Quick Hits

A couple of random notes that I'll expand on later:

The Rays locked up two of their best players from 2007.

Carlos Pena - 3 years $24.1 Million. $6 Million to be paid this year, $8 million next year and over $10 million in his final year. What are the chances of him being a Ray when he's owed $10 million? Probably about the same chances of him hitting 48 home runs next season.

Scott Kazmir - 1 year $3.78 million. Things aren't looking good for Kazmir remaining a long term Ray, but at least they avoided the ugly arbitration process.

Last but definitely not least... Big Mike is off the market. My buddy and occasional commentor is engaged. Details were not released.. but congrats to the happy couple!

A little history

I have a decent sized card collection. It’s not the largest or most valuable, but it is large enough to annoy my girlfriend. To help keep an ear to the ground on new releases I subscribe to Beckett Baseball Monthly. Beckett is considered by the industry as the holy bible of cards. If you price a card, most likely you price it based on the “Beckett Cost”.

For the past few years Beckett has been posting their yearly “Rookie Rolodex” It’s an issue devoted to players that the casual fan, heck even the somewhat intense baseball fan, have never heard of and will probably never hear of. In most of the player reviews they include a “best compared to”.

They usually compare the player to a well known major leaguer so that the reader has an idea of what the potential of the prospect will be. For instance Cubs prospect Darwin Barney is compared to David Eckstein and Mets pitcher Joe Smith is compared to Chad Braford. Sometimes it appears that they compare players to other prospects just for fun. For instance Giants catching prospect is compared to “Bryan Pena”. I had to look him up and I think they were referring to Braves catcher Brayan Pena. Whatever his name is I don’t think Giants fans are jumping up and down over the comparison.

I like to flip through and see which Rays prospects pop up and what Beckett things their future looks like. The Chosen One compares to Zach Minor and Aki is compared to Mark Tehan. However, the best comparison by far is for a former Rays newsmaker – Elijah Dukes. Beckett sees him as….drum roll, please…..Toe Nash.

Wow. Gregory Toe Nash. A name that hasn’t been uttered in these parts for years. In fact I would bet dollars to donuts that 75% of the people at the Trop on opening day this year wouldn’t know who Toe Nash is. How do I know? By listening to the outrage of fans by the antics of Mr. Dukes, himself.

The legend of Toe Nash would have you walking next to Rays scout Benny Latino, the two of you picking your way through the muggy sugar cane fields of Louisiana. You would walk out of the hot, sticky fields into a clearing. Grown men, weary from a day working the fields would be gathered round playing beer league baseball in the setting southern sun.

In the middle of the men would be a young, towering goliath stood. His 6 foot 6 frame was in the words of Peter Gammons, “cut like marble”. Like the mythical Roy Hobbs he was a dual threat. Capable of hitting home runs that disappeared into the cane stalks 400 feet away and then turning around to strike out men twice his age with an elusive 90mph fastball.

In your mind you can see Latino rushing to his car and driving into town to call scouting director Dan Jennings about the 18 year old freak in the fields. Crammed into a telephone booth outside of a diner and wiping his sweating brow with his fedora he tells Jennings that he just found the next great player in the middle of nowhere - Louisiana and they need to sign him before anyone else has a chance….ok I made that all up.

At least the part about Latino calling from a telephone booth. He probably called Jennings on his cell phone, but that just doesn’t seem as dramatic. Any who the story continues with Nash being brought to West Virginia for a work out at the Rays rookie ball complex. He wowed them with 20 home runs on 50 pitches or so. He threw the ball 95 miles an hour and ended up walking away with a $30,000 signing bonus. Throw in some more made for movie moments (country boy confused in an airport, roommate teaching him how to order pizza delivery) and it was quickly turning into the greatest story ever told.

All of a sudden Toe Nash was on the front page on the USA Today, movie and book deals were being discussed, hell even Oprah was interested. Let’s not even think about the fact that he hadn’t played a professional game yet. He was going to be a star. He was surrounded by stars. In his first game he was in an outfield with future All Star Carl Crawford and can’t miss prospect Josh Hamilton who had yet to derail his own career.

What a great story. Here was a young, barely educated (dropped out of high school) product of a single family home (his mother left when he was 12) who had a chance to be the next “Babe Ruth” – a quote that a hope Jenning’s family and co-workers make fun of him for. However, in these cynical times it couldn’t be true. And of course it wasn’t. To say Nash had issues is like saying that Hamilton has a couple of tattoos.


According to the St Pete times Nash managed to be arrested 5 times in one year (take that Chris Henry!) from February 2000 to February 2001. In that time charges ranged from misdemeanor marijuana possession to domestic violence (he beat up his 41 year old girlfriend). In 2001 he raised the ante with battery and a felony count of robbery. The Times article reports that “Nash and a friend beat a man, and while the victim was choking on his blood, stole money from his wallet.” In 2002 he added aggravated rape, aggravated crimes against nature (what?) and felony theft.

Kind of puts BJ Upton and Delmon Young’s transgressions to shame doesn’t it? Well, a lot of players have “off the field issues”. What about on the field? As far as I can see he only played 47 games – hitting .240 with 8 HRs and 47 RBI. Not exactly Ruthian.

Jennings stated at the time they were committed to Nash feeling that in the proper environment he could stay out of trouble. It wasn’t to be. The Rays finally let him go after he spent some time in jail. He surfaced briefly, signing a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds before being cut after violating his parole.

Not much can be found on the latest exploits of Gregory “Toe” Nash, but suffice it say it doesn’t appear his career is going to have the dramatic resurgence mirroring his one time outfield partner Josh Hamilton. However, I doubt Nationals fans are overjoyed to see his name in reference to Elijah Dukes.

So instead of becoming a real life Sidd Finch or Roy Hobbs he became the 21st century Steve Dalkowski. He was also the first of the Troubled Rays before there was Josh Hamilton and his heroin abuse or Delmon Young’s fantastically flying bat there was Toe.

Buried somewhere in a box I have a couple of cards that I’ll stumble across someday with is likeness on them. Likewise I guess someday we’ll stumble across another sad news story about the Sugar Cane slugger – Toe Nash.

Happy New Year... You've Been Waived!

Happy New Year Marc Denis! You are going to get to ring in 2008 in a new city. Will it be in Springfield as a member of the Lightning’s AFL affiliate Falcons or for another NHL city that’s desperate for a goaltender (Los Angeles or Atlanta, maybe?)

This has become the first major trade to blow up in Jay Feaster’s face. Back in June of 2006 the GM pulled off his first important post Stanley Cup deal when he dealt a pair of Fredriks (popular winder Fredrik Modin and young goaltender Fredrik Norrena) to Columbus for Denis.

At the time the Bolts were desperate for a true number one goalie. Nik Khabibulin had left Tampa for Chicago and big money. The John Grahme experiment was a disaster and the organization was weary of trusting any of the young netminders such as Norrena or Gerald Coleman that they had in their system. Denis was young, just 28 at the time, but had several seasons of NHL experience under his belt including 3 years as the starter for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He had 3 seasons in a row with a save percentage over .900 for a Columbus team that wasn’t very good. Tampa was willing to believe that his best days were in front of him and with a better cast of teammates in front of him he could realize the potential that had made him a number one pick and Patrick Roy’s heir apparent for Colorado when they drafted him in 1995.

Now, not even a season and a half later, Denis and his 3 year $8.5 Million contract are sitting on waivers waiting to see if any team is willing to take a chance on him. Meanwhile the team, still desperate for a true number one, turns its attention to 21 year old Karri Ramo.

With 43 games left in the season and a record that has them tied for last place in the Southeast Division the Bolts are hoping the young Finn can spark them on a playoff run that turns around what has become a disastrous season. The confident young goalie has been better than advertised as he’s posted a .929 save percentage and a respectable 2.54 Goals Against in the four games he’s played since his recall. The stellar play has vaulted him past Johan Holmqvist and into the starting role, but hasn’t translated into wins thanks to the suddenly anemic Tampa offense.

Getting back to Denis he has reached a critical stage in his career. Three teams have now decided that he’s not their answer and at 30 he’s getting past the stage where teams are willing to risk that he can improve. Before he stopped a puck on Tampa ice he was the poster child of the organization. Literally. Few fans will forget the 30 foot poster of Denis that greeted them as they entered the Ice Palace in the beginning of 2006. A year later he joins an illustrious group of players to call themselves ex-Lightning goalies. What a list of names that is from Corey Schwab to Derek Wilkinson to Zac Beirk many have strapped on the pads only to fade into obscurity.

There could be an argument made that he never had a chance. Trading away fan favorite Modin clouded a lot of fans opinions on Denis. He scored 22 goals for Columbus last season, 22 goals that could have helped out the Bolts. In addition to his offense his willingness to play a defensive role made him invaluable to a team with free spirits like Vincent Lecavalier and Marty St Louis.

Meanwhile in two seasons Norrena is showing himself to be a capable netminders. He posted 24 wins last season and despite being supplanted by the monster that is Pascal Leclaire has 4 more wins in the season than Denis (5 to 1).

This turned out to be one of the few deals that has not worked out for the Lightning. Has it set back the franchise? Possibly, but it’s also opened the door for Ramo. For the first time since Vincent and Brad Richards were coming up the Lightning have a young player who’s ready to make an impact on the team.

Paul Ranger is a nice story, but as a defenseman he doesn’t garner the same attraction as a stud goaltender or a flashy scorer. It’s nice to see a young player like Ramo perform on the professional level when given the chance.

If he can’t keep up the strong play and fades into a Denis-esque slump where he looks lost on the ice it could spell the doom for the vaunted Big Three. One of the big guns would have to be moved either for a top-shelf goaltender or to free up money to make a run at a free agent in the off-season (Henrik Lundqvist anyone?) There was some chatter about the Bolts moving St Louis to Dallas for Marty Turco earlier in the season and a Canadian paper mentioned that they had also expressed interest in bringing Khabibulin back.

All of those rumors make for good internet and idle chat room gossip. The only the only thing that is known is that when the calendar turns to 2008 Marc Denis, once the hope of the organization, will be wearing a new uniform.

The End of the World? Nahh just more fodder for the interwebs....

We are less than 15 hours away from baseball’s Armageddon or 15 hours away from a furious sounding that ultimately means nothing. At 2.00pm on Thursday December 13th, 2007 George Mitchell will release his long awaited report on the use of steroids in Major League baseball. The inquiry (or witch hunt depending on what side you’re on) has taken 20 months. Mitchell and his band of merry investigators have conducted countless interviews often meeting a less than shocking lack of cooperation from players.

What information is going to be released tomorrow? Reports on ESPN.com state that Mitchell places blame on the owners and the players association. They also state that he is going to recommend several changes including adopting state of the art testing procedures and educating players on performance-enhancing drugs.

Nobody cares about that information. Everyone wants to hear the names!

The common fan already knows that owners turned a blind eye towards the growing problem in the late 80’s and 90’s. They continued to sign the big checks as the players transformed themselves into linebackers. Could the players association have stopped it early on? Of course they could have, but why should they? There were no penalties and the free agent contracts kept growing at a staggering rate.

That’s all in the past and like Mark McGwire we’re not here to talk about the past. Let the rest of the media gnash their teeth and lament the loss of innocence in America’s Pastime. Will anything about the game change?

Ultimately no. The names will be released and there will be outrage in the media and sheepish excuses issued by the players. Some will say it’s a misunderstanding and others will issue carefully worded apologies through their agents. Then slowly it will fade to the background. Baseball won’t banish anyone and no one will stand up and admit, “Yes I took steroids, HGH, performance enhancing drugs, etc. so that I would be a better player and make more money”.

Will we be shocked by the names on the list? Only if Jason Tyner Ben Zorbist are on there. In this day in age should any professional athlete be above suspicion? No. Every GM should be losing sleep tonight thinking about how to spin the news if their top players are named. Imagine Andrew Freidman having to step up to the podium to answer questions about Rocco Baldelli receiving shipments of HGH and Stanozolol while he was rehabbing his various injuries over the past two seasons. Admit it, it’s not that hard to picture.

That wasn’t meant to drag Rocco through the mud. The popular outfielder fits the profile of players who’ve already been named. Rick Ankeil, Jason Grimsley and Jay Gibbons were all players who allegedly purchased the substances to help recover from major injuries. The point is that this is a very real case scenario that at least one team will be going through tomorrow. It’s going to be a public relations nightmare.

The release of the names will make good copy for a few days, especially now during a slow sports period. Experts will appear on your TV and scream about the sanctity of the game and the tarnishing of records. Then playoff football will roll around and baseball will take a back burner. The College Bowl Season, Super Bowl and College Basketball will draw more attention away and by spring training the Mitchell Report will be nothing more than a footnote. After all aren’t we still supposed to be outraged at Michael Vick and Don Imus?

So far this off-season it doesn’t appear that teams are shying away from players that have been linked with illicit drugs. Jose Guillen signed a 3 year $36 Million contract on the same day Major League Baseball announced he was going to be suspended for receiving $20,000 worth of steroids and HGH in 2003-05. On Wednesday The Houston Astros traded their entire AAA roster for Miguel Tejada whose name has been associated with steroids more than once. (ed note – the trade was for Luke Scott and 4 prospects).

There are also reports that Major League Baseball won’t punish any of the players named in the report. So the athletes can mumble their explanations about tainted vitamins or doctors’ prescriptions and talk about moving forward while they line up their next multimillion dollar contract.

In the end, batting averages and ERA’s will replace horse tranquilizers and estrogen injections on the front page. The airwaves will be filled with complaints about the Rays bullpen instead of cries to purge the records of the steroid abusers.

The demise of baseball has been predicted before. As always baseball will survive this. Just like it has survived the Dead Ball era, gambling scandals, drug scandals, work stoppages and Dane Cook promos. Like Terrance Mann said, “This field, this game: it’s a part of our past…It reminds us of all that was once good and it could be again.”

Trade Winds are a Blowin'

Let’s see:

1. 2nd Annual Carl Crawford to the White Sox trade rumor – check
2. Random Scott Kazmir to New York rumor – check
3. Tons of chatter on message boards on other teams fleecing the Rays for their players – check

That means one thing – the Hot Stove League is in full swing. Baseball’s annual swap meet is humming right along at a fever pitch even though there haven’t been any big deals yet. The biggest news has been players resigning such as Alex Rodriguez with the Yankees and Mike Lowell with the Red Sox. The names rumored to be on the block are huge. Johan Santana, dubbed by some as the best pitcher in the game, is on the move to New York (Mets and Yankees), Red Sox, Angels or whoever else meets whatever outrageous price Minnesota is looking for. Miguel Cabreara has been mentioned in as many stories as Santana often for the same players that are in the Santana rumors.

While nothing solid looks to be eminent it does keep fans busy coming up with their own unsubstantiated and all out crazy trade rumors. As usual Joe Commenter thinks they are smarter than the 30 GM’s in Major League Baseball. Apparently if GM’s read more blogs and message boards they’d be a lot better at their job.

That makes today’s rumor so interesting. A proposed “mega deal” between the Rays and the Twins has spread through the internet community like a California wildfire. La Velle E. Neal III (great name by the way) reports on startribune.com that the two clubs are “close to finalizing a multi-player deal” that would send Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie to Minnesota for stud pitching prospect Matt Garza, reliever Juan Rincon and shortstop Jason Bartlett.

Reaction from the masses has been mixed. Opinions have ranged from it being a horrible deal for the Rays to being a horrible deal for the Twins to it being a great trade for both clubs. This is an extension of fans having a tendency to over value their own prospects. Delmon Young could be the next great right-handed hitter a la Albert Pujols. Or he could be a one year wonder (paging Kevin Maas). Matt Garza could be a dominating starter or he could blow his arm out skipping rocks on a river somewhere.

The point is, well one of the points is, that you have to surrender talent to receive talent. With all of the scouting and information on players available the chances of one team robbing another in a trade are greatly reduced. There won’t be too many Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano deals anytime soon, especially in the off-season.

Many fans would like to see Young in a Rays uniform for many years to come. These same fans acknowledge that the Rays can use another starter in the rotation. Well they can’t have it both ways. Teams aren’t going to deal a number 3 or above starter to the Rays for an oft-injured Rocco Baldelli or malcontent such as Elijah Dukes.

So it comes to dealing key players. The two biggest chips in the Rays arsenal are Delmon Young and Carl Crawford. Right now Young may have more upside to his career, but Crawford is more important to the organization. CC is still young enough to just be entering his prime, but also has enough experience that you know what you’re getting out of him year in and year out – 50 steals, over .300, 15-20 home runs and slightly above average defense in left.

Young has one year and despite the fact that it was arguably a Rookie of the Year caliber season there are still a lot of question marks for his career. Will he hit for power (only 13 homeruns in 645 at bats)? Will he curb his strikeouts (127 last season)? Those are realistic concerns.

If this deal goes down it will be the first major deal for the new ownership; deadline deals not withstanding. It will give the Rays a strong rotation (Kazmir, James Shields, Garza, Andy “The Chosen One” Sonnanstine, Ed Jackson) for next year. With Jeff Niemann and David Price around the bend Tampa Bay could have a dominating staff for years to come.

The outfield of the future from a few seasons ago (Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton and Delmon Young) never materialized and has morphed into Crawford, BJ Upton and as yet to be named right fielder if Young is moved. Next season will probably see a platoon of Jon Gomes, Justin Ruggiano or a yet to be signed journeyman in right. While losing Delmon would be a blow to the lineup the Rays could hope that the addition of Evan Longoria would offset any loss of offense.

As usual all of this could be for naught if the deal doesn’t happen. The important point (see there is more than one) is that fans shouldn’t reject a deal out of the gate just because it involves a player that has been billed as a can’t miss prospect. He is still just a prospect. There’s a 50/50 chance he could turn into a bust. Then you only can say – “Gee if only we had dealt him back when he was good”.

I'm back

So what did I miss while I was enjoying beer and anti-Nazi riots ? Let’s see:

The Lightning were on a hot streak!
The USF Bulls are making a push for a bowl game not located in Birmingham.
Aubrey Huff said something dumb in Tampa about Baltimore. It’s like he never left!
New uniforms and a possible new stadium for the Rays.


The first three are nice stories and we’ll look at them in due time. For now lets focus on the Rays. It’s official they are now the Tampa Bay Rays and as expected they unveiled the worst kept secret in the TBA.

The uniforms will be comprised of a blue, white and yellow color scheme. The focus is moving away from the animal and more into Rays as in sunlight. The fate of the cow nose rays in the centerfield “Rays Tank” has yet to be determined.

The news was met with a muted response. Any hope of suspense or excitement was removed when the details were leaked online during the summer. Luckily the Rays had another bullet in the chamber.

Reports surfaced and were confirmed that the Rays are in negotiation with the city of St. Petersburg to build a new stadium at the waterfront property currently occupied by Al Lang Field.

The public’s reaction has been less than positive. According to a special report by the St. Petersburg Times 57% of registered voters surveyed approval of the plans to build the stadium (yea more than half!), but 69% of those same voters don’t want taxpayer money to pay for it. The sample size was 616 voters and has a 4% margin of error.

Wow how about those numbers? This town loves its Rays don’t they? Instead of embracing the fact that the team is making a commitment to stay in town and improve the atmosphere for its fans the public is worried about paying for it.

It’s a tough time in Florida for sure. The housing market is down, taxes are creeping up and the threat of a hurricane wiping out everything is always right around the corner. That’s understandable, but if you want to call yourself a true sports town there are sacrifices that have to made. You concede that you’re going to pay more for tickets every year, you understand that the price of a beer inside the stadium is going to be more than a six pack outside of the stadium and once in your lifetime you and everyone else are asked to pony up for a stadium.

It’s not the Rays fault that the City of St Pete convinced voters and taxpayers to build a stadium as a way to entice Major League Baseball into giving the area a team. Tropicana Field was outdated before Wilson Alvarez threw a pitch inside it. Aren’t you embarrassed as a fan to have explain the catwalk rules to fans from out of town?

The days of owners paying for stadiums out of their own pockets have come and gone. I was surprised that the ball club has already said that they’re willing to kick in any money at all. Think back 10 years and ask yourself how much money the Glazers kicked in for Raymond James. Were the Bucs any better than the Rays are now? Fans can’t have it both ways. They can’t complain about the park the team currently plays in and then shoot down the idea of a new park before there’s even a concept in place.

This is a good thing. This needs to be done. Whining about the “secret” negotiations or the lack of parking or the burden it’s going to place on downtown isn’t going to endear the owners to the town. If this goes to a public referendum and gets shot down don’t be surprised to hear serious talk about the team moving. A cynical person may say that Stu Sternberg is floating this out there knowing it’s going to fail just so he has an excuse to move the franchise.

Don’t take this as a blanket endorsement for the current ownership. There are hundreds of details that need to be ironed out. The parking concerns are valid as is the minor problem of finding $450 Million + to pay for the stadium. The point is that it is not time to focus on the negative. What the team is looking for is excitement. Let’s talk about the virtues of an open stadium or a retractable roof. Should there be a version of McCovey Cove and what should it be called (Canseco’s Cove? Huff’s Harbor? Boggs Bay?)

2012 is the estimated completion date for the stadium. By then the organization should know what the product on the field is going to be like. Will Scott Kazmir and James Shields fulfill their potential? They’ll know if BJ Upton is an All-Star centerfielder and if Delmon Young is the player they hope him to be.

Imagine a team that has been able to compete in the toughest division in the MLB. Imagine a truly competitive team stepping out under a sunny April sky instead of the dull florescent lights of the Trop. Imagine ESPN and Fox gushing about seeing sailboats in the distance. Imagine an All-Star game in St Pete.

Those are things that team should be hearing about right now. There is plenty of time left for the details. For now imagine the possibilities.

Always Late and Never Right... The World Series Preview

I know it’s late, but you probably weren’t expecting me to write anything anyway. Well here it is – CB’s World Series Preview/Review. Let’s skip ahead to the prediction. I say, with sorrow in my heart, the Red Sox win in six games. I used to like the Red Sox, they were harmless. No matter how well they were playing you could count on them blowing it at some point. No matter how cocky their fans would get all you would have to say is “Bucky Dent” or “Bill Buckner” and they would be brought back to reality. Unfortunately 2004 changed all that.

At first I was happy for them. A long suffering and loyal fan base had finally been rewarded for their years of suffering. That lasted for about 2 weeks. I was familiar with the term Masshole. In the small Florida college I attended I had encountered several of them. For some reason our school recruited heavily from that region and so for four years I listened and smirked at their harsh accent and rolled my eyes when they called mommy and daddy for more money.

Since the World Series victory in 2004 the so-called Red Sox Nation became infested with Massholes. No longer was the face of the typical Sox fan a middle aged bearded fellow with despair written across his face. Now it’s Dane Cook. They invade other stadiums with foul language still screaming NOOOOOOOMMMARRR for no particular reason. They bully and mock home town fans. It reminds me a lot of another group of fans that harassed fans in the late 90’s and early 00’s – Yankee fans.

On the field the transition was much the same. Back in ’04 the Boston club was charming. Kevin Millar was cowboying it up and Pedro was pulling one last year of magic out of his arm. Curt Schilling was the savior who decided to sign with the club after talking to fans on an internet message board. He was heralded as the Savior with a capital “S” when he pitched with blood leaking out of his ankle.

Now J.D. Drew patrols right field. Julio Lugo plays average short stop – at $9 million a year. Schilling makes the news more for running his mouth then his actions on the mound. David Ortiz hobbles around the field like a 90 year old man. Trot Nixon is gone, Johnny Damon is gone, Millar and Derrick Lowe are gone.

Manny Ramirez is still around, but there is a 75% chance he thinks he’s still playing for Cleveland. The talking heads like to glorify GM Theo Epstein’s decision not to trade Ramirez. It’s not like he didn’t try. He just couldn’t work a deal.

A team that couldn’t “afford” Damon paid $101 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka who is at best their number three starter. An argument could be made that despite their overpaid talent if it wasn’t for the emergence of some of their young players like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroria then they might not be playing tonight.

If you just read that and thought it sounded like 7 paragraphs of sour grapes, well it was. I don’t really care. I’m sick of the Red Sox. The day after they vanquished the Indians to advance to the World Series Foxsports.com headline story referred to them as “Destiny’s Darlings”. A few days before that ESPN.com plopped a Red Sox fan’s plaintive comment of “haven’t we suffered enough?” on it’s front page.

Really? You’ve suffered so much in the 3 seasons since you won a title? Go talk to some Seattle or Texas or Cubs fans about suffering. Heck even Rays fans are suffering more than Sox fans these days.

So far the media coverage has been decidedly pro Boston. The Rockies have been cast aside as a neat little story that will be crushed under the tidal wave of Red Sox love. Aren’t Tim McCarver and Joe Buck supposed to be impartial announcers. The amount of man love that they’ve spewed over the Sox so far has been indecent. Thank you Fox for the cheesy Chariots of Fire music as Schilling walked off the mound and into the dugout. Maybe you can petition Cooperstown to wave the five year waiting period and have him inducted into the Hall of Fame following this game.

People can’t seem to get used to the fact that they are in the playoffs and they won 21 of 22 because they are a good fundamental team. They keep it simple, hit the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball. Down the stretch they did it better than any other team.

Of course the long lay off between series hurt them in game one. Anyone arguing that it wouldn’t wasn’t thinking straight. Timing played an important role in their streak. Timely hitting, timely pitching and even timely roster moves were all integral in their success. Nothing disrupts timing like a long delay. It showed Wednesday night in Boston. The bats cooled off and the pitchers looked rusty. They will catch back up.

The series will change once it reaches the mile high air of Denver. While I don’t think it will be enough to overcome the Red Sox I don’t see them getting swept. The Boston fans were unbearable after winning their first title in 86 years I fear living in a world where they win two in four seasons.