On True Realizations

Armando Galrraga was robbed tonight, no one can argue with this. First-base umpire Jim Joyce really screwed up. I personally laid out a few choice words after reviewing the replay of Galarraga's near-27th out, many of which were severely looked down upon by The Lady. Had the out been called, it would have been the third perfecto of this season, and the first ever thrown by a Detroit Tiger.

It was a monumental f***-up, no lie.

But around the Twitterverse, after the profanities stopped flying, other words began to take wing. Words like "utterly distraught". "Regretted". "So sorry". These all being feelings and words felt and uttered by Jim Joyce. And it got me thinking... maybe there is hope. In a world full of men like Joe West and CB Bucknor, there are men like Jim Joyce to balance it out a bit. Men who perhaps get the call wrong, robbing a pitcher- and a team- of a perfect game, but who can own up to their mistakes, men who can fully accept responsibilities for their actions.

I recently had an epiphany, that my chosen profession should fall under the umbrella of law enforcement. Not because of the power, or the gun, or the pay, but because it gives me the chance to do something good in this world. There are certain professions which are often believed to be above rebuke, professions in which the participants may not own up to their mistakes. Umpires/referees. Police officers. Politicians. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying umpire screw-ups are in the same vein as law enforcement or political screw-ups- but they're in a similar vein. I want to be able to make that difference in being a police officer, like what Jim Joyce did for me tonight with my opinions on professional umpiring. To quote an oft-underrated movie, "You can't change the world but you can sure make a dent".

Tonight, Jim Joyce made a dent.

UPDATE: Jim Joyce telling reporters he blew the call, right after the game. You can hear the sadness and anger in his voice:

(courtesy of 97.1 The Ticket)

On Oh Crap I Already Used That Title

Familial rivalries aside, this sweep of Tampa Bay felt *really* good. This team, where people were jumping ship not a few weeks ago, beat the best team in baseball? Three times? Yes. How about that bat of Adrian Beltre? Tonight alone, 2HR, a single, and a triple, all for 6RBI. Let's not forget some fantastic plays at 3rd though - I think he actually caught a grounder with his testicles at one point. I know he didn't hit a double, but why not just *say* he hit for the cycle? Damned if he doesn't deserve it. I might even say I've forgiven him for breaking Ellsbury's ribs. Oh yeah, and one of the times he took it yard, he was on his knees. How cool is that. Ortiz also hit the long ball again, finding HR #10 and, it seems, his mojo. McDonald, who was previously DFA'd, also managed to grab a pair of RBI late in the game. Rays starter Matt Garza, who was previously terrifying against the Sox when in Tampa, was utterly grabbed by his saliva-dripping chin pubes and slung around the place. Unfortunately Lackey didn't have a super night, seemingly barely holding it together over 6 1/3 innings, allowing 2R, 8H, 4BB. But... it was better than his previous outings, and hey, it was a win.

A damned good win, if you ask me.

p.s. Seriously, what the heck is that on his chin. The images above is at least a trimmed version, from 2008. If you can find a picture from tonight's game... God rest your soul.

On Memory Blocks

There are many, many words that could be used to describe last night's 11-9 loss to the Yankees: heartbreaking, disappointing, meltdown, absolute crap. I find the need to add "forgettable" to the list. The most obvious application reminds us that there are 162 games in the season, and while we as fans may remember this loss as the game that most epitomizes the 2010 Red Sox, it's still just a loss. At the end of the day it's just like every other loss the team has recorded, it's just a little more emotionally charged.

But for me, the more relevant use of the word "forgettable" comes right at the end of the game, when Thames hammered the final nail in the Red Sox' coffin to left field. When the outfield let those easy fly-outs turn into baserunners, I was yelling. When A-Rod smacked one out to tie it up, I slammed my hand down on the desk (scaring the crap out of The Lady). But when Thames took it out... I don't know. I don't remember what happened. I even had to go look up where he hit it to, because I didn't know. Don't get me wrong, I was watching the game, but those last few minutes were a bit hazy. All I know is at some point after the ball left the bat, the television was turned off. Maybe it was immediately after he made contact, maybe it was fifteen minutes. I genuinely don't remember.

This game ended about as crappily as a game can end. But for some reason, by some stroke of providence, I don't remember it.

And I'm fine with that.

On Turn-arounds

After nearly a week of moving-to-a-new-apartment madness, I'm back, and with Internet. Rejoice.

The last three nights of Red Sox baseball have made me awfully happy. Sticking it to the Angels- enacting a sort of revenge for last year's playoffs- felt good. Buchhy, Jonny, and Lack all brought it to the mound, and the offense was (for the most part) damned good as well. These three wins were important- I feel they brought a modicum of confidence to the club. Now whether we can continue this run... well that remains to be seen. Papi smacked one to opposite field tonight, and there were ding-dongs aplenty across the rest of the series. I never was one to give up on the Sox, and our performance over the last three nights is exactly the explanation why. Despite having a losing record (at the time), we managed to pull it through. Now sitting at .500, the Red Sox have the opportunity to blast it open. With one more game against Los Angeles followed by a six-game stretch at home against the MFY and Toronto, now seems like the perfect time to reclaim our spot at (or at least near) the top of the AL East.

Now's the time. Let's do it, boyos.

On Making it Three

There are not a lot of things that can take away the pain of dropping a series to a division rival, but tonight's 6-4 Georgia Tech win against UGA seemed to dull the ache a bit. Showing up at Turner Field almost two hours before first pitch and braving what looked to be a rainy, cold night, the Tech faithful were ready for battle... and a battle it was. A helluva pitching matchup took place, pitting Mark Pope against Georgia freshman Blake Dieterich. Both pitchers put up five innings of scoreless ball, after which both sides' bats started swinging. I'll not bore you all with the details.... suffice it to say, season sweeps are something nice.

Oh, and the Sox beat the Jays 2-1 tonight, making it a great night for baseball. None of this 13-12 crap from last night, thank you very much.

Tech's off until Friday- I'll be back tomorrow night after Boston finishes up the series in Toronto.

On Regrets

I went to the GT baseball game (6-2 win over Georgia Southern, by the way) and then trivia, deciding to forego the Red Sox game in order to temporarily save my sanity. My reasoning is, it's too early in the season to lose my mind.

Far off in the corner of the bar was a small television displaying ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," and I noticed a few things, including a Papi-esque figure flounder at the plate and then snap his goddamn bat in half. But then I saw two amazing things: Darnell McDonald hit a two-run blast over the Monster, and Darnell McDonald knock in the winning run off of the wall.

At this point, three thoughts ran through my mind. The first was something along the lines of "oh crap new question better get back to the table," while the second was a little more relevant. "Did... Did the Red Sox just snap their losing streak?" The third, of course, was "Who the hell is Darnell McDonald?"

Darnell McDonald, for those who (also) missed the game, is the man behind this video, which I cannot embed here because the MLB sucks.

I feel terrible and good at the same time. Can't believe I missed that damned game. G'night, folks. Sleep well tonight, wrapped tightly in the knowledge that we have a winning streak brewing.

On Spring Cleaning

Bust out the brooms kids, 'cause the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5) just swept the Clemson Tigers (16) over a three-game weekend series. I had the pleasure of going to all three games and seeing some really good baseball. Short recaps:

Friday night, GT 8 Clemson 6
Chase Burnette lifted the Jackets over the Tigers with a 2-run walk-off home run Friday night to open the series, as starter Deck McGuire pitched 7 innings and gave up 7 runs. Cole Leonida and Matt Skole also went yard during the night, advancing their home run counts to 7 and 12 on the season, respectively. Reliever Andrew Robinson got the Jackets out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the 10th, paving the way for Burnette's game-ending shot.

Saturday afternoon, GT 4 Clemson 3
Brandon Cumpton picked up his sixth win on Saturday, holding the Tigers to just 3 runs over 7 innings. Jacob Esch tied up the game in the bottom of the seventh with a 2-out RBI single up the middle to score Chase Burnette. Jeff Rowland followed by dropping a hit into center to score Esch, giving Tech a 4-3 lead. Andrew Robinson closed out the game in the ninth, cementing the efforts of a solid bullpen and earning his third save of the year.

Sunday afternoon, GT 11 Clemson 3
After two games in which the bats weren't swinging as soundly as they usually do, Tech was right back on top with a dominating performance from most everyone on the rotation. Jeff Rowland, Tony Plagman, and Jacob Esch all went 4-for-5 on the day, combining for 12 of Tech's 17 hits. Rowland had a standing triple in the second to bring in three runs, while Esch went yard in the eighth to extend the Jackets' home run streak to 15 consecutive games. Georgia Tech scored a run in every inning, except for the second in which they scored 4.

Highlights:

• Purple doesn't work well for you, Clemson. For reference, Barney has dropped by to model Clemson's unis.
• The Jackets improve to 31-5 on the season, reaching the 30+ win mark for the 28th straight year.
• Selected cracks from the third base heckling section concerned Clemson's highly-touted ability to count to four and head coach Jack Leggett's bordering-on-obsessive nudging of third base.
  
• A spectator got hit on Sunday by a Clemson foul ball, but was alright. Jack must've gotten tired of our heckling.
• Watching three Tech wins sure beat watching three Sox losses, I'll tell you what.