The Red Sox broke the record for frustration and missed opportunities tonight. That's a tough record to break if you've been watching the team this year. We couldn't score a run no matter how many times we set ourselves up for it. How can our hitters be so great with no men on or a man on first, but so completely inept with men on second or third or both? I'm seriously wondering if tonight's game was a practical joke. Maybe a psychological experiment? Or maybe the Seattle Mariners are just this team that's so awesome, they just put guys on base to fuck with you and then get you out consistently after that.

And we only lost 2-0, so we knew any time a guy got on base we could be tying the game. Once we had the bases loaded and no out, and Gonzalez hits a liner right at the second baseman, who doubles Elllsbury off second, though the replay showed he was clearly safe. Twice we had inning-ending popouts that almost could have been caught by fans. Twice we hit balls that almost reached the Monster Seats. Pedroia hit balls down the right and left field lines that were foul by a combined total of three feet--on two consecutive pitches. We started off the ninth with yet another hit, but by that point, the only question was which Mariners players would be involved in the upcoming double play ball. (It was a 4-6-3.) What the dick is going on?

The only good thing about the game was that we got Eckersley in the booth in place of the flu-ridden RemDawg. (Buchholz must have gotten the same flu because Wakefield's starting in his place tomorrow.) Besides his crazy west-coast speech, you also get the ultra-rare "athlete telling stories/stats that are actually correct." He's amazing--tonight he even asked, "how do I remember this stuff?" I don't know, but you're always right, Eck. He was moving on to new things before I could finish confirming the last one. From knowing his first punch-out (Yount) and his last (Thome), to knowing that he gave up some cheese-flavored gohpher to Bob Brenly, to details about his 14 K game in 1976 involving a Buddy Bell error, he was always spot-on. I know I've mentioned this whole thing before, but the point is, he's still got it. When's he gonna get a job as a regular color man?

Had a lead, Dice left with elbow tightness, Albers held the lead, then Jenks blew it, and our hitters took the last few innings off, and we lost by one. Although Lowrie hit one all the way to the Triangle that would have tied it in the ninth. On the JoS thread, Kathryn asked, "did you see the salute [Saunders] gave the fans" after his catch. I didn't--I had only remembered the salute a fan gave to him:

(It's the girl on the right. The guy in red is asking for the ball, despite that it wasn't the last out, and I don't know what the girl in the purple crown is doing.) So I rewound and finally saw the salute the guy gave, it was to someone in straight away center above the 18-foot wall, as he was walking back to his position:

Anyway, another great moment that I'm sure 92-96% of viewers missed was the 4 year-old kid in the crowd imitating Youk's stance right behind Youk while he was up:

Sox vs. Marine-Life, 7:09:60 p.m. Vargas/Matsuzaka.

6-3 on the trip after Lester beats the O's again. Looked like it might be another frust-fest, but a three-run 8th put it away. Gonzalez is coming to life, too.

We come home now for three with Sea, four with Califor, and two sets of twins with the Twins. You know we have just one scheduled day off in May, but five in June?

Hey, there's a DH spot on the All-Star ballot for games at NL parks now! Thank you. (Using the DH in ALL All-Star Games started last year, but it was at an A.L. park last year so I wouldn't have noticed any difference....)

Lester tries to beat the O's for the 100th straight time, 7:00ish eastern.

From Pee-Wee's Big Adventure to Cloak & Dagger to that home video my dad shot of a Spurs-Nets game in like 1988, San Antonio has provided our culture with some memorable moments. Even though I'd never been to Texas, I always felt like an honorary son of San Anton', its Riverwalk inspiring me to criticize my own town* for not having something similar. Last month, I finally made it there. On my way from Vegas to Houston and Dallas, I slept just outside the city one night, and the next morning, I got to explore the Riverwalk/Alamo area until my parking meter expired.

Living the dream: Jere finally arrives at Riverwalk.

They were doing boat tours even at 10 a.m. on a weekday. This was the first perfect weather day of my trip. I was hoping to get that real Puerto Rico feel, but Vegas was windy and unseasonably cool, and all through Arizona and New Mexico it was also pretty blustery. On the way out, I drove past snow in Arizona. And in west Texas on the day I'd eventually reach San Antonio, it was downright cold. But when I got to S.A., I was greeted with palms and non-desert-style warmth. In other words, it was an all-"light jacket" trip until then.

The Alamo, right near where the above shots were taken. Didn't actually go in.

Another from my series: "across the street from famous places." (Note: This may be the first in the series, I don't really remember if I've done this before.)

People taking pictures of the Alamo.

What I never knew about the Alamo is that it has "grounds" all around it that anyone can go to. I figured it was just that tiny building. (And a younger me thought it was just the front wall, like a Hollywood "old west" cardboard backdrop.) Here's an awesome tree.

The Crockett Hotel behind the Alamo.

More palms/cacti on the other side of the 'mo.

This also gave me that "old city" Puerto Rico feel I was looking for.

So that's pretty much all I saw of San Antonio--I'd love to spend some actual time there one day. From there it was on to Houston and Arlington for two Sox games.

Bonus shot! From west Texas--the following shot is...

...where Andy crossed! You know what I'm talkin' about.


*Where I live now, Providence, actually does have a riverwalk-type thing. Maybe that's why I love WaterFire so much. But I was always pissed at Danbury for hiding its river under the city. I used to call it the "Red-Headed Stepchild River." It was like they went out of their way to make sure nobody knew a river went right through the main part of town. You had to go to certain spots on foot to get a glimpse of it down below the street.

Goddamn it. We come back with four in the eighth to tie, then give one up in the bottom half, and suddenly the game's over. We anti-win, 5-4.

Rick Dempsey was in the booth replacing the sub-weather Remy. My mind turned right to sliding on the tarp in a rain delay--and Don's did too, mentioning it in the first inning. No video, unfortunately.

After we botched a pop-up to shallow center, Beckett gave up a big dong to make it 2-0. Next guy hits another dong, thought Carl Crawford had plenty of time to climb the wall and rob it.

Anyway, going to the eighth, we looked done, but our fans really got into it, and soon we had two on, down three, Youk up. I made a prediction at JoS that came true--that we tie it Weaver style. How can you have two runners on in Baltimore and not think of Weaver's favorite type of dong? Youk did it, and it was tied.

Bottom 8, Bard in, and he's got nothing. Gives up a single to Markakis, which is understandable, as Nick is one of our nation's best athletes. But then he gives up another solid single an OH AND TWO PITCH. Inexcusable. After the runners move up on a wild one, another one scoots past Tek. But Bard makes an amazing plate block to tag out the go-ahead run. But on the next pitch, before we were done soaking in the feeling, Bard gives up another solid hit right back through the middle, and the O's led 5-4. And there's your final.

And in the 8th, the hockey game went overtime. Again. We've had to watch several games on NESN+, which is NOT in HD in my area. And these stupid hockey games, it seems, even when they're not at the same time as the baseball games, just go on all day and I don't get to see the Red Sox in HD. End this hockey crap!

Here we have a previously unseen lil' clip I shot of Bronson Arroyo in 2005. Details below.



Bronson came out, and immediately people started getting pics, autographs. Rebecca waited her turn and then pounced. That's when I went over and took her picture with him with her camera in one hand, while filming it all with my video camera in the other hand.

Then there's some confusion as the rest of Bronson's group (pitcher Matt Mantei and three women--I guess the brunette is the one Bronson was in the process of leaving his wife for (the Northeastern woman, or whatever, who knows...) at the time) waits for a car. Finally they all hop in.

Again, the original adventures (from pre-video-online days) can be found on Reb's old blog here. And on my blog: part 1, part 2, part 3.

Was mildly pissed after losing 4-1 to the O-Birds--but right after the game ended, I switched over to MLBNet for the end of the Yanks game. The White Sox were up by 1, but the Yanks had men on first and second, one out. A-Rod drills one toward the 200-ft. fence in right. Will tie the game, maybe end it...but no! Lillibridge makes a leaping catch going to his left at the wall! Two outs. Cano up, now a double will win it, and he also lines one to right. Lillibridge goes over, dives, and makes a tremendous catch, raising both arms in triumph WHILE sliding on his stomach, his face going right into the grass. Yanks lose, and my night is salvaged.

Original post here.

Got a letter from the Red Sox Foundation today, apologizing for sending me the wrong info in the first letter. So I never really gave Japan $100, only the $10 I thought I was giving. So now I enter Phase III, Guilt (over the fact that I'd decided that had they taken $100 from my account, I was just gonna let it go). I will take solace in the fact that the emotional roller coaster the foundation has decided I'm tall enough to ride is nothing compared to losing your house in an earthquake.

Buchholz/Britton, a few hours. (Hey, if you add the Z for Britton's first name, you've got Buchholz/Britton,Z. So they each have a B, then a consonant/vowel combo, then a double consonant, then an O, then another consonant, then a Z. So look for an even matchup tonight. That we win.)

NYT story about Manny here.

Crazy Carl arrested.

Looks like a nice day in Balty. Let's play one.

Yanks were getting no-hit through 6 tonight. Got to watch the end on ESPN. With McDonough! But also Aaron Fuckin' Boone:( Anyway, they broke it up, but went on to lose 2-0 at home to the ShySox.

So we're three games out of first on April 25th.

Hey, check this out: Go to MLB.com, click Standings, then click Scoreboard, then hit your back button to go back to the Standings page. Does it show the standings of June 11, 1981 on your browser? It does on mine. (That's right when baseball went on strike--I wonder if this has to do with the NFL thing or.....?)

Back in September 2005, when I lived in NYC, Rebecca and I went to the Red Sox' hotel after a Sox-Yanks game in the Bronx. You may remember these adventures from her blog and also from mine at the time. Back then, putting video on the web wasn't like it is now, so all you got was still frames. But I'm finally getting around to posting actual vids from that era, so watch the Papelbon part come to life!



Pap and his now-wife Ashley were trying to get a cab. They soon realized there was a line for cabs, which they were decidedly not at the front of. You also see the moment when I inform Ashley of my "Little Papi" nickname for Jon. Despite my clarification that he's only small compared to Big Papi, I learned attempting to convince a woman that her major league athlete boyfriend is "little" is futile.

Pap had only appeared in 9 MLB games at that point. I'm guessing these days he gets around town a lot easier....

Look for more pictures from that night coming to life soon. Maybe. (I've done one already, a brief shot of Keith Foulke waving at me--though that vid's quality is very weak, posted to YouTube in 2007, may have to re-do it.)

7-0 win. First four-game sweep in Anaheim since '80, according to NESN.

Eight more shutout innings from a Red Sox starter. A bearded Peter Brady in today's case. Good to see Carl get his first dong. I was starting to feel like this about him.

So we're 10-11, a half game out of second, after the horrible start. On to Balty.

Happy Easter.

I'm very excited about Dice-K's performance tonight: no runs, a hit, nine Ks, in eight innings. So that's no runs on one hit in each of his last two starts. I said something about him being ready to dominate this season in March, and he's been doing a fine job of that of late. Once again I'll post Pete Abe's words from when he said Dice MUST be traded (I do not read his material, I just saw this on JoS): "putting him in a game is counterproductive to winning." I guess that's like saying putting Pete Abe in a salad bar is counterproductive to....eh, too easy. The point is, many fans only know what they've seen in the very recent past. When reporters do that, it's time to FIRE THEM. I know, he brought up the past season and all that, but Dice's numbers really weren't that bad for a fifth starter. It was obviously an overreaction to the most recent start--who did he expect to get as a 5 starter? As for those who are just generally annoyed with Dice's pitching style, that's justifiable enough, just don't let it cloud the talent the guy clearly has.

Anyway, we're now tied for third, a half game out of second.

I'm also excited about this: I was on that Fenway Park 100 site, and I thought "I'll look through the 2000s pictures to see if I'm in any of them." (You know my lifelong dream of being in the background of a famous picture, though being in any picture is always fun, since I'm usually the one taking the pictures. I started in 2005, then went to 2006, and noticed a pic of Buffalo Tom. I knew that was from the Fenway concert that year which I went to, so I clicked the pic. Here's what I saw (minus the Me/Kim notations, obv.):

Woohoo! Good thing I was wearing my 3/4 sleeve green Tulane shirt, making me easy to spot. And there's Kim right next to me, the two of us right between Theo Epstein (playing with the band) and the singer. You can see the original pic (taken by Brian Babineau for the Red Sox) on this page of the Fenway Park 100 site--click the "More Than a Ballpark" section at left, then click the Buffalo Tom pic which will pop up on the right. The "proof" that it's me, I guess, is in the fact that my pics from that night are from that angle.

Since I took a shot of the crowd to my left that night, I tried to match people in my shot to Babineau's pic. The girl up high is by that pole, so she's blocked by the singer. But if you look closely at my shot, you can see some red hair and a forehead. In Babineau's shot, you can see that girl, just to the right of the singer. So that's the only person who's in both shots. Anyway, I'm glad I'm a part of the official Fenway site!