This Byrd Has Flown

Yes it was nice when Paul Byrd won his fluke game against Roy Halladay last weekend.

But let's face it, we're going to get a lot more games like this old fashioned whippin'.

Wakes starts today.
We need a reliable #3 starter, otherwise the Red Sox will be playing golf while the Rangers do a two step into the post season.

Baseball is so unpredictable it is almost predictable

What did I say the other day about the finale of the Red Sox - Blue Jays series?

I wrote:

Today Halladay pitches against Paul Byrd.
Wait... Paul Byrd?
OK, it is a good day to go to the beach. The Red Sox aren't winning today.

Yeah. I went to the beach. A 38 year old who hadn't thrown a pitch in the big leagues all year against a front runner for the Cy Young Award?

OF COURSE Byrd was going to throw 6 shutout innings and Halladay would get rocked.

Looks like Paul Byrd found God again.

It's games like this one that make me NEVER bet on sporting events.

Strange... I'm not that nervous

Yesterday was supposed to be the center square on the Bingo Card.

Lester pitching at home... that was the "given" game.
That was the game that made us all not really sweat out the 11 inning game 2 loss.

"Hey, we're 1-1 with Lester on the mound. We'll take it."

And before you could ask "What does B. J. stand for?" we were down 5-0.

And yet here I sit typing this blog entry... and I am not a bundle of nerves.
I am not panicking.
I'm not really even that worried.

Let's list the reasons and find the Silver Lining in a Katrina like cloud.

1. It was quick

As I stated before, 9-8 losses are the worst. But 9-1 losses, those I can handle.

Those are games where nothing went right. There's no one play that nags at you after a 9-1 loss. No stifled rally, no bad call. It was a decisive ass thumpin'. And hopefully the Sox can just shrug and say "We'll get them tomorrow."



2. The Paul Byrd Factor

By taking the bullet and going the remaining 3 1/3 innings, Paul Byrd allows the Sox to set up the bullpen perfectly for games 4 and 5.

Papelbon, Masterson, Okajima and Delcarmen haven't pitched since the Saturday marathon... so Paps could go two innings. And the others can each go at least one. With Wakefield on the mound, it's good to know they can get as many as 5 innings from their top relievers.



3. We've Heard This Song Before!

It's almost exactly a year ago today that I told Red Sox Nation to calm the f--- down.

Yeah being down 2-1 to Tampa sucks.
How is that worse than being down 3-1 last year, IN Cleveland, facing Sabathia and Carmona for games 5 and 6?

How is that worse than being down 3-1 in 1986, IN Anaheim with Mike Witt dealing?

How is that worse than being down 2-0 in the 1999 Division Series, no Pedro, no Nomar, no life on the team and Cleveland's bats going nuts?

How is that worse than being down 2-0 in the 2003 Division Series facing Oakland's pitching?

Seriously... how is this worse than being down 3-0... 3 outs from a sweep... the Yankees in Pedro's head... Schilling on the operating table... Rivera on the mound... bottom of the order coming up?

How soon we all forgot Dave Roberts!



4. The Wakefield Factor

Call me insanely optimistic, but I think that with Tampa's offense clicking, now's as good a time as any to wheel out Tim Wakefield.

Seriously, they've been smacking the ball around left and right and their timing is just on...

Maybe some of Wake's knucklers floating into the zone is just what the doctor ordered. Maybe they'll be flailing at it. Maybe they'll be overly agressive. Either way, it will force them to change their approach to hitting which, safe to say has been working!



5. It's already been fun!

Don't get me wrong. I want the Red Sox to win the 2008 World Series as much as anyone you will ever meet.

And don't think for a second that I won't be incredibly disappointed if the season ends with the Red Sox watching another team celebrate.

But I won't be devastated.
Devastation ended in 2004. The feeling of "Oh Crap... I can't believe I was so stupid to think they'd actually win" is long gone.

And this isn't even the intense disappointment of 2005 either.
That year the Red Sox and Yankees finished the season tied... but because the Yankees won the season series 10-9, they were the Division Champs and the Red Sox were the Wild Card.

One more single win in 2005 would have meant the Sox would host the Angels (who they always beat) in the Division Series instead of starting the post season on the road against the much better (and eventual champion) Chicago White Sox.

The Red Sox were clobbered in game 1 in Chicago and lost two close games to end the defense of the World Series by being swept.

The end of the year left a disappointing emptiness. Not to mention the fact that the team was old and clearly breaking up. (Mueller, Damon, Millar and Arroyo will all be gone by the next opening day... Nixon, Foulke and Kapler would be gone the next off season.)

This year the Red Sox already pulled off the upset of the 100 win Angels with 4 unforgettable games including a 2 run 9th inning game winning homer from J. D. Drew and the series ending single by Jed Lowrie.

Between those games and the Dice-K game 1 win in the ALCS, the Sox have provided infinitely more October memories than the last time they defending a World Series title.

Plus with Lowrie, Papelbon, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Lester, Masterson and Bay all still young and not going anywhere... there isn't a sense of this being the only shot.


So let it be known I am rooting full steam ahead for the Red Sox to repeat as World Champions... but I'm not at all panicked.

Emotionally we are playing with house money.

That being said, I hope they kick Tampa's ass tonight.

WELCOME TO THE RED SOX, PAUL BYRD!

Good luck and know that the entire staff at Sully Baseball is 100% behind you.

And please ignore the fact that I claimed your faith in Jesus was a mask for your guilt of being an HGH user.

And let's forget that I said you were lying through your teeth when you said it was cleared with the team and the league.

You are a Red Sox pitcher now... that's all that is important.
(Hell, if I could love J. D. Drew, I can love anyone)

We should let up on Paul Byrd

My dad got on me for being so cruel to Paul Byrd in one of my postings...

And I suppose he has a point.
I mean what could be suspicious about his situation?
He said he cleared it with Major League Baseball, the Indians were aware of it and his doctor had prescribed it... therefore there should be no questions.

And the fact that Major League Baseball said they didn't clear him for a medical excemption because they knew nothing about it, Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro was unaware of it and the doctor who prescribed him the human growth hormone was a dentist is totally irrelevant!

Seriously, what is fishy about that?

Paul Byrd has injected God!

Byrd, who wrote a book about how his faith in Christ has helped him from cheating, failed to make it clear that by "Christ" he meant $25,000 worth of HGH and needles.

The apologists have come out saying "He needed it for a condition!" (Soon to be the go to for HGH users to replace "I thought it was flax seed oil.")

And what HMO does he have that doesn't pick up some of the $25,000 he owes on the prescription?

And the conspiracy theorists saying it was released on the eve of Game 7 of the ALCS and George Mitchell has ties to the Red Sox.

Now if the Red Sox win and it is announced that Matt Holliday, Todd Helton and Kaz Matsui are on the juice, I'll listen.

But none of that changes the fact that he bought $25,000 of HGH and has been kinda sorta quiet about it.

Isn't it always the loudest Bible thumpers who are hiding something?
If I were the FBI I would put a tail on anyone who proudly professes their love for Jesus.

That's not a call for our conversion... that's a public "Are we cool Jesus? Sorry for F---ing up so badly!" plea for mercy.

Oh well.
I hope it isn't a distraction.