Marathon Morning: Red Sox Sweep The Orioles With A Twelve Run Rout

Its a good morning when you have a baseball game at 11 and you have nothing to do. Its even better when you get to see a young guy pull off a show-stopping performance on Patriots Day of all days. All while thousands of people ran in the 113th Boston Marathon.

Justin Masterson, usually the long reliever/eighth inning/all around lights out pitcher from the bull pen, got his first start of 2009. In 5 innings he struck out three, walked two, and allowed one earned run on four hits, all singles. Not a bad outing, considering he did all that on just 84 pitches. And thanks to the Red Sox very strong bull pen, that one run was the only one allowed all game.

The bats got going in the first, when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double. A single from Dustin Pedroia scored the speedy Ellsbury, and a ground out from Baldelli brought in Dustin, putting the Sox up by two.

In the second, Jason Varitek continued with his seemingly rejuvenated swing (its only a few weeks into the season, but I remain optimistic) and launched a solo shot into the monster seats, where fans were alternating between watching the game, and watching the marathon runners make their way through Kenmore Square.

The Orioles scored in the third, and it remained close until the bottom of the sixth. Another RBI single for Pedroia and a triple from David Ortiz made it 6-1, Red Sox.

The bull pen held the Orioles to a scoreless top half of the seventh, and then the Red Sox really got started. The Orioles faced 12 Red Sox batters, Mike Lowell had an RBI double and an RBI single in the inning. Also with RBI singles in the seventh were Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youkilis.

The best part of today? With the exception of Ortiz, who's average is up to .196, the rest of the team is now hitting above .220. Pedroia got moving, so did Ellsbury, and Ortiz had a good day with two hits, two RBI, and a run scored.

Lefty pitcher Hunter Jones made his major league debut, and pitched a scoreless 9th for the Red Sox, while Rocco Baldelli left the game in the fourth with a mild hamstring strain, and Orioles third-basemen Ryan Freel left the game in the third after being hit by a pick-off attempt from Masterson. He went to the hospital as a precaution, but there is no news yet on when he will return to the Orioles line up.

The Sox now have a five game winning streak, are back over .500, and have now won their 66th Patriot's Day game, which started with a 21-gun salute from the Minutemen, and ended with a 12-run salute from the Red Sox.

So You Wanna Be A Red Sox Fan? Part 2

Here's part two of your guide to being a Red Sox Fan.

As one of my lovely commentators pointed out, there are a few aspects of Fenway that I forgot to mention. So here's a brief guide to Fenway:

-It was built for the 1912 season, and the Red Sox owner at that time, John I. Taylor, decided to call it "Fenway Park" because it was located in a section of Boston called "the Fens". (If you were wondering, Taylor was also the guy who changed the club's name to the Red Sox in 1907)

-Duffy's Cliff: Around from 1912-1933, Duffy's Cliff was a 10' high mound that ran from the left-field foul pole to center field, and because of this, any left-fielder playing at Fenway had to play the entire game running uphill. Duffy Lewis, a star left fielder for Boston, had playing this way so down pat, they named it after him.

-The Red Seat: There's a seat in the right field bleachers painted red. It marks the spot of the longest measurable homer hit inside Fenway. Ted Williams hit it on June 9, 1946, and it was measured at 502 feet. According to legend, the ball crashed through the straw hat of a man sitting in that seat, Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21.

-The Pesky Pole: The right field foul pole is named after Johnny Pesky. He's been a virtual fixture at Fenway since 1942. While he moved around a bit, Pesky has been nicknamed "Mr. Red Sox" and his number, number 6, was retired last year. The pole was officially named "Pesky's Pole" on September 27, 2006, Pesky's 87th birthday.

-Did you know that Fenway Park cost $650,000 to build in 1912?

-The largest crowd ever at Fenway was 47,627, for a doubleheader against, you guessed it, the Yankees in 1935.

-Behind the manual scoreboard (one of the last remaining) in left field is a room where the walls are covered with signatures of players who have played left field over the years. Maybe that's where Manny always disappeared to...

-No one has ever hit a ball over the right field roof.

-The screen behind home plate that protects spectators from wild pitches/fouls/etc was the first of its kind in the majors

-9 Red Sox players have pitched no-hitters at Fenway: George Foster (6/21/1916), Dutch Leonard (08/30/1916), Ernie Shore (06/23/1917), Mel Parnell (07/14/1956), Dave Morehead (09/16/1965), Derek Lowe (04/27/2002), Clay Buchholz (09/01/2007) and Jon Lester (05/19/2008)

-The Sox have currently sold out 469 consecutive games, and with the team as talented as it is this year, look for it to increase.

Now a few more clarifications/rules/tips:

-There is no curse of the Babe, we were not cursed and we don't believe in it. Some people did/do but its best, if you want to hide your newbie status, not to mention the "Curse of the Bambino".

-Before you go to a game, familiarize yourself with the roster and the starter's numbers. This will help you, trust me.

-The "Yankees Suck" chant. I know I already mentioned it, but I think I need to clarify. If you are a new fan, its best to avoid starting these chants simply because of your in-experience. Some fans believe it is applicable any time, any where. Others think there is a time and place. Save yourself the trouble and join in, but don't start.

-Don't ask stupid questions. What is a stupid question? Here's one: "I thought Manny Ramirez played left...who is that Jason Bay guy?" or "Why does that guy have the 'C' on his chest?" These will get you glares/looks of shock and will guarantee that everyone thinks you are a bandwagon jumper.

-if someone calls you a "bandwagon jumper" don't get defensive and start spouting off this whole sob story about how you've been a Sox fan since the '86 season (I'll give you a hint, ball rolling through Bill Buckner's legs...). Just say "you're crazy" or "okay" and brush it off. Unless you have asked one of the above questions, then just admit to it and say something nice about the fans/team/etc and all will be forgiven. Most of the time.

-Fenway is old. It has lots of bad seats, but lots of character as well. Just don't ask why they built it like that, because its been that way since 1912, as you've just learned, and its just the way it is.

Now, for a few pronunciations.This isn't all-inclusive, so if you run into a problem, go with their first name or just point.

David Ortiz = (or-teez)

Jason Varitek = (Ver-a-tech)

Jacoby Ellsubury = (ju-cO-bee)

Dustin Pedroia = (Pedroy-ya)

Kevin Youkilis = (You-kill-is) just call him "Youk"

Daisuke Matsuzaka = (Dice-K Mat-sue-za-ka) just call him "Dice-K"

Hideki Okajima = (Hide-e-key O-ka-G-ma) just call him "Oki"

That's it for part 2. If I hear of anything else, there will be a part three, if not, look forward to my next article which actually will be on the MLB's best fans.

Red Sox Blank Rays, Close In On AL East

Red Sox 3 Rays 0. Lester pitched into the 8th, allowing 0 runs on 6 hits, striking out 9 and walking 3. Paps came in and got a 4 out save allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. With this win, the Red Sox pull into within a half game of the AL East-leading Rays and move up to 7 games in front of the idle Twins for the Wild Card.

Not really the best night for the bats, considering the Sox had 9 hits and only 3 runs, all of those coming in the bottom of the 1st. Lester pitched 7+ innings of shut-out baseball, and Jackson pitched 6 shut-out innings. Fortunately for the Sox, that early jump proved to be enough to win the game.

Tonight the Red Sox made baseball history, breaking the streak for most consecutive home sell-outs with 456, beating the Cleveland Indian's streak of 455. In honor of that, we will look at the 15 greatest moments at Fenway since May 15th, 2003 (when the sell-outs started).

Why 15? Well, 456 is reasons is way too many to cover in one blog, but 4+5+6=15, which is a much more manageable (not to mention readable!) amount.

15. April 22, 2007: Home Run Bonananza The Sox tie a major league record high 4 HR's
back to back to back to back home runs in the third to help the Sox onto their first sweep of the Yankees in Fenway since 1990. Hitting HRs were Manny, JD Drew, Lowell and
Varitek.

14. August 1 2008: A Brand New Bay Jason Bay makes his debut after the down-to-the-wire trade which sent Manny to LA and a few prospects to Pittsburgh. He has a great night,
hitting well and making a spectacular catch, even scoring the winning run on Jed Lowrie's
single in the 12th. This is not so great because of the game itself, but the fact that energy returned to the Red Sox as they played like a completely different team after ridding
themselves of Manny being Manny and his dramatic unhappiness.

13. October 25, 2007: Schill's Last Game: In the last home appearance of the Red Sox in
the 07 World Series, Schil and crew hang on to win a 2-1 pitcher's duel with the Rockies.

12. July 2, 2007 Ellsbury Scores from Second on a Wild Pitch: Three days into his major league tenure, Jacoby Ellsbury did the nearly impossible. He scored on a wild pitch from
second base. Texas reliever Willie Eyre hit catcher Gerald Laird in the leg with a pitch,
and Ellsbury was gone. He never stopped, never thought twice as third base coach waved him home.

11. October 5, 2007 Manny's First Walk-Off Home Run: Manny knocks a three-run shot out of the park to give the Boston Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League
Division Series, beating the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) 6-3.

10. September 21, 2006 David Ortiz hits Red Sox Record Home Runs: David Ortiz
cemented himself in the Boston record books by hitting 54 home runs in a single season in
2006. It was his 51st, on this date, that put him past Jimmie Foxx’s single-season record,
and made him (officially) Boston's Home Run King.

9. April 5, 2007 Dice-K's Debut: Dike K strikes out ten in his major league debut and gives Sox fans a preview of all the Ks that are to come.

8. July 24, 2004 The Fight: A-Rod is hit
by a Bronson Arroyo pitch and
proceeds to jaw about it all the way
down the first base line. He and Varitek
have words, and bam! A-Rod gets a
face full of angry catcher's mit. A
bench-clearing brawl later, Tek, A-Rod,
Kenny Lofton, Gabe Kapler and Tito
were all ejected.

7. September 28, 2007 Red Sox vs.
Twins: A Red Sox win and a Yankee's loss gives Boston's its first division title in 12 years. Dice-K
racks up the K's and bows to the fans, while
Papelbon dances barefoot and thousands of fans
hang around for almost an hour to see the results of the Yankee's game.

6. May 13, 2007 The Mother's Day Miracle: Bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox are down 5-0 to
the Baltimore Orioles, Julio grounds out, then Coco singles on a throwing error by Ramon
Hernandez and Papi scores him. Mo Pena somehow manages a single that moves David to third. After both JD Drew and Youk manage a walk, scoring Papi, Tek comes up and
doubles, scoring both Drew and Mo. Hinske walks, and Youk is out at home (its very
close, though). Back up to bat is Lugo, who made the first out of the inning. He reaches on a throwing error and Hinske and Tek score to win the game.

5. October 20, 2007 JD Drew's clutch Grand Slam in game 6 of the ALCS: the Sox down to the Indians 3 games to 2, proved to be the straw that broke the Indians' back and
propelled the Sox to their second World Series win in four years. It was the shot that was
heard 'round Boston and will probably always be known as the 14 million dollar grand-slam, simply because with the bases loaded and no out, Fausto Carmona had struck out Manny and gotten Lowell to pop out, very few people had faith in the then-struggling outfielder.

4. September 1, 2007 Clay Buchholz's No-Hitter: In his second Major League start, rookie
pitcher Clay Buchholz tossed the 17th no-hitter in Red Sox history, striking out 9, walking three
and hitting one batter in the 10-0 defeat of the Baltimore Orioles. Why is this ranked behind
Lester's? Keep reading.

3. May 19, 2008 Jon Lester's No-Hitter: The reason behind this being ahead of Buchholz's
no-no is because not only was it the first Red Sox lefty no-no since 1956, it was also a
record for Jason Varitek, who has now caught 4 no-hitters, more than any other catching. Aided by a spectacular catch by Ellsbury and some heads-up infield plays, the Sox beat
the Royals 7-0.

2. October 18, 2004 ALCS Game 5: After going 12 innings the night before, the epic game 5
outdid it by going 14, ending when Big Papi's single brought in Damon for the win. The Sox would go on to Yankee stadium for the Bloody Sock game, and as the 26th team in playoff
history to face a 3-0 series deficit, become the first to force a Game Seven.

1. October 17 2004 ALCS Game 4: The Sox go 12 innings, with a walk-off homer in the
12th. But they never would have gotten there if Dave Roberts hadn't stolen 2nd and scored on Bill Mueller's single, tying the game 4-4 in the 9th. This sparked the Sox comeback,
down 3 games to none, to win it in seven take their first World Series in 86 years.

So there you go, 15 great moments from the sell-out period of Fenway park. Next up: A big time pitching show-down as Rays ace Kazmir takes on Sox stud Dice-K. Should be a great game, with the AL East being given to the winner. (If only for a day) So put on your best Papelbon glare and watch the game!

Here's a video that the Red Sox showed to thank the fans for record sell-outs:

Take A Deep Breath...And Let It Out

I have some staggering stats for you following last night's down-to-the-wire game.

455. Fenway has sold out 455 consecutive times. Tying the Indians record for most consecutive sell-outs. When they return home after the brief trip to Texas, they will break the record.

.621: That's Dustin Pedroia's batting average over the past 7 days.

3.79: that's the ERA for the starting pitchers. Not bad when your team has average 5.3 runs a game. Look for the ERA to get lower as we roll into September and October. (Especially if Beckett returns to his dominance, and Lester gets his power under control.)

97. That's how fast Lester threw one pitch against the Orioles. He claims to have never gone higher than 96 in his career. If he can get a fastball that fast under control, he will be the ace of the AL.

44: Stolen bases for Jacoby Ellsbury, who has struggled to get on base all year. Imagine how much larger that number would be if he could get on base more often...

110 and 191. That's how many times Dustin Pedroia has scored and how many hits he has this season. Those are both Major Leage Leading Stats.

2. That's how many players the Red Sox have who are in the running for MVP, some might even say that they are the front-runners.

and finally...


3. That's the games back we are on Tampa Bay, who still have one more night with the Yankees, who have now won 6 straight road games. We still lead the Wild Card, but I would love to retake the East just in time for the playoffs.


Now, back to the game.

Dice-K did well, not one of his stronger outings, but not bad either. We just could not get any offense going.

Except for Dustin, who looks like he could get a hit in his sleep. The bottom half of the order produced too, at least, a little.

Youk was again out, and Jason Bay had the day off, so already the bats are just a little bit weaker.

The Sox started to come back, then stalled, leaving the score at 4-2 Orioles.

Then Papi got a free pass. Dustin got a double, and Kotsay hit a wall-bouncing triple to score them both, tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.

The Sox held the Orioles, who threatened with two men on in the 9th, but could not deliver, and then the bottom of the order came up. Cora singled, then Crisp singled on a wack-a-doodle bunt that 99% of the time rolls foul, but didn't, then Jacoby, who popped out in the 7th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, stepped up and bunted. Cora dived into third, the ball was overthrown, so he got up and scored, meeting his teammates at home, ecstatic to have come back and finished the sweep, something that had been unable to do against the White Sox and against the Yankees.

Yay. And Crisp was running his heart out, not realizing that Cora was the winning run and the game was over.

That might be the weirdest walk-off win I have ever seen, on a sac-bunt and a throwing error.

We have the night off. Good. I'm tired and I need to watch the season opener for FOOTBALL!!!! Yay.

Oh What A Night

Order of the day: first we'll talk baseball, then college football and then the NFL

First up: Baseball
This game was the most ridiculous, the longest, and the craziest game I have ever sat
through.

And I had to balance this while watching the oh-so-nerve-wracking gymnastics team finals (USA won a silver...they should have had gold) and Michael Phelps (who was, at least, stellar and I never doubted him) I can't handle more nights like this one.

Papi hits not one, but TWO homers in the first. We go into the second inning 10-0 against the rangers. Game over, right?

Wrong.

If anything, this game highlighted our bullpen problems and then put them under the microscope. Zink was good for three, then he got rocked. The innings between Zink and Okajima were horrible. Who has a 12-2 lead and blows it to be losing 16-15 in the eighth? Ladies and Gentlemen, our bullpen.

This was Zink's first game at the Show ever, so I am willing to forgive him and let him have another chance. He was nervous. And we made a lot of errors. That was a sloppy game. That could have been the most embarassing loss in the history of the regular season (we have had some stupid post-season losses that I will not mention here). All I gotta say is thank goodness for Youk. The beastly man struggled earlier when the Sox were hitting like an offensive machine, but came up with not one, but TWO homers in the fifth and eighth. The second of which would prove to be the game-winner.

Here's the goal for tonight: bring that same offense, but please, please, please have better defense. With the solid southpaw on the mound, I have no doubt that Lester can rebound from the loss to the ChiSox and turn in a dominant performance. Everyone will be tired, I know, but that's okay, because the Rangers had to stay up for last night's nonsense too. I told my housemate how long the game was and she said "Wow. How many innings did it go to?" and I replied "Eight and a half." That is so not normal.

Oh well, we are the Sox, and we did notch the all-important W (which is even sweeter coming off a day where the Rays snagged a beautiful L) I think the absence of Longoria is hurting them and the Sox need to capitalize on this. Perhaps the addition of Byrd (thank goodness for replacing Buchholz) will give the Sox that extra bit that they need to maybe even take back the division.

Speaking of Clay. Look, he's a young, talented pitcher, but something is not clicking. It might be something small, I mean, look at Okajima. He went from lights out to terrible, and then changed one pitch and started looking lights out again. The big boys know Clay's pitches. He's not really throwing that poorly, but he's getting hit. A lot. So maybe a little trip down to the minors and a little work on his pitches to really get in there and fool a batter and we could possibly have another ace on our hands. Call me crazy, but I have faith in the kid.

And now onto college football...

I just have one complaint to go on: I hate that Ohio State is expected to go to the BCS championship again this year. I'm so tired of seeing them ride their easy schedule to the top only to lose and/or be blown out by a better team. The BCS either needs to go to a playoff system so we can have a real national championship, or at least end the love affair with Ohio State and come up with a way to get the two best teams into the National Championship, even if they do have two losses. As a consumer (my fave team is I-AA and has no shot) who wants to watch good football, I want to see a game for the national championship, not OSU getting their butts handed to them, again.

Finally, the NFL:

Okay Ladies and Gents, football season is fast approaching, and power rankings are in. Here are mine:

• New England Patriots
• Not only am I a fan, but no one has come up with an answer for the Brady-Moss-Welker trio and with five versatile and talented backs, that offense will keep defenses guessing
• San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts
• These guys are tied, mostly due to injuries. While they don't keep them out of the running for Superbowl contention, they certainly don't help.
  
• Dallas Cowboys
• Good until the end...this may be Romo's year to finally win a post-season game. Maybe.
  
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• The human bolling ball and big man tandem of Taylor and Jones-Drew is scary good
  
• Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns
• Tie, again, though the Browns may slip because of injuries. Big Ben looks great this year, and the depth of the Browns is great, not to mention they are hungry for the playoffs after being kept out last year
  
• Minnesota Vikings
• Running backs! And QB Jackson looks a lot better, so teams will have to start paying attention to him as well.
• New York Giants
• Despite being reigning champs, a few off-season losses and the dreaded superbowl
  hangover don't help much.
• Washington Redskins
• Don't laugh, Jason Campbell is the real deal, and he's only going to get better. Plus the addition of Jason Taylor will only help. And for the first time EVER the Skins have minimal injuries and no key players out at the start of the season.
• Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints
• Why a four-way tie? These four teams are the wild cards, each making some moves in the off season that might propel them to greater hieghts or they might just stay middle-of-the pack. Here's each team's various wild-cards. Green Bay: Aaron Rogers. It could go either way. As for Seattle, they've stepped up the defense, but the offense has been doing some shifting. The Eagles its all about health. If they stay healthy, they stay in contention. Problem is, when are the Eagles ever healthy? Finally, the Saints have beefed up their defense to match what is, already, a really good offense.
• Houston Texans
• Their rank would be higher, if only they weren't in the AFC South

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  
• Mostly because the only division competition they face is the New Orleans Saints, if the Bucs stay consistent, they'll probably be in the playoffs.
  

The Runners Up
(This bunch of teams probably won't make the playoffs, but they might be 8-8 or 6-10 on the season, and deserve mentioning.)

• Buffalo Bills
• Arizona Cardinals
• Denver Broncos
• Baltimore Ravens
• New York Jets
• Carolina Panthers
• Chicago Bears
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions
• Miami Dolphins (I think adding Pennington gave them a big boost)
  

And the Bottom of the Barrel Teams (lets just call it a "rebuilding year")

• St. Louis Rams
• Kansas City Chiefs
  
• San Fransisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• Oakland Raiders
  

Wheels, Deals and Happy Meals

In the course of one weekend, I went from hating the game of baseball, deciding the fat lady had sung on the Sox season, and giving up on baseball all together for about 24 hours to being impressed with the team and hoping for another championship. There is only one team in baseball that can do that with all of their fans so effectively: the Boston Red Sox. Its like one of those movies where you are so angry at the characters that you get up to leave, but once your out, you can't stand to leave in the middle, so you just go to the bathroom and head back in, only to see the characters completely turn things around.

Lets not talk about the first two games, where the Yankees hot streak clearly got the better of the issues Boston has with leaving men on base, the bullpen, and the lineup. I'm sorry, when Josh Beckett pitches out of his mind and you can't get him any runs to help out? That is not good. But that's all I'm going to say about Friday and Saturday. On to Sunday.

Once again, the Sox lean on Jon Lester when they are spiraling into a losing streak. Once again, Jonny pulls out a great game and saves the Sox. I had a lot of confidence going into Sunday, because lets face it, Sidney Ponson? Despite the surprising streak he's been on, his low inning count and high walk rate had to eventually catch up with him. I'm hoping that this loss sparks a whole new Yankees collapse, though I doubt it because yet again, the big money boys have made some big money deals to bring in a bit of help. Sure enough, the combination of the-pillar-of-the-pitching-staff Lester (note, he may not have the most wins, but he always goes deep, and I always feel a little bit safer when he's on the hill.) He's the only one I really trust to pull the team out of a losing streak, he's really good at that, and like Tek said, he's only going to get better. Coming from Tek, who is probably one of the best pitching judges out there (he should really become a pitching coach when he retires, with all the good he does behind the plate, I think he'd be great as a coach.) that's high praise.

Speaking of Tek, guess who is still hitting. Yay! And the Papi-Manny Double-Whammy is back in business as of last night. I think Manny is starting to realize that he needs to be on his best behavior if he wants to get a better deal at the end of the season, which I'm sure his agent has been telling him. But that's all I'm going to say about the Manny Saga. Anyway, Boston's bats were a'swinging last night with a bunch of doubles and a two-run dinger from none other than Big Papi. I think he needed that.

Man, its good to have the big guy back. And with him back, Dustin can be the lead-off man (I know Tito still wants Jacoby in that spot, but I think he's not ready yet) followed by Youk (anyone else think Joba should have been ejected from the game for that ball he threw at him? I don't care how stupid the timing was, there is just no way that wasn't intentional) then the Papi-Manny duo that hopefully will again start to terrify opposing pitchers. I like the batting order now. I like having Jacoby at the bottom, I think he needs some more time in the bigs before he really is an effective lead-off man. I think this visit to the 9th spot will be good for him. Speaking of Jacoby...

What a catch. I tell you what, with his speed and defensive ability, I don't care that his arm strength isn't that good. That boy has wheels. He'll be stealing bases again in no time, and with him on, a single can turn into a double or triple. We like to call him wheels.

The trade deadline approaches, and no word yet from Theo about anything. Do we make a quick trade to shore up the bull pen or do we work from within, like with Masterson? (who I still think is going to be a solid reliever). Do we trade Coco or keep him? (keep, sorry Coco) Can we please trade Lugo? I mean...come on, won't anyone take him? What kind of dealing will be done? Will the Pirates continue to let other teams raid their cookie jar? Who knows. Will the Yankees continue to make ridiculous deals to make sure they are contenders? Of course. They're the Yankees. They must be in the playoff hunt every year. Its a conspiracy, I tell you, the Steinbrenners are paying off the baseball gods...but thats another story for another day.

So, that's the wheels, the deals...what about the Happy Meal? After deciding the fat lady had sung on the 2008 season, I went and got myself a Happy Meal to bury my sorrow in a little pack of fries, a burger, and a very small diet coke. It was partially the Happy Meal I had for lunch on Sunday and the Sox performance that night that renewed my faith in the boys. (Not that I had ever actually lost it, but in true Sox fan form, I let it go temporarily) What did I have for lunch today? What do you think. Superstition rules all, and the toy I got today was way better than yesterday.

Next up, Dice takes on the Halos. God help us and not them. (Seriously, I know they're the Angels, but we could use a little help, and if that help comes in the form of a Rays and Yankees collapse or Sox mega-hot streak, I'll leave that up to You, Big Man.)

Batter up!

They're Baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!

Man, does it feel good to have the west-coast swing over with or what? I know I needed some sleep.

And the rivalry is renewed, and it matters, again. Despite pesky little Tampa Bay making this a ménage à trois, the Sox are in first place (tied with said Rays) and the Yankees are breathing down everyone's necks, coming in on a hot streak. We all knew this would happen. I remember listening to ESPN Radio, the show Sportsnation. They asked who would be in the AL Wild Card Race, and I said the Yankees. The guys on the show disagreed and said that the Yankees just didn't have the pitching to make it. Of course, the moment someone says that, the entire pitching staff in NY goes on a tear and plays out of their collective minds.

Its fate. The Rays are in the mix this year, and probably for a couple more years, but it always comes back to the Yankees and the Red Sox. Always. Its like God is sitting up there, laughing at us, because just when you think one team is out, they come roaring back in. Its why I have faith, that, at the end of the day, though Tampa Bay will continue to be a presence, it will always come back to the Yankees and the Red Sox. Its like, the Yankees and the Sox have been preforming this great dance, year after year, and one of them eventually falls, leaving the winner. The Rays have come in, and they look good, but it remains to be seen if maybe they will be standing towards the end there.

Was that a weird analogy? Moving on. Back in the lineup tonight will be the big man, Big Papi, or as Paps calls him "The Large Father". Do I think he'll hit a homer? Not likely, it would be great, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Do I think he'll be a force in the lineup to terrify platypus man Joba Chamberlain? Oh yes.

So here's to a good outing by Papi, and a great outing by Beckett, who has looked better since the break.

Lets go Sox!

Rock the All-Star Vote

Yankees got crushed. Sox won a heart-stopping-last-minute victory against the D-Backs. If only the stupid Rays had lost, my life would be complete. They're still a game back, but...eh. All I gotta say is we have to play sharp on the 30th.

Without Tek's RBI last night, I don't know where we'd be, but hopefully this can rally the Sox into getting their offensive mojo back. I mean, how cool would it be to get Papi back swinging hard and combining that with an already hot offense?

Good news all around: Youk is fine. He played last night, and they think he may be able to get in the batters box tonight. Papi is going to take a few shots off the tee (the baseball kind) today, which is always good. Schill's surgery went well, and he hopes to pitch again (yay!)

Also, congrats to Chris Smith on his first Major League W.

Alright, Transplanters and Homeboys alike, listen up: GET GOING ON THE ALL-STAR VOTING! We've slowed down and now Tek is out of first and some of our leads are dwindling. AND a YANKEE has the most votes! This is not allowable. Get online and vote 25 times! It's tedious, but I tell you what, it takes like, five minutes max to get all 25 in, so is it really that hard?

Vote HERE for our boys.

There are so many of us, we can really control this voting, but we gotta vote! Come on, how much would the Yanks hate us if the All-Star game played in their stomping grounds featured mostly Sox players?????????

What are you waiting for? VOTE!