Jacoby Ellsbury
Beat Tampa Bay 12-2, but Ellsbury could be out six to eight weeks - and maybe longer.
The bullpen held it together long enough for Ellsbury to hit another home run and keep the Sox a game in front for the wild card. Sign of things to come, or dead-cat bounce?
Red Sock can't figure out the difference:
... [B]oth young players had bone fractures, both returned ahead of schedule, both experienced additional pain or re-injury, and both returned to the DL. Yet the media presentation of their experiences could not be more different: we are told one is a malingering whiner allegedly hated by his teammates while the other is the very personification of a gritty gamer.
Shank writes:
Many fans and folks in the Sox organization are disgusted by how this has unfolded.
OK, who slipped and talked to him while under the influence?
Ellie was in the shower, listening on an AM radio:
... I do wonder what my neighbors thought was going on in my shower, what with all the jumping up and down and whooping and bumping the tile wall with my fist. But I'm sure they understood if they heard what I heard. ... Just one request, Jacoby: do it again, but this time on their turf. ...
Allan Chace revels:
... Some other stuff happened, but who the F cares? ...
Beth loves baseball stuff like that:
... One of the best things about baseball - the thing people who say it's boring don't get - is the way this ho-hum kind of moment turns on a dime, explodes into a moment of blinding excitement, crowd roaring, play-by-play announcer hollering. Tonight, even Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada had been lulled by the routine nature of the Youkilis and Drew at-bats, it seemed - neither noticed as Jacoby Ellsbury suddenly broke into a run from midway down the third-base line. ...
That's what some Sox fans were this morning and what the Sox are today.
Dan Miller: This is why they invented coffee. Vickie shows us the dark smudges under her eyes.
Red: Substitute Ass Kicker Kicks Ass.
Peter on Lester: WOW!
Dan Kennedy begins to despair of the winner-take-all annihilation mode of Boston/New York baseball:
... I'd rather see what the kids can do than land yet another proven star and pencil in a guaranteed (barring injury) 18 to 20 wins. ...
There's a Web meme that needs to stop now: That Tacoby Shellsbury t-shirts went on sale solely to capitalize on Ellsbury's steal last night (the meme apparently started here).
Philip McCarthy: This was the game I expected. Also: He thanks Schilling and says Okijima might be the better Japanese deal.
In case you've ever wondered what "Red Sox" looks like in Hebrew, wonder no more.
Anali and her brother were in an elevator yesterday:
Yanksfan vs. Soxfan posts the memories of somebody who played Little League with Ellsbury:
... As a sixth-grader in Madras, my Little League team fell short of players midway through the 1992 season. My dad (our coach) was forced to "call up" a player from the younger league of third- and fourth-graders to fill the roster. With little hesitation, he passed over the older kids and chose a 9-year-old named Jacoby Ellsbury. ...