 I promised, last night, to dig out this photo. See that smiley face postcard? Two of us in our bunch sent that exact card to Todd Walker during our first postcard shower. So we (yes, I was one of the two) still, to this day, debate which of our cards he hung on his locker. Regardless of that, this was our first proof that the fellas got the cards and that it meant something. We helped Todd then and folks will say we helped Papi now! I only wish I had a credit to go with this photo. Can’t for the life of me remember who took it (just that it came from boston.com) |
I know it’s ridiculous how I reacted to Big Papi hitting his first home run. I cried. Not giant, sobbing tears, mind you, but tears nonetheless. I was just so happy for the big guy. Still am. And it was amazing how comfortable he seemed to look at the plate after that. Kudos to the Fenway Faithful for not giving in to the nastiness that’s been permeating the Boston sports media about Ortiz.
The support the fans gave him was tremendous. The curtain call he took was proof, to me, of how much he appreciated it. Papi’s not one to usually take a curtain call, no matter how much we ask!
And once Papi let loose, the entire team seemed to follow. Jacoby Ellsbury not only has now kept his hitting streak alive at 15 games, but he tied the Major League record for put outs last night at 12 (And now being the Red Sox leader with put outs in a game as the old Red Sox record was 10!). Jason Varitek hit TWO home runs last night while Jason Bay and Mike Lowell each picked up one of their own. Heck, even Brad Penny didn’t make anyone (read: ME) freak out. It was a fabulous game to watch, wasn’t it? I’m sure Daniel Bard would have preferred a less bumpy introduction to Fenway but at least he now has his “first” behind him. Oh, and did I mention one Kevin Youkilis going 3-5 upon his return? Apparently, his lack of production in Pawtucket was no cause for alarm. This pleases me greatly. Every Sox batter had a hit last night. Varitek, Lowell, Bay, Youkilis and Ortiz all having multiple hits. This was a good game.
That the Sox took the first two from the Jays didn’t surprise me. Heck, I was calling for a sweep. It’s interesting to see the difference in them when they’re playing a contending AL East team, huh? I will admit, though, that I felt a little sorry for Brett Cecil. Cito Gaston seemed to leave him hanging a while in the 5th. I can’t imagine it’s any fun giving up five home runs in a game, let alone four in the same inning and two to the same hitter. Still…the outcome was fun for us!
Jon Lester needs to shake off his previous crappy start and just go pitch his damn ass off tonight. We all know he has it in him so tonight is as good a time as any to stop talking about how hard he works and go out there and show us.
Thanks, again, to everyone who stopped by for the live blog. It was fun for me so I hope it was fun for you.
Jon Lester v Robert Ray at 7:10pm. I won’t be live blogging but I still wouldn’t miss it. A sweep could be imminent!