"A good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while."(Bull Durham)

There's No Crying in Baseball! (A League of Their Own)

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz. ~Humphrey Bogart

04 August 2010

As the Baseball Turns...

 "Just when you think you're out...they pull you back in..."

There have been more than a few times this baseball season that I have asked myself "Why am I watching this team??'' This team being the Boston Red Sox of course. 

A season that began with every baseball pundit choosing MY team to go all the way quickly settled in to see a sad looking spring with Papi not being able to find the baseball at the end of his bat.  As June moved along the boys played well but then the hometown team literally dropping like flies  One by one  key marquee players suffered injury after injury to the point the DL roster was longer than the team roster- and Red Sox manager Tito Francona it seemed was pulling guys off Yawkey Way  throwing a uniform on them and sending them out onto the field with a bat in their hand...who are these guys???...


...and then there is Mike Lowell.  The MVP of the 2007 world series has literally been living in no man's land for the majority of the season.   Recovering from hip injuries it was clear that Lowell could not take his spot at third base this year but the bat still flies. With Papi playing well and Yuke at first there simply was not a place to play Lowell...a close call trade to the Rangers never happened and so  on the bench  he sat waiting...waiting to play...waiting to be traded...waiting to play baseball. Coming off a stint on the DL the trade deadline came and went for Lowell, there were rumours of a trade to the Yankees and still Mikey Lowell was on the Boston bench, but not activated. Then... Youkilis injured his hand in what could be a season ending injury (which could also meant the end of the playoff chase for the Sox)...like the ingenue understudy waiting for the star to get sick Lowell was at that point Lowell was called in from the wings, the bench, and activated.

Last night Mike Lowell walked into the batter's box for the first time since June to a roaring crowd all on their feet...before that crowd could sit Lowell swung at the first pitch he saw and  knocked the ball out of the park for a 2 run homer...and yes the crowd went wild! 



Welcome back Mikie...but wait there's more, Mike Lowell was put on waivers today and John Lester was just pulled from the game in the 6th with what could be ...yes, another injury!...and so the baseball turns!