It’s been a long time since we have seen Big Papi hit the walkoff home run and get mobbed at the plate. It’s so great to see him hitting again and winning games for us in the bottom of the ninth. I have missed this smile:

Other observations from last night’s game:

Tim Wakefield also came back in fine form last night. I had my fingers crossed that he would have a good first outing. Thankfully, the baseball gods answered my prayers.

And how about Victor Martinez behind the plate last night? He did a FANTASTIC job catching Wake’s knuckleball. He needs a little work on his throw to 2nd base but hey — I am not complaining.

And what about Alex Gonzalez? We have nicknamed him “Gonzo the Great.” I am so relieved to finally have a shortstop with fantastic defensive skills AND a solid bat. Wow. He is really impressive. Why did we ever get rid of him in the first place? Geez. Orlando Cabrera and Alex Gonzalez — two shortstops we never should have let go. Oh well. That is ancient history.

In other news…

So Brad Penny is gone. Oh well. He was okay at the beginning of the season. He had a couple of decent outings. He was no where as bad as John Smoltz or Eric Gagne. Now it’s time for me to read up on Billy Wagner…

Okay. I’m back. I missed most of the Yankees vs. Red Sox series but managed to watch a little of the last game. Although we lost 2 out of 3 games, I was pleased to see the Red Sox really hitting the ball again. I would like to point out that in my last post I predicted J.D. Drew would start hitting again. He did not disappoint. I love it when I am right. ha ha!

As for the White Sox vs. Red Sox — this series is WEIRD. I have never seen so many odd bobbles and errors on both teams. But we’re winning and that’s all that matters. After last night’s win, I changed the channel to see what was happening with the Rangers vs. Yankees in the Bronx. The Rangers were up 10-5 in the 8th so I figured it was safe to turn off the TV and go to sleep. Wrong!

This morning I read the Yankees came back with a four run 9th inning and almost stole the game from the Rangers. Just goes to show — you cannot turn your back on the Evil Empire. They are hot, hot, hot right now and no one seems able to really douse their fire.

Shifting gears…

I am a little concerned about our recent acquisition of Billy Wagner from the Mets. I don’t know enough about his record to comment on his abilities. I know he just had Tommy John surgery last year. He has pitched two solid innings recently but is that enough to take another chance on a rehabbing pitcher? This seems to be the theme for the Red Sox front office. I hope this time the project is a success.

I am curious about who we will bring up from AAA this September when we can start adding guys to the roster. In past seasons I remember watching Youkilis, Pedroia and Ellsbury come up from Pawtucket and look how they progressed. It’s going to be fun watching some new guys get in the line up to see what they can do. I wondering if they will bring up Lars Anderson. We already have a waiting list of guys who can play first base so I’m not sure about Lars.

I read that Victor Martinez texted Terry Francona at 2 AM pleading: “Let me play.” Francona let V-Mart pinch hit last night and voila! He tied the game for us. I would love to see V-Mart play more often. It will be interesting to watch him catch Wakefield tonight.

And speaking of Wake — I am PRAYING that he does well tonight. I am concerned though. All reports that I have read online refer to him as “hobbling around the clubhouse” and not moving real well. Ay yi yi. Fingers are crossed.

Keeping the faith…

What a fantastic game last night! Was I dreaming or did Clay Buchholz totally out-pitch Roy “Doc” Halladay?

And the Red Sox were HITTING! (yes – I am shouting…)

Talk about “happily ever after!” It was almost as good as this fairy tale:

Yeah, I’m a cynic. And I love Ann Taintor images. So shoot me…

Anyway, back to baseball…

Some observations from last night’s game:

In my opinion (which is all this blog is anyway) Hideki Okajima is this year’s unsung hero. I rarely read or hear anyone singing his praises. Yet he seems to come in whenever he’s needed and he does his job very well. He gets his three outs and off he goes until the next game when we need him again. The guy is rock solid.

Clay Buchholz looked great last night. I am now very glad we did not trade him for Halladay. That trade looked a little preposterous during last night’s matchup, don’t you think?

Did you see Alex Gonzalez get two clutch hits last night? Oh yeah. He was looking good. So glad we got him back in the lineup. We needed his glove badly. The two hits last night were just icing on the cake.

I love reading today’s headlines stating that Big Papi is “surging.” Nice!

J.D. Drew is ice cold right now. Something tells me he is going to warm up though. J-Bay and V-Mart are both hitting. J.D. can’t be far behind them.

And finally here is some GREAT, FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL news.

Jerry Remy will be back in the broadcast booth with Don Orsillo for this weekend’s series against the Yankees. He just might turn out to be our good luck charm.

On a personal note…

I will be out of town this weekend taking care of some personal business. I will not have access to the internet and am not even sure if I will be able to watch any of the Yankees vs. Red Sox series. I have my DVR set so I can watch the games when I get home, just in case something miraculous happens.

I am expecting the rest of you Red Sox fans out there (hi, Uncle E and Ms. F!) to keep the faith.

This would have been me last night…

except that I already did this in our games against the Rays, the Yankees, and the Rangers. I had nothing left for last night’s game, and it looked like Josh Beckett didn’t either.

The evening started out smoothly enough. We took a four run lead early in the game only to see it shrink and grow and shrink again. You would think seven runs would be enough, but it wasn’t last night. The Jays tied the game in the 6th and luckily for us, committed a throwing error in the 8th that allowed us to take back the lead.

But even that wasn’t enough and the Jays fought back. In comes Jonathan Papelbon to get the last out in the 8th inning. That took forever! The Jays scored two more times before Pap got the 3rd out. EEK.

And then he comes back in for the 9th. And that was a real nailbiter because the Jays were hitting Pap hard. I couldn’t take another walk off win against the Sox, not after this battle.

Luckily, he got the three outs and it was over. But Papelbon didn’t really pump his fist or beat his chest like he usually does after a save. He walked off the mound looking a little shell shocked and mouthed something that looked like “Wow.”

Not WOW! in a good way but wow as in ”What the hell just happened? Thank God that’s over.”

I don’t care how it played out, I will take the win. And the boys are hitting again. That’s always a nice thing.

Some observations…

Is it just me or is Terry Francona leaving pitchers in far too long? Seems to me he should have pulled Beckett long before he did. And I couldn’t believe he was leaving Pap in to finish the 9th when the Jays were tattooing the ball.

He’s starting to manage his pitchers like Grady Little did and that is not a good thing.

JMHO.

Of course, John Farrell – the Red Sox pitching coach – was not at last night’s game. Maybe that had something to do with it. I would like to think that Terry can figure out when to pull a pitcher without necessarily conferring with John. And the bullpen pitching coach who filled in last night looked LOST. ay yi yi.

Congrats to Dustin and Kelli Pedroia! 

Pedey is a (little) papi!

Dustin Pedroia missed last night’s game to be in Boston for the birth of his first child, a little boy named Dylan. I read this morning that all well with the birth. It has been a little touch and go for them since the All Star Break so this is good news.

Next up — Clay Buchholz and Roy Halladay

I better find something to keep my hands busy tonight. Maybe I should take up knitting.

I am so relieved to have a night off from baseball. All this losing business gets really depressing. Over the past week I have watched the Red Sox lose considerable ground in the AL East AND lose their lead in the Wild Card standings. It’s horrible, I tell ya.

My wonderful uncle in Jaffrey, NH reads my blog (Hi, Uncle E!). He has been cheering on the Red Sox since 1938 when he was just 8 years old. That was before Ted Williams broke into the big leagues. He went on to tell me about his heartbreak in 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1967. That’s a whole lot of suffering!

I’m not sure if I dare admit this out here in public, but my grandfather was a diehard Yankees fan as was my other uncle. My dear Uncle E had to cheer for the Red Sox in a house filled with Yankees fan. How he survived, I will never know.

Anyway – Uncle E came up with a good one the other day, and I thought I would share it with you. We were discussing my sister’s concept that Boston loves to be the underdog and my uncle agreed with her. He said that we just love hitting ourselves over the head with a hammer because it feels so good when we stop. haha!

I am ready to stop, Uncle E. Call Theo Epstein and the boys and tell them to put the hammer down, please!

A couple of observations from last night’s game…

1. Jacoby – you are supposed to get on base ahead of Pedroia. That is why they call you the lead off hitter. If you would have done your job last night, Pedey would have tied the game with his homerun in the sixth inning.

2. Brian Anderson is in over his head. I miss the versatility and bat of Mark Kotsay.

3. Youk coming back is not the total answer to our “offensive malaise” as I saw it referred to online today. It will definitely help but we also need Big Papi, JD Drew and Jason Bay hitting for us consistently.

Okay – all for now. I’m going to put an ice pack on my aching head! 

It’s getting a little more difficult to keep the faith these days. While Jane is over there on her blog singing “My Favorite Things,” I feel like I should be singing the old Simon and Garfunkel classic “Slip Slidin’ Away.”

I have been busy lately and too tired unable to catch all the Red Sox games. I am kicking myself for turning off the game Friday night right after David Ortiz tied it up with his 2 run homer. (**note to self: USE DVR!**) I definitely missed a very exciting win which seems like a phenomenon for us at this point.

I did watch the entire game last night. I was unimpressed. Let me re-phrase that: I was unimpressed with the Red Sox, but I was very impressed with young Rangers’ pitcher Derek Holland. This kid is only 22 and showed great maturity and ball control all night.

Some observations:

I am happy to see Alex Gonzalez back at shortstop. While I do not think he is the “answer” for us in the long haul, it sure is nice to see a guy who can field a ball and throw it to first without making an error.

Last night’s game could have been called “Gone in Sixty Seconds” with all the base stealing. Jason Varitek couldn’t throw out his grandmother. Sorry. I’m not sure what his stats are with throwing out runners trying to steal second base, but he has to be at the bottom of the barrel.

And what’s with all these hit batters lately? Is it just me or does it seem to be happening more and more? Is it just happening with the Red Sox? I’m not sure what to make of it, but I can say one thing – I don’t like it. That’s not how we play baseball. And I certainly hate to see anyone get hit in the head like Kinsler last night.

So I am beginning to focus on the wild card standings. That doesn’t mean I am not keeping the faith. I am always keeping the faith that we will make it to the post season. I just don’t see the Yankees losing any time soon. They have tremendous momentum right now.

My sister made a good point the other day that I agreed with and wanted to share with you. She believes that Boston likes being the underdog and feels the Red Sox play better (harder – with more passion) when they are chasing as opposed to being chased.

Something to think about!

Just like a thunderstorm building on a hot summer afternoon, the Red Sox finally erupted with a bench-clearing brawl last night against the Tigers.

And I missed it. (That is a story for another day and a different blog.)

Late summer brawls and the Red Sox seem to work well together. Take this one for example on July 24, 2004:

We all know what happened after this momentus occasion.

I say a bench-clearing brawl can be good for the soul. The Red Sox always seem to come back after such a dust up and play with just a little more passion and pride.

Two homeruns by Mike Lowell anyone?

Yes, please!

Okay – so our win last night was not without its tense moments. But it was a win, and it sure felt good. It was nice to see the guys back home in Fenway. They needed to get back home if for nothing else but a little moral support and love from the fans.

It was also nice to watch the game on NESN last night. I have to say, Eck and Don are really starting to gel. It seems like Don giggles through at least 1/3 of the broadcast these days thanks to Eck’s comments about “cheese,” “hairy cheese,” “salad,” and last night’s discussion of “moss hanging out.”

BTW – I wasn’t sure what “moss” was. I wasn’t paying close attention and missed that part of the discussion. When Eck talked about how his moss was hanging out and flopping when he ran, I said “WHAT?!”

Luckily, my sister set me straight on AOL IM and told me that he was referring to his hair, specifically the length of his hair and how it hung out from under his baseball cap. Alrighty then…

So – back to last night’s game…

I like that J.D. Drew is starting to hit the ball again. Too bad he messed up the play on that ball in the right field corner.

I like that Nick Green is hitting again. With his copious amounts of E’s at the SS position, the guy needs to make up for it with his bat. I have said it since the departure of Orlando Cabrera – the Red Sox need a GOOD shortshop. I wish we would have held on to OC. Why didn’t we pick him up at the mid season trade?

I cannot stand Ramon Ramirez. That’s all I’m saying about that.

I like Dustin Pedroia’s recent comments to the press about the rest of the season. He is 100% correct and is a true team leader. Our next captain perhaps? I think so.

Thank you, Blue Jays!

This has been a pretty disappointing couple of weeks, to say the least. But I am used to it. I am a lifelong Red Sox fan.

I first learned about the ups and downs of being a Red Sox fan during the summer of 1975. There was the great Fisk homerun, but we still lost the World Series to Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine.

Then there was the summer of 1978 when I went to Camp Bernadette on Lake Wentworth in Wolfeboro, NH. Camp Bernadette is a Catholic girls’ camp. We did all the usual things good Catholic girls do at summer camp; we swam, made macrame plant hangers and put on a camp talent show. We also prayed a lot.

I prayed mostly at night as I listened to Red Sox games on my transistor radio from my cabin bunk. That summer the Red Sox had a 14 game lead over the Yankees. Somewhere between swim relays and Sunfish sailing, those 14 games fizzled away. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse — it did. The Red Sox ended up in a playoff for the AL East division title and lost it all with one homerun by Bucky Dent.
 

Then there was the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets. Talk about heartbreak! Later in life I moved to Jupiter, Florida and found myself sitting next to Gary Carter at the movies one night.

My husband pointed him out to me and said: “Hey, that’s Gary Carter sitting next to you!” I promptly stood up with my popcorn and moved to another row. I was NOT going to sit next to Gary Carter from the 1986 NY Mets.

**Note: I realize my own immaturity in this situation. Gary Carter is probably a very nice man. I should have asked him for his autograph and chatted with the Hall of Famer about his World Series experience. I am now officially kicking myself.**

Another low point has to be 2003 and the famous Aaron Boone homerun that dashed our hopes during the AL East division playoff. My husband was just getting on the Red Sox bandwagon (finally!). We followed the Sox all summer, and my dad kept telling us to keep the faith. We grew to love these guys!

After Boone hit that homerun and ended our season, my husband turned to me and with a pained look on his face exclaimed: “Why did you do this to me?!” (read: “Why did you turn me into a Red Sox fan?!”)  People told us when we first got married that “marriage is hard work.” I think this is what they were talking about.

Of course we have enjoyed many exhilariating moments. But the reason I bring up 1975, 1978, 1986 and 2003 is to remind you myself that our current slump is just that — a slump. It may last the duration of the 2009 season, and we’ll end up in the cellar with the Orioles. Or we may have a miraculous surge of momentum as we did in 2004.

I am a Red Sox fan which means I know how to suffer. I can take it. This little series with the Yankees. It’s nothing. It’s an August slump. Check back with me in October…

I must confess that I did not see the whole game last night. We had dinner reservations and had to leave when the score was still 3-0. From what I did see, it looked like Clay Buchholz was holding his own, at least for awhile.

I did read that Ramon Ramirez hit A-Rod with a pitch. I am not a big Ramon Ramirez fan. Never have been. I’m not exactly an A-Rod fan either but hitting batters? Please, let’s not make this series any more difficult than it already is.

So now what?

I have read several interviews with Red Sox players, and I’m seeing snippets such as ”the season isn’t over” and “we’re still going to play as hard as ever” and blah, blah, blah.

What kind of talk is that? It’s only August, people. And it’s EARLY August. And this is one bad series with the Yankees. Absolutely the season isn’t over. And yes, you better be playing as hard as ever.

Remember when the Red Sox had a double digit AL East lead on the Yankees back in 2007? The Yankees just tore it up and by September our AL East lead was down to 1 or 2 games back and forth. I remember it well because I went to see the Red Sox play the Rays when they barely had a 1 1/2 game lead on the Yankees.

We were watching our hopes for winning the division go right down the drain.

We all know how 2007 turned out. The Yankees won the division. The Red Sox won the Wild Card and the whole enchilada.

This is one lousy series with a red hot team in their home park. Big deal. There is still a lot of baseball yet to be played.

I, for one, am keeping the faith.