Game 5 Twitter: the Zombie Edition

By all rational measure, the Sox were dead, done and finished last night.  Their postseason was floundering more than the John McCain campaign.  There was a greater probability of the reanimated corpse of John Lennon joining Peter Gammons on stage at Hot Stove Cool Music for a "Yellow Submarine" sing-a-long then there was the Sox erasing a seven run deficit.  

But slowly but surely, the Sox cut into the lead, largely due to some much-needed clutch two-out hits.  And when Mr. Roboto sealed the deal in the bottom of the ninth with a double-scored-single to knock in Youkilis, the collective heads of Sox fans around New England imploded.  Unfracking believable.

Despite the obvious parallels to the comebacks of 2004 and 2007, I am still pessimistic about this series.  The thought of a hobbled Captain Kickass taking the mound on Saturday gives me shivers.  But at least the Sox did not get swept at home.  At least the Rays do not get the chance to celebrate at Fenway.  At least the TBS announcers, who had waxed rhapsodically about the Rays' defense, had to eat a plate of crow pie after Longoria's ill-timed error.  Other thoughts:

-  What was Joe the Manager thinking?  Leaving the right handed Grant Balfour in to face Big Papi.  Walking Jason Bay to get to J.D. Drew, a lefty who is 4-7 lifetime against your lefty pitcher J.P. Howell.  The TBS sycophants called this an "unconventional move."  I call it incredibly, jaw-droppingly stuuuuuuuuupid.

-  I am on record as an opponent of the phrase "Red Sox Nation" and all the silly chest puffing associated with it.  But how could you not watch last night's game and take a deep sense of pride in Sox fans?  Despite the large deficit, most fans remained in the stands and the faithful were pretty much on their feet from the seventh inning on.   For all the usual complaints about fair weathers and pink hats, that was dedication.  Can we all just agree, however, to keep our shirts on?

- Speaking of managerial moves, a lot of people are praising Francona's decision to bring out Papelbon early in the game.  Its great to see managers not leave arrows in their quivers, but why isn't this an accepted move outside of the postseason?

-  The Sox comeback was the largest in postseason history, surpassing a mark set in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series.   Seems like its becoming more like 1929 every day.

-  Can you believe Masterson has appeared in seven of the Sox eight postseason games?  Even more impressive, can you believe he's given up only 2 ER in 8.2 IP of work?

-  Good news: more baseball.  Bad news:  its back to the Arm Pit and its cowbells, mohawks, and flying vajayjays.

ALDS Game 2 Twitter

J.D. Drew has weathered a lot of criticism in the two years since the Sox acquired him.  The chattering classes claimed he was underperforming, that he lacked focus, that he was only in it for the money.  Radio blowhards and casual fans accused him of not playing with heart.  Even after his grand salami in Game Six of the 2007 ALCS, Drew remained the object of suspicion and scorn.  

So I watched with great satisfaction last night as Mr. Roboto lit up the game, going 3-5 with a double, a couple of nifty plays in right, and of course,  the 2-run shot off K-Rod to seal the victory over the Los Angeles Suburbanites of Disneyland.  Here is a guy who has been hobbled with back pain, who had to take not one but two epidurals just to be pain free enough to even take the field.  If that isn't an obvious sign of cardiovascular fortitude, then I don't know what is.  Other random thoughts:

-  Once again, Jason Bay refuses to wilt under the spotlight.  Bay went 3-5 with another home run and 3 RBIs.  How quickly do you think it will take the media to change its tune to how Bay was "hungry for the postseason" and is a "man on a mission"?

-  Acknowledging my obvious biases, I think Coco got back to the bag safely on that pickoff attempt.  I have to admit, however, that Erick "Eric" Aybar does dance a nice protest jig.

-  You have to admire Torii "Tory" Hunter's enthusiasm, but injuring yourself jumping around after getting thrown out at first puts you in company with bastions of stability like Milton Bradley.  

-  By the way, did you know that Jason Varitek uses this magical glove sewn from the webbing of enchanted platypus feet?  I didn't, until Buck Martinez wouldn't stop talking about the damn thing.

-  Once again, as predicted, Angels not named Teixeira, Guerrero or Hunter vanished going a collective 3-20. 

-  Tito's decision to stick with Masterson was a bit mysterious.  Justin didn't exactly appear to have his command down, giving up two walks in the seventh.  Joy of Sox asks a good question:  where in the world is Manny Delcarmen?  

-  Despite two effective and efficient innings, Papelbon is officially credited with a blown save.  Meanwhile, all-time single season save record holder Francisco "The Less Douchy Hyphen-Rod" Rodriguez implodes.  Yet another reason why saves is a useless measure of quality.

-  Is Pedroia's nickname really "Caballito" - the Thoroughbred of Sin?

-  Major league baseball should ban thundersticks.  If your fans cannot get excited enough to make noise with the meaty, fleshy thundersticks that God gave them, then they don't deserve to watch baseball.  Maybe in Japan, where everything is a bit crazy, zany props and inflatable noisemakers are acceptable, but not here in America. 

The Most Overrated Players

Sports Illustrated polled five hundred major league baseball players to get their opinion on "who is the most overrated player in the league?"   The results are equal parts predictable and surprising:

1.  Derek Jeter

2.  Barry Zito

3.  (tie) Alex Rodriguez, J.D. Drew

4.  (tie) David Wright, Kevin Youkilis

With Jeter slugging a meager .381 and posting a laughable 93 OPS+, I can't really disagree with the top pick.  (Maybe we'll have to redefine "to jeterate"?)

Similarly, the appearance of Zito on the list is no big shocker given his disastrous season - a 6.32 ERA and 1.932 WHIP - not to mention his inflated $14.5 million paycheck.  But given that everyone in San Francisco not named Brian Sabean knew the Zito deal was a dog makes it had to claim he was "overrated".

Aside from that, I am pretty surprised by the appearance of Slappy McBluelips and Mr. Roboto in the third spot tie.  Whatever you think about his charming personality, A-Rod leads the league in slugging, is fifth in OBP, and has a 178 OPS+.  Drew - despite his reported cardiovascular deficiencies - is second in OBP, third in slugging, and has a 170 OPS+.  I would say these two are rated just about fine.

I also can't figure out why Wright and Youkilis are on the list.  Maybe its because the two are young, up and coming players who get showered with a lot of praise by sabermetric geeks like Bill James?  Whatever the reason, its hard to argue with Wright's numbers - .480 slugging, 126 OPS+, on pace for a fourth straight 100+ RBI season.  And Youkilis may not be a greek god in the clubhouse showers, but he has been slugging .530 with a 137 OPS+.  Also, at $5.2 and $3 million respectively, these guys are steals.

Its hard to take the SI poll too seriously, of course.  The players answering the survey are probably defining "overrated" using a "number of Stuart Scott booyas awarded * batting average or W-L record" formula.  But if I had to make my top five overrated list, it might look something like this:

1.  Richie Sexson:  paid $15 million to post a .294 OBP.

2.  Andruw Jones:  banking $14 million for a 42 OPS+.

3.  Roy Oswalt:  receiving $13 million in exchange for an abysmal 83 ERA+.

4.  Gary Sheffield:  Detroit is paying the injury hobbled outfielder approximately $1.1 million for each of his 12 RBIs.

5.  Mark Buehrle:  raking in $14 million for a decidedly mediocre 101 ERA+, good for a 4-6 record.