I saw this old Clemens ad on TV the other day. I finally thought to check to see if it was on GooTube, and I found it. (The guy who put it up lists his one favorite video as a Ginoooo video! Awesome.) Anyway, too bad you went on to wear a "damn Yankee hat," traitor/liar/cheater boy....

Is the music NESN has used for Red Sox coverage for the last few years changing? We're all used to having "schwah na-nant nant na-nahhh" stuck in our heads from March to October. But I've noticed that on the spring training coverage, the song they're playing sounds like the four chords from "Love Stinks." Is this the new '08 song? Or do they just use a separate song for spring training? This is my first March living in NESN territory (all of New England except the one county I grew up in), so I'm not familiar with the usual February/March routine.

The Brewers' Prince Fielder has become a vegetarian. Sweet! I was going to link to an article, but I haven't find one yet that doesn't offend me as a vegetarian.

Everyone reporting on this is acting like Prince has decided to become a grand warlock in the church of the inanimate rod or something. The message boards are full of "oh my God, will his play be affected??" and "he's growing dreadlocks, too! What's going on???"

Another big thing is "hey, get ready for this, it's true, the fat guy is a vegetarian!"

People. Settle down. He stopped eating meat. I'm hoping we one day live in a world where it's considered the norm to not kill other creatures because taste good. But for now, I'll settle for people realizing that you're not a crazy person if you decide to not eat meat. Even if you're a fat person.

Masterson (possibly the Jesus-iest guy in camp) and Lowrie, both doing weekly blogs for the Globe.

From what I can tell from the "hour-by-hour" forecast, we're in the middle of a 30-hour long snowstorm. We just walked around in it. It's a great snow. The kind you wish you could eat, as was the norm in the '80s. Above is a pic I just took. Below is Kim's car right before I de-snowed it.

I saw this picture on UniWatch the other day. It's Joe Torre smokin' a butt. Or maybe a little cigar. The first thing I noticed was that...well, the point is, it took me a while, but I figured out who the person next to him is, as well as the date and location of the picture. So, that's the kwiz. Tell me the guy at left, and, for slightly less points, the place and date.

Laura, aka L-girl, aka the partner of Allan who writes Joy of Sox, is up for some awards for her blog, We Move To Canada. Please vote for her, this is the finals.

Also, remember Talking Tina, the doll who killed Telly Savalas' character in that Twilight Zone episode? Well, now we've got a real life Talking Tina. Apparently, Elmo wants to "Kill? James?" (video on that page) Hey, wait, isn't "Telly" one of Elmo's buddies? Could there be a connection here?

Either way, Kill? James?

Kill? James?

Just do a search for "kill James," too. It's fun to watch all the different news videos about this, and listen to the anchors laugh their asses off.

Kill? James?

Some kid took pictures of Roger at "the barbecue" he doesn't remember being at. The best part about the Clemens thing is not that he's proving himself to be a liar and a cheater, but that he's showing what a jackass he is.

And did you follow the A-Rod thing yesterday? The doofus comes out and admits he was tested 9-10 times last year for steroids, which made people realize, Uh, if you did, it was because you failed a test. So he had to come back and say "Oh, I was exaggerating." Here's a story from today about it.

Damon says the Yanks are in the playoffs. Then again, Pap and Papi are both saying we're the team to beat. Carlos Beltran says the Mets will win in response to Jimmy Rollins Phils prediction last year. The Cubs' Ryan Dempster says they're going all the way--which prompted this from Kevin Millar. (Great video in that article--take a peek.)

Three lately:

1. Wednesday: My girlfriend tells me she's been listening to the song "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" by A Tribe Called Quest. Thursday morning: The sports station 1510 The Zone plays the song going to commercial. I hadn't heard that song in a good ten years.

2. Monday: I'm looking at the back of my Twilight Zone DVDs, and I notice how the TV "season" was the same back then (early 60s) as it is today. Starts in the fall, takes summers off. And just thought about how that's one thing that's stayed constant among all the changes through the years. Tuesday: I discover this article about how NBC, after all these years, will finally scrap that plan and just release shows whenever they're ready, year-round.

3. Two nights ago: While watching a Twilight Zone episode ("Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?"), I notice for the first time that the guy who later is revealed as the Martian is sitting in such a position so that a picture of a buffalo (or some horned animal) is right behind him on the wall. Right at the point where weird stuff happens (caused by his Martian powers), you see the horns of the animal right above his head. Granted, the guy is supposed to be a Martian, not the devil, but I still figured it was done on purpose. This morning: On the UniWatch Ticker, a reader points out the interesting background positioning in this pic.

Old neighborhood news: Danbury's formerly crappy Empress Ballroom has been turned into the Heirloom Arts Theatre. And they're having a "punk rock flea market" there in April. And Neil Hamburger is playing! And the best part is, it's part of a two-day fest called...the Not Brooklyn Fest. How cool is that? So many bands are just basically using the word "Brooklyn" these days to get signed. It's so ridiculous. Just because some kids move from Wisconsin to Brooklyn, start a band that's "slightly weird" and grow their hair "slightly long" and keep it stylishly "slightly unkempt," doesn't mean they're any good. In fact, it assuredly means they're full of shit and copying someone else. It's good to see anything in the music community come right out with an anti-Those People message. (Though I'm sure when I go there, the bands will all sound the same and the kids will just be those same Connecticut teens who are about ready to move to Brooklyn.) But it's the thought that counts--and Neil hamburger seals the deal for me. Plus, I'll get to see a lot of my old friends. I already told my girlfriend about it so she could get Stella Marie into the flea market. Should be fun.

A couple of shots from mlb.com:
Coco Crisp--and peering in, Chrazy Chris Collins.

David Ortiz.

Update: Fully covered. Turned a little pinkish. It's been completely covered for almost half an hour. This may be the last of the pics, since the emerging looks just like the hiding. Except with the shadow on the other side. Hope you all had a good Two2008. Cobain 41. Weird. 11:47 and I still haven't heard about the Monster tix. I'd guess I'm out.

Close...

Closer...

'clipsed.


-------------

Update: Half covered:
Don't know what the hell the camera did here, but it turned out cool.

Basic shot of half-covered.
-----------------
A quarter covered. This is the best I'm gonna do--I never claimed to be a professional photographer...

Should go "full" at 10 PM. I'll update with more photos as the eclipse goes on.

Green Monster lottery winners (and losers) get e-mails today. Good luck, everybody. Anybody hear anything yet?

Some more stuff on Pettitte over at the Joy Factory. Funny, here I thought Red Sox fans were ready to inexplicably cheer Pettitte, and ol' Hank comes out sayin' we should watch out who we boo, since surely the Mitchell Report hid countless Red Sox HGH-users. Just like a Yankee fan, Hank's response to everything that doesn't go his way is to make fun of the other guy as if they were the asshole.

It's good to see Joy Boy being on the same side as me on the Pettitte thing. (Here's my original post on Andy's press conference.) Joy's a big voice out there. I'm sure a lot of people will be influenced by Dirt Dogs on this, though. I refuse to go to that site, so I don't know what he's saying, but I can see it both ways: "Class Act" or "Still a Cheater." I hope it's the latter, but I also hope people wouldn't do something just because someone on the internet tells them to. But people are easily influenced. I flipped on the radio this morning and they said that Red Sox fans would cheer Pettitte. So we'll see.

The real crime, though, about cheering for Pettitte, would be that we would have never had a chance to boo him and chant "HGH" at him. It's like, "Find out Yankee cheated, Cheer Yankee." There's a huge mistake in that thinking if you ask me. I'm just glad I'm not gonna be at that first Yankee series. Because I know I'd end up yelling at all the people cheering how they're openly cheering for a lying, cheating Yankee.

But I'm still holding out hope. After seeing those NY-paper headlines noting that, Oh right, he's still a cheater, apology or no, I feel like there's a chance everyone just lets Andy know they don't approve of people like him. People who cheated and hoped not to get caught, saying nothing, until the evidence surfaced. I really hope people see that, instead of believing this "class act" bullshit. Let the Yankee fans cheer the cheaters.

So, do you feel influenced yet?? I'm just pointing out the absolute truth. It's your call.

Now back to Hank. Let's look at the nicknames I've come up with for him so far:

Stammerin' Hank
Bocephus
George W Steinbrenner
Big Bank Hank
Tamperin' Hank
Hank Errin'
HankenStein
Sonny Whore-leone
Hank Schlock-lee
Heir Pollution
Son-bar
Hank Sour

If you click on the Joy link above, you'll see what he calls Hank.

Don't you hate that "sons of" has become synonymous with "message board about"? Whoever came up with the title "Sons of Sam Horn" took a famous serial killer's nickname and combined it with a former Red Sox player. Clever. So if you want to be clever, come up with your own combination. Don't just add "sons of" to whatever it is you're talking about.

At least with "-gate," I think most people know that it doesn't really mean "controversy," it's just the suffix of the hotel name of the original scandal. But with "sons of," I mean, if it weren't for the Spike Lee movie, I'd guess a solid majority of Americans wouldn't know what the hell "Son of Sam" means.

(After re-reading that first paragraph, I realize I need to point out that I'm only defending the name of the site, not the site itself. I'm a Royal Rooters guy. (And, yes, I see the irony--they just used a pre-existing name. But at least they didn't call it "Sons of the Royal Rooters."))

Nice little piece on Jacoby Ellsbury in Men's Vogue.

(I never knew there was a men's version of Vogue....)

We took a nice frigid drive out to Cooperstown, New York on Saturday. That part of upstate New York is so beautiful--would be worth going to even if the Baseball Hall of Fame wasn't there. But it is. Click my pics to enlarge. Above: Interesting how the Giants put their American flags right on their chest for their international games. That area was blank anyway, as their logo only appeared on their sleeves.

Check out this crazy way of attaching shades to your hat.

Cy Young's Red Sox jersey.

On Cy's sleeve, I noticed what looked like button holes. I just checked Dressed to the Nines, and found this out:

First introduced in the 1890s, detachable sleeves were popular throughout the first few decades of the 20th century. Buttons on the sleeve extensions attached to button holes on the jersey, eliminating the need for multiple jerseys of different sleeve lengths and allowing players to dress comfortably, whatever the weather conditions.

Jersey from the first All-Star Game.

The ultimate Full Name on Back.

Fenway superstar Janet Marie Smith's hard hat from Camden Yards.

Wow, an umpire uniform with "UMPS" on it.

Bill Lee's aunt's hat.

A bunch of Ted Williams stuff. Note the little 9 sewn into the bottom of the stirrup.

I love the look of these two Rollie Fingers jerseys together.

Clay Buchholz' hat from his no-hitter and Mike Timlin's spikes from his 1,000th appearance.

We were going to take this trip in the summer, had Jim Rice made it in this year. Instead, we made it a winter pilgrimage to see the 2007 World Series display. In fact, I wonder if that's yet another part of the grand conspiracy called "keep Rice out." They knew Sox fans would come to Cooperstown this year anyway, so they made it so Rice goes in next year, to get everyone coming back again. Above, Varitek's hat and jersey from the WS.
Some dirt from the mound at Coors Field. My girlfriend and I have also added to our collection of "pictures of us in front of Red Sox World Championship displays at the Hall of Fame."

Check it out. The 2004 ball.

The first woman inducted into the Hall, Effa Manley.

Dennis Eckersley's plaque. Warning: Clicking this photo may cause young children to cry.

It was a fun, quick trip. Our B&B was great and we ate at a haunted castle.

In this video, we are taught by Silver Spoons star Alfonso Ribeiro about confessing. This was made by the Mormons. I'm not a religious person at all, but this commercial had it right. If you do something wrong, fess up. But here's the key. You'll notice that the boy in the commercial admits to breaking the window right away. He didn't wait until Mr. Robinson went back, checked the surveillance video, saw who did it and then outed the kid to the world. There was no "Robinson Report."

In this 2006 video, we hear Andy Pettitte--who'd taken HGH twice at that point--saying all this stuff about god and how he's going to heaven and his family loves him because he did all the right things in life. So he was lying. To god, his family, his fans, and everybody else. He didn't confess until after he was caught.

What I'm getting at here is, This guy's gonna face the fans very soon. And I'm wondering how they will react. The way I see it, the order of who should be praised goes like this:

1. People who never cheated.
2. People who cheated but admitted it before they were caught.
3. People who cheated and after they were caught, admitted it.
4. People who cheated, got caught, and still don't admit it.

And remember, Andy is actually in group 3a.: People who cheated, then were caught, then admitted to SOME of it, then later admitted to the rest (meaning he lied to investigators the first time), and also didn't consider what he did "cheating," even though he did admit to taking HGH.

So what's the call? Yankee fans will cheer him. He's "one of their own," and they've securely Saran Wrapped themselves in the "everyone else was doin' it" excuse. Even Stammerin' Hank Steinbrenner has admitted that the Yanks of the late 90s were on drugs, but so was everyone else, so they would've won the four championships anyway. So, just to get things straight, the Yankee rules of classiness are: 1. No hair below the collar. 2. No facial hair other than that ever-popular trend-setter of the day, the mustache. 3. IT'S OKAY TO CHEAT AS LONG AS EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT.

But I've gotten a little off the subject. The point is, I'm really getting a feeling of "the guy's classy, he told the truth, cheer him" coming from the Red Sox fan/media side of things. I'm just saying, consider what I've written above, along with the fact that he's a Yankee, for god's sake. I mean, with Giambi, Yankee fans felt he "manned up" and cheered him, whereas Sox fans continued with the steroids and Balco chants. But does Pettitte, by virtue of being a "nice guy"--which, I admit, he has always seemed to be--get off the hook? It just seems odd that the way to be a Yankee and get cheered by Sox fans is to cheat, get caught, then admit it, and then come to Fenway Park still in a Yankee uniform. Why not show that, Hey, you were our enemy already, now we found out you were cheating on top of it, so now you're even more of our enemy? If you're gonna cheer Andy, why not cheer every Yankee who never cheated? And we certainly wouldn't want to do that.

I'll give you this. I'd be fine with his years of being a good guy making it so Red Sox fans just say, Eh, whatever, and don't boo him nearly as loudly as A-Rod/Giambi types. But to hear him cheered would be a little nauseating. No, a lot nauseating.

There is a school of thought that "anyone who helps take down Roger is okay." Andy was kind of the Don Zimmer-to-George Steinbrenner in a way. Meaning that you don't like either guy, but if one's being mistreated by the other, you feel for the other. Not quite the same thing, but at the very least, we're seeing Roger as this stubborn liar, and Andy as a dude who (eventually) decided to tell the truth. I just feel like I want to boo Andy less than Roger, not cheer him. And maybe that's a "classy" move by Andy today to not "snitch" on Roger, but how is that a show of honesty? I guess it's a fine line, and people today, especially males, it seems, have this "respect facade," where they go to great lengths to stand up for their friends. But to me it just looks like a way to make yourself look good, meaning you really care more about you than you do about your buddies anyway.

4:09: Okay, so it's over. From ESPN's highlights shown throughout, and before and after, you'd think he spent his whole career only pitching against the Red Sox. I'll do a new post about the whole thing soon.

4:03: The axis of evil (George, Hank, Hal) all reassured Andy, etc., etc. The end.

4:01: Wanted to talk right after Mitchell report. (How about between 2002 and then???)

3:58: Bible talk.

3:57: Didn't testify because "I didn't want to do it." And he talked about not being a coward before?? (Also notes god was the one who made it so he didn't have to. So...)

3:55: Doesn't think he'll be suspended, but hasn't heard from MLB. Says he'll be ready for spring training, arm feels great. Legs: a little behind.

3:52: Now saying stuff to the effect of, "Look what we've gone through--don't cheat or you'll have to go through the same!" Uh, Andy, what about just not doing it because it's wrong? Didn't Jesus teach you that?

3:51: Has apologized to teammates, yadda yadda yadda.

3:50: Didn't take what Hardin said personally. Meaning implying he must be lying since Roger's telling the "truth."

3:48: Strain on friendship with Roger. Hasn't talked to him just because he knew they'd both have to testify. "It's a tough situation."

3:47: Asked about "hostile crowds." We'll see how crowds treat him this year. This is something I'll talk about later.

3:45: As far as the Pettitte stuff, McNamee was truthful, Andy says.

3:41: This sounds like a man who's admitted all there is to admit--about himself (after he was caught). I wish he'd respond to Roger calling him basically an idiot, though.

3:40: Thought it would be a coward way out to retire, which is why he's coming back this season. About HGH: "If it [had been] illegal in baseball, I wouldn't have done it."

3:37: Dodges another Roger question. Now asked about having to go to court if Roger's indicted. Says he's hopin' and prayin' he doesn't have to, and it shouldn't affect his pitching. Sweating a little more now that Roger's mentioned again. Goes for the bottled water. Now says he did speak to Roger. Now admits to going off subject and tells kids to wear helmets since his kid had a four-wheeler accident. Hey, at least the kid didn't take HGH.

3:33: Doesn't think the HGH helped him. McNamee was the one who told him he would be in the Mitchell Report. That he gave him a heads-up about it anyway.

3:31: Asked if there are more times he took performance-enhancing drugs. He says nope, that was it.

3:29: Andy saying he's a stupid and desperate man yet again.

3:28: "Are you a cheater?" He just says he didn't do it to get an edge. "If people think I'm lyin', then they should call me a cheater." Doesn't think he's a cheater. Says it was stupid, and he was desperate, wishes he hasn't done it, but doesn't think he's a cheater.

3:26: Says Mac said HGH could help, but at the same time didn't recommend it to Andy. Asked if he knew his name would be on Mitchell report when he signed contract with Yanks the day before. Doesn't feel he misled club, but does admit he knew his name would come out next day.

3:20: Andy says he had doubt about taking HGH in '02. Mac recommended that he not do it. But he did it. Felt it was the right thing to do. Jesus approved. Is he gonna bring up that "footsteps" poster?

3:15: Jeter, Mo, Posada there. Andy says he hasn't talked to Roger. Andy didn't watch congressional hearings. Great. Can't answer question about the "mis-remembering." Thought so. Another "mis-remembering" question. "I'm just not gonna go there." zzzzzzz Give us the goods, man! He totally won't. Let's see if we can't come up with a question that makes him slip and say, "I'm not stupid, the guy was talking about himself taking HGH just like I did."

3:12: Roger's a friend, etc. "Mac" is also a friend, and will be after this. He's sorry for not telling truth about his dad in initial statement after Mitchell report came out. Andy hopes to move on, win championship, etc. I have a feeling we're not gonna get much outta this....

3:10: The first "y'all." Second, third, etc. His wife dictated this statement? Weird. Thanks Yanks, etc, usual bullshit. Relationship with god (cod) MORE important than the one with family. Ouch! Sorry, kids. Now he's apologizing to the young fans. I battled problems, never did this to get an edge, just to get off DL. (No excuse, guy.)

3:06: Andy putting on his best fake "I'm totally comfortable" smile. Cashman in the house, along with Girardi. Announcer says Andy will take time to answer all Qs. Get on with it, people. Oh, great, here comes the "he can't talk about certain things legally" disclaimer.... Now Andy will give an opening statement.

3:02: We're looking live at empty chairs. Eric "God, I'm a horrible pitcher" Gagne also talked today. He just apologized to his teammates but didn't actually mention his actual steroid use. Okay, Pettitte stepping to mic.

Pettitte's press conference is coming up at 3:00. I will comment on it here as it happens. Then I'll talk more about it afterwards. Watch this space for updates.

Jimmy: 'Had a band and we tried real hard.' Ha. Some of us did....

Jody: I know, right? First, though, let's get the two major lies out of the way before moving on the plethora of minor ones.

Jimmy: Oh, the year thing?

Jody: The year thing! I didn't even meet Brian--it's Brian with an 'i' by the way, put that in your wikipedia or whatever. Anyway, yeah, I didn't even meet the dude until 1973.

Jimmy: Late 1973.

Jody: Right, the start of that school year. The band didn't get going until fall '74.

Jimmy: Song should be called Autumn to Winter of '74.

(laughter)

Jody: Okay, so there's that, but then, guess what--Guess who was the guitar player in that band? Fuckin' Richard.

Jimmy: Richard.

Jody: Didn't even get a mention. Sometimes I think Brian wrote that song from Richard's point of view.

Jimmy (rolling eyes): Sure, he's that smart.

(laughter)

Jody: Yeah, so it was Richard on guitar and singing, me on drums, Jimmy on bass, and Brian on...

Both: Tambourine!

Jody: Well, wait, it was actually "tambourine and background vocals."

Jimmy: We never plugged in his mic.

Jody: Yeah, but he insisted on getting credit for background vocals on the inside of our demo. I guess if you call "Everything I Do" singing, you can call his caterwauling in our band "vocals."

Jimmy: That guy was all about himself, man. It was pure horse shit.

Jody: Oh, the name. Well, Richard wanted to call us just "Blaze," though we later changed it to "Galactic Blaze." But Brian, fuckin' every day he's comin' in with these shit names like "Rhetoric."

Jimmy: "The Mellow Fellows," "Blue Day."

Jody: That's right! The Mellow Fellows! Every day with that guy, it was, "We're not gonna get signed unless we have a good name--the Mellow Fellows is perfect!"

Jimmy: How did we even tell him we had a band? That's what I wanna know.

Jody: Hey, it was your stupid sister that gave us away. I remember we made sure to practice when he was off at his Boy Scouts, but then Mary Pat was like, "Brian, you should start a band like my brother's...."

Jimmy: Oh, right, my sister, the one from "mama's porch."

Jody: Right! Exactly! Brian NEVER had a girlfriend. He found a picture of fuckin' Mary Pat standing on her and Jimmy's porch and made up this whole fantasy, like, "Oh, she's my girlfriend from the States, she said it would last forever," and all this bullshit.

Jimmy: And we're just like, Dude, that's Mary Pat, that's MY house, and she never touched you.

Jody: And Brian's all, "No, we did it. Twice. I swear. It's a different Mary Pat anyway!"

Jimmy: Sure looked like my sister.

(laughter)

Jody: Dude, go get the pic.

Jimmy: Really?

Jody: I know you have it in those albums somewhere.

Jimmy: Okay, I'll be right back. I don't know if I can find THE shot, though. (leaves room)

Jody: Yeah, the dude was messed up. Imagine writing a song about a girlfriend you never had and a band you just weaseled your way into...

Jimmy: Got it!

Jody: Oh my god.

Jimmy: Look! That's me in the background!

Jody: Haha!

Jimmy: Yup, that's Mary Pat, and that's me. Some fuckin' love song that was.

(laughter)

Jody: Okay, let's get down to the personal stuff. You wanna start?

Jimmy: Okay. So, he talks about that summer, which as we know wasn't a summer, quite fondly, but the only thing he says about me is "Jimmy quit." Bullshit. This band was falling apart from the day little Brian found out about it. Richard was ready to shit when he heard Brian was gonna "stop by to watch practice." Next thing you know, Brian's slappin' a tambourine and wailing at every practice.

Jody: He thought it was the Banana Splits or something.

Jimmy: I know, I'm surprised he didn't have us all in furry animal suits. So, before the next summer--'75--it just was over. That's all there was to it.

Jody: So we never actually were a band during any part of a summer.

Jimmy: And nobody told Brian it was "now or never."

Jody: It was just "never" for that guy. So, about my thing--he gives me that wonderful shout-out, "Jody got married." You know, he always hated Jane. That was my girlfriend at the time. You know how people always act like a girl breaks up the band or whatever? Well, Jane was awesome. Even Richard was like, "Jane, as long as we're gonna have a tambourine player, it might as well be you. We can kick Adams right out, and you can slide right in."

Jimmy: And she actually could sing.

Jody: Right! The other guys liked her, she was always helping out the band, and she could've easily been in the group. But Brian didn't like her. And that was that.

Jimmy: But, of course, according to the song....

Jody: Oh, right, "Jody got married." As if that had anything to do with it. Jane and I got hitched like four years later. She was pregnant, and we had to do it or there would've been hell to pay. She ended up putting the kid up for adoption, our marriage was annulled, and we remain friends to this day. But, (mockingly) Oh, the band broke up because of Jody and Jimmy with their quitting and girlfriends. My fuckin' ass.

Jimmy: Seriously. The guy's a douche. The Mellow fucking Fellows. Can you believe that shit?

Jody: He "shoulda known we'd never get far." Right, because he was in the damn band! We woulda gone really far without him. Instead, we grow up, don't hear dick from the guy for eight years, and the next thing ya know, MTV comes out and his pretty little mug is plastered all over it.

Jimmy: But the thing is, we still kinda thought, Well, okay, but at least we know if it wasn't for us, he never woulda got into music, and I'm sure he's gonna give us a nod...

Jody: Right, but instead of "I was in this awesome band called Galactic Blaze," it was "Here's the story of a couple dudes who fucked up MY band." I'll never get over that shit.

Jimmy: Total bullshit.

Jody: And poor Richard. At least we got our names mentioned, for whatever that's worth. Richard--such an amazing guitar player he was--the guy's been in and outta rehab for decades...it was his band, and Brian conveniently forgets about him.

Jimmy: And Jane.

Jody: And Jane. But he remembered that damn picture. (grabs pic, threatens to rip it up)

Jimmy: Dude! (grabs pic back)

Jody: Sorry, this just pisses me off. (pauses) There was no drive-in in our town, and the five-and-dime did NOT sell guitars, I assure you.

Jimmy: They only sold tambourines.

Jody: (sigh)


Jody McGrath lives with his wife and two dogs on their farm in Manitoba. Jimmy Ruddy lives in the GTA where he plays out occasionally under the name Jimmy & the Looney Tooneys. A Galactic Blaze reunion (sans Mr. Adams) is in the discussion stage.

Kim & I went to the Hall of Fame this weekend. I'll post pictures later today. But for now, here's one pic that may prove one of my theories. I had concluded that the '75/some of '76 bicentennial patch was only worn at home. I looked everywhere for any pic showing a Red Sox player in either year (not including post-season, when they didn't wear the patch at all) wearing the patch on the road. No luck. But at the Hall, I saw a '70s road jersey, and went immediately over to it. It was from Fisk (or possibly Yaz, but I think Fisk), and it was labeled as a jersey from 1975. You'll notice there is no patch. I looked very closely at it, and there was no sign of a removed patch, either. I guess this could be a post-season jersey, but it didn't say it was. And that would be an important fact to leave out.

So, I stand by my theory. Those throwback jerseys they sell--incorrect.

I've also further proven this (with new research I just thought to do now) by the fact that the team was seen wearing just the Yawkey armband on the road in 1976 and then later wearing the patch and the armband together at home. That would mean they just weren't wearing the patch on the road at all. If you look at the Fisk and Evans cards from '77 (in the post linked above), they're from Yankee Stadium. Both players have the armband, and Yawkey died July 9th. So this has to be the late-July or September series at Yankee Stadium in 1976. The September series is out, as those were night games. So this is the July series. The play with Fisk and Randolph has to be from July 24th, a Saturday afternoon game, where Rivers bunts home Randolph. So the Evans shot would be from that day or the following day. Now, we've also got Bill Lee at home, with the patch and the armband on. The only days the Sox played at home after Yawkey's death but before the Yankees series were 7/9/76, and the next two days. Bill Lee was not on the mound at all over those three days. Which means the armband/patch pic of him was from AFTER that Yankees series, in which the team wore the armband but not the patch. Therefore, they just weren't wearing the patch on the road uniforms at all. At least not in '76.