Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“Look at these guys over here across the hall,” Ortiz said yesterday before the Orioles beat the Red Sox, 6-3. “It’s fun to watch them, let me tell you. You watch them play, and it’s like it’s unexpected. That’s good for the game, when you don’t have the same people winning over and over and over. Even what we are going through is good for the game, so people know it’s not just, ‘OK, it’s supposed to be like this because it’s the Red Sox, or it’s the Yankees. They’re going to finish first and second in the division and that’s it.’ No. You’ve got the Orioles, Tampa, Toronto, Oakland. The NL is the same thing.
“It’s good for the game, and it’s good for us. We need to learn how to get back to those days when we were winning 10 in a row. We haven’t had that feeling in a couple of years. We have to put ourselves in a position to get back there and go back to that.”
When Ortiz thinks back, even to last season, he sees a team that has lost its way. And he wants to see it get it back.
“Winning is fun,” he said. “I love it. I love whupping (butt). I love making the opposing team suffer. I love that (expletive). I enjoy it. Let me tell you, I get along with everyone in the game, but I feel like that’s my job once we cross the lines, and there’s no better feeling than that.”
Herald: David Ortiz misses good old days
Don't we all miss the good old days of Sox/Yankees 1st and 2nd, no matter the order.
David Ortiz is very optimistic about the future and understands it is good for the league to not always see the Red Sox and Yankees making the playoffs. I would still like to see it.
Everyone should feel optimistic about next season, because it can't get worse than this. Even with a weak free-agent market, it will be next to impossible to put together a team that is worse than this one. Guys like Ortiz and Middlebrooks will be returning from injury and we can only hope the starting rotation can improve. Again, it will be hard for pitching to get any worse.
For the short-term there is something to be positive about. There are only 3 games left.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Orioles' plane diverted because of smoke in galley | Red Sox hit 90-loss mark | Daniel Bard's year a real page-turner | ESPN Boston: Rapid Reaction: Orioles 6, Red Sox 3 | Globe: Sox hit 90 losses for the first time since '66 | Will Middlebrooks is off to see the Wizard | CSNNE: Red Sox fall to Orioles for 90th loss, 6-3 | Wakeup call: Does it get any worse than this? | Orioles clinch post-season spot after Angels lose | Notes: Rough one for Stewart; Ross homers
