because the Sox aren’t sure.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse for a baseball player than I feel right now for Matt Holliday. To drop that ball with two out in the 9th. Brutal

Buck Martinez just quoted Terry Francona saying the Red Sox are a better offensive team with Ellsbury leading off. Ellsbury’s OBP – .355. Sigh.

Uh, really? Bill Buckner? Or do you feel no pity and only hatred for him…

See the thing with Buckner is that it was a tie game when he committed that error. Even if he makes that play the Sox still could have lost – and probably would have. This time, Holliday makes that play – game is over. The goat of 1986 was always Bob Stanley; fucking wild pitch to Mookie Wilson.

You must have missed the yankees-mets game this year when Castillo dropped the popup

BTW, Buck Martinez was surprised that the Sox wanted to upgrade the catcher position when they already had Jason “I can’t catch up to a fastball” Varitek. Double sigh

But isn’t that all the more reason to pity him? That he should be remembered forever for losing Game 6 when he didn’t actually lose Game 6?

but they didn’t upgrade

Regular season game vs. playoff game. No comparison

Not a bad point Spencer. But it’s Bill Buckner. Sympathy only goes so far

The Angels don’t strike out a ton, they’re 8th in the AL. Their offense is as good as the Red Sox their pitching just isn’t as good.

The Angels just get on base like gangbusters.

Also, as the resident Twins fan I would like to say I am shocked–shocked!–to see Torii Hunter strike out… But even he has been getting on base this year.

Strike out a ton for an Angels team; most since Scioscia became manager. BTW, was there a better FA signing this year than Bobby Abreu

I just laughed for a whole 30 seconds after Buck Martinez said Torii “spent some time on the DL.”

Lowell with a great play on a hard-hit Vladdy ball.

This Weekly Standard writer and alleged Yankee fan apparently doesn’t know the actual score of last night’s win.

Lester, just straight nasty.

So, we’re sure the inning’s over now, right?

A.G. breaks up the no-no. There’s the John Lackey (4.83 ERA vs. Red Sox past 3 years) we know and love.

Kind of glad we didn’t take advantage of that interference call. Even Terry said it was BS.

Big K on Figgins there . . .

Lester’s got some good stuff tonight.

WHAT!!! That was strike 3

Robbed of strike three, Lester loads the bases.

Joe West has declared a jihad against low strikes.

My favorite thing about Vlad Guerrero – he doesn’t wear batting gloves

Lesta!

How many times do you think Vlad Guerrero has struck out on high cheese in his career?

Great K to Vladdy, making him chase a very high fastball. Air let out of Angels Stadium.

Lesta is deploying a COIN strategy against Joe West’s jihad against low strikes.

Actually I’ll bet a few years ago Vlad catches up to that ball

Yes Nick, it’s enemy centric COIN

Papi’s a little sloppi.

Those are some crazy splits on Kendry Morales – 30 HRs on righties, 4 against lefties.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Way to screw that play up, Youk.

# of ABs maybe.

Wow. How do you miss that call?

Terrible call. How does the ump miss that tag?

That was A.G.’s mistake, Spence. Weak throw.

Love how Lester just shrugs it off.

Yeah, Lester is really on tonight. He looks practically Beckett-esque.

Here is one of my favorite games. When I’m watching TV with the wife googling the fat content of fast food items advertised. For those curious, the Black Jack Taco – 210 calories and 17 grams of fat. But only 89 cents!

Good lord, I can’t believe that I missed Holliday FAIL II: Return of the Misplayed Fly.

Oh, and nice double by Aybar.

Figgins needs to watch it, before he gets run out of the game.

Great play by Dusty. I’m not sure I get the logic of a bunt there – Figgins has a .396 OBP, but I guess that’s Angels baseball.

ooh, nasty curve ball by Lester right there

Crushed

GONE!

That was a MONSTER home run by Torii Hunter.

Should have thrown a strike to Abreu 3-2. He’s not going to swing at a ball there. And it’s not like Hunter is an easier matchup, as we’ve just seen. He CRUSHED that.

BTW, rockpile – best outfield display in the majors?

Speaking of rivalries, Michael, I’ve always felt that Angels-Sox really could’ve become something like Royals-Yankees in the ’70s had the Angels bothered showing up in previous years.

3 runs look like a lot in this game, about as much as Boston might get all night.

I’ll give it to them. Rockies used to have a rockpile as well, until they turned it into cheap bleacher seats in ‘96.

Angels owning that third base line.

Bullpen should be up & working after that double, if they aren’t already.

Well it is sort of reminiscent of the Yankees/Sox rivalry pre 2003. It was really never much of a rivalry – the Yankees dominated. Sepaking of the Royals/Yanks, I’ll never forget when Chris Chambliss won the pennant in 1976 (?) and couldn’t get around the bases cuz there were so many fans on the field. One of my favorite sports moments growing up

HUGE save by AG.

Okay need to get one back here.

I love Andre Braugher, but I would sooner stick sharp pencils in my eye then watch that new TNT show

Buck Martinez explains why wins don’t matter for pitchers – welcome to the 21st century Buck.

Green light on 3-0?

not on that pitch that looked like a ball

I hate how it’s an automatic strike on 3-0.

Seriously that ball was a foot outside.

Why would you give Lackey the benefit of the doubt there?

Apparently I was posting comments too quickly. Argh.

feel kinda sad for Braugher…he was so frakin’ awesome on Homicide.

Sox have some beefs with the umpires tonight – third costly call against them tonight.

Is there a more underrated show in TV history than Homicide?

Anyone watching Lopez Live! Will it be as good as the Frank Show?

Um, probably like 30.

Just the very mention of Frank TV has sent me into a fetal position

You have GOT to be kidding me.

4!!!

Apparently every time you have a bad throw Howie Kendrick is automatically safe.

Are you fucking kidding me? He was out by a foot

HORRIBLE call.

All this whining by me aside, baseball has WAY better officiating than the NBA. The NBA is so poorly officiated that it’s pretty much unwatchable.

Is major league baseball ever going to fix there umpiring problem? If I’m the Tigers I’m still furious over that blown HBP in the playoff game

Yeah, but if the NBA is your comparison point something is seriously wrong. Ever since the “breathe on Dwayne Wade get a foul call” series in 2006 (?) I pretty much stopped watching basketball

Lester’s missed with the curve a few times this inning. He’s lagging.

good catch by Jacoby! That could’ve been ugly.

It’s odd that college football, the sport with the worst postseason, has the best officiating/replay policy.

Tacoby Bellsbury, the world’s most famous Native American! (Celebrities who didn’t grow up on the rez don’t count. But Chamberlain does, I suppose. Odd that they’re both baseball players.)

Is anyone else surprised that nut up is considered acceptable for bcast TV?

Yeah, that was ‘06. I don’t like Cuban much, but he had a legitimate beef, as did D’Antoni.

No, Michael, I was surprised to hear it too.

Saw it. I laughed out loud a lot. Think it would have been great as a TV show, which is what it was originally pitched as. Girlfriend hated it (too much gore.)

What’s your objection to Cuban? Isn’t he kind of endearing, in a Bill Belichick sort of way?

Lackey is dealing now. Sox in serious trouble.

Apparently Lackey’s low strikes count as strikes.

Two straight impressive Ks from Lackey

Pretty interesting – and prescient comment – from Curt Schilling on the umpiring crew:

“To be honest, one of my biggest fears is the umpiring crew. This is about as bad a crew as I have ever seen assembled. Joe West, for all his pomp and circumstance, can ump a game. C.B. Bucknor? Greg Gibson? Not so much.” He added later, “Look for BOTH to have game impact in this series.”

Okay that was a ball on 3-1. Ramirez gets a call.

It’s gotta be Youk gonna be paying for Hunter.

It’s more like I like the guy, I nod along to what he says…then he takes it juuuuust a wee bit too far.

Wow, what a smart play by VMart

Wow – great DP.

Another blown call? This one goes to the Sox.

Damn, another bad call. It doesn’t look like Lowell ever tagged him

Actually good call – Hunter came off the bag

Wow was that weird. Did Hunter stop for a sandwich?

Not that it matters.

Stick a fork in it

Good lord, why?

Doesn’t matter now. game over.

Drew has a gun.

Despite the utter fail of the Sox in this game, there have been some nice plays. Still fun to watch. That’s how ‘04 freed us.

Ehhh, after watching Colorado nearly choke out a game today, I’m not ready to call this one just yet. I’ll give it one more inning.

Nice blocking the plate by VMart, too.

Halos deserve to win tonight. Hitting better, pitching better.

Nice feeling, innit? That’s why I want the Cubs & Indians to win a title – so their fanbases can actually enjoy a game without developing ulcers.

PHing Kotchman seems weird. I think AGon has better numbers since joining Boston. Guess it’s the LH/RH split.

Cubs and Indians fans absolutely deserve to celebrate. Great fanbases both. Loyal, smart about the game.

I don’t like Lackey, but he deserves the standing O. Great performance tonight.

On the other hand, these rally sticks are a really cheap way to boost the stadium volume.

Besides being a BoSox fan I’m a huge Red Wings fan – and when they lost this year in Game 7 it hurt. But the fact that they’ve won four Cups since 1997 really salved the wound. I can’t imagine how depressed I would have been if we hadn’t won before. That 2003 ALCS loss took me weeks to get over

Check out Darren Oliver’s numbers – that guy has had a pretty good season. Still he is Darren Oliver:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5127

Yeah, for real – one of my favorite baseball memories is being at The Jake when the Tribe clinched the ‘95 AL pennant. The joy was a physical thing.

How much longer before the Sox trade Papelbon with the kind of gas Bard can bring?

I dunno. Papelbon’s numbers are still pretty impressive. And better than Bard’s. We focus on the blown saves and the hits he gives up, but statistically he’s still an elite closer — and has been doing it for a while, in the spotlight. Let’s see if Bard keeps throwing this way next year.

No later than next year’s deadline, Michael. I think it’ll happen this offseason, FWIW.

Good point, Jonathan. Speaking of trading, I’m almost certain Cabrera’s no longer going to be on the Tigers’ roster.

“He’s a competitor.” I hate baseball announcers.

Papelbon is great, but closers are a dime a dozen. They should trade him now, while he’s at the peak of his value. The A’s have been doing this for years – developing closers and then trading them for prospects. Sox should do the same.

God I am NOT looking forward to Kazmir. He is a huge Sox killer.

I love that the Angels’ owner is rocking the 1970s stache. Word.

Who would take his contract? more than 20mm per for six years

Don’t know, but there’s a sucker born every minute.

Game over.

Ballgame.

Let’s see if we get Beckett 07 tomorrow. (I certainly hope so…)

Angels looked good. Maybe this is the year they break the streak – but Beckett is generally rock solid in the playoffs. Should be fun. I’ll be checking scores from Giants Stadium!

Alrighty. Goodnight, folks. See you tomorrow and Sunday.

Actually, you’ve given me something to work on. Let me crunch some numbers, see where he might go.

Night folks! See you tomorrow and all throughout.

I’d be interested. Figure Matt Holliday in there as an alternative.

Cool. I’ll work it up.