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I Heart Tim Wakefield

"I understand the circumstances of today," Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield told his manager before yesterday's game.

"No matter what, don't take me out."

The previous game's starter had headed to the showers after one inning. The bullpen pitched 11 innings after that. All but ONE relief pitcher was leaned upon hard, with Javy Lopez throwing for the third straight day and eventually taking the hard luck loss.

Things were bleak for my beloved Red Sox. Looking at a potential four-game losing streak, already down 2-6 to start the season, they needed something. Thursday was an off day, so if they could just get through Wednesday's game intact, they could take a breather, recuperate, and regroup to start pushing again. They needed a stopper. They got Tim Wakefield.

And vintage Timmy they got, in some of his most beautiful, fluttering, knuckleball glory. Wake took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and went home with a complete game, 8-2 win under his belt.

People may question his age (he would have been the 2nd oldest pitcher to throw a no-no), his unorthodox (and often maddening) pitch, his back or shoulder ailments that have slowed him down at the end of the last two seasons... but you can never doubt his heart.

"No matter what, don't take me out."

With the masterful performance he put on yesterday afternoon, we never even thought about it.

Picture via YFSF

Checking In

On prophetesse Annette Legion. Is UK going to the Final Four?

Sweet Ride

The conversation went like this:

Ali: What do you want me to draw for you, daddy?
Me: How about a car?
Ali: Ok! How about a fancy car?
Me: That's be great! Or a fast sports car!
Ali: Yeah, a super-fast sports car!

So, she starts drawing away. I notice that she's started to put a few "B"s on the car in various places. Then she starts talking about the Boston Red Sox. I was a little confused as she showed me the field, some flags, a bat, a "Boston Red Sox butterfly"...

That's when it hit me. "Sports" car.

Jon Lester, Conquerer Of Worlds

This is one of those sports stories that isn't so much about sports, but about a person's resilience in the face of obstacles. Specifically, a 24-year-old kid named Jon Lester, who happens to pitch for the Red Sox. Allow me to share a short version of events leading up to last night's game, compliments of Red at Surviving Grady:

In 2006, Jon Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

In 2007, he won the clinching game of the World Series.

In 2008, just a few hours ago in fact, he pitched his first complete game--a motherf@#king no hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

For you non-baseball fans who are still reading, a "complete game" is when one pitcher starts and finishes the game. Happens often, but is getting rarer as the game now features relief pitchers more and more. For Lester, this was not only his first complete game, but also his highest pitch count (number of pitches thrown) of his career.

A "motherf@#king no hitter" is a complete game where the opposing team gets NO base hits. Walks and errors can contribute to players getting on base, but there are no base hits given up by the pitcher (or the defense: hello, Jacoby!).

For reference, Wikipedia claims there have only been 256 no hitters in the history of Major League Baseball (with 17 being perfect games).

So last night we witnessed an incredible outing by a guy who had to battle to get to the bigs, got knocked down by the Big C, fought his way back, sacked up big time to get the final win of the World Series, then comes back this year to throw a no-no. Nicely done, Jon. Congrats.

As always, Soxaholix has a fun take on it. :-)

How Can You Not Love Manny Ramirez?

Dude plays every day with the smile of a Little Leaguer. Then, when he's at the plate, he's a fearsome destroyer of pitches. And after countless antics in the outfield (anyone remember the mid-inning bathroom break in the Monster?), he makes an outstanding running catch... following by stepping up the wall and high-fiving a fan before firing the ball back to the infield to double up a guy, completing an inning-ending double play. Come on. Manny rules.

UPDATE: The Five Stages of Being Awesome, by Manny Ramirez

THIS Is The Year For Snyder

Almost a year ago to the day, I called Kyle Snyder "The Sox To Watch". Turns out... I was kinda right. He didn't have quite year the year I thought he'd have. But with the back end of this year's starting rotation in flux (at least until Schilling gets back), Colon and Tavarez not easing anybody's mind, and Snyder with a series of scoreless appearances, it might just be that I was a year ahead in my predictions.

So Paul, as you're working on your roster, keep an eye on him. And maybe this year I won't let you down. :-)

Break Out The Seeds

With spring, comes baseball. And with baseball comes the articles on Tim Wakefield and his magical, mystery knuckleball. And with knuckleballs come... I don't know. Lots of scoreless innings?

And what makes you think he or Mike Timlin won't kill you where you sit?

The "Lost" Bike Tour

In college, my then-roommate Steve (patch around here) got a shiny, new, yellow mountain bike. And for some reason (chicks?), he wanted me to take a picture of him performing a jump with said new bike. So we went down to the track, set up some sort of ramp (memory... blurry), and I took a shot. Maybe with a borrowed Apple QuickTake 100?

Anyway, this video is way cooler.

Note To The Future

I assume that in, like, 500 years, this is what the Jedi will cite as their first training video.

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HT: With Leather

Hit And Run

Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder crashed his truck last night and left it on the side of the road, catching a ride home without reporting the accident. Folks were apparently wondering why he abandoned it, leaving a gun inside.

Have they not seen The Godfather?