Cheer
| Game 40: May 20, 2009 | |||
| Blue Jays | 3 | L: Brett Cecil (2-1) | 27-16, 2 game losing streak |
 Red Sox | 8 | W: Brad Penny (4-1) | 24-16, 2 game winning streak |
| Highlights: Cecil was basically Chase Wrighted in the fifth inning. Cito Gaston was just too slow with the hook and before he knew it five baboombas cleared the fences. | |||
Including the first home run of the season by one David América Ortiz Arias. Just as he did when he broke Jimmie Fox’s franchise record of 50 homers in a season, Papi got the cold shoulder in the dugout. But the teammate he calls “Mini-Me,” Dustin Pedroia, couldn’t restrain himself from hugging his friend for very long.
Peewee got his arms about as high as Ortiz’s waist.
Ortiz took a curtain call. It wasn’t like the meaningless ovations they pass out at Yankee Stadium. It seems to me that fans at Nouveau Stade Fasciste like to show the power they exercise over their players by summoning them to the top step. They will boo their player while he is at bat and slumping but do a 180-degree turn and demand a doff of the cap. And Yankee players hunger for that adulation, so they willingly answer the call.
It’s not like at Fenway.
We root for our guys while they are in the box to encourage them. In Tuesday’s game I did hear a smattering of jeers after Ortiz struck out and I imagine that might have happened to the designated hitter last night — until that monstrous fifth inning. Said Ortiz in this article, “The fans, they’ve always been so supportive since I’ve been here. That’s unbelievable. There’s not too much I can say about it. I try to come every day and get it done for them.”
Thank you, Papi! (Clap, clap, clap clap clap.)
Unlike Cito Gaston, Terry Francona learned his lesson on burning out rookie pitchers, but he had to repeat the course. For the Red Sox skipper there was Cla Meredith and then Craig Hansen (although the latter was mostly a product of the Scott Boras-negotiated agreement that required Hansen have a major league deal). Francona is determined that first-round pick Daniel Bard doesn’t go down that same path. With the lead secure at 8-0, Bard made his Fenway debut.
Dennis Eckersley was impressed by Bard’s “easy gas,” but noted that the hurler needs to mature and fill out before we know what his full potential could be. Bard flirted with triple digits on the radar but topped out at 99 miles per hour. The Blue Jays were well aware of Bard’s repertoire and hacked at his first pitch heat repeatedly. They strung together a three hits for a run but nothing that will permanently scar Bard’s psyche.
The last out gloved by Jacoby Ellsbury tied the major league record for putouts in a game. Ellsbury joined Lyman Bostock (on May 25, 1977 in the second game of a doubleheader against the Red Sox) and Earl Clark (May 10, 1929); all three men fielded a dozen putouts.
It must be a good night when the 3-for-5 return of Kevin Youkilis is one of the last things I could recall about the game.
