Committing to going to a baseball game in April is a lot like playing weather roulette. It could either be 40 degrees with a 30 mph wind like it was this past Saturday… or it could be 65 degrees with bright, sunshine-y blue skies like it was today. A perfect scenario for my very first Opening Day at Fenway Park.

Me… in my happy place!

Fans were asked to be in their seats by 1:30 for some special pre-game ceremonies that began by honoring a 60 year partnership between the Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund with a performance by the Jimmy Fund chorus. Following the introductions of the two teams, there was a brief remembrance for both Johnny Pesky and former Baltimore manager Earl Weaver—who both passed away last year.

An American flag, covering the entire Green Monster was unfurled for the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by the Jimmy Fund chorus. And what Opening Day would be complete without a flyover—this year by two vintage P-51 Mustangs from the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation. From behind the giant flag emerged players and patients from the last several decades who made their way from the outfield in to the pitcher’s mound to throw out the first pitches… Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek and Jim Rice were among those players. Of course, it made me teary. They always know how to make me cry.

The only thing that could make the day better was a win, which the Red Sox served up in dramatic fashion. The pitchers dueled for the first 6.5 innings—Clay Buchholz for the good guys and Wei-Yin Chen for the Orioles. At this point, I figured the first team to score would win the game. Luckily, the Sox struck first.

You just knew good things were going to happen when Dustin Pedroia led off the bottom of the 7th with an infield single. Mike Napoli quickly followed with a line shot to the center field wall for double. The fans got a bit restless when Pedroia was held up at third, especially when Will Middlebrooks whiffed for the first out. Not to fear though, Daniel Nava smashed a 91 mph fastball over everything into a dumpster on Landsdowne Street.

Clay Buchholz was masterful, pitching seven innings of three-hit shutout ball, while striking out eight Orioles. He joins Jon Lester at 2-0 on this young season with an ERA of 0.64. Joel Hanrahan earned his third save, but it was not without drama. He gave up two hits in the top of the ninth, one a home run to Adam Jones to make us all hold our breath just a little bit.

The Sox take on the Orioles again for game two of the series on Wednesday night with Ryan Dempster taking the mound, trying for his first win with his new team. Click here for the exciting box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.

*blink blink* Did that really happen last night? Honestly, if I hadn’t been there to witness the carnage first hand, I never would’ve believed it. I almost think it was worse to experience it in person. I felt… violated.

To properly recap this game would take more pages than you’re probably willing to read so I’m going to make it simple. Basically every inning but the fourth had some action. Some of the action made me feel incredibly happy and some of the action made me want to jump onto the field and stab every member of the team — starting with those who did NOT attend Johnny Pesky’s funeral (yes, I’m still hung up on that and I’m sure I will be fore the rest of the season… at least.)

First Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score one.
SCORE: 1-0 Sox

Second Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Franklin Morales seems to have his stuff. Red Sox score five capped by a three-run dinger by Dustin Pedroia! OH MA GAHD! *happy dance*
SCORE: 6-0 Sox

Third Inning:
Angels score eight runs. Yes, eight. A lot of bad shit happened. The Angels sent 13 men to the plate. Morales forgot how to pitch, he walked in runs. There was a fielding error, a lot of hits and a stolen base. Clayton Mortensen replaced Morales. He sucked too. Junichi Tazawa replaced Mortensen and finally got them out of the inning. It was bad. The whole inning was such a blur to me since I couldn’t see the field too well through my angry eyes. Red Sox failed to score.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fourth Inning:
No scoring. Holy crap.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fifth Inning:
Mark Melancon replaced Tazawa, holds Angels scoreless. Red Sox score one run.
SCORE: 8-7 Angels

Sixth Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Red Sox score two on a Mike Aviles home run and a couple of doubles by Pedro Ciriaco (who went 4-6) and Jacoby Ellsbury (who went 3-6).
SCORE: 9-8 Sox

Seventh Inning:
Andrew Bailey replaced Melancon. Angels score one on a Mike Trout RBI single to tie it up. Red Sox fail to score.
SCORE: 9-9

Eighth Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score two runs on four singles by Scott Podsednik, Ciriaco, Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (who went 4-6).
SCORE: 11-9 Sox

Ninth Inning:
Alfredo Aceves came in for the save…and blew it. Vernon Wells hit a questionable homer but no one bothered to wake Bobby Valentine up to challenge it. The other two runs came on three singles, a walk and an error. Red Sox came back with one of their own on a Cody Ross homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it back up.
SCORE: 12-12

Tenth Inning:
Aceves came back out. WTF? And he immediately gave up a go ahead home run to Kendrys Morales. Craig Breslow replaced Aceves and the Angels score another on a single and a double by Vernon Wells. Red Sox come back with one in the bottom of the inning, but it’s a too little, too late.
FINAL SCORE: 14-13 Angels

Between the two teams, this game saw a total of 27 runs, 38 hits, 21 strike outs and five home runs. The game lasted a painful 4 hours and 34 minutes. Here’s the link to another frustrating night of Red Sox baseball. The KC Royals come in tonight at 7:10pm for the first game of a four-game series. Jon Lester tries to win his third straight as he takes on Bruce Chen.

Here’s a (not so) fun fact: The Sox broke a 170 game streak last night. This is the FIRST TIME since May of 1970 they lost a game after scoring 13 runs. (Stat courtesy of Gordon Edes’ Twitter feed.) Just goes to show you what kind of season this has been. And now add into the mix the bad mojo of not attending Johnny Pesky’s funeral as a united team and they’ll be lucky if they don’t just vanish from the standings all together. That’s sort of what I’m hoping happens.

Rest in peace, Mr. Pesky… (Photo by me.)

I’m not going to bore you with yet another account of how the Red Sox lost AGAIN… or how Clay Buchholz, who has been pretty much lights out lately, had one of his worse outings of the season. If you would like to torture yourself with this information, I’m sure this box score will be quite helpful. I actually was lucky enough to not have had to sit through another painful display from a team who obviously just doesn’t give a shit. So guess what? I don’t give a shit either. I went to see Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford last night — much less infuriating.

So instead, I’m going to tell the tale of how this 2012 Red Sox team has managed to disappoint me more than they have in a very long time. Maybe ever. Sure… last September was a major disappointment. I mean who doesn’t get frustrated with a team who throws in the towel with a month left to the season to eat fried chicken and get fat in the clubhouse? And yes, there have been other seasons where our hopes and dreams have been dashed — but most times, it’s not for lack of trying.

But this one takes the cake.

Johnny Pesky’s funeral was this past Monday in Swampscott, Massachusetts. According to Google Maps, Swampscott is approximately a half hour from Boston. The Red Sox organization provided busses to transport players and personel to the funeral services for a man who spent over 60 years with the Red Sox organization in some capacity or another. A man who just about everyone who goes to work at Fenway Park everyday loved dearly. So that would be what — three hours or so out of your day? This was an off day for the Red Sox, who had arrived home in the wee hours of the morning from a long, unsuccessful road trip.

Do you want to know how many current Red Sox players decided to don a crisp black suit and hop on the bus to honor an old friend?

Four.

Four players attended Mr. Pesky’s funeral.

I know…

Those four — David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Vicente Padilla and Jarrod Saltalamacchia — will be the only players I will not shoot death rays out of my eyeballs at the next time I’m at Fenway Park. Everyone else is fair game. Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett — I’m looking at you bums first, when my death rays will be at their most powerful. Was just wearing the #6 on Tuesday night good enough for you? You should be ashamed.

WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan show interviewed Larry Lucchino this morning and naturally, this was a topic of conversation. According to an article in the Boston Globe, Lucchino did nothing but make excuses for the absent players. Of course he did — you know, they did just get in at 4am that morning from a looooong road trip. The full interview can be heard here:

“There was a tremendous turnout at Johnny Pesky’s funeral,” Lucchino told listeners on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show. “We had over a 100 people there in terms of ownership, front office, current players, staff, former players. It was a very impressive turnout. I think the people who knew Johnny best had came to it. Our players will have had a chance on Tuesday night to participate in a ceremony on the field — they all willingly and enthusiastically participated on that date — and then there’s going to be another memorial service. So I think it’s unnecessary to focus on that issue.”

I’m sure the lack of current Sox players was glaringly obvious to those in attendance. It really saddened me when I heard the news this morning. But hey, let’s mow a #6 in the grass behind short stop and call it good.

Tonight, the Red Sox and Angels wrap up this three game series with Franklin Morales trying to salvage at least one game of the series, against CJ Wilson. I’ll be there… eyeball death rays in full force. Don’t be surprised if players start dropping dead on the field.

The Red Sox lost last night to the LA Angels 5-2. You know what that means? It means that even when they honor a recently deceased, long-time beloved member of the Red Sox family, they can’t even manage to eek out a win for him. So basically, the only fun thing that happened last night, happened before the game even started. (Hey, give me a break… I’m trying to at least find the good in these pathetically played games. If I don’t, I’ll end up starting every post with, “Guess what? The Red Sox still suck.”)

Last night’s game was the first game at Fenway Park since Johnny Pesky passed away on August 13th. And while they donned the black arm band as part of their away grays; for the home unis, they added a patch displaying Johnny’s #6. In honor of Johnny and what he meant to the Sox organization, every member of the team wearing a uniform wore the #6. Seriously, when I turned on the TV and saw this, I almost started sobbing. The Red Sox also mowed the #6 into the grass just behind short stop — Pesky’s position. Please let them keep this for the rest of the season. His son, David Pesky, threw out the first pitch.

I would’ve been happy if the night ended there had I known the rest of it was going to, well, suck. Aaron Cook took the loss — his seventh of the year — giving up five runs (four earned) on 11 hits to an Angels line up that, with the exception of rookie phenom, Mike Trout, has not been all that spectacular as of late.

After going down 5-0 after five innings, the Sox made an attempt to get back into it in the sixth with a two-run home run by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. They managed to squeak out another run in the seventh, but were shut down by the Angels bullpen. *blerg*

So they’ve lost five out of their last seven games. They’re now five games under .500 and I think they’re more interested in catching the Blue Jays to challenge them for last place than they are in catching any of the other teams in their division. At least that’s the direction they always seem to be headed… Click here for the ever-frustrating box score, courtesy of the ever-frustrating Red Sox.

Tonight, the current star of the Sox pitching staff, Clay Buchholz, will go for win #12 as he faces off against the star of the Angels staff, Jered Weaver, who is equally motivated as he goes for win #16. On paper, looks like quite the duel… but this year paper doesn’t mean crap for this team.

Photo by me.

Red Sox legend and right field foul pole namesake, Johnny Pesky, has died at age 92, according to a WEEI report. This causes me incredible sadness. I was too young to ever see Pesky play for the Red Sox in the 1940′s and early 50′s, too young to see him manage the Red Sox in the 1960′s, but he was a fixture with the team in some capacity for most of my life. The smile on his face and his connection with each of the Red Sox players is what I’ll remember about this 1946 All Star.

Nothing made me cry harder than in 2004 when he was presented with his very own World Series ring… until I went to the 100th Anniversary game this past April 20th. An obviously emotional Pesky, along with Bobby Doerr, was wheeled out onto the field by Jason Varitek for the pre-game celebrations. I kept noticing him dab at his eyes repeatedly with a handkerchief, and at one point, Jason put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder to comfort him. I sobbed uncontrollably.

I’m going to miss #6. I’m going to miss his warm, smiling face at the special Red Sox celebrations where he has always been a fixture.

RIP, Johnny… you’ll live in our hearts forever.

It’s a rainy Monday and my mind is definitely not on work today. I’m still busy reminiscing over the events that transpired at Fenway Park this past Friday. The events that shot April 20, 2012 up to the top of my list of most memorable sports moments for me (at least that I’ve witnessed live.) For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how the Red Sox organization would pull off the introduction of some 200+ past players and still start the game on time. But they did it, and did it in star-studded style.

Photo by me.

Baseball has always been a very emotional sport for me. I’ve been a fan as long as I can remember — thanks to my dad, grandfather and even my great grandmother (who loved her Sox!) I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love this team. I’ve endured so many ups and downs over my 35+ years of following them — for most of those years, I suffered mainly through the ‘downs’. The ‘ups’ came later. When the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004 after an 86 year drought, I cried.

I knew from the time I secured tickets for this historic game that I would be a blubbering mess. And stupid me, I forgot my tissues. I spent a good portion of the celebration wiping tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. And just when I would get myself under control, another past player would appear and the waterworks would start again. But nothing made me out-loud sob like when Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield (with David Ortiz) wheeled out a 92-year-old Johnny Pesky and a 94-year-old Bobby Doerr to the middle of the field. I’m too young to have seen them play, heck my dad is too young to have seen them play, but there is just something about Johnny’s relationship with organization that gets me every time I see him.

Photo by me.

My Top 5 6 Loves from Friday, April 20th:

1. Yaz. Enough said.

2. Seeing some of my favs from my childhood – Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Jerry Remy, Carlton Fisk – to name a few.

3. The return of Bill Buckner to cheers! And of course, Terry Francona’s return to the biggest cheers. I miss him a lot right now!

4. The roar of the crowd each time a favorite walked onto the field. Fenway seemed to be almost buzzing with excitement, like nothing could ruin the day….

5. The throwback uniforms. Although having no numbers on them made it a bit difficult to keep track.

6. Getting to meet Becca in person!!

My Top 5 Dislikes from Friday, April 20th:

1. The obvious missing players. Where or where was Rick Burleson?? I know some had an excuse, like Fred Lynn. But Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks, John Valentin, Bob Stanley… where were they?

2. A ceremonial first pitch that made me want to gag. Caroline Kennedy, Mayor Tom Menino and Thomas Fitzgerald threw out the balls to Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski and Pudge Fisk from their seats. Lame.

3. Not learning until after the game that the Budweiser Deck was filled with a bunch of old players. CRAP!

4. Warm grape juice. I’m going to tell you a secret… I barely took a sip. *bleck*

5. Losing the game. That sucked.

Despite the loss, it’s a day I won’t soon forget. I’m so thankful that my father-in-law invited me to meet him in Boston for this unforgettable event. (Happy Birthday to me — a few months early!)

Sometimes, a fan is lucky enough to attend one of those baseball games that stick with you over time, the memories etched indelibly into your mind.  We’re lucky enough to randomly have bleacher seats for a Tuesday afternoon getaway where a no-name pitcher throws a perfect game.  Or, we find ourselves standing and applauding for a three-home run night that came out of nowhere.  Or, we see a play unfold that, even though it might take all of five seconds from start to finish, will leave us shaking our heads at each other and marking up our scorecards with asteriks and stars and made-up language to suit our own memories.

National Anthem (credit: Amanda Laws)

Yesterday, Stacy and I were both lucky enough to get to a game that we knew going in would be historic – a Red Sox-Yankees game that fell on the 100th anniversary of the opening of Fenway Park.  We were both there well before gametime (we found each other in the stands to say hi, and we have the picture to prove it!), and we both watched what was probably one of the best tributes to baseball – and to the power of sport – that I’ve ever seen.

First things first: I got to Fenway early enough to sneak my way into the fancy box seats against the third baseline, where I caught the tail end of the Yankees’ batting practice.  Now, I’ve lived in Boston for years, and I cover the Red Sox for Aerys.  But I’ll be the first person to tell you that I grew up in New York, and my Yankees bloodline runs pretty deep.  So, I’m always a little bit starstruck when I get within 500 feet of any Yankee, let alone Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez.

And oh hey, look, it’s Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez:

credit: Amanda Laws

I have to say, I hardly ever get to a game in time to see batting practice.  But I’m always glad when I do.  It’s like a home run derby without the silly rules and overdone hype.  And, I’m always blown away by how massive the players are in person.  Alex Rodriguez is, up close, really, really tall and really, really jacked.  It’s just kind of insane how athletic these players are.  It’s also kind of insane how easily they flip batting practice pitches out of the stadium.  It’s as casual to them as it would be for us to swat a fly.

credit: Amanda Laws

Soon after batting practice ended, the pregame ceremony began.  We noticed that there were, oh, something like 200 people standing in the garage in the center field wall.  The PA announcer launched into a Field of Dreams soliloquy, and soon it all became clear: those 200 people crammed into the garage were all old Red Sox players, coaches, and managers, and they walked out onto the field in “if you build it, they will come” style, taking their old positions.  The ceremony took a long time – the Sox properly and correctly gave each player, whether bit part, role player, Hall of Famer, or living legend, their due.

credit: Amanda Laws

The crowd loved it.  A friend of mine who works a good mile away texted me to ask what all the cheering was about.  By far, the biggest cheers were for recently-ousted manager Terry Francona, members of the 2004 and 2007 teams, and for the old greats.  My experience was enhanced by the old men sitting directly behind me, who screamed out the name of every player they recognized in pitch perfect Boston accents (“Billy Bucknah!  No-mah Gah-cia-parrah!  Cahl-ton Fisk!”).

credit: Amanda Laws

Once all the alums were on the field, the current Red Sox joined them for the rest of the ceremony.  This was the crowd’s first chance to see the 1912 version of the uniforms (the Sox wore their pullovers for batting practice), and I thought they were really cool.  Bright white uniforms with “Red Sox” on the front in red writing, without numbers.  White hats with no logos.  And, to a man, the players wore white socks with red stripes, socks pulled up.

The Yankees wore gray road uniforms with a slightly different, but recognizable interlocked NY logo on the left chest.  No numbers on the back, gray hats with navy brims.  And, I thought the coolest part was the Yankees’ socks – also pulled up, navy and dark red stripes.  I think it’s really, really special that the Yankees wore throwback uniforms for this game.  They hardly ever (and never in my lifetime) have strayed from their regular uniform, except for the odd patriotic hat on July 4th or something.  The rivalry goes back a long way, but so does the shared history between the two teams, and I think the Yankees did a lot to help the Red Sox respect the centennial milestone.

When everyone was in place, renowned conductor John Williams conducted the Boston Pops in his Fanfare to Fenway, followed by Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (the guy who dominates your television during the July 4th fireworks) giving us the National Anthem.

credit: Amanda Laws

After that, things got a little rowdy – at least, as rowdy as things can get during a family-friendly event sponsored by Welch’s sparkling white grape juice drink (TM).  Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez – who sounded as if they might have already been celebrating a bit beforehand – clambered up on top of the Sox dugout and led the entire ensemble in a birthday toast.  The toast supposedly broke the Guinness world record for number of people (obviously, it was a packed house yesterday), but I thought the highlight was when Millar implored everyone to “Cowboy Up” again, and when he rambled on for a little too long and then said “this is getting awkward now… please stop filming me.”  The grape juice drink itself was not the finest I’ve ever had, by a long shot – but when Kevin Millar tells you to drink, you drink.

Even after all this, a good two and a half hours after I went through the turnstile on Yawkey Way, there was still a game to play.  A Yankees game, no less.

On April 20, 1912, the Boston Red Sox, who were a beast of a team at the time, staged a comeback rally to beat the mediocre New York Highlanders, 7-6 in 11 innings.  I guess the baseball gods couldn’t allow that much poetry to unfold in a single day, though, as history didn’t repeat itself.  The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 6-2, in a pretty thorough drubbing.  Derek Jeter led off the game with a pop fly to second base that Dustin Pedroia lost in the sun and dropped.  Jeter came around to score, and the Yankees never looked back.  Clay Buchholz went a full six innings, and walked Curtis Granderson to start the seventh, before Bobby Valentine (who was booed lustily every time he popped his head out of the dugout amid chants of “we want Tito”) pulled him.  Buchholz allowed six runs, five of them earned.  He gave up solo home runs to Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, and two to Eric Chavez.  The Boston bullpen held New York scoreless from there.

For the Red Sox, David Ortiz and Mike Aviles each pushed runs across the plate.  Aviles scored Cody Ross on a double to right field in the fifth inning, and Ortiz hit a monster solo home run in the second.  Ortiz, fittingly, illustrated one of the quirks of Fenway Park’s dimensions, when his shot bounced off the top of the Green Monster at its center-field corner, and landed back on the field.  The umpires originally ruled the hit a double, but let Ortiz round the bases after reviewing the film.  Boston staged a sort-of rally in

the ninth inning when Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled off of David Robertson to lead off the frame.  But, Joe Girardi squelched that dream quickly, bringing in Mariano Rivera to protect the four-run (read: non-save situation) lead.  Yankees starter Ivan Nova picked up his third win, allowing two runs over six strong innings of work.

Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  The rivals meet up again today for a 4:05 start, when Felix Doubront will toe up with New York’s Freddy Garcia.

Fenway Park (c/o nesn.com)

Maybe Dorothy’s right.  Maybe, quite simply, there’s no place like home.  After a long spring training and a brutal season-opening road trip, the Boston Red Sox opened up Fenway Park in style today, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 12-2, and bringing their record to 2-5.  The only downside?  Jacoby Ellsbury – who, at least until the iffy Carl Crawford comes back, is the anchor of the Red Sox outfield and a vital part of the lineup, had to leave the game from injury.  We’re not sure how serious Ellsbury’s injury is, but we’ll keep you updated on that.

Following a pre-game ceremony that featured Johnny Pesky, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Tim Wakefield, and Jason Varitek, along with the standard flyover (I LOVE THE FLYOVER!), the Sox unleashed an offensive onslaught.  Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and David Ortiz forced three runs across the plate in the third inning.  After Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases, Gonzalez lined an RBI single to left, followed by a Youkilis sac fly and an Ortiz dribbler that was good for an infield hit and an RBI.

Jacoby Ellsbury's right shoulder (and the rest of him) pushing a huge tire around. You're welcome.

Boston scored again in the fourth inning, when Kelly Shoppach laced a double off the wall in right field and then came around to score on a single by Ellsbury.  Here’s where things went a little haywire: Pedroia grounded a double-play ball to second, and as Ellsbury slid into second base to break up the play, Tampa shortstop Reid Brignac fell on Ellsbury’s shoulder.  Ruh-roh.  I didn’t actually realize Ellsbury was hurt (my actual job got in the way of my dream job for a few minutes there, and I had to turn off the radio feed), but according to the Red Sox website, Ellsbury was on the ground for several minutes in pain before he left under his own power.  Right fielder Ryan Sweeney took over Ellsbury’s spot in the lineup, and Cody Ross moved to center field.

The Red Sox have, at least so far, termed Ellsbury’s injury as a “right shoulder injury,” and have told reporters that he’s going to be evaluated further.

The eighth inning is where the Red Sox offense really took over, scoring eight runs, seven before an out was recorded.  A Shoppach double, a Sweeney single, a Youkilis single, an Ortiz double, a Ross sac fly… it just went on and on.  Suffice it to say, the Red Sox got their conditioning workouts in running the bases.  It got to the point where I think most people wanted the inning to end, so that the now-boring blowout game could end.  Tampa’s Ben Zobrist hit a home run in the top of the ninth inning off of Mark Melancon, but all that did was prolong the clear Red Sox win.

On the defensive side, Josh Beckett pitched a gem, allowing only one run on five hits over 94 pitches and eight innings.  He only struck out one batter, which is weird for him – in 280 games, he’s never not had a strikeout.  He ended his day getting Carlos Pena to swing at air, though.  Melancon picked up the ball from there, pitching a sturdy ninth inning despite the Zobrist dinger.  The Sox also seemed much more comfortable playing on their own field – again, my real job interfered, but Ross and Ellsbury (at least) each made diving catches to back up Beckett’s effort.

For the Rays, David Price only went three innings before handing the ball over to a bullpen that couldn’t hold on to what was, at that point, only a two-run deficit.  Joel Peralta and Josh Lueke took the brunt of the damage, allowing four runs each during that never-ending Boston eighth.  Peralta didn’t even record an out.

Tampa’s Luke Scott, who gave the Globe an earful about Fenway Park yesterday (the short version: it’s a dump, it’s old, it’s tiny, yadda yadda yadda), couldn’t manage to hit a ball out of the tiny park, mustering only a pinch-hit fly ball to Darnell McDonald in the seventh.

Here’s a link to the box, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Clay Buchholz takes on Jeremy Hellickson Saturday for a 4:05 start.

Just like I said yesterday about the Sea Dogs and their struggles, I really hope that some good home cookin’ will get this Red Sox team on track. That sleeping in their own beds will give them the boost they need to START FREAKING WINNING! If not, I’m pretty sure I’m going to die of something. Not sure what just yet… heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, broken heart… If the Sox care about me at all, they will start winning.

Today’s starting line-up:

Johnny Pesky (id10t @ flickr.com)

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Darnell McDonald, LF
Cody Ross, RF
Mike Aviles, SS
Kelly Shoppach, C

And on the mound, trying to get his first win of the season, Josh Beckett. He has quite a bit to prove after his lackluster first start where he gave up 5, yup 5, homeruns.

It’s killing me that I’m at work and listening on the radio. I would give anything to see Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek back on the field for the first pitch. It’s bringing tears to my eyes as I type! Gawd, and now Dewey Evans… WHY don’t I have a TV in my office??? I need to talk to someone about that.

And the announcement of Johnny Pesky… I’m such a damn sissy. Makes me cry every damn time!!

Let’s go Red Sox!!

The facade doesn't look much different today.

On April 20, 1912 the Red Sox hosted their very first game at Fenway Park against the New York Highlanders (now the Yankees) and beat them 7-6. On April 20, 2012, Fenway Park will celebrate its centennial, and commemorate the event by hosting who else but the New York Yankees. The game will start at 3:05pm — the same time the game started in 1912. You know, before they played under the lights. And both teams are going to wear throwback uniforms. This alone makes me giddy… I love throwback uniforms. (Unless you’re the Astros and have a history of hideous duds. Sorry @AGirlintheSouth.)

It’s not like I just found out about this whole thing yesterday, I’ve know for quite a while. It wasn’t a secret. The Red Sox even revealed their plans for this historic date back in December — before tickets for the 2012 season even went on sale. Plenty of time for me to make plans, get tickets, maybe book a hotel room. But that’s not how it worked out for me. Instead, I’ll be taking the afternoon off from work and watching it from the comfort of my own home.
» Continue reading “When Fenway Park Turns 100, (Sadly) I’ll Be Sitting on My Couch”