Cape Cod All-Star game

It rained, and so -admittedly- I did not stay for the entire Cape Cod All Star game. I'm usually a trooper through rain and cold (and shorts, and no sweatshirt) but tonight was just not the night for all of that. Anyhow, I arrived around 4 at Fenway, so though I'm not saying that I had already spent plenty of time there by the point at which I left (around 7:45pm) I AM saying that my entire body was as wet, my hands and clothes as spongy, as 4 hours out in the rain will make a person.

I loved every second of it, though.

If you ask me in person, I'll rave to you about everything I witnessed on the field during and prior to the game. The pre-game homerun derby was a bit weak, but fun anyhow. I was in a field box seat behind the sox dugout and in prime position despite the umbrellas that kept popping up thoughout the section.
...just a note: you paid $10 to see a game. i paid $10 to see a game. you are watching the game. i am watching your umbrella. if you want to have it open, well, you cant. or you're not supposed to, because it takes up a WHOLE lot of space- more than you think. go sit under the overhang if you're really that worried about the rain.
well, again, it wasnt so bad for me, but i knew that the people around me were unfortunately in seats where umbrellas had become unexpected but full-on obstructions to their view of the field. anyhow, i cant wait to pay attn to the cape league next year. kind of a drive, but then again, so is Pawtucket. I'll tell you this- Pawtucket cant play like these kids can. Everyone on the field from both teams was a Dustin Pedroia, was a Jacoby Ellsbury, an Evan Longoria... super talented, super young, and always motoring. I was impressed just from watching each team take BP and then fielding practice prior to the game. Guys were running on and off the field as if they were aggressively running the bases! The game itself was pretty fast-paced. A ton of very sharp-looking plays in the 3 full innings I stayed for. Every batter blazed towards first after making contact, and so many routine ground balls to short or third were very close plays, always a near tie at 1st between the batter and the ball.
There was one particular pitcher on the West team (plays for Wareham) who impressed me the most- though the West pitching was clearly dominating the East for the time i was there. Workman was our starter over two innings, and then Eric Pfisterer came in. He was born in 1990. yes, FIVE WHOLE YEARS after I was born. THREE after my younger brother. I cant even fathom... but he was so efficient and was really workin it tonight. A lefty with a fastball that generally clocks in through the low-90s, a curve, and a changeup (minus the lefty bit, sound familiar?).. also has one of those fully-overarmed deliveries where it looks like he's brought the ball straight up over his head and then uses his upper body in a motion that seems to hurl the ball downhill (another point of familiarity..).


.... i got sidetracked. for over an hour. it's way past bedtime. more later.

Still kickin'

Alright, so it's been a few weeks since my last visit to pavilionsro.blogspot.com . I've been caught up in a number of things. The one activity that most threw off my normal schedule was Soccer Nights- a soccer camp that my church (along with a number of other churches and area organizations) put on for kids around the area. Through all of last week, I essentially sprinted home (via public transportation of course) to change, get my car, and jet over to the field. Made for some seriously long days, that's for sure... but there was not a moment during which I wasnt having a blast. I met some GREAT little kids. The age range of my group was 4-6, with one 8 year old. Man alive, were they cute. Aside from possibly sustaining a minor concussion (a 4 year old girl slid into my head while i was on the ground!), the week was a total success. Rain couldnt keep us down! (except for Wednesday, when it was lightening and thunder all around)..... and as you can tell from the names of the kids I was coaching/in charge of- Anas, Abyen, Abdullahi, Nico, Halima- it was a pretty diverse turnout! All the better. Over 200 kids registered and played throughout the course of the week! I miss working with kids. There's a creative energy in them that you just dont get from people my age or older.

What else? Well, the 4th saw me dealing with the effects of said possible minor concussion (my stomach was sick, my head was in indescribable pain) and so I didnt get to do the normal fireworks stuff. In fact, I was supposed to spend it with my friends Kearah and Adam at Kiip's Red Camp in Gray, but I fell into a bit of a delirious sleep for the afternoon/evening. Not a good scene. However, it was positively SPLENDID to spend time with my family. My Grandma was down and there's never a dull moment with her- truly one of my favorite people. Despite our age difference, I feel like we are the epitome of partners in crime. She is still so strong, sharp, alert at age... 84?

Well, the Mariners tend to embarrass us. I dont know why, but they seem to come out on top when we play them. Doesnt make any sense to me... maybe it is the supernatural power of Ken Griffey Jr because he will always be the man. Just some thoughts- thank you Petey for one more homerun (yesterday). Ellsbury is still beating you in that race :) Is that enough of a taunt to kick you into hr gear? Jon Lester, I want to give you a high five for another strong performance. And of course, hooray for our SIX all-stars... Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Tim Wakefield (extra congrats here), and Josh Beckett. Ian Kinsler really SHOULD get there with that extra player they're selecting. He's had quite a season.

Just completed a trade in one of my leagues (Roto keeper league, AL-only): my ARod, CC, Zobrist (sad!) for his Bay (!), Holliday (!), Kotsay, Lester (!), Figgins. The icing- all of my acquisitions have 3 year contracts, save for Lester who will be back in the pool after this year. ARod and CC on the other hand are both in the last year of their contracts. Zobrist i think has 2 years left. I've grown fond of Ben Zobrist as I have him in one of my yahoo leagues but he sealed this deal, so I thought it worthwhile. Also very good for me, because two of my outfielders were recently traded to the NL, which means i had two gaping holes on my team. There was no one to pick up (no one who is getting any sort of regular playing time.. slim pickings for free agents). I am optimistic as to how this will improve my place in the standings. If nothing else, I cant get much worse off than I already am in that league. Plus I'll have Jason Bay for 3 more years! (DO NOT TRADE HIM... Spend big on SOMEONE who's worth it even if Lugo and Drew (to some extent) were busts for their pricetags!)

Mmmm, my officemates are enjoying the fruits of my strawberry-picking labors this past weekend. Fresh strawberries!! And cherries, less than $2/lb at Star Market. H'amazing!

I will be at Fenway tomorrow (I hate this, i feel like I havent been there for EONS... and they're gone for 2 solid weeks at the start of August too!) and thursday, the latter trip being with my mom's faculty. Looking forward to taking her gym teacher up on the Monstah for Sox bp. He's my age and a serious Sox fan. Plus he can beat me in wiffle ball. ...this is not to say that I cant beat him. I'm sure I can and will, next time we play.

Strange times- both games on Pawtucket's schedule this weekend were ppd due to a soggy field. They're having drainage problems over there in Scranton/Wilkes Barre, apparently. Bowden and Zink are slated for tonight's doubleheader, assuming that they've all figured out the field situation by then. I'm thinking that this could be a great thing for me, as I will be able to see three games this weekend- one with MB pitching and then both games directly before and after. Havent seen him pitch in quite a while actually... I need to count up my ticket stubs. I've been to a TON of games, plenty in Pawtucket. Next week i'm out early for Petey bobblehead night at the Spinners, and the next week after that i'm out early for J Masterson bobblehead night up in Lowell again. Next bobblehead after that is Michael Bowden night in early August... I've got that whole day off so that I can get up there and snag some lunch with one or both parents.

Well, lunch break is well past over. But the sun is shining and it is GLORIOUS outside... dry, not humid; not hot; not chilly. We have waited for this... New England has been missing out on its daily dose of Vitamin D. Ah well, a few days of sunshine and I think we can forgive the weather for its bad behavior.

Sunshine and a boy. I am smiling.

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.

new beginnings

it's opening day at fenway!!

..and let the fantasy baseball games begin.