NOTE: My Charlie Zink/pregame gallery will be posted separately. Stay tuned for that. These shots are from the actual game only. (Update: Here are the pre-game pics.)
7:00. Chuck Zink shown on the board in the dugout, about to make his major league debut.

I got a pavilion standing room ticket earlier in the day from the team website: $29.25 total. Went to the Gate C will call window, and a big group was waiting there. They were all together, and I couldn't tell if they were just meeting there or were on line. One guy came right up to me and said, "you just get in?" I'm like, "what?" And he goes, "are you ready for all the fun?" This dude assumed I was part of his group. I told him I was just waiting for will call, and he said they weren't, so I just went ahead of them and was the second person on the will call line, behind an old Texan and two young Texans.

Charlie Zink takes the mound.

Umps are flexible.

Zink's first major league pitch.

Zink's first out, as Bay makes the catch.

Kinsler passes Zink after making the first out.

Zink's follow-through. He had a 1-2-3 first.

Looking out behind me at the setting sun and the flags. It was a little windy up there. My long sleever was perfect. A really nice night.

The lost boy, Feldman, who gave up 10 in the first.

Papi hit a three-run dong down the line. We had a great view of it. The two baserunners were pretty close together....

And Papi reaches home to make it 3-0 us.

Bay on deck.

A FedEx plane landing over the first base pavilion.

Lowrie up. He'd hit a double, tacking on more runs.

Papi bats again in the first, and AGAIN hits a three-run dong! And something I've wondered about and mentioned on this blog actually happened--the ball hit the center field fence in straight away center, just to the in-play side of the yellow line...but caromed into the crowd, over the shorter fence out in the triangle. Dong.

A ten-run first!

Papi in the dugout after hitting two first-inning dongs. Look how happy Beckett is about this.

See that fiery pink color in the middle of the pic. That's the sun reflecting off that building.

And turning around, here's that crazy red-pink sun setting.

A plane landing over "The Colonnade." Yeah, it was all scenery pics with our seemingly insurmountable lead....

Night falls over Fenway.

Josh Hamilton alone in center.

Zink seemed nervous. He kept them from coming all the way back--but did give up six runs. Tito had just come out to argue the Coco catch which was errantly called a non-catch, and then took out Zink, so Cash wasn't even on the mound to see him off.

Charlie in the dugout. As you can see, rain had fallen for a few minutes. But I was covered up there.

More bars in more places. Or something.

Papi hit what looked like another dong, a ball that went into the stands in dead center. But the ump claimed a kid reached over the fence. Here, the umps gather, but do not change the call.

Fortunately, Youk hit a dong right after, scoring he and Papi. Texas had cut it to 12-10, so this was key. Now 14-10 Sox.

And finally Texas had come all the way back to take the lead. At stretch time, after an inning's worth of pure disgust, standing there in shock while these three drunks decided to suddenly cheer wildly for the Sox in a very annoying attention-wanting way, I headed downstairs after a long walk. Man, these kids were stupid. When the Rangers had tied it, and were still batting, they started their fake cheering: "Okay, we're comin' back, here we go, woooo!" I wanted to go up to them and say, "you can't 'come back' unless A. you're behind, and B. you're batting. We're tied and the other team is up. Shut up."

The Sox would close it to one in the seventh, and here, we are all going nuts as Pedroia has doubled home pinch-hitter Ellsbury to tie it in the eighth. Hey, have you noticed Pedroia changed his at bat music? It used to be a song with a similar beat and sound to a Snoop/Dre tune, but now, I think to the delight of all of us, it's the actual Snoop/Dre song.

Papi is walked intentionally. I could've gotten closer to the field, but decided to stay toward the back of the grandstand. Down there, there was none of the wind which had been at my back up top. It was almost hot down there.

Youk comes up, and boom. Three-run shot, and it's 19-17!

Youk was going nuts as he circled the bases and afterward.

Okay, Yankee fans. A lesson. When you have a ten-run lead, blow the whole damn thing, and have a late comeback culminating in a huge dong to take a 19-17 lead in a four hour game in an August pennant race, you cheer for that player to come out and tip his cap. You don't do it on every home run! It's quite simple. You don't leave your inheritance to the kid at McDonald's who successfully got you your fries.

So now it was up to Pap.

And he gets the save. Pedroia just made the catch for the final out.

Papi greets his mates on the receiving line....and it turns out I should've pulled a Kramer with that group before the game. The people in orange hats right next to the Sox dugout? Them.