Went to my first game of the year tonight

For a guy who talks a lot about baseball and watches even more, you’d think I’d GET to the ballpark on a regular basis.

But between work and being a father of two, I went to a grand total of one game last year.
It was on August 29 where I saw the Rockies beat the Giants at AT&T Park 8-0.

With a little more than a month to go in the season and the 4th place Rockies barely over .500, I thought it was a match up between two meaningless teams.

Little did I know that the Rockies would need every win to qualify for the playoffs and would win the Pennant.

Well last night I was driving through Los Angeles and passed Chavez Ravine and thought “Why not?” and pulled in to Dodger Stadium.

I missed the first inning and most of the scoring but I did see a kid names Chris Volstad make his first ever major league start... and throw a shut out into the 9th inning.

In all he lasted 8 2/3 innings.
Wow, imagine that! The kid was pitching well and they let him pitch!
Don't they know that you are supposed to baby them?

Don't they know that you are supposed to call paramedics if a rookie pitcher throws more than 30 pitches?

And he relieved one day and then went into the rotation?
Don't they know that is a long painful process the requires months of agonizing?

At one point the Dodgers had the trivia contest for some poor schmuck on the field.
The question was "Name the third Co-MVP with Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager for the 1981 World Series."

They gave the choices of Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela and Ron Cey.

A guy in front of me yelled out "FERNANDO!"
I said "No! Ron Cey!" very confidently.

The guy looked at me and said "You seem sure of it." And yelled out Ron Cey.

The answer was of course Ron Cey.

The guy turned to me and said "You are a REAL Dodger fan."
I said "Nope. I'm not a Dodger fan at all. I just know it."

He responded "Did you Google it?"

I pointed to my head "This is my Google! When someone asks about the World Series, Google calls ME!"

The best way to change momentum...

If your team has a triple play overturned, take advantage of that by blasting out 7 runs and turn a nail biter into a blow out.

I love winning games when Beckett falls behind 3-0 early.
I love winning games when Manny gets several huge hits and can take the last few innings off.
I love winning games when Papelbon doesn't have to pitch.

Hell, I love sweeping a contending team after a rough road trip.

Day off tomorrow and then bring on the Orioles!

WAIT A SECOND! Is Ponson good?

Sidney Ponson had his second good outing for the Yankees today... 6 innings 1 run and the Yankees eventually won.

Now how am I supposed to make fun of the Yankee rotation if the washed up drunk has been they are forced to start is actually effective?

I wonder what Marlin fans think of the Beckett/Hernandez match up

As the Red Sox and the Twins finish their series this afternoon at Fenway, I can't help but wonder what real Marlin fans think about the match up.

Josh Beckett and Livan Hernandez...
2003 World Series MVP versus the 1997 NLCS and World Series MVP.

The man who shut down the Cubs and then clinched the World Series at Yankee Stadium against the big guy who kept winning games with the help of his nasty stuff and Eric Gregg's strike zone which was as wide as... well.... Eric Gregg.

Is their nostalgia?
Is their bitterness?
Is their resignation?

Or have you all just moved on?

Is that part of being a Marlins fan? Knowing that the post season heroes will go away?
Or are you more concerned with Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez et al getting THEIR World Series rings before leaving town?

Sully Baseball is just curious

Well that's ONE solution!

Remember I couldn't figure out what to do regarding the Tampa/Yankee series?

Well my Red Sox showed me a good solution:
Just root for the Sox to win... and win a game that I wrote off in the 8th inning as a "Damn it! Loss."

Hey, anytime the bats look dead and the boys are down 5-2 in the 8th is a time you think "Damn it, we should have won this one."

These games feel like two wins, especially with the beautiful sight of Manny plugging a game tying homer and looking happy.

Happy Manny is a good thing.

OK, the Yankees won last night... tonight I root for a 20 inning game in the Bronx.

The Harden trade was right for both the Cubs and the A's

The Rich Harden to the Cubs trade is one of those rare moves where I think both teams made the right move and did what they had to do.

The Cubs need to do this.
This is their 2004. In 2004 Theo Epstein said enough is enough, pushed all the chips to the center of the table in a go for broke "we need to win RIGHT NOW" season and ate the lousy Thanksgiving dinner at the Schillings.

Cubs fans are getting a little less cuddly.
And the Thomas Paine level pain is getting worse.

And oh yeah, the Brewers... the f---ing Brewers got the biggest fish in the trade pond.

The Cubs fans have already sat through the disastrous 2003 series against Florida... then see their two companions in futility win the World Series with the Red Sox and crosstown White Sox... then saw their rivals win with the Cardinals in 2006 and then the Red Sox picked up another for good measure.

To then hear it from the Cheeseheads up north while their search goes into a second century would be too much.

They need a pitcher to win now, even if he flames out and is worthless in 2009.
(Ring a bell, Mark Prior?)

Which brings us to the A's.

You can't say, think or type the name Rich Harden without saying the words "when healthy."

- When healthy Rich Harden would be a Cy Young contender.
- When healthy Rich Harden would be the A's ace
- When healthy Rich Harden would enjoy a nice meal at Sizzler.

He should go to City Hall and legally change his name to "Injury Prone Rich Harden" just to make it official.

And there were times that Harden's trade value was so low that he'd probably have to settle for the sequel rights to The Love Guru and a flat can of Sprite for him.

So now he gets Boston native Sean Gallagher and 3 other guys for him knowing that his body could fall apart faster than the black knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

So good for Billy Beane for trading when he had value.
Watch the A's win the Division with Gallagher leading the way while Harden is due to go on the DL in 3.... 2.... 1

Spoke too soon

I guess I shouldn't have brought up Lester's no hitter

Not to get ahead of myself but...

Through 3 innings Jon Lester has a no hitter.

I'm just saying

Varitek an All Star?

I had a few people write to me regarding the Mike Sharperson Award.

I gave the prize, given to the player who is on the roster only because each team needs a rep and will inevitably make people at home say "WHO?" to Nate McLouth.

Mainly people said I was being a homer and ignoring Jason Varitek's selection to the team.

Let me say that first of all he isn't Sharperson eligible.
People HAVE heard of him and clearly has had All Star years in the past.

That being said, the only way that Jason Varitek should be at the 2008 All Star Game is if he buys a ticket.
I love the captain and will give him standing ovations from here to the end of time (which will be indicated by a Cleveland Championship).

But he's been such an automatic out this year that sometimes I wonder if the Sox should bring back Doug Mirabelli for his bat!

This is clearly a reputation selection and a respect selection rather than honoring the production of someone currently batting sub .220.

Plus there is no shortage of Red Sox this year at the All Star Game...
Papi, Papelbon, Drew, Pedroia, Youk, Manny... Christ I think Marty Barrett will be there too!

But how does Varitek get the call over A.J. Pierzynski?
Jorge Posada?

Hell, Kevin Cash!

Oh well, the bizarre selections are as much a part of this game as the snubs.
Starting next year I will hand out not only the Sharperson Award but also the Varitek Award.

How's about that, dear readers?

Who should I root for?

I don't know who to root for in tonight's Tampa Bay/Yankees game.

The Red Sox are 6 games back in the loss column and need to make up ground, which means root for Tampa to lose.
But that means rooting for the Yankees to win... which not only goes against everything I hold dear, but also means that the Lazarus of teams might be getting warmed up for a run at the East.

I guess all I can do is root for the Red Sox to win against Minnesota and hope all the Rays/Yanks games in the Bronx go 22 innings.

Just like the Joba situation... without the stupidity

The Red Sox need a reliever... they have a solid rotation... Buchholz and maybe Colon are coming back, so they decided Justin Masterson should go to the pen, so they are sending him to Pawtucket to get used to relieving.

That was simple.
And makes good baseball sense.

Unlike the drama in the Bronx where everyone hemmed and hawed and turned the regular season into Joba's personal spring training.

Call me crazy, even after losing the series to Houston and Tampa and getting only a split in New York... I am not panicking yet.
And I think this Masterson move will be solid. It will be like getting another reliever without trading away Kason Gabbard and David Murphy.

What was so hard about that?

A well pitched game from Dice K... clutch defense... a nice lead off double from Pedroia... a solid clutch hit from Manny... relief good enough to get the job done

Doesn't it seem like EVERY game should go like that?

THE MIKE SHARPERSON MEMORIAL ALL STAR AWARD

There is a rule in selecting All Stars for the once relevant Mid Season Classic that says each team needs to be represented.

This rule is of course insane because sometimes a team simply doesn't have an All Star worthy player... but it also means that every year there is a player that has no business playing in an All Star Game that gets to make the trip.

I am naming this honor after the late Mike Sharperson, the lone representative of the 1992 Los Angeles Dodgers.

That team, that lost 99 games, had a lot of familiar All Star names (Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Orel Hershiser, Brett Butler, Tom Candiotti, Jay Howell, Juan Samuel, Mike Scoscia, John Candelaria) but Sharperson, who batted .300 in 128 games got to make the trip to San Diego for the All Star Game.

He came into the game in the 8th inning, and struck out in the 9th against Dennis Eckersley.

He was basically a utility infielder starting 33 games at second and 39 games at third. The rest of the time he was a pinch hitter.

That's right, the Dodgers lone rep for the All Star game was a bench player.

Some people think MLB needs to change this rule because it is silly to see the Robert Ficks, Randy Winns and Mark Redmans of the world supposedly representing the best of the best.

But I like it.
It's a funny quirk that to me allows us that inevitable moment where you shriek "[INSERT MEDIOCRE PLAYER NAME HERE] is an All Star?"

This year there is no glaring Sharperson candidate.

The Finalists would be

NATE McLOUTH of the Pirates.
BRIAN WILSON of the Giants.

I'd probably have to go with McLouth.

The official award will be handed out on the eve of the All Star Game.
I'm sure they will be thrilled.

I just can't wait to see the parade in New York where greats like Frank Robinson and Yogi Berra will be waving to the crowd along with A-Rod, Manny and Pujols.

How many people will be screaming "OH MY GOD!!! NATE McLOUTH!!!"?

Two Hares Fight While The Tortoise Starts To Pull Away

As a Red Sox fan who constantly talks to Yankee fans... there is an arrogance and a tendency to think that history matters.

Yankee fans can't stop talking about their 26 titles and STILL try to slip the 86 year gap in Red Sox titles into conversation.

Red Sox fans like to remind the Yankees that they root for the defending World Champions and the Sox have won 2 World Series since the Yankees last won a single playoff series.

And all the while both fan bases are obsessing over the other while the best team in baseball gains ground.

The fan bases' mutual arrogance just assumes the Tampa Bay Rays will fall apart.
Why?

Because they are Tampa. And until this year were a complete joke.

Bringing up Tampa's dreadful past is as relevant as chanting 19-18... or showing clips of Roberts stealing second.

Anyone who watches the three teams and knows nothing about their history would see Tampa is young, dynamic, with solid pitching and an arsenal of weapons in the line up.

Anyone who watches the Red Sox sees a team with good starting pitching and a nice line up... but a line up that gets soft by the end and a vulnerable bullpen.

Anyone who watches the Yankees sees a staggeringly inconsistent line up (that got a little weaker with Damon's injury) and questionable starting pitching.

Tampa is the best team in baseball folks.
While the Red Sox and Yankees split four and gained no ground on each other, the Rays simply padded their lead extending their winning streak to 7.

They are 7 games up in the loss column on the Red Sox.
The Red Sox need to make up a week's worth of games just to catch them.

The Yankees are 10 games back in the loss... does anyone save for the most crazed Yankee fan see them making up 10 games?

Anyone discounting the Rays now can only point to arrogance and history.

Right now I'd rather take another reliever

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!

1924... clap clap CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

I have a philosophical question to ask Washington National fans:

Do you belong in the conversation of long suffering baseball fans?

There was always a big three tortured fan bases of World Series futility.

The Cubs, the Red Sox and the White Sox.

Now you may have heard, the Red Sox took care of business in 2004. I think some of the major papers covered it. They threw in a second title in 2007 for good measure.

And the White Sox secretly won a World Series of their own in 2005. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

Now the Cubs, currently the best NL team will either be taking themselves off the list this year or will be continuing their search for a second century.

The next two suffering fan bases would be the Indians (who have been waiting since 1948 for a title) and the Giants (whose last title, 1954, came at Cleveland's expense but before the move to San Francisco.)

But I submit that Washington fans might belong in the conversation as well.

The very notion of a Washington pennant was so absurd they made a musical about it!
And it didn't involve farm development or shrewd trades but a deal with the devil.

If you are a die hard Washington baseball fan... here's the hardships you've dealt with.






1. The only World Series title was 1924

That's only 6 years better than 1918, and trust me I never heard the end of THAT date!

Annie Oakley was still alive.
Johnny Carson wasn't born.

It's been a while.

2. There hasn't been a World Series played in Washington since 1933.

To put that in perspective, that was the same year King Kong came out.
The original... with Fay Wray.

That movie was considered old when they remade it in 1976.

It was considered really old when they remade it in 2005.

It's old.

3. There was a lot of bad bad baseball played in Washington over the years.

The 1904 and the 1909 Senators both played sub .300 ball.

In the 15 years after World War II before the first team moved to Minnesota, the Senators had a whopping 1 winning season.

The 1952 Senators finished 78-76... and they needed to win a 1 run game against the Red Sox to finish the season, other wise they would have evened out at 77-77


4. When the team was developing into a winner, they were swapped out for an expansion team.


It's really one of the strangest wrinkles in baseball expansion history when you think about it.

A team called the Washington Senators finished the 1960 season.
Then at the start of the 1961 season there was a team called the Washington Senators... but it wasn't the same team.

Oh they had the same uniforms and the same team name, but the other team was now playing in Minnesota and called themselves the Twins.

It was as if Minnesota was awarded an expansion team, and then traded the entire team and front office to Washington.

By 1965, the Twins were in the World Series.
In 1965, the new Senators avoided 100 losses for the first time in their 5 year history... still lost 92.

5. New organization, same result
Ted Williams became the manager in 1969 and scared the team to a winning season.

After that, it was back to losing 90 some odd a year.



6. Abandoned twice!

The Senators leave for a parking lot in Arlington Texas.

Seriously, what other city has lost TWO teams?
The baseball fans of Washington became your woman friend who always claims that this time it will be different with her boyfriend... and then gets dumped again.


7. Suddenly you are all Baltimore fans?

The Senators leave just as the Orioles start their glory years.
Fans from Washington have to travel to Baltimore to experience big league baseball.

That's like saying "New York baseball fans have to travel to Bridgeport Connecticut to watch a live ball game."


8. The long dark age

For literally decades, no baseball in Washington.
I was born in 1972, after the Rangers started their season.

I never saw a team representing the Nation's Capital until 2005, when I was a 33 year old father of 2.

That's a gap.


9. WAIT YOUR TURN!!!

Baseball had two expansions adding 4 teams total since 1992.
And despite the fact that they had a stadium ready and a fan base, the good folks who run baseball felt in their infinite wisdom that Miami, Denver, Phoenix and Tampa Bay were all better baseball markets.


10. Getting the scraps
Of course baseball expanded like crazy without addressing the fact that maybe some fledgling franchises should be MOVED instead of new ones being made.

And the result was the cluster f*ck known as the Montreal Expos... a team nobody wanted but couldn't be contracted. So Bud Selig, always one to make good long term decisions, made sure the team was owned by the league itself (no conflict of interest there).

The team played in Montreal in front of friends and family with no TV contract and no hope. Anyone with half a brain saw they had to move and the only place they COULD move was Washington. Instead of striking a deal with the Orioles and Peter Angelos before the 2002 season, they waited until before the 2005 season.

3 years of potential baseball (including the 2002 and 2003 seasons where the Expos had a winning record) denied.


So now Washington has a team again... a really bad team but a team nonetheless.

The city looks back to Walter Johnson, a ball hitting a pebble and Muddy Ruel lumbering home with their only Series win.

Old timers might remember Joe Cronin, Mickey Vernon and Frank Howard.
Most people will remember the bad times.

So let me ask you Nationals fans... how long suffering are you?

How about you, Miss Chatter? Do you belong in the same breath as Indians, Giants or God Forbid Cubs fans?

Do the folks at Nats 320 think that a long suffering label will give the team character?

Or maybe you are like Capitol Punishment and a tad masochistic

Hey folks at Federal Baseball... have you dropped the Orioles like a hot potato?

All I know is you better win soon and make this discussion moot.
I know the Nationals just got there, but 2024 isn't that far away!

It's getting surreal

I've seen a lot of baseball in my life, but the ball that just stayed on the top of the fence... I've only seen a play like that in Angels in the Outfield.

And any situation where you have Tony Danza playing a pitcher is slightly unbelievable.

I love wins like today because when the Yankees took a 3-0 lead, I thought "Well, maybe today isn't our day."

A day where psychologically you put in the L collumn turns up big makes it feel like 2 wins.

Up 2-0 in the series... up 5-2 in the season series...
The weak lineup looking even weaker with Damon out tomorrow.

Don't get cocky, Sullivan.
Maybe there will be angels at work again.

Yesterday was a Red Sox fan and a Yankee hater paradise

How could yesterday be better?

Lester threw a complete game shutout.
The Red Sox played smart baseball, manufacturing runs.
They stopped a losing streak in the Bronx.
They won the opening of the series with Beckett going in game 2 and a completely rested bullpen.

Seriously, how could it be better?

I know! The Yankees could be calling meetings and seem angry.
The Steinbrenners could be calling out the team.

Madonna is somehow involved.

But let's not get cocky Yankee haters.
This could be a wake up call game for the Yankees...

Best hope Beckett wins today.
It's a shame that Colon is hurt... I would have love to have seen a Colon/Ponson match up.

2 pitchers... 1,000 pounds between them.
Not sure the structure of Yankee Stadium could handle it.

Am I in Wonderland?

How strange has this year been?

I was more excited for the Tampa series than the Yankee series?
I actually thought today "Thank GOD we're out of Tampa and playing the Yankees now."

Who would have thought there would be more juice in series at the Trop?
Who would have imagined the Fourth of July series with the Yankees being anticlimactic after Tampa?

Who could have pictured that the team in the AL East with the swagger being the team with the TB on their hats?

Strange year.
Wonder what else will happen through the looking glass

How crazed at work have I been?

I've been working such late and crazy hours... that I forgot today was a Red Sox/Yankees day

I usually schedule my day and my kids childcare around Sox-Yankees.

I'll write something later...

But for now, it's back to the mines.

Way to go NL West

The whole division is going into the games on July 3rd under .500.

Nice product.

Seriously, some team better go on a spending spree and put a decent product on the field.

Come on! promise your fan base mediocrity!!!

No more underestimating the Rays

There is a moment in the first Jurassic Park film when Muldoon, the game warden, thinks he is about to kill one of he raptors terrorizing the heroes.

He has it in his sites and just before he pulls the trigger, he sees a second raptor is about to attack him.

At the very moment he knows he's about to be eaten he mutters "Clever girl" and then becomes lunch.

Well guess what?
The Red Sox were poor Muldoon. And the Tampa Bay Rays were that raptor.

My boys had a 4-1 lead... they were going to avoid the sweep and quicker than that raptor attacked the lead was gone... and the best team in baseball is now up 5 games in the loss column.

No more underestimating Tampa Bay.
Mentioning their past is as relevant as chanting 19-18.

They are the best team in baseball...

Clever girl

Armando Borowski

When I heard the Indians lost a game where they were winning with 2 outs in the 10th inning, I thought to myself "Joe Borowski must be off the DL."

And lo and behold I checked the box score and it was indeed Borowski who let up a 2 out homer to Ramirez.

Not Manny
Not Hanley
Not Aramis

Alexi Ramirez

Oh yeah then he let up a single, a stolen base and a game winning hit.

Hey Indians... here's a tip:
Borowski sucks.
He isn't in Benitez country yet, but maybe the 7.56 ERA should tell you something.

You are in last place a year after taking a 3-1 lead in the ALCS.
You can't afford to lose any more games. It's not a fluke.

Why not sign Benitez? He's available

Marlins win! And the crowd goes wild! Both of them

The other day I watched the last 2 innings of the Marlins - Nationals game on MLB.tv and saw Hanley Ramirez hit a 9th inning homer to tie it and Josh Willingham hit a walk off shot in the 10th.

The only way I could describe the crowd was that it reminded me of those high school tournaments where the championship game is played in a Major League park when the team is away. The stadium is 98% empty, but the parents who are there are going ape.

Let's just say Josh Willingham's mom took him to Dairy Queen after the game.

RAYS-ing Cain

OK folks... things are getting odd.
It's now July 2nd and the Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in baseball.

They beat my beloved Sox again last night and are 51-32... 2 1/2 games up... 4 up in the loss column in the AL East.

The team whose lone highlight prior to this year was the movie The Rookie is now the standard of baseball.

And you can't even say "It's early."
"Ahh it's a fluke... it's only April... Sorry May... Sorry June... Sorry July."

It's late and I should be in bed, so why not look up some stats on Baseball Reference, the single greatest website on the internet?

OK, let's see what happened to the team that was the best team in baseball going into July 2nd since the Divisions expanded from 4 to 6:

1995: Cleveland Indians - Won AL Pennant
1996: Atlanta Braves - Won NL Pennant
1997: Baltimore Orioles - Won Division
1998: New York Yankees - Won World Series
1999: Cleveland Indians - Won Division
2000: Chicago White Sox - Won Division
2001: Seattle Mariners - Won Division
2002: Atlanta Braves - Won Division
2003: Atlanta Braves - Won Division
2004: New York Yankees - Won Division
2005: Chicago White Sox - Won World Series
2006: Boston Red Sox - Missed Playoffs
2007: Boston Red Sox - Won World Series

So since the first completed year of 6 division play, the best team after July 1 made the playoffs 12 out of 13 times.

The one team that didn't, the 2006 Red Sox, had a perfect storm of injuries (Papi, Varitek, Manny, Nixon, Wells, Lester, Foulke, Papelbon and Schilling) that leveled them in the second half. (And they rebounded ok in 2007.)

So guess what folks... this team has a damn good chance of not just having a winning record.

Saving a rash of injuries Tampa Bay will in all likely hood be playing in October.
They'll be playing BASEBALL, not golf... or shuffle board.

Forget the ambition of trying to get to .500.
They just need to go 31-48 to reach the once unthinkable winning record.

If the Rays play 17 games under .500 the rest of the way this year, Joe Maddon will win Manager of the Year.

If they play just 1 game over .500 the rest of the way, the Rays will go 91-71... or better than any National League team in 2007.

The Rays winning 90 games and making the playoffs? Forget Manager of the Year... Joe Maddon might win the Nobel Prize.

What I am saying is you can not say "It's a fluke" anymore.

The Tampa Bay Rays are now a legitimate playoff front runner.
Read that sentence again.

"Horsemen, party of four. Paging Horsemen, party of four."

Hey NL West...

Nice division!

It's July 2nd and you don't have a single team over .500?
The Rockies and Padres who played a one game, winner makes the playoff last year are now playing sub .400 ball... and yet are not out of it.

The Dodgers can't get a hit, are 5 game sunder .500 and within striking distance of first place!

The GIANTS are still in it!
Any team that is 10 games under .500 going into July should not be saying the sentence "Who should we pick up at the trade deadline?"

But why not?
Hey, in a year where .500 might get you a ticket to the dance, why not push your chips to the center of the table?

Seriously, I expect to see some wild trades from the NL West at the end of this month.
Start adding up your prospects and see if they equal C. C. Sabathia or Ken Griffey Jr!

Wouldn't it be something if the Giants win 83 games, make the playoffs and pull a 2006 Cardinals and win it all with a subpar team, all in the year after Barry left?

So come on NL West.
Aim for the middle! That should be enough

Tampa Bay... knock it off

Hey Rays... it's been a nice story.
But cool it, will you?

It's fantastic that you have turned things around and had a great first 3 months.

But being in first place going into the last day of June?
And facing the Red Sox where a win will make you up 1 1/2 games (3 in the loss column!) in July?

This is starting to scare me a bit.
So do us all a favor... and start LOSING AGAIN!

(But still finish ahead of the Yankees)

But guess what?
It's time for the new chapter in the best new rivalry in baseball!
Boston vs. Tampa Bay!

Are you ready Dirt Bag Fan?
Sadly no live blog with the Professor this time, but it's the first meeting since the Brawl!

Who knew this Tampa game would be so big?
Now let's try to avoid any more 11-10 losses and recapture first place from Tampa.

Man even typing that sentence looks odd.