Sunday, October 11, 2009

Shocker! Angels sweep Jonathan Papelbon and Red Sox!

I spent my afternoon watching the Angels-Red Sox game. What fun that was. While I was officially neutral on the Red Sox-Angels series (it would be like trying to decide to root for arsenic or cyanide!), I have to say, now that it's over, and I can't karmically jinx things, I really, really enjoyed seeing the Red Sox lose.

I also appreciated seeing Bobby Abreu being an Anaheim hero.And I especially cherished seeing Jonathan Papelbon (aka Cinco Dopo) give up three runs in the ninth, when he was literally one strike away from getting the win. So much for his 0.00 postseason ERA. So much for him being better than Mariano Rivera. His lousy outing reminded me of when Omir Santos and the Mets, in one of their few 2009 season highlights, destroyed Papelbon. Or when Baltimore beat up on him, in a game where they trailed by nine runs. Sox fans are already tired of Papelbon's mouth; wonder if they're going to be sick of him as a closer, as well.

Seeing Billy (Country Time) Wagner give up two runs was also fun as well. Wheeee!

I was very shocked Boston lost, but perhaps they have gotten a little too complacent, thanks to all their comeback wins in recent years. The Red Sox have done a 180 from their "OMG, something's going to go wrong!" attitude, to this "don't worry, we'll get 'em later" lethargy. And they didn't seem to take their opponent seriously, until it was too late. It didn't appear to occur to Boston that, much like the Sox were once sick of losing to the Yankees, that the Angels were sick of losing to the Red Sox. As friend of the Squawkers Bob Ekstrom put it last week, "When you punch an opponent in the mouth enough times, he’s eventually going to punch you back."

What also struck me is how quiet Fenway Park was throughout the game, even when the Sox were winning. It was not a raucous crowd at all. Where was the home field advantage?

Papelbon will get the blame for this loss, but he isn't the only one to blame for the sweep. The Sox's hitting was anemic - Jacoby Ellsbury had the most hits for the series, at three. David Ortiz hit .083!

Friend of the Squawkers Larry Milian asked me about this series on the radio the other day, and I told him what I've said before - ever since the 2006 Tigers killed the Yankees, I stopped trying to wish for one team as being a better matchup in the postseason. But now, that I can speak about the Angels, I will close with this prediction. Just like the Angels got the Red Sox monkey off their backs this year, the Yankees are going to finally get that Anaheim rally monkey off their own backs this year!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

how do you know hat the atmosphere was like?...you were'nt there

Bob Grahmann said...

Another happy thought watching the Red Sox lose today: last inning, 2 outs, 2 run lead, their closer on the mound, one strike away, and they LOSE! Remind you of anything? How about Game 6 vs. the Mets in 1986. Bob in Kiev

nutballgazette said...

This Red Sox team is just like the Yankee teams of the 2000's Especially (2005-2008)
They are regretting big time not spending the extra bucks on Texiera

Alvaro Fernandez Ravelo said...

Borrowing from Whoopi: it's not like I hate-hate the Red Sox but it sure was fun watching Papelbum melt down!

Uncle Mike said...

Red Sox fans got to watch their team play like a bunch of bums, and now they have to watch the Yankees play for the American League Pennant, and they have no way to stop us.

Who knows, maybe it really was steroids that caused them to win all that they won from 2003 to 2008. Maybe "the real Red Sox" have finally stood up... and they don't stand all that tall.

What was Big Cheatin' Papi's batting average in this series again? .083? And how's A-Rod been doing? Suddenly, their postseason reputations have been reversed! Fine with me!

Is it fully revenge if we win the whole thing without having to go through the Red Sox? No, of course not. Fortunately, we HAVE gone through the Red Sox, taking 8 of the last 9 regular-season games and clinching the Division against them. Good enough for this sick, twisted, demented Yankee Fan.

Speaking of demented... "Anonymous": Lisa knows what the atmosphere was like at Fenway Park because of this wonderful invention that most of us have had all our lives, called "television." And since Lisa is smart enough to be a Yankee Fan, I'm guessing she at least has the intellectual capacity to plug it in, turn it on, and find the right channel on which to watch the game, and find out what the atmosphere was like.

Bob: I'll bet Papelbon wishes he were in Kiev instead of Boston right now! Although it would have been sweeter still if an Angel had hit... a little roller down first, behind the bag! It gets through Youkilis! Hee hee hee hee...

Subway Squawkers said...

Re: Atmosphere - I wasn't there, but I do know how quiet the crowd was. Well, then again, they did make a bunch of noise - to boo Papelbon!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I remember game-7 of the world series in 2001.
In the 9th inning happened the unbeliavable: yankees ahead 2-1 with Rivera on the mound.
Bad night for him and Arizona Champion. One of the best night in my life!!!!

Anonymous said...

From one anonymous Skankee hater to another, cheers!! I'm bummed to see the Red Sox going home early, but I'm also relieved to know that the Angels can now feast on the Bronx Blowers and send them home early too. My prediction: Angels in 5 (the Skankees will buy one game, at home of course, and also in extra innings, gotta keep people in the stands as long as possible, there is money to be made on concessions, etc.).

Anonymous said...

Can anyone who uses a term "skankee" be taken seriously ???... :o)

I was at the Stadium on Friday and it was ROCKING !!! Between Alex's homer and Tex's homer I thought the new place might collapse. Great job by David Robertson too who seems to get lost in the shuffle but was fantastic with the bases loaded no out situation. He even got the Championship Belt ...way to go !!!

As far as how loud you think it is while watching TV ..it's not always a true indication because I watched the end of the game on TV when I got home and it wasn't even close to the real sound at the Stadium.

Peggy

Go Yankees 2009 !!!

Paul from Boston said...

I also think this will be the year the Yankees get the "rally monkey" off their back.

Not surprised they lost this series but I am surprised the Sox got swept, and yeah, its disappointing. The way it happened was particularly annoying because it was Paplebon. If there's a silver lining for me - its that maybe he wont yap as much next year about how much he's worth.

So I offer my congrats to the Yankee fans here (even the sick, twisted, demented ones Uncle Mike - I know I'd feel the same if the roles were reversed).

Hey, at least I get a head start on making a dent in my Netflix queue!

Cheers!

london said...

Red Sox miss the chance ... well good luck for next time..

TaylorSwift said...

My friend is a huge fan of the Red Sox and lately he transmitted his love of the team to me Red Sox .Before I wasn’t supporting any team but after I started to attend Red Sox games,I began to carry much love for this team and becomes one of my best and my friend has just got two tix from Ticketfuse.com for their next weekend game .

Search This Blog