Its been a while
August is almost over and I noticed my last post was August 3rd.
Mike Vick has plead guilty to something, although the language of the plea is interesting. Either way his days in Atlanta are over. The big battle that is remaining is Falcons vs. Vick for approx. $22M in cash. The Falcons want to get back that amount from the signing bonus Vick was given a couple of years ago with his extention. I read a little of Vick's public appology today after appearing in court. The concensus is that it was humble and honest as opposed to a scripted statement from lawyers. With that being said, i don't believe Mike will be signing a check back to Mr. Blank and the Falcons for the $22M with a sincere appology note. Money is money and he will fight that for a long time.
The Sox and Yankees were within 4 games twice during August and current are 7.5 games apart. If the Sox play .500 ball for the balance of the 31 games remaining they will end with 95 wins for the season. Back in the first week of June, here in this blog, I predicted 95 wins would be enough for the winner of the division. To match the 95 wins, the Yankees have to win 23 of 32 remaining games or a .719 clip the rest of the way. Any way you look at it, they pair up for 3 games beginning tomorrow night. The pitching matchups are ideal and the teams are close enough still that there will be the usual excitement. Game 1 Tuesday is Dice-K vs. Pettite, Game 2 has Beckett vs. Clemens, and finally Game 3 has Schilling vs. Wang.
Somehow along the way Beckett and Wakefield lead the majors with 16 wins each. Dice K would be there with them if not for lousy run support lately. Pitching wise, this has been a great year for the Sox. Schilling appears to be close to normal, Wake, Beckett and Matsusaka all are in stride, even Tavarez looked impressive this weekend. Heck, I'll even go so far as to say Gagne had a couple of less then terrible outings recently...
Part of my August missed here on the blog was time spent in Boston. I took the family on a vaca and we took Fenway in one day. The Sox were out of town but the team has a tour they offer of Fenway that I highly recommend. The history and views they let you have are great. No, they don't let you on the field, no they don't let you in the clubhouse, and no, they don't let you behind the scoreboard. They do parade you around the field from the new sections in right field (Sox appeal?) all the way around to the Monsta seats. Here are a couple of pics from my tour.
1975 was my first real memories and excitement about baseball
From the Monster Seats, host made a good joke, he said that he finally got to sit up there for a game (tickets are lottery only) and he was amazed that almost every game a celebrity of some sorts is shown sitting up there...wow, what amazing luck celebrities have with the lottery system...
Son Jack up in the Budweiser section in right field
One of the most famous seats in all of sports
On the way up to the Monster seats. I saw this and stopped to take a picture, soon every guy around me in line was asking for their camera from their spouse as it was a cool shot.
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: andy [Visitor]
blmeanie, nice photos. When did you take that tour?
I took one on 8/17 prior to the day game. I finally got a chance to step onto the field. Good stuff, the Red Sox do it right with those tours.
The Yankees are getting creamed tonight and I suspect we will see the Red Sox ahead 8 games going into Tuesday's game.
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: blmeanie [Member]
It was Aug 5th (Sunday). Me, the wife, and our 5 kids came up for a week. The tour was on my short list of things to do. I hadn't been in Fenway for a couple of years so it was nice.
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: andy [Visitor]
5 kids! Good work. I have 2 and feel exhausted all the time. I don't know how you do it.
Cheers.
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: blmeanie [Member]
strong wife
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: Bosfan [Visitor]
Great shots!
I'll stick with my 4/13 post and say they finish with 98 wins...they should play a little better than .500 ball the final month.
Looking forward to watch the next three games, great pitching match ups!
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: blmeanie [Member]
I agree Kev - just making a point about .500 gets them there.
this week should be great.
In response to: Its been a while
ReplyDeleteComment from: Bosfan [Visitor]
I understand!