Gee, those commentators sure found him dominant. (snickers)
What can I say? I'm officially jumping on the Postseason Beckett Bandwagon. That was simply fantastic.
For those who don't know, Josh managed to pitch a four-hit complete game shutout and to finish in time for me to still go to my Japan Club meeting on time. He's efficient and courteous! He was also rather amusing - one shot captured him smiling as he and Varitek selected which pitch to use. I'd never seen him smile on the mound before, but Tek obviously chose something interesting, because Josh gave him this thin smile and shook his head a bit.
I will admit that I found this strangely attractive.
I still have my favorites, though, one of whom I was a tad disappointed with tonight. Dustin, wait for your pitch, okay, sweetheart? I have a feeling he was nervous and felt like he had to establish himself all over again, then went out and ended up trying too hard. Luckily, Youk covered him pretty well (his first postseason hit landed in the Monster seats, so...yeah). (Youk's actually going to blog along with the playoffs, so you can keep up with him here.) Either way, he'll get it together. He always does, which is one of my favorite things about him - he genuinely works for everything, and it shows. And I counted: the TBS announcers, who really weren't all that spectacular (to say the least), said Pedroia was the AL Rookie of the Year three times at the beginning of the game. At least they got that right. Normally I hate hearing the same thing over and over, because it sounds like the commentators have nothing else to talk about it, but in this case I actually grinned, pointed at my television and shouted, "Say it again! Say it again!"
I love that kid.
In related news, the Rockies beat the Phillies 4-2 (in Philadelphia, at that). What a juggernaut Colorado is becoming of late. This will make my Mets-loving family quite happy. The Yankees and Indians play tomorrow, and I'll be watching because a Wang-Sabathia showdown sounds too good to miss. (The Beckett-Wang showdown was quite lovely, anyway, especially because Josh won for us.) I am currently watching the Cubs-Diamondbacks game, so I may edit this entry if I feel inclined when the game is over to post the final scores.
Here's what we have so far:
Rockies defeat Phillies, 4-2 (Rockies lead series 1-0)
Red Sox defeat Angels, 4-0 (Red Sox lead series 1-0)
Diamondbacks defeat Cubs, 3-1 (Diamondbacks lead series 1-0)
EDIT: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think ESPN messed up on one of their photo feeds. I'm pretty sure that Papelbon is talking to Beckett here, not Buchholz.
Oh, and J.D. Drew's brother, Stephen, is hauling ass out in Arizona right now. He's given the D-Backs a one-run lead on a homer an inning or two ago. The Cubs and Diamondbacks fans are also lucky because one of the people commentating that game is Ron Darling. I am from a Mets family and have heard Ron commentate, and he actually does a good job. I'm so jealous.
For those who don't know, Josh managed to pitch a four-hit complete game shutout and to finish in time for me to still go to my Japan Club meeting on time. He's efficient and courteous! He was also rather amusing - one shot captured him smiling as he and Varitek selected which pitch to use. I'd never seen him smile on the mound before, but Tek obviously chose something interesting, because Josh gave him this thin smile and shook his head a bit.
I will admit that I found this strangely attractive.
I still have my favorites, though, one of whom I was a tad disappointed with tonight. Dustin, wait for your pitch, okay, sweetheart? I have a feeling he was nervous and felt like he had to establish himself all over again, then went out and ended up trying too hard. Luckily, Youk covered him pretty well (his first postseason hit landed in the Monster seats, so...yeah). (Youk's actually going to blog along with the playoffs, so you can keep up with him here.) Either way, he'll get it together. He always does, which is one of my favorite things about him - he genuinely works for everything, and it shows. And I counted: the TBS announcers, who really weren't all that spectacular (to say the least), said Pedroia was the AL Rookie of the Year three times at the beginning of the game. At least they got that right. Normally I hate hearing the same thing over and over, because it sounds like the commentators have nothing else to talk about it, but in this case I actually grinned, pointed at my television and shouted, "Say it again! Say it again!"
I love that kid.
In related news, the Rockies beat the Phillies 4-2 (in Philadelphia, at that). What a juggernaut Colorado is becoming of late. This will make my Mets-loving family quite happy. The Yankees and Indians play tomorrow, and I'll be watching because a Wang-Sabathia showdown sounds too good to miss. (The Beckett-Wang showdown was quite lovely, anyway, especially because Josh won for us.) I am currently watching the Cubs-Diamondbacks game, so I may edit this entry if I feel inclined when the game is over to post the final scores.
Here's what we have so far:
Rockies defeat Phillies, 4-2 (Rockies lead series 1-0)
Red Sox defeat Angels, 4-0 (Red Sox lead series 1-0)
Diamondbacks defeat Cubs, 3-1 (Diamondbacks lead series 1-0)
EDIT: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think ESPN messed up on one of their photo feeds. I'm pretty sure that Papelbon is talking to Beckett here, not Buchholz.
Oh, and J.D. Drew's brother, Stephen, is hauling ass out in Arizona right now. He's given the D-Backs a one-run lead on a homer an inning or two ago. The Cubs and Diamondbacks fans are also lucky because one of the people commentating that game is Ron Darling. I am from a Mets family and have heard Ron commentate, and he actually does a good job. I'm so jealous.