Dispatch
Game 46: May 26, 2006
Devil Rays (21-28), 4
Red Sox (28-18), 8
L: Scott Kazmir (7-3)
W: Julian Tavarez (1-0)
H: Rudy Seanez (1)
H: Keith Foulke (6)
S: Jonathan Papelbon (17)
An open letter to the fan who verbally assaulted Keith Foulke after the relief pitcher had given up a leadoff home run to Carl Crawford in the eighth:
You do realize Crawford is one of the league’s hottest hitters at the moment, going 13 for 22 on the Devil Rays’ current roadtrip, with three home runs and four RBIs over the last five games?
Did you have the guts to jeer at Trot Nixon or Wily Mo Peña after they had failed to drive in runs in the second inning with two men on base? I doubt you had the temerity to do such a thing.
Perhaps you got a good laugh out of David Wells writhing in pain after getting smoked by Travis Lee’s batted ball in the fifth?
I hope you booed that slacker Manny Ramirez, too. He had no RBIs last night and obviously deserved to be ridiculed, right?
Were you too sloshed to noticed that David Ortiz hit a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning to clear the bases? Maybe you were in line for more beer when Mike Lowell hit his first roundtripper as a Red Sox player in Fenway Park in the 6th inning, too. No, Lowell is no longer with the Marlins; he is the Boston third baseman.
Perhaps you didn’t notice the song that was played after Jonathan Papelbon induced a line drive out to end the top of the ninth--it’s called “Dirty Water” and it’s played when the team you purportedly root for wins.
And a note to Foulke: Noli nothis permittere te terere. It was quite stupid to let a nobody get to you. You’re a former world champion and should act as such.
Last night I heard most of the game on XM radio on the road back from Hadlock Field. David Laurila and I journeyed to Portland to check in with a few Sea Dogs players. The interviews will be appearing on the Royal Rooters message board in the coming weeks. The proofs from Laurila’s compilation of his best pieces, Interviews From Red Sox Nation, have just been finalized and the book will be available in July.
The Sea Dogs had their five-game winning streak broken with a shutout loss to the New Britain Rock Cats. The Double-A affiliate of the Red Sox just had outfielder David Murphy and right-handed pitcher Barry Hertzler promoted to Pawtucket. They were replaced by Chris Durbin and Randy Beam respectively. If you do make the trip up to Maine from now until June 25th, you can cast your vote to send a Sea Dog the Eastern League All-Star Game in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Better yet, you could get a Jonathan Papelbon bobblehead if you go on June 7th.
