Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Papelbon's 20th Save....Just Fiction, For Now.......

Jonathon Papelbon toes the mound, peering in to see Tek's sign. Outside fastball. He nods, starts his windup, and paints the outside black of the plate for a called third strike. The top of the ninth inning is over, the Sox win 2-1, and Papel secures his 20th save. It was not easy. Josh Beckett went the first seven, allowing a third inning solo shot to right. The Sox answered in the bottom half of the inning, with a sharp double to the gap in right by Big Papi, and a first pitch home run to dead center, his 18th, by Manny Ramirez. And that was all the scoring for Texas and Boston on this sunny humid Sunday June 11th. The Rangers were defeated in this 64th game of the season at Fenway Park. Tavarez pitched a 1-2-3 8th, setting the stage for Papel's 14th straight save. The crowd went home hot, dazed, but happy. The Sox were in first, with a record of 39-25, 5 games in front of the Yankees and Blue Jays.
Now this, of course, is just a little slice of my imagination. But it is a scenario that could come true if Keith Foulke's fastball does not regain it's pre-2005 zip, making his off speed stuff wicked once more. If, however, we continue to see the Foulke that we saw yesterday, with a fastball reaching, but not breaking, the 86MPH barrier, it will be up to Jonathon to shut 'em up and then shut 'em down at the back end of these type of games, where one run means disaster. I hope Foulkie can do it. Oh, and by the way, the records of the three teams mentioned are based on fact. Time will have to play out to see if I am accurate. Let's hope so. If I am, then it's on to the Lottery.

8 Comments:

At 4/04/2006 11:23 AM, Blogger Iain said...

Foulke just looked so...unsure, which was in marked contrast to the assurance of Schilling. It's early days yet, so I'm really hoping that he pulls through, but if he doesn't, your scenario may well no longer be a fiction.

 
At 4/04/2006 12:42 PM, Blogger Lynsey said...

Go Yankees! :-)

Just dropping by to say hello.

 
At 4/04/2006 12:57 PM, Blogger Peter N said...

Hi Iain. Hey Lynsey, at least is your big beautiful do a Sox fan. I thinkthe answer's going to be no. Just a feeling.

 
At 4/04/2006 12:58 PM, Blogger Peter N said...

I meant dog. The g skipped out.

 
At 4/04/2006 6:02 PM, Blogger Lynsey said...

Well if you were able to zoom in on the pictures of him, you'd see that he's wearing a Yankees collar.

 
At 4/05/2006 9:40 AM, Blogger Peter N said...

As an animal lover, it doesn't matter! Tell him I said hi, in dog language. That would be bark woof slobber woof.

 
At 4/05/2006 12:41 PM, Blogger Lynsey said...

I will tell him. He's a fan of all teams, as long as you scratch his belly while they play.

 
At 4/05/2006 1:28 PM, Blogger Peter N said...

I could say something funny here, but I won't. Thanks for stopping by, though. You seem like a funny honest person. Take care. Enjoy our almost snowless Spring, at least so far.

 

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