Theres no need to fear Dustin Pedroia is Here

What a statement game by the Sox last night. Byrd Man was wheeling a dealing scattering hits and making the big pitches to get out of jams. I always thought he would fit the Sox for some reason, maybe I just like the Old Tyme wind-up he has. Bay had a nice triple that Abreu somehow botched catching. It's almost as if the Yankees are sabotaging their season or something. Conspiracy theory? No Abreu just sucks A$$. Last but not least how about Pedroia and the granny last night. Nail in the coffin. Quintessential corn in the...You get it. I somehow had the feeling he was going to put that one out. He just takes massive hacks when he smells a green light and man did he put that game away. Surprisingly that was his first career grand slam. I'm sure many more to come.

The Question that Rem Dawg brought up "Is he the Sox M.V.P? Is he the A.L. M.V.P?" Remmy thinks so without a doubt, might be a little biased as a former Sox second baseman. I'm not 100% sold yet on A.L. M.V.P, but I'm certainly thinking he is at least the Sox M.V.P. If the Sox win the division he def gets serious consideration for A.L. M.V.P. I mean this isn't supposed to happen to the Sox or to second year players in general. You're not supposed to go into Yankee Stadium with ice water in your veins. When was the last time a young Sox team went into Yankee Stadium and but their foots on the Yanks necks like this? Never?

I know the Yankees look flat and don't have pitching. That doesn't take away from the fact that the Sox young guys came in and got the job done without Lowell, Drew, and Beckett. 2 out of 3 was the goal Check. A sweep that ends the Yanks hopes will be that much sweeter.

Cue the MUSIC!

Who you think started this Gansta Sh*t

Dr. Dre is set to release Detox his first album in 8 years since "The Chronic 2001". The Chronic is a classic masterpiece and easily the best rap album of all time. Chronic 2001 was untouchable over the past 10 years. I'm not going to lie. I'm really hyped to see what Dre comes out with this time. He's rumored to have Jay-Z, Nas, and Lil Wayne on Detox. I'm interested to see how they work together.

Hopefully this doesn't push back the release too much. You gotta feel for this guy he's lost his brother, his mentor Eazy E, and now his son. He's been shot and seen hip-hop grow into the cash cow it is today due in large part to his influence on the genre. Loosing his son has to hurt, but I hope it will add some more motivation to create another sick album. Dre has always been my favorite producer/ rapper and this album has been high on my to-buy-list for a long time. By the way when did Dre get huge? I mean Arnold huge.

Dr. Dre Gives Release Date & Guests For Detox Album Rap Basement

Sox Notes

Sox beat the Yankees in the first of the final three fare well (rot in hell) to "the house that Ruth built (and Ortiz destroyed)" Yankee Stadium. Watched a fair amount of the game and seemed like the Sox got just enough from Wake and the bullpen to get past the Yanks. Masterson came up HUGE and got A-Rod to ground-out with bases juiced. A-Rod didn't help the Yanks case any wasting the bases loaded opportunity to tie it up and botching a Jeff Bailey squib at third, but does he ever do anything against the Sox. Man do the Yanks fans boo the s out of him. I don't think any Sox player has gotten such a rouse as A-Rod did out of the Yankee faithful.

Sox also had homers from Ortiz and Youk (horrible guy in person).

• Josh Beckett threw a side session, and is on target to pitch Friday. YES!



• And the Rays lost at home to the Blue Jays. Yeaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (in a Howard Dean screech)



• Mark Kotsay is on his way along with his .289 average, six homers, and 37 RBI. Not sure how he's been this year defensively, due to injuries, but he always has been able to flash the leather. Seems like a good fit for this Sox team as well. O.K. O.K.
  
  
• And Ortiz is dropping knowledge: "That's how we roll here," David Ortiz said. "We don't panic here. You hit the panic button, you just get worse. Right? Right."



• The Yankees can finish this series no closer than four games in the wild-card race, with just a month left to play. Even if they win the final two, their hopes cannot be very high. WOW!



• Big ups to Coco (Arn't you glad he wasn't shipped out now?), Jed, and the rest of the bottom of the order for cleaning up Yankee pitching. This is an interesting Sox team to watch that's for sure.

This ain't your Daddy's Sox vs. Yanks

Anyone else out there a little less than pumped up for the Sox vs. Yanks in the Bronx final series?

I don't remember the last time this meant less. Maybe 2004 was the crowing moment to get over the Sox vs. Yanks rivalry. Maybe not. Maybe it is the incessant scheduling of 20 plus Sox Yankees series MLB has dumped on us in the past 4 years. Something just doesn't seem right. I think the last time I was fired up for Sox Yanks was in 2006 when my dad got tickets to the return of Johnny Damon to Fenway in pinstripes. You could feel the hatred in the park building prior to the first pitch. Outside the park before the game Sox fans were hounding anyone with a Yankees cap. My dad and I even got quoted in the Herald which ended up on the inside cover the next day. My dad said "Not since Benedict Arnold has there been such a traitor in New England!" I took it a step further and wished Damon would tear his ACL running down to first. To each his own.

Honestly though I think that is the last time I was genuinely fired up to beat the Yanks. Since then the Yankees have become and afterthought to the Sox season. I used to be they were the proverbial mountain each Sox team would try to conquer to get a glimpse of the playoffs. Maybe always being second fiddle was what fired up us Sox fans more. Maybe the Yanks just aren't that competitive since they built a team around aging sluggers and non-winning types like A-Rod. It rest a little more I say on their lack of quality starting pitching, but either way the rivalry is weak right now. It used to be you wanted to beat the Yankees more than you wanted to eat, sleep, or breath. A sweep was a jewel in the crown. Now you just kind of want to take 2 out of 3 and keep the AL Wild card lead over the Twinkies.

Whatever happened to Fisk vs. Munson and Mickey Rivers throwing cheap shots. Doesn't anyone remember the peak of hatred in the 2003 ALCS when Petey tossed Zimmer? Or Tek vs. Gay-Rod in 2004? Since Tek took out A-Rod and the miracle ALCS comeback there hasn't been that fire. The line in the sand was drawn that year and the Sox were not going to take shit from the Yankees anymore. Billy Miller's walk-off is probably one of my top-ten Sox moments. Maybe it is the curse of Big Papi or A-Rob, but it just doesn't feel the same. It shouldn't feel forced.

I miss those days...Who am I kidding I'll be watching just like every other year, but I'll miss the old time rivalry.