Everyone beat me to the 'Three is a Magic Number' joke, so forget it.
Believe me, I love Schoolhouse Rock, but when everyone else gets there first...
Anyway, as you probably know by now, the Sox won and the Yankees didn't. This led the magic number for winning the division to drop from five to three. Furthermore, both games were very entertaining, so I'll just give you brief summaries of each.
Curt Schilling pitched six strong innings for Boston, apparently with six hits and six strikeouts. Now was it wrong of me to bribe Peter Cook with tickets to see Tottenham vs. Arsenal so that we'd win and the Yankees would lose? Hmmm? Okay, I obviously didn't actually do that, but last week my father mentioned Damn Yankees and the thought fleetingly crossed my mind. (Note: Peter is also dead, so this would have been impossible.) Anyway, on those six hits, only one run came in. The Sox managed to build up a 4-1 lead, at which time Gagne came in, replacing the dominant Manny Delcarmen (have I even mentioned how much I like Delcarmen? No? Well, I like him an awful lot). After giving up a single, he obtained two outs, but after a walk Terry Francona wisely brought in the heavy machinery.
It only took Papelbon one pitch to get an out. Pwn'd.
Actually, Paps wasn't needed for the ninth, as the Sox increased the lead to 7-1. The cutest story of the night came in the ninth - Julio Lugo stepped into the box to face his little brother, Ruddy. Ruddy ended up walking him, bringing up Pedroia, who finally got back to hitting (he doubled). Papi would homer soon after. In the bottom of the ninth, Bryan Corey had a little trouble, but there's nothing Dustin Pedroia can't get you out of. The Lugo article links to the video footage of the game, so be ready to be amazed. I'd say surprised, but with Pedroia you've come to expect it. (I love the way they cut back to him afterwards and he's clearly enjoying himself.)
Now, Yankees-Devil Rays Cliff Notes: The Rays took an early lead. A-Rod didn't like that, so he hit a grand slam to make it 5-2. Jorge Velandia, who is listed at the same height as Pedroia (grins proudly), didn't like that, so he hit a grand slam himself to make it 6-5. The Yankees tied the game up in the eighth, and it went to extras. Dioner Navarro hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth to complete the night.
I was at a club meeting last night, during which I had a sudden vision of watching Pedroia hit a grand slam on Gameday. Perhaps I saw Velandia instead. Either way, it worked. I don't claim to be clairvoyant or anything, after all.
MLB.com has decided to help spread the rookie love. Here's a lovely little article on that...but there was something that amused me more today. It was the first comment on Basegirl's blog entry on one of the pictures of Papelbon accompanying his article in Sports Illustrated: He comes off as a guy who only can pretend to look mean. Like any of us could make him bust out laughing when he's trying to keep his mouth tight together.
I can only agree tenfold.
EDIT: Yet another victory, but the Yankees won and they're in. I don't really care, though, because Pedroia went 3-for-5 (with a home run, too!) and brought his average back up to .317 in one game. Jim Viox, your days are numbered.
Oh, and then there was this. I knew he had a Wii! I just knew it!
Anyway, as you probably know by now, the Sox won and the Yankees didn't. This led the magic number for winning the division to drop from five to three. Furthermore, both games were very entertaining, so I'll just give you brief summaries of each.
Curt Schilling pitched six strong innings for Boston, apparently with six hits and six strikeouts. Now was it wrong of me to bribe Peter Cook with tickets to see Tottenham vs. Arsenal so that we'd win and the Yankees would lose? Hmmm? Okay, I obviously didn't actually do that, but last week my father mentioned Damn Yankees and the thought fleetingly crossed my mind. (Note: Peter is also dead, so this would have been impossible.) Anyway, on those six hits, only one run came in. The Sox managed to build up a 4-1 lead, at which time Gagne came in, replacing the dominant Manny Delcarmen (have I even mentioned how much I like Delcarmen? No? Well, I like him an awful lot). After giving up a single, he obtained two outs, but after a walk Terry Francona wisely brought in the heavy machinery.
It only took Papelbon one pitch to get an out. Pwn'd.
Actually, Paps wasn't needed for the ninth, as the Sox increased the lead to 7-1. The cutest story of the night came in the ninth - Julio Lugo stepped into the box to face his little brother, Ruddy. Ruddy ended up walking him, bringing up Pedroia, who finally got back to hitting (he doubled). Papi would homer soon after. In the bottom of the ninth, Bryan Corey had a little trouble, but there's nothing Dustin Pedroia can't get you out of. The Lugo article links to the video footage of the game, so be ready to be amazed. I'd say surprised, but with Pedroia you've come to expect it. (I love the way they cut back to him afterwards and he's clearly enjoying himself.)
Now, Yankees-Devil Rays Cliff Notes: The Rays took an early lead. A-Rod didn't like that, so he hit a grand slam to make it 5-2. Jorge Velandia, who is listed at the same height as Pedroia (grins proudly), didn't like that, so he hit a grand slam himself to make it 6-5. The Yankees tied the game up in the eighth, and it went to extras. Dioner Navarro hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth to complete the night.
I was at a club meeting last night, during which I had a sudden vision of watching Pedroia hit a grand slam on Gameday. Perhaps I saw Velandia instead. Either way, it worked. I don't claim to be clairvoyant or anything, after all.
MLB.com has decided to help spread the rookie love. Here's a lovely little article on that...but there was something that amused me more today. It was the first comment on Basegirl's blog entry on one of the pictures of Papelbon accompanying his article in Sports Illustrated: He comes off as a guy who only can pretend to look mean. Like any of us could make him bust out laughing when he's trying to keep his mouth tight together.
I can only agree tenfold.
EDIT: Yet another victory, but the Yankees won and they're in. I don't really care, though, because Pedroia went 3-for-5 (with a home run, too!) and brought his average back up to .317 in one game. Jim Viox, your days are numbered.
Oh, and then there was this. I knew he had a Wii! I just knew it!