Friday, June 30, 2006

Boston Sports Update

The Red Sox won their 12th straight game last night in a solid, all-around performance. In a matchup of two 200 game winners the result was the pitching duel we had hoped for the night before, Curt Schilling with 201 wins versus Tom Glavine with 286 wins. My friend AA was at this game. You can see his report at http://bosox-tavern.blogspot.com/ (I attended a game in Anaheim between the Angels and Red Sox on 7/27/86, which was the first matchup of 300 game winners in a very long time, Seaver vs. Sutton, which the Sox lost 3-0. They always lost when I went to Anaheim)

The Red Sox have won 12 straight games, have tied the major league record of 16 straight games without an error and in large part have played the kind of baseball that purists like myself enjoy the most...solid pitching, excellent defense, timely hitting, doing the little things that win ballgames. An example, Coco Crisp leads off the 6th win a bunt single, steals 2nd, is sacrificed to 3rd by Gonzalez and is brought home on a sacrifice fly by Youkilis. The Red Sox winning with "small ball"...can you imagine?!

Freddie Sanchez hit a game-winning homer for the Pirates last night. It seems that the first time I've heard his name mentioned since shortly after he was traded from the Sox. Was that part of the Arroyo deal?

The Celtics traded away the 7th pick in the draft the other night in a deal essentially of Lafrentz for Telfair, and then drafted another point guard later in the first round, Rajon Rondo from Kentucky. Do they plan on keeping one or both of these guys or were these players brought in as ammunition in a rumored Allen Iverson trade? Would you want Iverson in a Celtic uniform? Well, no one plays harder ("we're talking about practice") and wants to win more. You can't get near the top of the NBA without two studs, but would Iverson work well with incumbent go-to man Paul Pierce?

The Boston Bruins named Dave Lewis as the 27th head coach in team history. Seems like the 20th in the last five years. He has the pedigree of having played for the Islanders under Al Arbour and coached Stanley Cup winning teams in Detroit under Scotty Bowman. Last week with the #5 pick in the draft they drafted a youngster who many thought was the #1 pick last year if he'd come out then, Phil Kessel. Obviously this team is full of holes and has been seemingly directionless the last few years. Are they at least now on the right path? Maybe, but this ownership group has shown over and over they know how to screw things up when it's headed in the right direction.