Mothers Day gift ideas

As usual the marketing geniuses at MLB have come up with an assortment of great gift ideas for all the moms in your life. No pink bats this year though

Red Sox update & more game photos

The Sox won their 1st round playoff series last night & will open the American League Championship Series on Friday at Tampa Bay. Should be an interesting series--the teams brawled earlier this season & there's lots of bad blood there.

In honor of their season continuing I thought I'd post a couple more pictures of my recent trip to Boston to watch the Sox-Yankees game on September 26. (Sox lost 19-8, in case you forgot)

Here's my brother Gary, my dad & me. Gary flew up from Texas while I was on my way from Seattle--we met up at the Manchester aiport and drove to my dad's house together.My friends Sean, Eddie and me. We realized that this month makes it 30 years that I've known these guys. They already knew each other when I met the 2 of them on the first day of 8th grade in first period French class with Madame Morea.Then we got to our seats at Fenway & fellow Georgetown Hoya and pub employee Raphael Bastian and her husband James were sitting right in front of us. Raph and James flew up from Miami to see the Sox (though they got to see 3 games), so they were as determined as we were to see baseball that night, since we were all flying home the next day. Since it poured all day most of the ticketholders that night weren't as stubborn as we were, and Fenway was more than half empty when the game started.

Sox up 10-0 in after 1 inning

3 things to note:

Charlie Zink, lifetime minor leaguer and a knuckleballer, was called up from Pawtucket to start his first major league game tonight. He replaced Tim Wakefield, also a knuckleballer (as if you didn't know), who just went on the 15-day DL. I read that it's just the 3rd time ever (and first time since 1953) that the Sox will have 2 knuckleballers start games in the same season.

2. Big Papi David Ortiz hit two 3-run homers in the first inning. !!!!!

3. Kevin Youkilis pulled a Bob Stein, striking out twice in the same inning. Bob Stein is one of my college buddies and told me that he once struck out twice in the same inning of a little league game. (I mentioned this to Bob just now & he wanted to know if Youk's 2nd K came down by 1 run with the bases loaded, so Bob's 2Ks were worse--he wins! yay!)

Here's the play by play for the inning:

Bottom 1st: Boston
- J.D. Drew walked
- D. Pedroia singled to center, J.D. Drew to second
- D. Ortiz homered to deep right, J.D. Drew and D. Pedroia scored
- K. Youkilis struck out swinging
- M. Lowell singled to center
- J. Bay safe at first on third baseman R. Vazquez's fielding error, M. Lowell to second
- M. Lowell stole third, J. Bay stole second
- J. Lowrie doubled to deep left, M. Lowell and J. Bay scored
- C. Crisp flied out to center
- K. Cash walked
- J.D. Drew singled to right, J. Lowrie scored, K. Cash to second, K. Cash to third advancing on throw
- D. Pedroia singled to third, K. Cash scored, J.D. Drew to second
- D. Ortiz homered to deep center, J.D. Drew and D. Pedroia scored
- K. Youkilis struck out looking

10 runs, 7 hits, 1 errors
Texas 0, Boston 10

I think the sox may win tonight--stay tuned. It's either that or synchronized diving.

UPDATE: Kevin "Don't call me Steiny" Youkilis ended up having quite a night. After his 2 K's in the first, he made 2 errors, 1 while playing third and 1 at first base. But, most importantly, also had 2 homers, including the game winning 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th as the Sox won a shootout. Final score was 19-17. My dad was there too.

Sox Trade Manny!

Unbelievable trade by the Sox today (not to Green Bay but to the Dodgers) but Manny really forced their hand and got what he wanted. We'll see if he still wants it a week from now. He'll probably be crying that he wants to come back to Boston just like he did when he left Cleveland to join the Sox for the '01 season.

The Sox got Jason Bay from Pittsburgh and also had to give up 2 young prospects:
relief pitcher Craig Hansen and OF Brandon Moss. I think Moss was the better of those 2 but I guess it doesn't matter anymore.

Sox fans all knew Manny was a head case when Duquette signed him in late 2000 and were a little wary of the potential $200M deal but it worked out better then we could have hoped with the 2 World Series wins in '04 and '07, and Manny winning the WS MVP in '04.

But the way it ended sucks. I'm sure Yankee fans are happier today than Sox fans

So long Manny--Have fun playing for Joe Torre.
Hope he doesn't make you cut your hair!

Jacoby Damon

Here's Jacoby Ellsbury doing his best Johnny Damon impression (just like Coco Crisp did once) and badly misplaying a ball in the Red Sox' 6-3 loss at Baltimore last night. It resulted in a 3 run double, which is a wicked bummah

Iris's First Red Sox Game, 6-Month Check-up, Mom & Dad's 8th Anniversary

Well it's sure been a busy day. Iris saw the Red Sox in person for the first time last night & they beat the Mariners 5-3. Coincidentally, Iris's mom & dad (plus Pepere and Aunty Geegy) also saw the Red Sox last year on Memorial Day, when they beat the Indians 5-3 in Fenway. Papelbon pitched the 9th & got scored on in both games too, though he gave up 1 run last year and 2 this year. Let's hope this season ends just like last year did too. Here's a shot of the Sox' newest fan:

(Iris appears smaller than actual size here--

those are our friend Ben's hands, and he's 6'7")

Iris had her 6 month check up on Tuesday & toughed out 3 more shots. Her doctor says she's doing well and we can start introducing solids in the near future.

Here are her stats from birth, 2, 4, and 6 months:

Birth
Length 19.5"
Weight 6 lbs, 15.4 ozs.

2 months
Length 22.25"
Weight 10 lbs, 8 ozs.

4 months
Length 23.75" (between 25th-50th percentile)
Weight 12 lbs, 5.5 ozs. (25th)
Cranium 42.75cm (90-95th)

6 months
Length 24.75" (between 10th-25th percentile)
Weight 14 lbs, 12.5 ozs. (25th-50th)
Cranium 45.25 cm (95th+)

As you can see, our girl is tops when it comes to cranium size.

We also bought a new car yesterday - a 2008 Nissan Altima. Our first family sedan, in a lovely sedate shade of gray. We like it a lot though - lots bigger than our old car and gets better mileage too. Sooner or later we hope to be able to fit it into the garage on the first try too.

lastly - happy 8th Anniversary baby! Hard to believe it's gone by as fast as it has, huh?

Here's one more of our little sweetie,
taken with her Aunty Geegy's iphone

and I think Papelbon might really be crazy

Sox Win! Sox Win! Sox Win!

WOW! The Sox beat Colorado 4-3 tonight, sweeping the series 4-0 for their 2nd WS title in 4 years! I can't believe it - for 39 years of my life I never knew if I'd live to see them win one and now they've won a second just 3 seasons later - it's nuts I tell ya, NUTS! Big congrats to Series MVP Mike Lowell too. I really hope the Sox are smart enough to re-sign Mikey, who has proven himself to be a post-season stud twice now (he won a ring w/the Marlins in '03) & not go after you know who that just opted out the final 3 seasons of his contract with satan's team.

On the baby name front, since the sports guy has pretty much ruined the name Beckett for us, I'm now considering the name 'Champ' for JJ, in honor of the '07 sox. (and possibly the 19-0 2007 Patriots as well). We'll see what Irene has to say about that one. Do you think the name 'Champ' would work for either a boy or a girl? I do.

Millsy Did A Great Job

I sent this article to our friend Rod "Millsy" Mills today to thank him for his help getting the Sox to a 2-0 lead in the World Series. The key quote in the article comes from Sox catcher & captain Jason Varitek:

"Millsy did a great job right there and read the situation right and got us an easy out"

He was talking about Sox bench coach Brad "Millsy" Mills, who called for the pickoff throw for the 3rd out in the 8th inning last night, and not our friend Rod, but that doesn't matter much to me

Nice work Millsy! 2 down & 2 to go--A grateful red sox nation thanks you!

I love this play so much I have to post another photo of it:Yep - I think he was out!

Beckett Martel?

I've been (only half-jokingly--I really do kind of like the sound of it) pitching the name Beckett to Irene for a few weeks now, and today the sports guy writes this (including the caption below the pic on left):

"When Cleveland had a chance to clinch at home, Beckett laid the smack down in Game 5. In my lifetime, the most clutch Boston pitching performance was Schilling's bloody sock game in the 2004 ALCS. Second was an injured Pedro coming out of the bullpen in Game 5 of the '99 Indians-Sox series. Third was Derek Lowe throwing a one-hitter for six innings ON TWO DAYS REST to topple the Yankees in Game 7 of 2004. And the fourth? Beckett slamming the door in Game 5. He held off a pennant celebration, swung the momentum of the series and threw his hat into the ring for Team Simmons' "What should we name our son?" sweepstakes. (You have to admit, Beckett Simmons has a nice ring to it.) Baseball is the only sport where a single person can shut up 55,000 people for an extended period of time and eventually break their will. This was one of those times. Just a virtuoso performance."


So much for that! Don't suggest Lugo Martel to us either, ok? Because that ain't happening.

Indians Going to EXTREME Lengths to end Series tonight. Plus: Torre out in NY

They hired Josh Beckett's ex to sing the anthem before the game - really! "Oh but I swear, it's just a coincidence. how were we supposed to know???"


Here's the link to this article on espn:

Teams have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to get an edge. But the Cleveland Indians swear Thursday night's choice of pre-game singer is not a piece of gamesmanship.

Danielle Peck, a country music singer who also happened to date Red Sox ace pitcher Josh Beckett, will sing the national anthem and "God Bless America" at tonight's Game 5 in Cleveland. Beckett is scheduled to start the game for Boston.

"It's an incredible coincidence. Honestly," said Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio.

Taylor Swift was supposed to be the Game 5 vocalist, but when she couldn't attend, DiBiasio said a country music booker recommended the up-and-coming Peck. She is from Coshocton and her single "I Don't" is a hit.

"She's from Ohio. Her entire family are Indians fans. We did not know anything about her connections to Beckett. The next day, we find out the rest of the story," said DiBiasio of Peck. "How are we supposed to know who Josh Beckett dates?"

With a victory tonight, the Indians would close out the Red Sox and clinch their first spot in the World Series since 1997.

Yeah - "I Don't" is a HUGE hit - it's the next Stairway to Heaven - it peaked at #28 on the country chart -- in 2005! woohoo!

Also, Joe Torre turned down the yankees low-ball offer of $5M (as much as $8M including incentives) today. That's good news for fans of all other teams. There's not much chance any other manager would do as good a job managing that roster of high priced head cases & steroid abusers.

Somebody tell Manny we're still down by 4

Sox are down 3-1 to the Indians in the ALCS, in case you haven't been watching. I feel we have them right where we want them--their #1 guy going tomorrow night, at home, trying to clinch, oozing self confidence. Yep, right where we want em.

AL East Champs

The Red Sox were celebrating at a bar inside Fenway Park after they clinched the AL East. Check out the photos -- http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=1613zckz.7uefw8j3&x=0&y=ytvvj5 -- you don't have to log in to view the slideshow, just hit play. I have three words of advice for whoever took these pictures -- red eye reduction. Enjoy!

I totally love the Bud Light bottles with the Red Sox logos on them.

JJ's 3rd trimester & Sox playoff tickets

Irene and JJ (and me too I guess) officially entered their 3rd trimester last Wednesday. That's right--less than 3 months to go! It's starting to feel real now--we even bought a car seat and some onesies on Saturday. I'll post a picture of Irene in the near future if I can get her to let me.

Also - The Red Sox emailed me today about signing up for a chance to buy Fenway playoff tix here. I love the picture in the email--it really captures the Fenway experience in full: an overweight, drunk, bearded white guy in a red tshirt leaning/sweating over you for 3 and a half or 4 hours.
Good times!Speaking of baseball, very very funny Onion article here.
(Warning: Contains beaucoup f-bombs)

Eddie's rant after sox get swept by nyy (BOO!)

My buddy Eddie (who I've known since the 8th grade & now lives out here too) sent me this email this afternoon, after the sox got 2 hits (woo hoo!) and lost 5-0 to complete the 3 game sweep by the yanks (BOO!). In the past I've described him as the "Glass is always empty" type of sox fan - he makes me look like the eternal optimist, if you can imagine that


Subject: Hot Potato

If the M's take the wild card from the Yanks, which is doubtful, and ended up playing the Sox in the playoffs, would the Sox and M's be like the Cubs and Brewers and just keep stepping back saying, "we don't want it, you take it, no really, you take it!"? Can a playoff series end in a tie due to neither team wanting to win? Friggin' joke of a week for both M's and Sox.

Sox don't deserve division if they can't hit and M's don't deserve anything after their shellacking and losing 5 straight at this time of year.

Go Pats!

At least this gives me an excuse to run the BEST PHOTO EVER again

More dumping on the sox

I had to post this picture; it's too funny (and no, it' not Eddie Odey). Check out the writeup too, http://seattlest.com/2007/06/28/the_boston_mass.php. I find Red Sox fans annoying too but at least they know how to stick with a team through wins and losses. I have one more observation about Red Sox fans -- they sure love to drink. At Tuesday's game, practically every Red Sox fan had at least 2 beers in hand at any given moment. Maybe that's how they've learned to cope watching the team (win or lose).

Sox Swept! & NBA Draft tonight

What the hell??!! It's gotten ridiculous around here. The sox come to town and lose to the Mariners every game, and that just the way it goes. They've now lost 8 in a row at Seattle, which is no fun for me or Eddie or the rest of the Sox fans out here. I'm just glad the rest of the AL east is so awful this year, and that we still have a 9 game lead after a brutal June travel schedule that included 2 west coast swings in a 3 week period.

Thanks to Irene too, for noticing the Sox were playing at home when we were going to be in NH over Memorial Day weekend--we got to see them win a game this season.

The Sox will be back in August, and hopefully Terry Francona will remember to send up a pinch hitter next time we're in an 8th inning, tie game, 2 on, 2 out situtation. He didn't seem to remember he could do that yesterday & sent up SS Julio Lugo, mired in an 0 for 31 slump or something like that, who managed to turn a 3-0 count into a strikeout. End of "rally", end of sox last best hope to at least take one of the 3 games this week. And then when Piñeiro came in to pitch the 11th, everyone in the place knew the game wouldn't last much longer.

Tip of the cap to Ichi - he recorded 11 put outs on fly balls yesterday - only 1 shy of the all time record. Not that I enjoyed a single one of them, but he is a great player. Too bad for all the Ms fans that this is the final year of his contract & the team doesn't seem to be very interested in re-signing him. I just hope he's not wearing pinstripes next year.

NBA draft is tonight - Sonics have #2 pick, celtics the 5th. Smart money says the sonics will get Kevin Durant but you never know - maybe Portland will take him & the Seattle/Las Vegas/OK City Sonics will have Greg Oden for the next 10-12 yrs. Weirder things have happened. I hope Jeff Green ends up on the Celts but they're probably going to take Yi, the 7footer from China, described by the sports guy's dad as the Chinese Brad Lohaus. Hooray!

Red Sox in town

Tonight starts a 3-game series with the Red Sox in town. Of course, Jim plans to go to all 3 games. Tonight it'll be Jim and Keith (a former Amazon who now lives in VA). I get to suffer through the loud obnoxious Sox fans (including Jim) on Tuesday night. The bummer is Wednesday's game; Daisuke is scheduled to pitch and I'll be stuck at work. It's a day game starting at 1:35PM.

Considering how much talk there's been about Daisuke, there's no mention of him pitching here this week. Our lame newspapers have been occupied by the return of Griffey Jr. It was great seeing him back in Seattle, but we need to stop being so nostalgic and start focusing our energy into fixing the Mariners. Feierabend (who the hell is this guy?) is scheduled to pitch for us; his record is 1-2 with a 8.20 ERA. Though I'll miss the game on Wednesday, I don't think I can suffer through a Sox win.

The rematch of Ichiro and Daisuke

It was exciting to see Daisuke pitch to Ichiro; even the Red Sox fans were on their feet for the first few pitches. (It was a bigger night for Felix and his one-hitter.) If you didn't watch the game tonight, check out the highlights.

Coco Damon?

Here's new Red Sox CF Coco Crisp doing his best impression of Johnny, aka Judas, aka Sell-Out, aka Dead-to-me, Damon, while the Sox were out here in Seattle. See the ball over on the right?