September 5th, 2006 → 8:28 am @ Seth Mnookin
8:05 am: Call into WTBQ-AM — “The only independent radio station serving all of Orange County and Northern New Jersey” — for a ten-minute live segment on “The Frank Truatt Morning Show with the Q-11 News Team.”
8:07 am: The producer comes on the line. Checks sound levels.
8:08 am: The producer asks me what my name is.
8:08 am: The producer asks me how to pronounce my name.
8:09 am: The producer asks me the name of my book.
8:09 am: The producer asks me what said book is about.
I was tempted to say it detailed the lonely life of a hermit who has spent the last 30 years secretly feeding Nessie. Alas, I chickened out.
Post Categories: Feeding the Monster press appearances
September 5th, 2006 → 8:18 am @ Seth Mnookin
There was a lot to be happy about last night: the return of the inscrutable and delightfully coiffed Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon swinging a bat without doubling over in pain, the vacuum cleaner known as A-Gon patrolling the infield, tight shots of Jason Varitek warily eyeing the batter from behind the plate, a possibly teary and always excitable Julian Tavarez auditioning as the ace of the staff, Carlos Pena’s 10th-inning walk-off (in case you tuned out these last few weeks, he’s one of the approximately 400 players who’ve suited up for the Sox over the past month), and, of course, Tina Cervasio struggling for the 54th time this season to figure out a new way to ask a player, “So what was that like?”
There’s also one of my favorite aspects of Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo’s broadcasts on NESN. When there’s a dramatic event on the field — Matt Clement being beaned in the head, any one of Papi’s million game-winners, Pedro returning to Fenway — Remy and Orsillo know enough to keep their traps shut and let viewers enjoy the engulfing sounds of the fans at the game. It’s how sports broadcasts should work: for those of us stuck watching the game on TV, we want to get as close to the action as possible. And in the most dramatic moments of the game, that means hearing nothing more than the sounds of tens of thousands frenzied fans reacting to another seemingly transcendent moment on the diamond.
Post Categories: Don Orsillo & Jerry Remy
September 2nd, 2006 → 8:27 am @ Seth Mnookin
So what’s the latest? Ah, yes: Curt Schilling will miss his next start with a strained lat. Papelbon left the game with pain in his shoulder. And Papi won’t be coming back until next week at the earliest. Look at it this way: the Sox could field a pretty decent team with guys who are injured plus some AAA-scrubs. For those keeping score out home, the folks currently out of commission are:
Pitchers
Matt Clement
Jon Lester
Jonathan Papelbon
Curt Schilling
Tim Wakefield
Catcher
Jason Varitek
Infielder
Alex Gonzalez
Outfielders
Manny Ramirez
Trot Nixon
Wily Mo Pena
Designated hitter
David Ortiz
Check out tomorrow’s Times for the obligatory Murray Chass column about how those whiney Red Sox need to suck it up and start winning some ballgames.)
Post Categories: Injuries & Murray Chass
September 1st, 2006 → 10:32 pm @ Seth Mnookin
It’s reverse lock week: take one Kyle Snyder, mix with longtime nemesis Ted Lilly, subtract an injured Jonathan Papelbon, and what do you get? I’m surprised you even had to ask: a 2-1 Red Sox win. (I’ll hold off getting too worried about Papelbon until Dr. Gill announces that “it’s only a flesh wound.” OK, fine: I’m plenty worried about Papelbon; it’s never good when a pitcher grabs at his shoulder in pain. At some point the non-injured guys on the team are going to start wearing suits of armor, like that dude in the lottery ad.)
Anyway, that’s (hopefully) it for me until Tuesday: I’m heading to KC for a wedding. I’ll also be eating the best food on Earth. With any luck, that won’t put me in a food coma I’ll be able to stop by next door as well. Have a good long weekend, everyone. Remember to hug your loved ones.
(Oh, and: this whole “away for the weekend and theoretically not bringing a computer or checking email” thing means I’ll likely be a bit slower than usual about getting to and posting comments. Don’t worry — it’ll all get up there eventually.)
Post Categories: Jonathan Papelbon & Labor Day weekend & Oblique references to The Holy Grail
September 1st, 2006 → 6:25 pm @ Seth Mnookin
For Immediate Release
September 1, 2006
BOSTON, MA–The Lester family has asked the Red Sox to release the following statement:
“Jon Lester has been diagnosed with a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma and will begin treatment within the coming week.
Jon and his family wish to thank all those involved in his care at Massachusetts General Hospital. Our gratitude also extends to the Red Sox organization which has provided Jon and his family much needed support during this ordeal.
We ask that you respect our need for privacy during this difficult time.”
(Here’s a link to a Children’s Hospital fact sheet about large cell lymphoma.)
EDIT: If people want to post their thoughts for Lester in the comments section, I’ll do my best to forward them on to the appropriate parties.
Post Categories: Jon Lester
September 1st, 2006 → 1:14 am @ Seth Mnookin
Q: Wow. It’s pretty amazing that the Sox beat the Jays last night, huh?
A: Anything can happen in a single game. What’s kind of amazing is that at the beginning of the year some people (yeah, I’m looking at you, John Shea) picked the Jays to win the East, and lots of people said the Jays would make this a three-division team. And yet after the Sox posted the suckiest record in the history of the world ever for the month of August, they’re still three games ahead of Toronto. Heard any outcry from Toronto fans? Of course you haven’t. And that’s because the Jays used the Sox’s and the Yankees’ money to waste, I mean spend, all that cash on A.J. Burnett.
Q: Huh? Boston and New York gave Toronto money so they could increase their payroll?
A: Yup. Baltimore, too. And Tampa Bay. Actually, scratch that: Tampa Bay got millions more in revenue sharing than they spend on payroll.
Q: I don’t get it.
A: That’s because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Except to those teams that don’t need to worry about ever trying to, you know, make money. If you want to read more about this inanity, I have some of the weird and wacky details in my book.
Q: Speaking of weird and wacky, I heard David Wells was traded to San Diego for minor league catcher George Kottaras. That sounds Greek. Is he related to Kevin Youkilis?
A: Nope. But some people do refer to Kottaras as “the Jewish god of good plate discipline.”
Q: He’s Jewish?
A: Forget it. It’s late.
Q: If he’s Jewish, is PTBNL some kind of Kabbalistic shorthand? If not, why do some places tell me that’s who the Sox got back in return?
A: He’s not…oh, man. Let’s move on. That stands for “player to be named later.” Except that player has already been named. Except since Kottaras is on the Padres’ 40-man roster, he could be snatched up by another team if the Padres DFA’d him, which they’d need to do to trade him after the deadline.
Q: Huh, that’s weird: when I looked at the Padres’ roster, I had flashbacks to the ghost of Sox seasons past: Bellhorn, Williamson, Walker, Roberts, Embree, Seanez, even Cla Meredith. I thought the Dodgers, with Nomar, D-Lowe, Billy Mueller, and Grady, were supposed to be the NL West team heavy on former Boston folk.
A: Well, it’s the NL West. Take any random 25 guys from any Red Sox team of the past 15 years and you’d have a good shot at winning the division. Hell, the Sox right now would be in first place.
Q: Oh, also, I forgot to ask: what does DFA’d mean?
A: Designated for assignment. Really, don’t worry about it. Baseball is full of weird, arcane rules that oftentimes don’t make a huge amount of sense.
Q: Like revenue sharing?
A: Let’s not get started on that again.
Q: Fine, fine. But this trade means that the front office plans on finding some way to dump Varitek so they can post a lineup next year with Schilling, Manny, Ortiz, and 18 rookies, right? Because I’ve been hearing that the only reason they bothered to win the World Series was so they could lull the fans into complacency before slashing payroll and making off like bandits.
A: Shhhh. No one’s supposed to know about that.
Q: Really?
A: No. But the players really are faking their injuries because they’re mad Theo didn’t land Abreu at the trade deadline.
Q: Don’t you mock me. In his press conference, I heard Theo say that Wells “worked hard to get back this year” and that he “hadn’t gotten all the due he’s deserved.” I always thought he was a fat turd. Was Theo just being politic?
A: Actually, no. For long stretches of the past two seasons — including all of the past month — David Wells has been the best starting pitcher in a Red Sox uniform. Throughout his career, Wells has been semi-overlooked because he’s such a loudmouthed, drunken buffoon. And I’ll miss that loudmouthed, drunken buffoon.
Q: Since the Sox beat Roy Halliday and it sounds like Ortiz might be back on Saturday, is there a chance we can still pull it out this year?
A: Nope. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the games won’t be fun.
(* Despite my love of oblique references, this is not an oblique reference to masturbation. And seriously, what did you expect? I’m half machine. I’m a monster!
Post Categories: Oblique references to Billy Idol songs & Oblique references to Buster Bluth & Q&A
August 31st, 2006 → 11:01 pm @ Seth Mnookin
Reverse lock, indeed: Cy Young candidate Roy Halliday looking for his baseball-leading 17th win versus Julian Tavarez, starting for the first time in four years. Yeah, that’s pretty much an automatic win. After all, the Sox have Alex Cora (offensive powerhouse), Dustin Pedroia (defensive whiz), Bryan Corey (relief stopper). About the only thing that didn’t make any sense about tonight’s game was Papelbon notching his 35th save. Dirty water, indeed.
(You so totally know that if this had been last week, not only would Rios have caught Cora’s ball but somehow Pedroia and Cora would have both ended up in a heap on the field with multiple concussions after somehow running into each other on the basepaths.)
Post Categories: Dirty Water
