Clay Buchholz & Mike Timlin In Syracuse

Clay Buchholz In Syracuse

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

Clay Buchholz pitched Pawtucket to a victory over the Syracuse Chiefs last night.
I went to see the young Red Sox phenom and got
a chance to also see Mike Timlin, the iron man of the Red Sox’s
bullpen in both of their championship seasons.

Buchholz was not dominant last night in his five innings, although he
gave up only a couple of hits and no runs.
Second baseman Joe Thurston was the star of the game, with two RBI’s
and several nice plays in the field.
The infield bailed Buchholz out with three double plays and errorless
play in the field. Timlin came in to relieve
Buchholz in the sixth and set down the home team 1-2-3. I think he
threw all of six pitches. He looks healthy.

Even though the game was played through a persistent drizzle, I had a
great time. There were tons of Sox fans out
flying the colors. In Boston, there is some sniping about poseurs
and folks jumping on the bandwagon.
The blogs are aflame with debates on being a “real” Sox fan. For
those of us in the hinterlands of Red Sox
Nation, the debate is silly. I don’t care if you’re wearing a pink
Sox hat or don’t know the 1967 Impossible Dream team
starting line up. All I know, there were more Ortiz, Papelbon.
Lowell, Dice K, Lester, Ramirez (even a Derek Lowe!)
shirts in evidence last night than Posada, Jeter and A-Rod shirts. In
the middle of Yankee country.

Need A Babe Ruth Impersonator? Call Big Papi

Need a big, gregarious slugger to reproduce the famous Babe Ruth “called shot” during a promotion during the All Star Game home run derby? At Yankee Stadium? The Yankees are furious that State Farm went with Big Papi instead of someone wearing pinstripes.

It’s a Red Sox Nation, baby! Who’s the Babe cursing now?

My First Taste Of The Grass

My First Taste Of The Grass

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

Last week I went out to Alliance Bank Stadium to root for the Pawtucket Red Sox against the hometown Chiefs. Why?
1) I’m never going to root against the Red Sox–majors or top farm team
2) The Chiefs nickname is racist.
3) I had to see the new grass field.

Oh well, the day was overcast and cold, the PawSox lost 8-5 and the thrilling young stars destined for Fenway are mostly already up in Boston due to injuries (Lowrie, Buchholz, Moss). It was still a fun day. Draft Saranac beer and a grass field. Beats lousy corporate brew and astroturf.

Life Begins On Opening Day

Back in the 1980’s, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post wrote a book about baseball called Why Time Begins On Opening Day. I only read excerpts of the book, so maybe that’s why I have always recalled the title as Life Begins On Opening Day.

I like my title better. Spring: the earth is unthawing, plant life starts growing and baseball starts. When I was a kid, spring meant little league sign ups and just tossing the ball around in the back yard (or if you had three guys, monkey in the middle–the better to practice your rundown skills, both defensively and as a base runner.)

As an adult, I may get in some catch every now and again, but baseball is now largely rooting for the Red Sox. And life began again today, albeit at 6 in the morning and in the Tokyo Dome. The Sox beat the Oakland A’s 6-5 in 10 innings, thanks to a two-run double by Manny Ramirez. It’s a weird way to begin the year–fly to Japan to play the first two regular season games of the year, then fly back to the United States and play a few more exhibition/pre-season games.

Oh well, our magic number over the Yankees is now . . .  

A Joyful Tension

Boston won the World Series last night, breaking a two year championship drought that repeatedly crushed the hopes and dreams of millions of residents of Red Sox Nation. Well, I guess you can only go there once. I didn’t cry last night like I did in 2004. I didn’t go out into my backyard and have a long conversation with my father, who passed away a year before the 2004 victory (Instead I did a Big Papi chestbump followed by a double-armed pointing up to the sky.) I think he understood.

Boston sportswriter Charles Pierce has a great piece on Slate.com where he compares the difference between the historical win of 2004 and the rather workman-like victory last night. Entitled “Red Sox Win Again. It Feels Great, Thanks For Asking,” the article debunks the theory floated by many that Red Sox fans were married to their angst and would never survive a championship. We can accept victories, I just hope we don’t emulate the worst of the Yankee fans (and management) and start viewing championships as entitlements.

I was brought up short by my wife after my mini-tantrum in Game Three when the Sox nearly blew a six-run lead, only to come right back and score four more runs. She asked me why I wasn’t more joyful, after all the Red Sox were playing in the World Series and doing real well. It was then that I realized that I was rooting for the victory, rather than rooting for my team.

Game Four saw me in a much better frame of mind, my wife even watched the last couple of innings with me. I did get a tad nervous when the Rockies pulled to within one run, but told my wife: “I’m O.K. A little tense, but it’s a joyful tension!” A little later, I jumped off the sofa, threw my hat in the air, did my Big Papi point for my dad and cranked up “Dirty Water” by the Standells, the official song of Red Sox victories.

How long till spring training?

A Couple Of Thoughts Heading Into Game 1

For only the fifth time in my forty years of fandom, the Red Sox are heading into the World Series. Here’s some thoughts a couple of hours before the first pitch.

Ceremonial first pitch tonight by my all-time favorite player Carl Yastrzemski, joined on the field by many of his 1967 “Impossible Dream” teammates. I caught the fever in 1967 while visiting my grandmother on Cape Cod during summer vacation. My father bought me a Sox Yearbook at the local grocery and then I followed the games down to the last day of the season. I remember that the TV broke into the telecast of Gentle Ben to announce that the Red Sox had won the A.L. pennant. My mom wondered why I was so excited and my father, a Giants fan since his youth, knew that I was lost to the “junior circuit”.

When the Sox went down 3-1 against the Indians, I changed my hat from the bright red Sox cap unveiled during this spring training and put on the white with blue bill model that I wore after the Sox went down 3-0 to the Yankees in 2004. So this hat is now riding an 11 game post-season winning streak.

I tend to wear my Sox caps obsessively. The responses to my cap in the middle of Yankee country have been interesting. My favorite happened this summer when we took a tour of the state capitol building in Albany. The guard at the metal detector stopped me and said I had to go to the back of the line. When I asked why, he said: “Because you’re a Boston fan.”

I’m living in a different house than the one I watched the 2004 World Championship unfold. My new house has the TV on the second floor, so my wife and doggies can more safely hide from my hand-wringing, pacing and occasional shouts of either joy or anger. Last time they had to huddle in the back room of our ranch house, the dogs shaking and hiding under beds, tables and desks.

Go Sox!

Just Manny, Being Manny

From Manny Ramirez’s post-game interview after winning the second game of the Sox’s playoff series with the Angels by hitting a monster walk-off home run in the ninth inning at Fenway:

MANNY RAMIREZ: It feels great, man. It’s been a long time I don’t do something special like that. But I haven’t been right all year round. But I guess, you know, when you don’t feel good and you still get hits, that’s when you know you are a bad man.

Amen, brother! (thanks to Gen X at 40)

Sometimes You Get What You Need

New Springsteen album is coming out tomorrow. A.L. East Champion Red Sox start the playoffs on Wednesday. The weather is warm and sunny during the day and cool at night. I’ve got tickets to see Bruce in Albany in November.

Now if we could just end the war, stop government torture and fix up our city . . .

Red Sox: America’s New Home Team

The lead article in today’s USA Today says it all:

“Now it really is a Red Sox Nation. Boston (sorry, Yankees) has become baseball’s top attraction.”

Sell outs at home since May 2003, top attraction on the road, best record in baseball, World Series champs in 2004. Soak this in. The Red Sox are baseball.

(Now if we could only get some run support for Dice-K!)

Red Sox Nation An Expansive Place

No wonder the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. Even when they play on the road, they have the home field advantage. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer blog on Indians baseball:

“For the second straight night, Jacobs Field rocked to the cheers of thousands of Boston fans.

‘It bothers me,’ said Sabathia. ‘It’s a little embarrassing. There are such great fans in this city. I was here when we sold this place out. But when you hear cheers of ‘Youk, Youk, Youk’ when Youkilis comes to the plate, that’s not Cleveland.’