Saturday, July 23, 2005

A Little Time Off

That was a disappointing game. At least the series is tied.

So, it looks like I'm going to be taking a little time off from the blog, for personal reasons. You may have noticed that I haven't been posting my usual "3 entries a day" and the posts may continue to be a bit spotty for a while. I'll be checking in with all of your respective writings, though.

And make no mistake ...



... I am crafting the muppet Red Sox look-alikes in my head, so expect a post about that in the not-so-distant future - true to the "kooky" mission statement of this blog.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The Fireworks Are Lame

I really think the fireworks are over the top. Honestly. Imagine if we had some crazy circus number every time there was a Red Sox homer at Fenway. Or if balloons and confetti were launched from Hood blimp or something. It's very triple A. Like that Comerica tiger roar I hate. It's like mocking the opponent or whatever.

So, Mo and I came up with a good idea (speaking of childish). We were discussing that Sesame Street skit I love with Grover as the waiter (I blogged about it in my old cyber crib) and how much the blue faced puppet with the mustache looks like Remy.



So, wouldn't it be cool if they (I don' t know, the muppet makers) created Rem and Don muppets that could spend a night or a portion of the night in the booth, mouthing along to the actual commentary? I'm thinking that this would only be appropriate during one of those pointless end of September games, when we've already clinched the title and we're just playing for fun. And then, maybe the actual Wally could come in, too, and it would be a muppet extravaganza. They could easily use the Janice muppet (guitar player from The Muppet Show) as Michelle Damon, like if they *enhance* her a bit. Renteria also has a sort of muppet-like face and Clement definitely does, so, like Michelle, they wouldn't have to dig around much too find some muppet look-alikes in the warehouse. That's a job that would give me great satisfaction. I think I will volunteer.

So, we just took the lead. 5-4. Cool.

A Great Season

As you can see, I am trying to view the brutal ass kicking that was last night's softball game through a sunnier lens.

I should have known that something was off since I didn't have my usual tummy butterflies with the first pitch. I was actually feeling pretty good going into the game. Not in a cocky (Yankee) sort of way, but more just excited to play. We had a lot of players, so I alternated catcher with one of my teammates. I got 2 hits and both were caught. One would have been a nice line drive, too, but these red shirt people were all over us. Our best hitters couldn't get anything done last night. And our fielding was AWFUL. Bad News Bears. The Stooges. However you want to label it. Plus, this team was like no other we've played so far in the league. We thought that they really should have been in a B or C league (intermediate or advanced). Their women were amazing. One girl got a freaking home run on the 1st pitch of her first at bat. The same person got a triple at her next at bat. Another gal came close to homering, too. The whole team kept firing hits into holes and pockets in the field. The lighting was terrible, too, and I know that Sam, one of our best players had perception problems because of it. It was sad that our season ended with such a whoopin', but I almost prefer that to losing to another team like we green shirts. We actually lost the game due to the mercy rule (which means that if the opposing team is leading by so many runs, it is determined that your team couldn't conceivably catch up in another inning). I don't know what the final score was. And I don't want to know.

I'm proud of our team, though, I mean, I had such a great time playing this year, I even considered signing up for the frostbite league, but this would surely interfere with the Red Sox playoff schedule, so the short answer is - no. Someone suggested that we sign up as a team next year. That would be cool, since we all enjoyed playing together this year.

One of my teammates in having us all over his place to celebrate the season in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to that.

And hey - nice work Red Sox, for yesterday's win! Although I did not get to see/hear any of it ... those darn day games!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Curt = The Man

I am so happy that we recorded a win tonight. Cora's defensive work was really key tonight. I love it when it's obvious how hard guys are working to prove their worth. It's like the honeymoon period of acquisition. It can go either way - you know, if they try TOO hard, but Cora was pretty cool-looking. I think he was charged with one error, but hey, Renteria was charged with at least one during this game, too.

Hyzdu was brought back yet again. It's so up and down with him. You're in the majors, you're sent down, you get traded, you get traded back. Some dudes are okay with the bouncing around, though. Dauber, Merloni, and even Burkhart (you know how much I loved Morgan Burkhart).

So, Curt. He was back. Really back. It got me excited. I can't wait to watch him close again.

I've got a good feeling about tomorrow. We should be able to take this series, no problem.

Peek-a-Boo

The best thing about attending last night's super pooper of a game was the fact that I shot this pic of Manny popping into the scoreboard wall door:



Here, take a closer look:



The excitement in the 9th after the out call was reversed was pretty neat. But watching "super high and shallow pop up" after "super high and shallow pop up" got old real fast.

I've got both legs wrapped around the broomstick for good luck in tonight's game. Maybe Bronson's finally ready for a little baseball after all that rock and roll.

Trying not to pay attention to the Yankees, either. Minor set back, that's all it is.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Weekend Wrap

Let me first say that I am beat. It's 7:56 and I'm actually at work. Excuse me while I yawn a few thousand times.

Saturday's game, although one of the 3 losses, was still a great time. I was invited to attend with Jere, Reb and Jere's friend Pat, once again. This was my first Yankee game since April 13, 2002. Unlike April 13th, though, we did not record a come-from-behind win. We scoped out a decent patch of cement, as we had standing room tickets, to the right of home plate. It was a little hard to judge balls and strikes, but otherwise pretty damn good. I thought there were more Yankee fans in attendence than usual and they were chanting odd things. At one point, I swear I heard "Yan-kee Sal-ad!" I'm not always good at deciphering this stuff, so I'm sure this was incorrect. Randy was alright, but a far cry from lights out and poor Matty just didn't have his stuff. Long ass game, too.

We all attended the Hot Stove/Cool Music concert after the game. Jere's got lots of great shots, so I encourage you to visit his site. I took plenty of pics, but the quality is questionable at best and silly me - I didn't even think to go up to the stage for some close-ups. Empy's got some super cool photos of the concert, too. She and Jen (aka Twitch124) were there. It was pretty nice to see Empy once again and meet Jen in person (any fan of the Dropkick Murphys has got to be good people). Reb sat in their section (fairly central to the stage) while Jere, Pat, me and Kerry (aka Cubby aka K-Chan) sat to the left. Reb came over for lots of visits, though, and I captured some video of her dancing in her chair, looking very cute in her pink Red Sox shirt and pretty green and pink skirt. For those of you who haven't met her, Reb is absolute sunshine in person. Speaking of meeting people in person, I somehow mustered the nerve to introduce myself to Theo's brother, Paul, who was sitting up front, but even further to the left of the stage than us. The Epsteins are just incredible people, and Paul is no exception, as the "Charity to be Named Later" exists in large part because of him. They raised over .25 million bucks in all. The music was impressive, too - although Bronson "prettied up" his cover songs. Like I could see him sitting there, performing the same way on Good Morning America. But that's okay. I still love the guy and he's into some cool music. I think I've never spent as much time at Fenway Park in one given day as I did on Saturday. It was fabulous.

I just have 5 words for last night's game: Cora was safe at first. That was our game to have. I was so angry with the call. Saving grace of the game: I came up with a new chant for Trot: Come on Mojo Nixon! This game could use some fixin! (If you aren't familiar with The Dead Milkmen's, "Punk Rock Girl," this will only be half amusing). Mariano - aka The Skull - was so off last night. Mr. .000000000001 ERA was throwing a lot of balls. Clearly, the Yanks were nervous during our rally. I wish we could go back and create a new ending, like in Clue and Wayne's World. And hey - when are we gonna start sleeping with the umpires to get calls made in our favor? Boy, would things be different if I worked on Yawkey Way. Oh - and I really can't stand hearing Tom Gordon's nickname. From now on, I want all commentators to start calling Ramirez "Super Man"ny. It's only fair.

Friday, July 15, 2005

New York Pitching is Major Stinkeroo

Wowie wow wow. When we've got a substantial lead, the bad jokes pour in like crazy. Dan Roche just told a doozy. That is obviously the down side to having the 17-1 lead over the Yanks. No complaints from Witch City, though.

Can I just say that Renteria has been great in the field tonight? There. I said it. It's been a delight to watch. Other delights:

1. Boomer's pitching.
2. Yankees pitching. Every crappy guy. I love it.
3. David Ortiz's grand salami. Trot's INSIDE THE PARK HOMER! Alright, let's just throw all of tonight's offense into this.
4. Scoring in almost every inning. Which I know is incredibly grating on the Yanks. Like worse that if we had a break out inning or whatever. It's a constant stream of sprinkling salt in the wound.
5. Watching one of the Farrelly brothers in the stands.
6. Seeing Rem sport a doo-rag of some kind. (This should be number 1, actually.)

Who are all these Yankees pitchers? Each one is worse than the last. Like inbreeding, the pitching genes keep getting weaker as the game goes on. Garbage. And speaking of garbage, it's good to see Wells throwing some when he's ahead of the count. It's been helpful. I'm so bummed that he's getting the 6 game suspension. That's a tough break for us.

Not much left to say but: Woo hoo! and Take that! (after last night). I think it's safe to say that this one is in the bag. And we're handing the whole Crayola Caddy over to Torre.

P.S. Bob Lobel is terribly drunk. I know he's always sipping away on the flask, but this is the most shnockered I've seen him yet!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

No Title Necessary

Witch City Correspondent (Warning: Lots of Rambling)

Red Sox open the game with a 3-run homer by the Trotter.

Lizard face Giambi is up. And he's sweating like a pig. Unfortunately, he just barely got a solo shot. Mojo Nixon came close to catching it. Damn fans. I recognize that it's "up for grabs" when it goes into the stands, but I don't understand why a Red Sox fan would want to rob us of an out. Unless it was a Yankee fan. Who else would want to hold onto a Yankee homer ball? Oh crap, another solo homer. Williams. So close to foul, too. Come on, Bronson. 2 outs. 0-2 on Jeter and and chopper to Edgar. Out at 1st. Nice.

Well, I haven't won the Yankee tickets through the Poland Springs "Ultimate Rivalry" contest. At least not yet. I'm not even in the top 10, in terms of votes. The winner gets 4 tickets, dinner at the .406 club and a limo ride to the game, as well as an autographed baseball and a jersey of some kind. I'm not a fan of limos, but hey, I'll take it. At least you don't have to fight traffic.

So, the Moose is probably the most threatening of all the Yankee starters we'll face in this series. And that isn't saying much. We've had some pretty good luck against Mussina in the last 2 years. Did you guys know that he had a knuckler in his pitching repetoire? I didn't. 3 walks in the 1st inning and working on one to Edgar. Better. Renteria got a single. Ortiz is up with 1 away and 1 man on. Giambi's hair is sort of Bellhorn without the curl. Ah, Ortiz is out at 1st - double play, actually.

Yipee. The "Lucky Chip" commercial. Again.

Here's a treat. Theo is in the booth with Don and Rem. They're talking about the concert on Saturday. The one that I will be attending. It must be hard for him to chat about the concert during this game. So much so that Theo just called a foul during his charity talk. Sheffield just got a hit off Bronson and one run scored BUT A-Rod was just fanned, so that almost makes up for it. (1st hit batter of the game for Bronson: The Lizard.) It's so fun to hear Theo actually joking during the game. Even though he's fairly mild-mannered, I picture him getting all worked up during these games. I guess he leaves that to Tito. And us.

So Nixon just got a long single at the bottom of the 3rd, and then advanced to 3rd with Millar's double. 1 out. Jason's up and I've got a good feeling here. 2-0. Toe taps, toe taps. 3-1. More taps. A nice grounder to Jeter to bring Trot home sweet home. 5-3, Sox, going into the 4th.

Sheffield just got an "off the netting" homer. It's kind of funny, the net thing. It reminds me of out softball rules. Like, if it touches the top leaves of the tree over there, it's a double. It's weird. 5-4, Boston.

Hey- Larry David is in attendance tonight! No baseball cap, but he's sitting near the Sox dugout. Since he's one of my favorite comedians, I am going to pretend that he's a Sox fan. Oh, and I guess Ozzy is in town tonight. Rem just said that he's a Sox fan, but I think he was joking. Man, I hope he isn't. Does anyone have the scoop on this? I need to know!

Chad Bradford is warming. Right hand side arm pitcher acquired from the A's. Could be making an appearance tonight. As well as Curt. I am crossing all my fingers and toes that Schilling comes out at a critical time. If the drama isn't already high, imagine the heights with Curt exiting the pen!

Whoops - Mueller just overthrew - wicked bad - to Millar. Posada - floppy-eared freak - just scored on that and Billy will likely be chahged with an errah. Bronson is getting yanked. Here comes Myers. 5-5.

CURT'S ON HIS WAY TO THE PEN. HE'S GETTING A HUGE RECEPTION. I LOVE THIS. He's wearing a long sleeved sweat shirt, Tito style. It's 300 degrees outside. Wacko. I don't like his beard, either. I can't believe that Schonda hasn't made him shave it. I am imagining that Schilling, with all the recovering, has been having some Mr. Mom moments in the Medfield compound. I can totally see him wearing a crappy old flannel shirt, drinking beers and burning woobies.

Runners on the corners with 1 out. The Sox are on a bit of a hitting streak. I am hoping that Bellhorn doesn't throw a bucket of water on this. Work a walk, damn you. Don't be a hero. Just get on base. Nope, another strike out for Mark tonight (2, total). Shock of shocks. (Torre looks worried. I've never seen that. Lots of face touching and whatnot.) Tanyon "my name sounds like a stomach virus" Sturtze is warming. I just can't stand that guy. Johnny just struck out, unable to get the lead.

Bernie and Phyl have recruited Wakefield for their new commercial. This is just unwatchable. Tim, dear, what are you doing?

Bradford is about to walk A-Rod. Correction. Bradford just walked A-Rod. And that's all he's getting. One batter and you're beat. That's so Joe Torre. I love it. While I'm waiting through these terrible car commericals, here's a picture of me with Boog Powell (now huge) at the game last Saturday. He's currently the proud owner of the Boog's BBQ stand at Camden Yards:


(photo courtesy of Taylor Tunstall)

Sturtze's eyes are way too close together, sort of like:



HOMER #22 for Papi. Red Sox lead 6-5.

Oh, sweet. Embree just gave up a double to "Ears" Posada on his first pitch. Another "1 batter faced pitcher" tonight. Timlin's coming in.

This tit for tat crappola is making things very stressful. As to be expected with Red Sox/Yankees in a post All-Star Break game. We are tied up at 6. I hope Curt closes. I hope Curt closes. I hope Curt closes.

If you've made it all the way to the end of this blog entry, remind me to give you some kind of goodie bag. Seriously.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Game 1: Playoffs

Although I was unable to attend the game last night, I received this group email today, recapping last night's game:

We were tied heading into the top of the 7th, 13-13. What followed was an offensive explosion of unprecedented proportions. By the time the dust had settled, Green Team 101 had scored ten runs in the innings, screaming ahead to a 23-13 lead. The other side never knew what hit them.

Looks like we are heading for Game 2. Next Wednesday, 7/20.

GO GREEN!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

What a Long Strange Trip

Wow, what an eventful weekend.

I left Friday morning for Baltimore. I decided, since Eric was going down separately, that was going to pit stop in NYC and have a quick visit with Jere, then continue on to Philadelphia, where Eric and I were staying. I didn't count on the insane traffic leading up to The GW Bridge. I mean, I know it's bad, but this was out of control. I left Salem at 9:30 AM and arrived - finally - in NYC at 3:30 PM. That's right, 6 hours. In the rain. It was a little late for "lunch," so we had an early dinner of pizza and hung out for a little while. Since we are both huge fans of the movie JAWS (Jere owns like at least 2 different editions of the movie), we decided to look for 2 scenes containing shooting stars (someone told him about this). He had an idea of where it was, and when we came upon it, we were able to ascertain that they were fake (it was obvious when you turned the mode to super slow).

After receiving a 65 dollar parking ticket, I made my way to the GW Bridge and crossed into NJ. I stood in a gas line for a good hour or so at the infamous Vince Lomardi. This is my favorite of all the NJ Turnpike Service Stations. The Molly Pitcher is a very close second. Anyway, I finally arrived in Philadelphia somewhere around 11:00 PM. Talk about an epic journey. And this was just the beginning.

We left for Baltimore around 8:00 AM. The game started at 1:20, so we were able to catch a bit of BP. Here I am with Taylor, the man responsible for our tickets:


The Infamous Camden Yards sign:


Trot:


Wade, chillin' on da mound:


I don't have to tell you how frustrating this game was. We just couldn't manufacture the runs and we were even robbed of what could have been a nice Papi homer. This would have given us some kind of momentum. Instead, it just took the wind out of our sails. While the O's kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

Periodlically, I thought of this man we saw in the parking lot on the way over while Baltimore kept "cha-ching"-ing the scoreboard. He had his little girl in tow as he descended the stairs to the exit and said to us, "I hope you lose!" to which I replied, "Hey, thanks. That's sweet of you." I think he felt bad because he followed up with, "We root for you all year long, except when you play us." I was disappointed with the Red Sox hatred he was teaching his daughter. Not at all cool!

Still, I was glad that Taylor, the O's fan, got to witness a win. Since last year's game annual Kim-Taylor Camden Yards game, he and I are now 1-1. We'll break the tie next year, I am sure. I still feel bad that CY is often inundated with Red Sox fans. I even found another fan wearing last year's Pokey Reese shirt and I was certain I would be the only one. After the defeat, I was still high-fived by drunken Sox fans wandering the streets of Baltimore.

After spending another night in Philadelphia, I headed back to Boston. Eric had some nonsense job interview in the area (don't ask), so I was going solo in the car. I decided to make another stop in New York on the way back for some possible catching in the park with Jere. The weather was a lot more "summery" on Sunday, so spending time outdoors was a nicer proposition. Again, the traffic leading up to the GW was horrendous. I left Philly at 1:00 and arrived in NYC some time after 5. It should have been an hour and a half. I took the Harlem River Drive from 95 and that's when my car started crapping out. Sputtering and downshifting, all while I was in the far left lane. It never stalled, but kept acting like it was going to. I pulled over and did a little Terry Francona rainman rocking before starting it back up. It seemed okay after this, but as I circled Jere's neighborhood for a spot, it started up again. This made me really nervous. I decided to try to get it into a garage, as opposed to chancing it out on 95 and not having anywhere to go. Jere and his roommate, Chan, were kind and generous enough to offer me their inflatabed and a spot on their floor for the evening. I would have been completely screwed had it not been for their hospitality.

The garage, located on the other side of town, accepted the vehicle around 9 AM the following morning, but, it being New York City and a Monday, the odds of them being able to diagnose the problem, let alone fix it, were very slim. I checked in with them throughout the day, but it seemed that progress was not going to be made. I took a train back to Boston last night and finally arrived in Salem at 12:30 or so. We did have fun tootling around the city. incidentally. In between all the weird car problems, I actually had a pretty incredible time.

So, long story short: Car is still in New York. Eric and I are trying to coordinate getting it back once it has been repaired. It seems that I will miss the first softball playoff game, too, since I don't have the luxury of the vehicle. Oh, well. At least nothing bad happened while I was on the road with the sputtering Ford Focus. And if we advance, I'll be at the next one.

I have a little movie I'd like to share with you all, too. Once I can figure out how to post it somewhere, I'll letcha know.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Remembering Sandman

So, here's an odd little story. On June 27th, I sent the following request to Eric (my husband):

Can you order "Cure for Pain" by Morphine from the library? Also, the movie "Secretary."

You see, we have this whole fancy online library network type system. You all probably have it, too. Instead of going to Blockbuster, we sign movies (and books and CDs) out of the library. They are free and you can borrow non-book media for up to a week (We never copy anything to our computer, though. No, no.). We give the library a generous donation every year in exchange for this. Anyway, I used to have "Cure for Pain" on cassette, but I never got the CD upgrade. It came in yesterday. The weird thing is, the anniversary of Mark Sandman's death was July 3rd (I randomly looked this up today.). That was Sunday. Somewhere between the request and the delivery. I've been experiencing all sorts of weird wacko things lately, and this is just one of them. It's all because of Elizabeth Montgomery!

I saw Morphine a few times. And I saw Mark in person about 2 months before he died. He passed me walking down the side stairs at AXIS, carrying a bouquet of roses that a fan had just given him. I was like: Hey, you're Mark Sandman. He didn't acknowledge me, but he looked so happy in that moment, I didn't care.


Quick Red Sox stuff (from Cubby, who is listening to EEI on the other side of the building):
Jay Payton was designated for assignment, on his way to being traded, don't know who's coming to town for him yet.
According to Gammons (who will be on in a little bit), Kevin Millar has asked to be traded and the Sox are trying to accommodate him. AND last but not least: Ramon Vazquez was traded to Cleveland for Alex Cora.


YIKES, reader.

And on the fun, happy side of life, KC emailed me with this information earlier today, too:

Tomorrow marks the opening of the show "...it's how you play the game!" at the Gallery Kayafas. Photographs of the immediate afterglow of the World Series victory on display with images by Mike Malyszko, Bill Chapman, James Dow, Lou Jones and Laura Wulf.

All the other galleries in the area will be having events as well.

Friday, July 8th
5.30 - 8.00 p.m.
Gallery Kayafas
450 Harrison Avenue
Boston (in the South End)
617.482.0411

Sounds like a great show, huh?

Two-Stepping Through the Park

Seems that when I miss games, we win. I am going to keep this trend going, as I have plans tonight that do not allow for game watching. Clement was solid last night, I guess, except a little blip in the 7th. And Park, once tired, was pounded by the Sox. Payton will be starting for Johnny tonight and Curt, as you all now know, will be pitching out of the bullpen.

Andrew has been putting lots of thought into "Curt as Closer" idea. I would be interested in seeing how this would play out. Since he usually starts strong, then fades after 5 or 6 (post surgery, I'm talkin'), it could be a good fit for now. So, I might see a Schilling appearance on Saturday yet (in some capacity)! I'll look into getting one of Shonda's charity scarves to wear for good luck.

Meanwhile: Al-Qaeda Europe. Jesus Christ. My heart just sank when I heard this. Death tolls and injury reports are all over the place. Horribly tragic. And so, so frightening.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Two for Tuesday

I entered the park on the heels of Manny's magnificent grand slam. He's currently 3 away from Gehrig for all-time salamis. Castiglione and Trupiano kept repeating this fact. And it was done on no outs. I honestly wish I had seen it on TV, as I had to imagine the Manny swing, the Manny "hold onto the bat for a few seconds, while pointing in the general direction of eleven o'clock," concurrent with the Manny "eyes following the ball slowly" and finally the Manny "hand clapping, smile like a 5 year old on his birthday and jog the bases." David deserves a nod, too, for his 2 run homer as well as Mueller for his solo shot. It was at this point, that I turned the car off and grabbed my glove.

Because it was a late one, no one is in the mood for lollygagging. We all just wanted to play and go home. The mosquitoes were atrocious. Even after covering ourselves with bug spray, they wouldn't stop "loitering" about our persons. Just imagining what it would be like to sting if we didn't taste so repulsive. This field, we soon discovered was hard as a rock. This made stopping grounders difficult - they tend to gain momentum on this type of surface and if you don't grab them, singles could easily turn into a doubles.

Our opponents were the military green shirts. Or the muted olive shirts. For those of you in the graphics business, you could equate their shirt color with Pantone 385. They weren't bad, these greens. Their pitcher had a really deceiving delivery. It had the standard arc, but lost velocity quickly and 9 out of 10 ten times it bounced on the plate. We drew quite a few walks. When he got lucky, his pitch would just squeeze into the strike zone - but they appeared low from an angle. They were tough to hit because the way the pitch descended, it would naturally grab the inside part of your bat. We all have bruises on the outside part of our hands because of this.

One of their chicks had a stance that was a cross between Jeter (stirring upside down) and Sheffield (aggressive slapping in the air), plus she crouched down, I guess trying to intimidate our pitcher. Han, though, did not flinch. He pitched a ton of strikes last night, even though he couldn't see the plate very well (batter's shadow). We kept raking in the runs. We averaged about 5 per inning (we only played 6 because the lights were timed to go out at 11:00 - you do the math).

At one point, JB scorched a ball out to center, which was really only good for a long single. He got daring, though, and tried to go for 2nd. Actually, it was kind of funny because he managed to get all the way to 2nd just seconds too late and pointed his toe over to the bag, but then took it away like Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown. They got the ball in and he became trapped between 1st and 2nd. The gap narrowed and as luck would have it, the 1st baseman overthrew to the 2nd base (uh) woman and she fumbled and JB got back to 1st safely.

The other exciting play was brought to you by yours truly. I got a single on the smallest little baby hit you can imagine. I didn't intentionally do this, but the ball sort of brushed the bat and fell at my feet, but in fair territory So, I ran like a mofo. And I made it, but not before taking a huge fall. I couldn't stop myself and landed on my shoulder (big scrape) and thigh (bruise). I then did a summersault and landed on my head. Hey, softball isn't a delicate sport. JB got a bloody nose during his Suppan WS performance. (I have to learn how to slide.)

Final score: 26-10, GREEN (leafy green, that is)

So, long story short (way too late), we are 9-1 going into the playoffs. One of the other teams we were tied for 1st place with ended up coming out of the regular season undefeated (we were only tied with them because they were a game behind us). The other team is still undefeated, but has to play their last game this week. If they win, we'll be 3rd. But that's 3rd out of 30 something teams.

I'll give you all the specifics re: the the playoff schedule, if you are interested in coming and cheering us on. We need all the woo-hooing we can get!

Okay, back to the Sox. It looks like Curt will not be making his start on July 9th. Skipper says post All Star break is most likely. I'd rather have him take the time he needs.

Wells offered to be our closer. And here I thought that he wasn't a team guy. Between this and the joking and wise cracking on sports desk with my man Jim Rice a while ago, I have really come full circle on Boomer. He is becoming much more dimensional to me. I think they'll stick with Timlin for a while. He's done it before. He's eye of the tiger, all the way. I hope this isn't the end of the line for Keith, though. I'll miss all the fist pumping. Timlin does it, too, but not as good.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Game 10 Tonight

Well, I'm off to play my last softball game of the regular season. Playoffs start next week, but my team captain thinks that we will have a bye that week. Wish the green lots of luck tonight.

Oh, and just because I haven't mentioned how angry I am with Keith "Foulkin' Up, Left and Right," doesn't mean that I am not downright steamed. I just keep telling myself: D-Lowe went through a stretch of garbage (understatement) last year. And I was might MIGHTY angry. He turned it around, though, and was his brilliant sinker-ball self when push came to shove. I think the real issue, though, is that Keith's role is to save. That's what he's getting the big bucks for. So, I hope this gets turned around soon. With luck, Foulke will put a bunch of saves on the board by October and we won't get nervous watching him exit the pen anymore. I don't know. I've got nothing.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Happy 4th!


[From left: Stacia feigning anguish, Lyn (doing the Sesame Street character "Captain Breakfast" with her upper lip) and Heather impersonating Mick Jagger. I was in the front seat with Mo, who was driving.]

This was 4th of July 1990. We decided to head up to York, ME for the fireworks. It was a good time - the only negative was a minor disagreement about where and how to park. Stacia and I were overwhelmed with urgency to exit the vehicle, as the fireworks began while we were still looking for a parking spot. I think we overreacted a bit. "There's one! No, there! Right there! You missed it!" Poor Mo was driving and was freaked out with all the shouting. Anyway, it's kind of hard to believe this was a good 15 years ago.

My friend Dan is coming tonight with one of his roommates and possibly some friends from Beverly. We're going to try to catch most of the game before we head out for all the holiday festivities with all the goths and gothettes.

Have a safe one tonight. I trust that you will do your best to avoid the drunken hooligans who surely lurk the country's streets today.

Footnote: Someone should organize a Sox bloggers vs. Yankee bloggers softball game/tournament/best of 5 deal.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Belated Mother's Day

Mom and I arrived at the park with our Standing Room Only tickets about an hour and a half before the game, scouting out possible seating. After watching the Jays take BP (and not seeing any Sox at the dugout except Wade Miller), we thought it best to venture toward the bullpen. This was a good idea. In addition to seeing the Captain do the windmill arm warmups and watching Bronson throw for a while, we were able to find plenty of available seating, just one row up from the pen. We remained there for the entire game.

After snapping a few pics, my battery went dead. This was really unfortunate since Timlin, Myers, and Embree were a stone's throw from us. Mirabelli joined the group in the 7th. As if to taunt me, Timlin and Myers leaned back against the wall facing us in between every single GD inning. They posed and waved and provided the best photo opportunities I've witnessed to date. They threw us packages of sunflower seeds (mom kept one for her sports room - she gave me a few from the package. They are the BBQ variety, which is fine since I don't plan on eating them) and they hammed it up for us all like a bunch of grade school kids. Even Foulke got in on it. I am kicking myself, Trot Nixon style, for not charging it up before-hand. Oh, hey, I think I am going to call Trot "Mojo Nixon" from now on. What says you? In honor of a great musician. And also a nod to Trot's ability to consistently find his mojo.

Here are the shots I got before the battery shit the bed:

Me and Mom:



Bronson:



Curt, getting in a little practice:



Alvarez makes another appearance (He was in the pen throughout the game, too, but didn't seem interested in joining the antics of the Timlin-Myers show.):



We thought a fistfight was going to break out between the couple in front of us and the guy in back of us. The guy kept referring to Ortiz as "Big Daddy" and the couple was clearly offended that he didn't use David's official "Big Papi" name. "If he says Big Daddy one more time, I swear, I'm going up there. And trust me, he doesn't want to make me go up there," the woman said in a sort of David Banner-like way. Mom and I were a little scared. There was another guy who thought that the umpire calls were horrendous and kept begging them to "go back to umpi-ya school." Timlin was less than pleased when some ballyhooer kept loudly reminding us all how much Embree sucks these days. Mike actually walked over to the edge of the pen closest to us and motioned to the guy to stop (or else!). He used the thumb slicing the neck gesture to let the dude know that he meant business. It got heated at times. I won't kid you. Speaking of heat, I was impressed yet again with Embree's mix of pitches today, even though he was responsible for the runners who scored during Timlin's outing.

Though we lost, there was a great deal of faith in our neck of the woods at the bottom of the 9th. I let Bellhorn's out go (We got that out of the way, now on to scoring. BTW, 3 whiffs today! Yippie!) but everything ended with Johnny. Very disappointing. Sorry mom - I really wanted a win for you. Next time.

Oh, and how fitting was it that Halladay was up in the rotation during our series - and on the last day, the one closest to the 4th? Way to spoil our "hallady." Thanks a lot.

We remain 2.5 games from the O's though and that ain't bad.

Redemption

Tonight, I received a treat. I attended the game with fellow bloggers Jere and Reb, along with Jere's friend, Pat. The weather was divine. Not too hot, no humidity to speak of and plenty of sunshine, until, of course, the sun went down. And then we were afforded a sweet kind of coolness. But not nippy. Just right.

I arrived a little late, which was embarrassing, since I am the only one who lives a mere 25 minutes from the city. It was smooth sailing, traffic-wise, until I took the Somerville exit off 93. I thought it would save time, sneaking over to Storrow via the McGrath. Not so. I was unaware of the construction patch at the intersection where the McGrath meets Medford St. It's a real test of one's patience to experience back ups when the construction site is void of activity. There were trucks, equipment, holes in the ground and plenty of orange barrels and cones. But no work. I am surprised I didn't see a few tumbleweeds kicking around the construction site. This, in addition to lack of parking spots, caused me to be about 15 minutes late.

Once there, though, the stress sort of floated away like tiny bubbles. We got some Red Sox BP action and some up close and personal shots of our guys.

Here is one of Theo chatting it up with Curt:

I enjoy Theo's buzz cut, but I wouldn't mind if he decided to grow it out a little. I saw his college graduation picture (from the 2003 DVD) and thought he his hair had good texture. We all had a hard time getting his profile, let alone a frontal view. Poor Reb. Every time there was a chance to capture this, her phone rang or something equally distracting happened.

Papa Jack:


Wallace and Matt:

So, Matt, do you think Christian Bale makes a better Bruce Wayne or Batman?
Eh, six of one and half a dozen of the other.


We had our first probability bet at this point. See the chairs that the mullet is setting up there? (Seriously, that is a terrible mullet. A sorry, practically bald on top type mullet. If you've ever been to mulletsgalore, you might predict that it gets a 2 in aggressiveness, out of a possible 10) We put a buck (more or less) down on who might be getting interviewed. We didn't stick around, though, to see the results.

We wandered off to our seats, located directly below the scoreboard. Replays were a little tough to see, but the view was good. I brought binoculars, which helped, but weren't necessary.

Wells was doing alright, but Jere pointed out that he was being lazy a lot, and we all agreed. He was ahead of the count at many points and rather than make anyone chase, he threw another fastball, right over the plate. And this resulted in hits. I am still a little fuzzy as to why he was ejected, though my mother explained that while making a series of comments, he turned his back on the home plate ump after what he thought was a strike. And then the 2nd base umpire (which was the speculation under the scoreboard) saw this and threw him out. From where we were, it just looked like a crazy, unexplained brawl. The last thing we saw was a very pissed off Wells throw the ball back toward 2nd base, then huff off. Here's what Johnny and Trot were doing while all of this was taking place. A Statler-Waldorf type conversation had to be happening. They do this kneeling thing a lot. I wish they would just go ahead and break out in a "shlameel, shlamazzle" like Laverne and Shirley one of these days.



The Manny 2 run homer in the 7th inning was fantastic. Loved it. Really loved it.

Terry was ejected, too, as you all know. Again, from my vantage point, he didn't look to be his usual hot self, but my mother said he was ripshit with a capital R. We did see that he continued to piss and moan even after he was ejected.

A question that was raised: Why was Abe Alvarez in the bullpen? Who was "put on the DL" in order to have him called up? Mantei's name came up. I'm too lazy to get to the bottom of this right now.

We held our breath through Embree's outing. He alternated his fastball with a few breaking balls and I thought that was a nice change. Timlin went. Then Keith was brought in to close. It seemed like an eternity for that final out to come to pass.

Oh, and the guy formerly known as Drinkwater has been demoted to Sip-water, according to Jere. Or Sippy. He was togged up in a blue windbreaker tonight, and was sitting in his rightful place behind home plate.

Time for beddy-bye.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Carnage

Obviously, the warlock who sold me these tea leaves gave me some dried vile weed instead. I guess we really didn't need Keith to come to the mound and give up a grand salami tonight. Meyers said, "Sit back. Relax. I've got this one." And Mantei - how many walks? 4? 5? Jesus, that was brutal.

At least we still lead the division by 2.5, as the O's lost. The Yankees loss was pretty horrid, too. Orsillo hinted that there might be another front office meeting. I love it when Rem and Don make little jabs like that.

Tomorrow is a new day. And Boomer's dealing.

An aside: I think I am the only person alive who just saw their first episode of Reno 911. It sent me into wild hysterics. A coworker told me that the last season just came out on DVD. I am sensing a Reno 911 marathon in my future.

Hello!



Ah, this is better. Fewer limitations. Nicer looking interface. I think I can get used to this.

Thanks for coming. Make yourself comfy and all that jazz.

Quick orientation: Game 1 with the Jays. Top of the 5th. 4-0, Toronto. We are so going to catch up. It's in my tea leaves, reader.