There Was a Time When This Would Have Made Me Anxious

OK, I know that I get anxious about odd things that really have no bearing on my life at all but a Josh Beckett start against the Yankees is a sure bet to get my blood pressure ramped up and my stomach churning. So the one bright spot to the fact that the Red Sox are basically out of contention is that I won't have to worry about that tonight. I don't want Josh to get shelled out there but this isn't going to be edge of my seat, hands over my eyes, game watching tonight. Nope, this is going to be kicking back, enjoying a drink, making fun of Nick Swisher game watching. Feel free to join me this evening.

Maybe I'll Sleep Better When Baseball Season is Over

I had a horrible nightmare Saturday night that Josh Beckett got traded to the Mets for nothing in return. The Mets! My sister woke me up (I was staying over her house so I could go to Fenway Saturday and Sunday) and I mumbled to her "Is it true? Did they trade Josh to the Mets?" My sister says that I need to lay off the baseball because clearly I'm thinking about it way too much. She said that even before I told her about the dream I had the other night that Victor Martinez was working for me and threatened to quit if I didn't fire someone else, and I panicked because you know it's hard to replace a good catcher. So I may indeed sleep better when baseball ends in two weeks but then I get to thinking about off-season moves and realize that those kinds of things may keep me up at night.

Fenway this weekend was glorious, made even more so but the ticking down of days until there will be no more. Josh is starting to resemble himself again which is always good because you know the Mets probably would open him with welcome arms if Theo were to offer. Jon Lester was his usual pitching god self yesterday and Victor was Victor, being as close to perfect as one can get without actually being perfect, since no one is you know.

One more game for me this season, the last one on October 3rd. I'm hoping for a big blowout win against the Yankees just to send them to the off-season on a bad note but  I'll take any kind of good baseball the Red Sox are willing to give.

Hockey Season is Upon Us

Tonight is the first game Boston Bruins game fans get to see at the garden since May. Though it is just a rookie game and "doesn't count", it is a game after all and there will be black and gold. Both of the 2 games will be played against the Islander rookies at the TD Garden, tonight and tomorrow at 7. Tickets are at a great price of $5.

After the rookie games is the preseason, which starts next Wednesday, September 22. Though these games technically "don't count" either, they are a foresight into how the team will be doing during the regular season. Or at least thats the way I see it. And thats why I'll be watching.

Now mind you, there are only a few preseason games. Then on October 9 is the official start of the regualr season for the Boston Bruins. Really not that far away, but it feels like forever. Then again it just might be me. Or maybe not.

I may not be alone in saying that knowing Bruins games are in the very near future makes me extremely happy. But we'll see. I will be at the rookie game tomorrow night, Sept. 16, so I'll be keeping you all updated on twitter of whats going on. I hope to see some of you there.

It's Like Victor Always Says - No One Is Perfect

God, why is no one perfect?

Victor has had a lot of opportunities lately to remind us that no one is perfect. He only took two of those opportunities to actually say it out loud (when DiceK pitched last and after that terrible performance from Clay the other night) but he easily could have mentioned it at least a dozen times more. I honestly don't remember off the top of my head the outcomes of all the games in the last couple of series but I know there was plenty of not perfect playing going on.

John Lackey looked sharp on Saturday night (much sharper than I was since the game started so late) but as is his MO he had one bad inning and blew it. And then Daniel Bard came in and made things worse. I didn't like Bard's explanation that he didn't have enough adrenalin going. You keep that up buddy and I'll get your adrenaline going. Josh Beckett yesterday was both good and bad. Walking 4 batters in a row is never a good thing but he ended up with the win. I can just imagine Lackey thinking to himself that he had pitched better the day before and it was everyone else's fault that he didn't win.

As for me, I'm enjoying fall baseball and watching these exhibition games without looking over my shoulder at the Yankees and the Rays.  Soon enough we will be without.

Let's Just Revel in the Fact that There is Still Baseball on to Enjoy

After last night's loss to the Orioles it seemed as though the Red Sox faced the fact that we fans faced this past weekend - the chances of the Red Sox going to playoffs are close to nil. I had faced that particular demon after Sunday's loss and went into last night's game feeling oddly liberated, free to just watch the game and enjoy it for the game itself. Let's face it, with only four more weeks of baseball to go now is the time to savor it.

I often think that the team doesn't take it as hard as fans do when they lose (see the scene Fever Pitch touching on this same thing) but it seems as though many of them are taking the end of this season particularly hard, and who can blame them? The fact that they stayed in contention despite the rash of injuries, the unpredictability of both the starting pitching and the bullpen, and the lack of help from the front office to right any of these wrong during the season is nothing short of amazing. No doubt many on the team were hoping some of that amazing would keep on going.

My prescient son told me during Spring Training that he didn't think this was the year for the Red Sox. He predicted that they wouldn't even make the playoffs (I kid you not, he did). I scoffed at him then but I'm not scoffing now. For the record, my son also predicted that next year they would win the World Series. That is a prediction that I can get behind.

Doubleheader Day

Doubleheader day wasn't quite the sweep we were looking for but Victor Martinez telling me Josh was dominant and mentioning his cutter and curveball is always a good thing.

The idiot rookie ump who had Beltre thrown out in the 2nd inning of last night's game really should have some consequences heaped on him but we all know that that won't happen because umps think they are infallible. Peter Gammons was quite worked up about it on the post-game show. For the record, I adore Peter Gammons and would love to have him over to watch a game with me and do some commentary while we watch. I'll provide beer and snacks Pete! If he were accompanied by the Surviving Grady guys, even better.

Day off today and then on to Tampa Bay where we have a chance to really make a play at the wild card. It is almost too much for me to bear watching but you know I will be.

Some Rainy Day Reflections

On this, an unexpected off night for the Red Sox, I was inspired to write a blog post because I realized that we only have 6 weeks of regular baseball left. It's hard to believe as April 4th seems like it was just a few weeks ago but here we are in the home stretch with a great degree of uncertainty about whether the season will end on October 3rd or if the Sox will still be in it.

Putting that thought aside for a moment, I noticed that my last post (aptly titled "The Clouds are Closing in) was written almost 20 days ago. How that could be, I don't know, since plenty has happened in Red Sox world in those 20 days. Had I been posting I'm sure I would have mentioned Josh Beckett's inconsistent starts, Jon Lester's inability to adjust to the new baby in his house, Clay's remarkable ability to adjust to his new baby, the addition of Saltalamacchia to the mix and his subsequent trip to the DL, Youk's season ending surgery, Pedroia's return to the lineup and then return to the DL, Ellsubry's return to the lineup and then return to the DL, Mike Lowell rejoining the team as an everyday player, Kalish showing why he was such a touted prospect, the return of Daniel Nava, the demotion of Jeremy Hermida, Okie's trip to the DL, Ramon Ramirez getting traded to somewhere, and the expressionless but mighty Felix Doubront joining the bullpen. I'm sure other things happened that I missed, so be sure to point them out in the comments.

And those are just the things that have happened in the past few weeks. If you take the whole season, boy do you have a story. So even if the Sox don't make the playoffs (admit it, the thought has crossed your mind a time or two) you can't say it hasn't been a good season. For pure drama alone this season has been gold.

I'm already planning my off-season - watching the 2004 World Series DVDs my Mom bought me for my birthday, watching my 2007 World Series highlights DVD again, planning my trip to Spring Training, you get the idea. Not that I'm giving up on this season (au contraire!) but it's good to plan ahead. Last season left me bereft so quickly, I plan on being better prepared this time around. And you, what are your plans for the off-season?

As an aside, if you have not heard Victor Martinez' accent here is your chance.