Singapore Sox Fan: September 05, 2004

I Heart New York

At the end of July 2001, I left my East 28th St apartment in New York to reenter the military in Singapore, flying out of JFK through Eero Saarinen's glorious TWA Terminal. I spent my second-last night in New York in the shadow of the looming towers, roaming through TriBeCa, gazing up at their lights, gaping at their magnitude. I knew I would miss the city, its energy, the confluences of worlds compressed into its five boroughs.

Less than two months later, the world changed, and on that horrible day we were all Americans.

Always remember. Always.

In memoriam Sept 11, 2001.

What's up with all these rookie starters?

Danger Will Robinson!

After going 0-5 against rookie starters they have not seen before, the Sox will see another one Tuesday when [Pedro] faces Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.

Time for Pedro to show that the hype about Kazmir is just that - hype.

Sox-Mariners Preview: Rime and Reason

Facile credo, plures esse Naturas invisibiles quam visibiles in rerum universitate. Sed horum omnium familiam quis nobis enarrabit? et gradus et cognationes et discrimina et singulorum munera?
- Prelude to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Baseball fans are a superstitious lot. We wear the same grubby clothing that "helped" our team on its winning streak, we sit in the same spot that's become damp with the sweat of our thighs, we ix-nay any attempts at premature celebration. But we're not the only group that's superstitious. There's actors, for one. You can't say "Macbeth", you've got to refer to the play as the "Scottish Play". So I have decided that I will, from henceforth, refer to Grady Little's brainfart in not knowing "Timlin in the 8th, Williamson in the 9th" as the "Scottish Play". Or, for that matter, the phrase can be employed any time a manager's too slow with the hook: "And Torre turns the Scottish Play".

Why that preamble? Because I've figured that the one time I didn't blog a preview to a game recently was at Wakefield's loss, and I'm not going to let that happen again. So here goes: Lowe vs Moyer. Methinks the power supply will keep flowing. These Sox can smell blood, and like sharks are heading for the chum. These Mariners will be sunk. The Minnow would be lost.

Sox 13, Mariners 2: Bash Brothers

"She spends his Franklins at the mall with her friends"
- Wyclef Jean, "We Tryin' to Stay Alive"

If you're Bob Melvin, what can you do? Franklin's spent, giving up the entire cycle in 2/3 of an inning (Ortiz homer, Mueller single, Roberts double, Damon triple) but "You Can't Call Me Al" Kida isn't exactly the most convincing name in the bullpen. The Sox carried some of yesterday's sluggishness into the first few innings, but one thing I love about the current state of the Sox is that they know how to pour it on. 2 outs thanks to a DP that could've sucked the life out of the team, and instead they go on a rampage, culminating in Man Ram's Grand Slam (does that sound like a dish at Denny's? That's right, serve 'em). I like it very much: no nibbling 1-run innings, just blasting it open with all kinds of hits. More please.

Sox-Mariners Preview: O Captain My Captain

Yo no soy marinero
Yo no soy marinero
Soy capitan
Soy capitan
Soy capitan
- Ritchie Valens, "La Bamba"

"La Bamba" would be a fun song to hear on the Fenway PA when the Mariners ever come to town. Unfortunately every time I try to picture Ritchie Valens I just get Lou Diamond Phillips. I remember singing along to the Los Lobos version so much as a kid, and then one day I finally decided to figure out what the lyrics to the song meant, and was so disappointed to find out the "I am not a sailor / I am the captain" truth. But hey, it's the most appropriate lyrics for the upcoming game. I apologise for not doing a Sox-Mariners preview for the previous game. If that stopped the streak, here I am, back to get the Sox on their winning ways. Or at least pacify my superstition-addled mind. That Seattle bullpen looks very iffy, and the sooner the Sox can chase Franklin out of the game the deeper the damage they can inflict.

Sox 1, Mariners 7: Tattoo You

Sigh. A loss hurts, but somehow you knew it was going to come against one of the weak sisters of the American League. For some reason, the Sox can go on fire against the very best, but every now and then run into some undistinguished pitcher pitching the game of his life: first Ted Lilly, then Chris Young, now Bobby Madritsch. (Young and Madritsch are in their rookie seasons, admittedly, so it's easier for them to pitch the game of their lives, but still...) What is it? Do the Sox need copious amounts of video to truly study a pitcher's tendencies? Is it just a case of the Reverse Lock theory in action? Or do the laws of baseball gravity mean there has to be a comedown sometimes? Just glad we avoided the shutout, and, more than that, staged a semblance of a rally in the 9th. It's like the Bellhorn slam in the 8-6 loss to the Rangers: sure, it's a loss, but at least we came back - hope it carries over into the next game.

Is it just me, or does anyone else worry more in these games with the weak AL teams than the possible (fingers crossed!) ALDS matchups with the As, Angels, or Twins? Fortunately, Curt Schilling steps up to the mound tomorrow. Screw the Franklins - I'd rather have Schillings.

Random thoughts during the game: what does the half-Sioux Madritsch think about having to pitch against the Indians? That logo alone must be galling... did Jolbert tip his brother Orlando off for the homer? heh - purely invented conspiracy theory... I think Ichiro will hit 257, but not .400... the D-Rays may have keeled over for the Yankees, but at least the Yankees had to use Halsey-Sturtze today, so their rotation is really looking iffy...

Slouching towards Bethlehem

Lately, it's become fashionable to talk about the rag-tag appearance of the Sox. Jerry Crasnick wrote a piece that alternated between loving their goofiness and tut-tutting, calling the team

"a Kafka-esque parade of screwballs, wingnuts and fun-loving frat boys who are fixated on hair as a means of self-expression."

(The article is ESPN Insider-only, but you can get the main gist from the first few paragraphs.) Meanwhile, in today's Boston Globe, Dan Shaughnessy, the self-described Curly-Haired Boyfriend, writes about the team's appearance, but heck, the aura is so good around Boston that even Shaughnessy can't find it in himself to be mean. Compare this to the last time Shaughnessy wrote about the similarities between his and Pedro's hair, when he wrote in a much less flattering light:

"Personally, I think it's Pedro's new Shaughnessy hairstyle that might be messing him up, but whatever is going on, Martinez needs to get back on track"

For me, the interesting part about the article on the Sox's follicular follies are Theo Epstein's words:

"Let's say we had a policy requiring haircuts and no facial hair. The benefits would be uniformity, discipline, and perhaps a heightened sense of order. But we'd lose individuality, self-expression, and fun. Given our personalities, our players thrive when they're allowed to be themselves and have fun."

I think it's funny that Theo actually sounds like he did a cost-benefit analysis of letting hair grow out on his team. There's probably a regression analysis of World Series success to hair length floating around the bowels of Fenway Park, with Oakland's 1970s teams helping to raise the Hair Efficiency Ratio. But, to drag up an old quote, here's Brad Mills, Terry Francona's college teammate on meeting Francona for the first time:

He had hair way down past his shoulders, red Chuck Taylor hightop sneakers on, long cutoff jeans all raggedy, and a T-shirt on. I mean, your first thought is, 'Holy smokes.'

So it's probably not like Tito really has the desire to do anything about this team's appearance. (The U of Arizona did make Tito get all neat. Maybe he's still scarred by the experience. Or jealous that these people still have hair.) They really are the sons of Tito Francona...

Sox 8, As 3: It Never Gets Old

So, Tito held tryouts for the playoff roster (Astacio and Adams, you're out), while Tim Hudson contributed nicely to the Sox's offensive preparation by pitching batting practice. Keith Foulke got 1 out for a really cheap 5-run save, and Pedro hits 94 before getting some rest for a crucial stretch. It's flabbergasting, frankly. Who, seriously, would have thought the Sox's record in this Angels-Rangers-As stretch would be 8-1? Who would have thought the Rangers would most benefit in this battle for the AL West title because they went 1-2? I'm as optimistic as anyone, and I was seeing 6-3, 7-2 at best. Now the Crank Yankers are only 2 games back. It's really, really weird to see a Sox team defy expectations. No let downs now. The Sox are on to Seattle, and it's time to start beating up on the soft underbelly of the AL.

Law and Order: Red Sox

The familiar DUN-DUN sound...

PAWSOX TRAINING FACILITY, PAWTUCKET, RI. 6/1/2004 12.58PM.
BH Kim's fastball is declared dead. Jerry Orbach investigates. Bronson Arroyo is the prime suspect. They indict Arroyo on "conspiracy to take the #5 spot in the rotation".

DUN-DUN

MOAKLEY COURTHOUSE, FAN PIER, BOSTON, MA. 9/8/2004 11.04AM.
Turns out Arroyo has rock-solid evidence that he was noodling around at Daddy's Junky buying a new guitar. In a surprise twist, Sam Waterston tries Dr Morgan of the Sox medical staff for Murder Two, depraved indifference.

***

Next episode: Kevin Millar is involved in another copyright violation!

As for the preview of the final Sox-As game: No energy to write much. It's late in the evening, I'm wondering what clothes to wear. It's Pedro v. Hudson - in baseball, what more is there? Yes, it'll be wonderful tonight.

The OC is on

The New York Times runs an article on Orlando Cabrera today, in which I learnt, among other things, the trivial fact that Orlando and Jolbert Cabrera are brothers. The article also mentions that a cable company in Cartagena has purchased the rights from NESN to televise Red Sox games to Colombia. I always wonder about the effects of securing a player that's iconic, the way Pedro is for Dominicans. It almost certainly helps in terms of ensuring fan support, but does it also help our farm teams by breeding a generation of would-be Sox players?

As for the defensive upgrade, I think the best thing about good infield defense is it gives you breathing room as far as relievers go, since by saving runs and turning hits into outs you get the starting pitchers lower pitch counts and push them into later innings. There's two limitations in constructing a baseball roster. One, most obviously, is payroll. But the other is roster slots, whether you're talking about the 25 or 40 man. (And you can try to solve this constrained optimisation problem using a Lagrange multiplier... oops, economics coursework somehow revisited itself upon me.) So slotting in a good defender at certain key spots (SS, 2B, CF) may allow you to carry one less reliever and put in a DH/PH type hitter instead.

Incidentally, how come the New York Times doesn't need to disclose its part-ownership of the Sox when running stories about the team?

Sox 7, As 1: Hip hop don't stop

Big wheel keep on turnin'
Proud Mary keep on burnin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river
- "Proud Mary"

And the juggernaut keeps rolling on. Offense, defense, starting pitching, bullpen: all cylinders are firing. Damon's back. If I were an opposing pitcher I wouldn't even know where to breathe in the lineup: sure, there's Manny Ortiz, but the OC can deliver, so can Kapler. Even Derek Lowe can joke about his terrible first half.

"The other four days [in the first half] I would imagine the guys felt like they had a chance and then they said, 'Oh, God, here's Derek's day, let's see what we can do.'"

Compare that to him getting all snippy when asked about his pitching issues earlier this year (the whole "mental Gidget" thing). There's confidence oozing through the pores here. There's Pedro yesterday, fast and loose, kidding around by dialling into the cell thrown down by some rabid As fan. (Question: who throws a cellphone onto a field? Sure, the other team's pissed you off. Why would you get rid of something as valuable as your cellphone?) Nothing fazes them. I'm out of superlatives, and I'm out of breath.

Take the High Road

Taking up a cause, the Sox should make a nice donation to those affected by Hurricane Frances on behalf of the Sarasota Red Sox and issue an appropriate statement, something like: "We understand that George Steinbrenner must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by the Yankees' attempts to secure a forfeit during a time of great need for Tampa. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes."

And Jorge Posada has increased in my estimation for at least being willing to take a different position from his bosses:

"I always look at it like what I would have done," Posada said. "And if a hurricane is coming and they told me to leave Friday, I would not leave. I would have stayed in Florida and hopefully leave (Monday) in the morning."

Some things in life are above baseball. My relatives in Jamaica weren't harmed by Charley, fortunately, but it's never good to have to worry about your loved ones during these storms. For any Sox fans hit by Charley or Frances, from Florida or in the Caribbean, I hope you're safe and wish you all the best.

Sox-As Preview: How High

More Sox in California hi-jinks, as Lowe meets Redman (on a break from recording with Method Man, apparently) tomorrow. Seriously, Redman's the underrated part of the Oakland rotation, much as Carlos Zambrano has to play fourth fiddle to Prior-Wood-Clement, but it'll be tough. Fortunately Lowe's returning to his happy crotch-grabbing place, and his sinker lately looks on. I predict groundouts galore.

Speaking of Sox-California connections, one thing I've always found odd is that perhaps the iconic Boston song, the Standells' "Dirty Water", was written by a Californian band. It's kind of like an Icelandic band calling itself Singapore Sling (incidentally, according to their label, they play rock in the style of... the Standells). From the Boston Rock and Roll Museum website (i.e. dirtywater.com):

Not a Boston band but rather an act formed in Los Angeles in the early '60s. The kids reportedly chose their name as they often found themselves standing around their agent's office seeking work. The song, " (I Love That) Dirty Water" hit the charts for 9 weeks and reached number 11 back on 6/11/66. The tune allegedly depicts an attempted mugging that took place on the Smoot (nee MIT) Bridge on Mass Ave., Cambridge, when the boy's manager (Ed Cobb; one-time member of the Four Preps) was visiting Beantown back in the mid-'60s

Funny thing, though, the lyrics don't seem to suggest a mugging. More like complaints about dorm room curfews ("Frustrated women... have to be in by twelve o'clock"). Oh, and the bridge that goes to MIT is the Harvard Bridge. Whatever. Beyond being a garage-rock classic, dirty raw guitar and all, it's the classic Sox anthem, the tune I want to hear 81 times a year in the regular season and 11 times more in the post.

Sox 8, As 3: Rapture

Back to back
Does anyone not fear Manny and Ortiz in the 3 and 4 spots? I don't need a 40-40 player, I want a pair of 40-homer hitters. Myth run-down. Ortiz can't hit lefties, yup. Arroyo's a #5 starter, yup. 8-3 against one of the better teams in the AL, nice. It's weird how people can give up on Arroyo after he let in 2 runs in the first 2 innings. Didn't anyone remember Lowe sacking up in that 4-3 win against the Angels? 1-run innings aren't the end of the world. I guess I have faith that Francona increasingly seems to know when to hold 'em and knows when to fold 'em. I hope.

Sacroiliac Spineless movement
Meanwhile, the Yankees destroy all claims to class by insisting that the D-Rays forfeit the game by dint of not having shown up on time. Yeah, you can't grow facial hair, but you can whine when a hurricane threatens the families and houses of your opponents (including your former player Tino Martinez). That's class. No wonder Tampa sportswriters sound irate:

"It's a mess, an unfortunate mess,'' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said while he and team president Randy Levine accused the Rays of lying, painted the Yankees as victims and wondered why they had not been awarded a forfeit victory. (Italics mine. From Tampa Bay Online.)

How dare they mess up George's doubleheader. The gall. Didn't they know the Yankees were in a pennant race? And what was Rays slugger Aubrey Huff doing missing the plane? So his house is near the water in the Westshore area. So his house was in the water in the Westshore area on Monday. Why do bad things always happen to the Yankees? (From the Tampa Tribune)

On ESPN.com, mysteriously, the scoreboard noted that Tampa beat New York 8-3 to split the doubleheader, and the Sox beat Oakland 5-1. I'm hoping they're just reporting tomorrow's scores.

And a wild attack
Back to Sox-As: Mark Kotsay gets added to the list of As with issues with the Sox (joining Tim "Bar Fight" Hudson and Eric "EB Touch Home" Byrnes), and Oakland fans throw stuff on the field. Ah. So, much in the same way as Billy Beane flips furniture, As fans fling foodstuff, and all semblance of admiration I have for a team that does so well against such fiscal odds falls flat.

Edit: added Tampa-area quotes.

Sox-As preview: Battle of the Bands

Saw this pic of Barry Zito (strumming his pain with his fingers on his sister's band) on the Sons of Sam Horn game threads and one thing immediately came to mind: why does Barry Zito play the guitar righty? A quick search on Google brought this little trivia nugget:

"I've always been ambidextrous," he shrugs. Barry writes and plays guitar right handed - he only makes a living pitching with his Cy Young award-winning left hand.
(Link)

Cool. Seems like a good way to prevent freak *cough Kevin Brown cough* accidents, doing all the autograph signing and all that with the other hand. Having "taught" myself to be ambidextrous when I broke my hand (I write righty, use a mouse lefty, eat with chopsticks lefty, lift heavy loads lefty, and throw righty although I can throw a freaky junkball pitch with my left hand), I guess I get a kick out of people who are proficient with either hand.

But Bronson Arroyo's no slouch with the axe either. Here's Kevin Millar on Bronson:

"He knows 100 songs. You can drink beer, barbeque steaks, and you can tell him to play songs from country, to Metallica, to Creed, to Pearl Jam, to the Dave Matthews band . . . it's a gift. The kid has a gift."

Arroyo was good enough for a live appearance at Daddy's Junky, my favourite Boston music store, on Aug 28. (Daddy's was where I got all the sound setups for my DJing gigs, and they've got awesome, helpful staff. And they're cheap, too.) Stole that pic above from their pictures of the gig.

What does this all mean? Either the two will strut out simultaneously for a searing G'n'F'n'R-style Izzy-and-Slash duelling-guitar solo... or Bronson will get the W. My money's on the latter.

Heard from the Hub

Oh, and a belated thanks to Adam Gaffin from Boston Online for the shout-out.

Sox 6, Rangers 5: Night of the Hunter

Some people ask me what it's like to blog about baseball in a flipped time zone. Well, it's the weekend day games that kill me: a day game with a beautiful 2pm start EST starts at 2am Monday morning for me, making it impossible to follow, at least not without severe repercussions on my work. So I missed the game, and only woke up at 6am to go to the bathroom, chanting "Sox 5 Rangers 1" in my mind - baseball reduces the most rational of us all into gibbering morasses of superstition. A quick glance at the computer screen showed a tighter result, with the Sox continuing their charmed lives, providing ecclesiastical relief to the faithful. Ah. Went back to sleep happy.

On to some analysis, following a quick review of the game on MLB.tv and box scores. Does anyone get the sense that Foulke sometimes likes to make things interesting? There's a debate on Sons of Sam Horn on whether Schilling should even have been out there in the 9th. But if he threw 103 pitches all in, and had been cruising up till then, why not? Tito has had quite a slow hook with Schilling (that Toronto grand slam still lingers in my mind), but lately he's been good about yanking starters before they cough up the lead, and he did so in this game. I don't think Francona is the second coming of Connie Mack, but at least he seems willing to learn.

And 5-1 against 2 of the best teams in the AL is an excellent record to take on to Oakland, hometown of MC Hammer (just thought of the classic "Behind the Music" episode with MC Hammer, can't get it out of my head). September pennant races: U can't touch this.

Mannyfest destiny

Just read GQ's September issue, featuring an "oral history" of Manny, by Nate Penn. Great stuff, featuring interviews of his high school coaches, former scouts, former and present teammates, and others. Pretty much just illustrates the conventional wisdom surrounding Manny Ramirez i.e. he's just a great hitter, somewhat goofy and kid-like, not too into his money. About the only thing it may add to that conventional wisdom is how much he studies video to hit like he does, but us good Sox fans know that. The stories, though, are fascinating. My favourite quote:

"He once hit a home run with a broken bat. I asked him, 'Manny, you broke your bat on that pitch, right?' And he says, 'No, it was broken before I went up to the plate. I just like that bat." - Sheldon Ocker, Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter.

A goofball who hits like Thor. More, please. Now if only he'd update the game logs on his website more often...

Sox 6, Rangers 8: Range Factor

The streak had to end. Rookie pitcher making one of his first ever starts against a streaking team, making this a candidate for the reverse lock. Especially when the pitcher's name is C Young. (3 Youngs in the starting lineup for the Rangers yesterday - describes the team perfectly.) When it did, at least:

1. The offense came back alive... I like at least that we were the team that clawed back into the game. Bellhorn full-Nelsoned Jeff... what a find at 2B.

2. Yankees lose to the Orioles two games in a row. Will wonders never cease? Oh look, Rivera had 4 ER charged to him and Kevin "Embedded Red Sox Trojan Horse" Brown needs surgery. Keep them wonders flowing! Pythagoras, we salute thee.

3. You don't want to be the As, winning 20 in a row in the regular season only to collapse in the ALDS... a (solitary) loss is good for overall karma.

4. So the knuckler wasn't dancing on a hot day in September. As long as it dances in October...

As Mark Roberts might say, streaking done, time to start streaking again...

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