We all wanted to avoid the stress of a protracted 7 game Yankees series with its marathon sessions and it looks like by avoiding the Yanks, that’s exactly what we ended up getting anyway.

Last night’s game sucked. I don’t blame Gagne for the loss though. I blame the 3-4-5 guys. They were being pitched to by Tom Mastny. Yes, he was their closer at the end of last year and he’s not bad, but still. Why doesn’t anyone ever dog Papi about not running balls out but are always all over Manny about that? Papi does it more than anyone and I don’t care if his knee is bad, this is the ALCS. Then, with Manny and Lowell, both were trying to end it with a HR. You know what boys? You both already hit one, so it seems less likely. Just get on base and let the guy’s behind you clean up. It has been how we’ve been scoring mostly so far. Filling up bases.

As for Gagne, he had a wicked curve being thrown for strikes. He had his change going for strikes. Why so many fastballs, especially to a good fastball hitting team? Use those pitches to set up the shaky control of the fastball if it is going to be out of the zone. Was it Tek’s fault for not calling less number one? All he had to do was induce a double play from Cabrera or Nixon. Why put Lopez in to face Nixon when he’s not as good against lefties? You don’t think Nixon was jonsing to do something against his former mates, no matter how much he still likes them? Also, watching Baseball Tonight for a bit after the game last night, they made a good point. The Tribe are good fastball hitters, yet for some reason, Schilling started throwing more of them from the 3rd on. He changed his approach, which had been working fine thru the first two. Why?

I know it is only Game 2 and going in I was going to be happy with a split given CC and Carmona, but we had this game all night and kept giving it back. It is just disappointing. I still say Sox in seven.

Look at Fox. Joe Buck called the ’04 Sox – Cards World Series game (Buck was also a St Louis announcer) and there were no cries of Homerism.

So – again I say it – if Milano isn’t gonna’ show off her rack than we might as well get to stare at that boob McCarver.

Yes TBS was horrible. Not just the announcers, but the fact they could not get back from commerical on time. To miss an out in execusable. Plus your right. Let’s hire the guy who knows the most about the Red Sox and then let him announce… Rockie’s games! Huh??? I guess they probably thought he would be too much a homer. I would think he professional enought not to go there. It’s like he had Remy by his side and they could make fun Joe Castiglione for being scared of rats in Tampa Bay. I think he could have been neutral.

Even if we don’t win, I know it is going to be a good series and I’m glad it is not against the Yankees.

As for TBS, thank gawd they drew the NLCS instead of the ALCS. The call guy sucked… hard. Why couldn’t they have used D.O. for the Sox instead of the Rockies? Conflict of interest? Maybe, but the guy is only calling the game, not an analyst and at least he wouldn’t screw people’s names up or simple facts. Their analyst wasn’t too bad (at least he won a Cy), but that Mota guy has to be loving life. What a clown.

I too am fired up for this ALCS and beyond. I think the Sox win in 6. Big CC looked shakey at home against the Yanks and threw a lot of pitches. The Sox are also patient and will get him at Fenway. Carmona scares the crap out of me. He shut Boston down once this year. Hopefully he reverts back to the pitcher who they tried using as a closer last year and got rocked by the Sox two games.

As you said Papi and Manny are very hot and even JD Drew had a big hit last Friday. Speaking of Friday. Melissa and I were lucky enough to be at that game. Fenway went crazy when Manny hit that HR to end it. That was rocket. As soon as he hit it everyone knew it was out and went crazy.

The Bullpen is rested and going to use Dice-K on the road where he seems to be pitch better.

There is nothing like watching playoff baseball. I always get sucked in. I watch Rockies/Padres one game playoff game right to the end. I still can’t believe Trevor Hoffman gave it up. Even though Holiday was out at home. I also stayed up to watch the Yankees get eliminated. Although I think the Sox could have handled them, maybe easier then the Indians, I am still glad they are out. Too much would have been made of 03 and 04. Time for the Sox to stand out in front without being mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees. That is why it was important for them to win the divison. Plus getting home field right through the World Series if they get there.

What a time to be NE sports fan. Pats, Sox and even the Celtic generating a buzz. BC playing great. The Bruins…. Well at least they won a game! It reminds of 86. I remember my Aunt who had a sweatshirt that read “Our teams are the balls” and had a Sox, Pats and Celtics logos’ on each sports ball. You have a love a 60 something year woman wearing a shirt like that. Maybe I will recreate and sell after the Sox and then the Pats go all the way!!!

It was an interesting season. For the first half, the Sox were unstoppable. The second half was dominated by the AL race and the talk of how incredibly awesome the Yankees had become while the Sox were “declining.” But when we got to October (sans Dane Cook next year, please), the Sox and Yanks suddenly reverted to their first-half forms.

Then there’s A-Rod–”A” for albatross. I remember there was a game a few weeks ago, when they were playing some other team during the end of the AL race, when A-Rod hit a grand slam to put the Yanks ahead by two or three points. Since my observation has been A-Rod does better the worse his team is doing, I thought right then and there that they’d lose that game. And they did. Heck, this article is from two years ago.

I definitely don’t want A-Rod. I won’t pick on him for being bad in the postseason from a statistical standpoint. I just think he’s jinxed. With three years of the so-called Best Player in Baseball, to say nothing of the rest of their payroll, the Yankees haven’t even won a pennant, much less the World Series. The guy might as well have a muted trumpet doing that “waahnt waah” sound every time he gets out in a playoff game.

I agree Lowell has had an incredible season, but I’m not sure it’s not a bit of an aberration. It is a contract year, after all.