Empyreal Environs

Game 55: June 4, 2005
The Team Formerly Known as the California Angels (32-23), 13
Red Sox (30-25), 6
W: Bartolo Colon (7-3)
H: Brendan Donnelly (8)
BS, L: Alan Embree (2, 1-3)

It was former Red Sox player reunion time on “This Week in Baseball” with Derek Lowe hosting this week and Orlando Cabrera next week. There was a pseudo-“Cribs” like segment where Lowe shows his sparsely lived-in Beverly Hills home. He has about 5 items in his refrigerator and no books on the shelves. Most of TWIB was actually enjoyable, showing old footage from the Brooklyn Dodgers, in particular the 1955 World Series and their fans dressed as clowns.

After Johnny Damon’s collision with the bullpen wall, Mike Timlin put a police outline of Damon in center field. I did something similar in my dormitory’s lobby, putting a tape outline in front of a vending machine. It was good for a laugh during midterms.

David Ortiz came to the plate in the 2nd inning with the bases loaded and 2 out. Ortiz can read lips in Spanish, says Tim McCarver as Colon and Jose Molina confer, covering their mouths. I had never heard of this skill before, and I doubt that Ortiz would like that fact widely circulated. Read my lips, McCarver: You are an idiot. Ortiz ended up striking out, but the team looked good scoring 3 runs. That would be enough, right?

Fox showed a nice segment on the dedication of the fields along the Charles River as “Teddy Ebersol’s Red Sox Fields at Lederman Park.” Teddy was killed along with two others in a plane crash last November, but was at least able to see the Red Sox become World Champions before his death. (When Fox showed the box that the Ebersol family was in during the game, Bob Costas was in the line of sight and ran from the camer; there must be some kind of exclusivity clause that stiuplates that he will not appear on other networks.)

Joe Buck related his experiences during last year’s ALCS when he was chased by rabid Red Sox fans to his hotel. He then said to McCarver, “Everybody thinks you’re rooting for the other team. And in your case, you are.” During a Damon at bat, Buck and McCarver talked about Damon’s body extremely admiringly. As if he were Jeter, almost. Later on in the 4th, Damon robbed Orlando Cabrera of an extra base hit, a truly spectacular catch.

In general, the Fox coverage wasn’t horrible. When the game headed south, McCaver did have his usual comment on how quiet and concerned the fans get. Perhaps it is because, unlike other fans, the bulk of the people actually know what’s going on during the game and don’t need prompting by jumbotron messages or blaring music? Altogether too many “House” promos with the young man in bed writhing and yelling “Get out of my head!” Which is also what Embree yells to every hitter he faces.

The blame has to be laid at Terry Francona’s feet as much as Embree’s. It was entirely apparent that Embree wasn’t fooling anyone this game except Francona, who seemed to have forgotten that Embree’s left/right splits are hardly justification for leaving him in against Garret Anderson. Splits for this year so far are: BAA .295 for lefties, .245 for righties; OBP .327 for lefties, .302 for righties; slugging .568 for lefties, .592 for righties. In the 7th, as if on cue and with only 1 out in the inning, Anderson hit a 3-run home run and the Angels take the lead, 6-5. Boos. Mayhem.