#mlb 2016

[thinkazul]

I received a great letter from an amazing blog @markmelancon and glad she kept her word with this amazing $1 bill I’m showing off. Dodgers only won 1 game against the Cubs but it was the only game that got me a dollar

[luxuryandvintage]

Chicago CUBS MLB Baseball 2016 world series Championship Ring Size 8 9 10 11 | eBay

Material : Metal Alloy Rhinestones. Size : 9, 10, 11. | eBay!

[thinkazul]

Nothing says come from behind victory like a ralley pumpkin

[optimistredsox]

ALDS Game 3, CLE @ BOS, 10th October (4-3, loss)

I’m sorry this has taken so long. Better Sox writers than me were able to overcome emotion and all the other stuff to get their breakdown of the game and tributes to the amazing David Ortiz out much faster than me. I wish I could say that it’s worth the wait. That my hot take on a too soon end to the Red Sox post season run will either have that overlooked nugget of truth, or hilarious quip, that all the others missed. But I’m feeling a little empty. The last 2 series of the regular season, and then the ALDS, they all seemed like a bad run in June. As though the Sox were unaware that it was cowboy up time, that this was when it really mattered. Now, I know that’s not true. I know that they were well aware of what time of year it was and just how much it mattered - goodness knows Hanley tried to lift the whole team on his shoulders. And Pedey seemed to pull himself out of his two-game slump by the end. But it wasn’t enough. Everything that went wrong for the Sox (when they went wrong for them) in the regular season went wrong for them against Cleveland. Bats going cold and starters not seeing them through (though Buchholz, I would argue, put up a better fight than Price or Porcello). Part of me wonders if it was just timing. These Sox on a different set of days could’ve hammered those Indians, couldn’t they? They did, pretty consistently, throughout the season. 

At least it wasn’t a beatdown. But it was like a horror movie in slow motion... the dawning that this was it. When Ortiz was pulled for Hernandez in the eighth (which I both understand and don’t), that if there was a comeback, it would be without the large father. Chad Finn wrote about as good a take on the game as you’ll see. And if you haven’t read his appreciation of Ortiz in Boston, take a look. It’s great. No, I don’t know what Farrell was thinking when he subbed out Benintendi for Young. Nintendo was one of the few consistently good things in the lineup this postseason. But whatever. I just can’t bring myself to blame a manager for everything when the team won the division. 

However, as much as I don’t blame Farrell for everything, I blame him for some stuff, and if this series taught me anything, it’s that I want Tito back. Or, to be clearer, I never wanted him to leave. But he did. I’ll be rooting for his team, in spite of my grave misgivings about their mascot, through to the very end of the playoffs. 

As for the Red Sox, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. David Price is a good enough pitcher, or has been, to assume that he’ll get over his freshman year stutters. Rick Porcello might not win another 22 games next year, but that he’s capable of such a feat is a source of comfort. 

With another year under their belts, the young core of the team will hopefully sort out their irksome droughts of the bat. It’s already exciting to watch them play.

And the elephant that just left the room? David Ortiz? The man that changed the way most Red Sox fans believe in their team? Or just allowed them to believe in their team at all? The image of him on the mound, after the Indians left the field, tears streaming down his cheeks while he held his hat high for the crowd of fans that didn’t want to say goodbye, will stay with me my whole baseball-loving life. An era came to an end on Monday. Not the way we wanted it to. A little too quietly, perhaps not enough of a fairy tale ending. But that wave of the cap, triumphant in defeat, warm and sad, seemed perfect. I don’t know what the future holds for the Red Sox without David Ortiz, but I know that because of him I can believe it’s bright. 

[optimistredsox]

ALDS Game 2, BOS @ CLE, 7th October (0-6, loss)

Ugh. I switched the game on just before David Price gave up a 3-run home run to whatsisname who hadn’t gone deep on a lefty all year. Chisenhall. That’s the guy. And while Price was performing to his postseason standard (really thought he was going to kick that dreadful habit), the bats managed three hits and Pedey let a ball slip between his legs. So we’re 0-2 on the verge of elimination. It’s not really where we want to be, is it? Am I despondent? Little bit. There’s really nothing to pick fresh from last night’s game. Trying to pluck out a bright side seems impossible. And yet, this is a team that comes back. All the reports I’ve read are that they’re angry at themselves; that they know they’re better than this. And they are. So that’s what I’m taking into this off-day. That’s my bright side. This is a team that can come back. Lord knows why they shoved their heads up their asses for the first two games, but here’s hoping they pull them out for tomorrow.

[thinkazul]

A letter from Justin Turner on the players tribune. It's a good read, Win for Vin!!!

[thinkazul]

Terry Francona's dad Tito Francona just threw out the first pitch

[optimistredsox]

TOR @ BOS, 2nd October (2-1, loss)

Unless you count the ceremonies for Big Papi, that was a pretty quiet end to an extraordinary regular season. The bats were hapless for the most part, with the team once again struggling against young Sanchez. The idea that at least one rival from the AL East might return to haunt us later in the post season isn’t comforting to say the least. After the 11-0 run that sealed the division for us, going 1-5 is something of a concern. But I’m still confident in the team will get to the ALCS. We’ve played and beaten Tito’s Cleveland team a fair few times this year, and we’re good on the road. 

But it’s a touch deflating at the moment. Three days without baseball, the knowledge that next year there will be no David Ortiz on the team, an annoying loss... it’s a bit of a baseball hangover at the moment. Yes, there’s the thrill of the postseason, but after that it’s the dark days of winter and the offseason. 

Anyway, thank you for reading this season. This little experiment turned into something a little bigger and more time consuming than I expected. I never thought I’d manage to do every game (bar the first 7). I’ll be doing recaps of the playoffs as well. As for yesterday’s bright sides?

David Ortiz discovered that he will be the first Red Sox player in history to have his number retired just one year after his own retirement. I didn’t get a chance to see the ceremony sadly, so I’m waiting until I need a really good cry before checking out the clips. True story - an old friend of mine was mouthing off about Papi on Twitter and I flat out told him to go fuck himself and then blocked him. 

Hanley Ramirez went deep, and saved us from the ignominy of getting no-hit by Sanchez. 

We’re going to go kick Cleveland’s ass in the ALDS and then Texas’s ass in the ALCS and then Chicago’s ass in the World Series.