Tavarez tying his shoes. Yes, they actually wear the red socks beneath the long pants. Click these for big.

I got there at eleven for the 1:05 game, the first of a doubleheader. A perfectly comfortable day for August. Here's Gagne.

Manny had the ipod going in BP. We got to see a lot more of the Sox in pre-game, as the Angels didn't hit. One person I looked for right away was Wily Mo, as he was rumored to have been traded that day. I didn't see him, so I knew he was gone. Turns out we traded him to the Nationals, for "some dude who's really great, but, uh, we can't say who he is." Maybe they're really just hoping people will forget about it and stop asking eventually, as never to figure out that we actually just left Wily Mo on the Nationals' doorstep and ran away real quick. Theo: ""It certainly wasn't a good trade in retrospect. You know, from a pure sort of talent standpoint, in a vacuum, I guess, that can still be debated." Vacuum! Ha. Like a -- fantasy league?

My token shot of Timlin and his kid.

Papi.

Papi dwarfing Pedroia.

Manny still with the headphones, about to take some swings.

Cora was pointing at something in the crowd, and Dustin was embarrassed for, maybe, not knowing who or what it was. At least that's what I took from this scene.

Manny hugs Bartolo Colon. Also note the clipboard at left, with the BP schedule, divided into the three hitting groups. I like the "Early Work" section at the top. (Nobody did it that day. Although maybe somebody should have written Youk's name on there when no one was looking.)

You'll notice I was moving all around the park that day.

Papi, Manny, the Pru....

Manny having fun gathering baseballs.

Joe Castiglione interviewing Jon "Sid" Lester.

Clay "Double-H" Buchholz walks onto the Fenway field.

Double-H out in center field.

Buch-61 ($1.61) doing arm excersizes.

Anderson wondering what the hell Chone is doing. Note the Walpole Little League team's game on the board.

New sign on the Monster. You can see the old sign behind it. I think that was the Futures at Fenway sign. Didn't get to go to that this year since we were seeing the Sox in Baltimore that day. Next year we'll get back to that. I don't pass up ultra-cheap, easily accessible Fenway tickets. Unless I'm out of town or whatever.

Clay warming up in the 'pen.

I finally settled on this spot to stand in. Pretty sweet view for 12 bucks. (I had an upper bleacher seat.)

I love this one. Ortiz and Dustin the Wind.

Now the meet-and greet really gets going. Vlad thinks he's just getting hugs from Manny and Papi, but little does he know, he's in for...

...the sandwich hop! You can see Manny's feet off the ground.

Anderson, Manny, and Chone.

Vlad and O-Cab, Papi and Manny.

Don't know what Orlando was looking for under Manny's sleeve.

The Sox take the field. Buchholz is number 61.

Double-H's first warm-up toss.

This is how you're feeling when you're about to throw your first major league pitch.

And here it is. He walked the first batter on four pitches.

Cabrera up in the first.

Drew made an error which could've been key. But the 61-point Buch got out of the first with only one run given up.

And that got him a standing ovation. He got one pretty much after every inning. The bats helped him with six runs in the first.

Papi finishing his home run trot.

Ortiz celebrates with Lugo.

Check out the crazy bend-back on that first baseman's hand!

Mirabelli's hurt, and Dustin's concerned. This would cause craziness, as Doug left the game, leading 'tek to fill in, and the team to call up Cash for game two. Doug was put on the DL later.

I noticed the three in their special box behind the plate on the third base side.

The view of the right field corner from where I stood.

The screwball-style finish.

Here, Clay hovers in mid-air after firing. (I didn't mean to cut his upper body off. But I can tell my friends I was purposely going for the feet-shot. Oh, wait, "my friends" are you people. Myyy mistake.)

Close-up of Varitek swinging.

Papi at the plate.

Okajima in.

Okajima on the mound--click this one for super-duper big.

Dustin homers for a key insurance run. Papelbon would get the save.

Currently, the Angels have tied the Yanks at 4. I'll update this game down here.

Update: Angels lead 5-4 in the seventh! Thanks, O-Cab! They just showed Phull Huggies in the dugout. No win for him. Ha. God, I hate the Yankees. I've been sitting here listening to Sutcliffe talk about this Yankee greatness and crap. I'm literally rooting for an earthquake to hit just the Yankee dugout. At least I don't have to hear Kay. 6-4 now, as Vlad's grouder knocks in another. Hopefully the Angels can get six outs. Nice "Yankees Suck" chant in Anaheim right now. Love it.

Update: Well, they got one out. 6-6. A-Rod hits a kind of hard liner to second. Kendrick reaches out--and misses the ball. Goes right by him. Single. Two batters later, Posada homers to tie it. The Yankees, as is their tradition, are the luckiest team in the history of sports. It's sickening. Once again, though, it looks like the Red Sox will just have to beat them ourselves, as no one else wants to step up, scared of the mighty, cheating, lucky Yankees. Angels get out of the top of the eighth. Tied.

Update: Holy shit! Am I missing something? Did A-Rod just slowly go over to the fence for a pop up, reach out over the camera area, and miss it, only to have it land to the SIDE of that area, ON the field? Yes. In other words, besides the fact that A-Rod proved what a wuss he is yet again, he could've just gone AROUND the camera area and caught the ball. In fact, we saw Jeter come sprinting after the ball hit the groug, again ON the field. And it killed me because O'Brien and Sutcliffe said absolutely nothing, as if the ball was just out of play. And the guy ended up doubling! A-Rod with a huge mistake that's going unnoticed. We'll see if the Angels can turn this into runs, though.

Update: They didn't. Second and third, one out, and they get a wicked shot which Betemit snatches at first on a hop. He throws home to get Gary Matthews--the dipshit doesn't even slide. The next guy checks his swing, but the ump (rooting for the Yanks as is in their contracts) calls the guy out to end the inning. Scioscia gets ejected arguing the call. Top 9, Jeter gets on with two out, and, K-Rod balks him to second (guess if that made me want to kill him or not), but fortunately gets Abreu swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Bottom 9, Mo gets first two, but next two get hits. Winning run at third, but he gets a ground out. We go to extras.

Update: Ha! Yankee fans stay up til 2 (yeah, right) only to get teased, as Angels win in 10! Exactly what I wished for, and it came true: that the Yanks almost win, but still lose. That's always the best way. Man on second, one out, and it was a fly to right center that Melky couldn't quite reach. Sweet. 5 games up.