September of 2011 will be one to remember for Red Sox fans. And after a gag-filled 5-16 month to date, that bad taste in your mouth won't make for a good memory. We've had errors, bad pitching and non-existent offense, at times, from a highly regarded and well paid team that should be better than they are. They might not be as good as the 20-6 July team, but, 5-16? Really? That brings us to today and the first of three games in New York against the Yankees, who just clinched the A.L. East. If these Red Sox can't find their best with three almost must-win games against those guys then they don't deserve a playoff spot. They're going to have to earn it this year as the Tampa Bay Rays are now two games back in the Wild Card. And the Angels are looming, too. Leave it all on the field, guys. Theo Epstein is doing that in the front office by almost trading for Mets pitcher and Springfield's Chris Capuano, apparently for one start.
Results tagged “delontewest”
A suddenly depleted Red Sox lineup, without David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis took on Kansas City. Fortunately, they have Dustin Pedroia to bat clean up. Pedroia finished with three hits and three RBI in a 4-3 victory. His RBI single in the fifth inning was the winning hit. Josh Beckett (10-5) threw seven strong innings, allowing seven hits and and three runs. Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless eighth. Jonathan Paplebon earned his 29th save. Jason Varitek also had an RBI.
Jeff Green officially arrived last night as a member of the Boston Celtics. Green, who led the green team's bench with 19 points, scored 13 points in the second quarter as the Celtics responed from a slow start with a 32-20 second quarter to take over the game they went on to win, 92-80. The Celtics were on a 1-3 stretch prior to the win. They're tied with Chicago at 48-18 for first in the East.
The last time we saw the Bruins and the Celtics, they were leaving the TD Garden playing surface in defeat. Both teams hope to bounce back today as they have competing national TV games on tap. The Celtics hope to beat the Heat again today after losing to the Lakers, 92-86, on Thursday. The Bruins got embarrassed by the Detroit Red Wings, 6-1, on Friday night and complete the home-and-home set this afternoon. Coach Claude Julien expects the B's to put in a better effort today.
News on Shaquille O'Neal, Delonte West, Antoine Walker.
We might never know why the Celtics almost gave a game away just days after actually giving away a game to on Sunday. Boston escaped with a 110-101 win over Toronto Friday, despite a 34-24 fourth quarter deficit. The Celtics led by 19 after three quarters thanks to two of their bigger and better players. Kevin Garnett led all scorers 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Shaquille O'Neal added 16 points and nine rebounds.
How often do you see a 42-year-old and an 18-year-old score goals on the same night? Mark Recchi already had 99 career NHL goals by the time Tyler Seguin was even born, but they both lit the lamp last night in Manhattan as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2.
Former and new Celtic Delonte West is already out for the first eighth of the season, serving a 10-game suspension for some off-the-court weapons possession issues. Now there's word that he got in a punching match with teammate Von Wafer after a practice. West has battled all number of personal and psychological issues his whole time in the league; with him under a non-guaranteed contract, is it better for the C's just to wish him well and send him on his way? Or is there still a chance at redemption, and getting under LeBron James' skin in future Bos/Mia matchups? We'll find out.
You can be forgiven if you turned off after an inning or two. Jon Lester, the Sox' most reliable pitcher, had come down with We're-Doomed-itis and was in a 5-2 hole to the Orioles. You may have changed channels. It's OK.
When last we saw Delonte West, he was being shipped to Seattle as part of the Ray Allen trade that launched the Celtics late-00's juggernaut. Since then he's been arrested, suspended, rumored to be romantically linked to LeBron James' mom, and indirectly blamed for LeBron leaving the Cavs, and thus the total annihilation of the Cleveland franchise, if not the city (Seattle also had its franchise destroyed, but that wasn't Delonte's fault). But on the court, we never stopped missing his scrappiness, willingness to get tough, and good court vision. And now he's back...well, he will be once he serves his 10-game suspension for weapons possession. And then he can give Rondo a rest once in a while.
When the 2010 Boston Red Sox are finally buried for good (and you might have noticed a backhoe or two headed towards Kenmore Square this morning, possibly with a shock of curly red hair flopping out from under a hard hat), May 17th is going to shine out as a key day in their march towards the grave.
Sox beat Orioles, Bruins trade Kessel
The Red Sox beat the Orioles again. That's 14-2 in 2009. Clay Buchholz pitched well enough to keep the Orioles AAAA lineup in check. He threw for six innings and allowed just one run. Jacoby Ellsbury, Casey Kotchman and Jason Bay (home run) each drove in one run. Bay left the game early with flu-like symptoms, and should be available today.
There's been a lot of praise heaped on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas this year, and it's all been deserved. The guy's been a huge reason why the B's are still very much in the playoff hunt. But man is mortal, and Tim looked anything but great last night in Florida, giving up four goals in 12 shots through two periods. His defense was far from blameless, but Tim's been great at covering for their mistakes. Not last night.
The Celtics won their 24th game last night! That's what mathemeticians call a "significant figure", because they won 24 games last season. That was along with 58 losses, compared with 3 this year. So they theoretically could go 1-54 the rest of the way and still show improvement.
Green Kool-Aid is our favorite flavor. (Yes, Green is a flavor.) We've been chugging the semi-sour variety of it for three years now, as Danny Ainge has told us that we'd been assembling key parts for a magical youth movement that would lead the Celtics back to glory. And we've sipped the ultra-sour variety for a month, trying to figure out what kind of a youth movement features a creaky 32-year-old shooter. But today, the...
Weren't we told that losing the Lottery wasn't a big deal? Since this was the most loaded draft in years, the story went, the Celtics would happily grab a good player with the #5 pick that would complement Paul Pierce and the burgeoning youth movement, and join in on the team that would compete soon and for years to come. Yeah; not so much. Like a rube on a carnival midway, Danny Ainge fell for...
This is why Bostonist generally tries to stay away from weather reporting. We were certain that the Red Sox would be washed out yesterday, but the rain stopped long enough for the Sox to whup on the Angels one more time. We're going to be sad to see them go. Josh Beckett was prepared for the original 10:05 AM start, telling reporters, "I think I laid down at 8 and went to sleep at 9....
It seems like just yesterday that we were reading articles about the Sox home-field advantage, the way the team lights up the ballpark when they make it home to Yawkey Way. After Tuesday's 14-3 slaughter of the Mariners, Sox fans made their way into Fenway Park with cameras (lots and LOTS of cameras with very bright flashes) and the hopes that that advantage and the much-hyped Matsuzaka/Ichiro showdown would make for memorable baseball. It was...
-- Red Sox fans got their first real regular-season glimpse of their $147 million team on Wednesday night, as Boston handed Kansas City a 7-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium. Jason Varitek got his first hit of the regular season with a single in the fourth, JD Drew's stepping up, Kevin Youkilis hit the team's first home run in the seventh and Josh Beckett (five innings, two hits, five strikeouts, four walks) put in a decent...
Who cares about any other sport? It's Red Sox Opening Day! They will be up against the Kansas City Royals late this afternoon at 4:10 pm. It will be on NESN and ESPN and on WRKO and WEEI if you're catching it on the way home. Here's the lineup from the official site: 1. Julio Lugo, SS 2. Kevin Youklis, 1B 3. David Ortiz, DH 4. Manny Ramirez, LF 5. J.D. Drew, RF 6. Mike...
Boston beat Seattle 118 to 103. And Al Jefferson is playing like a star, scoring 31 points in the game. The team also appears to have finally caught on to some basic defensive principles.
The Sunday Globe had a long profile of Bill Belichick - it's worth a read to see what makes the great man tick, but the most interesting part might be his former boss, Cleveland Browns owner* Art Modell saying "he felt 'like Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady,' trying to get Belichick to clean up his act." Which would make Belichick Eliza Doolittle. Try to get that image out of your head. Maybe this will...
The defining moment in the career of Dennis Johnson - who Larry Bird called the best teammate he ever had - came in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the evil Pistons (as seen on this clip). Everyone remember's Bird's steal, but it was Dennis' layup that won the game. And check out the clip; DJ is breaking towards the basket even before Bird picks off the pass. It was like telepathy. And now DJ...
After a brief courtship and a little hand-holding, the fickle, flirtatious Rockies decided to deny Todd Helton to the Red Sox with a curt "There will be no further discussions."
Trot Nixon has moved on to the Cleveland Indians for a $3-million-dollar contract. Seems like the Sox put him to pasture: "Nixon had repeatedly expressed a preference to remain with the Sox, even as a series of injuries severely curtailed his production the last three seasons."
The chances are high that Celtics fans will be surprised who the Men in Green choose in tomorrow night's draft. Last year's draft provided the C's with a trio of players that managed to contribute more than their fair share this past season, Al Jefferson being the most standout of the three. Many look at him as being a future NBA All-Star and the backbone of the Celtics future. Delonte West showed that in...