Plucked
| Game 59: June 1, 2008 | |||
 Red Sox |
9 | W: Bartolo Colon (3-0) | 35-24, 3 game winning streak |
| Orioles | 4 | L: Brian Burres (4-5) | 26-29, 4 game losing streak |
| Highlights: Steve Trachsel turned what was a leisurely Sunday win into a long-drawn-out affair. His five innings of toil seemed to last twice as long as Burres’s four frames even though the latter ceded 12 hits and seven earned runs, including two taters. | |||
It was a day of padding batting statistics against an ailing team. Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, and J.D. Drew homered and Ramirez and Lowell also doubled. The pressure lifted from Ramirez’s shoulders now that he met his milestone was palpable and timely given the sidelining of David Ortiz.
Bartolo Colon turned in another competent outing of six innings, seven hits, four earned runs, two walks, five strikeouts, and a home run to the surprising Luke Scott. The Red Sox were able to option Clay Buchholz to Pawtucket because Colon has been able to regain the posture of a passable major league pitcher, if not the physique of one.
Another sign of Boston fans’ domination at Camden Yards: not only do they foist Red Sox banners and tributes to Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy (including an ingenious one depicting the pair like they were Ben and Jerry of ice cream fame), but Celtic signs, too. The NESN camera crew found quite a few patches of green and a “Beat L.A.!” sign.
I have a quibble with NESN, however: why do they break into Red Sox broadcasts to give the audience updates on a second-to-last place team? I would have preferred some insight into the contest between the Rays and the White Sox, two clubs of significance as they lead their respective divisions.
I heard from a college friend today who still lives in Hawai‘i and whose father was from Dorchester. Back in those days the extent of my knowledge about Boston revolved around “Cheers” so it never occurred to me to ask about his devotion to the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots.
Now he has a family and hopes to someday bring them to Fenway and to naturalize them into the nation. The Hawaiian contingent of Red Sox fans continues to grow.
