Posted tagged ‘Red Sox’
April 18, 2016
Today is Patriot’s Day, a holiday in Massachusetts. It is also a big day for sports. The Red Sox began playing at 11. In Hopkinton where the Boston Marathon starts, the first wave of runners set off at 8:50 while the elite runners started just after 9:30. It is a beautiful day, warm and sunny. It is short sleeve weather at the ballpark, but it might be just a bit too warm for the runners. Right now the lead women are all from Ethiopia and only 2 seconds separate them. The men are close to the finish line, and there are two running side by side. As for the woman, one runner took a commanding lead and has just run across the finish line. Atsede Baysa, an Ethiopian, is the 2016 Women’s winner. Demi Hayle, also an Ethiopian, has just won the men’s race.
My cats have disappeared. One is angry because I gave her all her medicine, and the other is hiding to avoid getting any.
I live alone in a good size house, but I spend most of my time in the den on the computer, watching television or lying on the couch reading if I can get the animals off. The house where I grew up was smaller than this one. Three bedrooms and the bathroom were upstairs while a living room and a smallish kitchen were downstairs. We had an enormous cellar which held some of our toys, the bikes and the washing machine. The center of the house was the living room with the TV which was one of those models in a cabinet. You had to open the doors to watch it. You also had to walk to it to change channels. My father sat in the big chair while the rest of us sat on the couch. We eventually would start pushing for more room, touching each other just to cause trouble, complaining to my father and blaming everyone else. My dad was never tolerant of the noise or the shoving.
Mostly we watched what he wanted to watch. On Sundays my father watched football. On Sundays I usually stayed in my room reading or listening to the radio or doing both at the same time. I do remember some programs. The one afternoon program I will never forget is Queen for a Day. I still remember the chosen queen wearing her robe, her tiara and carrying an orb of royalty as she stood and listened to what gifts she had been bequeath. You Asked for It was a favorite. Skippy Peanut Butter (or some other peanut butter) was its sponsor, and the person asking would have his/her name on the jar label. I always thought that show was interesting. Just like everyone else I knew, we watched Ed Sullivan. I remember his introductions of well known people in the audience. I also remember many of the women wore hats and mink stoles. I’ve always felt blessed that my father didn’t like Lawrence Welk.
Categories: Musings, Uncategorized
Tags: Atsede Baysa, Boston Marathon, cat's medicine, football, good size house, living alone, Patriots' Day, Red Sox, watching TV, You Asked for It
Comments: 6 Comments
April 4, 2016
It’s snowing again with that wet, heavy snow. The roads are clear but the lawns and tree branches are covered. I’d guess January if I had only what I can see out my window as a hint.
Today is opening day for the Red Sox in Cleveland. I wonder if they have boots with cleats. Are their gloves flannel-lined? This is a game to be watched on TV in the warmth of my house.
Baseball is my favorite game. Even when I was young, I loved baseball. I think it had to do with how easy it is to understand. Football has too many positions and too many plays. I get the gist and know a few of the infractions which is more than enough for me, but with baseball I even get the nuances and can understand the lingo like around the horn, Texas leaguer or hitting for the cycle. I can even explain the in-field fly rule. A pitcher’s duel is the most boring game of all despite how mechanically good the game is. A rough and ready game with lots of hits, a few silly errors, steals and maybe even a manager ejection are the most fun to watch. The Sox have several young players so I’m going to have to learn the roster. David Ortiz, hated by some but loved by many, is starting his last year. It will be strange to think of the Sox without Big Papi. I have high hopes for this season but then I had high hopes for last season and look what happened. Red Sox fans expect to suffer. It’s in our DNA.
I watched some of Sarah Palin’s Wisconsin speech for Trump. At first I thought it was a Saturday Night Live parody as they do her so well. “What the heck are you thinking, candidates? What the heck are you thinking when you’re actually asking for more immigrants — even illegal immigrants, welcoming them in,” Palin said of Trump’s opponents. “Even inducing and seducing them with gift baskets: ‘Come on over the border and here’s a gift basket of teddy bears and soccer balls.” Imagine the stampede of illegal aliens hurrying to the borders before the gift baskets are gone.
Categories: Musings
Tags: around the horn, baseball opening, boots with cleats, David Ortiz, flannel lined gloves, in field fly rule, Red Sox, Sarah Palin, Snow, Texas leaguer, understanding baseball
Comments: 18 Comments
April 11, 2015
When I woke up, I noticed the sun, subdued and wan. I figured it had been so long since the sun last shined it had forgotten how to wow us, to make us squint in the light. The streets were still wet and were waiting for a bit of warmth to dry three days of rain, and I was hopeful the sun could finally hold sway. After getting the papers, I stood outside to check my garden. Green shoots are everywhere. They are the start of my spring bulbs finally growing and budding. Gracie has been in the yard most of the morning. She is my barometer. The warmer the weather the longer she is out.
When I was a kid, this was a bicycle day, a spring jacket sort of day. It was freedom from layers of clothing and from looking wistfully out the picture window. It was time to fly my bike down the hill with my hair blowing and my arms raised in a funny sort of triumph. It was time to pedal as fast as I could hoping to leave winter behind me.
I loved riding all over town on a sunny Saturday. Sometimes I’d bring lunch and put it in my bike’s big front basket. Once in a while I’d hit a bump and my lunch bag would bounce in the basket. Sometimes it bounced out. I usually brought Oreos for dessert. They were the cookies of choice for all of us. I remember my sisters would eat the middle and give the dog the rest. My method was a bit different. I’d open the Oreo, eat the plain side then the filling then the other side with streaks of filling still left.
Last night I watched the Sox beat the Yankees in a game which seemed interminable. It lasted 19 innings, 6 hours and 49 minutes, and is now the longest game in Red Sox history. I’d tell myself I’m going to bed after this inning, but I just couldn’t bring myself to turn off the TV. What if I miss the winning run after all this time? Both teams were horrible last year. The Yanks didn’t make the playoffs and the Sox were last, but they seem to play each other as if a championship is on the line. During extra innings, when a Sox player got on base, I’d beg for someone to hit him in so I could go to bed. Finally a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly knocked in the winning run. I cheered then held my breath during the bottom half of the inning. The Yanks didn’t score so I let the dog out, waited for her to come in, turned off the lights and went to bed.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 19 innings, 6 hours, barometer, dry air, green shoots front garden, longest game, lunch bag, oreos, Red Sox, riding all over town, sandwich, spring bulbs, spring jacket day, sun, three days of rain, wet streets, Yankees
Comments: 25 Comments
April 9, 2015
“Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. Rain, rain go away. Little Johnny wants to play.” I suspect saying this over and over won’t have any affect. This is the second day of cold, chilling rain. Last night the rain was heavy, and I fell asleep to the plinking of drops on the roof. Last night was also cold again, in the 30’s. I watched the Sox play Philly (they lost their perfect record), and when the camera followed the pitcher ‘s wind-up, I was distracted by seeing the pitcher’s breath and watching him trying to keep his hands warm. The players were bundled as much as they could be. Long sleeves were part of the uniform of the night. It was football weather.
When I was really young, I learned all the nursery rhymes from listening to my mother. She’d say them in a sing-song voice which my ears loved hearing. I remember seeing a ladybug outside on a leaf and telling her to fly away home, her house was on fire and her children were gone. All the Littles were friends of mine. I felt bad for Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue but really bad for Little Miss Muffet and her new founded fear of hungry spiders. I am a child born on the Sabbath, fair and wise and good in every way. I liked quoting that one. Some of them I could sing, badly, but it didn’t matter. They were fun. Old MacDonald’s was the best with all the animals sounds. Row, Row, Row your Boat was a round but somehow we always ended up finishing on the same lines no matter when we started.
Thinking about these rhymes got me to look them up, and I was surprised to find out how old some of them are. Little Bo Peep lost her sheep in 1805 and Little Boy Blue fell asleep in 1744. Miss Muffet has had her spider phobia since 1805. Ding Dong Bell is the oldest dating from 1580, that poor kitty.
I don’t know if nursery rhymes are still popular, but I really hope they are though it would be okay with me if the kitty finally came out of the well.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold, Ding Dong Bell, football weather, Little Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, Little Miss Muffet, nursery rhymes, rainy, Red Sox, Row Row Row Your Boat
Comments: 12 Comments
April 6, 2015
A howling wind, falling snow or icy sleet battering the house and yard wouldn’t matter. Today would still be spring. Today the Red Sox play their first game of the season. I dream about today on the worst winter days when I need dreams the most. On the coldest of days I let baseball give me hope. I see in my mind’s eye the Green Monster and the fresh grass of Fenway. I think about cheering for the home team, eating hot dogs and popcorn, watching games on warm summer nights and throwing my arms into the air as I scream at a home run or moan at an error. The Sox have stumbled of late. Two out of the last three seasons my Sox were in last place. In the middle of those two seasons they won the World Series. Today they are perfect.
Sometimes Easter was at the start of spring vacation while other years, like this one, Easter was early and Monday was back to school. That was always the worst of Mondays. Our energy had been spent over the three-day weekend. By Sunday night we were exhausted from the excitement of wearing new clothes, finding our baskets filled with chocolate and small gifts and spending all afternoon with the cousins. Getting up, eating breakfast, putting on our uniforms and then walking to school were arduous tasks. It was a day of lethargy when turning the pages of a text-book took far too much energy. The classroom was unusually quiet. No rustling sounds broke the silence. The only signs of Easter were the jelly beans, the big ones where every color tasted the same, wrapped in wax paper in our lunch boxes. We’d finish our sandwiches then put the jelly beans in our coat pockets to eat outside during recess. I remember they all had a bit of lint from my pocket. I didn’t care.
Easter was the best. Dinner was spectacular. We were given the same table by the window we’ve had for three years in a row. Our blinking bunny, from an Easter basket three years ago, joined us for his third time at the table. That he still blinks we find amazing. Outside the window the view was beautiful. The sky and the ocean were different blues. The water, the deepest of blues, had a greenish tint while the sky was light blue along the horizon and darker blue above. Small white caps tapped the shoreline. The beach grass was brown, its winter color. We toasted the day and sat for a bit savoring the moment before ordering dinner. My drink had blackberries. It was delicious. I had lamb, mashed potatoes and onions infused with soy sauce. Little was left on my plate at the end of dinner, but I managed to squeeze in a chocolate dessert, the perfect ending for the best Easter ever until next year’s.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chocolate desserts, Easter dinner, jelly beans, lamb, mashed potatoes, Monday school, ocean and sky, onions, opening season game, Red Sox, spring, waves and wind
Comments: 16 Comments
March 12, 2015
The morning is downright cold. I’m thinking winter is trying to hold on, trying to keep spring away, but it’s too late. The temperature no longer matters. I have dismissed winter. I haven’t quite welcomed spring, but I figure we’re in the shoulder season betwixt and between and winter is losing ground, literally and figuratively. A snow storm isn’t an impossibility as we sometimes have one in March and even in April but they are the swan songs. This morning, after getting the papers, I saw a green shoot in my front garden. It survived the snow. I figure I have too.
The Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox are trying to entice young kids to the ballpark. It seems kids think the game is boring to watch, and they’d prefer their baseball as a video game. I get that. The games are long, especially Sox games. Other sports seem to have constant, or almost constant, action. The best played baseball games have low scores with nothing much going on. The fun games are usually when balls are hit out of the park and the score is high. When I watch at home, there is always plenty of time for bathroom breaks or a trip to the kitchen for snacks. I seldom miss any action. I wouldn’t dare do that during a Pats’ game. Nope, I wait for the commercial. There are new rules this year to speed up the game. My favorite new rule is pitchers no longer have to throw those silly way outside the strike zone balls on intentional walks. The manager can simply signal the umpire. The one I expect to cause the most problems is hitters must keep at least one foot inside the batter’s box at all times. David Ortiz comes to mind. He steps out of the box, leans his bat between his legs, spits on his gloves and then pounds his hands together after just about every pitch. I always think it’s a bit gross, but baseball players have rituals and superstitions which must, in their minds, be honored. Stepping out of the batter’s box to spit on gloves to David is essential.
I’m thinking a cattle prod might be more helpful. Give the players a couple of warnings then the next time they run afoul of the rules bring out the cattle prod. A zap or two should work.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Baseball, baseball rituals, cold morning, good-bye winter, green shoots, hello spring, long baseball games, no more intentional walk ptiches, Red Sox, spring, superstitions, voodoo, winter
Comments: 16 Comments
January 3, 2015
No new experiences can be had sitting in my den. I haven’t been outside for a few days except to get the mail and newspapers and fill the feeders. Last night I noticed two strings of lights on the deck rail were no longer lit so I went out and unwound them from the deck. It was cold, and I wondered why in the heck I was doing that. I didn’t have an answer but once I started I needed to finish. Now only half the rail is lit, and I’m wrestling with the half full, half empty concept.
We, Gracie and I, have to go out today. She is out of canned food, my trunk is filled with trash and I need to go to the pharmacy. It is an ugly day, cold and cloudy. Rain is expected tonight. It is a perfect day to hunker down, but that will have to come later.
I diligently read two papers every morning. When I write that here, I always get comments about reading on-line and why aren’t I. That’s easy to answer. I like the feel of the paper, the sound of the pages and all the small pieces of content. It takes me a while to read both papers. I skip over international news in the Cape Times as I had already read it in the Globe. I pick and choose what to read on the sports pages. I am first and foremost a baseball fan, but I have a while to wait before it resurfaces. I read football stories if they are about the Patriots. I am not such a football fan that anything else is of interest except I did read about Rex Ryan cleaning out his office even before he was fired on Black Monday. In college I seldom missed a home hockey game, but I don’t like hockey, never have. It was the pre-game festivities which drew me in college. I do like basketball, but I haven’t followed the Celts the way I used to.
The last thing I do in the Globe is the crossword puzzle. The last thing I do in the Times is the cryptogram. The puzzle gets finished. Sometimes the cryptogram doesn’t and that drives me crazy and frustrates the hell out of me. I tend to ball up the page and toss it. That makes me feel just a little bit better.
This morning I finished both of them.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Baseball, Boston Globe, burned out lights, Cape Cod Times, cold night, crossword puzzle, cryptogram, dog food, errands, football, international news, newspapers, Red Sox, sports pages
Comments: 10 Comments
June 23, 2014
The last few days have been gifts. The days are warm and lovely while the nights are cool for sleeping. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on the deck. Gracie was on the lounge all stretched out and napping. She does know how to enjoy herself. On the sports front yesterday was also a good day. The US tied Portugal at the World Cup though I really thought they’d be able to hold on to their lead, but I’ll take the tie. It was a great game. The Sox won it in the top of the tenth against Oakland when Ortiz hit a home run. He hadn’t had a hit the whole game so his timing was impeccable.
I went to the dump yesterday and wondered if they were giving something away. I hadn’t ever seen such traffic before. I even had to wait in line just to get in. Usually I go on Thursday or Friday, but I didn’t this week, a mistake I won’t make again.
When I was a teacher and didn’t work summers, I went traveling, mostly to Europe. I was gone a month or more and once, for my South American trip, I was gone the whole summer. Those were the days of backpacking and staying in hostels, university housing and even in the woods a couple of times. I traveled by bus or train and slept many times in my seat on the train and slept all night on the bus all the way to Edinburgh. Seldom did I eat in a restaurant. My travel companion and I would buy peanut butter and jelly or cheeses and cold cuts and loaves of wonderful bread and every meal was a picnic, but we’d sometimes treat ourselves and buy roasted chicken and some tomatoes for an elegant on the road meal. If we did stay in a B&B, breakfast would hold us until dinner time. We had to make sure our money lasted. I’d buy a couple of souvenirs and always sent a postcard to my parents from every country. I did that any time I traveled including through South American and when I was in the Peace Corps. The African stamps were the best, bright and colorful.
My backpacking days ended when I became an administrator and had to work summers. I’d only go to Europe for spring or winter vacation: one week and one country. I’d pack a suitcase and travel by rental car. It was like saying good-bye to the free-wheeling, go anywhere me and hello to an adult traveler.
Categories: Musings
Tags: all night on the bus, B&B, backpacking, beautiful days, cool nights, dump run, Red Sox, Sandwiches, stamps, traveling to Europe, US soccer, using a suitcase
Comments: 27 Comments
June 22, 2014
We have been blessed with perfect days and nights. The sun is warm during the day and the nights are cool for sleeping. The other night even got downright cold so I put an afghan on my bed. Fern slept on my hip which I hate, but as I’m asleep, I don’t notice. Gracie pawed the afghan to her side of the bed, turned several times counter-clockwise then curled up and slept on the afghan. I was cold.
Today I have a few errands then tonight it is the US versus Portugal. All of a sudden I am a soccer fan even though I don’t really know all that much about soccer, but I can surely cheer loudly when the US scores and groan just as loudly when their opponent do. Go USA!!
Growing up near Boston meant cheering for the Red Sox, whom you didn’t expect to win, and for the Celtics who always won. I don’t remember watching the Sox on TV, but I either watched or listened to the Celtics’ games. The CYO often sponsored trips to the Garden but not to Fenway. I went there by bus and the T, the subway system. Tickets were cheap and easy to come by day of game. The stands were never filled. I sat near the dugout several times. I knew the whole team by name and position. Even back then I was a baseball fan for a team that didn’t win a whole lot, but it was my team and that made all the difference. I don’t go to many games any more, once a year if I’m lucky. The seats are far too expensive, even the bleachers aren’t cheap, and when I add food, a Fenway frank is a must, we’re talking really big bucks; instead, I watch the Sox in the comfort of my house with the bathroom close and food of all sorts in the kitchen for the taking. It’s not as exciting as sitting in the ballpark, but it is a whole lot cheaper.
Every Sunday I call my sister in Colorado. I took a break here and went on the deck to talk to her. I was in the sun first as the shade was chilly. All too soon the sun shifted, and the deck got too hot for my feet so I moved to the shade. It was a sort of summer musical chairs.
I loved the deck this morning. The flowers in the clay pots on the rail are beautiful, and the birds were in and out at the feeders. The herbs in the boxes smell great and I rubbed my hand up the rosemary plant as that has the best smell of all. I can’t think of anything in summer not to like, even the rain.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Celtics, errands, Fenway Park, perfect days and nights, Red Sox, USA soccer
Comments: 29 Comments
April 21, 2014
Today is lovely. The sun is brilliant and the sky a deep blue. It is 53˚. Today is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts. The day commemorates the first battles of the Revolutionary War in Lexington and Concord. Today is the running of the Boston Marathon. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the bombings. This year’s race has already started. All of the runners are on their way to Boston. The Red Sox are playing the Orioles, and that game has started. On Patriot’s Day the game starts at the odd hour of eleven. Today the Sox are wearing home jerseys which say Boston, instead of Red Sox to honor the city and the day.
Nothing is on my dance card for the rest of today. When I woke up this morning, I stayed in bed and read for a while. I finally got out of bed, put the coffee on and went out to fill the bird feeders. I was reading the papers when the phone rang. It was my friend waiting for me at the diner. I had totally forgotten our usual Monday breakfast. We rescheduled for tomorrow.
Dinner yesterday was wonderful. We got one of our favorite tables on the porch next to the wall of windows. I could see the small crests of the waves glinting in the sun as they rolled to shore. The water was calm. It was warm beside the window. I was glad for the short sleeve dress I had worn. The waiter told us to keep an eye on the line of scrub bushes on the sand as a mother fox lived there with her kits. We kept watch but didn’t see them. We each ordered a drink and shared truffle fries. We toasted the day and chatted a while before we ordered dinner. The restaurant was filled but not noisy. Men wore jackets and women were dressy. It is that sort of a restaurant. I had a flat iron steak, smashed potatoes and asparagus for dinner. The meal was delicious. I couldn’t eat dessert, but I topped off the dinner with a laced coffee sugared around the rim. When I got home, I let Gracie out, went upstairs to change then decided I really needed a nap. I slept for a couple of hours. It was the deep sleep of the contented.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Easter dinner, friends, marathon Monday, np, Patriots' Day, quiet day, Red Sox, steak and potatoes, the sun, waves
Comments: 10 Comments
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