http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/ Readin'. Writin'. Red Sox. en Copyright 2010 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:21:15 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.32-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/eelogo.jpg Shall we play a game? The movies quotations I made probably wouldn’t be recognized by 15 players on the 25-man roster; they weren’t cognizant when Aliens and WarGames were originally released. Which is fine, because it’s the far future where the Red Sox organization’s hopes lay rather than in October http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/game_over_man/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/game_over_man/ September 2010 Game Comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:21:15 -0500 I thought the band name “Phantom Power” might refer to Jacoby Ellsbury but it’s actually an audio engineering concept that is beyond my humble ken. This article by Eddie Ciletti explains phantom power for those who are curious. There’s a “high energy contradance band” based on Boston called Phantom Power http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/not-so_phantom_power/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/not-so_phantom_power/ September 2010 Game Comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:41:05 -0500 Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.— Dante Alighieri, La Divina CommediaIn Alighieri’s Divine Comedy the ninth circle of hell is inhabited by traitors, those who betrayed others with whom they shared a relationship. There are four rounds within the circle of treachery, corresponding well http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/ninth_circle/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/ninth_circle/ September 2010 Game Comments Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:07:04 -0500 Yankee although he is, Yogi Berra can turn a memorable epigram. It would be fitting that the epitome of Yankeeness synopsizes Boston’s 2010 season, a season so luckless that we should not have worked up an iota of ire about it. But we did, because they had persevered, and even http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/deja_vu_all_over_again/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/deja_vu_all_over_again/ September 2010 Game Comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:59:21 -0500 Manny Ramirez dominated the headlines not because of what he did on the field (a decent 2-for-4 showing but no extra base hits or runs batted in) but because of what he said. Ramirez apologized for his behavior in 2008. “Everything was my fault, but you have to be a http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/sorry_seems_to_be_the_easiest_word/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/sorry_seems_to_be_the_easiest_word/ September 2010 Game Comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:19:27 -0500 When watching Mike Lowell and Ty Wigginton play first base the immortal Abbott and Costello question is transmuted to “why?” In a position where one doesn’t need to be particularly agile this pair stands out as distinctly inelegant. Wigginton has the footwork of a punch-drunk heavyweight in the 12th round http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/why_are_they_on_first/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/why_are_they_on_first/ September 2010 Game Comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:39:25 -0500 He doesn’t have calm eyes or a signature throw, but he’s no Lugo, either. His name will infest your brain with the chorus “Sussudio,” but he has filled the role of leadoff hitter in Jacoby Ellsbury’s absence admirably. Scu, scu, Scutaro! Whoa oh! The Red Sox shortstop tied the game http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/marco_scutaro/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/marco_scutaro/ September 2010 Game Comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:55:07 -0500 Theo Epstein got into the spirit of the election year and gave some serious spin to the trading of Manny Delcarmen to the Rockies for minor league pitcher Chris Balcom-Miller. The Red Sox general manager said the move wasn’t a white flag of surrender, like how the furor over the http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/white_flag/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/09/white_flag/ August 2010 Game Comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:05:59 -0500 To distract myself from the dismal series loss against the Rays I watched “Last Day of the Dinosaurs,” a light-hearted romp through the end of the Cretaceous most likely precipitated by the Chicxulub Asteroid pummeling the Yucatan Peninsula. When the six-mile long bolide impacted Earth, dinosaurs were broiled alive by http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/extinction_event/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/extinction_event/ August 2010 Game Comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:30:54 -0500 It’s not that our team doesn’t have smarts, it’s just that our team’s smarts are inconsistently used. Mike Lowell is widely regarded as particularly wily, so he knew that keeping Carlos Pena pegged at first with the bottom of the order coming wasn’t a priority. But Clay Buchholz is the http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/a_heartbreaking_work_of_staggering_stupidity/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/a_heartbreaking_work_of_staggering_stupidity/ August 2010 Game Comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:22:41 -0500 It was like the old days in the Trop last night: Red Sox fans were louder than the Rays supporters and the visiting team came away with the victory. The irony is that Boston devotees are indirectly supporting the Rays. This is because the revenue-sharing scheme in MLB has luxury http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/over_priced/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/over_priced/ August 2009 Game Comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:54:33 -0500 Even they find nuts. But who knew they officiated MLB games? The Ameeker Pitch zone showed that all three of Felix Hernandez’s pitches to Adrian Beltre in the second inning were strikes, but Beltre stood in the box in disbelief. Rookie umpire Dan Bellino, who was filling in for Rob http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/blind_squirrels/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/blind_squirrels/ August 2010 Game Comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:50:23 -0500 Mariners manager Daren Brown decided to give third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo a break for the day game, thus giving Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy a brief reprieve from saying that name. I listened to part of the WEEI broadcast from the series opener to check that at least one Red http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/afternoon_boon/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/afternoon_boon/ August 2010 Game Comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:17:22 -0500 When Johnny comes marching home again Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll give him a hearty welcome then Hurrah! Hurrah! The men will cheer and the boys will shout The ladies they will all turn out And we’ll all feel gay Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If I were as clever http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/when_johnny_comes_marching_home/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/when_johnny_comes_marching_home/ August 2010 Game Comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:04:02 -0500 The day may have been a murky day marred by two rain delays but Clay Buchholz’s supreme skill outshone the showers. “Buch-nasty” (as he was dubbed by Mike Cameron) pitched only six innings but that was with a 1 hour, 44 minute delay of first pitch and a 59-minute rain http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/dazzler_in_the_downpour/ http://www.empyrealenvirons.com/2010/08/dazzler_in_the_downpour/ August 2010 Game Comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:30:11 -0500