Aim Beautifully

Bill:
What's left to say about David Ortiz?

 

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Tara:
"Kapow!"?

 

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Bill:
Yeah, that works. Heh.

 

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Tara:
I'm not sure what I enjoy more: Seeing Big Papi jack one into the deeper dark night of the Red Sox soul or witnessing the consequent unravelling of the threads in the Yankees fans' collective cloak of "mystique and aura."

 

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Bill:
And what about the return of Mirabelli? In one wave of his hand, not only does Theo solve the Bard of Passed Balls problem but also out hypes the Juan Damón hype.

 

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Tara:
Absolutely. And the scene of Belli pulling up to Fenway under police escort and then running, literally, into the park just minutes before the first pitch is already one of those classic moments of Red Sox lore.

 

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Bill:
Considah this. How lucky are we that yesterday in cities all across America the men in blue were tasked with crowd control at immigrant protests while here in Boston the police were taking on the most solemn and earnest duty of escorting the Red Sox backup catcher to Fenway?

 

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Tara:
Honestly, I get all teary-eyed just thinking about it.

 

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Bill:
Win or lose, we are so fortunate to be a paht of Red Sox Nation.

 

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Author's Notes

The "dark night of the Red Sox soul" line the fourth panel is an allusion to the Christian notion of the "Dark Night of the Soul," when "the individual is trained to grow from vocal and mental prayer to a deeper contemplative prayer of the soul."

What I'm playing around with here is the idea that with David Ortiz on the roster we, as fans, are encouraged to have great faith in the final outcome of the game turning to our favor. With Ortiz, and Manny as well, there's no need to return to those "darker" days before 2004 when our faith was weaker and we often expected the worst and quite frequently got it.

Meanwhile, and maybe this has already been written about, but it just struck me that a very rough translation of "Mirabelli" from Italian to English is "aim(mira) and beautiful (belli)." How appropriate, eh?

Comments

[spd rdr]

That wasn't just a great game, that was great theater. Thanks boys.

[COD]

The scene: 10 PM, the wife is not happy because our son is still up. It's the bottom of the 8th, Red Sox 4, Yankees 3, two runners on base, Big Papi at the plate.

Wife: What time is Breck going to bed?

Me: Bedtimes don't apply when the Red Sox are on, especially when they are playing the Yankees.

Wife: So is he staying up until midnight?

Me: If Big Papi hits it out here, he can go to bed because it'll be a 4 run lead.

Apparently, Ortiz believes in 12 year olds going to bed on time :)

[james]

Last nights game was awesome... our boys fought hard all night. Papi's home run was amazing but how bout loretta with a clutch RBI. We have been missing a lot of those lately, and he delivered when it counts.

Best game of the year for me by far.

[Sean O]

Boston: a police escort is called to get our backup catcher from Logan to Fenway in 25 minutes, because it was too windy for the helicopter to land on the field.

Florida: 2100 fans show up to watch the most exciting young pitcher in baseball take on a division rival.

We are lucky to be a part of RSN, and other teams clearly do not deserve a baseball team.

[dirtdog in ny]

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

[mobosox]

BIG PAPI 1 (or should that be 3?)
Mike Myers 0

Let the battle continue!!!!

[Rob in CT]

james, you said it! Our Sox' seeming inability to convert base runners to runs these past several games has been really troubling to me. While there is nothing quite like Big Papi heroics (was there any doubt after seeing his face in that last at bat?), I was more excited about clutch hits to score runners. Welcome back, Dougie. You were missed.

[birthofasoxfan97]

No other team consistently delivers these heart pounding moments. Screw New York, they never could have pulled something off like the Mirabelli return on the wings of State Police angels and made that work like the Sox did. Totally, positively brilliant. And you gotta know that whole scene didn't escape Clemens. Plus it was just a kick ass game. I love Papelbon's intensity. It's like he's going to set fires with his eyeballs.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I paid too much for those damn tix, but man it was worth it.

[Griffin]

//How lucky are we that yesterday in cities all across America the men in blue were tasked with crowd control at immigrant protests while here in Boston the police were taking on the most solemn and earnest duty of escorting the Red Sox backup catcher to Fenway?//

AMEN! Here in New England, we know what's important.

[GaryGeiger]

3-6 roadtrip? What 3-6 roadtrip?
Good pitching, timely defense & hitting & Papi's heart. Drama, Boston style.

BTW, has anyone seen the cover of the NY Post.....about Jeter's mini-balls?

[Jennifer]

I was at the game last night (my first game this year), thanks to a great friend who got the tix, and I am still on a high today. I was just excited to be able to boo Damon, but then the rumor started about Mirabelli early yesterday and I couldn't concentrate all day. I was on my comp every 3 min looking to see if it was true, dreaming it was, and then when it appeared to actually be happening, I was so happy.

But when I got Fenway, at about 6, the word was that Mirabelli wasn't gonna be there in time and that Tek was in the lineup. And then we saw Tek warm Wakefield up and the two of them walked to the dugout. But then they announced the starting lineup and they said Dougie's name and the place erupted! Oh how sweet is was to welcome him back! Where I was in the right field grandstand, they had TV's and during the game, they showed him being escorted in. And my Mom called to tell me that he had gotten there at like 6:48 and changed in the trooper's car on the way to Fenway.

I agree, last night was great theater. It couldn't have been scripted more perfectly though. If I go to no other game this year, I am glad I was there last night. This is why I love baseball and this is why I love the Red Sox.

[harwich rich]

I do wish Josh Bard well,I'm sure he'd be a decent catcher ABB(anywhere but Boston)Things were stacked against him when he showed he couldn't hang on to Wake. He'll probably like SD(the hockey mask might get a little hot though)

[jeff]

From my 2-year-old daughter last night - "Daddy, are the Yankees bad men?" "Is that man bad?" (pointing to Damon)

Yes. The Yankees are very bad men. And the Red Sox are good men.

[Natalie]

I was listening to Castiglione and Trup in the car home from work as Johnny was introduced in the first. As they described him tipping his cap to the crowd and to the Sox dugout and the boos changing to cheers, listening to the crowd noise and envisioning the scene, I actually got majorly choked up, on the verge of bawling like a girl (oh, yeah, that's right, I am...:)

Goddamn I love this game.

[Winnie]

An instant classic...

[Jennifer]

Where I was sitting, the boos were much louder than the cheers. And they continued throughout the whole game.

[BethR]

Seriously, with how many teams are you sitting, hands clenched, stomach churning, heart pounding - during the PRE-GAME SHOW?!

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

Yeah, from home it sounded like the boos were winning the boo vs. boo-urns contest. On TV you could see the rich yankee wankers who bought field box seats at $1200 a pop standing up to cheer but the audio told a different story.

What a game though. Mirabelli sprinting in, bringing Wakefield's mojo with him (seriously was it just me or was Wake's stuff really working last night), throwing out Crosby on a nicely called pitchout; Youk, Loretta and Gonzalez coming up with the nice 4-3-6 DP catching Jeter and his brain fart; Loretta with the big hit up the middle to put them up and Ortiz and little Pape putting the finishing touches on -- great baseball, what can you say. All you suckers who paid $700 for right field grandstand seats got your money's worth last night.

And did anyone else see George King's column in the Post referring to Fenway as "New England's living room"? Am I the only one who hasn't heard this phrase before? I like it.

[Jason O.]

Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas
(Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses)
-Ovid

[Natalie]

Even if the boos were winning, it's more just the scene of a returning player, some cheering some booing, the tipping of the cap... just the whole Yanks-Sox tableau embodied in that moment... What a great rivalry, what a great sport, what a great game. I am now going to go grab a tissue... :)

[Scott]

Welcome back Doug. You were sorely missed.

[pawsoxpop]

COD your son is lucky. Mine had to go to bed after the 7th (two tests today) but he was up early this a.m. watching Papi on the VCR...

Props to Theo, who traded Doug Mirabelli for Mark Loretta, who drove in the winning run; let the Empire have Mike Myers, who served up a nice meatball for Papi to drive to the bullpen for three more insurance runs; traded Cla Meredith (who won't even be missed that much at McCoy Stadium, never mind Fenway) along with Josh Bard to bring back Mirabelli, who hung on to the ball to give us the chance to win...

And JohnNY D. Idiot went 0 for 4.

It's better to be lucky than to be good, but it's best to be good and to be lucky.

We truly are lucky. And life is good indeed.

Let's hope Mr. Beckett brings his World Series MVP stuff to New England's living room tonight.

GO SOX!!!

[BB]

Monitoring Yankee fan sites? Hmmmmmm. COmmenting on their passion in a negative way??? Hmmmmmmmm.

Sounds a tad hypocritical of you, er, I mean your characters...

Great game. Congrats on the win.

[NV in SD]

The inage of 'Belli sprinting out of the cop car into the park gave me chills, then even moreso when they showed him in the dugout with the whole "hey- welcome back, now get your ass on the field" thing going on. Classy move by Damon with the tip of the cap, funny move by the fans in CF who threw money at him. Loretta comes through in the clutch (good thing too- he woulda been 0-5 and probably subject to the boo birds), and Papi comes up clutcher (?more clutch?). Paps shuts 'em down- BIG time. Also, the infield defense was stellar last night, from Cora's blocking the bag to tag Jeter out, to Loretta's snare, to Lowell's steadiness in the hot corner.

Great fucking game. How 'boout some more of the same in about eight hours?

[Bob]

"He killed that, but there's just too much wind...

...there's too much wind...

....there's too much YES! YES! YES!"

I put my hand in the wound inflicted on the Skankees, and I shall not doubt you again, my Papi.

[IkeG]

To illegitimate son of dwight evans ... thanks for the Simpsons reference.

My wife (the Yankees fan) and I chose not to watch the first 6 innings, but I had to go to the other TV late and catch the end, leaving her to watch David Caruso do his head-tilting thing. Holy crap, outstanding ... Papelbon K-ing A-Rod on 3 pitches was the topper. I did no gloating but was happy to report the final score when my wife asked. For one day at least, life on earth is absolute heaven.

[Follower of Tito]

Did anyone else catch the post-game where Dougie was asked if that was his first time in a cop car...and his response, "First time...NAKED!" (in Wayne and Garth's voice) Excellent! I wonder how long before someone gets a hold of the FastLane video of the Statie crusier.

Agree with Spawn of Dewey, Wake looked way better...and the instant increase in Clubhouse Karma cannot be underestimated.

Finally, was it just me or did Dougie have a bit more gray hair then I remember...kind of like Charlton Heston in the Ten Commandments when he comes back down from the mountain. He may be one of those 'key' ingredients...now we wait for Coco.

[pawsoxpop]

And if the non-fiction part of the game was not amazing enough, we also have the whopper of the year, and it didn't come from Johnny Burger King...

I'm talking about the claim that the state troopers got Doug from Logan to Fenway in TWELVE minutes!!!???? I don't even think the USS Enterprise transporter room could have accomplished that feat, no matter how beautiful its aim was.

But I guess it's a great element to add to the legend...

[Bob]

Pawsoxpop; the claim is actually even more outrageous. That 12-minute trip started from the time Doug's plane LANDED.

I agree. With Scotty dead, it's impossible.

[COD]

The best part of Jeter's base running brain fart is that during his at bat that inning Sutcliff went on and on about what a smart player Jeter is, and how you'll never see him make a mental error on the field.

Oops!

BTW - I have nothing but respect for Jeter, I just found the classic announcer jinx effect highly amusing.

[Kaz]

I have tried to drive from Logan to Fenway in the absolute dead of night...and the fastest I could get there (without feeling like I was gonna spin off into the Charles through the Reverse the Curse Curve) was 18 minutes (and that's not from the time any plane landed, that's just tunnel tollbooth to Kenmore).

If any of our finest in blue are reading...these are not the Storrow racers that you are looking for.
[waves hand]

Oh, and BigBri, who let you out of your monkey cage?

[Matt]

Sean O: "Florida: 2100 fans show up to watch the most exciting young pitcher in baseball take on a division rival."
I was at Sunday's game (in full Sox gear), and attendance was a little more than 2100 (but nowhere near a sellout). Yes, I have a crappy "home" team, but free parking in the stadium lot and seeing Schilling v. Kazmir for $10 helps make up for it.

[Robert (00:05)]

so for tomorrows game can we expect to see Arroyo return at the last minute ?

[Robert (00:05)]

sorry it's todays game now, I get my tenses screwed up by watching the games on an 18 hour "tape delay"

[pawsoxpop]

Actually Robert, Bronson pitched Monday night (32.5 points for my NL fantasy team) so they couldn't use him tonight...

Unless maybe they need a home run threat to pinch hit for Willie Mo (just kidding, sorta)...

[Jay]

Sorry to be nitpicky but Cora was at short for the Jeter catch and he blocked the bag great, also I don't think Theo was in the FO for the 'belli trade to SD.

[SoxontheBeach]

<>

All over New England, women are typing in www.e-bay.com

[SoxontheBeach]

//I wonder how long before someone gets a hold of the FastLane video of the Statie crusier//

All over New England, women are typing in www.e-bay.com

(I can never get used to the formatting on this board)

[Mike H]

I was exhausted when I put the game on and fell asleep in the 4th inning. I woke up just after the game ended, someone calling to ask if I saw the home run. Missing that blast really pissed me off, so I did what any true fan would:

I played back the game on my MLB.com account, watched the homer, and partied like it was 2006.

M

[jdog]

Last night's game really brought to light the divisive opinions on Johnny Damon..not from fan to fan, but from press and media to fan. Damon sold his soul, and everyone here knows it. Even hardcore Sox fans were tiring of his off-field 'role' as team spokesman. Having a 12 yr old in a 30 yr old's body as team spokesman really got old really fast (not to mention his vacant-eyed, emotionally stunted wife), no matter how much the media loved him (see Jackie MacMullen's comments).

[Bob]

Why has everybody gone all italic-cy?

[Kaz]

Looks like SoxontheBeach left an open italics tag in their comments and the comments software isn't smart enough to close formatting out for each comment.

I inserted an "end italics" tag in the beginning of this comment. It should clear up the board.

[Big Papi is my co-pilot]

Long time reader, first comment.

I was never a big fan of JD, so I didn't care much when he left, but last night was the first time it really hit home--I will never have to see or hear Michelle Damon on the pre-game show ever again.

For that, Johnny, you should have received a standing O from all of Red Sox Nation.

Love your strip, h.b.--keep up the stellar work!

[Billy Mahty]

I was only able to see about ten minutes of the game last night, the bottom of the 8th.

When I saw Ortiz on deck I figured the game was over. The man is a Yankees killer. I fear him, but as a fan of baseball, I respect him. You can't like baseball and not like that guy.

Now hopefully the Yanks will turn it around tonight.

[louclinton]

It was a great game. Thanks, Boys.

The crowd's treatment of Damon was fucking shameful. Even the pink-hat crew acted like a bunch of crack whores. Check yourselves, people. You acted like twats.

[Ice Princess]

Big Papi is my co-pilot - welcome aboard! I fully agree with your point about Mrs. Cannons Always Aimed The Wrong Way Damon!

& Billy Mahty - You couldn't be more wrong...

[pawsoxpop]

Why was the crowd's treatment of Damon "shameful?" Because they didn't throw enough money on the field? Maybe when he goes back to Yankee Stadium, his hometown fans can throw him a few million more ...

[Dr. B. Day]

Dear Hart-

Haven't enjoyed myself this much since 1st grade sleepovers at the trailer park! Thanks for finally coming up with a good use for the net. Health and happiness to you.

Typical Burnt-Out Academic,
Day

[shelley]

As to the "alleged" 12-minute trip from Logan to Fenway the other night: I live in East Boston, approximately the same distance from the tunnel as the airport - if not a smidge further - so this morning I did a little test. I had an appointment in Coolidge Corner at 9:30 a.m., so I pulled away from the curb in front of my house at 9:04 a.m., right into the tail end of rush-hour traffic. I went through the tunnel (one lane closed for a service vehicle) and out Storrow Drive, sure that the traffic congestion (and the lack of a police escort) would keep me from making very good time at all. Even so, I drove through the lights of Kenmore Square, about 500 yards from Fenway Park, at 9:15 a.m., exactly 11 minutes after leaving Eastie. I am here to tell you that it can be done, even without lights flashing or sirens blaring -- or a naked man in the back seat -- right in the middle of normal traffic.

Just saying.