Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Game 100 - Red Sox

Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 4
Record: 60-40

This game was a ticker-watching rollercoaster. Sox were up, 1-0, tied, 1-1, up, 3-1, down, 4-3, then up, 10-4 after a 7-run seventh inning. I was happy, concerned, happy, scared, thrilled, and then spent. It was a lot like my first sexual experience. I wanted to take a shower and smoke a cigarette after the game was over.

The offense finally scored some runs for Tim Wakefield, led by Trot Nixon's 2 HR, 5 RBI performance - including a granny that completed the Sox' scoring. Nixon has been prominently mentioned in a number of trade rumors, including a deal that would have sent him to Los Angeles for Odalis Perez. The idea of trading Trot has me terribly torn, with my analytical side advocating anything the makes the team better, and my sympathetic, soft and fuzzy fan side really bent out of shape about losing a guy like Trot.

Nixon's a bit of a lightning rod for Sox fans. He's been touted for years as the Next Big Thing, and he's shown flashes of brilliance mixed with bouts of putrescence. Boston loves him because a) he's white, b) he hustles his ass off, c) he gets his uniform dirty, and d) he seems to care about winning above all else - almost to a fault, as he gets so keyed up that it hurts him som. He's got his limitations, chief among them being that he absolutely flails against left-handed pitching, but he plays good defense and kills right-handers. ESPN ranks him as the 3rd most productive rightfielder in the majors this season.

This is where intellect and emotion intersect as a fan. Intellectually, if the Sox could get a stud pitcher or Vladimir Guerrero by trading Nixon, well, more power to them. Emotionally, I'd be sad to see him go. Today, the sad to see him go side is winning, which I guess means I'm a dewy-eyed sentimentalist.