Heads Up
Like Lucy pulling the football out from under Charlie Brown or the Roadrunner outsmarting Wile E. Coyote such is the relationship between between Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre.
After Beltre swatted a game-tying home run to the second deck in left in the fourth inning he held his helmet on as he was congratulated by his team in the dugout. Martinez has accomplices in his torment of Beltre. Bill Hall tried to pry off Beltre’s helmet but the third baseman didn’t succumb to Hall’s maneuver. Eventually, Beltre relaxed his guard.
Seizing the opportunity Martinez sneaked behind Beltre and executed his signature head rub. This time the third baseman was armed and retaliated with a cup of water. The counterattack nearly resulted in a Manny-Youk situation had it not been for Marco Scutaro.
The water didn’t cool down Martinez’s bat. The backstop roped a double down the right field line batting righty. Peackeeper Scutaro and Ryan Kalish scored on the corner shot.
While the Red Sox were sweeping the mediocre Mariners Fenway hosted a pair of unique non-baseball events on September 14. The largest naturalization ceremony in United States history took place in Fenway during the day. Nancy Gertner, a Federal District Court judge, swore in 5,189 people from 151 countries as American citizens. Coverage of the event almost made me wish I wasn’t born in the United States so I could have participated.
In the evening, The Town, Ben Affleck’s take on Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, which was a take on Andrew Lau’s and and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs, premiered at the ballpark. The Farrelly Brothers’ Fever Pitch also temporarily took over the field, but the actual viewing wasn’t on premises. Reviews so far do not peg Affleck’s performance or directing as Razzie-worthy, but he may never fully redeem himself from the trio of films that earned him the Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor in 2004: Daredevil, Gigli, and Paycheck.
| Game 146: September 15, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox82-64 | 5 | W: Clay Buchholz (16-7) |
| 2B: David Ortiz (34), Ryan Kalish (8), Victor Martinez (31) 3B: Ryan Kalish (1) HR: Adrian Beltre (28) | ||
| Mariners 55-91 | 1 | L: David Pauley (2-8) |
| 2B: Jose Lopez (27) HR: Russell Branyan (25) | ||
