Despite having listened to Jon Sterling on the radio for thousands of hours over the last decade and a half, today's broadcast was particularly disgusting. Example: Jeter makes a nice play on a ground ball in the hole. Sterling caps off his call by saying, "What a play by Jeter! He's great! He's SO GREAT!"

J. Christ, man, settle down.

So the yanks lost two out of three, and so did we. But I'd say losing two out of three to the D-Rays and not losing any ground to the yanks is okay. Still 3 up on 'em.

About today's brawl, which looked more like a mosh pit, especially with Johnny's hair bouncing around in the middle of it:

I thought the Rays handled this all wrong. Their retaliation against Manny made no sense, as he'd been thrown at before in the series. It seemed like they should have gone after someone else. Then, to be warned, and throw at someone again in the same inning is just stupid. But to suddenly bring throwing at someone's head into the mix means you're basically asking for a fight. I knew we'd throw ejection-threat to the wind and throw at them again after that. Arroyo did it (he says it was an accident, who knows) because they knew he was coming out of the game anyway. I can't believe Trot got tossed for doing nothing. He'll probably get suspended while Dirt Dog's lover, the classy Gary Sheffield, gets off scot-free. Every suspension or fine will now be compared, by me, to Sheffield punching a fan and not getting any punishment.

The important thing is that we avoided getting swept by the Rays. And I actually got to watch all three games for a change. I love watching NESN. Every commercial is about winning the World Series. And all the announcers, hosts, and co-hosts are cool, and seem to feel like part of the organization without being stupid about it, like the yankee folks are. I will say that the camera work could use some help. They missed entire plays and pitches at times. Maybe there's some rookies in the truck or something.

Oh, and are the Devil Rays an affiliate of the yankees or something? The yanks play in Tampa in March. Steinbrenner lives there. Piniella's the manager. The stadium plays the same BS music that yankee stadium does. You know, the same "da da da DA, da Daaa, Charge!" crap that yankee fans need because they don't know how to cheer without music or the scoreboard telling them to. Right down to that song that sounds like it belongs at a wedding that people clap along to. But what clinched it for me was when, today, they played "Cotton Eye Joe," during the seventh inning stretch. Just like they do at every game at yankee Stadium. If you've never been to yankee Stadium, "Cotton Eye Joe" is usually the point where you make the decision that there's no point in ever returning to that hole. After dealing with the loud drunks for seven innings, having had to wait a half hour for a pretzel, and having walked around in puddles of piss and watching the game from either five hundred feet away or ten stories up, that god forsaken song comes on and everybody claps along while a guy in a straw hat dances on the scoreboard, and your only hope is that you have two bullets left so that you can take out Steinbrenner before putting yourself out of your misery.

So you can imagine how I felt when Tropicana field played that song.

Watching road games also makes me think about just how awesome being a "Boston Pilgrim" is. I'm psyched for going to Cleveland and Philly this season. And who knows, maybe the World Series road games will be a little closer than St. Louis this year. Go Mets, Phillies, and Nationals, with a minor in Reds!