Sports Redux: Meet the Slutter

Long live the Slutter! There was much to celebrate in Red Sox circles last night, but at the top of the list, we have Jonathan Papelbon's brand (spanking) new pitch. The Slutter - a name that will leave mothers gasping as they cover the ears beneath their children's tot-sized hats and the cast of characters at the Cask'n Flagon cracking up.

The Red Sox vernacular has expanded by leaps and bounds this season. We learned about avulsions. We discussed barking muscles. And now we have the cut fastball/slider that Papelbon unleashed on Jonny Gomes on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field as the Sox defeated Tampa Bay, 8-6.

Gotta love our hometown team. Especially when it successfully extends its lead over the Yankees to six games (thank you, Angels!), when David Ortiz manages to pull off a triple and when young Papelbon becomes the first Red Sox pitcher to record 30 saves in two seasons.

This is how August should feel in Red Sox Nation! It's all about a little bit of a confidence booster before heading in to face down some demons. Such as the Yankees.

Here's your quick rundown of the game: Jon Lester walks B.J. Upton and then gets shown up by Haverhill boy Carlos Pena. Sox come back with the Papi triple. A big fourth run Red Sox surge puts Boston up and Tampa Bay can't come back, despite another Lester-served longball in the fifth that brought the DRays within two. Boston adds to the cushion in the seventh. Crisp makes a beautiful catch in the eighth to help out Okajima. Papelbon finishes out the night and gets a place in the organization's history books. Celebration results and Ortiz is seen in the shower room dancing, as Gordon Edes puts it, "in the buff back and forth in the shower room while singing over and over at the top of his lungs the theme from 'Monday Night Football.'"

Anywho...Dice-K takes the mound today against TB's Edwin Jackson.

-- It didn't seem as if Tampa Bay was putting its all into the game, but apparently Curt Schilling likes what he sees in the Devil Rays camp. The fellow said yesterday during his WEEI appearance that he'd consider playing for Tampa Bay next season. The only thing that might have surprised us more was hearing him say, "Know what? I think the Kansas City Royals are really onto something and I might want to join 'em." Well, that or that he'd sign with the Yanks, but hey.

-- Reggie Miller is still thinking about a comeback as a 42-year old basketball player. We might hear word of a decision one way or the other by the time he turns 50.

-- Walpole was just knocked out of the Little League World Series. Final score: Warner Robins (GA) 8, Walpole 1.

-- Kudos to the Globe for its editorial today on Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick. That about sums it up.

Image of the Slutter Thrower by flickr user Waldo Jaquith