mstar1

Gracias Senor-- Good news indeed, Good Mojo Now lets see Arroyo deliver...

...there shall be much labour and travail during the playoffs, and much sorrow, and much weeping and gnashing of teeth. However the anguish shall diminish for the joy that a man is born into the world..... I mstar 16:21 Saul Oscar (Manny) Maldonado slid safely home at 8:14PM today, weighing in at 8 lbs 5.1 ounces and 21 inches, with Johnny Damon hair and the long fingers of Pedro Martinez the newest member of Red Sox Nation was smart enough to arrive on an off day and will be home cheering for his team on Friday night

Re: Whose your Daddy? "It actually (Yankee fan taunting) made me feel really, really good... why are you laughing when I haven't finished answering the question yet?... I actually realized that I was somebody important, because I caught the attention of 60,000 people ... plus the whole world watching a guy that if you reverse the time back 15 years ago, I was sitting under a mango tree without 50 cents to actually pay for a bus. And today, I was the center of attention of the whole city of New York, I thank God for that... I respect them (Yankees fans). I don't regret anything. I kind of liked it. I don't like to brag, or talk about myself, but they did make me feel important. I've seen a lot of people about this team, I feel so thankful I got their attention, and they got mine. I was really emotional, sometimes we don't realize who we really are and for me to be out the biggest stage in the world, at this moment only God can ask. I had the opportunity to show everybody that. My daddy brought me from the mango tree to the biggest stage in the world at the moment." -- Pedro Martinez

One thing that does unendingly annoy me is the Fox coverage---they really work hard to have anything and everything (exploding counts, scooter explaining pitches, commercials between pitches) to suck the as much life as possible out of the game... Do we really need a RIGHT NOW! box taking up a quarter of the screen to pander to the people who dont have 10 seconds worth of memory? or idiots like opinionated windbag Tim McCrackhead who get 3 out of every 2 facts wrong, and misses any salient thing concerning the game that I would like to know about? Believe it or not that is my biggest aggravation.... I'll keep Al Leiter-I liked him, but Buck/McCarver should be shoe salesmen for Payless or something else they are more suited toward... Its much better on mute....Ok... thats (partially) out of my system...

Yes Ex Im fine :)-->, Its only a game to while away my time and keep me interested during my brief sojourn here- Im fine-My only real concern is that Schilling doesnt damage himself for life and end up a cripple trying to do the superheroic-that and that no overzealous Sox fans go bridgejumping should they lose this series. I'm used to this-it keeps the sense of lifes impenetrable mysteries very much alive

One big question for tonight-- Will Red Sox fan John Kerry show up at the debates or be tending to much more important matters like watching this series? He skipped a campaign stop last night to watch ---perhaps he will get an earpiece like Bush to listen in ;)-->or have a TV stashed under the podium while he debates the man who once traded Sammy Sosa. Pedro vs. Lieber tonight- I'd like 7 innings of the arm that God gave, but will take 6 with 2 or 3 Earned runs if I have to,I think the bats may break out tonight--- then Timlin, Embree, Foulke, a split and home to Fenway where anything can happen.. Still Keeping The Faith

Yea well I did a little campaigning.. So who'd you vote for? I would like to see the award reflect who is actually the most valuable and not the most outstanding player... I'd still vote for Ramirez who carried the RedSox during the months of many injuries and was consistant through the whole year,greatly improved in the field and a strong if odd clubhouse presence that set an attitude that they carry. Admittedly I didnt see that much of Guerrero who is amazing and Ramirez' votes will probably split with Ortiz. I'm not really a Sheffield guy-I saw him 19 times in the regular season and not alot stands out above the rest, I'd vote for Matsui ahead of Sheffield myself... I'm not as familiar with the NL where Bonds has got to be the most outstanding but that wouldnt stop me from weighing in on the other qualities, achievements and contributions of guys like Pujols, its hard from a distance to actually tell who is most valuable.

F##k---at least it got somewhat exciting in the later innings-welcome to a Red Sox -Yankee game everybody who isnt used to this..... I dont know who was on the mound tonight dressed as Curt Schilling but I assure you that was NOT him tonight, maybe it was the ankle he reaggravated in the Anaheim series, maybe it was something else( the injection of medication?)..but that was NOT Curt Schilling....No help from Johnny Damon who k'ed 4 times...pretty mediocre on a few counts and they still nearly came back..... shows alittle of the fight and spirit of this team, Mueller has had Rivera before -- I was hoping until the last out..... grumble..grumble..... My kingdom to anyone who can shutup McCarver -- All in all I feel not too bad going from 1 out in the seventh, perfect game down 8-0 to 2 outs in the eighth 8-7 with tying run on third... the analogy I see is the Yankees playing the roles of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, asking "Who are these guys?" They jumped off the waterfall to escape tonight, but we'll get them soon enough. Its a long series and its only one game. PS no baby tonight EX-maybe manana

ER? What ER ? If he comes during a rally that boys being born at home! :D--> :D--> As far as the name-her husband is El Salvadorean and according to the custom in his country the first male is to be named after the husbands grandfathers, so no bit of wrangling or female persuasion was able to get through that so he is officially Saul Oscar, but everyone already knows him as Manny....

Yea it is--In March people were scalping tickets to Spring training Red Sox-Yankee games for several hundred dollars. Spring Training games...

Well Simon --the hype about the rivalry isnt really well done on the national stage, it probably doesnt mean much to people from Peoria or Duluth or Pheonix but on the inside and those of us who have lived with it for our lifetime and generations, it really does produce an electric atmosphere that is hard to describe to an outsider. If you can cmon up to a game next year and we'll go to Fenway.... McCarver (yechhhh) and Fox as well as ESPN try to play it up but really havent got a clue whats its like on the inside. Its more than just baseball, its a battle of ideologies, its outlook, its a clash of histories its....Its the pinstriped crewcutted professionals against the freespirited ragtag eccentrics that know how to play together as a team, probably the most difficult thing in sports. Ok I'll stop ---for now---and mail you a bucket of pain pills. Its interesting to me that somehow the Teams around here (The Patriots and Red Sox) have somehow found that elusive team quality that we were talking about a page or two back -it really is something to watch, where ego's take a back seat and players actually at their best play as a unit...and to illustrate what the Sox mean to this region even though the Pats won their 19th in a row this week the sports pages have been 90% Red Sox news..... EX- Id love nothing better than to watch and talk (will 8:00 Oclock ever come???), but it looks like at least for tonight I'll be watching at my girlfriends daughters house who is nine months pregnant and ready to pop--She is a great Sox fan---I could be doing double duty tonight as baby deliverer ;)--> She has a little Manny Ramirez uniform ready for him when he is born :D-->

Simon-you just have to see what these Boston-New York games are like from the inside........there is nothing quite like it anywhere on earth....

Yea I dont think Ron Gardenhire will be getting too many votes for Manager of the Year after that series, I think he was possessed with a Grady Little spirit or something. The Twinkies just didnt look all that actively involved at times, and could have taken that series--- Too bad I wouldv'e loved to see Schilling -Santana, ----lets do it next year in the ALCS---

:D--> :D--> :D--> Payback Time I Love this

The Curse of Happy Jack! Is it a coincidence that today, as the Sox and Yanks size each other up for the ALCS, is the 100th Anniversary of the NY team choking in the final series against Boston? I think not! from this site Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was October 10, 1904, the last day of the regular season, when Jack Chesbro walked to the Highlander mound for his 42nd victory with only 11 losses. New York needed to sweep a doubleheader with the first place Boston Pilgrims for the pennant, and had Chesbro ready for Game One. New York had led the league through much of the season, but Boston had squirted one and a half games ahead going into the final two games. Jack was one of the great spitball pitchers of the time, and his opponent was 20-game winner Bill Dinneen. With Chesbro on the mound the hometown Highlanders were confident they had the first game in the bag. In the top of the ninth with the score even at 2-2, Boston was able to get a man to third with two outs. Spitballer Chesbro's next delivery suddenly sailed over the head of catcher Red Kleinow allowing the winning run. New York failed to score, and the Pilgrims now had the pennant. The Highlanders won the meaningless second game 1-0. That wild pitch haunted Chesbro the rest of his life, and for years his wife unsuccessfully campaigned to have the scorer's call changed from wild pitch to passed ball. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's a fact -- the New York nine are always October chokers when playing Boston for the A.L. pennant in a year ending with "04"!

Not this year, all New England and Red Sox Nation have been waiting for this moment since Aaron Boones 11th inning abberation last autumn...in fact the Boston Herald this past week even had a front page headline "Go Yanks" :D-->

We're waitin for you--Whats taking so long? Anytime you can get past mighty Minnesota we'll be ready---tell the Yanks thanks for the extra rest.

I didnt see those particular plays, but I have to admit the playoff baseball that I have seen hasnt been 'playoff baseball' quite yet. I wondered the whole series when and if the Angels were going to wake up and realize that they were in a now or never situation, it took them until the late innings of game 3 to show signs of life, and by then the Red Sox who themselves seemed semisomnambulent at times had pretty much wrapped it up. Still I'll take my guys whether sleeping, alive or dead.....

Thanks EX, Welcome Back Simon-- Maybe Im gettin spoiled or maybe it is because I have to be discontented about something being a Red Sox fan. Am I the first guy in the history of baseball who is ....ed off at his team even though they swept a series? I thought that their play left alot to be desired and it wasnt necessarily 'good baseball'. Yea yea they won the series, but must've left about 100 runners on base in three games and made numerous baserunning errors. I'd rather play mediocre and win than mediocre and lose but it doesnt feel like championship caliber baseball---- yet. I guess its good to have the luxury to bitch at a winner--I do like these guys a alot...

Yea I enjoyed watching Johan Santana last night for the first time and as always enjoyed watching Torii Hunter in the field--this is gettin' good.... The Red Sox are up 1-0 we'll see how Martinez fares tonight after being cold for a few weeks----Colon is usually tough on the Sox---- Why do they have to start these damn games at 10PM Eastern Time---grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Too true-We had a traumatized Vietnam Vet who was hearing voices, a recovering heroin addict, a prostitute, and a schizophrenic fundamentalist on heavy meds in one class and the focus was to keep the chairs straight, over organize the refreshments and to start on time at all costs. Damn-- we were spiritual.

Yea I liked the Cards earlier in the year and it has seemed a bit quiet over there lately, still I wouldnt mind seeing the Cards in the series-I'd love to see that trio upclose, besides we still owe em payback for 7 game losses in 46 and 67--It was 37 years ago tomorrow that Bob Gibson beat the Red Sox in Game 1 and went on to win 3, Lou Brock was 4 for 4---They should come back to Fenway in October at least once every 37 years ;)--> The Angels are coming on but I would rather see the Sox facing the A's who they have handled pretty well this year. Its all jockeying for position right now, Minnesota has agood chance in the short series against anybody with Santana pitching... I hope that the playoffs have enough good baseball and memorable plays to keep in remembrance during the long looming baseballless winter months.....and that the Sox win it.

I have my own visions , dreams and nightmares to be concerned about, I think most people probably do --I just dont go on TV , exalt them as messages of the Lord, or coerce people into a certain type of behaviour because of them I tried reading the ZZZzzzzzzzzzz file..I didn't make it through. I know alot of people that have apocalyptic thoughts, dreams, nightmares 'visions' these days since 9/11 especially the religiously disposed of almost any culture, tribe or religion, some of them are interesting some of them are pure cheese and hokey. Oral never did anything for me and I always saw him as a TV Used Car Salesman Preacher, last I remember he was supposed to be 'called home to The Lord' about 15-20 years ago which I guess didnt work. Maybe he had a'vision', or it was a daydream or maybe he needs meds, who knows? One things for sure I got my own things to think about and (so they tell me) God will speak to me first ;)--> If he does it for you -knock yourself out

Don't worry about the rant- Thats why God invented October until March ;)-->, I know what you mean about the team chemistry thing, I have seen more potentially great teams in the last 40 years that had it all on paper but lacked the cohesiveness, and the concept of working together and for each other to really nake things happen in the clutch. It is vastly disappointing, sort of like relationships that vacilate in and out of togetherness and become more interested in selfconcern, its just sort of empty . I never liked teams like that even as a kid...and the Red Sox have been through jillions of teams like that. It seems sort of strange that an announcer would be taking heat and not players, but it seems like a national obsession to blame the messenger of bad news, if he has as much insight into players psyches as you say he should be carefully listened to. As I mentioned above somewhere, thats one thing that I love about the Sox new owners and management, Theo Epstein the young GM wunderking seems to be acutely aware of not only finding the players with the right numbers and abilities, but the ones who will fit in , enhance the clubhouse atmosphere and work well together with the team. It seems at least as big a part of the puzzle of winning as stats and in my estimation sometimes, many times more. Ive seen those teams and you have too, where players dont talk to each other and at times almost overtly hate each other-they are dead in the water before they start, its a good allegory because most of us have also gone through these periods in jobs and relationships. When people are happy and enjoying themselves they will produce and produce for each other, its alot of work to break some individual egos down , especially in professional athletes but it is worth th effort, its a day by day thing as it continually crops up. One of the big turning points for the Red Sox was not only Variteks fight but getting rid of the lasr and most obvious malcontent despite his iconic status , Nomar. Since then the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. Anyway it has been good to have a team that seems for once almost devoid of internal squabbles and from the serious like Schilling to the near goofy like Kevin Millar, all seem to have agreat respect for each other, belief in each other, and are genuinely enjoying the gift that they have which is to spend their adult life playing. Many times this year you can see it, that it all clicks and they are just, for a lack of a better term, grown kids enjoying themselves thoroughly..and baseball is fun again.. Still wish I could bottle it--- anyway hope any of this makes sense and sorry for the ramble its about 530 am -Im a little groggy and uncoffeed rant on all you want--- I got some Vicadans from my broken hand here if you want... my theory is if these guys dont want to play together let em go back to Peoria, or the Dominican Republic or wherever they are from-no matter what their name is-let em load boxes for a few years in a warehouse until they get it

Dang I tried --but even Father Karras' picture wouldn't show up---maybe its that goat thing ---I see they're done now--sorry about that Simon-wtf happened to the bats over there? not that it matters at this point, its gotta be a heartbreaker especially with performances like Prior's still losses I just watched Ichiro get number 258- I doubt if I had that many hits from Little league through High school--- about 10 years---