“Down by the ri-ver…”

I can barely speak.  I was interviewed on mlb radio by a very nice fella, and luckily my voice held up and I didn’t cough once…but now my voice is practically gone.

All thanks to the Red Sox.  Not that I’m complaining.  🙂

Terry Francona did something tonight that he didn’t do all year…and that he didn’t do all of last year either, EXCEPT in the playoffs:

He managed the bullpen brilliantly.  And it made all the difference.

I’m wiped.  I could fall asleep as I type.  I have to leave the house relatively early for the game tomorrow…again, not that I’m complaining…hopefully I’ll have more good news by day’s end.

This win was huge…HUGE.  And my man Mike got another hug from Big Papi.

And the Indians losing was nice too. 

I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to speak tomorrow.  Given my propensity for screaming at the games, that is probably a good thing!

Thanks again to everyone at MLB radio

“R-a-m-b-l-i-n apostrophe”

  I’m a ramblin’ girl tonight…so you might not be able to make any sense out of what I write…but heck, I’m not here to make sense, right?

*  If David Ortiz isn’t the MVP, they need to call the award something different.  The MVP should go to the player who has been the most important to his team.  That is Big Papi all over.  No question, hands down.

*  I think whenever Jonathan Papelbon has two strikes on a batter, everyone at Fenway should start chanting "Jon-a-than!  Jon-a-than!"  like they do in the movie "Rollerball" (the original, not that POS they made a couple of years ago)

*  You know you have a baseball problem when you sit in the cold for roughly four hours watching a baseball game live, and then go home and watch the same game on tape while updating your blog…about baseball.

*  There are still wonderful people in the world.  For absolutely no reason except he knew it would make me happy, an almost total stranger introduced me to Mike Timlin tonight.  It was wonderful and I hope to be able to pay it forward.

*  Speaking of Timlin, he gets the 10th player award tomorrow night.  It’s a fact.

*  Much to my surprise, I have received  a slew of really nice emails from Yankees fans.  Thank you.  It’s nice to know there are such good fans over on the dark side.  😉

*  The emails from the rest of you mean a lot too.  Who knew people would actually read this thing?

*  I’m way too wound up yet completely exhausted to continue.  Let’s leave it at this…Sox are still back by one for the division and tied for the wild card, yet it feels like they are in the lead for both.  This should prove to be one heck of a ride this weekend!

* One quick addition.  A moment before both Manny’s and Papi’s homeruns tonight, I put on my rally cap.  Boom…two homeruns thanks to the power of the rally cap.  Yay me.

“Don’t let them s*ck you in this year”

My uncle Bobby would say (and actually STILL says) this every year to me.  "Don’t let them s*ck you in, Cyn.  You know how it’s going to end!".

Yet every year since I was around 9 or 10, I let them s*ck me in.  Every year.

I used to sit inside with my father and my great-grandfather in the summer on Sunday afternoons while all my cousins and my sister were outside with my mother, the aunts, uncles and my grandparents, enjoying the summer days and my grandparents’ pool.  My father would explain what was going on to me and my great-grandfather (who I suspect only watched the games for the company of my dad, who he loved)…and I was in heaven.

Tonight was bad.  I’m sad.  Really just sad.  After last year, I don’t really feel like being mad…and I know this is all something I’ll get over.  But I feel like I just watched the bottom drop out of the team.

Before all the Yankees fans start gloating, I certainly haven’t given up.  The Red Sox still have as much of a chance to get into the post season as the Yankees do.  If the Yankees really want it, they’re going to have to take it in Fenway – and I still hold out hope that my boys won’t let that happen.

Yet, I’m still sad at the way they lost.  Two in a row.  At home. 

Maybe they’re all sad too?  That doesn’t help, it just makes me feel bad for them.

When I came back from spring training this year, my uncle greeted me with a "I’m telling you, don’t let them s*ck you in!"…even though that had just won the world series.

They’ve broken his heart too many times. 

They’ve broken mine too…but I always come back (incidentally, so does he…he just doesn’t admit it!)…and I always will. 

I love this team and I’ve loved this team since I knew how to.  Long before I got to see them win a World Series.  So don’t tell me to give up.  I won’t.  Don’t tell me I root for a loser…I don’t.

I’ll never understand the joy other fans get in gloating to Red Sox fans about the failures of their team.  As if you all expect us to not cheer for them just because they aren’t the champions every year.  That won’t happen here.  So if you’re expecting a big gloom and doom post, look elsewhere.

I’m sad, but I’m not beaten…neither is this team, I think.  I think they’ll take these losses and examine them for what they are…and come back harder.  They still have four games to go and the Yankees are only up one.  Definitely not insurmountable odds.

Math can be our friend sometimes.  🙂

I’m going to the game tomorrow night and again on Saturday.  I’ll be in my Timlin jersey,in the bleachers, cheering until I’m hoarse.  And regardless of how this week ends, I won’t regret a minute of it.

And I’ll get s*cked in by them next year either way!

Doing what I do best at this time of the year…

…diverting my attention from the Red Sox briefly.  In this case, from the suckitude that is Bronson Arroyo.  Poor kid.  He just stunk up the place.  No two ways about it.   Lenny DiNardo just gave up two more of Bronson Arroyo’s runs.

***Letting it go for now.  Letting it go for now.***

I’ve received a lot of very nice (honestly) emails lately from Red Sox and Yankees fans alike (and even other fans as well).  When I started this blog I did it for no other reason than as a place to rant, vent or just gush – away from "real life" because in my "real life" I tend to drive people a little batshit with my Red Sox obsession.  I never expected anyone but me to read it.  So I’m tickled and  humbled that folks read it and then come back and read it again.  Thanks, everyone!

One of those emails I received was from a fellow named Geoffrey Hanson.  Geoffrey wrote what seems to be a very neat book about last season called "Curse to Verse The Boston Red Sox Miracle Season From A to Z".  I encourage you to check it out…it’s very cleverly done.

I figure if I can spread some good karma around it can’t hurt, right?

(Lenny has two strikeouts.  It’s only the fourth inning…it’s only the fourth inning…it’s only the fourth inning…)

The Standing Ovation

I feel the need to talk a little more about the standing ovation Curt received last night.  Because more than anything…Curt’s poor performance, Terry’s poor use of the bullpen…the freaking LOSS…the thing that bothered me the most was the standing ovation for the guy who blew the game.

For the millionth time…I KNOW what Curt did for the team last October.  But guess what?  Keith Foulke did a lot for the team too.  So did Mark Bellhorn.  As a matter of fact, some might argue that Foulke and Bellhorn did MORE for the team than Curt did last post season…yet Foulke and Bellhorn got booed horribly by the "Fenway Faithful" almost every time they appeared this year.  But not Curt.  Curt gets a standing ovation for blowing the game.  Knowing he didn’t have his stuff with six games left in the season…six games that actually MEAN something…and he stayed in there.  And received a standing ovation for it.

Someone needs to explain this to me.  And "after what he did for us last year he deserves a free pass" doesn’t cut it.  I’m not asking the fans to boo him…I’m asking them to NOT reward a poor performance!  I  mean what does that say?  "You’re Curt Schilling so we’ll love you no matter what YOU do!  But YOU, YOU’RE Keith Foulke and we’ll hate YOU even though you practically threw your arm out helping the team win the World Series last year!"?

That "anonymous player" who complained about the fans treating Curt special last week was dead on right.  And shame on Bob Hohler and Curt and Shonda for not seeing that the player wasn’t asking for Curt to be booed, he was wondering when playing poorly suddenly became a reason to cheer.

If we have to rely on Curt to get us into the post season on Sunday…and then rely on him to get us all the way through…maybe he needs to realize that stepping it up sometimes means stepping DOWN when you  know you don’t have the right stuff.

Cheering him for doing poorly isn’t going to help him get his head together for the game, it just inflates and already over-inflated ego.

The funny thing is…

…as annoyed as I am, I’m not that upset.  The Yankees getting a butt whooping helps…but I’m strangely calm.  I still believe anything is possible.  I have tickets to two more games before the official season is over….a Blue Jays game and a Yankees game.  And regardless of what the standing are, I’ll be there cheering for them.

Of course, I certainly believe the Sox will be in the playoffs…and even with a night as disappointing as this one…I can’t wait for the rest of this week to play out.

And finally…

Curt Schilling does NOT deserve a standing ovation after he BLOWS a freaking lead!

Curt Schilling does NOT deserve a standing ovation after he BLOWS a freaking lead!

Curt Schilling does NOT deserve a standing ovation after he BLOWS a freaking lead!

Curt Schilling does NOT deserve a standing ovation after he BLOWS a freaking lead!

Curt Schilling does NOT deserve a standing ovation after he BLOWS a freaking lead!

In addition…

The Orioles are our friends.

The Orioles are our friends.

The Orioles are our friends.

The Orioles are our friends.

The Orioles are our friends.

Baseball is fun…

Baseball is fun.

Baseball is fun.

Baseball is fun.

Baseball is fun.

Baseball is fun.

With apologies to “The Simpsons”…

…and my friend Ellen:

Say thanks to your Al Leiter kids.

Thanks Al Leiter.