Predictions, Notes, Questions & Repeating History

06 Saturday Apr 2019

Tags

"The E-Mail on the Kitchen Table", 2019 MillersTime Baseball Contests, A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, A Walk-off Walk, Boston, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, MillersTime Baseball Contests, Nationals, Nats' Park, Red Sox, Secondary Average, Victor Mather, Walk-Off, Washington Nationals, World Series Rings

From Fenway Park in 2005 and soon to be repeated. See Notes below

I. Some Predictions from MillersTime Baseball Contestants

Contest 1: MillersTime contestants say it will be the Dodgers vs either the Red Sox or Yankees in the 2019 World Series, and they believe the American League team will win it in six games.

Contest 3: No doubt here. Overwhelming choice is the American League to win the All Star game. Scherzer (or maybe Sale) will be the first pitcher to win 12 games. Harper, Stanton, and Judge all tied for first to hit 25 home runs.

Contest 4: Contestants split evenly between those who think the Yankees will win the AL East and those who don’t, but they seem to think the Nats will definitely not win the NL East. Everyone seems to think one of my ‘grand’ children will see at least one of the following: a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, Teddy winning the President’s race, will go home with a foul ball, will have his/her pix taken with an MLB mascot, or will be on the TV screen at an MLB stadium. (Has happened yet, but I’m working on this one.)

Other Contest Predictions: Too complicated to post here. But thanks to all who participated.

II. Baseball Notes and Two Questions:

***Check out this article that looks at a different, but easy way to judge who are the best hitters in baseball: Secondary Average by Victor Mather, NY Times, April 5, 2019. (Hat Tip to Joe H for alerting me)

***There’s a new book out by one of today’s top baseball writers, Tyler Kepner of the NY Times. A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Reviews have been outstanding, and I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I finish it. (It’s due to arrive at my house April 7.)

***Every time I attend a baseball game, I’m looking for something I never saw before. A few days ago this: Tie game between the Phillies and the Nats in DC. Bottom of the 9th. First man up for the Nats gets a single. Then the the Phillies’ pitcher walks the next two batters. Bases loaded. And he does it again. A third walk. Walking in the winning run for the Nats. What do we call that? A Three Walk Walk-Off? A Triple Walk Walk-Off? A Walk-Off Walk? Bad pitching? Terrible managing? Let me know what you would call it. And I suppose you all know the actual definition of ‘Walk-Off’ win. It’s not the winning team walking off. It’s about the losing team having to ‘walk off’ the field after they’ve ‘blown’ the game.

***Not sure if it’s my getting older (which is certainly happening), but I’ve already attended four games at Nats’ Park, and I’m sure they’ve cranked up the loud speakers, making it difficult to talk and hear each other between innings. one of the enjoyable aspects of seeing a game with a son, daughter, wife, father, grandfather, grandchild and/or friends. Is this increase in noise level happening elsewhere too? Or am I just getting more like my parents did at a similar stage in their lives?

III. Repeating History

***Finally, heading to Boston with the three females in my life – wife Ellen, and daughters Annie and Elizabeth – to ‘treat’ them to Opening Day, April 9 in Fenway where the World Series flag will be raised, a huge banner will be dropped across the Green Monster, and the WS rings will be given out. I took them in 2005 (see photo above) when the Yankees had to sit in the Visitors’ dugout and watch the ceremonies after the best ever WS win in my lifetime. Now, with this fourth WS victory in this early part of the 21st century — eat your hearts out Yankee fans — my only regret is that my daughters and grand children will never truly understand what I had to go through for most of my baseball life – though I think Elizabeth kind of understands. If you’ve never read this, don’t miss: The E-Mail on the Kitchen Table, posted 12.19.08 on MillersTime but written just after the Sox finally won it all in 2004. A must read.

IV. PS

***You can look forward to an upcoming post, Opening Day Thru Ellen’s Lens, with commentary attached.

Ellen’s Photo from Oriole Park at Camden Yards

For Me, The Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

baseball, Boston, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, Fenway Park, Red Sox, Sox

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

I head off later today to Boston with my nine year old grandson Eli for a trip to Fenway Park, planned months and months ago, to see the final three games of what has turned out for me to be a wonderful 2018 baseball season. (If you haven’t seen my earlier post about our first trip to this Red Sox temple, check out A Seven Year Old’s First Trip to Fenway.)

All three of these games will be against the Yankees, but these three games will have no major bearing on the playoffs. Rather, for me they will be a celebration of what has been the best regular season record in the 118 year history of the team. Their record, prior to these last three games, is 107-52, two wins better than their previous franchise record.

I could write pages on why this year has been so successful (see my earlier post, Success Has Many Fathers… for at least some the reasons I believe my heroes have done so well). And I could also list dozens of reasons why it has been the single best season in at least the 68 years since my grandfather first took me to Fenway when I was seven.

Yes. They won the World Series in 2004 after almost a century of not doing so. And then they won the WS twice more within the succeeding ten year period. The 2004 win was certainly the highlight of my (baseball) life as a long suffering Sox fan.

But, in some ways, this year has been at least as wonderful. Ever since Spring Training when the Sox went 22-9 (.710), they have played at a pace between .675 and .700+. Do you know what that means to a baseball fan, especially to a Red Sox fan?

It has meant that almost seven out of every ten games the Sox have played, they’ve won – sometimes on hitting, sometimes on starting pitching, some on relief pitching, some times on fielding, sometimes on base running, and often even when they were down as many as six or seven runs. They never lost more than three games in a row the entire season.

For me, that meant that I could go to sleep most nights ‘celebrating’ a victory. Also, it meant my wife Ellen did not have to sleep beside a disgruntled bed partner. And that went on for SIX months, half a year. Simply unheard of for this obsessive baseball fan.

Now, I’ve been reading and hearing for months that the season doesn’t matter if the Sox don’t at least make it into the World Series…and for some, they have to win the WS to make 2018 truly a special year.

Not so for me.

Of course I want them to win it all, and I’ll not be a happy camper if they don’t go far into the playoffs.

But nothing can take away how wonderful this season has been. How delightful it has been to see this group of 25+ players, along with their coaches, their staff, their ownership do what no other Red Sox team has ever done, and to see the joy on their faces seven out of every ten games.

Isn’t there some over used meme about getting there being half the fun?

In fact, I think one of my daughters wrote her college essay on the Ursula La Guin quote, “It’s good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

For me, this year’s Red Sox journey has been what matters.

Unacceptable, Sox Fans

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Richard in Articles & Books of Interest, Go Sox

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, Fenway Park, Racial Slurs, Red Sox, Richard Justice, Sam Kennedy, Sox

Baltimore Orioles’ Adam Jones was subjected to racial slurs and at least one object (bag of peanuts) thrown at him last night at Fenway. He indicated this was not the first time this has happened at Fenway but was the nastiest one.

Apparently the person (I hesitate to say fan) who threw the peanuts and some others were removed from the stadium.

That is not sufficient.

The Sox need to make it clear that individuals who behave in such a manner will never be allowed to return to Fenway and that they will be turned over to the Boston police for prosecution.

If currently there are no grounds for legal action in Boston, the city and state legislature should immediately pass such laws.

And fans who hear such taunts and observe such behaviors should vocally object and should call Sox security.

There should be zero tolerance for such abhorrent behavior.

Period.

See: Red Sox Issue Statement on Jones Incident, Sam Kennedy, Red Sox President

See: No Place for what Jones Faced, by Richard Justice

See: Adam Jones Calls Fenway Fans Cowards…

Ellen: “At Least We Won’t Have to Worry About an August Slump”

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Baltimore Orioles, baseball, Boston Red Sox, Camden Yards, Ellen Miller Photos, Fenway, Os, Sox

Mostly it’s bad news for Red Sox fans, and it doesn’t seem as if it’s going to get too much better. Other than having a few young players who could be future stars — Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and Eduardo Rodriquez — there’s not much to like about this season.

However, there is one bit of good news: Ellen Miller is getting interested in sports’ photography. At least baseball photography.

We (foolishly) went to a Sox vs Orioles game the other night, with the usual result. But Ellen brought her camera and long lens, and here are a few examples of her first serious baseball pictures.

Grind: Extra Fine (Small Circles & Effect: High Contrast), Brew: Color Gels (1/2 Pic & Full Blended Circles), Serve: Stirred (Flash Burn Tone & Brown Bag Texture)

Now That That’s Over…

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2014 Millers Time Baseball Contests, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, MLB, Opening Day, Washington Nationals

Now that we know the mighty Sox will not be 162-0 this season…

And now that 60 of you have responded to my incessant nagging to get in your 2014 MillersTime Baseball predictions (one-third of you doing so in the final 24 hours)…

We can proceed with the best six months (seven for some of us) of the year.

I’m listing below Washington Nationals’ games for which I invite friends, foes, fans and faux fans to join me for a game at no cost, save perhaps buying me a bag of peanuts and being captive to my baseball natterings for three hours.

These are just the games for April and May. Later, I’ll list some summer and September games.

“How like a winter hath my absence been from thee…”

19 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

"Winter in Fenway", baseball, Boston Red Sox, DGA Productions, Fenway, Shakespeare, Sonnet 97, Spring, Vimeo, Winter

In Shakespeare’s 97th Sonnet, the narrator writes about his separation from his lover: “How like a winter hath my absence been/From thee…”

For some of us, this winter has been a particularly difficult absence from our love.

I speak, of course, of baseball.

But now we are closing in on Opening Day.

Check out the DGV Productions Winter in Fenway below for 2:59 seconds of merging winter, baseball, and Shakespeare.

It’s lovely.

Photos From Fenway

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Fenway, Red Sox

As I wrote previously, our family returned to Fenway a few weekends ago (the family has been going there since at least the late 40s). We tried to see the ‘new’ Fenway tour, which turned out to be nothing of the sort. Then we came back the next day to attend a game and to introduce another generation to the park and to the ‘bricks’ that we have contributed to the entrance at Gate B.

Here are some of Ellen’s photos:

Something’s Wrong Here

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Don Orsillo, Fenway, Jerry Remy, NESN, Red Sox

While awaiting the righting of the Red Sox shaky ship, I have two complaints that ostensibly don’t have anything to do with their current baseball struggles, tho on reflection, maybe there is a connection.

First, Touring Fenway:

I wrote a couple of years ago (A Modest Proposal) that I thought the Fenway Park tours were sadly lacking, and the one at the Nationals’ new park in Washington was far superior.

Therefore, I was delighted when Jere Smith of the good Sox blog A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory, alerted me to a Red Sox announcement that there was to be a new, improved tour beginning this, the 100th year, of Fenway.