YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

*whew*

That was the sound of me finally breathing!

I've been holding my breath for so long, I've passed out several times.

But we can finally breathe. The Sox have clinched a playoff spot.

And...

THE YANKEES AREN'T IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!

Can I get a "HALLELUJAH!!!" And an "AMEN!!!!"

How many years has it been since the Evil Empire has missed the playoffs?

If I'm seeing right, it looks like 1993 was the last time, so 15 years?

Whatever. It's great.

We still have a shot at the division, but it's going to be close. TB won both games of the doubleheader today. Magic number is 2. And there's what...5 games left? 2 more with the Tribe and the final three with the Evil Ones. Frankly, I don't see Tampa losing enough of those last 5. We can hope, but the Sox would have to win 4 of the last 5.

At this point, I'm just happy to be able to breathe again.

TTFN, y'all!

It's All My Fault

*sob*

The first time I walked away from the computer (I have MLBTV, since we can't get any Red Sox games in Texas and ESPN couldn't be bothered to TELEVISE THE MOST IMPORTANT SERIES OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!!), the Rays broke the no-no.

The second time I walked away, they tied the game.

Then I went to bed for a nap in the middle of the eighth inning.

I'm sorry. I should have known better.

At least the Evil Empire lost, putting them one step closer to not making the playoffs for the first time in a couple of centuries. Can I get a "hallelujah?"

And it looks like the Mets enjoyed last year's collapse so much they're going to do it again.

And at least we can say that it's been a hard fought battle. And who can say that this hasn't been an exciting roller coaster of a season?

But it's just...man. How many Boston fans have been grinding their teeth because every time they look at the standings, they see the TB Rays on top?? We're used to seeing the Evil Ones there!! These guys just came out of nowhere! I need to dig out my copy of S.I. from before the season began to laugh at the predictions they made. A few of them came out right, I think, but they put the Yanks on top, and the Rangers in last. Hah. The Rangers has surprised everybody by coming in second this year. And, like they always do, they've decided to play some baseball, now that it doesn't matter any more. They have surprised the Tigers twice already this week, and the guy with the floofiest name in the MLB hit a grand salami Monday night. (That would be Taylor Teagarden in case you don't know who I'm talking about.)

How do you like that word? "Floofiest." Heh.

And I would like to have this rumor that there could be a trade of Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Clay Buckholz completely squelched!! While I would love to see Buckholz in a Rangers uniform, the LAST thing (LAST, I say!!) that the Red Sox need is Salty. He's a bloody awful catcher! Ugh.

Ok. It's time for lunch.

TTFN, y'all!

Welcome to September, Housewives!!

Hah!

Finally, the Sox win a game in Tampa Bay, and they do it in style, which also propels them back into their rightful place of first place in the AL East.

Shut up, I know they're tied. Doesn't matter, they're IN FIRST PLACE!!

I only missed it by two days. I said that they would be in first by the end of last week.

It was home run derby at the Orange Juice Stadium. In fact, almost every run was scored by home runs. At one point, it was 11-1, and the Sox only had 8 hits.

Did Jason Bay's shot ever come down? So much for the old rule that "what goes up, must come down." I think that ball is still in the catwalks. It's walking up and down singing, "I'm too sexy for my hat...too sexy for my hat...too sexy for my hat, watcha think about that??"

Now, to come back down to earth a minute, I have to remember the Toronto series, where the Sox ran away with the first one, and forgot to show up for the second one. I'm hoping that doesn't happen tonight. But this was a Sox team that looks like they want it bad. And this was a Housewives team that looks tired.

And does Joe Maddon's expression EVER change??? Sheesh!

Boston needs to sweep this series. 2 out of three isn't enough, because that would still leave them tied. They need to leave Tampa Bay all alone at the top.

In other news, I suppose I'm supposed to feel all sentimental because the Evil Ones are playing their last game in the House of Pain Sunday night. Except that they are building an exact replica RIGHT NEXT DOOR!! C'mon! Who does that??? What they gonna call it? House of Pain Deux?

---

But enough about baseball. Oh. Wait. That's not possible.

Anyway, some real life stuff. I got this phone call from Stephanie's school today. From her vice principal. Yes, she has her very own vice principal. No, not really, but they have two split up over the ninth graders. Anyway, it seems that he was having some trouble getting Stephanie to go to class.

We tried to get these people to understand, at the beginning of school, that Stephanie is high-functioning autistic with anxiety disorder. We told them. We were concerned about how she was going to adapt to this huge new school with four floors, three flights of stairs (who in their right mind builds a school like that??) and the North and West rooms on opposite ends of the school (???). But they "poo-pooed" us. "We got it," they said. Well, now they know. She finally had a miniature version of one of her meltdowns at school.

But it turned out to be a good call. I said "I told you so," in much gentler terms, and the vice principal already had a plan in his head. I'll give him lots of credit for that. He's going to talk to her "case manager" today and they are going to put her in a modified classroom, where she will have all of her work brought to her. There will only be a few kids in this class, so there will be more one-on-one type instruction. The plan is to give her a little time in this class setting and then gradually try to ease her back into the traditional setting. I think this is a great plan. They really should have tried this to begin with, but late is better than never.

And, also to their credit, they have been supportive through these first three weeks. They have worked with us on scheduling and stuff like that. They have never turned a deaf ear to us. I think they don't understand this type of thing as well as they think they do. After all, we have yet to get the ISD to agree with the diagnosis of autism, even though we have it from two different medical professionals. Go figure.

And that call was only one of four that interrupted my six hours of sleep yesterday afternoon. Sigh. So I'm a little tired tonight. I had really hoped to stay up and watch the whole game, too, but I had to get a nap.

Hah. See, there, I managed to get back to baseball, didn't I?

I know. I'm a very sick man.

TTFN, y'all.

Hear That Sound? It's Me Banging My Head On A Table!

I can't really say what I was thinking the other night when TB hit that home run in the top of the bloody 14th inning at Fenway. Can't have my church people knowing that I even think those kinds of words.

And how much help did they get from the umpires?? I'm not one to grumble that umps lost a game for anyone, but good grief. There was no freakin' way that left fielder was going to catch that foul ball that the fan interfered with. No way!

Then there was the out at second base when the infielder was bobbling the throw!

It didn't help any that the ESPN announcers were pulling for TB!

Heh. I sound like a sore loser, don't I?

WELL I AM!!!! So there.

And I guess we have to make another trip to Tampa to play a series there, where we have yet to win a game this season.

Dang it, the Sox were supposed to be in first place by now.

Ok. I'll stop whining now.

It's been a busy week for us in the real world. We had "mini-school" Monday night, where we got to follow along on Stephie's schedule in high school. We had a really good time, got to meet her teachers and also talked to a guy that we found out Sunday afternoon is her "case manager." We never had a "case manager" before. But it turns out we already knew this guy from a church that we went to a few years back. So that's cool. He remembered us, too. AND her science teacher was at that church at the same time, and HE remembered us, too! How cool is that? So we have several advocates for Stephanie in this humongous new world for her.

Her schedule has changed several times in the few weeks since school started, but we think it's finally settled in.

I think we've been to our last baseball game for the season. She wants to go to her high school football game on the 19th, when we were supposed to go see the Rangers play the Halos. But I've already got a taker for the tickets if she sticks with that idea.

I guess I should do some work. I have an hour and a half left on my shift, but it's my slow night.

Hopefully, we can win some games this weekend. Incidentally, my mother hates that the Dodgers are winning now. She figures Manny will get all the credit. For some reason, she's not very fond of him right now. Go figure.

TTFN, y'all!

Wow. What A Weekend!!

It was a great weekend in Arlington. I've got pictures, but I haven't downloaded them, yet. Uploaded? I dunno.

Anyway, I met Tex at Friday night's game. It was really cool to finally meet someone from these blogs. We chatted for a few minutes, then went back to our seats, me with my "Hambino" sandwich (yowzir!!!) and Tex to keep watching her Beckett mow down Rangers.

Sox took two of three (third straight road series they've done that, I think). 8-1, 8-15, 7-2. Saturday's game was pretty brutal because Wakefield basically, well, sucked. I can't remember, but I think he walked in something like three or four runs in that dreadful second inning.

Sunday's game was possibly the most fun. My wife was with us, and I always enjoy when she comes to a game with us. We started out in a second level box on the third base side. After about two innings of roasting in the 90+ degree sun, we decided to move to the upper deck on the first base side. It was all in the shade, and virtually empty.

It was also very exciting to get to see Papelbon pitch in the ninth. I haven't seen a replay, but I'm pretty sure that the ball that was hit into the left field corner in the bottom of the ninth was FOUL!! The idiot ump had his back turned to left field, then turned around and made a call that he could not have possible seen! But it didn't really matter, because they got the third out on the next batter.

And there was that call on Varitek, when he was called out while the first baseman was bobbling the baseball...

And a very bad scorekeeping call on Friday night...the first "hit" against Beckett was really an error. Lowrie made a bad throw, pulling Kotsay off of first, and the scorekeeper called it a hit. Again, it didn't really matter, because there was another real hit pretty soon after that, but I was going to be really mad if that had turned out to be the only "hit" of the game.

Paul Byrd was pretty amazing Sunday afternoon. He has turned out to be a pretty good addition to the team.

Papi smashed a home run on Sunday afternoon that might still be going if it hadn't hit the "Brookshire's" sign on the front of the upper deck in right field. He really crushed that ball. I think it might have just barely started its descent when it hit the front of the upper deck stands. Wow.

The most fun, though, was seeing Toronto sweep the Desperate Housewives!! Oh, yeah!! So we are 1.5 out of first, and the Evil Empire is down to fourth place. *Did he say FOURTH place???* Yes, he did. Toronto is on a hot streak, so they caught up to the E.E. by a half game. I can smell Girardi's pink slip already. Good times.

The Housewives will be in Fenway Park tonight for the record-breaking 456th consecutive sellout ballgame (do I have that right?), and by Thursday, the Sox will be in first place. Hopefully to stay.

Well...back to work, I guess.

TTFN, y'all! And, Tex, once again, it was truly an honor to meet you! Maybe I'll see you again next season. Sox should come here twice, if they follow the pattern.

Two of Three, Twice, On the Road...Not Bad!

Well, Dice-K certainly showed his stuff, the other night, throwing 8 innings with only 2 hits. He's already won more than he did last year.

But those darned Housewives just won't lose!! *cry* We've won 2 of 3 in two straight road series! That's phenomenal for our Sox this season!

It's crunch time now, though. They are rolling pretty good right now, in spite of crucial injuries, and need to keep it up.

Since today is September 1, I got to flip my Red Sox wall calendar to another page today. I've been looking at Wily Mo Pena for a month. I don't have anything against Wily Mo, except that he isn't a Red Sox anymore.

But now? My eyes get to occasionally glance over at the great and marvelous Jonathan Papelbon, right in the middle of a pitch.

Four more days until the Red Sox hit Texas like Hurricane Gustav in full force! Rangers better take cover. At least I don't have to worry about the Red Sox foiling any hope of the Rangers making the playoffs. That seems to no longer be an issue. Not that I would have been "worried" about that (just making sure there is no question about my loyalties, here).

I guess that's about it for today. Happy Labor Day, all!