not exactly as planned

ok. so on paper, it all looked good.

nutshell version:
1. Manny looks pretty comfortable running. doesn't look like he's feeling a whole lot of pain. so... anyone else ready for a reminder of what a Manny home run feels like?

2. i think announcers just like saying Boof Bonser. think i'm kidding? when was the last time you recall them calling a pitcher by his full name for the entire game? usually it's just the first time you see him, and an occasional sprinkling over the course of the game. but more often than not, they start being referred to by their last name (and once in a while, on a first name basis): Beckett. Schilling. Burnett. Kazmir.

3. Scott Kazmir is the strike out leader. too bad he couldn't pitch to win last night. against a heavily watered down Yankee offense, no less. once again, Kaz proves to be a thorn in our side once again & we weren't even playing the Rays.

4. wouldn't have mattered what happened in the weird artificial lighting of The Trop if Boston had done their job though. like not, once again, leaving bases loaded in a game we were losing by only one run with one out in the ninth. that is the very definition of maddening. ::shakes fist at the Boston bats::

5. it's amusing as all heck to watch our opponents chase wallballs all over the outfield. it never gets old. the ricochet that leaves them scrambling around like a dog when you throw three tennis balls at the same time. for the record though, it is far less entertaining when it's *our* guys acting like that. patience with the rookies though. they have a little while to learn the idiosyncrasies of Fenway, and how we use them to our advantage. makes me appreciate all the more how instinctively Coco seemed to understand center field.

6. Jacoby Ellsbury beat out a dropped third strike & was called safe at first. let me repeat that for you: Jacoby Ellsbury beat out a dropped third strike & was called safe. i don't know what else to say. that's just not normal. and he's *ours*.

so. that's it. we lost. they won. two game lead in the division. three games left to be played.

tonight we hope for the following:
--hits from the Sox
--the ability to not waste enough of those hits to actually win the game
--an appearance from pre-All Star Break Hundred Million Dollar Pitcher
--we continue to ask ourselves "who is... Kevin Slowey?"
--the Orioles relocate their magic and can rain fire & brimstone down on The Nemesis

p.s. Joshy? now is *not* the time to revert back to your 2006 self.
::picks up a glove & whacks Joshy upside the head with it::
ok. now i feel better.