FRI 10/1

Subject: Re: It's on
9:39 am To: Scott
i'm very torn. i like the angels and i hate the a's. but i feel like the sox can beat the a's more easily. also, anaheim's closer, but oakland's easier to get tickets to for some reason... meaghan bought a ticket to game 1 last year the day before. they're a good team, but nobody up there cares. considering how passionate they are about the raiders, it makes no sense.

are you going to go to any of the phildelphia playoff games? oh, right.

MON 10/4

TUES 10/5

I just figured out my lunch plans
9:07 am
I figure I’ll get a hot dog or sausage between innings. Since I’ll be sitting between home and first, almost as far up as you can get, I hope it isn’t too long a walk. I’m also hoping I don’t get beat up when the Sox win. But hey, if Meaghan could survive in Oakland last year, I can hack it in the OC.

Last time I went to a Red Sox playoff game…
9:10 am
1. Mo Vaughn played his last game in a Red Sox uniform.
2. Nomah hit a homah.
3. Manny Ramirez went 0-4… as a member of the Indians.
4. Two turnstiles away, I saw John Kerry enter Fenway. One of the ticket collectors exclaimed, “Hey, it’s the senatah!”
5. We lost.

The only Sox player from that day who’s still on the team is Derek Lowe, who pitched in relief, and may again today. (Pedro, Wakefield, and Nixon watched from the dugout.) The Indians had Manny and started Bartolo Colon, who starts against us tomorrow. Nice.

Subject: yes!
9:13 am
To: Meaghan
i'm going to the game! $26.50 including fees! between home and first, about as high up as you can get! WHOOOO!! you went last year, i go this year. hopefully it turns out differently for me...

Subject: Re: yes!
9:35 am
To: Meaghan
yeah, scott sent me that. i love that curt's a player, but he's also a fan. i'll cheer extra loud for you.

All right, I’m off to Anaheim
10:42 am
Possibly an Audioblog from the game, otherwise it’s nothing till tonight. In the meantime, amuse yourself reading old box scores at Retrosheet.org.

Subject: Barney's 1:00 today tuesday you heard it here
9:35 am
To: Andrea
sorry, i was in anaheim. that stadium is loud! but curt, manny, and others found away to quiet them down real fast.

WED 10/6

Ten
12:44 am
I got two high fives from Red Sox fans I don’t know today. That totals 10, which is one more than the amount of runs scored today. Two homers and a squeeze play! What a great afternoon. Kind of sucked that it took me a quick hour to get there and over 2 1/2 to get back. Who knew there’d be traffic among the 44,000+ fans and LA rush hour drivers? Oh yeah, right.

Kismet
9:59 am
Yesterday at the Angels-Red Sox game, I bought a single seat. As luck would have it, the couple next to me were Red Sox fans, there on vacation from Boston. I wanted to announce that I was a native of the small town of Walpole, Mass, but most people from Boston only pretend to know where that is. So I asked them first: “Are you from Boston proper?”

“No,” the man replied, “one of the suburbs. Walpole.”

I can almost guarantee that none of the other 44,000+ fans that day had ever even driven through Walpole. And yet the three people who’d ever lived within its borders just so happened to be sitting together. Ridiculous.

SAT 10/9

Thoughts on an ALDS Game 3
12:02 am

David
Fucking
Ortiz

The scene at Sonny McLean’s in Santa Monica was absolutely insane. Fox Sports was there, UPN was there, Fox had a Cubs fan with a goat, and 150(?) manic Red Sox fans lived and died with every pitch. When Vlad hit it out, I felt everyone in the place die a little. And when Ortiz cranked it on the first pitch… I don’t know if I’ve ever screamed like that, and certainly not with so many compatriots. Unbelievable.

Thoughts to come on the desired ALCS matchup. Are Meaghan and I the only Bostonians pulling for a Sox-Twins series? I think so…

The confluence of yesterday
9:55 am
If you’re getting tired of my saying how awesome the Sox and Kerry are, yesterday’s superior performances by all my guys will make things hard. Although Kerry took a shot at Red Sox fans in the debate last night, saying we’re unhinged from reality! Of course, he used that as a way to point out that Bush is, too. The thing is, it’s hard not to get excited when your big guys (Manny, Ortiz, Schilling, Damon, Foulke, Pedro) come up huge, and your medium-big guys (Varitek, Nixon, and I guess Mueller) come of decently big. And when your candidate shows himself to be stronger, smarter, and more eloquent every time you see him… well, yesterday was a good day.

Subject: Re: Letter from the Bouncer
10:47 am
To: Doorman X
most people seem to feel that way (yesterday's herald blared "BRING ON THE YANKS!) but i don't. i'm going to address it on my blog, but basically, the sox winning the world series isn't about the yankees, it's about the red sox. if we do it by going through them, all the sweeter. if we go through the twins, we don't get an asterisk on our title by the time the world series starts, everyone will be talking about how the sox look great and beat a great twins team. the only people saying it doesn't count will be 212's and nay-sayers. i promise you, if the sox win their first title in almost 90 years, nobody in boston's going to be sad we didn't play the yankees. i never root for new york. contrary to what that HBO documentary would have you believe, everyone i know was rooting for arizona in 2001, and i was screaming and punching the air when mariano blew the save.

of course, santana on short rest makes me think this will all be a moot point...

Subject: Re: LA trip next week
11:02 am
To: Ellen
there's a chance we'll lose meaghan to the baseball playoffs, but i'm willing to miss one game. look forward to seeing you tuesday!

Subject: Re: eddie pepitone's one man show
11:06
To: Eddie
yesterday i went through exactly what you talk about in your act. "what, i have no job? are you sure? because david ortiz just hit a walkoff homer..."

Subject: Re: Fwd: Looking
11:08
To: Sebastian
we should get together soon. maybe hiking or a movie or dinner or mixed doubles (you guys would win). after this weekend, our only real distraction should be the red sox.

The week in awesome searches that led people here
3:47 pm
- sean penn wimp south Park
- supercalifragic
- Demi Moore wearing Kerry for President
- pronounce chone
- DAN TOBIN car accident 9/2004 [part of the Kevin-is-Dan-Tobin conspiracy]
- george bush favorite song centerfield
- razzle game scam
- who s stupider ashlee simpson or Jessica
- nicollette sheridan rumor

And the #1 search of the week:

- gary sheffield bestiality

A very poor Rob Neyer impression
4:07 pm
A-Rod did okay in first game against the Twins, and very well in second game:

Game 1: 2-4, caught stealing
Game 2: 4-6, 2 runs, 3 RBI including a game-tying hit in the 12,

ESPN gushed that he’d earned his pinstripes and the LA Times went as far as to emphasize his relationship with Reggie Jackson to dub him the new Mr. October. Really? Based on one good game? One? I know A-Rod’s a great player but I thought that assessment was a little premature. Since that article? A-Rod has 0 hits, 0 RBI, and 0 runs. Mr. 10/indeed. If that title is to be handed out this season, it really shouldn’t be much before Halloween.

The update
5:12 pm
The Yankees-Twins are in extra innings, A-Rod has his first hit since Game 2, and viewers in LA can’t watch. Everywhere else, Fox stays on this exciting, important tie game, and the Dodgers-Cardinal start on FX. In LA, Fox shows trhe Dodgers. Makes sense. But FX is showing… the Dodgers. Two channels, both showing one game. A game I could give two shits about.

I desperately want the Twins to win so that either team we face in the LCS is one day more tired.

I feel like this is my fault
5:37 pm
A-Rod just doubled, stole third, and scored the go-ahead run in the 11th. Sigh.

How it should be? Doesn’t matter — it’s how it is
5:51 pm
The prevailing wisdom is that Sox fans feel it wouldn’t be right to win a World Series if we didn’t go through the Yankees. I disagreed, but since it’s going to happen, offering my opinion on it would be like Bush explaining why he wanted to face Howard Dean. I get nervous when it’s Yankees-Red Sox because, well, they always win. Sometimes you leave Vegas up, but usually you don’t. This is our best team in years, but funny things happen when we face New York. Not to menyion that Fox is going to play the Aaron Boone home run and the Grady Little walkoff between every pitch, and use the word “curse” in every sentence. Then again, I hope that’s the biggest thing we have to worry about.

It’s on.

Subject: Re: LA trip next week
6:09 pm
To: Ellen
ellen, i've misjudged things terribly. it's now looking like tuesday will be Game 1 of a Red Sox-Yankees ALCS. i can't bear to miss that, and i'll be emotionally spent in one of two directions afterward. I forget your schedule, but is there any way you could meet up on monday?

i know i sound like a loser bailing, but i have a feeling that tuesday may be a game i've been waiting for since last october. let me know.

SUN 10/10

This is what a jerk looks like
10:29 pm


Very fuzzy, but this is Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaugnessy walking away from the snack bar at Angels Satdium on Tuesday. You may know him from any Boston sports documentary — he’s the guy who coined the term “The Curse of the Bambino,” having written a book with that title. I couldn’t think of anything to say to him except, “Why do you always have to be such a negative fuck?” So I kept to myself.

MON 10/11

Others have said it, I will repeat it and make it stupider
8:33 am
Boston had a darn good week — Patriots won 19th straight, Sox won ALDS in a sweep, Kerry won his second consecutive debate. I feel in some way, they’re all tied together, that if the Sox win the World Series, John Kerry will become president. And if the Pats lose in overtime, Pedro’s sprains a hamstring. Or if John Kerry farts during the next debate, Tom Brady gets a hemorrhoid. Everything is connected. Actually, it isn’t. From least devastating to most:

3. Patriots lose by one when Adam Vinatieri misses from 30 yards.
2. Sox lose ALCS Game 7 when Francona leaves Schilling in too long and Bubba Crosby hits a homer in extra innings.
1. John Kerry wins the popular vote but loses Florida in a squeaker that has Jeb’s fat finger-prints all over it (again).

Go Kersoxriots!

Subject: Re: Letter from the Bouncer
10:07 am
To: Doorman X
no no, don't recant -- i wasn't trying to challenge your level of fandom. everyone's entitled to their opinions, and yours is totally in line with the rest of red sox nation -- EVERYONE wanted to face the yankees. the only fans i hate are the ones who act like my opinion isn't valid because they feel like they know more, and you did nothing of the sort. heck, i wasn't a truly obsessive fan until i moved to california five years and realized how much i liked having a little slice of home. how strange that one of my favorite memories of 1999 was the taunting of indians slugger manny ramirez... and now he's my favorite.

it's the kind of thing that if we beat them, then oh boy am i glad we beat the yankees on the way to the world series. but i'm nervous because even though we're the best team around, as you've probably noticed, bad things tend to happen in yankees stadium. also, winning the world series WILL end the 1918 and curse stuff. beating the yankees will not end anything; it'll just make steinbrenner push the payroll ever closer to federal deficit numbers.

i respect you as a sox fan and i hope you didn't think otherwise. if I came off that way, it's only because this is clearly a subject i'm passionate about.

oh, and when joe morgan got fired, our high school marching band went to his house and played "take me out to the ballgame" in his driveway. he gave us the thumbs up.

Subject: Re: LA trip next week
11:19 am
To: Ellen
yeah, tues and wed are both kind of bad because of games. man do I sound lame saying this. well, we could grab breakfast or lunch... or we could chance it and say a late dinner after one of the games. probably tuesday would be better then. i'm sure i can get myself together enough for some dinner. would 10-ish be too late? could be earlier (game starts at 5, should be done by 9 or so).

sorry to be such a stereotype.

All righty
11:52 am
First pitch of the ALCS is in 29 hours. What shall I do with myself until then?

Subject: Re:
5:27 pm
To: Paul, Billy, Bubba Ray
obviously you've learned nothing from sox fans -- the more you gloat before you win, the stupider you look when you lose. that shirt doesn't bother me. underestimate pedro at your own risk.