Disappointing, But Not Disastrous

Well, we are not off to a good start. But we aren't off to a terrible start, either. Three games with the Evil Empire, and all were very close. All of them could have easily gone the other way, too.

I'm sure there is much hate for J Papelbon at the moment, especially since his last outing for 2009 resulted in the end of the season for the Sox. I'll not join that camp just yet, just as I'm not hating on Okajima for walking in the winning run Tuesday night. After all, it was Marco Scutaro's botched throw before that that even caused him to have to pitch to that batter.

Kevin Youkillis is very wise. His response to all of that was to say that no single event or play in the game caused the loss. It is a group effort. If they had scored more runs, they wouldn't have been in that situation. That's why it's a "team."

Anyway...so we're 1-2. And, thanks to the Rangers, the Sox are now behind the Blue Jays, too. Sigh. The Rangers are experiencing bullpen troubles, as well, and their closer blew their game today. Franky Francisco entered the game in the 9th, with the Rangers ahead 1-0, and lost it. However...just like the Sox, the Rangers couldn't score any runs. They went 0-10 with runners in scoring position, and the great Vlad Guerrero was responsible for 3 of their 5 hits. The only run was unearned, scored on one of 4 wild pitches by Toronto pitchers.

The Rangers are looking like the Rangers of old, and Ron Washington is probably on the bubble, due to his drug issues, which may or may not be over. Who knows?

The Sox, on the other hand, have looked pretty good for the first three games. I think they have the looks of a solid team this year. I AM concerned about Papi. I love Papi. But he just doesn't seem to have the magic any more. I hope I'm wrong and he pulls out of this.

That's my nickel's worth for today.

TTFN, y'all!

Well, Looky Here!

We all know how last season ended up.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I'm excited about the new season, which will be under way shortly. In fact, our beloved Sox begin the season on Sunday night, if I'm not mistaken? I have tickets to the Texas Rangers home opener on Monday, April 4. Right behind home plate on the second level. Great seats.

I also have tickets reserved for two of the three games in August when the Sox come to Arlington. The Texas Rangers play in Arlington. They do NOT play in Dallas. Heh. Come to think of it, neither do the Cowboys, anymore.

Anyway. I'll be back blogging baseball stuff here, hopefully. I need to get caught up with my old friends over here. Even though I can find most of them over on Facebook.

The smell is in the air. It's electric. In less than one week, we will hear those beloved words echoing from Fenway Park (and half of all of the baseball parks in the country), "PLAY BALL!"

That makes me smile.

TTFN, y'all!

Back Where We Belong!

First of all, I must correct an error from my last post. Apparently, I grossly misunderstood something during all the excitement Sunday night, after Captain Stealth made away with home plate.

Jacoby wasn't the first Red Sox to ever steal home. But it hasn't happened on a straight steal since 1994. Ok. Got that cleared up.

Now. On to today's topic.

Life is good. The Red Sox have returned to their rightful place atop the AL East (if only by a few percentage points). They have won 11 straight games. Wow! And the Yankees lost yet another game to Detroit last night. To make things even better, people are actually laughing at the new Evil Empire Stadium! I've heard one radio person refer to it as a little league park. And I clearly heard a heckler on Saturday afternoon, after Jeter hit a medium length foul ball, say, "That would have been a home run in your park!"

And the Rangers are within 1 game of .500 again, coming home to a series against the Oaklands. The Athletics are, according to the guys in the Rangers post game show, scoring an average of 4 or less runs per game. So there's a chance that they could come out of that home stand over .500. I don't know how long it's been since they've been over .500 in April! (Not counting the first week.)

Here's hoping Mr. Penny doesn't give up another 8 runs today. Wakefield was bloody brilliant last night. As was Cliff Lee, to give him his props. Both pitchers were great. That should have been what happened Saturday with Beckett and Burnett on the hill. Oh, well. You just never know.

TTFN, y'all!

This Is More Like It

As we approach the morning start time of the Patriot's Day game, the Sox are sitting on a 4 game winning streak. They are still tied for third place, but it's an improvement, and they seem to have come alive a bit. Yesterday's game was a nice effort by the pitching staff.

Over in my neck of the woods, the Rangers continue to struggle, but they are tied for second place, and took yesterday's game from the Royals with a walk-off homer by Michael Young. The real excitement for them was last week, though. In their 19-6 blow-out of the Orioles, Ian Kinsler was the superstar. It wasn't enough that he hit for the cycle in that game (seems to be a popular thing this season), but he also went 6-6 in the game, becoming the first Texas Ranger to ever get six hits in a regulation 9 inning game. He would eventually have 8 at-bats in a row with a hit, across mutiple games. Kinsler remains my favorite Ranger player. Yes, even ahead of Josh Hamilton. Elvis Andrus is coming that ladder really quickly, too.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that my favorite part of this past weekend had to be the part that happened in a brand new stadium somewhere in the Bronx. It wasn't enough that the Indians spoiled the home opener in that brand new stadium. They had to go and beat the Evil Empire 24-4 on Saturday, with a 14-run second inning. Awwww....anybody feel sorry for them? I didn't think so.

In the meantime, I'm going to try my hand at MLB 2K9 this season. See how my Red Sox fare with me manning the controls. I'm not very good at this game, so I'm playing in "rookie" mode. Pitching and fielding seem to be ok, but the batting part is killing me. I can't get the timing down yet. Oh, well..."the season is young." Bahahahaha!!!

TTFN, y'all!

What's Going On In Texas??

Baseball season is three days old, now, and things are starting out rather strangely. I am, of course, disappointed that Boston has lost their first series to the dreaded Desperate Housewives, but right now, my attention is on my second-favorite team, the one in Texas.

Of course, we were elated that they won Opening Day, and won it very solidly. Then, they won their second game, with Nelson Cruz crushing two home runs, one going into the second deck beyond left field, over 400 ft. We're hoping that he doesn't do what he does every time he comes up from the minors. Usually, he hits like crazy for a couple of weeks, then goes to sleep. Elvis Androus also got his first major league homer in the second game (along with his first error, but, oh well). The Rangers have not won their first two games since 2000.

Then the unheard of happened. The Texas Rangers SWEPT their opening series!! The last time they did that, they won the American League West. Not trying to put the cart before the horse, but this team looks different this year.

As for the Red Sox, they are still going to be ok, I think. The season is very young, and things are just getting cranked up.

But it's baseball season, so all is well.

TTFN, y'all!

PLAY BALL!!!

It's been almost two months since I've been here. But life has begun again. Now that there has been baseball at Fenway, I can sincerely say that it is, once again, BASEBALL SEASON!!!

Can I get a "WOOT!!"

And this has been, perhaps, one of the best Opening Day (two days?) in recent history. First, Stephanie and I and another family member (Christi's stepfather) watched in somewhat chilly temperature as the Rangers got all over Cliff Lee and the Indians yesterday, 9-1. Kevin Millwood looked stellar for 7 innings, and the only run that the Indians got came in the bottom of the 7th when poor Kevin let one get away from him and Salty couldn't stop it. An Indian was on third base and scored on the wild pitch. Millwood struck out the batter on the next pitch for the third out. C.J. Wilson looked great in the 8th, and Frank Francisco closed it out in nice fashion. The game featured some great plays by all team members, a three run jack by Blalock and a solo shot by Salty. Elvis Androus made a great play at shortstop that, well, sorry, Michael, but you just probably woulnd't have gotten that one.

And then, things got better!! How, you ask? I'm glad because I'll tell ya! The Orioles beat C.C. Sabathia!!!!!! Take that, HANK! The ORIOLES!!!!

Today completed the near-perfect set of Opening Day games when our beloved Sox handed the Desperate Housewives the first of what we can only hope will be multitudes of defeats during '09. I got in on the 8th inning on MLBTV, as I was, you know, sleeping for the day. Beckett must have looked pretty good today, from what I could gather. It was 5-1 when I started watching, and Okajima had put two men on. They scored when Eva Longoria got a hit off Masterson. 5-3. But Masterson took the rest down and that was it. Papelbon closed it out as only Papelbon can do, and the Red Sox are back where they belong, in first place in the AL East.

I feel alive again.

TTFN, y'all!

The Strike Out King Comes To Boston!!

Whoa! The Red Sox have signed Brad Wilkerson?????????

WHYYYYYY?????

THEO!!! THEO!!!! *slap-slap-slap*

Theo. Listen to me. I realize I'm no "boy wonder" GM, but, please, listen! I live in Texas. I go to Rangers games.

I'VE SEEN BRAD WILKERSON PLAY BASEBALL!!!

Sure, he "belted" 20 home runs his last season here. But I noticed that the article on www.redsox.com does not mention that he LED THE LEAGUE IN STRIKEOUTS!!!!

I watched him strike out 5 times in one game. (That might be a slight exaggeration. But it was a lot.)

Gah.

Might as well put him at shortstop. He's at least as inept as Lugo.

Sigh.

Meanwhile...the Rangers continue their march toward mediocrity.

And Manny, the fastest bat in the west, remains homeless.

TTFN, y'all.

Briefly...

Whoa. Been a long time.

I guess I didn't have much to write about. Hmmm...still don't.

I'm glad to see that Tek made up his mind. It will be nice to see him still in a Sox uniform this season. I hope they can fix whatever was wrong with his bat, though.

Elsewhere, I see that the Texas Rangers did absolutely NOTHING to improve their team during this off season. I guess Jon Daniels and Tom Hicks are happy with a less than mediocre second place in the American League Worst. I mean West.

I figure they'll trade Josh Hamilton before the season is over. If'n they do that, I'm burning all of my Rangers stuff. Just in case anyone wonders, though, I have more than twice as much Red Sox stuff as I do Rangers stuff. I got my priorities straight, doncha know?

I don't feel like writing much else right now...I'll try to keep this more up to date.

TTFN, y'all

No Tex for Now

Scott Boras must be pulling his usual crap. The Red Sox have, extremely abruptly, completely pulled out of the race for Mark Teixeira, after reportedly making the biggest offer out there.

Anybody remember Boras lying to the Texas Rangers and telling them that Raphael Palmeiro had a better offer? When he didn't? So Palmeiro wound up playing for the O's instead of the R's.

For a team like the Sox, with all their money, to just yank out like that, something's going on.

That's ok, though. I would love to see Tex in a Red Sox uniform, but, honestly, we don't need him that badly. We got Youk, man. Who needs a Tex when you got a Youk??

(Please don't take that personally, other "Tex." Of course, we need you!)

If we can't get him, though, I'd really like to see him play in Baltimore. Why not? It's his home. I just hope he won't take that Nats deal. Dear Lord, what a horrible team. Surely, he wouldn't want to play there.

In the meantime, the Rangers are adding all kinds of improvements to their Ballpark. Seats closer to the field, LED scoreboards (which I'm opposed to, though...I'm a purist. I like the manual outfield scoreboards), and some kind of high-tech video thingy around the middle deck of the stadium.

Seems like all that money could maybe buy a pitcher.

But what do I know? Rangers "fans" don't come to watch baseball, anyway.

TTFN, y'all.

Rangers and Red Sox Making Another Trade?

Rumors, rumors, rumors.

Word on the street is that the Sox are interested in Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalawhatzitshickiedoodle. (Stephanie can spell his name...longest name in baseball, too.) I dunno about this.

I realize that if the Sox can re-sign Tek, they probably should bring a youngster for him to mentor. But I don't think Salty is the answer. I could be wrong. With someone like Tek teaching him, he might turn out ok. But I saw some pretty horrible games with him behind the plate in Texas last season. (Is it late enough to call it "last season" yet?)

Teagarden, on the other hand is supposed to be on of the Rangers' top prospects.

And I wouldn't be unhappy at all to see Clay Buchholz in a Rangers uniform. But I don't know if the Sox are interested in dealing him. The word is that the Rangers are interested in Buchholz or Masterson or Bowden.

I actually enjoy this time of year, even though I miss the games. I like the anticipation of seeing who's going to deal who (whom??) and what kind of miserable deals Jon Daniels is going to make for the Rangers.

The Teixeira conundrum is still out there, as well. He pretty much has a wide-open field in front of him. Lyle Spencer, on the "Hot Stove Blog," has called Tex "the best all-round player in the game." Well, he said that the case can be made that he is. I don't want to be guilty of misquoting.

Personally, I would love to see Tex get to go to Baltimore. That's where he is from, and they would love him there. However, I don't know if the O's can afford him, and the chances of him coming out with a WS ring from Baltimore are slim to none. Unless, that is, the O's can pull what the Rays did last season and go from "worst to first." I don't see that happening.

I'll say again that Boston doesn't really need Mark Teixeira. I would love to see him in a Red Sox uniform, especially if there were a chance he might wear pin stripes. But if Mike Lowell comes back from this hip surgery, we don't need a first baseman.

---

Congratulations to two players that I like a lot!

Michael Young of the Rangers and Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox have both been awarded Golden Gloves!! Great for both of them. Young beat out Jeter and a host of other Shortstops. I'm really proud for him.

Oh, and TED!!! Get over and vote for Josh Hamilton in the TYIB awards. He's up for hitter and for whatever category they have his performance in the HR Derby. I voted for him about a kabillion times. I got his book, too. Came out a couple weeks ago. I'll let you know how it is as soon as Stephanie gets through with it. I'm hoping I can get him to sign it sometime. It's called Beyond Belief.

I guess that's it for this one.

Wait. One more thing. Sadly, we bid adieu to Michael Crichton this week. Author of many novels, the most famous probably being Jurassic Park, he lost his battle with cancer this week. I'll miss him.

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!

C-R-U-S-H!!!!!!!

Oh, yeah!

The only thing that could have made this day better would have been the Housewives losing.

Red Sox are one game away from a sweep in their final series in the House of Pain.

And the little guy comes through tonight. First ever career Grand Salami for Dustin Pedroia. Watch it here.

Final score Red Sox 11 Evil Ones 3

Is it just me or does Girardi look like a man who's been beaten down?

I hope they still have his announcer spot open on ESPN.

Actually, no. I don't. Let him flip hamburgers.

Hee.

And...to make the night even more wonderful, the Rangers got their first three game sweep of the season and their first ever sweep in Kansas City. I know...it's just Kansas City. But it's also just the Rangers, so there.

Whoa!! And the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Anaheim California Angels of Orange County again! So the Rangers are chipping away at that 15 game lead.

BAHAHAHAHAHA. Hoo.

The Rangers better win all they can for the next week. Because next Friday night, September 7, the mighty, mighty Red Sox roll into Arlington to complete the full-season sweep of the Rangers. That's right...they're gonna take all 10 games this year. And I'll be there. Looking for Tex.

Ok. Back to work with me.

TTFN, y'all!

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!!

And there was much celebration and dancing in the streets!

Why, you ask?? I'll bloody well tell you why!

Reason number one: Red Sox-7 Evil Empire-3!!

Reason number two: Blue Jays-6 Desperate Housewives-2!!!

Sox move within 3.5 games of first place in the AL East!

And, to top it off, Rangers-2 Royals-1, with Kevin Millwood pitching his second complete game in a row.

Life is good.

Is anyone keeping tabs on the Sox/Yanks series for the year? I'm sure I can find it, but I'm lazy.

---

We now have two days of high school out of the way. And so far, Steph still likes it. Heh.

---

In the really scary, sad department, a friend of mine at work almost died this morning. Our security guard that mans the gate from 6 in the morning had a heart attack this morning. Very serious, according to the guard on duty when I came in tonight. Prayers are going out. I hope he's ok. We talk about the Rangers and Red Sox every morning when I'm heading home.

TTFN, y'all.

Red Sox 8, Royals 2--Rangers 8, Evil Empire 6. BAM!!

So the Sox are now 4-1 A.M. (After Manny.) Or it could be P.M. (Post Manny.) Then they could have P.M.S. (Post Manny Syndrome)

Can you tell I'm sleepy? I get silly when I'm sleepy.

Note to the Red Sox. In order to catch the Desperate Housewives (previously known as the Tampa Bay Sunbeams), you have to WIN when they LOSE! Got it?? Geez.

In the meantime, the local boys (that would be the Rangers) have whooped up on the Evil Empire TWICE IN A ROW!!! And the Monday night game ended in tremendously grand fashion as Marlon Byrd hit a WOGSHR (Walk Off Grand Slam Home Run) to beat the Evil Ones 9-5. Tonight, they were up 8-2 before struggling C.J. Wilson gave up a Grand Salami to, of all people, Richie Sexson. BOOOOO!! But they still held on and won 8-6, putting the Rangers 6 games over .500 for the first time in 100 years.

That was probably a slight exaggeration.

And the Los Angeles Anaheim California Orange County Angels lost to Baltimore, so the Rangers actually gained a game on them. Oakland continues to lose (I think it's 8 in a row, now), so the Rangers are solidly in second place for now. But 10.5 games behind the Halos.

Our Sox continue to be 3 behind the Desperate Housewives.

Also, the Rangers are only 1.5 games behind the Evil Ones in the Wild Card race. That will disappear by Thursday after they achieve their first sweep of the season.

Oh, and did you see poor, poor Joba the Hut Monday night? His pride got hurt so bad from the pounding the Rangers were giving him that his shoulder started hurting. I felt soooooo sorry for him.

NOT!!

It would appear that the Rangers have his number. Now, if they would just share that number with the Sox...

Heh. And A-Roid got hit twice tonight! Twice!! Hah. So the Evils hit Josh Hamilton. Pft. Hamilton had already blasted another 2-run homer against Petite. (I know. I did that on purpose.)

I'm enjoying this way too much.

I'm hoping the Rangers can keep up the spanking Wednesday. Also hoping that the Sox can continue their A.M. winning ways.

I guess I'll go back to work now.

TTFN, y'all!

Tex, we gotta meet up somehow in September!

Day 7--The Golden Egg and America's Stonehenge

August 1, 2008

Christi was actually up before me Friday morning. We had our usual leisurely time in the morning with our coffee. Sometime around 10am, we decided to go get something to eat and try to find a place in Salem, NH, called “America’s Stonehenge.”

We decided on a little restaurant called “The Golden Egg.” It was fabulous! Friendly service and the food was great. Christi had a special called “Fire-eaters Eggs,” I had a smoked salmon omelet, and Steph had chocolate chip pancakes. Christi’s won. I had a couple bites of her eggs, and they were “to die for.” My omelet was good, but not as good as the Fire-eaters.”

After breakfast, we set out for Salem. We had to go back into Massachusetts a bit on I-95, then back into New Hampshire on the 495. We finally found the place, thanks to our GPS thingy. It was waaaaay off the beaten path, with not a lot of signs along the way. Christi was skeptical.

We got there and went in to the main building, where we purchased our admissions. There was a 10-minute video presentation in a side room that explained the origins (or the unknown nature of the origins) of the place called “America’s Stonehenge.” There are parts of this place that have been dated back 4000 years. Much like the original Stonehenge, the origins and purpose of the place is unknown.

After the video, we set out up the trail (according to one of the girls in the shop, there would be approximately ½ mile of walking. About halfway up the first trail, Steph started freaking out on us. She didn’t want to walk, she was afraid of bugs, etc. This has happened several times on our vacation, I just didn’t write about them. This one was probably the worst, though. Finally, Christi just took her back to the gift shop so I could try to enjoy the place.

So I continued on by myself. It was a very interesting walk, and there were quite a few things of interest on the way. The central point of the whole structure seems to be a walk-in cave/chamber that the archeologists have named “The Oracle Chamber.” So named because of long tube hewn in the rocks that is called “The Speaking Tube.” There was also a place within the Oracle Chamber where a person could crawl in, hide and observe everything without being seen.

I followed all the numbers along the way, and tried to get a picture of every spot in the exhibit. I don’t really think the place lives up to its name, “America’s Stonehenge,” but I do admit that there is something strange and inviting about it. There are large stones around the periphery of the structure. The next to last stop on the trail is a large, wooden platform (from the ground, it looks like a children’s playground), from where you can overlook the whole area. There is an astronomical chart in the middle of the platform which points at the various large stones on the periphery. Each one designates a point of sunrise or sunset, such as the equinoxes, and various other dates. It was quite fascinating.

A lot of the structures in the area have been rebuilt by the archeologists, some as long as seven years ago. There are excavations, in the area, though, that they have dated back several thousand years.

Whether or not the marking stones around the outside are authentic or not, I can’t say. Do we believe the archeologists, or are they making stuff up? Who knows? It is all very interesting, though.

I got back to the gift shop, we bought some sodas, and headed back to the house.

We discussed dinner plans, and decided on a place in Rye we had passed several times, called “The Carriage House.” It had a sign that said “Casual Dining.” But it didn’t open until 5pm, so we waited a few hours, while lounging around and enjoying the ocean. We did that a lot this week, which was the primary purpose for being here.

The Carriage House was a charming little restaurant. Pricy, but the atmosphere was really nice, and the people were very friendly. Turns out was sat right next to the bar upstairs (we had a spectacular view of the nearby beach), and I had an ongoing conversation with the bartender about Manny and the Red Sox.

As for the food, well, it was different, that’s for sure. Christi and Stephanie both had a Philly Cheese-steak Wrap that came with fries, but they were sweet potato fries. Christi didn’t like those, but Steph did. I had one of the daily specials, which was grilled swordfish with a sauce that I can neither spell nor pronounce. They had a half-portion available, so I got that. It had a large shrimp on it, along with a bed of rice, a huge broccoli sprout, and some stuff that looks like it came out of the yard. I ate everything but the yard stuff. Turns out, the waitress read the special wrong. It was supposed to have been salmon. But, since she told me swordfish, the chef made it with swordfish. I’m not sure I would have cared. It was very good. We decided to have some dessert, there, too. Christi and Stephanie shared a thing at the waitress’s suggestion that was kind of a hot fudge croissant. I had Crème Brule. Holy cow! I have only had that once before, and I have loved it both times.

It was the most expensive meal on our trip, but it was really good and enjoyable.

We headed on back to the house, to watch a thick fog roll in while Steph and I watched the Red Sox game. They won!! 2-1. And Jason Bay scored BOTH runs. Later, I saw a clip of Manny hitting into a double play to end the Dodgers game, and then a clip of him doing that thing where he doesn’t run after the ball. There was a ball hit out to left-center and the center-fielder beat Manny to it. He looked kind of lost.

The really cool thing was that, when Jason Bay came up to bat the first time, he got a standing “O” that lasted several minutes. Boston fans….there’s nothin’ like ‘em!

Unfortunately, the Sunbeams won again, too. But the Halos beat the Evil Empire again, 1-0 (in the ninth inning!), and the Rangers battled back to beat the Blue Jays. So it was a mostly good night.

The power went off in the middle of the night, around 1:30am. Stayed off for almost two hours, which made sleeping difficult, especially for me, because of that machine I have to use. I don’t sleep well without it, because I have sleep apnea. But it finally came back on a little before 4am, so we got another few hours of sleep.

I’m typing this all on Saturday morning at around 8:30. We have to leave our little paradise in about an hour and a half. I’m going to get in my devotional time before we have to leave, so I will close for now.

It’s been a pretty remarkable week.

TTFN, y’all!

OMG, the Rangers Are In Second Place!!!

Unfortunately, the Sunbeams had to beat Oakland in order for that to happen. That causes me great conflict.

But the Sox fared well against the Marginals, so at least they held their ground. And the Injuns beat the Halos, so the Rangers even gained a game on them.

The Evil Empire is too close to us. I'm planning on that changing this weekend. I like what you call them, Ted. I just can't put that here because some of my church members read this.

(Hi, Kathy!!)

Looks like we will get to see the Mighty Beckett pitch, followed by Wakey and Lestah.

Dear God, please let the Red Sox sweep the Yankees. And please let us see a no-no. I'm not asking for much...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I'm King of the World...

>>the Yankees will not be allowed to have any players under 50...

>>The Red Sox will always get the number one draft pick...

>>Bud Selig will be exiled for crimes against humanity and impersonating a baseball commissioner...

>>The Tampa Bay team will have to put "Devil" back in their name....

>>Ozzie Guillen will have to stand in the batter's box and be pummelled by every pitcher on every other team in the majors...

>>The strike zone will be returned to its original position, that is, from the armpits to the knees...

>>All players will be required to sign autographs before every game. The game needs to be about the fans again...

>>All owners will be required to lower concession prices at the ballparks. There is no excuse for a coke to cost $4.50 or a beer to cost $6.00...

>>No more promotions given to "the first 20,000 fans." Everyone who attends will get the promotion...This would not apply at Fenway Park, as they don't need promotions to encourage attendance.

>>Instant replay will be instituted in baseball for disputed calls...there will be no discussion about it "making a game too long." I do not understand what that phrase, "making a game too long" means. How can a baseball game be "too long??"

>>Owners will be allowed to eject umpires from their ballparks for really bad calls...if the above-mentioned instant replay shows the call to be wrong, ejection will be automatic. They'd better have plenty of back-up umpires.

>>Every throw to first base by a pitcher to try to keep a runner on first will be counted as a ball.

>>Both leagues will have the same rules. Either both will have designated hitters, or both will not. I don't really care, let's just make it the same. And the umpires will not look at different places over the catcher. How can there be a consistent strike zone when one league's umpires are looking over the catcher's shoulder and the other league's are looking over his head???

>>There will be NO MORE FREAKIN' MAPLE BATS!! Enough, already!

>>Scott Boras will be sent to Mars...no, Jupiter...no, Uranus. He will NOT be given a space suit...

>>Jason Giambi will be (CENSORED)(CENSORED)(CENSORED)...

>>A-Rod will be left alone. He doesn't need any help at all screwing up his own life...

>>Opening Day will be a national holiday. Of course, it will have to be a local holiday, too, since "Opening Day" happens at different times in different cities...however, the official Opening Day of the season will be a holiday for everyone. Not counting that silly Sunday night game, of course. Or any ridiculous games in Japan, either.

>>There will be no more MLB games in Japan. That was just silly. Unless of course, the Japanese decide to join the MLB, then they can participate in what will truly be a "World Series."

>>Basketball season will be drastically shortened. The season will consist only of the playoffs, which will include all the teams, since only 4 of them don't get in anyway. Each team will be given 100 points and two minutes. The season will be required to be over before Opening Day of baseball season.

>>Football will not be allowed to start training camp before baseball season is over. Baseball will have its own exclusive seven months. All the other sports can share the rest of the year.

>>ESPN will not be allowed to show reruns of football games when there is a baseball game to air. Who on earth wants to watch reruns of football games, anyway???

I will gladly take suggestions from fellow Red Sox fans. I had another really good one, but it went away...I kept getting interrupted by work. *grumble*

Obviously, I'm having some great fun with this, but some of those ideas are actually serious. Especially the one about Scott Boras...

BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

*whew* That was close! While I was up doing work stuff, my computer decided to reboot itself. Thank goodness for the auto-save feature in Blogspot!! I wouldn't have been able to remember all of that stuff...

TTFN, y'all!!

What A Day

First of all, I offer my sincere, humble apologies to anyone who might have been offended by yesterday's entry. I don't know what came over me. I am, however, glad that the Sunbeams lost. I'll just ignore who it was that beat them. I hope that no one will shun me.

Moving on.

What a pleasant surprise was awaiting me when I woke up from my daily sleep yesterday to find my daughter happily announcing that the Red Sox defrelnicated the Twins 18-5! Who's the hottest team in baseball, again?? The bats came alive, eh? Cash hits one into the parking lot and Youk follows suit soon afterwards. Even El Capitan got 2 hits! Could this be the turnaround that we've been looking for? Just in time to take a week off?

You know, I really wish that baseball would have their All-Star game like football does. AFTER the season. I say that because I live in Rangers-land, where we are notorious for the "aftertheallstargame collapse." I just think that a week without games is too long. The pitchers get off their schedule, everybody gets cold, etc.

Anyway. On to the night game. Rangers vs Halos. So far, they are 1-1 in the series. When I left for work, the California Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were ahead 4-2, after Frankie Francisco had given up two runs. I listened on the way to work, as two innings progressed quite rapidly. When I pulled into the parking lot, it was the bottom of the 9th, K-Rod was pitching, one out, Cat had 2 strikes on him. I went into the building, went back to put my lunch up, make coffee, etc. Went to the restroom. My cell phone rings while I'm washing my hands. It's my daughter. "Josh Hamilton hit a home run. THEY WON!! I'm shaking so hard!!"

So here, for your viewing pleasure is a video of this year's story of the year hitting the walk-off.

VIDEO LINK

What a finish. So the Rangers are now up on the Angels 2-1 in this series with one game left. And they are 4 over .500 for the first time this season, first time since Noah's ark landed, I think.

Ok. That was an exaggeration. But it's been a very long time.

So it was a good day. And the Sox gained another game on the Sunbeams because they lost again. To somebody. Who shall remain nameless.

And I'm supposed to get my tickets and itinerary for our Red Sox Destinations weekend today! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

TTFN, y'all!

F for Francona

So the Globe gives Masterson a C for yesterday's game and the Red Sox hitters a D+. I definitely agree with the grade for the hitters. I don't think Masterson deserves a C though.

I think the globe should rank the manager, too. Francona deserves an F. A big fat one. Why? Dawn knows!! For putting in LUGO to pinch hit with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth!! That's why!! What was he THINKING??? I know he wasn't thinking "bunt" because there were already two out. So the great and marvelous Lugo strikes out swinging. There is no joy in Beantown today, the mighty Lugo has struck out.

And what was with the umpires just letting Yankees pitchers pummel our batters??? Manny gets hit THREE TIMES???? And there were NO WARNINGS??? Gaaaaahhhh!!!!

*whew*

*deep breath*

Ok. I'm better now.

There were some very bad calls, yesterday, and the strike zone seemed to be extremely mobile. But it seemed to be moving for both teams, so I guess that's "fair."

Honestly, though, I have to say that if Peewee hadn't gotten greedy on that very first AB, this game might have turned out entirely differently. I'm really not sure why he thought he could make second on that hit. And he might have scored on Drew's double. Ah, well. We have another shot today.

At least the Rangers beat Baltimore. But, seriously, folks...somebody has to do something about these Sunbeams! This is getting ridiculous. DAWN, GO GET THAT UNIFORM!!!!!!
TTFN, y'all!

Big Sigh of Relief

Yes!! Lester was brilliant tonight! A complete game, 5 hit shutout. Boy, did we need this game!

And so did the Yankees after that blowout against Texas last night.

While I'm on that subject, I would really like to know what Ron Washington was THINKING last night when he put in a bullpen pitcher who had never pitched in the majors with a one run lead against the bloody YANKEES!!! Grrr. 12 runs later...and the Yankees have averted a sweep.

Anyway, the Sox were great tonight.

I wonder if that will be enough for the stupid Boston Globe to give Lester an "A?" Somehow, I started getting these email alerts from the Globe after the games. Ever since they started, I have wondered what in the heck it would take for them to give a pitcher an "A!" Geez!!

The Sumbeams didn't play tonight, so we gained a half game on them.

TTFN, y'all!