The person I am the most jealous of right now, the sweet and sexy Texy from Center Field wants to know “Have We Met?”

The very beautiful Yankees Chick was too upset to type last night, so she filed a Yankeechickography instead. Bug free I might add.

Succulent Sooze from Babes Love Baseball has what is known as White Man’s Disease.

The hottest USC fan on the planet, Gridiron Goddess, has her college football picks for you.

Are you in the mood for some tasty french toast? The Starter Wife from Ladies… has a recipe you might like.

Peter from Peter’s Red Sox Forever had a magical night seeing the Boss in concert this past week.

Kenrick from Sports Fan talks about what could have been for the Mets this postseason.

Anthony from the Oriole Post has a must-read article about the big business of sports.

The Big Lead tells us Bruce Pearl is a ladies man.

Kissing Suzy Kolber has a play on one of Peter Kings’ columns.

Brian from Awful Announcing had the pleasure of an email exchange with the ombusman from ESPN.

J.D. from SporTech Matter gives his thoughts on Rotoworld’s 2008 Marlins roster.

We Are the Postmen wants you to know who Tashard Choice is (MUST WATCH VIDEO!!!)

Dan from Red Sox Monster held a roundtable discussion between Red Sox bloggers before the start of the ALDS (yours truly was involved).

And even though Fitzy of Townie News fame can’t swear with his new gig on ESPN, I will have to say his stuff is still pretty funny.

Did the “Anti-Bartman” save the game for the Sox? A 17-year-old son of one of the Red Sox partners took away a foul ball from Angels catcher Jeff Mathis in the 5th inning, allowing Manny’s at-bat to continue. Manny ended up walking on the play and then Mike Lowell tied it up with a sac fly. To the 9th we go at Fenway, all tied up at 3. Lugo reaches, Pedroia moves him over, Youk strikes out, Big Papi intentionally walked to face Manny. How many times does that ever work out? Not too many and in this case, it didn’t as Manny hit an absolute bomb out of Fenway Park over the Green Monster last night to set off the Fenway faithful and send the Red Sox to Anaheim with a 2-0 lead. After the game if you stayed up to watch the postgame interviews, we were blessed with two interviews by Manny. One with Jose Mota right after the game and then in the media room. In case you missed it, I will sum it up for you. “I am a bad man”. So while the boys are trying to get some rest today, let’s take a look at the headlines from last night’s game from the Boston and Los Angeles area media.

Manny walks off a hero [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

Ramírez’s home run puts Sox up 2-0 [Boston Globe]

Angels pick bad time for an identity crisis [LA Times]

Manny of the hour: Long ball caps Halo of a rally [Boston Herald]

Fenway gets best of Angels again [The Orange County Register]

A New Manny Moment [Hartford Courant]

Ramirez’s homer pins Angels to wall [LA Daily News]

Pedroia feeling no pain after Sox’ dramatic victory [Pro Jo]

Schedule has Scioscia shaking his head [LA Times]

Home team catches a break with this grab [Boston Globe]

Minority owner’s kid helps Red Sox [Orange County Register]

Relievers refuse to buckle [Boston Herald]

Red Sox’s flex lineup works [LA Daily News]

Not A Great Start To Dice-K Legacy [Hartford Courant]

Oh, what a relief; Sox’ bullpen slams the door [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, Hartford Courant, LA Times, The Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.

The Red Sox are being very cautious with Tim Wakefield right now.

Vladimir Guerrero returned to right field for the Angels on Friday night.

Yankees skipper Joe Torre decided to stay with the ailing Hideki Matsui in game 2 on Friday night.

Kenny Lofton wasn’t expecting to be in the lineup for Game 2 but he got the start in left field.

The Cubs grounds crew installed a new outfield for Game 3 today.

Justin Upton has been heating up at the plate for the Diamondbacks during the playoffs.

The Phillies remain confident despite being down 0-2 heading into today’s game.

Rockies starter Mark Redman has played in a lot of places this year.

Travis Hafner singled in Kenny Lofton with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th to give the Indians a 2-1 win Friday and sent the ALDS to New York with the Yankees down 2-0. A swarm of bugs had taken over the field late in the game and the game had to be stopped at times so players could spray down with bug spray.

All four series right now are 2-0.

After an intentional walk to David Ortiz in the bottom half of the 9^th inning, Manny Ramirez absolutely crushed a fastball for a 3-run homer off Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez to give the Sox a 6-3 win. The win by the Sox gives them a 2-0 lead in their ALDS matchup. The home run by Manny was his first walk-off homer in his Red Sox career.

Lugo led off the 9^th with a single and went to second on a hit-and-run ground ball out by Pedroia. Mike Scioscia then went to his bullpen for his closer, Rodriguez to face Kevin Youkilis. K-Rod ended up striking out Youk for the second out. They then decided to walk Big Papi (his 4^th straight and 2^nd intentional walk) to face Manny. On a 1-0 fastball, Manny turned on the inside pitch and launched it over the Green Monster to set off mass hysteria at the Fens.

In a game where both starters (Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kelvim Escobar) struggled, the bullpens for both teams were almost perfect until the home run by Manny.

Dice-K had his struggles in the first inning but got out of with no runs coming across the plate. He got Chone Figgins to strikeout but then issued a walk to former Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Vladimir Guerrero followed that up with a lengthy at-bat but he ended up fouling out to Kevin Youkilis at first base. On a 2-1 count, Garrett Anderson singled to right moving Cabrera over to third. Macier Izturis worked a full-count but took a called strike three to end the top half of the 1^st inning.

The local nine battled in their half of the 1^st and took a 2-0 lead. Dustin Pedroia led off with a ground out. After Escobar got ahead of Youk 0-2, he threw four straight balls and walked him. Big Papi got Youk to second with a single off Escobar. This brought Manny to plate but he couldn’t bring in a run as he flew out to center. Escobar then walked Mike Lowell to load up the bases for J.D. Drew. After taking a called first strike, Drew brought in two runs with a single to center as Youk and Big Papi scored as there was no throw to the plate. Escobar finished off the inning when Jason Varitek lined out to Howie Kendrick at second.

Matsuzaka had some more troubles with his control in the 2^nd. He started off the inning getting ahead 0-2 to Casey Kotchman but then he threw four straight balls to walk Kotchman. Kendry Morales followed that with an infield single moving Kotchman to third base.The ball actually went off Pedroia’s shoulder but he was ok after a visit from Terry Francona and the trainers. Dice-K then struck out Kendrick for the first out of the inning. With the infield back, Jeff Mathis grounded out to Lowell at third as Kotchman would come across the plate to cut the lead to 2-1. Figgins then hit a double over the head of Manny that scored Morales easily to tie the game at 2. The Angels went ahead 3-2 when Cabrera doubled in Figgins. Matsuzaka averted any further damage as he got the free-swinging Guerrero to ground out.

The Red Sox went quietly in their half of the 2^nd inning.

In the 3^rd inning, Dice-K gave up a lead-off double to Anderson but Anderson was quickly erased as he made a base-running error. Izturis grounded the ball to Lugo who decided to throw to third to easily get Anderson. With Kotchman at the plate, Izturis stole second base and went to third as Kotchman grounded out. Morales flew out to end the inning.

Matsuzaka started out the 5^th inning by retiring the first two batters he faced. He then allowed Izturis to reach on an infield single. With Kotchman at the plate, Izturis stole second and went to third on a ball four wild pitch by Dice-K. Francona had seen enough of Dice-K and went to the bullpen for Javier Lopez. He would only need two pitches as Morales grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Continue reading →

Everytime TBS sideline reporter Jose Mota says something so garbled you wonder what he just said you must pound down whatever it is you are drinking. 

Guaranteed by the mid-game you’re absolutely hammered.

Mota: “tonight the Red Sox decided to ahdiajdalkdn jakdjdld jmzkjjd.  Back to you.” 

EVERYBODY DRINK!!! 

Here are tonight’s starting lineups for Game 2 of the ALDS between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and your Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS

SP – Daisuke Matsuzaka

Angels

1. Chone Figgins, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Vladimir Guerrero, RF
4. Garret Anderson, LF
5. Macier Izturis, 3B
6. Casey Kotchman, 3B
7. Kendry Morales, DH
8. Howie Kendrick, 2B
9. Jeff Mathis, C

SP – Kelvim Escobar

If you’re interested in knowing how the Sox have done against Escobar, check these numbers out from the Red Sox game notes.

No one on the Angels has faced Matsuzaka in their careers.

Have you ever done something stupid that resulted in a bodily injury to yourself? I have, as my friends will attest and will never let me forget.

One day after waking up and taking a shower, I was cleaning my ears out with a Q-Tip and lost my balance and you guessed it, hit the wall on the side I was cleaning out with the Q-Tip in my ear. I popped my eardrum and it started to bleed immediately. After seeing the doctor and having it cleaned out, I had to put antibiotics in my ear and use swimmer’s ear plugs when I showered. Needless to say it wasn’t fun and hurt like heck.

So as I sit here and write this, I know what NY Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn is going through right now.

After Sunday’s Giants game with the Philadelphia Eagles, Blackburn was cleaning his ear when a Q-Tip when a reporter bumped into him causing the Q-Tip to almost rupture his eardrum. Blackburn fell to the ground stating that he couldn’t hear out the ear and then it started to bleed.

Blackburn should regain his hearing once the eardrum heals.

So the lesson learned here is do not put the Q-Tip all the way in your ear, especially in a crowded locker room.

[Hat tip to Carolina and Marc for the email giving me heck again about this] 

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA at 1 p.m in an AFC Conference match up.

The Patriots are 2-0 at “the Razor” this season, 2-0 in the AFC East and 4-0 in the conference.  The Bengals are 0-1 on the road, 2-1 in the AFC North and 2-2 in the conference. 

Here are the rosters for the Browns and Patriots.  

The Line/Prediction

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -16.5 . The over/under is 48.5.

My prediction is Patriots 45, Browns, 17.  Give the points and take the over.  I am 4-0 against the spread and have called the over/under three out of four times in 2007.

Tickets

The game is reported as a sell out.

Tickets to game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from the American Weather Service.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game, it is a regional broadcast. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Greg Gumbel with Dan Dierdorf doing game analysis.  You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look for your local CBS Station. 

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Capelleti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 107, the Browns radio call is available on Channel 110.

Continue reading →

Isn’t this the best time of year being a baseball fan? Other than watching ads for Frank TV a thousands times, the playoffs have been great so far. The Indians spanked the Yankees, the Rockies and Diamondbacks both lead their series 2-0, and the beloved Red Sox got a great pitching performance from their ace on Wednesday. The eyes of two countries will look upon Red Sox Nation tonight as Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the ball for the Red Sox. Which Dice-K will we get? The one who has pitched lights out or the one who has the one bad inning? I think we all want the lights out Dice-K so we can head to Anaheim up two games. Yesterday was an off day but almost the entire team showed up for the optional workout. You can tell this team is focused and has their eyes on the prize. So while you await tonight’s 8:37 PM first pitch, you should take a look at the headlines from the Boston and Los Angeles area media on this Friday morning in New England.

Gabe Kapler is blogging for the Boston Globe during the playoffs. [Kapler’s Corner]

Matsuzaka in spotlight [Boston Globe]

No one’s blaming Vladimir [LA Times]

Sox bucking for Game 2 [Boston Herald]

Matsuzaka mystery awaits Angels in critical Game 2 [The Orange County Register]

Red Sox Put Dice-K On Big Stage [Hartford Courant]

Angels must roll Dice to advance [LA Daily News]

Lowell is MVP of these Red Sox [Pro Jo]

All eyes on Angels’ Anderson [LA Times]

Papelbon says case closed [Boston Globe]

Less power, more glory [Boston Herald]

Youkilis Starts Fast [Hartford Courant]

Days off can be boon for pitchers but hurt regulars [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, Hartford Courant, LA Times, The Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.

Most of the Red Sox players showed up for Thursday’s optional workout.

The Angels will probably have Vlad Guerrero in right for Game 2 after he DH’d in Game 1.

Rockies closer Manny Corpas said he was only trying to cool off when he poured water on himself before coming in to the game on Wednesday.

With Kyle Lohse throwing in yesterday’s game, the Phillies turn to Jaime Moyer to try and get them a win.

Indians skipper Eric Wedge doesn’t care about his team’s past stats against the Yanks.

The Diamondbacks are winning over the local fans.

Cubs skipper Lou Pinella says there’s no reason to bring the “Curse of the Billy Goat” into his decision making on Wednesday night.

The Rockies got a grand slam from Kaz Matsui that helped boost the Rockies to a 10-5 win over the Phillies. The Rockies now head back to Colorado up 2-0 and will look to finish the Phils off on Saturday. Somewhere in Flushing, Mets’ fans are still crying thinking their team could have done better.

The Indians spanked the Yankees last night 12-3 behind the ageless wonder Kenny Lofton’s 3-hits and 4 RBIs. They also got homers from Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko. The Indians take a 1-0 lead into tomorrow’s game with Fausto Carmona on the hill against Andy Pettitte.

Chris Young hit a three-run homer off Ted Lilly and walked twice as the Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 8-4 on Thursday to take a 2-0 series lead.