the one in which my blood runs cold

i should be rejoicing. a win! and HUGE hitting for Wakefield last night. Manny & Papi at 2 homers a piece. the (stupid) scoreboard robbing Lowell of two long balls & Papi of his third, but awarding them stand up doubles & RBIs. the boys opened it up & restored their pride after the whooping they received the night before, coming to the plate with magical bats of steel instead of Twinkies & overcooked spaghetti noodles. i should be glowing over the fact that the Yankees lost & now share the "4 games out of first" spot with the Blue Jays--and because the Sox have managed to start out July on exactly the right foot. there were records set & milestones reached. and even though i was relegated to listening to WEEI online & watching the stats on Gameday because the Sunshine Network decided that instead of the promised baseball game, they would show two Chinese women boxing & replays of the Special Olympics, i was still dancing with delight over the multiple proclamations of "Way back! Way back! This ball is GOOOONE!"

instead i bring you...this...

i read something this morning on The Joy of Sox that could have come straight from my own head: Since I often rip Terry Francona for various transgressions (both real and imagined!)... *ahem* often more real than imagined, unfortunately...

truly though...i can't figure out just what in the hell is up with his over-managing the pitching this year. he can't just leave it alone & make his decisions based upon how his starter is doing instead of what appears to be rigidly following some pre-selected pitching schedule he has created alongside the day's batting order. (for someone who will appreciate it: "No schedule for you!" *whack*) i see him pulling starters that are still on the money for no other apparent reason than pitch count, which, while important to consider & monitor, isn't as black & white as simply reaching 100. i've heard more than one pitcher state that sometimes you can throw 115 more comfortably in one game than 85 in other games--15 pitches over 100 can be a whole extra inning from your starter! and more importantly, prevent the use of the EZs. or even worse is when it appears as though the decision is based on what inning it is. "oops! 7th inning! time for Julian Tavarez to come in & lose the game for us! look--it's right here in the game script, see?"

to be fair, other than a few other minor comments he's made that have made me shake my head in disbelief (like only needing 4 pitchers in the rotation or having Wily Mo back Youk at first base, for example), i do believe that Tito knows what he's doing. i'm just a little baffled by his pitching choices is all.

this following quote though may push me over the edge. especially when you look at who said it...and who is responsible for making this happen, if indeed it does:

Johnson admitted to feeling a bit nervous last night: I had a lot of adrenaline going the first couple innings, my first start with Boston and stuff. I was trying to go out there and impress guys, trying to throw a little too hard, falling off the mound a little bit. ... Over the last two innings, I settled down and threw the ball where I wanted. ... I'm just going to go out there five days from now and pitch against Tampa and work at getting the ball down right off the bat.

now i ask you, JASON JOHNSON WHAT?? he can't seriously be pitching in Tampa. i thought for sure he'd be gone after that showing Friday night. i mean...i mean...(look! i am reduced to sputtering!) Kyle Snyder got a WIN & David Pauley showed incredible poise, giving up hits but not very many runs, even if he was cited at the losing pitcher. and they both got shipped back to AAA. and Jason Johnson is pitching again in Tampa?? well so sayeth the Probable Pitchers report on the Red Sox website.

i have to tell you...if Jason Johnson keeps his spot...and upon Matt Clement's return, which is looking imminent at this point (queue up the horror movie music!), Lester finds himself on the bus back to Pawtucket...well, i don't know what. i am actually completely incapable of forming the rest of this thought--the preceding statement is *that* distressing.

i hope he enjoys feeling like this because i, for one, do not.