What a game!

First, let me correct an error on the last post. The Red Sox are only playing two in Anaheim. My gut feeling: we split the games out on the West Coast, and come home to Fenway only needing to win 2 out of 3. And winning two in a row at Fenway? Well, how many times have we done that this year?

Meanwhile - what a game in Minneapolis last night!

AP Photo via Yahoo Sports

It had to be one of the most exciting games ever! Although I don't agree with Orlando Cabrera, who called it the best game he'd ever played in. Weren't you there for Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, OCab? I'll chalk that up to heat of the moment. Still, to have them finish tied at the end of the regular season, tied at the end of nine innings, tied until the bottom of the 12th...Wow!

Anyone who says "baseball is boring" should be required to watch that game. Now, let's hope the Twins can ride that momentum train into New York for tonight's game vs. the Yankees. If the Twins could pull out a win tonight....

An Outlander at Comerica Park, Detroit

I've tried to be productive during the All Star Break - and finally got around to downloading a ton of pictures from several trips. I realized that I had never posted on any of my trips in summer 2008 - so look for those shortly. In the meantime, here's a little bit about my trip to see the Sox play the Detroit Tigers June 2-4, 2009

I actually went up to Detroit a day early, and met some old friends from my days at the U of Michigan. We went over into Greektown for dinner - it was yummy and we had a lot of laughs. Then my wonderful travel buddy, Kelly, arrived on Tuesday. We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn, just a few blocks from the park - a great spot that I recommend. Kelly and I ended up having lunch at Hockeytown - the Stanley Cup finals were going on then, so you can imagine that a hockey bar would be a hot spot!

We had great seats for all three games. Tuesday night, we were 4 rows behind the Red Sox dugout - the perfect vantage point to watch a crazed squirrel roaming the outfield during two different innings. The climax occurred when the Grounds Crew chased it into the RS dugout - you should have heard and seen the mad scramble among the players and photographers! NESN had some great video of it - but it seems to have been removed now. Oh well.

As for the game, Daisuke got his first victory - only pitched five innings, however. Papelbon nearly had a meltdown in the 9th - gave up three singles before striking out the side. Gasp! Final score: 5-1

Wednesday, we literally stumbled upon a great little spot for breakfast - crazily enough called the Detroit Breakfast House! It was on a forlorn block of Woodward - really the only thing that seemed open. Detroit has been hard hit by the economic slump, and it's really sad to look around at all the empty storefronts and out of work folks on the streets. But we had a great breakfast - as did Manny DelCarmen and his family, sitting at the next table! We explored the downtown a bit - rode the People Mover, which takes you on a circuit of the area. We actually saw a bunch of the players on their way to the park, which was very cool. On our way back, we stopped in at a place we found post-game the night before, the Detroit Beer Company. Great micro brewery - one that we managed to visit every day!

We discovered that if you purchase a game ticket for over $59, you can get early admission to Comerica through the Beer Garden or the Tiger Den - they open a half hour early for refreshments, then you enter when the gates open. So we took advantage of that!

The Wednesday game was terrific. We sat on the opposite side from the previous night, this time behind the home dugout. Beckett was very strong - had a no-hitter going through 6 2/3 innings. I had to go the bathroom from about the 3rd, but I refused to disturb the mojo! Youk got run over by a base runner in the 8th and had to come out - but was okay. And Lowell got tossed in the 9th - very rare for him. The 8th wasn't pretty - the Tigers scored 5 runs. But the Sox managed to hold on and won, 10-5 And we got a text in the early innings to say that our buddies had seen us on NESN!

Thursday was "get-away" day - meaning an afternoon game so that both the Sox and Tigers could head out afterwards for their next road game. We hit the Tiger Den for "breakfast" = a chili dog and beer! Not staying the WW program, obviously! We had great seats again - right behind the Tiger dugout. And it was another gorgeous day for baseball! The game marked the return from the DL for Dontrelle Willis - but it wasn't a great outing for him - only 2 1/3 innings and 5 earned runs. For us, Wakefield had another strong outing - the second time I've seen him pitch this summer! The Sox won, 6-3!

After having a beer at the Detroit Beer Works ($1 drafts with your Tigers' ticket!), we were steered to a great pub by the bartender, Foran's Irish Pub. A whole array of craft beers, and nice Irish fare.

I really liked Comerica - it's another in the retro line of ball parks. Kind of an old-fashioned feel, but with plenty of amenities to make it comfortable. Wide open concourses, so you never have to miss any of the action. Some cool things for kids to enjoy - the tiger carousel and a little Ferris wheel with baseball shaped carts. Celebrations of their past - statues of the great players like Kaline in the outfield. I was amazed when I first saw it, because it is shoehorned into a city block next to Ford Field, home of the football Lions. But once inside, it doesn't feel crowded.

Here are a few photos from another great road trip!

A friend for Steve

Our travel mascot, Steve T. Ferret, is fairly well known around RS Nation. His fame is apparently spreading, as another critter seemed intent on making his acquaintance at Tuesday night's Tigers-RS game!

One of the funniest parts of the incident was seeing the reactions in the RS dugout when the squirrel was chased into there. The cameraman in front of us was totally freaking out!

Red Sox Road trip: Detroit

I'm headed up to Detroit today - my second RS road trip of 2009. I'm going to see the Red Sox and Tigers play three games, in the company of my travel buddy Kelly. I've never been to Comerica - so I can check another ML stadium off my list. I did go to a Tigers game in 1982 at the old Tiger Stadium - it was a "staff outing" with my fellow dorm staffers at U of Michigan.

Strangely, even though I spent two years in Ann Arbor, I only went into Detroit on a couple of occasions. So I'm looking forward to poking around downtown - maybe going to the top of the Renaissance Center and eating in Greektown (maybe hitting the casino??) Unfortunately, a tour of Comerica is out of the picture - they only offer them on non-game Tuesdays. I'll try to get around and look, though.

I'm armed with my netbook and free wifi at my hotel, so I'll try to post an update along the way. In the meantime, the Sox are 3-4 on this road trip - I'm hoping to bring them luck so that we can at least go home with more losses than wins.

Youk!

AP Photo by Duane Burleson

Man, Kevin Youkilis has been on a tear this past week. He four home runs during the four game series with Detroit (two in one game), and his offense has been incredible. Not too many walks for the Greek God of... Throw in his always reliable defense at first base, and you know that Billie Beane is crying himself to sleep every night. Aren't you glad young Theo couldn't be convinced to trade for him?!

It's strange to think that this is the last time we'll play the Tigers this year (unless we meet up with them in post-season play). I'm afraid that they looked so good on paper at the start of the year - but they haven't shown it on the field. I know that they will eventually come to life - and it's unfortunate that we won't be able to test ourselves against them as they improve. Those MLB schedule makers are so weird.

Tonight, it's the first of three against the Twins in the Homerdome. One bad note: ESPN has picked up Sunday's game, so it won't start til 8pm. Better try to work that nap in Sunday afternoon!

File photo
When Tim Wakefield has his knuckleball going, it is an awesome sight. Just look at how delicately he holds that ball - like he's just pushing it toward the plate. And last night, he definitely had it going on! At one point, he retired 17 batters in a row. He didn't issue a single walk, and had 6 strikeouts. He only threw 98 pitches in 8 innings of shutout pitching. Wow. He probably could have pitched a complete game, but I guess Timlin needed some work - he finished up the shutout in the 9th. This interesting tidbit from Gordon Edes:

Research by the Elias Sports Bureau indicates that last night marked the first time since 1900 a team pitched a shutout using multiple pitchers all over the age of 40.

[Does the Elias Sports Bureau just sit around waiting for these calls? Do they have these stats just readily available?]

Oh, and Manny hit #497! Yeah!

AP Photo - Paul Sancya

Tonight it's the third game of this four game series. Buchholz is "on the bump" - and the Tigers have Galarraga going. We haven't had much luck against him, but...