A Tokyo Split

We lost this morning 5-1 to the Oakland A's to get a split in the opening series. Actually, we are pretty lucky to be coming home with a split, when we very easily could have lost game 1. I have only had about 7 hours sleep total the last 2 days - I am glad we don't play in Japan again, I would never be able to keep up with watching all the games. Lester looked lost this morning and what is it with Tek? He has struck out 6 times in 8 plate appearances. Manny had a home run today. He was named the MVP for yesterdays game and given a check for 10000 dollars. When asked what he is going to do with the money, he said he was using the check for gas money. Next game is tuesday night against Oakland. So we will have to do it all now - get up at 4 am for a game and now we will have to stay up until 1 am to watch a west coast game!

This morning, my son got up to go to school and came out and saw me watching the Sox. He asked if we were winning and I told him we were down 4-1. He said, "Don't worry, the Red Sox always win", and he sat down beside me. After he said that, I realized that he is growing up in a different world than I did. I grew up knowing that no matter how big the lead, we will blow it. No matter how hard we try, we will always lose in the end. He will never know that part of being a Sox fan, he expects us to win. That is all he knows.

I told him, "It wasn't always that way" and he replied curiously, "The Red Sox used to lose?"
I said, "Yeah, but that was a long time ago", and we sat together and watched the end of the game. Even though we didn't come back to win today, we both knew it would be alright. Hey, the Red Sox always win in the end - at least to my son.

A Breakfast With Champions

The Red Sox won the opening day game in Japan this morning by the score 6-5. Manny came up big when we needed him to and Brandon Moss hit his first major league home run to tie the game up in the 9th inning.

Good points of the game: Our bullpen kept us in the game. Lopez came in while we were down 1 and held the A's scoreless, then Corey and Okajima shut them down too. Manny came up big with 4 rbis's in the game as well and Brandon Moss tied it up with a solo shot in the ninth. Moss was a late write in and wasn't even going to play the game until JD Drew came up with a sore back and Moss was penciled in. If I had a vote, Moss would be todays MVP.

Troubling areas: Dice-K started off shaky and walked a total of 5 batters. He settled down nicely though and gave up only 2 hits in 5 innings and struck out 6. Papelbon certainly wasn't lights out this morning. In fact, if not for a baserunning mistake by the A's in the 10th, we probably would have lost the game. Veritek struck out 3 times in his 4 at bats but I am sure he will still be productive at the plate.

Other notes: Why do the other teams intentionally walk Papi to get to Manny? I love it when Manny burns them by getting a base hit and scoring Papi from first! All in all, it was a great season opener. Also, isn't it a little weird to see Alan Embree and Keith Foulke in another teams jersey?

For some reason, our Directv satellite couldn't pick up Nesn or Espn2 for much of the game. I got up around 4 am to watch some pregame on Nesn and the satellite couldn't find the signal. I thought no big deal, I will switch over the Espn2 at game time and watch the game there. At 5am, the satellite couldn't pick up Espn2 either. I then checked to see if I had paid the Directv bill. Then, my wife called them and there was trouble with the satellite so I had to watch the first 7 innings on the computer. Eventually though, by the time the sun was coming up in the 8th inning, Nesn came back and I was able to watch the end of the game. When I left to go to work, Espn2 was still out. It was a frustrating way to watch opening day, but hopefully tomorrow morning it will go a little smoother.

Red Sox are in first ...
half game up on everyone in the AL East (including the Yanks.)

Opening Day

Well it is finally here!! The baseball season is upon us. We will be setting our alarm clocks at 4am so we can catch some pregame on NESN and then the game starts up at 5am. Usually, for opening day we have a big bowl of New England Clam Chowder. I am tempted to have a bowl for breakfast just to keep our good luck going. Dice-K should do well in front of his home crowd and hopefully when they get back to the states we will be one game up on the rest of the AL East, especially the Yanks.

So to get the ball rolling on the season, here is a video from Nike that they played during the 2004 playoffs and world series. This one always makes you smile!

Lets Go Red Sox !!!

Manny's a Bad Man

There is just one week until the start of the 2008 season. The game will be on espn starting at 5am so I will have to set the alarm clock that morning. Also, the Sox have announced that DiceK will be starting the game. Now if we can just get Beckett back healthy again we will be ok.

What happened to the Sox against the Yankees yesterday? By the time I made it home to watch the game, we were already down 7-0. I don't think Colon is ready yet to take the mound for us. I hope he is not going to be another Gagne!
Anyway, with only a week left until opening day, I was thinking about Manny's walkoff to beat the Angels last year in the playoffs. I love his press conference afterward where he says, "Even when you don't feel good, and you still get hits, thats when you know you are a bad man." And he says it like 2 or 3 times in the interview! Another week to go until it is Red Sox games every day!!! Bring on the season!

Pizza Anyone?

One of the best RemDawg/Orsillo moments came last year during the Sox game against the Angels. During a routine foul ball, a fan throws his pizza at another fan and then the RemDawg and Orsillo take over. It is great just listening to them go on about the pizza. They are laughing about how the guy is covered in dirt and then they realize through slow motion, that someone threw a pizza at him. "What was that that came flying in?" Here is the first part of the clip and then here is the second part. I like the part when the Dawg says the fan probably left his house for the game and told his wife if he sees anyone at the game I will throw my pizza at him. The way they laugh about it just makes you laugh too. They make the games so fun to watch! I can't wait for the season to start!

Oh and I can't wait for Arod to come see us too! Did I mention we don't like the Yankees?

Yankee Hating

Yankee hating is another inherited trait that rears its head early on in our family. This picture was taken the end of May 2007 at the Rangers - Sox game. My wife was seven months pregnant at the time and she wore this shirt to the game to let everyone know how we were planning to raise the new member of the family. There were literally hundreds of fans at the game who stopped my wife to read her shirt and take pictures and the ones that didn't stop her were pointing and commenting about her shirt as she walked by. She later said she felt like a celebrity.

It was also fun to watch some of the Ranger fans look in astonishment when she walked by. Some just shook their head in disapproval as if we were embarrassing them by wearing the shirt. But what do they know? There are Ranger fans. They definitely don't understand.

My son learned early on to hate the Yankees too. He was a little over one year old when he learned that the Yankees choke. I would ask him what the Yankees do and he would grab his throat and cough and choke. He couldn't say more than 3 or 4 words yet and he didn't know his colors or his alphabet, but he knew what the Yankees do, and that is the most important thing.

The problem with teaching a one year old the choke symbol is he doesn't know when it is appropriate. I remember we were at a Wal-Mart when he grabbed my hand and lead me down an aisle. I thought he was going to show me a toy or something he wanted me to buy. Instead, he lead me down the aisle and then stood next to some guy wearing a hat. Austin then pointed up to the man, said out loud, "Look daddy, yankees!", and then started the throat grab and the choking. Then this 6' 5" monster with a Yankee hat looked down at me and my son. I was calculating how fast it would take for me to grab my son and run for the door without the Yankee fan seeing us when the Yankee fan simply smiled and nodded. Luckily he was a nice Yankee fan!

I also remember I took my wife and her parents to Red Lobster and while we were waiting in line my son asked if I remembered the last time we ate there, he had seen a Yankee fan. I told him that I did remember and I was shocked that he had remembered something like that. Soon the hostess came to seat us and as she was leading us back to the table, my son spotted a Yankee fan from across the restaurant and yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Look daddy, a Yankee fan Again!" and stood there pointing at the guy. Needless to say the entire restaurant turned to see what was happening and I had to apologize to my wife's parents for their only grandchilds behavior. I simply said, he is a Red Sox fan, enough said.

Also when my wife was pregnant with Aubrey, we went in to get an ultrasound. Austin stood there in amazement as the doctor pointed to her little fingers and arms and legs. Then the doctor, seeing our Red Sox hats and jerseys, stated jokingly, "and if you look here you can see her Yankee hat." Upon hearing that, my son lost the smile he had. He looked up at me and had tears forming in his eyes. He said, "but Daddy, I thought you said she was one of us" and he started to cry. The doctor quickly realized what was going on and stated that she was mistaken, it was actually a Red Sox hat and that calmed Austin down. I guess the doctor didn't understand, in our family, there are some things you just don't joke about.

My wife has got into it as well. During the 2004 playoffs against the Yankees, after one of the games we won in extra innings, we went to the grocery store. We were still in entire sox jerseys and hats and as we were leaving the store, an older couple in Yankee jerseys and hats were just getting out of their car and was walking toward the door. It was funny that every one of us just stopped in our tracks when we noticed each other. Then we began walking toward each other, it was like something from an old western movie. None of us said anything to the other, but my wife gave a disapproving "mmm" and slowly shook her head as she walked by the Yankee fans. She also likes to tell of the time we saw Bobby Murcer in a parade. He was wearing his Yankee hat and was riding in the back of a car and when the car got in front of us, my wife jumped into the street, pulled her sox hat off, lifted it in the air and pointed to her hat. Of course, this got Murcer's attention and all he could do was point to his hat and yell back to us "26 championships boys!" Typical yankee, always living in the past.

I will have to say that most Yankee fans I know are very nice. In fact, in school, my best friend was a Yankee fan. But man do I hate the team. I hate Jeters little fist pump when he stretches a single into a double. I hate Arod and his smug look on his face. (My son thinks he wears purple chap stick). Of course, I dont have to say anything about Johnny Damon or Clemens other than I hate them too. Did I mention I hate Jeter's fist pump. Needless to say, I am not allowed to attend any Yankee games. I would end up in jail or in the morgue. And that would be hard to explain to my son.
I don't allow my son to say he hates the Yankees or any of the players, that just doesn't seem right for a small child to say. But he does say "I strongly dislike" them. People ask me if I would wear a Yankee hat if my son ever played for the Yankees. I tell them no because if I raise him right, he would never play for the Yankees. They then ask, but what if he did? I tell them, if he ever played for the Yankees I should be forced to wear a Yankee hat. It would serve as a symbol as my failure to be a good father. That is how much I hate the Yankees.

Remembering Millar

I read over the weekend of Mike Lowell's charity fundraising event to raise money to help children with cancer. The event was a "Dancing with the All-Stars" event and of course, wouldn't you know it, Papelbon stole the show. Papelbon showed up in a black lacey shirt that really no male should ever be seen wearing. Pedroia supposedly ripped off his own shirt and threw it into the crowd. You can read about the story here. After reading about the dance-off charity event, I was thinking about how Kevin Millar would have fit in with this group. Could you imagine him and Papelbon together at anything? It would be a sure bet someone would be getting arrested for something crazy. Paps would get arrested for dancing pantless down the street and Millar would be arrested for inciting a riot encouraging the crowd to join Paps in his dancing.

My favorite Millar moment, besides the whole cowboy up thing from 2003 (wasn't it fun to see Pedro coming to the park in his cowboy hat?), was his video he made last year during the playoffs. We were down 3-1 to the Indians and game 5 started with the Millar pep talk. After seeing that, I looked over to my wife, and said, "We're going to win this thing!" It was like at the end of Smokey and the Bandit when the truck passes the transam and Burt Reynolds suddenly realizes they are going to make it. Here is the video of Millar doing his pep talk.