Random Thoughts Before the Game

Just some random thoughts to do with the game (or maybe not) to get out the nervousness in the pit of my belly (or is it just the lousy food I had an hour ago weighing on me?) as Game Six looms in a matter of 36 minutes (perhaps it looms, period, by the time I finish this column).

• I recieved an e-mail from Bart giving me a heads-up to a new country-style song about the Red Sox, performed by the Gyromatics. Listening to this kind of reminds me of the song “Tessie” by Dropkick Murphys. Check it out here.
• Speaking of e-mail, J.Johnson of Soxaholic (he writes LEFT FIELD NOTES off and on) e-mailed me and mentioned that he “took a spin-off of the classic ‘I Heart NY‘ by Milton Glaser” and has “I Heart Boston” with a baseball theme. Definitely head over there to buy something if you’re interested, and also perhaps the MVN Gift Shop!

• According to ESPN Radio this morning, the Yankees are allegedly planning to bunt, over and over again, in an effort to make the hobbled Curt Schilling field balls on wet grass, and cover first.

  Pretty dirty and underhanded, but you know, the object of the game is … to win it. You have to do the best you can to get that win. The Yankees had no plans on returning to New York to play a game, and now they have to. They sure don’t want it to reach Game 7, because you then have Kevin Brown (against Tim Wakefield per the Boston Dirt Dogs) and we would have the upper hand there (on paper, at least … and paper means nothing). They have to win today against Schilling. Because then the momentum completely shifts to us. Paper and momentum are fickle beings, but it’s at least nice to have them on our side!
  Now … how to avoid getting hurt by this? I’m thinking … have the team tell (hopefully, already told) Schilling to not worry about the bunts. Have Millar and Mueller ready to cheat in, with Varitek chomping at the bit and Bellhorn ready to cover first. Have them get the outs. If there’s a runner on second, have the shortstop cover third. If there is a runner on first, then react to where the ball goes. That could be a play Schilling could get involved on.

• I wonder if Scooter will tell us the definition of “walk-off” today. I mean, he ably demonstrated to us all last night what a brushback pitch was … (The Scooter link is to an article about Scooter. If FOX scraps this talking ball, I want to be able to read this in 20 years and have proof Scooter really happened. Because I still have a hard time believing it happened.)
• Is David Ortiz the new Mr. October? Hm … in the 2002 ALDS (13 AB) he hit .231 BA/.231 OBP/.385 SLG. Then in the ALCS (16 AB) he hit .312/.312/.375. In 2003, the ALDS, he had 21 AB with a .095/.174/.143 line. Ouch … but hey, the ALCS saw .269/.367/.538. Perhaps he broke out there (in 26 AB).He had 11 ABs against the Angels earlier this year, and bashed to a tune of .545/.688/1.000! And so far against the Yankees (23 AB) he has .478/.538/.826. And three walk-offs so far this year. I think it’s safe to say Reggie Jackson better start sweating. Earlier today (I forget when, and what channel – nice memory I have) I saw a clip of Ortiz with the words “MR. OCTOBER” superimposed over it. Could be.
• According to Dave Cohen, webmaster for MVN, Curt Schilling did not have the boot on while warming up. Good? Bad? I have no idea. (He heard it on WEEI.)
• Time to go get my glasses some white and blue on them courtesy of Tim McCarver. Game time in four minutes. Enjoy.
• Oh! Just saw on FOX, he does NOT have the boot, he has his normal low-top on. He says it’s perfectly fine. Definitely progress.