Shadows
Doug:
Well, say sayanora to Oki.
Al:
It was a great run.
Mike:
Sigh. Remembah 2007 and the whole "in the shadow of Matsuzaka, hero in the dahk" thing? That was brilliant.
Al:
And so was Oki's ERA at the time.
Mike:
Untouchable.
Doug:
Now it's Triple-A.
Mike:
A darkening sky
The once hero walks in shadow
from the Motel 6.
"ONLY LEFTY IN THE BULLPEN"??!!
Why the fuck does Theo think he can win with this strategy of shitty shortstops and 1 fucking lefty off the bench??!!
I am now ready for baseball season.
Posted by: Scott | 2011.03.29 at 09:30 AM
A Pawtucket bus
Chock-a-block with hopeful boys
One man sits alone.
Posted by: Bob | 2011.03.29 at 09:44 AM
in re: shadows.
when does the excitement for Opening Day and the baseball season begin? I'm still waiting for the Hopeful Express Trolley to bring me aboard. Is it possible that I will not listen to a single game this year?
wantingly,
lc
Posted by: louclinton | 2011.03.29 at 11:57 AM
lc,
you're onto something. have we all become jaded?
the thrill is gone?
Posted by: h.b. | 2011.03.29 at 11:59 AM
Move to London for two years, with very little access to live baseball, no built in fan base, and time differences fucking up any viewing pleasure that is to be found- you will reclaim your enthusiasm! Even now living deep in enemy territory, I am positively giddy about the upcoming season. Guys, it's baseball! The best sport on the planet! I know it's cold, I know Spring Training is like neverending, shitty foreplay, but real action is almost here. Do I need to throw on a teal dress, grab some pompoms and high kick my way to some enthusiasm amongst this crowd?
Posted by: Natalie | 2011.03.29 at 12:38 PM
I have had a lot of Diet Coke.
Posted by: Natalie | 2011.03.29 at 12:41 PM
Wow, lc and h.b. Your level of enthusiasm for the begining of the season won't bring me down. I'm more excited this year than in any other in recent memory. Granted, the fact that our starters have gotten racked pretty well in the last couple of weeks and the fact that we lost ten [meaningless] games in a row does not foster the level of confidence going into the season than if we had won 10 in a row. Still, this is a stacked team that, barring injuries, should be in the hunt all year. With Crawford and Ellsbury both potentially steeling 50+ bases and watching what Gonzalez with do in Fenway, this is going to be FUN !!! Come on.
Go Sox.
Posted by: LarryE | 2011.03.29 at 12:44 PM
I am happy for the team. The usual trials, tribulations and hijinks will ensue. 14.99 for an iPad app, so that I can listen to games that used to cost 4.99 a year? I could go on and on, but don't want to seem like Eyore or nothing
Posted by: louclinton | 2011.03.29 at 12:48 PM
14.99 a month
Posted by: louclinton | 2011.03.29 at 12:50 PM
Just to put it in context, I'm the guy who drove around for an hour waiting for the season to start in 1986, just so I could hear the opening pitch in Detroit. Dewey Evans hit a homer in the top of the first. I have committed multiple resources to the enterprise of baseball, but to what end?
Posted by: louclinton | 2011.03.29 at 12:51 PM
I'm pretty excited for the season, but I'm not convinced my excitement is coming through in the characters/strip.
And as I alluded to before, and you can probably witness for yourself, things are "off" around here. Traffic is down, comments are down. It is really zapping my enthusiasm.
But I'm not sure if it's a chicken/egg thing. Is it my fault through lack of good content that is driving people away and the more people fall off the more I fizzle in a vicious cycle?
Or are people just losing enthusiasm for all things Sox including Soxaholix?
I started this site for myself with no concern for whether 1, 10, or 10000 people read it, but coming on one week shy of the 8 year anniversary of Soxaholix, I confess that I've long since become fused with the community.
You ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, keep me going through the days when I don't have much... so without you it's difficult.
Posted by: h.b. | 2011.03.29 at 12:58 PM
Have not committed to the TV package yet after getting it every year since '04. Oki's first pitch in the big leagues. Boom. HR to John Buck. Quick realization on his part why they lost the war.
Posted by: yazbread | 2011.03.29 at 12:59 PM
Lou, as Maximus once asked in Zucchabar:
"Are you not entertained?? Are you not entertained?!? Is this not why you are here!?"
Posted by: Kaz | 2011.03.29 at 01:04 PM
Comments are down and Real Doll, Inc. is about to launch an IPO. 'Nuff said.
Posted by: yazbread | 2011.03.29 at 01:08 PM
I for one am more excited for this Red Sox season than any previous season I can remember. And I am definitely springing for the TV package, as having relocated to FL that is the only way I will see more than the nationally televised game (except for when they play the Rays, and those announcers are Gawd-awful). And I definitely check this site first thing every morning and throughout the day for the latest Sox news and simple entertainment. You're doing a kick-ass job HB, keep up the great work.
Posted by: soxinsix | 2011.03.29 at 01:08 PM
I'm stoked. Speed and defense will at least make things interesting. Pitching will decide our fate, and who the fuck knows what to expect? But once the games are meaningful and we start collecting Ws and Ls, then we'll all be giddy once again...
Posted by: Go Sox. Go Heels, etc. | 2011.03.29 at 01:13 PM
h.b. - the off season is hella long and it's hard to make gold from dross on a daily basis. To paraphrase Joe Morgan, 'you are SO consistent and it's hard to be consistent when stories from the Hot Stove and spring training are not consistent.' I wouldn't know what to do with myself during baseball season without Soxaholix, and I know a lot of us feel that way. To fully mix all my metaphors, home stretch, y'all: t minus 3 days. It's always darkest before dawn!
Posted by: Natalie | 2011.03.29 at 01:15 PM
Again, on my fourth Diet Coke.
Posted by: Natalie | 2011.03.29 at 01:15 PM
Just as it is difficult to get amped for the start of football season when the Sox are in the hunt, I find it difficult to get amped for the start of the 162 game baseball season while the C's and B's are still in the hunt, and Stanford WBB is in the Final Four. Second week of May is when the Sox generally become my sports obsession.
Posted by: Steve in MD | 2011.03.29 at 01:20 PM
Started to get really amped for the season last night when it finally hit me that the season started this week. That's the problem w/ spring training - I really don't need to tune in everyday to see what D. Mailman did in a split squad.
Got the TV package again, as I have for 8 of the last 11 years out here in wine country. Can't wait for Don and Jerry to tune out the day's distractions.
Plus, we've got two games coming to the house that Al Davis built in three weeks - that's got me revved up. And, HB your still money - sometimes my work creates a brain drain and there's nothing left to post. Kind of like the drool above.
Posted by: sonomasox | 2011.03.29 at 01:43 PM
ok, I am not usually a cheer leader type, but Natalie's teal dress, pom poms and high kicking have got me... up.
For the first time in a few years I am really excited about early season baseball. The boy wonder finally made some moves that bring excitement to the yearly hope. I really really love the everyday of the long season. The soundtrack of my home changes from silence peppered with children arguing and the beginning of the nightly 4 hour marathon of Family Guy to The Games - hell ya I'm getting the TV package! Dont need to see every swing, every pitch, every out - just hear the sound of baseball being played. The occasional great night of Don and Jerry when the game itself is a drag. Taking dinner from the table to the living room when the game is too good to miss. The follwing of the team through the boxes when I cant be in a town decent enough to broadcast the Redsox.
This season feels like the long awaited installment in an epic tale, the hard cover copy is in the mail and due to me in a couple days. the last book was a bit dull, but it was all lead up to this part of the story. Cant wait.
And I have this giddy feeling that the bad guys are not going to fair well in this book - sure they will have their moments of triumph - but the feel of this story, this season is grand and triumphant.
Posted by: Jeff in NC | 2011.03.29 at 01:45 PM
That's the spirit!
And in the immortal words of Paul Revere, "One if by land, two if by teal dress."
Posted by: h.b. | 2011.03.29 at 02:06 PM
in summary, I'm the asshole.
lc
Posted by: louclinton | 2011.03.29 at 02:20 PM
Patriots Day. Marathon. 11:00 baseball. I'm in. I'll call Comcast tonight.
Posted by: yazbread | 2011.03.29 at 02:23 PM
I'll be listening via SiriusXM (sometimes switching over to the other team's announcers just for grins). Somehow I never find the time to sit down and watch but as Jeff says, it's "the soundtrack of my life."
Posted by: MWL in MD | 2011.03.29 at 02:35 PM
Gratuitous comment.
Posted by: jfm | 2011.03.29 at 03:12 PM
HB- You are the best. Down here in MD, the strip is my connection to Red Sox fans everywhere. Its going to be a great year - even the NY Times baseball writer picked the Sox to win the World Serious.
GO SOX! F@#$ the Yankees.
And if you want whining, there's no freakin' Sox TV on the local cable. I'm glued to my cell phone during the season.
Posted by: Kensington MD | 2011.03.29 at 03:59 PM
I'm sad. No haiku for you.
sdu
Posted by: soxdownunder | 2011.03.29 at 04:14 PM
h.b., worry not. You've still got it. Many of us read without commenting. You have a rather literate readership. Enough so that I refrain from commenting because I see my remarks as being lesser quality. And I'm usually right about that.
Posted by: Yossarian | 2011.03.29 at 04:15 PM
Barely watch any TV at all, let alone have time to sit and watch an actual Sox game. Life is big and complicated. BUT, I manage to check in here almost every day, even if it is the next day Boston time. Been reviewing "Standing Room Only," a great book, to get in the mood for the season. I miss Fenway so much more than many family members who have passed on in the years since I left Boston. Soxaholix is my regular interface with all things Sox, and from here in Montana it looks like the regular season is about to start, and that the team is gonna be very entertaining. Play ball, HB, play ball everybody!
Posted by: Larry Here | 2011.03.29 at 04:22 PM
A little more sriracha, a dash of Plath and more nut-sack dude and we'll be right back on the basepaths. Comment brought to you by LarryLucchinoDay.com (all rights reserved and so forth.)
Posted by: SAC | 2011.03.29 at 10:44 PM