Finer Forty-Niner
Josh Beckett didn’t spoil his own birthday nor “Thanks, Wake Day” with his outstanding outing: 7 innings, 4 hits, no earned runs, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Even New England weather was forgiving on Tim Wakefield’s day of tribute, providing a mostly clear day of baseball. The gentle showers were like the fans’ eyes misting over at the sight of people pouring out of the center field door, all beneficiaries of Wakefield’s charities.
It was a touch of Steinbergian genius to have Doug Mirabelli enter the field in a police car, reenacting his 2006 return to the Red Sox as Wakefield’s personal catcher. Before his ceremonial first pitch Wakefield swung his arm back and forth to shake off the rust. He looked as if he could don the spikes in a minute and step in if Beckett failed. Mirabelli — not so much. Hopefully after his speech David Ortiz spent a few minutes with Mirabelli for some fitness tips.
Ortiz broke the scoreless tie in the third with a blast into the visitors’ bullpen. How must that make a reliever feel to be assailed by a harbinger of their impending doom? If a rookie reliever were posed with the quandary ”would you rather wear this backpack 24-7 or face Ortiz,” I think he would choose the former.
| Game 36: May 15, 2012 | ||
| Seattle Mariners 16-22 |
0 |
L: Blake Beavan (1-4) |
| No extra base hits | ||
 Boston Red Sox17-19 |
5 |
W: Josh Beckett (3-4) |
| 2B: Mike Aviles – 2 (11), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (8) HR: David Ortiz (8) | ||
