The game started at 1:40 on Sunday. I was excited for a few reasons. 1) I was excited for the experience of the ballpark atmosphere and 2) It was also my 27th birthday.
We got to our seats and we quickly realized that we had an awesome view of the field. We also then realized that 90% of the crowd were Red Sox fans. I was impressed with how well the fans travel. However, I hate Red Sox fans almost as much as I hate Ohio State fans. Most are bandwagon fans that only cheer for them win they are winning and have no knowledge of the team, its players, or its history. Although, with Red Sox fans being in attendance, that meant there was an abundance of Dominican and Puerto Rican women in attendance as well. I LOVE DOMINICAN AND PUERTO RICAN WOMEN!
On to the game. Scott Kazmir was pitching against Dice-K that afternoon, so I was a bit pumped to see two talented pitchers duel it out. Not only was the pitching match up a good one, but Tampa Bay has some of the most exciting, young players in the game today and Boston has Ortiz and Manny, two of the best players in the Majors.
The pitching was outstanding. Both pitchers were throwing shutouts through six innings. Kazmir came out in the 7th because he was approaching 100 pitches on the day. To me, 100 pitches is the max I would throw my starter unless he is in the 8th or 9th inning and has shown no signs of getting into trouble. I thought that Francona would take out Dice-K since he was at exactly 100 pitches going into the 7th. I leaned over to Scott and said "He's going to give up a few runs this inning." Sure enough, he gave up a solo shot to Dioner Navarro and then allowed Akinori Iwamura to get on base before being relieved by Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen then allowed Brendan Harris to get on base before BJ Upton came up and smashed a three run shot into left field. Carlos Pena followed with another crush shot into right field and just like that, the score was 5 - 0.
In the top of the 8th inning, Scott turns to me and says "Let's see what Ortiz does in his at bat and then let's head out and beat the traffic." I said that was fine since we were both a little tired from our flight since we didn't get in until 2:30 that morning. Ortiz made an out and we got up to leave. Manny was coming up next and I thought to myself, I'd like to see him hit, but I didn't say anything and as soon as we got into the concourse, Manny smacks a solo shot. I was pissed at myself, but not nearly as pissed as when Kevin Youkilis went back-to-back on the very next pitch. That's what I get for trying to beat the traffic. It won't happen again.
One other note from this game. Dustin Pedroia made a lot of nice defensive plays in this game and I am convinced that he will win a couple Gold Gloves in his career at that position.
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Comments
You know how you go on a trip and before you leave, you think you are forgetting something?
Ya, my one thing was my camera. I thought about stopping at Best Buy and buying another, but then I figured I would just have an extra digital camera and nothing to do with it. I thought about a disposable, but last time I used one, the pictures sucked so bad, so I just called myself names the entire trip for leaving my camera at home.
I would like to see pictures of the Puerto Ricans and Dominican ladies down there in Florida. Next time you attend a game please bring your camera!
By any chance were there pictures taking during this endeavor to florida?