I Am Officially Over The Ledge: Game 106 thoughts

Sox (gasp) lose 7-3!

• First step toward the ledge for me: in the second inning Scotty Pods drops a reasonably easy line-drive out leading to an unearned run for Freddy Garcia.
• First step back off the ledge: Freddy Garcia allows only one unearned run while having the bases loaded and noone out in the same second inning.
• Next step back off the ledge: JD comes thru with a looonnnggg 2-run homerun in the fourth inning and is followed by consecutive basehits by Crede and Gload. (Gload wasn't actually credited with a hit, but he hit the ball very hard, and I'm inclined to call it such.)
• Big step back toward the ledge: in said fourth inning with Gload at 1st and Crede at 3rd Absolut Cintron grounds into an inning ending double play. (I thought the Sox would be horrible in that category, but the Sox hitters have the 3rd least GIDP in all of baseball with 72.)
• Next small step toward the ledge: hot hitting Mark Teahan hits a very-wind-aided 2-run homer off the right field foul pole. (By the way, why isn't it called a fair pole since if a ball hits it, its fair?) Fine, Teahan's hot, and the wind helped out. These things happen in baseball. Oh, and Freddy is 3rd in the AL in giving up the most homeruns. Kind of expected, even if it's the Royals.
• One big step toward the ledge (by now I'm about 10 steps away from jumping): JD with the second GIDP for the Sox after an AJ walk. I feel the wind from the bats being sapped from the sails of the Sox hitting machine.
• Two huge steps toward the ledge: Juan Uribe, after making a nice play a few innings earlier to get Reggie Sanders trying to score from second on an infield single, inexplicably hotdogs a routine flyball in foul territory. This comes one day after Ozzie rips him for being lazy and letting things get out of hand. If he was in the doghouse yesterday, he's in the outhouse now. Little bitty baby step back off the ledge: Freddy pitches over the error. (Are you watching this, Javy Vazquez and Mark Beurhle?)
• Baby step back toward the ledge: Ross Gload robbed of a hit by Joey Gathright.
  
• Full, all-out sprint toward the ledge: Freddy starts the 7th with a hard line-drive out to 3rd. Time to pull him, Ozzie? Nope. Grudzielanek singles to center. Alright, Ozzie's gotta be pulling Freddy now with the reigning AL Hitter of the Week Mark Teahan coming to bat, right? Nah, not yet. Hot hitter stays hot, smashes RBI double to left-center. Well, if that's any indication of how Freddy's feeling, Ozzie is gonna pull the plug on him now for sure, yeah? Forget about it. Ozzie trusts Freddy. Hey maybe Oz was right. Reggie Sanders grounds out to 3rd for the second out. Wait, there's a lefty coming up. Is it George Brett, the fearsome, one-time .390 hitter? Nope. Is it 5 tool wonder boy and one time patrolman in center for the Royals, Carlos Beltran? Nope. Is it even lucky, plucky and ducky utility hitter Matt Stairs? Can't be; he just got traded to Texas. So who is this fearsome lefty Ozzie makes a visit to the mound to tell Freddy he must give the intentional walk? Shane Costa. Shane "Friggin" Costa of the 3 HR, 17 RBI and a scary .266 average? Who the hell is Shane Costa, and why isn't Thornton or Cotts pitching to him? Okay, in Ozzie we trust...fingers crossed, Freddy can do it. Next batter is a Ryan Shealy, and damn, run scoring single to center. Now Ozzie pulls Freddy for B-Mac, and I'm just about ready to take a swan dive.
• Screeching halt to the gold-medal winning death plunge: Uribe brings hope with a solo blast in the top of the 8th inning. After nondescript outs by Pods and Gooch (0-4 3Ks), singles by AJ and JD keep hope alive.
• Earth-shattering thunder smashes ledge and I'm forced to peer over the edge: Joe Clutchman Crede, in a sudden but expected howling gale of wind, strikes out with the tying runs on base ending the threat.
• Quake-crumbling decent to death, and I've no choice but to jump: with a rain delay imminent, Ozzie decides to pull his pitcher down 2 runs in what is an official game, knowing full well the umps are gonna pause the game. I feel my feet start to give way. Forget about it again. Umps: Tarp, please.
• Minor reprieve to my death: after an hour and 46 minute rain delay the game is back on. Holy crap, Batman. Could it be a comeback?
• Utter smashing of the head into the ground after a horrific 30 story fall: first batter Neal Cotts faces promptly triples home a run and scores on a subsequent wild pitch.
  
• Vultures feed on the entrails and other dainties I've spilt as a result of my jump: in the top of the 9th and with 2 outs BA walks! Woah! Oh, and Mack pinch-hits a hard ground ball snagged by the Royal's firstbaseman for the third out.

Boston wins in a comeback and Detroit beats up on TB, at least Liriano didn't pitch, leading the Twins to a defeat. My soul is bared, my body a mass of bloody mess, and the Sox have won 4 of 6. NO Big Ups or Player of the Game for me. This was a game the Sox would have won last year; this year we resemble Boston's 2005 team and we all know how that turned out for the Carmines.

Sox Record: 63-43