Victory!

Globe photo

This is how I felt at 12:53 pm today. After almost three hours of watching eight different screens refresh every 30 seconds, I saw it. The Red Sox ticketing screen!! I quickly whipped out my list of proposed games, and ran through the proposed places to sit. Within five minutes, I was out - poorer, but on my way to five games this year at Fenway: May 22 & 24th vs. the New York Mets, and July 24, 25 & 26th vs. the Baltimore Orioles. I think I got pretty good seats - mostly in Loge Boxes. Weirdly, I'm sitting in the same seat I did for one game in 2006! And last year, I sat in the LBs on the 1st base side (that's what came up); this year, it's two games on the 3rd base side. Their computerized ticketing process is so strange.

Of course, it's going to be interesting to see who is actually on that team. Jonathan Papelbon (the crazed guy above) signed a one year contract this week, helping Theo Epstein keep his no-arbitration record intact. Paps got himself a sweet deal - well-deserved, IMHO. Also signed to a one-year was my pal Javier Lopez

I heard an interesting stat on the MLB Network this morning. There are only 25 spots left on the 40-man rosters in the Major Leagues this year. And there are currently 90 free agents sitting out there, waiting for an offer. Many pundits are saying we'll see a bunch of "names" opting for retirement soon, rather than being left off any rosters come spring training. So we could see Tom Glavine, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, and even our captain, Jason Varitek, joining the group that already includes Greg Maddox, Jeff Kent, and (?) Curt Schilling.

Of course, we still need a catcher....

Coming up....

So, coming off the high of Tuesday, it would be easy to feel a little let down. However, I took a good long look at the calendar, and realized there are several events coming up in the next few weeks. Events bound to keep me going until Pitchers & Catchers report to Fort Myers (which takes place in 20 days and 14 hours, according to redsox.com)

First up: the sale of single game tickets for Fenway Park occurs this Saturday, January 24th. Yes, it's time to set aside probably an entire Saturday to stare at this on the computer screen:
The Virtual Waiting Room!! Or, as some of us call it, a preview of Hell. You go to redsox.com, click buy tickets, and this is the screen you see. Every thirty seconds, it refreshes - giving you a glimmer of hope that the computer fairies will choose you to be next to purchase tickets. Or to consign you to another 30 seconds of crossed fingers and toes. The key is to open several windows - at least as many as you can keep track of. Because if you miss your opening, it's back to VWR.

Of course, once you're in, you're in! You can buy up to 8 tickets. And since I'm only trying for 5 games, if I can get it, it should be a snap. The two most important dates to get are in May for Megapalooza - the Friday and Sunday games of RS-Mets weekend. WooHoo!

After that big event, the next on the calendar is TRUCK DAY! Yes, only we crazed RS fans would get excited about the sight of a big truck parked on Yawkey Way, being packed up with all of the baseball equipment needed in Fort Myers. But for us, it's a harbinger of spring, our version of the first sign of "robin redbreast."

Plus, who can forget last year's Truck Day, which brought the first burst of fame for our friend Steve T. Ferret?!

Steve's agent, Kelly O. Borass, dodges questions from the press regarding Steve's pending deals. She claimed several other teams were vying for Steve's allegiance, which was later proven false. No word on whether Steve will appear this year.