Will to Power
Not the band from the 1980s that feloniously combined “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Freebird” but rather “der Wille zur Macht,” the Nietzschean concept of striving to attain the highest position. From “The Will to Power” comes this excerpt: “My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (--its will to power:) and to thrust back all that resists its extension.”
Will Middlebrooks mastered space, time, and Royals pitchers last night. With elegant intervals Middlebrooks home runs have landed thus: a grand slam in Sunday’s debacle, a three-run shot to right in the first inning, and a two-run circuit clout in the eighth that dinged the left field foul pole. If Middlebrooks’s ambition is to render Kevin Youkilis redundant he seems to have the bat to do so. The rookie’s defense is still raw, however, as witnessed by his throwing error in the third that allowed Jarrod Dyson to score and Alex Gordon to advance to third. The Royals inched to within a run of the visitors in that inning but never gained the advantage.
Felix Doubront lasted 6⅓ innings and had to be relieved by Vicente Padilla. The canny reliever almost earned the save by the three-innings rule, but his relief outing wasn’t only impressive because of its duration. Padilla toed the rubber with the bases loaded and one out. He faced the Royals’ best hitter Billy Butler and induced a nifty double play with a tempting sinker.
As awful as the Red Sox have been playing at Fenway the Royals are worse at Kauffman. They have now lost 13 out of 15 home games, not the way to whet the appetite for the All-Star Game come July. If Middlebrooks keeps it up, he might be visiting Kansas City in a couple of months. Lately Padilla has pitched well enough to be similarly honored, but it is doubtful any players would vote for him.
David Ortiz would make the All-Star roster either on his own merits or by his personality. His newly slimmed physique has paid off enormous dividends. The slugger led off the third with a home run off southpaw Jonathan Sanchez, a rare occurrence for Ortiz in past seasons. In the eighth, as Dyson fumbled Cody Ross’s fly ball to center Ortiz nearly lapped Dustin Pedroia on the basepaths. The gigantic gold chain Ortiz wore didn’t slow him down at all.
Ortiz used to look like what Kelly Shoppach does now. The catcher led off the fourth with the first triple in his career and luckily for him he got a breather when Ned Yost swapped Sanchez for Nick Adcock right after his momentous hit.
| Game 28: May 7, 2012 | ||
 Boston Red Sox12-16 |
11 |
W: Felix Doubront (2-1) S: Vicente Padilla (1) |
| 2B: Dustin Pedroia (10), Will Middlebrooks (3), Cody Ross (6) 3B: Kelly Shoppach (1) HR: Middlebrooks – 2 (3), David Ortiz (7), Pedroia (4) | ||
| Kansas City Royals 9-19 |
5 |
L: Jonathan Sanchez (1-2) |
| 2B: Mike Moustakas (11) | ||
