On May 7th, the Rays had a .759 winning percentage, while the Red Sox were at .500, 7.5 games out. Tonight, on June 20th, the two teams are virtually tied, one game behind the first-place Yanks. I still can't fathom why any person who knows anything about baseball would have given up on the Red Sox in early May--and I love it that not only did we catch a team they thought we'd never catch, but that we did it in a month and a half. Hopefully the people who were in this camp will resign their jobs in the media and/or stop buying baseball tickets so that the rest of us can enjoy it without them. Month and a half! Their ridiculous predictions were proven wrong before the All-Star Break! This isn't some shitty team that falls a few games back in April and can't possibly come back, it's the Red Sox! Some people have just lost their minds--or are so corrupted by the 24-hour media cycle that they can't imagine that how things are today might actually be different at some far, far away point, like a month and a half from now. Life is a hell of a lot longer than 140 characters.

Okay, moving on, some thoughts on tonight's game for my demographic--sane people.

The Dustin steal 'n' go was awesome. Even if Carroll catches that ball, he still might have been able to go to third. If I'm the pitcher in that situation, I sprint to third as soon as I finish my wind-up. Oh, and on the ball he hit to get on base--I told Kim right away that it would be scored a hit. She was stunned, and I told her I agreed with her that it should be a giant E, but you know the rules these days--if you reach base, it's a hit. That must be what the scorers are thinking, because they don't seem to be using any...discretion making their decisions. But anyway, that run he'd score on Papi's scrotum fly was all we'd need. Clay was fine. Bard-o Bridged it, and Pap got the save in the 2-0 win.

There was a play where Victor caught a pop-up, but first he reached down and picked something up at the plate. You really can only drop/lose your mask, helmet, or glove, and I wouldn't think you'd pick up the mask or helmet to take on your journey to where the ball's gonna land...so my question is, did he actually drop his glove, pick it up, and catch a pop-up? ESPN showed no replay.

Don't like the soccer ball on the outfield. Cuz I don't like soccer.

Jon Miller thinks Nava goes by "Danny."

Then again, he thinks Don Mattingly's nickname is "Donnie Ballgame." I used to hear this a lot growing up in the NY-area, stupid kids calling him this instead of his real, albeit a little presumptuous, nickname, Donnie Baseball. That's not Ted Williams out there, kids. (And Jon Miller.)

Classic Joe Morgan: Miller brings up the fact that they hadn't had enough seafood on their trip to Boston, which prompts Morgan to bring up the incredible seafood he used to eat...in New York. I do like that that conversation got Ken Coleman a mention, though.

At least two Red Sox hits in this series rolled, rolled, rolled...and hit third base.

The baseball sites show Bill Duggleby's nickname as Frosty. I just read his obit, and it says he was called "Farmer Bill."

Schilling was in the booth bashing Manny, and first said that the players wanted Manny out, but then said how "both sides," meaning the front office and Manny, wanted to end the relationship. A little contradictory there. He also said that Manny was a distraction because he was talked about in post-game instead of the game itself. Gee, could that be the fault of...the media (aka those guys Schilling hated but then became part of)?

I'm still very confused about this "offense" thing. Let me get the timeline straight: Red Sox had awesome offensive team last year and for many, many years before that. This year, they had almost the same exact guys. Media looks at this, and, entering one side of a cloud of pot smoke (?) and coming out the other, decides, "outta the fuckin' blue," as Chris Penn once said, that the offense "won't score any runs" in 2010. Team hits like crazy so far in 2010 as any (sane) fan expected. Media still has to act surprised literally every single time they bring it up, can't just say, Yup, the Red Sox' offense is doing well. Joe Buck actually said "the question was, Will they hit?". Exsquueze me? I baking powder? I always knew the me-me-media could brainwash the masses, but I never knew they could brainwash themselves!

Really would have liked to see Manny play the field in this series, for fun fan interaction. The Fenway crowd (people who go to games, not people who call into talk shows from their dens of racist iniquities) always loved waving and yelling to Manny, and he always loved to wave back and have fun and do all the things that are referred to as "being in touch with the fans" when Derek Jeter does them, but "antics" when the weird-haired guy does them.

Joe Morgan is exactly right. <--tape that sentence on your VHSs and Betas because you may never see it again. He's right that the boos sound louder than the cheers--I'll give you that between BrainwashEEIs and racists, there were 20% boos. But 20% boos sounds like 50-50, know what I mean?

Finally, a message for the airheaded woman holding up a sign tonight at Fenway that said, "The Curse of Manny 2007-2093." First of all, your parents may not have told you this growing up, but you're not special. Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's talk about this masterpiece you created. Let's just say that Dodger fans hate the Red Sox--that the two teams play all the time, are in the same league, that the Dodgers don't play in a bigger market, don't also have a huge payroll, and don't have three times as many championships as we do in the last 55 years. And that we're both not rivals of the Yanks and can't relate to each other when it comes to long, famous droughts. Let's say that's all true and therefor you feel the need to come into Fenway Park and mock the Red Sox. Fine. (Oh god, I've surpassed 140 characters, she's not even listening anymore...) Okay, so, yeah, about this "curse" that you're using to mock us--I explained this to Yankee fans when they tried this shit with their "2090" hats (and headlines!). When you mock a team for having not won in eight decades, you're using facts. Whether you call it a curse or not is up to you, but you are in fact correct that they haven't won in a long time, and you win, rubbing in that team's face. But you don't win when you attempt to tell a team that they won't win for a long time. Because you don't KNOW what's going to happen in the future. Think about it, what if you just got a promotion, and I call you on your phone every day going "Haha, you're gonna get fired! What a loser you will be! On that day! When you get fired!" I know you were dropped on your fat head a lot as a baby, but can you see how that would mean absolutely nothing to you--and that YOU would be the winner because you JUST got hired, NOT fired? See, you stupid piece of solidified llama piss (with cheese)? Let me tell you what happened when the low self-esteem Yankee fans looked to "2090" for solace--they celebrated the "fact" that the Red Sox would have ANOTHER 86-year drought. Celebrated it! As if the next 86 years had happened already! You're seeing how lame this sounds right? Well, sure enough, within three years we sent their pre-determined future spinning off into a new direction winning the World Fucking Series again. Needless to say, they didn't bother doing any math after that. (By the way, Manny was traded in 2008, not 2007. But hey, it doesn't really matter, as I'm sitting here essentially "talking to a volleyball," if ya catch my drift.)

I had been wondering if some Dodger fans thought they were "rubbing it in" by wearing Manny jerseys, not realizing that we all fucking love Manny and would ALSO be wearing his jersey. When I saw that "curse" sign, I knew in some cases that is true. But I'm gonna go out on a limb and say most Dodger fans are fine people who remember their Brooklyn roots, and who respect Fenway and the Red Sox. I heard several LA fans welcomed politely to New England on Friday, the way it oughtta be. I know some college-types think they're supposed to hate and be hated by all other teams that aren't theirs, but just so's ya all know, the only team we hate wears pinstripes, and if you're not wearing the same pinstripes, we're hay to have you in our park. Now if you'd just get all your friends to go to your OWN team's park, you won't have to see so much red in their when we play you.

Wow, this is one of those "long" posts, eh? What else can I add..... oh, right, pics from Friday at Fenway--I will post those tomorrow night. If I had to guess.