MFNYY @ Red Sox Quasi-liveblogging

5:06PM - The game hadn't progressed beyond the top of the first inning when McCarver fired his first salvo of inanities for the day:

Posada at the plate, count at 3-1:

McCarver (paraphrased): "Sometimes catchers are the hardest to pitch to because they are used to calling games themselves. In this situation Posada's thinking breaking ball, because that's what he'd call if he were pitching to him."

Fastball, strike 2

"And he gets a fastball. Was that clear?"

3-2. Beckett walks Posada on an inside fastball.

"And even though Beckett walked Posada, you can say that he was well-pitched in that at-bat. There are bad walks and there are good walks, and that was a good walk."

Timmy. Timmy. I beg to differ - there are intentional and unintentional walks (and that bastard child the "intentional" unintentional walk). Putting a man on base is not good. When a team does it intentionally, they are hoping for a tactical advantage in that situation - creating a double play opportunity, pitching to a weaker hitter, etc. - and thus this type of walk could be, to some degree, considered "good." However, unintentional walks are categorically bad. Men on base can be driven home, scoring runs, and if the other team scores more runs than you then you lose the game. Losing games is bad.

By the way, you used to play baseball professionally and now commentate on baseball professionally (although, remarkably, quite often incorrectly).

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Beckett looks great. He K'd Matsui on an absolutely nasty two-seamer that looked inside and snuck over to catch the corner at the last millisecond. And he just struck out Greaseball Giambi. 4 Ks in a row.

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Confused: Is Flomax an allergy medicine that may cause urinary problems, or a swollen prostate reliever that may cause runny nose?

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Youk gets hit on the right wrist. Looks accidental. Also looks extremely painful, as he gets taken out of the game. Ellsburrrrry in to pinch run.

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They showed a clip earlier of Pedro Martinez striking someone out in the Mets-Phillies game. I miss Petey. That kid could pitch. He was a pitcher. He was, against all odds, a baseball player.

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I took AP Physics in high school. A very basic yet important equation is Force = Mass(Acceleration). And when you have a massive object (e.g. one Eric Hinske) accelerating relatively slowly, you still have a lot of force coming at you. Which is what Posada had to withstand when the Yanks came home with the ball on a grounder to Cano. I have to give Posada credit here - Hinske hit him with the force of a runaway locomotive and the Chinless Wonder hung on for the out.

Ellsburrrry RBI! 3-1 Sox!

Ortizzle RBI! 5-1 Sox!

Ellsburrrry scores from first on Ortiz's line drive to center. Very few players could do that. The play at the plate was weird, though. It looked like Posada was going to get another steamroll, but Jacoby tried to slide past the tag - which, upon review of the replay, never actually happened. The ball got there before Runs Like the Wind (he's native American, I'm trying it out) but Posada didn't put the tag on him. Ellsbury even had to reach back to tag the plate because Posada blocked him with his leg.

5-1 Sox! Yanks' Wang is limp, ineffectual.

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2 outs, 5-1 Sox. Beckett, who's been killing it all game, hits Greaseball Giambi on the first pitch. Clearly intentional. Clearly payback. I don't like it because Youkilis had to have been an accident. I also don't like it because Cano just moved Giambi over to 3rd with a single. Fan Melktoast and get out of this, Beckett.

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My God. Is the Yankees' Ramirez not a dead ringer for Tay Zonday? Take a look:



Have these two ever been seen together in public? Also, if you aren't familiar with Zonday, take a gander at Chocolate Rain:



And if you want to get meta on this meme, peep this:

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10-1 Sox after a solo shot from Hinske. We just got another five runs somehow. Ellsburrrry is the real deal. Also, Joba Chamberlain is "built like a soft drink machine" according to Ken What's-his-nuts in the booth.

Well that was cathartic. F the MFNYY. Let's finish out this series with a win tomorrow.