Perhaps it was seeing the name Sam Horn appear, not once but twice, in
the list of players who had hit grand slams against the Blue Jays that
gave me this idea. (Horn hit just 62 HRs in his career, and most of them
as an Oriole, by the way.)
I thought it might be interesting to collect the random observations of another team's Baseball Nerds, during the three Boston-Toronto games this week. Naturally, their attention was focused most sharply on their own team, which during this series generally took the shape of: 1) Cursing out John Lackey; 2) Panicking over Jon Lester's early exit on Tuesday; 3) Praying that Tim Wakefield could soak up a few innings, and continue his Unending Quest to supplant Roger Clemens atop the all-team leaderboard for Most Wins by a Red Sox pitcher. (Wakefield now needs another 8 wins to catch Clemens and Cy Young.)
Incidentally, the angst of Boston baseball fans remains... totally awesome. One expects the vitriol directed at John (Horseface) Lackey, who may be the most despised Red Sox player ever. One enjoys the affectionate gibes the still beloved David Ortiz (" I swear. Watching Papi slide is like watching an oil tanker dock.") But these guys actually fret about Adrian Gonzalez, in particular his penchant for grounding into double plays, which has earned him the nickname "Turtle." It's true that Gonzalez leads the majors in that dubious mark, and is currently on pace to match or break Jim Rice's all-time major league record for GIDPs - but he's Adrian Gonzalez. You live with it. (And, for the most part, they do.)
Anyway, with little further ado, The Sons of Sam Horn observe the Blue Jays.
Well, a little ado. I see it's been suggested on the Twitter that the idea of doing this was pilfered from another local site that follows the Jays. To which I can only say that when I steal an idea from Joanna, I say so. And when she steals an idea from me - and I did come up with this silly idea, and built posts around it, six years ago.... hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
And if you want to relive some of those good times from the Days of Yore with the SoSh crew, try this or this
GAME ONE
ifmanis5 - Davis is going to steal infinity bases against us this series.
LesterFan - There's nothing scary about a Lackey vs Bautista matchup
Sprowl - Davis ellsburies Jacoby's long drive to center. That absolutely should have been caught.
Jimy Hendrix - Who told Travis Snider that John Waters' mustache was something to shoot for?
LesterFan - Sending Morrow back out after last inning, with a lefty warming up and Ortiz up was a pretty bad decision.
Sprowl - Did Farrell really just bring in a lefty to replace a righty so that the lefty could pitch to Darnell?
86spike - Snider's mustache makes him look like Schneider.
LesterFan - Getting beat by John McDonald and Rajai Davis makes me want to break my TV.
E5 Yaz - Thames really having trouble in LF. he was backing up, but was way to close to the wall
redsox3g2 - Butt ugly throw from Thames.
4-6-3 - Is that Crisp or Damon in LF?
Greg29fan - having 27 homers but only 56 RBI seems almost impossible
cshea - That's what happens when you have Rajai Davis and Corey Patterson hitting in front of you on a regular basis.
BucketOBalls - And only face Lackey a few times a year.
JohnnyTheBone - Francisco looks dominant.
Brianish - Those "meatballs" were traveling at 97 mph.
Greg29fan - Bautista did nothing and they got 9 runs...didn't see that coming either.
LesterFan - Did Snider just call Lackey a great pitcher? HA!
GAME TWO
mikeford - Getting blown away by a dude with an ERA in the 7s. Outstanding.
phragle - You mean there is more than one pitcher with an ERA in the 7s?
LeoCarrillo - Snider looks like an undercover cop.
mauidano - In a 70's porn flick.
anakin - Now Cecil's ERA is 6.99
rodderick - What is it about Fenway that makes Travis Snider look like he's never played baseball before in his life? Is he always like that in the outfield?
anakin - now we have another pitcher with 7.00 ERA!
ngruz25 - The rare ball that is literally booted!
MainerInExile - Ha, a pitcher like Cecil really doesn't need his defense helping out the other team.
The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa - Patterson has been sucking so bad he can't even get hit by a pitch properly.
mpx42 - Brett Cecil's ERA is back under 7.
P'tucket, rhymes with... - The only thing better than an embedded player for the other team is an embedded manager. Thanks, John!
Harry Hooper - Farrell's reaction in the dugout there was classic.
4-6-3 - Like he was wondering if we had his signs.
radsoxfan - I havent seen enough games to have much of an opinion, but I've heard a lot of baseball writers say Farrell is a terrible manager. Can't say I disagree from what little I've seen.
Sprowl - He gives great interviews (clear, articulate, baseball-focused), and Toronto TV seems to like him. His inside knowledge hasn't been nearly the Red Sox-killer that some feared, however.
radsoxfan - I agree he sounds pretty articulate. But I've read things from multiple people stating his in-game management is terrible, and from what little I've seen that does seem to be an issue. Very aggressive on the bases at the wrong time of the game. Maybe it's mostly the fault of his players, but at some point you have to assume he is at least implicity allowing it if not outright calling for it.
John DiFool - Me, I'm thankful that Corey Effin' Patterson isn't on this team.
4-6-3 - The Sox have the wrong McDonald on the team.
phragle - I'd settle for Ronald at this point.
natpastime162 - Lester's injury almost distracted me from the fact that Cecil is still pitching in the 8th inning.
carver - Home Run Derby is next week, Jose...
SawxSince67 - Right after NESN shows the Bautista 0 - 7 vs Pap graphic...
ivanvamp - To be fair, Bautista hits a lot of homers.
P'tucket, rhymes with... - How the hell does a pitching staff walk Arencibia three times in one game?
Snodgrass'Muff - I think he was safe. Tek didn't get the tag down before the right foot hit the plate. Benefit of the doubt for a great block apparently.
Ed Hillel - Right foot got in easy. I'll take it.
Foulkey Reese - Totally safe.
patinorange - Safe.
Dick Pole Upside - Dawg, I hate to tell ya... he was safe.
Ed Hillel - It took Tek like 5 seconds to bend over and made the tag. That was really strange, the throw beat him by a good amount.
EddieYost - Thanks for the makeup call.
mpx42 - Doesn't matter if he was safe. Paps struck out the first batter. Makeup call.
Obscure Name - Looks like we have to go a couple of weeks without complaining about the umps...Well maybe a couple of days.
GAME THREE
LeoCarrillo - Speaking of strange things ... J.D. Drew vs. lefty Ricky Romero in 29 plate appearances is .500/.607/.727
Sprowl - Romero has a notorious reverse split (his changeup gets righties all the time) -- this is exactly the game to play Reddick and Drew. Regular Season Tito is playing by the dull old book.
MainerInExile - RR wondering why he ever needs to start against the Sox.
Nomar813 - The Yankees must absolutely despise Romero.
JohnnyTheBone - Snider was asSALTed!
mikeford - LOL. Back to AAA, meat.
MainerInExile - Thanks, Farrell! We still love you too.
judyb - Just in case anyone else was wondering: Rajai Davis OBP: .260, vs. Red Sox: .321; John McDonald BA: .215, vs. Red Sox: .389
trekfan55 - The Blue Jays always seem to have these kind of players vs. The Sox. Remember Reed Johnson and Alex Rios? Not to mention Vernon Wells stats against the Sox got him one of the worst contracts in MLB history.
Kilgore A. Trout - Hillenbrand was an all star?
Rasputin - Yes. Yes he was.
Freddy Linn - Just ask him. A legend in his own mind.
bosox1025 - How could you forget Frank Catalanotto?
Kramerica Industries - Frank Catalanotto still gives me nightmares.
SemperFidelisSox - Thanks for tipping your fastball, Ricky.
Nuf Ced - Feasting on Romero's fastball.
Sprowl - Little Ricky Romero is one of my favorite pitchers. Come back again soon, Ricky, and never grow up.
topps148 - Pitching changes for the Jays are good. More time for the aqua to arrive.
SemperFidelisSox - Camp and Lackey were separated at birth when the barn caught on fire and the animals fled.
cshea - I'm not a huge fan of the tiring Wake vs. Bautista matchup here..... Nevermind!
Adrian's Dome - I know he called Bautista out and that's a good thing for us, but...are there ANY umpires who aren't c***s*****s? Jesus.
Van Everyman - Answer: no. I still love that Rauch quote about umps deserving ERAs because they blew a call.
DanoooME - That's OK JP, you won't need that wrist.
TFisNEXT - Bautista on deck. Gotta end it here.
************************
And as a bonus.... the John Lackey section. At some point Monday afternoon, the challenge was issued to say "something good" about John Lackey. This is what ensued.
We don't have to watch him pitch any more today
He's sitting down now.
It's really difficult. The gossip column in the herald pretty clearly pointed at him when referring to an "anonymous" sox player they said was cheating on his ill wife.
John Lackey has not yet served his bedridden, cancer-stricken wife with divorce papers.
He makes me feel handsome in comparison.
John Lackey didn't design today's ceremonial trucker hats.
He hasn't murdered anyone yet. He maintains his yard in an acceptable manner.
John Lackey was never convicted of child molestation.
Convicted? . . . No. Never convicted.
John Lackey didn't make The Phantom Menace.
Lackey did not kill my cat. I think.
John Lackey is not responsible for Darfur, as far as we know.
John Lackey had nothing to do with "The Decision."
John Lackey did not rape me last night. (It was dark, I cannot positively identify him.)
John Lackey never gave up a home run to Bucky Dent.
I thought it might be interesting to collect the random observations of another team's Baseball Nerds, during the three Boston-Toronto games this week. Naturally, their attention was focused most sharply on their own team, which during this series generally took the shape of: 1) Cursing out John Lackey; 2) Panicking over Jon Lester's early exit on Tuesday; 3) Praying that Tim Wakefield could soak up a few innings, and continue his Unending Quest to supplant Roger Clemens atop the all-team leaderboard for Most Wins by a Red Sox pitcher. (Wakefield now needs another 8 wins to catch Clemens and Cy Young.)
Incidentally, the angst of Boston baseball fans remains... totally awesome. One expects the vitriol directed at John (Horseface) Lackey, who may be the most despised Red Sox player ever. One enjoys the affectionate gibes the still beloved David Ortiz (" I swear. Watching Papi slide is like watching an oil tanker dock.") But these guys actually fret about Adrian Gonzalez, in particular his penchant for grounding into double plays, which has earned him the nickname "Turtle." It's true that Gonzalez leads the majors in that dubious mark, and is currently on pace to match or break Jim Rice's all-time major league record for GIDPs - but he's Adrian Gonzalez. You live with it. (And, for the most part, they do.)
Anyway, with little further ado, The Sons of Sam Horn observe the Blue Jays.
Well, a little ado. I see it's been suggested on the Twitter that the idea of doing this was pilfered from another local site that follows the Jays. To which I can only say that when I steal an idea from Joanna, I say so. And when she steals an idea from me - and I did come up with this silly idea, and built posts around it, six years ago.... hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
And if you want to relive some of those good times from the Days of Yore with the SoSh crew, try this or this
GAME ONE
ifmanis5 - Davis is going to steal infinity bases against us this series.
LesterFan - There's nothing scary about a Lackey vs Bautista matchup
Sprowl - Davis ellsburies Jacoby's long drive to center. That absolutely should have been caught.
Jimy Hendrix - Who told Travis Snider that John Waters' mustache was something to shoot for?
LesterFan - Sending Morrow back out after last inning, with a lefty warming up and Ortiz up was a pretty bad decision.
Sprowl - Did Farrell really just bring in a lefty to replace a righty so that the lefty could pitch to Darnell?
86spike - Snider's mustache makes him look like Schneider.
LesterFan - Getting beat by John McDonald and Rajai Davis makes me want to break my TV.
E5 Yaz - Thames really having trouble in LF. he was backing up, but was way to close to the wall
redsox3g2 - Butt ugly throw from Thames.
4-6-3 - Is that Crisp or Damon in LF?
Greg29fan - having 27 homers but only 56 RBI seems almost impossible
cshea - That's what happens when you have Rajai Davis and Corey Patterson hitting in front of you on a regular basis.
BucketOBalls - And only face Lackey a few times a year.
JohnnyTheBone - Francisco looks dominant.
Brianish - Those "meatballs" were traveling at 97 mph.
Greg29fan - Bautista did nothing and they got 9 runs...didn't see that coming either.
LesterFan - Did Snider just call Lackey a great pitcher? HA!
GAME TWO
mikeford - Getting blown away by a dude with an ERA in the 7s. Outstanding.
phragle - You mean there is more than one pitcher with an ERA in the 7s?
LeoCarrillo - Snider looks like an undercover cop.
mauidano - In a 70's porn flick.
anakin - Now Cecil's ERA is 6.99
rodderick - What is it about Fenway that makes Travis Snider look like he's never played baseball before in his life? Is he always like that in the outfield?
anakin - now we have another pitcher with 7.00 ERA!
ngruz25 - The rare ball that is literally booted!
MainerInExile - Ha, a pitcher like Cecil really doesn't need his defense helping out the other team.
The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa - Patterson has been sucking so bad he can't even get hit by a pitch properly.
mpx42 - Brett Cecil's ERA is back under 7.
P'tucket, rhymes with... - The only thing better than an embedded player for the other team is an embedded manager. Thanks, John!
Harry Hooper - Farrell's reaction in the dugout there was classic.
4-6-3 - Like he was wondering if we had his signs.
radsoxfan - I havent seen enough games to have much of an opinion, but I've heard a lot of baseball writers say Farrell is a terrible manager. Can't say I disagree from what little I've seen.
Sprowl - He gives great interviews (clear, articulate, baseball-focused), and Toronto TV seems to like him. His inside knowledge hasn't been nearly the Red Sox-killer that some feared, however.
radsoxfan - I agree he sounds pretty articulate. But I've read things from multiple people stating his in-game management is terrible, and from what little I've seen that does seem to be an issue. Very aggressive on the bases at the wrong time of the game. Maybe it's mostly the fault of his players, but at some point you have to assume he is at least implicity allowing it if not outright calling for it.
John DiFool - Me, I'm thankful that Corey Effin' Patterson isn't on this team.
4-6-3 - The Sox have the wrong McDonald on the team.
phragle - I'd settle for Ronald at this point.
natpastime162 - Lester's injury almost distracted me from the fact that Cecil is still pitching in the 8th inning.
carver - Home Run Derby is next week, Jose...
SawxSince67 - Right after NESN shows the Bautista 0 - 7 vs Pap graphic...
ivanvamp - To be fair, Bautista hits a lot of homers.
P'tucket, rhymes with... - How the hell does a pitching staff walk Arencibia three times in one game?
Snodgrass'Muff - I think he was safe. Tek didn't get the tag down before the right foot hit the plate. Benefit of the doubt for a great block apparently.
Ed Hillel - Right foot got in easy. I'll take it.
Foulkey Reese - Totally safe.
patinorange - Safe.
Dick Pole Upside - Dawg, I hate to tell ya... he was safe.
Ed Hillel - It took Tek like 5 seconds to bend over and made the tag. That was really strange, the throw beat him by a good amount.
EddieYost - Thanks for the makeup call.
mpx42 - Doesn't matter if he was safe. Paps struck out the first batter. Makeup call.
Obscure Name - Looks like we have to go a couple of weeks without complaining about the umps...Well maybe a couple of days.
GAME THREE
LeoCarrillo - Speaking of strange things ... J.D. Drew vs. lefty Ricky Romero in 29 plate appearances is .500/.607/.727
Sprowl - Romero has a notorious reverse split (his changeup gets righties all the time) -- this is exactly the game to play Reddick and Drew. Regular Season Tito is playing by the dull old book.
MainerInExile - RR wondering why he ever needs to start against the Sox.
Nomar813 - The Yankees must absolutely despise Romero.
JohnnyTheBone - Snider was asSALTed!
mikeford - LOL. Back to AAA, meat.
MainerInExile - Thanks, Farrell! We still love you too.
judyb - Just in case anyone else was wondering: Rajai Davis OBP: .260, vs. Red Sox: .321; John McDonald BA: .215, vs. Red Sox: .389
trekfan55 - The Blue Jays always seem to have these kind of players vs. The Sox. Remember Reed Johnson and Alex Rios? Not to mention Vernon Wells stats against the Sox got him one of the worst contracts in MLB history.
Kilgore A. Trout - Hillenbrand was an all star?
Rasputin - Yes. Yes he was.
Freddy Linn - Just ask him. A legend in his own mind.
bosox1025 - How could you forget Frank Catalanotto?
Kramerica Industries - Frank Catalanotto still gives me nightmares.
SemperFidelisSox - Thanks for tipping your fastball, Ricky.
Nuf Ced - Feasting on Romero's fastball.
Sprowl - Little Ricky Romero is one of my favorite pitchers. Come back again soon, Ricky, and never grow up.
topps148 - Pitching changes for the Jays are good. More time for the aqua to arrive.
SemperFidelisSox - Camp and Lackey were separated at birth when the barn caught on fire and the animals fled.
cshea - I'm not a huge fan of the tiring Wake vs. Bautista matchup here..... Nevermind!
Adrian's Dome - I know he called Bautista out and that's a good thing for us, but...are there ANY umpires who aren't c***s*****s? Jesus.
Van Everyman - Answer: no. I still love that Rauch quote about umps deserving ERAs because they blew a call.
DanoooME - That's OK JP, you won't need that wrist.
TFisNEXT - Bautista on deck. Gotta end it here.
************************
And as a bonus.... the John Lackey section. At some point Monday afternoon, the challenge was issued to say "something good" about John Lackey. This is what ensued.
We don't have to watch him pitch any more today
He's sitting down now.
It's really difficult. The gossip column in the herald pretty clearly pointed at him when referring to an "anonymous" sox player they said was cheating on his ill wife.
John Lackey has not yet served his bedridden, cancer-stricken wife with divorce papers.
He makes me feel handsome in comparison.
John Lackey didn't design today's ceremonial trucker hats.
He hasn't murdered anyone yet. He maintains his yard in an acceptable manner.
John Lackey was never convicted of child molestation.
Convicted? . . . No. Never convicted.
John Lackey didn't make The Phantom Menace.
Lackey did not kill my cat. I think.
John Lackey is not responsible for Darfur, as far as we know.
John Lackey had nothing to do with "The Decision."
John Lackey did not rape me last night. (It was dark, I cannot positively identify him.)
John Lackey never gave up a home run to Bucky Dent.
