After a 7-1 lead became 7-6, Don and Jerry announced the game like it was already lost. Remy even said "it's like starting from scratch," as if the game was back to tied. But we never lost the lead, and despite the gloom/doom from the booth, we win it 7-6, as the Twins leave 'em loaded in the ninth.

Man, NESN was bad again tonight. After missing almost an entire play last night, tonight they missed two key hits. Amazingly, both were on the first pitch...after a pitching change! We came back from commercial to see the ball already in the outfield. It happened on two run-scoring hits during the Twins' comeback. [Once the ad was still on when the ball was hit, and once they were still showing a replay of V's reaction when the ball was hit.] So Red Sox fans were left double-mad. I was so pissed on each of those hits regardless, but to miss the pitch and the swing made it even worse.

During one ad, I switched to MLBN to see if the Yanks (who lost again in Texas) were on. Instead I saw three guys in a studio talking about something I'd heard about earlier, which was that an incorrect Red Sox lineup was posted before the game and then changed. The charge was that Valentine didn't know whether the opposing pitcher was left- or right-handed. And they were talking about this like it was "LineupGate." And I was like, Yeah, bring it on! Let's keep on winning, and have all kinds of weird made-up controversies going on to the point where they lose all their weight. The guy even said that after the game, someone "in New England" will see Bobby on the street and mock him over the incident. (Funny how they talk about all about him not knowing about the opposing pitcher, then they don't even know that the team is IN MINNESOTA.) Anyway, even if it was a V "drugs" moment--fine. The more of them, the more the media can't affect the team with their fake controversies. But we have to keep winning so we can laugh it all off. I mean, yeah, I wish the water cooler fans who think each game represents the entire season--except, interestingly enough, after a win!--could realize that the media's shit is just that, even when we lose, but society has decided to be stupid, so we're just gonna have to win every single night.

Anyway we get the sweep in Minny. Like I said, there are enough bad teams in this league where a good team like the Red Sox is gonna win 81 games with bats behind back, and go from there--yet people see a couple bad series to start a year and seem to think it's a 16-game season like football or something. It's really unbelievable, and those people shouldn't be allowed to celebrate at the parade--but the media brainwashes them so it's hard to blame them. They react to "4 and 10" the same way they would if the Patriots were 4-10. Season over, out of playoffs. For some reason, they don't realize that 10 games in baseball is equal to ONE in football. I swear it didn't used to be like this. And on top of it, I remember years where the Red Sox weren't supposed to be that good, and we still wouldn't even worry about the team's record two freaking weeks into the season. I think I blame the Internet on all this. It's like the world's biggest game of telephone. It's amazing how people can be swayed. "My friends--none of whom know anything about baseball--are all saying this buzzword that they heard from somewhere else, therefore, I feel the same as them."

Where was I going with this? Oh right, so tonight--Buchholz was starting to tire there. V stuck with him a little long, then went to the pen who immediately started shitting the bed. Yet NESN's showing him on the bench as if to say "viewerrrr....you hate Valentiiiiine...." So you wanted the pen to come in and give up those runs even earlier? A bad decision can go well and a good one can go bad. If you're sitting there looking for negatives only from a manager, you're gonna eventually see one, and say, See, he fucked up. But you'll never see the positives because you're only looking for negatives. I shouldn't even acknowledge these people because they're the ones who were booing Valentine when we were blowing the 9-run lead on Saturday. I was at that game. I watched every pitch closely. And there was nothing V could have done but what he did, which was to go to the pen when his starter was done, and keep trying new guys as each one crapped the cot, one after the other. There was no magic move in that game. You can tell me you were just waiting for Tazawa all along, and that you would have gone right to him, just because you saw he did okay after 15 runs had scored, but you'd be lying. The point is, that proved to me that some people are just looking for an excuse to snag Bobby. The NESN cameras certainly are. Look people, I've always thought the guy was on drugs, and a phony baloney. And I loved Tito and never would have let him go. But I'm also all for giving the new guy a chance. It's not an easy job. And he's without two key players on offense, and his closer went down right before the season, and after they'd decided to move the set-up man to the rotation. Please give this guy a chance. We're a good team. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going in Chicago. You know, I accidentally scrolled down too far in the mlb.com wrap-up after the 11-2 win and saw the top reader comment. It was from a Red Sox fan who said "The good news is..." and proceded to say something about Youk going 2 for 4. That's THE good news?? Usually a statement like that is said after something negative happens. But we won 11-2! It was ALL good news! I just thought that was so perfect, the way people are somehow trained to think. Why is it that the Orioles often have a good few weeks to start the season and all their fans are all proud, thinking they're gonna win, while the Red Sox will often have a bad start, and all our fans think the season's over? This might make sense if it was the Red Sox who finished with a very, very bad record every year, and the O's who finished with a very, very good record. But it's the opposite! Wouldn't it make more sense for THEM to say "Eh, it's all gonna go into the shitter anyway" and for US to say "we're the Red Sox, look at our team, we'll be FINE"? Yes, it would. But for some odd reason it's not. I thought the "culture" had changed, but apparently it can easily be brainwashed. If you're a water cooler fan, you think Valentine's evil and hates Youk and thinks he has no heart, Pedroia is in a "feud" with the evil valentine, and Beckett isn't a good pitcher anymore and neither are any of our starters. I wish everyone would just watch the games, stop listening to their know-nothing friends, and turn off EEI. It'd be a start. Okay, end of post. Sweep!

Here's a video I made about that ball right down the line in the 9th: