From the Associated Press:
"To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."
Ichiro in English means "brutaly honest."
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Schilling and former Philadelphia Phillies closer Mitch Williams have feuded publicly for years, ever since Schilling covered his head with a towel during Williams' wild-thing act in the 1993 World Series.
So you can imagine Williams' delight on Schilling missing a no-hitter by one out.
''I heard right after he lost it, and I pulled my car over and got the pompons out and was doing all kinds of cheers,'' Williams said during a guest appearance on Philadelphia radio station WIP, which played clips of Stewart's two-out hit in Spanish and English. ''You wouldn't have a French version? I could listen to that in every language. 'I've always said, if there was a big game I had to win, I'd want him to pitch it. Then I'd want to hit him when it was over.''
Bi-lingual delight in another's man failure is a beautiful thing.
Also from the Chicago Sun-Times:
As Curt Schilling was inching his way toward a no-hitter Thursday against the Oakland Athletics, just about everyone at McAfee Coliseum knew he was on the brink of history in the ninth inning. Just about everyone except Boston Red Sox
teammate David Ortiz.
''After the first out in the ninth inning, I looked up at all the zeros [on the scoreboard] and saw a zero under the 'H,' and I said, 'Wait a minute!' And when I looked around, everybody went like this,'' Ortiz, who drove in the only run of the game with a first-inning homer, told reporters as he put a finger to his lips. ''I was like, 'Ohhhhhhhh!''' Schilling lost the no-hit bid on a single by Shannon Stewart with two outs in the ninth.
The Red Sox' Alex Cora was stunned by Ortiz's inattention.
''How many people were in the stadium?'' Cora asked.
''He was the only one not watching the game?''
Really? DH's don't pay attention to the game? When did that happen?
The list today is one of those small moments where we really can't just kick a man when he's down. For the record, I have nothing against Ortiz, despite the fact that the man has killed me in any number of fantasy leagues, previously with competence, and then last year by being on my roster. But at least I was able to avoid him this year, so we're all good.
