If 2/3rds of this season's Red Sox games are 2004-style wins, and the rest are throwaway losses, well, that's a .666 winning percentage (rounding the number toward Satan, in more ways than one, to the nearest hundredth). I'll take it.

I haven't gone to any message boards yet, but I'm assuming the word Papelbon (pictured, attempting to hail his own cab) appears a lot, and each one is followed by lots of exclamation points. It's so nice to be comfortable watching a Red Sox closer again. Based on Francona's reaction at the end of the game, I got the feeling he said, before the ninth, "I want to win. We're going with the kid." I imagined Foulke thinking to himself, "So this is what it was like to watch me two years ago." Hopefully he continues to work and can help us this year.

And Beckett was pretty gold. I see wins in his and our future. So glad Trot got him that lead.

The "new" infield also gives me this great, comfortable feeling. Great job by Co, Lo, Lo, Yo, Go, and Snow.

Tonight, the Extra Innings free preview gave me the Texas coverage. Judging from the commercials, it's true what they say about Texans--they, uh, enjoy themselves.

Except for the fact that the camera person thinks you're supposed to do a close-up on the ball on fly balls, leaving the viewer to wonder where the hell it is, and that the in-crowd reporter reported not on the game, but on a hot dog eating contest between two fans, the coverage was okay.

I don't know if you got this on NESN, but they did a close-up on Coco as he ran the bases on his triple. It was really fun to watch him. His head seemed perfectly still, as he focused completely on the third base coach, all while eating a bowlful of speed. As soon as he got the word, it was head down, determined to get to third base.

You can thank me for this: Going to the ninth inning of the Sox game, I decided to ignore the yankee game until ours was won. No switching over between pitches. I put my full attention on, and confidence in, Jon Papelbon. Later, the A's came back to tie the yanks after being down 4-0, meaning my plan worked out all around. It's the eighth now, tied. I may update this later.

I love how there were so many Sox fans in Texas. To be expected of course, but I kind of figured mid-week, eh, there won't be that many. It's very rare that I underestimate the number of Sox fans in a foreign nation like Texas.

I also love how A's fans seem to genuinely despise Mr. Dunbar. They boo each guy, knowing who to boo louder than the rest, as they're announced, through the entire game.

Oh, here's a quote from a Texas announcer, proving that everyone's favorite trendy story--that the Red Sox aren't fun any more--is total bullshit: "...an interesting compilation of players. That should make for a fun summer in New England." That's the perspective of some dude who doesn't live in the northeast, basing what he says on what he sees.

Here's that update: A's take lead in eighth on triple just out of Damon's reach, followed by grounder to Cano with infield in that he botches. (Jeter earlier made a key error leading to the A's comeback.)

Base hit. Jay Payton (!) scores. I love it. Yeah, bring in Mike Myers! Who else ya got out there, Torre? Damon doesn't pitch. A-Rod doesn't pitch. Sheffield doesn't pitch. My friend Mike the yankee fan said this team is closer to the '88 team than the '98 team, and therefore most likely won't win the mythical 27th championship. Sheffield himself even mocked the management by saying that pitching's the most important thing. Now Farnsworth is in, their fifth pitcher, and he just walked a man. Bases loaded. Three-run double for Frank Thomas! 9-4 A's. This game and this post are over.