Hi, it's me, writing to you on Saturday night, August 2nd, as the Sox are kicking some A butt--10-2 us in the sixth. My blog was "locked" by Blogger on Thursday night thanks to their "inherently fuzzy" spam-detecting software. After proving to them that I'm an actual person, it's now unlocked. Great timing by the robots, eh? Interestingly, the only other time I've had a problem where my blog was inaccessible was during the '04 ALCS. Below is the post I wrote late Thursday night in Manhattan at Chan's apartment. The post time reflects that time, not right now. It's not like I would've had much time to write anyway, since after my NYC trip, I met up with Kim down at Rebecca's family's cabin, where we go once a year. No computers or internet there. I did get to watch much of Friday night's game at my parents' house, between the City and the Cabin, and was saddened by the Manny bashing. There's such a feeling of the organization controlling what people say and what we see and hear. But anyway, now that I'm home, I'll have much more on the whole situation. But right now I've gotta go see the new Batman movie. Here's that post from the other night....thanks for your patience. It was out of my control.

******

When Damon left the Red Sox, I was sitting in my old apartment in NYC with Chan and Gumby, who was visiting. Today, Manny is kicked out, and I'm in NYC visiting Chan along with Andy, who again happens to be visiting. After Manny's comments yesterday, I knew he was gone. Today, after running around in the heat playing Frisbee (actually "Skyo") in Central Park, we went down to the Saigon Grill by Union Square, and I read the closed-captioning on their TV, which was tuned to ESPN. It said something about Manny's "tw0 mznths in Loss Angelts," and I thought, Wow, the Angels are going to be incredible. Then I found out it was the Dodgers he went to. Teammates with Nomar, managed by Torre. Crazy. We also lose Hansen and Moss--I would've liked to see what Moss could've done, and Hansen, well, we all have waited too long to see what he can do.

So now we've got 29-year old Canadian Jason Bay. Back Bay, the Bay State...we can work with that. Canadian Back Bay-con? Anyway, the guy usually hits about .280, except for the year ('06) he hit over .300 and the year ('07) he hit under .250. He's roughly a 30-dong guy, and this year he has 22. He should be able to pack an Esasky-type punch, but I'd rather have Manny. Can you believe Papi and Manny are separated? That'd be like seeing Johnny Damon in a Yankee uniform....

So I'm just kind of in a state of calm shock right now. We'll see how I feel when the games start up again this weekend. It was great to see that the Yanks got killed tonight.

At one point today we stopped into Paragon. It has a nice little Red Sox section. I love it: New York City's three favorite teams--Yanks, Mets, and Red Sox--each with their own section. They actually had some cool shirts. In fact, I've seen worse Red Sox selections in some Boston-area stores. I also heard a "go Sox" and saw plenty of other Sox gear in Manhattan as usual. The Yankee-wear was slim today, too, making it feel pretty even. Oh, and I finally tried Shake Shack. I'd tried to go several times, but for different reasons never ended up getting there. Tonight, the line was over a hundred people long, easily. Gumby went to the front and asked someone how long she waited. She told him an hour and a half. So we thought about going to the "B-line," on which you can get anything...but shakes. Or burgers, hot dogs, and fries. But you could get a concrete there. Since those actually sounded better than shakes, we made a B-line for the line which bore its name. It was four people long. The "Shack Attack" concrete was amazing.

And I forgot to mention yesterday that Gumby brought me rocks from Iraq and Afghanistan. How cool is that? I should get a bumper sticker that reads, "Support Our Troops, Especially the Ones Who Smuggle Me Shit."

I'm awake after sleeping on Chan's floor, and hearing Gumby ordering tires over the phone at the ungodly hour of 10 AM. The comforter worked a little. My back is only slightly sore.

The Red Sox' historic efforts to be the first team to successfully trade their best player for no reason continues. Next thing you know, the media will convince us that we're rooting for gas prices to reach 10 dollars per gallon. "I just can't take low gas prices' antics anymore!"

I'm quickly back in the New York groove, a la Ace Frehley and/or that weird dude who actually wrote the tune. In any other city, there'd be no reason to walk two miles, but we easily walked the 40 blocks from Grand Central to 6th Street on a really nice night. People (Kim, Gumby while we were walking) say that NYC smells. True, but I seem to love the smell, so it works out for me. And then the bonus is, when you need to get somewhere fast or really need to go a long way, you just hop on the subway and go wherever you want. Fun stuff. Get here.

Gumby's in town. Meaning New York City, at Chan's. So I came down. We ate Indian food and "caught up," as the humans say. Gumby flies wounded soldiers out of Iraq. Tonight I asked him, "So do the guys stationed at the base you go to in Iraq all say, 'Hey, Mr. I Can Leave Whenever I Want...'" And said, "yeah..." But Chan pointed out that the soldiers wouldn't want to leave with him. (Because that would mean they were wounded. The fact that I had to clarify that means I probably didn't capture this dialogue too well.)

It was a great night to miss baseball, as the Sox apparently got killed, while the Yanks and Rays won, and the Tigers called up the Yanks and asked them if they'd like a Hall of Famer for just whoever's layin' around, preferably someone shitty. And the Yanks said yes.

I looked on Joy of Sox, and saw that Manny said a bunch of stuff about how the front office mistreats people, etc. The key for me was the phrase "I love Boston fans." As long as he knows that, I can have the "mental peace" that he talks about. So, is this how it's gonna end? Sitting in this little apartment in NYC, finding out that Manny is in some other uniform? We'll see. I guess.

And as I'm about to end this post and head to the floor where I'll sleep, Gumby asks if Chan has a blanket. "I've got a big down comforter," Chan says. Chan, you're about to put me on a coupla thin pillows on the floor, and suddenly you break the news that there exists a big down comforter??

Look at that face! I look so serious and long-faced, like Ric Ocasek. This is me last night, a split-second after catching a ball looped over the third baseman's head, running over from the shortstop position, and conveniently, right off the field to our dugout, as it was the third out of the inning. I think that look is, "Okay, this inning's over, now we come back and beat this team of pricks." Which we didn't do. Good season, purple team.

Red Sox vs. Angels, as we try to avoid the sweep, 7:05 PM....

Are you kidding me?

If you're a Red Sox fan, and you went into the ninth inning last night hoping your team would be no-hit, please stop by my house today so I can kick the living Mussina out of you.

One of the writer's main reasons for wanting to see the Sox face the ultimate humiliation (besides the fact that most Boston writers hate the Red Sox) was that "no-hitters are special." Yes, they are. But a Red Sox pitcher has already thrown one this season. And last season, too! Were any of you thinking, Yeah but if the other team's throwing one against us, I'll root for it because you can't see enough no-hitters?

I was at a restaurant watching the last few innings last night with my girlfriend, who's a big fan, and our friend who just recently got into baseball and loves the Sox. So you've got three different people covering much of the spectrum of Red Sox fandom. We didn't need to ask each other which team to fucking root for as the ninth inning approached. The last thing this team needs right now is to be no-hit. When Pedroia got that hit, we cheered, with our friend whooping it up the loudest, to the point where even I almost had to say to her, Jeez, we're still down by six....

We heard this same cap from Bob Ryan (I think it was him) when Moose almost threw a perfect game against us, saying you're not a baseball fan unless you were rooting for THE YANKEES TO THROW A PERFECT GAME AGAINST THE RED SOX. I still sometimes think of how happy I was when Krazy Karl broke that shit up, watching from a small hotel room in Maine, on a TV that was bolted high on the wall--which made the game even harder to watch than it already was since ESPN had introduced the "high camera" that season, a precursor to this season's NESN travesty. See, it all comes back to that damn new camera angle...

Look, if you went to that game last night, and Peter Brady had finished that no-hitter, of course, you can go home thinking, Well, I did get to see something rare. But to root for it to happen? Why not root for the Red Sox to go 0-162? That's pretty goddamn rare. Or how about this? Go back to the 2004 ALCS and say, "But we've almost seen a FULL CENTURY of futility--part of me is rooting for the Yanks to just complete the sweep. When will we ever get another chance to see our team go a hundred years without a championship? And besides, I really would like to see the Yanks get that 27th championship, because it would be part of history. How often do you see a team win their 27th?"

Okay, I gotta go now. I have to go buy a Yankee hat to wear because, come on, how rare is it to see me in a Yankee hat? That would be one special moment. Come to think of it, I've never been hit by a car.....or gone on a shooting spree. Wow, these potential special moments lurk around every corner. Thanks, Steve Buckley! I might even pay my taxes next year!

I remember in the '01 World Series people calling Derek Jeter "Mr. November." It was because he hit a game-winning homer on the night of October 31st, a few minutes after midnight. But were you under the impression that the nickname stuck? I wasn't. They called him that for, like, three days. But I was just looking at his Baseball Reference page, and it lists "Mr. November" as his nickname! Terrible job. Here are Jeter's career stats in the month of November:

average/on-base/slugging: .182/.182/.182 (and one big World Series loss)

If you want to include that one at bat from the end of the October 31st game, that still only puts his average at .250.

You wanna know who Mr. November is? Steve Finley!

We're out. Season over. We had a chance tonight, and we kept it close for most of the game. In the bottom of the sixth of a seven-inning game, we were down two. If we had held them to no runs, we would've had a good shot to tie or take the lead in top 7. But we gave up a bunch of runs. The key play, which I will never get over (until, like, Thursday), was a ball hit to right center, with me playing short. I went over to cover second, and the throw was coming in as the batter barreled toward me. The throw was off to my left and low. I knew I'd have to scoop it, then quickly bring the ball across my body to make the tag. This field is so bad, the chances of me scooping it would be slim. But I did it. I whipped my glove from left to right, about to tag the guy, and he goes WAY to the left. I was pretty sure I got his shirt. But instead of just assuming the ump (there's only one, and he's at home plate) would call him out, I tried to re-tag the guy to make sure. He's on the ground crawling toward the bag, and I lunge, but he makes it back. So he's safe, and another runner crosses the plate. I really did nothing wrong, other than not Jeterizing it by holding my glove up to sell the call. The ump couldn't see, and he probably figured if I went to re-tag, I must've missed him the first time. They then went up by a bunch, and we didn't score in the seventh, and that was it.

I made some nice plays in the field, getting everything hit anywhere near me. At bat, I was also frustrated, once popping out despite that I was specifically trying to hit a grounder through the right side to get the man home from third, and the other time, leading off the sixth, I rocketed one deep down the right field line. The right fielder went over, and made a shoestring catch, in what would be my last at bat of the season. I feel like if just one of my two ABs resulted in a hit, we could've won.

The other team had many pricks. I'm always at the front of the "good game" line, but this time I hung back in protest. I mean, I said "nice hit" to a guy who doubled while he was on second, and he ignored me. Terrible job.

Then we went to eat and watch the end of the game. We were getting no-hit. But it was Peter Brady on the hill for them. So in the ninth, I said, He's Peter Brady, he's nervous, he'll give up three runs. He gave up two. We still lost, though. We saw the Yanks were down 6-1. Turns out they lost 7-6. I love it when the Yanks almost win but still lose. That's the best way. We're 2 back, they're 4 back. And the Angels got Keidis! Crazy...

Voyce O'Riesen: What seems to be the problem here?

Red Sox Fan: We've gotta get rid of Manny Ramirez.

VO: This is your cleanup hitter, the second half of one of the best 3-4 combos in history, right?

RSF: Yeah.

VO: The guy with the 500 home runs, the guy who brought you two championships after you lived your whole life without seeing one?

RSF: Yeah, but I just can't take his antics anymore. It's not worth it.

VO: What antics?

RSF: Well, he doesn't work for his money. You never know when he's gonna show up to play.

VO: Manny's consistently played in more games each year than most of his teammates.

RSF: Yeah, but the Yanks come to town, and Manny hides, fakes an injury.

VO: He's played more games against the Yanks than any other team, with over 50 homers against them in about 200 games, and a .319 batting average and .615 slugging average. And he does not fake injuries. He loves to play ball.

RSF: Yeah, but in the playoffs, we're gonna need this guy, and I don't know if he's gonna decide to play or not.

VO: He's hit .321 with the Red Sox in the playoffs, with 11 HR in 43 games. With 31 walks, too. And two rings.

RSF: But what's he done this year? He's clearly declining. He just can't get it done anymore.

VO: He had one bad year--last year. (A year in which his team won the World Series with him hitting .348 in the playoffs.) And almost every guy in the majors would kill for Manny's "bad year." His OBP was identical to Derek Jeter's last year, and Jeter somehow finished 11th in the MVP voting. This year, he's already just about reached last year's home run total by the end of July, and is hitting .300. In fact, he's hit over .290 every year for the last 13 seasons. Hey, did you even see those Rolling Rallies?

RSF: Huh?

VO: Nothing. Please continue.

RSF: The guy has a bad attitude.

VO: Have you ever seen him not grinning ear to ear?

RSF: Well look at the way he carries himself. Long hair, loose clothing...

VO: And how is this a negative?

RSF: It's just not classy. When I show my kids a ballplayer, I show him Derek Jeter.

VO: How long has it been since he's won a ring?

RSF: At least Jeter is a Gold Glover. Manny is absolutely horrible in the field.

VO: Have you watched him play the field?

RSF: Well, I mean, every time he goes after a ball, my buddies all yell out, "Take your time, there, Manny!" Why would they do that?

VO: Maybe they're retarded.

RSF: But the guy will be on the ground sometimes, rolling around.

VO: Would you prefer he didn't dive for balls? And do you realize that if a replay of one craaaazy play is shown a thousand times, it still means the play only happened once?

RSF: No, no, look, he just, I don't know, rubs me the wrong way...he goes around fighting with everybody, distracting the team, and just pissing everybody off! He's missing games left and right!

VO: He missed two games, guy. Only one of his teammates has played in more games than he has. Have you been to a game? Do they look distracted? Or is the media just saying they're distracted?

RSF: Look, I just can't take this guy anymore. The sooner we get rid of him, the better!

VO: You know, you may be right.

RSF: Ah, comin' around, eh?

VO: No, I'm just starting to think you don't deserve him.

Was it the worst thing since "Reggie Jackson's World of Sports"? No. Was it still pretty crappy? Yes. 7-5 them, final.

I still can't figure out why sometimes when we're on ESPN, the game will be on ESPN on my cable, even though it's obviously on NESN, too. How is that not blacked out? It worked out, though, because I got to switch over to ESPN for the "classic" camera angle.

But then when the ESPN announcers started badmouthing Manny, I switched back. It was horrible. It started with, "do you think Manny knows the count?" Then after they noted the big ball and strike lights are right behind him on the scoreboard, they started saying, "bright shiny lights," and snickering. Of course, they had to cover themselves by talking up how great a player he is (oh, yeah, that's right...). But still, I was hoping when he came up he'd pull a Roy Hobbs/Max Mercy, and knock one right into their booth. It's funny how I mock the way people predictably, unfunnily, and unfairly make fun of Manny, and then I hear it for real. "Oh, right, I'm not exaggerating at all." I flipped on the radio for five minutes today, and a caller said "I don't like the way he carries himself, look at his long hair...."

Moose got smacked around tonight, and the Os beat the Yanks 13-4. Gold. Tampa lost, but, again, the longer they stick around, the less chance the Yanks have of making the playoffs. In fact, when you think about it, this year isn't too much different than every other one lately. If we finish ahead of the Yanks, we probably make the playoffs. If the Yanks finish ahead of us, they probably make it. The difference is, there might not be a fallback depending on how long the Deerays stick around.

Below is a banner from the bottom of the main page of the Yawkey Way Store. Click to enlarge, and then see if you can figure out what's wrong with it:



Oh, just that the Red Sox' championship years are WRONG. Terrible job. They've left out 1916. And they've added 1904--a year in which we very well could have won the World Series...had one been played. The worst part about it is that the store actually is team-property now, as opposed to when it used to be the independent "The Souvenir Store." Who's in charge over there??

Here's another one. I saw this ad for a ticket-scalping agency on the New York Times' website. (It's one of the ones that was bought out by Ticketmasturbator.) Again, see if you can spot the mistakes:



Maybe I should've said "see if you can find anything that isn't a mistake....

Sox vs. Angels, 7:05.

Blimp over Fenway on a gorgeous Saturday for a Fox game.

Picture taken from that same spot, facing the other way.

Manny Ramirez. Look at that horrible attitude! I can't take it anymore!

These pics came out brighter and blue-sky-ier than usual. Maybe it's because it was a really bright day. Or maybe it's because it was a 3:55 start, so these pics are from around 2:00. Either way, I love the way these came out. Hopefully it's translating on your end. Oh, and this one almost looks like one of those wraparound, Beastie Boys video-ish fisheye shots due to the curvature of the fence. But it's not. I don't know how to do that.

With the brightness comes the shadows. Papi's smiling here, non-Mac users...

Doesn't it look like Damon's reaching back and holding Jeter's hand? (Background: MDC and Timlin, Jr.)

Manny and Papi head over to greet somebody with Lugo, who was in uniform and who took a long trip over to the Yankee dugout with a mystery man.

Close-up of Manny in shades.

The Mus-douche.

Okay, camera news: Here's the old at left and new at right. But as you can see...

...they've moved the new one down, as some new tubular device holds it in place. Before it was sitting on top of that wall. Maybe this will cut back on the wind and therefore the shakiness.

It was pretty hot, though we did get some clouds for some temporary relief during the game in the bleachers. We could see out toward the direction the clouds were coming from. So we knew when the relief was about to arrive/leave.

This dud was just chillin' in the doorway for a while.

At one point, I turned to Empy (who I went to the game with and who has a great blog) and said, "I think I'm at the point where I don't need to take Peter Gammons' picture every time I see him." But then he stood there talking to Girardi and I figured it was a cool enough shot, so I took it. The streak continues...

Dirk Calloway.

The last time I took a picture of these jerks, I gave some wacky line that implied they were shitty. Some Yankee fan called me on it, acting like they were the BTSSB, and comparing them to Coco and Lugo, and as a bonus, telling me that "generally," if a player wanted to "win," he'd head in a "southerly" direction, meaning from Boston to New York. So, you know--he was wrong about everything. (And if he'd made the correct comparison--Pedroia and Ellsbury--instead of just picking two players of his choice, he'd have been wrong about that, too.)

Again with this guy. He wasn't the only cheater to take the field for the Yanks on this day, as Andy "Heal Rather Quickly" Pettitte was their starter. Another tainted win for the Chokers.

Empy and I were having a great time mocking A-Rod as he posed and posed and posed some more... "oh, what, you just happen to be taking my picture while I fleeex with this bat in my hand? What a pleasant coincidence. If you'll excuse me, though, I have to streeeetch to each side while continuing to *accidentally* glance back at you. It's really important when you're about to step into the cage and attempt to hit balls out of the entire park." The guy has serious issues.

The third-newest Yankee, Rickey Gender-son, with some snuff in one pocket and A-Rod in the other. Or something. Also, I like when A-rod appears smaller than he is. I'm surprised he goes within fifty feet of this guy.

A-Rod also rushed over to John Henry to greet him when he came on the field. Something no one else felt the need to do. Classic phony with his fake respect. Anyway, here Henry talks to Cashman, whose nervous breakdown gets closer by the minute.

Empy and I love stuff like scoreboard testing. I was so happy to get a shot of this. (I probably have already posted a shot like this in the past.) Look at all the bulbs that need a-changin'!

Some guy gets his pic taken with Jeremy Kapstein.

"It ain't any dumber than acid-wash..."

Okay, so now me and Empy head out to right field for some exploring. This is behind section 43 of the bleachers, looking down at the roof of the parking garage, which seems to be getting re-done or something. We think this is some of the Angels' gear, as they're coming to town next. But it does say "ESPN" on it, and the Monday game is on ESPN. I don't know, quit grillin' me under these hot lights. Anyway, here's a closer look:

That should read "Angels Stadium," not "Angeles Stadium." Hey, it's not the first time ESPN effed up. The weird thing was, there's a little swinging fence right in front of this stuff. I easily could've opened it, and walked out onto the roof. No security out there. Just as I started to show Empy that the door can swing open (you could also climb over--it's like a three-foot high fence), some camera dude came by and opened it and walked right down. He didn't seem to care that the two of us were taking photos of the gear.

From that same spot, Citgo sign and back of bleachers. And blimp.

And the ladder leading up into the scoreboard. Fix those bulbs!

So while we were in that area, we headed to the Best Buy club. I'd noticed it before, but I just heard it was gonna be open to the public. The guy at the door said it would open to the public on the 30th. We started asking him about it, and he got all weird about it, acting like we, and anyone else interested in it, were totally crazy for wanting to go in there when you could go right out to the stands and watch the game. There was no telling this guy that we'd just like to go in to see what it looked like. We never implied that we'd rather watch the game on a TV than from our seat. But every question I asked was answered with "why would you wanna go in there?" I wonder if his boss knows he's badmouthing the new fan areas. I told him that I heard there was Fenway memorabilia in there. He said, "Eh, it's just the same stuff that's been here. You don't wanna go in there, pal." Fine! I won't go in! I'm sold! Jeez...any other new areas of the park you can tell me NOT to go to?

The game's about to begin. What's with that sign? "Yankee pride, show it or stache it." Okay, Giambi has a mustache. But I still don't get it. That we should either show our Yankee pride, or "stache" it, meaning hide it away? Even though you apparently are a fan of the mustache? I don't get it. At all. Stupid sign.

So the game has begun. We're in my 10-game plan seats. My cousin Amy asked me about getting a 10-game plan. And I realized that for the past few seasons, I've been casually mentioning it without explanation. I bought it the year it was introduced, after the 2003 season. You get the same seat(s) (I have two seats) for ten different games--three early season, three late season, and one in each of the mid-season months. You get two Yankee games, and the chance to buy one first-round playoff game. There were different plans for different days of the week, mine obviously involves Saturdays. You won't find this info on the team site, though, because these plans sold out that year, and were never offered again. I'm sure there's a waiting list, but I don't see too many people giving up their plan. We've been seeing the same people around us at each game for five years now. So that's the deal. I'm glad I got in when I did.

Manny knocked in a run in the first. We led 2-0, and all looked right with the world.

The blimp kept showing "MMA." Give it a rest, blimp. This is looking almost straight up from our seat--those people are on the right field roof deck. Actually, where they're standing is a place anyone can go. Try it.

And another blimp shot.

The red jerseys worn on a Saturday. I guess it's the "weekend or whatever alternate jersey" now.

"Stand up, Manny, your 500 hundred home runs and two World Series rings aren't enough for me! Also, why can't God make everyone white with 'normal' clothes and hair??"

The same shot, but zoomed out. And stuff.

So...it suddenly is 10-3 in favor of the EnWhyWize. It felt like game 3 of the '04 ALCS (which I got to go to because of, yes, the 10-game plan--because our first round game didn't end up happening because the series ended in three games). All happy for a while, then, boom, it's a blow-out the other way. But after that game, amazing things happened. And after this game, we'd come back and pound the Yanks the next day...and hopefully go on to repeat as World Champs.

Here's Dustin, with Youk in the foreground. Oh, yeah, so the point was, since it was a blowout, we moved to better seats for the ninth.

Here's Wicked Lester and Mayah-neighs.

Timlin and Lowell. The closer you are to those red unis, the worse they look.

Blimp still dickin' around up there.

Dust-up.

Papi ready to hit. Please notice there appears to be a flame decal on his bat. It's in the colors of the Rasta flag. Anyone know anything about this? I sent a cropped version to UniWatch--it's at the bottom of this post. I've never seen anything like this on a bat.

So, shortly after I addressed the rivalry "losing/gaining steam" issue, I attended this game, and I have to say, it was the most sedate Sox-Yanks crowd I've ever experienced. Not even any Yankee fan ejections. There were two ejections, a group of four drunk Sox fan girls, and then another low-key talkin'-to from a cop to some other Sox fans. There were the usual number of Yankee fans, but no particularly obnoxious or even visible ones in our area. And everybody was just kind of blah. Maybe it was the heat, or the weekend summer afternoon family-friendly-ness, or the fact that after the first, the Sox just got nothing going. Or maybe more people are starting to get the feeling I've had, which is, None of these regular season games are that important so there's no need to get worked up in this heat. But that's not to say we don't pay attention until October--that's a Yankee "fan" trait. We're paying attention, we just know the team's gonna be around in September and October, and that in the end, the Yanks are nothing to worry about.

So we ended up winning one game in the series the following night, with Lester kicking Yankee ass and Manny and Papi and everyone else feasting on Ponson. We're one back, they're three back. The media's version of the Manny "saga": bla bla bla lie lie lie, etc. The truth: Nothing to worry about. We have an awesome, fun-lovin' cleanup hitter who plays in more games than most of his teammates every single year and has won us two World Series. Everything's fine.

Got the type of game we needed tonight. More on that and all my pics from Saturday coming Monday afternoon. In the meantime, here's a nice Papi shot which gets extra big upon mouse-clicking:

Remember, folks, as they always said about us leading up to 2004, this is "their World Series." We're facing Papi tomorrow! Trade the farm for a lefty specialist!

Whereas we're playing 162 games, in an attempt to win the real World Series. Bright, sunny pics of yesterday's black day to come...