Monthly Archives: October 2004

The Red Sox celebrated their first world championnship since 1918 yesterday. The portion that made the back cover of the Daily News here in New York was a sign that Manny Ramirez carried which read “JETER is playing GOLF today THIS IS BETTER!” Just when I resign myself to apprecaiting Ramirez–after all, “Manny is Manny” as they say–he does something unbelievably bush like this to make me question what I’m thinking about. The sign isn’t that big of a deal. Just a bit more teasing really. But it underscores a major difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox and that is the Yankees don’t mention Boston when they win; even in victory, the Sox–players mind you, not just the fans–are still thinking about the Yankees. You know the old saying, “Act like you’ve been there before?” Well, it’s clear for some of the Red Sox, that this is the first time they’ve been anywhere close. Peace to Tim Wakefield and Trot Nixon and all the great Sox fans out there though.

On a completely unrelated note, if you want to read something truly funny, check out this lengthy Playboy interview with comedian Albert Brooks:

PLAYBOY: Your dad, Harry Einstein, played Parkyakarkus, [Eddie] Cantor’s radio sidekick of sorts. Describe his style of comedy.

BROOKS: Well, he was a Greek-dialect comedian, so it was a lot of malapropisms. Parkyakarkus [pronounced “park-ya-carcas”] was a character he had been doing locally in Boston back in the Thirties. Eddie Cantor heard him and brought him out to Hollywood. He worked on the Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson radio shows. Then he got his own show, Meet Me at Parky’s, which ran about seven years. One bit I always remember from that show: My dad was slowly typing up the menu for his restaurant and misspelling everything. Roast: R-U-S-T. Beef: B-I-F. His assistant at the restaurant came in and said, “All right, Parky, I’m in a hurry just give me the menu and give it to me quickly! I have a lot to do.” He said “Okay, you want it quickly? We’re going to have sirloin steak and tenderloin steak, good piece lamb chop, great big pork chop, nice fried onions, fresh peeled scallions, french-fried potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes; string beans, baked beans, hup beans, too; cookeral, hookeral, chicken stew; mickerel, pickerel, haddock, tripe; lobster, oyster, shrimp or pike; hot pies, cold pies, soft pie, mud pie, ickleberry, bermberry, stroomberry, too; stiff cream, whipped cream, plain cream, no cream; squashed-up apple, coconut, custard; mustard, ketchup, chili, salt and pepper and pick-a-lilly. Twenty-five cents!”

I memorized that from a record when I was seven and never forgot it. I try to check in with it every three years to see if my brain is still reasonably intact. I can just imagine being eighty and trying: “We’re gonna have, oh, dammit

My girl has been visiting her folks up in Vermont this past week and she’s on her way home this afternoon. Em couldn’t wait to watch the World Serious every night, and she educated her mom, dad and sister on the finer points of the game. Every morning I received e-mails from her informing me about how she would surprise herself with how much she knew. The funny part is she wouldn’t have been especially interested in the games if she hadn’t been familiar with at least one of the teams. She doesn’t like the Red Sox, but she knows them better than any other team save the Yankees. And knowing a little something about them, recognizing their faces, means everything to her.

So dig this: she calls me this morning and asks me if I can tape the victory parade for her. Hello? I thought she was joking. But she was dead serious.

“Do you realize what you are asking me to do? Why in the hell do you want to see the Red Sox celebrate?”

“Well, because I’ve never seen a victory parade before and I’m curious.”

“Yeah, but…Honey…Look, it’s not even being televised here in New York.”

Ten minutes later she calls back to say that it’s being broadcast on ESPN News.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like I’m asking you to watch it or anything. If I could find it up here I’d have my dad tape it for me. I just want to see what it’s like.”

I protested some more. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Finally, I held my tongue (After all, I do want to get laid tonight). I resisted calling her a bad Yankee fan, and all sorts of other nasty things, because well, she can be whatever kind of fan she wants to be. But my god, I was like Ralph Kramden ready to erupt. Brother. The things we do for love.

It is cold and overcast in New York City today. For the first time in a long while I can’t think of anything to write about. Oh, part of me wants to rant about Curt Schilling’s latest comments, but what good would that do? It’s fruitless and boring. I don’t really have the stomach to talk about the Red Sox, though Red Sox Nation is rightfully soaking in plenty of good vibes at the moment. It’s too early to talk seriously about the Hot Stove; heck, it’s even too early to argue about awards. And I know this is just me, but the coming NBA season doesn’t have me juiced up either. (De La Soul has a new record out but it isn’t kicking my ass.) Anyone got anything inspiring? Um, heard any good jokes lately? There are plenty of bad ones making the rounds. Throw me a bone, peoples.

Bill Bucker Finally off the Hook

Well, that wasn’t hard, now was it? (Think Derek Lowe is going to get a nice contract next year? Hmmm.) The Red Sox shut out the Cardinals 3-0 last night to complete the four-game sweep of St. Louis, giving Boston their first World Serious championship since 1918. Yankee fans will be forced to discard their “1918” chant and memorabilia and come up with a new slogan. (How about “Red Sox Suck?” It’s worked in Beantown for years.) After a rousing ALCS, the World Serious was a cakewalk for the Sox, as the Cards went out with a whimper not a bang. Yesterday,Mike Carminati to observed:

As an NL guy, I am now convinced that the NL is like the NBAís eastern conf. The best team there isnít as good as a borderline playoff team in the AL.

Meanwhile, congrats to the Sox and their fans. As I mentioned here before, my thoughts go out to my cousin Scott Adams, and my good friends John Parthum and Mark Pinell and Edward Cossette. In addition, I know Hart, Beth and Sully are whooping it up. It’s a crisp and sunny day here in New York. I know they must be feeling wunnerful. As well they should. Finally, I couldn’t help but think of my old friend Mary Lou Leddon as well. I met Mary Lou, a Boston native, when I was 11 or 12 years old and she became one of the pivotal figures in m life over the next 15 years. She grew up a die-hard Sox fan, though she warmed to Bernie Williams and Joe Torre’s Yankees over time–she had lived in New York since the late 1970s. Mary Lou died of brain and lung cancer in 1999. So she missed last night, but I know somewhere, like so many Sox fans who passed away before getting to experience this moment, she is smiling.

McFadden and Whitehead don’t have anything on the Red Sox: these dudes are going to win the World Serious. The Cardinals are down 3-0 and as we’ve just learned, it’s possible that they could come back, but yo, I wouldn’t put any money on ’em, would you? St. Louis loaded the bases with one out in the first inning against Pedro Martinez last night but did not score a run. They had runners on second and third with nobody out in the third and could not score, thanks to a memorably bad bit of base running by Jeff Suppan. After Suppan was doubled up I threw my hands in the air and said, “Well, I might as well root for the Red Sox. At least they are playing decent baseball.”

Shortly after, I turned the game off for the night. The Cardinals are getting spanked by Boston. As badly as Yankee fans feel about their team blowing a 3-0 lead to the Sox at least we can take some minor comfort in knowing that the Bombers put up a fight. Derek Lowe goes against Jason Marquis tonight as Boston goes for the sweep. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sox end it quickly, but even if the Cards snatch a game here, there is no way they can come back to win this one. I can deal with that. But it’s unfortunate that they haven’t made it a more competitive series.

It’s a fine day in Red Sox Nation, huh?

(more…)

Phil Taylor has a good piece about the nature of “choking” over at SI.com. Specifically, he addresses whether or not the Yankees choked in the ALCS this year:

We need to get something straight about choking, which is merely the most misunderstood concept in all of sports. It has become a catch-all term, applied to any player or team who: A) blows a huge lead; B) fails in a crucial moment; or C) loses an important game more than once.

…But not everyone who fails when we expect them to succeed is a choker. In fact, most of them aren’t. The Yankees are the latest team to have the tag slapped on them unfairly, a result of their unprecedented collapse against the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. There are any number of words that accurately describe the Yanks’ failure — “humiliating” comes to mind — but “choking” is not one of them. A choker is a player or team who loses because the pressure of the moment adversely affects their performance. There is no way that could logically be said of the Yankees. They have thrived under pressure so often that it’s absurd to think that they suddenly crumbled because of the magnitude of the moment.

The Yankee brass is meeting with Boss George today in Tampa. Now the fun begins. Willie Randolph apparently had a positive interview with the Mets yesterday. If Joe Torre’s bench coach is hired by the Mets, he’d become the first black man to manage a New York baseball team. But Willie’s been down this road before. We shall see. One question for the Yanks is: who would replace him as bench coach? In an e-mail I got yesterday, Cliff Corcoran suggested that Joe Girardi would be a great fit. I think he’s right.

Meanwhile, the wheels will be turning in Tampa. Questions will need to be answered. Should the Yanks dump Kevin Brown? (Please, please me, oh yeah.) Should they persue Pedro Martinez, or Carl Pavano? Will Carlos Beltran replace Bernie Williams as many people assume? You tell me. But be sure and brush up on Steven Goldman’s most recent edition of “The Pinstriped Bible” before you answer.

Is it sour grapes for me to bitch about Curt Schilling at this juncture? Yeah, it is. So here is a good excerpt from Joe Sheehan’s latest:

I confess that I’ve never been a big fan of Schilling, who has always come across to me as a bit self-aware and self-serving in his populism, but I can’t help but have a ton of respect for what he’s done over the last week, which in turn has made him more likable to me. Sports media spends a lot of its time blathering about “character” and “heart,” usually for no more reason than a guy’s line drive happened to be hit in the right spot. Pitching through an injury that should have ended your season, while undergoing radical, if minor, medical procedures to do so, is an actual demonstration of heart, one that everyone should appreciate.

And here’s Brian Gunn’s take:

I’ve always had mixed feelings about Schilling. Sometimes I think he’s a pompous ass; sometimes I think he’s about the most admirable superstar in all of baseball. And sometimes the two opinions co-exist uncomfortably in my mind. Like that open letter he sent out after 9/11 — one of the more heartfelt things I’ve ever heard from an athlete. And yet, I’m embarrassed to admit, a small part of me thought it was nothing more than Schilling grandstanding again. And then there was the time Schilling showed up at the memorial service for Darryl Kile in St. Louis. Mind you, Schill didn’t really know Kile. They’d been teammates back in ’91, but that was it. Yet Schilling flew to St. Louis anyway, because he considers everyone in baseball his brother, and he wanted to pay his respects in person. 99% of me thought you couldn’t find a classier move in all of sports. 1% of me thought Schilling just wanted to show the world what a great guy he was.

But in the end it’s the better part of Schilling’s nature that wins out for me. For one simple reason: because whether he’s altruistic or self-absorbed, whether he’s authentic or simply posturing, he always comes across to me as a full-blooded human being, clearly a well-rounded poerson with a life outside of baseball. That’s rare in sports, and great for the game.

I haven’t been won over. I still think Schilling is a putz. But when I watch him work on the mound, I admire what an impressive pitcher he is. Often, I lose myself in a dream…”Man, wouldn’t it be great to have a guy like that on the Yankees…”

The World Serious moves to St. Louis tonight. Rain is in the forecast for the next two days as the Cardinals hope to make a series out of it. They’ll have to start against Pedro Martinez. We are familiar with the character of Red Sox Nation, but what about those famous Cardinals fans who are often labled as “the best fans in the country”? I don’t know much about them outside of their reputation. I know my pal Will Carroll thinks they aren’t all that, but he’s a Cubs fan after all. I did run into a lot of Cards fans last year in the Bronx when I attended Roger Clemens’ 300th victory in the Bronx and they seemed like a good bunch. If anything, I was ashamed of the way that Yankee fans treated them that night, taunting and chanting at ’em as we exited the stadium.

I asked Salon.com writer King Kaufman, who currently lives in St. Louis, what he makes of Redbird Nation:

Cardinals fans are what they are. They’re St. Louisans. Very provincial and proud of their own. They absolutely love their Cardinals. Except for Tony La Russa, the Cardinals can pretty much do no wrong. La Russa’s image suffers from his A) not living here in the offseason and B) not being Whitey Herzog.

The mistake people make, I think, is thinking Saint Louis is a great baseball town. It’s not a great baseball town. It’s a great Cardinals town. If it isn’t the Cardinals, no one cares. I think the great baseball towns are the ones that people move to. New York is one, San Francisco is another. Chicago, Los Angeles. You have fans of the home team but also fans of all the other teams. In St. Louis, baseball season ends the minute the Cards are eliminated. Sometimes it’s hard to find the LCS on the radio if the Cards aren’t still playing. You’ll never see a non-Cards playoff game on a TV in a bar if there’s a Rams or (except this year) Blues game going on. It’s very different from what I’m used to in California, with a migrant population, and fans of all different teams around, so that it’s baseball that everyone has in common, not just the local nine.

As it turns out, Alan Schwarz hit the nail on the head when asked to predict what would happen in the ALCS:

I will offer you the same prediction that Clubber Lang had for his first match up with Rocky: “PAIN.”

Can you feel me? No? Well, just axe Jermone from the Bronx.

I’m currently residing in the bitter’n’hell cut-out bin of The Sore Loser Record Shop. There is a World Serious going on and I have watched portions of both games. The Sox are playing sloppy defensively but it hasn’t mattered much because their hitters are mashing St. Louie’s pitching. There are no Yankee articles in the papers today. The winter is upon us and though I felt exhausted at the end of ALCS, dag, I just didn’t feel ready for it to end. Not like this anyhow. But it is what it is. I just don’t have to be happy about it. Seriously.

Hey out there Yankee fans. Any of youse gunna watch the Serious? I think I will. I may not stay up for all of the games, but I’ll be checking them out. Emily took off with her sister to visit their folks in Vermont this morning, so I’ve got the place to myself. But there is something missing. It’s been slow in coming, but I’m really starting to feel sad that the season is over for the Bombers.

That said, I’ve got to admit that I’ll be happy if the Red Sox win. First, because I have some close friends who are card-carrying members of Red Sox Nation and I’d love for them to experience the thrill of their team finally winning a championship. Also, as a baseball fan, I’m interested to see how the Sox culture will be effected by World Serious victory. It’s been said that Boston fans won’t know what to do with themselves if their team wins it all, but I’m not so sure about that. I think they’ll know exactly what to do: have a year-long celebration. In time, their identity will change, but I don’t expect that to happened immediately. The rivalry with the Yankees won’t wan, not until both teams are mediocre again, and even then, it will be spiked with intensity. Should the Sox win, their fans will simply find new chants to hurl at the New Yorkers (as well as golden oldies like “Yankees Suck”) who will suddenly be without their old stand-by of “1918.”

Yes, some Sox fans may lose interest. And yes, the Sox won’t be “special” in the same way anymore. But I don’t think Red Sox Nation will lose interest. They are as smug and self-absorbed as we New Yorkers are, and they’ll continue to puff themselves up and believe that they are special for new reasons. Ever hear a Sox fan tell you that their eventually World Serious celebration will be better than all 26 Yankee championships combined? That’s a good one. It won’t be better but it sure will be unique. Again, as a baseball fan, I’d be lying if I wasn’t curious to see how that plays itself out. Shoot, at least I’ll have something to write about.

But in spite of those feelings, I just can’t find it in my heart to actually root for Boston. Nah, I’ll be pulling for St. Louis (never thought I’d want a team managed by Tony LaRussa to win). I think the Sox should win, but what do I know? If I could put a hex on em I would. How about you guys? Who would like to win? Irregardless, I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Mulling over the end the 2004 season got me thinking about failure as a motivating element in our lives. Particularly as it applies to the creative process. Allow me to indugle myself here. First of all, do yourselves a favor and check out two first-rate articles on the Yankees: “Mythbusters” by Larry Manhken, and the latest installment of The Pinstriped Bible by Steven Goldman (oh, and look at David Pinto’s defense of Alex Rodriguez while you are at it too).

How can we view failure in a positive light? In an interview with Mike Shannon (from the book “Baseball: The Writer’s Game”), Pat Jordan explained:

I recently wrote a piece on failure for a magazine called Menís Fitness. They wanted me to write a piece on success. They said, “Well, youíve been a successful baseball player”

Man, am I ever looking foward to getting some sleep. I feel OK today except when I look at the papers or ESPN, so you know what? I decided to stop looking. As awful as it was for the Yankees to lose like this, it doesn’t compare to the pain of losing in 81 or 95 or maybe even 2001. Though it ended bitterly, I’m proud that the Yankees played so hard this season and gave us more memories–both good and bad–for the vaults. I really liked the team this season. Until last night’s dud, every single game of the ALSC was thrilling. They might not always win, but you can’t say the Yankees are boring. They’ve made the competition better and they are still a tough out. And that is good for the game. Sure, I’m subdued today. But we Yankee fans have got a decade worth of warm memories to keep us warm throughout the winter (never mind the 20th century). Truthfully, I wouldn’t trade places with any other fanbase, would you?

I wanted to mention how much I appreciate the kind words so many readers left in the comments section last night. I started this blog almost two years ago so that I could write about baseball on a regular basis. I did it for my own satisfaction. But after awhile I became aware that I had an audience. I always try to write with the reader in mind but still this blog is a labor of love and I primarily do it for myself. The fact that it has entertained a group of you out there really means a lot to me. I feel as if your presence keeps me in check and helps make me a better writer. I’m a continue writing during the off-season, so stop on by if you are so inclined. Just cause the season is over for the Yanks, doesn’t mean I’m going on hiatus. As Earl Weaver once told Tom Boswell, “This is baseball, we do this everyday.” (Well, almost everyday.)

I also want say how much I’ve enjoyed reading Steven Goldman, Larry Mahnken (and company), Jay Jaffe, Cliff Corcoran, Derek Jacques, Steve Bonner, Shawn Bernard, Patrick O’Keefe, Travis Nelson, Joe Sheehan and the other great Yankee voices on the Net this year. I’m happy to belong to this kind of club that would have somebody like me as a member.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the post-season. Y’all come back now, ya hear?

And That’s That

The Red Sox creamolished the Yankees tonight in the Bronx to advance to the World Serious for the first time since 1986. Truthfully, it wasnít much of a contest at all. Johnny Damon led off the first inning with a single to left off of Kevin Brown, and promptly stole second. He was thrown out at the plate moments later, but then David Ortiz deposited a room service fastball into the right field seats to give Boston a quick 2-0 lead. Brown, who enraged teammates and Yankee fans alike when he broke his left hand punching a clubhouse wall late this season, didnít have anything. He recorded a grand total of four outs and left the bases loaded for Javier Vazquez in the second inning. Damon glicked Vazquezís first pitch into the right field seats for a grand slam.

Damon was having a truly awful series until tonight. He would add a two-run moon shot into the upper deck later on for good measure. Meanwhile, Derek Loweís sinker was working and the Yankee offense went down with much of a fight. Lowe allowed one run on one hit over six innings. Curiously, he was replaced by Pedro Martinez in the top of the seventh with the Sox comfortably ahead 8-1. The only explanation I have for the decision is that Terry Francona wanted Martinez to exact a measure of revenge against the New York crowd. So Pedro gave up back-to-back doubles to Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams. Kenny Lofton added an RBI single and for the first time all night, the crowd was energized, chanting, “Whoís Your Daddy?” I think it was a cheap move by Francona but I understand his thinking. Johnny Damon and the rest of the team showed a class and restraint as they whupped the home team but good. Bringing in Pedro in that spot struck me as crass.

However, it would be the only speed bump in an otherwise glorious night for Boston. Martinez worked out of the inning and Mark Bellhorn blasted a home run off the right field foul pole off of Tom Gordon in the top of the eighth; Boston tacked on another run in the ninth. There would be no great Yankee comeback this time. At 12:01 on Thursday morning, October 21, 2004, Ruben Sierra grounded out to second base as the Red Sox finally beat their arch-rivals in a money game.

Fact is, this game will go down as one of the single most deflating losses in Yankee history. Plus, losing this series, after leading 3-0, just three outs from the World Serious in Game 4, has got to be one of the most painful, if not the most painful failures in Yankee history. There will be plenty of time for Yankee fans to examine what went wrong over the winter. There is blame to go all around: pitching, hitting, managing. The 2004 Yankees will be remembered as the team that choked, that blew the pennant, which is a shame because although they were a flawed team

Humina, humina, humina. Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Derek Lowe will start against Kevin Brown tonight, that much we know for sure. After that? I’d expect everyone but Jon Lieber and Curt Schilling to be on call. If Brown gets beat around early, Vazquez will be available. If he can make it through four or five, perhaps we’ll get El Duque for an inning. After the fifth, we could see Gordon and Rivera for the duration. I’m not exactly sure why Wakefield isn’t starting for the Sox. Maybe Boston feels he’s better suited coming out of the pen in case Lowe falters by the third or fourth inning. I can certainly see Pedro Martinez coming into the game in a tight spot and doing very well. And I sure hope that Kenny Lofton gets the start at DH over Ruben Ruben.

I was talking with Cubs/Red Sox fan Alex Ciepley this morning and he made an interesting point. It’s far more compelling for the casual baseball that the Yankees lose tonight. Now there is a storyline worth relishing. After all, if the Sox lose, hell, we’ve already covered that ground. That theme has been beaten to death. But the Yankees losing a game that everyone assumes that they’ll find a way to somehow win? That’s juicy.

There is already talk that should the Yanks lose it will go down as the biggest choke job in history. I don’t see it that way, although I’m sure Gene Mauch wouldn’t mind. It may go down as the biggest playoff collapse in history, or as one of the biggest failures in Yankee history, but though the Yankees have played a major part in each one of the last three losses, it’s not like they’ve been smoked. If the series had started out 1-1, that storyline would be moot. (Of course, if pigs could fly, I wouldn’t be theorizing like this either.) What I mean to say is that these teams deserve to play a Game 7 because they are that evenly-matched. They were last year and are again this season.

What will happen tonight is anybody’s guess. Whatever pitcher or hitter can come up with a big performance could determine the winner. So could a lucky bloop hit, a timely call, a fortunate bounce. Oy. The anticipation is agonizing. But you got to give it up to both the Sox and the Yanks: they are living up to the hype and we are getting our money’s worth. And then some…Pass the Prosac, pal.

It was another close one. The Sox got a boost from their scrubs–Millar, Cabrera and especially Bellhorn. Curt Schilling wasn’t brilliant but bully, giving the Sox a solid outing. Jon Lieber made one egregious mistake–the three-run home run to Bellhorn. The Bombers made it interesting with a run in the eighth to close the score to 4-2. But after Alex Rodriguez’s interference call, and some ugliness on the part of the Yankee Stadium crowd, Gary Sheffield went down softly. The Bombers had another chance in the ninth. Matsui walked, then Keith Foulke struck out Bernie Williams and got Jorge Posada to pop out to third. Ruben Sierra, with three strike outs to his name managed a walk. But it was just too much to ask of Tony Clark to put the ball in play. Foulke fell behind the giant slugger 2-0 and threw a room service fastball smack down the heart of the plate. Clark took it. The count eventually went full and Clark, predictably, whiffed to end the game. At least you can’t say it’s been dull. Both Yankee fans and Red Sox fans had their hearts in their hands during Clark’s at bat. While I hoped for the best, I’m sure deep down, Sox fans knew they could count on Clark to come up empty.

Again, what else could we have expected but a Game 7? The pitching will be a patchwork affair for both teams tomorrow. Hope is the thing with hair for Red Sox Nation tonight, while Yankee fans can nervously mull the possibilites of becoming the first team in history to blow a 3-0 lead. As it stands, the Sox are the first team to ever force a Game 7 after trailing 3-zip.

One more game. Does it get any more exciting than this? (Never mind that this kind of excitement I could live without.) We don’t have a cherce. Let’s everyone try to enjoy it. Because when you get down to it, what’s the worst that can happen? I know, the Yanks make history with a major collapse. Sure, we can look at what they’ve done wrong these past three games: they can’t get a big hit, Joe Torre refuses to use his bench at all. I’m sure there are other valid criticisms that we’ll torture ourselves with should they lose, but on the other hand, the Sox are a worthy foe. Damn how I loath them at this moment, but they will have earned a trip to the Serious if they can comeback from this kind of hole.

That said, it ain’t over til’ it’s over. Go Yanks.

Dying time’s here…I was talking to a friend this morning and he suggested that should the series go to a seventh game, players will simply start dropping dead. Medic! Down goes Tony Clark. I think Nixon just dropped too. Somebody get a stretcher. It rained all night and has been dark and dreary here in Manhattan all day. The rain is supposed to keep up throughout the evening, but I don’t think it’s going to be heavy enough to cancel the game. We shall see…

Please, if you don’t have a therapist, or feel inclined to punch something with your non-pitching hand, resist the urge, and leave let your feelings be known in the comments section below. I’m sorry I haven’t provided more in-depth write-ups of the previous two games. It may look suspicious considering the results but the truth is, I’ve been illing from a stomach flu since late last week and just haven’t had the energy to do a proper job. Some timing. Anyway, I don’t need to fill most of you in on what happened cause you are watching it yourself. But if you do get a chance, and want some cheap laughs, check out my correspondence with Sox fan Edward Cossette over at the all-baseball.com home page.

Let me say it one more time, with feeling: Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Emily got home late last night but sat down to watch extra innings with me. After an inning and a half–I think it was in the top of the 11th–she turns to me and says, “I don’t like this feeling.” Isn’t she just a dear. “Welcome to my world, hon,” I answered. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.