The Morning After

Tonight I've gotta give myself a bit of a rest so I'll be at home. Everything within me wants to be at the game, but I've got no energy... over the last few weeks i've been doing 4 or 5 games between Pawtucket and Boston. Still... would have loved to head to Fenway after work. It never fails- Red Sox/Yankees games are unfailingly exciting whether we're up by 7 or we're neck and neck (or we're losing, in which case you know THESE red sox are just waiting to have their big comeback inning). Last night's game was no exception, and not-so-lights-out Papelbon kept fans (and, i'd imagine, his own teammates) wondering just how the game would end.

I've sat in field box seats before, but this was the first time I had ever purchased one (i had bought a single for Sox/Yanks game in April but had to sell it as I was committed to attending, of all things, a Sea Dogs game- since then, I have promised myself that if I found a face value single field box ticket around either on-deck circle, I'd go for it). To start the game I was 7 rows up from the visitors' on-deck circle, but by the 7th I was only 2 rows off the grass. I booed Teixeira with everything I had, but I couldnt participate in the ARod steroids chants. At one point it sounded like everyone in the grandstands was shouting, "You took Steh-roids" over and over. This is where you, the reader, start to question my Red Sox fandom- he may be as toolish as they come, but I have a well of compassion for Alex Rodriguez (deserved or not). Certain celebs remind me of that over-battered chicken you get at Chinese restaurants- there's so much deep-fried nastiness on the outside with hardly anything of substance at its center (ok, so maybe the actual chicken that these restaurants use isnt very substantial to begin with.. work with me). ARod is clearly a victim of the deep-frier... every article written about him seems to point out how he has little to no sense of himself/his own identity. Is this a man who really needs to be jeered at and taunted by tens of thousands of people at the park? Isnt he, sadly, pathetic enough? Steroids.. that's messing up big-time. Guess what baseball fans... your favorite players did 'em too. I dont mean to take the pessimistic viewpoint here, but from what I've heard and read (which is all that most people have to go by), it was the culture, and those guys who weren't juicing were at a disadvantage. But noone needs my take on this. Go to espn.com and read an expert's thoughts on the "Steroid Era".

I'm taking all of the fun and beauty out of the rivalry, so I'll move on to Wang for a cheap shot or two. He was terrible, as promised. He did not disappoint (Red Sox fans). In looking at the box score he allowed about 18 less walks than I remember him giving up, and we only got him for a third of the game, but it was enough to send us shooting off in the direction of VICTORY.

A few other notes- R.Ramirez, what happened? Back to back hrs. I am still a big fan. This guy is an unsung hero, and he has had a great season thus far overall. Papelbon kept throwing balls. I think everyone in RSN is eyeing this one warily, waiting it out to see if it gets better or worse from here. But GOOD NEWS! Daniel Bard is the man. Isn't that great news? So when Cinco Ocho opts to go where the money is (as stated over the offseason- he'll go where he gets what he's worth; sounds like pinstripes to me... but we're keeping the entrance song, because he cant take Shipping Up To Boston with him to NY) we have a flamethrower waiting in the wings. Nick Swisher had a flashy little dive into the right field box section, going for a ball that was clearly in unreachable territory, but it looked sweet as i was sitting in position to look straight down the right field line as he went soaring into the crowd. Petey had a fantastic opposite-field double that sliced beautifully towards far right field, and Swish should have caught it, but hey, we'll take it. Wake gave us what we needed through 6. Jason Bay struck out thrice.. the most painful part of the evening for me, and maybe for him as well.

No more time.. lunch is over. Suffice it to say that after getting to bed at 2:30am and waking up at 7am, I'm a hurting unit. Paw Sox are gone till Monday, Sox are outta here till Tuesday (after tonight's game). Yay, new employee's birthday celebration today... hopefully the sugar will get me through the end of the day.