Long Distance Relationship
I can’t wait for the long distance part of my relationship with the Red Sox to be over. I just couldn’t miss two consecutive games in a row, but my computer conspired against me. After two years of faithful service the speakers on my Compaq 6910p no longer work. I tried to reinstall the speaker drivers to no avail. I discovered that something is wrong with the speaker drivers, not with the sound itself, so when I used headphones I could listen to the WEEI broadcast.
Hunched over a laptop, alone in a hotel room 437 miles from Fenway: not the ideal way to experience the Red Sox, but it’s better than no baseball.
Although Joe Castiglione is a skillful radio broadcaster, seeing the video replay of Chris Young’s snare of Victor Martinez’s fly ball to deep center was impressive. Castiglione mentioned that Young’s cap went askew in the collision with the wall and that he seemed shaken up by the impact, so I specifically looked for those things in the highlight reel. Indeed, the center fielder jogged away from the wall rubbing his ribs, his hat jauntily tilted like a dandy’s. Unlike other outfielders we could mention, his ribs were fine.
Homegrown All-Stars Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis both launched two-run homers, the former in the first for the early lead and the latter in the seventh to pad the margin. Neither Red Sox player had the longest homer of the evening; that honor belonged to Justin Upton. The prodigious outfielder yanked a two-run shot over the left field wall onto Lansdowne Street in the top half of the second inning to tie the game. It was reminiscent of the some of the home runs Manny Ramirez would hit.
Speaking of, Ramirez will make his first appearance at Fenway since he was traded out of town, burning the Zakim, Longfellow, and every other bridge in the city on his way out. Unlike Johnny Damon, who was given a standing ovation in his first at bat and was thereafter lustily booed, most of the fans will not grant Ramirez the applause he deserves. I daresay that when the slugger retires and he is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, those same people will brag about how they saw him play in person.
| Game 67: June 16, 2010 | ||
| Diamondbacks 26-40 | 2 | L: Rodrigo Lopez (2-6) |
| 2B: Chris Young (14) HR: Justin Upton (11) | ||
 Red Sox39-28 | 6 | W: Jon Lester (8-2) S: Jonathan Papelbon (15) |
| 2B: J.D. Drew (17) HR: Dustin Pedroia (9), Kevin Youkilis (13) | ||
