Adventures in the Commonwealth

Yes, I've been away. But I'm back. For now...

Cory and I both have colds, but we're otherwise uninjured from our travels, except a slight burn on my arms, where I seem to have missed a spot or two with the sunscreen. But I am getting ahead of myself.

As you know, a few weekends ago we went to the Solid Sound Festival/aka Wilcofest at Mass MoCA. I've forborne posting on it here, partly because there's already SO MUCH out there on the internets about it. If I get truly inspired, maybe I'll jot down a few notes on the subject. Suffice to say, it was an exercise in awesomness.

The following weekend, we were back in the Bay State - saw the Sox get truly pummeled by the Blue Jays at Fenway. Ugh. Still, it was a beautiful night in a beautiful place, and we were with Molly, so that can't be a bad thing.

A relaxing couple of days later, we saw a couple of our Wilcofest comrades perform at the Church. My Own Worst Enemy, live and fully rocking, in spite of a cold that Sue brought back from the Berkshires. Hey... wait a minute... is that where we got this cold from? Suuuuuuue! (insert shaking fist here.)

The next day after breakfast it was off to Martha's Vineyard. That's right: it's not just for Presidents anymore. But you knew that, because you saw it here last year. This year's stay was different, in a number of ways. And we'll count those ways in posts to come, but for now I'll start you off with a couple images of what the first couple days looked like through the window.

Please do not confuse this with a complaint! We had a wonderful time the whole week, and I'll share some photographic evidence of that in the course of the next several installments of our adventures.

Saddest. Picture. Ever.

I hate that agony of defeat shit.

Back, Kind of

Yes, I have been on a bit of a hiatus. I couldn't blog until the Red Sox finally won a game. (Thank you, Detroit.)

So, perhaps you've heard that David Ortiz has been directly implicated in the steroid scandal. Sigh... Even though you know most of my opinions on this steroid business, this is sad news. Papi has been such a goodwill ambassador for baseball, no one wants to see him tarnished (well, short of a bunch of cold-hearted ogres, I suppose.)

Still, in the wake of it all, some cooler voices are prevailing. One of my faves comes from the Times (Thank you, Bob Costas):

"Texas didn’t win anything during that period of time, and it’s pretty clear that Texas might have led the league in massive steroid use."

We still love you, Papi. And thanks for the RBI last night. We'll even overlook that crazy baserunning error. Especially if you start hitting again...



I'll post some images from the trip to Massachusetts soon, as well as a couple from my friends' visit to NYC this week. Just need to have the stars line up a bit...

No X 4 = Yes

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day for Red Sox fans: John Lester pitched a no-hitter. Always a stunning event, the story is especially incredible with Lester, who was diagnosed with lymphoma 2 years ago (!) and made a recovery sufficiently strong to pitch the 4th and final game of last year's World Series and then this extremely rare achievement of a no-hitter. Kind of a lot to have done by the age of 24, don't you agree?




But let me take a moment to focus on the other guy in that photo. Jason Varitek, Captain of Red Sox Nation, center of the team, and one of the best catchers in baseball. Last night he caught his fourth no-hitter. Count 'em: four. More than anyone else in the history of baseball. On any team ever. I don't want to get too carried away here, but this man arguably has as much to do with the Red Sox Championships as anyone else, including Ramirez, Ortiz, and Francona.

I mean, sure - it's 10 times easier to catch a no-hitter than to throw one. But a great catcher, a strong veteran leader who understands his pitcher, the batters and the game in general can go a loooong way in helping the event. And look at the authors of the no nos he's caught: Nomo, Lowe, Buchholz and Lester - first rate pitchers, yes, but not exactly a who's who of Cy Young winners (though he's called the shots impeccably for future Hall of Famers like Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, too). You better believe that Varitek's help calling pitches, leading the team and keeping the hurlers centered had something to do with those games. Did you see the game earlier this year when Buchholz, barely out of his (part of a) rookie season, shook him off three times in a row? Tek let him throw the fastball, and it got shelled for a double. The look on Jason's face afterwards was priceless: "I've been around here a while kid. Helped you get through that no-hitter in your second start last year; don't you think I know what pitch is gonna work?"

And it bears repeating: nobody has ever caught 4 of these gems. Not Yogi Berra, not Johnny Bench, not Roy Campanella, nobody. Has Jason been lucky? No doubt. Has he been helped by some great defense? Hells yes. But I think that this record is more important than the attention it's going to receive, and tells us a lot about the success of the Red Sox.



There's no way Varitek will make the Hall of Fame. He's never hit .300, his RBI production is not that great, and neither is his arm (especially in his early years, people could steal bases against him with relative ease). But don't be surprised if people who know a lot more about the game than I do mention him as one of the great catchers and team-leaders of his era, if not of all time.