Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) since it is funded by Federal tax dollars really should be called the American Center for Disease Control. Yes I am advocating for a name change to ACDC... I agree that Keith Foulke does not get the credit he deserves for the Red Sox 2004 post season success... My Wu-Tang Clan name is Chris... ACDC - Dirty Diseases Done Dirt Cheap... The US is $40 trillion richer than China. $40 trillion!!... If I ever met Gwyneth Paltrow - I would tell her how much I loved her on Friends just to try and tick her off... I've said this before but I'd love to see the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy be renamed as the Red Auerbach NBA Championship Trophy... Have to agree that the Vikings look like the real winners in the latest Percy Harvin trade... If you are interested I like Cal getting 7 points at home today vs UCLA... ACDC - For those About to Fight Ebola (We Salute You)...
Chris Lynch's slanted view on sports, politics and entertainment. Please send thoughts or comments to chris.lynch@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Keith Foulke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keith Foulke. Show all posts
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Friday, September 28, 2012
Keith Foulke
Gordon Edes has a very nice column catching up with 2004 playoff hero Keith Foulke. Many Red Sox fans feel that Foulke was the real playoff MVP in 2004 though those official honors went to Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.
One follow up question I wish Edes had asked though is if Foulke would have had the knee surgery in Spring training of 2005 if Doctor Bill Morgan were still the Red Sox medical director instead of Dr. Gill who Foulke did not listen to. I have long felt that this change in team doctors (which was done primarily because of marketing considerations) hasn't been an under-reported issue affecting on the field performance. Every year since the change was made it seems the Red Sox lose key players because of un-diagnosed or misdiagnosed ailments.
One follow up question I wish Edes had asked though is if Foulke would have had the knee surgery in Spring training of 2005 if Doctor Bill Morgan were still the Red Sox medical director instead of Dr. Gill who Foulke did not listen to. I have long felt that this change in team doctors (which was done primarily because of marketing considerations) hasn't been an under-reported issue affecting on the field performance. Every year since the change was made it seems the Red Sox lose key players because of un-diagnosed or misdiagnosed ailments.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Red Sox Game 2 in Japan Live Blog
6:00 - Tokyo is the world's largest city? I hadn't realized that. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jon Lester looks tonight. I haven't always been a believer in Lester but I'm coming around.
6:09 - I just realized that I wrote "tonight" when it's actually morning. I guess the fact that it's night in Japan coupled with the fact that the sun hasn't risen yet coupled with the fact that I haven't had any coffee yet has me confused.
6:16 - Rich Harden has a no-hitter going! He lost the perfect game by walking Ortiz though.
6:25 - Jon Lester has a no-hitter going too! He lost his perfect game with a walk in the first too though.
6:33 - Rich Harden keeps his no-hitter bid alive with a 1-2-3 second inning. This may only interest me and it's no secret that Kevin Cash is no wizard at the plate but I found it interesting that last year in Pawtucket (AAA) he hit just .176 in 176 at bats. Symmetry.
6:48 - Jon Lester loses both his no-hitter and shut-out as the A's take a 1-0 lead. I was reading Alex Beam's review of the HBO series John Adams during the inning. Glad to see he mentioned John Bell's blog Boston 1775. I've had that blog on my blogroll for over a year.
7:03 - Rich Harden has his no-hitter still intact after 3 innings and I have my first cup of coffee in the morning.
7:10 - I should note that Coco Crisp is playing today in place of Jacoby Ellsbury. I think this is because Terry Francona wants to get Crisp a start and also because Crisp has had some success against Harden in the past (2-6). Emil Brown hits a 3-run blast and the A's take a 4-0 lead. I'm going to take this opportunity to see if Emil Brown is taken in any of my fantasy baseball leagues.
7:29 - Harden loses his no-hitter but now has 7 K's. He's looking sharp. I can't wait for the Sox to get into the A's bullpen.
7:33 - I'm assuming that if I were listening to ESPN2's broadcast of the game that I would have heard Steve Phillips talk about how Harden has this year's Cy Young Award wrapped up by now. Middle of the 4th and both pitchers have thrown 73 pitches.
7:48 - Should I be worried that Jason Varitek may be taking batting tips from Kevin Cash? I've been impressed with what I've seen of David Aardsma who has come into the game in relief of Lester. The guy is only 26 and was a top draft pick (22nd pick of the 2003 draft). Manny hits a HR and wins me $20 in my home run pool. Thanks Manny. A's lead 4-1.
8:15 - I'm not sorry to see Rich Harden go. His final line was 6 IP, 1 ER and 9 K's. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the UMass basketball team on a great come from behind victory at Syracuse last night. That was an exciting game to watch. My guess is that UMass coach Travis Ford gets a job offer from a bigger program after the season is over. If Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a MLB GM - he'd be the White Sox's Kenny Williams.
8:35 - I would not be surprised in the least if Huston Street is either traded or demoted to set-up duty by the A's and that Keith Foulke takes over as closer. I admit that I was surprised both to learn that Foulke is only 11th on the all-time list for saves for the A's (with 43) and that Hall of Famer Left Grove is above him on the list (with 51). Foulke is probably the early favorite for come-back player of the year. A's take a 5-1 lead as we head into the 9th.
9:01 - Alan Embree pitches a scoreless 9th and the Red Sox lose 5-1. For the record - yesterday I had a bacon and cheese omelet and today I had brown bread toast and a banana.
EDIT: Lyford was up and blogging this morning as well.
6:00 - Tokyo is the world's largest city? I hadn't realized that. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jon Lester looks tonight. I haven't always been a believer in Lester but I'm coming around.
6:09 - I just realized that I wrote "tonight" when it's actually morning. I guess the fact that it's night in Japan coupled with the fact that the sun hasn't risen yet coupled with the fact that I haven't had any coffee yet has me confused.
6:16 - Rich Harden has a no-hitter going! He lost the perfect game by walking Ortiz though.
6:25 - Jon Lester has a no-hitter going too! He lost his perfect game with a walk in the first too though.
6:33 - Rich Harden keeps his no-hitter bid alive with a 1-2-3 second inning. This may only interest me and it's no secret that Kevin Cash is no wizard at the plate but I found it interesting that last year in Pawtucket (AAA) he hit just .176 in 176 at bats. Symmetry.
6:48 - Jon Lester loses both his no-hitter and shut-out as the A's take a 1-0 lead. I was reading Alex Beam's review of the HBO series John Adams during the inning. Glad to see he mentioned John Bell's blog Boston 1775. I've had that blog on my blogroll for over a year.
7:03 - Rich Harden has his no-hitter still intact after 3 innings and I have my first cup of coffee in the morning.
7:10 - I should note that Coco Crisp is playing today in place of Jacoby Ellsbury. I think this is because Terry Francona wants to get Crisp a start and also because Crisp has had some success against Harden in the past (2-6). Emil Brown hits a 3-run blast and the A's take a 4-0 lead. I'm going to take this opportunity to see if Emil Brown is taken in any of my fantasy baseball leagues.
7:29 - Harden loses his no-hitter but now has 7 K's. He's looking sharp. I can't wait for the Sox to get into the A's bullpen.
7:33 - I'm assuming that if I were listening to ESPN2's broadcast of the game that I would have heard Steve Phillips talk about how Harden has this year's Cy Young Award wrapped up by now. Middle of the 4th and both pitchers have thrown 73 pitches.
7:48 - Should I be worried that Jason Varitek may be taking batting tips from Kevin Cash? I've been impressed with what I've seen of David Aardsma who has come into the game in relief of Lester. The guy is only 26 and was a top draft pick (22nd pick of the 2003 draft). Manny hits a HR and wins me $20 in my home run pool. Thanks Manny. A's lead 4-1.
8:15 - I'm not sorry to see Rich Harden go. His final line was 6 IP, 1 ER and 9 K's. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the UMass basketball team on a great come from behind victory at Syracuse last night. That was an exciting game to watch. My guess is that UMass coach Travis Ford gets a job offer from a bigger program after the season is over. If Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a MLB GM - he'd be the White Sox's Kenny Williams.
8:35 - I would not be surprised in the least if Huston Street is either traded or demoted to set-up duty by the A's and that Keith Foulke takes over as closer. I admit that I was surprised both to learn that Foulke is only 11th on the all-time list for saves for the A's (with 43) and that Hall of Famer Left Grove is above him on the list (with 51). Foulke is probably the early favorite for come-back player of the year. A's take a 5-1 lead as we head into the 9th.
9:01 - Alan Embree pitches a scoreless 9th and the Red Sox lose 5-1. For the record - yesterday I had a bacon and cheese omelet and today I had brown bread toast and a banana.
EDIT: Lyford was up and blogging this morning as well.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Top 5 - Baseball Players from South Dakota
Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players from South Dakota.
1. Keith Foulke - 190 career saves and a hero of the 2004 World Series
2. Terry Forster - 127 career saves, a regular season ERA of 3.23 and a post-season ERA (almost 8 innings) of 0.00 - Forster became "famous" when David Letterman referred to him as a "fat tub of goo" but perhaps the most interesting thing about Forrester is the fact that he hit .397 in his career (78 AB) - that means if Forster had one more hit he would have had a career batting average over .400 (.410)
3. Mark Ellis - 2nd baseman for the A's - all-time leader in HR by a South Dakota born player with 57 and counting
4. Dave Collins - a good field, no-hit outfielder who is in 70th place on the all-time list when it comes to steals with 395.
5. (tie) Terry Francona - just because I'm a Red Sox fan (tie) Jim Scott - twice won more than 20 games in a season plus he was born in Deadwood in 1888 just after the time portrayed in the TV series
Pretty slim pickings for South Dakota who must be happy that at least they are not North Dakota. You may have assumed that Roger Maris would be on the list but if you made that assumption then you forgot that Maris was actually born in Hibbing, MN (home of Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale).
Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players from South Dakota.
1. Keith Foulke - 190 career saves and a hero of the 2004 World Series
2. Terry Forster - 127 career saves, a regular season ERA of 3.23 and a post-season ERA (almost 8 innings) of 0.00 - Forster became "famous" when David Letterman referred to him as a "fat tub of goo" but perhaps the most interesting thing about Forrester is the fact that he hit .397 in his career (78 AB) - that means if Forster had one more hit he would have had a career batting average over .400 (.410)
3. Mark Ellis - 2nd baseman for the A's - all-time leader in HR by a South Dakota born player with 57 and counting
4. Dave Collins - a good field, no-hit outfielder who is in 70th place on the all-time list when it comes to steals with 395.
5. (tie) Terry Francona - just because I'm a Red Sox fan (tie) Jim Scott - twice won more than 20 games in a season plus he was born in Deadwood in 1888 just after the time portrayed in the TV series
Pretty slim pickings for South Dakota who must be happy that at least they are not North Dakota. You may have assumed that Roger Maris would be on the list but if you made that assumption then you forgot that Maris was actually born in Hibbing, MN (home of Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale).
Friday, February 16, 2007
Keith Folke Retires
Keith Foulke has decided to retire. And I say, "Good for him." Foulke in effect just walked away from at least $5 million by retiring. He could have gone on the DL with a sore elbow and cashed a check but instead he said, "enough."
I don't think baseball was Keith Foulke's passion. It seemed to me that it was just his job and a job that he was willing to do as long as he could compete at the highest level. He wanted to be a sub 3.00 ERA guy not some (in his words) "middle bullpen, 5.00 ERA guy."
Over the course of his career - Foulke has earned over $32.8 million. Hopefully he has put enough away to live comfortably. The fact that he walked away from a $5 million guaranteed contract would indicate that Foulke ain't exactly worried about mortgage payments.
I am grateful to Keith Foulke because without him - the Red Sox don't win the World Series in 2004. True Red Sox fans know that Foulke was the real MVP of that post season. Consider the fact that he went 1-0 with 3 saves with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched in the playoffs in 2004 to see how valuable he really was.
As a Red Sox fan - this could be the best possible outcome. The Red Sox get a supplemental draft pick because he signed with Cleveland but now we don't have to feel the discomfort of facing him (you'd want the Red Sox to score a lot of runs against him but by the same token part of you would be rooting for him).
May the road rise to meet you Keith Foulke. And may the wind always be at your back.
Keith Foulke has decided to retire. And I say, "Good for him." Foulke in effect just walked away from at least $5 million by retiring. He could have gone on the DL with a sore elbow and cashed a check but instead he said, "enough."
I don't think baseball was Keith Foulke's passion. It seemed to me that it was just his job and a job that he was willing to do as long as he could compete at the highest level. He wanted to be a sub 3.00 ERA guy not some (in his words) "middle bullpen, 5.00 ERA guy."
Over the course of his career - Foulke has earned over $32.8 million. Hopefully he has put enough away to live comfortably. The fact that he walked away from a $5 million guaranteed contract would indicate that Foulke ain't exactly worried about mortgage payments.
I am grateful to Keith Foulke because without him - the Red Sox don't win the World Series in 2004. True Red Sox fans know that Foulke was the real MVP of that post season. Consider the fact that he went 1-0 with 3 saves with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched in the playoffs in 2004 to see how valuable he really was.
As a Red Sox fan - this could be the best possible outcome. The Red Sox get a supplemental draft pick because he signed with Cleveland but now we don't have to feel the discomfort of facing him (you'd want the Red Sox to score a lot of runs against him but by the same token part of you would be rooting for him).
May the road rise to meet you Keith Foulke. And may the wind always be at your back.
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