We've won 7 of 9 with tonight's 7-5 win in Philadelphia. Many dongs hit--Aviles, Papi, Brooks, Salt.

I heard the first half of this one in the car on the way home from NYC*, but made it home in time to see the second half of Fox's "talk about Twitter...and also the game" fest. And wow, Buck and McCarver sure are dumb.** Padilla threw his Padillphus pitch, and Buck announced it as if he'd been unaware that this pitch was part of Vicente's arsenal. This is something the announcer should know, and if he doesn't, somebody should be whispering it in his ear. But it got worse, as McCarver started mocking the pitch as if our guy was just screwing around on the mound. He jokingly talked about how Valentine probably told him between innings to never throw the pitch again. Then of course he was shocked when Vicente continued throwing it. While they spent their time insulting the pitches, they completely missed the fact that they were landing in the strike zone but the ump was calling them balls. Finally he was taken out, and Buck noted how Padilla along with his pitch will be stricken from the game. When Rich Hill came in, I wondered if the Moron Twins would become flustered upon noticing he was attempting to throw the ball...with his left hand!

You know what the worst part is? People who also didn't know about the Padillphus will now be writing stories about "that night Padilla lost his mind," and "padilla" will be a trending topic or whatever. All because BucCarver didn't know about it. If they knew about it, they would have been able to tell the audience that it's part of his repertoire. Instead, people will think along with them--that it was some huge deal and that he surely lost his mind.

As Fox went to commercial after the top of the 9th, they paid tribute to Donna Summer, by playing a song relevant to the situation, "Last Dance." However, they only played the "wooo-ooo" part, which comes at the very beginning, with only barely noticeable music in the background. Then they cut to commercial. Had Buck not said it was Summer, probably less than 1% of viewers would have even recognized the tune. I mean if you're gonna play "Last Dance," make sure we hear the damn words "last dance"!

In the bottom of the ninth, Aceves let the leadoff man run reach first, bringing the tying run up. Buck went into drama-mode, saying how this save "won't be easy...they never are." Almost instantly, the next guy lines into a double play. Aceves did give up a hit to the next hitter, but he struck out the one after that to end the game.


**Notice how I wrote that as if I'd never noticed how crappy they are, in honor of them not knowing shit everybody else knows. Well maybe not everybody, but definitely everybody who follows the game for a living.

*Which is why I missed Friday's game entirely along with the chance to blog about it, which is a good thing as it turns out. Anyway, we had fun walking around in the beautiful weather and hitting a bunch of food places I hadn't been to. Like Insomnia Cookies.

At our last update, April 30th, the 1912 Red Sox were a half game out of first. Since then, from May 1st to May 18th, they went a pedestrian 7-6 (4 of the wins came against the lowly St. Louis Browns who would finish 1912 with a .346 winning percentage), and fell to 5.5 games out, still in second place, at 16-10. And that would be the last time the team would be anywhere near that close to .500. (Remember, they end up finishing almost 60 games over.)

On this day 100 years ago, May 18th, 1912, baseball was on the front pages. A few days earlier in New York, the Tigers' Ty Cobb (the "king of baseball players") was heckled by a fan, to the point where he finally went into the stands after the guy. Apparently Mr. Cobb didn't realize that the man who he was spiking with his cleats had, and I'm quoting Cybil Shepherd's character in Taxi Driver now, "three fingers missing on this hand, and that hand missing on that hand." But he kept pummeling the dude anyway. The league president fined Cobb and suspended him indefinitely. At which point the Tigers said they weren't gonna play anymore. Players around the league backed Cobb saying they should have the right to "personal protection" from fans, other teams prepared to strike along with Detroit, and a "baseball war" was feared. This all led to baseball players becoming, and now I'm quoting Robert DeNiro's character in Taxi Driver, "like a union." Stay tuned....

Labels: 1912 Red Sox

NESN just put up a stat showing how the starters have done over the last 6 games. 38 innings, a 1.40 ERA. No dongs. Except for the brainwashed, we always knew these guys CAN be great. If they are, with the way our pen has been shining and with our offense, we should be rapidly moving up the standings. Starting.....now! The first team we need to pass is the fourth-place Yanks, who are 2 ahead of us.

Tonight it looked like Tamp. might break through at any moment, but we held the slim lead. Ross, who donged earlier, hit a 2-run breathing-room single extending the lead from 3-2 to 5-2 in the 8th. 5-3 was the final. Doubront gets the W. Byrd donged in this game too. We're back to two games under .500.

We've won 6 of 7 and head to Philadelphia for the some IL play.

Well, I predicted an unprecedented and historic winning streak. I'll settle for 5 games. Tonight, we lose 2-1 in Tamper.

Neither of the Rays' runs should have scored. The first one was balked in by Clay, who continues to improve. Then in a 1-1 game, the Rays hit a shallow fly to right with a man on third. Ross came in, ready to catch and throw on the run. Tampa probably wouldn't have even sent the guy--but Ross botched the catch, getting all twisted up and giving the runner just enough time to score. Even just coming in and catching it nonchalantly like Upton would have worked, as it was very shallow. Cody did it the one way that could even allow the runner to try it. 2-1, and that was the final. Yanks got killed by Toronto.

I noticed on one of the Wake highlights that you can see me in the background. It's when he comes out of the dugout. You see me taking pics, just before I put the cam down to clap for him. I'm the guy in the light blue shirt with the gray hoodie, up at the top above Wake's head:

I noticed they were trying to speed up Don Orsillo during the ceremony yesterday. I shot a video: she'd do this during every pause....

I think Curt Schilling's video game company (now based right here in Providence) is in some kind of trouble. Projo's articles are never too good at "summing up what the hell is going on," so I don't have any more details, except that a loan is involved. (I know a lot of people were up in e-arms when the state gave him a bunch of money to lure him here or whatever.) So if you figure it out, lemme know.

And finally, check out this guy who sells sausages on Lansdowne:

You know what I'm talkin' about? Or maybe I should say "are you talkin' to me?" Here's a closer look, with a different facial expression:

Behold, Robert DeNiro Sausage Guy!

Tim Wakefield Day! Got a $12 ticket to this one months ago. Parked for free. Sat in a $130 seat the whole game, thanks to the early start and the constant drizzle. At least it wasn't a cold rain.

The "49" in center field.

Got this shot of Tim being escorted from the left field door around to the home dugout.

These poor girls had to move this table from the warning track out to the field, before being told to move it back.

Dr. Charles, who probably choreographed this whole deal.

Wake comes out of the dugout and kisses his wife.

Mike Timlin was one of the guests.

Wake's charity gets a big check from the team. Next to Timlin is Mike Stanley. Don "Announcer Boy" Orsillo was the emcee.

This #49 seat was one of the gifts. He also got a crystal baseball and a Ted Williams fishing pole.

The Wakefield Warriors came in from center, causing Timmy to tear up.


Papi's speech above.

In honor of that time Doug Mirabelli got that police escort to Fenway, Orsillo said Doug couldn't make it as his flight was delayed, then was told he'd just arrived, at which point a cop car carrying Wake's personal catcher came in from center.


Above, Wake greets Doug. Just after I stopped recording, he crossed himself on the way to the catcher's box--and made a fairly clean catch of Wake's pitch.

Doug and Larry Lucchino post-ceremony.

Dougie meets up with Papi.

Ortiz and Timlin.

So I figured I'd just stay in this seat for a while. Turns out I'd be there the whole game--until the 8th when I finally decided to get a few minutes out of the rain. The harder stuff fell occasionally, but it was never bad enough to give up on sitting in it, especially once I got a nice primary drench.

I've gotten this shot before of Ichiro, but in this one you can see how he's actually out of the batter's box. Shouldn't Bobby V be saying something about this after that Carl Everett debacle?

Dustin Pedroia from the rich fan's perspective. A lot of the seats around me filled up, but whoever had tix for my row never showed.

Gonzalez on deck, Ortiz up.

Smoak hit one high and deep to right, seemingly over the pole. They called it foul, reviewed it, and did not change the call.

Salty in the rain. I had this genius method of keeping my camera around my neck but zipping up my hoodie over it to prevent it from getting wet.

Cody Ross at bat.

Josh Beckett was great today. He gave up zero runs. And hardly any hits. Here he is with Middlebrooks behind him. My favorite picture of the game.

And here are those two again.

Wakefield up in the booth with Don and a little slice of Jerry.

Papi hit a dong to right. Later he laid down a perfect bunt. Then he got to second on a DP ball where the fielder wasn't at the bag, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Will Middlebrooks Wall Ball, aka a Will Ball. Our other two runs came on two Aviles doubles.

Aviles and Nava. 3/66 style.

A gloomy day for the Seattle Mariners.

I thought it was cool that today's military person put a Sox hat on--and doesn't Bobby V remind you of Elaine when she was amazed by the spinning tires?

BROOKS WAS HERE.

Both teams had palindromic linescores through 7. We'd add one in the 8th and win 5-0.

Another great day at Fenway. Five wins in a row.

Went to Wakefield Day today. More pics later. But here's one that looks like he's looking at me.

Below, a sweet catch by Ichiro in batting practice I was *skilled* enough to capture today!

In response to lots of people suddenly discovering this fact and stating it like it's some kind of recent discovery, I'd just like to point out that this has been known for decades.

(Not that I don't admit having that "oh my god" moment at some point when I found out. But it's just odd that so many web sites are "reporting" this as if it's "news.")

Anyway, the Red Sox play at 4 today so don't forget. Tim Wakefield will be honored before the game.

Lester with a complete game. Would have been a shutout but he gave up a run in the 9th. Nava and Shoppach with dongs. It was Nava's first since his first-pitch-seen-in-career dong, and it was Shoppach's first in a Red Sox uni, in his second stint with the club.

So that's four wins in a row. Despite the crappy start and having then lost 8 of 9, we're still just 5 games out of first in the loss column in this toughest of divisions.

"Red Sox" is not one word.

Red space Sox vs. Mariners, 7:10. Lester/Vargas. Whenever I think of Vargas, I think of that moment on Curb when Larry accuses a stranger of having his plane ticket. And the guy says:

"What's the name written right here? Is it your name? No, it's mine: Chris Darga. See, if this were yours, it would say: 'Fucking Douchebag.' Asshole."

They said they'd announce it Monday morning. It's now 11:58 a.m. Don't toy with me, BP!

And now it's past noon. I guess there's no need to update again until it's actually up. In fact, I'm not even gonna post this until then because this text alone would be a really shitty post.

12:21: The list is up! Here we go! I will react as I read each one.

They're saying it will be celebrating films from the last 20 years, and that all but one have played in the park before. Interesting....okay, on with the list:

June 18: Psycho. Woohoo! A great start. No complaints there.

June 25: Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Nice. This is one of those movies that I've seen so much of but never really saw start to finish. Another good job by them. Okay, I'm realizing that they meant "films that were shown here over the last 20 years" as opposed to ones that were released in the last 20. So a lot of my faves have a shot. I'm getting the feeling Ghostbusters really might be there this year. If that's the case, that's one I will go to no matter what. Moving on...

June 32, no, July 2: Now I'm just barely scrolling down so I can see the tops of the letters. It's "The" something...The Inside Step? Uh...no, The Wizard of Oz! Wow, that's pretty cool. I feel like that's not a Bryant Park-y type film, but so what, I'm always up for watching that one.

July 9: On the Waterfront. I know nothing about this classic. Sell it on me, people.

July 16: Roman Holiday. I know even less (than nothing) about this one. We're in a dry spell, me-wise. Let's get Bill Murray involved, Bryant!

July 23: The Maltese Falcon. We're going even further back in time now. Another one I don't know. Next...

July 30: Rebel Without a Cause. Well this one I should have seen by now but still haven't. Maybe seeing it at BP would be a good way for me to indoctrinate my ass into it.

August 6: The Adventures of Robin Hood. No interest.

August 13: All About Eve. Uh....

August 20: Radiers of the Lost Ark. Okay, so this is the moment where someone of my generation is brought back into the fold and the organizers probably think I'm gonna be like "that makes up for all those 40s movies, yayyyyy." However, I'm just not a big fan. Again, maybe seeing this one outside at night with a big crowd would make it more fun.

Oh shit--that was the last one! Okay, it being the finale could also improve Raiders of the Lost Ark for me. Let's see, what to do here.... I'd say I'll either go for the opener or the closer, and if I can't make those, maybe Butch Cassidy or The Wizard of Oz. Or if any of you can do a great job selling me on any of the others, I might try them. No Bill Murray--but for wackier, 80s-er, funner movies, I've always got the outdoor film fest right here in Providence. Still, I have great respect for the Bryant Park fest--I almost feel like if they didn't keep it classy with a bunch of old-timey flicks, the people in the neighborhood there would say "take your pop culture bullshit over to Brookyln and let us have our lawn back!" and the whole thing would get canceled. I like that there's something for everybody. And also, the setting makes it so I'd gladly sit and watch any movie there, if given the choice of doing that or doing a whole lotta nothing.

I'll let y'all know when they release the Providence sked....

Mom and I (and a bunch of strangers) on the Fenway field on Mother's Day.

Parked for 0 dollars on the street just outside the $40 lot. Oh the price people pay to take fifty fewer steps and have a slightly better chance of not getting their side mirrors scratched.... Had a pretty sweet view in section 36 for just $12, too. We had the coveted two-seat row against the back wall. I gave Mom and Charlie the seats and just stood/kneeled in the little space next to them. Standing actually helped me get some of the breeze, which we needed on this hot day. Above, a half 'n' half shot.

Wally's mom was there, of course.

I don't know what kind of sorcery is behind the scoreboards, but the edges of them have these...lit-up...dots.

Picture-perfect and whatnot.

Sign in front of the Beane booth.

Everybody had the pink stuff today. Cody Ross misses this Justin Masterson pitch with his pink bat. I knew a long time ago we'd have a 40% chance of seeing either Lowe or Masterson. Glad we got one. Always good to see my former favorite Red Sock--I wasn't sad that we scored 4 off him in the first (after my mom predicted a two-out rally).

Daniel Nava is 6 for 10 with Boston this year, and is dirty.

My mom has a dog named Salty, whose full name is Saltalamacchia. So we were glad to see the human Salty homer and knock in 5. We also had a great angle on Middlebrooks's rocket dong (and all the other long hits to left).

Bard got in a few jams, but it was essentially a blowout, 12-1.

And the blowout made it possible for us to go line up under the bleachers for the annual Mother's Day "Walk in the Park" without missing any important stuff. (We did miss Mauro Gomez's debut, seeing it only on TV while we waited.) Above is not a crowd, but the (really wide) line itself.

We entered the field through the center field door and were sent clockwise. Big League Brian was in his old-school get-up.

Looking right up the foul line to Pesky's Pole.

That urinal in the vistors' dugout.

It was tough, but we finally managed to get on the scoreboard while also taking a picture of it. The three of us ending up doing the three different things you can do in this situation: Mom's waving at the camera, Charlie's waving at himself on the board, and I'm taking the picture.

Another shot of that 100 Years logo--but now there's a mark on it, as if a ball nailed it. Look closer:

I don't remember it happening during a game. Could have been from a fungo or BP hit.

Close-up of that corner by the 379 sign. This stuff is in play....

We spent a long time on the field--still, when we got back to CF, a whole other set of people were just being led out there. Staffers gave out flowers to the moms as we left the ballpark. Oh, and we saw Gammons get into his Benz as we walked through the parking lot. Kim was selling soap at a market in Boston so she was able to meet up with us for the post-game dinner. Great day all a-proverbial-round.