Please have Berkman be a NICE Tony LaRussa comeback story

In the last few years, Lance Berkman’s stats have been falling off. He was a part time player for the Yankees in the playoffs last year, pressed into starting duty after Mark Teixeira’s injury.

Well now he is in St. Louis and is putting up All Star numbers again.

Among the leaders in batting, he knocked his 15th homer tonight and drove in his 45th run.

It’s a terrific comeback.
Tony LaRussa has had a lot of players comeback for him.

Dave Stewart in Oakland became an Ace, as did Chris Carpenter in St. Louis. Jim Edmonds refound his stroke and countless pitching reclamation projects.

But there have been other kind of comebacks.

The Mark McGwire comebacks… the lots of players who played for him being connected to stuff kind of comebacks.

Remember how quickly the Rick Ankiel story turned from the feel good baseball story of the decade to “Oh dear…”?

I so hope this is a NICE comeback on a LaRussa squad. But my guard is up.

Focus on winning… have the Yankees focus on retaliating

The talk in Yankee-land seems to be about Mark Teixeira’s being beaned and knocked out by Jon Lester (a notorious hot head) and Big Papi flipping a bat away after a homer (because I’d be SHOCKED if the Yankees ever had a home run celebration.)

Even the writers are talking about retaliation.

Let them.
Go ahead.

Put some runners on base for A. J. Burtnett whose ERA against the Red Sox last year was over 7! Put something on their mind other than winning the freaking game.

Two teams tied for first place shouldn’t be thinking about hurt feelings.

A team that has lost 6 of the first 7 head to head games with their biggest rival shouldn’t be talking about anything other than their win and loss record.

If A. J. Burnett hits a batter, so what? It’s another runner on base.
It’s not like the Yankees will be afraid of Tim Wakefield throwing a 40 MPH knuckleball at them.

So come on Tim! Another win will put you 10 behind the All Time Red Sox wins leader. Now THAT is something to keep track of.

The Yankee Illusion

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Yankees this year and for some reason those wins seem to mask the fact that in mid May the Red Sox are STILL sub .500!

But man it feels good to win by one run against the Yankees.
Bartolo Colon has 2 losses this year and both were hard luck losses against the Sox.

Meanwhile Joba Chamberlain is the gift that keeps giving… if by giving you mean insurance runs.

Daniel Bard made me scream at the TV as it was clear that Jorge Posada can’t catch up to a fastball yet he was throwing him curve balls. And of course Jonathan Papelbon had to make it interesting.

But Mark Teixeira popped up and I get to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES – 9

April 8 – 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 – 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 – 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 – 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett’s went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 – 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 – 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 – 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 – 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 – 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES – 12

April 1 – 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 – 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 – 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 – 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 – 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 – 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 – 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 – 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 – 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 – 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runnerss and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 – 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 – 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

-3.

Win tomorrow and the Red Sox will have won their first two series with the Yankees.

That would make a hell of a birthday present.