Empyreal Environs

Both teams took the field in retro uniforms from 1936 in honor of Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who spent the better part of his career between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Red Sox. The Athletics’ road greys resembled the Yankees’ visitors uniforms but with no stripes on the sleeves and no hateful NY logo; instead a tasteful calligraphic “A” embellished the left breast. There is little difference between Boston’s regimentals of yore and today’s version save the striped stirrups.

Jimmie Foxx’s spirit infused the first franchise he played for rather than the team whose hat he wears in on his plaque in Cooperstown. The Athletics took the lead in the fourth on Seth Smith’s single to drive in Yoenis Cespedes and added three more runs in the sixth.

One of the few highlights was Will Middlebrooks’s major league debut. The hot-hitting prospect took over at the hot corner for the ailing Kevin Youkilis and knocked a single to his station in the fifth inning for the first hit of his career. The 23-year old is just six years older than Foxx was for his major league debut. Foxx’s first game was on May 1, 1925 against the Senators at Griffith Stadium. Foxx pinch hit in the nine-hole for the pitcher and singled.

The umpire waiting for Foxx at first? Bill Dinneen, a former Red Sox player immortalized in the lyrics of “Tessie.”

After Middlebrooks singled Youkilis pretended to give the ball away to the hoards of greedy hands behind the dugout. He didn’t throw it back, but instead tucked the keepsake in his pocket. As long as Youkilis didn’t Papelbon it, the newest addition to Boston’s lineup will have a tangible reminder of his first game in the bigs at Fenway.

Game 24: May 2, 2012
Oakland Athletics 13-13	4	W: Brandon McCarthy (2-3) H: Ryan Cook (7) S: Brian Fuentes (1)
		2B: Yoenis Cespedes (5), Seth Smith (1), Kila Ka‘aihue (4), Brandon Inge (2)
Boston Red Sox 11-13	2	L: Daniel Bard (2-3)
		2B: Ryan Sweeney (12), David Ortiz – 2 (11), Will Middlebrooks (1), Dustin Pedroia (7)