Day 262: San Francisco 49ers Take Feud to Next Level

Growing up in New England, I know a thing or two about sports feuds having witnessed years and years of the Boston vs. New York hostility. I was born to hate the Yankees. At an early age, I was introduced to the heart wrenching conflict. *cough* Bucky Dent *cough* And I'm still wondering what possessed me to marry a Yankees fan. (Haha!)

For most of my life, the New England Patriots never did anything to cause strife between them and another team. They just plodded along in a sea of mediocrity, embarrassing themselves a couple times on the big stage of the Super Bowl. When Bill Belichick took over and they started winning, that's when the tension became noticeable. I would hear non-Pats fans talk about how much they hated the Patriots and Tom Brady and it surprised me.

I had no idea that these types of feuds happened outside of the Northeast... but they do. The hostility between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks has reached a new level. One that I have never seen before. And it's pretty freaking awesome. The teams are #1 and #2 in the NFC West with the Seahawks holding a two game lead with two games to play. Shit is getting real in that division.

The teams are trying anything to get a leg up on the other. Something to get under the other guys skin and knock them off their game just a little bit. Earlier this season, the Seahawks paid to have a "12th man" banner flown over the San Francisco game referencing the immense noise that the 'Hawks' fans generate in support of their team. So in response the 49ers bought a billboard in Seattle touting their five Super Bowl wins to none for the Seahawks.

The billboard might look a little like this.... well played, 49ers, well played.

Photo from: gofundme.com/Seattle-Billboard-Fund

Day 179: Is it possible I kinda feel bad for the Yankees?

Something rare happened Wednesday night in New York. The Yankees were officially eliminated from the 2013 post season after losing to the Tampa Bay Rays. It's only the second time in 19 seasons they will not play October ball. And it's the first time since the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009. It will be weird to not root against them this fall...

There was nothing they could've done about it. Even if they won, it didn't matter. They were actually eliminated before their game even ended when the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox to officially thwart any slim chance New York may have still had.

Do I feel bad? Sort of. I feel bad for Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. I feel bad that their careers are going to end with a fizzle. That these last outings are all for nothing. I don't feel bad for Alex Rodriguez. In fact, I think he was a pinstriped curse. He's a greedy, egotistical piece of shit whose only concerns in life revolve around money and how and when he's going to get paid... I bet he tries to spell TEAM with an I. The best thing that could happen to this team and the game of baseball is that A-Roid gets suspended for a long, long time.

The Yankees never really had a chance this season. The injury-plagued roster often featured names no one recognized, or names you knew but you probably thought they had retired long ago. They spent a large portion of their season without names like Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkilis. And as if to add insult to injury, Yankees pitching lacked its usual pizzazz, and while CC Sabathia had the most wins with 14, he also racked up 13 losses.

With the oldest roster in the Major Leagues, the Yankees will have some serious off-season decisions to make with regards to their future. The biggest being whether or not to resign Robinson Cano whose .315 batting average is about 40 points higher than any other starter. Then there's the issue of what to do with the 39-year-old Jeter, who now looks like that gimpy, aging shortstop you sort of feel bad for because he just doesn't cover the ground like he used to.

Like any decent Red Sox fan, I will admit that, while I hate the Yankees with every fiber of my being, I still respect the rivalry and alway hope for a 2004-like playoff battle.

Day 169: Red Sox Bid Fond Farewell to Mariano Rivera

The scene—Fenway Park. Sunday night baseball. Red Sox versus Yankees. What more could you ask for on a crisp, mid-September evening. The Red Sox were going for the three-game sweep, to continue to expand their division lead. The Yankees were just trying to save any chance of making the post season.

Normally a game like this would have a whole lot of meaning. The rivalry demands it. But this year, the Yankees, a team plagued by injuries, are struggling to stay in the wild card race. And the Red Sox have got the pedal to the metal, not letting up on their quest to win the AL East pennant for the first time since 2007.

Sunday night was also about saying farewell to an old friend. Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera, retires at the end of this season and has been on a sort of good-bye tour throughout MLB. Each team greeting him with the same class he has displayed over his 19-year career. Each team presenting him with a special momento... the Cleveland Indians gave him a gold record of Metallica's "Enter Sandman"—his entry song. He got a surfboard from the Oakland A's inscribed with the #42. The Minnesota Twins presented him with the "Chair of Broken Dreams"—a rocking chair made of broken bats.

The Red Sox display of gifts was one of the biggest so far. They began with a painting of Rivera's reaction that Opening Day in April of 2005 when he was greeted with a standing ovation from Boston fans as they raised the World Series flag. He also received the #42 green placard that would indicate he was pitching on the Green Monster—it was signed by every member of the Sox team and served as a reminder that no one will ever wear that number again.

But that's not all... he was given a Fenway Park seat from 1934 with the #42 on it. It was blue, of course. And a bullpen rubber inscribed with the following that appeared to make Mo a little misty: "We tip our cap to the great Rivera, a real gentleman, a fierce competitor and a most worthy opponent." The organization finished off the ceremony with a donation for Rivera's charity work in Panama from the Red Sox Foundation.

Sure, the Red Sox may have rubbed in the 2004 Yankees' collapse just a bit too much, but it was all in good fun and Mo didn't seem to mind, he was all smiles throughout the short ceremony. In case you missed it...

 

Good luck, Mo! By the way, you're going to need a whole new room in your house for all your new stuff!!

PS. The magic number is four!!

Day 113: Take That, Yankees!

I'm not to going to lie, I was slightly stressed out about this weekend series against the Yankees. With the Tampa Bay Rays nipping at the heels of the Sox in the standings, every win counts and they needed desperately to take advantage of the Yankees' struggles. And then, when the Red Sox won Friday night, I breathed just a little sigh of relief!

But Saturday, I was back to quaking in my boots after a tough loss. John Lackey pitched ok, but the four runs he gave up proved to be more than the Sox offense could overcome against Hiroki Kuroda. The usually peppy Boston bats were quiet and managed just two runs on seven hits. Tough break for Lackey who had pitched strong in his last several outings.

So Sunday...the rubber match...the Sunday night ESPN showdown...an epic Red Sox vs. Yankees matchup. A seesaw battle of red vs. blue. When I went to bed, the Sox enjoyed a comfortable 7-3 lead. But really, what exactly is a comfortable lead when you're talking about the NYY? And then I woke up to my phone happily alerting me this morning of a victorious Boston team. It wasn't until a little later that I heard the gory details...eleven innings...4 hours and 46 minutes...and yet another walk-off win for the Sox on Mike Napoli's second round-tripper of the night!

After 100 games of the 2013 season, the Boston Red Sox, who finished last in the AL East with 69 wins in 2012, are 60-40 and continue to enjoy the most wins in the major leagues. The next four games will be the real test though, with the surging Rays coming into Fenway having won 20 of their last 24 games. Here I go, quaking in my boots again!

Day 110: Second Half Kicks Off Tonight: A Red Sox-Yankees Preview.

I hope the Red Sox have taken advantage of their All-Star break and enjoyed some much deserved rest and relaxation because they're going to hit the ground running tonight. The second half of the season kicks off with a bang with a three game series at Fenway Park against the fourth place (but still dangerous) New York Yankees. This will be the first trip to Boston for the Yanks this season. And it won't get much easier after that with the Rays and Orioles up next.

So far 2013 has not been kind to the Yankees lineup. They're currently suffering from a number of key injuries including Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Curtis Granderson. Derek Jeter came back from his injury just before the break, but immediately hurt himself again. And they're expecting Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup sometime next week—although I'm not sure anyone is very excited about that event.

The Red Sox currently have a six game lead over New York, but like the Yankees, kind of skidded into the break—both teams were 5-5 in their last 10 games. And in the six games these two teams played earlier in the season, the Sox have have a slight leg up having won four of them. While the Sox are second in the major leagues in team batting average with a .277, (the Yankees are 24th of 30 total teams), NY does have better overall pitching numbers so it could be a pretty even match up.

This series is important for both teams. The Sox will host the recently hot Tampa Bay Rays for four games next week and they don't need to go into the series still struggling. Especially because they head to Baltimore after that for three with the hard-hitting Orioles. And the Yanks certainly don't want to fall even further out of first place, so we could have a real battle this weekend!

Here's how the series looks for the pitching matchups:

Friday, July 19th @ 7:10pm
Felix Doubront (6-3, 3.91) vs. Andy Pettitte (7-6, 4.39)

Saturday, July 20th @ 4:05pm
John Lackey (7-6, 2.78) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (8-6, 2.65)

Sunday, July 21st @ 8:05pm
Jon Lester (8-6, 4.58) vs. CC Sabathia (9-8, 4.07)

I don't have any predictions for this series, just hopes. I hope that John Lackey continues his domination on the mound. I hope that Jon Lester pulls his head out of his ass and pitches like we know he can. And I hope the offense picks up where it left off before the All-Star break because that's fun!

I also hope this heat breaks soon or I might melt before this game even starts.

Day 64: Red Sox Take Two From Yankees Over Weekend. And Both Teams Are a Bunch of Scaredy Cats!

You know what was super fun this past weekend in the midst of the first official burst of steamy summer heat that rendered me utterly useless? Watching the Red Sox take two out of three from the Yankees in their house. Suh-weeeeet! The Sox are the lone inhabitants atop the AL East and the Yanks dropped to third place with the two losses.

After dropping the series opener, 4-1, I immediately went to that dark, pessimistic place where only bad things happen. Jon Lester has not had a win in his last three starts... I'll admit, I was worried. But then Saturday happened and the Sox exploded for 11 runs on 18 hits. And pitcher Felix Doubront tossed a beauty, allowing just one run on six hits over six innings. The offense went nuts sparked by Mike Napoli's third inning grand salami and round trippers from Daniel Nava and Stephen Drew.

Now the series is even going into Sunday night and the Sox have Clay Buchholz on the mound aiming for win #8. The weather is iffy, delaying the game about 45 minutes to start, so you had to wonder if they'd get a full nine innings in. I won't keep you guessing—they didn't. The game was called in the sixth after a three hour rain delay.

The good news is Boston was up 3-0 when that happened so they get the win, Buchholz goes to 8-0 and leads the major leagues with a stingy 1.62 ERA. Woohoo! *Snoopy Happy Dance*

But the most entertaining part of this game actually happened during the rain delay. Something that proves that baseball players are just pansies by nature. Grown men afraid of a little thunder... I giggle every time I watch it.

 

Day 60: It's Getting Hot in Here... Sox/Yanks Steamy Weekend Preview

The Red Sox and Yankees meet this weekend in the Bronx for the first time since the opening series of the season... where, by the way, the Sox took two of three from the injury-riddled Yanks. Needless to say, this weekend should be interesting.

Here's the deal. As of right this minute, the Sox have a slim one game lead over the Yankees in the AL East.  And at this very moment, the Sox are beating the Phillies and the Mets are just barely beating the Yanks. So there's a very good chance (fingers crossed I don't jinx the whole thing right here) that Boston could have a two game lead over NY going into the weekend.

When the two teams met in early April, the Yankees were crippled without the likes of Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira and A-Rod in the lineup. And no one thought they could even contend with the group of misfits they fielded. But surprise, surprise, even without those key players, they still managed to sit atop the division for several weeks. And reports have both Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis rejoining the team for the weekend series.

The Red Sox have suffered recently from some injuries so they'll be missing a couple significant players. Both Will Middlebrooks and Shane Victorino have been placed on the 15-day DL and are not expected back until mid-June. The only good thing to come from those two being out is the return of both Jose Iglesias, who is so much fun to watch in the field, and Jackie Bradley Jr., who was tearing up Triple-A. Clay Buchholz missed his last start because he slept wrong (that would totally happen to me!) but is probable for Sunday's game.

If you watch just one game this weekend, I'm recommending Friday night—a classic matchup between Jon Lester (6-1, 3.34) and CC Sabathia (4-4, 3.96.) But Sunday's matchup looks exciting as well, with Clay Buchholz (7-0, 1.73) taking on Hiroki Kuroda (6-3, 2.39)—a real pitchers' duel in the making! Eeeep!

Predictions, anyone? I'm not allowed to make predictions. I suck and usually just end up jinxing the Sox.