A’s 4, Red Sox 2

It was a week and a half before I got back to Fenway.  The previous homestand had ended with a disturbing 15-9 loss in a game which the Sox had led 9-0, and then a merciful rainout.  The team’s luck changed on the road, and they went 6-1 in Minnesota and Chicago, before splitting the first two games against the Oakland A’s after returning home.  Tonight’s game was another one that featured throwback uniforms, this time from 1936 to commemorate Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx’s first year with the Red Sox after he was traded from the Philadelphia A’s.  The uniforms weren’t that different from today’s – it was mostly the socks and hats that were different.  (I like the socks – they’re similar to the ones Mike Benjamin and Jeff Frye used to wear in the late 90’s.)  And at least by 1936 the Red Sox were wearing uniform numbers, so these weren’t blank on the back like the 1912 ones had been, which made it easier for me to keep score.

Clayton Mortensen makes his Red Sox debut in a 1936 throwback uniform.

When I got to the ballpark and looked up the lineups on my phone, I read that Lars Anderson had been sent back to Pawtucket and third baseman Will Middlebrooks had been called up.  Middlebrooks is one of the top-ranked prospects in the organization, and he was off to a hot start in Triple-A.  So with Kevin Youkilis missing the past couple of games with a strained back, he was making his major league debut tonight, batting eighth and manning the hot corner.

Centerfielder Marlon Byrd was another new addition since my last game. The Red Sox had picked him up after Jason Repko became the most recent outfielder to go on the DL.

Although the calendar now said May, the weather was more like an early April game.  It was in the 40’s when the game started, and of course got colder as the game went on.  Luckily my seat in the left field corner was shielded from the wind, and I was dressed for the cold with longjohns and my winter hat, so I was OK.

The game was scoreless in the second, with 2 outs and no one on, when Middlebrooks came up for the first time.  He walked on four pitches, and then proceeded to steal second, making a favorable first impression.  Unfortunately Marlon Byrd, who had been acquired in a trade during the last road trip (with the Red Sox sending Michael Bowden to the Cubs), struck out to end the inning.

David Ortiz hit a double in the sixth.

Daniel Bard pitched really well through the first three innings, but the second time through the order the A’s were able to string some hits together and score a run.  Middlebrooks certainly did his part to get the Red Sox on the board.  After walking his first time up, he picked up his first major league hit with an infield single in the fifth.  Bard started to tire in the sixth, and Bobby Valentine left him in long enough to give up 3 runs on 4 hits and a HBP.

I was surprised when the call went to the bullpen to start the seventh and Clayton Mortensen came on.  I remembered that he was the player acquired in the Marco Scutaro trade over the winter, and I had seen him in Spring Training, but I didn’t realize he had been called up to the majors.  I figured that meant Youkilis had gone on the D.L. after all, and I confirmed it on my phone.  Mortensen did a really good job pitching the final three innings, with only one baserunner allowed – a single to the first batter he faced – and 6 strikeouts.

Will Middlebrooks had an impressive major league debut.

Middlebrooks came up for his third plate appearance in the seventh inning with Jarrod Saltalamacchia on first.  He maintained his 1.000 batting average and picked up his first career extra-base hit, a double that sent Salty to third.  Byrd followed with a sacrifice fly, and the Sox were finally on the board.

When the casual fans all headed for the exits in the eighth, I moved down to the box seats behind third base.  As big a difference as it is to come from my usual vantage point in the bleachers to the grandstand, it makes just as big a difference to move from the grandstand down to the field level seats.  It was fun to watch the final innings from a spot that felt like I was right behind the third baseman.  I also got a good view of the rally the Red Sox staged in the ninth.  Mike Aviles reached on an infield single and Dustin Pedroia doubled him home, but that was all they could do, and my record at Fenway this year dropped to 1-3.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 2

On Friday, I made my way back in to Fenway for the third straight day.  But this wasn’t just any game – it was a celebration of the ballpark’s 100th anniversary.  I left the house earlier than I had the day before so that I’d be sure to get a parking spot at the T station, but not before posting on Facebook that I was “On my way to a birthday party for an old friend.”  (When I got off the T at Kenmore Square I posted, “I think I just stepped off the same subway car my forebears took to that first game 100 years ago.”)  Gametime was set for 3:00, because that’s what time the games were back in 1912, with gates opening at 12:30, but I got to the park around 10:30.

The Red Sox and Yankees wore uniforms from 1912 for the game. The vintage look suits some players really well - like Dustin Pedroia, who, minus the shades and eye black, would probably look right at home on a ballfield in any era.

I waited outside the players’ parking lot to see who’d drive in.  Everyone who worked for the Red Sox was wearing roses pinned to their shirts, even the parking lot attendants.  John Henry and Tom Werner drove in together, and both stopped to sign autographs for the fans waiting on the sidewalk.  Bill Lee also stopped to sign when he arrived, and then proceeded to demonstrate his swing using one of the bats manufactured by the bat company he owns.  We also saw David Ortiz, Joe Castiglione, Jason Varitek, Frank Malzone, Luis Tiant, and Jim Rice arrive.  Staff members paced outside the park, talking on the phone and holding jerseys to be worn by the returning players.  I spied a jersey belonging to Kevin Jarvis, who pitched briefly for the Sox in 2006.  I couldn’t wait to see who else would be returning – we had heard that every living Red Sox player had been invited to participate in the ceremony.  That also got me wondering where they’d seat the returning players for the game; would the club areas be big enough?

My commemorative ticket with the view from my "seat" in the standing room area behind the right field roof boxes.

I went in as soon as the gates opened and received a laminated commemorative ticket on a lanyard.  My real ticket was for the standing room in the right field roof box area, and I wanted to make sure to stake out a good spot early on.  But first I took my own little nostalgic tour of Fenway, visiting places of historical significance to me and my family.  I started in the standing room area behind home plate, where my mother stood to watch Jim Lonborg pitch in September of 1967.  My next stop was Loge Box 110, Row FF, where my parents, my brother, and I watched Derek Lowe’s no-hitter in 2002.  I continued on to Section 8, Row TT, where I sat for my first game ever at Fenway, an 8-1 loss to the California Angels in 1987.  My next stop was Section 1, Row 11, where I sat with my family for the game that remains my very favorite of all the 300+ I’ve attended – Game 4 of the 1999 Division Series, when the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 23-7.  Finally, I went out to my current Tenth Man Plan seats in Section 43, where I’ve watched 10 games a year since 2006.  All the seats that I visited had a can of Welch’s sparkling grape juice, a cup, and a card cautioning not to drink it until instructed.  I had heard that during part of the ceremony the Red Sox would attempt to set the world record for the largest toast in a single venue.

Two of my all-time favorites, Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez, were filming a spot for the MLB Network from the right field roof.

Then I headed up to the place where I’d be watching today’s game, up under the Cumberland Farms sign in right field.  When I got to the top of the stairs, I was excited to see two of my favorite players from the modern era right in front of me.  Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez were at a desk, filming for the MLB Network.  I thought it was really cool that fans were able to get so close – right next to the camera man – to watch.  I was happy that the standing room behind the roof box seats had a countertop to lean on, but I was disappointed that there were no Welch’s cans for the standing room people to participate in the toast.  I asked the usher, who answered with a vague “There were a bunch around here earlier” but never pursued looking for it.  Aside from that, I had pretty much the perfect spot to watch the ceremony.  I had a great view of the whole field and all of the video boards.

Whatever I write about the ceremony won’t do it justice.  It was a really beautiful tribute, with over 200 returning players, from Hall of Famers and World Champions to September call-ups who only got into a handful of games.  It started with PA announcer Carl Beane reading a quote from the movie “Field of Dreams.”  The Boston Pops played, and players began taking their places on the field: Jim Rice in left, Dwight Evans in right, Bill Buckner at first, Frank Malzone at third, Jerry Remy at second, Rico Petrocelli at shortstop, and Jim Lonborg on the mound.  I was filming a video with one hand and taking still pictures with my camera in my other hand, so there were already about 50 players on the field before I realized that their names, positions, and years with the team were displayed on the smaller video board in left-center.  Since the names weren’t announced verbally, it was really helpful, and I was glad I had a spot where I could see that board.

Nomar Garciaparra gets a warm welcome as he returns.

I loved seeing the mixture of players who returned.  There were players from the 80’s, when I first started following the team (Bruce Hurst, Joe Sambito, Dave Henderson); players from my college years in the 90’s (Greg Harris, Vaughn Eshelman, and my favorite at the time Mo Vaughn); as well as players from my personal “modern era”, which began with 24 games in 2001 and at least that many in every year since.  Lou Merloni got a nice chorus of “Looooou”s, and Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez got two of the biggest ovations of the day.  I enjoyed seeing players who only appeared in a few games (like James Lofton, whose entire major league career consisted of 8 games in September of 2001 – but I remember seeing him get his first major league hit in the final home game of the year) feel strongly enough about the Red Sox to return.  I loved how many older players (like Lou Lucier, who pitched in the 40’s and is the oldest living Red Sox player) were able to be there, even if it meant using wheelchairs or canes.  (A full list of returning players was posted on boston.com.)  I also thought it was cool that many of the players had brought their own cameras to record the event themselves.

Pumpsie Green, the first African American to play for the Red Sox, got a warm ovation, as did Mr. “Cowboy Up” himself, Kevin Millar.  But the biggest cheers were saved for the best manager in franchise history, Terry Francona, whose departure may have been bitter but whose return was sweet.  Tito was followed by other members of the 2004 season: Dave McCarty, hitting coach Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson, Anastacio Martinez, Phil Seibel, Joe Nelson, Abe Alvarez (the final four of whom only played in a few games, but they all got rings!)  Then came Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, and Keith Foulke, followed by a fan favorite from the 2007 season, Mike Lowell.  The last of the old players to take the field was the greatest living Red Sox player, Carl Yastrzemski.  Then the current team joined them on the field, followed by the final players: Red Sox lifer Johnny Pesky, who’s been with the organization longer than anyone else, and Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby Doerr.  They came out in wheelchairs pushed by two recent retirees, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield, and were joined by David “Big Papi” Ortiz.

I took this picture off the video board in centerfield of the final five players to enter the field.

Composer John Williams conducted the Boston Pops in playing “Fanfare for Fenway,” which he wrote for the occasion.  Keith Lockhart conducted the National Anthem, and then there was a flyover of an F-16 and a World War II era plane.  The first pitch was designed to pay tribute to the opening game in 1912, at which then Boston mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald did the honors.  For this game the current Boston mayor, Tom Menino, was joined by Honey Fitz’s grandson Thomas Fitzgerald and his great-granddaughter Caroline Kennedy.  They threw their ceremonial pitches from the box seats near the dugout, as was the custom 100 years ago, and were caught by Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, and Carl Yastrzemski.

Then it was time for the toast.  I was bummed that we in standing room didn’t get any of the grape juice, but I had been keeping my eye on the seats in the rows in front of where I was standing, and they still hadn’t filled in.  I couldn’t believe it – what kind of a person would have a ticket to a game like today’s and then not be in their seat for the ceremony?!  When a girl who had been standing near me slipped down to take one of the unclaimed cans, I followed, grabbing one from the back row.  When I had first heard about the attempt at a world record toast, I thought of it as just a gimmick.  The ballpark and the players should be the focus, not the corporate sponsorship of something unrelated to baseball.  But my opinion changed as soon as it was announced that the toastmasters were fun-loving fan favorites Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez.  Who better to lead us in a toast?  They were really funny, Millar imploring us one last time to “Cowboy Up”, Pedro wishing for a win today, and Millar teasing Pedro with a reference to Karim Garcia, whom Martinez once beaned in a playoff game in which Garcia jumped into the bullpen to fight a Fenway Park staff member.  It was confirmed later in the game that a world record had indeed been set.

When Kevin Millar tells you to drink, you drink!

The ceremony was touching and very well done, and the weather was gorgeous.  The only thing that could mar the day was the actual baseball game.  The Yankees scored a run on an error, a wild pitch and a single in the first.  That’s when the seats in front of me started to fill in.  And that’s when I realized what sort of person would not be in the seats for the opening ceremony – the players who were on the field!  That’s right, some of the returning players who had been on the field for the ceremony were given seats in the right field roof boxes for the game.  Chris Smith, who pitched in 12 games in 2008, and whose autograph I once got in Spring Training, was in the row of seats in front of me from where I had taken the can of grape juice.  Oops!  Also in that row were Phil Seibel, who got into 2 games in 2004 and was wearing his Championship ring; Bill Selby, an infielder from 1996 whose 9-year-old son was an ardent Red Sox fan/Yankee hater (and who posted two videos of the day on YouTube); and Pete Smith, who pitched in a total of 7 games in 1962-63.  Danny Sheaffer, a catcher who was drafted by the Red Sox and made it to the big leagues in 1987, stood next to me in the standing room for half an inning while he chatted with Selby, whom he had managed or coached at some point along the way in the minors.  He’s now the Catching Coordinator for the Houston Astros.  When I realized that they were seated alphabetically, I started paying attention to every letter I could see on the commemorative uniform jerseys that most of them kept folded up on their laps.  I looked up the all-time roster on my own website with my smartphone, and was able to figure out a few more of the players in my section: Mike Smithson, who pitched for the Sox in the late 80’s; Jack Spring, who pitched for 7 teams over 8 seasons, including just one inning of one game with the Red Sox in 1957; and Marc Sullivan, the catcher from the 80’s who is the son of former general manager Haywood Sullivan.  (Reggie Smith was also at the ceremony, but I didn’t see him in my section, leading me to surmise that the higher-profile players were seated elsewhere.)

Jason Repko made a great leaping catch up against The Wall in the fourth inning, but the next day he went on the D.L. with a separated shoulder.

It was a strange start for Clay Buchholz, because he generally kept the Yankees off the basepaths, but everything they did hit left the yard.  He ended the day allowing five homers, all solo shots, in six innings of work. The Red Sox got one run back in the second when Big Papi lofted one onto the countertop of the first row of Green Monster seats.  It was originally ruled a double, but instant replay was invoked and it was correctly overruled to a homer.  They added another run in the fifth on doubles by Cody Ross and Mike Aviles, but that was all they could muster.  After they played “Sweet Caroline” in the eighth (with Caroline Kennedy herself, about whom the song was written, in attendance) I figured it was OK to finally sneak down into a seat.  I spent the final inning and a half sitting behind Marc Sullivan and his son, who was wearing a Varitek jersey.  It’s strange to say, but the day was so fun that even watching a pathetic loss couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I left the ballpark.

]]> http://redsoxdiehard.com/wordpress/2012/04/20/the-centennial/feed/ 1 http://redsoxdiehard.com/wordpress/2012/04/18/unde-pen-dable/ http://redsoxdiehard.com/wordpress/2012/04/18/unde-pen-dable/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:29:45 +0000 RedSoxDiehard http://redsoxdiehard.com/wordpress/?p=2462 Wednesday, April 18, 2012 – Fenway Park, Section 43

Rangers 6, Red Sox 3

The opening homestand started off well, with the Red Sox taking 3 of 4 from the Tampa Bay Rays.  Now last year’s A.L. Champion Texas Rangers were in town, and I was heading in for the first game of the year in my 10th Man Plan.  Because it was school vacation week, traffic into Boston was light, and I got to Fenway earlier than I thought I would.  That gave me time to explore the park, on the lookout for more of the 100 plaques, displays, and historical markers that have been featured on the TV broadcasts every night.  I did find several more, including the Gate A Staircase, the Auxiliary Press Box, and the Laundry Building.  I also looked at the inscribed bricks and the concrete casts of star players’ handprints in the Big Concourse between Gates B and C.  I love that Tim Wakefield’s handprints show his fingers in knuckleball-gripping position.

Tim Wakefield's handprints can be found inside Gate C.

Before heading to my seats, I stopped by the bullpen to watch Josh Beckett warm up.

I love how this picture turned out, even though it was just an accident because I hadn't put my camera on its night setting yet.

Beckett had another good outing.  He got smoothly through the first and second, and then a 2-run blast by Kevin Youkilis in the bottom of the inning gave the Sox an early lead.  Youk has gotten off to a slow start, so it was nice to see him crush one over the Monster to the deepest part of left-center.  The Rangers strung together a walk, a hit where the runner was thrown out at second trying to stretch it, and an infield hit to pick up a cheesy run in the third.  The big blow came in the fourth, a 2-run shot by Mike Napoli, who’s been a Red Sox-killer ever since his days with the Angels, which gave Texas a 3-2 lead.

A nice sunset proved that not everything about the game was ugly.

The score was still 3-2 when Beckett finished his 7 innings of work, and I wasn’t giving up hope that the Sox could somehow scrape together a couple of runs against the Rangers’ bullpen.  However, it didn’t take long until our own ‘pen became the perpetrators.  Franklin Morales started the eighth with an out, but then gave up a hit and two walks to load the bases.  He hit the next batter to force in a run, and then gave up a 2-run double to – who else – Mike Napoli.  With the game now out of reach, he walked another batter to re-load the bases, before Bobby Valentine finally gave him the hook.  Matt Albers managed to get out of the inning with a double play, but by then the damage had been done.

Pedroia leaps but can't catch a 2-run double off the bat of Mike Napoli, as Franklin Morales turns to see where his latest pitch is going to end up.

The Red Sox did manage to score a run in the bottom of the ninth on a walk, an error, and a pinch-hit RBI single by Ryan Sweeney, which only served to underscore how frustrating it was that the bullpen implosion had cost them the game.

Red Sox 12, Rays 2

Opening Day at Fenway Park is always exciting, no matter how the season may start off on the road.  That’s a good thing, because for the second straight year the team got off to a less-than-stellar start, stumbling through a 1-5 opening road trip that left them looking up in the standings at the rest of the teams in the East.  Because of the inglorious end to last year’s season, the off-season felt longer than usual, but it wasn’t just my imagination.  The final home game last season was September 21, and we had to wait until the 13th of April to start up again – making the wait almost seven months instead of the usual six.  Truck Day and Spring Training are nice milestones to help get through the winter (even watching the first week of regular season games on TV feels distant and unreal to me), but getting to Fenway for the first time makes it all real.

Fenway Park, Opening Day 2012.

I left my house early to make sure I was able to get a parking spot at the T station, and arrived at Fenway a couple of hours before the gates would be opening.  Most of the players were already inside, but I waited outside the players’ parking lot and saw John Henry and Luis Tiant come in.  I took a walk to circle around the park and missed seeing Big Papi drive up, but when I got back his Bentley with “ORTIZ 34″ plates was parked on the street.

I went in when the gates opened, got my schedule magnet, and went right out to the stands to see the last few minutes of batting practice.  Then I walked around to see what I could find for changes around the ballpark.  In honor of Fenway’s upcoming 100th anniversary, there are a lot more displays of historical artifacts from various eras.  I found “A Nation’s Home Rebuilt” – a collection of items from the 1930’s – under the stands on the third base side, where the World Series logos were last year.  The World Series logos have been moved onto a wall going up the ramp inside Gate A.  Also on the walls as one heads up the ramp is “Fenway’s 1st Decade… Fenway’s 1st Dynasty,” featuring team photos and newspaper headlines on the Championships of 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918. At the bottom of the ramp, old ticket windows converted to display cases house artifacts from World Series appearances in 1946, 1967, 1975, 2004, and 2007.  (These have been in place for the past couple of years.)  The bullpen cart that used to drive relievers in from the ‘pen is on display inside Gate A, too, as is a “Filmed at Fenway” display showcasing movies that have filmed here.  Just down the first base line from home plate, near Gate D, is a display with memorabilia from the 1940’s, “Fenway and the Greatest Generation.”  Even the medical room behind the right field grandstand has a “Then and Now” display – complete with an x-ray of Ted Williams’ broken elbow from 1950.  In right field near Gate B is another display that was installed last year, “Fenway in the ’60s: The Dream Takes Hold.”  (Photos of these displays will follow in future posts, and I’m also going to try to track down as many of the 100 bronze plaques and historical displays as I can.)

My seat was in the far left field corner, in Section 33.  It’s not the best place to see the flag draped over the Green Monster, but I had a good view of everything else.  After both teams’ starting lineups were announced, members of the Boston Pops and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus performed the National Anthem.  There was an F-16 flyover, and then it was time for the ceremonial first pitch.  Ever since Tim Wakefield announced his retirement, there was speculation that he’d be a good candidate for first-pitch duty.  And the next logical step – even before Jason Varitek had made his decision to retire – was that Tek should join Wake in the honor.  It made perfect sense – both men are gritty, selfless, team-first players who served the Red Sox through the lowest of lows and the highest of highs over the past 15+ years.  And with last season ending with a  fight-to-the-finish road trip, we never had a chance to give them a proper good-bye.  It made so much sense, and I assumed it for so long, that I almost would have been disappointed if it had been anyone else.

Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek return to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch(es).

But sure enough, Wakefield and Varitek emerged from under the Green Monster flag, and were heralded by the fans as they walked to the infield.  They each threw a pitch – Wake’s caught by Dwight Evans, and Tek’s caught by Jim Rice.  (It’s funny, because every year when they trot out the old-timers I say that if 20 years from now they bring back players from my generation, I’m going to sob like a baby.  But here were two heroes from my era, and I remained remarkably dry-eyed.  I think it’s because I’m still having trouble thinking of them as former players; it wouldn’t have seemed wrong at all if either of them took his usual position on the field to start the game.)  An announcement was also made that they would each be celebrated with their own night later in the season.

Members of the military carry Fenway's Green Monster flag at the end of the ceremony.

Josh Beckett started the game off on a good note with a scoreless first.  He spotted the Rays a run on two hits in the second, but it wasn’t long before the Red Sox answered.  Kelly Shoppach turned in to a pitch and took one for the team, Jacoby Ellsbury doubled, and Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases with no outs in the third.  Adrian Gonzalez’s single tied the game, Kevin Youkilis’s sac fly gave the Sox the lead, and David Ortiz’s infield single brought in some insurance.

Big Papi was actually trying to check his swing, but he ended up hitting a dribbler down the left field line. With the shift on, there was no one to make the play, and he reached safely on an RBI single.

The fourth inning looked to be more of the same, when Shoppach doubled and Ellsbury singled him home.  I’m in the habit of focusing my camera on second base anytime Jacoby’s on first.  With a full count to Pedroia, Jacoby took off, and I got a great shot of him as he slid into second.  My camera freezes the picture on the viewfinder for a couple of seconds, so I didn’t see what happened next.  The ball was hit directly to shortstop Reid Brignac, who stepped on the bag for one out, and then leaped to get out of the way of Ellsbury’s break-up slide and threw on to first to complete the inning-ending double play.  But when he landed, he came down directly on Ellsbury’s shoulder – all in a matter of seconds – and by the time I looked up from the camera, Jacoby was on the ground clutching his arm.

Ellsbury slides into second, trying to break up the double play.

The coaches and trainer come out to check on Ellsbury after a collision at second base.

I was still thinking it was a leg injury, because I hadn’t seen the way Brignac had landed right on top of him, but he came out of the game, and when I got home I saw that it was a dislocated shoulder that could keep him out for 6 to 8 weeks.  Losing such a dynamic offensive and defensive player for that long is going to be hard to overcome, and it was a depressing thought for Opening Day, which is supposed to be a festive day full of hope.

Cody Ross moved to center and Ryan Sweeney took over in right.  Ross had already made a great diving catch in right field, and once he got to center he continued to impress by tracking down two more flies to the deepest part of the warning track.  Darnell McDonald got in on the fun with a good sliding catch in the eighth, to help Beckett breeze through another quick inning.  Beckett had only needed 94 pitches for the first 8 innings, so even though I stood up to give him an ovation as he walked off the field after the eighth, I figured he’d be back out for the ninth.

The bottom of the eighth started with a double and two walks to load the bases with no outs.  That brought up Kelly Shoppach, who already was having a great day.  He had been hit by a pitch his first time up, then doubled in the following inning.  In the sixth he singled.  Unlike when Jacoby is the baserunner, it didn’t occur to me to keep my camera fixed on second with the backup catcher who’s never stolen a base in the majors standing on first.  But I should have, and maybe I would have captured the strangest play of the game.  It was a delayed steal – or maybe that’s just him trying to get started – and he slid feet-first several feet short of the bag.  He popped up from the slide, stumbled, and lunged headfirst (face-first, actually) onto the base in a move that was later named the “Shopp, drop, and roll”.  The Rays were so stunned they didn’t even try to tag him out, and he was safe with the first stolen base of his career.  Now Shopp was up again, and he ripped a bases-loaded double to drive in two runs.  The Rays went to the ‘pen, and Sweeney greeted the new reliever with a two-run double.  After Pedroia and Gonzalez singled to re-load the bases – still with no outs – Youk’s single plated two more.  The rout was on, and it was now apparent that there’s no way Beckett would be coming back out for the ninth.  Papi’s double and D-Mac’s walk loaded the bases yet again, and Ross’s sac fly drove in the eighth run of the inning and recorded its first out.  That’s when we noticed the emergency lights flashing in the club level.  It was as if the Red Sox’ smoking offense had tripped the fire alarms.  By the time the inning was over, 14 men had come to the plate and 8 had scored.

With an 11-run lead, it was safe to bring in Mark Melancon to pitch the ninth.  He had been struggling to open the season, so even though he gave up a homer, his ERA actually went down a little.  The important thing was that the Sox were back in Boston, eating the proverbial home cooking and playing in front of the home crowd, and all was once again right with the universe.

Game 1 – Red Sox 25, Northeastern University 0

Saturday was my last day in Ft. Myers, but it was my first chance to see a game in brand new JetBlue Park.  We got there early and went in when the gates opened two hours before the game.  (Even arriving 2½ hours before the game, we were pretty far back in the parking lot.  One tip for next year is that with the practice fields now adjacent to the stadium, it would be fun to come early in the day and spend time watching the practices out back before heading into the ballpark.  Some of the big leaguers are out doing drills or throwing bullpen sessions, and there are minor league games going on.)  When we did go in, I was really impressed with how well they did with the new park.  I always thought the old City of Palms Park looked nice, and other than the appeal of having all the practice facilities in one place I didn’t really see the need for a new park.  But once I saw the final product I was a convert.  It has the same dimensions as Fenway (with the exception that the Green Monster wall is 6 feet higher than the original – a fact which does bug me) but still has a small, intimate, spring training feel to it.  The seats are spacious with plenty of legroom, and they all have cup holders.  The concourse isn’t crowded because there are tents outside the park with concessions, so there’s plenty of room to spread out.

Looking down the left field line really does feel like Fenway. This Green Monster has seats - covered by a screen - in the middle of the wall, and is 6 feet higher than its Boston counterpart.

Jon Lester delivered the first pitch thrown in a game at JetBlue, and we were underway.  He breezed through the first two innings, needing only 22 pitches.  One Northeastern batter did get a hit in the second inning, but he was quickly erased on a line drive double play that was fielded nicely by Jose Iglesias at short.  The Red Sox lineup wasted no time getting on the board.  Darnell McDonald singled in two runs in the first, and Cody Ross and Adrian Gonzalez both homered to highlight a 7-run second.

Unlike Fenway Park’s Green Monster, this left field wall doesn’t have enough room behind the scoreboard for the operators to sit inside.  (The Red Sox clubhouse is what’s behind that part of the wall.  There’s a small room for the scorekeepers further to the left.)  That means that every time there’s a hit or a run, they have to run out on the warning track between batters and update it from the front.  At least, that’s what they did in the first inning.  After the steady onslaught of offense in the second, they started waiting until the end of each inning to come out and update it.  Luckily for those of us trying to keep score in the stands, there’s a video board in right field that was kept up-to-date.

The scoreboard operators have to run out to update every hit, error, and run from the outside. And if it's the visiting team getting the hit, they need to bring a ladder with them to reach.

Keeping score was actually a lot easier for me than it was at the old ballpark.  Between the video board in right and the fact that there’s a new announcer who actually tells us about all the substitutions, my scorecard was much neater than in previous years.  I was even able to keep up with the all the names of the college kids.

The Red Sox “only” scored one run in the third inning, as the starters began coming out of the game.  But in the fourth they batted around again, producing another 7-spot.  This time it was Cody Ross’s grand slam (his second homer of the day) and Che-Hsuan Lin’s 2-run shot that did most of the damage.  By the time we stood for the fifth-inning stretch (the college games are only seven innings after all) it was 17-0 Red Sox.

The first ever game at JetBlue Park was a contest between the Red Sox and the Northeastern University Huskies.

After plating 2 more runs in the fifth, it was time to bat around again and score 6 more in the sixth, capped by Ryan Sweeney’s homer.  That made for a tidy 25-0 score, a new record for the most runs scored in a game that I’ve attended.  It’s good these college games are only 7 innings, or they might have run out of big numbers to post on the scoreboard.

Game 2 – Red Sox 6, Boston College 3

JetBlue Park before Game 2.

Between games, we walked around the outside of the park.  A statue of Ted Williams, just like the one outside Gate B at Fenway, was moved over from City of Palms Park.  It’s surrounded by 9 palm trees, representing The Splendid Splinter’s uniform number 9.  There’s also a sculpture garden where all the Red Sox’ retired numbers are honored.

Posing with Ted Williams' number 9.

Felix Doubront pitched the night game, and he had a very quick two innings of work.  He gave up a hit in the first, but the runner was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.  Big Papi, making a surprise start at first base, fielded his position capably.  I captured the top of the first on video:

Aided by two walks and a wild pitch, the Red Sox took advantage of Mike Aviles’s double to score 4 runs in the second inning.  Unlike their afternoon counterparts, the B.C. Eagles actually had a little success at the plate.  They scored 2 runs on 3 hits off Junichi Tazawa in the third, and added another run in the fifth on a hit batsman, an error, and a groundout.  For the Red Sox, Alex Hassan and Juan Carlos Linares drove in insurance runs, and Doug Mathis and Chorye Spoone finished off pitching duties.

My final tally at the end of the day: I got to see 27 position players and 8 pitchers from all levels of the organization.  With that, it was time to fly back to New England and await my next game… Opening Day at Fenway Park.  For all the best photos of my week in Ft. Myers, including 6 days of workouts and a detailed look at JetBlue Park, see my Red Sox Spring Training 2012 album on Flickr.

Spring Training Workouts

When we arrived at the complex at 9:00 on Thursday, we saw that the players had gotten an early start.  We stopped to watch Carlos Silva throwing on one of the mounds, when we realized that the players had already come out to the agility field to begin stretching, ahead of their usual 9:30 start time.  (We surmised this was because some of the players would be participating in an unofficial “B” Game at the Twins’ complex in the afternoon.)  Unlike the other days, there were probably only a couple dozen fans watching them stretch at that time.  When they finished, they split up among the other fields, with Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis jogging right past us on their way to Field 2.  Pedey looked out at the sparse crowd and said, “Where is everyone today?  Thanks for coming out, fans… all seven of you!”  Youk mused, “We haven’t even lost a game yet!”

The three shortstops competing for a spot on the roster - Nick Punto, Jose Iglesias, and Mike Aviles - take turns fielding ground balls.

After watching the infielders practice, I walked around to two other fields where rundown/cutoff drills involving the pitchers, catchers, and infielders were taking place.  The drills all move quickly, and before long they were setting up for batting practice.  Two of the fields had the various catchers in camp taking B.P.  I watched Dan Butler and Max St. Pierre, both of whom had signed autographs for us earlier in the week, as well as Luis Exposito and Jarrod Saltalamacchia taking their turns in the cage.

I think it's fitting on the day that Jason Varitek would be announcing his retirement to include a picture of his successor, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who spent the past year growing into the position under Tek's tutelage.

After watching them for a while, I went back up to Field 1, where the heart of the everyday lineup – Pedroia, Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Adrian Gonzalez – were taking batting practice.  Just before they wrapped up, we noticed two-thirds of the ownership team – John Henry and Tom Werner – were making the rounds and watching too.  When B.P. was done, the players got on a cart and were whisked away quickly for their next drill, but the owners lingered a bit before exiting the field and walking down the pathway used by the fans.  Most of the fans had run off to follow the players, but I ended up right behind the owners.  I was hesitant to interrupt them, but once someone else flagged them down for an autograph, I was able to ask for signatures from both of them too.  We also got third base prospect Will Middlebrooks to sign as he came off an adjoining field a couple of minutes later.

John Henry and Tom Werner watch batting practice.

The final drill of the morning was Gonzalez, Pedroia, Youkilis, Mike Aviles, and Nick Punto – basically our major league infield – taking more fielding practice together.  By now there were a lot of people gathered around the one remaining field with any action on it.  I’ve definitely noticed how much bigger the new complex is compared to the old place on Edison Road.  The new place doesn’t feel crowded at all, but every day I’m amazed when we get out to the parking lot and see how many cars are there.  This time all the players stopped on their way in to sign some autographs.  Most of them went to the side of the walkway opposite where I was (which becomes roped off when the players need to cross from one field to another) but I was excited that Youk stayed out there a long time and signed for many people on both sides, including my mother and me (especially since we had both been close to getting his the other day when a bunch of people stepped in front of us in a place they weren’t supposed to be, causing us to miss out).

That ended the workout for the day, but we were just getting started.  We headed out to the car, ate the lunches we had packed, and then drove over to Hammond Stadium, where the Minnesota Twins play, about 6 miles down the road from JetBlue Park.  The Red Sox and Twins were playing a “B” Game in the afternoon, and admission was free.

Hammond Stadium, Ft. Myers

Twins 6, Red Sox 5 (sort of)

The Red Sox have 35 pitchers in camp this year, many of whom are starters, so it’s going to be hard to find enough innings for them all to pitch enough.  One of Bobby Valentine’s ideas, we read in the paper, was to make the college games the Red Sox play against Boston College and Northeastern be nine innings instead of the usual seven.  He even offered to have Red Sox pitchers throw the eighth and ninth innings for the college teams, but instead of doing that they decided to recruit a major league opponent for a “B” Game.  A “B” Game is just an extra exhibition game between two teams looking to get their players some additional time, and it doesn’t count in the standings.  Because it’s not a real Grapefruit League game, teams are allowed to bend the rules if they have a player who they need to get more – or less – playing time.  (My parents went to a “B” Game a couple of years ago when Jason Varitek was coming back from an injury, and he led off every inning, before continuing with the rest of the batting order, so he could get a lot of at-bats.)  Today’s game was being played at Hammond Stadium and was open to fans for free.  I was especially happy because I thought I’d mostly be seeing workouts on my week in Ft. Myers, and I didn’t expect to get to a game other than the college games this weekend.

Ryan Lavarnway homered in the first inning.

We were allowed to sit anywhere in the park, so we chose a spot right in the front row behind home plate.  The view was fantastic and I was able to take a lot of good photos.  Notice anything strange in the picture above?  There’s no umpire – it’s a “B” Game after all – and Minnesota third base coach Steve Liddle donned catcher’s gear and called balls and strikes for both teams. There was also no National Anthem before the game, no announcements over the loudspeaker, and the scoreboard was turned off.  After a while, a knowledgeable Twins fan took it upon himself to loudly announce all the Minnesota batters like a P.A. announcer would, which was actually very helpful.  I like to keep score at games, but going in I said that my new rule was that I wasn’t going to attempt a “B” Game.  But once I got there I realized that with “B”Games the rules are made to be broken – I feel lost when I don’t keep score, and it might prove to be a necessity in order to know what’s going on in the game, so I gave it a shot.

Ryan Lavarnway got the Red Sox off to a good start with a homer in the first inning.  Alfredo Aceves started for the Sox and gave up one run on two hits in his inning of work.  Both teams had scheduled nine pitchers to each throw an inning in the game.  In the second, it was Daniel Bard’s turn, and he also gave up a run on two hits, plus a wild pitch (or maybe it was a passed ball, but since I was the only one keeping score, I made the call on that). All of a sudden in the middle of the third, three umpires came out of the dugout and took their places on the field, with Liddle returning to his coaching duty.  It was almost an hour into the game, and we wondered if maybe the umpires got the start time wrong.  Good thing it’s a “B” Game!

Daniel Bard pitched the second inning for the Sox.

Clayton Mortensen, the player acquired in the Marco Scutaro trade, threw a 1-2-3 third inning, but Jesse Carlson, the former Blue Jay who’s trying to come back from a year lost to injury, gave up a two-run homer in the fourth to former Sox prospect Aaron Bates, who’s now with the Twins.  The Sox got a run back on a sac fly in the fourth, but then Tony Pena Jr. faced eight men in the fifth, giving up two more runs before finally leaving the bases loaded.  That put the Twins up 6-2.

And then in the sixth, things got strange. The Red Sox were batting and starting to mount a comeback.  With two men on via walks and two outs, Nate Spears hit a triple that drove in two runs.  Lars Anderson was next, and he appeared to take ball four.  He tossed his bat gently aside and trotted to first, so I wrote the BB down in my scorecard.  But then both teams, including the fielders, the baserunners, and the umps, walked off the field.  I thought for a minute that they had reversed the call to a strikeout, which would have ended the inning, but it really was a walk.  The Twins pitcher had reached the pitch count the team wanted from him, and both teams wanted all their pitchers to start with clean innings rather than bring a reliever in with people on base, so they had just decided to end the inning, even though there were two outs and runners at the corners.  I joked that the Red Sox should play the rest of the game under protest.  But the Twins returned the favor in the bottom of the inning, stopping after their hitters recorded their second out.

Alex Wilson pitched the sixth inning - which was stopped after two outs.

In the seventh, it got even weirder.  Anderson’s walk had ended the sixth, and catcher Dan Butler led off the seventh, presumably pinch-hitting for outfielder J.C. Linares, who followed Anderson in the order.  He hit a homer to pull the Sox to within a run, but the weird part was that the next batter was Linares, who was apparently still in the game.  The batting order then continued the way it had been going.  Linares played in center the whole game.  Lavarnway caught the first three innings, and then was replaced by Luis Exposito, who we saw catching the rest of the game.  We never saw Butler play a position, but he wasn’t just a pinch-hitter because he got another at-bat a couple of innings later.  Josh Kroeger was the DH, and he stayed in for the whole game, picking up four at-bats.  It was as if they had inserted Butler as a second DH, and played the second half of the game with ten batters in the lineup.  “B” Games are cool!

When Butler made the final out in the top of the ninth with the Twins up 6-5, that should have been the end of the game.  But by now I was getting the hang of these flexible “B” Game rules, and correctly guessed that they were going to play the bottom of the ninth anyway, because the Red Sox would want to get all nine of their pitchers some work.  Sure enough, Justin Thomas took the mound and pitched a nice 1-2-3 inning.  Here we were applauding his outs, even though we had already lost the game!  When the Twins went down in order, the game did finally end.  But the whole game was an unexpected treat.  It was fun to see the players I’ve been watching in the workouts all week in action, and there’s something appealing about seeing professional baseball players play a game like they’re in someone’s backyard.

Game 1 – Mets 6, Sea Dogs 4, 11 inn.

With the Red Sox on the road in Kansas City, Fenway Park played host to what is now an annual event, the Futures at Fenway minor league doubleheader.  It was my first time attending this event, and I was met by a friend and his 9- and 7-year-old sons, who were making their first trip to Fenway.  In a strange twist, it was a gorgeous, sunny day, but I’m sure that’s only because it was one of the few games where my seat was under cover.

Infielder Oscar Tejeda slides into second base. I was happy to see him in the game today, because he's a player I knew from Spring Training but he hadn't played in the Sea Dogs game I went to last month.

The first game pitted the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs against the Binghamton Mets.  Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger made the start, and despite allowing baserunners in every inning, he held the Mets scoreless through the first six frames.  The Sea Dogs were equally silent at the plate, with Alex Hassan’s two singles accounting for half his team’s hits in the first six innings.  Hassan, an outfielder, is originally from Milton, MA, and grew up a Red Sox fan.  We were sitting in left field, and I remarked to my friend how cool it must be for a kid who grew up outside of Boston to be here playing left field at Fenway.  No sooner had I made that comment, than a Binghamton player lined a hit off the Green Monster.  Hassan fielded it perfectly and got it back to the infield in time to hold the runner to a single.  My friend and I turned and almost in unison said, “And he knows how to play the Monster!”

Alex Hassan is outstanding in his field...

...and at the plate, where he reached base four times.

Haeger started to tire in the seventh when he issued three walks and a wild pitch, and he was further hurt by two errors.  That plated two runs for the Mets, and it brought Josh Fields in from the ‘pen.  Fields had been acquired at the trade deadline in the three-team deal that brought Erik Bedard to Boston.  He got out of the inning without any more damage, and stayed in to throw a scoreless eighth and ninth.

Phantom tag: Jonathan Hee is called "out" at second base, even though the stretching shortstop is about a foot away from the bag.

In the bottom of the eighth, Hassan continued his memorable afternoon by launching a two-run homer high over the wall in straightaway center field.  That tied the game at 2, and when the Sea Dogs couldn’t get anything done in the bottom of the ninth, the game headed to extra innings.  Neither team scored in the tenth, and I got to point out to the kids that the manual scoreboard on the Green Monster only has enough columns for 10 innings, and when they go beyond that they have to take all the numbers out and put the 11th inning linescore under the “1″.  (Both kids are so well-versed in Fenway history that this was the only new fact I was able to impart that day.)

Mitch Dening takes a big swing but comes up empty in his 7th inning at-bat.

With reliever Chris Martin into his second inning of work, the Mets ended up putting together three singles and a homer to score four runs in the top of the eleventh.  The Sea Dogs did finally get a rally going in the bottom of the eleventh, when Jonathan Hee’s single knocked in two runs, but it was too little, too late.

Game 2 – Chiefs 3, PawSox 1

Between innings we walked around the concourse to show the kids some of the historical displays, and then got something to eat.  Game 2 featured the Triple-A PawSox and the Washington Nationals’ affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs.  Much to the 9-year-old’s chagrin, the Pawtucket starter was Kyle Weiland.  He’s been to several PawSox games this year, and almost all of them started with Weiland and all but one had ended in a loss.  This one started off on a much better note, with Daniel Nava lining a solo homer into the bullpen in the first inning.

Daniel Nava is congratulated by manager Arnie Beyeler after his first inning home run.

Besides Nava and Weiland, there were several other PawSox players whom I had seen play at Fenway before.  Lars Anderson and Ryan Kalish had seen time last year, with Jose Iglesias making his debut earlier this year.  Relievers Tommy Hottovy and Michael Bowden had also pitched in Boston before.

Weiland wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t exactly sharp either.  He had a lot of baserunners, and the Chiefs pushed across solo runs in the second, fifth, and sixth innings, before Jason Rice came on in relief.  At the plate, the PawSox couldn’t get anything going – or rather, every time they got something going, they got in their own way.  Three runners were caught stealing, and one was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.  They also hit into three double plays.

Jose Iglesias takes a lead off first base after his sixth-inning single. Careful, Jose...

Oops, he's picked off!

As the evening wore on, we stayed in our seats in left field, until eventually we were the only people left in that section.  The usher even came over and made a joke that we must have fogotten to shower this morning since no one was sitting near us.  But we stuck it out, enjoying 20 innings of baseball on a warm day at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.  The 9-year-old kept score for both games, just like me (and I only had to cheat off his scorecard a couple of times).  The 7-year-old spent the whole second game with his father’s camera, and wound up with over 300 pictures, also just like me.  Despite the fact that the PawSox never did come up with any additional offense, ending the day with two losses, a good time was had by all.

Game 1 – Red Sox 3, Rays 1

The Red Sox went 3-3 on a road trip to Minnesota and Seattle, but they were home for a very strange two-day, three-game homestand before heading out on the road again.  There was a doubleheader on Tuesday with an afternoon “getaway day” game on Wednesday.  Tuesday’s night game was one that I’d had tickets to all along, but the day game was the makeup of a rainout in April, so I got to go to both games.  Of course, it wouldn’t be official if there wasn’t any rain in the forecast, and today was no exception.  I brought all my rain gear, because the last thing I wanted was to get soaked in the first game and then be uncomfortable for the whole second game.

Jon Lester had a strong outing in Game 1.

My full day of baseball began at noon.  For the first game we sat in our Tenth Man Plan seats behind the visitors’ dugout.  The matchup pitted the two teams’ aces – Jon Lester and James Shields – against each other, and both pitchers proved to be up to the task.  Lester ran into a little trouble in the first when the opening batter doubled and stole third, but he was able to minimize the damage and the Rays came away with just one run.  Shields set the Sox down in order in the first, and again in the second, though not without a little confusion.  I write down the lineups in my scorecard when they’re announced, and I had Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Carl Crawford due up in the second.  But when Youk lined to short to open the inning, Crawford came up next.  I know it can sometimes be distracting in the bleachers, but there was no way I had missed an entire at-bat, plus the scoreboard confirmed that there was one out and no one on.  Big Papi had apparently been scratched from the lineup, and it wasn’t until the next inning that I saw that Jed Lowrie had replaced him as DH and was hitting eighth, with everyone else moving up a spot.  My scorecard was now a mess from moving all the players’ names around, and it got even messier when the rain started in the bottom of the second.

Lester had given up two hits in the first, and a walk and hit-by-pitch in the second, but after that he went on cruise control, blowing through the 2-3-4 hitters in the third.  The Red Sox finally broke through against Shields in the third, when Josh Reddick and Mike Aviles singled.  Jacoby Ellsbury followed with his 21st home run of the year, a 3-run blast that landed in the narrow ramp area between the last section of bleachers and the first section of grandstand.  That’s right near where I was sitting, and my parents called to say they had seen me briefly on TV.  (They also said nothing had been announced about Papi’s apparent injury yet.)

With the Red Sox now on top 3-1, the game switched into pitchers’ duel mode.  Lester struck out the side in the fourth and pitched through the seventh, allowing only one more baserunner on a harmless single by Evan Longoria in the sixth.  Shields ended up pitching all eight innings for his team, and the three hits the Sox strung together in the third accounted for their only baserunners of the game.  Daniel Bard continued the trend with a 1-2-3 eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon breezed through the ninth.  The game ended in a brisk 2 hours and 23 minutes, leaving plenty of time to get everyone out and get the park cleaned up for the nightcap.

My friend and I decided to eat at Jerry Remy’s restaurant, just across the street from the park, between games.  It was still overcast when we left the park, but we started to see some breaks in the clouds.  We ended up getting a table outside, and while we ate the sun came out.  I looked on my phone and saw that Papi’s injury was bursitis in his heel, and that he’d be available in the second game if necessary.  After eating we had time to browse through a couple of nearby stores before heading back in when the gates opened for Game 2.

Fenway Park was very quiet in between games of the doubleheader.

Game 2 – Rays 6, Red Sox 2

Normally there’s a bustle of activity in front of the dugout before a game, but with everyone resting up for the nightcap, Fenway was quiet and still when we re-entered, with nary a player, coach, or grounds crew member to be spotted.  Our seats for the second game were in the same section of the bleachers as before, but all the way up in the very last row.  We waited until just before the start of the game to make the long trek up, because this was my first chance to see Erik Bedard since he had been acquired at the trading deadline last month, and I wanted to get some close-up pictures as he warmed in the bullpen.

Erik Bedard warms up before Game 2.

The Red Sox lineup was much the same as it had been for the first game, except that with Papi still out, Crawford was the DH.  Darnell McDonald took over in left, Jason Varitek was catching instead of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Jed Lowrie spelled Kevin Youkilis at third.  This was Bedard’s third start since joining the Red Sox.  He had pitched decently enough in the first two, but hadn’t received much run support and had no wins to show for it yet.  He started off with a 1-2-3 first, but then the first two batters of the second inning reached base.  I did what I almost always do when there are two on and no outs – I turned to my friend and said, “We need a triple play right now.”  But of course, I’m never actually right, and after Lowrie made an error, both runners ended up scoring.  Tek got the Sox on the board with a solo homer in the third.

The Captain came through with a homer in the nightcap.

With the score still 2-1 in favor of the Rays, B.J. Upton started the fourth inning with a single into shallow center, and Casey Kotchman lined a base hit into left.  Sean Rodriguez took ball one and then hit a grounder toward third.  Lowrie fielded the ball, took one step to his right to step on third base, and threw to Dustin Pedroia, who made the out at second, spun, and threw on to a stretching Adrian Gonzalez at first.  It took a second to sink in because it had happened so fast, but as the players all walked off the field, we realized that it was true – we had just seen a triple play!  The cheers started as typical “nice play” applause and then grew to a roar as everyone realized what they had just witnessed.  I quoted all the requisite trivia to my friend – how the last triple play turned by the Red Sox was John Valentin’s unassisted one in 1994, and how Scott Hatteberg had grounded into one in 2001 on the same night in which he had a grand slam.  A triple play has long been on my baseball “bucket list” and I was excited to be able to check that rare feat off.  (The triple play was thrilling, but my whole baseball life has been building up to predicting it and I whiffed.  Every time the leadoff guy gets on in an inning I’ll say, “They’re just setting up the double play.”  And then if the second guy also reaches I’ll say, “It’s OK, they’re just setting up the triple play.”  I even made the same comment in earlier in this game.  But then, the one time I didn’t say it, it happened!)

A beautiful sunset was the backdrop for a rare and exciting play.

The fun play energized the crowd, but it didn’t help the offense get going.  Jeff Niemann continued to shut down the Red Sox.  After the Rays had increased their lead to 3-1, Jacoby Ellsbury hit his second homer of the day (and his team-leading 22nd of the year) to pull the Sox to within a run.  Bedard pitched six innings and gave up three runs (only two of which were earned).  It was again a decent enough outing, but once again there wasn’t enough run support.  Jacoby’s homer was just the third Sox hit of the night (they had only picked up three hits in the afternoon game, too), and Niemann ended up retiring 12 straight to finish off the complete game.  Even though I was disappointed by the outcome of the night game, I was still excited by having seen the triple play, and, as I explained at work the next day, any time you can spend the whole day at Fenway it’s a beautiful thing!

Row 50 is a long way back!

After attending Saturday afternoon’s exciting win over the Yankees, I got home around 9:30.  But at 10:30, I was on my way out again, this time headed to work for a midnight implementation.  (I work in IT, so many of our projects have to go in overnight, when computer usage is lowest.)  We finished up a little after 4 am, and I finally got home and went to sleep around 5.  But at 7:30, my alarm was going off and it was up and at ‘em, because I had to get to Pawtucket for my annual trip to McCoy Stadium.

I had gotten my tickets for this game from a friend who couldn’t use them when she moved out-of-state, and I invited a (different) friend’s nine-year-old, who’s a total diehard Red Sox fan.  It was pouring when we left his house, but he had packed his scorecard and a rain poncho (just like me!) and we headed out.  In the car, we chatted about the other PawSox games he’s been to this season, how it’s almost always been Kyle Weiland starting the game, and how they’ve almost always lost.  As luck would have it, Weiland was scheduled to start again today.

The grounds crew uses rollers to try to push a giant lake out of the outfield.

It had rained hard all night, and was still pouring as we found our seats and got our lunch.  Luckily the seats were far back enough under cover that we weren’t getting rained on, and we waited out the delay.  While we waited, he showed me his scorecards from his previous games, including the one win he had seen, which had come courtesy of a walk-off walk.  I showed him my scorecards from all the rain delayed games I’ve been to this year.

The game was originally supposed to be at 1:00, and even though the forecast didn’t look good, this was the last trip that Buffalo made into town, so with the PawSox in contention for a playoff spot they really wanted to try to get the game in.  At 1:30, the grounds crew started to take the tarp off, which at Fenway would have meant a 2:00 start.  But the PawSox have a smaller grounds crew, and there really was a lot of water on the field, so an hour later they were still at it.  Taking the tarp off the infield had resulted in a giant puddle/mini-lake in right field, and they had two guys with rollers trying to push the water into foul territory.  The warning track and the dirt paths leading from the dugout to the plate were reduced to mud puddles, and they emptied a whole truckload of bags of drying agent in front of each dugout.  And every time someone walked across the grass, we could see water splashing up with each step.

Shortly after 2:30, Weiland and his teammates came out and started stretching, which was a good sign that the game was finally getting underway.  (And with only 2½ hours of sleep, the sooner the better for me.)  But at 3:00, the announcement was made that the game was rained out.  Since there was no make-up game scheduled, we could trade the tickets in for any remaining game.  I tried to console the nine-year-old by saying that at least we had gotten to spend the afternoon at the ballpark, and that maybe when we went back we’d see someone other than Kyle Weiland.

Red Sox 10, Yankees 4

After two exciting walkoff wins, the Red Sox dropped their final game against the Indians and the first game of the Yankees series.  Saturday’s matchup of John Lackey against C.C. Sabathia may have looked daunting on paper, but I was encouraged by the fact that the Red Sox had already beaten Sabathia three times this season.  I had gotten this ticket when the Red Sox had their lottery at the beginning of the year.  (While I lost out on the original drawing for Yankees and Cubs tickets, I did eventually get an invite to a “last chance” ticket sale a week later.  By then there were no Cubs tickets available, so I grabbed a single seat to this game against the Yankees, since I didn’t have a ticket for this series yet.)  It was actually a nice change to go to an afternoon game against the Yankees.  Usually I end up with the Sunday night games, which have the potential to go later than the subway runs.  But with a 4:00 game on Saturday, a four-hour game – even one with rain delays or extra innings – would still have me home at a reasonable hour.

My seat was perfect - in a row by itself in the corner, with space for my bag and even a ledge where I could keep my beverage from getting spilled.

Considering the fact that the “last chance” sale had only a small number of seats scattered around, I was impressed when I saw where I had ended up.  It was a single seat in the back row of section 33, the last section over up against the Green Monster.  While I was sitting there before the game, three different people walked past and commented that it was a cool seat, plus, as one guy said, “At least you know you’re not going to be sitting next to any jerks.”

I was even more impressed when Lackey shut down the Yankees over the first three innings, allowing only a walk in the second and a harmless single in the third.  In the bottom of the third, Carl Crawford got the fun started for the Red Sox when he led off with a double.  After Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked a walk, Marco Scutaro laid down a bunt to advance the runners.  Crawford was able to score easily when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a sac fly to right.

I don't care if it's out of focus, I love this picture of Crawford sliding in safely with the Red Sox' first run.

Salty was also able to tag up on the fly ball and advance to third, and when Dustin Pedroia banged a double off the Monster he scored the second run.  The play at second base was closer than I would have liked, because Pedey’s hand came off the bag at the same time as the ball arrived, but he managed to avoid the tag and get his other hand in safely.  It’s not often I attempt action shots at games, because normally I’m back in the bleachers, but today I was able to capture Pedroia’s slide into second.

Pedroia slides safely into second and avoids Robinson Cano's tag.

One of my pet peeves in baseball is when the Red Sox take a lead and then the pitcher gives it right back the next inning.  Sure enough, before we could feel too good about the 2-0 lead, the Yankees started the next inning by loading the bases with no outs.  A well-timed double play let one run in the proverbial back door – an exchange no one on the Red Sox could have minded – but Eric Chavez singled in the tying run before Lackey finally got out of the inning.  I wasn’t necessarily worried, because I figured they’d be able to get more off Sabathia, but it still did annoy me that the game had been tied up so quickly.

Looking straight across the face of the Green Monster, I watched the scorekeeper come out every inning and update the manual scoreboard. Above, he returns to his post, carrying an "8".

Luckily for me, Sabathia did to the Yankees what Lackey had just done to me, and let the Red Sox right back in it.  Kevin Youkilis led the next inning off with a double, and one out later Mike Aviles singled.  Crawford followed with his second hit of the day to give the Sox the lead, and Scutaro drove in another with a single of his own.  That brought it back to the top of the order, and Ellsbury put an exclamation point on the inning with a huge three-run homer into the bullpen.

I enjoyed the view from my seat in Section 33.

With the five-spot on the board, the game got much more enjoyable.  The Yankees did get one more run off Lackey in the fifth, but he ended up completing six innings and left with a 7-3 lead.  A solo homer off Daniel Bard in the eighth made it 7-4.  But in the bottom of the eighth the Red Sox were back at it again.  They loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to two walks and Crawford’s fourth hit of the day.  Then it was time for some more heroics by Jacoby Ellsbury – this time a two-run single that earned him his fifth and sixth RBI of the day.  After the tenth run came in on Pedroia’s sacrifice fly, Dan Wheeler nailed down the win, ending it with a fly ball to – who else – Ellsbury.