BOSOXBLOG

Heaven

Last night I thought I had died and gone to heaven. There I was at a CELTICS playoff game as the top seed. The Bruins were still alive. Ortiz was out of his slump. Hell, the weather was even nice. Seven rows in front of me sat Coco. Also at the game were John Henry, Ortiz, Cora, Youk, Lowell, and Pedroia.

Yes, this was heaven.

The Celtics didn’t let me down either. I remembered last year where the whole crowd only watched Sox players watching the game. But this year it’s a different story. There were fireworks in the garden to introduce the players. It was smoky the entire first half, but the adrenaline of the garden was too high for my asthma to kick.

Then at half time, like any good Boston sports fan I panicked. I think you’ll all agree with me on this panic attack, though. They had Lucky the mascot dunk over Ortiz. Ortiz is there holding up a basketball, and scrawny drunk looking Lucky is running towards the trampoline.

All I could think was, what if Lucky doesn’t jump high enough.

What if this is what puts Papi on the DL list for the season. The crowd was cheering wildly as I held my breath, waiting for Papis agent to interfere. I was half expecting Francona to come in and stop it. But Lucky was too quick for any interference. And thank God, the man is more athletic than he looks. He went way over Ortiz. And I, well, I went straight back to heaven.

Bling and Buckner Hit Boston

Who is this man throwing out the first pitch? Is that… No it couldn’t be. The fans are cheering. Is that Burt Reynolds. Is that… no there’s just no possible way, is that… Buckner? Cause it sure as hell looks like him. How did I get so drunk from one beer I am obviously mistaking some American idol singer for Bill Buckner…

But it wasn’t that my one Bud Light was super potent. It really happened.  It’s a great day in Boston when Buckner can come back to Fenway to throw out the first pitch and get cheered. Hell, he even made Youk shed a few tears. And let me tell you, rewatching the press conference at the gym today, I cried like aBlig SportsCenter. I had come to terms with the man who I blamed for ruining my life at the age of two…

Chicago could learn from this. I mean it only took us twenty-two years right? And two series wins. There’s hope for Bartman! See, there I go again. That’s terrible comparing Buckner to him. Buckner was also a baseball player, not the best fielder, but the man could hit. He is a legend to come back. Love it when sports get classy.

So what’s better than Buckner getting cheered, Neil Diamond singing Sweet Caroline, and seeing some legendary Bruins, Pats, and Celtics players showing off their trophies?

I can think of one. The actual game. Way to step up into ace shoes Dice-K.  Turns out all our boys needed was a bit of bling to get them out of their slump. They look like champions again.

Oh and the Yankees lost.

Some sunshine needed in Boston...

It’s been a bad week with the sky acting like how I feel everyday. Today in rainy still cold Boston I suddenly had a revelation. It’s baseball season. We are still the champions. So I walked into a bar and sat down happily with my Sunday sports page to read during commercials.

I sat down with my Guinness to warm my body and watched. Beckett was pitching what could possibly go wrong…

Oh right. Everything. Now I remember the good old days of being a Sox fan, when trainwrecks were a weekly occurrence. We can blame Lugo as much as we want, but it’s deeper than that. No one on our team is playing to his normal standards. Jet lag, jet smag. We need to pick it up. And soon.

We have opening day this Tuesday, and Boston is dreary enough right now without a bunch of disappointed drunk fans wandering the streets. I will be at the game on Saturday, and we don’t need an angry me trying to brawl Yankees fans, I’m actually a lot smaller then I think. Also we have twenty games in twenty days, so we really need to build some momentum.

My godmother and I will be selling “I love New York” shirts, with some puffy paint written below it before the game on Saturday. You know how expensive hot dogs and beer are at Fenway, so feel free to buy one!  Just think the more beer my godmother and I can afford the more likely every Yankees fan will be harassed. Puffy paint has never been so wicked!

Suffering Season Lag

I’ll right I’ll be honest with you, its just not the same this year. How can it be when all the press conferences and articles all have more to do with the effects of jet lag rather than the game of baseball. It’s hard to throw a party at 6AM Boston time. Beer and dogs for breakfast, rough meal before an 8-4 shift.

I finally moved back to Boston after living away for five years. Five hard years of watching games on different time zones, convincing people it wasn’t cricket, and having to kiss up to bartenders just to get the game on. Now I’m home. It should be easy. I returned to the States with what I thought were fairly moderate expectations. A Paddy’s day filled with green jerseys.  Apparently with all their travel there was no room for green jerseys this year. I wanted a good PTI to prepare me for the first game, not an Oprah show on preventing jet lag. A party to kick off the season.  With even a few token Yankee fans to harass.

I wanted to start the season with a bang, not my beeping alarm clock.  And so it goes, now that I’m home, the Sox are abroad.

Poll: What should Manny give Pedroia for .300?

According to the Providence Journal, Manny Ramirez has been taking it upon himself to motivate Dustin Pedroia to perform better - buying him a number of suits during the 2007 season and a Rolex watch for winning rookie of the year.

Joe McDonald's story said Manny plans to buy Pedroia something else if he scores a .300 batting average this year.

So, BoSoxBlog reader(s) I think we should help Manny out. What should he get Pedroia if Dusty discovers how to swing for .300 during the 2008 season?

Never too early for Spring Cleaning...

It’s time for spring-cleaning. This may seem like a silly notion, as I still have yet to unpack my flat I moved into months ago. But I’m completely serious. Get the boxes and brooms out, make way for spring. It’s still just the beginning of February and today I found myself buying a few bikinis and more importantly a new Sox shirt. It’s not about the groundhog, it’s about baseball, and it’s been unseasonably warm lately.

It was a hard day for all of us in Boston. For those of you who sported the Pats jerseys today, I commend you. I wish I had that sort of dignity, or patience. But as soon as that last Giants completion, my Pats jersey was out the window. People today asked me why my voice was so hoarse, I explained to baffled customers I was in a very intense argument with some Brady fellow. It was very one-sided.

A man with a Giants hat on returned an unworn Patriots jersey at my store today. I told him I was only allowing the return as to not get fired, but I didn’t appreciate the gesture. And my eyes told him all sorts of things, such as, well, my new years resolution is to cut down on cursing, but you can think of a few I’m sure. I saw a tear swelling up in him by the time he left.

To the people who rode the bus with me, too wilted to even breeze through the Metro, Boston Now, or god save us, the Globes sports section. I feel for you, I am one of you. So join me in some much needed spring-cleaning. Pack away the Pats jerseys for a little while if just seeing it makes you do things such as down a bottle of whiskey, risk losing your job to insult a New Yorker, or setting your house on fire to the Globes sports page.

Take out your Red Sox stuff, ok, it’s probably already out. Start rewatching taped games. Remind yourself everyday the Yankees did NOT get Santana.  And we never needed him anyway, but our boy Pedro does. We are still the champions of baseball.

And for those of you who can’t wait that long, old games, and trade rumors won’t kick this terrible feeling we almost forgot (feeling defeated) let’s hope Garnett gets his health back soon, and lets look to the Celtics for some much needed sun.

And the Yankees didn’t get Santana.

The meaning of hats

It's been a little while since I've posted, and that's because I recently completed a 400+ mile move that took me from south central Pennsylvania to the Bay State's North Shore.

In the process, I've discovered that the meaning of my Red Sox hat has changed. Again.

When I bought the hat  in college a few years ago, I bought it because of the ubiquity of Red Sox hats in Massachusetts. I sometimes woke up in places other than my dorm room, and would have to trek back across public venues while my hair stuck up lop-sided on my head.

I wanted something to hide my bed-head on the sometimes-mile long walk back from one friend's place or another, and so many people had Red Sox hats that you almost didn't notice them.

This is not to say that I wasn't a Sox fan. I was, and have been since the first time my father took a seven-year-old me to a rainy game at Fenway Park - but I never really liked wearing hats. I liked combing (and at one point spiking) my hair. Hats get in the way of that.

But when I moved to Pennsylvania, my navy cap with the red and white B on the front became a badge of honor. I rooted for the storied team that boasted such heroes as Ted Williams and Curt Schilling. I rooted for the baseball team that hails from the city with more educational institutions than any other place in America, and the country's oldest operating subway line. A city with a rich history, pegged firmly to the birth of the country.

I wore it as a mark of home and an object of comfort.

Now I'm back.

I work in Cambridge. I take the green line to work, and pass the nation's oldest college daily.

But I still wear my hat. it doesn't feel like an object of anonymous ubiquity any longer. Now it feels like solidarity, not just to Red Sox nation, but to the city of Boston, the state of Massachusetts and the region of New England.

WHAT WERE THE TWINS THINKING?

Well, Johan Santana's headed to New York. No, not the Yankees -wipes forehead-. The Mets have set up a trade for the two-time Cy Young Award winner with such superstars as center fielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.

Wait, who?
Have you ever heard of these guys?
No, didn't think so.

Well, let's just take a quick look at the other trade possibilities the Twins could have taken for Santana.
The Sox offered center fielder Coco Crisp (to replace now-Angel Torii Hunter), along with any combination of Jon Lester, Justin Masterston, and other prospects. This trade would have given the Twins all they lost during the offseason, plus some bright pitching prospects in exchange for Santana. This deal fell apart when the Sox refused to give Minnesota either Clay Bucholz or Jacoby Ellsbury. Shortly before the Mets deal was struck, the Sox also pulled Lester off the table.

The Yankees offered star prospect Phil Hughes, along with power center fielder Melky Cabrera. While not as lucrative as Boston's offer, it still would have provided some serious talent for arguably the best pitcher in the game. The Yankees withdrew their offer after the Twins failed to meet the Yankees' deadline.

Seriously, Minnesota, Johan Santana is not a collectible comic book. His value does not go up as time draws on and people offer you deals that are actually good for both parties. You just lost the best pitcher is baseball over the past 5 years for four guys nobody outside of your organization has ever heard of, and are least likely to make any sort of impact to your team the way offers from American League tames could. I mean, seriously, your GM should be fired for even considering this deal. At this point, he should have taken maybe just Coco and Masterson, because they provide more for your team than these four so-called prospects ever will.

SlumpBuster update

"Youk's Signature" SlumpBuster energy drink will not feature the (pantless?) woman or pinstripe design, according to Jeff Brannon, CEO of Slump Buster Production.

Instead, it will feature an action shot of Youkilis against a Fenway Green Background. Brannon said the can is still in development.

My steamy winter affair...

Okay, I have to come out and say it. I haven’t being talking Sox much. I haven’t even been talking Pats that much. The truth is I’m having a steamy affair that’s taking up majority of my free time. And if you haven’t heard of Gino, you’re missing out.

It all started years ago with Paul Pierce, but it never seemed to go anywhere. Two weeks in every year my hopes died out and I looked to the Pats and Sox trade rumors to keep me from total hibernation. Now the only thing about baseball is steroids, and its depressing, as depressing as the below zero weather that’s already been kicking our city’s ass.

So last night I let the heat in. And it wasn’t all about the big three. Big Baby was clutch. Glen Davis was the Ellsbury of basketball last night. He was scared of no one. Rondo took care of Chauncy, and House helped with the fouls KG couldn't afford. So in this sad winter, do yourself a favor guys, watch the Celtics. They have it all this year, the best defensive I have ever seen, and with Papi cheering on Allen, a potential rookie of the year, and Pierce leading the team we have more of a chance than ever. Its real basketball, team basketball, no Kobe Bryant I’m gonna show off rather than throw the easy assist sort of game. I mean the dancers might be like L.A. now, but as for the game, its back to old school, these games are going to be rolling as classics on NESN pretty soon, so we may as well start watching them live! And for those west coast games, guzzle down a slump buster!