« Dice-K ready
Main
Here at Fenway.....Finally »
October 11, 2007
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE: We know it's the postseason, but we can't say it feels like it. This is the 11th day since the regular season ended and, thanks to the elongated playoff schedule dictated by television (and exacerbated by their ALDS sweep of the Angels), the Red Sox have played all of three games. What we've been seeing, for the most part, is what we saw yesterday: Workouts (above, Journal photo by Bob Thayer) interspersed with interviews, as reporters try to find stories during the wait for the next game.
The ones we found yesterday: Bobby Kielty's career success against C.C. Sabathia may earn him a start or two in the ALCS (Steven Krasner) . . . Daisuke Matsuzaka feels comfortable on the mound at Jacobs Field, along with other notes (Krasner and Joe McDonald) . . . an interview with ex-Sox farmhand and current Cleveland backup catcher Kelly Shoppach (McDonald) . . . Jon Lester feeling ready to pitch (McDonald) . . . and Dustin Pedroia's lack of prowess as a cribbage player (Krasner).
The news cycle should speed up today as the Indians arrive in town and game day inches closer. Then, once the games start, we'll finally get back into something of a normal rhythm; they'll be playing Friday-Saturday-Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday-Sunday. (Earlier in the week it appeared rain would be a problem for first two games, but now it looks like cold and wind will be the elements they'll be fighting. Monday and Tuesday don't look bad in Cleveland, though it will be on the cool side there, too.) Check back here today for all the latest news.
HERE'S YOUR CHANCE: Presidential hopeful Christopher Dodd is auctioning off two Game Six tickets in exchange for a campaign contribution of $20.04. If you're asking why he's seeking that particular price, you're not the person who should win the tickets.
AND THE WINNER IS . . . The Red Sox. At least that's how Baseball Musing's David Pinto, writing for SportingNews.com, sees it.
THANKS FOR NOTHING: Count Kenny Lofton among the people in Cleveland who didn't appreciate LeBron James showing up at Game Two of the ALDS in a Yankee hat. (sports.aol.com)
HE WHO LAUGHS LAST: The blog Gotham Baseball Magazine worries the Yankees will respond rashly -- i.e., with a foolish spending spree -- if the Red Sox win the World Series. ''Let the Red Sox and their fans giggle their way towards oblivion for the next decade,'' writes author Mark Healey. ''Let ESPN and the rest of the anti-New York national media trumpet their favorite team's world title. It matters little in the grand scheme of things. The bill for Julio Lugo, J.D. Drew and Daisuke Matsuzaka will come sooner rather than later. The Yankees have more important things to do than win a World Series. They have a another dynasty to build.''
The only thing all of that really indicates is that Healey doesn't have Clue One about how the Red Sox are going about their long-term business these days.
THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN': And another thing: All summer long, I chided my good friend Lou DiLullo for crowing that a repeat of 1978 was in the offing simply through the power of positive thinking. The Yankees' building of "another dynasty" falls into that "it ain't gonna happen just because you want it to happen" category. As proof, may we present the Bergen Record's Bob Klapisch, who says revenue sharing has leveled the playing field on the Yankees, which makes a repeat of their four-championships-in-five-years run of 1996-2000 -- not just by them, but by anybody -- extremely unlikely.
BACKWARDS PHILOSOPHY: Making it even more unlikely, writes Steven Goldman in the New York Sun, is the Yankees' recent trend of building teams that are offensively powerful but pitching challenged. ''The old elephant,'' says Goldman, ''must change its (pin)stripes or die.''
DEPENDS ON WHAT 'LOGIC' IS: Sam Donnellon -- tongue firmly in cheek (I think) -- says Larry Bowa is the logical choice to replace Joe Torre as Yankee manager.
LARRY WHO? Bowa doesn't make the New York Observer's Howard Megdal's list of potential replacements.
I YAM WHAT I YAM: Suzyn Waldman was unapologetic over her giddiness at Roger Clemens' return in May, and she's unapologetic over crying on the air after the Yankees were eliminated in October. (New York Times)
NOW I GET IT: All it took was a phone conversation with Scott Boras to convince MSNBC.com's Darren Rovell that Alex Rodriguez is worth $500 million to the YES Network -- and, thus, the Yankees -- over the next 10 years. Still think A-Rod's not going to test the free-agent waters?
NO, IN FACT, I DON'T: The New York Post's Joel Sherman believes it's all a big bluff and that A-Rod ''wants to stay a Yankee''.
AT LAST: Granted, the author is the New York Daily News' Mike Lupica -- who can find the dark cloud in the silver-est of Yankee linings (not that there are any silver Yankee linings these days) -- but Derek Jeter is finally catching some flak for his abysmal ALDS performance.
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED: The theme for this year's NLCS is young, home-grown talent blossoming into championship-caliber teams. The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro presents it from the Diamondbacks side.
AND IT'S NOT JUST THE N.L.: Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post says the Indians are the A.L.'s version of the Rockies and Diamondbacks.
YOUTH? BAH! But the blog Bad Altitude says the folks in Phoenix ''still seem to wonder where Luis Gonzalez and Mark Grace went,'' as evidenced by the 4,000 unsold seats for Game One (Arizona Republic). (Bad Altitude says 12,000, but 8,000 were sold after that was written.)
HIGH ON THE ROCKIES: In Pinto's NLCS preview for SportingNews.com, he goes with Colorado over Arizona.
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 7:28 AM | Permalink
