Welcome, everybody, to a live blogging of the 2009 MLB season opener between the Atlanta Braves and the Philly Phillies.
Those new to the live blogging concept, here's what's up:
Hit the refresh button every couple of minutes for semi-live updates of the game. You're probably better off just watching the game, but those of you who choose to watch and read at the same time... you're crazy.
Also, it's common practice to read a live blog for a minute or two, then go do something else far more productive.
8:04
Oh boy, Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, AND Steve Phillips. Don't be sad, one out of three ain't bad.
8:05
I'm eating a couple homemade wraps as well. Rice, beans, corn, salsa, in a flimsy tortilla, TIMES TWO, while I frantically type and monitor two monitors... this may end badly.
8:09
I'm realizing to my horror that I only recognize half of the Braves starting line-up. I don't know if that's my fault or the team's.
TOP 1st
FIRST PITCH OF 2009... ball one. Brett Myers pitching.
And zappo, two quick outs. It's not even worth mentioning how those outs came about. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
Chipper Jones, A RECOGNIZABLE NAME, just gophered it to left field. HOLY COW FIRST BASEHIT OF 2009!!!11!!
8:15
Brian McCann McCRUSHED the ball over the right field wall. FIRST TWO RUN HOMER-ROOSKI OF 2009!!!
2-0 Braves
Garrett Anderson, who is no Angel, cannot adequately follow up and grounds out. THIRD OUT OF 2009!!!
BOTTOM 1st
8:18
I'm finding the Phillies line-up to be quite likable. If the Phillies line-up could be embodied into one single human being, I think we could be friends. Except for the Brett Myers portion of that human being. But I guess we all need armpits.
Derek Lowe pitching. Expect lots of jokes about the pitch being LOW(e).
Jimmy Rollins grounds out. From now on whenever somebody grounds out I'm just going to tap the underscore key, like so: _
A pop out by Werth. Pop outs, like so: ^
I'm going to change the face of scorecards.
8:23
Chase Utley hits it deeeep... Francoeur near the right field wall... caught, quite routinely actually.
FIRST COMPLETED INNING OF 2009!!!1!!@
TOP 2nd
8:26
Welcome back to... ohFrancoeurjusthomered.
3-0 Braves.
Yeah, it was that quick.
Kotchman strikes out. FIRST BLAH BLAH BLAH 2009.
Ah, the Major League debut of Jordan Schafer. He looks like he's 12-years-old.
...
Bite me in the pants, the fresh meat just homered in his first ever at-bat.
Joe Morgan: (calmly) "Well, that is an oddity."
Steve Phillips: (inanely) "(Babbling)"
4-0 Braves
8:31
Pitcher vs. pitcher/batter matchup. I will take this time to put one of my wraps back together.
[doing so]
And I'm back. Strikeout? Yep.
Kelly Johnson at bat for a second time. Pops... I mean, ^
Three outs. Moving on.
BOTTOM 2nd
8:36
Ryan "homerun or strikeout" Howard at the bat.
Big swings.
Big strikeout.
If you're interested in reading any prior live blogs, by the way, I've got a couple more HERE.
Ibanez, grounds, out, to the shortstop. Dos down.
Victorino also grounds out, but the shortstop had to reach across so it was slightly more interesting. Really.
That was a quick half-inning. SLOW DOWN GUYS. CALL TIME OUT AND STUFF.
TOP 3rd
8:42
Escobar Esco-bashed the Esco-ball to center, missing a home run by a few feet. He's on second with a double.
Now pitching for Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell.
8:43
The ticker at the bottom of the screen just said "LeBron drops 38". ESPN, World-Wide Leader in hip verbage.
Chipper Jones down on strikes.
McCann up hoping to re-homer. Instead he pops out in foul territory. That's, like, doubly useless.
Garrett Anderson, _ to first. Three down. No damage that inning, and the Braves consecutive innings scored streak for 2009 is over.
BOTTOM 3rd
Pedro Feliz at bat. In Spanish his name translates to Pedro Happy. Sort of. I'm sure there are accent marks to deal with.
Whatever, he pops out and has legally changed his name to Pedro un-Feliz.
uh,
Carlos Ruiz popped it down the right field line. Foul territory. Francoeur telling the world that he's got it. Does not got it.
Ruiz goes down the other line and ends up on second because of fan interference. DO NOT TOUCH THE BALL. AREN'T THERE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE FRONT ROW SEATS??
Myers grounds out, does not advance runner.
Rollins up. Joe Morgan loooves him some Jimmy Rollins. I mean, I like Jimmy Rollins, but I'm not IN like with Jimmy Rollins.
He flies out to left. This relationship is over.
TOP 4th
8:57
Francoeur at bat once again. He's been quite involved in this game already, and that frustrates me because I can't ever spell his name correctly on the first try.
He lines out sharply to Rollins at short. They're still talking about Francoeur's batting stance even though he's not at bat any more.
Joe Morgan is talking about siting a rifle. A chill went down my spine.
9:00
Kotchman grounds out.
Jordan Schafer, we're being told, is only the 99th player to hit a home run in his first at bat. And now he singles in his second ever at bat. That's right, kid, it's all downhill from here.
Lowe flies out. Three outs. New inning. More commercials.
BOTTOM 4th
9:05
Hey, it's Terry Pendleton. He's being interviewed while wearing one of those huge traffic controller headsets. PAY ATTENTION TO THE PLANES, TERRY.
Jayson Werth at bat. His parents clearly could not spell. It's wOrth. Duh.
Grounds out, though Kotchman at first had to dig the throw out of the dirt.
Utley scoots it down near first... Kotchman dives, makes a good throw to Lowe covering at first. Good play. Good out.
Ryan Howard up. The infield is all shifted over, and it pays off as the shortstop Escobar, pretending to be a second baseman, picks up the grounder and makes the out.
1-2-3.
TOP 5th
9:11
The pitching coach's name is Rich Dubee? Well... okay. I'll sidestep the obvious joke and ask if he has some brothers.
I think Myers has finally got his stuff together. He strikes Johnson out, gets Escobar to ground out, and issues zero balls over the wall.
(cough)
Chipper Jones just ground-rule-doubled over the wall.
9:15
McCann at McBat, Jonesy at second, two down... three down, strikes out. Braves are starting to strand runners. IT'S HARDER TO SCORE WHEN YOU DON'T HIT IT 450 FEET, ISN'T IT?
BOTTOM 5th
9:18
The score, by the way, is still 4 to 0, Braves.
Ibanez grounds. Out. One down.
Shane Victorino, wanting to be the Victor-rino (I will pun you to death), taking his hacks. Missed that last one. Strikeout number two for Lowe.
Is it a conflict of interest for them to air Lowes commercials while Lowe is pitching?
Pedro Feliz returning to the plate. I'm voting for Pedro.
Somebody named Taschner is warming up in the Philly bullpen. Is he coming in to relieve the Braves pitcher?
Lowe strikes out Feliz for strikeout number three and for the third out in the inning. Follow?
9:25
At some point I'm going to have to take out the garbage. I'll also have to use the bathroom. Where's the pause button?
TOP 6th
Philly Phanatic, making me uncomfortable in that wig.
Garret Anderson shot it back to the pitcher, off Myers glove, the ball dribbled over to nobody, Anderson safe at first. I kinda like infield singles.
Francoouueur grounds it hard down the 3rd base line, Feliz picks it up (barely) and gets him out at first, advancing the runner to second.
Kotchman grounds out too, Anderson advances again. MOVE THOSE RUNNERS. Joe Morgan is probably wetting himself.
Ohgoodgrief, they're walking the wonderboy. I guess he DOES have a lifetime batting average of 1.000 and an on-base percentage of AWHOLEBUNCH.
SO, runners on the corners, two outs, and Lowe is about to screw everything up again.
UNLESS Brett Myers can screw things up first. Full count.
Strike three.
Out three.
No damage.
Just the mental damage
of seeing the Philly Phanatic in a wig
thrusting his/its crotch.
BOTTOM 6th
Carlos the catcher, grounds to short. Jon Miller says there's been lots of ground balls. It's how they keep the grass so short.
Taschner, still warming up. He's probably quite toasty by now.
Lou Dobbs... no, GREG Dobbs, pinch hitting for Myers, hits one deeeep to right. Francoeuerer on the track... makes the catch. We're way past due for another home run.
Jimmy Rollins singles up the middle. Only the second hit for the Phils. Lowe is cruising.
9:40
A Mike Boddicker reference! My night is complete.
The Ticker says that Alex Rodriguez feels "70%". A 70% Rodriguez... what is that? .280, 25 home runs?
Werth hits it back up the middle, Lowe does some sort of ballerina leap to snag it in mid-air.
Three outs.
TOP 7th
9:45
I just took out the garbage. It was smelling quite unholy. It still smells unholy, but at least now it's at the bottom of a garbage chute.
Taschner pitching. Gets King Kelly Johnson to ground out to second.
Taschner pitching. Gets Escobar to ground out to second.
Taschner pitching. Gets Chipper Jones to... strike out. (ha! got you!)
Jack Taschner, keeping things unremarkable.
BOTTOM 7th
9:57
Ack, I was in the bathroom and missed the first two outs. I was anticipating the 7th inning stretch to be more substantial.
Ibanez... grounds out. I'm sure the other two guys grounded out too. We all ground out sometime.
Lowe only threw six pitches that inning. He is the Sir.
TOP 8th
10:00
Scott "Jane" Eyre now pitching for Philadelphia. He's kind of spazzy, but only when he's not actually throwing the ball.
McCann at the McPlate, McStrikes McOut (it never grows old!)
Wait, they've already postponed the Royals-White Sox game? But it's tomorrow. Can they do that?
Garret Anderson flies out to left. Two down.
Score still 4-0, Braves.
Charlie Manuel, being the match maker he is, is bringing in a new pitcher. Time to gather myself a beverage.
10:07
New pitcher Chad Durbin strikes out old batter Francoeur. Well, that was easy.
BOTTOM 8th
Phillies are six outs away from losing their first game in over five months.
Victorino not helping things by dribbling it back to the pitcher. It didn't even make it to the pitcher. Lowe had to come off the mound and meet the ball halfway. Throw to first, one out.
Miller, Morgan, and Phillips have been arguing over pitch semantics for, like, three innings.
Pedro Feliz, strike out. Two down. I think Lowe is getting better the longer he pitches. And Jon Miller just insinuated the same thing. We may share a brain.
Ruiz, ground out. Eight pitch inning. On to the 9th (inning, that is).
TOP 9th
10:14
Phillies closer Brad Lidge now, ah, closing for the Phillies. He will be if the Phils don't pick up at least four in the bottom half of the inning.
Kotchman. Ground out. Man.
Joe Morgan mentioned that Lidge didn't do so well when he was with the Astros. I like to think Albert Pujols had something to do with that.
Jordan Schafer, my new favorite player at bat.
Strikes out.
I hate him.
Greg Norton pinch hitting, pinch pop flies to left. Three outs.
BOTTOM 9th
This has been a very fast game. It looks like it'll wrap up well under the three hour mark.
Mike Gonzalez closing it out for the Braves.
Good gravy, is that how he pitches?
It sucks because Eric Bruntlett (who happens to look exactly like a Bruntlett) doubles down the line.
10:24
Jimmy Rollins sac flies Bruntlett to third. The Phillies may score yet.
I've been way inconsistent with these time-stamps.
Jayson Werth singles sharply to left. Bruntlett scores. In about two minutes Gonzalez has already given up the same amount of hits as Lowe did in 8 innings and allowed more runs (1) to score.
Chase Utley, with one big swing, could bring the Phillies to within one. Put on your dopey rally caps!
Utley walks. Lowe didn't walk anybody. Why can't Gonzalez be more like Lowe?
10:28
Situation: 4-1, Braves lead. Phillies have runners at first and second. One out.
Ryan Howard and his pulverizin' bat at the plate.
Full count.
Is Gonzalez going to do this every game?
Strike three. Lookin'. You can't look a homerun.
Two down.
10:30
Ibanez, trying not to be the final out. That's so embarrassing.
Full count AGAIN.
Strike three.
The end.
That got kind of exciting at the end. That's why they pay Gonzalez the big bucks.
Final score: Braves 4, Phillies 1.
Take THAT for winning the World Series.
Thanks for hangin' out. We'll have to do this again sometime. Not often, but occasionally. On special occasions.
The Jays have their home opener tomorrow night. I'd live blog that one too except that I'll actually BE there, and I can't text that quickly.
Happy new baseball year!
Showing posts with label live blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label live blog. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Maybe I'll get through the whole season this time
I'm bringing the beast back to life.
New season, new blog posts.
Tonight, 8pm Eastern, be here.
I'm live blogging the season opener between the Braves and the Phillies.
You know what's more fun than watching TV?
Watching TV AND typing frantically on the computer about what's on TV.
New season, new blog posts.
Tonight, 8pm Eastern, be here.
I'm live blogging the season opener between the Braves and the Phillies.
You know what's more fun than watching TV?
Watching TV AND typing frantically on the computer about what's on TV.
Monday, March 31, 2008
2008 Opening Day Live Blog
Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers. Channel 43.
I missed the first batter because I was taking out garbage. Stinky kitchens are no good, and I'll miss a first pitch to fix a stinky kitchen situation every time.
Justin Verlander on the mound for the Tigers. He's looking pretty solid, but it is only the first inning.
Mark Grudzielanek reached first when the first baseman bobbled the catch. Actually, Grudzy's name is so long his uniform reached base thirty seconds before he did. Not really? Okay.
Blue Jays vs New York Yankees. Channel 22.
...Rain delay?! What the fork? Oh well. This'll make my channel flipping a much easier thing to deal with.
Channel 43.
Gil Meche on the mound for the Royals. The Royals are full of questions marks, each of which will be answered by the end of the season. Meche himself is a question mark. Will he have a good season? A poor one? He had a surprisingly good season last year, but he was only so-so with Seattle prior to that. Of course, much of his performance will rely on how well the rest of the team hits and fields, and much of that is as questionable as Meche is. It's a big confusing circle.
Meche unquestionably walked Gary Sheffield (who I hear is a pleasant and agreeable person) and gives up a single to the Big Tilde.
I'm also paying close attention to Meche because he's on my fantasy baseball team. But none of you would care about that so I won't mention it again.
Channel 22.
Rain delay.
Channel 43.
The first and third base coaches look dumb in helmets. It's one thing to voluntarily wear the helmet. Colorado first base coach Glenallen Hill was the first to don a helmet following the death of a minor league coach, and I applaud him for it. But an isolated incident shouldn't be the basis for a rule that requires coaches to wear a helmet. Silly. And probably uncomfortable. A few agree.
ANYWAY
Bottom of the second, Carlos Guillen on second, and Meche striking the crap out of Ivan Rodriguez.
Detroit's going to be good this year. I'm already awarding them the AL Central title. The Royals... like I mentioned before, I just don't know. And since I don't know I think it's okay to be optimistic about the team. Not TOO optimistic, but they'll certainly be better than the last couple seasons. Right now they're battling with the Orioles for the status of "American League Punchline". If the Royals are solid enough this season then maybe they'll be omitted from that contention.
Meche walked another. Two walks, two innings.
Edgar Rentaria + single up the middle = first Tiger run of the 2008 season.
Channel 22.
Rain Delay.
Channel 43.
Commercials.
Why is the TV flickering? I don't know if the signal is bad, if the TV crew in Detroit doesn't know how to properly use an outlet, or if somebody on my floor is running a vaccum. How annoying.
I'm eating a bowl of noodles. The spicy chinese kind you make with boiling water. It's pretty good.
That half-inning came and went. It was unremarkable. Verlander struck somebody out. Three for him. Three strikeouts in three innings.
Meche back on the mound, striking out an overly upset Gary Sheffield. Magglio enacts Sheff's revenge by doubling to right. His hair might be disgusting, but his swing is a very pretty thing.
Miguel Cabrera, fresh from Florida. I'll be keeping an eye on him this season. I'll also be keeping an eye on Dontrelle Willis who came to Detroit from Florida as part of that same deal. I don't even remember who the other players involved were.
Groundout, by the way.
Two down, bottom of the third.
Carlos Guillen... another hit! A single to right. Magglio chugging around third. Chugging... chugging... still chugging... good grief he's slow. Thrown out at the plate by ten feet.
New inning.
Channel 22.
Spicy Baconater commercial. Those things are pretty good. It's the jalapenos that make them noticeably spicy, but unfortunately I don't like the taste of jalapenos. The rest of the burger is great, but if I brush off the jalapenos, what's the point?
Rain delay continues.
Channel 43.
Grudz on first base again. How did that happen? He looks a bit shaken up. What happened??
In Grudzy's first at bat, the one where the first baseman dropped the ball, they bumped into each other. If there's going to be an incident every time Grudzielanek reaches first base then he's in for a long season.
Oh. Hit by pitch. Grimace explained.
The Royals, by the way, have yet to get a hit. Top of the fourth. One down thanks to Alex Gordon hitting into a fielder's choice. Grudzy's free to nurse his boo-boos in the dugout.
The Royals have a Jose Guillen. The Tigers have a Carlos Guillen. Jose strikes out. Carlos points and laughs.
Bob Dylan has a great song called "Catfish". It's about Catfish Hunter and is probably the only song ever to mention Charles O. Finley. Check it out.
Bottom of the fourth time.
Channel 22.
Large white tarp covering Yankee Stadium's infield. How depressing.
Channel 43.
Since 1901 which team has played the Tigers the most times in Detroit on opening day? The Afflac duck tells me it's the Indians.
Ivan Rodriguez (or Pudge-Rod) singles to center.
Jacque Jones at bat. Cubbie last year. Tiger this year. It's like he's a fully grown animal now. Strikes out like a big freaking baby, though.
Bottom of the fourth, one out. Tigers up 1 to 0.
It looks really gray in Detroit. Gray and cold. That makes since because Detroit is two hours west of here, and here it's gray and cold.
Brandon Inge up, whose name sounds and looks like a suffix. Doubles like a suffix.
Doesn't look good for the Mecher. He's given up seven hits in under four pitched innings. So far he's been fortunate to have only allowed one run, but I'm not sure he'll get out of this one cleanly. Especially after WALKING A MAN TO LOAD THE BASES. Still one out.
Placido Polanco looking to blast things open. That man has a huge head. Look at it next time he has his hat off.
Wow. PP flied (flew?) out to Jose Guillen in right field. Pudge couldn't tag up and score from third because Guillen fired that thing right back to home plate. Good show. Two down.
Gary and his Field of Sheff at the plate.
FULL COUNT. BASES LOADED.
...the pitch...
...it's...
...
...low. Ball four. Add one run.
Tigers 2.
Royals 0.
The Royals got a hit last half-inning. I forgot to mention that. Billy Butler with KC's first hit of the season.
Anyway, Magglio Ordonez, who is a terrifically awesome hitter, will probably hit a grand slam here.
...Pop fly to left. But he was thinking about it.
And how in the world did Gil Meche get out of that crap with only one earned run?! Meche: the luckiest man in baseball.
Channel 22.
Game officially postponed. I'm sure the Yankee fans would riot, but the rain probably wouldn't do much for the mob fires.
Channel... oh, wait. They're just showing the KC/Detroit game on this channel now. This is great because this channel doesn't flicker. I win.
John Buck at bat for the Royals.
John Buck struck out for the Royals.
Verlander really is averaging a strikeout an inning.
The ump just gave the Royal bench a warning. Probably arguing balls and strikes. Probably unnecessary whining.
Strikeout number six. So much for the one-strikeout-one-inning ratio.
I'm obviously not calling every play and every out and every pitch. Check a box for that stuff.
Bottom of the fifth.
Miguel Cabrera... with Detroit's first homer of the season.
...with his first homer as a Tiger.
...with his first American League homer.
Tigers 3
Royals 0
Good grief. Pudge hit it all the way to the track. Had it been down the line it might've gone out. Perhaps this is why Brett Tomko is warming up in the bullpen.
Quick inning otherwise.
Top of the sixth.
I've got the TV volume turned low and the media player volume turned high (hence the random mentioning of the Bob Dylan tune a while ago). Just thought you should know, and I'll mention any other interesting songs that randomly come up.
The best and worst thing about these noodle bowls are the completely bizarre things you'll find in them. Like this... it looks like Lisa Simpson's head with a red spiral in it. I have no idea.
Grudzielanek at bat for KC. Probably about to hurt himself somehow.
Non! A base hit. Just the second for the Royals.
There's only been one opening day no-hitter. Bob Feller for the Indians against the White Sox. 1940. Those things don't happen very often.
WOWIE. Alex Gordon just beat the cheese out of the ball. Homer deep to right. Suddenly the Royals are back in this.
Tigers 3
Royals 2
Royals with only three hits but with two runs. Compare that to the Tigers EIGHT hits, but three runs.
Bottom of the... where are we? Fifth? Sixth.
Meche is still in there (as he gives up a deep popfly out to Inge), but I suspect that if he gets into the trouble he saw last inning they'll probably pull him.
Another quick popfly out. Two down.
Have I been spelling "popfly" consistently? "Pop fly" vs "popfly". From now on it's one word.
Pop... I mean, GROUNDball out. That was quick.
Top seventh.
Neat. There's a sweet statue of a sliding Ty Cobb outside ComericA (no typo) Stadium. I don't doubt that statue will find some way to spike a second baseman somewhere.
Verlander's getting close to the 100-pitch mark. I don't know if he'll be back next inning or not, especially now that there are runners on first and third. Yeah, I don't know how it happened either.
...And now there'll be a pitching change. Let's all welcome Jason Grilli.
John Buck with a basehit. Tie ballgame. He took some hefty empty cuts, but finally he connected roundly enough to poke a single to left.
Tigers 3
Royals 3
Top seventh (still), NO OUTS, KC runners on first and second.
Tony Pena, Jr., at bat trying hard to bunt the ball. Foul. Foul X2. He'll have to swing now. He might as well have kept bunting. All he did was get the runner at first out in a rundown. We call that a fielder's choice. We call that a big waste of time.
Still a man on first, still a man on third. One out.
Pitching change. Good work, Grilli. I guess.
Now on the mound, Bobby Seay. A lefty to face lefty Joey Gathright. Gentle fly to short.
Pitching change. Good work, Seay. I guess.
Now on the mound, Aquilino Lopez. Who? He pitched 17 innings last year, none of which I saw. Grudz must have been watching the video, though, 'cause he just single to center like it was nothing. Go-ahead run.
Tigers 3
Royals 4
Alex Gordon pops to end the inning.
This game is turning out to be a little bit exciting.
Bottom seventh.
Brett Tomko now pitching for the Royals. I thought maybe Meche might come back, but that long Royal rally probably didn't help things. Also I have no idea how many pitches Meche threw.
Full count on Sheff. Ball four. Walk. Three walks for Gary. Give the man a pitch to hit.
Magglio up again. Grounds into a double play.
Miguel Cabrera at bat. Homered last time just because he wanted to. Stikes out this time. Just because he wanted to.
Top of the eighth.
Aquilino still pitching for Detroit.
One pop out.
Two pop outs.
Teahen slaps one to the gap and has the Royals' first triple of 2008.
...All for naught, though, as Ross Gload grounds out.
Bottom of the eighth.
Tomko, still in.
Carlos Guillen... way out. WAAAY out. To deep right.
Detroit 4
Royals 4
If I poked my head out the window I could probably hear the crowd cheering from Detroit. Not really.
Two outs.
I wasn't paying attention. WW, as it were.
Beach balls in center field. Stop that.
Strike three, Inge out.
Top nine.
Todd "Handlebar moustache man" Jones now pitching. I guess the Tigers are expecting to close this one out in the bottom of the ninth or something. Ninth or tenth. Either way Jones usually makes things interesting.
John Buck is just hackin' and hackin'. Like, with his bat. If he was coughing that'd be pretty gross. Let's see if he can keep one fair, though.
He does, and it's a dinky little ground out.
TP, Jr., just strike threed on a pitch near his face. Gotta learn to lay off the ones in your teeth.
Gathright popout. Three outs.
Bottom nine.
Royals manager Trey Hillman looks angry and scary. If as the KC manager he's this hosed at the beginning of the year, just wait until... well, anyway.
Leo Nunez pitching for the Royals. Striking out Renteria.
Polanco... lining out to a diving Grudzielanek. I wish Grudzy would stop doing so much this game because his name is very hard to spell.
Sheffield at bat. Full count already. The pitch...
Ball four. Gary Sheffield has walked four times this game.
But why? Magglio Ordonez bats behind him. Would you rather face the Big Tilde?? (As he harmlessly pops out to the first baseman. I won't talk anymore.)
Top ten.
Trey Hillman, it's worth noting, managed in Japan from 2003 to 2007. He was a Nippon-Ham Fighter. I only wish I could play for a team called the Ham Fighters. Fighters of Nippon-Ham, I suppose. But still...
Denny Bautista taking Todd Jones' place. I understand.
Mark Grudzielanek at bat. Grudzielanek at first. Single to left.
Now's Alex Gorden. Remember he homered earlier. He could totally do it again.
They snuck in a pinch runner. No longer will I have to spell out Grudzielanek. Now running, Esteban German. Esteban and German rhyme.
You know what else rhymes? Esteban German stealing a BASE, right out from under your FACE.
Go-ahead run on second, one out (Alex Gordon was useless), Jose Guillen at bat.
Score tied.
Extra innings.
Guillen struck right out. Two down.
Billy Butler hit the ball pretty hard, but lined it to the left fielder (Clete Thomas?), who made some sort of sissy jump to catch the ball.
Bottom ten.
Extra innings on opening day. How exciting.
Leo Nunez, who's a flailer, is still on the mound for KC. Miguel Cabrera at bat. But not anymore. One out.
Carlos Guillen, popout to center. It was deep enough for people to think, at least for a split second, that the game was over. Two down.
The Tigers have played in the longest opening day game against the Indians (Afflac duck!) when they went 15 innings in 1960. Detroit won, 4-2.
Nunez has a hot fastball. 97 mph. Striking Pudge out.
Top eleven.
Royals have a couple guys warming up in their bullpen. I don't know if Nunez can deal three innings or not. Regardless, Bautista is still pitching for Detroit. They haven't shown the Tiger bullpen yet. If it's empty it might soon see some action as Teahen just walked.
Gload, sac bunt. Teahen to second. One out.
Trey Hillman looking angry.
John Buck single to center... Teahen rounding third? No. NOO. Pegged at home. Good throw by Inge. Trey Hillman is angry because he can see the immediate future.
Buck's at second if that's any consolation.
Pena, Jr., swinging for the fences. Missing, of course.
No home run, but he does golf a pitch to shallow center. It falls for a hit, Buck scores from second, and the Royals take an extra-inning lead.
Tigers 4
Royals 5
Two down, and they're really paranoid about Jr. at first. Pickoffs, pitchouts... he's in somebody's head.
My back hurts.
Passed ball. Pena to second. How weird. All this time they thought he'd run, but he advances on a passed ball. Irony.
Gathright walks anyway, so now there's a man on first and second with two down. Esteban at bat. Esteban swinging and missing. Esteban striking out.
Bottom eleven.
Joakim Soria will try and hold Detroit to zero runs this inning. But he's got Clete Thomas to deal with. CLETE!
CLETE!! with a double.
Brandon Inge is trying out the whole bunting thing and bounced the ball right back into himself. Try again. He does. Successfully. One out, man on third.
It's a wonder that Inge isn't a man of excess. In the boxes he's labelled as B.Inge.
(pause for laughter)
Renteria is taking cuts like he's trying to win a ballgame. A deep fly ball will tie the game back up. A deeper one will win it.
A strikeout will get him nothing. And it is so.
Two down. Fathead Polanco up. Tying run 90 feet from home.
Sharp grounder to that weird area between third and short. Diving stop by Alex Gordon. Throw to first for the out. Game over. ROYALS WIN BASEBALL!
Nice stop by Gordon. Totally saved the game. And ended it.
And this ended up being the longest post ever.
Happy opening day!
Enjoy the rest of the season.
I missed the first batter because I was taking out garbage. Stinky kitchens are no good, and I'll miss a first pitch to fix a stinky kitchen situation every time.
Justin Verlander on the mound for the Tigers. He's looking pretty solid, but it is only the first inning.
Mark Grudzielanek reached first when the first baseman bobbled the catch. Actually, Grudzy's name is so long his uniform reached base thirty seconds before he did. Not really? Okay.
Blue Jays vs New York Yankees. Channel 22.
...Rain delay?! What the fork? Oh well. This'll make my channel flipping a much easier thing to deal with.
Channel 43.
Gil Meche on the mound for the Royals. The Royals are full of questions marks, each of which will be answered by the end of the season. Meche himself is a question mark. Will he have a good season? A poor one? He had a surprisingly good season last year, but he was only so-so with Seattle prior to that. Of course, much of his performance will rely on how well the rest of the team hits and fields, and much of that is as questionable as Meche is. It's a big confusing circle.
Meche unquestionably walked Gary Sheffield (who I hear is a pleasant and agreeable person) and gives up a single to the Big Tilde.
I'm also paying close attention to Meche because he's on my fantasy baseball team. But none of you would care about that so I won't mention it again.
Channel 22.
Rain delay.
Channel 43.
The first and third base coaches look dumb in helmets. It's one thing to voluntarily wear the helmet. Colorado first base coach Glenallen Hill was the first to don a helmet following the death of a minor league coach, and I applaud him for it. But an isolated incident shouldn't be the basis for a rule that requires coaches to wear a helmet. Silly. And probably uncomfortable. A few agree.
ANYWAY
Bottom of the second, Carlos Guillen on second, and Meche striking the crap out of Ivan Rodriguez.
Detroit's going to be good this year. I'm already awarding them the AL Central title. The Royals... like I mentioned before, I just don't know. And since I don't know I think it's okay to be optimistic about the team. Not TOO optimistic, but they'll certainly be better than the last couple seasons. Right now they're battling with the Orioles for the status of "American League Punchline". If the Royals are solid enough this season then maybe they'll be omitted from that contention.
Meche walked another. Two walks, two innings.
Edgar Rentaria + single up the middle = first Tiger run of the 2008 season.
Channel 22.
Rain Delay.
Channel 43.
Commercials.
Why is the TV flickering? I don't know if the signal is bad, if the TV crew in Detroit doesn't know how to properly use an outlet, or if somebody on my floor is running a vaccum. How annoying.
I'm eating a bowl of noodles. The spicy chinese kind you make with boiling water. It's pretty good.
That half-inning came and went. It was unremarkable. Verlander struck somebody out. Three for him. Three strikeouts in three innings.
Meche back on the mound, striking out an overly upset Gary Sheffield. Magglio enacts Sheff's revenge by doubling to right. His hair might be disgusting, but his swing is a very pretty thing.
Miguel Cabrera, fresh from Florida. I'll be keeping an eye on him this season. I'll also be keeping an eye on Dontrelle Willis who came to Detroit from Florida as part of that same deal. I don't even remember who the other players involved were.
Groundout, by the way.
Two down, bottom of the third.
Carlos Guillen... another hit! A single to right. Magglio chugging around third. Chugging... chugging... still chugging... good grief he's slow. Thrown out at the plate by ten feet.
New inning.
Channel 22.
Spicy Baconater commercial. Those things are pretty good. It's the jalapenos that make them noticeably spicy, but unfortunately I don't like the taste of jalapenos. The rest of the burger is great, but if I brush off the jalapenos, what's the point?
Rain delay continues.
Channel 43.
Grudz on first base again. How did that happen? He looks a bit shaken up. What happened??
In Grudzy's first at bat, the one where the first baseman dropped the ball, they bumped into each other. If there's going to be an incident every time Grudzielanek reaches first base then he's in for a long season.
Oh. Hit by pitch. Grimace explained.
The Royals, by the way, have yet to get a hit. Top of the fourth. One down thanks to Alex Gordon hitting into a fielder's choice. Grudzy's free to nurse his boo-boos in the dugout.
The Royals have a Jose Guillen. The Tigers have a Carlos Guillen. Jose strikes out. Carlos points and laughs.
Bob Dylan has a great song called "Catfish". It's about Catfish Hunter and is probably the only song ever to mention Charles O. Finley. Check it out.
Bottom of the fourth time.
Channel 22.
Large white tarp covering Yankee Stadium's infield. How depressing.
Channel 43.
Since 1901 which team has played the Tigers the most times in Detroit on opening day? The Afflac duck tells me it's the Indians.
Ivan Rodriguez (or Pudge-Rod) singles to center.
Jacque Jones at bat. Cubbie last year. Tiger this year. It's like he's a fully grown animal now. Strikes out like a big freaking baby, though.
Bottom of the fourth, one out. Tigers up 1 to 0.
It looks really gray in Detroit. Gray and cold. That makes since because Detroit is two hours west of here, and here it's gray and cold.
Brandon Inge up, whose name sounds and looks like a suffix. Doubles like a suffix.
Doesn't look good for the Mecher. He's given up seven hits in under four pitched innings. So far he's been fortunate to have only allowed one run, but I'm not sure he'll get out of this one cleanly. Especially after WALKING A MAN TO LOAD THE BASES. Still one out.
Placido Polanco looking to blast things open. That man has a huge head. Look at it next time he has his hat off.
Wow. PP flied (flew?) out to Jose Guillen in right field. Pudge couldn't tag up and score from third because Guillen fired that thing right back to home plate. Good show. Two down.
Gary and his Field of Sheff at the plate.
FULL COUNT. BASES LOADED.
...the pitch...
...it's...
...
...low. Ball four. Add one run.
Tigers 2.
Royals 0.
The Royals got a hit last half-inning. I forgot to mention that. Billy Butler with KC's first hit of the season.
Anyway, Magglio Ordonez, who is a terrifically awesome hitter, will probably hit a grand slam here.
...Pop fly to left. But he was thinking about it.
And how in the world did Gil Meche get out of that crap with only one earned run?! Meche: the luckiest man in baseball.
Channel 22.
Game officially postponed. I'm sure the Yankee fans would riot, but the rain probably wouldn't do much for the mob fires.
Channel... oh, wait. They're just showing the KC/Detroit game on this channel now. This is great because this channel doesn't flicker. I win.
John Buck at bat for the Royals.
John Buck struck out for the Royals.
Verlander really is averaging a strikeout an inning.
The ump just gave the Royal bench a warning. Probably arguing balls and strikes. Probably unnecessary whining.
Strikeout number six. So much for the one-strikeout-one-inning ratio.
I'm obviously not calling every play and every out and every pitch. Check a box for that stuff.
Bottom of the fifth.
Miguel Cabrera... with Detroit's first homer of the season.
...with his first homer as a Tiger.
...with his first American League homer.
Tigers 3
Royals 0
Good grief. Pudge hit it all the way to the track. Had it been down the line it might've gone out. Perhaps this is why Brett Tomko is warming up in the bullpen.
Quick inning otherwise.
Top of the sixth.
I've got the TV volume turned low and the media player volume turned high (hence the random mentioning of the Bob Dylan tune a while ago). Just thought you should know, and I'll mention any other interesting songs that randomly come up.
The best and worst thing about these noodle bowls are the completely bizarre things you'll find in them. Like this... it looks like Lisa Simpson's head with a red spiral in it. I have no idea.
Grudzielanek at bat for KC. Probably about to hurt himself somehow.
Non! A base hit. Just the second for the Royals.
There's only been one opening day no-hitter. Bob Feller for the Indians against the White Sox. 1940. Those things don't happen very often.
WOWIE. Alex Gordon just beat the cheese out of the ball. Homer deep to right. Suddenly the Royals are back in this.
Tigers 3
Royals 2
Royals with only three hits but with two runs. Compare that to the Tigers EIGHT hits, but three runs.
Bottom of the... where are we? Fifth? Sixth.
Meche is still in there (as he gives up a deep popfly out to Inge), but I suspect that if he gets into the trouble he saw last inning they'll probably pull him.
Another quick popfly out. Two down.
Have I been spelling "popfly" consistently? "Pop fly" vs "popfly". From now on it's one word.
Pop... I mean, GROUNDball out. That was quick.
Top seventh.
Neat. There's a sweet statue of a sliding Ty Cobb outside ComericA (no typo) Stadium. I don't doubt that statue will find some way to spike a second baseman somewhere.
Verlander's getting close to the 100-pitch mark. I don't know if he'll be back next inning or not, especially now that there are runners on first and third. Yeah, I don't know how it happened either.
...And now there'll be a pitching change. Let's all welcome Jason Grilli.
John Buck with a basehit. Tie ballgame. He took some hefty empty cuts, but finally he connected roundly enough to poke a single to left.
Tigers 3
Royals 3
Top seventh (still), NO OUTS, KC runners on first and second.
Tony Pena, Jr., at bat trying hard to bunt the ball. Foul. Foul X2. He'll have to swing now. He might as well have kept bunting. All he did was get the runner at first out in a rundown. We call that a fielder's choice. We call that a big waste of time.
Still a man on first, still a man on third. One out.
Pitching change. Good work, Grilli. I guess.
Now on the mound, Bobby Seay. A lefty to face lefty Joey Gathright. Gentle fly to short.
Pitching change. Good work, Seay. I guess.
Now on the mound, Aquilino Lopez. Who? He pitched 17 innings last year, none of which I saw. Grudz must have been watching the video, though, 'cause he just single to center like it was nothing. Go-ahead run.
Tigers 3
Royals 4
Alex Gordon pops to end the inning.
This game is turning out to be a little bit exciting.
Bottom seventh.
Brett Tomko now pitching for the Royals. I thought maybe Meche might come back, but that long Royal rally probably didn't help things. Also I have no idea how many pitches Meche threw.
Full count on Sheff. Ball four. Walk. Three walks for Gary. Give the man a pitch to hit.
Magglio up again. Grounds into a double play.
Miguel Cabrera at bat. Homered last time just because he wanted to. Stikes out this time. Just because he wanted to.
Top of the eighth.
Aquilino still pitching for Detroit.
One pop out.
Two pop outs.
Teahen slaps one to the gap and has the Royals' first triple of 2008.
...All for naught, though, as Ross Gload grounds out.
Bottom of the eighth.
Tomko, still in.
Carlos Guillen... way out. WAAAY out. To deep right.
Detroit 4
Royals 4
If I poked my head out the window I could probably hear the crowd cheering from Detroit. Not really.
Two outs.
I wasn't paying attention. WW, as it were.
Beach balls in center field. Stop that.
Strike three, Inge out.
Top nine.
Todd "Handlebar moustache man" Jones now pitching. I guess the Tigers are expecting to close this one out in the bottom of the ninth or something. Ninth or tenth. Either way Jones usually makes things interesting.
John Buck is just hackin' and hackin'. Like, with his bat. If he was coughing that'd be pretty gross. Let's see if he can keep one fair, though.
He does, and it's a dinky little ground out.
TP, Jr., just strike threed on a pitch near his face. Gotta learn to lay off the ones in your teeth.
Gathright popout. Three outs.
Bottom nine.
Royals manager Trey Hillman looks angry and scary. If as the KC manager he's this hosed at the beginning of the year, just wait until... well, anyway.
Leo Nunez pitching for the Royals. Striking out Renteria.
Polanco... lining out to a diving Grudzielanek. I wish Grudzy would stop doing so much this game because his name is very hard to spell.
Sheffield at bat. Full count already. The pitch...
Ball four. Gary Sheffield has walked four times this game.
But why? Magglio Ordonez bats behind him. Would you rather face the Big Tilde?? (As he harmlessly pops out to the first baseman. I won't talk anymore.)
Top ten.
Trey Hillman, it's worth noting, managed in Japan from 2003 to 2007. He was a Nippon-Ham Fighter. I only wish I could play for a team called the Ham Fighters. Fighters of Nippon-Ham, I suppose. But still...
Denny Bautista taking Todd Jones' place. I understand.
Mark Grudzielanek at bat. Grudzielanek at first. Single to left.
Now's Alex Gorden. Remember he homered earlier. He could totally do it again.
They snuck in a pinch runner. No longer will I have to spell out Grudzielanek. Now running, Esteban German. Esteban and German rhyme.
You know what else rhymes? Esteban German stealing a BASE, right out from under your FACE.
Go-ahead run on second, one out (Alex Gordon was useless), Jose Guillen at bat.
Score tied.
Extra innings.
Guillen struck right out. Two down.
Billy Butler hit the ball pretty hard, but lined it to the left fielder (Clete Thomas?), who made some sort of sissy jump to catch the ball.
Bottom ten.
Extra innings on opening day. How exciting.
Leo Nunez, who's a flailer, is still on the mound for KC. Miguel Cabrera at bat. But not anymore. One out.
Carlos Guillen, popout to center. It was deep enough for people to think, at least for a split second, that the game was over. Two down.
The Tigers have played in the longest opening day game against the Indians (Afflac duck!) when they went 15 innings in 1960. Detroit won, 4-2.
Nunez has a hot fastball. 97 mph. Striking Pudge out.
Top eleven.
Royals have a couple guys warming up in their bullpen. I don't know if Nunez can deal three innings or not. Regardless, Bautista is still pitching for Detroit. They haven't shown the Tiger bullpen yet. If it's empty it might soon see some action as Teahen just walked.
Gload, sac bunt. Teahen to second. One out.
Trey Hillman looking angry.
John Buck single to center... Teahen rounding third? No. NOO. Pegged at home. Good throw by Inge. Trey Hillman is angry because he can see the immediate future.
Buck's at second if that's any consolation.
Pena, Jr., swinging for the fences. Missing, of course.
No home run, but he does golf a pitch to shallow center. It falls for a hit, Buck scores from second, and the Royals take an extra-inning lead.
Tigers 4
Royals 5
Two down, and they're really paranoid about Jr. at first. Pickoffs, pitchouts... he's in somebody's head.
My back hurts.
Passed ball. Pena to second. How weird. All this time they thought he'd run, but he advances on a passed ball. Irony.
Gathright walks anyway, so now there's a man on first and second with two down. Esteban at bat. Esteban swinging and missing. Esteban striking out.
Bottom eleven.
Joakim Soria will try and hold Detroit to zero runs this inning. But he's got Clete Thomas to deal with. CLETE!
CLETE!! with a double.
Brandon Inge is trying out the whole bunting thing and bounced the ball right back into himself. Try again. He does. Successfully. One out, man on third.
It's a wonder that Inge isn't a man of excess. In the boxes he's labelled as B.Inge.
(pause for laughter)
Renteria is taking cuts like he's trying to win a ballgame. A deep fly ball will tie the game back up. A deeper one will win it.
A strikeout will get him nothing. And it is so.
Two down. Fathead Polanco up. Tying run 90 feet from home.
Sharp grounder to that weird area between third and short. Diving stop by Alex Gordon. Throw to first for the out. Game over. ROYALS WIN BASEBALL!
Nice stop by Gordon. Totally saved the game. And ended it.
And this ended up being the longest post ever.
Happy opening day!
Enjoy the rest of the season.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
World Series Game 3 Live Blog-o-rama
Welcome to Game 3 of the 2007 World Series in Colorado.
I'm not in Colorado, but I AM in front of a TV, and reading about the game here (as it happens!) is dang near as good as being there. I promise.
Here's how it works. During the game I'll type stuff, then at the end of each half-inning I'll hit the "Publish Post" button. That way you can read along. Or you can just come back tomorrow and read it all in its entirety. Or you can go outside and do something productive.
I've decided that for every Colorado run scored I'll take a celebratory shot of vodka, and for every Boston run scored I'll take a drown-my-sorrows swig of beer. If this ends up being a high-scoring game (and it might -- thinner air, y'know -- or it might not -- humidored baseballs, y'know) then let my pickled liver be a health warning to you to never play drinking games with baseball.
PREGAME
Major League Baseball is offering "international coverage" of this year's World Series. Seperate from the FOX broadcast, up here in Canada we get the play-by-play talents of Dave O'Brien and the colo(u)r commentary of Rick Sutcliffe. Interestingly, due to my close proximity to Detroit, I can still get the FOX broadcast on my TV.
So who do I pick? The insufferableness Tim McCarver, or the inaneness of Rick Sutcliffe? Suddenly I envy Sophie's choice.
Tonight's pitchers will be Dasuke Matsuzaka for Boston and Josh Fogg for Colorado. If Fogg ends up winning this game for the Rockies I can just imagine all the punny headlines that'll say "FOGG LIFTS FOR ROCKIES" or "FOGG SHROUDS SOX" or "FOGGET ABOUT IT" or something equally as unclever.
As for Matsuzaka, I can't call him Dice-K. It reminds me too much of, Dice Clay, as in Andrew, and the last thing I need is for Andrew Dice Clay to take up brain space.
Because of the non-DH in the NL stadium, Terry Francona had to make a decision. Does he bench one of the most feared hitters in the Majors (Ortiz) or does he bench the man hitting .444 this postseason (Youkilis)? They can't both play first base, although I would pay a few dollars to watch them try. But it looks like David Ortiz will get the start, making Kevin Youkilis a very good hitting bencher. Look for his Bluto self to make an appearance later in the game.
I'll stick with Sut and O'B for now. Less irritating FOXy bells 'n' whistles. The commercial breaks are shorter on this channel too.
The bullpen, apparently, is in the middle of the woods.
And, lest we all forget, the Rockies mascot is a BIG PURPLE DINOSAUR.
National Anthem time... and wow, Carrie Underwood's voice has the power to conjure fireworks!
Let's play ball.
TOP 1ST
Jacoby Ellsbury up first for Boston. I like him, and I hope one day he doesn't play for the Red Sox. Even when he screw up, like that wimpy hit he just now dribbled, he makes it into something positive (in this case his hit was so wimpy that nobody could field it in time).
Dustin Pedroia has all five vowels in his name. If only his name was Dustiny (but only sometimes). HIT AN RUN HIT AND RUN... foul. Try again. Seemingly routine groundball to short, but SAFE at first because Vowels is so dang fast.
Alright, man on first and second, Ortiz at the plate. No outs. Fogg's in some early trouble. So he strikes Davey out. Nice. Take THAT Mr. Big Papi sir.
Now Manny, who's even more dangerous than Ortiz. I'm glad baseball announcers are finally addressing the fact that Ramirez isn't some dumb manchild. He's an intelligent hitter who just happens to speak chop English and wear baggy pants.
Pop out to left. Two outs. Mike Lowell up.
It's a little bit funny to me that the two rookies immediately got on base, but the veterans can't get anything done.
Full count on Lowell. What's going to happen? The runners go and... AND... flyout to center.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 1ST
Kaz Matsui up first for the Rocks. First pitch from Matsuzaka is hit into the right field for a single... NAY, a double, thanks to some excellent ball misshandling by JD Drew. Single + Error, technically. Either way there's an instant man in scoring position.
Tulowi... Tulo... witz... TROY steps up to the plate, trying not to let 'Zaka's butt waggle distract him. He works his way up to a full count. Matsuzaka appears bored and throws his heralded apathy pitch. Strike three.
One out.
Matt Holliday now, perhaps still thinking about the fact that he still needs to touch home plate from that game against the Padres. Back to the pitcher... SNAGGED by Matsuzaka. He then spun around and caught Matsui off second in a rundown. They play around and get the second out.
Todd "Gotee of Doom" Helton now at bat. Holliday at first. Maybe a ghost runner on second.
Ground ball to third. Force at second. Three outs.
TOP 2ND
If each team is going to put two runners on base without scoring any of them then this is going to be a very long and frustrating game.
JD Drew quickly grounds out to second. One quick out. Quick quick quick.
Jason Veritek now at the plate. Veritek sounds like some sort of sythetic fiber.
Holy smokes. Veritek's broken bat helicoptered right through Fogg's legs. The ball trickled to Troy at short, who made a great throw to nail 'Tek at first. Two outs. Extra points for amusing chaos.
Julio Lugo, who was awful earlier during the regular season, has been oddly awesome in the playoffs. Like just now when he hit a double. I don't understand.
Dasuke Matsuzaka at bat. Rick Sutcliffe is talking about home runs for some reason.
Strike three. Three outs.
BOTTOM 2ND
First pitch to Garrett Atkins... is in his face. Off the shoulder, actually. Take your base.
Now Hawpe. On pop.
Strike one, two, three.
One out, man on first.
Now's the catcher, Yorvit Torrealba. Yorvit flies out to Manny in left, who makes every putout attempt an exciting one.
Two outs, Cory Sullivan at bat. I know absolutely nothing about Cory Sullivan. Isn't he a racecar driver or something? Probably, because he weakly dribbles out to Lugo at short. Flip to second, three outs.
TOP 3RD
Ellsbury in at bat number two. Wowie. Stretched that single down the left field line into a double. So once again there is a man in scoring position.
Can Pedroia reach base again? Yes, yes he can. He dropped a great bunt, which Torrealba fielded (when it was closer to Fogg) and dang near threw it into the seats. Helton managed to grab it, but Peds was easily safe at first.
Ortiz, RBI double to right. I'm grabbin' a beer as they intentionally walk Manny. A Rickard's Red... like, for the RED Sox. Get it?
The bases are now loaded for Mike Lowell. No outs.
Lowell single right up the middle (dividing the infield exactly in half). Two more runs come in. It's 3 - 0, Boston, no outs. What more?
Drew vs. Fogg. Drew pops to Troy. Reliable ol' JD, good for an out when you need it most.
One down. Veritek... singles to left. Manny coming around trying to score. The throw from Holliday is... is... is... doggone it, the umpire took forever to call that. OUT!
That was sure exciting. Two outs.
I like how Manny popped up after his slide into home and called himself safe.
Oh dear. Fogg just walked Lugo to reload the bases.
And now feared hitter Matsuzaka at bat... singles? A TWO RUN single?! Five to nothing??!
Okay. Man on first and third, two outs... wait a second, Ellsbury already batted this inning.
Single to center just out of reach of the diving Sullivan. Another run scores.
Hurdle is yanking Fogg, and the bottle I cracked open earlier this inning is already almost empty. Shoot, they don't even need Youkilis.
Who's pitching now? Franklin Morales? He got Pedroia to ground out to third. Three outs. FINALLY.
BOTTOM 3RD
It's not such a good thing when a pitcher leads off an inning at bat.
Strike three. That's why. Down goes Morales.
The mighty Kaz at bat. I kind of enjoy it when a Japanese batter faces a Japanese pitcher. I wonder if they have some deeper level of understanding that they subtly communicate to each other. I wonder if they make fun of the Americans. Whatever it is they're doing, Matsui and Matsuzaka are taking a long time to do it. Kaz keeps a-foulin', and 'Zaka keeps a-pitchin'.
Full count. This has turned into quite an epic battle.
Swing and a miss. Matsuzaka shames Matsui into striking out. Second out.
Troy Alphabetzki at bat. Weak grounder to Lugo. Tossed out at first. Third out. Change sides.
TOP 4TH
David Ortiz first up. Grounds to Kaz at second, who flips to Morales covering first.
One out. Maybe this will be a quick inning? Maybe six more runs won't score?
It's Manny time. A big shot to left-center. Back goes Sullivan. Back... back... caught at the track. Good job catchin' up to that, racecar driver man. Two outs.
Mike Lowell... back to the pitcher. Tossed out at first. Three outs. Quickest half inning ever.
BOTTOM 4TH
Matt Holliday at the plate. Matsuzaka still wiggling his rear. Foul ball after foul ball after foul ball. Then POW groundout to Ortiz at first. One out.
David Ortiz has been doing pretty good down there at first today, considering that his regular position during Boston field play is the bench.
Todd Helton now at bat. Maybe he can hit a six run homer. With nobody on base.
More fouls. Good grief. It must be ball souvenir day for the fans. And on the twelfth pitch... caught looking, strike three. How frustrating. Two outs.
Atkins up again, not really needing a diet. Unless a diet would make him a better hitter. I keed I keed... Atkins has been pretty solid with the bat this season. Not so much in the postseason, but... Oh, hey, ball four.
So, man on first, two outs, Brad Hawpe at bat. Pop out to Lugo. Three outs on, like, a million pitches this inning.
TOP 5TH
JD Drew now a-battin'. Gapper to left center, good for a double. Once again there is a man on second with no outs for Boston. They need to stop starting innings this way.
Veritek... showing bunt? Foul ball. Nice effort, 'Tek.
Strike three. Also a nice effort, 'Tek.
Out number one.
Lugo at bat now. What kind of nonsense will he involve himself in now? Full count now... and Rick Sutcliffe's favorite holiday is Halloween. He said so. He's still saying so. And Lugo's favorite holiday? The one where he flies out to right field. Two outs.
Is this Matsuzaka at bat again? I think he used up his one hit allotted to him. No more. But man, he sure is taking his hacks.
Grounder to Matsui at second. Tossed out at first. NOW who is shamed?
BOTTOM 6TH
Uh-oh, I don't have the expressed written consent of MLB to live blog this game.
Torrealba just Torre-singled-up-the-middle. That makes... TWO base hits for the Rockies.
Cory Sullivan. Fly out to Manny.
Now batting for Morales... Seth Smith. I know less about Seth Smith than I do about Cory Sullivan. But look! Another single. These are potential runs.
Just in time for another Matsui/Matsuzaka battle to the death. A dribbler to Lugo, snags it to his right... throws to third! Gets him out. Nice play, Julio. Two outs.
Still men on first and second. And Tulowitzki Tulo-pops-out-to-Lugo. Great.
TOP 6TH
Jeremy Affeldt now pitching for Colorado. Remember when he used to pitch for the Royals?
Jacob Ellsbury at bat, probably seconds away from hitting a triple or something. Hah, not this time. Grounder down the third base line, Atkins makes a nice little play and stops Ellsbury's reign of terror.
One out.
Dustin Pedroia watchin' all kinds of strikes go by him. Takes a hack and pops out to center.
Two outs.
Big Ortiz... swingandamiss.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 6TH
Hmm... one of the hits I thought the Rockies had wasn't really a hit. I've been bamboozled.
Kevin Youkilis is in the game now, as if they really needed him at this point.
Matt Holliday grounds out to Lowell at third. One out.
I wonder how much longer Matsuzaka can last. Doesn't all that waggling make him tired?
Todd Helton, after another hundred pitches from 'Zaka, takes a walk to first.
Atkins... what can you do to help the situation? Also take a walk? Good answer.
I knew the butt wiggles would do him in. Francona's yanking Matsuzaka for Javier Lopez.
Warm up time.
Wait, isn't Javier Lopez a catcher? He's pitching like one, giving up a hit to Hawpe. RBI. Rockies on the board. I'm going to wait until this inning ends before making a kitchen run.
There's a man on first, a man on second, one out, and a big ol' Torrealba at bat. He just swung so hard he did the moonwalk. Next swing, single to left. Atkins scores. 6 - 2.
Aw, nuts. Francona is taking Lopez out. In comes Mike Timlin, who I'm sure is sixty years old.
Warm up time again.
Spilborghs at bat? Baker on deck? These are just made up players.
Spilborghs, demanding recognition, just hit it DEEP to centerfield. Alas, it was caught. Two outs. No runners advanced.
Jeff Baker, taking huge cuts. Two quick strikes. A ball. Another ball. I wonder if he realizes this is the biggest at bat of his career.
Line drive to left-center... NO, Julio Lugo at short jumped twelve feet in the air and somehow snagged that thing. Curses.
TOP 7TH
Matt Herges now pitching for Colorado.
Manny Ramirez now batting for Boston.
Manny Ramirez now striking out for Boston. One out.
Mike Lowell up now. Mike Lowell down now. Strike three. Herges is making these batter appear fairly foolish.
Youkilis is in the dugout working on his swing, but he's all wrapped up in hoodies and oversized boxing gloves and whatnot and he looks kind of terrifying.
JD Drew can't look terrifying no matter what he does.
Jason Veritek on dek. Deck.
Drew swings and misses. Strike three. Herges totally just struck out the side like it was nothing.
Stretchy time.
BOTTOM 7TH
Holy cow, Philip Bailey just sang God Bless America. Maybe this is the pick-up the Rockies need in order to win this game. Some Earth, Wind, and Fire. Maybe Bailey should pick up a bat, too.
Anyway,
Kaz Matsui leading off, Timlin still pitching. And NICE, Kaz laid down a perfect bunt. Everybody just kind of stared at it. Now there's a Kaz on first.
Troy up. Timlin old.
Kaz scoring MORE points. Consider second base stolen.
Tulotroy hits a dinky little nubber that somehow skips through the infield. Kaz at third. Troy at first. Holliday at bat. Timlin no longer pitching.
Warm up time again again.
Uh-oh, Okajima now pitching. In the outfield Drew was yanked, Ellsbury's moved to right, and Coco Crisp, WHOSE NAME I WILL NOT MAKE FUN OF, is now in centerfield.
Holliday still at bat. DEEP! DEEP!!! HOME RUN!!!11!!! To centerfield. Way over Crisp. Three run homer.
Boston 6, Rockies 5.
Outstanding.
And I like how Holliday was all cool about it, like he hits three run World Series homers all the time.
Helton at the plate now, trying to bat despite the fireworks smoke polluting the field.
I just realized how much Stolichnaya I've got to put in me now. Maybe I'll split it with my imaginary friends.
Helton, full count, BASE HIT to left. Call this game a Top 40 countdown 'cause the hits just keep on coming. Cha-POW.
Atkins at bat. This is very un-Okajimalike behavior. Maybe he finally snapped his brain from that sudden head-jerk movement he pulls during every pitch. And a snapped brain... allows him to give up base hits?
Outs seem to be optional as there don't appear to be any.
Oh, there's one. Atkins struck out swingin.
Brad Hawpe lookin' to hit a baseball now. Also, without a helmet or hat, he looks a lot like Marc Summers. And Hawpe fails the physical challenge. Strike three.
Two outs.
Yorvit up. His number is 8. Yogi Berra's number is 8. I suppose it's a catcher thing. But you know what would make Yogi proud right now? A home run. I bet it would.
Ground out to 'Jima. Yogi weeps.
TOP 8TH
Surprisingly I hold alcohol very well, but I'll let you know if I puke all over the keyboard.
Brian Fuentes now pitching for the Rockies.
'Tek at bat. Hits it to short as slow as he possibly can. Easy out. One down.
I'm glad there's at least one exciting game in this here World Series contest. This one is turning out pretty good.
Lugo now. Lugo now on base. Call it a walk.
Up comes Coco Crisp. Crisp's real name, by the way, is Covelli. Covelli Loyce. Crisp. And not Count Chocula. Regardless of what his name is, Crisp bloops it past the diving Tuloblahblah for a single.
Man on first. Man on second. Jacoby "I'll Probably Get A Hit" Ellsbury at bat.
Ellsbury just got a hit. He popped it down the right field line and Marc Summers couldn't come up with it. Lugo scored, Crisp to third.
Fudge nuggets. Pedroia doubled to right. A couple people scored. And Fuentes isn't making me so happy.
Boston 9, Rockies 5. There goes another half beer.
Youk up to bat. Ground out to third. Two outs.
Manny now. Being Manny. Being growing hair like Predator.
High pop up just past third, which might be a homer in Boston. Three outs.
BOTTOM 8TH
Manny Delcarmen pitching for Boston. Now I guess I have to point out which Manny I'm talking about.
Was that Spilborghs? He just flied out to right. One down.
Willy Tavares now batting for Fuentes. I like Tavares. He might suddenly drop a bunt, or he might not. Whatcha gonna do? Tavares decided that he was gonna line out to the second baseman. Two down.
Matsui up again. Singles up the middle! He's had a pretty good day. But I bet his day would be a bit better if he crossed home plate.
'Witzki up now. And I spy Papelbon warming up in the bullpen. They might think about bringin him in 'cause Delcarmen just Del-walked Troy. Yep, here he comes.
Papelbon now. Holliday pops out DEEP to left. I had high hopes for that one. Three outs.
TOP 9TH
LaTroy Hawkins now pitching for Colorado.
I was on the phone with my wife for this whole inning, but I can tell you Lowell singled to center, some guy named Cora sacrificed Lowell to second, Lowell stole third base (!), and Veritek hit it deep to center to score Lowell. Lugo grounded out to short and the peasants rejoiced.
BOTTOM 9TH
Unless Papelbon completely loses his mind Boston has this one in the bag.
To prove my point Todd Helton pops out to right.
To prove my point Garrett Atkins grounds out to third.
Last chance Hawpe at bat now.
Hawpe now with the fate of the universe in his hands. SINGLES down the right field line. Make that a TRIPLE. I need to pay more attention.
Yorvit Torrealba now with the fate of the universe in his hands. Broken bat to short. Lugo fields it easily. Out at first.
Red Sox win Game 3.
To take a three game lead.
POSTGAME
That was, despite the outcome, a pretty exciting game. At least for a minute there. But now we have to accept the fact that the Boston Red Sox will probably become our Baseball Overlords. I intend to hide out underground, just like I did after the 2004 World Series, and peek my head out in February like Punxatawny Phil. I'll only come out when it becomes clear that the Red Sox will have a dismal 2008 season.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this live blogging of Game 3. And if you DIDN'T enjoy it, I hope you wasted a whole bunch of valuable time reading it.
My brain cells are thankful that no more runs scored.
I apologize for all the pictures of 80s B-list icons.
Hopefully I'll be able to do this again in the future. Probably not this season, though.
G'night, y'all.
I'm not in Colorado, but I AM in front of a TV, and reading about the game here (as it happens!) is dang near as good as being there. I promise.
Here's how it works. During the game I'll type stuff, then at the end of each half-inning I'll hit the "Publish Post" button. That way you can read along. Or you can just come back tomorrow and read it all in its entirety. Or you can go outside and do something productive.
I've decided that for every Colorado run scored I'll take a celebratory shot of vodka, and for every Boston run scored I'll take a drown-my-sorrows swig of beer. If this ends up being a high-scoring game (and it might -- thinner air, y'know -- or it might not -- humidored baseballs, y'know) then let my pickled liver be a health warning to you to never play drinking games with baseball.
PREGAME
Major League Baseball is offering "international coverage" of this year's World Series. Seperate from the FOX broadcast, up here in Canada we get the play-by-play talents of Dave O'Brien and the colo(u)r commentary of Rick Sutcliffe. Interestingly, due to my close proximity to Detroit, I can still get the FOX broadcast on my TV.
So who do I pick? The insufferableness Tim McCarver, or the inaneness of Rick Sutcliffe? Suddenly I envy Sophie's choice.
Tonight's pitchers will be Dasuke Matsuzaka for Boston and Josh Fogg for Colorado. If Fogg ends up winning this game for the Rockies I can just imagine all the punny headlines that'll say "FOGG LIFTS FOR ROCKIES" or "FOGG SHROUDS SOX" or "FOGGET ABOUT IT" or something equally as unclever.As for Matsuzaka, I can't call him Dice-K. It reminds me too much of, Dice Clay, as in Andrew, and the last thing I need is for Andrew Dice Clay to take up brain space.
Because of the non-DH in the NL stadium, Terry Francona had to make a decision. Does he bench one of the most feared hitters in the Majors (Ortiz) or does he bench the man hitting .444 this postseason (Youkilis)? They can't both play first base, although I would pay a few dollars to watch them try. But it looks like David Ortiz will get the start, making Kevin Youkilis a very good hitting bencher. Look for his Bluto self to make an appearance later in the game.
I'll stick with Sut and O'B for now. Less irritating FOXy bells 'n' whistles. The commercial breaks are shorter on this channel too.
The bullpen, apparently, is in the middle of the woods.
And, lest we all forget, the Rockies mascot is a BIG PURPLE DINOSAUR.
National Anthem time... and wow, Carrie Underwood's voice has the power to conjure fireworks!
Let's play ball.
TOP 1ST
Jacoby Ellsbury up first for Boston. I like him, and I hope one day he doesn't play for the Red Sox. Even when he screw up, like that wimpy hit he just now dribbled, he makes it into something positive (in this case his hit was so wimpy that nobody could field it in time).
Dustin Pedroia has all five vowels in his name. If only his name was Dustiny (but only sometimes). HIT AN RUN HIT AND RUN... foul. Try again. Seemingly routine groundball to short, but SAFE at first because Vowels is so dang fast.
Alright, man on first and second, Ortiz at the plate. No outs. Fogg's in some early trouble. So he strikes Davey out. Nice. Take THAT Mr. Big Papi sir.
Now Manny, who's even more dangerous than Ortiz. I'm glad baseball announcers are finally addressing the fact that Ramirez isn't some dumb manchild. He's an intelligent hitter who just happens to speak chop English and wear baggy pants.
Pop out to left. Two outs. Mike Lowell up.
It's a little bit funny to me that the two rookies immediately got on base, but the veterans can't get anything done.
Full count on Lowell. What's going to happen? The runners go and... AND... flyout to center.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 1ST
Kaz Matsui up first for the Rocks. First pitch from Matsuzaka is hit into the right field for a single... NAY, a double, thanks to some excellent ball misshandling by JD Drew. Single + Error, technically. Either way there's an instant man in scoring position.
Tulowi... Tulo... witz... TROY steps up to the plate, trying not to let 'Zaka's butt waggle distract him. He works his way up to a full count. Matsuzaka appears bored and throws his heralded apathy pitch. Strike three.
One out.
Matt Holliday now, perhaps still thinking about the fact that he still needs to touch home plate from that game against the Padres. Back to the pitcher... SNAGGED by Matsuzaka. He then spun around and caught Matsui off second in a rundown. They play around and get the second out.
Todd "Gotee of Doom" Helton now at bat. Holliday at first. Maybe a ghost runner on second.
Ground ball to third. Force at second. Three outs.
TOP 2ND
If each team is going to put two runners on base without scoring any of them then this is going to be a very long and frustrating game.
JD Drew quickly grounds out to second. One quick out. Quick quick quick.
Jason Veritek now at the plate. Veritek sounds like some sort of sythetic fiber.
Holy smokes. Veritek's broken bat helicoptered right through Fogg's legs. The ball trickled to Troy at short, who made a great throw to nail 'Tek at first. Two outs. Extra points for amusing chaos.
Julio Lugo, who was awful earlier during the regular season, has been oddly awesome in the playoffs. Like just now when he hit a double. I don't understand.
Dasuke Matsuzaka at bat. Rick Sutcliffe is talking about home runs for some reason.
Strike three. Three outs.
BOTTOM 2ND
First pitch to Garrett Atkins... is in his face. Off the shoulder, actually. Take your base.
Now Hawpe. On pop.
Strike one, two, three.
One out, man on first.
Now's the catcher, Yorvit Torrealba. Yorvit flies out to Manny in left, who makes every putout attempt an exciting one.
Two outs, Cory Sullivan at bat. I know absolutely nothing about Cory Sullivan. Isn't he a racecar driver or something? Probably, because he weakly dribbles out to Lugo at short. Flip to second, three outs.
TOP 3RD
Ellsbury in at bat number two. Wowie. Stretched that single down the left field line into a double. So once again there is a man in scoring position.
Can Pedroia reach base again? Yes, yes he can. He dropped a great bunt, which Torrealba fielded (when it was closer to Fogg) and dang near threw it into the seats. Helton managed to grab it, but Peds was easily safe at first.
Ortiz, RBI double to right. I'm grabbin' a beer as they intentionally walk Manny. A Rickard's Red... like, for the RED Sox. Get it?
The bases are now loaded for Mike Lowell. No outs.
Lowell single right up the middle (dividing the infield exactly in half). Two more runs come in. It's 3 - 0, Boston, no outs. What more?
Drew vs. Fogg. Drew pops to Troy. Reliable ol' JD, good for an out when you need it most.
One down. Veritek... singles to left. Manny coming around trying to score. The throw from Holliday is... is... is... doggone it, the umpire took forever to call that. OUT!
That was sure exciting. Two outs.
I like how Manny popped up after his slide into home and called himself safe.
Oh dear. Fogg just walked Lugo to reload the bases.
And now feared hitter Matsuzaka at bat... singles? A TWO RUN single?! Five to nothing??!
Okay. Man on first and third, two outs... wait a second, Ellsbury already batted this inning.
Single to center just out of reach of the diving Sullivan. Another run scores.
Hurdle is yanking Fogg, and the bottle I cracked open earlier this inning is already almost empty. Shoot, they don't even need Youkilis.
Who's pitching now? Franklin Morales? He got Pedroia to ground out to third. Three outs. FINALLY.
BOTTOM 3RD
It's not such a good thing when a pitcher leads off an inning at bat.
Strike three. That's why. Down goes Morales.
The mighty Kaz at bat. I kind of enjoy it when a Japanese batter faces a Japanese pitcher. I wonder if they have some deeper level of understanding that they subtly communicate to each other. I wonder if they make fun of the Americans. Whatever it is they're doing, Matsui and Matsuzaka are taking a long time to do it. Kaz keeps a-foulin', and 'Zaka keeps a-pitchin'.
Full count. This has turned into quite an epic battle.
Swing and a miss. Matsuzaka shames Matsui into striking out. Second out.
Troy Alphabetzki at bat. Weak grounder to Lugo. Tossed out at first. Third out. Change sides.
TOP 4TH
David Ortiz first up. Grounds to Kaz at second, who flips to Morales covering first.
One out. Maybe this will be a quick inning? Maybe six more runs won't score?
It's Manny time. A big shot to left-center. Back goes Sullivan. Back... back... caught at the track. Good job catchin' up to that, racecar driver man. Two outs.
Mike Lowell... back to the pitcher. Tossed out at first. Three outs. Quickest half inning ever.
BOTTOM 4TH
Matt Holliday at the plate. Matsuzaka still wiggling his rear. Foul ball after foul ball after foul ball. Then POW groundout to Ortiz at first. One out.
David Ortiz has been doing pretty good down there at first today, considering that his regular position during Boston field play is the bench.
Todd Helton now at bat. Maybe he can hit a six run homer. With nobody on base.
More fouls. Good grief. It must be ball souvenir day for the fans. And on the twelfth pitch... caught looking, strike three. How frustrating. Two outs.
Atkins up again, not really needing a diet. Unless a diet would make him a better hitter. I keed I keed... Atkins has been pretty solid with the bat this season. Not so much in the postseason, but... Oh, hey, ball four.
So, man on first, two outs, Brad Hawpe at bat. Pop out to Lugo. Three outs on, like, a million pitches this inning.
TOP 5TH
JD Drew now a-battin'. Gapper to left center, good for a double. Once again there is a man on second with no outs for Boston. They need to stop starting innings this way.
Veritek... showing bunt? Foul ball. Nice effort, 'Tek.
Strike three. Also a nice effort, 'Tek.
Out number one.
Lugo at bat now. What kind of nonsense will he involve himself in now? Full count now... and Rick Sutcliffe's favorite holiday is Halloween. He said so. He's still saying so. And Lugo's favorite holiday? The one where he flies out to right field. Two outs.
Is this Matsuzaka at bat again? I think he used up his one hit allotted to him. No more. But man, he sure is taking his hacks.
Grounder to Matsui at second. Tossed out at first. NOW who is shamed?
BOTTOM 6TH
Uh-oh, I don't have the expressed written consent of MLB to live blog this game.
Torrealba just Torre-singled-up-the-middle. That makes... TWO base hits for the Rockies.
Cory Sullivan. Fly out to Manny.
Now batting for Morales... Seth Smith. I know less about Seth Smith than I do about Cory Sullivan. But look! Another single. These are potential runs.
Just in time for another Matsui/Matsuzaka battle to the death. A dribbler to Lugo, snags it to his right... throws to third! Gets him out. Nice play, Julio. Two outs.
Still men on first and second. And Tulowitzki Tulo-pops-out-to-Lugo. Great.
TOP 6TH
Jeremy Affeldt now pitching for Colorado. Remember when he used to pitch for the Royals?
Jacob Ellsbury at bat, probably seconds away from hitting a triple or something. Hah, not this time. Grounder down the third base line, Atkins makes a nice little play and stops Ellsbury's reign of terror.
One out.
Dustin Pedroia watchin' all kinds of strikes go by him. Takes a hack and pops out to center.
Two outs.
Big Ortiz... swingandamiss.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 6TH
Hmm... one of the hits I thought the Rockies had wasn't really a hit. I've been bamboozled.
Kevin Youkilis is in the game now, as if they really needed him at this point.
Matt Holliday grounds out to Lowell at third. One out.
I wonder how much longer Matsuzaka can last. Doesn't all that waggling make him tired?
Todd Helton, after another hundred pitches from 'Zaka, takes a walk to first.
Atkins... what can you do to help the situation? Also take a walk? Good answer.
I knew the butt wiggles would do him in. Francona's yanking Matsuzaka for Javier Lopez.
Warm up time.
Wait, isn't Javier Lopez a catcher? He's pitching like one, giving up a hit to Hawpe. RBI. Rockies on the board. I'm going to wait until this inning ends before making a kitchen run.
There's a man on first, a man on second, one out, and a big ol' Torrealba at bat. He just swung so hard he did the moonwalk. Next swing, single to left. Atkins scores. 6 - 2.
Aw, nuts. Francona is taking Lopez out. In comes Mike Timlin, who I'm sure is sixty years old.
Warm up time again.
Spilborghs at bat? Baker on deck? These are just made up players.
Spilborghs, demanding recognition, just hit it DEEP to centerfield. Alas, it was caught. Two outs. No runners advanced.
Jeff Baker, taking huge cuts. Two quick strikes. A ball. Another ball. I wonder if he realizes this is the biggest at bat of his career.
Line drive to left-center... NO, Julio Lugo at short jumped twelve feet in the air and somehow snagged that thing. Curses.
TOP 7TH
Matt Herges now pitching for Colorado.
Manny Ramirez now batting for Boston.
Manny Ramirez now striking out for Boston. One out.
Mike Lowell up now. Mike Lowell down now. Strike three. Herges is making these batter appear fairly foolish.
Youkilis is in the dugout working on his swing, but he's all wrapped up in hoodies and oversized boxing gloves and whatnot and he looks kind of terrifying.
JD Drew can't look terrifying no matter what he does.
Jason Veritek on dek. Deck.
Drew swings and misses. Strike three. Herges totally just struck out the side like it was nothing.
Stretchy time.
BOTTOM 7TH
Holy cow, Philip Bailey just sang God Bless America. Maybe this is the pick-up the Rockies need in order to win this game. Some Earth, Wind, and Fire. Maybe Bailey should pick up a bat, too.Anyway,
Kaz Matsui leading off, Timlin still pitching. And NICE, Kaz laid down a perfect bunt. Everybody just kind of stared at it. Now there's a Kaz on first.
Troy up. Timlin old.
Kaz scoring MORE points. Consider second base stolen.
Tulotroy hits a dinky little nubber that somehow skips through the infield. Kaz at third. Troy at first. Holliday at bat. Timlin no longer pitching.
Warm up time again again.
Uh-oh, Okajima now pitching. In the outfield Drew was yanked, Ellsbury's moved to right, and Coco Crisp, WHOSE NAME I WILL NOT MAKE FUN OF, is now in centerfield.
Holliday still at bat. DEEP! DEEP!!! HOME RUN!!!11!!! To centerfield. Way over Crisp. Three run homer.
Boston 6, Rockies 5.
Outstanding.
And I like how Holliday was all cool about it, like he hits three run World Series homers all the time.
Helton at the plate now, trying to bat despite the fireworks smoke polluting the field.
I just realized how much Stolichnaya I've got to put in me now. Maybe I'll split it with my imaginary friends.
Helton, full count, BASE HIT to left. Call this game a Top 40 countdown 'cause the hits just keep on coming. Cha-POW.
Atkins at bat. This is very un-Okajimalike behavior. Maybe he finally snapped his brain from that sudden head-jerk movement he pulls during every pitch. And a snapped brain... allows him to give up base hits?
Outs seem to be optional as there don't appear to be any.
Oh, there's one. Atkins struck out swingin.
Brad Hawpe lookin' to hit a baseball now. Also, without a helmet or hat, he looks a lot like Marc Summers. And Hawpe fails the physical challenge. Strike three.Two outs.
Yorvit up. His number is 8. Yogi Berra's number is 8. I suppose it's a catcher thing. But you know what would make Yogi proud right now? A home run. I bet it would.
Ground out to 'Jima. Yogi weeps.
TOP 8TH
Surprisingly I hold alcohol very well, but I'll let you know if I puke all over the keyboard.
Brian Fuentes now pitching for the Rockies.
'Tek at bat. Hits it to short as slow as he possibly can. Easy out. One down.
I'm glad there's at least one exciting game in this here World Series contest. This one is turning out pretty good.
Lugo now. Lugo now on base. Call it a walk.
Up comes Coco Crisp. Crisp's real name, by the way, is Covelli. Covelli Loyce. Crisp. And not Count Chocula. Regardless of what his name is, Crisp bloops it past the diving Tuloblahblah for a single.
Man on first. Man on second. Jacoby "I'll Probably Get A Hit" Ellsbury at bat.
Ellsbury just got a hit. He popped it down the right field line and Marc Summers couldn't come up with it. Lugo scored, Crisp to third.
Fudge nuggets. Pedroia doubled to right. A couple people scored. And Fuentes isn't making me so happy.
Boston 9, Rockies 5. There goes another half beer.
Youk up to bat. Ground out to third. Two outs.
Manny now. Being Manny. Being growing hair like Predator.
High pop up just past third, which might be a homer in Boston. Three outs.
BOTTOM 8TH
Manny Delcarmen pitching for Boston. Now I guess I have to point out which Manny I'm talking about.
Was that Spilborghs? He just flied out to right. One down.
Willy Tavares now batting for Fuentes. I like Tavares. He might suddenly drop a bunt, or he might not. Whatcha gonna do? Tavares decided that he was gonna line out to the second baseman. Two down.
Matsui up again. Singles up the middle! He's had a pretty good day. But I bet his day would be a bit better if he crossed home plate.
'Witzki up now. And I spy Papelbon warming up in the bullpen. They might think about bringin him in 'cause Delcarmen just Del-walked Troy. Yep, here he comes.
Papelbon now. Holliday pops out DEEP to left. I had high hopes for that one. Three outs.
TOP 9TH
LaTroy Hawkins now pitching for Colorado.
I was on the phone with my wife for this whole inning, but I can tell you Lowell singled to center, some guy named Cora sacrificed Lowell to second, Lowell stole third base (!), and Veritek hit it deep to center to score Lowell. Lugo grounded out to short and the peasants rejoiced.
BOTTOM 9TH
Unless Papelbon completely loses his mind Boston has this one in the bag.
To prove my point Todd Helton pops out to right.
To prove my point Garrett Atkins grounds out to third.
Last chance Hawpe at bat now.
Hawpe now with the fate of the universe in his hands. SINGLES down the right field line. Make that a TRIPLE. I need to pay more attention.
Yorvit Torrealba now with the fate of the universe in his hands. Broken bat to short. Lugo fields it easily. Out at first.
Red Sox win Game 3.
To take a three game lead.
POSTGAME
That was, despite the outcome, a pretty exciting game. At least for a minute there. But now we have to accept the fact that the Boston Red Sox will probably become our Baseball Overlords. I intend to hide out underground, just like I did after the 2004 World Series, and peek my head out in February like Punxatawny Phil. I'll only come out when it becomes clear that the Red Sox will have a dismal 2008 season.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this live blogging of Game 3. And if you DIDN'T enjoy it, I hope you wasted a whole bunch of valuable time reading it.
My brain cells are thankful that no more runs scored.
I apologize for all the pictures of 80s B-list icons.
Hopefully I'll be able to do this again in the future. Probably not this season, though.
G'night, y'all.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Game 3 Live Blog Scheduled to Coincide with Game 3
Because circumstances allow it for just this one time, I'm going to live-blog Game 3 of the World Series Saturday right here on this very website. I've done this once before, and it's kinda fun (for me, anyway. I don't know about you poor suckers who choose to read along instead of actually physically watching the game.).
So set your clocks, boot up your harddrives, and mute Tim McCarver. We're gonna have ourselves a jolly ol' time.
So set your clocks, boot up your harddrives, and mute Tim McCarver. We're gonna have ourselves a jolly ol' time.
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