of the ALCS and tonight's game.
Even Julio Lugo is hitting .400 in the series.

And Francona's in season moves have come through...
Resting Manny for a month to have him come back and dominate in October.
Not panicking when the Yankees were charging and Gagne struggling and putting Okajima on the shelf for 10 days.
Sticking with J. D. when everyone (including yours truly) called for him to be benched.

And tonight starting Ortiz and Lowell and both coming through.


- I was in Santa Monica when the Red Sox won in 2004 even though I was still living in New York at the time.
I am in Santa Monica now despite still living in the Bay Area.

Karma is good so far.
Let's end this tomorrow!

GAME 1 THOUGHTS

- Look, I don't care if that game bored you or not. I know it wasn't exciting... but I am a selfish man. I don't care about America being entertained. I care about the Red Sox winning... so knowing the game was over 1 batter into the bottom of the first was kind of refreshing.

- I was thrilled to see Yaz throw out the first pitch. While watching the game at my friend Julius Sharpe's home, we both noticed that Yaz looks like an old man now. Then we realized he wasn't a young man when we watched him. And then with some further reflection it dawned on us that WE are no longer young men. Julius is losing his hair and I am getting gray.

And neither one of us hit the triple crown, slammed 400 homers and 3,000 hits. So maybe we should cut Yaz some slack.


- I guess all of those collumnists who wrote stories about how the Rockies will not be intimidated by the World Series are writing their retractions. Scooby and Shaggy showed a stronger resolve. When I look into a hitter's eyes, the first name I think of should NOT be Don Knotts.

- You know it is a blow out and a lousy game when McCarver and Buck start talking about how nice it is that the bench players are getting in to play.

That's something Walter Matthau should be thinking when getting Lupus into right field, not the World Series.


- How pissed off were Rockies manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Bob Apodaca at Franklin Morales?

They brought in Morales, who started 2 playoff games this year, to basically eat up innings in a blow out.
I'm sure they were hoping for 2 or maybe 3 innings out of him.
They got two outs... seriously. Thanks for the help.


- Morales was Bob Gibson compared to Ryan Speier.
This was his assignment:

You have 2 outs and are facing the number 8 and 9 hitters.
We're losing by 9.
Throw strikes.
And he did. He threw 4 strikes.

Unfortunately for him he also threw 12 balls and walked the 8th, 9th and leadoff man... all with the bases loaded.

That has to be the worst middle relief performance in World Series history.
I mean you are already down by 9 facing Julio Lugo.
Why not throw it down the heart of the plate?


- You know it is a bad game when the highlight was Royce Clayton and Coco Crisp discussing Tacos.
If you haven't seen it enjoy... no doubt it will be the next Dane Cook Oct-TO-ber clip