So flip on the Gameday around the sixth inning of the Yanks game, and see that they're up 2-0. I can't help but notice the Rangers are leaving multiple men on or hitting into a double play in almost every inning. Finally Kim and I are about to start watching a movie, and I take one last check. Texas has doubled with one out. Good, I thought, at least they can't get a double play this time, and may even finally get a run across. I was wrong. I come back to the computer later find out that the Rangers somehow grounded into a DP...with a man on second. The play went pitcher to third to short to second. I can't even imagine what went down there. Yanks win 3-0.

In the Satan Rays game, Sonnanstine has retired the last 15, and they lead Seattle 1-0 in the 6th. (Update: 1-0 after 7 in what appears to be the fastest moving game of all-time.) (Update: Ms tie it in 8th.) (FInal Update: Ibanez leads off bottom 9 with a dong. Rays lose, 2-1. We're 2.5 back and headed for Chicago.)

I was terribly disappointed to hear that this summer's Hot Stove, Cool Music concert will not be at Fenway Park. It's been a tradition in our house to attend what used to be called the "Fenway Sessions." Fenway was the key word there. It was all about going to the park on a summer night and seeing some music, regardless of how much we actually cared about the bands. We did it in '05, '06, and '07. This year they got Buddy Guy and George Thorogood to play with the usual suspects--Gammons, probably Theo, probably Kay Hanley and Buffalo Tom--but they've moved the event to some other place. So they've lost me and Kim this summer.

Another thing I thought would be a tradition for us was the Futures at Fenway doubleheader. We went the first year, 2006, but terribly they scheduled 2007's games on a Sox @ Baltimore weekend, which we'd already had tickets to. So now we're back to that being a tradition, as we'll be there this Saturday, to see Lowell and Pawtucket at Fenway. Brian's coming up for it. I think the last time he was at Fenway was when he and I drove up from CT and saw the "Bryce Florie game," on my birthday eight years ago, while he and I were roommates.

Fenway's backstop screen. In a puddle. August 3rd, 200eight.

Sox claim Brian Giles. Not the one who was in the '82 Topps sticker album on the Mets. The current one.

Us, blocking the Mr. Scratch Beams...weird.

I hope my teachings have led you all to read UniWatch daily, but if you don't, check it out today. There's such a great moment in the back-and-forth between the two announcers in the main section. Cracked me up.

Sox get an 8-2 win behind another nice performance from Wake. Yanks win so no money changes hands.

How I feel about Tampa right now: I still say it's okay for them to be winning. To keep the Yanks that far back is key. I think the way our starting pitching has been, we're gonna catch the Rays anyway, so we might as well have them stay somewhat up there. Today, I would've liked to have seen Cleveland hold on so we could get to two back...but there are two months left. There's time to win that race. People say the Yanks are done so it doesn't matter what they do. But them being done hinges on whether other teams--including Tampa--keep playing well enough to stay ahead of them. So rooting for the Rays to completely fall out of it is basically the Yanks' big chance to stay alive. Then again, they really should just collapse--but then I think of how damn lucky they are and how even when they do things like fall behind 2-0 and the other team has bases loaded against Sydney Effing Ponson, they somehow easily win. Until I can trust these other teams, I can't trust that the Yanks are done. Even though I'm counting on them being done, and I want to watch them fall out of it utterly and completely, and keep watching them suffer even when everybody else stops paying attention.

In that commercial with the local Little League coach and his team? Is it just me or is that guy, like, really scary? Like, he's just acting cool for the cameras, but when they shut off, he's a real prick to the kids? You getting that? I feel like that team only gets pizza if they WIN WIN WIN...

Speaking of Little League, click here to hear an hour and a half summary my entire career in organized baseball (between innings of the game I called today, with CT beating MA).

[Update: Now they say 5:45. I was only gonna announce until 6 or 6:30. This turned out to be a shitty experiment. But I'll still announce the beginning.]

[Update: Oh, this is horse crap. A rainstorm came through and they're still working on the field, but they say the game should start around 5:30.]

Here's the direct link for my live broadcast starting at 5 PM. Shelton, CT vs. Mass., Little League baseball.

To talk to me live on the would-be air:

Skype: Gedman10
AIM audio chat: Two2067

Tyler Kepner says Joba WILL go to the disabled list.

The Rays were down 7-4 going to the bottom of the ninth against Cleveland. They quickly scored three to tie, and now have two men on, still with no outs.

Update, two seconds later: Rays win 10-7 on a Carlos Pena 3-run dong. Think of it this way: The Yanks could be 7.5 back after tonight.

[Now they say 5:45 start.]

[Update: Game delayed, will start around 5:30]

5:00 PM, I'll be announcing the Little League game between Shelton, representing my home state of Connecticut, and the Massachusetts team. It will be airing live (as an episode of my show, ARSFFPT For Folks Who Can't Read)...until I get sick of it.

As always when I'm broadcasting live, you're welcome to call in and talk to me on the air: Skype me at Gedman10, or AIM audio (if that's a verb) me at Two2067.

Laura's takes on two current events.

I agree with her on both. The death penalty is bad and fooling millions into supporting the need for war is bad.

(Just after posting this, I found this article about more White House manipulation.)

Lupica says it's probably bad news for Terrible Joba. He does say the Yanks have done everything they can to protect him, which ignores the fact that they kind of rushed him into the rotation.

There's a picture of Dr. Andrews in that article. It's funny, I never pictured him in scrubs. More like the way Doc Baker on Little House on the Prairie looked. Or Teddy Roosevelt.

Sox win and Yanks lose. Great to see them 7 back in the loss column in the division, and with three teams ahead of them for the WC. Mr. Scratch wins, so we stay 3 back in the East.

What a crazy play in KC. Esasky II hit one deep to left center. The center fielder jumped and almost robbed him, but the ball popped out a la Dave Henderson in the '86 ALCS, heading over the fence. Only it doesn't go over, it starts rolling on top of the wall toward left. It's right at the scoreboard, so the top of the wall is kind of wide--and the ball is able to continue rolling. For, like, ten feet it rolls, until the left fielder jumps up and swats it back toward him before it can roll over the fence. Bay gets a double. But Lowrie followed with a two-run triple, and the Sox pulled away.

Kathryn Tappen: The Red Sox are battling Tampa for the division. So while you're giving the scores, I don't want to hear that Evan Longoria is on your fantasy team. If you're rooting against us, keep it to yourself. Also, Texas isn't the "Longhorn State," it's the "Lone Star State." Have you noticed that the media is getting lazier and lazier? Facts, spelling...eh, whatever...

Also, if you live near Scranton, PA, here's an event for you.

I'm still just listening to all the Manny reaction, going off on people in my head or to people (you know, "real life" people), but not being able to combine it all into one pissed-off blog post. So I guess just stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I put up a tribute video from pics I've taken of Manny late yesterday. Here it is if you missed it.

In Dirty Water news, you can now see the cover on Amazon and B&N--though that's actually a version just shy of the final one. And as for the release date, we're still hoping for September 1st. I'll keep you updated on that. And our blog for the book is here.

1. Papi felt something in his hand last night, hopefully it just magically goes away. Joba's injury doesn't sound like a big deal, but if he is out, they'd be in much worse shape than we'd be if Papi goes down. Their pitching staff would be Pettitte, Mussina...and not much else.

2. I continue to be completely right on the Wily Mo/Bronson trade. Let's compare their numbers:

Wily Mo (out for year): AB-195, H-40, HR-2, RBI-10, BB-10, K-48, AVG-.205, OBP-.243, SLG-.267, OPS-.510
Bronson: AB-41, H-9, HR-1, RBI-4, BB-4, K-12, AVG-.220, OBP-.289, SLG-.341, OPS-.630

That's right, Bronson has higher hitting numbers, a higher HR rate, a higher RBI rate, and a better walk to strikeout ratio. Even if you say, "Well, it's close...." you should remember that Bronson is a pitcher.

3. Sunday X-word stuff: First one of the month, so it was an easy one. I liked the theme, where each long answer had a word or words followed by the same word with the first letter taken off. So one clue was "Will the ___ ___ his long sermon?" Answer: REVERENDEVEREND (reverend ever end). Nice job, Shortz. But once you get one, you're gonna quickly get the others. Did it in about 55 minutes, had four or five letters wrong.

We lose to KC. But we lose no ground in the division. Yanks had a 3-0 lead with the husky headhunter on the mound. Terrible Joba proceeded to give it up before leaving the game with an injury (an injured ERA possibly). The Yanks, who scored earlier on a groundout and TWO balks, tied it again, but Marte walked the bases loaded in the ninth, and with two outs gave up a grand slam. Texas wins 9-5. They probably avoided Mo because he stinks in non-save situations this year. And that's two shitty performances by Marte. The Rays also lost....

Beckett against Floyd's kid Tuesday night.

I took some of those shots from the last post and a bunch of other ones and made this.

...and finally, previously unseen video I shot of Manny on July 9th, 2008:


[all photos and video shot by Jere Smith, 2002-2008] [aka Me]

Here I am reflected in my friend Anne's sunglasses in the Monster Seats on Sunday. Next to me in his trademark-ish blue shirt is Sox owner John Henry. (That story here.)

Sunday: free meter day. There was nothing in my usual place, so we headed down Mass Ave., and the second metered spot after Boylston was empty. Gold. I still can't comprehend why anybody goes to the 30, 40, 50, and more dollar parking lots on a Sunday. So we got there just as gates were opening and headed up to the Monster Seats. Here's Lugo from above.

Sox hit indoors, so we only saw the pitchers. The A's hit a bunch of balls near us in BP, but we got nothing. The guy who hits fungoes hit some up to fans, too. It's amazing how they can hit to an exact spot.

It was really hot during BP. But during the game, there were so many clouds, we had plenty of relief.

Looking down the Monster.

We took a little walk down below before the game. I looked at the board and was saddened to see that the "Elvis" usher had died. I must've mentioned or shown a picture of him here, though I can't find anything right now. He used to sit at the top of section 14, at the spot where the walkway kind of juts out into the seats. He sat at his perch with his crazy sunglasses and rings. Maybe the media saw his weird hair and drove him out of...life. I never saw him get up--I don't know if he even could stand up, but he was a fixture at Fenway and it's too bad he's gone.

Sat behind the plate for a few minutes...

Got this chair shot.

Back on the Monster now. Dice-K, today's starter, in the pen before the rest of the pitchers arrived out there.

Youk and his happy fans.

My first picture of Jason Bay in a Sox uni. I started thinking of nicknames and stuff, but then the other day I casually called him "Esasky II" after mentioning he should pack an Esasky-type punch. If that's what I called him naturally, without thinking, that should be the nickname. Esasky II it is.

O.F. Lenny DiNardo with some skinny kid.

Ladies, gentlemen, transvestites, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, and all other creatures of the universe, your Oakland Athletics.

The empty Manny spot, at top.

The hawk about to perch on the right field light tower.

It was Rhode Island Day. Later this month, I will become a citizen of the Ocean State. Here, RI's favorite son, Jeremy Kapstein, does some catching.

The Big Hurt, who needs one more homer to tie Ted WIlliams.

The Rhode Island state flag, with its message of hope ("HOPE"), in place of that POW/MIA flag for the day.

Looking along the top of the Monster toward center field.

Sign in the left field seats.

Okay, so you'll notice I'm still in the front row as the game begins. For the second time in two tries this season, I went to the front row ($140 face value) despite having a standing room seat ($30), and was able to stay there the whole time. Last time it was just me, this time I had someone with me. But we were still able to pull it off, and even had an empty seat next to us. I have one more Monster game this season. We'll see if I can pull off the hat trick. Here's Esasky II below us, cleaning his glasses.

And after throwing a guy out at second, the sun shone on the Bay State.

Dice on the mound.

Papi batting in the first after we took a 1-0 lead.

Papi still up in this wide shot.

My first batting shot of E2.

My camera bag atop The Wall.

Jed Lowrie at short.

Anne's favorite, Dustin Pedroia at second.

Youk and & Myers in the dugout.

'coby at the 'late.

Jed with a two-run triple. He said later that there's nothing like smacking a three-bagger with men on base. Oh, wait, that was a quote from Babe Ruth that I read in Allan Wood's book, Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox. I finally got it and I'm enjoying it. More on that when I finish it...

Jack Cust in the little inlet.

Papi stole second. Here he is right after.

A rare side shot of the Monster's famous ladder.

Imagine you're sitting in the Monster Seats, looking at the field. Then you look straight up. This is that view. Note the hawk snuck into this shot.

Watching the weather change was fun. We knew there was a chance of storms, and suddenly the flags started blowing in a different direction, and black clouds came in from behind us. I heard the crowd behind the Sox dugout gasp, so I knew there must be lightning behind us. Then there was crazy thunder. Then the skies opened.

Then they stopped the game, brought out the tarp, and kicked us all out of the Monster Seats so we wouldn't die of lightning-strike.

After one of the shortest rain delays ever, there were intermittent sun-showers.

Okajima took over for Dice after the delay. Dice gave up only a two-run dong (when we were up 4-0) and got the win. Oki went the 7th, MDC the 8th, and Pap got an easy save. 5-2 final.

Coco's barely out at first.

This really annoying drunk guy was all over Cust, and then equally annoyingly tried to get Bay to wave to us up there. Which he finally did.

Esask-equel out in left.

And an untucked Papi congratulates his mates.

Another "along the top" shot.

A scoreboard dude bringing numbers back to the little room.

A close-up of the spot where the track meets the grass from 37 feet up.

The new sign for the Bleacher Bar.

And the Pru on our way outta there.

I recommend the Monster Seats--but, of course, I also recommend doing it my way, paying 30 and sitting in the 140s. It also helps if you win the drawing in the first place. I initially lost, but won the unadvertised "second chance" drawing. Remember, people, paying attention in the off-season is your key to getting to Fenway. Also, paying attention during the season. Anyway, you really get to experience the whole crowd from up there. You do feel a tiny bit removed, but that's made up for b the fact that you can kind of monitor the whole park from up there, as well as the neighborhood behind you if you're in the standing room. It's cool to hear the "Let's go Red Sox" chant go from left to right, like an audio version of the Wave.