Empyreal Environs

This game was so awful I had to match it with a pun, which are inherently terrible.

Cody Ross won the fans’ vote for the Tenth Player of the Year Award. I was hoping that Pedro Ciriaco or Junichi Tazawa would be recognized for their breakout seasons, but Ross is an admirable selection. He wears Dom DiMaggio, Rick Burleson, and Trot Nixon’s former number well. Hopefully Ross is in the front office’s plan for next season.

In the top of the twelfth inning a tiny sparrow alighted on the basepath between second and third. Rather than presage a win for the Red Sox that would help the Orioles the fledgling was in the neighborhood of the double play that end the inning.

While the seasons have ebbed and flowed since 2004 and lately he has been a marginal contributor, it stung a little to see Derek Lowe winning this game as a Yankee.

Game 161: October 2, 2012 ∙ 12 innings
Boston Red Sox 69-92	3	H: Rich Hill (6), Junichi Tazawa (5), Craig Breslow (9) BS: Andrew Bailey (3) L: Andrew Miller (3-2)
		2B: Dustin Pedroia (38) HR: James Loney (6)
New York Yankees 94-67	4	W: Derek Lowe (9-11)
		2B: Nick Swisher (36), Eduardo Nunez (4), Derek Jeter (32) HR: Raul Ibanez (19)

3 October 2012 ∙ 8:08 PM ∙ October 2012 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Lowe (Derek) ∙ Orioles ∙ Yankees

At first I thought Alex Rodriguez bedazzled his neck but upon closer inspection his beard is greying. For a man who seemed preoccupied with appearances for him to show this shard of humanity made me almost feel sorry for his on-field decline. Almost.

I’ll be cackling with glee as he flails his way through the playoffs and is skewered in the press. Red Sox fans are back to the old days when they can enjoy the postseason only through other teams’ misery. Schadenfreude season will soon begin.

In the bottom of the second Russell Martin powered a fly ball to right that for some reason inspired a Red Sox fan in a Pedroia t-shirt to pull a Jeffrey Maier. Che-Hsuan Lin could only look on as the fan reached over.

This angle showed how the ball ricocheted off the forearm of the fan before it bounced up into his Red Sox cap. Now even Red Sox fans are actively sabotaging their team.

Game 160: October 1, 2012
Boston Red Sox 69-91	2	L: Clay Buchholz (11-8)
		2B: Mauro Gomez (5) HR: Daniel Nava (6)
New York Yankees 93-67	10	W: CC Sabathia (15-6)
		2B: Robinson Cano – 2 (48), Nick Swisher (35) HR: Cano (31), Curtis Granderson (41), Russell Martin (21), Mark Teixeira (24)

3 October 2012 ∙ 7:32 PM ∙ ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Maier (Jeffrey) ∙ Yankees

Zach Stewart was born on September 28, 1986. Not a good year for the Red Sox but on that day Oil Can Boyd pitched a complete game against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Red Sox won 12-3.

J.J. Hardy defeated Robert Andino, Mark Reynolds, Jake Arrietta, and Tommy Hunter in fan voting for a bobblehead day. I think it is because the Brewers sent the extra bobbles from 2008 to Baltimore and the Orioles repainted him.

It wouldn’t be 2012 without yet another injury. Dustin Pedroia jammed his finger and expressed his pain and frustration in the dugout.

Game 159: September 30, 2012
Boston Red Sox 69-90	3	L: Zach Stewart (1-4)
		2B: Ryan Lavarnway (8), Jose Iglesias (2), Pedro Ciriaco (14) HR: Cody Ross (22), Daniel Nava (5)
Baltimore Orioles 92-67	6	W: Joe Saunders (9-13) H: Darren O’Day (14) S: Jim Johnson (50)
		HR: Nate McLouth (7), J.J. Hardy (22), Chris Davis (31)

1 October 2012 ∙ 6:32 PM ∙ September 2012 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Pedroia ∙ Stewart (Zach)

Brooks Robinson joined Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken, Jr. in bronze immortality at Camden Yards. No, he didn’t put on spray tan like Mitt Romney on Univision. He has a statue in the Legends Area, surveying the surging Orioles.

The Orioles want to win the pennant so badly they can almost taste the champagne spray. After Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s two-run homer in the fifth brought the visitors to within a run Mark Reynolds went headfirst between the tarp and the wall for the final out of the inning. It was nice to see a reminder of what a hustle play looked like. Red Sox players wanting to stick around for 2013 should take note.

Chris Davis, who clouted his 30th home run in the fourth, hugged his manager after the shot. Somehow I can’t imagine any player embracing Bobby Valentine. The victory tied the Orioles with the Yankees. In the season when Orioles legends were enshrined at their park the team on the field played with vivacity and purpose. Sadly Fenway’s 100th anniversary didn’t inspire its denizens the same way.

Game 158: September 29, 2012
Boston Red Sox 69-89	3	L: Felix Doubront (11-10)
		HR: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (25)
Baltimore Orioles 91-67	4	BS, W: Tommy Hunter (1, 7-8) H: Brian Matusz (3), Darren O’Day (13) S: Jim Johnson (49)
		2B: Nate McLouth (14) HR: Chris Davis (30), Manny Machado (7)

1 October 2012 ∙ 5:59 PM ∙ September 2012 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Orioles ∙ Reynolds (Mark) ∙ Robinson (Brooks)