It was five years ago tonight  the Boston Red Sox had a sloppy make out session with "the curse".....after it was over...we kissed the curse good-bye...and partied like it was 1999.........

  For most of Red Sox Nation it had been a long wait....for some it had been 86 years long years....either way....it was good to be a Sox fan on that night....and no matter how sweet 2007 was...or the next one will be.....nothing will top the 2004 Boston Red Sox ride to the top of the baseball world.............

It was 34 years ago on this day that Red Sox legend Carlton Fisk...hit his iconic walk off homerun in the World Series.....the homer sent the Sox to a game seven against the Big Red Machine....a game that they lead....but ultimately lost....oh well...most people forget that part of the story....and the images of Fisk"s body language willing the ball to stay fair...are unforgetable........

Keep that in mind Angels fans....as your team seems to be looking @ a three games to none series deficit........

Well what can you say really....I guess thank goodness the Texas Rangers spit the bit in September....for if not for that...the Red Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon would not have had the opportunity to spit the bit as well.....and so it goes...another what might have been season....down the drain....

  From the start of this season, the 2009 Red Sox were a pretty flawed bunch.  They didn't pitch that well...they hit like ****...they played like ****...and their bullpen was pretty mediocre....in the end...the sins that haunted the Sox all year...all boiled up in this short three game post-season series.  I find it interesting that Papelbon who had criticized the Sox acquisition of Wagner...turned out to be correct...that the move would not really help...and it didn't.....and in the end...Wagner..along with Papelbon were the final nails in the Red Sox season.

  The long and the short of this series will be that this off-season, Theo and company may have to finally open their check-books, because very rarely do bargin basement baseball players ever pan out....and they sure didn't this season.  The Angels spent 5 million on Bobby Abreu....the Sox spent 3 million on Mark Kotsay..and Rocco Baldelli....I think we all know how that turned out...especially after today. 

  It is certainly a disappointing end to a very frustrating season, to be certain.  Hopefully thats where the frustration will end, and maybe the front-office will make some moves that will actually help the Sox for an ENTIRE season. There will certainly be many questions about the Sox in the coming days and weeks...and all I can say is....Theo can't build a time machine....go 88 miles an hour...go back and fix the 2009 season....however.."what's past is prologue"...and hopefully the boy wonder jackass learned a thing or two from the GM's for Dummies book I sent him.....Either way.....good luck to the Angels.....and Go Twins................

  It had been 87 days since we last saw the train wreck that is Dice K, and for the most part, we did not hear much from him either.  Sure there was the drama between him and the Sox, the he said, he said, but overall most of Red Sox Nation assumed that Dice was on the shelf for the rest of the season.  Last night, we found out otherwise, and it was about a shocking performance as the shutout that Paul Byrd hurled at the Jays a few weeks back.

  Dice was brilliant last night, holding what was a potent Angel offense for six complete innings.  Instead of his normal array of breaking balls, Dice dazzled the Angels with hard fastballs and cutters that kept them off balance for six innings.  There were few wasted pitches, and even fewer walks, for the night he had five k's and only three walks.  It was a quality start, for a guy who has precious few on his resume, and none this season.  Time will tell if this was a mirage from Dice, or maybe just maybe, this may be what we can expect from him during the stretch drive.

  Thanks to an ill-timed throw by John Lackey, the Sox were able to take advantage of a rare sloppy inning, and put some runs on the board.  Lackey is a tough pitcher, and has had the Sox number recently.  Also the Sox were without the Youk-ster, and mega clutch hitter Victor Martinez.  On paper it seemed like it would be a long night, however the remaining Sox hitters had other idea's as they posted three runs against John Lackey, and one run against the Angels bullpen.

The Sox win was perfectly timed, as the Rangers dropped thier third game in a row.  It may be a tad early, but with 19 games remaining, the Sox magic number is now 13 games. 

                                                       GHOST WRITER

  In the words of Pony Boy Curtis....."Stay gold Patrick"....................

 Okay does this guy get too much credit or what....how bout some blame....in his tenure as the Red Sox pitching coach, ....he has given up on JC Romero...set up man for the current World Champs.....Joel Pienero....starter on the St Louis Cardinals....David Aardsma....Seattle Closer...and John Smotlz-currently 2-0 with his new team....and now Brad Penny...first start all year of 8 inning or more....worse yet he never seems to have clue with fixxing the guys he keeps....ie Dice K and Josh Beckett

 Despite what you have read in the globe....Big Papi...is indeed...not back....in his last 35 plate appearances...he has seven hits...for a ******** .200 average...you are what your average says you are....so Papi is a .227 hitter....

 The last time this 14 million dollar enigma hit .300 in back-to-back months for the Red Sox....was Never....so look for more of the same from Drew....Drew is the anti-clutch white meat...he has a .200 average with runners in scoring position...and a .229 average in later innings....to make matters worse...in "BIG" games versus the Yanks and Rays this year he has hit....231 and .239....

 Though he may be Mr. October...he has to be consistant on helping his teams get there....in four seasons with the Sox....Beckett has only been part of the solution once in September...the other three seasons...he has been the problem....if Beckett does not right the ship asap...the Sox dreams of an ALCS match-up versus the Yanks will disappear ..

For a team built on pitching....they seem to be woefully short in this the last month of the season....but I guess Theo has not gotten the memo...as the Dodgers and Angels both picked up good starters off the waiver wire for basically nothing.....both guys (Kazmir & Garland) have playoff and World Series experience....I guess we will have keep our fingers crossed and our eyes closed when watching these games in september...you know...the ones that really count....

  Keep your fingers crossed Ben....maybe this is the year...that we can celebrate our birthdays with a Sox victory.......

Me and Ben Affleck and The Red Sox

What do me and Ben Affleck have in common, if you guessed today being our birthday you would have guessed right. Affleck was born August 15, 1972, and I was born August 15, 1971, and we are both Red Sox fans, but we share one more thing in common.  The Boston Red Sox give us the same thing for our birthday every year, a stinking defeat.  A strange but true stat, the Red Sox have now lost nine games straight on August 15th.  This of course further proves that I am indeed cheering for the right team.  With Curt Schilling on the mound tonight I thought my birthday curse would end.  Curt did his best, and pitched pretty well thru six, had a small hiccup in the seventh, but overall looked like vintage Schilling.  Wily Mo Pena booted a ball in the 9th, leading to a run that might have scored anyway.  One-Two-Three 9th inning, and the curse of August 15th lives on!!!!

• Posted on August 15, 2006 at 7:23 PM
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  None of those things however are factors this morning as the Sox rallied from two runs down in the 9th to score 6 runs against the Texas Rangers.  All of the runs came with two outs....and the Sox flair for the dramatic still seems to be in order.  Credit V-Mart for his ten pitch at bat.....where he saw 8 pitches with strike two hung on him.  Martinez crushed a Frankie Francisco fastball to right field and gave the Sox the lead, one they would not give back in the bottom of the 9th.

  For most of the night...it seemed like the song remained the same, as the Sox hapless offense was once again kept in check.  It did not help matters that they were trailing from the get go...thanks to a horrific inning by Jon Lester where he threw over 30 pitches and yielded two runs before the game was only a few minutes old.  Of course there were alot of the same old frustrations, as the Sox left alot of guys on base early, letting the Rangers and Kevin Millwood of the hook.

Once again the back story in the game was the continued failure of rookie Daniel Bard...once again...this un-tested ....un-proven pitcher found himself in the middle of a critical game...throwing critical pitches...and once again failing at the task at hand.  I wonder how many chances this kid is going to get at failing the Sox in bigtime games.  If you are scoring at home...this is the third in about a week that Bard has failed the Sox....luckily....this time the Sox dormant offense was able to bail him out.

 You getting that old 2006 feeling again....well it's more than just a feeling....the Red Sox have acquired former shortstop Alex Gonzalez...from 2006 Boston Red Sox fame.  Alex was flashy with the leather in his time with Boston...but hit really light at the plate....and was oft injured...something that has followed him in his time since leaving Beantown.  The good news for Alex is....he and .210 batting average should fit in nicely with the likes of David Ortiz .218 and Jason Vartiek .222 and his new back up Nick Green .233...and oh yea lets not forget the heir apparent Jed Lowerie...hitting a robust .154 .

It is very sad when you have to witness one's baseball demise....basically right in front of your eyes.  However that has been the case in the latter stages of 2008 and the complete case in 2009.  Like Jason Varitek....David Ortiz has basically morphed into a shell of his former self.

  In his time as GM, Theo Epstein has made alot of bad moves...a few good ones...followed by even fewer bold moves...one of those was banishing Nomar from Red Sox Nation.  The time has come, in fact...it's past time for Theo to make the same move, this time sending Red Sox legend David Ortiz into that good night.  A move most likely will not be made this year...but come this off-season....Ortiz has to be handed the rest of his contract, a pat on the back....and send him on his merry way.

  It has been a long strange trip with Big Papi this year, one that has had many downs....very few ups....and some twist and turns...one that revealed his name on the infamous 2003 naughty list.  I was disappointed that Ortiz's name appeared on the list, however it was not suprising.  What was more suprising was his lame excuses, and basically hiding and taking cover for his past sins.

  It is equally disappointing I'm sure for baseball owners that paid for the production of a lion, and in return they watched thier tiger turn into a harmless kitty.....one that hits around .218....with an OBP of oh say around .300 or so.  It is too bad that the Sox did not protect themselves with some type of out clause if steroids proved to be the reason for the production that got the player the contract in the first place.  Of course maybe Papi's lack of power may not from his lack of "vitamans"...maybe it's because he is really not 33....a pretty comman tale from players from the Domincan Republic.

  For me....it's been tough to grasp...the plain truth that has really been in front of us the entire time.  If there was a player that fit the steroid mold....it was certainly David Ortiz.....of course I always credited his success to Red Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson...that and hitting in front of Manny Rameriz.  I figured those factors were the reason that Papi's numbers spiked in a Red Sox uniform....not a synthetic reason.  I guess in baseball as in life....if something is to good to be true.....most likely it is....

 Why in the name of Bob Stanley is this kid still setting up the 8th inning....I understand he had a nice run...against crappy teams...however these are bigtime games...that should not be left to the unsure arm of some punk kid that has accomplished exactly JACK CRAP........His implosion on Tuesday should have been enough for Terry Francona to see that Bard in not quite ready for prime time.......Of course we hear that Bard has "closer type stuff"....yea yea...I have heard all that before....he was called Manny Delcarmen....another loser that cannot stand pressure......like Delcarmen....Bard seems to posess a million dollar arm and a .10 cent head....... 

 Hey Papi...whatever you were on...please got back to the Domincan GNC and get some....fast.....your average is killing the Sox offense....and you have been a drain on the Sox all year....I'm sure it's not only your lack of "supplements" thats affecting your play......the fact that you are not 38 not 33 may also be affecting your swing.....

 The only thing deadier than your bat...is your arm....I am not sure why we have an All-Star catcher at first base.....and deadwood behind the plate.....when at the plate you are known to strand more runners than the Boston Marathon......please..go away.....you were good in your time....but that was years ago.....now your a guy that looks like Jason Varitek...but plays like CRAP.......

 There are some that say you are a great manager.....don't worry Terry....I ain't one of em.....you have stayed with players...waaay longer than you should....you have cost the Sox several precious games this year by leaving starters in too long....pushed all the wrong buttons with the bullpen and the bench....congrats on your second third place finish Tito.......

OKay Theo Epstein needs to see if they have a book called General Mangement for Dummies......Surely it cannot hurt him to read it this off season......In a years time....Theo has traded off the best right handed hitter in a generation...replaced him with a guy from pittsburgh...who has conviently forgot to hit.....passed on Mark Teixeira...even though there were no other viable options.......did not trade for a shortstop...even though the two we have are substandard by little league standards....and passed on every cheap bat this offseason....knowing that your dh and 3rd baseman may be a problem....and shored up your pitching with a 43 year old with a shoulder problem....and a fat guy with an eating and shoulder problem....and oh yea...you re-signed your oft injured 42 year old knuckleball pitcher....whom has not played a full season in five years.....In the words of Brian Cashman....."keep up the good work theo"........

 Hey Remember this guy......for about 20 million less...we could still have damon leading off...instead the Sox brass passed on Damon...for this guy...........needless to say....we are stuck with an aging Drew for two more years...and 30 million....while Damon will be polishing off his world series ring this fall to go along with another nice contract.......ps....didnt the Sox brass whisper that Damon wasnt going to hold up for the life of that bloated Yankee Contract......how's that working out.....

 If your looking for Lester to be a stopper tonight....don't...he is no big game pitcher...and he has never picked the Sox up after a tough loss or any losing streaks....if this guy had won just one of his ALCS starts last year the Sox would have repeated as world series champs......

 This guy should have signed that extension when he had the chance.....Bay has come up real small this summer...and his r.b.i and home run total have stayed frozen in time.....Bay is at best a complimentary player...no more no less....maybe the Yanks ...who will be in need of an outfielder will over pay....Bay....

 The enigma that is Jd Drew....a guy known for getting on base...has more strikeouts..87...than hits 79...pathetic....and his grotesque batting average of .244 is another reason the Sox offense looks like that of the Nationals....Drew has failed at everything he has done in a Sox uniform....we thought Lugo's bloated contract was bad...33 million is a bargin compared to the 70 mill Drew got......two years and counting till it expires...... 

Big Papi big fad has certainly crushed the Sox offense this summer as well...I mean has he really ever got out of his slump....he batting avg peaked at .230....that means .770 of the time this guy makes an out in the middle of the Sox line up....

As promised....even though the Sox have lost six in a row...(I'm couting tonights game as a loss) they will be in no worse than a tie for the wild-card...with 52 games left to play...."IF" they can regroup....and learn how to pitch and hit again...they will make it to October..... 

  In 2006 when the Sox were swept in an epic 5 game series in Fenway Park ( I was there) there were

A. Much less games left in the season

B.  The sweep also left them 4 back in the wild card chase, this time around at worse a sweep would leave them only 1 game back of the Rangers, and still a half game ahead of the Rays

C.  The Sox were never going to win the American League East anyways....The Yankees spent 1/2 a billion dollars in the off-season at Saks 5th avenue....while Theo and the Sox only spent 12 million @ the Dollar Store....

D. The Yankees needed to win this series more than the Sox...after all...they still trail the season series 8-2

You like ...... Well how do you like them apples.......