you can't buy love. or happiness. or, apparently, victory.

remember a week & a half ago when the vast majority of Red Sox Nation was all gloom-and-doom?

it feels like a million years & several lifetimes ago now. (Papi & Papelbon excluded because really...*what* is going on there??) and on the subject of millions, the Yankees can pick up all the CC/AJ/Teixeira they can scavenge from the free agent pool, but the fact still stands that their ERA is still the worst in Major League Baseball & Mike Lowell has made just as many home run trots around the bag without all the obnoxious & ego.

and the Yankees were still swept in Boston after leading each of the three games, all with their own unique flavor.

on Friday, we had The Drama: there were extra innings. and JayBay heroics on blown save for Mo with his two-run game-tying homer to the deepest part of Fenway. and a Youk walkoff sailing over The Monster & out into the night off of Damaso Marte, Part One.

Saturday brought The Epic: a back-and-forth four-plus-hour slug fest, of which the Tek slam was the crowning jewel. (did anyone else notice him chowing down on a pudding cup in the dugout later? was that his reward?). and because it was aired on FOX, of course we were treated to 93% coverage of the Yankees dugout while the Wonder Twins, Buck-and-McCarver blathered on about nothing for what felt like eternity. we heard a brilliant fan heckle with "that would have been a home run at your stadium!" when Jeter hooked a long foul, later followed by "this game could go on forever" right around the same time we all were thinking it ourselves. there was even an episode of Johnny-meet-wall (you'd think he'd have some memory of how to play it?!) when the clanging sound off the wall was more Damon than ball. and the cherry on top: Damaso Marte, The Sequel. because it's just that much fun to hear the enormous collective sigh from Yankees fans.

and on Sunday we wrapped it up with The Speed: an uncharacteristically low-scoring "fast" (by Sox-Yankees standards) game. Masterson giving us the best outing for Boston starting pitching. the utterly shocking moment when Ellsbury straight up stole home, leaving Tito momentarily dumbfounded, then busting up laughing. ESPN providing us with 412 opportunities to scream at the tv for Joe Morgan shut up. the pleasant surprise of seeing the promise that kids like Hunter Jones & Michael Bowden have to offer.

by the time all was said and done, the question of the weekend was who was the owner of the bigger ulcer: Girardi or Tito?

trick question!

it's *me* with the announcement of E6 joining the team in Cleveland.

in choosing to dwell on the positive, here is where the Sox stand: three-series home sweep. ten wins in a row. can they keep it up? and more importantly, can they continue their torrid hitting on the road? maybe pull off some wins for me in Tampa?

and the real question: how long before Youk starts pointedly complaining that he has no one protecting *him* in the lineup?