Warming Up in May

After yesterday’s split in Detroit, Boston’s record for the month of May, with two games to go, is 19-8. They’re now seven games above .500, not quite on the pace they need to maintain, in order to assure a spot in the post-season, but not in bad shape considering the awful start they had in April. In fact, for the past couple days, they’ve been on top of the Al East, although the standings are less important right now than their overall record. Better to be playing well, and not worrying about where the Yankees and the Rays stand.

May’s turnaround was sparked, in large part, by a dramatic improvement at the plate. I can recall early in the season, when half of Boston’s line-up was batting under .200. Now they have four players right at or above .300. For a while in May they were carried by Adrian Gonzalez, who already has 30 RBIs for the month, and whose average has been among the league leaders much of the season. But now most of the lineup is producing hits, and knocking in runs. Ortiz has had a better start this year than any time since he injured his wrist. Nice to see that pinch hit home run yesterday that won the first game of their double-header. Ellsbury and Pedroia are getting on base, allowing the middle of the order a better chance to knock in runs. And pretty much everyone top to bottom in the lineup has been contributing.

But the most dramatic improvement has come from Carl Crawford, who started the season miserably, making everyone wonder if he wasn’t an even more expensive version of J.D. Drew. But as the weather improved, so did Crawford’s average. He ended up batting .311 for the month, so far. Then he started with the walk-off hits, at least three that I can remember. And this past week he exploded on the latest road trip, with back to back four hit games, and lots of extra base hits. Tito has him hitting sixth right now, and perhaps it’s also easier for Crawford not to deal with the higher expectations of batting lead-off or in the number two slot. Plus, with the way everyone else is hitting, six give him more chances to drive in runs.

I like too that they played well on the road this last week. Too often in the past Boston has played well in Fenway, but poorly away from home. It’s a good sign when they can win on the road, especially against decent teams. Cleveland had the best record in all of baseball before the Sox took two of three. (It could have been a sweep, if not for a mini-meltdown by Bard.) And the Tigers were playing above .500.

The bullpen is still suspect. Jencks is rehabbing at Pawtucket, and I’d like to think he was so lousy this year because of his injury. But I’m not holding my breath. The rest of the relievers --Pap, Bard, Albers -- have looked great at times, but really have been pretty inconsistent overall. If Dice and Lackey can come back into the rotation, then maybe Wake and Aceves can fill in for long relief when it’s needed. Although those two are doing great right now as starters, so maybe it’s better not to make any changes right this minute.

It’s a long season. There are four more months of baseball, and a million things can happen between now and the end of September. But I’m glad to see them playing well; and it’s certainly better to see them atop the division, than hanging out in the cellar. Let’s hope the winning ways continue back at Fenway this coming week. Go Sox.

Balvenie 15

Boston went into Cleveland this week, to play the team with the best record in all of Baseball. And if not for Daniel Bard having given away last night’s game, after Tito had inexplicably pulled Buckholz in the eighth inning, they would have taken the first two from the Indians, and maybe with that, the lead in the AL East. But never mind, because that’s not what I planned to post about. Instead, tonight I want to get back to the common ground for all readers of this blog -- single malt scotch whisky.

Balvenie is a well known, and well regarded highland malt, but one that probably doesn’t get its due. I seem to recall learning that Balvenie remains family owned and operated, which in itself doesn’t mean that it’s a great whisky, but does merit some credit in today’s world, where many of the distilleries have been gobbled up by the big beverage conglomerates. It’s nice to know that some whiskies maintain their independence, for whatever that’s worth.

Another distinctive thing about Balvenie is that their different age statements are actually different whiskies; so the twelve is not just two years older than the ten, it’s also finished in sherry casks, giving it an entirely different finish, and a noticeably different taste. So the thing with the fifteen, the subject of tonight’s posting, is that it is bottled from a single cask. Which means of course, that every time they bottle their fifteen from a new cask, it’s really a new whisky, one that will taste different from the last bottle of fifteen you drank.

Jackson calls Balvenie voluptuous, a word I like, and one we don’t often hear any more, especially as we all lurch inexorably toward illiteracy. Anyway, voluptuous -- rich, full bodied, soft around the edges, not harsh, zoftig. And that describes the fifteen very well. It is a rich, malty full bodied highland whisky. And it’s surprisingly smooth and easy drinking for such a strong malt; this bottling came out at almost 48 percent, 96 proof as we would have once said. But it really drinks no sharper than a 43 percent whisky. It only needs a drop of water to open up, and to release the caramel malt flavor. Long finish too -- one of the clearest characteristics of a good whisky in my opinion. It reminds me of the Macallan Fine Oaks -- there is nothing other than the malt whisky here. The flavor isn’t muddied with sherry, or port, for example. Now I know that Balvenie finishes their twenty-one in port casks, and that’s a very nice after dinner malt. But I prefer the simpler and more honest flavor of a pure malt whisky, one that is not contaminated with any other flavors or tastes.

One other thing: this fifteen is very affordable. I can’t remember the exact price, as it’s been in my cabinet for a new weeks, but I’m fairly certain that it was under sixty dollars. And today, when the world market is bidding many malts up to stratospheric levels, this whisky remains a pretty good buy. So there you have it: voluptuous but affordable. What more could a man want?

Back in the Thick of Things

Last night, forty-four year old Tim Wakefield threw almost six innings of one run baseball, allowing the Sox to win two of three from the Cubs, in the teams' first inter-league play of 2011. Not only that, but Wake stepped in to fill a hole in the rotation, caused by Lackey and Dice-K ending up on the disabled list at the same time. Lackey I didn’t much care, because really, he hasn’t shown anyone much of anything all year. That is aside from his enormous paychecks. How did that happen? But Dice had pitched a couple great outings earlier in the season -- two consecutive starts where he gave up no runs, and managed to go deep into those games, giving the bullpen some rest. But now that he has this elbow problem, who knows when he’ll return, and how effective he’ll be when he does return? But if Tito can get six or seven decent innings from Wake; and if he can also rest the pen, so that Pap and Bard aren’t taxed every night; and also, if Wake can keep the Sox in games, just keep things close enough to let the resurgent bats break through and plate some runs, what a boost that will be for the team. Especially if Beckett, Lester and Buckholz can continue pitching well. I know everyone wants a five man rotation these days, but I’ll be happy with four, especially if three of the four are Beckett, Lester and Buckholz.

Now on to hitting, where, on most nights recently, it’s been the Adrian Gonzalez show. Here’s a guy who has made Theo look smart once more. (Dumb to spend all that money on Lackey, but looking pretty wise for having shelled out to get Gonzalez.) He’s leading the majors in RBIs, and right now his average is among the league’s leaders. Add to that the fact that Papi is hitting close to .300, while hammering some balls deep to right; that Youk has knocked in over thirty runs; and that even Carl Crawford has raised his average to the low end of the respectable range. And that adds up to a lineup that has begun producing in the manner that everyone predicted, before the terrible start in April. And so if the bats remain lively, and if just three of the five starters can give the Sox solid outings when they take the mound, then maybe the RedSox will stay in the midst of the pennant race, where they currently find themselves, notwithstanding their worst start in modern history.

We’re not all the way through May just yet, and it will be telling to see how the Sox do on their current road trip, particularly as they start things off in Cleveland, where the Indians have the best record in all of the American League. But I like the current standings much better than I did in early April, when they Sox had the worst record in all of the Major Leagues. At least now there is room for optimism. At least now we can dream once more about them playing in October, and maybe even November. Wouldn’t that be nice? Go Sox.

My First Time

On a lark, I decided to look back and figure out exactly when I first saw baseball played in Fenway Park. Here’s what I remembered: I had showed up in Boston for my freshman year at college. And back then, before freshman orientation, before registering for classes, before anything else for that matter, the MIT freshmen were treated to five days of partying, known as rush week. You see, they did not have enough dormitory housing for all the freshmen; and at least one-third of the class had to find fraternities in which to reside. (Hard to imagine such a half-assed system at so sophisticated a school, but in truth, it was a good thing for me, because I never would have stuck it out for a full year in any of the dorms.) So after arriving on a morning flight, and killing the day wandering around Cambridge and Harvard Square, I attended some brief assembly in Kresge Hall (where a couple years later we saw Richie Havens play). The next thing I knew, I was in a car with a bunch of Sammies, riding over to their house on the Fenway, and not long thereafter was sitting in the bleachers at Fenway, which was only a short walk from the Sammy house. But this isn’t really a posting about college, or fraternity life, but rather a reminiscence about baseball.

I recalled a few details from that night in early September 1967, the year of the Impossible Dream: the Sox beat the Yankees; Yaz homered; Mickey Mantle got a base hit; and Sparky Lyle pitched in relief for the Sox. So using those few facts, with the help of baseball-reference.com (which apparently has every single baseball fact from the time of the Mayflower until today) I quickly figured out the following. It was a Saturday night, September 9, 1967. In only a few months that will be forty-four years in the past. The final score was 7-1 Boston. Dave Morehead started for the Sox and got the win. (Truthfully, I have no recollection of Morehead.) Lyle tossed two innings of shutout ball. (Today, there is no way Tito would pitch a star reliever in a six run game, let alone for two innings.) Both Yaz and Rico Petrocelli homered. Over 32,000 were in attendance that night. The game took only two and a half hours.

It was love at first sight. I had been a Giants fan, really a Willie Mays fan, but how hard was it to stay in touch with the Giants in those days, when only one game was broadcast each week? So walking into Fenway that night, with the Sox in the middle of a pennant race, with Yaz on the way to winning the triple crown, and with all my enthusiasm for life in Boston, I was ready for someone new. Plus, how cool was this park, where even out in the right field bleachers (we were only a few rows up from the bullpen, very close to where John sat in July 2004 when the Sox walked off, with Mueller homering off Rivera) it felt like you right in the middle of the action? Later on, on warm spring nights, we’d head to the park, where admission was only a dollar, and where Schaeffer beer was fifty cents, often for no reason other than to drink a few.

Three weeks later, on the last day of the season, the Sox won the American League pennant for the first time since 1946. That night Back Bay was a sea of humanity, with apparently all of Boston out in the streets celebrating. It wasn’t that way ten days later, when the Sox lost Game Seven to Gibson and the Cardinals. But forget about it, by then I was a die-hard RedSox fan, and although I might not have known it at the time, this was an allegiance that would last a lifetime. Not only that, but one I would pass down to the next generation, who also had the good fortune to spend their college years in Beantown. You’d think I’d have the ticket stub, or maybe a program, but no, all I have are some memories made all the foggier by the week that followed. Still, that’s enough for me.

The Lakers Sweep Brightens up a Dreary Spring

It’s been a dreary spring, with the RedSox unable to play .500 ball, and the Celtics making an early exit from the playoffs. The latter was especially disappointing because it’s unlikely that the big three will have another chance at a championship. John felt that Danny Ainge closed the door on this year’s playoff run when he traded Perk away mid-season. But Perk was not going to add any offense those last two games against Miami, when the Cs just could not score in the fourth quarter. (Of course, Perk gets to play later today for another chance to go to the conference finals, while all the Cs get to sit home and watch on TV.) I didn’t like the Perkins trade either, and I agree that it was dumb to break up the starting five that had won in 2008, and had almost won again last year. But the sad truth was that, all year long, the Cs were vulnerable in the fourth quarter. Too often they played that fourth quarter like they were old. And that’s certainly how they looked in the final two games against the Heat.

Plus, because they still relied so much on the big three, and those guys just haven’t gotten any younger since 2008, I’m afraid they will get worse before they get better. And unfortunately, Danny Ainge is not Red Auerbach. Other than Rondo, the team doesn’t have any young stars, so it’s probably going to be a few years before they have a championship caliber team again.

Still, the playoffs gave Boston fans one thing to cheer about - the Lakers’ meltdown. Not just that they lost; not that they got swept; and not even that they lost so badly, getting thoroughly embarrassed in Game Four against the Mavs. But wasn’t it great to see the Lakers’ true character revealed in that final game? Artest always plays like a bit of a thug, although I’ve never hated on Artest; I’ve actually liked the way he plays tough D, and contributes occasionally on the offensive end. And, I didn’t think his flagrant was all that flagrant. But Andrew Bynum distinguished himself with a punk-ass cheap shot that will define his career, at least in the near future. Plus how do the Lakers seem to end up with all these bitches? Remember Sasha Vujacic in 2008? He even has a girl’s name. And now, Pau Gasol. Who doesn’t hate Pau Gasol? There are rumors about Gasol or his wife stirring up trouble on the team, so maybe the rest of the Lakers hate him as much as we do. Hate; Hate; Hate.

That’s one of the fun things about being a sports fan. First, you get to root for your own team. But then, regardless of how your team does, you get to root against your rival. So this spring, I was pulling for anyone who played the Lakers. For a week or so, I was a New Orleans fan, although I really know no one on the team other than CP3. Then I became a Mavs fan. And then, I got to watch the final episode, where the Lakers got blown out, and everyone in the country, even including Magic Johnson, trashed them. As good a player as Kobe is, he’s never been likable, and has always appeared to be a punk at heart. And they seemed to get a bit of a pass in my mind, because Phil Jackson is supposed to be the Dalai Lama of basketball, staying all zen while his players whine and cry on the floor. But now the truth has been exposed for everyone to see: the Lakers have no class. Even if the summer stays dark and dreary, we can always think back to the end of their season, and remind ourselves that the Lakers suck.

Adios April

April ended almost as poorly for the Sox as it had begun. After seeming to recover from their early season slump, and having won six of seven on a west coast swing, the Sox reverted to early season form by dropping four of five. First, they lost twice to the Orioles at Camden, once when Bard gave a game away after the Sox had rallied to tie things up in the eighth. Lester closed out the series in Baltimore with another strong performance, and the Sox avoided a sweep.

But then they returned to Fenway to face the lowly Mariners, who came to town with the worst record in the AL West, and proceeded to drop the first two games of the home stand. Last night, they wasted a pretty good effort by Lackey, who gave up only two runs over six innings, but got no support from the bats. Nothing; nada; zip; zero; bupkiss. And today they have to deal with King Felix, who too often has had their number (along with most everyone else's number the past couple years). A mariners' sweep? In Fenway? What a thought.

So anyway, Boston closed April four games under five hundred, or nine games behind the pace they need to make it to the post season. It's not yet time to panic, as the west coast swing demonstrated. This is a team that can string together a bunch of wins. But unfortunately, so far in 2011, it's also a team that can put together a very impressive losing streak. Let's hope, however, that it was just a bad month, a real bad month, and that May will bring us better results, and a chance to get back on track this summer. Go Sox.