And ye shall be tackled by our first baseman for your accomplishments! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission. Good luck, Darnell!
Missed last night’s game so I’m just happy that it all ended well! Everything seems to be clicking for the Sox and tonight we get back Mike Cameron to close that circle. Really looking forward to seeing him back in the lineup!
But with Mike Cameron back, we knew we’d have to say goodbye to someone and, as Gordon Edes tells us, this time it’s Darnell McDonald.
In the brief time McDonald wore a Sox uniform, he made an impact. Dramatically, at first, with a game-tying, pinch-run homer in his first at-bat for the Sox, followed by a game-winning single in his first game, then a home run in his second. Then, mostly dependably, especially at the plate, where in 30 games he batted a respectable .263, with three home runs and 11 RBIs. Defensively, he was exposed as time went on, but the 31-year-old filled a breach when called upon.
“There was nothing else to do,” manager Terry Francona said. “I hope for his sake somebody claims him. I’m very appreciative for what he did for us.”
I don’t know if I ever remember a manager saying that he hoped another team claimed a player. If he doesn’t get claimed, he can accept the assignment back to Pawtucket and still be in the organization, right? I think it’s pretty cool of Tito to publicly say he’d rather him go to another club where he gets a chance to probably play in the bigs. Thank you, Darnell. Thank you for helping make a relatively painful time not so horrible.
Clay Buchholz doing his thang again and the Sox offense going off on Rays pitching, including another home run by the Large Father, brought the team another “W”.   Tonight Jon Lester goes up against James Shields (I hesitate to call him “Big Lame” James just yet even though the name, suggested by Kelly O’Connor in the comments here not too long ago, cracks me up to no end…no need to piss off the baseball gods) and we will be here live chatting for anyone interested!
We’re five for five on Tuesday nights, so far, so stop on by to help add to the “magic”!