Results tagged “Red Sox” from The Southpaw

That's it.
Now that Tim Lincecum has won the Cy Young award despite having just 15 wins, baseball fans are up in arms.
Either they believe it's an injustice that a pitcher could win the award without winning 20 games or it's an injustice because people still consider wins an important stat.
The rhetoric is getting as heated as the health care debate.
And I've had it.
The problem is these people not getting the point. And they're doing themselves and the game an injustice.
Wins are still a very valuable statistic. It's just one that has evolved over the years.
But more on that later.
What's most important is that we discuss the relevence of the big numbers (20 wins in a season, 500 home runs or 3,000 hits).
These are numbers that are benchmarks.
But, somewhere along the line their true meaning has been lost. We began thinking a pitcher needed 20 wins to be successful or that a slugger needed 500 home runs to reach the Hall of Fame.
Don't fear.
The Southpaw is going to straighten you out.
Let's start with 20 wins.

The best news so far this offseason: Tim Wakefield will be back in 2010.
The hot stove league is heating up.
The Red Sox are making moves. The Yankees are planning theirs.
There's a hole at third in Philly.
And, because we can: Yo, Adrian.

Every World Series has its memorable moment. Or two. Or three.
One player can make a name for himself as a goat or a hero.
Here is each World Series summed up in one sentence.

Historically, if you grew up a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you developed an inferiority complex along the way.
You looked to the north and saw the Yankees perennially winning pennants and the Mets occasionally pulling off the trick. You looked to the west and saw that the Pirates, until recently, were always in contention. Down south, the Orioles were always the class of the American League off the field and often on it.
You were surrounded by success. Just not a part of it.
The Braves, whether in Boston, Milwaukee or Atlanta, had plenty of reasons to cheer. They had Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Dale Murphy, The Four Aces and division crowns in 14 straight seasons. Below them were the Marlins. They came around in 1993 and won it all four years later. It took your Phils 97 years to do that.
Then the Fish rubbed it in your face and won it all again in 2002. They'd done in 10 years what you hadn't been able to pull of in more than a century.
And let's not talk about the Cardinals or the Dodgers. But I guess we have to, at least to give the kiddos a lesson. In 64, the Cardinals did to the Phillies what the Phillies did to the Mets two years ago. The Dodgers beat the Phils in the playoffs twice in the 70s, giving Black Friday a totally different meaning in the City of Liberty.
The Phillies were't lovable losers like the Cubs or tragically cursed like the Red Sox.
Your team just lost in unlovable ways that meant they didn't even need a curse.
That's not the case now.

This morning I sat with my wife in a pew of Bruton Parish in Colonial Williamsburg. It's the place where Thomas Jefferson - the father of the Declaration of Independence - and James Madison - the father of the Constitution - once went to religious services while they were in college.
I couldn't help but wonder what it had been like for them when they were idealistic college students. Would Jefferson have been mulling the questions of self-government? Was this where Madison first came up with the seeds of his theories of limited government?
Then another thought popped into my head: What's more important to me, a Yankees' loss or a Phillies' win?
Yes, you just can't break The Southpaw from thinking about the game, especially in October.
This weekend has brought three of my favorite passions together: baseball, American History and hating the British crown.
In case you were wondering, I have been able to mingle with re-enactors and keep up with the playoffs during our three days here in the Old Dominion.
At least as best as I could.
I missed all of the Cardinals-Dodgers finale.
And I didn't find out who won until I was watching the Yankees-Twins game tonight.
Sometimes you sacrifice things you love for the ones you love.
Anyway, I have a couple thoughts on how the playoffs have panned out so far.

Three teams are one win closer to the next round.
Three teams are one loss closer to tee time.
Are the Giants shopping for Prince Fielder?

Two teams might not win this year, but could next season.
The Phillies end the weekend on a good note.

We don't know what happened here. We just know it was bad. But that's been the case all season long for the Kansas City Royals who are not named Zack Greinke.
The Nats can get better. Really they can.
Who's going to close for the Phillies?

Bobby Cox makes an announcement.
Are teams going to find out they payed too much?
A quick rundown of the playoff races.

Tim Lincecum looks like he belongs in a pre-teen boy band. Don't tell that to the 11 batters he whiffed Monday.

The National League Cy Young race moves in The Freak's direction.
Mariano Rivera has 40 saves in a season for the first time since 2005. Amazingly, 11 pitchers have reached the 40 save barrier at least once in a season since then. Who are they?
You want magic numbers. We've got magic numbers.

No. 23 could be returning to helm Chicago's ball club. No, not that No. 23. We're talking about the one with class.
The playoff races are coming to a close.

Eighty-two years ago today, Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched two complete game shutouts in a double-header. If there are two complete games tonight, The Southpaw will wear a Mets shirt over the weekend.
The Braves and Twins playoff hopes just dimmed. No, actually, the lights were turned off.

The Closer gets long-winded in the Southpaw's defense of the National League.

John Smolts' new outfit looks awkward; his pitching doesn't.
You have to ask, how would Harry Kallas have called the triple play?
Why Joe Jackson belongs in the Hall of Fame over Pete Rose.

It was a night of grand slams for Russell Martin, Brian Roberts and Brendan Ryan.
For once, Brett Myers didn't get slammed.
And Derek Jeter is not the MVP.

Today's most shocking news, Christian Slater is 40.
Which makes Jamie Moyer seem not so old. Speaking of the veteran Southpaw, he dominated Monday.
Cole Hamels had better watch out. His rotation spot might be in jeopardy.

Let's reflect on the perennially solid Garret Anderson.
What's the reaction to the Stephen Strasburg contract?
And so much more.

The strike, 15 years later.
Kevin Youkilis strikes back.
The Phillies strike late.

The last time Ryan Howard manhandled teammates was when the Phillies became World Champs. On Sunday, he and Paul Bako had to get control of Shane Victorino, who went insane Sunday.
The Yankees are dominating the Red Sox again.
Shane goes insane.
And what's up with David Ortiz?