Baseball is Life, But Life is Much Bigger than Baseball

Losing streaks and games behind don't seem so big this week. The good news is that David Ortiz was released from Mass General, and cleared to play. His heart is fine, and not just its temperament, but also its function. He will be in the lineup on Saturday. The huge concern now is for Jon Lester, the 22 year old lefthander who has been such a big part of the Sox' earlier success this season. Jon was in a car crash enroute to Fenway a couple of weeks ago, and seemed to be having whiplash-type symptoms since then. While getting his back checked out again, he was found a few days ago to have enlarged lymph nodes. There are some perfectly reasonable simple explanations for that condition. There is also one very large, terrifying explanation. It can't be easy to be 22 and establishing a major league career one day, and then learn the next that you may have cancer.
If the speculation turns into diagnosis, it may prove providential that Mike Lowell was included in the Josh Beckett trade (and by this time next year, it may be known as the Mike Lowell trade). When Mike was a AAA player, he was found to be suffering from testicular cancer. He lived this nightmare, and survived, and thrived. I suspect that Jon Lester may have a new best friend. There is something about having somebody around who actually does know what it's like to go through the hard places of life. Their footprints can make a good path through. I expect Mike Timlin and Curt Schilling to be helpful as well. They are both very open about their faith, and have known life's challenges in their own families. I am sure that many others in the Red Sox and MLB families will rally around Jon. That is the power, and the beauty, of community when life takes a big bite out of us.
Since the reports about the nature of Lester's testing started making the rounds yesterday, I really can't remember how many games out of the Wild Card the Sox are. The Yankees don't seem that evil an empire. I just want a kid, somebody's boy, to be alright.
Papi got a good word; I pray Jon Lester and his family get the same relief. Say a prayer for each family that is in their shoes tonight.

Managing as Best We Can

Item: Dusty Baker's job is in jeopardy. There is a broad assumption that the Cubs will offer him a one year extension with the expectation that he will feel insulted and turn it down. And that will make it his decision, and not Jim Hendry's fault. The Cubs have gone straight downhill from the moment Steve Bartman did what most of the rest of us would have done if we had been in his seat. But was it Dusty's decision to continue believing in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and that Prior and Wood would get healthy and stay that way? Did Dusty sign Juan Pierre to a contract that suggested someone expected him to channel the spirit of the 1980's Rickey Henderson? Did Dusty run over Derrek Lee at first base a few games into the season? The Cubs have been the Cubs the last three years. But if Dusty's head has to roll in the accounting, his should only follow Hendry's out of Wrigleyville.
Item: Joe Girardi's job is in jeopardy. Larry Beinfest allegedly wanted to hire Braves' third base coach Fredi Gonzalez last winter when Trader Jack faded into the sunset, cigar ablaze. Owner Jeffrey Loria insisted Girardi was the man. Owner, amazingly, prevailed. Now said Owner wants Girardi out. All Girardi has done is take a Marlins squad that for the most part can still dine on the children's menu at many restaurants and suffered through a miserable April (kicking a few butts along the way) only to become a full-fledged, competitive Major League team for the bulk of the season. Obviously, this year it would have been far more impressive to have accomplished this in the American League, but you can't blame Joe G for the league alignments. Although Loria may try. It seems that His Ownership spent an afternoon in July making Girardi's job harder by riding umpire Larry Vanover harder than the Lone Ranger ever treated Silver. Girardi told him to lay off. And in 2006 America, guys who can afford MLB teams just aren't accustomed to underlings making eye contact, much less speaking before spoken to. A word to Jeffrey the Genius: go ahead, fire Girardi. There are only about 20 teams that would be delighted to take him off your hands. Just pray that his next job isn't in your division.
Item: Willie Randolph couldn't get a managing job for years. Nice going, all you smart guys who found excuses to pass on one of the sharpest men in the game. Seems appropriate in a Karma kind of way that he's gotten to spend the Summer of '06 making your lives miserable. And that retribution may go on for a few more years, as Mr. R has the benefit of an Owner-GM tandem that wasn't content to just talk a good game about building a team, they have done it. And keep doing it (Shawn Green) as September looms on the horizon.
Theory: The NY teams are only good because they have more money than anybody else. Even for us Red Sox fans, this notion is idiotic. The Yankees have been consistently good for a decade because they have spent a lot of money well. Steinbrenner puts the money back into the team because he wants to win. Some want the financial rules tightened. How about this proposal: if you receive tax money for your impoverished circumstances (as with Mr. WalMart Money in Kansas City), you must demonstrate how you spent every penny of said windfall on players, or the next year you must pay back DOUBLE to the Commissar's office. Georgie puts it on the field, and, for the most part (attn, Mr. Loria) leaves it to Cashman and Torre. Yeah, he blows off a little steam now and then, but Joe Torre is managing the NYA for the 11th season. GS has either gotten tired as the years have accumulated, or smarter, or both. All of us who envy the Yankees' success should take a lesson in how it's done well.
Stunning Revelation of the Week: Albert Pujols is good. It seems that Washington U. put The Great Pujols through a battery of examinations much the same as Columbia used to evaluate The Big Bam (Leigh Montville's second great read in a row, with Ted Williams, from '05). Albert measured up to Ruth in tests that measured hand-eye coordination, bat speed, effectiveness of visual recognition, and a lot of other interesting stuff. The Man, pt. 2, has the makings of a career like none since The Splinter and The Clipper and The Man, pt. 1, got cranked up from 1936 to 1941. And on top of everything else, he's as good a guy as Stanley Frank Musial. And that's saying something. If you don't know it, look up the story of Albert meeting his wife. It is great stuff. These guys come along one or two or three per generation. Enjoy!

Feeling Papi's Stress

So, it wasn't just me after all. It was so bad, that monstrosity last weekend, that Big Papi wound up in the hospital. If the colossus with the perpetual smile couldn't hang, how in the world were the rest of us, mere mortals all, supposed to cope? An otherwise very fine member of my congregation is a NYA fan. When he came into the church last Sunday morning, he apologized for how it had played out. When the incredibly arrogant NYA fans are feeling guilty there are only two explanations: It was genuinely embarassing, or, they remembered that someone significant once warned them that the meek shall inherit the earth. And brother, were we meek!
On XM, Charlie Steiner (now in rehab with the Dodgers after his time THERE) told one of our knights of the keyboard that the "boys are deader than Julius Caesar" as Taps played in the background. I enjoy Charlie's work immensely (now that he's seen the light), but he doesn't know what it means to follow the Sox. A little more work in Seattle, a tolerable showing by the Bay, and then another chance against the Evil Empire. And who knows?
Tonight I'm reduced to rooting for the other Sox to come back against Johann Santana to help us in the Wild Card standings. Sure. That's going to happen. (8-26 Note: It DID happen-not that it helped, as the Pale Hose blew it in extras, and the Sox lost in Seattle)
I just didn't see the Summer playing out this way. But then again, at least the Sox haven't had the Braves' season.

To quote Charlie Brown, "Argh!"

To borrow from the thoroughly reprehensible John Sterling, yesterday was Burn, Beckett, Burn. Josh has been the AL version of Jason Marquis: pretty good record most of the season, wretched performance. Guys with ERAs approaching or exceeding 6 shouldn't be listed among the Wins leaders. They make Lee Sinins' argument that Wins are a joke. Why does a pitcher get credit or blame for what his teammates did in the batters' box? Roger Clemens should have gone somewhere that he would have been afforded some run support. How can anyone list his record as 4-4 with a straight face?
Anyway, Beckett got a three year extension? For this season? Wow!
How does one redeem a day marked by a three game losing streak to NYA? Impossible, you say? Nah. Just took my beautiful High School Senior daughter for the Senior pictures. Holy cow, did this happen fast. And she's the baby. Believe me, I was there every minute, but still, how did she grow up so fast? Losing streak? What losing streak?

What happened?

Jason Johnson. Kyle Snyder. Rudy Seanez. I didn't expect much in the first game. Wang is good-perhaps the NYA's best. So when that bunch met expectations, well, ok. Game Two was coming.
Jon Lester. Craig Hansen. Mike Timlin. They exploded.
Julian Tavarez. Keith Foulke. They pitched well.
Those last two lines don't fit together. They don't compute. They don't make sense. What kind of Bizarro World has erupted in The Ancient Rivalry?
Now, they say, the lead is 3.5 games. What I see is NYA: 48 losses. Boston: 52 losses. Friends, that's a four game lead any way you want to look at it.
It should have been a better day.
Tomorrow has to be.