I blame Theo

Well, last night's game turned out to be an entire roller coaster of emotions. We won. You might be thinking to yourself, 'How is that possible?' I mean, I saw the game and I'm still asking myself that question. But we did win, and here are some of the key points:

• We still allowed 9 stolen bases
• Big Papi was benched -- more on this below
• Lowell and Tek were brought into the game and made positive contributions (Tek did with a double and a walk, Lowell had a walk).
  
• Darnell McDonald ('Who?' You may be asking yourself. And rightly so. He was called up from Pawtucket as a possible replacement for Ellsbury) hit not only a 2-run home run to tie the game, but also an almost-Monster home run in the 9th to bring in the winning run. Red Sox Nation, being what it is, has already christened him 'D-Mac.'

So back to Big Papi. Sure, he's had a bad start this year. There is no question. And he's not really hitting; in fact, his average is .146, which is just not okay for a DH obviously. But what we've been seeing this year is not a happy man. He's been frustrated from the start. I'm calling out Epstein on this one. In a press conference at the end of last season, he made it very clear that unless Ortiz started producing, there would no longer be a place for him on this team. Papi seems to have listened. He lost a bunch of weight coming into spring training and he seemed committed to it (and he was even hitting then). So what went wrong? I think the pressure of knowing that he could be gone is getting to him, hence the breaking of the bat over his knee. I didn't like when Epstein called him out and I don't think that this move has helped anything. So yeah, Theo, on this one, it's your fault.

Red Sox keep everything very interesting

Yesterday there was cause for PANIC in Red Sox Nation because Wakefield was scratched from the rotation. Even I was feeling a bit of the panic mode over that one because I feel that we will need him playing well to get us to the post-season.

Then out of nowhere, and I literally mean nowhere, Paul Byrd shows up and shuts out the Blue Jays for 6 innings. Remember him? We signed him last year as a potential add to our pitching staff, then didn't really need him. Apparently he was sitting around until July or something, then got a call and came back, playing some games in the Gulf League (in Fort Myers, FL) and Pawtucket. Suddenly, he goes in for a start and blam. Chalk up a win for him. Oh, and we brought in our new acquisition Billy Wagner as well, who shut them down in the ninth to end the game. Red Sox win 7-0 and sweep the Blue Jays.

I don't really know what to make of the Red Sox pitching situation anymore. Take Tazawa. He shuts down the Yankees - the Yankees! - at Fenway Park. Then gives up 7 runs in two innings to the White Sox in his next start. Beckett, who has been looking very strong all year, begins giving up lousy hits and seems unable to win against power teams. Out of nowhere, Paul Byrd pitches a shutout. I've always said that I like the Red Sox because baseball is rarely boring with them. The pitching over the past week may be a new height of not-boring for this team.

In good news, Wakefield (who has -- strangely enough -- been the most consistent pitcher this season) is getting a cortisone shot tomorrow, so may be back soon.

Red Sox Nation is in PANIC MODE

So I don't know how I missed this, but the Boston Globe did a survey back on August 17 to see how Red Sox fans felt about post-season chances this year. The results:

52.7% voted 'It's OK. As Jason Bay joked after Sunday's loss: "We should probably just pack up the season and call it a year, huh. Half-game back, might as well fold the tent."'

47.3% voted 'It's over. We're only going backwards at this point. Didn't Brady look great Thursday vs. the Eagles?'

Yay on Jason Bay's quote.

PS - Brady didn't look so great against Cincinnati. He even said so himself. I mean, apart from the fact that he just looks great in general, of course.

PPS - I don't know what's up with the font change (I mean, I know I changed it to try and get it uniform in this post, but no idea why I can't get it to match the blog in general). This one is called 'Georgia,' which seems about right since this week is also my 'Georgia Pies Tribute Week.' Long story.

Posting on Red Sox meet-up group in Tampa

Sent on the email list today:

'Just saying hi from Boston. Not only do I get to watch the games on Nesn but I get to see 3 hrs of pre and post game shows delving into the sorry state of the Red Sox at this moment. The Nation in Boston is in PANIC MODE.'

Incidentally, this comes after a series sweep against the Blue Jays with Bay, Ortiz, and Drew apparently deciding to wake up and hit some baseballs.