Two of my latest ideas, and one classic in case Red Sox management is reading.

1. Bowl Lick. I guess it's just cake/cookie batter in little cups, like the way they make yogurt. Lick the bowl any time!

2. A root beer scented soap called Royal Rooter. (This one's for Kim--I think she just may do it.)

3. Monster Movies. Red Sox front office--you need to make this happen. Everybody sits on blankets in the outfield on a summer night watching movies projected onto the Green Monster.

Oh, and check out this Nardwuar interview with the San Diego Chicken. I'm a huge Nardwuar fan, so I was psyched to find this. It's funny how you almost can't tell them apart. Nardwuar found his Poul-mate, I think.

This Saturday night, October 11th, my mom and I will be signing copies of Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery at the coolest of places--the Red Sox bar Professor Thom's in Manhattan. Game 2 of the ALCS will be on at 8:07. We'll be there at 7:00. Stop by, say hi, buy a book, get it defaced by us, and then stay for the game.

Thom's: 219 Second Avenue (between 13th and 14th Streets) (map here)

Even if you can't make it the night of the signing, I highly recommend watching a Red Sox game at Thom's, especially a playoff game. There's something special about being in New York City, and watching a Red Sox game with hundreds of other people who are all crazily rooting FOR the Red Sox.

We have a few other events coming up--I'll keep you updated here and over at the Dirty Water blog. And Professor Thom's blog is here.

I'm going to ALCS game 4 and 5 (called ticket office over and over until they picked up on the day they released the tickets). So I'm totally psyched. (Of course, game 5 won't happen if there's a sweep.) We played the Rays pretty even this year--but a lot of those games were with them giving it everything they had, while we knew we were pretty much in the playoffs anyway. I think they will see a different Sox team now that we know it's win or go home.

Now, about tonight's game, oh my freakin' lord. They put us through so much, but it just makes the results that much sweeter. I was on cloud negative 9 when Lester came out. I just thought, Stick with him, it's too important. Then Oki gives up a four-pitch walk. Masterson comes in, and another walk. Putting the tying runs on base on walks makes me want to just go and become a cricket fan or something. And even after the tying run scores, Tito just refuses to put in Pap. Hey, it worked out. I'm happy now, and that's the key.

The ninth inning: Scoscia--come on! A squeeze? You need a moderately deep fly ball to take the lead! Everything's going your way, what are you getting cute for? Whatever, man. Works for me, obviously. And then in the bottom. That right fielder gambles the series on a dive. If it skims his glove and goes around the corner instead of bouncing into the crowd, Bay's still running. Then Kiedis saves their asses, but then Lowrie bounces one to the right side. I knew it was going through. Once that squeeze failed, we weren't losing. So it goes through, and, again, I knew Bay would be safe. What a great shot that was of him rounding third. And a great celebration to follow.

A lot of weird stuff in this series. Bad defense will cause that every time. Now we go on to Tamper. Game one Friday. Game two--come on down to NYC Saturday night and watch the game at the Red Sox bar, Profesor Thom's. I'll be there. More on that soon.

Weirdest question asked in our house tonight:

"Kim, did you throw away the lucky piece of toilet paper I used to clean my glasses before game one that was sitting on the Remy/Orsillo bobbledesk?"

She had. But it turns out she made the right call!

SoxyLady wins the contest. She was one of the last to pick an inning, and chose the ninth. Her inning was tied for the lead after game one, as the Sox scored 2 in the ninth. Two more key runs in game two tied it up again with the first inning, which got 4 runs in that game. In game 3, she had four shots at it, as the ninth inning person gets all extra innings (but risks not batting at all if the team's ahead after 8 at home). The Sox didn't score, though, and she went into game 4 still tied for the lead. No other inning passed the ninth as we headed into the ninth, and when the Sox won it with a run, she got the 5th 9th-inning run of the series, breaking the tie. (Had a tiebreaker come into play, she also predicted the exact number of hits in the ninth for the series--9.) Congratulations, SoxyLady. You win a copy of Dirty Water.

Game 1 is Friday. Start thinking about what inning you all want for that one. Don't comment on that yet, I'll do a new post soon.

Know what I like? The fact that maybe we brought some neutral fans over to our side due to the fact that the announcers were so pro-Angels. I've never seen a display like that. So screw you, TBS dudes.

ALCS!!!!!!

Mike Lowell's out for Game 4. Thank you. You shouldn't have a guy who can't move in your lineup, even if he's a guy you really, really like. Drew is back for tonight. I won't be at the game, so I get to watch as the TBS announcers and umpires continue to root against us. I had hoped that maybe the reason it was so blatant in the first two games was that they were going for the "side with the home team" effect, but from what I heard about last night, that wasn't the case.

During game two, when they almost picked off Coco, on the play, as the pitcher was wheeling around, Buck Martinez yelled "got him!" That made it unmistakable who they were rooting for. It's also funny to listen to the Drew HR call by Caray--then listen to some fly balls that ended up shy of the warning track hit by Angels. You'd think the former would involve drama, anticipation, and yelling, but no, it's the latter.

Dustin Pedroia has been screwed up since his first at bat in game one. I was writing about it in the Joy of Sox thread as it happened--it's like he's trying to be too cute. Like, "Okay, here's what I have to do in this at bat." Instead of just wailing away, which is what got him such great numbers this year. I don't mean he shouldn't think about the situation when he's up--but don't try to Jeter one into shallow right when you can whack one the other way. Just seemed like he was trying too hard on those first two at bats, and he's been effed up since. I wish he would keep thinking of himself as a cleanup hitter stuck in the two hole, rather than a table-setting number two hitter. Laser show!

Contest board here. Still anybody's game.

Sox BP was just ending as we walked in, so not a lot of hometown players. But my mom was psyched to see Dice and Oki trot past us under the stands, taking the shortcut from field to secret door to clubhouse. Above, a Manny fan. Nice.

Mickey Hatcher, who played in "my" day.

What would a man in a cape be doing with Mike Scoscia? What would Mike Scoscia be doing with a man in a cape? Did you know Scoscia hits grounders to infielders during BP?

The extra media row. Only in baseball could areas in play be altered by the need for more photographers.

ALDS logo on the field.

Sager was a little more subdued, outfit-wise, for game three. You'll notice we're in the super-private section. That's because we had to have a little chat with Kapstein, shown in the background.

Usually I get the shot of Beckett holding up the wall. Right before that, he seems to bless the wall. Didn't work on this night.

Mom and I were in section 4. Here are the retired numbers from there. I noticed before the game that Pesky's 6 has been added to the numbers outside. Forgot to get a pic of that.

They were lined up three deep to watch Beckett warm up.

Papi's leg parallel to the pole.

Sager now out in right field.

Did you know military types spread their arms out so they can all be evenly spaced out when they stand in a line?

We got to see intros--it's always fun when they do that before a Yankee game, as you get to boo every Yankee right down to the traveling secretary. I didn't like how they editorialized during the intros, giving a special welcome to Jason Bay, implying "you all hate Manny and like this guy...you all hate Manny and like this guy..."

Jim Rice threw out the first ball. As you can see, we did have the foul pole between us and the mound. But that's a lot better than the other kind of pole.

Okay, this is it for the gallery--toward the very end, the fog started rolling in. And you know how the game turned out. Gotta end it tonight.

What a weird night. I guess you could say my mom (attending her first playoff game) and I got our money's worth. The full-on Fenway playoff experience, minus the winning part. The Sox are now 0-2 this year in clinching possibilities with me in the stands.

It's always a crappy feeling when you sit out in the cold for six hours and don't get a win. But we did get to see a three-run single. And we did get to see our ad for Dirty Water in Boston Baseball (the unofficial scorebook magazine). Check it out if you go Monday night, or if you see it on the newsstand. Page 19.

Good thing our "new ace" is pitching tonight....

I've already got tix for tonight, but I'm just sayin', they are answering the phones at the ticket office today. Try it today and see if you can get anything for tonight. 877 Red Sox 9.

You have to trust me when I say I just whipped this up real quick. I probably could've made this a huge project, matching up lip movements to the vocal track, etc., etc. But I just wanted to get the main idea down.



I also could've uploaded the video directly to the computer instead of just videotaping the computer screen...again, not that big a deal. But kinda funny, I think.

Should we make the ALCS, and should it be against Tampa, I assume you'll all be there, easily outnumbering the Devils fans. But if you want to get a head start on tickets and you lost their ALCS lottery:

"If inventory remains for any of the Championship Series games that may be played at Tropicana Field, they will be made available to the general public on raysbaseball.com on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. ET."

What was better, taking it to that piece of self-involved crap K-Rod, and his whining, complaining, Jeter-esque teammates---or shoving it in the faces of the announcers, Caray and Martinez, who took it upon themselves to root with everything they had, unapologetically, for the Angels?

Answer: It's all good, as they used to say in the mid-90s.

Oh my lord! I don't even know where to start with this game. I mean, holy crap. Youk with that crazy catch, and amazing play on the bunt, both in the ninth. Drew, becoming a "true Yankee" for the second straight post-season...Pap shuttin' 'em down. And, again, Caray screaming like a little kid with every ball the Angels made contact with. Oh! That's gone! Oh, wait, it's a fucking popup. Those guys can to to hell for putting on such a pathetic, completely unprofessional performance.

Oh, but hey, the Angels got the "extra base hit monkey" off their backs. Fine. Enjoy that.

I will be at game three!!! I dot dot dot can dot dot dot not dot dot dot wait exclamation point.

And FUCK that Yankee fan they kept showing in the crowd. All you got left is going to the freakin' Angels game and roting against us while your team is home. Hahahahaha! Ass Wipe! I love it!

[Contest board here. Tie for the top spot.]

Game 2 tonight. Let's win so I can see the clinching game live on Sunday!

In the contest, two people have 2 runs each, the rest have zero. It's anybody's game.

A dong in each game so far for Manny. I'm so totally happy for him. I love the thought of all the racists complaining with each great play Manny makes. The thing I hate about the anti-Manny side is how they've convinced themselves they're right by acting like WE'RE the "crazy" ones. I'm still convinced the fans of Manny--the 35,000 who were honored to watch him and showed their love every night at Fenway, as opposed to the whiny, old, button-down, jealous, racist, macho radio and newspaper shit-heads who hated Manny all along--will always keep a place in their hearts for Manny, and cheer him whenever they see him.

I get mad with every mention of Manny by those 'holes. In response to whoever it was yesterday who said in the usual condescending way, "Manny's having fun now? He didn't have fun here in eight years," I again give you my photographic tribute to Manny. You tell me if he was having fun or not.

I'm still just so confused. They say Manny doesn't try (lie), is declining (lie), doesn't care about winning (lie), that we couldn't win with him (huge, very easily disproven lie) and is a clubhouse cancer--if they mean the type of cancer that yields joy, happiness, and the championships we waited our whole lives for, then sign me up for that cancer. I'll pull a Paul Newman and refuse treatment.

So...just because I like when Manny does well (and Nomar and Lowe), doesn't mean I'm rooting against the Cubs. I want the Cubs to win. But if those guys on the Dodgers move on, that's fine, too. It's the NL, so in the end, I really just don't care. Gonna be tough for the Cubbies now, though, down two-zip.

And just because I'm still pissed about the Manny thing, doesn't mean I'm not totally confident in my team.

I wondered what the 2008 playoffs "thing" would be, and I think I've got it. Wednesday night, we finished dinner, and I reminded Kim of the cookie mix we had, since I wanted some tasty junk food for the game. She suggested I make them. Interesting. Me "bakin' stuff." Hmm. Well, I gave it a shot, and those pigs came out great. First time I ever baked anything on my own. (I'm an expert at licking the bowl, but I'd never done the whole process by myself.) There are still some left. Meaning for the initial bulk of games, I will have been downing these chocolate fudge chip cookies. Now I'm thinkin' I'll make more when those are gone. So it looks like the official 2008 playoffs thing will be: cookies. But you never know. We could get a pet elephant tomorrow, then "the thing" will surely be "those early days with Stampy, training him, tucking him in and watching him sleep lovingly, etc." You just don't know how these things are gonna turn out. Wait, maybe this is why the anti-Manny people think I'm crazy....

Did it ever occur to you that at any given time, there has to be at least one Major League Baseball team that hasn't won the World Series in at least thirty years?

(Of course, some of the thirty teams haven't been around thirty years, but it's essentially true. You get the point.)

Nice review of our book in the Denver paper, the Rocky Mountain News. "Grade: A." I haven't gotten an A since 5th grade!

...are destined Torii-peat it:

It's frustrating for everybody, but we have to get it out of our system and come out with the right attitude for Game 2 on Friday. You've got to have amnesia in this game.

That first playoff game. Wow. All the old feelings: goosebumps, shakes, heart palpitations, the urge to scream like Howard Dean and run and jump around. And when you get that last out, sweet relief. We needed to win one in Anaheim. We've done it! Now do it again and let's not look back goin' home!

Jon Lester is a deity among regulation human hurlers. Oh my him. Seriously.

I'm never afraid of "Peter Brady" Lackey, but he was good tonight. Until the Bay at bat--he'd K'd him twice on those outside breaking balls. Then in his third AB, Brady gives him one right over the heart. Bay takes it. Brady gets away with it...but stupidly throws it again. And Bay swung. Boom, we lead, 2-1.

How key was that Youk play where he threw out Vlad by 30 feet? Lowell running to tag Vlad before he got to third was like American Gladiators: Senior Division.

Masterson was great. Pap was great. And it's one game to none. Us.

Interestingly, Peter Brady doesn't look much like Peter Brady anymore with that slight beard and short hair. But it was funny how he was replaced by "cousin" Oliver.

So that's 10 straight vs. the Angels in the postseason, and yet another 8-game win streak in the postseason, as we had in '04.

We will all sleep well tonight. And as a bonus, the next night, as game two isn't until Friday. Yeaaaaaaahhhh!

*pic of Wicked Lester by me, 9/28/08

Inning # / Person / Runs

1 / Jeff / 4
2 / pweezil / 3
3 / Elisabeth / 0
4 / Dan / 1
5 / JCal76 / 3
6 / Rooster / 2
7 / laureen / 0
8 / Kara / 0
9 / SoxyLady / 5 (winner!)

Fill in that 3rd spot, somebody. Rules here.

Update: 3rd inning taken. Sweet. All nine are filled. Good luck everybody. Totals will appear in this post as we go along.

Pick the inning you think the Red Sox will score the most runs in for the entire ALDS. Winner gets a signed copy of my book, Dirty Water. I will open up comments to the first nine people. The person who picks the ninth inning gets any runs scored in extra innings.

Also include number of hits for your inning as a tiebreaker, in case two or more innings tie for the most amount of runs.

So, your entry should look something like this:

"5th inning. 5 hits."

Remember to check the other comments first to see which innings are taken. You have to pick one that hasn't been picked yet. Good luck. Deadline is up until first pitch tonight, or when we get the ninth contestant, whichever comes first.

Went out to the car between games. WFAN was coming in clear, so I listened to the end of the Shea Stadium Farewell. I headed back to Fenway for game two. Didn't even bring the umbrella, or need a jacket. Here's the park from that Charlesgate bridge.

And now I'm right near the park. It's very weird to be entering Fenway when it's already pitch dark. This is the first of a left/right shot.

As you can tell by the bus, I took the "right" shot first. This is the "left" shot. In Righty, you can see a sax player at bottom right.

I went to the burrito place at the end of Lansdowne ($7.30 for a regular bean/cheese, come on.) Got this shot of the light tower from Ipswich Street.

Close-up of same tower.

I walked in, and went right for really great seats. While the park did eventually fill up to a degree, I was able to keep this seat the whole time, until I purposely left it very late in the game. Here, Hale and Mussina exchange lineup cards. Do you get to do this when you enter the 20-win-but-no-ring club or something? Or did Moose write the lineup himself?

Game 162 is about to begin, and Robinson Cano is posing for pictures while on deck.

Tim Wakefield started. Other than him, Coco, Casey, and Cora, the Red Sox were basically the Paw Sox.

Another Wake shot.

Alex Cora.

Chris Carter.

Coco Crisp on third.

Coco crosses the plate.

Jed Lowrie.

Sean Casey doing the horse.

Velazquez on deck. Ponson on the mound for the Yanks.

Kevin Cash in the box.

Gil again.

Jeff Bailey.

Chris Carter and Magadan in the dugout.

So this girl brought a "Hey Dusty, We're Here for the Laser Show" sign. She kept holding it up, even though Pedroia wasn't in the lineup. But she knew what she was doing. All the Sox on the field saw the sign as they ran off, and one by one the other players would peek out and laugh at the sign. Finally, Dustin himself acknowledged it, as shown here.

A sweaty Wake chats with the home plate ump after an inning. What was this ump's deal? He was all suave and stuff, winking up at the official scorer and making confident hand motions to signal changes--he was like the Don Juan umpire. I felt like I was watching a TV show about a guy who solves crimes by day, is a ladies' man by night, and calls balls and strikes to hide his identity all summer long. "Umptower. John Umptower." I also kept thinking he was gonna tell me that one of the game's engines did indeed flare out, but the odds of it losing one of the remaining three is remote. (That means he reminded me of the pilot in the final story of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Note that that same actor was also in that ridiculous Kiss Meets the Phantom movie.)

Kevin Cash moved to third base. Here, Tito's talking to Umptower and looking and pointing out at Cash, who had just been laughing, but now has a look like, "Oh my god, Tito put me in at third and I've just been hamming it up and now he's totally talking about me and thinking about making me put all that gear back on. Please look away please look away please look away."

David Ross was the new catcher, and he showed off this thing.

Justin Masterson came in to pitch.

Dr. Ross from Chicago at bat.

Tek warming up a pitcher.

Coco on deck. I'm even closer to the field now.

I almost left this game early. But I didn't. But I still said, Okay, we're up two, going bottom nine, I'll head for the exit, watch the last out, and run outta there, as I'd been at Fenway for like 11 hours. But we blew it in the top of the ninth, letting them tie it. So I went back down to the good seats, now on the third base side. Here's my last shot from the first base side, the soon-to-be hero, Jon Van Every.

Okay, seriously. When all the players in either of the Fenway dugouts go to the top step, they lean on the little fence with one leg up and the other one step down. All heads are at the same height. But even in this situation, Jeter still has to find a way to be higher than everyone else, by putting the second foot up. Or does he bring along a special stool with him to all the visiting parks in case there's no other way to be the highest?

Van about to be rockin'. Actually, this is his ninth-inning at bat. His game-winning hit would be in the tenth.

This would've been a great shot of Alex Cora diving head first into third--if the pitcher hadn't been backing up. Stupid fundamentals.

And Van Every, after two intentional walks, knocks home Cora with the winning run. And the Red Sox celebrate:







Good night, Kevin Cash. I stayed by the Yankee dugout, thinking they might give crap away since their season was done. They did, but nothing came near me. Jobber started tossing balls from right in front of me, but they all went over my head.

So that was Pesky day. All the sports radio station were playing football games on my home, so I didn't hear that Beckett wouldn't be starting game one until I got home. I really hope what they say is true, that he can pitch game three. If he does, we've still got Lester and Dice, who both had great or great-in-a-dicey-way seasons. If they're on, we don't lose. And the Angels--people say past playoff matchups don't matter. If you say that, don't you also have to say it doesn't matter that Beckett has been amazing in the playoffs? I say both things matter. Not the '86 ALCS, but the '07 ALDS is relevant. It's a lot of the same guys. Peter Brady still doesn't scare me. Playoffs start tonight, he said, as the calendar fittingly struck October. Woohooooooooo! What will the "playoff routine" be this year? One year it was constant chips and salsa. Last year it was watching The Shining before and after games and on off-nights. Now that we have HBO, I think it'll be some movie that's always on. The three Bad News Bears movies and the three Back to the Future movies are early candidates. Then again, maybe when the month changes, new movies play over and over. We'll see.

Part 3.
Part 2.
Part 1.