Ship It!

I didn't write much at all about the Red Sox this year because I am superstitious, and didn't want to jinx their ride to the title, but now that it's in the books, I can send out an emphatic SUCK IT to all the Yankee chooches out there, especially Arod and Scott "Scummer" Boras - who demonstrated a complete lack of class by announcing Arod's opting out of his contract in the 8th inning of the clinching World Series game last night.

I thought this picture of Jon Lester with his two trophies was terrific - a guy who fought through cancer and seems to have everything he can want now. Congrats Jon:

And how can you ever get enought of Jonathan Paplebon's intensity?

The Sox got contributions from their homegrown young guns (Pedroia, Ellsbury, Paplebon, Lester, Youkilis) their big name players (Manny, Ortiz, Lowell, Beckett, even JD Drew!), and even the unlikeliest of stars like Bobby "game winning HR" Kielty.

I watched a few innings of the game last night at the Riviera, a fanatical Red Sox bar near my apartment in Manhattan. Honus was plastered, and I tried to get him to use my sure-fire Sox chick pickup line "Hey baby, why don't you come over to my place and blow it like Gagne," but he pussed out at the last minute. I eventually retired to the solitude of my own apartment to enjoy the clinching moment in peace, just as I had in 2004.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner summed the situation up well in his postgame comments: "2004 was for our parents and grandparents and those people who suffered through eight decades before a World Championship. This is for us and for our children and for everybody in Red Sox Nation."

Go Sox.

-KD

Angle Shot of the Week

The Cleveland Indians hired Red Sox ace Josh Beckett's ex-girlfriend, Danielle Peck, to sing the national anthem last night, as a result of what they claim was pure coincidence.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, Beckett seemed unfazed and pitched a masterful 8 innings to stave off elimination and send the series back to Boston. Still, I give them credit for a legitimately advance tilt induction attempt on Beckett.

-KD

Manny Being Manny

"I haven't been right all year. When you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's how you know you're a bad man." - Manny Ramirez

What a sick night of baseball. After the Indians got help from a swarm of midge flies to finally crack the concentration of Yankee's lights out setup man Joba Chamberlain and Cleveland manufactured a walk off win, the Sox conjured up their own dramatic finish at Fenway. As soon as the Angels began to intentionally walk David Ortiz in the bottom of the 9th, Fenway was standing room only, chanting "MANNY! MANNY! MANNY!" while Ortiz was still at the plate with Manny standing in the on deck circle. Manny delivered with a bomb off K-rod that landed about 750 ft away on the other side of the Mass Pike, sending Fenway into a frenzy.

The Sox walk off win was preceded up by JD "I've been on fire ever since that doucheball at Capital Grille thought Kid Dynamite was me" Drew's 2 RBI single in the first, and a tremendous assist from 17 year old fan Danny Vinik.

Vinik barehanded a Manny Ramirez foul ball that Angel's catcher Jeff Mathis was extending over the photographer's box to grab, giving Manny a second chance, and eventually resulting in a walk for Manny and a sac fly by Mike Lowell to tie the game. And before all you ignorant BoSox haters start piping up - Vinik's play was 100% legal, since he did not reach into the field of play. If the kid's name sounds familiar, it's because his dad, Jeffrey Vinik, was the former head of Fidelity's flagship Magellan mutual fund, and is now a limited partner in the Red Sox.

I hate the whole Actober campaign, but October baseball is living up to the hype.

Go Sox!

-KD

EV Whore

Yeah, I'm an EV whore - I couldn't resist the allure of the Pokerstars Blogger free roll - Sklansky bucks just for entering!!!

The boys over at the Spirit of Jake Plummer have done it again with another quality post. If you missed the one I linked up last week, check it out now. These guys are kinda like the Wickedchops of sports writing - good stuff.

-KD

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