April 16th vs New York

[yeszir]

The season begins TONIGHT. All other games were irrelevant. I cant wait to see how the team will handle themselves against the Balco bombers. I am also eagerly antipicating the reaction A-rod/sheff/giambi get. I cant wait.

[dirtdogman5]

Man, this game makes it feel like October. And the media isn't helping this either. I think Wake can silence the MFY hitters tonight. The only part I'm not looking forward to is listening to those idiots McCarver and Buck.

 

As Nike would say, just do it.

[yeszir]

Yea, too much hype can only lead to the game being anti-climactic.

[yeszir]

Ouch, Manny's error.... leading to some nerve-wracking situations.

[yagmaster]

That kind of error happens to everyone, and, although it was scary, it led to nothing. Glad Manny's off the hook.

[yeszir]

Originally posted by yagmaster@Apr 16 2004, 10:53 PM

That kind of error happens to everyone

Are you joking? It was the laziest of lazy fly balls, plus Manny is making juuuuuuust about 20 million dollars. If he makes THAT stupid of an error, which leads to THAT bad of a jam for a pitcher, its not something that can simply be brushed off.

[roary]

I completely agree with yeszir on that one.

 

The more games I see, the more Francona is starting to worry me. Why he did not bring in Embree after Williamson had walked 2 (or 3?) men and Posada coming up is beyond me. He ended up walking him and Embree struck out Matsui. I really don't see the logic in avoiding the lefty/lefty matchup and leaving Williamson in there for one more batter.

 

And I just went to look at the splits, to see if that made any difference in Francona's decision. But no, Posada has a .222 obp against Embree and Williamson had never faced him.

 

I'm glad we won, but that made no sense to me. And also they showd game 7 of last year too much.

[Tek04]

i would have left williamson in there...dno why, but i felt like he should have left him in when he did

[roary]

Originally posted by Tek04@Apr 16 2004, 11:27 PM

i would have left williamson in there...dno why, but i felt like he should have left him in when he did

I'm glad you're not the manager then. Lol, jk. But he was left in, and look what happened! I tend to prefer lefty/lefty, righty/rights matchups, especially when Pitchers tend to have a batter's number. Plus Embree has been getting the job done for us all year.

 

And also, I was a little iffy on the decision to go with Foulke when we're up 4. It wasn't a save situation, and I do expect at least one in this series, so why tire him out when Embree could have easily finished the game or someone else could have been brought in?

[dirtdogman5]

Very sloppy tonight but fun overrall. Just a few thoughts on the game:

-loved the booing of A-Rod and "BALCO" chants for Giambi

-Wakefield really looked good tonight

-Mueller showed why he is the defending batting champ

-Manny homer didn't look like a homer but we'll take it...also nice to see him really hustling until the umpire called it a HR

-'Belli had a tough time converting from Wake to Williamson but it ended up not hurting us

-I love Pokey but he's looking more and more like the automatic out we all expected

-'Belli crushed the ball...just proves why he's one of the best backup catchers in the league

-Embree dug down deep (notice how I didn't use "Cowboy Up") and K'ed Matsui

-terrible by Manny...no excuse...just when I thought he was done with those brain farts

-I loved the new Nomar commercial and the Sox Mastercard commercial was interesting...the new Leon one was funny too

-Foulking great at the end

 

I love that Diry Water!

[yeszir]

Hey ddm, I've been trying to figure out, what is your avatar? Its kind of..... smushed.

[dirtdogman5]

Originally posted by yeszir@Apr 16 2004, 10:37 PM

Hey ddm, I've been trying to figure out, what is your avatar? Its kind of..... smushed.

Yeah I know I gotta change it. It says "Playoff Fever" and then there's the Red Sox logo.

[yeszir]

Oh, lol. I thought it said "player favorite" or something like that.

[dirtdogman5]

Originally posted by yeszir@Apr 16 2004, 10:41 PM

Oh, lol. I thought it said "player favorite" or something like that.

Speaking of "player favorite" I changed it.

[roary]

Originally posted by dirtdogman5@Apr 16 2004, 11:34 PM

-loved the booing of A-Rod and "BALCO" chants for Giambi

Yea, I smiled when A-Rod was booed (it was really one of the loudest booings that I've seen on TV, I cant recall a bigger one) and the sporatic Balco chants were fun.

 

I can't help but thinking that the booing got to A-Rod, especially with his all to well thought out base stealing attempt. Maybe he was trying to shut the crowd up by swiping 3rd, since they'd been on him all game and a SB can have an effect like that. Just a thought though. Either way, it backfired.

[dirtdogman5]

Originally posted by TheFens+Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM-->

QUOTE (TheFens @ Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM)

[roary]

Originally posted by dirtdogman5+Apr 16 2004, 11:49 PM-->

QUOTE (dirtdogman5 @ Apr 16 2004, 11:49 PM)

Originally posted by TheFens@Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM

[yeszir]

Here's ESPN's article (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=240416102):

BOSTON (AP) -- Tim Wakefield shut down the Yankees' third baseman six months too late.

 

Boston's knuckleballer ruined Alex Rodriguez's visit to the park that nearly was his home, holding him to an infield single and leading the Red Sox to a 6-2 win over New York before a packed house Friday night.

 

Last October, third baseman Aaron Boone won the AL championship series for New York when he hit Wakefield's first pitch of the 11th inning into the left-field seats for a 6-5 win in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium.

 

Boone seriously injured his knee while playing pickup basketball and was released in late February, although he hopes to play for a team this season.

 

The Yankees filled his spot by obtaining Rodriguez from Texas after Boston's long courtship of the former Rangers star failed.

 

Rodriguez, the AL home run champion, finished 1-for-4 after lining out in the eighth against Scott Williamson and didn't hit the ball out of the infield.

 

Manny Ramirez, who would have been traded for Rodriguez, AL batting champion Bill Mueller and Doug Mirabelli homered off Javier Vazquez (1-1). Jorge Posada hit his fifth homer for New York in the second, cutting Boston's lead to 4-1, after Wakefield retired his first five batters.

 

The first of 19 regular-season games between the rivals began a four-game series. A full house of well-behaved fans could buy souvenir T-shirts with the message: "Showdown in Beantown."

 

Wakefield (1-0) pitched two outstanding games in the ALCS before losing Game 7 in relief. He was strong again Friday, allowing two runs, five hits and four walks in seven innings. He struck out four.

 

But the eighth inning nearly ruined the Red Sox again. The Yankees scored three runs in the eighth to tie Game 7 at 5. On Friday, Ramirez dropped a routine fly with two outs and nobody on. Williamson then loaded the bases on two walks, but lefty Alan Embree struck out lefty Hideki Matsui.

 

Boston scored four in the first on Mueller's two-run homer, Ramirez's solo shot and shortstop Derek Jeter's error that allowed the fourth run to score.

 

In the top of the first, Rodriguez was booed when he entered the batter's box and cheered when he swung at the first pitch and missed.

 

He grounded to shortstop on an 0-2 count in the first and struck out swinging on three pitches in the fourth. In the sixth, he beat out an infield hit on which shortstop Pokey Reese bobbled the ball but still appeared to throw him out. But Rodriguez was thrown out trying to steal third.

 

His first fielding chance came in the sixth when Kevin Millar hit a leadoff liner that Rodriguez grabbed as he jumped a few inches off the ground.

 

Rodriguez, an outstanding shortstop, shifted to third so Jeter could keep his position.

 

"I'm enjoying playing third," he said before the game. "Every game's a new challenge."

 

Boston's bid to obtain Rodriguez from Texas failed when the players' union said his deal with the Red Sox would have decreased the value of his contract.

 

The crowd of 35,163 -- 108 fewer than attended Thursday night's 12-7 loss to Baltimore -- cheered when Rodriguez lined out to third baseman Mueller on his fourth at-bat in the eighth.

 

Mirabelli made it 5-1 in the fourth with his first homer, but the Yankees got a run in the fifth on Matsui's single, Mirabelli's passed ball and Bernie Williams' single.

 

Mirabelli then doubled in a run in the sixth.

 

Game notes

The Red Sox unveiled a bronze statue of Ted Williams outside Fenway Park four hours before the game. The Boston slugger died in 2002. ... Friday was the 86th anniversary of Carl Mays' one-hit, 1-0 win over the Philadelphia A's that gave Boston a 2-0 record on its way to the World Series championship. It hasn't won a title since. ... Mueller was in a 1-for-25 slump before his homer.

 

And as a side note, I'm glad that they have a Ted Williams/Jimmy Fund statue outside of the stadium now. It looked nice from what I saw and it's a good gesture.