Picture of the night! (Lightened up so you can see it better!)So I hit Fenway last night expecting nothing. Thinking It’ll be good to see that Jon Lester has come full circle, but with the way he’s been pitching and Scott Kazmir on the mound, I’m not getting my hopes up.
Midway through the game when it is obvious that, in spite of the one run he gave up, Jon has his stuff last night, while getting annoyed at our offense again, I begin to check the Yankees score. With every run the Orioles put over the plate, I became more and more annoyed. I was certain it was going to be a draw. Yanks lose, Sox lose. At one point, I started having sympathy symptoms for Coco’s flu and considered going home. Then I saw Mike Timlin in the bullpen and thought, "Hell, I have to at least stay to see Mike pitch!".
Mike was a huge contributor to the win!
So, shivering (seriously! Middle of August and I’m in the bleachers at Fenway SHIVERING), I stay. I hear the beginnings of "Black Betty" and see Mike running out to the mound. In my less than sharp mode, I think that there are two men on (first and third). Then I decide to count green sleeves on the basepath and have a mini freak out. In the past, Mike comes in and my head goes down. I love him, but sometimes I find it tough to watch him. I hate seeing him have a bad outing. I stop focussing on the game, when he pitches, and only worry about how good or bad he’ll do. Yes, he’s my binky, sue me. Again, I was off my game last night, so I actually WATCHED his entire outing. I watched him strike out BJ Upton on four pitches. FOUR PITCHES! That’s my man!
It was at THAT moment, when Upton flailed at that fourth pitch, that I knew we would win the game.
Hey I was behind the bullpen, what did you expect?When Mike Lowell hit that home run in the ninth, I think I ripped something in my throat I screamed so loud. It was another instance when I knew the rest was going to be good. Admittedly, I wasn’t convinced it would happen in the ninth, but the Captain proved me wrong with a hard double and then Coco took care of the rest. (As noted in the comments, I need to send a shout out to Gagne for doing MORE than NOT sucking last night. Striking out the side in the ninth = kicking some serious ass!)
But, still, if I had to pick one, Mike Timlin gets my player of the game! 🙂
There was an adorable father/son combo sitting next to me, who left in the 8th. BIG fans. I could tell by the way they talked about the team during the game. The son was young, I bet under 10 years old, and was tired and asked the dad if they could leave. I couldn’t help wondering if they were listening to the game on the way home.
Comments of the night from the guy behind me when Gagne started warming up in the ‘pen: "Shake it off, Eric! We still love you!". Good form.
A good way to end the night!The scene outside Fenway was crazed. The last time I saw it that way was in 2003 on the night the Sox won the Wild Card spot. I love being around that kind of energy. It sustained me long enough to watch the beginning of the replay on NESN last night. Alas, it isn’t sustaining me right now. The "old lady" is sleepy!
Sleepy but happy!
Daisuke on the mound at 1:05pm today. I don’t often require one, but I’d really like a sweep today fellas.
Good work Jon!
The below video is a bit shaky, per my usual. Hey, I was celebrating myself but I wanted to get SOMETHING on vid to note the moment!
All photos in this entry were taken by me last night
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