Motor City 500
A tough looking biker had been in the biker bar for quite some time when he finally decided it was time, once again to hit the road. He stepped through the front door of the bar and instantly realized that his bike had vanished from the spot he had parked it.
“All right” he said loudly, coming back into the busy biker bar “I’m going to have a shot of whisky and if my hog isn’t back up front by the time I’m done, what happened in Detroit will happen here too!”
With that many of the bikers ran out of the bar and within moments one came back to tell the tough biker that his hog was now parked in front of the bar for him. When the tough guy started to leave the bartender asked him.
“Pardon me, stranger, but what happened in Detroit?”
The tough biker replied casually: “I had to walk back to my hotel!”
Other than the Red Wings, does anything go right in Detroit? The automobile makers are filing for bankruptcy, the Pistons are just another NBA team again, the Lions went 0-16 last year and drafted a QB who looks like he is 16 as their first pick, they have Eminem… seriously, rough place to live. Good thing they have the Red Wings to pick them up. Probably the only city in the country who favors hockey over all else.
The Detroit Tigers are making a push this year to return the city to greatness. After-all, successful teams bring in money, and Detroit needs money before it becomes Detroite, Canada. Holding down first in their division by 3.5 games still over Minnesota and the ChiSox, the Tigers are dfinately in the right division and have the right lineup after last years disappointing record but the pitching is what would worry me.
But enough about the teams, there’s obviously something in the air in Detroit. Obviously it’s smog and massive amounts of burnt rubber and the smell of good old American made fabrication but we don’t want the Sox coming home stinking of it.
With only 2 of 3 games down in Detroit, we have seen some eventful things: Tito Francona earned his 500th win as Red Sox manager on Tuesday, Dice-K only gave up 1ER on Tuesday, a squirrel take ownage of Comerica Park and make hilarious movements that were later seen in the Sportscenter “Top 10″, Beckett flirted with a no-no until the 7th inning Wednesday night, Beckett “accidentally” hit C Gerald Laird on the hip with a pitch after Laird tried to bunt on in his previous at-bat while there were still no hits on the board, Bayman (Jay Bay’s affectionate new name CREATED and COPYRIGHTED, but you can use it for pennies on the saying) hitting out his 16th HR of the year and leading all AL OFs in All-Star votes, we saw 3 errors in one inning but the Sox on Wednesday, etc.
I really want to talk about the 3 errors though. We don’t see that too often from this Sox team that was supposed to be based on smart hitting and defense… *crickets*… Beckett’s first unearned run was scored when Pedroia tried to tag the runner on his way to 2nd and realized he didn’t have the reach and then flipped it to Green at second as if he was Ka-Green Abdul Jabbar and Pedroia was drinking his turbo iced coffee right there on the field, right over his head. The other “what’s going on here” error was a scary moment at first with YOUUUUK stretching it to make the play at first and having his ankle kicked in that position by the runner running by. YOUUUK wriggled like a earth worm and flicked the ball away as if that was the best throw he could muster.
The hilarious moment of the week so far is a tie:
- The squirrel that took ownership of the field and was trying to figure out why 29,000 people came over for dinner. Watching the field staff chase him around was hilarious and then the absolute moment of the game was the shot of the squirrel lounging on the center field wall.
- In the sixth inning, mid-no-hit bid, C Gerald Laird attempted to lay down a bunt as the first hit of the game for the Tigers. Busch league move and Beckett got him back in his next at bat with a quick hit off the outside of his upper thigh on a 2-2 count.
At the time that pitch seemed destined, Sox are up 10-0 and nothing to lose. However, Beckett came out of the game in this inning and the bullpen went on to make this a game and allowed the Tigers to score 5 runs (mostly off of the errors mentioned previously).
All in all, it’s been a weird series and it doesn’t help that the Sox are finishing up a 10 game road trip with this. Tonight they will be going for their FIRST 3+ game sweep on the road this season, seems unlikely but true. With the Sox and Yanks now tied for first place in the division and the Sox with Texas in town for the weekend and the Yanks hosting the Rays, we could see a couple game difference by Monday!
Keep your eyes open for more strange plays tonight (and possible the Bay Signal) in the series finale at Comerica and hope that the Sox don’t bring that smell back home on their clothes.
2 Responses to “Motor City 500”
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Dear Craigga. In regards to your headline the other day when you quoted Amilee from the Globe and I identifed her as the the single worst Boston Baseball writer in history. For today’s evidence I offer up her opeing paragraph in her submitted Boston Globe article today. Check it out.
DETROIT – The baseball, awash in white cowhide and disappointment, landed on the grass in short right field, ending Josh Beckett’s no-hit bid at 6 2/3 innings.
Nuff Said
Sulldog
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