I’m gonna tell you a story I’m gonna tell you about my town I’m gonna tell you a big bad story, baby Aww, it’s all about my town Yeah, down by the river Down by the banks of the river Charles (aw, that’s what’s happenin’ baby) That’s where you’ll find me Along with lovers, fuggers, and thieves (aw, but they’re cool people) Well I love that dirty water Oh, Boston, you’re my home (oh, you’re the Number One place) ...
I still have a lot of respect for Pat Tillman, and I think that Jake Plummer ought to be able to honor him by wearing a patch on his helmet for as long as he wants. Off Wing Opinion has more (original). (I think this is a general principle — if Tom Brady wants to wear a patch honoring his grandmother, he ought to be able to do so — but one crack in the wall at a time.)
“After last night’s victory, the Sox said Bronson Arroyo and Tim Wakefield would pitch Games 3 and 4 (if necessary), but did not say which pitcher would start which game.” ( Boston Globe (original).) Also, Schilling’s going to pitch Game 1 and Martinez will pitch Game 2. Advantage: Population: One.
OK, let’s stop dicking around, shall we? Here’s what it is. Bronson Arroyo has a 4.01 ERA. His K/9 is 7.2 and his BB/9 is 2.4. Derek Lowe has a 4.91 ERA, a K/9 of 5.2, and a BB/9 of 3.4. Arroyo’s K/B ratio is 2.95; Lowe’s is 1.53. Finally, Arroyo’s RSAA (Runs Saved Above Average, a measure of how many runs the pitcher has allowed versus the league average) is a very average -1… but Derek Lowe’s is -25. Second worst in the American League. ...
Just when the news stories about Russian mobs and the NHL were starting to die down, it looks like the Russians are picking on another winter sport: ice skating. The idea of international gangsters fixing Olympic figure skating tickles me pink in a weird way. Eventually, someone’s going to say “Hey, wait… if they could own hockey players and figure skaters, where the hell else are they?”
Reuters theorizes that all those intentional walks to Barry Bonds may be lowering viewer interest in the World Series. I’d have thought the low ratings might be due to the late start times for East Coasters, myself. The games don’t end till near midnight. Families aren’t going to be watching these, you know?
The 2003 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees were announced today. Unsurprisingly, Robert Parish was elected in his first year of eligibility. James Worthy also made it in, as well he should have. So did Chick Hearn. I can’t quibble with his inclusion but they really ought to at least nominate Johnny Most next year; if you’re going to include broadcasters who were identified with great teams, you need to include Most for his association with the Celtics. ...
This is it (original). 8.5 games behind, 3 games against the division leader over the weekend, and the best chance to climb back into the race in the balance. Fortunately, the pitching matchups are highly favorable. Schilling should beat Lieber. Arroyo, who is significantly better than his 3-7 would indicate, ought to beat the journeyman Sturtze. Note the insane 55:41 run:earned run ratio that Arroyo labors under. Go, Red Sox defense! Lowe vs. Contreras… well, that’ll be entertaining. I’m predicting an 8-7 game. In the third inning. Mind you, Derek Lowe has an 87:66 run:earned run ratio. Yeesh. OK, I fired up the spreadsheet; read the extended cut for the bottom 15 R:ER ratios for pitchers who’ve gone over 20 innings. Hint: Red Sox pitchers are well represented, particularly if you filter for larger sample sizes. As much as Lowe was helped by great run production last year, he’s been hurt by lousy defense this year. The real Lowe underneath all the effects of the players around him is still not that good, though. Anyhow, the point of all this before I got distracted by the lousy Red Sox defense was that I would like to believe that this is the point at which I stop expecting the Sox to do anything this year. That’ll fall by the wayside if they make it to the playoffs, but I’d like to believe it right now. If they don’t sweep the Yankees this weekend — and they need to sweep — then I think they should trade Nomar for prospects; they should sluff Lowe off; and they should think long and hard about Varitek: if they aren’t gonna win this year, and he wants a long-term contract, and they expect Shoppach to be ready the year after next, then they should trade Varitek and rent someone passable for next year to hold down the fort until Shoppach is ready. I wouldn’t feel that way if Varitek was represented by anyone but Scott Boras, but he is and I do. (Dig those extended sentences? I can reel ‘em off all week.) This obsession with always contending gets in the way of building a perennial contender; it may at this juncture be necessary to take a step back. There are a huge number of teams who still think they have a chance and there are not a lot of great players on the market. If the Sox’ chances are poor this year, and they are, and if they can improve their chances in future years at the cost of whatever remaining chance they have this year… they should make trades. Screw the fellowship of the miserable.
The Sons of Sam Horn board is still struggling with the price of celebrity. The Hartford Courant ombudsman, Karen Hunter, more or less apologized for that Jeff Jacobs column. She also said — I think accurately — that journalistic ethics don’t go away just because you’re in an anonymous chat room. It’s a good, balanced column that shows a decent understanding of the issues involved. That one goes in the positives column for the SoSH crowd. ...
The Boston Globe bought (original) the Boston Dirt Dogs. I guess this means that there’s been a truce on one front in the sportswriters vs. fan site war.