YFSF

Meet the Mutts: Subway Series Gamer I

Dare we call these Mets overhyped? The supposed best team in NYC comes to the Bronx for a three-game set. Perhaps a Yankees sweep will further elucidate the true nature of the team from Queens. They're good, but they're not great. In the AL East, they'd be a 4th place team. Let's go Yanks! Show them the truth! Your thread for comment is here...

Let's Get Baked: Sox-Marlins Gamer I

Thirteen.  Usually an unlucky number, but tonight we'll be happy to hear it.  The Red Sox and their flying superhero centerfielder Coco Crisp travel to the hot and humid climes of South Florida, where they do battle against the upstart Florida Marlins and their charming and sometimes dominating lefty, Dontrelle Willis -- it won't be easy to stretch the streak.  We'll be out to dinner with Mrs. SF, but use this as your game thread for all commentary.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

We're sure you've seen it, but if you haven't, just go here.  Amazing.

12 is the New 11: Sox-Mets Gamer III

Some things that come in twelves:

• Eggs
• Apostles
• Donuts
• Beer
• A-Rod shrink sessions during the last two weeks

How about our Sox go out and  add "consecutive wins" to that list. Here's your game thread for all of this evening's action.

Around the Horn: Sox/Yanks Blogs Wrapup

We were  trying to think of something to post on this lazy, humid, stinky day in New York, but it's all been done elsewhere.  Pedro got hammered.  The Sox stretched their streak to a ridiculous eleven.  A-Rod was welcomed into the "what have you done for me lately, you no good overpaid piece of sh*t" "True Yankee" club.  The Yankees hit the first of what will likely be several "turning points" this season, leading us to ask: if you have multiple turning points, what direction are you facing? Most of my YFSF cohorts are either on vacation or talking to a bunch of yahoos with slide rules and Cap Anson photos in their wallets.  So we're taking the afternoon off from thinking about baseball.  We'll be back with a game thread.  Until then, stay cool.

Seattle Bound

Following this afternoon's rousing victory in the Bronx, we depart for the Northwest, and the gathering of nerds celebration of the national pastime that is the annual convention of the Society for American Baseball Research. We tease, because we are proud members of this most honorable organization. Stay tuned here for all that's new in the fields of historical and statistical baseball research. And if you happen to be in Seattle, please join us this Friday at the Elliot Bay Book Company for a reading of Spalding's World Tour, recently honored as an editor's choice in the New York Times Book Review. Reading starts at 5 pm.

Javier Lopez: Boston Red Sox

For Pedro Martinez, it came in a postseason matchup against the Cleveland Indians.  For Curt Schilling, it was a bloody sock.  Tonight, for Javier Lopez, it was a strikeout of Carlos Delgado in the eighth inning of a 10-2 blowout: today he is a Boston Red Sox.

All self-importance kidding aside, we're proud of our ability to coax Pedro into his earliest exit in THREE YEARS, much less this season, and, to mangle a phrase from way on down in Tuscaloosa, "roll Sox roll!".  Tomorrow they go for the full dozen.  Good times.

Alex Rodriguez: New York Yankee

For Jason Giambi, it came in the form of a granny, in the rain, against the Twins. This afternoon, for Alex, it was a 12th-inning clout against the Braves, a two-run, walk-off homer that will serve as Alex's Bomber Bar Mitzvah: today he is a Yankee.

It had been, up until that last pitch, a miserable June for Alex, his problems compounded by the persistent late-inning genius of David Ortiz, to whom he is inevitably compared. Last night, he struck out in the eighth with the game on the line, one more in a series of failures, and as he walked back to the dugout banging himself on the helmet with his own bat, there was a sense that maybe the pressure had taken it's toll, and that A-Rod the MVP, Superhuman A-Rod, who exuded a cocky confidence that has put off so many fans, was gone, and maybe for good. An error this afternoon, again in a crucial situation, brought out the boo-birds, reinforcing the perception, and it was hard to blame the fans for their frustration. For Alex, the MVP, it was time to produce. Thankfully, it is a short distance from goat to hero. Alex covered it with one swing. Wasn't it pretty?

On Deck, Nigel Tufnel: Sox-Mets Gamer II

While pigs flew in the Bronx today, a certain Dominican hurler warmed for tonight's re-appearance at Fenway Park.  We suppose there's not much to say here regarding this evening's matchup that we didn't state in yesterday's "20 Years" post, other than that we hope Pedro Martinez (again) grabs a mammoth standing ovation and then proceeds to have his shortest outing of the year.  Keep the streak going, Sox.

This one goes to eleven.

Up & At 'Em: Braves-Yanks Gamer III

I'm sure the schedule-makers were all excited about this series over the winter. Braves and Yanks. Powerhouses. Head to head. Turns out it's been a dud, with last night's anemic effort by the home team being the low point. Actually, the low point was Kyle Farnsworth turning his back on Jorge in the 8th, like some delinquent child not wanting to hear it from a ticked-off parent. This after crossing up the catcher for about the 47th time in 13 pitches. Farnsworth has been terrible of late, as has been Alex, who produced his usual late-inning, crucial-situation K, this followed by a hearty chorus of boos and Alex plocking himself on his helmet with his own bat. We're tired of defending the third baseman. His numbers in June suck, and the defense isn't exactly world (or even NL) beating lately. Time to shape up. A slump now, what with Cano also being DL'ed (honestly, could anything more go wrong? Jeter and Moose should be driven home from the park in styrofoam), is really the last thing this club needed. (Cash: Now would be a good time for that extra bat!) And things don't get any easier in today's afternoon game. Rubber-armed John Smoltz, Atlanta's stopper, is on the hill. We show Chien-Ming Wang. We expect a good outing from Tiger. Let's hope he gets some support. Comments go here.