This town’s got no pity

This dog can still bark, baby! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

So the Sox have three wins in a row – constituting a streak, yes?  (At least a mini-streak.)  The team didn’t implode because they lost four games in the Bronx.  Imagine that?  And this streak comes against a good team.  A team that many worried the Sox would have trouble against.  A team that tried to rile the Sox up by hitting one of the best players on the team.  Suspend Kevin Youkilis?  S’okay, we have Mike Lowell to come in and hit multiple home runs.  Much like I wasn’t giving up on this team after their skid last week, I’m not saying three wins against the Tigers is what will get them into the playoffs – the point is the season is still going on and the Red Sox didn’t decide to concede anything because of a bad week against the Yanks and Rays.  It must be pissing off many in the Boston media to see them be successful after having written them off, eh?

Speaking of the Boston sports media…what the hell is up with “The Sports Hub” not going live online until 1pm?  I want to give this station a chance, I certainly do, but most of my listening will be done online and if they think I’m choosing Michael Felger over Clay Buchholz today they’re sadly mistaken.

Not surprised when Youk’s suspension came down and only moderately surprised that he didn’t appeal (regardless of the thirty tweets I received yesterday saying he had).  He earned the suspension and I have no issue with what he got.  The Sox are already one game past the suspension and need to get through this weekend and it’ll be like it never happened.  Continued wins so that the suspension equals nothing more than a brief vacation for Mr. Youkilis would be the icing on this cake.

I really suppose I should mention this article in USA Today.  An interview with Bronson Arroyo about PEDs in baseball and what he’s used/uses.  There is a large part of me that is refreshed and impressed with his honesty.  The league and most  likely the Reds will come down on him in whatever way they can (he admitted that some of his supplements could be illegal or contaminated) although it’ll probably only be in the way of a verbal reprimand asking him to STFU, but he doesn’t care.   Again, this is refreshing but part of it is a little disturbing.  While I understand that he’s trying to say that the PEDs help you physically but don’t necessarily make you play better (which is definitely up for debate) the idea that he doesn’t care about what he puts in his body as long as it makes him feel good makes me worried for his long-term health.  He’s honest and I appreciate that but I sure do wonder what makes him say many of these things publicly.  (Don’t get me wrong, Bronson is the apex in  my triumvirate of pitching binkies – Arroyo/Snyder/Timlin – but this interview made me bang my head more than once and wonder why he doesn’t have a better filter.)   I guess the whole “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me” attitude can be a double-edged sword.  I’d also guess that having a father who put you on supplements at five years old can definitely help create your perceptions that the usage of supplements and PEDs isn’t so terrible.   It’ll be a fascinating watch – seeing how this all plays out.

Clay is on the mound at 1:35pm today to hopefully lead the team to a sweep of the Tigers and then it’s off to Texas for the weekend (for the Sox not me) and from there a three-day series in Toronto that will then bring them back home for a weekend series against the Yankees.  The road won’t be easy but it sure should be fun!