Fewnay Flashback: Sympathy for the Devil (Rays)

September 10-12, 2007
Fenway Park

It was a different time. I was a time when the Rays admitted the Devil was in them and wore green vests. Yes, vests. Change was coming to those Rays though. They were showing signs of the team they were about to become, especially through the arm of Scott Kazmir and the bat of Carlos Pena. When they came to town in early September of 2007, the Devil Rays were scratching and clawing (like little girls) there way out of last place, while the Sox were clinging to first place with the red hot Yankees hot on their trail. The Sox-Rays rivalry was just a shell of what it would become, but nonetheless, better baseball is seldom seen. It was a fantastic three game series with all the twist and turns of a playoff series.

Game 1 pit the veteran Schilling against the young superstar Scott Kazmir. It was a tremendous pitching battle, ending in the Rays' 1-0 shutout of the Red Sox, with only 12 hits between the two teams. In stark contrast, Game 2 was a hitters' game. Wakefield, who had only 2 career losses against the Rays, took the mound. Wake, perhaps, had started to struggle with the same injuries that would eventually take him off the playoff roster. He gave up a pile of runs early and the Sox fell behind 8-1. The one run came on a homer by Jacoby Ellsbury. It was looking like it was going to be a long night. Well, it was a long night, but the Sox quickly started chipping away at that 7 run lead. A two RBI base hit by the now Yankee, Kevin Cash, helped to turn the tide. The Sox scored 3 runs in the 4th inning, bringing the score to 8-4. Although the Rays scored an additional run, the Sox piled on the basehits in the 5th inning, bringing themselves within one run. The score was now 9-8. Pedey got things going in the 6th inning with a solo homerun to tie the game at 9 runs apiece. That pretty much drove the pitcher out of the game and the Rays called on Grant Balfour. I love it when they call on Balfour! With some great at bats against the Aussie, the Sox then loaded the bases for Kevin Youkilis.

The Sox followed it up with a Big Papi homer and another homer by Drew. It was quite a night of baseball. In the end, The Sox beat the Devil Rays 16-10 and the teams combined for 38 hits.

Game 3 was another hard fought battle that resulted in the Sox trailing going into the 9th inning.

'nuff said.

Best Virgin Nominee

Big Papi was nominated for the Best Virgin Relly Award on Regis and Kelly. The Best Virgin Award goes to the best first time guest. You can vote for Papi until midnight tonight Vote often, because Papi's up against Brad Pitt! Good luck, Papi! Here's the clip from his award nominated performance:

Big Papi celebrates Bay's 4 hits

Red Sox sweep and Papi steals a base!

Big Papi on Regis and Kelly Minus the Regis Again

Silly me. When I heard that David Ortiz was not going to be able to play in the All-Star game, I didn't think he'd be there. At all. Not only was he there, but he was the center of attention at much of batting practice and he made the media rounds. Here he is on Regis and Kelly, but again Regis was not there. Why is this always the case? Is Regis afraid of the power of the Papi? His loving charm might convert him to the dark side -- the Red Sox side??

I'm a Chase Utley fan!

That's funny! In case you couldn't hear him, he said "Boo? F@#$ You." Gotta love live tv! I don't know much about Chase Utley, but if the Yankee fans hate him so much to boo him at the All-Star game, he must be cool! ;) And Big Papi received a chorus of boos during batting practice, to whichhe flexed his muscles. Also booed was poor Wally and the Mets' mascot too... Gotta love Yankee Stadium =)

Big Papi Loves Live TV

David Ortiz never misses an opportunity to goof around on live tv. Sunday on ESPN was no exception:

Curse This, Big Papi!

Big Papi came out of his slump with a slam:

The infamous jersey

The one unearthed from Yankee Stadium is on ebay for a mere $33,100. Bid now!

Ortiz jersey unearthed and so is his bat....

David Ortiz has never been in a bigger slump than he has so far this season. So on Sunday, Ortiz sat on the bench while his team played the Yankees and his jersey was dug of the new Yankee Stadium. On Monday, Ortiz and his jersery were back in the lineup and Big Papi got TWO hits! Coincidence? I think not! The curse of the jersey wasn't on the Yankees but on Ortiz. Now, with the curse lifted, we can look forward to many homeruns to come!

Manny Being Manny and Big Papi Being Big Papi

Now that games count again, (Thank God!) the Sox pitching is back on track. Dice-K and Lester both threw outstanding games against the Oakland As. Papelbon's command came back as well. The bats were looking a little jet-lagged until Big Papi hit this fantastic homerun. Manny, of course, tried to steal the show -- and he succeeded by starring in the funniest clip of the day. I love Manny being Manny...

Red Sox vs. Hanshin Tigers: 1st Inning

Pedroia stuck out. Youkilis struck out. I began to think it was going to be a surprisingly tough game. I also realized I have embarrassingly little knowledge of the metric system... And then David Ortiz hit a nice, easy homerun. Here is his at-bat. Enjoy the commentary ;)
Big Papi's homer was followed by a couple of basehits and then a 3 run homerun by JD Drew. Man, it is nice to see Drew swing like this. Good times to come... I started to think this might go like those college games...

Fenway Flashback: Double Trouble

June 4-6, 2007
McAfee Colliseum

I don't have cable and I live on the left coast. So before I figured out mlb.com, the only Red Sox regular season games I ever saw were against the As. There is a broadcast station out of the Bay Area that airs a mix of As and Giants games several nights a week. So I caught a bunch of these As vs Sox games last summer and while I was told that the Sox were great, I have to admit it was hard to see. What I did see, which I'm seeing again right now, is double play after double play after double play. It seems like everytime the Sox get a runner on, they end up hitting into a double play. So either the Sox suck or the As are a fantastic defensive team. It is nice to see these games from the hometown (NESN) point of view and in doing so, I came across this funny clip of Big Papi accidentally spitting on little Pedroia.

BTW, I have to admit that these As have to be about the best looking team in the AL... despite their nerdy white shoes. It took me some games to see past the glare of the white shoes -- but seriously -- Travis Buck, Dan Haren, Bobby Crosby, Eric Chavez, and that Swisher guy... i think i might pay more attention next year when those As games are on...

The highlight, by far, of the series (thus far) is Tito getting kicked out. Once he realized he was gone, he got rid of the gum and chew and really let 'em have it! I've never seen Francona quite like this:

Fenway Flashback: A-Hole??

June 2, 2007

Fox put together a nice, albeit very short, clip illustrating why the world doesn't like A-Rod (except for my friend Adrienne who thinks he's hot)..

Later in the broadcast, they interviewed Terry Francona. Watch Big Papi behind him...

The game was a crazy rollercoaster that ended in a sox win and was highlighted by Lowell and Varitek hitting back to back homeruns (again). I sometimes think these two have some kind of bet -- anything you can do, I can do better =)

Fenway Flashback: Papi Being Papi

May 3, 2007

Big Papi got caught in a double play and tagged himself out.

Papi Being BeDazzled

Papi was on Late Night with Conan, with a Bedazzled lambourghini on his jacket....

Okay, it's really a scorpion, but Papelbon has him pegged! I never used to like Conan, but he's truly funny in this clip....