Two Italians who I had never met ran around in my front yard with me screaming their heads off and drinking champagne. Never gets old!

20 of 23 playoff series the Sox have been in have either ended up in a sweep or gone the maximum number of games.

If this trend continues, here’s hoping no brooms are involved.

Direct quote from Orlando Cabrera after last night’s game.

Really, Orlando?  Have you forgotten Games 4 and 5 of the 2004 ALCS already?

Quibbling aside, that was an all-timer last night.  Seemed like the wind was taken out of the Metrodome baggie when the Tigers put up that 3 spot, but they sure fought back.  What didn’t that game have?  Clutch home runs, great defense, all the drama you could ask for…

So are the Twins merely a sacrificial lamb for the mighty Yankees?  Probably…but maybe they have a little ‘2007 Rockies’ in them.  They enter the playoffs hotter than a pistol; maybe the momentum from last night combined with Sabbathia’s usual playoff performance and the Twins could possibly take 1 of 2 in the Bronx.  I think they have a shot if they can go back to Minnesota with a split.

I’ve had a soft spot for the Twins for a long time…as many of you know, the former Red Sox AA team in New Britian, CT became the Twins AA team in 1995.  I’ve seen a lot of these Twins play in the minors over the years, so I’m definitely pulling for them regardless of the fact that they are playing the Yanks.

Actually, I’m not a huge believer in past seasons having too much affect on the present…but you have to admit, Angels/Red Sox playoff history is probably recent enough to play on the minds of some in the Angel dugout. Can they get the Sox monkey off their back?

I don’t think so.

Unless Beckett, Lester, AND Buckholz spit the bit (sure, he had a rough last outing, but I’m willing to average out how the year finished for him), I don’t see this series going more than 4 games.

And there is no doubt in my mind that the Yankees win their first playoff series since beating the Twins in 2004.

…to talk about the Pats.

While it certainly didn’t seem so for the first 55 minutes of the contest, that turned out to be one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in person since I got my season tickets. Sure, it raises some questions that they had a tough time with the Bills…but man; what a game. Even better that all the 4th quarter action happened where we could best see it. Here is the view from my seats:

The view from the top row of section 326

Ended up watching most of the Friday night game at a bar with about 30 other people that were in town for the weekend for Saturday’s game; that was a good one.

I was extremely confident that they would get Saturday’s game in; what was shocking to me is that they actually started on time.  Cold night for an August game, but excellent results.

Since I was pretty much off the grid from early Friday afternoon, I had no idea until Sunday morning that I would be seeing Paul Byrd match up against Halladay rather than Jon Lester.  I was obviously disappointed to learn that; but I guess it worked out, eh?

Save Fenway!

Here is a shot from my seat yesterday.  I noticed one big change, though…the lower seats that were redone in the offseason look like they have way more legroom.  They did this at the expense of the narrow walkway around the park…now it’s even narrower.  So if I’m not mistaken, the only seats that haven’t been touched with the new owners are the crappy old blue ones…wonder if it will be at all possible to improve on them?  I especially loved my aisle seat where I had to stand up 1,000 times so people could get out.

We also paid a quick visit to Wally.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but this is a good article about Nomar.

In Oakland’s visit to Boston in July, Mr. Garciaparra approached the plate for the first time as a visiting player. The crowd roared, first for seconds, then minutes. Stunned, Mr. Garciaparra backed away from the plate and did a slow 360, taking time to acknowledge fans in every section of the ballpark. For those watching, it seemed a very real possibility that he might not be able to maintain his composure. “He was about as choked up as you can be on a baseball field,” said A’s third baseman Adam Kennedy. It was, Mr. Garciaparra said, one of the greatest moments of his career.

I’m still very glad he got that reaction, and I’m even happier to see that he got some joy out of it.

I’m headed to 2 of the 3 games this weekend…my first trip to Fenway in 2009.  I can’t remember the last time my first trip was this late in the season…although things don’t look good for Saturday with this hurricane bearing down on the Northeast.

And I sure hope the Beckett we’ve seen the last 2 times out is an anomaly.

I suppose that the Sox could match up well in a short series with the Yanks if they got their pitching lined up just right (and their aces don’t suck)…but it’s still a tough call.

At least we know that Beckett is capable of sucking while throwing to Varitek; so there is no need to start Tek on a regular basis.

Trying out a different, integrated chat. We’ll see how it works out for a while; the Flashchat seemed broken.

And the Wordpress upgrade I just did screwed up that other theme (which I was starting to hate anyway), so I reverted back to this one.

And I’m in the process of reinstalling the last version of Flashchat that worked. Should be done this afternoon.

Yeah; mine wasn’t so hot either.

After travelling to Baltimore last weekend and witnessing the domination of the O’s, it was easy to come away feeling good about the Sox. 1/2 game back, swinging the bats well…at least ONE good starting performance…and here we sit one week later with the rug pulled out from under us.

The bright side, if there is indeed one, is that during this losing streak, a few of these games could have easily went either way. Also, we don’t have to ever see Smoltz pitch in a Sox uniform again.

In reality, we learned something we didn’t think possible after the first couple series with the Yankees. They are a far better team than the Red Sox in 2009. Not a single hole in their lineup, great 1-2-3 punch at the top of their rotation, and their bullpen is coming together nicely. And the Sox are moving in the opposite direction…the revolving door of suck that has been the SS position since 2005 continues to spin…Jason Bay has come back to earth in a BIG way…Ortiz has been not so good since the distraction of being named on that list…and after the first 2 starters, everything else is a crapshoot. Oh; and they got rid of one of their better bullpen arms for another bat.

I’m a Theo fan, but it is becoming painfully obvious that while he excels at the draft and player development…he’s had way more misses than hits when it comes to player acquisition.

So after what I’ve seen this weekend, I’m going to go right ahead and declare 2009 the battle for the wildcard for the Sox. And unless something dramatic happens in the next couple of months, I’m not too confident regarding the playoffs; even if they DO make it.

As the Sox are mired in the middle of a rough patch, I’m heading to Red Sox Nation (south) for the weekend to catch the games.

In other news, the NYT reports Ortiz and Manny both tested positive in 2003. If someone has a hold of this list of people who tested positive, why does it seem they are releasing one name at a time?

Personally, I’m tired of the steroid talk. Nobody seems to bring up the fact that until 2005, taking steroids was not a punishable offense.