A Hockey Game Broke Out

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 37

Red Sox 3, Indians 1

After taking two of three from the Tigers over the weekend, the Red Sox dropped the opener of a 4-game series to the the Indians on Monday night.  On Tuesday I was headed back in to Fenway, and I took the day off from work so I could go in early with my parents.  We got in the Red Sox Nation line and went up on the Green Monster to watch batting practice.  It was fun to finally see B.P., because I’ve had pretty bad luck with the weather in a lot of the games that I’ve been early for.  Besides watching the hitters knock some out, we looked on as the pitchers shagged flies, and the young sons of Victor Martinez, David Ortiz, and Adrian Beltre played in the outfield, where they gravitated toward young-at-heart relievers Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon, and Manny Delcarmen.

While we were watching, my father was able to go online with his PDA to get the evening’s lineups.  He also found out that Kevin Youkilis, who had injured his thumb in last night’s game, was being placed on the disabled list.  Losing yet another player to injury – especially one of our most productive hitters – was a big blow, but the timing meant good news for Mike Lowell, who was being activated off the D.L. to play first base tonight.  Lowell hadn’t been able to get much playing time all year.  He can play first base, third base, or DH, but those were the only three positions where there hadn’t been any injuries yet, and Youkilis, Beltre, and Big Papi were all doing so well it was hard to give any of them a day off.  Lowell, meanwhile, had finished a successful rehab at the end of July but hadn’t been added back onto the roster yet.  The Red Sox had tried to move him at the trade deadline, but other teams knew that if the Sox couldn’t find a taker they’d likely release him, so they were prepared to wait it out.  It sounded like Lowell could be gone in a matter of days.  The 2007 World Series MVP didn’t deserve that treatment, and making matters worse was the fact that two of the teams that were interested in signing him were the Rays and Yankees.  So while I wasn’t happy about losing Youk for 15 days, I was excited for Mikey being able to stay with the team.

When batting practice was over, we headed out to Yawkey Way, because we had heard that this was one of the games when fans would be able to get pictures taken with a current player.  The line was already forming on the Gate D end of the street, and a few minutes later, we found out it was Daniel Nava, who had worked his way into Red Sox lore when he hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues earlier this year.  They kept the line moving quickly, and Nava did a good job of posing and conversing with everyone as we went through.

We weren’t sure what to expect to expect from Josh Beckett tonight, although he had done well in his previous two starts since coming off the D.L.  But he struck out the first two batters on a total of 6 pitches, putting our concerns to rest, then picked up two more K’s in the second.  Beltre led off the bottom of the second with a single, and that brought Lowell to the plate.  We all jumped up to give the fan favorite a warm standing ovation – a combination of “welcome back” and “we’re happy you’re staying” – and we were still on our feet when he took the first pitch of the at-bat high over the Green Monster for a 2-0 lead.  Our cheers just grew louder as Lowell circled the bases and got wrapped in a giant bear hug from Big Papi when he reached the top step of the dugout.

In the third, Beckett gave up a solo homer, and two outs later he hit Shin-Soo Choo in the knee with a pitch.  As Choo lay on the ground and the trainers came out to check on him, we felt bad for him.  The Indians had just had their catcher Carlos Santana carted off the field the night before after a nasty collision at home plate.  So when Choo got up and hobbled to first base to stay in the game, we all applauded.  (But when he caught everyone by surprise by stealing second base, he lost any of the sympathy that I had had.)

Beckett got out of the inning with his sixth strikeout, and then went on cruise control; he pitched through the eighth allowing only one more baserunner the rest of the way.  Meanwhile Bill Hall gave the Red Sox an insurance run with a towering moonshot into the Monster seats in the fourth, and Lowell added to his special night with a good defensive play in the fifth where he dove for a sharply-hit grounder, spun around, and crawled to the bag in time for the out.

Our seats were in the front row of Section 37, where the high centerfield wall overlooks the triangle and the Red Sox bullpen.  We were enjoying the fast-paced and well-played game, but the Indians were apparently not as content as we were.  With Justin Germano on the mound in the seventh, they threw behind Big Papi, earning a chorus of boos.  In the middle of the eighth, Jonathan Papelbon started warming in the ‘pen in case he was needed in the ninth.  When the bottom of the eighth started, the first pitch from Cleveland reliever Jensen Lewis sailed over Adrian Beltre’s head.  Beltre stood at home plate and stared out toward the mound for a few seconds, and before we knew what was happening, the benches had emptied.

It always cracks me up during a brawl when the relief pitchers run in to join in the scrum, especially at Fenway where the bullpens are next to each other.  Players from both teams run in side-by-side, as if to say, “I’m going to get you… but not till we’re all in the infield.”  With so many people on the field, it was hard to tell what was going on.  Beltre and Beckett were both being held back by the coaches off to the side, but it mostly looked like shoving and shouting.  My main concern was making sure no one on my side got hurt or ejected, and it’s hard as a fan to know whether you should be cheering or booing when you can’t tell who’s doing what to whom.

After a couple of minutes, order was restored and the players started heading back to the dugouts with the relievers walking across the outfield grass toward the bullpens.  The umps and a small gathering of players stayed in the infield, no doubt sorting out who had been tossed and who was still in the game.  All of a sudden, Terry Francona was in an argument with one of the Cleveland coaches, and the players rushed back to the field.  That’s when we saw Daniel Bard hop over the bullpen fence and run in.  “Hey Bardsy,” I yelled.  “Get in there!  Where’ve you been?”  There hadn’t been enough time for him to have walked all the way back out there after the first go-round, and we quickly surmised he must have been in the bullpen bathroom when the whole thing started.  (I laughed at the thought of him opening the door and looking around, “Hey, where did everyone go?” and then seeing them all involved in a brawl.)  After Indians coach Steve Smith was tossed, the players once again returned to their places.  As they walked back to the bullpen, I noticed that the bullpen catcher had been in there with them, and my friend pointed out Hideki Okajima’s translator.  (That was a funny thought, imagining Oki in there cursing in Japanese with no one understanding him, and the poor translator getting punched in the nose when he repeated everything in English.)

When the dust settled, Beltre continued his at-bat, so he must not have been ejected, but Cleveland had a new pitcher, so Lewis must have been thrown out.  As far as we could tell, everyone else seemed to be in their same positions.  Papelbon went back to throwing warmup tosses, and the Sox went down quickly in the eighth.  When Paps came in for the ninth, we couldn’t tell if that meant Beckett had been ejected or not.  (We found out later he had been tossed.)  Papelbon mowed down the Indians in order, preserving the entertaining win.  And I was relieved a couple of days later when I learned that no one on the Red Sox was being suspended; there were just some fines for the players on the D.L. who left the bench, which they’re apparently not supposed to do.

All’s Well That Ends Well

Sunday, August 1, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 36

Red Sox 4, Tigers 3

It had been two weeks since my last game at Fenway, and somehow the Red Sox had managed to go 6-4 on a tough 10-game west coast road trip.  When they returned home, they split the first two games of a weekend series with the Tigers.  On Sunday, I parked at a meter  just outside of Kenmore Square as usual and went in early in the Red Sox Nation line.  From the Green Monster, we watched as the pitchers came out to throw.  We also saw Victor Martinez’s 5-year-old son and two other kids – one older and one younger – join them.  Victor Sr. pitched as the two youngest kids took turns batting in front of Pesky’s Pole.  Staff Assistant Rob Leary (that’s his official title, but he was also filling in as first base coach while Ron Johnson was away tending to an ill daughter) then took all three boys over near the rolled-up tarp and tossed them popups, which they took turns fielding.  My guess is that the oldest boy was Leary’s son, because he was wearing an Ortiz jersey; it wasn’t Papi’s son, and I’d imagine if his father was a player he’d be wearing his dad’s number.  I never figured out who the youngest kid was, but with the Picnic in the Park charitable event scheduled after the game, I imagine most players’ families would be on hand.

By the time we came down from the Monster, all the pitchers had gone in except Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, both of whom usually stay longer than everyone else.  I watched from Section 1, and when they were done, Dice-K went over near Canvas Alley and started signing autographs.  Usually if someone signs it’s very brief, and I didn’t think I’d have time to get all the way over there before he finished.  But I remembered seeing him sign in Spring Training a couple of years ago and he had stayed out there a long time.  I gave it a shot, and when I came out a little beyond where I had seen him, he was still there.  I waited about 15 minutes, but he was very diligent in not skipping anyone along the way.  He eventually made it to where I was standing, and I had him autograph my scorecard book.  After that I walked around behind home plate to get a coupon for a free soda from the Designated Driver booth, bought a slice of pizza and the soda, and went out into the stands to eat.  When I finished eating and looked up, Dice-K was still signing!  After checking the timestamps from my earlier photos, I saw he had stayed there for 45 minutes, which is pretty impressive.

Clay Buchholz had been the most consistent starter of late, and this time he was once again up to the task.  There were some good defensive plays – J.D. Drew made a sliding catch just in front of Pesky’s Pole in the second, and Adrian Beltre had a diving snare of a liner in the fourth – but it was mostly to the credit of Buchholz that the Tigers were held scoreless through the first eight innings.  In fact, Clay only allowed two hits over that time, and his teammates even managed to get him a 3-0 lead.

My friends and I were sitting in two different sections, but when the seats next to me remained unoccupied at the end of the second, they moved down, and we were able to sit together for the rest of the game.  Yes, it was all good through the first eight innings: sunny, warm but not too hot, plenty of good pitching, good defense, and timely hitting.  What more could a person want?  Actually, I can think of one more thing – a 1-2-3 ninth – but that wasn’t to be.

Buchholz had a low 98 pitches after the end of the eighth and he had really been cruising.  The bullpen had become more and more untrustworthy lately and Clay was on a roll, so he came out to try for the complete game.  Before we knew what happened, he allowed a lead-off single and a full-count walk, and Jonathan Papelbon was on his way in from the ‘pen to close it out.  Except… his first pitch was driven for a 2-run double, and one out later an RBI single tied the game.  A double play got him out of the inning, and then it was on to the bottom of the ninth.

The Red Sox’ ninth inning started out much like the Tigers’, with Lowrie beating out an infield hit, Eric Patterson taking a walk, and Detroit making a pitching change.  Marco Scutaro came to the plate with the intention of bunting the runners into scoring position.  He squared, and dropped it down the first base line.  The pitcher fielded it.  It was going to be close at first, and Scutaro arrived ahead of the throw… loading the bases?  No, wait!   The throw was wild, into right field, and pinch-runner Darnell McDonald crossed the plate with the winning run!  Once the first notes of “Dirty Water” hit the air, all was forgiven.  The Sox rushed out to congratulate Scutaro, and Paps even wound up with the win.

Derby Day

Saturday, July 31, 2010

When the Red Sox returned from their west coast road trip, I heard that David Ortiz was going to be bringing the trophy he earned when he won the All-Star Home Run Derby to his Framingham restaurant, Big Papi’s Grille.  He was going to be there in person on Friday morning, and the trophy would be on display all weekend.

I wanted to go on Friday, but an ill-timed flat tire prevented me from getting there.  So I dropped by Saturday afternoon instead.  They didn’t have any of the prizes or specials that they had advertised going on, maybe because the 4:00 game time was not the most popular for a meal, but I did get to see the trophy displayed on a counter behind the bar.

I was bummed that I had missed seeing Big Papi himself, but I’ll be keeping my eye out for future appearances at his restaurant.

I Like Mike

Thursday, July 22, 2010 – McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket

PawSox 5, Mud Hens 4, 10 inn.

With the Red Sox off on a west coast road trip and my next game at Fenway two weeks away, it was the perfect time to head to Pawtucket to check out the Triple-A team.  When Jeremy Hermida returned from the disabled list, Daniel Nava was sent back down, and this was his first game back with the PawSox after his impressive major league debut.  I had missed Hermida, Josh Beckett, Mike Cameron, and Jed Lowrie playing in rehab stints with Pawtucket earlier in the week, but tonight was the first rehab game for Mike Lowell as he tried to work his way back from his latest hip injury.

On the mound was Ramon A. Ramirez (no relation to the Ramon Ramirez in the Boston bullpen), whom I had seen in Spring Training.  He had a shaky first inning, with two doubles, a wild pitch, and a single plating 2 runs for the Toledo Mud Hens, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.  A solo homer in the second put the PawSox in a 3-0 hole.

Centerfielder Ryan Kalish had singled and stolen a base in the first, and he picked up his second hit of the day in the third inning.  Shortstop Niuman Romero, who had spent a few days in the big leagues earlier in the month, followed with a single.  Daniel Nava was next, and he worked a 3-2 count.  Right fielder Nava was fresh off a flight to rejoin the team, and along with Lowell he was getting the biggest cheers of the night.  The cheers got even louder when he drove the full-count pitch over the left field fence to tie the game.

Ramirez pitched into the fifth inning, when he was replaced by Tommy Hottovy.  Hottovy went 2-2/3 innings and was not exactly a groundball pitcher – of his 8 outs, 2 were strikeouts and 6 were fly balls.  There was one other fly ball in there too, a homer that gave the Mud Hens a 4-3 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, second baseman Tug Hulett doubled and third baseman Gil Velazquez singled.  That set up a sac fly by Ryan Kalish that tied the game back up again.  Robert Manuel, who had been called up to Boston for a handful of games earlier in the month, came on to pitch the eighth.  He ended up going three innings, and each time he put the leadoff hitter on but didn’t allow the runner to advance.  Catcher Mark Wagner, who had been on the PawSox D.L. when both major league catchers were injured last month but had recently returned, threw out a would-be base-stealer in the eighth to help Manuel out.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gil Velazquez walked, but he was stranded and the game headed to extra innings.  It had been a slow-paced affair so it was already well past the 3-hour mark, and a lot of people left.  I took the opportunity to move down to a really close seat just beyond the backstop screen.  As I settled in, Manuel gave up a leadoff double, but he struck out the next three batters to get out of it.

Daniel Nava walked to lead off the bottom of the tenth, bringing up Mike Lowell.  He had gone 0-for-4 as the DH so far, but now he lined a hit into center field.  When the centerfielder bobbled it momentarily, it looked like Nava would be able to cruise all the way around to complete a storybook return for Lowell.  But the ball didn’t get far and he was held at third, with Mikey stopping at first on a single.  We gave Lowell a standing ovation when he returned to the dugout after being replaced by pinch-runner Argenis Reyes.  That brought up first baseman Lars Anderson.  He lashed the ball down the right field line.  At first I thought it had gone foul, but it was ruled fair, and Nava scored easily for the walk-off win.

My original plan when I chose this game was that it would end around 10:00, just as the Red Sox game would be starting in Seattle.  But with the PawSox game moving slowly and then going extra innings, it was 11:00 by the time I got back to my car.  I called my parents on my walk back to the parking lot and they told me that the Red Sox game was already in the third inning, and they had just taken a 3-1 lead.  As I listened to the radio on the way home, John Lackey was mowing down the Mariners lineup in a fast-paced game.  By the time I got home, that game was already in the sixth, and he hadn’t allowed a hit yet.  He made it until two outs into the eighth, when Josh Bard broke up the no-hit bid.  But the drama didn’t end there – the bullpen completely melted down, the Mariners tied it up, and it took a 2-run double by Eric Patterson in the 13th inning to finally give the Red Sox the victory.  That capped a fun day for me with 23 total innings of baseball and two exciting wins.

My seats in Pawtucket were fantastic (the original one plus the one I moved down to) and I got a lot of great pictures at the game.  See more in my album on Flickr.

Sweating the Small Stuff

Sunday, July 18, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 36

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

The Red Sox struggled coming out of the All-Star break, dropping their first two games.  Saturday they won an exciting game on a ninth-inning hit by (as I call him) the “Greek God of Walk-offs,” Kevin Youkilis.  On Sunday, they were trying to salvage a series split.  It was also Maine Day, and my parents and some friends of theirs were able to get tickets through a Red Sox Nation lottery.  We went in early and got free parking spaces at meters right in Kenmore Square.  My brother, sister-in-law, and 3 friends were also going to the game and were meeting us in there later.  Again, I knew there’d be no batting practice since it was a day game after a night game and they were leaving for a west coast road trip after the game, but as usual, the pitchers did go out to right field for some long-tossing.

It was great to see both Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz out there with all the other pitchers.  Both were close to coming off the disabled list, which would be a big boost to the team.  Buchholz did some jogging after the rest of the pitchers were done to prove that his strained hamstring wasn’t a problem.  He was scheduled to rejoin the rotation in Oakland on Wednesday.  Beckett had just pitched in Syracuse for the PawSox the night before, and I wondered if I’d see him when I went to Pawtucket later in the week or if he was close enough to coming back that he’d head to the west coast with the rest of the team.

As most of the pitchers were finishing up, they were joined by another teammate – Dustin Pedroia, walking boot and all – who came out and started throwing just like everybody else.  Even with the broken foot, he’s had a hard time sitting still, and I could picture him begging the coaches to let him go play with the pitchers since there was no B.P.  After his session, he chatted with John Farrell.  I joked he was getting some advice on his technique, but thinking about it now, knowing him, he was probably giving advice to Farrell.

For the game, our seats were in several different sections.  My parents were with my brother and sister-in-law in the shade of the right field grandstand, and the rest of us were in the bleachers.  I was with 3 friends, and we were actually in two pairs of seats in different sections that we had gotten as part of the ticket pre-sale in January.  My friend ended up negotiating with the two people next to my pair to swap with her pair, so that the four of us could sit together.  It was another really hot day out in the direct sun of the bleachers, and I had my parents on notice that if any seats opened up near them they’d give me a call and I’d move over to the shade, but at least to start the game, I was trying to stick it out in the sun.

The first inning went quickly – only 8 pitches for Jon Lester – despite the Rangers getting 2 hits.  One runner was picked off, and then a double play got them out of it.  Adrian Beltre’s double got the Red Sox on the board in the second, but Texas scored twice in the fourth, including one run when Beltre dropped a throw to third and the runner was able to score.  It got worse in the fifth, when the Rangers pulled off a double steal, with Julio Borbon scoring while Kevin Cash threw unsuccessfully to second trying to get Elvis Andrus.  It was even more frustrating since the Red Sox had received 7 walks but weren’t able to get anything else across.

In the eighth, it got really ugly.  With runners at first and second, Ian Kinsler singled, and it looked like they had Andrus thrown out at the plate.  When he was ruled safe, Tito came out to argue, but it was in vain.  (To me, the fact that he didn’t get tossed just made me sure that the ump knew he had made a mistake.)  But just to be sure, we started booing every pitch after that point… even called strikes!  When a double play ended the inning, we clapped but then immediately went back to booing to express our displeasure with how the inning had transpired.  In the bottom of the eighth, a guy in the row in front of me threw up on the guy in front of him.  That was all I needed to see – I was out of there!  As we headed down the stairs, security was on their way up.  My friends grabbed newly-vacated seats behind the bullpen, but I went over to Section 1 to join my parents in the shade.

A seat had just opened up in front of my brother, but it was right behind a pole and the sun had found its way into Section 1 by then.  At that point I didn’t care, so I stayed there for the rest of the game.  In the bottom of the eighth, people were still booing every pitch that didn’t go our way.  It was just that kind of day.  Michael Bowden made his first appearance of the year for the Red Sox after having been recently converted to a reliever, and he had a nice quick 1-2-3 inning in the ninth.  In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Cameron got the Sox a little closer with a homer into the Monster seats and Bill Hall reached on an error, but that was all they could do, and it went down in the books as a frustrating and uncomfortable loss.

A week before the game, I had suggested to my brother and my friends that we all eat at Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill after the game.  I thought it was a good idea since it was an afternoon game and I wasn’t on-call for work so I didn’t have to rush home, and since we were sitting in a couple of different sections for the game.  I should have known something was up when my friend offered to make reservations, with my birthday having been the day before.  It turned out she had bought a cake and delivered it to the restaurant before the game.  When we were done eating, our waiter brought it out and we all had a slice.  That was a cool surprise, and I was glad I had parked nearby instead of taking the T as I carried the rest of the cake home.

Spin City

Monday, July 12, 2010 – LeLacheur Park, Lowell

Spinners 3, Cyclones 2

With the Red Sox off for the All-Star break, I got a chance to go see the short-season Single-A Lowell Spinners.  Jed Lowrie had just begun his rehab with the team, as he worked his way back after coming down with mono in Spring Training.  (Triple-A catcher Dusty Brown was also listed on the roster as being there on a rehab assignment, but we didn’t see him.)  The only other players I knew of were third baseman Kolbrin Vitek and right fielder Bryce Brentz, who were the Red Sox’ top two picks in last month’s draft.  I also recognized Spinners hitting coach George Lombard, the former major leaguer who had been with the Red Sox in Spring Training of 2005 and played for the Triple-A PawSox that year.

Keith Couch was the starting pitcher for the Spinners, and after allowing singles to the first two batters, he got out of the inning unscathed and then cruised through the second.  In the third, there was a little trouble again.  The Brooklyn Cyclones (an affiliate of the Mets) had runners at the corners with two outs, when the runner on third, Rylan Sandoval, tried to steal home.  Couch threw to catcher Chia-Chu Chen in time to tag him out at the plate and end the inning.  There was another play at the plate in the following inning, when left fielder Brandon Jacobs and shortstop James Kang teamed up to throw out a runner attempting to score from first on a double.  The Spinners’ good defense helped keep the game scoreless through the first five innings.

It was a well-played game which was entertaining in its own right, but being the low minors, the Spinners feel compelled to do some kind of goofy gimmick in between every half-inning.  Besides the usual wrestling matches between kids in oversized Sumo costumes and “dizzy bat” races, tonight we were subjected to Chicken Man USA.  It was a guy with a bunch of chickens who was set up in the concourse right behind our seats, so we could hear the roosters crowing beginning in the National Anthem and continuing throughout the game.  One of the chickens was perched on a step ladder to watch the game.  Between innings, Chicken Man was announced on the field, and one of his chickens rode around in a remote control truck in front of the dugout.

Jed Lowrie’s first two plate appearances will show up as routine outs in the box score, but both were long drives deep to the warning track which were caught by the centerfielder just in front of the wall.  As Lowrie returned to the dugout, his expression seemed to say, “What do I have to do to get it out of here?”  (Lowrie was wearing Spinners uniform #7, but I noticed he had his Red Sox batting helmet with his customary #12 on the back and the Boston “B” on the front.)  His next at-bat came in the sixth, with one out and runners at first and second.  He grounded out to first, but both runners were able to move up, setting up a 2-run single by Bryce Brentz which gave the Spinners the lead.

The Cyclones chipped away with a run in the seventh, but Lowell got the run back in the bottom of the inning when second baseman Nick Robinson singled after two batters ahead of him had walked.  In the eighth, the Spinners made an announcement that David Ortiz had progressed to the semi-final round of the Home Run Derby that was taking place in Anaheim that night.

Brooklyn scored a run in the ninth on three straight singles, but Tyler Lockwood was able to get Sandoval to ground out to end the game.  I listened to the end of the Home Run Derby on the radio in the car on the way home (if you think it’s hard to watch 3 hours of homers and outs on TV, it’s even lamer on the radio!) and Big Papi had just wrapped up his victory when I got home.

The Sea Dog Days of Summer

Saturday, July 10, 2010 – Hadlock Field, Portland

Rock Cats 7, Sea Dogs 6

The Red Sox were playing their final series before the All-Star break on the road in Toronto, and I hit the road for my annual trip to see the Sea Dogs.  It seems every time I go to Portland it rains, and this year was no exception.  It poured all the way up, as I listened to a terrible Red Sox loss on the radio in the car.  When I got to Portland for the 6:05 game, it was down to a drizzle, but we had to wait through an hour-and-a-half rain delay before finally getting started.

With top prospect Casey Kelly scheduled to pitch the next day, it was Kyle Weiland’s turn in the rotation for this game.  He was one of the prospects I saw at the PawSox Hot Stove Party in January.  I was also familiar with the top four batters in the lineup – centerfielder Che-Hsuan Lin, second baseman Nate Spears, shortstop Yamaico Navarro, and catcher Luis Exposito – from Spring Training.

Weiland may have altered his pre-game routine because of the rain delay, or he may be one of those guys who has trouble settling in for the first inning, but whatever the reason, he struggled out of the gate.  The first four batters all had hits, and after a double play, the next five batters also reached safely.  There was even a wild pitch and a balk thrown in for good measure.  The tally at the end of the inning: 5 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 3 LOB.

Weiland made quick work of the New Britain Rock Cats (a Twins affiliate) in the second, retiring the side in order on just 7 pitches.  In fact, he stayed in through the fifth, and didn’t allow any baserunners after the first.  And while he was keeping the Rock Cats from any further scoring, his teammates were busy taking him off the hook.

Nate Spears hit a 2-run homer in the third inning to get the Sea Dogs on the board.  Matt Sheely followed Ray Chang’s double with an RBI triple in the fourth.  In the fifth, first baseman Anthony Rizzo came to the plate with a runner on and the Sea Dogs trailing by two.  He drilled a long fly down the right field line.  It had home run distance but was ruled foul.  No problem – he hit the next pitch he saw even deeper, and kept it fair this time, tying the game.

Eammon Portice came on to relieve Weiland in the sixth and struck out the side.  In the bottom of the inning, Yamaico Navarro launched a home run into the screen over the left field wall, giving the Sea Dogs a 6-5 lead.  It was all good until Portice reached his third inning of work, when he gave up a 2-run homer and the lead.  The Sea Dogs had a chance for one last comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with runners at first and second and one out.  But Navarro struck out, and cleanup hitter Luis Exposito, who already had 3 hits and a walk, popped up to end the game.

Independence Daze

Sunday, July 4, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 1 and 15

Orioles 6, Red Sox 1

After dropping the last game of their series against the Rays, the Red Sox had the day off Thursday.  But that didn’t stop their bad luck, as it was revealed that Jason Varitek had a broken foot after a ball was fouled off it on Wednesday, and Manny Delcarmen had a forearm strain.  Both players went on the D.L. on Thursday – and they didn’t even play that day.  With their top two catching prospects also on the disabled list in Pawtucket, the Sox had re-acquired Kevin Cash, and he and Gustavo Molina now formed the big league club’s backstop tandem.  As the weekend started, the Red Sox won the first 2 games against the Orioles, and as Sunday’s matinee rolled around, they somehow found themselves only a half game out of first place.  A win today, coupled with a Yankees loss, would put them alone on top  in the division for the first time since Opening Day.

Since it was the Fourth of July, I knew there’d be road closures in the Back Bay area, so instead of my usual Sunday routine of parking on the street for free, I took the T, and that took forever to just get into the parking lot and pay, with everyone else doing the same thing.  It was a typical Boston Fourth, 90° and muggy, and of course if that’s the announced gametime temp, it’s going to be a lot worse in the bleachers where my seat was.  I decided to start in Section 2, and I moved over to Section 1 in the 2nd inning when some people showed up for the seat I had borrowed.  It was tolerable in the shade of the grandstand, so even though a pole blocked my view of third base, I stuck it out in the right field grandstand and never went out to my bleacher seat.

John Lackey started well, with 1-2-3 innings in both the first and second, including 4 strikeouts.  He gave up a couple of hits in the third, and then started to struggle in the fourth.  That’s when 3 hits, a walk, and a wild pitch put the Orioles on top 2-0.  As for the Red Sox offense, they played like a bunch of guys running around in 90-degree heat – pretty lethargically.  Bill Hall’s single and Adrian Beltre’s double were their only hits through the first seven innings.

With the Sox still trailing by only 2 runs in the seventh inning, I figured it was late enough to make my move to the good seats.  I went around to Section 15, behind first base, and found an empty seat to sit in.  I probably could have moved down closer, but that would have meant going out in the sun.  (From the close seat, I thought I’d be able to get some good photos, but it seemed like every time I got the camera focused on a guy, he’d stop and mop his brow.  Not surprisingly, I caught Kevin Youkilis doing it the most, but he wasn’t the only one.  Everyone was feeling Youk’s pain!)

In the eighth, things got more uncomfortable.  Lackey came out to start the inning, but he allowed hits to the first two batters, and then an error and a sac fly plated two more Oriole runs and brought Dustin Richardson in from the ‘pen.  In the ninth, Baltimore tacked on two more against Scott Atchison.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the ninth, when Youk smashed a home run.  It was somehow fitting that the “Sultan of Sweat” (as they call him at The Joy of Sox) was the only Boston batter who could get going in the heat.

If the day was about 10 degrees cooler, and if I wasn’t so depressed by the outcome of the game, it would have been fun to head in to the Esplanade afterward to hang out and watch the fireworks at night.  But as it was, all I had any interest in doing was to go home and cool off.

A Ray of Hope

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 40

Red Sox 8, Rays 5

After a sweep of the Dodgers, the road wasn’t as kind to the Red Sox.  They went 3-3 on a trip through Colorado and San Francisco, but their record wasn’t what everyone was talking about.  The day after a 5-hit, 3-homer “laser show”, Dustin Pedroia fouled a ball off his foot and was out 6-8 weeks with a broken foot.  The next night, Clay Buchholz pulled a hamstring running the bases after picking up his first major league hit, leaving the game in the hands of the bullpen and putting his next start in jeopardy.  The following day, when we were certain we couldn’t take any more, Victor Martinez suffered a broken thumb and also had to go on the D.L.  This was coming with Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Beckett, and Mike Lowell already on the disabled list, not to mention Mike Cameron and Daisuke Matsuzaka having missed significant time.  But somehow, not only had they escaped the west coast with a series win, but they had moved past the Rays into second place and trailed the Yankees by only two games.

Before the game, I went down behind the bullpen to get some pictures of new catcher Gustavo Molina, who had been called up when V-Mart went on the disabled list.  He’s not related to the Molina brothers trio (Jose, Bengie, and Yadier) who are all catchers in the majors, but he has played in a handful of games for the White Sox, Orioles, and Mets, and I had gotten his autograph in Spring Training.  While there was some concern over who would catch Tim Wakefield’s next start on Friday, there were no worries tonight, as Jason Varitek would be behind the plate for John Lackey.

For the first four innings, Lackey and James Shields traded goose eggs.  Both teams had their share of baserunners but hadn’t come up with that big hit yet.  In the top of the fifth, the leadoff batter hit a popup down the third base line, and Lackey, Varitek, and Adrian Beltre converged.  Beltre had already fractured the ribs of both Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida in collisions, so I was horrified when Tek hit the ground as Adrian made the catch.  It turned out everyone was OK – Lackey peeled off at the last minute, Tek’s dive was just to get out of the way, and Beltre joked later that there was no way he’d go after someone wearing catcher’s equipment, but the thought of another key injury was a pretty frightening idea.

The game was still scoreless in the fifth, when David Ortiz came to the plate with two out, two on, and first base empty after Marco Scutaro’s double.  After a brief conference on the mound, the Rays decided to pitch to Papi, and he instantly made them regret that decision.  He launched a towering shot over the visitors’ bullpen and into the bleachers (right near where my Tenth Man Plan seats are, but I was in a different seat tonight).

That blast put the Red Sox on the board, but they didn’t stop there.  They tacked on two more runs in the sixth, with Varitek and Daniel Nava doing the RBI honors.  The Rays finally got one run in the seventh but Nava threw out Carl Crawford trying to go first-to-third on Evan Longoria’s hit to end the inning.  The backups who were in for injured players were certainly making their mark.  Nava, of course, was in left for Ellsbury, and Tek was catching with V-Mart out.  Bill Hall had taken over second base for Pedroia, and after Tek picked up his second RBI of the day with a sac fly in the eighth, Hall drove a 2-run homer into the Monster seats.  Earlier in the game, he had come all the way over from second to catch a popup down the right field line by reaching into the stands over near Canvas Alley.

It was great to see the bench guys who were thrust into starting roles doing so well.  With all the injuries, it would have been understandable if the team had dropped out of contention, but instead they were gaining ground in the division.  This band of scrappy underdogs was really coming together, and that was making them fun to watch.  The only cause for concern was the bullpen.  When Lackey left at the end of 7 innings, the Red Sox had an 8-1 lead.  But Hideki Okajima struggled in the eighth (walk, 2-run homer, triple) and they needed to bring in Daniel Bard to get the final out of the inning.  Scott Atchison started the ninth, but put two runners on and only got one out.  Lefty Dustin Richardson came on and got the left-handed Carlos Peña out, but then gave up a hit that scored two more Rays runs.  That made it a save situation, and Jonathan Papelbon had to come in to strike out Willy Aybar to end the game.

Beating L.A.

Friday, June 18, 2010 – Fenway Park, Section 39

Red Sox 10, Dodgers 6

It’s always fun to go to Fenway two days in a row.  It makes me feel like a season-ticket holder, like no matter what goes on – good or bad – I’m going to be there for it.  So even though a lot of my co-workers were upset about the Celtics losing the championship the night before, I was still riding the high from seeing the Red Sox finish off a sweep of the Diamondbacks on Thursday, and I was excited to be going in again on Friday for the start of a series against the Dodgers.

There was a lot of hype around the series, partly because these two storied teams rarely play each other, but mostly centering around the fact that this would be Manny Ramirez’s first trip back to Fenway since he was traded away at the deadline in 2008.  (A lot of times the less popular games against so-called lesser opponents are more fun, because the focus is on the actual baseball, but the overly-hyped games can be fun too, so I did want to go.)  But because of the anticipated hype, single-game tickets for this series never went onsale individually.  They sold packages I didn’t want to pay extra for and had a raffle I didn’t win, but all that does is put tickets in the hands of scalpers and fans of the other team.  But I do know that they always hold tickets back for day-of-game sales (sometimes as many as a couple hundred) so that just meant I’d pick a day, go in early, and wait in line.  I had Father’s Day plans for Sunday, and I had to work on Friday, so I was planning to go in on Saturday.  As the series approached and the pitching matchups were announced, I heard that Saturday would be Tim Wakefield, whom I’ve seen many times over the years.  Friday, meanwhile, was Daisuke Matsuzaka’s turn in the rotation, but he was on the D.L., so the start was going to 22-year-old lefty Felix Doubront instead.  I had seen Doubront at the PawSox Hot Stove Party in January and gotten his autograph in Spring Training, so I was intrigued by the idea of seeing his major league debut.  So when I got to Fenway Park for Thursday night’s game, I went around to the ticket office and asked if they had anything available for Friday.  They did – there were actually several options for me to choose from – and I got a bleacher seat at face value with no shipping and handling or convenience fees.

With a ticket for Friday’s game already in hand, I went to work during the day and made it to Fenway Park with enough time to get something to eat, and then walked around behind the bullpen as Doubront warmed up.  (In a cool Fenway moment, he got a nice ovation as he entered the ‘pen for the first time.)  A few minutes later, Manny came out for his pre-game sprints, where he was greeted by Big Papi.  The two hugged and chatted for a few minutes before returning to their respective dugouts.

I had mixed feelings seeing Manny again.  Ever since he drilled the first pitch he saw at Fenway as a member of the Red Sox over The Wall for a game-tying 3-run homer on Opening Day of 2001 (my first Fenway opener, too) he was one of my favorite players.  I loved sitting in left field and imitating his patented double-point as he took the field every inning.  I got a kick out of watching him go inside the Green Monster during pitching changes.  I was at Fenway when he ran out to left with the American flag the day after becoming a citizen in 2004.  I was outside the park when he pulled his car over on the side of the road to sign autographs the day after he was named MVP of the 2004 World Series.  I was there when he got the game-winning hit after not being traded on the deadline day in 2005 (”Manny’s back and he’s back big,” declared Don Orsillo).  I was there when he blasted a walk-off homer into the October night to win Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS and declared himself “a bad man.”  I even picked up a high-five from him in Spring Training of 2008.

I was also there when he cut off Johnny Damon’s throw from centerfield and the batter wound up with an inside-the-park home run, and when he showed up late to Spring Training, and when – God forbid – he sometimes didn’t run out a ball (seriously, what player always does?).  But all of these just combined with the good things into the whole Manny Being Manny package.  Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but who among us is?  He was fun-loving, had a propensity for big hits, and was entertaining to watch.  I hated that there were people who bashed him because of little things that the media blew out of proportion.  I can’t stand when people boo their own players in their home park.  I defended his defense (remember that year he led the league in outfield assists?) and stuck by him no matter what the cynics and ‘EEI callers said.

And that’s why I found it particularly heartbreaking when he tried to “Jay Payton” his way out of town, thumbing his nose at those of us who had supported him on the way out.  How could he give up on me, after all the times I refused to give up on him?  Here I had been defending his declining production, saying that while he wasn’t in his prime anymore he was still an important part of the offense, and then when he got to L.A. he cranked it up and showed he could still hit like he did when he was in his prime.  Why couldn’t he have done that here?  As the Red Sox made their way deep into the dramatic 2008 postseason, I kept wondering, how could Manny not want to be a part of this?  As much as I appreciate his role on the 2004 and 2007 World Series teams, I can’t help but think that if he had stayed around and helped us in 2008, we could be celebrating a third in my lifetime.

I know someday I will cheer for Manny.  I like to imagine that the Red Sox will have all the players from the ‘04 team back for Opening Day of 2024.  I’ll be there, and I’ll be wiping back tears and cheering for all of my boys.  I think that hypothetical date 14 years from now sounds about right.  But I’m just not ready yet.  Of course, I also thought that most of the people who wanted to boo him this weekend would be the same people who booed him when he was here, which I certainly never agreed with, and that a lot of the people who would be cheering for him would be Dodgers fans rooting against my team, who I also didn’t agree with.  So for this series, I decided to treat him like any other visiting player – silence when he’s announced, and then cheers when he eventually makes an out.  It might not seem believable based on the number of words I’ve just spent on the subject, but I was actually more interested in finding out how Doubront would do than in seeing anyone on the opposing team.

Over the years, I’ve seen the major league debuts of Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz, and Justin Masterson, and like the others, Doubront did not disappoint.  He struck out Matt Kemp on four pitches and got Russell Martin to ground out to second on the first pitch.  That brought on a loud mixture of boos and cheers, but it wasn’t for Andre Ethier, who was making his way to the plate; it was for Manny, who was coming out on deck.  Ethier ended up grounding out to end the inning, on just the 8th pitch of the night by Doubront, before Ramirez could get to the plate.

With the crowd already fired up, Big Papi hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the first.  Later in the inning, J.D. Drew lofted one to the top of The Wall, and from my angle it was easy to tell that it had hit the top face of the wall, over the red line, and was clearly a home run.  The umps called it a double, and then when Terry Francona came out to argue, they decided to go check the replay.  A couple of minutes later the verdict came back: a home run for J.D. and a 3-0 lead for the Red Sox.

Doubront had a quick 1-2-3 second, including a flyout by Manny on the first pitch of his at-bat.  He gave up 3 runs in the third, but thanks to a couple of errors, only one was an earned run.  The final out of the third was made by Drew, who made a shoestring catch just before the ball hit the ground, after Manny again swung at the first pitch and drove it to shallow right.  But when Drew’s spot came up in the bottom of the inning, he was pinch-hit for, having strained his hamstring on the play.  Doubront had another easy inning in the fourth, and he struck out Ethier to strand two runners at the end the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, things got fun for the Red Sox.  Eight straight batters reached base to start the inning (single, walk, double, single, homer, double, single, hit-by-pitch).  The homer was Adrian Beltre’s, a towering shot over the Green Monster and onto the parking garage across the street, and it featured what is becoming his signature play – a powerful swing where the follow-through leaves him down on one knee and the ball still goes out.  After Beltre’s knee-powered homer, a “Beat L.A.” chant started up in the bleachers.  It seemed a little silly to be using a Celtics rally cry when they had just been defeated the night before, but as one guy shouted, “The city of Boston is mad at L.A., and we’re taking it out on you!”  By the time the inning was over, 12 men had come to the plate and 7 had scored, giving the Red Sox a 10-3 lead.

After the long wait in the bottom of the fifth, Doubront was shaky in the sixth.  He gave up two more runs and was knocked from the game, but still finished with a decent line (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, not to mention the all-important W) and left to an enthusiastic ovation.  Scott Atchison pitched the next three innings without allowing a baserunner and was instrumental in helping the Red Sox hold the lead.  He even struck out 5 batters, including Manny looking to end the seventh.  Dustin Richardson allowed a homer in the ninth, but Daniel Bard came in with two on in the ninth to finish it off.  With two outs, it came down to Manny.  A homer would have pulled the Dodgers within a run, but Bard struck him out looking to end the game.

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  I'm Kristen, the webmaster. This blog chronicles my journey through the Red Sox season and beyond.

   

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