6-7 May     

Red Sox Pluck the Orioles; Rambler Celebrates another Birthday

Much to my pleasure, the Sox disposed of the pathetic Baltimore Birdies to complete a three game sweep that made for an enjoyable birthday weekend as the Rambler inched closer to his magical retirement date. Unfortunately, the Voluptuous One was not around to enjoy the festivities as she traveled to Florida to spend a week standing in line to see the Big Rat at Disneyworld. Baseball or standing in line?  The U. S. Army taught me well.  No more line standing for the Rambler.

Great weather for the weekend, temperatures in the 60s with lots of sunshine--perfect weather for baseball.  My only disappointment was beating the Orioles 9-3 and 10-3 which precluded Jonathan Papelbon from making a weekend appearance. We had some hope on Saturday.  The Sox were leading 7-3 and the Rambler and Connecticut Mikey were sure Julian Tavarez and Rudy Seanez would manage to pitch us into a save situation.  But just when you least expect it, they pitch well and JP never got in the game.

The Sox broke out early scoring 5 in the 2^nd to finally give Tim Wakefield some early run support. Manny lit off some fireworks to help me celebrate my birthday when he launched a towering mortar shot over everything in left to run the score to 7-3. 

Sunday was more of the same. After 4 Lenny DiNardo walks gave Baltimore a run in the first inning, the Sox responded with 4 of their own via a Jason Varitek grand slam, the second of his career.  DiNardo gave one back on a throwing error, after he bobbled a weak grounder off the bat of Ramon Hernadez.  But the Sox continued to pound the ball in the 10-3 romp, helping DiNardo earn his first ML victory. The bullpen (Tavarez, Keith Foulke, and Manny Delcarmen) pitched well in 4 innings of relief, limiting the Birds to one run on 2 hits. In all, Baltimore only managed 4 hits on the day.  Miquel Tejada should have gotten out of town and hooked up with a winner when he had the chance!!!

It was nice to see some Red Sox bats start to warm up, particularly Mark Loretta, Alex Gonzalez, and Jason Varitek. Manny and Kevin Youkilis are swinging the bat well and Mike Lowell continues to double his way on base. And how about my new main man, Wily Mo Pena? He continued his fine hitting and displayed quite the hose on a throw to home, preventing a potential sac fly by Kevin Millaaaah!!!

The Rambler ran his 2006 record to a gaudy 5-1 with the two wins over the weekend. Next up for the Rambler is a weekend series with the Texas Rangers.

My Earned Dog Average has been a consistent 2.00 dogs per game thus far, slightly higher than Doc Smith would like to see. But what is a Red Sox game without a couple of Fenway Franks?  At least my ESA (Earned Sausage Average) is still perfect at 0.00. Those babies are artery cloggers!!

I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.  Who knows, you might end up on the Give a Hoot page with my pet owl, Nomaah!!   ramblings32@netscape.net will do the trick.

Keep Your Sox On!

The Rambler

24 May

Spankees Take Two of Three; Rambler Drops EDA to 1.71

The Rambler made a rare weekday venture to the big city to catch the finale of the 3-game Yankee series. For the second consecutive night, the Sox played great defense, displayed plenty of power, Tito left his starter (Matt Clement) in too long, and a late game rally fell just short, as the Sox dropped a 8-6 decision.

The Sox jumped on the Big Ugly, Randy Johnson, for 2 quick runs on a tremendous HR by Manny that cleared everything in left center field, his third ding-dong in as many nights.  But Clement, after getting two quick outs in the second, took a line drive off the ankle and proceeded to allow 6 consecutive Yankees to reach, putting the Bankees up 4-2.

The Sox responded with 2 in the second and one in the third to take a 5-4 lead. The Sox roughed up the Big Eunuch for 5 runs on 9 hits in 2+ innings. But that was all Johnson would allow. He got 9 more outs and turned it over to the bullpen which shut the Sox down with the exception of another Manny blast in the 7th. Unfortunately, Clement gave up four straight hits to start the 5th and a 2-run single off of reliever Julian Tavarez proved to be the difference maker. That hit opened the NY lead to 8-5. The Sox closed to 8-6 when Manny unleashed on a Scott Proctor fastball that was still rising when it cleared the Volvo sign on top of the Green Monster.

The Rambler thought the Sox were going to pull this one out when they put men at second and third with one out in the 8th. Youkilis struck out and Big Papi was caught looking (for the second time) after Mark Loretta walked to load the bases. Game, Set, Match!

Seems to me the Sox are taking far too many called third strikes this year!

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Massachusetts native, singer/song writer, James Taylor. The Rambler has a little advice for Sweet Baby James: Do not quit your day job!

The loss dropped my record to 5-2 in games attended. But the Rambler is happy to report a Fenway Frank-less evening, as promised to the WATD-FM 95.9 morning show crew, to drop my Earned Dog Average to 1.71!

The next update to Ramblings from Section 32 will include a report on my visit to PETCO Park in San Diego to see Mark Bellhorn and the Padres take on Albert Pujols and the St Louis Cardinals. 

We are also hoping to hook up with old friend Bruce Fine, creator of From Cursed to First, ( check out www.fromcursedtofirst.com ) for some fried clams at Red Sox Nation-West Headquarters at Sonny McLeans Irish Pub  in Santa Monica.

Keep Your Sox On!

The Rambler

11 June

Ortiz Bomb Helps Sox Split With Rangers; Pauley Earns Bus Ticket to Pawtucket

Due to the continued rainy weather playing havoc with the schedule, the Rambler took in a rare day-night double header that was a double treat: a walk-off home run by David Ortiz and taking my grandchildren to their very first Red Sox game as the Sox split with Texas. Is there a better way to spend a day?  The Sox might not agree as they were forced to play 3 games in 27 hours.

Red Sox 5  Rangers 4

It was deuces wild in the 9^th inning with Big Papi at the plate. With two out, two on, a 2-2 count, and the Sox trailing by 2, Ortiz deposited a fastball from Texas closer, Akinori Otsuka, over the bullpen and Dirty Water was ringing in my ears. There is nothing more exciting than a game winning home run at Fenway. The blast gave Boston native, Manny Delcarmen, his first ML victory.

Josh Beckett pitched OK, hurt by a 2-run homer by Kevin Mench and a Kevin Youkilis error, in a match-up with Kevin Millwood.  Mark Loretta chipped in 2 hits and Manny hit his 16^th ding-dong into the RF grandstand to support the effort.

The Rambler notched his second confirmed beach ball kill in the 6^th inning, witnessed by Mark -Tobin Bridge- Stevens.  The Rambler is hoping to become an Ace before the season is out.  Beach balls are one of the real annoyances of attending games at Fenway: real fans being distracted by fun and games played by non-fans.  Wanna play with a beach ball? Go to the Cape!!!

Speaking of annoying things at Fenway, let me include people screaming into cell phones for 9 innings, people who decide to leave their seats in the middle of at-bats, and Sweet Caroline during the 8^th inning.

Rangers 13 Red Sox 6

Unfortunately, my pride and joys, Hannah Belle (5) and Devin Jon (3), experienced a Sox loss in their first Fenway adventure in Section 32.  Fortunately, they’re young enough not to be scarred for life by the 22 hits Texas pounded out. Imagine if John Wasdin was the winning pitcher of your first Red Sox game?

David Pauley made his third career start and had the Rangers running up to home plate. In fact, they almost batted out-of-order twice in their eagerness to face the Sox rookie. Pauley surrendered 5 runs on 10 hits in the first two innings alone. The Sox battled back from a 6-0 deficit to close to 6-4, but the bullpen of Tavarez, Seanez and Foulke quickly turned it into a 13-5 game.  In 3 innings over the weekend Foulke allowed the Rangers 6 runs on 8 hits.  Theo Epstein has his work cut out for him fixing the bullpen. Loretta (3), Ortiz (2) and Mike Lowell (2) paced the Red Sox offense.

Stats

After starting the season 11-4, the Sox have played slightly over .500 baseball (25-21) since Patriots Day. 

The Sox are 18-19 in games against teams with winning records; 19-7 against the likes of Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Seattle. 

The Rambler saw his season record fall to 6-3 in games attended.

More importantly, my Earned Dog Average continued to drop from an early season high of 2.00, finishing up the weekend at 1.55.

Next up for the Rambler is some inter league action with the Philadelphia Phillies.  As far as the Rambler is concerned inter league play is like that Jimmy Fallon Pepsi commercial we have been bombarded with during Sox broadcasts.  Interesting when you first see it, but after a while it is time to do the dinosaur thing and disappear.

By the way, what happens to the chick Jimmy tosses into the air?

24 & 26 June

Rain, Rain Go Away, Big Papi Wants to Play!

Ortiz Delivers Two Victories Over Philadelphia

The Red Sox continued their torrid Inter-League play (11-1) behind the clutch hitting of David Ortiz with two scintillating weekend wins over the Philadelphia Phillies at jam-packed Fenway Park. Actually the weekend ran into Monday after MLB and the umpires inexplicably postponed the third game of the series on Sunday when only a light mist was falling.  The Rambler and the V.O. got the news walking to the park after paying for gas, tolls and parking.  Fortunately my secret parking spot is only $10, a far cry from the $50-90 being charged at private lots around the park.

Red Sox 5  Philadelphia 3

Curt Schilling and Brett Myers hooked up in a nice pitching duel on Saturday.  After allowing the first 2 Phillies to reach base and score, Schill settled down and threw blanks until the 7^th.  Philly loaded the bases with no out. But Manny Delcarmen and Javier Lopez minimized the damage allowing only one run to score, tying the game 3-3. 

After trailing early the Sox reached Philly starter Brett Myers for 3 early runs.  Myers pitched 5 effective innings before being relieved. The Rambler can understand why Myers was pulled after 5. He was exhausted from his early Friday morning escapades on the corner of Boylston and Dalton Streets which resulted in his arrest and arraignment on domestic violence charges after popping his wife (in front of 2 independent witnesses, no less). He will never be asked to bring the potato salad to the Annual Mensa Picnic.

The stage was set for Big Papi and he did not disappoint.  With one out and Alex Cora aboard, Ortiz put # 22 into the CF bleachers off Tom Gordon to send us home happy.  This was the third walk-off HR the Rambler has seen this year, 2 by Papi and a Patriots Day job by Mark Loretta

The Rambler took his brother-in-law, Ron, along for the day. Ron has been a bad luck charm as far as the weather goes with 3 rain outs on his record this year and Saturday was almost the fourth.  Following a walk along the Freedom Trail we implemented Plan B and ate outside the park rather than entering and perhaps getting caught up in a long rain delay.  We had lunch at Applebees on Huntington Avenue near the Marriott while awaiting a call from Connecticut Mikey that the tarp was off the field.  Applebees is a decent place to grab lunch. The menu offers a lot of variety at a reasonable price and never as crowded as the nearby Cheesecake Factory.  We enjoyed lunch, got the call from Mikey, and hit Section 32 just before the first pitch.  I love it when a plan comes together. 

Red Sox 8  Philadelphia 7 (12 Innings)

The Voluptuous One, my main squeeze since 1965, made the trip in on Monday after the rain out on Sunday. The T was the way to go on a weekday game: cheap parking and no hassles dealing with traffic and parking in the city. And this turned out to be a strange game with lots of excitement. 

Tim Wakefield and Cory Lidle hooked up in another fine pitching duel.  Lidle shut the Sox out for five innings before losing it and coughing up 6 runs in the 6^th.  Not to be outdone, Wake went 6 shutout and then ran into trouble. After the first 3 Phillies reached Tito Francona brought on Rudy Seanez who tossed jet fuel on the fire.  When the dust settled it was a 6-5 game.  Lopez and Mike Timlin shut down the Phils and Jonathan Papelbon came on to slam the door. But Jonathan did a fine Seanez impersonation and Chase Utley Bellhorned a HR off the Pesky Pole. Tie game!  To extra innings we went!!

The VO hung in there, even though Philadelphia took a 7-6 in the top of the 12^th.  But between innings Section 32er, Joe from Newburyport, took the Red Sox hat from his 3 year old grandson, fashioned a rally cap, put it back on the little guy, and the Sox rallied indeed (True story, honest!).  Clutch at-bats by Coco Crisp, Kevin Youkilis and Mark Loretta, combined with a poor play by LF Shane Victorino, set the stage for Big Papi once again. Once again, he did not disappoint by lining a game winning single to left-centerfield. The man is amazing! And to think, the 2005 AL MVP, A-Fraud, is being booed in Yankee Stadium and runner-up, David Ortiz, is the toast of this town. 

The key to the 3 game sweep was the job the Red Sox pitching staff did shutting down the heart of the Philadelphia line-up.  Bobby Abreu, Ryan Howard, and Aaron Rowan combined to go 8-32 (.211) with 16 Ks and no HRs. 

The Rambler ran his record to 8-3 in games attended and dropped the old Earned Dog Average to a season low 1.45 while remaining perfect in the sausage category at 0.00.

The Rambler will make his next appearance at Fenway following the All-Star break when the Oakland Athletics invade the old ball park. 

Suspect, alleged to be a Red Sox fan, was observed leaving Fenway Park in the middle of the 12th inning on 26 June.  Suspect failed to stay to see the Red Sox rally from 1 run down to win the game

Subject is believed to still be in the local Boston area. If observed, approach with caution. Red Sox fans are authorized to slap subject silly until some sense returns to his coconut.

REWARD: Self Satisfaction

Schilling Delivers Two Victories

Wily Mo Returns in Grand Style

July 15th

Red Sox 7  Oakland 0

Curt Schilling took the mound on Saturday night to try and stop a mini 3 game losing streak. Schill was as hot as the weather in a masterful performance, showing what an Ace is expected to do. The big guy allowed only 2 hits in 7 strong innings and tossed in 9 Ks as well.  Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen each pitched one hit innings in the 7-0 blanking of the surging Athletics. Big Papi (32^nd HR), Manny, and Mike Lowell supplied plenty of offense (7 hits, 6 RBI) as the Sox pounded out 12 hits and played error-less baseball.

Doc the Reader was back in Section 32 following a month-long vacation to South Africa and Italy. No other Section 32 regulars were in attendance, perhaps a result of the oppressive heat and humidity the region has suffered through.

How hot was it?  Hot enough for the Rambler and V.O. to forego the series finale on Sunday as temperatures were expected to be in the mid-90s.  Fenway can be pretty miserable when the temperatures soar, so air conditioned comfort was the order of the day on Sunday. 

July 20^th

Red Sox 6  Texas 4

Happy Mothers Day!!! The Rambler made a rare weekday appearance to catch the make-up game with the Rangers, rescheduled from May.  The Rambler got to see Curt Schilling again and as good as he was against Oakland, Schill really struggled. But as the Rambler always says, better to be lucky than good, especially when the manager rolls out the junior varsity for the get away game. Tito rested Big Papi, Nixon and Lowell.  The Big Guy notched his 12^th win to go along with only 3 losses in spite of allowing 3 runs on 7 hits in less than 3 innings.  But Schill settled down and allowed 1 more run on 3 hits over the next 4 innings, adding 6 Ks to his season total. Manny Delcarmen pitched a clean 8^th, and Mike Timlin closed it out (Papelbon had pitched 3 straight days) earning his 2^nd save of the season.

Offensively, Mark Loretta (3 hits, 1 RBI), Manny (2 hits, 1 RBI), and Wily Mo Pena (2 hits, 2 RBI) carried the load, as the Sox totaled 12 hits again.

Speaking of being lucky…..Wily Mo hit a drive to the right field warning track with Manny and Youkilis on base in the 3^rd inning.  Texas RF Mark DeRosa did a great Wil Mo impersonation, turned the wrong way on the curing drive, got twisted around, and failed to make the catch.  Wily Mo got a double and 2 RBI. Most right fielders make the play. That was a big play as the Sox retook the lead after Schilling gave up 3 in the second.

The Rambler ran his record to 10-3 in games attended and dropped the old Earned Dog Average to a season low 1.38 while remaining perfect in the sausage category at 0.00.

The Rambler will make his next appearance at Fenway on July 29 & 30 when the Los Angeles, Anaheim, California Angels invade the old ball park. 

Keep Your Sox On!

The Rambler

[Home Plate] [2008 Rambling Archices] [2006 Ramblings Archives] [Rambler on the Air] [