Yeah, you’re damn right I’m quoting Celine Dion*. And I just don’t care. Suddenly, Papi is Papi again, swatting home runs, pulling up his team by the bootstraps and stomping like Godzilla, and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, the guy’s still hitting a lackluster .219 on the season, but, as today’s Globe points out, he’s got a .357 average since June 6 and is starting to deliver those “Papi moments” with alarming regularity. More importantly, his three-run jack last during last night’s game against the Nationals helped put us on top for good.
Meanwhile, the Sox barely missed a Spinal Tap-like tragedy in the second when Elijah Dukes went all vampire hunter, shattering his bat on a ground ball and sending a wooden stake (in the form of the sharp-ass bat head) flying out toward Nick Green, who came thisclose to getting speared. The replays of Green jerking his body away from the bat, saving his noggin by deflecting it with his forearm, looked like something out of a Sam Raimi film, while NESN’s shot of the bat head stuck in the outfield grass like a goddam spear was positively unsettling. For years, I’d been secretly hoping that something like that would happen to Deryck Whibley during a Sum 41 “concert.” But after seeing how close Green came to disaster, man, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
So the Sox have won 16 of their last 21, still five games up on the Yanks, with some old dude pitching for us tonight. Used to be a Brave, apparently. I’ll look into this a bit more and get back to you.
*Actually, so we can all feel better about this, let’s just say that I was quoting the Meat Loaf version of that song.
