Or maybe the PA announcer was trying to make Doug feel at home by channeling Bob Casey's trademark mis-namings (Jesse Offerman, Rich Aguilera, etc...)

Ok, probably not.

Last night on Baseball Tonight, they showed Dougie make a diving stop. He was half way to second base and flip to the pitcher covering for the out. The second baseman was standing there waiting for the ball with a "What? Where'd the ball go?" look on his face. I don't think he was used to such range out of a first baseman. Business as usual for Dougie. It's good to see Dougie doing well at his new home. I continue to root for him, except when the Twins are playing the Red Sox and especially when the Red Sox are playing the other Sox.

ha ha nevermind what I was about to post...

Did they pronounce his last name right?

Well, now I'll be stuck wondering what She-Ra was about to say...

Like I can possibly get any work done now.

Dearest Skorch,

What is this "work" thing of which you speak?

I wonder if everyone in New England isn't thrown by the fact that there aren't any R's in Dougie's name.

They can call him Mientkay-vah.

It was so much fun to see Dougie Defense play again. At least he is now with a team that appreciates him and gives him playing time, he deserves that. The ESPN announcers were totally bragging him up the entire time. They talked about how he got a warm reception from the fans...more so than Cabrera, understandably. They kept talking about how he's the best in the business at 1st base. I was so happy for him.

That's interesting though. I don't remember them praising him that much when he was playing for the Twins.

The big-market love affair has begun -- although it may be a rocky one. The announcers could not stop raving about Mientkiewicz as if they'd never seen him before ("he's so old school!" they gushed). I believe his first big play got Curt Schilling out of a first-inning one-out bases-loaded jam. Doug's budding rival Kevin Millar made his own diving play in left (perhaps Doug-inspired) and they're like "ooh, take that, Doug Mientkiewicz!" Of course, Doug GIDP'ed later.

It made me sad that the Bostonites get to love/hate him from now on. Do they deserve Doug? They definitely sounded thrilled to have someone at first who can catch for a change (the legacy of Bill Buckner, etc.)...

It's amazing that Buckner hasn't offed himself yet or moved to tarpaper shack in Alaska writing huge tomes of his manifesto.

But what happens after Dougie loses his "I'll show them" hitting streak and starts his slow creep to the Mendoza line?

Found this on the Red Sox MLB board earlier:

But Mientkiewicz, for one, isn't worried about handling the scrutiny or the pressure.

"When someone tells me I stink, I'm like, 'Well, you paid good money to come see me play, so you're dumber than I am,'" he cracked.

Good ol' Dougie...

In Vermont, Dougie Defence was called "Doug MAN-ka-witz" by the local TV sports guy.

Now, it's Kevin Millar's turn to be peeved, according to the Globe:

Millar, who began the season expecting to be the regular first baseman after anchoring the position last year, yielded in the original lineup to Doug Mientkiewicz. Millar has not started at first base in the seven games since the Sox acquired Mientkiewicz from the Twins in the blockbuster trade involving Nomar Garciaparra. Millar played left field last night.

"I'm not going to be lied to," Millar said. "I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to. I wasn't told I was on the bench. I didn't know that was the situation. I didn't know they traded for [Mientkiewicz] to be the everyday first baseman."

Millar insisted the team would benefit from more consistency in the lineup. He also was careful not to criticize Francona.

"This is the time to get an identity for this team and we still don't have it," he said. "We're still checking lineups Aug. 7. It's frustrating. Right now, no one knows what the hell is going on. No one knows where they're hitting. No one knows where they're playing. We're in a dogfight now, but if we really have to go with 55 different lineups a week, we'll win two and lose three and win two."

Millar said he was sorry the next day. I think that Dougie and Millar just need to go shave their heads together and they will be pals. Also Dougie is quickly becoming loved. The way Sox fans see it Cabrera was traded for Nomar so cheering for him is sketchy and possibly disloyal. Dougie does not have the same problem. We love good defense, you should hear how much noise we make for Pokey and he hits just over 200, so i think we can take 250 and a gold glove at first.

Darn, Twins East Fan, I HATE context! : )

Dear Twins Fan East,
Isn't Pokey great? I remember him when I lived in Indy and he played for the AAA team of the Reds.

And to all,
Get off Buckner's case please. The man's put up with ignorant Boston fans for years, need we stoop to their level? That was only game six. The Red Sox still screwed up Game 7 too.

>>I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to.

lack-of-communicated to??

Dear Bill Buckner mockers,

The guy could hardly walk and should never have been out there on the field. After his last at bat, they should have taken him out and replaced him with a first baseman who could move. Buckner had a good career in which he hit well and fielded well. It's wrong to remember him for a situation he never should have been in. Boston's manager has since explained that he left Buckner in because, given his terrific career, he deserved to be on the field when Boston won the series. I guess that's somehow a lot better than being in the dugout when it happens. But it turned out to be a tragic decision, and the result shouldn't be blamed on Buckner. Even though I never rooted for any of the teams Buckner played on, I've gotta say it's a mistake to make him a goat for the '86 Series.

Sox Fan,
It's not us you have to convince. All through last year's playoffs we had to listen to the curse stories, and how Boston fans are still emotionally scarred by the incident. That may not be true, but that's the legend constantly foisted upon us. So think of Mientkiewicz as an antidote to Buckner trauma.

Okay Silo, that's a good point. And for the good of all of us, could you please get your team to start beating the Yankees? Thanks.

Doug's a great player. We'll miss him and I'll continue to root for him in Boston.

Silo asks whether the Red Sox fans deserve to have their coming love/hate relationship with Dougie. But isn't that the defining characteristic of how Boston fans relate to all their players?

I saw Dougie Defence do his patented belly-flop off the bag to pull in a wide throw last night, getting that Red Sox uni dirty and enjoying the wild applause. It felt like the time I saw Shawna Gillespie with some pseudo-hippie guy on the Seattle ferry, a few years after she left me to go to college in California. I knew things which that guy would never understand, but in the present and going forward I suddenly realized I didn't really know her at all.

Oh, she was yar. But the ship has sailed. Treat Dougie kindly, Beantowners, if you're smart enough to appreciate the moment and what you hold in your hands.

Btw, one other reason why Buckner doesn't deserve all the hell he's taken over the years: People have always talked like the Red Sox had the World Series within their grasp until Buckner booted it all away, but the damn game was tied when he made the error. Schiraldi and Stanley were the ones who lost the lead.

Even if Buckner could have fielded the ball and beat Mookie Wilson to the bag, it just would've moved the game on to the 11th inning--and more chances for someone else to lose the game. Whether Boston could have gone on to get another lead, and hold it, nobody can know that.

Donnie Moore had the right idea. He blew the World Series chance for the Angels the same year, so to avoid Buckner-like scrutiny for years to come, he offed himself.

Or maybe that wasn't the main reason. But it's a good story :o)

frightwig,

Shawna (or maybe it was Shanna) Gillespie was the name of my kindergarten teacher in St. Louis Park! Such a coincidence...