the west coast is not our best coast.

The Mariners have won 3 of their last 13 games. 2 against the Red Sox.

The Red Sox had the bases loaded and scored no runs.

They had the third out of the ninth in their (Nick Green's) glove, and threw it 15 feet too high.

They went 2-4 on their (blessedly final) West Coast trip.

Their supposed offensive leader was given the series off...to...?

As YFSF pointed out, they're 17-16 against teams that don't rhyme with New Pork Thank Ye's.

Without that 12-game winning streak? Forget it.

This team is not intact, its offense is not its actual offense, and this is not our beautiful three-game deficit with just an +18 run differential, but it's a suck spiral all the same.

Daddy gotta win. (Again.)

Four: square. Five....

I knew the Red Sox were better than their start, but I can't say I was sure we were going to make it to .500 in April. But a four-game winning streak squared that off, and the fifth has even brought us up for a gasp of air. Every game of the streak had a particular positive point or three to it as well, like this team is a switchboard being brought alive one flip at a time. Follow me, here:



4/16: Boston 8, Oakland 2

Positives: Tim Wakefield may have staying power in this rotation after all, Lineup scores more than 5 runs for the first time this year with a big 8th inning.

I've seen Wakefield have stuff this good, but never this consistently in the strike zone. 76 strikes out of 111 pitches, and that includes the 8th and 9th innings, where his stuff, and his no-hitter, faded. Also, George Kottaras looks very comfortable catching him, and smacked a nice study double. Nice day of baseball. I'd love to see Wakefield keep it up tonight.



4/17: Boston 10, Baltimore 8

Positives: Huge comeback, a big SIX shutout innings by the bullpen (including 1.2 IP of Ramon Ramirez's current 8.1 IP sans runs; the Coco Crisp trade looks good so far), another 10 runs of offense.



Negatives: Brad Penny, obviously, although his stuff was good, and the curveball Nick Markakis yanked for a grand slam was a good guess, not a bad pitch. And those uniforms. And those horrible, horrible hats. Look, hanging sox hats are for bank robbers, not ballplayers. It's bad enough the road unis feature BLUE sox.



4/18: Boston 6, Baltimore 4

Positives: Youkilis' four hits, Tek's third homerun, Ortiz's multihit game, Josh Beckett except for his shitty inning. The least endearing victory of the streak so far. But a win's a win.



4/19: Boston 2, Baltimore 1

Positives: Jon Lester. Had two bad innings more than two bad starts, but seeing him deal properly certainly eases some of our collective concerns that the innings spike last year will take its toll. (See Hamels, Cole.) This is still something to watch, but man, he threw a great game. And Saito was just good enough to save it.



Patriots Day: Boston 12, Baltimore 1

Positives: Where to begin? An excellent spot start by the tall, bald, white Jamaican, another 3.2 shutout innings by the pen, 4 hits for Pedroia, and a general offensive deluge. But most notably, some power by David Ortiz, in the form of a double and a triple. Opposite field, most promisingly. It could all come back. It could all come together.



Off to the house that George New York Taxpayers built tonight. I'll have notes.

Now That is a fun, fun fact.

From today's Herald...

"...The slugger’s .333 average would be the highest for a left-handed Sox hitter since Mo Vaughn finished at .337 in 1998..."



If you don't know which present-day slugger we're talking about here, but are still a Red Sox fan, I recommend reading a site closer to your intellectual speed. I love David Ortiz and Mo Vaughn for different reasons...and the same reasons. I can only hope that in 2015 I've got another big, slow, powerful quasi-first baseman with bat control to root for. Strongly agnostic as I am, that would be what I call a holy trinity.

Since 2004, I've shed a lot of superstition. I don't deeply believe in signs (or at least don't think we realize how many of these "signs" are actually Yield and Stop signs). I do believe that there is such thing as pure coincidence. But I also remember seeing Johnny Damon hit two home runs off Javy Vazquez in a June 2004 game at the Stadium, otherwise a miserable Derek Lowe experience, especially every time Javy struck a Sox out and the scoreboard flashed "Javy Nice Day." Complete with stupid 60s tie-dyed swirls and, you know, the Wal-Mart mascot. I wanted deeply to stab myself with my scorecard pencil; I settled for breaking it in six and burning the half-finished scorecard later. Goddamn it, Derek.

(I don't wear t-shirts like this anymore, but my is it brilliant.)



The point is game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. Johnny Damon and his two home runs. And, oh, the grand slam that basically shut the door until the Pedro Martinez Experience brought slight unfounded flashbacks of 2003.

You know damn well who threw that fat pitch that still hasn't landed (and never really will) in the happiest corner of my mind's eye. Yeah. Javy nice day to you too. Enjoy your 70s hangover while you're at it.

Is David Ortiz's amazing transformation into a genuine Triple Crown threat a sign? And the 12 years since 1995 thing?

Did this blog's creation make this happen? Does this mean that like 1995, we might (gulp) catch a bit of a whompin' from the Injuns in the ALCS if, new Mo willing, we get there?

No, not really.

But it's still giving me a grin as big as The Ritz.

Doug Mientkiewicz Has Good Hands (Webisode script)

Little too tired to write something fresh today...I swear, ICHIRO VERSUS will be written some day, yeah, when we walk in the rays of a beautiful sun, but until then, I've got a little script for you. Copyright J. Drimmer 2007, y'know, since I'm soooooo likely to sell this and we're all a little Mientkiewicz sometimes, and property gets abused when that happens. Any notes in the comments appreciated.

The Boston Red Sox clubhouse, after hours, in shadows. We see two silhouettes, one much larger than the other. The lights flick on: the figures, in uniform, are Red Sox designated hitter DAVID ORTIZ and former Red Sox/current New York Yankees first baseman DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ. David is comfortable; Doug is happy to be here, but is very, very twitchy.

DAVID
Welcome back, Doug Mientkiewicz! It’s good to have you back here, my friend.

DOUG
Um. Yeah. Great. Good. Same to you.

At the speed of light, Doug steals a batting glove from a locker. David doesn’t see it.

DAVID
Did you ever think you would be back here in the clubhouse?

Zoom. A glove vanishes.

DOUG
I wasn’t sure. (looks to his hand) But I still wear our World Series ring everywhere.

DAVID
You were an almost important part of our team! I know it must be strange to be here, now that you play for our rivals, the magnanimous New York Yankees…

Zap. There goes a box of baseballs.

DOUG
Yes.

DAVID
And that whole matter with when you tried to keep the ball with which the final out of the Boston franchise’s first championship in 86 years, well, that was rather unfortunate…

Zip. The entire contents of Jason Varitek’s locker are gone.

DOUG
Perhaps. I mean, um, yes.

DAVID
But you were somewhat necessary to our team’s success! Your sterling glove shone on the rare moments we needed you at first base, even if first base is a defensive position easy enough that I can play it adequately!

…and a water cooler is gone.

DOUG
You’re, um, you’re not that bad a first baseman.

DAVID
Ha ha ha. Come now. I am. Anyway, I just wanted to bring you down to let know that to me, you aren’t a thief. You’re a friend. A good, occasional friend!

DOUG (almost teary-eyed)
Thanks, David. It means a lot. (beat) I’ve got to go.

DAVID
Take care.

Doug leaves. Close shot of David Ortiz’s face.

DAVID
He’s a nice guy. And an excellent first baseman. Really good hands. Really good hands.

Shot further away from Ortiz; his uniform was stolen from him when he and we weren’t watching, and now he’s down to boxers and socks, as he’s just noticed.

DAVID
Ha ha ha! Really good hands.

Beat. Ortiz picks up the clubhouse phone.

DAVID (into the phone)
Security?

End.