Lazy Sunday

I used to be concerned when I'd wake up to find 10:00AM on my clock- I've always hated sleeping in because there's so much to be done in a day, even when I dont have anything particular to be doing. Lately I've been logging at least one 10am sleep-in per weekend, and it's great. Actually, for a good stretch of time, I wasnt able to sleep in past 8:30 on Saturday mornings. So perhaps I am fixed. Or perhaps I am throwing my body into overdrive with all of these long nights at Fenway/in Pawtucket. A friend recently suggested that I buy a suite at the park so I have someplace to sleep in between games. I wouldnt say I'm there often enough to warrant that kind of purchase (someday I hope I AM there that often) but I see at least a game per series and could definitely do without the crazy T rides home.

My coworker Kenny took me to the game on Friday and we sat in section 16 row 9, really great seats. As is the case with all GS seating past the 4th or 5th row, we had a pole in our view, but it wasnt too imposing, and it blocked out the precise spot that both shortstops were usually standing in, which is the one spot I think any Sox fan wouldnt mind not being able to see (no offense nick green, you've actually been an unexpected treat at ss). The highlight- watching Jason Bay absolutely maul one over the Monster. Poor Dice-K... booed from the very first moment of the game. They kept him in too long, trying to give him a chance to gain some momentum. Pitch 1 resulted in a McLouth homerun (i kept McLouth on the bench in one of my leagues.. should have registered that he'd be productive vs Matsuzaka). Things did NOT get better from there. However, we got to see Justin pretty early and he pitched a few quality innings. Quick Masterson tangent:
Last year the Red Sox Wives held a food drive outside the park before a Saturday game. The deal was, bring 10 items, get a signed picture of your player of choice (you could get up to 4 different ones). My table was manned by Meryl Masterson.. and i had brought my 40 items (including this huge bag of rice, haha, i lugged it all in from the North Shore where I was living at the time) so I was waiting in line for it all to "start", and figuring out who's pictures I wanted. Before I got to the table, I decided upon Pedroia, Lester, Masterson, Papi (this was pre-Bay). Things started rolling and i got up to the table to find that there were no Masterson pics! I had never met Meryl before but I saw that she had her husband's name on the back of her Sox shirt so I asked her, What? No Masterson? That's outrageous! And of course her interest was piqued immediately- they were new fixtures with the team still, so I'm sure she wasnt quite used to her husband's sudden megastar status. She said that she had tried to get him to sign some, and he had wanted to as well actually, but they never came and asked him to be part of the program. Being pretty high on Justin myself at that point, I went off on this rant about how stoked I was that we had someone like him who can pitch in starting and relief positions, and who has the stamina to pull us through tough games where starters have to bow out in the early innings, etc. I can still remember the look on her face as the words were streaming out of my mouth in a frenzy. She looked at me in total agreement as if I was acknowledging everything that she herself had been seeing in him for his whole career. After the initial line of people went through, there were no others stopping by to drop off items, so I stayed and we talked for about 20 minutes. Of course, they had lived in Portland (Maine) and so that's always something I can relate to, having grown up right around there. Bottom line- you ask anyone and they will tell you that Meryl and Justin are the sweetest wife/husband combo that you could ever hope to find. I've had equally enjoyable run-ins with Justin, but those stories will be for another day.

Last night's game was great- a feel-good game for lack of better words. The way Beckett was pitching from the start, I just knew we were gonna come out on top, regardless of the close score. Fun to see Derek Lowe (and the crowd's warm reception of him). I brought my brother Pat up on the Monster for bp before the gates opened and we spent the whole 2.5 hours before the game up there as we had Monster SRO tickets. I had packed dinner for us (bbq chicken bites, just-baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, batman fruit snacks, and grapes) so we ate and willed the batters to hit fly balls our way. I was close to catching one- it was heading right for me, but of course three different males stepped in front of me and I didnt end up with the ball when all was said and done. No worries... I've got two to my name this season and I know there'll be more ;) Papi had a good night, but I have to say that I'm not really that caught up in him. He really must be loved.. the man with the 2.11 BA (as of last night.. he had a few hits today so it's probably slightly higher now). And he gets cheered along more fervently than anyone else on our team. Interesting that Dice-K gets booed off the field but Papi.. well, fans seem to try to justify or shrug off his terrible season. BOTH have been productive for our team in the past (not just Papi). Anyhow. Just sayin.

Michael Bowden did not fare so well in his Friday night start. I cant imagine developing in the Red Sox farm system- talk about all eyes on being on you. Success and shortcoming are loudly advertised and the Boston media (anyone covering the Red Sox really) shouts opinions as if they were fact. The kid just barely made it through the first inning, giving up 6 runs and walking the first batter and one or two others within the course of the inning. It was tough. Uncharacteristic of Bowden, too, as his K/BB ratio from last year was somewhere between 3 and 4 (as in, 3K for every 1BB). Sorry, I've seen it written plenty of times but in a quick perusal of the WWW i cant find any exact stats to regale you with. Anyhow, I'm glad I wasnt tracking it on Gameday. Would have put a damper on my entire evening.. I want to see him do well.

http://shyderblog.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/at-bat-with-nat--from-charm-to-jinx.html

I'm glad he's a square.
I was about to recommend another particular post on that blog, but really, it's a great blog in general. Fun to read. Go peruse.

I need something chocolate.