so much happy

photos from the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald

they really really played baseball yesterday. the weather looked like the only thing that was promising was another cancellation. turns out they got the whole game in, if not delayed by a couple of hours. i am still a little unsure why they didn't play a double header, since the game was over by 2:45, but i don't pretend to know the hows & whys of scheduling ballgames.

anyway.

some random thoughts from -- or inspired by -- yesterday's game.

1. Bats! Bats! Bats! aka Kevin Youkilis thought people had jumped to conclusions too early about the lack of potency in the Red Sox lineup. (Extra Bases) if Youk says it is so, i am inclined to believe him. you know what's even more freaking awesome? Curt says: We’ve still got a ways to go to really gel, but it’s coming. (38 Pitches) i don't even know what else to say to that except: dude. ::slack-jawed::

2. speaking of Youk. the patented Youk wiggle was back at the plate today. i think he's taunting certain people with his possession of that ass. ;-)

3. one of the most bizarre things i've heard so far this season, as announced during yesterday's game: "Lugo needs help, and Manny is there with it!" describing a play on the field. isn't that something like the blind leading the blind out there? or at the very least, akin to playing Russian Roulette?

4. while we're on the topic of Julio & Manny. it seems that Lugo plays defense like Manny's mini-me. (wow. that brought with it a whole slew of frightening mental images...) as in "when he feels like it, he pulls off gravity-defying, mind-boggling acrobatic feats." either that or he might be aspiring to be like Jeter, making routine plays merely appear impressive. whatever. just play ball & stop dramatizing our infield.


5. David Ortiz hit his fourth homer in the fourth inning. Ortiz is trying to hit the ball more to left-center. Great thought. (Extra Bases) hmmmm... another way for Papi to say "shift this"? i'm on board.

6. Wily Mo Pena can't hit a curveball or change-up to save his life. It's too bad he's never been able to spend a full season in the minors. (Extra Bases) WMP to the minors? for a whole season? anyone else want to second this concept & start petitioning management?

7. there is all together way too much hugging going on in Boston these days. it's starting to unnerve me just a little.



8. is this not the perfect written snapshot of Papelbon?? I really can't get over how down pat Jonathan has his drama queen routine around closing. He has his own unique, hyper-aggressive swagger buffed to a high gloss by now, from the fist-bump with the cop outside the bullpen and the slow measured steps to the lip of the outfield grass to the precisely timed break into his trot to the mound. And once he gets there, the game face in full effect is quite impressive--he has clearly been practicing his nostril-flare in the off-season. It kind of makes me laugh, but only because he's on my team. (Cursed to First) here's a scary thought. ever having to face Jon in another uniform. ::shiver::

9. ok, we need something to get our minds off that last horrifying mental image i provided. how about: Remy & Don found their topic du jour. this time in the form of refreshments being tossed around in the stands. supposedly, the story is that some fan reached for a foul ball & might have potentially interfered with a play. someone threw their beer at the offender. and everyone knows pizza goes well with beer, right?



10. still stressed out? how about this moment from Friday's game: Another great moment in broadcasting brought to you by NESN: the closeups on the guy wearing a wolf on his head in the top of the ninth, and Don Orsillo's ensuing comments about which small animals are appropriate to wear as a hat. (Cursed to First) we really are lucky enough to have the best tv broadcast team in MLB.

11. i thoroughly enjoyed this little bit on Manny's run-scoring yesterday: I watched him chugging along, not looking terribly hurried but also seeming deep in concentration--so deep, in fact, that I got the sense he could have been out at home plate by 50 feet and he'd have rounded third anyway. Just a mid-speed but inexorable gait, as if Manny was running the bases for his own enjoyment, ball game be damned. I realize that is probably not the reality, but it seems that way. (Cursed to First)

12. don't make too big a deal of it, just in case drawing too much attention throws it off track, but... Joshy is 3-0. with a 1.50 ERA.


13. However, our center fielders look like they can’t hit the broad side of a barn with a baseball bat. Coco is just clueless, and if the ball isn’t straight as an arrow, WMP will miss by a foot and a half. (Dirty Watah) sad, but true. also in the "sad, but true" category: Interestingly, Wily Mo got the start over Coco, and promptly struck out twice, going 0-for-3 on the afternoon, and giving me the sneaking suspicion that if we ever got a full week of watching WMP in the line-up, we'd have planes towing "Play Coco" banners flying over Fenway Park. (Surviving Grady) i wish Eric Hinske could play center...

14. at first, i was mildly disturbed that Julian gets the nod against Halladay on Thursday. then i realized that we are destined to lose that one anyway, so why put one of the other four in there for a sure loss, right? Curt already got his obligatory loss out of the way. 10K was subjected to King Felix. we don't want to upset Joshy's delicate balance. Wakey takes enough abuse during the season. and who knows? Julian is completely freaking out of his mind. he may just be the one who could go out there & win, because, simply, he's that insane.

15. one last thing. do you ever get tired of seeing this? yeah, me neither.