Especially you, Eric Gagne. Especially you.
We got one jewel — Saturday’s Beckett performance — wrapped around two absolutely wretched games, and saw our AL East lead get wafer-thin. But I take solace in this:
When Hideki Okajima made his Red Sox debut and promptly served up a Triple Whopper with Cheese on his very first pitch, I spent the better part of the evening praying that The Daisuke Matsuzaka Friendship Assurance Plan would never find himself on the mound again. Since then, as with so much in my life, I’ve been proven wrong. So I’m convinced that Gagne will eventually find himself and become a critical component in our September drive. It’s just that getting there is gonna probably cause irreparable stress to my lower intestines. And yours, too, buddy.
On a brighter note, the trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards went smashingly well. A gorgeous place to watch a game, with an ESPN Zone within walking distance (or, as in my case, stumbling distance). The one thing I’ll admit to being surprised by was the sheer number of Red Sox fans that descended on the city; the Park — and for that matter the entire Inner Harbor — was literally awash in a sea of red shirts and B caps. To the point that I had to remind myself that I was in an opposing team’s ballpark. If that whole “Take Back the Yard” thing is gonna have legs, there better be someone in Maryland constructing android Os fans.
