Random thoughts from Houston

This was a very interesting series for the Red Sox, they started well and had a definitive moment where they kind of fell apart and lost momentum for the series. Here are some of my random thoughts from the weekend:

~How do you drop 2 of 3 if you're the Red Sox to the Houston Astros when you have guys like Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis all having a 4 hit game somewhere in the series, and Ramirez and Drew also hitting home runs. That's a tough thing to do but I guess it happens when your bullpen is forced to work 4 innings per game the first two.

~Cecil Cooper did a really nice job managing his team in this series and in my opinion out managed Terry Francona. Francona in my opinion took out Dice-K way too early in the first game, yet they won so I'm not going to criticize and yes his pitch count was in the 80's. But that set the team back, but nobody saw Lester's game 2 happening the way it did. (More on that below). Then today, it looked like he wanted to pull Beckett again after 5 innings today for a pinch hitter to try and break the game open, before he realized that he had taxed his bullpen for 8 innings over the last two days and got bad results from it last night.

~Lester in game 2 was flukish and just plain weird. I mean he was all but out of the inning, he had battled to get out Pence and Berkman before giving up a two on, two out, two strike hit to Carlos Lee (I'd call him by his nickname because it's pretty bad ass here, but I can't spell it.) scoring two runs and cutting the lead down to two. Then a liner off his ankle, puts two aboard and with the very next pitch, Mark Loretta who is definitely a good hitter, but has little in the way of pop drills a 3 run homer to take Boston's newly found 4-0 lead and turn it into a 5-4 deficit. This was the turning point in this series. Yes the Sox could and did battle back, but it was an up hill climb and just felt like one of those games where you thought the team that bats last is always going to win. They didn't need the last at-bat, but had Manny gotten on, they would have.

~How awkward is Hunter Pence? I mean really now. By the way, Delcarmen's walk to Pence in the 8th inning of game 2 is what lost the game in my opinion, not so much the hit to Berkman. Berkman hit a good pitch, a pitch that only the best hitters can make contact and get to drop in for a hit. Pence wouldn't haven't done it, but he forced himself to have to face Berkman in that situation because he couldn't put away Pence first after getting ahead of him.

~David Aardsma is a Brain-Dead Heaver if ever I have seen one. No, I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean that as an out and out compliment. The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen on their 1988 World Series Championship team called themselves the Brain Dead Heavers. They had very few rules and the ones they had were simple. The following is an exerpt from Jerry Crasnick's column about two years ago for ESPN.com about radar guns and speed.

In 1988, Dodgers pitcher Jay Howell formed a club called the Brain-Dead Heavers, with six conditions for membership: (1) no changeups, (2) throw as hard as you can, (3) change speeds by throwing harder, (4) absolutely no location, (5) little attention paid to mechanics, (6) never read the scouting reports. A young pitcher named John Wetteland was part of the fraternity until he violated policy by working on a curveball.

Aardsma just rears back and throws for all he's worth, he doesn't get taken yard, I like it. Keep it up David, I love flame throwers coming into the game.

Sterling Pingree

Let's Welcome Shawn Chacon to the Urbina Club

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for leaving your children of all ages at home. This is a special night, tonight we induct Shawn Chacon into the Ugueth Urtain Urbina Gold Club of Pitchers Who Are Nuts, But Who's Story We Giggle at Everytime We Read It. Shawn had a mediocre going, playing for the Rockies, Yankees and Pirates before it all got to him and he took is his career down a path that few have traveled in Baseball, but I traveled it in the NBA. I have to say it is a tough road, I did it to a coach, he did it to the General Manager. This guy has vision, he has taken it to another level of idiocy. His account of the story is what has blown the nation away and made him a mandatory selection for the UUUGCOPWANBWSWGAEWRI:

Speaking about his confrontation with GM Ed Wade, Chacon said, "He started yelling and cussing. I'm sitting there, and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said, 'You better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, 'You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.' So at that point I lost my cool, and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him." (Jun 26)

Now Shawn couldn't be with us tonight, so I, Latrell Spreewell will accept this award on his behalf.

Writer's notes:

This story was just too good not to write about. The fact that Chacon says that he stays calm the entire time and then suddenly out of no where he decided he had to choke the General Manager. The dumbest part about this and what separates this from Latrell Spreewell, is that it was the GM, the guy who determines not so much if he plays, but if he has a job. You choke your coach, he benches you, he asks for you to be traded. Spreewell, had a career after he blew up in Golden State. Shawn Chacon is done, no GM will take a chance with him now, not after this.

One thought to leave you with, what the hell WAS Cecil Cooper doing while this was going on?

Sterling Pingree

The "Diaper Draft" Jogging Diary

Alright, here we go, this is the First Annual Jogging Draft Diary. I have been waiting for this for about three weeks, and I am ecstatic the time is now here. Before the start of the draft, here is a quick recap of what has happened so far.

The Charlotte Bobcats trade a future first round protected pick to the Denver Nuggets for the 20^th pick in this year’s draft. Clearly the Nuggets didn’t see anyone in this years draft at the 20 slot that could help them win now, which is what they need. My guess is Charlotte’s top within the next few years may hold more value in a trade than the Nugget’s pick they had this season.

The Portland Trail Blazers trade cash to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for the 27^th pick. You would have to assume the Hornets may use that cash for a veteran, and the Blazers are more than happy to give it up because, well, there owner is Paul Allen.

The Toronto Raptors trade T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and the 17^th pick to the Indiana Pacers for Jermaine O’Neal. I like that the Raptors are trying to improve, but I’m not sure O’Neal has much left in the tank. If he can return to form it’s a great deal for them, if not then they gave up T.J. Ford and the 17^th pick for a player with one knee.

The New Jersey Net’s trade Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. What the F$*#? What are the Nets thinking? I’m sorry, but Richard Jefferson has to have more value than Yi and Bobby Simmons. He just has too. The only way this trade makes sense is if Chad Ford is right and the Nets are already setting their roster up to get LeBron. Otherwise the Nets are idiots, because I don’t see Yi being as good as Richard Jefferson.

It’s 7:02 PM, do you know where you’re kid’s are? I don’t have any kids, but if I did I wouldn’t care where they were because this draft starts in under 30 minutes. Right now it’s the pre-draft show featuring Jeff Van Gundy, Jay Bilas, Mark Jackson and Stuart Scott. Jay Bilas just referred to this draft as the “diaper draft”. If that’s his catch-phrase for this year I can’t wait to see how he uses it. Last years upside potential was too easy, good to see him stepping it up a notch with “diaper draft.”

7:09 PM: Marc Stein just reported that the Bulls will take Derrick Rose because they think he fits their team better. How? They have so many guards already, they have no low-post scoring and he would provide some. None. If they wanted to say they thought Rose was a better player, they could’ve said they think he’s going to be a superstar, they could’ve said he’s from Chicago or they could have said it’s his love of gummy bears and long walks on the beach. I would have accepted any of those reasons. I can’t accept them thinking he fits their team better right now, because he absolutely does not.

7:13 PM: Jay Bilas has Brook Lopez as his third best player. I thought that was absurd till I realized that he is a Duke product, and now it all makes sense.

7:33 PM: Alright, Bulls are on the clock. I hate this new wave of teams that announce their picks early. It ruins the drama of the first pick. Not only that, but the Bulls still felt the need to wait till the very last second. At least if you’re going to announce your pick early do us a favor and not wait out the entire five allotted minutes. By the way Jay Marriotti loves Derrick Rose now because he saw “quiet confidence” in him when Rose announced that he wanted to be the MVP of the league in his first year. How is that “quiet confidence”?

7:38 PM: His nickname is Pooh? We already had a Pooh Richardson in the NBA, we need to nickname the top draft pick something better. The Bulls better make some other moves now, otherwise they made the wrong choice. While I agree that Rose is the best player, and wrote so while Beasley was still considered the best player, that doesn’t mean he’s the best fit. Right now for the Bulls he is not.

7:43 PM: ESPN has been hyping up the second pick because everyone believed Rose would go number one, but did anyone really doubt he wouldn’t go second? They just needed some type of drama, and they got it for awhile. Beasley goes 2. Should be interesting to see how the Heat do, they should be at least a playoff team.

7:49 PM: O.J. Mayo goes third. They have Rashad McCants, Randy Foye, Corey Brewer and Sebastian Telfair, now they have Mayo. I definitely think he’s the third best player talent wise, I just hope he lives up to the potential. Otherwise they have a lot of decent guards but no great ones.

7:55 PM: Russell Westbrook goes #4 to the Sonics. He didn’t even start on his high school team according to Stu Scott, now he’s fourth pick in the draft. That gives me confidence. He also averaged 12 points and 4 assists a game last year. Outstanding. I’m sorry, but this is a terrible pick by the Sonics. They just took a guy that was a back up in high school and college with the fourth pick. They should have taken Eric Gordon here. By the way, I’m currently one for four, although my projections are what I thought they should do along with what I think they will do, while most projections are what people think the teams will do only.

8:02 PM: Shades of Bryant Reeves…just kidding. Grizzlies take Kevin Love 5^th. This is the first pick I like for a team completely. I had them taking Brook Lopez, and my analysis was “Lopez will be a huge bust, and the Grizzlies are a terrible organization. Perfect match.” They finally made the right choice I think. I saw Kevin Love on Pardon the Interruption earlier this week and he said he’s lost 15 pounds, and he looks like he has. He also is a really intelligent kid, he impressed me during the PTI interview then and I’m impressed how well he dealt with Screamin A. Smith now. During the PTI interview he showed he knew a lot about the past of the NBA, and he really seems like he wants it.

8:06 PM: Bilas just rambled for about four minutes, then at the end said “and Brook Lopez is available.” When this is said and done I think they should get an apartment together. Meanwhile, I get the Knicks pick right when they take Dainilo Gallinari. I told you the rumors about D’Antoni not liking him were false. He is just too perfect for their system. Meanwhile the ignorant Knicks fans boo because he isn’t a 5’10” point guard from the Bronx that Scoop Jackson wrote about. By the way, I used to love Scoop’s writing, but ever since he has gone to ESPN he has been pretty bad. So disappointing. The online poll on the right side of the screen ranks the pick an F. I wish people would inform themselves before taking polls and booing, because at least then they wouldn’t be ignorant if they still chose to boo.

8:12 PM: The Clippers take Eric Gordon with the 7^th overall pick. Great pick by them, he may be one of my sleeper picks when it comes time to fill out the notebook. He is that good. Meanwhile, Brook Lopez is still on the board. If I would have gone only on what I think teams should do I would have had him dropping into the teens, but unfortunately I factored in team stupidity and had the Grizzlies taking him.

8:18 PM: Stuart Scott just looked at the wrong camera. Or at least I think he did, tough to tell with those eyes. I’m guessing someone didn’t cue him correctly, because in general when anchors look at the wrong camera it’s not their fault. Anyway, the Bucks take Joe Alexander here. Definitely a good pick, he should be a good player in the league, and now that they traded away some of their depth at the small forwards position they have more room for him. Screamin A. just repeated himself 3 times in a row, and it sounded worse the last time as it did the first. I didn’t know he could sound worse.

8:24 PM: Jay Bilas announces that Brook Lopez is a steal at number nine. Seriously, Lopez must be paying Bilas money for the publicity. The Bobcats then take D.J. Augustin, a guy I absolutely love. Bilas’s take on the pick: “well that just means the Nets get a steal in Lopez at number 10. I do like Augustin, I think he could be better than T.J. Ford.” Is it possible for Bilas to just draft Lopez to live with him? I don’t understand the man love here. Also, what kind of analysis is “he could be better than T.J. Ford”? Hey, you know what, I bet he’ll be better than Earl Boykins, and I bet Kevin Love will be better than Chris “Birdman” Anderson.

8:29 PM: With the 10^th pick in the NBA draft the New Jersey Nets select a large pile of money and LeBron’s posse. Just kidding, they actually took Brook Lopez. Jay Bilas’s take “I really like Brook Lopez. I really, really like Brook Lopez. I think the Nets should wear a mask because they got a steal here.” I think you should stick to the term “diaper draft” Jay. Brook says that he tries to emulate his brothers game. His brother that barely averaged 7 points and 5 boards a game as a 7 footer in college. Good to see he even strives to underachieve already.

8:35 PM: The Pacers select Jerryd Bayless. Stuart Scott says that there were people who said the Pac 10 wasn’t even a basketball conference. Who said that Stu? I would love to know, because I think you just made that up. Good choice by Indiana though, I had him going earlier because of other projections, but I said I didn’t like him here. This is a much better spot for him, a little higher than I would have taken him but certainly better than the 4^th pick some people had him going on. I’m working on 2,000 words here, I need to slow down I think.

8:41 PM: Sacramento Kings take Jason Thompson with the 12^th pick. He soared up my draft board after watching him some and looking at his numbers, but I still only had him at 16 because I didn’t think teams knew him enough. He put up huge numbers. Mark Jackson says that Spencer Hawes is just like Jason Thompson. No, not even close. I wish these guys would actually take the time to think before they speak. Hawes is extremely unathletic, Thompson is an athlete.

8:49 PM: Brandon Rush goes 13 to the Blazers. Love the pick, although they already have two of him in Brandon Roy and Travis Outlaw. He is a really talented guy though, and should definitely fit in well on a team that is on the come up. Darrell Arthur still hasn’t been picked, and I would be amazed if the Warriors don’t take him here.

8:51 PM: And they take Anthony Randolph. I guess they are building for the future, because he is a young immature version of Darrell Arthur. I’m watching his highlights and I didn’t realize he was so skinny. He looks like any type of collision would break 10 bones.

8:57 PM: Phoenix Suns take Robin Lopez 15^th. Terrible, terrible pick. People talk about how he is a defensive player, and he is. But it’s not because he’s a really good defensive player. It’s because he is that terrible on offense. You can’t be a really good defensive player at 7 feet tall and average 5 boards in college.

9:06 PM: 76ers take Mareese Speights. I would’ve thought they would take someone more NBA ready like Arthur, but maybe these teams know something I don’t. It just seems like Arthur could help a playoff team take the next step now, but I would agree with anyone saying Speights has more potential. He could be similar to Elton Brand if he works hard enough at it.

9:08 PM: Roy Hibbert goes to the Raptors, although the Pacers will get the pick. Good value pick at this point. Hibbert should be a better player right away then the three guys drafted ahead of him, and will probably be an average starting center in the league.

9:14 PM: JaVale McGee goes 18^th to the Wizards. I don’t understand why Arthur isn’t going over all these guys. Just doesn’t really make sense. Indiana has made another deal, sending Ike Diogu and Jerryd Bayless to the Blazers for Jarret Jack and Brandon Rush. Bayless makes more sense with the Blazers, he is more of a point guard than Rush so he fits the team better. Plus, Ike Diogu could be a steal if he gets more playing time and matures, while Jarret Jack hasn’t really done all that much.

9:20 PM: Cav’s take J.J. Hickson. I guess big guys who will more than likely be stiffs are the flavor of the moment right now. That is six picks in a row if you include Hibbert that are based almost solely on their potential rather than what they’ve done. I include Hibbert in that because, well, he underperformed in college.

9:27 PM: Bobcats take Alexis Ajinca from France. Eh, another big guy that will probably be a stiff. It’s like Groundhog Day: NBA Draft Edition.

9:36 PM: Ryan Anderson of Cal goes 21. At least he had good numbers at Cal. Still going with unproven big guys though.

9:42 PM: Magic take Courtney Lee. He fits their needs perfectly, definitely the smartest pick in awhile.

9:43 PM: The Jazz take Kosta Koufos. He is like a taller Mehmet Okur with less range. Should do well in the pick and roll system though. I now feel bad for Darrell Arthur, although I would be amazed if he isn’t taken by the Sonics here. Then again, they took Russell Westrbook with the fourth pick. That so far has been the worst pick in the draft hands down. He just is not fourth pick material.

9:50 PM: Serge Ibaka is taken by the Sonics. He will now go away for four years or so, and we’ll probably never hear from him again. By the way, how great is Fran Fraschilla’s job? He travels to scout these players around the world. Well, at least I hope he does the way they talk about his knowledge. If so, it’s a pretty kick ass job. Rockets are up next, and they need a player to back up T-Mac and Battier, and replace both when A. They need offense over defense with Battier, and B. When T-Mac gets injured, which he will.

9:55 PM: Van Gundy and Jackson steal my thoughts right there. The Rockets go on to take Nicolas Batum. Not a bad pick, probably the most ready foreign player of the group. A better pick probably would have been Bill Walker from Kansas State.

10:02 PM: George Hill goes to the Spurs. Surprising they didn’t take some front court depth here, they could really use it. Probably the remaining guys had too much of an ego. God I hate the Spurs. They make me want to punch things constantly.

10:08 PM: Finally Darrell Arthur is taken, by the Hornets which will be transferred to the Blazers. Man, the Blazers continue to impress me with their drafts. Well, despite there pick of Greg Oden last year. Still say they should have taken Durant. But they have definitely turned their team around in a hurry.

10:15 PM: Donte Green goes to the Grizzlies. Really good shooter despite his numbers last year. Reminds me of James Jones, but with more potential.

10:23 PM: Pistons select D.J. White 29^th. Good choice late in the draft. Should provide decent depth in the frontcourt.

10:32 PM: Boston Celtics take J.R. Giddens with the final pick of the first round. He will provide versatile guard depth, although I’m not sure he’s any better than Tony Allen or Gabe Pruitt.

Alright, I planned on sticking around for the second round, but I’ve got a story assignment fairly early tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the sack. I’ll be sure to get out the draft notebook and make the notebook picks soon, and will also get out some draft grades. Till then, stay classy White Hat Sports readers.

~Aaron Jackson

Not to say I told you so, but.......

You had to see it right?

What I was talking about two days ago when the Diamondbacks beat the Red Sox in game one of this three game series and I predicted that this would be the match up featured in the World Series. Some people called me crazy, saying things like "This is the Cubs year" or "Nobody in the NL can stop the Phillies offense, not even Webb and Haren."

I'm here to tell you that after tonight's game I'm convinced of it, and you know what? Even more than being right about predicting this to be the Fall Classic, I want to be right because these last three days have been playoff caliber baseball in June. I know that might be a stretch at this point in the season where there are some pretenders still in contention (I'm staring a whole through Tropicana Field, Tampa!) but the thing I'm looking at with both of these teams are, neither one of them as at full strength or where I think they will be in October.

Through 81 games (yes that is officially half the major league season) the Red Sox aren't nearly as good as they will be because of injuries. David Ortiz has missed a lot of time and will miss 2-3 more weeks and will likely return after the All-Star game. He comes back and the team gets exponentially better and deeper. Right now, two of the starting pitchers that broke camp in the rotation have been on the disabled list (Buchholz and Dice-K) and have been sufficiently replaced because of the depth within the organization. The law of averages has to be in Boston's favor that they won't have the problems with injuries in the second half of the season, as long as the players that got hurt in the first half don't have lingering problems in the second half. This is a first place team that hasn't peaked yet. Comparing it to last year's team, they are two games off of last year's pace and at the 81 game mark of 2007 the Red Sox led the second place Yankees by 10.5 games in the AL East.

The Diamondbacks haven't had the same type of problem as Boston. Arizona's has been the young players that emerged for them last season haven't shown up this year. Eric Byrnes had the best surprising season I can remember, Chris B. Young ended up with a very nice year after I gave up on him in my fantasy team at the All-Star break last season. Conor Jackson has stepped up this season, but he is about the only one. Chris Snyder has been solid behind the plate, which was looked at as a weakness for this team. Their bullpen is very good, Chad Qualls has nasty stuff and Tony Pena has been lights out setting up. The problem with the bullpen for this team is the end of the game. I just don't trust Brandon Lyon. As a Red Sox fan and follower, I hear the name and the only good thing that comes to mind is trading him for Curt Schilling. When getting traded is the best memory of somebody, it's either 1. not a good thing or 2. your name is Heathcliff Slocumb.

But the main part of this team is the starting pitching which even in this series where they lost two out of three games, they got good starting pitching in all three games. Dan Haren was lights out in game one, Doug Davis threw 7+ innings of 4 hit ball in game two, and Randy Johnson showed that if healthy he can carry the load as the number three of the staff. This is one of those teams that if they make the playoffs is the biggest question about them. If they do, nobody wants to face them.

Now a day off, I will be watching the NBA Draft in the white chair at my buddy Zach's. I'll be in contact with Jackson during his Jogging Diary of the NBA Draft as well, so be sure to check that out on Friday. I can't wait for that, and Bill Simmons Running Diary. Friday's a big day.

Sterling Pingree

The First Red Sox Jogging Diary

Coming live from the home of Sterling, we bring you my interpretation of, the Ultimate Red Sox Show? Oh that’s right, because every Red Sox game here in the last week has to have at the very least a 15 minute rain delay before it, because we are in the midst of the longest storm of the century this decade. And what a shame it is, it’s raining on Jerry Remy Day? Are you kidding me? Is there no God?
While I hear the same stats from Hazel Maye about the great Bob Kurtz, let me get you up to speed on what we’ve seen in the pre-game show tonight.
They had short clips of celebrities telling Remy how much they admire him and congratulating him 20 years with NESN. Oh yeah, Ben Affleck was on there too.
(Did you see what I did there, that was a joke about Ben Affleck).

This jogging diary almost didn’t happen for tonight, my heart just wasn’t in it, but it was either do tonight’s game, or do tomorrow night’s game which matches up Randy Johnson (44) and Tim Wakefield (41). I would do tomorrow night’s game, but there is a Perry Mason special on I just can’t miss.

7:20pm Don O. is on the field introducing a group of people who have worked for NESN while Remy has been there. What? They didn’t bring back the illustrious Bob Rodgers? Very good to see Sean McDonough back at the Fens.

7:23pm A nice grouping of former players on hand, Rick Burleson, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Dennis Eckersley and HOLY SHIT. One of Remy’s sons looks like a guy from My New Haircut video, but a bit more over the top if you can imagine that.

7:26pm Jerry Remy just invented the word histerious.

7:27pm I miss Bob Kurtz and Sean McDonough.

7:29pm Apparently Remy calling Carl Crawford’s steal of home is the NESN equivalent of Babe Ruth calling his shot. Things you don’t know until they honor somebody on the field.

7:32pm Remy thanks his wife for her support of 30 years, her reaction is to flirt with Carlton Fisk some more. This is a special night.
Masterson vs. Davis, NEXT
For the sake of myself, I’m going to jog by half inning instead of the time, that will only happen if somebody takes a ball off the eye during mid-inning warm ups. That never happens, wink wink Youk.

Top of the 1st, Masterson sits the Snakes down in order. By the way, why is nobody talking about how good Justin Masterson is? I just feel like nobody outside of NESN and the Nation are talking about how good this kid is. He is 4-1 with an ERA right on 3.00. If this was Joba Chamberlain’s line, Job would be engraved on the Cy Young award already.

Bottom of the 1st In honor of Jerry Remy Day, current Red Sox second basemen, The American Dream Dustin Pedroia slams one into the monster seats. The parallel is lost on both Don and Jerry as neither of them recognizes that Remy played 2nd base. The immortally hot JD Drew grounds out, followed by back to back singles from Manny and Lowell leaving it up to the struggling Captain. Tek drills the ball off Doug Davis and of course with his luck the ricochet goes directly to Stephen Drew at short and Tek is gunned out at first.
In the words of the immortal Jerry Reed, “When you’re hot you hot, when you’re not you not.”

8:00pm Just saw Conan O’Brien say congratulations to Remy, one question. What the hell is up with his hair? Joining Remy and Don in the both is Walt Hriniak. Good guy, definitely not long winded though.

Top of the 2nd. Masterson yields a lead off single to Conor Jackson which leads to shot of Lee Tinsley just looking irritated at having to wear a helmet. Hriniak just told Don that Jerry is a tap dancer. Jerry quickly changes the subject. Jackson steals second on the bobble at the bag by Julio Lugo. How rough a season is Julio Lugo having right now? He boxed a routine line drive up the middle last night, tonight he can’t take the throw from the catcher. I defiantely don’t see him back next season.
Chad Tracy strikes out, but then gets new life when a foul tip is called, replay shows no foul tip. Of course this is followed up by Tracy ripping a single to right center tying the game up. This just has to happen, it’s a rule in the American League.
Masterson having a bit of wildness, walks Ojeda, then falls behind Salazar before he drives on to the bullpen wall that Drew is able to keep in the yard. The Diary almost went up in flames right there, thank god for JD Drew.
(That last phrase has never been said more than it has in Boston the last 2 weeks). Masterson strikes out Chris Snyder and the threat is over. Tied up 1-1.

Bottom of the 2nd. Youkilis is out tonight because his eye is very watery. Not because it swollen or anything but because it’s really watery. I’m avoiding the joke right now about someone being on the disabled list because they couldn’t stop crying. Mainly because Youkilis would snap if he read it, so we’ll just move on.
SHHH. Jacoby Ellsbury’s up, I’ve got to focus in on what’s going on. You never know what could happen when this guy’s up. He could hit an inside the park home run, he could steal two bases on one throw or he could break land speed records you just never know. This time however he strands Coco at second by grounding out to end the inning.

Top of the 3rd
Ground out, strike out……Bob Kurtz has his finger stuck in his eye? Then a single for O-Dawg, Orlando Hudson and Remy seems upset that somebody else has a name with Dawg in it. Let’s keep him away from Snoop.
Masterson walks Conor Jackson, starting to worry about this one. The hitters look a little over matched right now. Until Chad Tracy takes the next pitch out of the ballpark for a three run homer. 4-1 Snakes.
Bottom of the 3rd.
Mayor Menino now goes up to the booth and right away goes into doing material. I swear all Mayor Menino does is go to Fenway and ride in parades, the guy has the life I’m telling you. I’m going to run for Mayor of someplace someday. Some place with good sports teams. Any ideas leave them as comments under this column. Other than this, a quiet inning, Sox go down in order.

Top of the 4th.
A shot of the Remy family up in a Suite, shows the muscled up and that’s being nice, son. Jerry tells Don he can rent him out as a body guard if he wants to. I think he’s serious. Tom Werner and John Henry come up to the booth now, and both are ragging on Remy for wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt. Side note, John Henry is dressed to the 9’s, it’s like a suite but more fancy some how.
My dad says, “He’s dressed up”.
I say, “He’s a billionaire, he can afford it.” I sound like Morty Seinfeld over here.
Inning over, wait, Werner and Henry are gonna roast Remy. Pretty good top 10 list of reasons they had Jerry Remy day.
The numbers 5 reason, “We didn’t give one to Hazel Mae and look how that turned out”

Bottom of the 4th
Lowell walked, Tek hit into a DP. Great inning, I’m starting to rethink doing this tomorrow night would be better. At this point I’m just praying for Lenny Clarke to show up. He can’t save this Jogging Diary, but he could save this game.

Top of the 5th,
Rick Burleson is back! One of my favorite sox players is at the ballpark for the first time since about 2002. Masterson intentionally walks Chad Tracy, leading to an inning ending double play. Well thought out, Tito. That’s how it works in the movies.

Bottom of the 5th.
Renee Russo is now calling the booth. Don Orsillo is noticeably blushing on the booth. Don even waves when she says that she loves him. Most notable thing that happens this inning as the bottom of the Sox line up continues to provide no punch. Ellsbury grounds out, even he is looking lackluster, these short rain delays to start the games I think are really wearing the team down. They aren’t dealing with these well, think of it this way, going into tonight they have only won one of these last 4 games that had rain delay’s.

Top of the 6th.
Masterson cruises to two outs before yielding a hit to number 9 hitter Chris Snyder. Things like this are what kill pitch counts for young guys like this, closing out innings are tough. Now Masterson is getting a little wild to Eric Byrnes, falling behind 3-0. Masterson works very well from the full wind up, has a little trouble from the stretch. This is a problem that I feel that a lot of the Sox pitching prospects have had. Lester, Buchholz have both worked better from the full wind up instead of from the stretch. With their success throughout their entire life, I would be willing to bet none of them have had to throw a lot from the stretch. I think I’m onto something, Byrnes grounds out to end the inning. Now the Sox need to start to make a move and chip into this lead if they are going to do it tonight.

Bottom of the 6th.
Bob Kurtz comes up to the booth and he and Jerry proceed to tell inside jokes and stories for the full half inning while Don stands there and has the smile of the guy who doesn’t know what’s going on. Manny hits a two out single and the inning ends two pitches later when Lowell grounds out to short. Don rushes Kurtz out of the booth.

Top of the 7th.
Chris Smith has now come into the game, don’t ask him what he throws though, because he won’t tell you. If Cal Naughton Jr, is the Magic Man, then Chris Smith is the Mystery Man. LENNY CLARKE IS IN THE BOOTH.
Mystery Man gets out of the inning, I’m now drying my eyes, because Lenny Clarke just had me crying. That guy needs to come on once a game at least, who wouldn’t love that? I’m gonna put this on my idea for the HBO Game of the Week.

Bottom of the 7th.
Nadda

Top of the 8th.
Nothing

Bottom of the 8th.
Lugo hits a lead off single, 3rd hit I believe since Pedroia’s home run in the first inning.
Single now for Jacoby Ellsbury. In the words of Harry Doyle, “And the Sox have something going”.
Davis is gone, Snakes go to the pen for the first time tonight.
The American Dream is battling Chad Qualls right now, who’s slider Jerry just compared to Craig Hansen. You know he’s made it when Jerry says something like that. I’m just so proud of one of my Acolytes of Hope has made the big time.
Single by the Dream scores Lugo, 4-2, and still two on and nobody out with JD Drew coming to the plate. Drew is starting to show signs of slowing down. Drew goes down swinging setting up an inevitable Manny double play.
I predicted that before his at-bat, but thank goodness Augie Ojeda didn’t get the memo and bobbled the ball and could only get Manny going to first. I would intentionally walk Lowell here and pitch to Moss with first base open. Lowell last season had more singles with men in scoring position than anybody in Baseball.
Lowell delivers by doubling off the monster, game is tied 4-4.
Tek drills a hanging slider into right field to plate the go ahead run. Orsillo knows how big Jerry Remy Night is, you can hear it in his voice.
Cinco Ocho is warming up in the pen, Youkilis is begging to get into the game as a defensive replacement, Moss drills a single into right field and Francona celebrates by blowing a snot rocket into his hand.
Tony Pena enters; Coco Crisp pops out to end the inning. Side note that I heard earlier today, the Red Sox have already had more DL moves this year than they had all of last season. I guess I have to feel good about the fact that they are in first place with that statistic. Because law of averages shows that they shouldn’t have that many down the stretch in the second half. As you can tell I’m just praying Papelbon can nail this one down.
Youkilis is now into the game as a defensive replacement at first base. Guy’s just tough!

Top of the 9th.
9. Chris Snyder
Strike,
Ball
Foul ball (1-2)
Strike 3 swinging, 1 out
1.Eric Byrnes
Strike
Foul Ball (0-2)
Ball (Slider)
Foul Ball (sitting dead red on a fastball and was way in front of 96mph head)
Foul Ball (1-2)
Ball (Outside with a fastball, 2-2)
Ball (Splitter in the dirt count runs full. When people have long at bats against Paps it makes me nervous.
Foul ball, (Byrnes way out in front of it again. He is way out on the fastball, go off speed.)
Ball four. Byrnes walks, tying run on base.
It seems like the approach to Papelbon is to sit on the fastball now. We are seeing it with more and more teams, sit on the fastball and look for offspeed once the count evens up.
2. Drew
Strike (Drew behind the fastball high and away. Paps is having a better time with lefties this season.)
Close pick off throw at first, Paps has an underrated move, ask Matt Holliday.
Foul Ball (0-2, Drew is at Papelbon’s mercy now, if he has any.)
Swing and a miss strike 3, 2 outs.
3. Orlando Hudson
Another pick off throw by Papelbon, not something we see a lot of out of the big guy. Obviously this is something they have been talking about between appearances, because the Snakes don’t run much though they do have speed in the lineup
Foul Ball, down the left field line. (0-1)
Ball, misses high with a fastball.
Don Orsillo is now bringing up painful memories of Papelbon’s blown save on Sunday, Thanks Don.
Ground ball to third, Lowell throws onto Youkilis and the Sox take game 2 of the World Series Preview, Series.

A real nice win for the Sox and on Jerry Remy Night nonetheless. Time for me to hit the showers, put on some Icy Hot and get ready for tomorrow game. Get ready for Jackson’s Jogging Diary of the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Sterling Pingree