End of Our Losing Streak

Lester pitched about as good of a game as you could want him to, 8 innings of 1 hit ball, Youk came up big with a game winning single in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs and we win 1-0 ending our five game losing streak. I don't know about anyone else, but I really enjoy a good pitchers duel. I much prefer a 1-0 game to a 13-12 game anytime.

Lester pitched 8 innings and didn't give up a run. The problem was Halladay also didn't give up a run. Papelbon came in to pitch the ninth and I think the biggest play of the game was the Pedroia stop at second. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Toronto had the go ahead run at 2nd with 2 outs. Pedroia, who later said he didn't even see the ball because he was blocked out by the umpire, stabbed a hard hit grounder up the middle and threw to first for the final out.

In the bottom of the ninth, our rally started with 2 outs and nobody on. Papi walked after nearly ending it with a home run that turned out to be foul. After Ortiz walked, Manny lined a single which brought up Youk. I sort of thought they would pinch run for Ortiz but the switch didn't happen. Youk got a base hit up the middle, Ortiz rounded third and scored the game winning run.

It was our 7th win on our last at bat. These kind of games are the type of games that take years off my life. Next Dice-K is on the mound. Lets hope our bats come to life and give him some run support!

Bring Back The Devil Rays

I like the old Devil Rays team a lot better. When they changed their name to just the Rays, I think they got a whole new team. Their pitchers turned into Cy Young, Catfish Hunter, and Bob Gibson. At least that what it seemed like. We couldn't get our offense going in any of the games.

On Friday's game, we lost 5-4 in 11 innings. Wake brought his 19-3 record in Tampa to the mound but got hit for 3 earned runs in 6 innings. Our bullpen held them until the 11th when Timlin allowed the winning run. It was good to see Tek back even if he did just come in for Crisp who pinch ran for Cash. Papi went a horrible 0-6 but it was nice to see him try to beat out that infield hit at first. He went head first and maybe he messed up his knee. Hopefully he will be OK.

On Saturday's game, we lost 2-1 and Clay pitched a terrific game. He allowed just one hit into the 8th inning, but our bats could only give him one run to play with. In the 8th, he allowed a base hit and then a 2 run home run to put us behind. He pitched a complete game loss, three hitter. We really need to get our bats going soon. Now that Tek is back in the lineup, we now have Papi out of the lineup with a bruised knee. Manny, Youk and Tek went a combined 0-10. We won't score many runs that way. Beckett is on the mound tomorrow, we should be alright if we can score some runs.

Sunday's game was just more of the same. We lost 3-0 and was shutout by Shields who looked like Cy Young out there. We could only muster out 2 hits. Beckett did all he could, went 7 innings and struck out 13, but he gave up 2 runs (1 earned) and took the loss. If our bats don't come around soon, we won't be winning any games. Papi took the day off to nurse his knee - he needs to get back in the lineup and start hitting like he used to.

Tampa Bay really looks like a good young team. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next couple years, they start to make a run on the Yanks and us in the division. They have excellent pitching and good speed on the bases. We will see how they do next weekend in Boston.

We have now lost 5 straight and we have a day off on Monday. We have a 3 game set at home against Toronto coming up this week. We need to take at least 2 of 3 from them over the next couple of days. Speaking of coming home to play, Tuesday nights game is a sellout which is the 402nd consecutive sellout of Fenway Park. There hasn't been an empty seat at Fenway for a game since May 15th, 2003. We are expected to break the home consecutive sellout streak, which the fans will, on September 3 against the Orioles. That will be the 456th consecutive sell out, breaking the Indians record of 455 set from 1995-2001. One day, it sure would be nice to see a game there at home in Fenway. Until then, we will continue to root for them here and watch them when we can when they come to Texas.

Lowell should be back in the lineup come Tuesday which is good news. Now let's win some games !

Wash Your Hands !

Doesn't anybody on our team wash their hands? It seems everyone on our team is out sick with the flu. First there was Tek, then Manny Delcarmen, Beckett, and then he got a sore neck, Dice-K, Lowell is on the 15 day DL, Youk and Coco had to miss a game, and because of all that, the Angels took 2 of 3 from us in Fenway.

On Tuesdays game, we came back from behind 5-1 to win 7-6. It seems like we always find a way to come from behind to win. I kind of like this type of baseball. Beckett was scratched from his start because of a sore neck and the flu. Tek was still out with the flu as well so Cash had to start at catcher. When Francona was asked if we have another backup catcher, he said Pedroia had some catching experience in Little League or something and Pedroia actually tried on Teks catchers equipment but everything was too big on him. Let's just hope it doesn't come to having Pedroia catch for us, even for an inning. Jacoby hit two home runs for the first time in his career and Okajima blew a save opportunity for us which is rare for him. Papelbon came in to close out the ninth though pushing our winning streak to 6 games.

Wednesday's game didn't turn out like we planned. First, Flu-K (Dice) was out with the flu so Lester chose to pitch on 3 days rest for the first time ever. He was effective and kept us in the game, but we lost 6-4 stopping our winning streak at 6 games. Good news is Lowell is expected back in a couple days, Tek is taking his flu medicine and should be back by this weekend and we have Tampa Bay coming up on the schedule.

Thursday's game we lost 7-5 but the big story was Masterson and how he pitched today. A late call up to fill in for ailing pitchers, he came in and pitched 6 innings of 1 run baseball on only 2 hits. He left with a 3-1 lead going into the 7th inning. Before Masterson could finish washing his hands (did he remember) and put in a cough drop our bullpen had blown up and given the Angels the lead. It took 3 pitchers to get us through the 7th - Lopez, Delcarmen (who took the loss) and even Okajima (who got his 2nd blown save) were all ineffective. Aardsma and Tavarez pitched the 8th and 9th and even they gave up a run in each of those innings. We tried to come back again in the 9th but we came up short.

Now we are off to Florida, for the warm sunny weather and hopefully we can all get rid of this flu that is taking over this team. What we really need is a shot of Tampa Bay baseball to get us back on the winning track again.

In other news, that Ortiz jersey that was buried in Yankee stadium got $175,100 at auction. All the money went to the Jimmy Fund which the winner of the shirt said was what he wanted as his father had died of cancer. He also got 2 tickets to a Sox home game and an authentic Ortiz jersey to wear to the game.

Now off the Tampa to where we can get back on some type of winning streak!

Patriots Day Sweep

The Red Sox won on Patriots Day 8-3 to complete a 4 game sweep of the hapless Texas Rangers. The Sox won without Manny who took a day off to rest and Tek was out sick as well. Lowell and Coco sat out too as the both of them are nursing injuries. Even without all these starters, we still scored runs. Buchholz went 6 strong innings and didn't give up a run. Ortiz and Pedroia remain to come up big and had 5 rbi's between them.



The Big Papi seems to coming out of his slump. Ortiz, hitting only .111 coming into the series, went 6-for-16 with 11 RBI in four games against the Rangers. The Rangers looked horrible and I am looking forward to seeing the Sox play them in Texas in September - should be a lot of fun.



The Sox have won 5 in a row and 9 of the last 10. Hopefully we can keep this streak rolling. Next we have the Angels coming to town and Josh Beckett is on the mound for game 1. My money will be on Beckett to shut down the Angels but it should be a great game and great series.

Texas Ranger Announcers Are Horrible !

The Red Sox took the first three games of the four game set over the weekend against the Texas Rangers and look for the sweep Monday morning as the play the Patriots Day Game. On Friday night, Big Papi broke out of his silence and hit a grand slam to help us to a 11-3 win. Pedroia (Minny Manny) hit his first home run of the season as well and DiceK took advantage of the offensive onslought and got his third win of the season. Dice worked behind the count a lot during the game and his pitch count was over 100 by the 6th inning. He lasted just 5.1 innings and gave up 3 runs. Even up by 8 in the 9th, I was worried when Timlin came in, but he shut down the Rangers to close out the win.

Saturdays game we had to come from behind to win scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win 5-3. Pedroia got it started with a double off the monster, Papi scored him on a single through the shifted defense and then Manny hit a monster shot over the left field wall to put us on top. Papelbon came in and closed out the game to get his 6th save. I thought Lester pitched well although he struggled early, he kept us in the game and only allowed 3 runs in 6.1 innings.

Sundays game seemed like a replay of Saturday's game except this time we were down 5-0 in the 7th. We scored two runs in the seventh, then erupted for four more in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead. Papi, who usually lets his bat do his talking, this time relied on his legs. In the bottom of the 8th, he legged out an infield single on a ground ball to the second baseman who was playing in the shift. Then, Pedroia came up and hit one almost into the triangle in center and big David Ortiz rumbled and stumbled around the basepath and scored all the way from first to tie the score. We then loaded the bases and Sean Casey walked in the winning run when the Ranger pitcher ran out of strikes and could no longer find the strike zone. We played without Manny for most of the game as he was ejected in the second inning for arguing balls and strikes. In the early innings, we were leaving men on base and had plenty of opportunities to score but always came up short. Eventually though, we broke through and finally began to score some runs.


Manny gets ejected in the 2nd inning.

Sundays game was the most frustrating game to watch mostly because of the absolute horrible announcers the Rangers have. The Ranger announcers have just jumped to second place in the worst announcer category for me. Michael Kay (Yankees) is still number one and always will be, number two used to be the White Sox announcers, but as of Sundays game, the Ranger announcers have taken over second. Oh, and the Fox guys are horrible too and I hate that we have to listen to them for the playoff games.

Here are some examples of the Ranger announcers being frustrating to listen to. On Saturdays game, when they were going to a commercial break after the 8th inning, the inning that we scored 3 runs to take the lead, the camera showed a Red Sox fan standing and cheering on our team. The announcer said, "Look at this Red Sox fan, he needs to sit down before he falls down." I couldn't believe I heard that and had to rewind it to hear it again. Even my wife shook her head in disgust at the Ranger announcers. But I guess, we have to understand where the Ranger announcers come from. In Texas, most of the fans still at the ballpark in Arlington after the 6th inning are the visiting teams fans anyway and the only Ranger fans still at the stadium after the 6th inning are probably too drunk to stand up. So I give them that. They were surprised to see so many home team fans still at the game after the 6th inning.

On Sunday's game they got even worse. After Manny was ejected, they were commenting on how that could change the game on how they pitch to Big Papi. They said, "We don't have to worry about the Big Papi without the Big Pop Off batting after him." They said several times that our batters continually whine and complain after every pitch and that is why we are able to work the count and get so many walks and eventually good pitches to hit. My anger started to boil as we were leaving so many men on base and I really wanted us to beat them - it almost felt like a Yankee game. They were actually rooting on the air for a ground ball so we could hit into a double play, we hit into the double play and they would say, "The Red Sox hitters can't complain to the umps on that one."

Then, before the bottom of the 8th, we all know Fenway does the Sweet Caroline song. The announcers actually said, "These fans don't even know their team is losing. They turn into Neil Diamond lyric lovers." Hey Ranger announcer boy, we were singing and dancing and being happy because your relief pitchers were coming in and we knew it was batting practice time. I actually had to turn the volume off after that and my son would do the play by play for me and would root for a base hit. After we took the lead, on a bases loaded walk (and no, we had nothing to complain about to the umps on that pitch), I had to turn the volume back on to see what the poor Ranger announcers were talking about now. As expected, they were silent. If only they would stay that way.

OK - lets win the Monday morning game and finish off this four game sweep and send the Rangers out of Boston in last place where they belong.

Moose Hunting in New York

Don't you just love pictures of Yankee players looking lost and beaten? Head hung low, just looking for someway to get out of the game? Take a look at Mussina! The Red Sox won today 7-5 over the Mussina and the Yankees to get a split in New York. We jumped up to an early 7-0 lead and hit Mussina around the stadium. Mussina was only able to last 3 inning and gave up 5 runs. Slowly the Yankees worked their way back into the game but ran into Papelbon in the ninth and lost.

Josh Beckett went a solid 8 innings and Paps came in to pitch the ninth. He wasn't as effective as usual giving up 2 runs in the ninth but we still came out on top. Manny hit 2 home runs and is now standing at 495 career home runs only 5 short of 500. 13 of our next 16 games are at home so it looks like we have a good chance of him getting number 500 at Fenway. That will be fun to see.

What was Farnsworth doing throwing at Manny? The ball sailed near his head and Farnsworth can throw in the upper 90mph range. Immediately the umpire came out and warned both teams but I just knew Beckett wasn't going to allow that type of Yankee behavior without some type of retribution. In the 8th, I was fully expecting Jeter or Arod to get plunked with a good 95mph fastball but it never came. I guess it was a good thing as Beckett would then have been suspended and would have had to miss a start, Francona would have been ejected, it would have been a mess. And our bullpen needed a rest, we couldn't have Beckett getting kicked out. But keep in mind, we will play them again July 4th weekend in the Bronx. These teams have long memories. We will remember Manny getting thrown at. Something is coming Arod's way - count on it!



Now back home to play the Rangers in a long four game series. DiceK gets game 1. Go Sox!



Manny is now just 5 short of 500.

New York Marathon

The Yankees took the first game of the short two game set 15-9 in a game that took just over 4 hours to complete. Buchholtz couldn't get through the 4th inning and he gave up 7 runs. We did battle back and got on Wang which even Yankee fans couldn't think we could do. We took a lead in the 5th but Tavarez, who looked completely spent gave up 4 runs and took the loss. Aardsma looked good but Timlin just can't seem to pitch against the Yankees anymore. His ERA is now 27.00 as he gave up another 4 runs in 1 inning of work.

Our offense came up big and I am really starting to like Sean Casey. Youk is still hitting although he hit one off his foot that really looked bad, but hopefully he will be ok. In a game where we score 9 runs, it is surprising that Jacoby went 0-5 in the leadoff spot. On the bright side, I like that we got to Wang and our bats came up big. Our middle relief scares me a little and we need to get more innings from our starters.

In game 2, we should be just fine with Josh Beckett on the mound. A split in the Bronx isn't bad and we will still be in first place.

Indians, Meet Our Captain

The Red Sox beat Cleveland 5-3 to complete a mini-sweep of the Indians. Veritek came in as a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth and belted a go ahead solo home run. Red hot Youkilis added an insurance run as well later in the ninth to put us up by two.

The big story of the night though was Lowrie who played in his first big league game going in for Lowell who is injured. He ended up the night with 3 rbi's and played a solid 3rd base. Wakefield had his knuckler working and kept us in the game as the score went back and forth. Papelbon took the night off so the save went to Okajima who filled in nicely with 2 strikeouts in the ninth to finish them off.

Now off to New York to take care of the Yankees. I'm sure the fans there will welcome us well especially with all the talk about the jersey that was planted in concrete at the new stadium. Should be a fun game to watch.

Oh, and the Red Sox have the dash by their name in the standings - we are back in first!

Nothin's over till it's over

Manny came up big for us in the 9th inning and he hit a two run home run to beat Cleveland 6-4. We entered the ninth down one 4-3 when Lugo hit a double down the third base line. After being sacrificed to third, it only took a deep fly ball to left by Dustin (Minny Manny) Pedroia to score him from third to tie the score. Big Papi finally got out of his slump and had two hits tonight, one of which came in the ninth. When Manny came up, we just knew something good was going to happen. And it did.

I have to admit though that in the middle innings, when we were down 4-1, I flipped over to the Yankee game and watched Tampa Bay come back to tie the score against the Yanks. Flipping back and forth between the games, I watched us come back and watched the Yanks blow it. Even though the Yanks won the game on a pinch hit home run, it was nice to see their bullpen blow a 5 run lead.

Although everyone will be talking about Manny's home run, the true MVP of the game would have to go to Julian Tavarez. He came in with us down 4-1, the bases loaded with one out in the 5th and struck out the next two batters to get us out of the inning. With those two outs, we were able to stay close and inch our way back into the game. Mike Timlin got the win as he came in and pitched well in the 8th and held Cleveland scoreless. Although he still scares me when I see him coming in from the bullpen, it was nice to see him pitching well again. I hope he keeps it up. Papelbon came in in the ninth and pitched a perfect inning to close it out. He is really looking unhittable. He is averaging 2 strikeouts per inning this year. It sure is nice to have a good closer, isn't that right Cleveland?

One more game against the Indians, then it is off to the Bronx for two against the Yanks. Joba Chamberlain won't be with the team as his father is in critical condition. Although I strongly dislike Joba and would like to see him with 20 blown saves this year, I hope his father makes it out ok. You can tell he and his father are really close and his father loves watching his son play - even if it is for the Yankees! Get well so I can get back to rooting against you!



Manny hits the game winner.

Two Out of Three Aint Bad

The Red Sox took two out of three against the Yankees over the weekend to put the Yanks back in last place. Friday night, Wang completely shut us down, pitched a two hitter and beat us 4-1. Papi went 0-3 and right now looks completely lost at the plate. JD Drew hit another home run and it seems he and Youk are the only two really doing anything offensively.

Saturdays afternoon game went a lot better as we beat them 4-3. Manny hit a home run and Okajima and Paps were lights out. I loved the rain delay right when Arod came up and Paps was still warming up. Paps came back 2 hours later and struck out Arod then struck out the first two batters in the ninth. On another note, Papi went 0-4 and lowered his batting average to .070.

On Sunday night, we got up early on Hughes and were up 7-1 before the game really got going. Dice-K was shaky again as he allowed 6 walks over 5 innings. I think when he plays these big games, he tries to paint the corners and nibble for strikes instead of playing his usual game. Anyway, he still got the win and we held on for a 8-5 win. Timlin looks absolutely horrible, he couldn't get anyone out, and almost allowed the Yanks to come back to take the lead. Timlins era is now 81.00. I don't think I have ever seen an ERA that high this far into the season. Lucky for us though, Arod went 0-5 and couldn't get anything done in any clutch situations. Yankee fans should come to expect that though.

Papi sat this game out to hopefully get back on track against the Indians tonight. We have a short 2 game series in Cleveland, then it is to the Bronx for another short 2 game series against the Yanks.



One interesting bit of news over the weekend was the Red Sox fan who was working on building the new Yankee stadium. He supposedly buried a Papi jersey in concrete under Yankee stadium to jinx the Yankees for the next 30 years. When the Yanks heard about this, they spent an entire day and a bunch of workers took jackhammers to where they thought this fan buried the jersey. Sure enough, after about 8 hours of digging, they uncovered the Papi jersey. Hank Steinbrenner said afterwards that he hopes his coworkers beat the (stuffing) out of him. In reply, the sox fan said that he invites Steinbrenner to try to do it and he hopes he brings Posada to help out as he hates Posada the most. I guess if I was a Sox fan living in the Bronx, it would cause me to lose my mind too. Actually, I probably would've done the same thing.

Lord of the Rings: The End of an Error

Yesterday was opening day in Boston. We got our championship rings in what turned out to be another big opening day ceremony. I can't believe that I have now seen two of these. It opened up with a string of people holding flags of the many countries that have fans of the Red Sox. Fans that have either wrote letters to the Red Sox claiming their love for the team, or have emailed their thoughts to the club.



The Boston Pops played the theme from Jurassic Park and then slowly the players came out to receive their rings. It was nice to see Doug Mirabelli there to get his ring too. Without him, we would never have had anyone catch Tim's knuckler. I hope he is still sitting by the phone in case we need him again!

The music turned to "Shipping off to Boston" and we knew that Papelbon was making his way out. He got his ring and then we waited for the Big Papi.



He then lead the team to centerfield where he and Johnny Pesky raised the 2007 flag. Then the Boston Pops played the National Anthem and they announced that there was going to be a special Red Sox to throw out the first pitch. From behind the huge American flag that draped over the green monster, out stepped Bill Buckner.



As he walked slowly from the outfield, he began to wipe away tears. The crowd cheered him. It was a cleansing, a forgiveness - warranted or not. It had been over 10 years since he had last been inside Fenway and then he was wearing a White Sox jersey and he was the hitting coach. This time, he was returning as one of us. He wore his old number 6 jersey and as he stood on the mound he wiped away more tears. He threw the ball to our former right fielder Dwight Evans. It was a perfect strike.
And at least for today, Stanley beat Mookie to the bag. And that little roller up along first, was fielded cleanly by our banged up first baseman. It was the way it should have been.



He talked about the ceremony after the game and he broke down a couple of times then too. The ceremony was for the fans to welcome back a great ball player who never deserved the treatment the fans and the media gave him. I think for the most part, the fans, at least the real ones, knew he was never the reason we lost. I think he knew that too.

The Boston Globe reported the story like this: "The pause lasted a full 13 seconds. Bill Buckner sat at a table in the Fenway Park interview room, a microphone in front of him, and pondered the question. Had he had second thoughts about throwing out the first pitch at yesterday's home opener and celebration of the 2007 World Series win?

His eyes grew wet and red. Dwight Evans, seated next to him, reached out and put his arm around Buckner.

"I really had to forgive, not the fans of Boston, per se, but I would have to say in my heart I had to forgive the media," Buckner said, after apologizing for taking so long to answer. "For what they put me and my family through. So, you know, I've done that and I'm over that."
But that hardly stopped the emotions. Not on the mound. Not in the interview room.
After all the ceremony, the handing out of rings and hoisting of the championship banner and introducing of Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics legends, there was Buckner walking out from left field to the mound. He walked slowly, perhaps a remnant of those aching ankles and knees that marred his career. And as he walked, the fans cheered.

They stood, their ovation carrying him from the outfield through the infield to the mound, where he acknowledged them and clapped. They stood after that, still cheering, as he looked around, as he readied himself, as he threw a strike to Evans at home plate.
"Just seeing him walk out, I couldn't have been happier for him," Evans said. "This guy had tremendous numbers, total stats, and I don't even know if he got a couple votes for the Hall of Fame, which I really think is a shame.
"No one played harder than Bill. No one prepared themselves as well as Bill Buckner did, and no one wanted to win as much as Bill Buckner.
"It was kind of neat. I know he was emotional on the mound. You know, it was emotional for me, too."

And Buckner almost didn't come. "I just didn't think I was going to do it," said Buckner, who was called about a month and a half ago by Dick Bresciani, now a vice president emeritus with the Sox. "I told Dick I'd think about it, but I made up my mind. I wasn't going to come. Then I prayed about it a little, and here I am. Glad I came."

This was not the first time Buckner had faced Fenway and the fans since his infamous 1986 moment. Not only did he play for the Red Sox for 75 games in 1987, he returned to the team for 22 games in 1990. But since that time, there has been healing in Red Sox Nation. His name might still evoke a picture of the ball heading between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but with two championships in the meantime, the hurt has subsided.

More than affecting him, the blame affected his family, especially his kids.
He was affected again yesterday, but this time the emotion was positive. Buckner said he'd like to return, take part in reunions, see his old friends. He would have earlier, but other commitments prevented him. Until yesterday.

"I've probably never almost been in tears for somebody else on the baseball field," said Kevin Youkilis, who made a point to shake Buckner's hand. "I think that was just the most unbelievable thing. It shows how great of a man Bill Buckner is.
"There's not too many people that can do what he did today and face thousands of people that booed him, threatened his life. For a man to step out there on the field, it shows how much of a man he is.
"I tip my cap. I just wanted to shake his hand. Because that's a true man in life."



This ceremony was about putting the past behind us, starting fresh, with new and greater expectations. It was about forgiveness and the accepting of apologies. If only our lives were like this... and people say this is just a game?? Oh yeah, there was a game, we won 5-0.




We love you Buckner, although we never said it.

The Wonder of it All...

The Sox had an off day so we had to watch some of the Yankee game and root for the Jays. What is it with Joba's hat? Does he have it ironed and starched that way or does someone sit on the thing before he comes in? I was really rooting for him to blow the game in the 8th, but they won but still are a half game in back of us.

While watching the Yankee game, I remembered the old Foxwoods commercials. You know the one, "Take a chance, make it happen, pop the cork, fingers snapping, ..." I remember that commercial being on 30 times per game. I was humming that song at work, while showering, and would even sing along with it when it came on the TV. I could never get it out of my head. I remember Austin not being 1 year old yet and the only way we could get him to go to sleep was by one of us singing him the Foxwoods song. Now some parents would choose a snappy lullaby, but not us. We chose the Foxwoods jingle. We would sing the song and he would get a smile on his face, close his eyes, and slowly drift off to sleep. Probably dreaming of a Red Sox championship.

Remember the Foxwoods commercial where the leprechauns were jumping around? And the one with the chip that got knocked off the table and flew around the casino until finally landing back on the table for the girl to take with her? There was one that was a Wizard of Oz spin on it and the other one I remember where a couple goes to reconnect but spends all their time apart. Now they have the one where the guy is shuffling the cards and makes a mess of things and the one where the guy is eating the cookies that were being used for the 10 dollar chips.

I also like the Sullivan tire guy. His hair is always a complete mess, but at least he is "always here to get you there". Another one is the USRV guy who would walk around on top of the RV's or on one commercial he was riding a horse singing. The games are definitely not same when they are not on NESN!

In other news, two Yankee fans were arrested for trying to steal some souvenirs from Yankee stadium the other day. Just another example of typical Yankee fans.

And then the story of the 13 year old school girl who was on a class trip to Fenway. Evidently, they were on a school field trip to tour Fenway on the Sox off day and she wandered too close to a Red Tailed Hawk nest. The hawk attacked her and she was sent to the hospital with minor cuts but she will be ok. The real reason the hawk attacked though was not because she got too close to the nest, it was because of her name -- Alexis Rodriguez. Even the birds at Fenway don't like people whose name is too similar to Yankee players.



All right, now lets take care of the Blue Jays!

Papi's Back

David Ortiz went 2 for 4 including a run home run to beat the Oakland A's 5-0. After starting off the season 0-11, I knew he would finally start to back on track. Varitek hit a home run in the 9th and this time it counted - no need for instant replay on that one!

Nice to see JD Drew back in the lineup. Hopefully, he can stay healthy long enough to contribute some. Coco got the start in center over Jacoby. Eventually, something will be done about the centerfield position. I think Coco will be dealt around the trade deadline for some pitching depending on how Schilling is looking then. Speaking of pitching, it looks like Beckett will be back soon and is scheduled to make his first start of the season Sunday against the Jays.

Lester pitched a gem going 6.2 innings of three hit, shutout ball striking out 3 as well. So far our pitching has been excellent. If our pitching keeps it up, we are going to win a lot of games this year.

The biggest story of the game though is Kevin Youkilis. Today he broke the record for consecutive games without an error by a first baseman breaking the record of Steve Garvey. He has now gone 194 games without an error, his last error being July 4, 2006. That is 1,628 defensive chances and he has made them all. That number is 72 shy of the record held by Stuffy McInnis of the Red Sox/Indians from 1921-1922. If things go well, he could have that record in the next week or so. It sure is nice to have a great defensive first baseman - especially when we were known for so long as the team with the first baseman who gave up the biggest error.

After the game, the Oakland A's gave Youk the bag to take with him and Youk had all his teamates autograph the base.

Now it is an off day, then off to Toronto. Oh and speaking of Toronto - they beat the Yankees! Theeeeeeeee Yankeees Looooose!

Red Sox: Opening Day Part II

Red Sox won their Inside the US opening day game 2-1. Dice K threw 6.2 innings, struck out 9 and gave up 1 earned run on only 2 hits. The most important stat is he didn't allow a walk. I think we can expect big things from the Dice man this year. Papelbon came in in the 8th and got a 4 out save. He struck out the side in the 9th. It is so nice to have a quality closer.

Veritek got out of his strike out slump as well as he hit the game winning rbi in the 6th. Although we all know he hit a home run, the umpires ruled the ball bounced off the wall and he was only awarded a double. You know, in the old days, that type of a call by the umps would always come back to kill us. That one run would come back to be the deciding run that would lose the game for us. But not any more. I am still not use to these New Red Sox Rules.

Big Papi still looks a little lost at the plate but hopefully he will start getting hits and coming up big when we need him to.

I watched some of the Yankee home opener as well. I don't understand this Chamberlain guy - he gets out of an inning and starts jumping up and down, throwing his fists in the air like he just won a world series or something. I can see if he just closed out the game, but c'mon, he's a middle relief guy, only in there so he can hand the ball to Rivera. You don't see Timlin or Okajima acting like that. And why do they have to show Chamberlains dad after every pitch? We all know he is there, just show the game. I hope he gets 20 blown saves this year.

Day game coming up next, hopefully we can take 3 of 4 from the A's to start the season...