Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Game 3 OPEN THREAD

By

My predictions: A human pinball game, humidor or no. (Watch out for multi-ball!!)

  • Papi hits 2 homers, makes 3 errors.
  • Manny goes yard
  • Lowell: 3 doubles
  • Tacoby Shellsbury scores from 1st on a dropped pop-up.
  • Daisuke gone by the 4th inning; Lynnster Fogg done in the 3rd. Both bullpens decimated for the entire two-three games in Colorado.
  • McCarver makes puns on “Fogg”, e.g. if he does well: “Fogg is rolling in … ” etc.
  • Game goes past 1am.

I think we should be grateful that Youkilis is available to pitch…

… and off-off-topic, Deval just ambled genially through a UMass ad. Is that:

  1.  Hands-on, engaged shilling for a Massachusetts institution, or
  2. A Massachusetts institution shilling for the Governor?

See, I like Deval, so my first reaction is that it's 1 — of course, he really cares, because he's a good guy! And I do actually think that. On the other hand, on principle I'm against governors and treasurers and other electeds putting their names and mugs all over state business — you know, highway signs, property auction radio spots and whatnot. So what is it?

update: Did I really see that? Sign in the crowd: “BIG PAPI EATS BIG BOOGERS.” Ouch! Man, that's just got to get inside his head at some point. (Stay classy, Rockies fans …)

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  1. the other playoff games.  It’s only the bottom of the third so I dont want to get cocky like the guy on NPR was saying Red Sox fans are getting lately,

  3. It’s as if they were half-way through building a golf course and said “heck with it..we’ll make it a baseball diamond instead.”

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    I do like Matsuzaka’s hitting skills…

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    And for good luck:

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  4. we have a spiffy new Ajax comment feature.  If you go to your “page,” and then go into your “Profile,” and then click “settings,” and check the “use ajax comments” box, you can try this splendid new feature!

  6. I’ve seen it at least 10 times, and I still chuckle at it.  The look on the guy’s face as the beer bottles explode inside his jacket is hilarious.

    • As opposed to Taco Bell Bro’s three rules for living.  It wasn’t funny the first time.  Now, it’s just grounds for indictment of everyone involved.

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      And what are the fans yelling anyway?  I can’t make out their chants…

      • …just so I could boycott it on grounds of how dreadful that commercial is. Those crap-tacular AT&T commercials are a breath of fresh air in comparison.

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        Perhaps the guys at the opera can take some broken shards of glass and slash the eyes out of the Taco Bell bros and we’ll never have to see them again.

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        [PS – I always wondered what an Ajax comment was, but I was too afraid to try it. Nice.]

  7. Great work to close out the 8th. This has been much more stressful that I would have liked.

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    Does anyone else find the AT&T ads horrifically irritating?

    • The AT&T ads are hugely annoying.
      I like the three rules from Taco Bell.  I still laugh when that awful little rat dog is dropped in his lap and his cocky expression fades fast.

  8. The one with all the people who see other people helping each other and then also feel compelled to help someone else.

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    It’s not even that the schmaltzy message is that bad… it’s that damn song that I can’t get out of my head!

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    And I don’t even remember what the commercial is for!!!

    • of the commercial where the older brother gives advice about not ever owning a lap dog & dating a woman with dragon tattoos.

      • …rent DVDs.  Or go to You-Tube. 

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        That’s what we do.

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        Broadcast television in the US is pathetic.

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        Actually, you can watch some of ABC’s most highly-rated evening soap operas over the Internet at http://www.abc.com with minimal commercial interruptions (2-3 commercials per episode at about 30 seconds each).  The images are actually quite good.  CBS has a similar service, but the images aren’t quite as good.

      • are only good first time you hear them and after that they are annoying.  BTW I wonder what is wrong wiht dragon tattoos? 

  9. …did as well as they did (10-5 isn’t anything to sneeze at) considering the elevation at which they were playing.  The Rockies are presumably used to the elevation–they play their home games there–but the Red Sox are probably not.

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    Two observations.  One, recall the Mexico City Olympics a number of years ago.  Many of the trainers were concerned that their athletes might not be used to the reduced air pressure (and consequently the reduced oxygen content) at that elevation–approx 7000 feet.

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    Two, from personal experience.  In one of our earliest trips to Germany, we visited the Karwendel in Mittenwald (southern Bavaria).  The peak was on the order of 9000 feet above mean sea level.  We traversed the peak, and, by the time we got around it (and it wasn’t a long path) we were totally exhausted, probably from oxygen deprivation.

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    Regarding the time, I’m actually surprised that the starting time for the game would have been scheduled so that it would end before 1AM EDT.  Or did the innings go longer than one might have otherwise expected?

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    A further observation, and a question.  Was Fox’s payment to MLB contingent on advertising revenue?  If the series ends tonight, Fox’s ad revenue would not have been–how to put it delicately–as high as would be expected.  Maybe the Sox are being encouraged to lose a few games merely to increase the ad revenue.

    • A – High altitude can help and hurt athletics.  This ain’t soccer, and we aren’t talking sustained athletic activity here — the longest such activity was a 270-ft sprint for a triple.  Even Sox players unused to the air benefit when Lugo can jump just a little higher to grab that drive, or Ellsbury can tool around the bases.  In baseball, high altitude benefits everyone.

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      B – As you’ll find reported in any summary of the game, this was the longest 9-inning World Series match in history — 4:19.

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      C – Part of that is due to the commercials.  Fox’s payment is a flat payment, not dependent on number shown.  These playoffs have comprised so far 6 series, and 5 of them were sweeps.  Plus, Boston v. Denver is a matchup of largish markets (particularly counting the large islands of Sox fans scattered throughout the country).  Fox would probably like a 7-game series, but Denver v Boston for 4 games probably nets more cash than Kansas City v Milwaukee for 6.

      • How would higher altitude help someone jump higher? Or run faster? Wind resistance is a much smaller factor than having less energy. And the difference in gravity is not noticeable.

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        It may affect the hitting though. Baseballs move pretty quickly, so I could believe that the reduced pressure would make a noticeable difference in how far the balls go. The TV announcers also said it changes the pitches. It makes it harder to throw a curveball (or anything else that doesn’t just move in a parabolic arc).

        • How would they jump higher?

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          I was wondering the same thing.  In the Newtonian limit (to general relativity, which every text on GR proves) a factor of one mile out of 9000 miles from the center of the earth is in the noise.

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          …And the difference in gravity is not noticeable.

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          This is true, only if gravity is taken into account.  It is the reduced air pressure (and hence the reduced oxygenation) that is the important issue  More on that later.

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          The TV announcers also said it changes the pitches. It makes it harder to throw a curveball (or anything else that doesn’t just move in a parabolic arc).

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          I had not considered this, but it is correct.

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          Before going on to subatai’s comment, the “more.”  It has been observed that, because of the lowered boiling point of water at Denver, food recipes have to be adapted to accommodate the reduced boiling point.  Actually, it is a significant issue.

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          To sabatai This ain’t soccer, and we aren’t talking sustained athletic activity here — the longest such activity was a 270-ft sprint for a triple you ignore the fact that there is more than a bit of sustained athletic activity even in baseball.  It may be viewed as sprints, but there is a cumulative effect of the players running around the outfield, running around the infield, throwing the ball, and so forth. 

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          this was the longest 9-inning World Series match in history — 4:19 maybe it was, but the seminal question is why the game went on so long.  I’ll give you my conspiracy theory.  When I was at Ohio State in the middle ages, we noted that, when the football games weren’t being broadcast, they would last on the order of 2 hours.  When they were being broadcast, they would invariably last 3 hours.  The difference should be obvious:  “Officials time outs” for commercials.  We used to laugh about it.  The games (1PM-4PM or so) would invariably end in time for the west coast games to begin.

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          Come, let us reason together.  I’m sure that you’ve seen baseball games with similar scores that went well under 4 hours, and probably somewhat under three. 

          • Mexico City 1968 is remembered for two things by Olympic historians: the Black Power protest, and the insane track and field records in the rarefied air (cough Bob Beamon cough).  With such tight competition as you have in that sport, the thin air makes a difference.  And while the thinner oxygen may have affected the occasional Red Sock, I would say that their are plenty of periods in which to catch your breath that it doesn’t make that much of a difference.  Did that help Lugo get to that line drive in the eighth inning?  We know it didn’t hurt.

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            As for game time, there are more mid-inning breaks under TV broadcast and I’m sure that they last longer.  However, the fact that 15 runs were scored and we saw several pitching changes didn’t help either.  I do think the fact that this is the World Series has something to do with it, I just don’t think anyone’s going to throw a game on the network’s orders.

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            (Speaking of the Olympics, one reason that American and other professionals struggle to a degree in the games is the fact that Olympic basketball and hockey matches don’t have commercial breaks.  NBA stars always talk about how they miss “tv timeouts”.)

            • …regarding high-altitude athletic play, but…

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              Red Sock?  I’ll have to admit to being a bit partial to the Cincinnati Reds (who haven’t been going anywhere since 1963), but I wouldn’t refer to them the Cincinnati Redstockings (the team’s original name).

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              /tic

  10. has really emerged in the last month or so, and it’s great to see. Three WS games so far, lots of runs for the good guys, and only one home run, by Pedroia!

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    They’re just a fun team to watch even though this series is a bit of a snorefest.

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    They should build a freaking statue for Terry Francona outside of Fenway, so all of the smart guy sports junkies who have ridiculed him for three years can take turns kissing his bronze ass on the way into the park.

  11. I don’t know what’s worse, the commercials or the FOX announcers.  I may listen to the radio audio tonight.

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    Consider these gems from last night:

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  12. The endless droning about how the Sox outfielders weren’t going to be able to find their way back to the dugout after each inning because it’s just so big out there.  You’d think the Sox had never played outside Fenway from the way these guys talk.

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  13. Stating that the Rockies know better that you’d rather not have your #9 hitter (pitcher) lead off an inning.  Do they really think this is a mystery to Francona or any other AL manager?  It isn’t rocket science!  Amazing how he was able to pull off those double switches later in the game without the help of any NL folks.

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  14. Concluding that putting Ortiz into the lineup was a success after only two at-bats and no defensive touches by Papi.  I do agree what it was the right choice, but there was a lot of game left when they declared “mission accomplished”.

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    Hoping it’s over in four just so I don’t have to listen to these guys anymore.

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