Dawn's Thursday Thirteen, edition 8: we have success! too bad it it didn't happen on the ball field last night =P
ok that's *it*. i have been trying for days to create this post but it requires photos & every time i try to upload, Blogger gets all cranky on me. i have had *enough*. some of this stuff is getting so old, it's going to have a "hey, you remember that time when..." quality to it!
so. anyway. TTTHHHBBBPPPFFFTTT!!! to the Blogger issues. let's get this show on the road. and as my Thursday Thirteen to boot, since conveniently, i have 13 points to make.
1) going way back to the All Star Game (see what i mean?!) & the Manny "controversy" about how dare he be injured & not play, thus putting his team's interests & his own health first...i think that Tim McCarver is a gigantic ass for alluding to this being an imaginary injury by stating "the worst thing about his knee injury was 'remembering which leg to limp with'." and all this nonsense about Manny being the only one that didn't show up to play. tell me...did anyone see Pedro Martinez there after he was scratched? lay off of Manny. he's being a whole lot less Manny this year. he's trying to actually run the bases. he's making an effort in the field. he's not been whining at all.
2) i miss the Wakabelli Show.
i miss my favorite pitcher on the mound, quietly getting the job done. i want him back quickly...but not as the expense of his health. a stress fracture in his ribs...and they are getting the impression he pitched through that kind of discomfort for a MONTH. iron man. sacrifice self for team, knowing that pitching is an area of struggle this season. have i mentioned i miss him?
3) the Mike Lowell rumor freaked me out. i am glad they put it to rest, both for him & for RSN. he is a freak of nature at third base. the man plays injured with hardly a grimace. the man shows up to the field with a stomach bug on game day & has to be sent home. the man is The King of Doubles. leave him be.
4) on the topic of trade rumors. i am heartsick at the thought of Trot Nixon being put up on the trading block. player after professional player has been criticized for having no team loyalty...merely following the paychecks to the highest bidder. how many current players can you name that have played for the same team their entire career? and here is one--and not a non-contributing player at that!--who explicitly makes it known that he wants to finish his career in Boston...and they have not even sat down to talk with him. that discourages & disgusts me that they will not even allow him that respect for what he has done in a Red Sox uniform.
5) one last trade deadline related thought regarding one of two players i would be THRILLED to see go: "A Julian Tavarez-for-Ray King deal with Colorado is likely dead because the Rockies don't want to pay Tavarez's $3.1 million salary for 2007. Imagine that." cracked. me. up.
6) this little bit on A-Rod made me chuckle as only a Red Sox fan can:
• Feeling bad for A-Rod yet?
Considering ol' blue lips made more $$$$$$ in the time it took me to write that sentence than I'll make in the next 10 years, uh, no, I'm not feeling bad for Slappy McWhippingboy. The story is relentlessly fascinating, though. First, it's almost as if the soulless New York tabloid media (and to an extent, the Yankees' counterproductive fans) are on his case in part just to see how far they can push him. It's almost like they want to break him, want him to turn into another Knoblauch before their eyes, want him to feel unworthy, want to run perhaps the most talented player in baseball out of town for no other reason than because he is not Derek Jeter-McCarver, Captain of All Things Intangible. There's something voyeuristic and intensely cruel about what's happening here. I've always thought it was a matter of time before A-Rod seized the moment and carried the Yankees to a playoff series victory or two - and then I realized he'd already done it, against the Twins in '04, and everyone was too busy getting gauzy camera angles of Jeter's reactions to notice. Because of the burden of expectations, his monster contract and his calculated, insincere persona, A-Rod gets no leeway or credit for anything he has accomplished - it's what's expected of him, after all. So here is now, strangling the bat, grinding the damn thing into sawdust in his hands, trying to hit a five-run homer and wondering what the hell he's supposed to do. Here he is now, slinging air-mailed throws into the first base boxes, consulting one more quack psychologist, and spending sleepless nights asking why he ever agreed to change positions for that smirking jerk to the left, the alleged captain who defended Giambi but so tellingly refused to defend him. It's a colossal mess, and while as a Red Sox fan I hope he continues to submarine the Yankees, as a baseball fan I hope he gets his ---- straight, because it would be a shame for his talent to be devoured by the jackals. Let's just hope by the time he gets it together - if he gets it together - he's playing for the Phillies, or somewhere else far from this rivalry. (Touching All the Bases)
i have to say...i feel for him a little bit. i mean he can't do *anything* right, even when he is producing. he may be an arrogant, greedy prima donna but there is no arguing that he has talent. he's human. he's going to slump & have bad games & struggle from time to time. i guess everyone just pales in the shadow of Jeter. and speaking of shortstops that get lost in the shuffle, how about our little Alex: "Light-hitting" Alex Gonzalez has two more home runs than Jeter (or, if you prefer, Trot Nixon. What was it that Trot was doing differently back when he had power, anyway?) And by the way, Sutcliffe blathered again last night that Jeter is the best defensive shortstop in the AL. Yup, I'm pretty sure he was drinking on their air again. You, me and A-Rod know that Gonzo is so much better than Jeter it's not even worth debating. (Touching All the Bases)
7) love this quote about the Cap'n: "Everyone appreciates Varitek, from the pitchers who rank ahead of his own offense at the top of his priorities list, to the manager who can't help but speak of his own player in reverent tones, to the fans who see in him play the game with the dedication and passion not of a multimillionaire star, but of a working-class grunt desperate to hang on to his dream job. He might be the most universally respected Sox player of my lifetime..."
and another...just 'cause.
8) "Ten Things About Last Night" from Surviving Grady was worth a chuckle...and i whole-heartedly agree. i nodded along & everything. except for one thing. #5. i still think the Rays (and any other team donning those vest-style tops) have much uglier uniforms than the A's. =P
9) hey...do you remember that time Big Papi stole second base?..."and Manny and Youk looked like they were going to have a seizure in the dugout they were laughing so hard" while doing the two-man wave?...and Mark Loretta pulling up the base & handing it over to Papi at the end of the game? good times. =)
10) or how about that time when Dougie "How-YOU-Doin'?" Mirabelli, batting all of 190-something, hit that 3-run homer to tie up a game? i love to see him shine. he gets so excited. and i am tired of hearing about Bard who is hitting so impressively back in San Diego. *of course* he is. he's not stressing every 5th game about catching one of the most difficult pitches in baseball & letting balls get away from him, so he can focus on other aspects of the game. ::rolling my eyes:: NO ONE catches Wakefield with as much ease and JOY as Dougie, maytheyneverbeseparatedagain.
11) The Kid has earned my respect. by that, i mean i do not pace when i know he's coming up next in the rotation. he's got some stuff, that one. a little more experience...a little more maturity...and he is going to be part of the future of this ball club. if they are smart enough to hang onto him that is.
12) i am ready for Wells to come back. he's a far sight better than anyone else who has pitched fifth in the rotation. if he can just stay healthy till Wakefield is healed, then i can live with Snyder at the back of the rotation.
13) as much as i love the second half of "set-'em-up and close-'em-down"...i have to say, something about watching Timlin pitch fascinates me. i don't even know why. but i find it impossible not to like him.
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