Thursday night’s first base umpire in Anaheim, C.B. Bucknor, can expect a vintage New England greeting when he is introduced before Game 3 at Fenway Park on Sunday. Having turned in a wretched performance in Game 1- replays on high-def TV gave him two clearly blown calls - Bucknor lived up to his reputation as one of the game’s worst umpires.
Curt Schilling pitched in with his condemnation of Bucknor - hey may have even more to say after Bucknor works the plate in Game 2.
The bottom line, though, was that Bucknor’s ineptitude had no real impact on the game’s outcome. The Red Sox’ offense consisted of four widespread singles as John Lackey iced them into the eighth. Torii Hunter’s three-run homer gave the Angels two more runs than they’d need.
One other sidelight entering Game 2: Angels manager Mike Scioscia has inspired a mild discussion concerning his choice of catchers. It’s not nearly as lively as the radio talk show debate over Terry Francona’s call to let Victor Martinez catch Beckett instead of inserting Jason Varitek into the already chilly Red Sox lineup.
They remain the No. 2 team in Los Angeles - or would someone care to debate the reality that LA is more the City of Dodgers than the City of Angeles? Still, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Calif. have helped inspire talk of a World Series the rest of the country might dismiss with [...]
Though the clinching’s circumstances merit such a disclaimer, don’t tell anyone from the Red Sox that they backed into the American League wild-card berth. Yes, they’ve lost five straight games, and yes, players left Fenway Park after Tuesday night’s 8-7 loss to Toronto and then returned to celebrate the Angels’ 5-2 win over Texas in [...]
Generally speaking, the Red Sox’ bullpen is rolling along as one of the team’s strengths, certainly a large part of any discussion concerning Boston’s chances for a long playoff run. That doesn’t mean all is necessarily well with every member of the relief corps as decisions are about to be made on postseason roles.
Daniel Bard [...]
It is tempting, in the afterglow of a 10-0 win in which Clay Buchholz worked seven shutout innings and the Red Sox walloped six home runs, to believe that all is swell and that the Texas Rangers are destined to disappear in the rear-view mirror.
Well, such happy thoughts need to come with a large disclaimer: The [...]
Thanks to the Red Sox’ series win at Tampa Bay, it is safe to say that there will be a new American League champion this season. The Rays now find themselves six games behind Boston in the wild-card race with 29 games to play. It would take a charge of epic proportions, not to mention [...]
Josh Beckett looked better than awful Wednesday night in the Red Sox’ 8-5 loss to Tampa Bay, so should we presume that The Ace is on the road to recovering his superior skills? After tumbling into a 5-1 hole, Beckett did manage to look more like his old self for the duration of his outing, [...]
Realistically speaking, the American League playoff roster is pretty well set. Barring unexpectedly dramatic swoons or charges, the Yankees will win the East, the Tigers will win the Central, the Angels will win the West, and the Red Sox will be the wild-card entry for the six time since the current post-season arrangement was implemented.
Boston [...]
Remember all of the reports in the last 24 hours claiming that the Red Sox-Mets deal to bring reliever Billy Wagner had reached an impasse? Forget them all. The Red Sox announced today that the veteran lefty will be coming to Boston in exchange for two players to be named later.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona [...]
The mating dance with aging Mets reliever Billy Wagner is ending, Daisuke Matsuzaka may actually be ready to pitch in September and October and Josh Beckett’s recent woes look fixable. Toss in Monday night’s thrashing of White Sox has-been Jose Contreras and there is nothing but good news this morning for the Red Sox.
Having claimed [...]
