Blimp over Fenway on a gorgeous Saturday for a Fox game.

Picture taken from that same spot, facing the other way.

Manny Ramirez. Look at that horrible attitude! I can't take it anymore!

These pics came out brighter and blue-sky-ier than usual. Maybe it's because it was a really bright day. Or maybe it's because it was a 3:55 start, so these pics are from around 2:00. Either way, I love the way these came out. Hopefully it's translating on your end. Oh, and this one almost looks like one of those wraparound, Beastie Boys video-ish fisheye shots due to the curvature of the fence. But it's not. I don't know how to do that.

With the brightness comes the shadows. Papi's smiling here, non-Mac users...

Doesn't it look like Damon's reaching back and holding Jeter's hand? (Background: MDC and Timlin, Jr.)

Manny and Papi head over to greet somebody with Lugo, who was in uniform and who took a long trip over to the Yankee dugout with a mystery man.

Close-up of Manny in shades.

The Mus-douche.

Okay, camera news: Here's the old at left and new at right. But as you can see...

...they've moved the new one down, as some new tubular device holds it in place. Before it was sitting on top of that wall. Maybe this will cut back on the wind and therefore the shakiness.

It was pretty hot, though we did get some clouds for some temporary relief during the game in the bleachers. We could see out toward the direction the clouds were coming from. So we knew when the relief was about to arrive/leave.

This dud was just chillin' in the doorway for a while.

At one point, I turned to Empy (who I went to the game with and who has a great blog) and said, "I think I'm at the point where I don't need to take Peter Gammons' picture every time I see him." But then he stood there talking to Girardi and I figured it was a cool enough shot, so I took it. The streak continues...

Dirk Calloway.

The last time I took a picture of these jerks, I gave some wacky line that implied they were shitty. Some Yankee fan called me on it, acting like they were the BTSSB, and comparing them to Coco and Lugo, and as a bonus, telling me that "generally," if a player wanted to "win," he'd head in a "southerly" direction, meaning from Boston to New York. So, you know--he was wrong about everything. (And if he'd made the correct comparison--Pedroia and Ellsbury--instead of just picking two players of his choice, he'd have been wrong about that, too.)

Again with this guy. He wasn't the only cheater to take the field for the Yanks on this day, as Andy "Heal Rather Quickly" Pettitte was their starter. Another tainted win for the Chokers.

Empy and I were having a great time mocking A-Rod as he posed and posed and posed some more... "oh, what, you just happen to be taking my picture while I fleeex with this bat in my hand? What a pleasant coincidence. If you'll excuse me, though, I have to streeeetch to each side while continuing to *accidentally* glance back at you. It's really important when you're about to step into the cage and attempt to hit balls out of the entire park." The guy has serious issues.

The third-newest Yankee, Rickey Gender-son, with some snuff in one pocket and A-Rod in the other. Or something. Also, I like when A-rod appears smaller than he is. I'm surprised he goes within fifty feet of this guy.

A-Rod also rushed over to John Henry to greet him when he came on the field. Something no one else felt the need to do. Classic phony with his fake respect. Anyway, here Henry talks to Cashman, whose nervous breakdown gets closer by the minute.

Empy and I love stuff like scoreboard testing. I was so happy to get a shot of this. (I probably have already posted a shot like this in the past.) Look at all the bulbs that need a-changin'!

Some guy gets his pic taken with Jeremy Kapstein.

"It ain't any dumber than acid-wash..."

Okay, so now me and Empy head out to right field for some exploring. This is behind section 43 of the bleachers, looking down at the roof of the parking garage, which seems to be getting re-done or something. We think this is some of the Angels' gear, as they're coming to town next. But it does say "ESPN" on it, and the Monday game is on ESPN. I don't know, quit grillin' me under these hot lights. Anyway, here's a closer look:

That should read "Angels Stadium," not "Angeles Stadium." Hey, it's not the first time ESPN effed up. The weird thing was, there's a little swinging fence right in front of this stuff. I easily could've opened it, and walked out onto the roof. No security out there. Just as I started to show Empy that the door can swing open (you could also climb over--it's like a three-foot high fence), some camera dude came by and opened it and walked right down. He didn't seem to care that the two of us were taking photos of the gear.

From that same spot, Citgo sign and back of bleachers. And blimp.

And the ladder leading up into the scoreboard. Fix those bulbs!

So while we were in that area, we headed to the Best Buy club. I'd noticed it before, but I just heard it was gonna be open to the public. The guy at the door said it would open to the public on the 30th. We started asking him about it, and he got all weird about it, acting like we, and anyone else interested in it, were totally crazy for wanting to go in there when you could go right out to the stands and watch the game. There was no telling this guy that we'd just like to go in to see what it looked like. We never implied that we'd rather watch the game on a TV than from our seat. But every question I asked was answered with "why would you wanna go in there?" I wonder if his boss knows he's badmouthing the new fan areas. I told him that I heard there was Fenway memorabilia in there. He said, "Eh, it's just the same stuff that's been here. You don't wanna go in there, pal." Fine! I won't go in! I'm sold! Jeez...any other new areas of the park you can tell me NOT to go to?

The game's about to begin. What's with that sign? "Yankee pride, show it or stache it." Okay, Giambi has a mustache. But I still don't get it. That we should either show our Yankee pride, or "stache" it, meaning hide it away? Even though you apparently are a fan of the mustache? I don't get it. At all. Stupid sign.

So the game has begun. We're in my 10-game plan seats. My cousin Amy asked me about getting a 10-game plan. And I realized that for the past few seasons, I've been casually mentioning it without explanation. I bought it the year it was introduced, after the 2003 season. You get the same seat(s) (I have two seats) for ten different games--three early season, three late season, and one in each of the mid-season months. You get two Yankee games, and the chance to buy one first-round playoff game. There were different plans for different days of the week, mine obviously involves Saturdays. You won't find this info on the team site, though, because these plans sold out that year, and were never offered again. I'm sure there's a waiting list, but I don't see too many people giving up their plan. We've been seeing the same people around us at each game for five years now. So that's the deal. I'm glad I got in when I did.

Manny knocked in a run in the first. We led 2-0, and all looked right with the world.

The blimp kept showing "MMA." Give it a rest, blimp. This is looking almost straight up from our seat--those people are on the right field roof deck. Actually, where they're standing is a place anyone can go. Try it.

And another blimp shot.

The red jerseys worn on a Saturday. I guess it's the "weekend or whatever alternate jersey" now.

"Stand up, Manny, your 500 hundred home runs and two World Series rings aren't enough for me! Also, why can't God make everyone white with 'normal' clothes and hair??"

The same shot, but zoomed out. And stuff.

So...it suddenly is 10-3 in favor of the EnWhyWize. It felt like game 3 of the '04 ALCS (which I got to go to because of, yes, the 10-game plan--because our first round game didn't end up happening because the series ended in three games). All happy for a while, then, boom, it's a blow-out the other way. But after that game, amazing things happened. And after this game, we'd come back and pound the Yanks the next day...and hopefully go on to repeat as World Champs.

Here's Dustin, with Youk in the foreground. Oh, yeah, so the point was, since it was a blowout, we moved to better seats for the ninth.

Here's Wicked Lester and Mayah-neighs.

Timlin and Lowell. The closer you are to those red unis, the worse they look.

Blimp still dickin' around up there.

Dust-up.

Papi ready to hit. Please notice there appears to be a flame decal on his bat. It's in the colors of the Rasta flag. Anyone know anything about this? I sent a cropped version to UniWatch--it's at the bottom of this post. I've never seen anything like this on a bat.

So, shortly after I addressed the rivalry "losing/gaining steam" issue, I attended this game, and I have to say, it was the most sedate Sox-Yanks crowd I've ever experienced. Not even any Yankee fan ejections. There were two ejections, a group of four drunk Sox fan girls, and then another low-key talkin'-to from a cop to some other Sox fans. There were the usual number of Yankee fans, but no particularly obnoxious or even visible ones in our area. And everybody was just kind of blah. Maybe it was the heat, or the weekend summer afternoon family-friendly-ness, or the fact that after the first, the Sox just got nothing going. Or maybe more people are starting to get the feeling I've had, which is, None of these regular season games are that important so there's no need to get worked up in this heat. But that's not to say we don't pay attention until October--that's a Yankee "fan" trait. We're paying attention, we just know the team's gonna be around in September and October, and that in the end, the Yanks are nothing to worry about.

So we ended up winning one game in the series the following night, with Lester kicking Yankee ass and Manny and Papi and everyone else feasting on Ponson. We're one back, they're three back. The media's version of the Manny "saga": bla bla bla lie lie lie, etc. The truth: Nothing to worry about. We have an awesome, fun-lovin' cleanup hitter who plays in more games than most of his teammates every single year and has won us two World Series. Everything's fine.