You can feel the engine start to move...

After a long break, I'm finally back to posting. A lot of things have occupied my time lately, specifically an engagement and wedding planning, but it's getting to be that time of year again.

I've taken the pleasure of just sitting back and watching what has been happening in baseball like I'm sure you all have. It has been an interesting off season to say the least. 

I'm glad to see the depth in pitching that Theo and the team have added, and truthfully, I'm glad we lost out on Tex. I'm not saying the guy doesn't have a great bat, but there are so many things to look at when it comes to what he could have done for the team. He would have been a great hitter for us and I'm sure would have put up great numbers, but isn't it more enjoyable to look forward to A-Rod crying over someone else stealing his thunder and putting up better number than him? That whole squad is a ticking timebomb. Throw in ole crappy Girardi and you've got another great season of New York drama and solid rivalry.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Tek. Hopefully he will come back and this season will be a big change from last year. It would be nice to have him around coaching the younger catchers in the art he excels. But we will see. 

Spring Training is a few weeks away, and then we have the World Baseball Classic. It's looking up. The weather may be cold, but at least there's baseball soon. 

Bring on the Rays

You would have thought it was the World Series from how the Red Sox were jumping around last night after their game four win in the ALCS to send the Angels back to Anaheim. 

And I loved it. 

One of my favorite things about October baseball is how it shows players as the best of men and the best of boys. Whenever the game is on the line, October men show up with big plays and miraculous feats, but whenever the game is over, they are transformed into boys with more emotion in their eyes than you could ever think possible. Papelbon has had it all series. At one point I wouldn't have been surprised to see him rip off his jersey and beat his chest in triumph. 

But I think I love the emotion most of all because--as any real Red Sox fan will tell you--after a long season, it's nice to see the players still exhibiting the same emotion I have been screaming all season. Last night's victory was a time for release.

And now we get a few moments of rest. 

But just like we all know as well, the rest won't last. Friday we start the series versus the Rays and this one will be a good one. We can only hope the youth of the Rays plays out the way I think it might. 

Coming off a 3-1 series victory over the "best" team in baseball, the Red Sox seem invincible, and coming off a 3-1 series victory against the "team" of the White Sox, the Rays seemed less invincible than ESPN and other sports media outlets have been touting them. Game three was less than pretty, and it showed that the Rays are a regular team just like anyone else. But more than that, I think the Rays/White Sox series may do more to stroke their egos than can be deemed good in the post-season. 

All in all I know it will be a good series, and the first two games will be tricky because the Rays have gotten used to playing in the hell hole called Tropicana Field. The story line has to be experience versus youth, and as far as I am concerned, all the bandwagon fans in Tampa better enjoy this roller coaster while it lasts.

Unlucky 13...

Thirteen has always been an omen of ill fate, and Sunday night's ALDS game in Boston was no exception. Josh Beckett looked more than a little rusty in his first start in 13 days. And while the outing yielded a no decision, I have no problem with what I saw. 

As you hear time and again, the intangibles are the important things this time of year, and that is why I am calling a stellar start next time Beckett takes the mound. 

If you've ever seen Beckett pitch, you know that last night's attempt was unacceptable to the Boston ace. Missed strikes, base hits and missed bags are not par for the post-season lights out pitcher we have all come to know in Beckett. 

And aside from Beckett, the game was less than a grand outing for the Red Sox. If not for a field mix up by the Angels, the game would have been over long before the 12th last night. We have been suffering from an inability to get runners off the bases and on to home plate. Boston has the ability to be a great small ball team, and I think that matches up extremely well against the Angels, a team with great struggles producing offense. 

I am looking forward to tonight's game(s). I hope Chicago takes another from the Rays and I hope Lester continues his winning ways. It may not be bad to rest Lowell for a few games and give Casey or Kotsay a chance at first. Afterall, that's why we have utility players. It will be a good game tonight, and I see my prediction of Red Sox in four being a reality. We're better than the Angels, and we should take the series and tonight's game 3-1.

Traveling to Boston

Another great game last night; too bad I couldn't watch it. I had to settle for listening to it on the radio on my home from a job interview in Nashville. But nevertheless, the Red Sox came out on top and showed again why the postseason is a whole new ball game. 

I can't say enough how proud those guys make me feel when they come together as a team and play like they did last night. I picked the Sox to beat the angels in four games, but after last night I think it will be hard for the Angels to pick up even one win in this series, especially when Beckett is coming to the mound. 

He is one exciting man to watch pitch. He has a focus and an intensity that is hard matched. And if Pap's intensity and excitement last night is any indication, Beckett will blow the walls off Fenway tomorrow. Hopefully the White Sox can help us out some and make the series against the Rays go a little longer. It would be great if the pitchers could come in a little banged up and tired. 

But whatever happens, I'm confident in my Red Sox. Tomorrow night will be amazing, and I can't wait to see Beckett toss from the mound for the win in Boston. 

One Game Down...

There is something very nice about having a series on the West Coast: the game starts so late that I am able to get everything done for the night before it comes on. But when games like last night are being played, it doesn't matter what needs to be done, it just doesn't happen.

I would have to say that overall the Red Sox didn't play a great game last night, but everything started firming up after the first few innings. Many of the bats were cold and maybe a little rusty, but that should turn around tomorrow night. Or at least it should if we want to go up two games on the Angels. Dice-K needs run support to make his walk count disappear in the final outcome. But thats getting ahead of myself. We need to talk about last night before we get into what's to come in Game 2. 

It was good to see Lowell and Drew in the line up and it will be even better if we hear god news about how they feel today and tomorrow. Neither really provided a lot of pop to what was going on, but it was nice having the vets in the lineup that got us here. 

Lester had a great game once he settled down in the first inning. He has a composure about him that is amazing to watch, but as has been said before "What's a little baseball when you've stared cancer in the face?" And he had some good support from Masterson and Papelbon as well. Both guys looked good and, from what I saw, should have a good post-season ahead of them. 

Offensively we were slow but against the Angels (a team that couldn't produce runs against a little league team and plays in a division as talented as the Astros organization) it doesn't take much. In that we were lucky. We need to get our swings back before we face (probably) Tampa Bay in the ALCS. But like we always do, we had the swings when we needed them and one player or another stepped up to fill in for other players whose swings just weren't cutting it. 

And let's not forget Jason Bay and what he has contributed. Sure he's no Manny, but in my book, that's the best thing about him. You know with Bay that everyday he is on the roster he will play, that he will dress out with the team and he won't pout when the world doesn't bow to him. He can swing a bat beautifully and I look forward to seeing him in the years ahead. 

All in all it was a great game and I stayed interested until the final pitch. And Friday looks to be just as good. Dice-K throws and I look for Pedroia and Papi to get back to business as well as Lowell and Drew to get a few hits as well. If I were to guess I would say we take the game Friday night by a larger run total. Just for fun, I'm going to say Red Sox 8, Angels 5. 

October Nights with the Red Sox

There is always a lot of talk before the playoffs start that just seems to be for the sake of being heard and filling time. Analysts predict this and put too much emphasis on that, but they often forget that none of it ever matters. 

It's the first day of October and north Mississippi is cool for this time of year. And just like the crisp air, baseball has a different feel from any other time of the year. 

October used to be the first spot of rest for a weary--and often battered--Red Sox team, but it has become much more over the last few years: October has become the extra mile Boston earned through scrappy, hard-fought wins and long road trips. Baseball has long been talked about as different, almost magical; that somehow the spirits of the all of the baseball greats mix with the fog rising from the outfield grass on an Autumn night and dance beneath the flood lights. 

October turns men into boys. Whether they are dancing in delight or crying in defeat, the epitome of childlike emotion is constantly on display during the playoffs. 

And not just for players...

I watched a documentary last year on the '04 Red Sox and couldn't help but cry when we got the last out at first during that fourth game of the World Series. There was no other way to say what I felt. 

And we get a chance to experience it all again tonight when we take the field against the Angels. Sure, the season stats aren't in our favor, but who gets through October just riding on season stats? Who makes it to the World Series because they won the most games in June? The only ones to survive it all are the guys with the guts and the moxy to make it all happen. We have been tried. We have been tested. And we have tasted the sweet taste of victory. 

We are back again. October is anew for the Boston Red Sox and the Angels better mind their swagger. We're Boston, we fight and don't know how to accept defeat. 

Attention Mississippi: Calling All Red Sox Fans

When I became a Red Sox fan I never would have imagined that I would expect the Red Sox to be in playoffs year after year. No matter how many times we find ourselves still playing in October, it will never get old or tired. And even though I wasn't around for the 86-year drought, I don't think I can ever take the post-season for granted because not being in the Fall Classic for so long is such a huge part of who the Red Sox are and have become. 

That being said, I would like to welcome you to A Long Toss to Fenway. This blog is dedicated to the Red Sox, but even more than that, it is dedicated to the Red Sox fans and Red Sox Nation members across the state of Mississippi. I started this blog when I found out I was chosen to be the Governor of Mississippi for RSN. I couldn't think of a better honor, and I want to make sure that all Red Sox fans across the state have a place to share their ideas and express their love for the team we all follow so closely. 

We all know the struggles that come with being a Red Sox fan so far away from Boston: the countless Yankees "fans" we see everywhere we go, the constant barrage of Braves games on up to five television stations a night during the regular season, and keeping our fingers crossed that a Red Sox game gets picked up nationally. 

It's hard to be a Red Sox fan this far from the Charles River. 

But that's why we have to stay connected. Throughout the post-season, the off season and next season, I will be keeping up with this blog so that we can all better connect and enjoy our team. From watch parties to membership drives to fundraisers for organizations like the Jimmy Fund, we will stay connected to our team. We may be thousands of miles away, but we all share a similar love. 

So let me know who you are and let's get Mississippi excited about the Boston Red Sox.