It's my last night living in New York. I'm on my way to Boston tomorrow, while Chan already has his new place a few blocks away from our place here at 94th and 2nd. So, the plan, starting today at 2:00, was to do the following over the next 22 hours:

Get all of Chan's stuff from one apartment to the other--a third floor walk-up--using my dad's van; go to the Nellie McKay show at Carnegie Hall that Chan got tickets to seven months ago; get all my remaining crap boxed and into the van; somehow watch as much of the Red Sox-Yanks game as possible; sleep.

Chan's projected vanload became three vanloads. After one, we got our last pizza as roommates, half onion for me, half mushroom for him, and watched the first three innings. We left with the Sox up 2-0. We hustled to Carnegie Hall and caught Nellie. She was great. I loved how she said she's the type of vegetarian who loves (loved) the taste of meat, it's the cruelty she doesn't like. Just like me! She said she goes to a vegetarian restaurant and says "What tastes like a burger?" I thought I was alone in that boat. She played some tunes from her new album, which she plans on titling, "Buncha Shit." We got back a little after 10, to see Mariano coming into the game. He couldn't hold the three-run, uh, deficit. Always fun to see Mo pulled from a game. So I got to see the fun ninth inning. Then it was back to hauling crap. Two more loads. Then we drank lots of Gatorade. I've got a lot left to box. It's 2:30 AM. I'll sleep til 9, get up, essentially do that thing where you take your arm and sweep everything off a table, and get out of here in time to see the Sox game on TV at 4, in Boston. Sweet. The perfect plan. All wrapped up nicely into one paragraph.

Jere's Moving Tips:

1. A microwave can also be a suitcase.
2. Don't forget to eat all your food before you leave for good. My breakfast tomorrow: Three English muffins and half a quart of ice cream.
3. There's no telling a homeless man you have no change when you're carrying a 50-pound plastic Coke bottle full of coins.
4. Don't listen to Chan. 1 vanload=3 vanloads.

Curt finally speaks. It's amazing to me how people just come out bashing the guy. What did he do? Pitch through an incredibly difficult injury, helping us to win our first World Series in 86 years (or 87 if you're Jim Palmer--one of the many things that flew under the radar from "the night"), and then get accused of somehow faking it. And then defend himself. Great job. Nothing to be criticized for. But people find a way. My dad said Shaughnessy was on Mike & the Mad Dog today, and really ripped into Curt's blog post. That guy should stab himself with a pen.

I see the NYTimes now has the pic of the sock from the Hall of Fame. I only beat you (with a pic I took myself) by 30 hours, Times! And you by 12, Edes...

We've got the best record and the biggest division lead in baseball.

Did you know that "No Dice" Kei Igawa has been taken out of the Yanks' rotation for this weekend? He was supposed to start Saturday against us. But now it's Rastens. Or Karsner. One of those "not quite Small/Chacon" guys. So it's "no dice! for "No Dice." I like how our lesser-known Japanese picther is kicking the ass of their big one. They tried to copy us once again, and it's failing as usual. Oh, that silly George. Hope y'all are enjoying Mientkiewicz! (And rag-arm Damon, and Myers... maybe all those guys will win a championship one day...oh wait.)

Yanks have lost six straight. Even the A-Rod who everyone thinks is "cured" but hasn't proven anything can't overcome horrid pitching. Big Stein should've known this. Injury excuses don't fly when you willingly put Pavano in your rotation, along with other really old dudes. You have to have a back-up plan. Come on, Cashman, get your head out of your ass. We want a race! (Just kidding. I want them to lose every game.)

Just as I get to the point where I start rooting for the catcher to drop strike three whenever Wily Mo comes up, thinking that's his only possible ticket to first base, he scorches a double, and then a key, late-inning grandmother slamfather. What a sweet win for the home crowd (Baltimore version).

Hey, after this Thorne thing, maybe people will start to call out Michael Kay on the constant stream of misinformation he spouts during games. I hadn't seen a Yankee game on TV in a while, what with me being in Boston much of this season. The last few nights, though, I've been reminded of why I despise Kay and why he truly deserves the nickname "Backwards K."

My final word on the Thorne thing: Yes, the story was done to death today. A lot of people wondered what the big deal was and why we were debating whether Curt really bled. Eckersley was even talking about how we shouldn't "take away" from what Curt did. Well, that's the point of talking about this. He did such a great thing, and somebody comes along saying, as if it were fact, that it was all fake. Should we have ignored this? I absolutely couldn't have.

I think I may be coming at this from a different angle than many people. I've heard the "ketchup" theories all along. I even heard Joe Torre say, shortly after the '04 season, that he wasn't sure how injured Curt really was. (I actually asked Curt about this on his blog, maybe a week ago--my name over there is Gedmaniac if you want to look it up--but he never answered.) But what I never heard was someone in the media blatantly announce that the incident was a hoax, as if it were fact, and as if we've all known this all along. So for me, this whole thing was all about addressing that, not a debate as to whether or not Curt was faking. There's no debate there.

So Gary Thorne came out and said Mirabelli talked to him a while back, said the sock was painted, and he mistook this as serious when Doug was clearly joking. But my point is, why would Thorne repeat this on the air, all these years later, and act like it was common knowledge, instead of something that, if true, would be breaking news? Really weird.

I love how the bloggers are so far ahead of the "real" media. On the NESN pregame, they're all talking about how they "woke up this morning" to hear the news. I don't expect them to find out right away, since they wouldn't have been watching the opposing team's coverage (as I was last night, though right now I'm in NESN territory). But I know Joy and I blogged about it last night, as did many others, I'm sure. (Joy was the one who thought to actually e-mail reporters, I gotta get to that level...) It's like how the sports radio guys will often be completely clueless about things that anyone who follows the Sox on the internet knows from a mere check-in with the team's official site.

Mike & the Mad Dog talked about this thing today, acting like the Sox were going too far in trying to prove the sock was really bloody. Well, it's kind of an important piece of history, and we don't like when people lie about that stuff.

Remy is pissed that he had to hear about this stuff all day, and seemed almost bitter, like, "this is some blog thing, not real news."

Millar, of course, came out onto the field tonight with a red spot on his sock.

Because of all this, I got linked at a French site. And on the aol sports blog.

Boston Sports Media Watch linked me, but somehow couldn't figure out the name of my blog. Is the huge yellow sign not prominent enough? You don't think people will drive by and not see the sign, do ya? They also noted my vid-cam recording. (Sorry it wasn't up to snuff, guys--better than nothing, though, right?) By the way, I have to take that down soon, so I don't get kicked off GooTube again. So stock up, buddy boy.

The best thing about all this? Hundreds, possibly thousands of people, have now seen Chan's computer. [Update: Also, thanks to Reb for leting me use her mlb.tv in the first place.]

[Note: This is about Orioles announcers Jim Palmer and Gary Thorne, who look like Lloyd Braun and Joe Lieberman respectively. This has nothing to do with Joe Lieberman, who happens to be Jewish. (Although he'd say the holocaust was a lie if Bush told him to.)]

I would've had this up last night, but the mlb.tv on my computer is so ridiculous, there was no way for me to get to the point in the game where Thorne said the holocaust was a lie. Er, I mean, that Schilling "painted" his sock. Today, I commandeered Chan's computer to get what I needed. Watch below. [Note: video finally taken down by mlb on July 6th, 2007. RIP, this video.]


Joy Boy was watching last night, too, and e-mailed all the reporters about this, garnering some response. Also, Doug Mirabelli, of course, denied Thorne's allegation.

And scroll down a little for the pic I took of the sock in the Hall of Fame.

Here's something I just whipped up.


Matty, my Baltimore correspondent, won't be making it to this series, but he was kind enough to send this picture from the ballpark:


Nice win tonight. I watched on mlb.tv--got the Orioles' coverage on MASN, which is pronounced like NESN. I've said before that Seinfeld's Lloyd Braun (the second one) looks like Jim Palmer. After listening to Palmer do color tonight, I've realized he speaks like him, too. Gary Thorne now does play-by-play for the O's. Tonight, he claimed that the blood on Curt Schilling's "stocking" in 2004 was "painted on," and that Doug Mirabelli confessed to it. (video here)What? I've ever heard this before. Also, I've seen the sock, at the Hall of Fame in '05. I took this picture of it:
It's blood, dude.

One more pic, and this was e-mailed to me. By who? I'd guess Michael Leggett, thought I can't be sure. Maybe someone can verify this. It's a recent pic of the construction of the new Mets park, Citi Field:

Yanks were rained out tonight. They stay in last. We're now 2.5 games in first.

My girlfriend and I were psyched to be at Dice-K's first Yankee game on Sunday night. The amount of flashbulbs that went off during his warm-up pitches alone was incredible.

You can see how many people were crowded around during his pre-game bullpen session. All along the high center field fence, too.

A close-up of Dice in the pen.

The day before, I ended with sunset shots. Sunday, the game started at the time Saturday's ended, so the sunset shots come at the beginning here.

They did the Jackie Robinson tribute. That's Oil Can Boyd in the yellowish suit. They had a nice piece on the scoreboard about non-white Red Sox legends. You couldn't help but notice how short it was--even though it was all in slow motion. It still was nice to see those beloved players honored.

A dice-head. Hey, what's with people putting their shoes on their heads to try to start rallies? Some people were doing this in the bleachers the next night.

Dice in the wind-up.

Papi wore number 42 to honor Jackie, as did Coco and DeMarlo Hale.

Moon over Fenway. By the way, my shots of the four consecutive homers are here.

Trot Nixon and Mo Vaughn. I mean, Drew and Crisp.

The summary. Note weird angle on Citgo sign.

This was an awesome game, and a great way to finish out a sweep of the Yanks. Yankee fans, at least the ones who call sports radio stations, were completely arrogant going into this series. And most of the hosts seemed to agree that the Red Sox don't have a good line-up, and because of that, the Yanks would somehow go into Fenway and win the series, despite that their pitching was clearly in disarray. There's still talk of the Yanks getting their injured pitchers back, and just taking over the division. But our pitching is way better than theirs. Now, they've lost five in a row, three to us and two to the Devil Rays--their line-up isn't exactly overcoming their pitching woes. And that's what will happen with them. They might be able to get into the playoffs like this, but, again, they won't go far.

A few pics from Monday night vs. Toronto soon. Then, this blog will get more writey-writey for a while. I'll be going to a few games each month, but not like this crazy Fenway-centric April. Although, of course, I'll be posting road trip pics from my "correspondents" all season long. And scroll down if you missed the Saturday pics.

It was a really nice day at Fenway on Saturday, as the Sox would take on the Yanks in a 3:55 Fox game.

The night before, my girlfriend and I went to see Kristin Hersh. We got screwed up on the time of the show, and got there in time to see her last three songs. It turned out to be a B.I.D., as we then got to hear the last two innings of the sweet comeback win in game one of the series. Now back to Saturday. (click each pic for you-know-what)

Pesky made the rounds before the game, greeting different Yankees, including Don Mattingly, above, with Jeter at right.

Papi and Manny, and Ino in a V-Tech hat.

Lucchino, Lupica, and Cashman. And the Sox in first.

He who slapped the ball and he who supposedly held the ball. (I believe Pesky did nothing wrong. But I wasn't there, as I was almost negative 30 years old at the time.)

Sterling was on the field, interviewing Torre. You could actually see the pomposity emanating from him. Then he walked up our aisle. Check out the shirt/tie/vest/jacket/ handkerchief look. Oh, I was at this game with Empy, who also took photos from, like, the same spot.

Melkano-twin powers, activate! Form of: a shitty backup outfielder that Yankee fans thought was Mickey Mantle incarnate! Shape of: a nondescript second baseman who somehow hits .300!

The Kap'n, Jeremy Kapstein, was all over the place on this day, shootin' the shit with everybody. Here he is with Mike Lupica. I guess they both could be called "the Lip."

Beckett fan takes photo of Beckett.

The view from my 10-game plan seats. Right on the edge of the bleachers, literally the seats next to the gap between bleachers and grandstand.

The Papi shift.

So weird that that's not Trot. You'll notice the '78ish shadows. The 3:55 start does that. For a 7:05, you get the sun field for a few innings, but with this new Fox start time, the bleacher people get screwed until the very end of the game.

The 4-3 celebrates Papi's homer.

After Mo blew it again the night before, we gave him the old Fenway "we love you when you stink against us" cheer when he came out to the 'pen, which Mo always finds amusing.

My nickname for Okajima: The Mighty Oak. That guy got a nice hand on Saturday after his fine performance Friday, and then a nice oe Sunday for Saturday.

I love the right field grandstand fans. Always starting clappy-clap chants and knowing exactly who deserves cheers, while the bleacher drunks are trying to start waves in key moments of the game. Here, they all shield their eyes from the killer sun in its final moments.

The sunset after the sweet win, which Pap saved. Pics from Sunday and Monday to come soon.

"...and the Yankee bullpen has failed again!" --Michael "Backwards" Kay, tonight, after Myers gives up a key grand slam to Carl Crawford, ruining Wang's first start.

The standings:

First place: Us
Second through fourth: Bunch of other teams
Definitely last place: Yankees

You know what I thought of tonight? The irony in people who comment here telling me to pay attention to my own team and not care about the Yanks. Who's the one reading random blogs by fans of the other team?

So how come Steinbrenner doesn't allow long hair, but iron cross tattoos are a-okay?

Shitty game for us tonight--a mini-sweep by Toronto. Now it's the macho twins the next two games in the Charm City, before we head to the Smelly Stadium in the South Bronx.

Pics from my last three Fenway games to come soon.

"For a Citizen of the Nation, beating the Mariners or A's is merely winning a baseball game, while beating the Yankees is the very essence of life itself." --David Halberstam, who died today in a car accident at age 73. Very sad. Here's the 2003 article that quote is from.

Steven Wright just now on Letterman, when asked about his new beard (while wearing his Sox cap): "I'm growing it for a movie I'm gonna watch." He's got a DVD coming out, but there's an hour special on Comedy Central Tuesday night at midnight, which is probably the same stuff. Although I'm sure there are extras on the DVD. A commentary on a Steven Wright performance by Steven Wright could make the world explode.

Is A-Rod's April just so great that we're giving him a pass on being up in the ninth with a chance to beat the Red Sox two days in a row and choking both times? You know, as long as they keep losing, he can hit a home run every time up for all I care. In fact, I think it would be awesome if he has the single greatest season ever, but he doesn't even get a chance in October, with the Yanks out of the playoffs. And then takes the Cubs to the World Series in 2008. I'd sign up for all that right now.

I have a nickname for Kei Igawa: "No Dice!" In more ways than one...

Went to Fenway with my girlfriend tonight. Pretty crappy game, but great weather, and we're still in first and looking good. Still, weird not to leave the park to Dirty Water followed by Tessie followed by Joy to the World followed by organ versions of Build Me Up Buttercup and Lookin' Out My Back Door. Good to see Cyn and Kelly at Fenway, too. Oh, and speaking of songs, they've stopped playing that shitty Goo Goo Dolls version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame after the regular version. Praise Gedman.

Finally, click this to enlarge. This sticker was on the car next to mine in a parking garage this weekend...

Jonathan Papelbon (above, pitching to Abreu in the ninth last night, and, fittingly, glowing) is amazing. I just did some calculating, and the guy has given up 8 runs over his last 82-plus innings. That's an 0.87 ERA, dating back to his last few appearances in 2005. Which covers almost his whole career to date. The lowest ERA Mo Rivera has had over any one season is 1.38. I'm curious as to whether Mo has ever thrown an 82-inning stretch with an ERA under 0.87, but I kind of doubt it.

I'm bringing this up because it seems a lot of media people--okay, specifically Mike and the Mad Dog--act like even right now, they'd rather have Mo than Papelbon. I think they're just not paying attention. They say it so matter-of-factly: "They've got Papelbon, but he's no Rivera, of course..."

It goes without saying that you can't compare Mo's Hall of Fame career with Papelbon's year and change of service. But I'd take Pap over Mo right now. In fact, it's a no-brainer. I'd even take the Pap of this moment over the '97-'99 Rivera, though that's clearly a toss-up. Either one would slam the door--although only Pap could consistently beat his rival. Oh! See what I did there, Mo? I can kid Mo 'cuz he's a good friend of Red Sox Nation...I do love how he's got a sense of humor about all this. Who knows, maybe he'll change his mind and decide he wants to play for a winner again one day, and come be Pap's set-up man.

Before last night's game, the sky was as gold as the end of the game would be. More photos to come tomorrow. I'm off to Fenway for one more game tonight, then it's back to NYC to grab the rest of my stuff to finish off my move into my girlfriend's place in (the) Boston (area).

One for the Manny:

Drew for the show:

Bullpen get ready:

Now go Cap', go:

Moon over Fenway as Red Sox sweep Yanks:

More pics from the last two games soon. And plenty of unashamed gloating as well. Papelbon is unreal.

All pics by Jere. Do not steal. Click for grown-up size.
Julio Lugo (above, hovering) proves he's more of a goofball every time I see him. Yesterday, I noticed something unusual while he was warming up. As we know, Jason Varitek wears number 33. Here we see Jason, proving that:

But I was pretty sure Lugo was ALSO wearing 33. Here he is:

Empy was at the game with me, and we both agreed he was wearing Tek's number. Then Empy thought of something--Does his uni have the "C" for captain?

Yup:
What a nut. He also bows to the crowd when he's introduced during the starting lineups. More from yesterday later.

Oh, and when the game started, he was back in good ol' 1955, wearin' 23 again.