If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries. [What is this?]
I saw a segment on my local morning news where Japanese media were asked how to say certain phrases in Japanese so that Red Sox fans could make Daisuke Matsuzaka feel at home in Fenway. One reporter was asked how we would say “we love you, Daisuke” and he responded 愛してる [ai shite iru, literally there exists love] but emphasized that this is not said man-to-man. The clip was cut short to fit time constraints, but I’m sure the Japanese reporter went on to explain that this phrase is rarely spoken, even between long-term companions. Instead 好き [su ki], translated to “like,” is used. The first character is a kanji that combines the symbol for mother/woman and child together, implying the closeness of that relationship; the second symbol is from the hiragana syllabary. If you really like someone, you could add the character 大 [dai], which means “big.” If that symbol looks familiar, it is indeed the first character from Matsuzaka’s given name, which I explained here. So, “Daisuke daisuki” is a bit strong for anyone but Matsuzaka’s wife to say, but “Matsuzaka-senshu ga suki desu” is appropriate. “Senshu” is an honorific, like “san,” but it is specifically added to...
There’s been a bit of shift in the domains of the Red Sox blogiverse. You can now find Jose Melendez’s KEYS TO THE GAME back at Blogger. What was formerly Wallball Single has evaporated into the interethernet; the URL now redirects to the redesigned Fire Brand of the American League. It is not known at this time if part of Melendez’s move comes with a masseuse, trainer, translator, and personal assistant. MRIs of Evan Brunell and Zach Hayes’s knees are being evaluated by a second physician after injury concerns; the slick new MVN design has entailed quite a few tumbles....
Allan Wood’s The Joy of Sox is up for the 2006 Canadian Blog Awards. Please take a moment to support the Red Sox and baseball in that benighted country where they are so enamored of hockey and vote for him in category 13. Without Allan, there would be no EE. But please don’t hold that against him and vote anyway. Have you checked out Baseball Reference Play Index yet? Sean Forman of BR has teamed with Retrosheet to create a tool for rooting out the obscure. So when Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy speak of an impending threat to the second baseman’s Red Sox record of six hits in a game, you can check and see that Remy does indeed hold this record along with Nomar Garciaparra and Pete Runnels....
Game 156: September 24, 2006Red Sox (83-73), 4Blue Jays (82-73), 13L: Kyle Snyder (4-5)W: Gustavo Chacin (9-3)H: Brian Tallet (5)H: Brandon League (10) Gustavo Chacin is a much more flamboyant member of the Red Sox Killers Club than Rodrigo Lopez. He had a fragrance before Derek Jeter did. Unlike Yankee fans, I’m not one to advocate beaning an opposing player for off-field incidents, but this blatant rip-off may deserve a brief serenade of chin music. After yesterday’s blowout, the Red Sox are now 798-800 in runs scored. Plugging these numbers into Bill James’s Pythagorean theorem of baseball, which is WP = RS2 / RS2 + RA2, we get an expected winning percentage of 49.87, or 81 wins in a 162-game schedule. At least there is one thing in which the team is excelling. Also, despite dropping the series against our northern neighbors, Boston remains a half game ahead in the standings. Thank you, David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon. Sox Watch has the WPA totals to prove it. Wins and losses are meaningless in light of real-life battles, like Jon Lester’s fight against lymphoma. There’s Cyn’s KCancer t-shirt fund-raising project with proceeds going to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and...
Game 142: September 9, 2006Royals (54-89), 10Red Sox (75-67), 4BS: Ryan Braun (1)W: Joe Nelson (1-1)L: Craig Breslow (0-1)12 innings The Red Sox need to be taken out behind Wally’s shed and beaten. I’ll be at the game on Sunday. Don’t forget that it’s Jon Lester Fan Appreciation Day. You really want to know what happened during Saturday’s game? If so, click below....
Game 138: September 4, 2006White Sox (79-58), 2Red Sox (74-64), 3H: Mike MacDougal (7)H: Matt Thornton (16)BS: Bobby Jenks (3)L: Brandon McCarthy (3-6)W: Mike Timlin (6-4)10 innings Thanks to Jere of A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory, I had the pleasure of witnessing Julian Tavarez’s six and a third innings of one-run ball in person. Had I not been there, I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself. I wanted to yell at the madly gesticulating pitcher, “Who are you and what have you done with the real Julian Tavarez?” It was an evening of welcomes even before the first pitch. Jere introduced me to Cyn of Red Sox Chick and The Triumphant Red Sox Fan, who, along with two of their friends, happened to be next to us in line in front of Gate A. They are extraordinary fans; following this team is like being in a support group that one doesn’t feel embarrassed to be a part of. They had just been to the Build-A-Bear Workshop to get stuffed animals decked out in Red Sox gear, which is something I did myself to commemorate 2004. (His name is William and he was born on October 27th.) Cyn...
Game 91: July 17, 2006Royals (32-60), 4Red Sox (55-36), 5BS, L: Joel Peralta (2, 1-2)W: Mike Timlin (5-0)S: Jonathan Papelbon (27) Last night I had the privilege of attending the game thanks to my friends Jane (of JJ’s Space), Annie (Jane’s girlfriend), and Joe (with whom I’ve collaborated with from time to time). The seats were in Section 40, the same area as David Laurila (author of Interviews from Red Sox Nation) and Anne Quinn. I love sitting in this part of the bleachers because it’s a good mix of season ticket holders and ruffians, one keeping group keeping the other in check. The frat boy types behind us tried to act tough by harrying the groundskeeper who was in charge of running down beachballs. They also were sub-par hecklers, resorting to coarse slurs when trying to provoke Joey Gathright. But their vacuity was countervailed by the young boy and father pair to my right. The son had a Johnny Damon jersey that he retrofitted as a Josh Beckett ensemble by duct taping over the original name as well as applying white tape to change the “8” to a “9.” “You can make a Red Sox shirt out of tape,”...
Game 79: July 2, 2006Red Sox (50-29), 4Marlins (35-43), 3BS: Julian Tavarez (2)W: Mike Timlin (4-0)H: Manny Delcarmen (4)S: Jonathan Papelbon (25)L: Randy Messenger (1-4) Josh Johnson, the Marlins’ starter, was in competition earlier this season for a spot in the Marlins’ bullpen with Scott Olsen and supplanted the contender by the end of spring training. He was successful enough in the bullpen that by May he bumped Jason Vargas from the fifth spot in the rotation. Since his promotion, Johnson has been invaluable to Florida’s recent hot streak by winning six and losing only two of his last 11 starts. Much like Jon Lester, Johnson has brought a youthful dynamism to his team. Johnson did allow three home runs (to Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, and David Ortiz in consecutive innings), but all were solo shots. He ended with a line of seven innings, four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. His opposite number on the Red Sox lasted just five innings and also gave up a solo homer in the first inning. Lester’s brief outing was due mainly to his nerve-wracking second inning where he permitted a bases loaded situation. But three fly outs later, all to formidable hitters...
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries. [What is this?]
Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library’s Sports Temples of Boston.