Yesterday, Rebecca came down from CT to hang out with me in the city. We figured we wouldn't get into the Riv since it was close to game time when she arrived, so we watched the game at my apartment. And how sweet it was.

TOAST 17, Boast 1.

I went into this series curious as to why both Red Sox and yankee fans were telling me the yanks would sweep. What year is this again? This isn't pre-04, people. Sox fans, let the yankee fans be the pessimistic ones now. yankee fans, terrible job with your insistance that 2004 didn't happen. It did, it wasn't a bad dream. And I'm not gonna bring that up in 20 years (except for just general fun), but this year's teams are chock full of the same guys from the 2004 teams, so it still is relevant.

27 hits. Nice. We broke their scoreboard, literally.

Damon was 4 for 7. Quantrill gave up no less than three home runs, and not a solo shot among them. Clement honestly mowed people down. Edgar's hitting, strangely enough. Trot had a homer, 5 RBI, and crazy spaceship eye-black. Manny was 4 for 4. Pavano gave up 5 runs and eleven hits in 3 2/3 IP.

Our biggest margin of victory over the yanks ever. Not even McCarver could put a damper on this day.

Then, the second half of our adventure began. We made our way down to the Sox' hotel, which I'd scouted out the previous day. We literally ended up walking alongside their bus, which I only knew because it was the same bus I'd seen on Friday. The windows were tinted, but Rebecca was sure she made out Clement's beard. Sure enough, the bus pulled right up to the hotel. (We were already there at that point because the bus was just sitting in traffic.) That was a cool moment, because we got to watch the guys come off the bus, without any of the scumbag autograph-sellers around, as they were waiting by a different entrance for the limos to pull up, and for players who were already in the hotel to come back out. Coming off the bus were: Dave Wallace--I finally gave him the "Dave Wallace, Waterbury, Connecticut!" line, to which he reacted with a smile. I then said, "I'm from Danbury." And he gave less of a smile and walked into the hotel. Trot Nixon and Captain Queso followed. I clapped for them and siad their names or whatnot, and they acknowledged, while Rebecca snapped away with her digital camera. Then Clement got off, more clapping and snapping from us. That was about it for that bus. Oh, except for Haselman.

Then we walked around the corner to scumbag central, i.e. the main entrance of the hotel.

Rebecca and I decided that we weren't crazy, and felt (for the most part) okay about doing this. We're not doing anything to make money, we don't regularly seek out celebrities, we just love the Red Sox. I just like to thank them and say hi. And when I'm getting pics I usually hang back and use the zoom, as opposed to shoving it in their face. It's a weird culture, these dudes who seek autographs. Thet are relentless, but they do respect the players, if only because if they don't, they're never gonna get any autographs. There were two ladies who were just nuts, putting their hands on the players and yelling, doing something that's pretty hard to do: giving scumbags a bad name.

We did meet one guy, an Indian fellow named after the European city he was born in, who was very nice. He knew all the players, and knew exactly how to get their autographs, even when it seemed like they just wouldn't sign. And he wasn't doing it for money. He has his little book, no cards or pictures, and just gets autographs.

So our new friend came through for us, basically putting Rebecca in position to get her picture taken with lots of Red Sox.

Bronson was one of the first to come out, and was pretty nice. Our boy got a nice shot of him and Reb with me in the background. Unfortunately, Bronson's cut off at the eyes. From then on, the dude had the hang of Reb's camera, though. Clement made the mistake of leaving the hotel with no plan except to just hail a cab (!?) So by the time everyone on the sidewalk had talked to him, gotten his pic and autograph, even the more timid me went up to him and got his autograph--on my paycheck stub I had in my pocket. The pic of Matty and Rebecca wa actually taken by me, but the other guy took all the other shots of Reb and a Red Sox. See her blog, link above, for these pics.

Timmy Wake went staright to his waiting car, saying, "I'm with my family." And his wishes were respected.

Francona and family came out, I said hi to him, and he quickly got out of there. Timlin was hardly intimidated by the hounds. (About thirty or so people were out there waiting for players at the height of it.) He kept coming in and out of the door, knowing exactly what he was doing, having dealt with this stuff for so many years.

Schilling made a quick appearance, rushing inside from out of nowhere, before Reb had time to turn on her camera.

Mantei, it was agreed by the ladies, was the "hottest" Red Sox. He was nice, too. Payton was nice as well, despite being touched illegally by a crazy woman, but also had a pretty weak plan of getting away from everybody.

It's true what they say about Edgar's shyness. We saw him in the lobby, waiting. Finally, three security guards came out, and pushed everyone on the sidewalk far away from the doors. Finally, Edgar got whisked out, into a waiting car. He was literally the one guy that our Indian friend could not get to sign an autograph.

Olreud is crazy tall. And Manny and Ortiz must have been staying in Washington Heights.

Johnny and Michelle came out last, and quickly went to their limo.

I also saw NESN's Eric Freed, and said "Er-IC!" And he gave a big smile and said hi. I was psyched to be the one guy to spot him. And he was psyched to be noticed.

Then we headed back uptown, got Indian food, and went home and showed Chan all the pictures. Then we took Rebecca to the train at like 1 in the morning. Then I wrote some stuff, then I went to bed, then I woke up, did my tradition of waking up and seeing the Indy 500 already in progress, and not caring about it. Except that this year there'a woman in the race, so I'm rooting for her. Terrible job by the other dudes in the race for complaining that she's too light and has an unfair advantage!

Then I wrote this post. Today my folks will see my new place for the first time, and we'll all attempt to get into the Riv.

Again, for pics, stuff I forgot, and more of our stalk-venture, go to Rebecca's blog.