• Curt Schilling bounced the Game 5 first pitch and then J.D. Drew helped Boston bounce the series back to Tampa

Sox and Dawgs provides this video of an $8 million bounced first pitch by Curt Schilling. I’ll give Schill a little slack since he had surgery, but his toss seemed like an omen after B.J. Upton took Dice-K deep for a two-run shot in the first inning.

I know the Boston Red Sox have given us incredible comebacks in playoffs past, but at 7-0, I had written the Nation off. I was only watching the game to see how many runs Tampa Bay would score en route to clinching their first trip to the World Series. Then it happened.

The Boston Red Sox came up with the clutch hits and big home runs we’ve become accustomed to from them and pulled off the greatest postseason comeback since 1929. Strangely, the same year as the great stock market crash.

Dustin Pedroia got things started with a single in the seventh to score Jed Lowrie, a run that at time seemed like it would serve no purpose other than preventing the Sox from being shutout in their final game of the season. It ended up being the snowball that started the avalanche.

From there on it was just like old times. David Ortiz found his stroke and jacked a three-run shot to pull Boston within three at 7-4. Johnathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless eighth after giving up two runs in the seventh, and J.D. Drew clutched up with a two-run homer in the eighth and the game winning single in the ninth. The J.D. Drew clutching up is new, but the Sox pulling off miracles isn’t. It’s hard to believe that this team was considered the Chicago Cubs of the American League earlier this decade.

Does this win get the Red Sox rolling to the World Series? Probably. The Tampa Bay Rays are a young team, and a loss like this could ruin them for the rest of the series. Luckily for T.B., James Shields is locked for Game 6 which gives them their best chance of winning. If Boston forces a Game 7, get ready for a Red Sox-Phillies World Series.

I don’t remember this story getting much play at the time, but the fellas from The Heater talked to Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays about “EvanLongoria.com” being available on EBay for $25,000. Longoria didn’t think much of his name being auctioned off in August.

Longoria laughed when he heard about it Friday. “That’s weird,” he said. “And kind of funny. What are they going to come up with next? I guess it’s a good idea if you’re the guy selling it. He beat me to the punch.”

It turns the seller, Dave Pierce, is also the owner of online ticket brokerage eSellout.com, and he didn’t sell the website. He still owns EvanLongoria.com but it points to eSellout.com.

Pierce commented on the original EvanLongoria.com for sale post in an attempt to justify jacking somebody’s name and trying to flip it for 25 grand.

If someone is willing to update and create content on an Evan Longoria fan page I would be willing to listen. To this date I never found anyone so I thought about selling. -Dave

I’d like to congratulate Pierce for being a moron and a genius. He’s a moron for slanging tickets off of Evan Longoria’s name but he’s a genius for introducing this new marketing strategy.

All the corporations have to do is align themselves with athletes that fit their image. It shouldn’t be hard. Here’s three I came up with in two seconds. EddyCurry.com, MattJones.com, or TravisHenry.com. OK, the last one doesn’t work, but you see where I’m going with this.

They say if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will believe in you. Pitcher Scott Kazmir of the Tampa Bay Rays apparently believes that adage. Kazmir told Tampa radio hosts Fisher and Boy that he expected 20 wins for himself and that the team is thinking postseason or bust. The hosts quickly called Kazmir on his claims and Scott laughed, but I hope he wasn’t kidding. For one, it’s time for somebody other than the Red Sox or Yankees to win the division. For two, I can’t wait for the conversation between Joe Buck and Tim McCarver when they try to explain what the Rays bullpen coach is doing in this video.

Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, pitcher, video, youtube, interview

I’ll clear a few things up right off the bat. The bullpen coach in the video is not humping the chair because it’s opening day. He’s just humping the chair. The chair lover in question is supposedly Tampa Bay Rays bullpen coach Bobby Ramos. There’s no pic on his bio so I can’t confirm if it’s him, but YouTube user browni1984 says it’s the Rays bullpen coach. So what’s he doing? Showing a rookie how to work it? Showing the rookie how he’d work it? Whatever it is, it’s nowhere near the funniest thing to happen in a bullpen.

Tags: Tampa Bay Rays, Bullpen Coach, Chair, grinding, youtube, video