And not only have I moved, but I've moved to two places.
All the baseball stuff can now be found at http://boston9.wordpress.com/
Everything else will be located at http://primarilycrap.wordpress.com/
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Playing To Win
I’m not sure that I get this political stuff. After spending over a year campaigning for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, John Edwards gets his ass kicked in the first month of primary voting, including his own home state of North Carolina, and drops out of the race before January is even over. Yesterday, after waiting until it was a sure bet and safe to do so, he throws his support behind Barak Obama. I’m not questioning his decision to play it safe, hey why not, in 2004, however close it may have been, he lost his bid for the office of vice president, and this year he got stomped in his attempt to become the Democratic Presidential nominee. He might as well wait until it’s a sure bet so he can guarantee himself that he’ll come out on the winning side for once.
What I don’t understand is, why would a guy who has practically wrapped up the Democratic Presidential nomination want to have the support of a two-time loser?
What I don’t understand is, why would a guy who has practically wrapped up the Democratic Presidential nomination want to have the support of a two-time loser?
Monday, May 12, 2008
End Of The Line For Abe
Pawtucket pitcher Abe Alvarez was released by the Red Sox yesterday. Although this is just a mere footnote in the history of this storied franchise, it means a little more than that to me.
In 2003 he was drafted as a top pitching prospect and I was there for his Major League debut on July 22nd during the magical 2004 season. It was the first game of a day/night double-header against the Orioles, so the Sox needed to bring up a starter and Abe got the call from double A. It was a hot, sticky Thursday afternoon. The game had been on the schedule for a while as it was a makeup from a rainout in April, so I had decided to make it the game for my annual trek to Fenway with Kyla and had secured tickets a month or so earlier.
It sticks out in my mind so much because when I found out that he was going to make the start, I knew that it was going to be the Major League debut of a highly touted prospect and I (and even more importantly Kyla, even if she wouldn’t remember it) might be present while history was being made. The first thing I noticed about the guy was that he was wearing his hat so that the brim was tilted to one side, something that drives me crazy. I forgave him when I found out later that he was legally blind in his left eye, it was sensitive to light, and he wore his hat this way to help keep the light out of the eye.
Unfortunately the debut did not work out as he, or the rest of Red Sox Nation had hoped. Although we got 5 innings out of him, which was all management was looking for; he gave up 8 hits, 5 walks and 5 runs in an 8-3 loss. It was not a very memorable performance, and of course, having only been up to make the start, he was sent down right after the game so the Sox could add another reliever to the pen.
But still, it wasn’t like he was the first big time pitching prospect to have a rough Major League debut, he was only 21 and there was still a bright future ahead of him, right? He went back to Portland where he made the Eastern League All-Star team and was named the Sea Dogs “Pitcher of the Year” and things were looking good.
Having seen his Major League debut I took a particular interest in his career. Unfortunately he had already reached the high point in ’04. He was promoted to Pawtucket for the ’05 season where he made a couple of appearances with the big club and another one in ’06. But he was not progressing as quickly as it was hoped he would and by 2007 it was beginning to look like his days as an elite prospect were over and his career as a Major League pitcher was even in jeopardy. He never really managed to put it all together. At the start of this year he was moved to the bullpen, and yesterday he was finally released after posting a 6.46 ERA in 13 games.
So it looks like the days of me telling Kyla that we were there for his debut as we watch him leading the Sox to World Series titles while competing for Cy Young Awards will never come.
In 2003 he was drafted as a top pitching prospect and I was there for his Major League debut on July 22nd during the magical 2004 season. It was the first game of a day/night double-header against the Orioles, so the Sox needed to bring up a starter and Abe got the call from double A. It was a hot, sticky Thursday afternoon. The game had been on the schedule for a while as it was a makeup from a rainout in April, so I had decided to make it the game for my annual trek to Fenway with Kyla and had secured tickets a month or so earlier.
It sticks out in my mind so much because when I found out that he was going to make the start, I knew that it was going to be the Major League debut of a highly touted prospect and I (and even more importantly Kyla, even if she wouldn’t remember it) might be present while history was being made. The first thing I noticed about the guy was that he was wearing his hat so that the brim was tilted to one side, something that drives me crazy. I forgave him when I found out later that he was legally blind in his left eye, it was sensitive to light, and he wore his hat this way to help keep the light out of the eye.
Unfortunately the debut did not work out as he, or the rest of Red Sox Nation had hoped. Although we got 5 innings out of him, which was all management was looking for; he gave up 8 hits, 5 walks and 5 runs in an 8-3 loss. It was not a very memorable performance, and of course, having only been up to make the start, he was sent down right after the game so the Sox could add another reliever to the pen.
But still, it wasn’t like he was the first big time pitching prospect to have a rough Major League debut, he was only 21 and there was still a bright future ahead of him, right? He went back to Portland where he made the Eastern League All-Star team and was named the Sea Dogs “Pitcher of the Year” and things were looking good.
Having seen his Major League debut I took a particular interest in his career. Unfortunately he had already reached the high point in ’04. He was promoted to Pawtucket for the ’05 season where he made a couple of appearances with the big club and another one in ’06. But he was not progressing as quickly as it was hoped he would and by 2007 it was beginning to look like his days as an elite prospect were over and his career as a Major League pitcher was even in jeopardy. He never really managed to put it all together. At the start of this year he was moved to the bullpen, and yesterday he was finally released after posting a 6.46 ERA in 13 games.
So it looks like the days of me telling Kyla that we were there for his debut as we watch him leading the Sox to World Series titles while competing for Cy Young Awards will never come.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Slump Over
David Ortiz is slowly coming out of his slump. Going into tonight's game he was 8 for 20 with 2 walks, 2 doubles and a home run over the last 7 games, good for a 1.105 OPS. That right there should be enough to convince us that the old Big Papi is back, but if anyone needs anymore proof it came tonight when he blasted a ball into the right field grandstands off of Nate Robertson, a left-handed pitcher who absolutely owned Ortiz. In 24 plate appearances, Ortiz had 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 hbp, to go along with 7 K's for a .136 BA. Welcome back Big Papi.
On a night when Papelbon and Okajima were probably not available, Tim Wakefield provided just what we needed in throwing 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball and receiving 5 runs of support from the offense for the win. I don't know why he wasn't allowed to finish it, as he was dominating having thrown only 98 pitches.
The Detroit Tigers are lucky right now. With tonight's loss they are now 14-20 on the season. Fortunately for them their biggest competition in the AL Central, the Cleveland Indians, are not doing much better at 14-17 and trailing the Yankees tonight as I wrap up this entry. Both of these teams are going to play better baseball but I still believe the Tigers are going to have a tough time trying to win that division with the pitching staff they have.
On the other side, after hitting a bit of a wall last week, we are now on a roll, winning 7 of our last 8 games and becoming the first team to reach 22 wins on the season. The starting pitching is putting it together and the offense is starting to click. Now all we need to do is figure out a way to get to Okajima and Papelbon on the days when our starters can't get to them.
On a night when Papelbon and Okajima were probably not available, Tim Wakefield provided just what we needed in throwing 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball and receiving 5 runs of support from the offense for the win. I don't know why he wasn't allowed to finish it, as he was dominating having thrown only 98 pitches.
The Detroit Tigers are lucky right now. With tonight's loss they are now 14-20 on the season. Fortunately for them their biggest competition in the AL Central, the Cleveland Indians, are not doing much better at 14-17 and trailing the Yankees tonight as I wrap up this entry. Both of these teams are going to play better baseball but I still believe the Tigers are going to have a tough time trying to win that division with the pitching staff they have.
On the other side, after hitting a bit of a wall last week, we are now on a roll, winning 7 of our last 8 games and becoming the first team to reach 22 wins on the season. The starting pitching is putting it together and the offense is starting to click. Now all we need to do is figure out a way to get to Okajima and Papelbon on the days when our starters can't get to them.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Colon To Pen?
Today was supposed to be the day that Bartolo Colon was to be promoted to the Big Leagues or have the opportunity to opt out of his contract. Because of his oblique injury he has agreed to push back the opt-out clause to June 1. There is still a good chance that he can help this team, but I wonder what would have happened if he did not agree to move back the clause and chose to opt out if he was not promoted.
This day comes a couple of days after Jon Lester’s best start in a Red Sox uniform and possibly Clay Buchholz best start as well. You might argue that his no-hitter was his best start, but some people who know about these things and watched both games, John Farrell, for one, have said that the stuff he had in his last start was even better than the stuff he had during the no-hitter. There is also the fact that he had the advantage of never having faced the Orioles before the no-hitter, whereas most of the Blue Jays hitters who faced him the other night had already faced him once before, last September. Which one of these two games was his best is debatable, but my main point here is that both of these young pitchers threw very good games in their last outings, both are showing signs of improvement and both have the potential, while still developing in the Major Leagues, to give us at least as much as Colon might give us with a much higher upside.
As it stands right now, it wouldn’t make sense to me to send one of them down, most likely Buchholz, just so we could add Colon to the Big League team instead of losing him.
Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that right now and we have another month to make that decision. A lot can happen in a month. One or more pitchers could get injured or one or both of our young pitchers could struggle and make the decision on June 1st an easy one. But it’s also possible that all 5 of our starters will stay healthy, Lester and Buchholz will continue to develop and pitch well and we will find ourselves right back in the same situation of trying to decide what to do with Colon a month from now.
What would we do then? To me it would still not make sense to send one of them down and plug Colon into the starting rotation, but what about bringing him up to plug a hole in the set up role where we clearly could use some help?
Manny Delcarmen is struggling right now. Sure it could still be the effects of the flu bug he had, but he’s not the only one that had it and everyone else seems to be over it. Maybe he just hasn’t turned the corner yet, like we thought he had. Mike Timlin is also struggling big time and as much as I love the guy, I have to admit to thinking that at 42 years old he just might be done being an effective Major League pitcher. Of course I thought that last year as well and he ended up proving me wrong. David Aardsma is doing an okay job right now, but he’s struggling with control, having already walked 11 in 13.2 innings, and he has a history of this always catching up with him.
Bartolo Colon is 34 years old, normally still young enough to succeed as a starter in the Major Leagues, but shoulder problems have limited him to a total of 29 games over the last two seasons. What’s more, those shoulder problems have caused the velocity in his 4-seamer to drop from the mid-90’s to the high 80’s-low 90’s. Colon has always had a weight problem and even when healthy over the last few seasons he has struggled with endurance. It’s possible that his arm might not be adaptable to bullpen duty, especially with the shoulder problems. But if it is, wouldn’t it make sense to give it a try?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Strange Day
What a strange day in Red Sox Nation. It started with Mike Lowell coming off the DL. It was assumed that Brandon Moss would be sent back down to make room for him, but Jacoby Ellsbury comes up with a sore groin so we need Moss to stick around. Instead, Bryan Corey gets designated for assignment for the second time in less than three weeks, after clearing waivers the first time and accepting the assignment to Pawtucket, when he could have chosen to become a free agent. Tough break for Corey. There is no way he could have taken that well, and I'll be surprised if he accepts his assignment this time.
The game started 16 minutes late because of rain, but when we finally got on with it, both Roy Halladay and Jon Lester are throwing strikes and mowing them down. I expected it from Halladay but not Lester.
With no score after eight innings, Jonathan Papelbon, who has not worked in six days, came into the game. He proceeded to strike out the first two batters and then gave up a double to Scott Rolen. Vernon Wells comes up and rips a pitch back up the middle that nearly took off Papelbon's head and was headed to center field where it was surely going to drive in Rolen from second and give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Instead, in a play reminiscent of the one he made to save Clay Buchholz' no-hitter, Dustin Pedroia dives to his right, snags the ball as it's practically by him, gets up, spins and fires it to first to nail Wells.
With two out in the ninth, David Ortiz walks. Manny Ramirez singles him to second. It would make sense to run for Big Papi, but we already know that Ellsbury is out with a sore groin. It's possible that Jed Lowrie could do it, but with Ellsbury hurting, J.D. Drew leaving the game in the third inning with a strained quad and Lowell freshly off the D.L., Terry Francona opts to keep Lowrie on the bench in case he's needed to play a position.
Youk comes to the plate and slaps one into center field that falls for a hit. There is no question that Big Papi is going to be waived home, the only question is whether he will make it in time. It's probably going to be close, but Wells bobbles it, there is no throw, Ortiz scores and the Red Sox win.
The game is played in 2 hours and 18 minutes and I'm done writing this by 10:10pm.
On a night when one of our young guys throws 8 innings of shutout ball, the Yankees only get 3.2 from Phil Hughes. He gives up 8 hits and 6 runs to raise his season ERA to 9.00. He is clearly not ready to pitch in the Major Leagues, but they really don't have anyone else to turn to.
I feel a little bad for Halladay. At least as bad as I can for a Major League Baseball player making millions of dollars a year; which is to say, not that bad at all.
This guy is a gamer, a throwback to another time. He works quick, he throws strikes and he doesn't come out of the game unless it's kicking and screaming. I would love to have him here, not just because he's a great pitcher, but because I know I would get to bed early at least every fifth day.
Anyway, the reason I almost feel bad for him, he has now thrown 4 complete games in a row and has lost the last three. Tough break.
The game started 16 minutes late because of rain, but when we finally got on with it, both Roy Halladay and Jon Lester are throwing strikes and mowing them down. I expected it from Halladay but not Lester.
With no score after eight innings, Jonathan Papelbon, who has not worked in six days, came into the game. He proceeded to strike out the first two batters and then gave up a double to Scott Rolen. Vernon Wells comes up and rips a pitch back up the middle that nearly took off Papelbon's head and was headed to center field where it was surely going to drive in Rolen from second and give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Instead, in a play reminiscent of the one he made to save Clay Buchholz' no-hitter, Dustin Pedroia dives to his right, snags the ball as it's practically by him, gets up, spins and fires it to first to nail Wells.
With two out in the ninth, David Ortiz walks. Manny Ramirez singles him to second. It would make sense to run for Big Papi, but we already know that Ellsbury is out with a sore groin. It's possible that Jed Lowrie could do it, but with Ellsbury hurting, J.D. Drew leaving the game in the third inning with a strained quad and Lowell freshly off the D.L., Terry Francona opts to keep Lowrie on the bench in case he's needed to play a position.
Youk comes to the plate and slaps one into center field that falls for a hit. There is no question that Big Papi is going to be waived home, the only question is whether he will make it in time. It's probably going to be close, but Wells bobbles it, there is no throw, Ortiz scores and the Red Sox win.
The game is played in 2 hours and 18 minutes and I'm done writing this by 10:10pm.
On a night when one of our young guys throws 8 innings of shutout ball, the Yankees only get 3.2 from Phil Hughes. He gives up 8 hits and 6 runs to raise his season ERA to 9.00. He is clearly not ready to pitch in the Major Leagues, but they really don't have anyone else to turn to.
I feel a little bad for Halladay. At least as bad as I can for a Major League Baseball player making millions of dollars a year; which is to say, not that bad at all.
This guy is a gamer, a throwback to another time. He works quick, he throws strikes and he doesn't come out of the game unless it's kicking and screaming. I would love to have him here, not just because he's a great pitcher, but because I know I would get to bed early at least every fifth day.
Anyway, the reason I almost feel bad for him, he has now thrown 4 complete games in a row and has lost the last three. Tough break.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Ray of Light
There's a reason we just got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays. Sure a big part of it is that we didn't hit, but that's not the only reason. The other part is that the Rays are good. Okay, they're not that good, but these are not your big brothers Devil Rays, the Devil Rays not having been around long enough to have been your fathers Devil Rays. In fact, they're not even the Devil Rays anymore, they're just the Rays now, and from the new insignia on their uniforms it would seem that the word "Rays" has a new meaning as well, no longer referring to the fish, but now seeming to refer to a ray of light from the sun.
The Rays have been slowly moving in the right direction over the last few years while stocking the team and farm system with good young talent from the draft, from a few key signings (Carlos Pena comes to mind immediately) and from a couple of trades, including the swindling of the Mets for Scott Kazmir.
Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and Akinori Iwamura are signed until 2010, including club options, B.J. Upton is under their control until 2012, and up and coming rookie phenom Evan Longoria just signed a 6-year contract that agents are estimating will save the Rays at least 40 million dollars over the life of the contract.
On the pitching side, they still have Kazmir under control until 2010, James Shields, one of baseballs best kept secrets is under control until 2012, and Matt Garza, the key piece in the Delmon Young deal, until 2013. There are some good arms such as Edwin Jackson, if he can ever put it all together, Andy Sonnanstine, and Jason Hammel to help out for now, and down in the minors they have some of the most highly touted pitching prospects such as David Price, Wade Davis and Jacob McGee.
Don't look now but this team is on the rise. They are no longer the whipping boys of the AL East. I'm not saying that they are going to win a World Series any time soon, but they are taking steps in the right direction. They should definitely be better than the Orioles this year and when it's all said and done, they should have a better record than a few other teams as well, at least the Royals and maybe the Rangers. It's even possible that they just might have their first winning season in team history, although it's more likely that they'll get close to .500 and have the best record in their team history.
Of course, they're still second to last in team payroll at under 44 million, and they're still struggling to find a fan base; which is understandable when you consider how many people down there are transplants from other parts of the country, most notably the northeast, where baseball is practically a religion and many of the fans are zealots, but the natives should begin to see their team gain respectability in the near future.
We should still be able to beat this team, but I think the days of assuming the win are over and the Rays are now a team to be reckoned with.
Having said all of that, it was a tough week in Red Sox Nation and hopefully the day off to get everyone healthy and get the bats and bullpen going will be just what we need.
The Rays have been slowly moving in the right direction over the last few years while stocking the team and farm system with good young talent from the draft, from a few key signings (Carlos Pena comes to mind immediately) and from a couple of trades, including the swindling of the Mets for Scott Kazmir.
Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and Akinori Iwamura are signed until 2010, including club options, B.J. Upton is under their control until 2012, and up and coming rookie phenom Evan Longoria just signed a 6-year contract that agents are estimating will save the Rays at least 40 million dollars over the life of the contract.
On the pitching side, they still have Kazmir under control until 2010, James Shields, one of baseballs best kept secrets is under control until 2012, and Matt Garza, the key piece in the Delmon Young deal, until 2013. There are some good arms such as Edwin Jackson, if he can ever put it all together, Andy Sonnanstine, and Jason Hammel to help out for now, and down in the minors they have some of the most highly touted pitching prospects such as David Price, Wade Davis and Jacob McGee.
Don't look now but this team is on the rise. They are no longer the whipping boys of the AL East. I'm not saying that they are going to win a World Series any time soon, but they are taking steps in the right direction. They should definitely be better than the Orioles this year and when it's all said and done, they should have a better record than a few other teams as well, at least the Royals and maybe the Rangers. It's even possible that they just might have their first winning season in team history, although it's more likely that they'll get close to .500 and have the best record in their team history.
Of course, they're still second to last in team payroll at under 44 million, and they're still struggling to find a fan base; which is understandable when you consider how many people down there are transplants from other parts of the country, most notably the northeast, where baseball is practically a religion and many of the fans are zealots, but the natives should begin to see their team gain respectability in the near future.
We should still be able to beat this team, but I think the days of assuming the win are over and the Rays are now a team to be reckoned with.
Having said all of that, it was a tough week in Red Sox Nation and hopefully the day off to get everyone healthy and get the bats and bullpen going will be just what we need.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Hapless Rangers
After watching this 4 game sweep of Texas I can only think of one word to describe the Rangers- hapless. Not to take anything away from what we did over these last 4 days, but the results are just as much a product of what we put on the field, as they are what the Texas Rangers put on the field. And it’s been the same thing year after year.
The Rangers always manage to put together an impressive collection of bats, but never have any pitching. You would think that sooner or later someone over there would figure out that it’s all about pitching and start trying to acquire some, but it just never seems to happen. Every year it’s the same thing, they batter their way through the schedule, and try to outslug their opponent, and more times then not they find themselves on the losing end, whether it be because the starter was terrible, the bullpen was terrible, or they were all terrible.
Nice to see Buchholz go 6 today, after only making it through 3.2 in his last outing. Even though Wakefield gave up 5 runs on Sunday, he was throwing strikes and he gave the pen a much-needed break by making it through eight. In the first 21 games of the season we’ve only had two starts that have made it into the eighth inning, Wakefield’s start on Sunday and Beckett’s start on Thursday, in which he also completed eight.
We need more outings like that from all of our pitchers. Buchholz has yet to get into the seventh inning and both Dice-K and Lester have yet to get out of the seventh inning, with too many of those outings not making it out of the fifth or sixth inning. If we keep going like that, we’re not going to have any bullpen left in July, never mind September/October.
I know it’s still early and these guys are still building up stamina, but most of the problems are stemming from the fact that they're throwing too many pitches and not that they're getting gassed too early. And this has been a problem for both Dice-K and Lester all along. These guys need to start throwing more strikes and they need to start doing it soon.
But hey, despite all of that, we’re in first place in the AL East and we’re the first team to 14 wins in the Major Leagues. Big Papi is coming around, Beckett is shaping up, the bullpen is rounding out and the offense is clicking on all cylinders. It’s all good in Red Sox Nation in April.
The Rangers always manage to put together an impressive collection of bats, but never have any pitching. You would think that sooner or later someone over there would figure out that it’s all about pitching and start trying to acquire some, but it just never seems to happen. Every year it’s the same thing, they batter their way through the schedule, and try to outslug their opponent, and more times then not they find themselves on the losing end, whether it be because the starter was terrible, the bullpen was terrible, or they were all terrible.
Nice to see Buchholz go 6 today, after only making it through 3.2 in his last outing. Even though Wakefield gave up 5 runs on Sunday, he was throwing strikes and he gave the pen a much-needed break by making it through eight. In the first 21 games of the season we’ve only had two starts that have made it into the eighth inning, Wakefield’s start on Sunday and Beckett’s start on Thursday, in which he also completed eight.
We need more outings like that from all of our pitchers. Buchholz has yet to get into the seventh inning and both Dice-K and Lester have yet to get out of the seventh inning, with too many of those outings not making it out of the fifth or sixth inning. If we keep going like that, we’re not going to have any bullpen left in July, never mind September/October.
I know it’s still early and these guys are still building up stamina, but most of the problems are stemming from the fact that they're throwing too many pitches and not that they're getting gassed too early. And this has been a problem for both Dice-K and Lester all along. These guys need to start throwing more strikes and they need to start doing it soon.
But hey, despite all of that, we’re in first place in the AL East and we’re the first team to 14 wins in the Major Leagues. Big Papi is coming around, Beckett is shaping up, the bullpen is rounding out and the offense is clicking on all cylinders. It’s all good in Red Sox Nation in April.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Double A and The Mayor
A lot of the talk today will be about Big Papi’s grand slam, Jed Lowrie’s first start at Fenway, or the fact that Dice-K got his AL leading fourth win of the season, despite the fact that he has been unable to get out of the sixth inning in any of his five starts.
So I’m going to talk about something else, in particular, two Red Sox players whose signings were not that big of a deal at the time, but they have both managed to make an impact on this team in the early going.
I’ll start with Sean Casey. On my old BostonNOW blog, which seems to be gone now, I noted at the time we signed him that it was a good move. I noted that, not only was Casey a good guy, which was already well known, but he was also a pretty good hitter (he’s currently sporting a .302 lifetime batting average) and that not only was he a good backup for both Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell, but he would also be nice insurance in case we lost one of them for any extended period of time.
Well, it didn’t take long for that to happen, as Lowell went down with the sprained thumb on April 9th, and is probably going to miss at least a couple of more weeks. No problem, Youk moved across the diamond to third and The Mayor stepped into the game at first and went 2-4 with a run scored. In 9 games since Lowell’s injury, Casey is batting .354 with an OBP of .444. He’s been on base 16 times, has scored 5 runs and driven in 6. Not only that, but he’s fun to watch. Every time they show this guy he’s got a smile on his face and his mouth is moving. He’s always talking to someone, whether it’s an umpire, an opposing player, or a teammate, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else having as much fun playing Major League baseball as Sean Casey seems to be having. We want, and need Mike Lowell back, but having The Mayor around until that happens is making it a lot easier.
For a guy who’s only 26, David Aardsma has been around. He’s already been traded 3 times, starting in San Francisco and playing for both Chicago teams. The good news is he’s got two good pitches, a mid 90’s fastball and an above average slider. The bad news is that he struggles with his control and, although he projects as a good set up man, he’s never been able to put it together, resulting in 3 teams giving up on him.
He’s still having some control problems, walking 8 and hitting a batter in 11 innings so far this year, but he’s also struck out 9 (a regular Nuke Laloosh), and although he’s gotten himself into some trouble, like last night, he’s also gotten himself out of it most of the time. Terry Francona has trusted him in a couple of key situations so far this year, and he’s responded well. It’s still early, and Aardsma started off well with the White Sox last season before completely losing it, but maybe he’s finally going to put it together and become the reliever that many scouts thought he was capable of becoming. He’ll definitely have to cut down the walks though. It would certainly be nice to have another weapon in the bullpen for this year and for the long-term, and David Aardsma could just be that guy.
So I’m going to talk about something else, in particular, two Red Sox players whose signings were not that big of a deal at the time, but they have both managed to make an impact on this team in the early going.
I’ll start with Sean Casey. On my old BostonNOW blog, which seems to be gone now, I noted at the time we signed him that it was a good move. I noted that, not only was Casey a good guy, which was already well known, but he was also a pretty good hitter (he’s currently sporting a .302 lifetime batting average) and that not only was he a good backup for both Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell, but he would also be nice insurance in case we lost one of them for any extended period of time.
Well, it didn’t take long for that to happen, as Lowell went down with the sprained thumb on April 9th, and is probably going to miss at least a couple of more weeks. No problem, Youk moved across the diamond to third and The Mayor stepped into the game at first and went 2-4 with a run scored. In 9 games since Lowell’s injury, Casey is batting .354 with an OBP of .444. He’s been on base 16 times, has scored 5 runs and driven in 6. Not only that, but he’s fun to watch. Every time they show this guy he’s got a smile on his face and his mouth is moving. He’s always talking to someone, whether it’s an umpire, an opposing player, or a teammate, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else having as much fun playing Major League baseball as Sean Casey seems to be having. We want, and need Mike Lowell back, but having The Mayor around until that happens is making it a lot easier.
For a guy who’s only 26, David Aardsma has been around. He’s already been traded 3 times, starting in San Francisco and playing for both Chicago teams. The good news is he’s got two good pitches, a mid 90’s fastball and an above average slider. The bad news is that he struggles with his control and, although he projects as a good set up man, he’s never been able to put it together, resulting in 3 teams giving up on him.
He’s still having some control problems, walking 8 and hitting a batter in 11 innings so far this year, but he’s also struck out 9 (a regular Nuke Laloosh), and although he’s gotten himself into some trouble, like last night, he’s also gotten himself out of it most of the time. Terry Francona has trusted him in a couple of key situations so far this year, and he’s responded well. It’s still early, and Aardsma started off well with the White Sox last season before completely losing it, but maybe he’s finally going to put it together and become the reliever that many scouts thought he was capable of becoming. He’ll definitely have to cut down the walks though. It would certainly be nice to have another weapon in the bullpen for this year and for the long-term, and David Aardsma could just be that guy.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Black Jack, Sopranos Style
Last night I had another strange dream that I remembered. I was a member of Tony Soprano’s crew and we were at a meeting. There were 7 or 8 of us sitting around a table and the meeting started off with us all laughing as we watched a news report citing the death of former mob boss Corrado “Junior” Soprano, even though Junior was standing directly behind Tony, who was sitting at the head of the table, right at that moment.
Besides Junior and Tony, the only other member I recognized was Christopher Moltisanti. The meeting went on for a few minutes and I don’t remember anything we talked about. When it was over most of the group got up and walked out, with the exception of the guy sitting across from me at the end of the table. He challenged me to a card game, and when Moltisanti heard the challenge, he came over to join us.
Motisanti sat down across from me to the right of the unnamed guy. We were playing for pretty big stakes; it was a $5 buy in. “No Name” dealt, the game was Black Jack and for some reason, Moltisanti, sitting to his right, had the first bet. He went all in and we both called him, so this was going to be a short game. Moltisanti took a hit and busted. No name took a hit and stayed. I took a hit and also busted.
“No Name” collected the money and started to get up without showing us his hand. As we pressed him, he held onto his cards and refused to show them. We finally forced them out of his hands and took a look. He had also busted.
In a normal card game among normal friends this probably would have never happened in the first place. But if it had, there would have been some yelling, and maybe the other guys would have held a grudge for a day or two, before he was forgiven.
But this wasn’t a normal card game; this was a card game in the world of The Sopranos, so you know there was only one way this was going to end. That’s right, Chrissy and I beat the holy crap out of the guy, and then walked out of the room laughing about it, as we left “No Name” lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
I’m not sure if I woke up after that or not, but that’s it, that’s all I remember.
Besides Junior and Tony, the only other member I recognized was Christopher Moltisanti. The meeting went on for a few minutes and I don’t remember anything we talked about. When it was over most of the group got up and walked out, with the exception of the guy sitting across from me at the end of the table. He challenged me to a card game, and when Moltisanti heard the challenge, he came over to join us.
Motisanti sat down across from me to the right of the unnamed guy. We were playing for pretty big stakes; it was a $5 buy in. “No Name” dealt, the game was Black Jack and for some reason, Moltisanti, sitting to his right, had the first bet. He went all in and we both called him, so this was going to be a short game. Moltisanti took a hit and busted. No name took a hit and stayed. I took a hit and also busted.
“No Name” collected the money and started to get up without showing us his hand. As we pressed him, he held onto his cards and refused to show them. We finally forced them out of his hands and took a look. He had also busted.
In a normal card game among normal friends this probably would have never happened in the first place. But if it had, there would have been some yelling, and maybe the other guys would have held a grudge for a day or two, before he was forgiven.
But this wasn’t a normal card game; this was a card game in the world of The Sopranos, so you know there was only one way this was going to end. That’s right, Chrissy and I beat the holy crap out of the guy, and then walked out of the room laughing about it, as we left “No Name” lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
I’m not sure if I woke up after that or not, but that’s it, that’s all I remember.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Back To School Nightmare
I know, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. I moved all of my Red Sox/baseball stuff to here, and I’ve been spending all of my blogging time over there since. I never intended to abandon this one, I just haven’t seen or experienced much lately that has inspired me to blog about. Hopefully that will change as I had my first inspiration in a while this morning.
They say that your dreams have meaning and are usually related to something you may have been thinking about recently, or at least I think they do. Kyla started school yesterday and the thought of having to help her with all of that first grade homework has been terrifying to me. This may have been the inspiration for this dream.
Usually when I have the “back to school nightmare”, I’m back in high school and I’m not a teenager, I’m my adult self. This time, although I was my 40 year old adult self, I was not in high school, I found myself sitting at a desk in the front row of a 4th grade classroom. I’m not really sure why it was 4th grade, but that’s where I was.
The teacher told us to take out our math books and complete all the problems on a certain page. No problem I figured, it’s 4th grade math, and besides, all the answers are in the back of the book, how difficult can it be? Well, it becomes very difficult when you realize that you don’t have your book, and instead of just admitting this to the teacher, you decide to try to fake your way through it. It’s even more difficult when you’re attempting this feat while sitting in the front row, directly in front of the teacher’s desk.
Somehow I managed to do it. The teacher never moved from her desk and never questioned the fact that I did not have my math book in front of me as I spent a grueling 45 minutes sweating it out and scribbling on a piece of paper. As the end of class neared, everyone had to pass their work up to the front row. As I collected all the work in my row, I crumbled up my own “work” and put it in my pocket. I then went up to the teacher’s desk with the stack of everyone else’s work, handed it to her as the bell rang, and then booked it out of the classroom.
Phew! I had done it. I faked my way through the entire class, much like I had done throughout most of high school; which is probably the reason why I usually have these nightmares in the first place, as I’m subconsciously afraid that all of that faking is going to come back and bite me in the ass someday.
Anyway, I faked my way through the entire 45 minutes, fooled the teacher into believing I had done the work, and got out of there without her ever knowing the difference. It was almost too easy; maybe being a 40 year old 4th grader isn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.
They say that your dreams have meaning and are usually related to something you may have been thinking about recently, or at least I think they do. Kyla started school yesterday and the thought of having to help her with all of that first grade homework has been terrifying to me. This may have been the inspiration for this dream.
Usually when I have the “back to school nightmare”, I’m back in high school and I’m not a teenager, I’m my adult self. This time, although I was my 40 year old adult self, I was not in high school, I found myself sitting at a desk in the front row of a 4th grade classroom. I’m not really sure why it was 4th grade, but that’s where I was.
The teacher told us to take out our math books and complete all the problems on a certain page. No problem I figured, it’s 4th grade math, and besides, all the answers are in the back of the book, how difficult can it be? Well, it becomes very difficult when you realize that you don’t have your book, and instead of just admitting this to the teacher, you decide to try to fake your way through it. It’s even more difficult when you’re attempting this feat while sitting in the front row, directly in front of the teacher’s desk.
Somehow I managed to do it. The teacher never moved from her desk and never questioned the fact that I did not have my math book in front of me as I spent a grueling 45 minutes sweating it out and scribbling on a piece of paper. As the end of class neared, everyone had to pass their work up to the front row. As I collected all the work in my row, I crumbled up my own “work” and put it in my pocket. I then went up to the teacher’s desk with the stack of everyone else’s work, handed it to her as the bell rang, and then booked it out of the classroom.
Phew! I had done it. I faked my way through the entire class, much like I had done throughout most of high school; which is probably the reason why I usually have these nightmares in the first place, as I’m subconsciously afraid that all of that faking is going to come back and bite me in the ass someday.
Anyway, I faked my way through the entire 45 minutes, fooled the teacher into believing I had done the work, and got out of there without her ever knowing the difference. It was almost too easy; maybe being a 40 year old 4th grader isn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.
Friday, July 06, 2007
.00014575% Jesus
Currently there are 6,861 songs on my main iPod playlist that I play randomly.
Earlier today, as I was cooling down from my workout, I noticed the old Springsteen Storytellers special from 2005 was on one of the high def channels, so I flipped it on and watched it for a few minutes. After he played "Jesus Was An Only Son" I got up to take a shower.
I went into the bathroom, popped the iPod into the iHome player and hit the playlist. Guess what song came on? If you guessed "Jesus Was An Only Son" you would be correct. According to my calculations there was a .00014575% chance of that happening.
I'm wondering if Jesus, or maybe Bruce, was trying to send me a message of some sort that I missed.
Earlier today, as I was cooling down from my workout, I noticed the old Springsteen Storytellers special from 2005 was on one of the high def channels, so I flipped it on and watched it for a few minutes. After he played "Jesus Was An Only Son" I got up to take a shower.
I went into the bathroom, popped the iPod into the iHome player and hit the playlist. Guess what song came on? If you guessed "Jesus Was An Only Son" you would be correct. According to my calculations there was a .00014575% chance of that happening.
I'm wondering if Jesus, or maybe Bruce, was trying to send me a message of some sort that I missed.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Patriot or Idiot?
At about 4am this morning someone in my neighborhood set off some fireworks. It happened again around 5am. To me this is not patriotic, it's idiotic. Some of us had to get up and go to work this morning. What a bunch of ass holes.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Blood On My Guitar
My company held a blood drive today at our building. I remember a long time ago trying to donate blood and being rejected. I could not remember why I was rejected, but I’ve had it in my head ever since that I am unable to give blood.
Seeing as it was the “Safety Committee” that was sponsoring the blood drive, and I’m a member, I figured it was my duty to try to give blood again. Actually it was more to spare myself the embarrassment of showing up at our next meeting having not given blood at the event that our committee was sponsoring.
So, I went out to the truck and got started with the tests. The first test they do is to prick your finger and take a small sample of blood to make sure there is enough iron in it, which I passed. Next was to take my temperature, which was normal. As the phlebotomist was taking my blood pressure it suddenly dawned on me why I was rejected the last time I tried to give blood.
I’ve been battling high blood pressure for my entire adult life. It’s always been right around the borderline of high, sometimes a little below, sometimes a little above. Today was a high day and I was rejected, again.
You may be asking yourself, what the hell does any of this have to do with blood on my guitar? Well, the first test they did involved pricking my finger. When I got home tonight and started playing guitar the little prick hole started to bleed. I then realized that I was unable to give blood and I had been pricked for nothing.
Why don’t they take your blood pressure before they give you the prick?
Seeing as it was the “Safety Committee” that was sponsoring the blood drive, and I’m a member, I figured it was my duty to try to give blood again. Actually it was more to spare myself the embarrassment of showing up at our next meeting having not given blood at the event that our committee was sponsoring.
So, I went out to the truck and got started with the tests. The first test they do is to prick your finger and take a small sample of blood to make sure there is enough iron in it, which I passed. Next was to take my temperature, which was normal. As the phlebotomist was taking my blood pressure it suddenly dawned on me why I was rejected the last time I tried to give blood.
I’ve been battling high blood pressure for my entire adult life. It’s always been right around the borderline of high, sometimes a little below, sometimes a little above. Today was a high day and I was rejected, again.
You may be asking yourself, what the hell does any of this have to do with blood on my guitar? Well, the first test they did involved pricking my finger. When I got home tonight and started playing guitar the little prick hole started to bleed. I then realized that I was unable to give blood and I had been pricked for nothing.
Why don’t they take your blood pressure before they give you the prick?
Friday, April 20, 2007
When Will They Learn?
I was watching one of Kyla’s kid shows with her yesterday. A high school kid takes an interest in a girl in the school. Instead of just approaching her and starting a conversation, he decides to find out what she’s interested in and then pretends to have the same interests.
He shows up in her karate class and proceeds to get decked by her on her first move. He then gets involved in a conversation with her in which he lies to her about horseback riding and gets her to believe that he knows French by repeating the one phrase he learned.
When will men learn? Don’t these TV characters watch TV? Don’t they see that these types of things never work out? You can not build a relationship that is based on lies. In this case, as in most, it will only be a matter of days before she finds out that she can beat him up with one hand, that the only horse he’s ever ridden was plastic and attached to a pole, and that the only other French phrase he knows is "Le Pew", thanks to the cartoon skunk.
Do guys actually try this in real life? I never did, I wasn’t all that bright when it came to women back then, but I was smart enough to know that something like that wasn’t going to work. My strategy was the exact opposite, I always told them the truth.
That didn’t seem to work out very well either though. Apparently most women did not like to hear what I was “interested in”. I guess the truth hurts; maybe I should have lied to them.
He shows up in her karate class and proceeds to get decked by her on her first move. He then gets involved in a conversation with her in which he lies to her about horseback riding and gets her to believe that he knows French by repeating the one phrase he learned.
When will men learn? Don’t these TV characters watch TV? Don’t they see that these types of things never work out? You can not build a relationship that is based on lies. In this case, as in most, it will only be a matter of days before she finds out that she can beat him up with one hand, that the only horse he’s ever ridden was plastic and attached to a pole, and that the only other French phrase he knows is "Le Pew", thanks to the cartoon skunk.
Do guys actually try this in real life? I never did, I wasn’t all that bright when it came to women back then, but I was smart enough to know that something like that wasn’t going to work. My strategy was the exact opposite, I always told them the truth.
That didn’t seem to work out very well either though. Apparently most women did not like to hear what I was “interested in”. I guess the truth hurts; maybe I should have lied to them.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Buy These Tickets or I'll Kill You
According to this article, a convicted murderer was arrested for scalping tickets outside Fenway last night. Listed among the contents found is his pockets were the following:
What a dumbass, did he really think that he was going to actually make money on those 16 Celtic tickets?
two tickets to a Red Sox game against the New York Yankees on June 2; three tickets for a Toronto Blue Jays game on July 13; and 16 tickets for Wednesday night's Celtics game against the Philadelphia 76ers
What a dumbass, did he really think that he was going to actually make money on those 16 Celtic tickets?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Backup Caused By Lost Load
This morning as I was getting ready for work, I saw this headline on the news. My first instinct was to think, “That’s not right, a lost load should be clearing a backup, not causing one.” At least that’s always been my experience.
Then the story came on, a tractor-trailer rolled over on I-495, spilling its contents all over the road and causing a traffic jam.
That’s when I realized that it’s all in the context.
That’s also when I realized that it could go either way in the context that I had in mind when I first saw it. Sure a lost load could clear out a backup in the place it is lost from, but it could also cause a backup in the place that received it. I know plenty of mine certainly have.
Then the story came on, a tractor-trailer rolled over on I-495, spilling its contents all over the road and causing a traffic jam.
That’s when I realized that it’s all in the context.
That’s also when I realized that it could go either way in the context that I had in mind when I first saw it. Sure a lost load could clear out a backup in the place it is lost from, but it could also cause a backup in the place that received it. I know plenty of mine certainly have.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Ain't Isn't a Word
It ain’t? At least that’s what I was always taught. However as I was perusing my list of songs on my iPod I noticed that there were quite a few of them that had the word “ain’t” in the title.
And after doing a search for the word, I found a total of 40 songs. And those are just song titles, the number of songs that use the word somewhere in the song is uncountable.
I decided to look the word up in my trusty on-line dictionary (I never go anywhere without it, well I never go anywhere where there’s an internet connection without it) and here’s what I found:
ain’t
So, you can say that ain’t ain’t a word if you want to, but you ain’t gonna convince me that it ain’t.
Oh and don’t even start with the word “gonna”, because I found that one in there too.
And after doing a search for the word, I found a total of 40 songs. And those are just song titles, the number of songs that use the word somewhere in the song is uncountable.
I decided to look the word up in my trusty on-line dictionary (I never go anywhere without it, well I never go anywhere where there’s an internet connection without it) and here’s what I found:
ain’t
So, you can say that ain’t ain’t a word if you want to, but you ain’t gonna convince me that it ain’t.
Oh and don’t even start with the word “gonna”, because I found that one in there too.
Friday, March 30, 2007
My Childhood Crushes Are Getting Old
This morning I woke up with this sudden realization: all of my first childhood crushes are old now.
One of the very first that I can remember, way back when I was a wee tot of 6 or 7 in the early 70’s was Emmy Jo on the “New Zoo Revue”. I used to love watching her dancing around and singing with Doug, Freddy, Charlie, and Henrietta. Emily Peden turns 63 this year.
Next in 1976, came one of my all time Saturday morning favorites, I still get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it to this day, “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl”. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do when I saw Electra Woman dressed up in all that tight spandex, but I knew I wanted to do something, the same with Dyna Girl and her pony tails. Deidre Hall turns 60 this year.
At the same time that spandex was ruling my Saturday mornings, 3 new women were coming into my life on the weeknights.
First, was Wonder Woman, tall, dark, and gorgeous, scantily clad in her red, white, and blue costume, complete with high healed boots and bullet deflecting wrist bands, oh my, how I wanted her to tie me up with that magic lasso. Lynda Carter turns 56 this year.
Kelly Garrett was always my favorite “Angel”, and the only one to stick around for the entire 5 year run. I don’t know how that Bosley managed to control himself while constantly being surrounded by so many hot P.I.’s. Jaclyn Smith turns 60 this year.
Steve Austin was cool, especially when you were a 7 year old boy. But once I met his girlfriend, Jaime Summers, I no longer gave a rat’s ass about “The Six Million Dollar Man”. Oh I still watched it, but “The Bionic Woman” was the one for me. Lindsay
Wagner turns 58 this year.
Those are some of my firsts, all of them now into their late 50’s and early 60’s, and still looking great I might add (although I could not find any recent photo’s of Emily Peden), but still getting up there in age and serving as a gentle reminder of my own mortality.
One of the very first that I can remember, way back when I was a wee tot of 6 or 7 in the early 70’s was Emmy Jo on the “New Zoo Revue”. I used to love watching her dancing around and singing with Doug, Freddy, Charlie, and Henrietta. Emily Peden turns 63 this year.
Next in 1976, came one of my all time Saturday morning favorites, I still get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it to this day, “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl”. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do when I saw Electra Woman dressed up in all that tight spandex, but I knew I wanted to do something, the same with Dyna Girl and her pony tails. Deidre Hall turns 60 this year.
At the same time that spandex was ruling my Saturday mornings, 3 new women were coming into my life on the weeknights.
First, was Wonder Woman, tall, dark, and gorgeous, scantily clad in her red, white, and blue costume, complete with high healed boots and bullet deflecting wrist bands, oh my, how I wanted her to tie me up with that magic lasso. Lynda Carter turns 56 this year.
Kelly Garrett was always my favorite “Angel”, and the only one to stick around for the entire 5 year run. I don’t know how that Bosley managed to control himself while constantly being surrounded by so many hot P.I.’s. Jaclyn Smith turns 60 this year.
Steve Austin was cool, especially when you were a 7 year old boy. But once I met his girlfriend, Jaime Summers, I no longer gave a rat’s ass about “The Six Million Dollar Man”. Oh I still watched it, but “The Bionic Woman” was the one for me. Lindsay
Wagner turns 58 this year.
Those are some of my firsts, all of them now into their late 50’s and early 60’s, and still looking great I might add (although I could not find any recent photo’s of Emily Peden), but still getting up there in age and serving as a gentle reminder of my own mortality.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Flaws of Kong
I finally got around to seeing Peter Jackson’s remake of “King Kong”. Overall, I enjoyed the film, most of the special effects were dazzling, but there were a couple of scenes that just looked a little too hokey to me, the “Brontosaurus Run” for example. Andy Serkis was amazing again, this time, for all intents and purposes, becoming a gorilla.
It is an admirable remake with more depth, Jackson stayed true to the original 1933 version right down to its flaws. To me there were 3 major flaws in this story, there are actually many more than that, but there are 3 big ones that stand out to me.
The first one is; how did they get a 25 foot, who knows how many tons, giant gorilla onto that ship? The answer is, I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, because they never showed it. In both versions of the movie it skips right over that scene, going from the scene where Kong is subdued on Skull Island, right back to New York and the opening night of the show.
Sure the argument can be made that it was skipped over for time constraints, but I think it’s fairly important to the story. If you’re not going to show me how they did it, then at least tell me at some point.
I mentioned something similar in this entry, watching a fantasy movie like this, you have to have a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, but for me, that suspension can only go so far.
If you want to tell me that somewhere on this earth there is an island inhabited by giant insects and rodents, prehistoric creatures, a 25 foot gorilla, and a bunch of savage natives who worship it, I’m down with that. You don’t have to do much talking to convince me that it’s out there. But if you’re going to tell me that a bunch of sailors, a movie producer, and an actor in the 1930’s, somehow managed to pick up that gorilla and put it onto the ship, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna need some proof. Like I said, if you’re not going to show me how it was done, then you at least have to tell me.
The second flaw to me is this: its night time and the Broadway show starring Kong is beginning. The actual start time of the show is not noted, but I’m assuming that it has to be sometime around 8 or 9 pm. About twenty minutes into the show, Kong breaks free and goes on his rampage in Manhattan. Approximately a half an hour later he climbs the Empire State Building.
About an hour elapses from the time the Broadway show begins to the time that Kong gets to the top of the Empire State Building. It doesn’t seem to me that they are implying that any more time than this goes by, yet Kong and Darrow watch the sun rise together from the top of the building. Soon after that it is full daylight when the bi-planes arrive and begin to attack. What did I miss here? By my estimations this movie went from 8-9 pm to 5-6 am in the span of an hour. Can someone please explain that one to me?
The third and final flaw to me is the most egregious. A bunch of people discover an island inhabited by giant insects and rodents, prehistoric creatures, and a 25 foot gorilla. They manage to capture the gorilla and bring it back to the states. The reason for this would seem to be greed, at least in Carl Denham’s case, as it is all about the fame and fortune for him. It is never really stated why the rest of them agreed to it, but it is assumed that it was for the money as well.
This is all well and good, bringing a giant gorilla back to the states and putting it on display for the entire world to see is certainly going to be a money maker. But here’s what I don’t get, why the hell didn’t any of them tell anyone else about this island? Denham tells a story about how they found Kong on an island, subdued him, and brought him back, but he never makes any mention at all about what else occupied the island. Didn’t it occur to any of them that people are going to want to know about this place? If they were motivated by money, I have to believe that someone would have been willing to pay them big bucks for the location of Skull Island and the existence of its other occupants.
It couldn’t have been that they were afraid that no one would believe them; after all, they just brought a 25 foot gorilla back from the place. That right there should be enough to convince someone to go check it out. What have they got to lose? Even if no one is willing to give them any money until after they see it for themselves, the worst case scenario is that they never get paid, but by not telling anyone, they guarantee that they never make any money from it.
And that’s assuming that greed is the only motivation. I have to think that at least one of the other people on that ship is going to think that it’s probably a good idea to let people know that this place exists, regardless of whether or not he can make any money from it. I think that I would have anyway.
It is an admirable remake with more depth, Jackson stayed true to the original 1933 version right down to its flaws. To me there were 3 major flaws in this story, there are actually many more than that, but there are 3 big ones that stand out to me.
The first one is; how did they get a 25 foot, who knows how many tons, giant gorilla onto that ship? The answer is, I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, because they never showed it. In both versions of the movie it skips right over that scene, going from the scene where Kong is subdued on Skull Island, right back to New York and the opening night of the show.
Sure the argument can be made that it was skipped over for time constraints, but I think it’s fairly important to the story. If you’re not going to show me how they did it, then at least tell me at some point.
I mentioned something similar in this entry, watching a fantasy movie like this, you have to have a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, but for me, that suspension can only go so far.
If you want to tell me that somewhere on this earth there is an island inhabited by giant insects and rodents, prehistoric creatures, a 25 foot gorilla, and a bunch of savage natives who worship it, I’m down with that. You don’t have to do much talking to convince me that it’s out there. But if you’re going to tell me that a bunch of sailors, a movie producer, and an actor in the 1930’s, somehow managed to pick up that gorilla and put it onto the ship, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna need some proof. Like I said, if you’re not going to show me how it was done, then you at least have to tell me.
The second flaw to me is this: its night time and the Broadway show starring Kong is beginning. The actual start time of the show is not noted, but I’m assuming that it has to be sometime around 8 or 9 pm. About twenty minutes into the show, Kong breaks free and goes on his rampage in Manhattan. Approximately a half an hour later he climbs the Empire State Building.
About an hour elapses from the time the Broadway show begins to the time that Kong gets to the top of the Empire State Building. It doesn’t seem to me that they are implying that any more time than this goes by, yet Kong and Darrow watch the sun rise together from the top of the building. Soon after that it is full daylight when the bi-planes arrive and begin to attack. What did I miss here? By my estimations this movie went from 8-9 pm to 5-6 am in the span of an hour. Can someone please explain that one to me?
The third and final flaw to me is the most egregious. A bunch of people discover an island inhabited by giant insects and rodents, prehistoric creatures, and a 25 foot gorilla. They manage to capture the gorilla and bring it back to the states. The reason for this would seem to be greed, at least in Carl Denham’s case, as it is all about the fame and fortune for him. It is never really stated why the rest of them agreed to it, but it is assumed that it was for the money as well.
This is all well and good, bringing a giant gorilla back to the states and putting it on display for the entire world to see is certainly going to be a money maker. But here’s what I don’t get, why the hell didn’t any of them tell anyone else about this island? Denham tells a story about how they found Kong on an island, subdued him, and brought him back, but he never makes any mention at all about what else occupied the island. Didn’t it occur to any of them that people are going to want to know about this place? If they were motivated by money, I have to believe that someone would have been willing to pay them big bucks for the location of Skull Island and the existence of its other occupants.
It couldn’t have been that they were afraid that no one would believe them; after all, they just brought a 25 foot gorilla back from the place. That right there should be enough to convince someone to go check it out. What have they got to lose? Even if no one is willing to give them any money until after they see it for themselves, the worst case scenario is that they never get paid, but by not telling anyone, they guarantee that they never make any money from it.
And that’s assuming that greed is the only motivation. I have to think that at least one of the other people on that ship is going to think that it’s probably a good idea to let people know that this place exists, regardless of whether or not he can make any money from it. I think that I would have anyway.
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