The Baseball Desert

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

It only counts for one...

... but it was nonetheless an ugly train-wreck of a game.

It was one of those games that are so morbidly fascinating that you continue to watch. You stick with it partly in the hope that the Sox pull a 12-run-sized rabbit out of their hat, but mainly out of curiosity, wondering whether the Yankees are not going to break some franchise / major league record for runs scored.

In the end, it was all about efficient hitting and the long ball - the Yankees had just one more hit than the Sox but put 8 more runs on the board. If there was a silver lining to the cloud, it would be that the back end of the bullpen pitched 5 scoreless innings, but that's about it, folks.

Tonight we throw young Pauley out there, hopefully remember to pack the big bats and cross our fingers.

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Anyone who thinks Terry Francona is not the perfect guy to manage in the pressure-cooker atmosphere that is Boston should read what he had to say about Beckett:
Not surprisingly, both Francona and Beckett were asked after the game if the pitcher was having any health issues.


"No, we had some hit issues, but no health [issues]," said Francona.

Like every other person who saw it, Tito knows it was a fugly game, but he's smart enough to know exactly how to approach the situation: don't avoid the issue, don't throw anyone under the bus, deal with it - preferably with a wry smile - and move on. That, my friends, is called perfect pitch.