sampleSizeOfOne

5-1 Red Sox CBU, as Hughes is chaste. Er, i mean chased. Santana on with an infield single to deep short. (I don't know if i'm proud of my restraint, or kicking myself for a missed joke opportunity while Toronto was the opponent of using the adjective Santanian) And a walk to Dozier. Is something brewing?

I'm mildly encouraged by 8 hits (2 doubles) and a walk over 4 innings yielding only 3 runs. But we're still behind.

Think! What did we do against Toronto?

The phrase i'm fond of is "jumping jesus on a pogo stick" (which is from a dead milkman's song, i believe) But that's pretty good too!

Boston has a 2-1 advantage halfway through the third.

No i think we should disagree about agreeing... (er, to disagree?)

I'm sitting on top of the third...

Congrats to him! Look forward to it.

Play ball! (CBUish)

Sounds about right. Not that i pay attention to dates as often as i should. Good ol' Ernest Thayer, a Harvard grad, wrote it for a San Francisco newspaper, if i recall. To the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka John Brown's Body, or something like that...) Somewhere on the shelves is the annotated Casey at the Bat, which has some 40 odd versions/parodies of it. Good stuff.

A green monster with two heads! or Two for the price of... two. Dedicated to USAFChief (and Chief Jr.) who are reputably at at least one of the games, and who unequivocally and infallibly will tell you if the Twins will win or lose... "yes". and to River "Old Hoss" Brian, being inducted into the Game Thread Hall of Fame (if he can find it) as we speak. Or type. Hard to say, really. Oh, I'd heard the story of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, and as it is a story which sticks in the mind, i couldn't recall the name. So i looked it up, and the caption under the boston beaters photo in wikipedia is priceless. A 59+ win season as pitcher, and the first photograph of a Trudeau solute. (I thought a double header game thread should be more epic than normal... But really what that ends up meaning is i get distracted more from baseball, leading perhaps to the sad situation where a dedication is better than the dedicated.) 1. Poetry "Now look my friends, and you shall read how such gallant acts follow a cowards deed. a looping liner over Ben Revere, the dashing mad and the diving spear and a glove's reward for the daring speed." -Hank Shortfella (alas, the rest of the poem didn't make it due to the internet's short attention span, and the prevalence of multimedia. The following link is all that remains: ) http://nesn.com/2013/04/phillies-outfielder-ben-revere-writes-pray-for-boston-on-glove-makes-incredible-catch-video/ 2. Yesterday Fantastic game last night, even though it went against us. Hicks made a good throw to get the 3rd out at 3rd as the go ahead run scored, then almost tied it leading off the next inning, if not for the right fielder. I look for more of the same from Phil Hughes (our Ace, last i checked?) and a new up and comer for the (Red) Sox: Eduardo Rodgrigues, who shut down the Rangers last week in his major league debut. 3. The Pros...e I got ahead of myself. Which is much easier figuratively than literally. But my small taste of literature is my thread intro's distraction of choice. Amongst the Boston area's contribution to the world is quite a depth of literature. Stephen King i think is a big Red Sox fan, the fella parodied above: Longfellow, Emerson, Thoreau, um... I suppose i should cheat now and look at Wikipedia. But i've been too lazy to expose myself to everything. I figured i'd write about an author better known in other climes, but he wrote significantly while living in Vermont, so in my book (get it?) he qualifies as New England, be it ever so slightly. On discussion: "The two men seemed to agree about everything, but when grown-ups agree they interrupt each other almost as much as if they were quarrelling." On managing/mentoring "... a hectoring, hard-mouthed, long-sworded Italian builder, as vain as a peacock and as strong as a bull, but, mark you, a master workman. More than that-he could get his best work out of the worst men. ... If he misliked any work that a man had done, with his own great hands he'd rive it out, and tear it down before us all.... But when his passion had blown out, he'd slip his arm round the man's neck, and impart knowledge worth gold." I'll let them stand by themselves, and you make of 'em what you will. Oh, these quotes all are from The Wrong Thing, in the collection of short stories: Rewards and Fairies (sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill) perhaps better known as the source of the poem 'If', all by Rudyard Kipling. 4. Today Er, right. What i'm really supposed to be doing. Finally the twins line up is out. Mauer off, Plouffe at first, Escobar at 3rd, Torii cleaning up. Everyone batting from the right side. What strikes you about the line up? (As long as it isn't "out", i'm happy. No K is okay.) Weather forecast: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 60. East wind 6 to 9 mph. (from weather.gov) Line ups: Pitching for the Minnesota Twins: Phil Hughes {R} 1. Brian Dozier {R} 2B 2. Shane Robinson {R} LF 3. Trevor Plouffe {R} 1B 4. Torii Hunter {R} RF 5. Kurt Suzuki {R} C 6. Eduardo Escobar {S} 3B 7. Eduardo Nunez {R} DH 8. Aaron Hicks {S} CF 9. Danny Santana {S} SS Pitching for the Boston Red Sox: Eduardo Rodriguez {L} Batting for the Boston Red Sox in the following order: 1. Dustin Pedroia {R} 2B 2. Mookie Betts {R} CF 3. David Ortiz {L} DH 4. Hanley Ramirez {R} LF 5. Mike Napoli {R} 1B 6. Brock Holt {L} 3B 7. Xander Bogaerts {R} SS 8. Sandy Leon {S} C 9. Rusney Castillo {R} RF 5. More Today - Game Thread #2 (click here) Up next (before the second games, assuming i'm able to finish it during the game, more on mentoring ('cause it's mentorific!) and perhaps something on the fine art of trash talking.

Thanks all for the co-misery. Tomorrow is another day...

I don't mind not having magic, but i'm hoping to see some good base running and timely hitting, and all that. (I've already got my bag of chips.)

If Fien pitches the 8th, i hope Boyer pitches the 9th, but Perkins would be good too.

Hicks almost clears the right fielder...

Concur. (2 outs, runners at first and second, single up the middle, and they get runner at first trying to take third, but not before the runner scores from second.) That's Boston up, 1-0 CBU after 7.

Last year, 6 goose eggs for Pelfrey might have qualified? How our standards change...

Rosario is on. Beats it out as the ball pops a few feet away from Pedroia.

Nice DP, and running grab by Rosario to get out of first and second with no out. 0-0 through 6. Sponsored by the letters C, B, and U.

No, Who's a first sacker.

That indeed would be jolly!

Never stopped me...

I wonder if anyone would get it if i made a joke about Buchholz being cautious... But Chief told me never to explain a joke.

There's that. Anyway, enjoy everything! Keep things in perspective, and of course we'll always enjoy your thread contributions if/when you can return to the game...

We have happened upon a new definition of happiness: happy as a fan whose team is calling up Tonkin to be the 26th man on the roster for the second game of a double header in Fenway Park. I don't see it getting significant use, but it is a comforting thought. This obviously increases his chances of pitching in the game, as they would be zero otherwise, and if they were still zero... Lost my train of thought. Nevermind, its cargo was not particularly vital. Almost game time...