Josh Q. Public: Guard your grill, knuckle up. I ain’t the type to give up. Guard your grill, knuckle up. Put ‘em up, you ain’t tough. Guard your grill, knuckle up! -Naughty By Nature
Public Service Announcement: OK, here we go! Just a quickie today. Real busy today. Big stuff to do. Important stuff. But I had to do this first. Was gonna write about Brandon Webb today. But then I saw Tim Wakefield pitch a gem of a ballgame last night. I wasn’t around when Lew “Hicks” Moren invented it. I never saw Hoyt Wilhelm. I barely remember Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough. Wilbur Wood is from my hometown but he was before my time. I’ve seen Tim Wakefield though. I’ve seen Tim Wakefield pitch for a lot of innings. A plethora of innings. A gaggle of innings. A slew of innings. Twelve years worth of innings. Twelve years worth of knuckleballs. I saw him allow only three runs in thirteen innings against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. I saw him in Game Five of the 2004 ACLS. Game Five, where Wakefield was the winning pitcher in a fourteen inning thriller. You know it’s thriller, thriller night. You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller. Fought for his life throwing three shutout innings. I saw eight more innings of him last night. Eight beautiful innings. Now on some nights, he’s merely pedestrian. Other nights, he’s downright hittable. But on some nights, some nights, when all the planets are aligned just so, on those nights, those nights when the knuckleball is knuckling just right, Tim Wakefield is truly something to behold. Last night was one of those nights. His knuckleball was the knuckliest. Knucklicious. Mesmerizing. Tantalizing. Captivating. Devastating. Last night, Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield dominated the Devil Rays. They never stood a chance. Tim Wakefield’s knuckler was moving. It was grooving. Something to proving. Wakefield took a No-No Nanette into the seventh. Carl Crawford broke it up but Timmy left him stranded at third to preserve the shutout. The shutout and the victory. The six strikeout shutout and victory. Yup, six baffling, bewildering, befuddling strikeouts. You think that’s easy? Willie Stargell doesn’t: “Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox.” And that my friends is what Tim Wakefield did last night. He threw a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox. All night. And not a moment too soon. The Red Sox had lost four of their previous six games. They needed this one. They got it. Thanks to Mr. Tim Wakefield. The unsung hero of this ballclub. Roll Sox roll!
Josh Q. Public:You gotta roll, roll, roll. You gotta thrill my soul, alright. Roll, roll, roll, roll-a, thrill my soul. Let it roll, all night long.-Doors
Public Service Announcement: OK, here we go! The Boston Red Sox. I made a bet with my boy Nostradomus. Bet, bet bet…BEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTT! Fred Flintstone style. I had Tiger, he had the field. I lost. Now I have to write a post praising the Yankees. Egads man. Not today though. I gotta sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today though. And don’t worry ’bout tomorrow, hey, hey, hey though. ‘Cause the Sox are rolling today. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. Though the streams are swollen. Keep them Bosox rollin’. Red Sox! How ’bout them Red Sox? Three in a row. Three, it’s the magic number. Five of their last six. Playing knick knack on some sticks. Seven of their last ten. Do it again. These old Sox are rolling home. How ’bout Josh Boom Boom Beckett? Another win yesterday. Three and oh after yesterday. 1.50 ERA and 18 Ks after yesterday. Yowza! Schilling’s back. Back on track. Back on track, leading the pack. I met him at the candy store. He turned around and smiled at me. You get the picture? Yes, we see. That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack. Matzuka, Matsuzaka Matsuzaka. The new king of ole Fenway Pahka. I think it’s fair to say he’s for real. The real deal. Hard as steel. Tim Wakefield is pitching better than I’ve seen in a while. Better than he’s ever been in a while. An inning machine in a while. With Wakefield pitching better than I’ve seen in a while and Jon Lester tearing it up for the Greenville Drive, the Sox may soon have the best staff in baseball. Woo doggie! This is getting good. Better than I thought it would. Better than you thought it should. And what about Papi? The man you just can’t stoppie. On the world, he is atoppie. On top of the world looking down on creation. Just on a tear. Two bombs and eight ribbies in the last two days. He’s on fire. Up in here, it’s burning hot. He’s on fire. Shorty, take it off, if it get to hot, up in this spot. He’s on fire. He’s not the only one. Not the only one getting it done. Having some fun. Julio Lugo’s having some fun. Having some fun with the glove. Oh, sweet darling, you get the best of my glove. The best of his glove darting out to center to make a grab that saved a run. The best of his glove down on his knees saying please, please. JD Drew’s having some fun. Having some fun on the run with a burger and a bun and a dish of applesauce on the siiiiiide. And just wait ’till Manny starts being Manny again. You know he will. You know he’ll thrill. This cat hits in bunches. The ball he crunches. Throwing knockout punches. The Sox can throw some knockout punches in these next couple of series. The Jays right now and the Yankees this week-end. Yup, sippin’ on coke and rum. I’m like so what im drunk. It’s the freakin’ weekend baby, I’m about to have me some fun. Have me some fun with this decimated Yankee pitching staff. Marco. Polo. Hahaha! Roll Red Sox, Roll!
Public Acknowledgements: Deadspin, Doors, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Yahoo Sports, The Flintstones, The Grass Roots, Rawhide, Schoolhouse Rock, Shangri-las, Carpenters, Jed Clampett, Lloyd Banks, Eagles and R. Kelly
josh q. public. For the public, by The Public. Irreverent sports opinion from a Bostonian in New York. The one blog to read, when you’re reading more than one. Good to the last drop!
years worth of knuckleballs. I saw him allow only three runs in thirteen innings against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. I saw him in Game Five of the 2004 ACLS. Game Five, where Wakefield was the winning pitcher in a fourteen inning thriller. You know it’s thriller, thriller night. You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller. Fought for his life throwing three shutout innings. I saw eight more innings of him last night. Eight beautiful innings. Now on some nights, he’s merely pedestrian. Other nights, he’s downright hittable. But on some nights, some nights, when all the planets are aligned just so, on those nights, those nights when the knuckleball is knuckling just right, Tim Wakefield is truly something to behold. Last night was one of those nights. His knuckleball was the knuckliest. Knucklicious. Mesmerizing. Tantalizing. Captivating. Devastating. Last night, Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield dominated the Devil Rays. They never stood a chance. Tim Wakefield’s knuckler was moving. It was grooving. Something to proving. Wakefield took a No-No Nanette into the seventh. Carl Crawford broke it up but Timmy left him stranded at 
third to preserve the shutout. The shutout and the victory. The six strikeout shutout and victory. Yup, six baffling, bewildering, befuddling strikeouts. You think that’s easy? Willie Stargell doesn’t: “Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox.” And that my friends is what Tim Wakefield did last night. He threw a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox. All night. And not a moment too soon. The Red Sox had lost four of their previous six games. They needed this one. They got it. Thanks to Mr. Tim Wakefield. The unsung hero of this ballclub. Roll Sox roll!
rolling home. How ’bout Josh Boom Boom Beckett? Another win yesterday. Three and oh after yesterday. 1.50 ERA and 18 Ks after yesterday. Yowza! Schilling’s back. Back on track. Back on track, leading the pack. I met him at the candy store. He turned around and smiled at me. You get the picture? Yes, we see. That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack. Matzuka, Matsuzaka Matsuzaka. The new king of ole Fenway Pahka. I think it’s fair to say he’s for real. The real deal. Hard as steel. Tim Wakefield is pitching better than I’ve seen in a while. Better than he’s ever been in a 
while. An inning machine in a while. With Wakefield pitching better than I’ve seen in a while and Jon Lester tearing it up for the Greenville Drive, the Sox may soon have the best staff in baseball. Woo doggie! This is getting good. Better than I thought it would. Better than you thought it 
should. And what about Papi? The man you just can’t stoppie. On the world, he is atoppie. On top of the world looking down on creation. Just on a tear. Two bombs and eight ribbies in the last two days. He’s on fire. Up in here, it’s burning hot. He’s on fire. Shorty, take it off, if it get to hot, up in this spot. He’s on fire. He’s not the only one. Not the only one getting it done. Having some fun. Julio Lugo’s having some fun. Having some fun with the glove. Oh, sweet darling, you get the best of my glove. The best of his glove darting out to center to make a grab that saved a run. The best of his glove down on his knees saying please, please. 
JD Drew’s having some fun. Having some fun on the run with a burger and a bun and a dish of applesauce on the siiiiiide. And just wait ’till Manny starts being Manny again. You know he will. You know he’ll thrill. This cat hits in bunches. The ball he crunches. Throwing knockout punches. The Sox can throw some knockout punches in these next couple of series. The Jays right now and the Yankees this week-end. Yup, sippin’ on coke and rum. I’m like so what im drunk. It’s the freakin’ weekend baby, I’m about to have me some fun. Have me some fun with this decimated Yankee pitching staff. Marco. Polo. Hahaha! Roll Red Sox, Roll!
