Driving up to Boston I heard that Jose Iglesias was called up and would be wearing #68 for the Red Sox. I knew he probably wouldn't see any game action, but as the team took the field for the ninth, there he was--to the surprise and delight of Dustin Pedroia! (Click pics to enlarge, he told the Internet in 2011.) But now back to the beginning....

11:40ish a.m. No batting practice at all, for my second straight game. Gray and cold, also for my second straight game. But I was really taking this picture because they were testing colors on that left scoreboard. Here's purple...

...and here's yellow. And I can assure you, I took a picture for each color, but I'll leave it at those two.

Some guy had a Pat O'Brien's shirt! The Red Sox bar right near where I used to live in NYC. (Update: They did finish painting that Red Sox logo on their window--and terribly, it's the non-updated one.)

Just walkin' around, stuck between the bases, checkin' out the fog....

Finally I decided I'd try for pics of Iglesias, so I went to the far edge of the dugout. In front of me was this swivel for a camera they no longer use. (I assume.)

Artsy NESN microphone shot. Artsy meaning "close-up" I guess.

Wheeler was signing for a while. People can be so rude--as soon as a guy starts signing, they just start throwing shit at him. Fortunately one security guard is in charge of repeatedly yelling "one at a time" at people.

Kid doing the lineups for NESN. ("Rico...ka ch ch Baldy.") Yes, it says "Mr." on the "cue cards."

With this new gates opening system, a lot of people don't get to work until after we're in the park. I noticed the standings weren't updated, so I kept my eye on it so I could see us move out of last place. Here they are mid-change.

We're out of the cellar, ready to be moved up.

And...done.

Dice-K, who would get the W despite a rough start today.

Tito in the dugout.

Tito did some autographing too. When one kid chucked a ball that nearly konked him in the noggin, he yelled "hey" at the kid. Once he got his attention, he just laughed and said a sarcastic "thanks," and kept signing. Nice job not losing his cool. I woulda just ducked back inside at that point.

Tito laughing near his special bench. I'll give you one guess as to which player he was goofing around with non-stop. Hint: Your guess should be Pedroia.

And there's Jose! The first known picture of Jose Iglesias in uniform as a Red Sox at Fenway Park. Actually, I have an earlier one but then I zoomed in a little more to get this one.

Jose Iglesias again.

Everybody had their various pink items on for Mother's Day. I didn't bring my mom to this game, but only because she's 2500 miles away right now.

More Jose action.

Dustin Pedroia. Wiping his nose.

Doesn't Adrian Gonzalez look like Dwight Evans circa '82 here?

Here comes Wally with "Momma Monster."

Youk and Pedroia out on the field.

Happy Mother's Day, from a bunting Dustin Pedroia.

Youk with the pink.

My new hobby is getting shots of Pedroia with mascots in them.

Youk about to hand Wally's mom a rose. My video of the moment is here.

Crawford with pink bat.

Pedroia making a face after the national anthem. At this point I finally left the dugout area. I had a seat under the CF board, so I just hung around in stading room all day.

Here's Papi up with a pinky. Today was a crappy weather day. The wind was blowing the wrong direction. So the "warm spot" (the third base deck) was actually cold. Down on the field in the sun I'm sure it was fine. But we poor people had a rough day.

Adrian Gonzalez with a Gong over the Monster.

Around the 8th, I got a good spot in front of the section 16/17 pole. Got a shot of the scoreboard guy peeking out.

Gonzalez and Youk.

Mr. Morneau and lil' Dusty.

And that's when Iglesias came out. Wow, it's like One Hour Photo. (Or any other of the scores of movies where it starts at the end and then goes back and then, ya know....)

This is the moment after the first pitch of the Jose Iglesias major league era has been thrown.

Close-up of Jose.

He had three (or so, up to infinity, but it turned out to be three) chances to be involved in a play. And with two outs, there was a grounder to short! He threw the guy out (ball in air in the above shot) to end the game.

Before I headed for the runway, I got a shot of the team celebrating, and there's Jose, probably wondering if he's doing the post-game lineup correctly.

Then I met Kim (second straight Sunday we did different things in Boston that ended at the same time) for dinner, my first time at Grasshopper in Allston. I got the coconut curry with fake chicken. It was good. I told Kim they should do fake dog, fake anything--hey, as long as it's just seitan, who cares what you call it, right? She did not agree, and asked, What if someone piled a big pile of horse meat on your plate, and I answered, You could cut the seitan into the shape of an actual horse, and I'd eat it. I don't eat meat, but I'll eat a fake version of any meat. Ooh! I should open a vegetarian cannibal restaurant! "You won't know the difference!"

Oh and I found the Jamba Juice. Thwarted in my earlier attempt, I asked a different woman at the pizza counter, and she pointed me over to where the lime rickeys are sold. I went over (knowing I'd checked that obvious spot before) and looked at the menu, and it wasn't there. I walked up to the woman there, and as I was asking about Jamba, I saw a sign behind her on the wall. "Jamba Juice $6.75." It's got the logo and everything. But if you're just looking at the menu, you'd never see it. Anyway, I didn't shell out for it. I don't remember how much they cost in NYC--then again, I would always buy them on Chan's gift card that I got him for Christmas or something. (That's a sneaky way to get something you want--buy it for a friend, then get it from them. No guilt--YOU paid for it! Well, okay, guilt.)