Bill The Boy

Agree completely, Josh. And what the hell are these idiots fighting about, anyway? I'm guessing it's typically someone's alcohol-fueled perception that he got "disrespected" by someone else?

Nothing better than a brand new day and a clean slate! I'm predicting a series-winning offensive explosion by the Sox!

Yeah, Sam's definitely going through a bit of a drought, for sure. Hopefully he'll turn the corner on it soon. But you're right, Joe, they seem to have his number lately.

Yes sir !!!

Ahem...

Hahahhahaha! Sorry, Ron!!

I hate to even bring this up, but is rain going to mess things up again?

Sometimes, the other guy just has your number, and there's not much more to say. Get some rest, guys, and come out strong tomorrow!

That was Ankiel-esque!!

Fair enough, Kyyle.

Agreed, Joe, although I can understand the natural tendency for a batter to fear getting called out on strikes when he lays off one of those and it finds the bottom edge of the zone! Doggone it, that'd be nerve-wracking.

Very interesting concept, Hogan. Also, I've been meaning to ask a more general question, so if you don't mind I'll just toss it out there while I'm thinking about it... and again, I need to do "full disclosure" because I'm related to Sam A., and thus "a little" biased... 🙂 but, in his second at-bat in last night's game, Sam hit a sharp grounder that looked like it was going to be a single through the first base side, but the first baseman made a great play on it, and tossed to the pitcher (who ran over to cover first) for the put-out, as Sam made a head-first dive into first base. Steve Stone, with a noticeably frustrated tone in his voice, said (essentially), "I wish Sam wouldn't do that. It's not going to get him there any faster." Now, while I get where Steve is coming from, I thought that Sam was anticipating that if the throw were to be high and pull the pitcher off the base, or simply be off-line to one side or the other, so that the pitcher would need to try touching Sam with a "swipe-tag," Sam opted for the head-first slide in order to keep himself low to the ground and thus out of range of the swipe-tag. Do I raise a valid point, or am I just an overly-defensive great-uncle? Or maybe a little bit of both? 😊

I witnessed one of those. As I recall, the gals were mixing it up more than the guys!

Let's get 'em!! (I wonder if Portly Sandberg and his entourage will be on hand again this evening?)

SHOOT-OUTS? Hmmmmm... How about instead of extra innings, each team gets to select a batter and a pitcher (someone from the same team), and, with lobbed pitches, whichever batter hits the most homers out of ten pitches, their team wins?

I agree. Late-comer Sandberg throwing the sucker punches is a p**** (a word often followed by 'cat') and a coward. I hope someone can identify his cowardly ass and press charges for battery.

Still tryin' to figure out what the role of the Happ twins was. Maybe they were Big-Boned Sandberg's security detail? Well, as Steve Martin once said to a heckler, "I remember MY first beer..."

Hahahahahaha! That's horrible, but I can't help laughing, I'm sorry!!

The following observations are probably "apropos of nothing," as Sheryl Crow might say, but I was just thinking how the ghost runner ultimately didn't factor into last night's game at all--- in the top of the 10th we couldn't manage to score even WITH a ghost runner, and in the bottom of the 10th Petey's homer would've won the game even WITHOUT a ghost runner. Also, is "ghost runner" really an accurate term? How about "automatic runner", or "free runner?" I remember as a kid, when I'd play a game of baseball with my big brother, and it was just the two of us trying to conjure up as "real" a game as we could, if one of us got, for instance, a double, and then went back to bat again, we'd always announce, "Ghost man on second," meaning it was an imaginary man, because we didn't have enough real guys. So, because any given "Manfred" man is a real guy, is "ghost runner" an accurate term? P.S. I realize that if this is the biggest complaint I have today, my life is pretty damn good. (Addendum: my comments are not intended as an affront to any other commenter, but just as a more general thing!)

One thing's for sure-- the guys lost that one as a team. And on this glorious brand new day they will WIN as a team! Let's go!

Yeah, Sam jumped the gun on that early challenge, for sure. And doggone, I thought the core idea of getting Acuna on base was that he was a pretty sure bet to steal. Maybe he didn't feel confident reading the pitcher's move. Well... let's look at this game from a different perspective: it was entertaining as hell. It was winnable, but sometimes winnable games are going to slip away. Turn the effin' page and kick butt tomorrow!

Cannot be issuing those free passes!

This made my day! We're all guilty, and ultimately we all love it!

Springfield, at a minimum, I wondered if Sam's copping of that surprise double, by way of pure hustle, on the first pitch of the game, might've thrown Melton off his game just enough to set the scene for additional Sox offense. Maybe it didn't affect him at all, but I do wonder.

Agreed, Falstaff! I was stunned when the camera switched back from the outfielder gathering up the ball, back to the infield area, and there is Sam, still running! A lot of guts and hustle there, and it turned out to be consequential, as he was subsequently batted in-- but can you imagine the comments (including from me!) if he had been nailed at second?!! What a game!