The End of the 2009 Season

Well.

What a day.

Up 5-1 and then lose 7-6. That was not what I was expecting.

Everything had been going so well. Pedroia had a 2 RBI double, Drew hit a HR, they grabbed an insurance run in the 8th to go up 6-4....and Papelbon was coming in to pitch the 9th, after picking off some dude at 1st to end the 8th.


And then....the world fell off its axis and the Red Sox lost as Papelbon gave up 3 runs.

Still in shock. I thought for sure I'd have a Sox game to watch tomorrow night.

Did I say I liked the Angels before? Well, I think I changed my mind.

And P.S. What the HELL was up with the umpires this series? These fools are supposed to be the best of the best? Sad.

Oh, and....I'm not mad at Papelbon. I don't know what the hell happened to him, but I'm not mad. Shocked is still the only word I can come up with. No one is more mad at Papelbon than Papelbon...he doesn't need us fans mad at him, too.

That WAS what I was Hoping For!

Boston was really pissed yesterday, and they showed it with a frickin awesome 14-1 win over the Yanks. Youkilis, Pedroia, Martinez, Ortiz, Bay--they all had an awesome game and Youk even hit 2 home runs. They scored 13 out of their 14 runs with 2 outs!

And Tazawa? After complaining about Red Sox pitching yesterday, this guy made me unbelievably happy by throwing 6 shutout innings and even though he let some NYers get on, he never let them cross home plate. It was a great outing indeed.

And....this dude is my new favorite Yankee :)

So, let's talk negatives for a moment. The game was on FOX. So Tim McCarver talked (and went on for a good 10 minutes about his poorly hidden Derek Jeter love) nonsense, including these gems: "Tazawa's stuff is nowhere NEAR as good as A.J. Burnett's"--as Boston is up 7-0 against Burnett. He also tried to sound smart by saying the Food and Drug Act was passed in, what, 1906? Umm...I don't know where he was going with that, actually. But my favorite idiot saying came from his partner, Kenny Albert (what, no Joe Buck? What a shame...), when he said this, IN THE FIRST INNING: "Red Sox scoring all three of their runs in this inning."

I hate FOX!

Congratulations!

Congratulations go out to Dustin Pedroia and his wife Kelli, for it is my understanding that they now own a child.

Also, congratulations to the Red Sox, as it looks like they might win a game tonight. Yay!

"Classy"

Leave it to the Yankees to go for Pedroia's head (TWICE) when they're winning 13-4.

And they call this team classy?

I Was There...and on TV!

I was at the game in Baltimore yesterday, where I witnessed some really bad pitching and some really great offense (I suspect due to the pitching). I got a lot of pictures which I will have to post in a separate entry, and we had some fun getting yelled at. Let's see...

We got there early to see batting practice, which didn't happen because of the rain. The forecast had rain all afternoon, but there was only one brief spell of rain during the game, which was so awesome. It turned out to be a little hot even, which was unexpected but welcomed. So we were behind home plate waiting for BP to start, and time is going by, and no one is coming to take our seats....and Ellsbury was up, Pedroia, Martinez...and we got on TV a little (on MASN the camera only showed us twice, I was seen clapping when Ellsbury walked and when they zoomed in to start the game. On NESN they showed the same 2 views then my mom got on a couple times) and then we proceeded to get reprimanded by an employee showing the 2 people with the tickets to their seats. Turns out those were Cal Ripken's seats....next time we'll have to be a little less greedy and aim for the 4th or 5th row.

So we get taken to our seats, which were extremely poor compared to where we had been sitting. Spoiled, I suppose. But we got a 4-hour game of nothing but hits. We saw Josh Reddick hit his first career home run, Victor Martinez go 5-for-6, 23 total Sox hits, Buchholz give up 7 runs and Boston still won easily, Casey Kotchman's 1st Red Sox at-bat, the Orioles manager getting kicked out....it was a great game.

So the highlight of the day really was sitting behind home plate for a few batters.....getting kicked out was a little embarrassing, I heard a few "Nice try"s as I exited the good seats...and wouldn't you know, those people left early. F.


P.S. We were all wondering why Reddick ran off in the middle of the inning and came back a few minutes later. Now I see!

A Very Good Way to Start '09

Things did not work out as planned for me yesterday. The game was supposed to be Monday at 2:00, I didn't have class, I was going to watch it. Of course it was postponed till Tuesday at 4, when I had class from 3:30-8. Not exactly how I wanted the first game of the season to go, but hey, they won.

Apparently Josh Beckett was pretty awesome, as the stats tell me so: he went 7 innings, only allowed 2 hits (wowza), 1 run, and threw 10 strikeouts. That is how you start a season, people.

Reigning MVP Pedroia started the day off with a home run, Varitek also contributed one later in the game. Looking over the box, it actually looks like everyone had a pretty good start to 2009 (well, except Ellsbury, but it's only the first game).

Baseball is back! Ahhh....it's such a great feeling!

P.S. How great is it to see Mike Lowell playing?

NOT ALLOWED

Sorry Dustin Pedroia, but you are absolutely, unequivocally NOT ALLOWED to have an injury! Reading this--Dustin Pedroia will miss the remainder of the World Baseball Classic with a strained left oblique and will be examined by Red Sox doctors on Sunday--on the redsox.com site has totally ruined my day. And might I add it is my mom's birthday so it has been a very good day so far.

In his words, "I'll be fine. I'm not concerned about the season. I'll be ready for the season. I'm not worried about that."

I tend to overreact to things, so I am pretty sure he will be fine and it is just Laura-on-overdrive, but he's my favorite player. I think it's okay to be concerned....even if it is slightly dramatic. Besides, he was the only reason I cared about the WBC. Now what?

More DP for Many Years!

You know, I read this the other day and forgot to write about it (probably because of a histology final I had today!), so here it is: The Red Sox and Pedroia reached an agreement Wednesday on a six-year, $40.5 million contract. Included in the deal is a seventh-year club option worth $11 million.

Pedroia for another 6 years. Life is good.

"I'm happy with this, extremely excited. My wife is excited. My parents, they're ecstatic. All my friends, even my teammates. I want to be here. I want to play for the Red Sox. I don't want to play for anybody else. It just seemed right to do something."

There you go. I'm happy, he's happy, everyone else is happy.

But I'll be a lot more happy when my anatomy final is over in a couple weeks...

A Tidbit of News

The Red Sox made a one-year contract offer to Jason Varitek.

That's all I have. One sentence of information.

Baseball news has been slow since Pedroia won MVP. Because really, what can top that?

That's Right People

Major League Baseball(-associated people) continues to freak me out by doing things that I love. Dustin Pedroia is the AL MVP! He received 16 of 28 first-place votes (the other 12 people are stupid I guess) and Youkilis finished 3rd.

"It's unbelievable," said Pedroia. "When I first got called up to the Major Leagues in 2006, I really didn't know what to expect. I really didn't set any expectations or goals on myself. My biggest thing was, if I'm in the lineup that day, I'm going to play as hard as I can and try to help our team. That's been my mentality ever since I got called up to the big leagues. That's how I'm going to be successful. I have to keep that mind-set every season. This year, I was very successful. Hopefully, I can continue that."

Man, I would be so excited if I won. Of course, being a female it is impossible (and also the minor fact that I SUCK), but I would be cheering and saying dumb things like, "Yeah, that's right. And I knew it would happen because I am AWESOME and better than everyone else."

I am usually so disappointed this time of year because Ortiz lost out to A-Rod again, but this time I am so happy. Happy because my favorite player is being recognized like crazy this year, and happy because I don't have any hard tests for like 2 weeks. Life is good!

More Love for DP

Well look at this right here: Dustin Pedroia was awarded with a Silver Slugger!

(kind of diminishes it when you see Jeter and A-Rod won it too)

but hey! What am I talking about, that is really awesome. I'm beginning to wonder if my streak of favorite-player-bad-luck has ended? As you may know, as soon as I pick a favorite player, they either get traded or find some other way to leave the team. Most recently was Trot Nixon, before that Bronson Arroyo, before that Mark Bellhorn, and way back when, it was Shea Hillenbrand. Of course my first real favorite was Mo Vaughn, and he just got into the Red Sox Hall of Fame!

So anyway, my point now is, Dustin Pedroia has been my favorite for a couple years now, and in that time he has won Rookie of the Year, a Golden Glove, a Silver Slugger, and he WILL win AL MVP next week. And that is usually how things work for me: after I decided my favorite tennis player was Juan Carlos Ferrero, he won the French Open. I picked Djokovic, he got good. I picked Bronson and he got good (of course then he got bad again, so...). Maybe it's not always 100%. But as long as DP keeps up his excellent baseball playing, it'll be okay.

Goodness is Everywhere Now

Obama is the new president and Dustin Pedroia won a Gold Glove for his fan-freaking-tastic 2nd base-ness!

I love the world right now.

Rookie of the Year last year, Gold Glove this year...what will he win next year? MVP? Or will he just get to that this year too?

What a nice couple days it has been!!

I CAN Believe My Eyes!

WOW! Was that not one of the best games you have ever watched? I feel really bad for everyone who went to bed when the Sox were down 7-0, only to have them come back to win in the bottom of the 9th!

INCREDIBLE.

THAT was the team we have watched and loved all year. Now I want to see them again for the next 2 games.

We did not even score until the 7th inning. 8 runs in 3 innings. You know the Rays are stunned. Yay!

All I seem to be able to say is Wow. That was SO awesome. Absolute joy right there. And the fact that everyone contributed...Pedroia, Ortiz, Crisp (WHAT an at bat!!), Drew (what a way to end it, for real), Papelbon, Masterson keeping us in the lead and getting that double play ball...what an amazing game.

I feel like I could run 20 miles after that game, I am so excited and pumped up. I really need to get some studying done, but all I can think about is how much I freaking ADORE this team!!

So Many Things to Touch On

I have a list in my head of so many things I want to say! Let's see if I remember them all (disclaimer: it's the 8th inning now and I clearly do not know the outcome of the game):

1) Dustin Pedroia, my love for this man knows no limits. Two home runs in a row, a walk, a single, and that is through the 8th. MVP, come on!!!

2) Jason Bay, how awesome are you? REALLY awesome. He's got 4 RBIs in this game alone, has hit a HR, and just generally seems to come through in the big moments. I cannot express how much I thank whoever got us this man (okay Theo).

3) My mind is filled with cell biology so I may be incorrect here, but remember back in the '04 ALCS when Johnny Damon could not get a hit, and then he hit the grand slam in Game 7? I feel like that is Jacoby Ellsbury right now. The poor kid is like 0-for-8 or some awful number, he is also the leadoff hitter, and he kind of looks like Damon (a very little, okay). I am waiting for him to do something huge like Damon of the Good Ol' Days. Waiting. Patiently. Unlike some people I know!

4) That's all for now. Except I hate the Rays. And where was 2003 Beckett tonight?!?? Yuck.

5) Oh, wait, one more thing. Can we NOT play Javier Lopez anymore?! PRETTY PLEASE. He threw one pitch, gave up a run, and was promptly taken out. Smart. But why was he in in the first place? Remember the Angels game??

Very Nice

I would just like to point out that Dustin Pedroia has gone 4-for-4 for the last 2 games and that is pretty freaking awesome. Have I mentioned lately that he's my favorite?

Also, Boston scored 8 runs in both games. Kotsay and Bay are fitting in perfectly, ground rule doubles and RBIs galore. They are in a very good place right now, as a team.

QotD (because, as you surely noticed, DP was batting cleanup tonight): During his briefing with the media, Francona said, "I'll never hear the end of this from Pedroia or Ortiz. Pedroia said it's long overdue, and Ortiz said he's retiring."

Look on the Bright Side

Boston lost really bad today, and the Yankees won by a lot, and Toronto will probably win tonight, and it's my last day of freedom before med school owns me for the next 4 years...but on the other hand, my favorite player Dustin Pedroia has a birthday today! So it all works out, right? I think so, too.

Really, there is not a lot of good news to share. Nadal went ahead and won the gold medal in tennis, which I do not like. Federer is supposed to be #1 and I am not such a big fan of change. I like things to stay the same, nice and easy and predictable. Unless we're talking about a certain '04 World Series, because that kind of change I'm cool with.

And can I just say WHAT to Elena Dementieva winning the gold in women's tennis? She is certainly not the best female tennis player, so I don't know how that happened. I like her and all, just seems...weird. Unexpected. There we go with that again...

I Am Already Mad

The game hasn't even started yet and I am very upset. Mostly, I am disappointed. Disappointed in those stupid New Yorkers who have booed all of the Red Sox players. HELLO IDIOTS THEY ARE PLAYING ON YOUR TEAM TONIGHT!!

I did NOT boo the Yankees. I cheered for Rivera! Because he and all of the other Yankees are my TEAMMATES tonight. But then again, I am not stupid, and I do not boo my own teammates. Like New Yorkers.

Whatever. Like my father says, if everyone was as smart as us, we wouldn't be appreciated.

A little Pedroia action to get us started tonight (MY favorite player batting 9th, now THAT is stupid)

Oh They Were Just So Close

Bases loaded in the 9th with no outs and they didn't score any runs?! It still hurts now, the morning after.

Masterson pitched a good game, getting into trouble a few times but only letting NY score twice. Too bad for us that Mussina was just plain better yesterday, allowing zero runs in 6 innings. It was Rivera who let us get that lone run, then shaped himself up and got three outs in a row. It SUCKED.

D.P. kept his hitting streak alive and also made a very pretty play in the 3rd inning to get the 3rd out and leave the bases loaded with Yanks. But I think the biggest story of the day (other than being THISCLOSE to winning) was Manny Ramirez getting hit three times! Those NY pitchers must either really hate him, or be really intimidated by him, no?

I Complain A Bit Much

The Sox actually won a game last night, and in pretty good fashion. 7-0 over NY. I was a little worried about team morale after being swept by TB (such close games too), but looks like I needn't worry anymore. What I need to do now is focus my energy on TB and hope they stumble in the KC series...though I doubt they will!

I am quite upset that I don't get to watch half of this series on TV (though day-after MLB.TV has been helping me relive games), and it figures the Sunday night game is on TV so I will be awful at work on Monday. Oh well. Red Sox>life.

Allow me to focus on the good for a moment: Lester was awesome last night: he pitched a complete game shutout and only allowed 5 hits total. Pedroia continued his superb playing, he has now hit safely for the past 11 games. The offense killed Pettitte, who had been 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last 4 starts.

But can I just say that very first called 3rd strike on Ellsbury? What a crap call!

Beckett's Hot

Josh Beckett pitched 8 excellent innings last night, Manny hit 2 home runs, and Mussina only lasted 3 innings. It was a fantastic game!

Except for that whole Farnsworth-almost-took-out-Manny incident (though we did hit A-Rod the other night, after all), everything went well. Even Papelbon giving up 2 runs was acceptable, with a 7-3 lead you are allowed. Ortiz still has an unexpectedly low average at .111, but remember how Pedroia started last year and he ended up Rookie of the Year. No worries yet about The Man.

What's up with Ellsbury getting HBP twice? He must never be injured, we need him too much. Mussina must have something against him..

Johan

Looks like Ellsbury and Pedroia are safe--Johan Santana is going to the Mets. Which is cool. I like the Mets. I'm just glad D.P. and Jacoby still have homes in Boston.

This is Fear

Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury could wind up being sent to the Minnesota Twins in a deal for vaunted lefty Johan Santana.

This is the kind of craziness I wake up to. I check my email first thing, of course, and I get Remy's Today in Sports email. Usually I skip right over it (hey it's the offseason) but I saw Pedroia and Ellsbury in the title and had to read it. So this is what I get?!?

They wouldn't trade my two favorite players...right? Because I'll be honest with you, I might be tempted to walk out on them if they did that. Every year that I announce my favorite, he goes. I thought I was safe with DP, and if they let him go...watch out!

Wrong Choice

Sabathia was listed first on 19 of 28 ballots cast by two writers in each AL city and totaled 119 voting points. Beckett received eight first-place votes and the Angels' John Lackey received one.

Beckett losing the Cy Young to Sabathia is the most perfect example I can think of as to why postseason performances NEED to be taken into consideration when deciding on these end-of-season awards. Because seriously...

Beckett owned Sabathia in the ALCS. TWICE.

And A-Rod will "most likely" get the MVP over Lowell. A man who contributed nothing to his team in the postseason vs. a man who won the WS MVP. And that first guy is picked to win?

How good can you be if your team doesn't make it to the postseason, or if you lose in the LDS?

I question how these things are decided. I am still really thrilled about Pedroia, but I am seriously disappointed that Beckett, who should have won, didn't.

--------------------------

P.S. FINALLY! Youkilis shaved that horrible beard off (for charity of course)! You cannot tell me he doesn't look a million times better now:

YAAAYYYYY

Pedroia is (AL) Rookie of the Year! Yay!!!!!!!

He was listed first on 24 of the 28 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city and second on the other four to total 132 points. The Rays' Delmon Young finished second behind Pedroia with 56 points. HE DESTROYED THE COMPETITION!

Congratulations DP, now everyone will know why you're my favorite!

Just call him The Winner

Like I Needed Another Reason to Love Pedroia

The awesomest man:

Pedroia played the final two months of the 2007 season with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand, The Boston Herald reported on Saturday. Pedroia told the newspaper that he didn't know when the injury occurred, only that an MRI and bone scan on Sept. 10 revealed the break.

The rookie second baseman played in 30 games after the injury was discovered...

Compare: Wily Mo Pena missed nearly two months for the Red Sox in 2006 with a fractured hamate.

Yeah, love him.

Schilling's Back

Curt Schilling signed a one-year deal worth $8 million that could be worth as much as $14 million should he reach all the incentives in the package. That's good, hopefully he will have another good year...but maybe with a better win-loss record.

In other news, Kevin Youkilis won a Gold Glove for his awesomeness at first base. It was expected and totally deserved. He only had like 429088 consecutive error-free games...or something like that. Where is Lowell's, though?

Days I'm looking forward to:
11/12: Pedroia wins AL Rookie of the Year
11/13: Beckett wins the AL Cy Young
11/14: Lowell wins AL MVP

Yes, they will all win. Well, they SHOULD.

The Parade

Today was the day when thousands of Red Sox fans waited along the streets of Boston to catch a glimpse of their favorite team as they rolled on by to thank the fans and celebrate with them. As always, I have many pictures to document the parade (there are way too many but I couldn't stop, they were all too good):

Something tells me Papelbon is a really fun guy to hang out with:

I was going to caption this one with something about how cool it would be to be on one of these flights, but I'm so distracted by the size of Varitek's arms...huge!

Love this kid:And I want his jersey!

More Papelbon being awesome:

Who doesn't love Don?

Gotta have a picture of the man, David Ortiz:

And the man that gave America free tacos eats his!

Love the Pedroia:

Our fearless leader:

Some pitchers for your viewing pleasure:

More Papelbon (never enough!):

And the best of them all, Varitek holding the "Resign Lowell" sign:

As far as actual news goes, there's Schilling writing goodbye letters to his teammates and filing for free agency. "There's a very realistic chance I won't ever play with them again."

It's too soon to think about all that. Can we just think about winning the World Series for the next few weeks? Slow it down, the game was only a couple days ago and they're already talking about next year!

World Series Game 3 (Emotional Rollercoaster)

12:56 am: Let me preface this by saying the following paragraphs were written at exactly the times/innings listed. So what I'm really saying is, I'm kind of psychic...

Pre-game: Jacoby Ellsbury (see, now that he has proven himself, I will bestow upon him the honor of calling him by his real name instead of Jacob) does the cutest starting lineup ever. Had to say that, because it's the truth. I think I've mentioned that I've decided he will be my second favorite player on the team, behind Pedroia of course. Love those rookies!

8:30 pm: Josh Fogg, in the regular season, was 10-9 with a 4.94 ERA. This should be good.

3rd inning: Same thing as the first: Ellsbury and Pedroia got on (JE with a double and DP with a bunt). In the 1st, the next 3 batters were out. This time, Ortiz hit an RBI double, Manny was IBB'd, Lowell hit a 2-RBI single, Drew was out, & Varitek hit a single that Manny tried to score on, but was called out at the plate. Boo. Anyway, Lugo walked and then Matsuzaka got a hit! Scored Lowell and Varitek to put us up 5-0. Ellsbury got ANOTHER double and that made it 6-0!

6th inning: Not so great. After 5 good innings, Matsuzaka got the boot after allowing 2 walks, then Javier Lopez came in and gave up an RBI single. He then proceeded to give up another RBI single. Lopez=not good. Timlin came in and Spilborghs hit one that Ellsbury caught at the very, very end of the field. So close and so good for us. Then Lugo caught a ball at the very top of his jump, it was pretty. Kept the lead safe.

11:40 pm: Timlin has started to suck. 2 batters faced, 2 men on. Perhaps it is time for him to make his exit? Yes! Okajima is coming in to stop the pain. FOX tried to jinx it by saying Okajima has allowed 0 runs in 9 2/3 innings and Papelbon has also allowed 0 runs in 7 2/3. Would it work? AHH YES IT WORKED HE GAVE UP A 3-RUN HR ON THE FIRST PITCH DAMN YOU FOX!!

12:12 am: ELLSBURY YOU WONDERFUL MAN! 4th hit of the night=another run to put it at 7-5! Pedroia!! Another hit for him to make it 9-5! Man, can I pick 'em or can I pick 'em?

9th inning: Lowell just stole 3rd base. How awesomely unexpected.
Bottom of 9th: 3 outs to go for a 3-0 lead..a deficit I don't think Colorado has a chance at overcoming. Easy out, easy out, triple (which one doesn't belong), easy out. So funny to see the depressed Rockies fans after they were cheering like crazy when it was 6-5.

12:58 am: So what did I mean by the psychic thing? Ellsbury and Pedroia had amazing games, Ellsbury especially, and I'm pretty sure I had everything to do with that by calling them out in the pre-game :)

LOVED the post-game interviews with JE and DP!

Let us all remember this day for what it really is: in 2004, Boston won the World Series on this day. So it was fantastic 3 years ago and pretty damn good in '07.

See you all tomorrow, on a night that could hold a World Series championship for the Sox..

Only 2 More to Go

That game made me a lot more nervous than Wednesday's game, but I do have to admit to something: I kind of fell asleep.

It was either the 7th or 8th inning (I was so tired I can't even remember!) and Schilling had pitched a good one, Okajima was doing his usual awesomeness, and then...I couldn't keep my eyes open! There is no excuse for falling asleep during a Red Sox World Series game, so I will not offer any. But I did wake up in the 9th. And I saw Papelbon was in, I knew we'd win, and....I fell back asleep. I KNOW IT IS WRONG but I have to get up early yo!

Okay, but what I did see was pretty funny. They showed the Holliday pick off (great article detailing the Rockies' suckiness here) on replay and that was some pretty good stuff. Not too many hits from Boston last night, but apparently we had enough: usually 2 runs on 6 hits isn't enough to win a ballgame, but it is when you play against a very disheveled Colorado Rockies team.

Let the dominance continue as they head to Colorado. Actually, it might be nice to lose a game so Fenway can celebrate Boston winning. Yes, that might be nice. The way they're playing though...we'll be celebrating in Colorado for sure.

Pics time!Looks like my advice to Mrs. Papelbon was taken! Much, much better.

That is just way too cute not to post!

AL MVP, right here.

I never need a reason for putting up a Dustin Pedroia picture!

Can They All Be Like This?

Game's not over yet, but the current score of 13-1 tells me we won it.

Yo. Beckett is just incredible. The entire lineup is swinging the bat amazingly well. There is not a single flaw amongst them all!

Colorado was losing with the first pitch of the night, when Pedroia sent the ball over the Monster (well, on top of it, but at Fenway that's a HR). When stuff like that happens...you know it's gonna be a good game.

DP's leadoff home run. Chants of "DP! DP! DP!" were heard 'round the house.

"The Man"

I kind of feel bad for the pitchers. Not bad enough to want to see them pitch well, but bad nonetheless. I mean, look at Francis' face! I kind of want to hug him. Then thank him for doing such a mediocre job.

This one is just a cool picture.

Gagne can't believe he got through a whole inning without allowing a run. Neither can we.

The AL Pennant is Back Home

Five minutes ago, the only thing I remembered about winning the AL pennant last night was I was sick for the majority of the game.

With a little prodding though, I now recall Pedroia being incredibly awesome; Beckett getting the most deserved MVP award ever; 3 people holding up MVP signs when Lowell was up, thus proving I am not the only one who thinks Lowell is the AL MVP; Papelbon's excited/exuberant/a little scary face when Crisp caught that last ball; Matsuzaka doing better than I'd expected/hoped.

What a night.

That game literally had me ill for the most part, even though we always had the lead and I felt the whole day that we would win, it was still very uncomfortable to watch. Anything can happen in baseball. And when Okajima stayed in 2 batters longer than I wanted, I started feeling the sickness hard...and then Papelbon came in and I was 100% better. Where would we be without him?!

Actually, where would we be without everyone on this team? Ortiz and Manny were hot the first few games and when their production decreased a bit, the bottom half stepped it up and played great. This is a well-rounded team that totally deserves to be where they are now.

Next up, a World Series win. I don't think those Rockies stand a chance.

Now for the pictures!

Oh yeah, Millar was there in the beginning! What a great way to start the game.

I'm so glad to have this picture--we saw this sign last night and thought it was great. So many clever Boston fans!

A great one for those dumb towel-waving Cleveland people. The man holding the sign had a great line: "We're not a bunch of towel waving geeks..Don't wave a white towel unless you are surrendering."

I'm throwing this one in here just because Harold Reynolds is in it and I miss him!!

What the hell kind of Red Sox wife doesn't wear a Red Sox shirt?


See ya Wednesday!!