I noticed this on NESN yesterday. You'll see the Tigers use a Red Sox logo at the bottom left and at the bottom right of their scoreboard when Boston is up. Let's look at a close-up of each.

Left:
Old logo! (Boston in blue and in different font from Red Sox.)

Right:
New logo! (Boston in red and in same font as Red Sox, and background baseball stitches turned slightly clockwise.)

So in year three of the tweaked logo, the Tigers are aware of it, but aren't completely sold on it, I guess.

Sox @ Tigers, 7:10. If you're lucky enough to be in the 17% of the country that gets to see the game on TV tonight, congratulations. By showing six fucking games at once, Fox screws fans of twelve of the thirty teams. At least the Hartford and Western Mass. markets are getting the Sox this week (unlike last week), but Fairfield County gets the Mets. And from what I heard last week, people outside the region trying to get the Sox on mlb.tv were blacked out. This whole system needs to be overhauled. But we've been saying that for years.

Oh, and check out this article where Daniel Bard is referred to as a "soft spot." You can e-mail the author right at the top of the article. I know I did.

Yanks blow a 3-0 lead and lose 4-3 to Seattle. Jeter did his trademark of making the final out. So we're in first place all alone. Yanks are a game back, Tampa 1.5.

Four teams in all of baseball currently have a better record than the Boston Red Sox.

I was sure Wake was gonna get a bunch of chances to up that all-time win total last year, but sadly he couldn't add to it at all. But he's got two in a row now, and is just 11 away from Cy and Roger. So important that Roger get knocked out of that top spot. It's still uncertain if Tim will get there but he's got some momentum now.

6-3 WIN.

Yanks are in Seattle, playing now--if they lose, we've got first place to ourselves.

[Update, 5:02: Game over. 7.5-inning 14-1 win. We actually won by more runs than we did yesterday! 28 runs on 36 hits in the last 17 innings. So we're tied for first (percentage points behind) going into the weekend.]

[Update, 4:15: Red Sox 14, Tigers 1, rain delay in the eighth. Details in the comments. Looks like we're gonna be tied for first going into the weekend.]

Sox @ Tigers 1:05. Any updates I give ya will be in comments. Bad weather on the way to Detroit, supposedly.

Just read an mlb.com article that said when the Red Sox were 2-10, "many people" seemed to think the season was over. "Many" people thought a 162-game season couldn't be salvaged after 12 games? Actually, I shouldn't be surprised that the brainless ones get attention. We live in a society where the top story the other day was "the world is still here." The media is pure shit.

[Update, 1:51: Red Sox 13, Indians 0 in the 6th. See comments for details.]

[Update: Definitely check those comments because we scored lots and lots of runs in the first inning!]

Youk out today. Drew out today. Pedroia back today.

Mitch Talbot called up to pitch for them. Lester goes for us. 12:05.

Yanks and Tampa also play afternoon games.

First place by dinner, please!

Tek throws out two guys and hits a dong off the pole and we get a 4-2 victory. Beckett gets the W.

Meanwhile, the Yanks had a bit of a TYR to win their game in the ninth--Jays blew a 3-run lead in the 8th. So they stay a half up on us.

But the Raze are losing by one headed to the ninth, so we could be in second place in a few minutes.

(Update, a few minutes later: Tampa loses. So we win, they lose, we move to second place--but that bullshit Yankee win is still pissing me off. Sickening.)

We're up 2-1 for a long time, Buchholz does a fine job, and then in eighth, Pedroia slips rounding second. So he would have been on third, which could have led to insurance runs--and also, he hurts his ankle (or something) and has to leave the game. And in the bottom of the 8th, the first thing that happens: a ball to the replacement second baseman's left, the type of play we've seen Dustin make a thousand times. But Sutton, thinking of how he's gonna get back up and make the throw, doesn't get all the way down on the dive, and the ball scoots barely under his glove. That would be the eventual tying run, given up by Bard, credited to Clay. And then the next batter after it's tied, a near-dong to left, scoring the go-ahead run. All this happening just as the Yanks are losing and the Rays are going down big. First place was right there for the taking. Instead we're down 3-2 going to the ninth.

We did rally, putting guys on first and third with one out, but Crawford hits the most tailor-goddamn-fucking-made double play ball to end it. Like, not even a chance despite his speed. Fuck it all.

Beckett-Carmona, tomorrow night. If we can follow up Saturday's debacle with a win, we can certainly come back from this. Still, FUCK!

My former favorite Red Socker, Justin Masterson, pitches against us tonight. I can safely say that if we don't win this game, I hope Justin does. So..... it's 7:05 and the tarp's on the field in Cleveland. Game should get underway a little later.

Just a few shots from tonight...

Papi in a hood, but with no sleeves. Was cold but I was packin' extra layers and I was okay in the grandstand. [Edited to add: I forgot to mention--as you can see, the Red Sox were hitting when gates opened! First time in 2011 I got to see them take BP, if only for a few minutes. (I've opted to not get the RSN early entry deal this year, so far anyway.)]

Crawford, Youk.

Daniel Bard.

Adrian Gonzalez talking to Gammons and that other dude.

So I guess the off-white scoreboard background was just for Turn Back the Clock Night.

One of those sun rainbows.

So this is the one game of the year where I got a good seat for myself--first row of grandstand, right at the 21-22 pole. Great view except for the screen. Above, Papi hugs SorryAsshole.

My view of the field. Some military shit was going on. I hate how they now do the Yankee Stadium thing of saying that the military protects "our way of life."

And the right field view.

This is the actual view, including the pole. It loomed, but it didn't block any of the field.

The pole up close.

In 1995 I was 19 years old and I saw Tim Wakefield pitch for the Red Sox at Fenway. Now I'm 35 and here I am still going to Fenway to watch Timmy pitch. He finally got his 180th win in a Sox uni tonight, inching closer to the record.

Carlos Pena.

The pole inside the pole.

Reed Johnson and his stirrups.

Sunday night at Fenway. (Cop's walkie talkie at right.)

Pap got the save. 5-1 win. Yanks and Tampa won too. Incredibly, the Yanks were down 3-1 and scored 8 in a late inning, just like the Cubs against us on Saturday. The key to the Subway Series weekends is to keep pace, and we did.

I feel like had more to say about this game... uh...well there's one thing I can think of: On that catwalk that goes from Gate A to the back of the grandstand by home plate, there are restrooms. I had never gone into that men's room until tonight. And I was surprised to see thin windows over the futuristic urinals. So you can pee and look out at everybody on Yawkey Way. So when you're out there, just know that peeing men ARE watching you.

Part 1 here.

I was standing in the 3rd base deck, first at this spot for first pitch, but then after moving away from some annoying talkers, at the closest spot to home plate. And when the two guys in front of me moved to seats right in front of us, I grabbed their slot at the shelf. (Of course, the real ticket-holders took their seats right away--they should have kept the shelf spot! Oh well, dem's da breaks/unwritten rules of Fenway SRO.) There was a pole between mound and plate but you learn to live with that.

Ellsbury had a Nike logo on his socks. I'm also wondering what was going on under those socks for all the Boston players. The 1918 uni should have had a red/white stripe. In some of my pics I see what appears to be a stripe underneath the red sock on some players.

Aceves was your starter, and after giving up an early run, he was fine.

Dustin Pedroia. There were definitely a lot of Cubs fans at Fenway. They've been waiting since 1918, so....

Dustin gives Youk his white hat (which looked more like Russell Simmons' hat than a 1918 cap).

Carl Beane told us that the third inning would be old-timey--no electronic scoreboards on, no music, no announcements. As it turns out, they did it for two full innings, with guys with megaphones on each dugout announcing the batters. From where I was, I couldn't quite hear a word our megaphone guy said, as you'll see in the video below.



Papi hit a homer, his 300th in a Red Sox uniform. You'll notice in the video below no music played as he crossed the plate. Just cheering, the way it oughtta be.



One thing I didn't get a pic of was Marlon Byrd getting hit in the head with a pitch. He went down and started doing bicycle kicks like he thought he was gonna die. He quickly got up and was led off the field, though. Right in the path of that pole! So I just have a blurry shot of half of him with a towel to his head.

Oh, and about that death cloud. It finally reached us just before the game. The moment it did, you could see your breath. I got a great video of it rolling in from right field:



Fenway aficionados might be saying, Nah that's just smoke from the right field roof deck from when they cook stuff. And yes, that does happen, but this stuff was going by all night. By the time I got down to the good seats in the 8th, I realized that this stuff was making everything wet. It wasn't rain--not one umbrella went up--but it left moisture drops all over everything. The game was played in a cloud.

So here I am in the loge, as plenty of cold, miserable people had slowly started streaming out in the 6th. Matt Albers came in. I wondered where Daniel Bard was, with the Sox holding a two-run lead after seven, 3-1.

Gonzalez at first. Yeah, so I had watched 7 normal innings of baseball from the SRO. Came down for what I thought would be an inning and a half of close-up picture taking, sweet carolinian celebrations, and a Pap save. What I got was something entirely different. After two singles and a walk, and no one warming in the pen, Albers goes 3-2 on Carlos Pena. And he walks him. 3-2. Reed Johnson lines one to left. Crawford goes back, but just can't get to it, and it's a two-run double. 4-3 Cubs, still nobody out. SorryAsshole hits a high pop-up behind short. It's one of those where the runner at third's gonna be tagging and at least bluff, so you gotta be ready to fire home. Jed Lowrie was obviously thinking about that, too...instead of catching the ball. The guy bolts home and now it's 5-3. (I noticed Soriano wasn't quite at first and didn't seem to have any intention of getting there, but Jed had to throw home to try to get that runner.)

Finally Tito takes out Albers, and brings in Franklin Morales, the guy who throws hard but doesn't know where it's going. Above is a picture of his first pitch in a Red Sox uniform. And as you can see, he likes to show the batters his grip so they know what's coming. And Jeff Baker hit a megaton bomb to left center, that just missed going out. 6-3 Cubs, first and second. Cubs fans are going crazy. Even after two batters this inning, when Albers would do the fake to third, look at first move, it felt like the entire crowd would explode in boos, giving you a sense of how many Cubs fans were there.

Pretty much my entire loge box had gone home. After a strikeout and a walk to load the bases, Drew Barney comes up. I like that this guy grew up a Nomar/Red Sox fan in Oregon--and his sister was graduating from BC this weekend, too. He flies out to right field. Throw to the plate...and the guy goes back to third. However, the guy at second had tagged and is almost at third, too! Sweet. Tek will just run to the bag and one guy will be tagged out, a gift from the Cubs and the inning is over. But no! Tek throws to Youk for some reason, and it goes past him into left field! So now the first guy scores, and as the second guy rounds third, Crawford fires home from left field, and it gets past everybody! The pitcher Morales was down there, Tek was trying to get back there...Gonzalez ended up finally retrieving the ball. By then it's 8-3, and still a man at third. Castro doubles him home for the 8th run of the inning, before we finally get the last out. 9-3 as we go bottom 8.

Dude in the scoreboard was busy....and this Cub was showing as much sock as anybody. It was supposed to be "5-color," and this guy gave us four.

Pedroia.

Gonzalez.

Pedroia batting.

More Dustin. He and the rest of us are pissed.

The eight-run eighth.

Fenway in the mist. The long, long inning meant I had to be out in this much longer than I thought. Why can't it just be summer already? I thought leaving the park and being in motion on my long walk to the car would make me feel a little better, but no, it was like I was in one of those DieHard battery ads, you know, the ones that start, "Buffalo, New York...." And this was on what had been a near-gorgeous day! I had short sleeves on in batting practice! And tonight's gonna be the colder night! Remember how pissed I was months ago that all three games of this weekend series would be at night? I'm even more pissed now.

Some throwbax in the field.

The classic Youk stance with nothing on the jersey.

Papi ended it. We had been six outs away from being in first place by ourselves, since Tampa had lost. Instead, we're in third. We need to erase this one quickly with a win tonight.

This is good--you don't have to relive any of the pathetic 8th inning in tonight's 9-3 loss. Not till the next post, anyway.

As I approached Boston from the west, I saw blue skies with what looked like a mountain behind the city. Then as I walked toward Fenway from my car, I saw some strange clouds hovering near the Pru and the Hancock. When I got to the parking lot across from the park, I saw this:

Fenway's light towers are toward the right, above.

A few seconds later, the 'cock was all gone, and the top of the Pru was slowly fading away. It was as if there was a great fire in the city of Boston. Other than that, it was a really nice day...at that point.

When I got inside, the Pru and 'cock were back, but you can see the death cloud blocking some buildings behind the scoreboards. They're going with the off-white background for the pre-game scoreboard screens--this could be the official Interleague Play way, but I'm guessing it's just for the Cubs series.

Looking down at Luis Tiant on Yawkey Way.

After the Cubs took BP (in their 2011 warmups), I went to the top of the bleachers to check in on my cloud of doom. Right at that moment, a Cubs fan also went to look over the back wall, and I can assure you, he made the "maybe it IS the end of the world..." joke.

Turning around in that spot, you can see the sky is normal looking back toward the west.

On my way toward the Sox dugout for close-ups, I took this Canvas Alley shot that I've probably taken before.

Aceves on the field, my first look at the throwbacks (without a jacket over them).

There's Varitek and Salt, and, oh no, are those.....

numbers??? Yes. Terrible. Do the throwbacks or don't. Don't have a major difference or it's not worth it.

Tek's 33 up close and shirtal.

Tito in the dugout.

Some old, though not necessarily 1918, logos.

I don't think I would have known this was Babe Ruth's daughter had they not shown her on the NESN telecast last night, so I'm glad they did.

Saltalamacchia returns.

Cubs in their throwbacks in front of the Monster.

The starting pitchers.

Back up the grandstand behind first to check in with my buddy, Cloudy O'Rourke. Was it headed our way? I later found out.

Now over on the third base side, the Cubs had crappy numbers too.

Fukudome.

More Cub throwback action.

And more. Their unis were obviously more interesting than ours. I see both have the Majest1c logo too. Although it kinda looks "throwback," too.

Jokey baby bears.

The Cubs wore the 1918 socks, whereas the Red Sox just wore plain red ones, when the old ones called for white with a red stripe.

My first look at Papi in the TBs.

What's missing from this picture? The Prudential tower.

There's some of it, in the weird mist-cloud-fog.

Kevin Youkilis, throwbacky.

The pen in their 'bax.

Everybody wanted that low-angle shot! And after I got home, I looked through the Joy of Sox game thread, and saw that Allan linked to one of those pictures.

The Red Sox in the dugout.

And taking the field.

Part 2 coming Sunday afternoon: the game, the weird weather, and a few more close-ups of Sox players. Could be in first place right now, dammit....

[Part 2 here]