Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Game 15 - Red Sox

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 0
Record: 10-5

"I want to play my entire career in Boston. I want to win for these fans, because the fans there deserve a championship, one time, because they invest so much of their lives in the Red Sox. I want to win a World Series obviously, but I want it to be in Boston, because when that time comes and the Red Sox are running out in the middle of the field, it may be one of the greatest experiences ever in sports." - Nomar Garciaparra

Have I mentioned that I love Nomar? In the pantheon of my Red Sox heroes, Nomar ranks right up there with Yaz and Marty Barrett. Pedro is in the mix, as well. Nomar gave the quote above last year, in the midst of speculation about whether he might rather play in Southern California, where he grew up. I bring it up now, because 30,000 people jammed Fenway last night, in the middle of the week, in sub-freezing temperatures (28 degrees by game's end) to see the Sox play the Tampa Bay Freaking Devil Rays. There's an obsession with the Red Sox, a pseudo-mystical link between New England and her team that's very hard to put into words. The more, it seems, that the Sox break our hearts, the stronger the bond.

This year's team seems destined to be another that tests the bond, as they have the potential to be very, very good. Pedro recovered last night to toss 7 innings of 2-hit, shutout baseball. He got pummelled in his last start, but other than that off-the-scale outlier, he's pitched 22 innings and given up 1 earned run. Zoinks. The Sox cruised to this win, sweeping the Rays to enter the weekend with a 4-game winning streak. Nobody's bitching about lack of playing time, everyone's getting timely hits (Doug Mirabelli even hit a homer yesterday), and - other than the weather - it's all sunshine and bunny rabbits.