Clay Buchholz & Mike Timlin In Syracuse

Clay Buchholz In Syracuse

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

Clay Buchholz pitched Pawtucket to a victory over the Syracuse Chiefs last night.
I went to see the young Red Sox phenom and got
a chance to also see Mike Timlin, the iron man of the Red Sox’s
bullpen in both of their championship seasons.

Buchholz was not dominant last night in his five innings, although he
gave up only a couple of hits and no runs.
Second baseman Joe Thurston was the star of the game, with two RBI’s
and several nice plays in the field.
The infield bailed Buchholz out with three double plays and errorless
play in the field. Timlin came in to relieve
Buchholz in the sixth and set down the home team 1-2-3. I think he
threw all of six pitches. He looks healthy.

Even though the game was played through a persistent drizzle, I had a
great time. There were tons of Sox fans out
flying the colors. In Boston, there is some sniping about poseurs
and folks jumping on the bandwagon.
The blogs are aflame with debates on being a “real” Sox fan. For
those of us in the hinterlands of Red Sox
Nation, the debate is silly. I don’t care if you’re wearing a pink
Sox hat or don’t know the 1967 Impossible Dream team
starting line up. All I know, there were more Ortiz, Papelbon.
Lowell, Dice K, Lester, Ramirez (even a Derek Lowe!)
shirts in evidence last night than Posada, Jeter and A-Rod shirts. In
the middle of Yankee country.

Need A Babe Ruth Impersonator? Call Big Papi

Need a big, gregarious slugger to reproduce the famous Babe Ruth “called shot” during a promotion during the All Star Game home run derby? At Yankee Stadium? The Yankees are furious that State Farm went with Big Papi instead of someone wearing pinstripes.

It’s a Red Sox Nation, baby! Who’s the Babe cursing now?

My First Taste Of The Grass

My First Taste Of The Grass

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

Last week I went out to Alliance Bank Stadium to root for the Pawtucket Red Sox against the hometown Chiefs. Why?
1) I’m never going to root against the Red Sox–majors or top farm team
2) The Chiefs nickname is racist.
3) I had to see the new grass field.

Oh well, the day was overcast and cold, the PawSox lost 8-5 and the thrilling young stars destined for Fenway are mostly already up in Boston due to injuries (Lowrie, Buchholz, Moss). It was still a fun day. Draft Saranac beer and a grass field. Beats lousy corporate brew and astroturf.

Life Begins On Opening Day

Back in the 1980’s, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post wrote a book about baseball called Why Time Begins On Opening Day. I only read excerpts of the book, so maybe that’s why I have always recalled the title as Life Begins On Opening Day.

I like my title better. Spring: the earth is unthawing, plant life starts growing and baseball starts. When I was a kid, spring meant little league sign ups and just tossing the ball around in the back yard (or if you had three guys, monkey in the middle–the better to practice your rundown skills, both defensively and as a base runner.)

As an adult, I may get in some catch every now and again, but baseball is now largely rooting for the Red Sox. And life began again today, albeit at 6 in the morning and in the Tokyo Dome. The Sox beat the Oakland A’s 6-5 in 10 innings, thanks to a two-run double by Manny Ramirez. It’s a weird way to begin the year–fly to Japan to play the first two regular season games of the year, then fly back to the United States and play a few more exhibition/pre-season games.

Oh well, our magic number over the Yankees is now . . .  

Jeter Worst Fielding Shortstop In Baseball

According to a study presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers at Penn have determined that Derek Jeter is the worst fielding shortstop in baseball.

What’s more, A-Rod was one of the best fielding shortstops when he played at Texas, yet he got moved to third to accommodate Mr. Slow Motion, No Range, No Arm. Perhaps this is why the current century has two titles for the Sox and none for the evil empire of Steinbrenner.

18 Wins; 1 Giant Loss!

OK, it’s been a great sports year for me. First the Red Sox, now the Giants. I am a Sox fan because of my annual summer trips to my grandmother’s on Cape Cod. But fall seasons were spent here and I adopted my Dad’s love of the Giants. I once was an intense fan, watching each Sunday and freaking out over the two Parcell’s-era Super Bowls. The “wide-right” victory over the Bills left me prostrate on my parent’s basement floor after I physically willed the ball to miss.

I’ve since grown less enamored of football as a sport. There was no seismic break, no righteous anger. Just gradual disillusion: football is not that cool a sport. Certainly nothing to compare to baseball, basketball or lacrosse. I rarely watch football during the regular season and find it hard to sit through an entire game, even during the playoffs.

Still, it was fun to watch the G-men dominate defensively, shades of LT and Harry Carson.

Top Syracuse Stories 2007

1) Joanie’s Fresh Start
Joanie Mahoney won the election for County Executive. A 21-vote primary victory over former County Legislature Chair Dale Sweetland was hers when she defiantly stared down the leaders of her party and won the hearts and minds of the rank and file. The GOP’s County party chair got Joanie’s campaign energized when he suggested that Joanie should stay home and mind her 4 young children. Joanie then trounced Bill Magnarelli in the general election, when the incumbent Assembyman ran a singularly inept and unenthusiastic campaign. I believe Joanie won because of, rather than in spite of, her relative lack of experience. No one wanted a grim company man anymore after 20 years of Nick Pirro. Voters wanted young, vibrant and optimistic. It made the election easy, but sets her up for a big fall if her first term is not noticeably different from “business as usual.”

2) Art. Ask For More.
The Everson put their director out on the street in the face of boring programs and a lack of fundraising. S.U.’s Warehouse gallery forced their director out because the programs were too exciting. The city hired a public art coordinator and seemed to focus their sights on reimagining the city’s abandoned parking meter poles. A section of E. Fayette began calling itself an art park, while down the road an art collective is attempting to create a live/work/practice/gallery space in an old warehouse.

3) Walsh 2.0
You are an 18 year incumbent, a member of your party’s leadership team and have brought millions of dollars back to your district. However, you almost lose your last election, losing both the city and Onondaga County. So, you adjust–quickly. You change your position on the Iraq War, allying yourself with other electorally-challenged Republicans suggesting the President slowly wind down operations. You reverse your policy on Town Hall meetings, scheduling them all over your far-flung district. You vote against the President on expanding children’s health insurance.

4) The Chiefs Honor Syracuse’s Glorious Railroading Past
Of course, they honored this past the way we have come to expect the Chiefs to honor anything–with incompetence, penny-pinching and above all else, lots of lost ballgames. The name change was a way to acknowledge that the aging fanbase still calls the team the Chiefs and will always use the racist epithet freely and without shame. We discovered that the protection money demanded by the Chiefs cost this town our pro soccer franchise, an operation that embarrassed the stodgy baseballers with their energy and excitement. Now we learn that the team will not pay its NatGrid bill. I‘d love to see the utility shut off the power in the middle of a game. At least next year we’ll be able to see the Chiefs lose on grass.

5) Route 81 Bypass–To Eternity
Common Councilor Van Robinson was a lonely voice suggesting that the city look at not repairing or replacing Rt. 81 when its anticipated lifespan comes up in another decade. But thanks to some public hearings, lots of buzz in the Post Standard and Sean Kirst’s newspaper blog and the key support of folks like Syracuse University and University Hospital, this is now an issue with legs. It is also perhaps the first time we have enough time and publicity to make a community development decision out in the open, with real public participation. Now we just need someone to stand up at a podium on Almond Street and thunder “ Governor Spitzer, tear down this highway!”

6) Excellus Workers Lose Downtown Farmer’s Market, Gain A Food Court
Excellus, the non-profit health insurance firm, moved its local operations (and 800 jobs) out of downtown and out to the old Agway building adjacent to Shoppingtown Mall in Dewitt. While much handwringing and finger pointing ensued, I’m still unconvinced that the move will cost the city much. The region still has the jobs, downtown is looking at several residential and commercial development projects starting up in the next couple of years and Excellus still has to pay their property taxes on the building. Chill out, it really is an opportunity, not a disaster.

7) “Watch Me Pull A Fat Government Grant Out Of This Hat!”
Nancy Cantor, S.U.’s Chancellor and Bob Congel, shopping mall tycoon, continue to prove that an idea need not be any more substantive than a couple of watercolors and some fancy dreams to attract beaucoups bucks from government officials blinded by the magic act. Millions for a freakin’ sidewalk between S.U. and Armory Square? Millions for a fantasy shopping, hotel resort, green technology museum? What about housing, insanely high heating bills and a decent education for all our children? Where are those magic acts?

Purple County, Blue City
The Democrats have carried the County in the past three Presidential elections, four U.S. senate races and the last U.S. Congressional District race. However, they have made no real progress in local county races. District Attorney, Sheriff, Comptroller, Clerk and County Executive have all been Republican since the Ice Age. But things are worse for the Republicans in the city. The County government buildings in downtown Syracuse must feel like West Berlin, surrounded by a hostile enemy. No more city Republicans in the County Legislature or city school board and only one on the city Common Council. While the Democrats found candidates for all offices, and even picked off a couple Republican incumbents, the Republicans had many vacancies on their lineup card.

9) Person Of The Year: Greg Robinson, head football coach Syracuse University.
In these cynical times, it takes a special person to always look on the bright side of life (as Monty Python maintained that Jesus once musically urged his followers.) Well, Coach Robinson, who has won only 7 games in three seasons on the Hill, is just that kind of special person. So relentlessly upbeat, you believe he may be brain damaged. In the the face of relentless pressure from spoiled fans, sadistic sports writers and Type A personalities in the Sports Department, Coach Rob continues to believe. This cynic salutes his favorite Pollyanna. The BCS Bowl is just around the corner in the mind of Greg Robinson. It must be a very cozy place to be.

A Joyful Tension

Boston won the World Series last night, breaking a two year championship drought that repeatedly crushed the hopes and dreams of millions of residents of Red Sox Nation. Well, I guess you can only go there once. I didn’t cry last night like I did in 2004. I didn’t go out into my backyard and have a long conversation with my father, who passed away a year before the 2004 victory (Instead I did a Big Papi chestbump followed by a double-armed pointing up to the sky.) I think he understood.

Boston sportswriter Charles Pierce has a great piece on Slate.com where he compares the difference between the historical win of 2004 and the rather workman-like victory last night. Entitled “Red Sox Win Again. It Feels Great, Thanks For Asking,” the article debunks the theory floated by many that Red Sox fans were married to their angst and would never survive a championship. We can accept victories, I just hope we don’t emulate the worst of the Yankee fans (and management) and start viewing championships as entitlements.

I was brought up short by my wife after my mini-tantrum in Game Three when the Sox nearly blew a six-run lead, only to come right back and score four more runs. She asked me why I wasn’t more joyful, after all the Red Sox were playing in the World Series and doing real well. It was then that I realized that I was rooting for the victory, rather than rooting for my team.

Game Four saw me in a much better frame of mind, my wife even watched the last couple of innings with me. I did get a tad nervous when the Rockies pulled to within one run, but told my wife: “I’m O.K. A little tense, but it’s a joyful tension!” A little later, I jumped off the sofa, threw my hat in the air, did my Big Papi point for my dad and cranked up “Dirty Water” by the Standells, the official song of Red Sox victories.

How long till spring training?

A Couple Of Thoughts Heading Into Game 1

For only the fifth time in my forty years of fandom, the Red Sox are heading into the World Series. Here’s some thoughts a couple of hours before the first pitch.

Ceremonial first pitch tonight by my all-time favorite player Carl Yastrzemski, joined on the field by many of his 1967 “Impossible Dream” teammates. I caught the fever in 1967 while visiting my grandmother on Cape Cod during summer vacation. My father bought me a Sox Yearbook at the local grocery and then I followed the games down to the last day of the season. I remember that the TV broke into the telecast of Gentle Ben to announce that the Red Sox had won the A.L. pennant. My mom wondered why I was so excited and my father, a Giants fan since his youth, knew that I was lost to the “junior circuit”.

When the Sox went down 3-1 against the Indians, I changed my hat from the bright red Sox cap unveiled during this spring training and put on the white with blue bill model that I wore after the Sox went down 3-0 to the Yankees in 2004. So this hat is now riding an 11 game post-season winning streak.

I tend to wear my Sox caps obsessively. The responses to my cap in the middle of Yankee country have been interesting. My favorite happened this summer when we took a tour of the state capitol building in Albany. The guard at the metal detector stopped me and said I had to go to the back of the line. When I asked why, he said: “Because you’re a Boston fan.”

I’m living in a different house than the one I watched the 2004 World Championship unfold. My new house has the TV on the second floor, so my wife and doggies can more safely hide from my hand-wringing, pacing and occasional shouts of either joy or anger. Last time they had to huddle in the back room of our ranch house, the dogs shaking and hiding under beds, tables and desks.

Go Sox!

Just Manny, Being Manny

From Manny Ramirez’s post-game interview after winning the second game of the Sox’s playoff series with the Angels by hitting a monster walk-off home run in the ninth inning at Fenway:

MANNY RAMIREZ: It feels great, man. It’s been a long time I don’t do something special like that. But I haven’t been right all year round. But I guess, you know, when you don’t feel good and you still get hits, that’s when you know you are a bad man.

Amen, brother! (thanks to Gen X at 40)